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InstallShield Pro Tools & Tips: Compiler and Media Builder

Note regarding InstallShield 6: Unless otherwise stated the tips and tricks on this page have been written for InstallShield 5, and not all of them will work with InstallShield 6. Some may even damage your project files, so remember to make backups first.

Command Line Compiler and Media Builder

Creating a setup project always requires the IDE. But after you once compiled your script and built your media, you can maintain your project from the command line. InstallShield Software Corporation has released the software and documentation that is required for command line compiles and builds. It is included in InstallShield Professional version 5.1 and above.

In version 5.5 the Media Builder even has an automation interface. The COM server is in MediaBuild20.dll (located in <COMMONFILES>\InstallShield\MediaBuild). It is not officially documented or supported, but for someone familiar with typical programmable object model the type library for the MediaBuild object model should be self documenting. The type library is embedded in the MediaBuild20.dll and you can view it in VB object browser, for example.

Create Precompiled Script Libraries in IS6

IS6 comes with some precompiled script libraries (.obl files) for common code. Here is how to create your own .obl library files:

  1. Run compile.exe with /c command line parameter to compile your .RUL files.
  2. Create a text file with a list of all the .OBS files. You can do this using the DIR command:
    dir *.obs /b > obs.txt
  3. Run compile.exe with the /l command line parameter to create the library:
    compile.exe /l @obs.txt /o"MYLIB.obl"

Set Language for a Media Build

You can select which of the languages included in your setup will actually be used for a media build.

Update: Added support for InstallShield 5.5

ZIP LanguageBuild.zip (17.9981 Bytes)    Provided by Elihu Rozen

Solving Error -7241: Media chosen is not large enough

If you are building diskette media you may get this error message from the Media Build Wizard. The cause is, that InstallShield requires several files (such as _sys1.cab, _user1.cab, data1.cab and the setup engine files) to be located on disk 1. If you are targeting multiple languages and/or operating systems, the required files may not fit on a 1,44 MB diskette. There is no general solution for this problem, but here are some suggestions you can try to come over this limitation:

  1. Create separate media for each operating system. This will save about 300 KB on disk 1.
  2. Reduce the number of languages that your setup supports, or split them into separate media. The resource files are about 11 KB for each language, plus the string table. Also, for each language one IsUninst.exe is packaged into _sys1.cab.
  3. Make your splash bitmap smaller. Reduce the image size and use only 16 colors. You can even remove setup.bmp completly; your customers will then see the initializing progress dialog ("XY setup is prepearing the InstallShield wizard...") in the center of the screen.
  4. Don't use billboards and multimedia effects.
  5. Include only those SdDialog scripts that you really need. First #define SD_SINGLE_DIALOGS in the beginning of your setup.rul. Then add #defines for the SdDialogs that you a really using in your script; use the Dialog Sampler to find out which constant refers to a dialog. (Don't forget SD_PRODUCTNAME).
  6. Remove uninstall capability from your project. Each language and each operating system requires it's own IsUninst.Exe. Article Q101426 on the InstallShield Support Site will tell you how to remove the uninstaller.
  7. Put your data1.cab on a separate disk. You can use the EnterDisk() dialog to prompt for that disk and then call ComponentInitialize() to use that cab.
  8. Compress your setup into a self extracting archive. Maybe the resulting file will fit on one diskette. Please refer to the topic Self Extracting Packages for additional information. WinZip 7.0 can even create self-extractors that span multiple diskettes.
  9. Use a tool to format your diskette with a higher capacity, e.g. 1,8 MB. WinImage offers such formatting tools.

WWW Visit Gilles Vollant Software and download WinImage (Shareware)

 

 

 

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