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daniel112b
Level 2

Problems with .net dependency scanning

Hello,

I recently upgraded to Installshield 2008 from InstallShield 9 and have run into some problems with .net dependencies. I have a project wich builds a merge module with a bunch of PIA:s and publisher policy files. In IS 9 i added the policy .dll and IS detected the dependency on the .config file properly and added that to the component to. With IS 2008 i get a build error:

Adding file 'My .Net Interop Assemblies Merge Module' that is a dependency of component 'policy.1.0.MyApp.2F56A4E2_EC62_41D5_9EC0_0CBA96C93287'
ISDEV : error -6102: Error searching for dynamic files matching "MyNetInteropMM.2F56A4E2_EC62_41D5_9EC0_0CBA96C93287:0\*.*"

Where "MyNetInteropMM" is the merge module that i'm trying to build. For some reason it seems to think that the policy is dependent on the merge module i'm building. If i change ".Net Scan At Build" from "Dependencies and Properties" to "Properties" i can build the merge module but then the policy .config file is missing. Whats wrong here, every thing worked fine in IS 9.

Best Regards,
Daniel
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(4) Replies
Christopher_Pai
Level 16

I really hate dependency scanning. Really, no love for it at all other then I'm glad InstallShield atleast lets you turn it off ( properties only ) unlike VDPROJ. I've had this `feature` brake more builds and installs then I care to count.

Just author the .config file as a companion file to the component that has the policy assembly.
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Avner_Kashtan
Level 4

Christopher Painter wrote:
I really hate dependency scanning. Really, no love for it at all other then I'm glad InstallShield atleast lets you turn it off ( properties only ) unlike VDPROJ. I've had this `feature` brake more builds and installs then I care to count.

Just author the .config file as a companion file to the component that has the policy assembly.


One of the main features I *want* as a user of InstallShield is to have it scan dependencies for me. Isn't that what we have the tool for, to save us the error-prone collection, file-by-file, of all our dependencies?

But the whole dependency scanner does seem to be broken. For a perfectly ordinary, though relatively large, .NET project I get a lot of strange results. I get **** Missing File **** dependencies for ".dll" without a filename. I get strange dependencies on MDAC 2.70 and OLE 2.40 that I can't remove without getting "Text is too large for column width" errors. I have several .EXE projects that don't have their dependencies found at all, and trying to see the list of dependencies results in a "Dependencies can only be viewed for output groups that have only a single folder" - whatever that means.

In short, I find myself agreeing with you, though I would be glad if someone has solutions to at least a part of my dependency problems.
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Christopher_Pai
Level 16

Sorry if this sounds trite, but I don't use InstallShield so I can turn my brain off.
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Kelter
Level 10

Put differently: InstallShield is and installation IDE, not a Source Control Management tool or build tool.

To your point, Avner, I believe a poorly implemented, poorly supported, or poorly documented tool can be worse than no tool at all.
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