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codecus
Level 3

orca cannot open .ism

I have used orca to display information for installshield 2011 .ise file. But orca cannot open installshield 2012 .ism file. Is any other tool can open .ism file and display all the information?
Thanks,

st:confused:
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(6) Replies
RobertDickau
Flexera Alumni

You might check whether the .ism file is stored in XML format, rather than binary format. You control the format inside InstallShield in the project settings.
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codecus
Level 3

In the link, it said I need edit binary table by using orca. But orca cannot open installedshield 2012spring create .ism. Is this correct or I have made mistake? Is any way to edit .ism binary table without using ORCA?:mad:

http://kb.flexerasoftware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=Q107057&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_ERRDOC_1_1&dialogID=142159246&stateId=0%200%20142151761
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Christopher_Pai
Level 16

Rename the .ism to .msi and then right click | edit with Orca will appear.

Curious, what are you going to use Orca for?
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codecus
Level 3

Christopher Painter wrote:
Rename the .ism to .msi and then right click | edit with Orca will appear.

Curious, what are you going to use Orca for?


I tried to rename .ism to .msi and orca cannnot open with error: "Failed to open MSI data base". What's this mean and how to fix it?
Because .ism has many hidden outdated information, I need update the information. But InstallShield does not allow me to edit the information - I cannot find any place to edit. InstallShield is easy to use but difficult to edit information and is very unfriendly.
:mad:
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codecus
Level 3

RobertDickau wrote:
You might check whether the .ism file is stored in XML format, rather than binary format. You control the format inside InstallShield in the project settings.


I checked .ism is in xml format. But orca cannot open the xx.ism database. Not sure what's going on.:o
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Christopher_Pai
Level 16

You need to open the ISM in InstallShield, switch the project to Binary and save it. Close InstallShield and rename it to .MSI.

However, if you don't understand this basic flow, I'm wondering what will end up happening when you start editing the project by hand.

Either way, reverse the process by renaming to .ism, opening in InstallShield and changing it back to XML.

I assume (hope) that you are using an automated build / source control system. You'll want to keep the project type in XML due to the way source control systems store files and offer history / delta reports.
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