Shop

InstallShield
Advanced Installer
AdminStudio
more / weitere

InstallShield und AdminStudio Schulungen

weitere Infos

Subscribe to the InstallSite Newsletter

Instead of subscribing to this newsletter please consider reading the InstallSite Blog and subscribing to its RSS feed.


Newsletter Archive

1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002

No. 12 / December 20, 1998

Welcome to the last InstallSite newsletter for this year.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

12/20/98 Internet Information Server Interface
12/20/98 Added Highlander Software Ltd. to the Consultants List
12/16/98 New version of ShowDep tool
12/13/98 Enhanced list of Consulting and Custom Programming Companies
12/12/98 Job Offer from Tanner EDA in Southern California
12/12/98 Updated version of the Freeware CD Browser that fixes an oleaut32 bug
12/08/98 Job Offer from Deutsche Telekom Online Service (Germany)
12/06/98 Updated version of CreateUrlShortcut

NEWS AND RUMORS

There is a new page in the Community section where companies that are looking for an install developer can publish their job offers.

The consultants list in the Help Resources section on InstallSite has been re-worked to be more informative and better help you to decide which is the best company for your requirements. However posting all available information would have made the page unreadable. So please feel free to send a short description of your requirements to skrueger@installsite.org and I will return some recommendations.

Issue with Maintenance Pack 3 for IS 5.1:
After installing MP3 several people reported that empty dialog boxes with Yes and No buttons appear during ComponentMoveData. This seems to happen for files that have overwrite properties set to NEWERVERSION/NEWERDATE, but not with NEWERDATE only. InstallShield Software Corp. is aware of this problem but still researching the cause. The only workaround is to remove IS5.1 and install again with MP2 instead of MP3. So if you don't have an urgent need for MP3, I suggest that you don't install it. IS5.5 seems to be not affected by the problem.

Did you know that the InstallShield 5.5 Media Builder exposes an automation interface? The COM server is in MediaBuild20.dll (located in <COMMONFILES>\InstallShield\MediaBuild. It is not officially documented or supported, but for someone familiar with typical programmable object model the type library for the MediaBuild object model should be self documenting. The type library is embedded in the MediaBuild20.dll and you can view it in VB object browser, for example.

Latest product releases:
InstallShield 5.5 Professional German Edition is shipping
InstallShield DEC Alpha Editionis available
The Beta program for InstallShield for Windows CE has been launched

 

No. 11 / December 2, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

12/01/98 Adding UK English to a Project
11/29/98 Developer Community: Meet with Peers
11/29/98 Discussion: Testing a Setup
11/27/98 Starting, Stopping and Deleting NT Services now also IS3 compatible
11/24/98 Set User Rights on NT
11/20/98 New URL - http://www.installsite.org
11/18/98 New version of ComponentSelectItem() for Invisible Components

NEWS AND RUMORS

InstallSite has a new URL - http://www.installsite.org
Hopefully this address is easier to remember. To avoid confusion please note that the top level domain is .org not .com. The new server is located in the USA, with a direct backbone connection that has a theoretical capacity of 460 GBps.
A mirror of the site is available at http://installsite.sw.com.sg in Singapore. The other sites have been abandoned.

A new section has been added to InstallSite: Developer Community. It features:

If you have suggestions for other discussion topics or additional features for the Community section, please send them to the webmaster.

Maintenance Packs released

MP 1 for InstallShield 5.5 fixes some problems in the original 5.5 version. See http://support.installshield.com for details.

MP 3 for InstallShield 5.1 is the final maintenance pack for the older version. It includes the fixes available in IS 5.5 Pro, but does not include any of the new features and benefits of version 5.5.
Download from http://support.installshield.com/download/is51.asp.
Release notes are available at http://support.installshield.com/download/is5relnotes.asp#IS51.

Note that both maintenance packs are intended for the Professional and International editions only. They can not be used for the German editions, evaluation versions or the free edition that is included with MS VC++.
InstallShield 5.5 German edition already includes the corrections made in MP1.

 

No. 10 / November 17, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

11/16/98 Debugging an Uninstall DLL from Visual C++
11/11/98 InstallSite Questionnaire
11/10/98 Get System Information
11/06/98 String Table Copy Tool
11/05/98 Added notes about Windows 2000 logo compliance with InstallShield products

NEWS AND RUMORS

InstallSite is celebrating its first birthday, and the 20,000th visitor. It's time for some changes. Therefore you have the chance to what you think about the site and make suggestions for its future. Simply fill in the InstallSite Questionnaire.

You may have noticed some problems on the primary site at http://www.ibv-tools.de. I'm looking for a solution and apologize for any inconvenience this is causing. If you can't reach the primary site or the content appears to be not up-to-date please use one of the mirror sites.

InstallShield releases first bug fix for InstallShield 5.5. Knowledge base article Q102566 describes that a bug in _isdel.exe causes system error when switching floppies in a diskette based install. A fixed version of _isdel.exe is attached to the article.

InstallShield Express 2.11 released. This version includes support for Windows 98, Visual Basic 6, and enhanced InstallShield Objects.
http://www.installshield.com/express

 

No. 9 / November 2, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

11/01/98 Site Statistics for October
10/30/98 InstallSite mirror in Singapore: http://installsite.sw.com.sg
10/29/98 New version of Troy Engel's Font Install Function
10/27/98 Update Environment in NT Registry
10/27/98 Updated function to Install a Windows INF file
10/22/98 Detect DCOM Version
10/21/98 Create Custom Dialogs From Script with InstallDialogue
10/20/98 Looking for a Self-Registered File

NEWS AND RUMORS

Happy Birthday! InstallSite is celebrating its first anniversary. Look out for some birthday specials.

In addition to the primary site at http://www.ibv-tools.de there are now two InstallSite mirrors at http://installsite.sw.com.sg (Singapore) and http://installsite.hypermart.net (USA)

Moonsea software has released InstallDialogue, a product that enables you to build custom dialogs from script - without a resource editor.It also enables you to process several notificationn messages. Additional information can be found on InstallSite in the Developer Tools section.

Install Development Digest
Leslie Easter - author of "Bulletproof Installs" - has started an interactive newsletter for setup developers. It comprises requests, comments, answers and news of interest to the install development community. It also includes a piece of COW (Code Of the Week). Visit http://www.orangebrain.com for more information.

The International West edition of InstallShield 5.5 has been released. Besides the features of IS Pro 5.5 it adds support for Croatian language. See http://www.installshield.com/intl for details.
InstallShield 5.5 German editions are scheduled for December.

InstallShield will continue the Professional product line. Viresh Bhatia told me that there will be a version 6.0. Also we can expect one more maintenance pack for IS 5.1.

 

No. 8 / October 16, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

10/16/98 Updated information about InstallShield versions for NT5 and CE
10/13/98 Added some book recommendations
10/09/98 Graphical CD Browser (freeware)
10/09/98 Added EditPlus to the list of Replacement Editors
10/08/98 Information about release of InstallShield 5.5
10/07/98 The InstallShield Newsgroup Archive has been extended
10/07/98 Added Ed Fultz to the Consultants List
10/06/98 Set up a secondary mirror server for InstallSite at http://installsite.hypermart.net
10/04/98 More details about InstallShield for MSI
10/03/98 Script Enhancement Wizard

NEWS AND RUMORS

InstallSite secondary mirror site at http://installsite.hypermart.net. This copy of http://www.ibv-tools.de is located on a free web server that displays pop-up advertisements and is sometimes slow. But in case of a problem with the primary server, you still can use InstallSite.

InstallShield has re-styled their web site. Along with the new look they added some features and interesting information:

Direct access to knowledge base through a search form at http://support.installshield.com

Information about InstallShield for Windows Installer (ISWi). The next generation of InstallShield that natively supports the Windows NT 5 install engine (formerly known under the names "MSI" and "ZAW") is now available for evaluation. There is also an Early Experience Program that includes support during the beta phase and a license for the first production release (ISWi 1.0), at the cost of $795.
Product description: http://www.installshield.com/iswi/
Download free evaluation version: http://www.installshield.com/iswi/tryit/

InstallShield 5.5 has been released. It fixes several bugs (including the Browse button problem on Windows 98) and adds some very interesting features.
Product information: http://www.installshield.com/ispro/default.asp
Release notes can be found in knowledge base article Q102183 on http://support.installshield.com/kb

InstallShield Express 2.04 released. This version fixes a GPF that could occur with 16-bit setups on Windows 98 with the MS-Wheel mouse. It also adds support for DAO/Jet and ODBC for the Delphi 4 project type. The update is free for registered users of ISX 2.03
Download: http://support.installshield.com/download/isx.asp
Release notes: http://support.installshield.com/download/isx.asp

 

No. 7 / October 1, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

10/01/98 Site Statistics for September
09/28/98 More information about "Bulletproof Installs": Preface, sample chapter, author bio
09/24/98 Added WinAPI prototypes to PrintFile function
09/24/98 InstallShield Product Roadmap
09/24/98 Added the Microsoft Developer Network to the Help Resources list
09/22/98 New (beta) version of InstallWatch
09/22/98 Another Way to Import a Registry File
09/22/98 Monitor an Install Program Without Any (Expensive) Tools
09/17/98 Create Virtual Directories and Install Filters in IIS4
09/17/98 Added NTC GmbH to the list of Consulting Companies

NEWS AND RUMORS

The long awaited book "Bulletproof Installs" by Leslie Easter has finally been released. More information, including a short review, is available on InstallSite in the Help Resources section.

A sample chapter is available at the Prentice Hall website:
http://www.prenhall.com/allbooks/ptr_0137980914.html

Knowledge base article for version control systems: Q102379 on http://support.installshield.com/kb. This article lists the files that define a project so you must check them into your version control system.

Software releases from InstallShield Software Corp.:

InstallShield Express 2.03 German edition
http://www.installshield.de

InstallFromTheWeb 2.3.1 Maintenance Release
Download - http://support.installshield.com/download/iftw.asp
Release notes - http://support.installshield.com/download/iftwrelnotes.asp

InstallShield Day in Germany has been very interesting (and fun, too). You can read a report about the InstallShield product roadmap on InstallSite in the Developer Tools section. We also saw a preliminary version of "InstallShield for MSI" which will fully support the Windows NT5 install mechanism.

 

No. 6 / September 16, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

09/12/98 Adding an Unsupported Language
09/12/98 Added more language choices in String Table form
09/11/98 Updated version of the Check String Table tool
09/08/98 Improved Wordfile and ReadMe for UltraEdit
09/06/98 Dialog Bitmap Secrets
09/06/98 BDE and ODBC White Paper Hints overhauled
09/05/98 Format Date String
09/03/98 Set Start Mode of an NT Service
09/03/98 Added a Language Selector to the Command Line Tools
09/02/98 Site Statistics for August

NEWS AND RUMORS

There are some major changes in the InstallSite infrastructure: New server software, new router, new IP address and (temporarily) a wireless connection to the internet. This work caused some configuration problems, and a storm here in Germany damaged the antenna for the wireless connection, so the site was offline for some time. The most serious problems have now been corrected, but there is still some work to do. And the antenna will soon be replaced with a 2 MBit line. So you may still experience some problems during the next week. I apologize for any inconvenience this is causing.

Additionally to the "New on InstallSite" section on the starting page, there is now a Revision History page that shows all the changes that were made since 08/23/98. So those of you who came back from holidays recently can still get all the news.

The stock string table has now been translated to Romanian. This language is not natively supported by InstallShield, and so there is also a description how to adapt and translate InstallShield files to add unsupported languages.

InstallShield Software Corp. has released vesion 2.03 of the Express product. The executable can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.installshield.com/express/203/pftw/isx203.exe and the release notes are available at http://support.installshield.com/download/isxrelnotes.asp.

The white paper about creating logo compliant setups has been revised to make the self registering files section clearer.

That's it for today. Hope to see some of you on Friday in Ulm at the German IS Day...

 

No. 5 / August 30, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

08/29/98 General Purpose String Table
08/27/98 Rearranged the Command Line Tools section and added CAB tool
08/27/98 Bugfix for IncludeInBuild Tool
08/26/98 Added RegSnap to the Setup Analyzing Tools
08/25/98 Correct ZIP file now available for Starting, Stopping and Deleting NT Services
08/25/98 CD Browser Written in InstallScript
08/25/98 Updated wordfile for Highlighter
08/24/98 Adding a Value to a Multiline Registry Entry on NT
08/23/98 Dynamic Selection of Billboards
08/23/98 New version 1.51 of ShowDep
08/23/98 Added Microsoft Dependency Walker to the File Dependency Tools
08/20/98 Added Highlighter for printing syntax colored listings to the Editor Tools
08/19/98 Component Tool now also handles large CDF files
08/19/98 Removed debugging MessageBoxes from Setup Starter for CD Root
08/19/98 Yet another updated Wordfile for UltraEdit
08/17/98 Security Update for Component Tool
08/17/98 Added OST Inc. to the list of Consulting Companies
08/16/98 Passing User-defined Command Line Parameters Through PFTW
08/16/98 Updated version of Find File in PATH

NEWS AND RUMORS

Maintenance Pack 2 for InstallShield 5.1 is now available for the German and DEC editions.
You can download the German MP2 from http://www.installshield.de. But I suggest that you order it from their software update center at http://www.installshield.de/Support/SWupdate.htm. You will receive MP2 on CD-R within a few days, absolutely free of charge (no fees, no postage).
MP2 for the DEC Alpha edition can be downloaded from http://support.installshield.com/download/decmp.asp.

InstallShield finally created a CAB utility. It can add or delete files in an IS-CAB file, or list its contents. This command line program is still in BETA. Registered users of IS5.1 (US and International versions) can download it at http://support.installshield.com/download/iscab51.asp. Users of the German and Swiss editions have to download from Installshield Germany at http://www2.installshield.de/IS5/cab/iscab51.asp.

You have voted - now here it is: The Generale Purpose String table project has come to life. It is a place to collect translations of common strings that most setups need (like component error messages). I hope the delevoper community around the world will work together to build this string table.

That's all for this edition. Maybe we'll meet at the InstallShield Day in Ulm, Germany, on Sept. 18 ...

 

No. 4 / August 15, 1998

Welcome you pitiable developers who have to work while everyone else is on vacation - I know how you feel :)

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

08/15/98 Smart CD Autorun Launcher
08/15/98 Setup Starter for CD Root
08/14/98 Added a warning and an enhancement to the Component Tool
08/12/98 Mod Division
08/11/98 Updated Wordfile for UltraEdit
08/11/98 Added another File Group Tool
08/09/98 Component Tool to set the Include in Build flag from command line
08/07/98 Added link to article about the New Windows Installer of Windows NT 5.0
08/07/98 Added Delete Capability to Starting and Stopping NT Services from Script
08/06/98 Pre-Order "Bulletproof Installs"
08/04/98 Enhanced Version of FindAllFiles
08/02/98 Complete Dial-Up Solution (Shareware)
08/02/98 Bugfix for Expand System Variables in ComponentGetData
08/01/98 Site statistics for July

NEWS AND RUMORS

Maintenance Pack 2 for InstallShield 5.1 Professional/International (Intel versions) has been released and is ready for download on InstallShield's support site at http://support.installshield.com. It is not yet available for IS versions with localized IDE, such as the German, Swiss and Japanese editions and any evaluation or free versions. The German MP2 is scheduled for the end of August.

There seems to be an issue with MP2 in conjunction with Microsoft's client for Novell Netware on Windows98. Some people reported that setup crashes or suddenly aborts when the Browse button in a component dialog is clicked. It seems to be related to Windows' browse dialog that Microsoft has changed in Windows98. Currently there is no reliable information about which versions of InstallShield are affected (IS5 with or witjout MP2, ISX, IS3). But it is a good idea to test your setup thoroughly on Windows98 with the Novell client installed.

Windows98 issues:

  1. How can you distinguish between Windows95 and Windows98? InstallShield has created an extension function for this purpose that is included in knowledge base article Q101296.
  2. Revise your code. Verify that you handle OS dependent code correctly in your script! Make sure that you go into the Win95 branch if setup is running on Win98, not into the WinNT branch of your code.

InstallShield Days in Germany. On September 18, 1998 an InstallShield Day will take place in Ulm, Germany. There will be presentations of upcoming InstallShield technologies and some workshops. You'll meet InstallShield developers from Germany and USA. For details visit http://www.installshield.de/Kontakt/ISdays/default.htm

Don't forget to reserve your copy of Leslie Easter's book "Bulletproof Installs". Go to the Help Resources section on InstallSite to pre-order the book.

 

No. 3 / July 31, 1998

Welcome to the InstallSite newsletter. During the first month of its existence, more than 170 people have subscribed. Thanks for your interest!

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

07/31/98 Total NT Service Support
07/29/98 Retrieve Local TCP/IP Address
07/29/98 Finding a File in the PATH
07/28/98 Bugfix for Create a Share on a Directory
07/24/98 Added InstallShield Application Repackager and Veritest Installation Analyzer to the Setup Anaylising Tools
07/24/98 Added UltraEdit (Shareware) to the Replacements for the IDE Editor
07/20/98 Analysing a Setup with InstallWatch
07/19/98 Added MultiEdit to the Replacements for the IDE Editor
07/18/98 Latest version of ShowDep tool
07/17/98 Improved function for Font Installation
07/17/98 Updated CodeWright Extension for InstallShield
07/17/98 Update Software With Patches

NEWS AND RUMORS

On InstallShield Germany's support site there is a white paper for 16 Bit BDE 4.51:
http://www.installshield.de/Support/White_Papers/default.htm
It is currently only available in German language, but Stefan Paetow at InstallShield USA is working on a translation.

InstallShield released the Application Repackager (formerly called Detective). It can monitor a third party installation and create an IS5 project from the information it gathers. IAR is free for registered users of IS5.1. There is already a newsgroup installshield.iar.general to discuss problems with the tool.

Did you know that there is a Software Update Center at InstallShield Germany, where users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can order maintenance releases on CD, eliminating the need for long downloads.

The CAB viewer, that InstallShield's CEO, Viresh Bhatia, promised to be available about two weeks ago, still hasn't been seen.

During the past weeks, several links to commercial tools have been added to InstallSite (such as Editors, RTPatch etc.). What do you think about it? Should InstallSite concentrate on free tools, or also select some commercial programs that appear to be useful to setup developers?

Would you be interested in a German version of this newletter? I'm not quite sure how many of you (readers of this newsletter and visitors to InstallSite) are German speaking. But as InstallShield decided to create a German version of the IDE, there must be some German users out there...

 

No. 2.1 / July 17, 1998

Note: Appearently, InstallSite Newsletter No. 2 was not properly delivered to all subscribers. Therefore I'm sending you this edition 2.1, which includes the content
of No. 2 plus some late breaking news.

Last week I also used this mailing list to inform you, that the server problems with InstallSite had been fixed. If you don't want to receive this kind of information, please let me know: skrueger@usa.net

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

07/16/98 Australian Visual Developers Forum added to the Support Sites list
07/14/98 HideAppAndWait now also works on 16 bit Windows
07/14/98 New URL for the Installshield Newsgroup Archive at Folio.Com
07/12/98 Details about Leslie Easter's Book "Bulletproof Installs"
07/12/98 More Magazine Articles About Setup Toolkits
07/12/98 Compare Two Strings With Case Sensitivity
07/12/98 Added Start|Run Solutions to the Custom Programming Companies
07/09/98 Create a Share On a Directory
07/09/98 New Solution for "Error -7241 Media chosen is not large enough"
07/08/98 Make Shortcut Independent of CD Drive Letter
07/07/98 Creating and Starting a DUN Connectoid
07/02/98 Codewright Extension for InstallShield
07/01/98 Site Statistics for June
06/30/98 Magazin Articles About Setup Programs
06/30/98 InstallSite Newsletter Archive

NEWS AND RUMORS

InstallShield Software Corp. has added two new whitepapers to their support site at http://support.installshield.com:

On InstallSite you can find a secret video taken at InstallShield Software Corporation's Usability Lab. It shows a user testing the latest version of the IDE editor. (Don't take this one too serious :)

In the Help Resorces section there is a short review about "Bulletproof Installs" and also a listing of the table of contents.

The discussion about InstallShield's quality is going on and several threads have been added. Here are some official statements from InstallShield Software Corporation:

"I will be the first to admit that in InstallShield 5.0, we were not able to do everything we wanted to do. And there were several things we seriously overlooked." (Viresh Bhatia, CEO)

"I have good news for you, the IS CAB Viewer that we promised is now available. ... it will be available on our web site." (Viresh)

"We are planning to release a maintenance release which will be availble free of charge. ... I agree with you that you should be able to obtain maintenance releases without having to buy the upgrades. I know our maintenance releases have slowed down a little bit - we are working to change that." (Viresh)

"Beginning immediately, we are increasing our efforts behind providing IS5.1 customers with maintenance releases which fix the most serious problems reported to us. Over the next several months, you can expect multiple releases which address the issues you are facing every day." (Mike Byrne, IS 5.1 Product Manager)

Great promises, but still have to prove. I haven't seen the CAB Viewer yet.

 

No. 1 / June 29, 1998

Welcome to the first edition of the InstallSite newsletter.

NEW ON INSTALLSITE

06/29/98  Show File Dependencies and Version Numbers
06/25/98  InstallShield Ltd. U.K. offers Training Courses in Europe
06/25/98  Display Component Error Messages
06/25/98  Problem in Check String Table Entries tool fixed.
06/21/98  InstallSite Newsletter
06/21/98  Prepare String for Multiline Registry Entry
06/21/98  Enhanced DLL for Restoring Path During Uninstall
06/17/98  Some details about the upcoming book Bullet Proof Installs
06/17/98  Another infobase for Full Text Search in InstallShield5 Newsgroups
06/16/98  Test if a Section Exists in an INI File
06/16/98  Remove Whitespaces from a String
06/16/98  Place Dialogs on the Lower Right Corner of the Screen
06/16/98  Full Text Search in InstallShield5 Newsgroups
06/15/98  General Purpose String Table Initiative
06/15/98  Launch Application and Get Exit Code

General Purpose String Table Initiative

Here is an idea that came to me after reading one of the postings in the is5.general newsgroup:

Maybe it would be useful to have kind of a "stock string table" with several general purpose strings already translated. Strings such as "This product requires that you install XY. Do you want to run the XY setup now?", some SdFinish messages, error messages etc.

What do you folks think about that? Would you like to have such a list? What should be in it? Or is this a silly idea?

I don't think that InstallShield will (can) provide one, but if some of you are interested, we might create our own list... Developers from all over the world are gathered in the newsgroups and visiting this site. InstallSite could provide a place for such a list, if many of you are interested.

Let me know: skrueger@usa.net

NEWS AND RUMOURS

Leslie Easter's book "Bullet Proof Installs" is scheduled for publication on September 2, 1998. As soon as it is published it can be ordered online through InstallSite (in association with Amazon.com). I'll try to get some preview information before that date :)

The Custom Dialog Extension for InstallShield5, a shareware product from Moonsea Software (http://www.moonsea.com) has been updated to version 1.02.

Currently there is a dispute about the quality of the InstallShield software in the installshield.is5.general newsgroup. Look for the thread "Why doesn't InstallShield 5.1 Professional work as advertised?"

 

 

 

English News Discussions Windows Installer Related Tools More Help InstallScript About InstallSite Shop Site Search
deutsch Neuigkeiten Diskussionsgruppen Windows Installer MSI FAQ Artikel     Shop Suche

Copyright © by InstallSite Stefan Krueger. All rights reserved. Legal information.
Impressum/Imprint Datenschutzerklärung/Privacy Policy
By using this site you agree to the license agreement. Webmaster contact