Modify File Externally

[tompal]

I generate install packages that in its turn needs to be modified for each customer they are delivered too. Eventually I would like to create small application with a fool proof user interface so a third party can update a package for a specific customer.

Is there ANY way to change/update files included in an InstallAwere generated package without launching InstallAwere?

Like:
Command Prompt usage of installAwere,
Some API on InstallAwere...,
Get MSI DB Access of the Package... (Like Orca do)

Is there a solution to this and if so how do I go about it?

Regards
/Tomas P.

[MichaelNesmith]

I think you want to use the InstallAware automation interface, if you are trying to programmatically emit setup scripts. That would work well for you.

Note that if you will be building a program around InstallAware's automation interface, and will be shipping that program to customers, you will need to purchase a Studio Admin license (lower licenses do not allow you to re-distribute the automation interface DLLs).

OR

You can use compiler variables for simple substitutions of text at build time, as well as conditionally including/excluding files, features, registry keys, and so on. This would be a lot simpler than using the automation interface.

Also with this approach, you only need a Studio license - the Studio license allows you to redistribute the command line build tool, so your application would simply call the build tool with the right values for the compiler variables on end-user machines, without additional runtime licenses.

[jsmith]

so your application would simply call the build tool with the right values for the compiler variables on end-user machines, without additional runtime licenses

Michael,

I am interested in doing something like what you describe to mimic the behavior we currently have. Our current installer authoring tool outputs an actual .msi file. We have written an application that our Systems Engineers use to customize the MSI. They provide a few values into text fields and our app uses MSI APIs to alter the MSI database with these values. All they need at their disposal is the .msi file and this utility.

Can we replicate this behavior using InstallAware? If we followed your suggestion of using the stand-alone build tool with compiler variables, can the build tool operate on an already-built installer? We can't ask the Systems Engineers to have the entire source directory full of binaries and other files with them just to customize the installer. They need to be able to take an already-built vanilla installer with them and customize it using as simple a utility as possible.

Can this be done using InstallAware? Can the stand-alone build tool operate on an already-built installer?


Thanks!

[jsmith]

OK, I just found this in the InstallAware Reviewers Guide:

Coupled with the redistributable command line build interface that is provided with higher-end InstallAware editions, compiler variables may also be used to create customized installation packages directly on end-user systems – again without having to use the automation interface to
programmatically emit full setup projects from scratch.

So it appears I can do what I want to do. Now the question is... how? Is there a documented example of how to do this somewhere?