MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Tips and TricksFile and DirectoryBrowse Dialog - Changing Directory

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Browse Dialog - Changing Directory

Your installation contains one or more features, each of which may have an "installation" directory associated with it. The feature's directory can be modified via the "CustomizeDlg" dialog (as can other feature attributes). The following in an example of this dialog:

The "Browse" button in the above dialog changes the directory for the selected feature. If its unavailable then directory modification is not available with this feature.

The following shows one way to allow feature selection of the "SOME_DIR" directory via the current feature (you could also specify the directory when creating the feature):

<$DirectoryTree Key="SOME_DIR" DIR="C:\Program Files\DefaultDir" Change=".">

If you find that varying one directory effects another's location then you should read the "Altering one Directory also effects Others" section.

Adding Directory Selection Buttons

As mentioned above feature selection is generally better however you might not wish to display this reasonably complex dialog to the user.

The following is a simplest code I could come up with to demonstrate the use of the pre-existing "BrowseDlg" dialog to change a directories location.

The button could be placed on any existing (or new) dialog. You might want to put it next to a text or entry field containing the value etc.

;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- Macro to add buttons ---------------------------------------------------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#(
    #define DIALOG_BROWSE_BUTTON

    ;--- What is the button going to be called? -----------------------------
    #evaluate+ ^@@BrowseButtonId^ ^'BrowseButton.<?Unique>'^

    ;--- Add the button to a dialog (will use "SetupTypeDlg") -------------------
    <$Table "Control">
       #(
           <$Row
                    Dialog_="{$Dialog=^<$Dialog?>^}"
                    Control="<$@@BrowseButtonId>"
                       Type="PushButton"
                          X="{$X}"
                          Y="{$Y}"
                      Width="{$Width}"
                     Height="17"
                 Attributes="3"
                       Text="{$Text=^Change^}"
                       Help="{$ToolTip=^^}|"
           >
       #)
    <$/Table>

    ;--- What happens when user presses the button? -----------------------------
    <$Table "ControlEvent">
        ;--- The "BrowseDlg" dialog uses the "_BrowseProperty" property ---------
        #(
           <$Row
                 Dialog_="{$Dialog=^<$Dialog?>^}"
                Control_="<$@@BrowseButtonId>"
                   Event="[_BrowseProperty]"
                Argument="{$Dir}"    ;;Set _BrowseProperty = DirectoryName
               Condition="1"
                Ordering="1"                    ;;Step 1
           >
        #)

        ;--- Now invoke the existing "BrowseDlg" dialog -------------------------
        #(
           <$Row
                 Dialog_="{$Dialog=^<$Dialog?>^}"
                Control_="<$@@BrowseButtonId>"
                   Event="SpawnDialog"          ;;Model dialog (sits on top this dialog
                Argument="BrowseDlg"
               Condition="1"
                Ordering="2"                    ;;Step 2
           >
        #)
    <$/Table>
#)


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- Define the directory we will allow to be changed via the button --------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<$DirectoryTree Key="TEST_DIR_PROPERTY1" Dir="c:\TMP\dir1">
<$DirectoryTree Key="TEST_DIR_PROPERTY2" Dir="[ProgramFilesFolder]\dir2">


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- Create test dialog to test the above button macro ----------------------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#ifdef REMOVED_LicenseAgreementDlg          ;;Only exists if the dialog has been removed...
       #define InsertAfter WelcomeDlg
#else
       #define InsertAfter LicenseAgreementDlg
#endif
<$Dialog "Test Directoy Browse Buttons" INSERT="<$InsertAfter>">
    ;--- Add 2 buttons (you;d normally probably use a text field with current values) ---
    #(
        <$DIALOG_BROWSE_BUTTON
                 X="50"
                 Y="50"
             Width="90"
              Text="Change Dir 1"
               Dir="TEST_DIR_PROPERTY1"
           ToolTip="Change directory 1"
        >
    #)

    #(
        <$DIALOG_BROWSE_BUTTON
                 X="50"
                 Y="70"
             Width="90"
              Text="Change Dir 2"
               Dir="TEST_DIR_PROPERTY2"
           ToolTip="Change directory 2"
        >
    #)
<$/Dialog>

The above is only a basic example showing all the hard work, you may not like the resulting dialogs title or some of the text. You could make a near duplicate of the "BrowseDlg" (only changing those bits you need to).

Please email me any feedback, additional information or corrections. See this page online (look for updates) MAKEMSI© is (C)opyright Dennis Bareis 2003-2008 (All rights reserved). Saturday May 28 2022 at 3:11pm Visit MAKEMSI's Home Page