User Guide

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Changing Source Paths in an Installation
Note
Paths to files that are not on the same drive as the installation file are not changed,
because they cannot be written as relative paths. Predefined paths, such as
[ProgramFiles], cannot be changed to relative paths.
3. To convert all directories you add to the installation later to relative paths, select
Relative Paths from Path Type.
4. Click OK.
Converting to UNC-Based Source File Paths
You can convert the mapped paths of source files to UNC (Uniform Naming Convention)
paths. If all the installation source files are stored on a central file server, this feature
converts mapped drive paths to standard UNC paths.
Example: If you add files to an installation from your Y:\ drive, which is mapped to a file
server, paths of files you add to the installation start with Y:\. If a co-worker opens and
compiles the installation on another computer that doesn’t have its Y:\ drive mapped to
the same file server, the compile fails because the installation cannot find the source
files on the Y:\ drive. However, if you first convert all network paths to UNC paths, co-
workers on the same network can open and compile the installation without
encountering errors. Instead of a path such as Y:\Application.ini, a file has a fully
qualified path such as \\Server\Development\Application\Application.ini.
1. Select Tools menu > Convert Source Paths. (In Visual Studio: Project menu >
Convert Source Paths.)
The Convert Source Paths dialog appears.
2. Click Change All Paths to UNC.
This button is only available if at least one of the paths in the installation is from a
mapped network drive.
Converting paths to UNC paths does a one-time conversion of all the network paths
in an installation. Paths to files that are located on local drives are not converted.
However, if the local drive is shared, it is converted to the shared drive name.
The Change Source Directories to column displays the new pathnames. Only the
source paths that are from mapped drives are changed to UNC.
3. To convert all directories you add subsequently to UNC paths, select UNC Paths
from Path Type.
4. Click OK.
Changing the Source Directory Dynamically During Compile
" Not available in the Visual Studio integrated editor.
You can define a source directory as a property, so you can easily reassign the location
of source files when you compile a .WSI or .MSI. Use this feature if you:
! Frequently change the location of source files.
! Frequently move the installation to other computers.
! Need to point to a different source directory each time you compile.
Use the procedures below to change the source directory dynamically during compile.