MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Source CodeCommandsComponent

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The "Component" Command

This command has two distinct purposes, it creates or updates a component or makes a component the default for other commands.

The command can be nested and a block must be terminated with "/Component". Any other MAKEMSI commands that have a "component" parameter will use the "current" component details by default.

The macro takes these parameters:

• Component Name (positional)
  This is the name of a component. This is made the default Component until the block is terminated with a "/Component" command. If no other parameters are supplied it is not created even if it does not currently exist in the MSI (it is assumed you will create it later).

• Create (optional)
  Do you wish to create the component (Y/N)?

  The default for this parameter can be set via the DEFAULT_COMPONENT_CREATE macro. This is initially "Y", however it has no effect unless at least one named parameter is specified (including this one).

  If you are updating a component then one or more Table column names and values can be supplied. There are no defaults for update, only create!

  Whether creating or updating you should read the appropriate documentation in "MSI.CHM".

• Feature (optional)
  If not supplied the name of any outer "feature" is used, otherwise you can supply a space or comma separated list of the features this component is a "member" of. The value "\" is replaced with the value of the current "root" feature while "." is replaced with the value of the "current" feature. Of course an error message is created if there is no "current" feature.

  The "FeatureComponents" table is updated to apply this association and by default all features must already exist, update the "COMPONENT_FeatureComponents_ROW_@VALIDATE" macro to alter this.

• CU (optional)
  Do you wish to create a "current user" based registry keypath for this component (Y/N)?

  This is frequently used when creating components that contain non-advertised shortcuts and is used to prevent MSI Validation errors.

• LM (optional)
  Do you wish to create a "local machine" based registry keypath for this component (Y/N)?

• ComponentId (optional)
  This is the components GUID.

  1. If the parameter is not supplied (or "*" passed) then a new randomly generated GUID is used.

  2. If this parameter is supplied but empty then this indicates that the component is unmanaged (it won't be repaired and its resources won't be uninstalled).

  3. If the supplied value starts with "?" then the "Guid" command is used to generate a persistant GUID (remains constant from build to build). If the value is exactly "?" then the component name is used as an GUID alias else the string supplied after the "?" is.

• Directory_ (optional)
  Name of a "Component" column, see "MSI.CHM". The default for creation is "".

• Attributes (optional)
  Name of a "Component" column (see "Component" table).

  The default for this parameter can be set via the DEFAULT_COMPONENT_ATTRIBUTES macro. The initial value for this is "LocalOnly".

  Available attributes (can be combined, use space as a separator):

  • LocalOnly
    Prevents the component's files from being run-from-network or run-from-source (installed locally).

  • SourceOnly
    Component can only be run from source.

  • Optional
    Component can run locally or from source.

  • RegistryKeyPath
    If this bit is set, the value in the KeyPath column is used as a key into the "Registry" table.

  • SharedDllRefCount
    If this bit is set, the installer increments the reference count in the shared DLL registry of the component's key file. If this bit is not set, the installer increments the reference count only if the reference count already exists.

  • Permanent
    The installer does not remove the component during an uninstall (the component is and remains registered).

  • ODBCDataSource
    If this bit is set, the value in the KeyPath column is used as a key into the "ODBCDataSource" table.

  • Transitive
    If this bit is set, the installer reevaluates the value of the statement in the Condition column upon a reinstall.

  • NeverOverwrite
    If the keypath exists then the component will not be installed or re-installed. There are some restrictions on its use.

  • 64bit [4.0+]
    Marks component as being 64 bit (see "64 Bit Installs").

  • DisableRegistryReflection [4.0+]
    Set this bit to disable Registry Reflection on all existing and new registry keys affected by this component.

  • UninstallOnSupersedence [4.5+]
    Set this bit for a component in a patch package to prevent leaving orphan components on the computer.

  • Shared [4.5+]
    ?????

• Condition (optional)
  Name of a "Component" column, see "MSI.CHM" (the condition under which this component should be installed). The default for creation is "".

• KeyPath (optional)
  Name of a "Component" table column (see the "component keypath" section). The default for creation is "".

EXAMPLE 1

;--- Create Feature (a number of items defaulting) --------------------------
<$Feature "F_Dennis" Title=^Dennis' "Feature"^ Attributes="3+4+5">
   ;--- Create Component (assign to feature) --------------------------------
   <$Component "C_Dennis" Directory_="WindowsFolder">
       ;--- Do stuff --------------------------------------------------------
       ;...
   <$/Component>

   ;--- Create SUB-Feature --------------------------------------------------
   <$Feature "F_Under_Dennis" CREATE="Y">  ;;CREATE="Y" REQUIRED here as no attributes supplied
       <$Component "C_Under_Dennis" ComponentId="" Directory_="WindowsFolder">
           ;--- Do stuff ----------------------------------------------------
           ;...
       <$/Component>
   <$/Feature>
<$/Feature>


;--- Update feature ---------------------------------------------------------
<$Feature "F_Dennis" Level="99" CREATE="N"><$/Feature>

;--- Reference existing feature ---------------------------------------------
<$Feature "Fred">
   'Just a reference (becomes default feature)
<$/Feature>

EXAMPLE 2 - In Multiple Features

;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- SAMPLE METHOD #1: Create Component (not nested "within" a feature) , add to multiple features ---
;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<$Component "This.Component.Is.In.Mult.Features" FEATURE="Files_TryMe,Files_TryMeWithNoRootFeature.MM" Create="Y" Directory_="INSTALLDIR" LM="Y">
    ;--- Whatever here ------------------------------------------------------
<$/Component>


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- SAMPLE METHOD #2: Map existing component to one or more features -------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<$Feature "YetAnotherFeature1" Title=^SAMPLE METHOD #2 - Feature 1^>
    ;--- Add existing component to "enclosing" feature ----------------------
    <$Component "This.Component.Is.In.Mult.Features" CREATE="N"><$/Component>
<$/Feature>
<$Feature "YetAnotherFeature2" Title=^SAMPLE METHOD #2 - Feature 2^>
<$/Feature>
<$Feature "YetAnotherFeature3" Title=^SAMPLE METHOD #2 - Feature 3^>
    ;--- Add existing component to current plus a named feature -------------
    <$Component "This.Component.Is.In.Mult.Features" FEATURE=".,YetAnotherFeature2" CREATE="N"><$/Component>
<$/Feature>


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- SAMPLE METHOD #3: Table/Row to update assignment directly --------------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<$Table "FeatureComponents">
    <$Row Feature_=^<$COMPANY_HTMLRPT_FEATURE>^ Component_=^This.Component.Is.In.Mult.Features^>
<$/Table>

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