Changes for patch builds and Windows Installer Errors.

[ChrisN]

Hi everyone.

We have some trouble with our patches. So I have to ask, if there are limitations for script changes, due to patch builds. Is there something I shouldn't remove from or add to my projects and scripts, because this could cause errors during patch installation?

The question comes up, because we get some Windows Installer Error Messages:

• 2709: The specified Component name ('[Name]') not found in Component Table.
• 2711: The specified Feature name ('[Name]') not found in Feature Table.

We have found the codelines inside the scripts and both of them are "Write Registry" commands.


Best regards.

[MichaelNesmith]

That's a great question!

As long as your script flows the same and installation statements do not move around much (for example, a statement which was near the end of your script does not land on the top of it), the patching should work flawlessly. The Windows Installer engine uses InstallAware compiled MSI files internally in calculating patch differences and therefore the closer you keep your scripts to the old versions, the easier it will be for the engine to resolve everything (unfortunately that part is a Microsoft black box we don't really get to see).

Also, if you changed any compiler optimization switches across different builds, that may cause problems. Compiler optimizations affect how the MSI files are generated and generally the Blend option works best. If you mix different optimization types together, the MSI files generated may be radically different so that will make it harder for the black box to sort through patch changes.

Finally, across major version revisions of InstallAware, new compiler variables are introduced which contain further optimizations to the MSI generation process as documented in the help file What's New and Upgrading From InstallAware X sections. You should review those to make sure that again, across various generations of your product releases, they remain consistent - this will help keep MSI files closely aligned across different versions, improving your patch success rates.