User Guide

187
Setting Build Options for a Release
Setting Build Options for a Release
Note
This page is fully enabled in a .WSI only. In an .MSI or .MST, you cannot add or delete.
On the Build Options page, you can customize a release by selecting the format of
output files and language options.
1. Select Installation Expert > Build Options page.
2. From Current Release, select a release.
3. Complete the build options listed below.
Build Options
! Use short file names for files uncompressed outside of the install
Mark this to abbreviate file names to 8.3 format names. This is useful if you will
distribute your installation on CDs with the 8.3 format.
! .EXE Options
This determines what kind of files are output when you compile this release. If you
create an .EXE, you can install Windows Installer and .NET Framework runtimes and
run prerequisite files on the destination computer before the main installation. See
Adding Prerequisites to a Release on page 189. For WebDeploy to be enabled, you
must select one of the WebDeploy options. For details, see Creating a WebDeploy
Installation on page 198.
• Do not create an .EXE file
Create only the .MSI file. The installation will work only on computers that have
Windows Installer installed. Selecting this disables the remaining options on the
Build Options page.
• Single-file .EXE (only valid for files inside .MSI)
Place the .MSI file inside an .EXE file. This is the preferred option if you plan to
send an installation via e-mail or place it on a Web page.
• .EXE that launches external .MSI
Create an .EXE with the same name as the .MSI file. Settings for the .EXE are
stored in a separate .INI file. See INI File Properties on page 420. The .EXE itself
is small, because it doesn’t contain any runtimes or the .MSI file. This is the
preferred option if you place the installation on a CD, because the .MSI does not
need to be extracted to the hard drive.
•WebDeploy .EXE
Create an .EXE that is optimized for direct downloading from the Internet. The
installation will compile to an .EXE that contains the download information, and
an .MSI file that might or might not be embedded in the .EXE. This sets the
Create a downloadable .EXE option on the WebDeploy page, and vice versa.
• WebDeploy .EXE and .INI
Change the download information dynamically, perhaps as a result of end user
input. The installation will compile to an .EXE, an external .MSI, and an external
.INI file that contains the download information. This sets the Create an .EXE
and .INI option on the WebDeploy page, and vice versa.