InstallShield 11 Universal
Universal includes two types of suite installations: Universal Dynamic and Universal Static. The major difference between them is as follows:
Specific, detailed differences in how they are created and deployed are listed below:
| Universal Dynamic Suite | Universal Static Suite |
|---|---|
| Which assemblies should be included in a Dynamic Suite can be determined after the creation and building of the suite project itself if media spanning will not be required. Once the Dynamic Suite project has been built, anyone can indicate which products to include in it. The same Dynamic Suite installation can then be deployed containing different product combinations to different customers. | The products that should be included in the Static Suite must be determined at suite project creation time. The products contained in the suite can reference assemblies. |
| Links previously built Universal Installer and/or Universal Static Suite projects that have been built as assemblies (assembly.dat files) at run time. | Links multiple Universal Installer projects (<projectName>.uip files) into a single product tree at build time. Cannot reference any projects that have been built as an assembly.. They can, however, include Universal Installers that reference/require assemblies. |
| Common elements are logged separately, along with their dependencies. A required assembly is not uninstalled until the last product that requires it is uninstalled (the assembly is uninstalled along with that product). | The common elements within the suite merge into the parent product tree of the suite and lose their overall identity. |
| Events contained in each included assembly are executed, and new events can be created for the suite. | Events created in each referenced product project are not executed—new events must be created for the suite. |
| Executes the contents of the assembly projects' Assembly Sequences with Assembly Category Reference actions, enabling developers to specify when the dialogs and actions from the referenced assemblies display/execute during installation and uninstallation of the suite. | Does not visit the wizard actions of each referenced product—they need to be added to the Sequences view of the suite project. |
| Cannot be built as an assembly. | Can be built as an assembly. |
The InstallShield Update Service (ISUS) is not available to be added to any type of suite project.
Common situations and how they are handled by both types of suite installations are listed below:
See Also