Files (Setup Architecture)

The Files page allows you to define which files are installed as part of your product setup. You may assign groups of files to specific setup features, or alternately have files always install if they are vital for your application and should not be deselectable from the setup user interface.

Adding Files to Install

There are various ways to install files and folders as part of your setup.

Defining New Files and Folders

You may define new files and folders from scratch:

1. Check the Filter Files by Feature button.
2. If you wish to add files/folders to a particular feature of your setup, choose that feature. If you prefer the files/folders to always install, select the Feature Independent item instead.
3. In the Target Folders view, select the parent folder for the files/folders to add. If no folders are visible yet, do nothing - you can always specify the parent folder for your items later.
4. Right click in the Target Files view and choose Add New Files or Add New Folder based on the type of item you wish to add to your setup.
5. Browse to the item to add and click OK to apply your changes.

This method lets you create files and folders inside folders already visible on the Target Folders structure. Read below for more information on how to install files and folders inside new folders that may not yet be part of the Target Folders structure.

Adding New Folders

To add a new folder:

1. In the Desktop view, navigate to the folder to add.
2. Check the Filter Files by Feature button.
3. If you wish to add the folder to a particular feature of your setup, choose that feature. If you prefer the folder to always install, select the Feature Independent item instead.
4. Choose the parent folder for the new folder in the Target Folders view. If no folders are visible yet, do nothing - you can always specify the parent folder for your items later.
5. Click the Add Folder button.

Adding New Files

To add new files:

1. In the Desktop view, navigate to the folder containing the files to add.
2. Check the Filter Files by Feature button.
3. If you wish to add your files to a particular feature of your setup, choose that feature. If you prefer the files to always install, select the Feature Independent item instead.
4. Choose the parent folder for the new files in the Target Folders view. If no folders are visible yet, do nothing - you can always specify the parent folder for your items later.
5. Highlight the files to add to your setup and click the Add Files button.

Scanning for Dependencies

You may run an .EXE program file and dynamically scan it for the libraries which it requires at run-time. This way you will not miss any libraries that the program needs and properly install all files associated with the program, eliminating the guesswork involved in determining dependencies.

To dynamically scan a file for its dependencies:

1. Check the Filter Files by Feature button.
2. If you wish to add the dependencies to a particular feature of your setup, choose that feature. If you prefer the dependencies to be always installed, select the Feature Independent item.
3. Click the Scan button.
4. Browse to the program to scan.
5. After you have selected the program, the program is launched automatically. Wait for the program to finish loading.
6. Once the program has loaded, be sure to use all of its features. This way the program loads and uses all of the libraries it may ever need at runtime.
7. Do not close the program. Return back to the IDE.
8. Click OK to add detected dependencies to your setup project.
9. After the dependencies have been added, you may close the scanned program.

Updating Files, Folders

Updating Folders

To update a folder (along with all files inside it):

1. Uncheck the Filter Files by Feature button to see all folders being created by your setup.
2. In the Target Folders field, right click the folder to update and choose Edit.
3. The Install Files dialog opens. Update the dialog fields as appropriate:
• Updating the Target Folder field changes the destination of the selected folder (and all items inside it).
• Other installation properties may be updated for all selected items at once.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

If the Edit option is disabled when you right click the folder, this indicates that the folder you are trying to update is not being explicitly created by your setup (you may be creating a subfolder of the highlighted folder instead).

When you update a folder using this method, subfolders of that folder are not affected.

Updating Files

You may update individual files, or select multiple files and update them simultaneously (in this case, you may change the target folder and installation properties for all selected files in a single pass). You may also specify wildcards for files being installed to dynamically include all matching files in your setup at build time.

1. Uncheck the Filter Files by Feature button to see all files and folders being created by your setup.
2. In the Target Files field, highlight all files to update.
3. Right click the selection and choose Edit Files.
4. The Install Files dialog opens. Update the dialog fields as appropriate:
   • If you chose multiple files, you may update their target folders and installation properties in a single pass.
   • If you chose a single file, you may update all of its properties - including the file being installed itself. For instance, you may replace a fixed file name with a wildcard to automatically install all matching files of the given wildcard in your setup at build time.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

The parent folder of the updated files may disappear if there are no longer any files being copied inside it.

Removing Files, Folders

Removing Folders

To remove a folder (along with all the files inside it):

1. Uncheck the Filter Files by Feature button to see all files and folders being installed by your setup.
2. In the Target Folders field, right click the folder to delete and choose Delete.

If the Delete option is disabled when you right click the folder, this indicates that the folder you are trying to delete is not being explicitly installed by your setup (you may be installing a subfolder of the highlighted folder instead).

When you delete a folder using this method, subfolders of that folder are not affected.

Removing Files

You may remove single files, or select multiple files, and wildcard patterns, to remove them all:

1. Uncheck the Filter Files by Feature button to see all files and folders being installed by your setup.
2. In the Target Files field, highlight all files (or wildcard patterns) to remove.
3. Right click the selection and choose Delete Files .

The parent folder of the deleted files may disappear if there are no longer any files/folders being installed underneath it.

Working with Target Folders

You may add pre-defined system folders to the Target Folders structure, or create your own custom folders. While explicitly creating folders is not required, while designing your setup it can be easier to build your folder hierarchy first, and then add all the files to your setup.

Defining System Folders

A collection of pre-defined system folders will always be available on the remote system. The IDE displays the most frequently used folders, but you may want to display additional system folders when they are required:

1. Right click an element in the Target Folders view.
2. Choose Add System Folder.
3. In the Display System Folder dialog box, select the pre-defined system folder you wish to add, then click OK to apply your changes.

The folder is added as a top level element to the Target Folders view using an abbreviated name.

Creating Custom Folders

To explicitly create a folder:

1. Right click an element in the Target Folders view.
2. Choose Create Subfolder .
3. In the Create Subfolder dialog box, type the name of the folder to create, then click OK to apply your changes. You may specify multiple (nested) new folders in this field.

You cannot add a custom folder to the root of the Target Folders view - you must always start with a pre-defined system folder.

The $TARGETDIR$ folder represents the end-user chosen installation directory at run-time, and is automatically created for you the first time you add a file. If you do not see this folder, select the Target Folders node in the Target Folders view, and add a file or folder to your setup by clicking the Add Folder or Add Files button. $TARGETDIR$ is automatically created for you and the item you added is placed inside $TARGETDIR$.

Removing Folders

You may remove a custom folder that you explicity created, or a pre-defined system folder that is displayed in the list of folders under the Target Folders view. To remove a folder:

1. Select the folder to remove in the Target Folders view.
2. Right-click and choose Remove Subfolder.

If the folder still appears in the Target Folders view, there might be files being installed inside it. Removing those files will remove the folder as well.

Folders that have not been explicity defined or created cannot be removed using this method. They will disappear automatically when no more files are being installed inside them.

Scripting Details

The two-way integrated IDE emits or updates the underlying setup script every time the visual view is used. If you are using InstallAware scripting in your setups, the following information identifies the changes made by this visual page to your setup script.

Commands Used

This page emits the following types of scripting commands: Install Files, Create Folder, Get Folder Location. Additional general scripting commands may be emitted.

Commands Required

This page requires the following scripting commands to be already present in your setup script: Apply Install.