InstallAware

There's a new version 6.31 to download. It would be nice to have a changelog, too.

That would be nice indeed.
Also, how can we upgrade (patch) our existing version without the need to download / uninstall / install the complete version?

Just adding my voice to those looking for a list of updates in 6.31. I really need to know what's changed before I elect to upgrade.

Thanks!

It's in the Help file: What's New in InstallAware 6.3 (scraped for your convenience below):

IDE

The IDE now offers MSIcode categories to easily distinguish between the various kinds of drag-drop scripting commands that are available.
Projects now use relative paths for storing the locations of setup scripts, making it easier to move setup scripts and projects between different computers.
A new project-level setting now allows you to calculate file hashes during builds.
When application runtimes are added using the Application Runtimes view, their associated include scripts are now automatically copied to the local project folder, making it easier for different projects to install runtimes with different settings.
When application runtimes are deselected from the Application Runtimes view, their associated include scripts are now automatically removed.
When the update script is added using the Project Properties view, the include script is now automatically copied to the local project folder, making it easier for different projects to use different update scripts (and persist changes made to the update script when uninstalling/reinstalling the IDE).
When the update script is removed using the Project Properties view, the include script is now automatically removed.
Tools and Libraries

The underlying technology for connecting to SQL Servers has been updated.
A new IIS Web Sites and Folders sample project is available. This project provides a built-in dialog that enumerates available IIS websites on the target system, and lets the user choose an existing website, or enter a new website name, as well as a virtual folder name. The selected website and virtual folder is then created on the target system.
The command line build tool now ignores the debug build project setting during a command line build.
Multiple instance dialog editors are now available as an option.
Logo suite program tests have been updated with the latest test files from the Windows 6.0 SDK.
Plug-Ins

The SQL Server Express plug-in now installs the Service Pack 2 level of Microsoft SQL Express 2005.
XML Paper Specification and Windows Imaging Component have been added to the standard .NET 3 installation. These are optional components and can be commented out.
Setup Engine

The size of setup packages has been reduced by eliminating redundant data from MSI files.
Setup packages can now be extremely large - while packages were previously limited to 32767 files, this limit no longer applies.
Setups that use web media blocks and long source file paths no longer run into the maximum path limit. Path generation for files inside web media blocks has been optimized to eliminate problems with source paths of any length.
The setup engine has been optimized to perform smoothly for setups containing thousands of lines of MSIcode script - a near 10x improvement over the previous versions.
Compiler Variables are now re-substituted during the execution of localized setups.
New Scripting Commands

The Get Component Space command returns the space required by a component, or the entire setup, at runtime.
The Get IIS Site List command returns the list of IIS websites available on the local system.
The Get OS or SP Level command returns the exact operating system or service pack version (instead of a minimum version check).
The Localization Variable command creates stable string IDs for use with translations.
The Set Component Choice command enables or disables end-user interaction with a setup feature at runtime.
The Set Component Visibility command hides or shows a setup feature at runtime.
Updated Scripting Commands

The File Bag command now supports exclusion wildcards.
The Get System Settings command now detects the exact underlying processor architecture for 64 bit systems.
The Read from Text File command now supports reading in an entire file with a single call.

H4nd0 wrote:It's in the Help file: What's New in InstallAware 6.3

This list is _not_ specific to version 6.31. For example, the "MSIcode categories to easily distinguish between the various kinds of drag-drop scripting commands" was already included in 6.22.

The full product download is only 260Mb. The web installer is 9Mb. I download the upgrade in under 10 minutes on cable and upgrade in perhaps 2 minutes?! Is it really that onerous?

Hey ... don't shoot the messenger.

Given the last What's New in the manual related to IA6.0 I daresay the What's new in IA6.3 rolls up 6.1 and 6.2 mods as well. Those two versions were pretty short lived anyway.

I have translations in the "trans" folder and and customized scripts in the "runtimes" folder. I have to backup these folders, uninstall the old version, install the new version, generate a new license, install the new license – not exactly a five minute task...

Write a batch script to make your life easier?

H4nd0 wrote:The full product download is only 260Mb. The web installer is 9Mb. I download the upgrade in under 10 minutes on cable and upgrade in perhaps 2 minutes?! Is it really that onerous?

H4nd0, this isn't an attack... so please don't take it that way.. it's just another point of view...
1) "Only 260Mb?"not everyone has a cable connection
2) and some of us have monthly data caps on their internet connection and big costs if we go over them.
3) given 1 and 2, not being able to see what is changed/fixed before downloading is a problem. ie - I need the opportunity to evaluate the fixes and changes before downloading the product and reading the Help.
4) does InstallAware really want everyone downloading every update they put out? Surely there must be a bandwidth cost to the company.
5) isn't it easier for InstallAware to list a changelog, once per update, than for every customer to download and install each update? ie 'x' customers spending an optimal '12 minutes' vs 1 IA person spending 15min - 1 hr writing a change log and posting it? In H4nd0's words, "Is it really that onerous?"
6) given that InstallAware has the ability to Patch and Update, it seems non-sensical that the product completely uninstalls as well as requiring the download of all the relevant Application Runtimes for each point release or SP release. (Perhaps I'm missing something there... but I really can't see why I have to d/l the .Net Framework 2.0 package every time IA updates their program... it doesn't make sense)

InstallAware, please don't take this the wrong way, I love your product, think it's brilliant. And I love the fact that you are constantly improving and updating the product...hell, I check back every few days to see whats been happening... I'd just love a little more info and an easier update process.
Cheers