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

Chapter 16: Building, Testing, and Distributing Installations
Configuring and Building Releases
MSBuild Scripts
MSBuild natively understands one file format: its XML build script, which is used as the project file
format for Visual C# and Visual Basic .NET projects (.csproj and .vbproj). MSBuild also has internal
hooks to handle solution files and the Visual C++ project file format (.sln and .vcproj).
The InstallShield integration with Visual Studio uses an MSBuild-compatible XML format project file
(.isproj), which enables MSBuild to seamlessly build Visual Studio solutions that include InstallShield
projects.
Customizing the .isproj File
To incorporate changes for your InstallShield project into your .isproj file, add a PropertyGroup element
or an ItemGroup element near the top of your .isproj file, or update an existing PropertyGroup or
ItemGroup element. Then add InstallShield-related parameters as needed.
The following sample code from an .isproj file demonstrates how to do the following:
• Set the product version.
• Set the product name.
• Set a custom public property called MY_PROPERTY to the value My Value.
• Specify the following search paths for InstallShield prerequisites:
\SetupPrerequisites and \MyCustomPrerequisites.
1.2.3
ProductName
MY_PROPERTY
Using MSBuild to Build a Release from the Command Line
Note: If you use MSBuild to build Visual Studio solutions with InstallShield projects, MSBuild requires .NET Framework 3.5
or later.
MSBuild provides an easy way to build a release from the command line on a machine on which Visual
Studio is not installed. The only components that you must have installed on the machine are the .NET
Framework and InstallShield. Place a copy of your Visual Studio solution on the machine, and run
MSBuild.
304 ISE-1800-UG01 InstallShield 2012 Express Edition User Guide