Windows Installer Editor Reference
49
Setting Up
4. To include a description that will appear on the New Installation File dialog box when
you click this template:
a. Select Setup Editor > Product tab.
b. Click the Summary icon.
c.
In the upper-right pane, double-click Comments.
d. On the Summary Details dialog box that appears, enter a description of this
template in Value and click OK.
5. Save the file:
a. Select File menu > Save As.
b. Name the file and save it in the Templates directory as a .WSI, .MSI, .WSM, or
.MSM.
When you save the template, a page view is created with the same name and is
listed in the Page Views drop-down list. However, when you use the template to
create an installation, the default page view is the page view that was displayed
when the template was created. If the template’s default page view is a custom
page view, you can customize it.
See
Customizing Page Views
on page 22.
6. To test the new template, select File menu > New.
The New Installation File dialog box appears and the file that you just created
appears in the Custom Templates category. If the New Installation File dialog box
does not contain the new template, verify that you saved it in the correct format
and location.
7. Select the template you just created and click OK.
8. Verify that the changes you made in the template are present in this new
installation.
Component Rules
You can select or create rules that help you manage the creation of components in an
installation. Using component rules eliminates the need to specify component
information for every individual resource you add to an installation and ensures that
components are created consistently across all installations. Component rules can also
help you align component GUIDs in an upgrade with component GUIDs in previous
versions of the installation.
When you first create an installation, you select a component rule set to manage
components you add to that installation. Then, whenever you add a resource, such as a
file, registry key, shortcut, or anything else that can be installed, components are
created for those resources in accordance with the rule set you selected. Example: You
can always create a new component for each new file added to the installation, or you
can group related resources, such as help files, into one component.
Two predefined rule sets are provided. You might find that they manage your
components satisfactorily and no customization is necessary. If the predefined rule sets
do not meed your needs, you can duplicate them and modify the copies as needed, or
you can create new rule sets to reflect your organization’s standards. For descriptions of
the predefined rule sets, see
Microsoft Best Practices Component Rule Set
on page 56
