End User Computing

MSI System Tables The System tables contain the metadata for the Installer database—that is, they are the tables that describe the tables in the database. There are five system tables as described below: The _Tables Table: (MSI System Tables) What is a _Tables Table? The _Tables table lists all of the tables in the Installer […]

MSI User Interface Tables ,Like everything else about the Installer, the user interface is contained in a set of tables. Perhaps the easiest way to think about it is that the Installer stores all the properties needed to create dialogs and controls without providing any visual designer for those objects. Dialog Table: (MSI User Interface […]

MSI Installation Procedure Tables group includes tables that control the sequence of actions during an installation. This group includes following tables: The InstallUISequence Table: (MSI Installation Procedure Tables) What is an InstallUISequence table? The InstallUISequence table lists actions that are executed when the top-level INSTALL action is executed and the internal user interface level is […]

MSI ODBC Tables ,The Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) tables group consists of five tables that allow the Installer to install ODBC drivers and data sources. The ODBCDataSource Table: What is a ODBCDataSource table? The ODBCDataSource table lists the ODBC data sources in the installation. This table has following columns: DataSource: This is an arbitrary string […]

MSI Registry Tables What is a Registry table? This table holds all the miscellaneous (that is, not directly related to COM or COM+) information that the Installer needs to write to the Registry to install the application. The Registry table is used by the WriteRegistryValues action. This table contains the following columns: Registry: This column […]

MSI Advertising Tables Basically the Installer developers discourage the use of self-registration. Instead, Registry entries should be made through these tables. While there is one table that simply writes Registry keys (the Registry table), there are others that are more specialized. These specialized tables enable the Installer to make full use of COM, support advertising […]

MSI File Tables group include tables that specify the files to be used in the installation. This includes files to be installed, moved, or duplicated, as well as to be self-registered. File Tables group includes the following tables: File: (MSI File Tables) What is a File table? This particular table lists entire files of an […]

MSI Introduction to Table basically represents a portion of the MSI file. MSI file is a well organized database. And this database is organized in to components and Features. The package installation logic is stored in the database along with the tables. Tables in an MSI file store data about how the software application is […]

What is patching? A patch is an updated version for an application. One can obtain patches from the software manufacturers or internal developers of the original program. One can update an existing application without uninstalling the product. This preserves the customizations of the installation and potentially reduces the cost to make the change. The patch […]

What are Upgrades? MSI Upgrades From a Windows Installer perspective, upgrade packages are fully functional packages that can install software applications on a clean machine. Package developers might require previous versions before installations can proceed, but this requirement is simply a licensing control—the package itself contains all the information necessary to install the package on […]