InstallShield 2012 Spring Express Edition User Guide

Customizing Installation Behavior
10
An important aspect of creating an installation is customizing it for your end users’ needs. The help
topics in “Customizing Installation Behavior” discuss various features of InstallShield that help you
extend the functionality of your installation. For example, you may find it useful to create custom actions
to add support for something not directly supported by Windows Installer. For more information on
how you can customize the installation behavior in your project, refer to this section of the
documentation.
Using Custom Actions
Windows Installer provides many standard actions that execute an installation. However, there may be
times where your installation needs expanded functionality. In these cases, custom actions let you
extend the capabilities of standard actions. This can be done through including dynamic-link libraries,
executable files, or script in your installation. The following table describes the different types of custom
actions that you can add to your projects.
Table 10-1: Types of Custom Actions
Type of Action Description
Windows Installer DLL (MSI DLL) This type of action is a C-callable library that exports functions with a fixed
prototype.
Benefits of this action type include:
• Windows Installer DLLs usually have minimal dependencies.
• Much Windows functionality is exposed in system libraries.
• Unlike executable-file actions, this type of action can use the Windows
Installer API to access the running Windows Installer session and work with
properties, directories, and so on.
Note that writing MSI DLLs requires C/C++ and Windows API coding skills.
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