User Guide

74
Project Files and Database Files
Project Files and Database Files
Typically, the installation you distribute is an .MSI. Windows Installer operates on .MSIs,
which are a type of relational database that stores installation information and files in
tables. See About Microsoft Windows Installer on page 538.
On the Build Options page (see Setting Build Options for a Release on page 187) or on
the Media page (see Setting Up Media for Distribution on page 202), you can specify to
output an installation in different ways:
! As a single-file .MSI, which contains compressed installation files.
! As an .MSI that has external compressed .CAB files.
! As an .MSI that has external uncompressed files.
! As an .EXE that contains the .MSI and installation files.
! As an .EXE that launches an external .MSI.
If you to output an .EXE, you can then pre-install Windows Installer or other runtimes.
When you create an installation, you can work either in a .WSI (project) file or an .MSI.
The same applies to merge modules; work in an .MSM file or a .WSM (project) file.
If you work in .WSI or .WSM (Wise
project)
If you work in .MSI or .MSM
(Windows Installer database)
How are installation
files and paths
stored?
Externally. The project contains paths to
the installation files. During compile, they
are compiled into the resulting .MSI or
.EXE.
Inside the database file. Files are
refreshed from disk unless Don’t update
or recompress files when saving is
marked on the Product Details page.
Can you create
releases?
Yes. Use the Releases page and other
Release Definition pages.
No. Because you are already working in
the final output file, options for multiple
output files are disabled, which includes
all Release Definition pages.
Compiling does
what?
Reads the project information and compiles
a database file (.MSI or .MSM), which
contains installation files.
Refreshes files from disk unless Don’t
update or recompress files when
saving is marked on the Product Details
page.
Can you switch from
working on one file
type to the other?
You can switch from a project file to a
database file by compiling the project,
opening the resulting database file, and
continuing development in the database
file. However, an .MSI created by compiling
a .WSI does not contain file paths; it
contains only the files themselves.
Therefore, any files added prior to the
switch will not be refreshed from disk
because they have no file path. Only those
files you add after the switch contain file
paths and are refreshed from disk.
Use MSI to WSI Conversion (see MSI to
WSI Conversion on page 365) to convert
an .MSI to a .WSI. It extracts installation
files from an .MSI, saves them to disk at
locations you specify, and creates a .WSI
that points to those files.