How to add files after installtion

lilan · Post by **lilan** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:56 pm

Hi,

I need to add some files after the installtion. What whould be the best method to perform this task?

For an example, lets say that I have already installed the software. In the new version i need to add some more files. How can this be done without uninstalling the prevoius version?

Regards

Lilan

Bar_BQ · Post by **Bar_BQ** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:11 am

You can do this by using Run Program As function and running 'xcopy' command from console. I did like that and it works fine. Just create additional folder and use xcopy to copy all new files to your targetdir.

bokkie · Post by **bokkie** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:22 am

Another option is to create a new feature in your project and add the new files to it. If you then run the installation you can then select the customise option and then select the created feature. That will then install only the new files you want to add.

lilan · Post by **lilan** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:05 pm

Hi,

The company I work for develops softwares. So lets say that they have released one version of the software. In the new version, there r only some files added to the software. So what they want is, not to uninstall the pervious version. Just to add the new files when the new installer is executed.

On the replies that I got, for the second one, once u create a new installer it automatically uninstall the previous version and installs the new version right.

I need a way to work around this if possible.

Thanks

Regards

Lilan

Bar_BQ · Post by **Bar_BQ** » Wed May 06, 2009 3:12 am

Seems we have misundersood each other. For me, the best solution is to create a patch, despite IA claims it's not for making updates, just patching. There are no official information, any white papers, nothing about it... and I suppose there would be quite a lot users who want to know how to do this correctly...

ulrichard · Post by **ulrichard** » Wed May 06, 2009 6:19 am

Actually, there is a whitepaper on patching. On www.installaware.com -> Support-> Publications -> WhitePapers -> Using InstallAware to Patch Software Products.

To use patching, your script needs to be pretty stable (least amount of changes), that's why I did only some tests so far and am not using it for production.

Rgds
Richard

Bar_BQ · Post by **Bar_BQ** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:47 am

Ulrichard, I know there is PATCHING white paper, but Candice told me once that I shouldn't use patch method for building updates that add some new files. At the moment I don't know any other way to do this...

MichaelNesmith · Post by **MichaelNesmith** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:39 pm

You can always write some custom code to manually copy files using the WinAPI via Call DLL Function.

Patching also ought to work with new files, but as it has been mentioned, your scripts should be well-structured for the MSI engine to detect changes and new files successfully.

You can even preserve your old app settings so re-installs automatically leverage them, you can do this with pre-defined compiler variables or MSIcode script commands which load/save feature selections, and so forth.

Why not try with a patch to start out with, I know we have customers pushing new files successfully with that method...

lilan · Post by **lilan** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:41 pm

Thanks Guys

. It worked.......

bokkie · Post by **bokkie** » Thu May 07, 2009 1:45 am

lilan wrote:Thanks Guys . It worked.......

Care to share what strategy you adopted? I'd like to know if you used one or more solutions.

lilan · Post by **lilan** » Tue May 12, 2009 11:59 pm

I used the method where it involved patching.....