Web Media Blocks: Include Script, naming and Build Inclusion

[Dany]

I moved some stuff into an include script, mostly Install Service, Install File et. al. and the Web Media Blocks fails to show up in the "Design" view. Is this intentional?

The naming of the files produced does not seem to be connected to the filename entered into the "Dowload URL" box and that's logical because one can have multiple source endpoints. The name seems to be the media block name, but in lower-case. Is this intentional and if so is it ok to assume that this behaviour will not change? I'm asking because i could not find this information in the docs.

Also, i have searched for some hard information on not-rebuilding and/or not copying the blocks. Is the general thought on this that i (the developer) should know what files changed and accordingly (manually) change the build inclusion flag? This is how i interpret what the docs indicate.
I was thinking about letting my build-engine build a Web Deploy and then using a comparison tool to see if the blocks are unchanged, uploading them over the previously built ones if a change is present - but this fails because seems there's some 7zip header info that changes from build to build regardless.
Another idea is if it would be possible to get some kind of checksum at build time and storing it in a compiler variable. Then at subsequent builds setting the flag according to the next comparison, skip build if checksum matches - otherwise build. That would work even if i re-organize some files in the blocks and i won't have to scrutinise the purple commands under each block to see if they all affect the block.
Does IA have such functionality already? I'm thinking pre-build event but it needs to result in a variable. I'm on X3 Studio and perhaps writing this such stuff requires Studio Admin?

Any clarification is appreciated!

TIA,

/Dany

[FrancescoT]

Dear Dany,

#1 – "Install Files" and "Install Service" are Windows Installer Commands (PURPLE COMMANDS) and these have to be kept in the main script file. Otherwise the Design view synchronization gets lost.

#2- the download URL in Web Media Block can be manually entered as you prefer (upper or lower case). By default InstallAware uses lower case names.

#3- For what concerns Web Media Blocks, the most important thing to know it's that WMB are engine version dependent. In other words, a WEB generated using IA X2 will not work with a setup package generated using IA X3.

Unfortunately it doesn't include a built-in functionality capable to automatically skip/Build a particular WMB.

Regards

[sjhein]

Francesco,

#3- For what concerns Web Media Blocks, the most important thing to know it's that WMB are engine version dependent. In other words, a WEB generated using IA X2 will not work with a setup package generated using IA X3.

Just to clarify, I am currently running IA X3 version 20.11 and have generated several WMBs. I know I would need to rebuild those WMBs when I upgrade to "version 21 / X4" in the future. However, can I safely assume that the WMBs produced by the current release will work with all future updates to version 20 (20.12, etc.)?

Thanks,
-Scott

[FrancescoT]

Dear Scott,

generally engine remains the same with updates for the same major version (minor updates)... unless there is the unfortunate event of having to release a minor update that may include an engine update. Of course, I hope it never will happen.

Regards