Command Line Builds

InstallShield 11 Universal

You can use a command line command to build your project without opening the interface. This is an automation layer that provides you with the command line build commands that make regular builds more efficient and automatic. They enable you to make changes to properties in the project and start a build process from the command line.

When you perform a command line build to build a project that was created with InstallShield MultiPlatform Version 4+, conversion of the project to Universal is done automatically.

If you are performing your command line builds with the InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.exe executable, and you have custom beans included in your project, then you need to add your custom class path entries to a file named InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.cp. You can copy the InstallShieldUniversal.cp file and rename the copy InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.cp. Then add your custom class paths to the InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild.cp file.

Descriptions of the following elements of command line builds are provided below:



Where applicable, the explanation of these elements includes using 
 an XSL stylesheet to modify the project.

A command line build (as well as the execution of an installation) returns 
 an exit code, which is 
 useful for determining whether the build completed successfully, completed 
 with warnings, etc.

Command Line Syntax

The following syntax is for performing a command line build:

InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild 
 <path to project_filename>.uip <options> -build <build configuration>

For example:

InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild /usr/marlo/myprojects/project1.uip -build buildConfiguration2

You can also use the following command, but you must include the paths to all of the required classpaths. This command is useful if you use Ant scripts to automate your builds.

	

	For additional information regarding using Ant scripts to build Universal projects, see the article at  http://www.installshield.com/news/newsletter/0211-articles/ISMPant.asp. Although this article was written for InstallShield MultiPlatform version 5.x, it also applies to InstallShield Universal.

<path to Java executable> cp <cpelements> com.installshield.isje.ISJE -build <build configuration>

	

	For examples of using this command, see the launch.txt file in the <Universal home>/HelpLibrary/SupportFiles directory.

Command Line Options

The syntax for using command line options is as follows:

-xsl <xsl_stylesheet_filename> 
 [-save <or> -saveas <absolute path to new_project_filename>]

The following command line build options enable you to perform specific 
 activities on the project when it is built. Supported command line build 
 options are as follows:





Option
Description




-pathVariable <pathVariableName>=<value>
Sets the specified pathVariableName to the specified value. 
 More than one path variable can 
 be set in the command line by repeating the entire option. If no path 
 variable is set on the command line, then all of the path variables are 
 used as they are set in the project .uip file.


-pathVariableFile 
 <pathVariable file path>
Sets the location of the alias.properties file for 
 this build.


-build <build_configuration>
Builds the project file. If a build 
 configuration is not specified, then the Default Build Configuration is used.


-save
Saves the modification(s) made to the project file.


-saveas <new_project_filename>
Saves the modified project file to a specified new project file name. 
 If used with -xsl, an absolute path to the new project file name 
 must be used.


-xsl <XSL_stylesheet_filename>
Performs the transformation of the template(s) listed in the XSL 
 stylesheet to the specified project file.


Examples Using the -build Option

The following examples are of using the -build option:




InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild 
 is the command to build your project on the command line on both Windows 
 and UNIX development machines.
 




Description
Command


Builds the 0th index build 
 configuration of the specified project.
InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild 
 <project_filename>.uip -build "0"
 
 

Builds the project with the specified name with Java debugging turned 
 on. If the name specified for the build configuration does not match any 
 of the build configurations within the project, then the default (0th 
 index) Product build configuration is used to build the project.
InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild 
 <project_filename>.uip -build "Build Configuration 2"
 


Performs the transformation specified in the stylesheet, and then builds 
 the transformed file. The <project_filename>.uip is 
 passed as the first argument.
InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild 
 <project_filename>.uip -xsl "stylesheet.xsl" -build
 
 




	
	Using the -xsl option without a 
 -save, -saveas, or -build option 
 does not have any effect. The transformed changes are not saved.

	
	With some JVMs, the command line build of a project 
 may hang at the completion of the build when an AWT component has been 
 instantiated in the main declaration section of a custom 
 bean. With some JVMs, this instantiation results in the creation of 
 an extra thread named AWT-Windows, which is not properly shut 
 down at the completion of the command line build. Therefore, do not 
 instantiate any AWT components in the main declaration section of a custom 
 bean. AWT components can instead be safely instantiated in the createUI() 
 method, which is then only called when the bean runs in GUI mode.


See Also

Stand-alone Builder (SAB)

Command Line Options

Using XSL Stylesheets

Creating Custom Beans

Including Libraries in a Build

Option	Description
`-pathVariable <pathVariableName>=<value>`	Sets the specified `pathVariableName` to the specified value. More than one path variable can be set in the command line by repeating the entire option. If no path variable is set on the command line, then all of the path variables are used as they are set in the project .uip file.
`-pathVariableFile <pathVariable file path>`	Sets the location of the alias.properties file for this build.
`-build <build_configuration>`	Builds the project file. If a build configuration is not specified, then the Default Build Configuration is used.
`-save`	Saves the modification(s) made to the project file.
`-saveas <new_project_filename>`	Saves the modified project file to a specified new project file name. If used with `-xsl`, an absolute path to the new project file name must be used.
`-xsl <XSL_stylesheet_filename>`	Performs the transformation of the template(s) listed in the XSL stylesheet to the specified project file.

Description	Command
Builds the 0th index build configuration of the specified project.	`InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild <project_filename>.uip -build "0"`
Builds the project with the specified name with Java debugging turned on. If the name specified for the build configuration does not match any of the build configurations within the project, then the default (0th index) Product build configuration is used to build the project.	`InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild <project_filename>.uip -build "Build Configuration 2"`
Performs the transformation specified in the stylesheet, and then builds the transformed file. The `<project_filename>.uip is passed as the first argument.`	`InstallShieldUniversalCommandLineBuild <project_filename>.uip -xsl "stylesheet.xsl" -build`