InstallShield 2012 Express Edition User Guide - Knowledge Base ...

Chapter 8: Organizing Files for Your Installation
Including Redistributables in Your Installation
The modifications that you made are reflected in the Redistributables view.
Browsing for Merge Modules
If a merge module that you would like to add to your project is not listed in the Redistributables view,
you can browse to find it and also add it to your project and this view.
Task To browse to a merge module:
1. In the View List under Specify Application Data, click Redistributables.
2. Right-click an item and click Browse for Merge Module. The Open dialog box opens.
3. Browse to the merge module file.
4. Click OK.
What Happens When You Browse for a Merge Module
InstallShield does not maintain references to merge modules as explicit paths. Instead, it generates a key
for a merge module based on the merge module GUID and the merge module locale. When InstallShield
needs to access the merge module, it looks in the folders specified in the Merge Module Locations box
for a file that matches that key. The Merge Module Locations box is on the Merge Modules tab of the
Options dialog box.
When you browse for a merge module, the path to the folder containing the merge module is added to
the list of paths in the Merge Module Locations box. In addition, a GUID:Locale key is added to your
installation project based on the selected file.
Impact on Your Installation
If two merge modules in the Merge Module Locations box have the GUID:Locale key, only one is
included into your installation, even if they have different file names. Because of the way InstallShield
uses the Merge Module Locations box to search, it is not possible to predict which merge module will be
included.
Limiting the Number of Directories in the Merge Module Locations Box
If you use a shared merge module gallery, there might be earlier or later versions of a merge module in
the gallery than what exists on the target machine. For this reason, it is sometimes prudent to try and
limit the number of directories in your Merge Module Locations box.
Task To limit the number of directories, do one of the following:
• Using Windows Explorer, copy the merge module that you want into one of the folders that is
already listed in the Merge Module Locations box.
• Remove the default folders from the search path so that you are referencing only the shared
location.
170 ISE-1800-UG01 InstallShield 2012 Express Edition User Guide