InstallAware 7 - projects \"sharing\" files and shortcuts

[alanj]

I have two projects. One is a subset of the other. That is, one project has to install only some of the the other's files and shortcuts.

Unfortunately, when I change one, the other changes. That is, if I add shortcuts to the one that requires four, the one that is supposed to have two, gets those new ones. Likewise with files. If I add files to the larger one, suddenly the smaller one has them.

Both projects are in separate directories, and have different names.

How do I prevent the projects from "sharing" their files and shortcuts on this way.

I have other projects set up that don't have this problem. I created the larger one out of the smaller one, and saved it to another directory. Is that the problem? Should I create an entirely new, clean, one?

Thanks

[MichaelNesmith]

Hi Alan,

When you "Save As" a project, the project files are not cloned. To clone a project and make the clone fully independent of the old one, you need to make a copy of the project folder. When you do "Save As", the master project file will be saved, but the master project will still use the same setup scripts it used to before (in the same paths too). After the "Save As" point, even copying the project folder will probably not make a difference, because the references in the master project file will point to the same shared script files.

Open up your .MPR file (the master project file) and search for the text ".MIA". Each .MIA file is a script that is used by the project. Fix up the paths manually so they are accurate. Copy and duplicate any script files as necessary on the physical file system.

Note that you can totally avoid the copy-and-clone nightmare by building more intelligent setups, for example those that use compiler variables. With compiler variables, you will have no need to clone projects - applying each customization instead at build time.

You can take that one step further and even do run-time customization off of a single built setup image with dynamic branching and intelligent scripting. Really, there's no need for copy and clone, but if you want to, make sure your script references are correct.