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What are the Properties? (MSI Properties) Windows Installer can configure software installation by using the values of variables defined in an installation package or by the user. What are the types of Properties? (MSI Properties) Windows Installer uses three categories of global variables during an installation: Private properties: The installer uses private properties internally and […]

What are custom actions? The Windows Installer provides many built-in standard actions for performing the installation process. Standard actions are sufficient to execute an installation in most cases. However, there are situations where the developer of an installation package finds it necessary to write a custom action. The actions written to perform specific tasks is […]

What is an Environment Variable? An environment variable contains information about an aspect of the OS environment, such as a drive, path, or configuration string. When one create an OS environment with Microsoft® Platform Builder, the IDE sets specific environment variables based on the platform settings one select. The following table lists the system and […]

The Program Information tables group contains tables with information that’s used for the Installer’s internal operations. This group includes these tables: Property Table: (MSI Program Information Tables) What is a Property table? The Property table contains all of the properties and corresponding values that are present in an installation. This table has following columns: Property: […]

MSI Locator Table ,The primary uses for this set of tables are to find old versions of components being upgraded or to check to make sure the user has installed software prerequisites. The Locator Tables group contains a set of tables that can be used to search for applications and files on the user’s computer […]

ServiceInstall Table: (MSI Service Tables) What is a ServiceInstall table? (MSI Service Tables) (MSI Service Tables )The ServiceInstall table lets the Installer add a new service to the user’s computer and has the following columns ServiceInstall: This is an arbitrary key for this table. Name: Column contains the name of the service—that is, the name […]

Why is File Versioning required? At the core of any installer is the actual installation of files. Determining whether to install a file is a complex process. At the highest level, this determination depends on whether the component to which a file belongs is marked for installation. Once determined that a file should be copied, […]

What is File Association? File associations can be defined as the relationship between the file and the application that created it. They are what the Microsoft Windows operating system uses to open a file with the correct program. For example, a .doc file will open with Microsoft Word, and a .bmp will open by default […]

What are services? A Windows Service is an application that does not have a user interface. It commonly runs without human intervention and can be automatically started when the computer starts up. Examples of Windows Services are the Internet Information Server (IIS), Telnet, and FTP. By definition, it’s a program that runs invisibly in the […]

What is a shortcut? A shortcut, usually represented by an icon, is a small file that points to a program, folder, document, or Internet location. Clicking on a shortcut icon takes you directly to the object to which the shortcut points. Shortcut icons contain a small arrow in their lower left corner. Shortcuts are merely […]