Installations That Can Be Condensed

InstallShield 11 Universal

The "condensing" function provides you with the ability to create one project and build different installations with it by including specific assemblies based on their root product's locale and targeted platform settings. You create and build either a Condenser Installer or Condenser Dynamic Suite project. Then, at run time, you select to include only those assemblies whose locales, targeted platforms, and/or features match your selections.

If you have customers who are administrators that need the ability to customize an installation before deploying it, then you would use one of these project types. You would create and build the project, then provide it to your customers along with instructions on how to condense it. A PDF of these instructions is included with Universal in the <Universal home>/HelpLibrary/SupportFiles directory, and is called CondensingAndDeployingAnInstallation.pdf.

Once the condenser-type project has been built, you would run the installation in condenser mode, select the locales, targeted platforms, and/or features that you want to include. Then the Condenser action, which is automatically included in a condenser-type project, rebuilds the product, filtering out those assemblies with their root product's locales and platforms not set to the selected criteria. In addition, you can deselect specific features so that they are not included. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary to produce as many customized installations as required, all with the same project.

For example, let's say that your customer, an administrator for a global corporation, needs to be able to deploy the installation of your product in two specific languages: German and English. There is one assembly with its root product's Platform property set to "Linux," and another assembly with its root product's Platform property set to "Solaris." In addition, the administrative feature of this software should only be installed to upper management personnel. When you create this project, it would be structured as follows:

Although Assembly 5 is language and platform independent, its features' Locale and Platform properties are set to only install on specific system locales and specific, targeted platforms. This means that Feature 5 will always be included in a condensed build, but will only be installed where it is appropriate.

The administrator (your customer) performs the condensing process six times, selecting the locale, platform, and features as indicated below. This results in the six separate installations indicated. These installations will be JAR files or directory structures (selected in the Mode dialog at condense time), and will include a launcher for each selected platform for which a launcher was configured in the original condenser-type project.

1. Locale Dialog = Select English
   Platform Dialog = Select all
   Feature Dialog = Deselect Feature 5
   
   • Resulting installation = Features 1 & 2
2. Locale Dialog = Select all
   Platform Dialog = Select Linux
   Feature Dialog = Deselect Feature 5
   
   • Resulting installation = Features 1, 2, & 3
3. Locale Dialog = Select German
   Platform Dialog = Select Solaris
   Feature Dialog = Deselect Feature 5
   
   • Resulting installation = Features 3 & 4
4. Locale Dialog = Select all
   Platform Dialog = Select Solaris
   Feature Dialog = Deselect Feature 5
   
   • Resulting installation = Features 1, 3, & 4
5. Locale Dialog = Select English
   Platform Dialog = Select all
   Feature Dialog = Leave set at default
   
   • Resulting installation (for English-speaking upper management) = Features 1, 2, & 5
6. Locale Dialog = Select German
   Platform Dialog = Select all
   Feature Dialog = Leave set at default
   
   • Resulting installation (for German-speaking upper management) = Features 3, 4, & 5

It is important to note that Feature 5 needed to be selected only for the fifth and sixth condensing sessions because the desired features were automatically included based on the locale and platform selections that were made.

The following topics are available to assist you in creating and administering projects that can be condensed and performing the condensing process.

Creating Projects That Can Be Condensed
	Creating a Project That Can Be Condensed Step-by-step instructions for creating a project that builds into an installation that can be condensed.
	Condensing an Installation Instructions on to how to condense an installation before deploying it. This topic is also provided in PDF format for you to provide to your customers along with your software. The PDF is located in the <Universal home>/HelpLibrary/SupportFiles directory.
	Silently Condensing and Deploying an Installation Instructions for silently condensing and deploying an installation.
	Mode Dialog Description of the Mode dialog, which is only included in condenser-type projects (either a Condenser Installer or Condenser Dynamic Suite). It automatically displays at the beginning of the run time, enabling you or your customer to select whether to create a condensed installation, or to install the product as it was originally built.
	Locale Dialog Description of the Locale Selection dialog from which you select the locale(s) to include in a condensed installation during the condensing process.
	Condenser Platform Dialog Description of the Condenser Platform dialog, which is only included in condenser-type projects (either a Condenser Installer or Condenser Dynamic Suite), from which you select the platform(s) to include in a condensed installation during the condensing process.
	Feature Dialog Description of the Feature dialog from which you select a feature(s) to be excluded from the condensed installation. This is the same dialog that displays to end users at run time if the installation was built to include Installation Types. In a condensing mode, however, it displays all of the features of the product that met the platform and locale selections so that they can be selected to be excluded from the newly built, condensed installation.
	Condense Product Tree Action This action is automatically included in a condenser-type project. It filters out the features that contain an assembly(ies) that does not meet the locale or platform selections made during the condensing process. The result is that only the features that met the condensing criteria display on the Feature dialog at the end of the condensing process.
	Condenser Action This action is automatically included in a condenser-type project. It builds a condensed installer that includes only those locales, platforms, and features that were selected during the condensing process.
	Run-Time Command Line Options/Condenser Description, syntax, and an example of the -condenser command line option. This option only works when applied to a condenser-type project.

See Also

Condenser Installer Project Type
Condenser Dynamic Suite Project Type