3. Configuring the Setup Project
There are different ways for
configuring your Windows Installer package through the setup project.
The first way is setting the package’s properties, which you accomplish
by first clicking on the project name in Solution Explorer and then
switching to the Properties window. All the available properties affect
layout, messages, and target folders when launching the installer. Figure 5 shows an example of how you can set properties.
![](http://programming4.us/image/012013/Setup%20&%20Deployment%20Projects%20for%20Windows%20Installer_5.jpg)
Properties are self-explanatory, but you can click on
each of them to get a description at the bottom of the window. Focus on
the Manufacturer property that determines the destination
folder for the application on the target machine, although the installer
lets you modify the destination.
When you create setup projects, Solution Explorer
shows an extended toolbar that now provides buttons for accessing
editors for specific package properties, such as the Registry editor and
the file types’ editor. In the next sections we often refer to these
buttons, so take a look at Solution Explorer to locate them.
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Editing the File System
You
can manage files to be installed with your package in the File System
editor, which can be enabled with the appropriate button from Solution
Explorer. Figure 6 shows how it looks when the new project is created.
You can select a folder to add other files in the
right side of the window or add shortcuts to your executable as well.
For example, you can add shortcuts for the user’s desktop and Programs
menu by selecting the appropriate folders in the left side of the window
and then right-clicking the right side of the window; then choose Create New Shortcut.
Finally you will be required to specify the executable to be linked via
a dialog window. You can specify additional folders and Windows special
folders; for this, it is worth mentioning that you can add assemblies
to the Global Assembly Cache. This is one of the reasons why you should
choose Windows Installer for deploying your applications. To specify
assemblies that must be installed to the GAC, right-click File System on Target Machine; then select Add Special Folder, Global Assembly Cache Folder. This creates a reference to the GAC in the file system editor. Now right-click the Global Assembly Cache Folder item and select Add, Assembly.
You can select one or more assemblies via a dialog
window. Notice that Visual Studio can determine all assemblies’
dependencies and can automatically add related assemblies to the
project.
Editing Registry Values
One
of the biggest benefits in deploying applications with Windows
Installer is that you can add keys and values to the Windows Registry on
the target machine. You create keys, subkeys, and values by selecting
the Registry Editor in Solution Explorer and then right-clicking the desired root key; finally add the required key or value. Figure 8 shows how to accomplish this.
Values are then visible on the right side of the
editor. You have complete control over the Registry and that Visual
Studio prepares a Registry key for your own application under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software.
Customizing Dialogs
Windows Installer dialogs are customizable, meaning
that you can replace default text messages and title bitmaps, but you
can also add your own dialogs. To edit dialogs, select the Dialog Editor in Solution Explorer and then select the desired dialog. Changes are performed via the Properties window. Figure 9 shows an example.
Each dialog offers a BannerBitmap property
that you can replace with your own bitmap image. Other properties depend
exclusively on the specific dialog. For example the Welcome dialog has CopyrightWarning and WelcomeText properties that contain text that you can replace with your own.
Creating File Types
There are situations in which you need to associate a
custom file extension to your executable. Visual Studio enables putting
this information into Windows Installer packages in a convenient way.
You provide custom extensions to be associated to the executable and
actions to be executed over the extension via the File Types editor. You
add an extension by right-clicking the File Types on Target Machine item and then selecting Add File Type. When the new file type is added to the editor, you customize its properties via the Properties window. Figure 10 shows an example of this kind of customization.
Providing Custom Actions
A custom action enables specifying that an external file or that an instance of the Installer
class must be executed at the specified installation time. A typical
example is when you need to include in your installation package the
redistributables of a particular runtime or components (for example the
MDAC components) used by your application that need to be installed
before the application itself. To add a custom action, select the Custom Actions editor from Solution Explorer; then right-click the installation phase that is appropriate for you and select Add Custom Action, as shown in Figure 11.
At this point you will be asked to specify the
executable to be run at the established moment, via a dialog window. You
can pick up the executable from the list of files available in the
current package; if the required executable is not part of the file
system yet, add it to the package, and then re-add the custom action.
It is worth mentioning that you could create a class
library with Visual Basic and implement it as a custom action during the
installation. This provides great granularity on custom
functionalities, such as asking for a product key or downloading updates
and so on.
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Specifying Launch Conditions
Launch
conditions enable specifying minimum system requirements needed for
continuing the installations. You add launch conditions via the Launch
Conditions editor that you can start with the appropriate button in
Solution Explorer. There are two launch conditions types; the first type
enables searching for the specified file or component on the target
system, whereas the second type enables specifying custom conditions
such as hardware requirements. When the editor is ready, simply
right-click the desired condition type and then click Add Launch Condition. Figure 12 shows a sample launch condition that checks for the machine’s physical memory.
The Condition property contains the condition that must be True for the installation to begin. The Message
property contains a localizable text that will be shown whether the
condition is evaluated as False. The full list of available conditions
can be found in the MSDN Library at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cz6k1z02(VS.100).aspx.
Package Configuration and Prerequisites
You can configure additional properties for your setup package by right-clicking the project name and selecting Properties. This shows the project Property Page represented in Figure 13,
where you can specify the output name, how the installer will be
packaged (for example, Msi or Cab format), or the compression type.
Notice that by clicking the Configuration Manager
button you can edit existing configurations (that is, Debug and
Release) or add new ones to affect your output packages. This is also
the place where you can set up your package to target 64-bit machines.
Another important task is setting up prerequisites. Click the Prerequisites button to launch the dialog shown in Figure 14.
Prerequisites are those
packages or runtime components that must be installed together with the
application so that it can work correctly. After you set up all
properties shown in this section, you can build and distribute your
package.
4. Building and Deploying the Windows Installer Package
To create your Windows Installer distributable package, right-click the setup project name in Solution Explorer and select Build. As an alternative, you can choose the appropriate Build
command from the Build menu. This generates a bootstrapper named
Setup.exe and the Windows Installer package with an .Msi extension,
which in our case is named SetupExample.Msi. The output will be
available in the project subfolder related to the current configuration
(Bin\Debug or Bin\Release). These are the files that you need to
distribute to your customers for installing your application. They
simply run the Setup.exe bootstrapper that correctly starts the Windows
Installer package.