Can anyone please tell me what the ISDFLInfo table is used for? This table is being created in my MSI for some merge module components and adding an entry to the CreateFolder table. This entry in the CreateFolder table keeps changing and thus when I build a patch I cannot build an uninstallable patch.
Note I cannot find a reference to the ISDFLInfo table in either my MSI IS Project or MSM project and therefore assume its being created dynamically by the InstallShield build process.
I would also like to know. I recently updated a file on an install so simply rebuilt the project and did a compare to see what had changed between the old & new msi files. The only thing seemed to be that whatever was in the ISDFLINFO table had new GUIDs generated, and as a consequence other tables had also changed because they used these references.
What I couldn't understand was what this was for. Also, why only a few things from the install were in there - why pick out what looked like 2 directories and whatever I was creating below those directories to have cross references by this table.
I've also searched the complete flexera web site for any mention of this.
Presumably something like "InstallShield Dynamic File Link Info". If in the Release Wizard/settings you use the patch optimization setting, I think it's used to sync up the Component- and File- or other-table keys between builds that use dynamic links.
Thanks for your reply. One thing I forgot to mention was that I'm actually using InstallShield Express 2010. I'd searched the entire Flexera web site for the table name and this was the only thread that was relevant (in fact there is almost nothing that mentions this table anywhere on the web or this site).
What you say does sound quite good. In the Express edition I don't get the same amount of customisation as the proper product. I have made quite a few directories "dynamic" - linking in any files found there. However, the table has only added a couple not all, so it seems inconsistent. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I was hoping to get a better understanding of what was hapenning.
The ISDFLInfo table, as Robert mentioned, is used to track certain database keys so that they can be synced with the Previous Package setting (in Pro/Premier editions). This is present to synchronize File, Component, and Directory keys when using dynamic file links in packages that will be used as minor upgrades (these keys, along with component GUIDs, cannot be changed in minor upgrades).
This table itself is informational only to the InstallShield build process. It tracks dynamic components (ones added at build time for installing subfolders of a dynamic link, components added for best practice dynamic file links, or components added for Visual Studio project outputs) and the Directory keys associated with those dynamic components. The table doesn't cause records to be added to other tables (such as CreateFolder, Directory, or Component).
