Extending the Application Runtimes View

Introduction InstallAware version 5.0 introduces a fresh Application Runtimes visual view which lets the setup author add or remove application runtimes that are required by his/her installation with a single click on a checkbox. This view is intelligent - it automatically selects any nested runtimes required by the chosen runtime, sets conditions for hardware and software requirements, runs custom scripts that detect the presence of the runtime and install it if necessary, and still provides an optional configuration mechanism that tweaks the settings for the runtime being installed. This view can be customized without any programming work. Unlike writing an InstallAware plug-in DLL or a custom format DLL, both of which have been ways to extend the InstallAware environment in previous versions, this customization can be done entirely in InstallAware. This article describes the open specifications for extending the latest Application Runtimes visual view in InstallAware
v5.0. The Runtimes Repository The list of one-click installable runtimes in the Application Runtimes visual view of the InstallAware IDE is not hard-coded. This list is dynamically populated from the following location: « Your InstallAware Folder» runtimes For instance, in a default installation of InstallAware Studio Admin, this folder would be: C:Program FilesInstallAware Studio Admin 5runtimes The following types of files exist in this folder: 1. RTM files: Runtime description files 2. MIA files: Runtime detection/installation script files 3. FLD files: Code-folding data files for MIA files 4. BRK files: Breakpoint data files for MIA files 5. BAK files: Save backup files for MIA files Of these, only the first two are significant: the RTM files that describe contemporary runtimes (and populate the list of available runtimes for installation in the IDE's respective visual view), and the MIA files which are the actual InstallAware scripts that perform ne
cessary scripting to check for and install the runtimes in question. The contents of this folder may be freely customized with advanced additions (or removals, if necessary). Of course, when making additions to the folder, the FLD and BRK files that accompany the MIA script files should be placed in this folder, alongside the scripts themselves and the RTM file. These accompanying files are generated automatically by the IDE whenever a script document is saved. Copying BAK backup files is not necessary. The RTM Dossier Format RTM files are plain paragraph files that can be created and edited using any subject editor, such as the infamous Notepad. The title of the RTM case (excluding the record extension) should be the exact reputation of the runtime, as intended for display in the InstallAware IDE. For instance, the Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 runtime is defined in the information Microsoft_SQL_Server_Express_2005.rtm. Label your own custom runtime data as you w
ish for it to be listed in the IDE. Full text: http://computerandtechnologies.com/technology/news_2008-10-23-16-30-04-654.html