Inserting new MSIScript commands

[seanmckenna]

I started using InstallAware a couple of weeks ago and I have been using the code view quite extensively lately and there seems to be a few issues. I think InstallAware is a great product and its working out very nicely for my project. The compression is great, and in general its so much easier to do complicated tasks than in InstallShield. Even so, I have found the following issues, which made it hard for me to get started working with InstallAware. Once I got used to all these little issues, it was ok, but as a new user some of these caught me quite off guard.

1. DRAG AND DROP COMMANDS. You cannot drag a command from the toolbox on the right hand side. When you drag a command, the page scrolls all the way to the top. For any normal size installation project, this makes drag/drop useless. I have read a few posts where new users complain about this, but you guys just say "just start typing its a lot better anyways". Does anyone at InstallAware acknowledge that drag/drop is not functioning?

2. TEXT EDITING. When I just "start typing" to insert new commands, this seems to have some issues with it. If I type enough to get the command I want to show up, then I press tab to insert it. Of course this exits from the text edit box. To use the hi-lighted word, I guess I need to use the right arrow key, ok thats fine. But how can I insert the command once I finish typing it? For example, If I type:

Set Variable x

then press enter, nothing happens. If I press tab, I loose what I just typed. I don't see how I can insert a command this way.

Most of the time, I don't want to insert a new command, but I want to edit an existing command. It would be nice if I could select a code line and edit it just by typing. Although I can see how this can be confused with creating a new line.

3. COPYING. Because of the above issues, when I need to insert a new command, I always end up using copy/paste to reuse a command that already exits. then I just edit the properties. Since I use mostly the same couple of commands over and over, this is not too hard. One thing I see is that right clicking on a line does not select it. This is confusing if you right click a line and select copy. Instead of copying the line you think its going to copy (the one you right clicked on) it actually copies the selected line (which may or may not be in the currently viewable area. In most applications, right clicking on something in a list will select it AND bring up the context menu.

4. COMMENTS. If a line is commented out, and you copy it, only the command is copied, not the comment. This doesn't make any sense to me. If I copy a commented command, I expect to copy the commented command, not the command without the comment.

5. CODE FOLDING REGIONS. Each code folding region has a "+" icon next to it. I expect that I would be able to click this icon to expand the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case and you must double click on the region to expand it. This is quite confusing because for every other line of code, double clicking lets you edit the properties for that command. To edit the properties of a code folding region, you need to hit enter on this line.

[Fig]

I have been using IA for a few weeks now and agree with almost all of your thoughts. In particular, the "drag-n-drop" thing is frustrating for me. Like you, I am confused by the "just start typing" thing, too. I just don't get it. Also, when you mentioned "double-clicking" the folding icon the light finally came on in my head ... no wonder I couldn't get it to work.

But, when I copy/paste a comment line it works fine for me. I select the line I want to copy by clicking on it with the mouse. Then I use CTRL+C to copy it, scroll to where I want to put the copy and click that line, and use CTRL+V. The comments are pasted into the new comment line.

The About box says I have IA "Version 6.0 (Build gwinnett_sp1 060606)"

[MichaelNesmith]

The "just typing" is really easy.

1. When you start typing, commands that are closest to the letters you have typed so far are highlighted for you

2. If you like the highlighted command, just press ENTER (do NOT keep typing, as you have to enter command parameters in the command window).

3. If you don't, use the up-down arrows to navigate to similar commands in alphabetical order.

4. You can also pull-down the drop-down menu to scroll through available commands faster.

Drag-drop also works. I was able to select any line in the script, then drag-drop onto that exact page. All the same, I have passed your comments on, so that our developers can make this more friendly.

Thanks for your feedback! Hope the "just type" method works for you now.

[seanmckenna]

Hmm ... OK, so I guess pressing Enter wasn't working for me because I typed in the entire line. I'll give that a try.

I'm really not sure why the drag/drop works for you but not for myself and other users. I can't think of a way to demonstrate this to you, so I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

Thanks for your help and passing along my comments.

[Tinus]

Michael,

try to reproduce the drag-drop problem this way:

Select MSIcode and expand all regions. You should have a long listing now.
Scroll down to the last line and select it.

Now drag a command. As soon as the cursor is in the MSIcode window the windows will scroll to top.

[MichaelNesmith]

I've tried that also, couldn't get it to happen.

The drag-drop method is a very inconvenient way to enter code anyways. You should instead type directly in the code editor - its much faster.

A lot of our users never did realize that they could type code directly in the editor window, so now we're showing a blinking caret in the editor window. That should send the right message

[Gunter]

4. COMMENTS. If a line is commented out, and you copy it, only the command is copied, not the comment. This doesn't make any sense to me. If I copy a commented command, I expect to copy the commented command, not the command without the comment.

I have sometimes this problem also. I's very frustrating because if you're not aware of this at the time of the copy/paste, it can lead to alot of searching and debugging in code that used to work ...
Btw, an "undo" function would be great, especially because you can't use a previous script file (backup) with a text editor.

I'm using v6.24
A downloadable patch to 6.32 would be great also

[MichaelNesmith]

Latest on this.

1. This scrolling is now fixed.
2. Never use tab. Do use enter.
3-5. Still pending