9 replies to this topic

[jarch]

Our company has long used IE 6.x for its installation needs for Windows.  We are coming out with a Linux version of our software and ideally, I could just use the IS 6.x (or 7.x) scripts within the MultiPlatform version (but that does not seem to supported from what I've read).  So some questions for this forum:

1) has anyone tried to convert an IE6 script (setup) to the MultiPlatform version?  If so, how well did that conversion process go?  I could imagine it being ugly.

2) If #1 is not supported or is not recommended, I am trying to decide if we should plan on using seperate installations for each environment - IE 6.x or 7.x for Windows and  something entirely different for Linux.

3) if seperate installations for each OS are best, should I use RPM or MultiPlatform installshield?

Since Linux is a relatively small market for us currently, I would lean toward using RPM files unless I can easily come up with a simple, straigtforward strategy to use a common installation setup for both target environments.

Thanks in advance to any ideas / comments / advice!

[Stefan Krueger]

I have no experience with InstallShield muilt Platform, but I don't think you can easily migrate from IS 6 ti MP.
However MP setups should also work on Windows, so you'd have only one project to maintain, i.e. a "multi platform" setup.

[abraxas]

Hi,

I've got a tad of experience with teh MP installshield (being a a java developer I was plunked down in front of the MP InstallShield machine and told to "here, do this").  Basically you should avoid InstallShield MP - it's very difficult to get a hold off - even if you are a java programmer.  The documentation is scarce at best, and non- existant for the most part.  Most functions are contained in proprietary classes which you have no idea about.  IS scripts cannot be moved over to MP edition as MP edition is all Java based.

I would suggest going with RPM files for Linux but ONLY if your client base uses Red Hat near exclusively.  Many other installs of Linux do not support RPM.  For example I have Slackware installed, and while it does have an RPM support package installed that came with the distribution - I have never tried it, and it may not work 100% of the time.  Your best bet for Linux would be to use gzipped tar files, and write a simple program in C / C++ untar and gunzip the files.

[robsahm]

I could not disagree more.  I am in the middle of converting 30,000 lines of IS6 code to ISMP in java.  And let me tell you how much easier it is to use ISMP then it was using IS6.  Yes you have to get your hands around thier API's but once you do they are rather straight forward and easy to use.  ISMP gives you loads of flexibility not availible in IS6.  My advice is do it in ISMP, if you have basic needs you can do it without writing any custom code.  If you need to do some specialized stuff its very easy to write a custom bean and plug it in.  If you have the patience to dig into the API it pays off.  If not go use zip files or something which requires less thought :)  Sorry to be so harsh but if you were a real java programer then this is a snap.  If you dont know java it is still fairly simple

[abraxas]

Accusing me of not being a real java programmer seems rather juvenile, to say the least.  However, for the time being we'll ignore that.  To dig into the API there must be documentation available - however at the time (nearly a year now) - there was no such documentation freely available.  Furthermore having a project thrown on you while you're in the midst of developing two other major applications doesn't actually give you much time or desire to "get your hands thier [sic] API" (surely you, being such a seasoned and veteran software engineer know this).  Notice I never said I didn't get it... I just said it's not easy to get a hold of - big difference.  Anyone used to the simple plain jane InstallShield will find this a big leap - it's not a matter of sitting down and having an install completed in an hour.   If time is of any concern, I would suggest avoiding it.

[robsahm]

Sorry if I seemed joenile, your right there was no need for name calling.  There is plenty of documentation on ISMP, the entire API is documented in a javadoc.  I feel strongly on ISMP as a cross platform installation tool, I just got a little upset when you said you would not recommend it, considering that recommendation came from someone not experienced with the product.  The API is much more robust than IS6.x.  Mostly because you have all of Java at your disposal, need something that isnt in the ISMP API then just write a custom bean in Java yourself and plug it in.  ISMP is very powerful, again sorry about the previous e-mail, it was late and I was tiered :)  Thanks!

[abraxas]

Yes I agree with you, currently the API is fully documented - however when I started out it was quite difficult to get hold of it, as ISMP had just been released and InstallShield seemed to be guarding the documentation for dear life.  I remember their wishlist newsgroup being full of people asking for more documentation.  Obviously since you have all of the Standard Java API at your disposal, as well as the InstallShield API, then ISMP is much more robust then IS 6.x  However for me, since we needed a multi-platfom install quickly, I ended up writing a custom install in Java.  It was quicker and easier for me - I didn't have 2 or 3 weeks to gather the information and then make it work for me.  On the whole my experience with most InstallShield products has been dismal at best, so I would never heartily recommend anything of theirs.

[Stefan Krueger]

Just wondering which version of IS-MP you are using?
I guess Chris is working with a newer release than Joseph...

[jarch]

Thanks for all of your input which was very helpful.  We decided to not use InstallShield MP for our Linux version (at least at this time).  The comments above about RPM are valid, and it is likely we will just use a simple (not very elegant though) unzip script to do what we need (for now) for Linux.

[robsahm]

Hey Stefan, its been a long time :)  We are using 4.5.1 currently.  Are you going to get a section up for ISMP on the site?  Thanks!