1 reply to this topic

[Superfreak3]

Hi all,

This might go in and InstallShield specific forum, but it might just deal with Windows Installer sequencing and how its dealt with in IS's interface. Anyway...

I have a few questions regarding patch sequencing through the Patch Design view in InstallShield. Currently what I am doing is creating patches by adding all previous releases of a particular version of our software under Previous Setups. For example I might have Initial, P1, P2 listed for targets of P3 or the latest Patch. I've found that adding these Previous Setups is something to be cautious of as they need to be listed or first added in a certain or some files don't update as expected.

In this scenariou, they need to be listed in or added in P2, P1, Initial order. The first release of the product needs to be added last. I've also found that it seems at times that I have to delete the Previous Setups added and re-add them in the same order before the patch will actually work as expected.

I'm wondering if I can side step this issue by using the Patch Sequence tab in the Patch Settings Pane (Common, Identification, Dig. Sign., Sequence, and Advanced tabs). The way I read into using this option is that the patches listed here must be added in the entered order. Does that mean, in my scenario, that if someone has the Initial release of our software installed, they must first install P1 and P2 before installing P3.

Our small update patches are cumulative in that the latest will have all previous fixes included so that if someone is on the Initial release, they currently have to simply install P3 to get the latest and all previous fixes. There is no need to install P1 and P2 first. Would I loose this functionality if I use the Sequence tab?

[Superfreak3]

I think I found a workaround for near future patches. I just have to ensure that, after adding the previous targets in design view that they are sequenced properly in the ISTargetImage table before building the patch. In there it would be sequenced like this...

Initial Order 1
P1 Full Order 2
P2 Full Order 3.

I'll still look further into the issue with Small Updates with numerous targets being a no-no.