Windows Installer Editor Reference
446
Using Conditions and Properties
Because each method of setting properties can be overridden by the methods that come
after it, property values might change during installation. You can see the value of
properties during installation in the Properties pane of Debugger for Windows Installer,
which appears when you click the Debug button. (In Visual Studio: select Debug menu >
Start.)
Properties that are authored into the installation database’s Property table, which
appear in the Properties icon in Setup Editor > Product tab, represent initial values of
properties. Changing the Properties table after installation begins has no effect on the
values of properties that are stored in memory.
During installation, properties can be changed only by actions that are running in
immediate execution mode. User interface actions are in immediate execution mode,
and you can set your custom actions to run in immediate execution mode.
See also:
How Do You Use Properties?
on page 446
Creating a New Property
on page 447
Property Reference
on page 563
How Do You Use Properties?
You can use properties in the following ways:
To interact with the user
You can attach properties to controls on dialog boxes, which puts the results of the
control into the property. Then, use the property in a condition.
Example: In Setup Editor > Dialogs tab, the Installation Type dialog has a set of radio
buttons. The radio buttons are associated with a property named InstallMode, and based
on the value of InstallMode, the Next button displays a different dialog box. Double-click
the radio buttons and the Next button, to view their Properties dialog boxes.
See
About Dialog Controls
on page 461.
Created by you in the
installation database
You can create properties in the Properties icon in Setup
Editor > Product tab. Also, some dialog boxes that contain a
property drop-down list also contain a New button with
which you can create a new property.
See
Creating a New Property
on page 447.
Set on the command
line
Properties can be set on the command line.
See
Command Line Options For WFWI.EXE
on page 259.
Set by Windows
Installer at run time
Some properties are set by Windows Installer according to
the configuration of the destination computer.
See Property Reference in the Windows Installer SDK Help.
Set by end user input
You can author the user interface so that end user input sets
property values. Example: You can associate a property
name with a dialog box control. The results of the end user’s
action on the dialog box control are put into the property.