How did you return the key? What method did you follow? Did you use TSConfig.exe for the purpose? The exe can be found at: \Program Files\InstallShield\2011\System I used to run the above exe with /return flag and uninstall Installshield form my system. The image below describes the usage of the exe. ... View more

Start here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa364939(v=vs.85).aspx Use Kernel32.dll in your Installscript code. Something like: prototype BOOL KERNEL32.GetComputerName ( BYREF STRING, BYREF NUMBER ); Then use the dll : UseDLL ("kernel32.dll"); in your code and call the appropriate function. In your case GetDriveType(). Hope this helps. ... View more

I feel I was wrong when I said that the base cached msi will be used during patch install. Your post made me dig further and it seems that the base cached msi is modified at runtime by the Windows Installer engine prior to the display of dialogs. That means, if you make proper changes in the newer version of your msi, i.e., add the proper condition to the dialog "NOT PATCH" etc... and then go on to create the patch, the UI changes should reflect during the patch install. The transforms in the patch are applied to cached msi prior to the display of patch installation UI. Please follow the following link: http://www.softsummit.com/library/white_papers/installshieldpress_ch12.pdf This link has all details you would need to work out of your situation: http://email.softmart.com/itadvisor/docs/I...hing_Sept08.pdf Read the whole thing carefully. I apologise for the mistake. ... View more

Creating patches is fairly simple process if you plan and prepare properly. Firstly create a full msi for your minor upgrade and test it thoroughly. This package should install properly everywhere. Now in the Installshield IDE you can create a Minor Upgrade item in the Media --> Upgrades --> Prepare Setup for Upgrade Scenarios. You will have to provide the uncompressed msi packages of all old versions which you intend to patch. Go through the following link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372102(v=vs.85).aspx ... View more

Add a condition, for eg., PATCH, to the dialog that you want to see at minor upgrade. Look at the other standard dialogs that pop-up in minor upgrade. This will give you an idea about the conditions attached to them. ... View more

Physical presence of the dll file is needed for the CA(Custom Action) to work on the end-user machine. So we two situations: 1) Include the dll as a component. In which case, the dll remains on the end-user machine. 2) Put the dll into the Binary table of the package. Windows Installer engine will stream it out to the temp folder and use it during the install. Option 2), I believe, is what you need. In case you are trying to execute option 1), configure the CA to run after the InstallFinalize action. You can also use ISSetup table for the purpose(secondary approach). ... View more

The behaviour of your installation package can be customized in that section. Also, unlike human behaviour, software's behaviour has a logic. You can make your installation do what you want it to do. Do understand that Installshield is just a tool which encapsulates Windows Installer technology in case you are working on Basic MSI. If you are working on Installscript projects, Installshield is the complete framework. ... View more

This behaviour is appropriate as patching is essentially repairing the application using transforms. The log was required to diagnose any other issues. I have no idea of how Visual Studio creates packages. Conditions enforced on dialogs in VS are not known to me. In Installshield the default conditional expression enforced on maintenance dialog is "Installed And Not RESUME And Not Preselected And Not PATCH". This means: The maintenance dialog will not pop-up during pathch install. Thus installation packages created with Installshield will not cause this trouble. Since your installation is already in the wild, you cannot modify the UI sequence as the cached msi file is used during the maintenance. Try using the silent mode flags for patch installation and post the results. ... View more

You will find your answer here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2.../30/458295.aspx For versioned files: version is the most important thing For non-versioned files: Date-Time stamp is the most important parameter. ... View more

Please attach the verbose log of Windows Installer. ... View more

Go through these in sequence: http://kb.flexerasoftware.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalID=Q103218 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Aa368295 AND http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368053 There are some problems when we try to create empty folders directly from the IDE. Use the above links and modify the Database tables using Direct Editor. Hope this helps. ... View more

There are APIs available to achieve what you want. TCHAR szQuery[MIN_BUFFER_LENGTH] = {0}; _tcscpy(szQuery, TEXT("SELECT `Value` " "FROM `Property` " "WHERE Property = 'ProductVersion'")); This Installer SQL subset query, for example, would get the value of 'ProductVersion' from the .msi database. MsiOpenDatabase is used to open the database file for the transaction. You can use various parameters to define the type of transaction(a read-only or a write). MsiDatabaseOpenView is then used for preparing the transaction and creating the view. The query is applied on the view and it is the live object with which you will interact. MsiViewExecute will execute the transaction on the view. MsiViewFetch will fetch you the required values from the view. MsiRecordGetString actually extracts values. You should provide the exact column number from which to extract the value. It is quite complex to perform. Do look into these functions and understand how you can use them in your case. Sample Pseudocode: //Construct the query TCHAR szQuery[MIN_BUFFER_LENGTH] = {0}; _tcscpy(szQuery, TEXT("SELECT `Value` " "FROM `Property` " "WHERE Property = 'ProductVersion'")); //handle to the .msi database PMSIHANDLE hDatabase = NULL; CHECK_MSI(MsiOpenDatabase(szMSIFile, MSIDBOPEN_READONLY, &hDatabase)) //open the database as readonly in this case PMSIHANDLE hView = NULL; CHECK_MSI(MsiDatabaseOpenView(hDatabase, szQuery, &hView)); CHECK_MSI(MsiViewExecute(hView, 0)); UINT unResult = ERROR_SUCCESS; PMSIHANDLE hRecord = NULL; //handle to the record if (ERROR_SUCCESS == MsiViewFetch(hView, &hRecord)) { TCHAR szData[MIN_BUFFER_LENGTH] = {0}; DWORD dwSize = MIN_BUFFER_LENGTH; CHECK_MSI(MsiRecordGetString(hRecord, 1, szData, &dwSize)); } This is a C++ code snippet. Also follow this link: http://www.koders.com/csharp/fidEF7DC1EF2026543044B67E981A4E9C9EE2FB23AF.aspx?s=nativemethods Hope this helps. NOTE: You can give the client the Orca and all necessary info and ask him/her to perform the edit. ... View more

There are a couple of ways that I know of editing the .msi file. a) Use Orca tool available in the Windows Installer SDK b) Use Installshiled Its very easy to open the .msi files in either of the tools. Once open in Orca you can clearly see all the tables. Its very easy to edit the tables and save your changes. In Installshield, you need to use the Direct Editor to manipulate the UI. Be careful though. UI sequences of complex applications can have many conditions attached to them. Be sure to keep the UI sequence flowing. ... View more

Upgradation of versioned files is starightforward: Higher version component gets installed over lower without exceptions There are three cases to look at: CASE1: The system has component Abc.dll(or exe) of version 1.0.0.1 installed on it. Your minor upgrade ships Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.2. Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.2 replaces the one already installed on the system. CASE2: The system has component Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.2 installed on it. Your minor upgrade ships Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.1. Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.2 will not be replaced whatever the timestamp. CASE3: The system has component Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.1 installed on it. Your minor upgrade ships Abc.dll of version 1.0.0.1. There is nothing to replace. The fact is, only version numbers matter for versioned files. Also go through: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2005/08/30/458295.aspx ... View more