InstallAware

I have several problems in my installer scheme using IA 2012 Studio Admin. All are caused by the fact that IA creates the Installer Cache folder using the Revision Code GUID (e.g. C:\ProgramData\{FD1D6C97-17FE-4688-94CF-10D60CE3E53A}).

This is problem for me in several ways. Is there a way to change this behavior? Stated a different way; Is there a way to override/change the value of $UNINSTALLLINK$ to be something I prefer?

I tried setting $UNINSTALLLINK$ and it ignores me. I see the predefined variable called OVERRIDECACHE. I tried setting that. It didn't work. The same GUID based folder name was created only in a different location. The OVERRIDECACHE variable seems to only allow you to direct where the parent folder will be and NOT the name of the actual installer cache folder that hangs off that parent folder. IA always seems to want to use the GUID naming convention for the cache folder. Terrible idea in my opinion.

Sorry if this question is answered somewhere already. For some reason the search feature on this site isn't working today. Returns nothing regardless of the search string.

Thanks
Mike

Dear Mike,

probably it is a terrible idea, but it is exactly as you reported. The GUI it is added always at the cache directory root you provide.
Personally I do not agre with you about "Terrible", but it is my opinion. This way ensures that every setup points to unique cache setup path.

Can you try to be more specific with your issue?
It is not to much clear the reason why you are you're trying to do this.
Probably thare are some other way to work on.

Regards

There are several reasons i would need to be able to define the installer cache folder myself and also NOT make it unique from install to install. Not sure it's worth boring everyone with our specific reasons and how it all integrates with our other processes. However, rest assured, it causes issues.

You mentioned the reason was to ensure the cache folder name was unique. This will certainly accomplish that goal, however, i do not see why that is so critical. Any other installer product simply creates (or allows you to create) a folder name that coresponds to the product name. A quick look at the ProgramData folder on your Win7 pc or the Application Data folder on your XP box will illustrate that.

So, is there no way to set this folder name?

By the way, the OVERRIDECACHE predefine variable doesn't seem to work either. If you set it to a custom location, the cache folder is indeed created at that location (using the GUID naming convention), however the actual cached installer files still go to the ProgramData location in a folder of the same GUID name. Unless I'm misusing that property, you might have a bug there.

Thanks
Mike

Dear Mike,

unfortunately the GUID it is added to the path and cannot be changed.

I have personally verified the OVERRIDECACHE setting as below, placing at the very first of my main script, and works.

MessageBox: Debug, OVERRIDECACHE = $OVERRIDECACHE$
Set Variable OVERRIDECACHE to c:\mycache
MessageBox: Debug, OVERRIDECACHE = $OVERRIDECACHE$

Then the cached sources gone to: c:\mycache\{GUID}

Tested on IA 2012

Regards

Thanks for the definitive answer Francesco. Not what I wanted to hear but at least I'll stop wasting time trying to change it in IA.

Regarding the OVERRIDECACHE. I am using IA2012 also, but I assure you it didn't work like that for me. The folder did get created where the OVERRIDECACHE variable specified, but the actual cache data went to a identically named folder under the Application Data folder. Very strange. Maybe the OS type matters. The test box I was using was XPsp3. I didn't try it with any other OS. In the end, it doesn't matter much to me because even if it had worked it wouldn't solve my problem. All that predefined variable did was affect the parent folder location not the actual cache folder name.

Thanks again for the quick responses.

Mike

Probably I tested in win 7 ... but I will check Also on xp ... but should work.

Regards

Dear Mike,

tested on XP sp3 and works has expected.

By the way, the OVERRIDECACHE predefine variable doesn't seem to work either. If you set it to a custom location, the cache folder is indeed created at that location (using the GUID naming convention), however the actual cached installer files still go to the ProgramData location in a folder of the same GUID name. Unless I'm misusing that property, you might have a bug there.

By default the folder it is hidden ... so try to verify your folder settings and try again.

Regards

Thanks Francesco. Good point. I didn't consider if the folder was hidden.

I suppose it doesn't matter now. I have rewritten things to avoid the need to specify our own folder name for the installer cache. It complicates things. I wish IA would consider making that more flexible in the future. Buf for now the problem is solved.

Thanks for following up

Mike