OFFLINE content

[Bjarne]

Hi folks.
I have a question regarding the OFFLINE content.

When installing an application created by IA9SP2 I've noticed that the -entire- content of the installation package is copied to %APPDATA%\<AppGuid>\OFFLINE\*.
Whats the idea behind this?

I've made pretty huge installers with several features containing loads of files and -ALL- files of -ALL- features are copied to this location regardless of which features being selected by the user during installation.
Why isn't just the selected features files copied...?

[mills]

You can control this behavior with the "Always Cache Setup Sources" options in the Project Options:

projOptions_Build_Cache.JPG (49.57 KiB) Viewed 7691 times

Pressing F1 on that screen brings up the context-sensitive help, which states:

Always Cache Setup Sources (enables easy patching)

This three-state check-box lets you control setup source caching. When the box is filled, the default source caching option (as described above for each build type) is in effect. When cleared, setup sources are never cached. When checked, setup sources are always cached.

Caching setup sources consumes additional disk space on the target system. This loss of space is partially offset by the usage of NTFS compression if the target file system is NTFS. The advantage of caching setup sources is that when a patch is being applied, or when setup is being re-run in maintenance mode without the original installation file or media, setup will never prompt for the original setup sources - patching, or repairing/adding new application features automatically.

When setup sources are not cached, no disk space is wasted on the target system for a copy of the installation files. However, running setup in maintenance mode (other than uninstalling the application) will require access to original setup sources, as will patching setup.

[Bjarne]

Thanx for your reply!

Just a followup, is this cache also required for "Previous Version Uninstallation"?

[mills]

Caching is not required for uninstallation.

[NickDay]

I've had a similar problem. In case it helps anyone, the solution for me was to recognise that the "Always cache setup sources" checkbox has _three_ states. I needed it checked, not just filled in. This has caught me out more than once, although it is stated in the documentation snipped above. InstallAware12.

[delmore]

Another tip--if you are using a file bag, uninstall will not work gracefully. In my installer, I got around this by making all of my calls to my custom DLL during install and then used persistent variables to make the necessary values available during uninstall. If you hit a "Define File Bag" script command during an uninstall operation (as opposed to skipping it with an "If REMOVE not Equals TRUE") the installer will prompt the end user for "the location of the files". What it's looking for is a complete copy of the uncompressed file set (i.e., a CD/DVD build). If you are like me and only generate a Single EXE output, there is no install set for the end user to point to, and he won't be able to complete the uninstall.