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

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The "Dialog" Command

This command defines the start of a dialog which is based on a "uisample.msi" template so that it fits in with the rest of the UI wizard's look and feel.

After this command and before the required "/Dialog" command (which is actually what creates the dialog) you should place zero or more "DialogEntry" commands.

Note that the dialog is built following the "uisample.msi" template but is then converted like any other dialog by "UISAMPLE.MMH" so its look and feel will match your wishes.

I would like to do more with validation, any other tips from people more experienced with dialogs appreciated.

This command takes these parameters:

• Dialog Title (positional)
  The title bar of the dialog contains standard text, the dialog title is shown in the graphic banner on the top of the dialog and typically has a "Description" below it.

• Insert (required)
  MAKEMSI needs to know where this dialog's "< Back" and "Next >" buttons should go (which dialog to invoke). You supply this in the format "Previous-Next", if the "-" is not found it is assumed that the supplied value is the "Previous" dialog and the following dialog should be "SetupTypeDlg". If you don't know the names of the dialogs then have a look at the "Add Dialog Identification To Titlebar" section.

  MAKEMSI normally also changes the specified "previous" and "next" dialogs to "insert" this new dialog into the UI sequence but it doesn't do so if the value supplied to this parameter begins with "!". You will of course have to code the insertion yourself if MAKEMSI doesn't do it, its intended to allow you to create more complex conditional dialog transitions (MAKEMSI's are unconditional). See below for more details.

• Description (optional)
  This is the text in the graphic banner at the top of the dialog below the title.

• Dialog (optional)
  This parameter allows you to provide an internal identifier for this MSI, if not provided a suitable name is generated for you. You should provide this value if you want to supplement the MAKEMSI dialog capabilities with your own direct table manipulations.

  I recommend that you only allow this value to default if you don't need to refer to the dialog. If you need to do some follow up processing such as modifying the "ControlEvent" table table then I would specify the ID.

You may also wish to have a look at the "Twin Dialogs" section for a workaround to a refresh issue.

The "Read Me Dialogs" tip shows you how to create an empty dialog and add some controls that MAKEMSI doesn't support.

Windows Installer - Dialog Related Tables

More complex behaviours such as the enabling or disabling of controls can be performed (although Windows Installer has major limitations in this area - some controls work better than others), suck it and see. Be sure to check out the available "Control Events" and the main dialog tables tables you would be interested in are:

• "Dialog" table
  Defines the existance of the dialog and its basic properties.

• "Control" table
  Defines all dialog text, graphics or other controls.

• "ControlCondition" table
  Allows you to disable or hide controls based on conditions.

• "ControlEvent" table
  Defines what happens when a user interacts with a control, for example what happens when a "Next" button is pressed.

• "EventMapping" table
  Allows controls to react to events.

Example of how it might look

The following picture has my configured "look and feel" (titlebar's contents, graphic bar on top, the icon in it and the bottom line etc). The Dialog ID is in the titlebar by choice as I built the dialog in "development mode".

It may also not exactly match the sample code as I may not keep this picture in exact sync with the code (either due to lack of time or bad memory).

Dialog Flow & Conditional Dialogs

MAKEMSI only supports unconditional insertion of the dialog, you may wish to only display the new dialog under certain conditions and you may wish to show one of many possible dialogs. This is an attempt to show the simple flow that MAKEMSI supports (and the 2 or 4 locations modified):

+--[ Previous Dialog ]--+        +--[ Our NEW Dialog ]--+        +--[ Next Dialog ]--+
|                       |<<<<<<<<< Back                 |<<<<<<<<< Back              |
|                  Next >>>>>>>>>|                 Next >>>>>>>>>|                   |
+-----------------------+        +----------------------+        +-------------------+

Where you didn't begin the "INSERT" parameter's value with a "!" (that is the dialog's display is unconditional) MAKEMSI uses this code to perform the insertion (defined in a macro you can override if you wish):

#(
    ;--- Define inserion logic (allow user to replace) ----------------------
    #define? DIALOGTEMPLATE_DialogInsertLogic

    ;--- This code modifies the "Previous" and "Next" dialogs buttons -------
    ;
    ;    +--[ Previous Dialog ]--+        +--[ Our NEW Dialog ]--+        +--[ Next Dialog ]--+
    ;    |                       |        |                      |<<<<<<<<< Back              |
    ;    |                  Next >>>>>>>>>|                      |        |                   |
    ;    +-----------------------+        +----------------------+        +-------------------+

    ;--- Validate parameters -----------------------------------------------
    {$!:RxVarPrev,RxVarThis,RxVarNext}

    <$Table "ControlEvent">
       ;--- Correct Next Link (on previous dialog) --------------------------
       #(
           <$Row
                  @Where=^Dialog_ = '<??{$RxVarPrev}>' AND Control_ = 'Next' AND Event = 'NewDialog'^
                     @OK=^? >= 1^
                Argument="<??{$RxVarThis}>"
           >
       #)

       ;--- Correct "Back Link (on next dialog) -----------------------------
       #(
           <$Row
                  @Where=^Dialog_ = '<??{$RxVarNext}>' AND Control_ = 'Back' AND Event = 'NewDialog'^
                     @OK=^? >= 1^
                Argument="<??{$RxVarThis}>"
           >
       #)
    <$/Table>
#)

If you used "!" in the "INSERT" parameter then you would also use very similar commands to set up the "Next" and "Back" buttons, the main difference being that you would probably not only be adding extra entries but would also specify appropriate conditions for the "Condition" column of the "ControlEvent" table.

It may also be that you need to add to (or override) the entries MAKEMSI created for the "Back" and "Next" buttons of this dialog.

For an example of conditional dialog flow have a look at the see the "TryMeConditionDialogs.MM" sample.

Example 1

;--- Insert after which dialog? (I never have a "UserRegistrationDlg") ------
#ifdef REMOVED_LicenseAgreementDlg          ;;Only exists if the dialog has been removed...
       #define InsertAfter WelcomeDlg
#else
       #define InsertAfter LicenseAgreementDlg
#endif

;--- Actually create the dialog and insert into the UI ----------------------
<$Dialog "Test Dialog #1" INSERT="<$InsertAfter>" Dialog="MyFirstSettingsDialog">
    ;--- Two entry fields with tooltips (one a password field) --------------
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER1" Label="&Name:"     ToolTip="Enter the users name (max 10 characters)"     Max=10 Width=200>
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER2" Label="&Password:" ToolTip="Enter the users password (max 20 characters)" Max=20 Password=Y>
    <$PropertyList "MsiHiddenProperties" Value="ANSWER2">   ;;Should not be logged...

    ;--- Try a "MaskedEdit" type entry field --------------------------------
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER3" Label="IP &Address:" Control=^ME:###.###.###.###^ ToolTip="IP address (4 bytes 0-255)">

    ;--- Try an entry field which is validated via a regular expression -----
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER4" Label=^&Start with "ABC":^ BLANK="Y" MatchRe="^ABC.+$" CASE="?" ToolTip=^Min 4 characters starting with "ABC" (any case)!^>

    ;--- Entry field for an integer in the range 80-90 ----------------------
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER5" Label="Want &Integer 80-90:" Max="2" Width=35 Integer="80 to 90">

    ;--- Add a combo box (user can choose existing or enter their own) ------
    #data 'ComboBox_ANSWER6' 2
        ;--- Define sounds and a test description shown in the pull down ----
        "woof woof"     "Dog"
        "quack quack"   "Duck"
        "bah bah"       "sheep"
        "moo moo"       "cow"
        "meeow meeow"   "cat"
    #data                       ;;Note that we dynamically add a couple of entries in the custom action below
   <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER6" Label="Choose a sound:" Control="CB">

   ;--- Check Box -----------------------------------------------------------
   <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER7" Label="Want more Money?:" Control="XB:False|True" ToolTip="A silly question...">

   ;--- A Radio Button ------------------------------------------------------
   #data 'RadioButton_ANSWER8'
         ;--- All buttons on same dialog line (not over 3) ------------------
         'Yes'   'I accept'               '50'  'Got heaps of money have you?'
         'No'    'No way in a fit!'       '75'  'Smart decision...'
         'Maybe' "Maybe, Oh I don't know" '130' 'Oh well not everyone has brains'
   #data
   <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER8" Label="Buy car for $1,000,000:" Control="RB">
<$/Dialog>


;--- A second dialog --------------------------------------------------------
#define? TRYME_INCLUDES_LISTVIEW        Y       ;;Y/N - Only room for ONE ListBox or ListView!
<$Dialog "Test Dialog #2" INSERT="MyFirstSettingsDialog">
    ;--- A text only line ---------------------------------------------------
    <$DialogEntry Label="Want to remove Existing files?" Control="Text" LabelWidth="300">

    ;--- The radio button ---------------------------------------------------
    #data 'RadioButton_REMOVE_FILES'
           'Yes'   'Yes'  ''    ^Please note that your Data can't be recovered!^
           'No'    'No'   ''    ''
    #data
    <$DialogEntry Property="REMOVE_FILES" Label="" Control="RB" LabelWidth="0">

    ;--- Which control? -----------------------------------------------------
    #if ['<$TRYME_INCLUDES_LISTVIEW $$UPPER>' = 'N']
        ;--- A ListBox ----------------------------------------------------------
        #data 'ListBox_LIST_VALUE' 2
            ;--- Define sounds and a test description shown in the pull down ----
            "One"   "Choose Me #1"
            "Two"   "Choose Me #2"
            "Three" "Choose Me #3"
            "Four"  "Choose Me #4"
            "Five"  "Choose Me #5"
            "Six"   "Choose Me #6"
            "Seven" "Choose Me #7"
            "Eight" "Choose Me #8"
            "Nine"  "Choose Me #9"
        #data
        <$DialogEntry Label="Choose a listbox value:" Control="TEXT">                                     ;;Want label on its own line
        <$DialogEntry Property="LIST_VALUE" Control="LB" LabelWidth="0" Label="Choose a listbox value:">  ;;Re-specify label ONLY for any failed validation message (don't display it here)
    #else
        ;--- A ListView ---------------------------------------------------------
        <$Binary Key="SomeGraphic.ico" "TryMe.ICO">     ;;Obviously in a real application you'd use more than one graphic!
        #data 'ListView_LIST_VALUE' 3
            ;--- Define sounds and a test description shown in the pull down ----
            "One"   "Choose Me #1"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Two"   "Choose Me #2"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Three" "Choose Me #3"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Four"  "Choose Me #4"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Five"  "Choose Me #5"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Six"   "Choose Me #6"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Seven" "Choose Me #7"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Eight" "Choose Me #8"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
            "Nine"  "Choose Me #9"     "SomeGraphic.ico"
        #data
        <$DialogEntry Label="Choose a listview value:" Control="TEXT">                                                 ;;Want label on its own line
        <$DialogEntry Property="LIST_VALUE" Control="LV" Width="120" LabelWidth="0" Label="Choose a listview value:">  ;;Re-specify label ONLY for any failed validation message (don't display it here)
    #endif
<$/Dialog>

See the "TryMeWithUserDialog.MM" sample to see a complete example with realistic supporting code.

Example 2

;--- Example of multiple (two) dialogs --------------------------------------
<$Dialog "Q1 Dialog1" INSERT="WelcomeDlg" Dialog="Dialog1">
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER1" Label="&QUESTION 1:">
<$/Dialog>
<$Dialog "Q2+ Dialog2" INSERT="Dialog1">
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER2" Label="&QUESTION 2:">
    <$DialogEntry Property="ANSWER3" Label="Want more Money?:" Control="XB:False|True" ToolTip="A silly question..." SameLine=Y LabelWidth=80>
<$/Dialog>

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