Creating a Universal Dynamic Suite Installer

InstallShield 11 Universal

Available in InstallShield Universal Premier Only

The following instructions are for creating a Universal Dynamic Suite Installer or Condenser Dynamic Suite project.

Universal Dynamic Suite projects that were built with previous versions of InstallShield MultiPlatform and InstallShield X Universal must be redesigned as described below in order to deploy them as InstallShield 10.5+ Dynamic Suites:

To redesign a Dynamic Suite from a previous InstallShield version:

Rebuild each referenced product's project as an assembly.
Build the Dynamic Suite.
Add the assemblies that should be referenced by the suite to the assemblies directory of the built suite.

Follow the procedures below to create a new Dynamic Suite:

To create a new Dynamic Suite:

Create a new project, and either select Universal Dynamic Suite Installer, or click the Condenser tab and select Condenser Dynamic Suite. The Installation Designer opens (the Project Assistant is not available for suite-type projects).
Right-click anywhere in the View List and select Expand All. All of the views expand.
In Installation Information, select General Information. The properties of the suite display in the Properties window. Set the General Information properties.
To have the Product Uninstaller Launcher use a different JVM than the installer, set the Product Uninstaller JVM Resolution properties in the Launchers view.
In the Sequences view:
1. Set the Category Reference property of the Assembly Category Reference actions to display the appropriate dialogs and execute the appropriate actions contained in the associated category of Assembly Sequences in the referenced assemblies' projects.
2. Add any additional dialogs and/or actions that you want to be included in the suite.
In the Releases view, set the Suite Build Configuration properties as described below:
1. For the Archive Type Info property, select any option. If you want the suite to have the capability to be spanned across multiple media, however, you must select either "Custom Size Archive" or "CDROM Archive." In those cases, you must place the assemblies' directory structures into a common directory, and then specify that directory in the Assemblies Folder property of the selected archive type—the assemblies cannot be added to the suite after the suite has been built.
2. Set up the Platform Support and Language Support.
3. To create a launcher for the suite, set up the Distributions for each targeted platform. Make sure that the Embed Archive property for each launcher is set to "True."
There is no JVM resolution configured for the referenced assemblies in a suite. Therefore, in the JVM Resolution view, you must set up JVM resolution for the suite.
Utilize any other advanced features, as necessary.
If you selected either "Custom Size Archive" or "CDROM Archive" above for the Archive Type Info property of the Suite Build Configuration, copy the entire directory structure of each assembly you want referenced by this suite into a common directory. That directory then needs to be specified in the Assemblies Folder property of the selected Archive Type Info type. Skip Steps 10 and 11.
In the Releases view, select the Suite Build Configuration that you just set up and build the suite. An assemblies directory will be created directly under the disk1 directory. To view the output directory structure, click Open Release Folder in the toolbar.
If you did not select "Custom Size Archive" or "CDROM Archive" above for the Archive Type Info property of the Suite Build Configuration, then for each built assembly that you want to be referenced by this suite, copy its entire directory structure to the Dynamic Suite's assemblies directory.
The assemblies that are installed by this suite can be changed by copying different assembly directory structures into the assemblies directory.

If all of the assemblies' project's Install and Uninstall Precedence properties were left set at the default value of "-1," then the assemblies will be installed/uninstalled as follows:
1. The requirements and dependencies between the assemblies are satisfied.
2. The remaining assemblies are installed in the alphabetical order of the name of their top directory.
3. The assemblies will be uninstalled in the exact opposite order they were installed.
If you changed the Install and/or Uninstall Precedence properties in any assembly's product project, then the assemblies will be installed/uninstalled as follows:
1. The assembly with the specified precedence property value(s) will be installed/uninstalled as you specified.
2. The requirements and dependencies between the assemblies are satisfied.
3. The remaining assemblies are installed in the alphabetical order of the name of their top directory; they will be uninstalled in the exact opposite sequence they were installed.