InstallShield 2012 Spring Express Edition User Guide

Chapter 18: Additional Installation Options
Working with Windows Installer Properties
Public Properties
Public properties have names that contain only uppercase letters. For example, INSTALLDIR is a
public property. Public properties can be specified at the command line used to launch the installation
or chosen by using an authored user interface.
Note: Only public properties have their values preserved from an installation’s user interface to the point where the
installation is changing the target system. If you set the value of a property in a dialog displayed to the end user, use a
public property (for example, MY_PUBLIC_PROPERTY) if you want its value written to a file or to the registry.
Private Properties
Private properties have at least one lowercase letter in their name and cannot be changed from the user
interface. For example, ProgramFilesFolder is a private property. End users have no control over the
values of private properties, since they cannot be set from the command line.
Restricted Public Properties
Restricted public properties allow network administrators to define public properties that can be
changed only by a system administrator. This way, the administrator can change settings quickly
without having to worry that other users on the network may tamper with the setup. For more
information, see Specifying that a Public Property Should Be a Restricted Public Property.
Required Properties
The Windows Installer service relies on five properties that are required in every Windows Installer
installation. By default, these properties are included in every installation that you create using
InstallShield.
• ProductCode
• ProductLanguage
• Manufacturer
• ProductVersion
• ProductName
Conditions
Many properties are not set until the installation is launched. These properties are populated with
information from the target system. For example, the VersionNT property is not set until the
installation is launched. This property is set to the version of Windows that the target machine is
running if the operating system is Windows 2000 or later.
Properties that are set at run time can be used to create launch conditions for the installation. If you
want your product to be installed only on Windows XP, you can use conditional logic to check the end
user’s system, and install the product if all conditions are met.
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