Wavepoint Studios - InstallShield Training, InstallShield Tutorials
 

Creating MSI Installations with InstallShield 2009

20 hours, 58 minutes of Instruction

120 Flash movies, 2.77 GB

It's a Piece of Cake

Price: $227.00  



Overview

If you have ever wanted to learn how to develop Basic MSI installations with InstallShield, but didn't want to outlay a large sum of money to travel to another city and take a class, or you didn't want to be at the mercy of the program's Help, you have an option.   Wavepoint Studios is offering an InstallShield Training course that satisfies this desire.

The Creating MSI Installations with InstallShield 2009 course provides you with a thorough understanding of Windows installation program development using the Basic MSI project.  You will learn about the InstallShield Development Environment (IDE), the Windows Installer service, installation terminology, and what an installation program needs to do.

Please note that InstallScript MSI projects are not covered.

Please Note: The license for this course is held on a USB Stick (flash drive), which means you have to have the USB stick plugged into the machine that you are viewing the course on.  You can install the course on more than one machine, but the USB Stick has to be plugged into the machine that you are viewing the course on.

Sample Movies

To watch sample movies from this course, please go here.

Course Presentation

The course contains 20 hours, 58 minutes of instruction and is presented on a DVD-ROM that plays on your computer.  After installing the course, you will be able to run the launch program and watch the individual Flash movies that make up the course.  Each movie covers a different aspect of installation program development, and is comprised of narrated PowerPoint slides and desktop screen-capture video (PowerPoint is not required).  The experience is one of looking over the shoulder of the developer and watching as the different aspects of installation development are demonstrated, and as installation projects are created and enhanced.  You are encouraged to follow along with the examples on your own computer, with your own copy of InstallShield 2009.

The Visual Studio 2008 Professional projects and the InstallShield 2009 Professional projects that are created in the course are included on the DVD, so that you may review them at your own pace.

Table of Contents

This course is very extensive and covers all aspects of Basic MSI installation development.

Introduction
        Introduction to the Course
Getting Started
        Features of the Windows Installer
        Installation Fundamentals
        Windows Vista Logo Requirements
        Advantage of Using InstallShield for Windows Installer Installations
        InstallShield 2009 New Features and Enhancements
        Steps in Creating a Basic MSI Project
Creating Installations
        InstallShield Interface
        Using the Project Assistant
        Antivirus Programs
        Using the Installation Designer
Creating and Building Releases
        Using the Release Wizard
        Files Created in a Release
Mega View Application
        Creating an installation that has several requirements (Part 1)
        Creating an installation that has several requirements (Part 2)
Components and File Linking
        Creating components and using different types of file linking
File Overwriting
        Rules for overwriting files
Dependency Scanners
        Using Dependency Scanners
Unicode Versions of the Bootstrappers
        Overview of the Unicode Standard
        Creating a Unicode version of Setup.exe
        Creating a Unicode version of Update.exe
The Yahoo! Toolbar
        Adding the Yahoo! Toolbar to your installation
Setup Prerequisites, Merge Modules, and the .NET Framework
        Adding a setup prerequisite for the .NET Framework
        Adding a feature prerequisite to your installation
        Hiding a prerequisite from the list of prerequisites to be installed
        Showing the progress of an InstallShield prerequisite at run-time
        New Prerequisites in InstallShield 2009
        Adding a merge module to a project
Vista Validation
        Windows Vista Logo validation
        Performing Validation Tests (ICEs)
Digital Code Signing
        Steps involved in digitally signing files
        Signing files
        One Click Releases
        Using code sign verification tools
        Digitally signing very large installations
Application Shortcuts
        Five areas where icons and shortcuts come into play
        Taking care of each of the five areas
Installation Deployment
        Installation Dialogs
Conditions
        Specifying Conditions
Sequences
        Actions and Sequences
        Types of Windows Installer Installations
        User Interface and Execute Sequences
        Aspects of the User Interface sequence
        Aspects of the Execute sequence
File Costing
        File Costing process
Direct Editor
        Editing MSI tables directly
Orca
        Using Orca to edit an MSI database
        Using Orca for validation
        InstallShield vs. Orca
Dialog Behaviors
        Creating and modifying dialog behaviors
Maintenance Mode
        The Maintenance experience
Modifying the Mega View Interface
        Task 1 - launching a program at the end of an install
        Task 2 - placing a shortcut on the desktop
        Task 3 - adding a View Photo feature (Part 1)
        Task 3 - adding a View Photo feature (Part 2)
        Task 3 - adding a View Photo feature (Part 3)
        Task 4 - entering and validating a serial number (Method 1)
        Task 5 - entering and validating a serial number (Method 2)
        Task 6 - adding an Open dialog
Creating and Using Log Files
        Creating a Build Log
        Creating an Installation Log
        Creating a Setup.exe Bootstrapper Log
        How to use the MSI Log Analyzer
Custom Actions that Meet Vista Requirements
        Guidelines for custom actions that meet Vista requirements
Managed Code Custom Actions
        Using Managed Code Custom Actions
        Creating a Managed Code Custom Action (Part 1)
        Creating a Managed Code Custom Action (Part 2)
Chained Installations
        Overview of Chained Installations
        How to create a Chained Installation (Part 1)
        How to create a Chained Installation (Part 2)
Standard User vs. Administrator User
        User Account Control, Administrator Accounts, and Standard User Accounts
        Per-Machine and Per-User installations
        Virtualization
Creating a Standard User Version of Mega View
        Overview of Standard User Applications and Installations
        Creating a Standard User Application and Installation (Part 1)
        Creating a Standard User Application and Installation (Part 2)
        Creating a Standard User Application and Installation (Part 3)
        Creating a Standard User Application and Installation (Part 4)
Upgrading Applications
        Different methods for upgrading applications
        Major Upgrade
        Minor Upgrade
        Small Update
        Automatic Upgrade
        Standard Patches
        Quick Patches
        Guidelines for Patch Creation
        Upgrade Scenario 1
        Upgrade Scenario 2
        Upgrade Scenario 3
Creating Upgrades
        How to create a Major Upgrade
        How to create a Minor Upgrade
        How to create a Small Update
        How to create an Automatic Upgrade
        How to create a Standard Patch, #1
        How to create a Standard Patch, #2
        How to create a Quick Patch
Building from the Command Line
        Building releases from the Command Line
        Building patches from the Command Line
Silent Installations
        How to run a silent installation
Creating and Using Transforms
        Transforms
        Creating a transform
        Applying a transform
Using MSI Package Tools
        MSI Package Tools
        InstallShield MSI Diff
        InstallShield MSI Grep
        InstallShield MSI Query
        InstallShield MSI Sleuth
Running SQL Server Scripts
        How to run SQL Server scripts in an installation
Merge Modules
        How to create a Merge Module
        How to create a configurable Merge Module
Visual Studio 2008 Integration
        InstallShield Integration with Visual Studio
        Creating the Mega View Standard User Installation in Visual Studio (Part 1)
        Creating the Mega View Standard User Installation in Visual Studio (Part 2)
        Creating the Mega View Standard User Installation in Visual Studio (Part 3)
        Creating the Mega View Standard User Installation in Visual Studio (Part 4)
        Opening Visual Studio-created installation projects in InstallShield
Creating Multilingual Installations
        How to create a Multilingual Installation
Conclusion
        The End
Appendix A: Introduction to InstallScript
        An introduction to the InstallScript language

System Requirements

In order to use this course, you must have the following:

PC running Microsoft Windows Server 2000, XP, Windows Server 2003, Vista, or Windows Server 2008
Adobe Flash Player
DVD-ROM drive
USB port (the license is held on an included USB stick)
Monitor running ideally at 1280x1024 (for best viewing experience)
InstallShield 2009 (Professional or Premier edition)
Visual Studio 2008 Professional (If you want to rebuild and modify the sample applications included with
         the course. However this is not totally necessary, as Release versions of the applications are included)
Tested on: Win XP, Win Vista, Win Server 2008

The course movies were captured at 1024x768, and you should view them at a resolution higher than 1024x768.  Also, you may find that two monitors or two machines are preferable.  One to work with InstallShield on, and one to view the course on.

Extensive editing was done where long periods of waiting were taken out.  So the course tends to move quickly, with the majority of the waiting occuring during installation builds.

It is assumed that you are some type of software developer and possess a familiarity with programming or scripting languages, such as C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, or VBScript.  That knowledge will come in handy during the Custom Action development parts of the course where InstallScript is used (InstallScript is C-like).  However, you are not required to know the InstallScript language for this course, as a short tutorial is included in the Appendix.

Sample Movies

To watch sample movies from this InstallShield training course, please go here.

Course Pricing

This extensive course is priced at $227.00 for 20 hours, 58 minutes of instruction on one DVD.  A second DVD is also included that contains the course example projects.

Price: $227.00