Going Beyond Visual Studio: Powerful and Reliable Application Installations with InstallShield

fact sheet

Vendor: Flexera Software (flexerasoftware.com)

Vendor's Information:
About InstallShield
About Flexera Software

You're all done with developing your application and now you have to package it up so users can install it. If you're developing Windows applications with Visual Studio, you might be tempted to use VS's built-in deployment project tool. But before you go that route you should ask yourself the following questions about your installation:

Are you simply copying files, creating a shortcut and updating the registry with your installation?
Do you need to extend your installation to configure a database server?
Are you configuring web services, IIS or mobile devices with your installation?
Does the user need to be guided on the install to ensure they install your application correctly?

If you answered yes to any question besides the first one, the VS deployment project tool won't cut it for you. You need to consider a full-featured professional installer such as InstallShield.

"Most application installations today require more than just copying and updating the registry" says Maureen Polte, Director of Product Management for InstallShield. "Visual Studio's core competency is to allow developers to code applications, not deployment and installation, and the capabilities to do so within Visual Studio are limited. With a product like InstallShield integrated with Visual Studio and running inside VS, you can build a powerful and reliable application installation."

The Components of a Professional Application Install
To make your installations look and perform professionally, there are several things you can do as part of the install process.

"Bringing your brand into the install process allows you to grab the user's attention from the moment they start using your product," says Polte. "With InstallShield, you can modify the appearance of your dialogs to match your product and corporate branding. Additionally, you can create custom dialog boxes to prompt users for any additional information required by your installation."

Users also want the ability to manage the components and features of your application they install on their system. With InstallShield, you can easily break apart your application from other add-ons or help libraries that you would normally package with the application and give the user the option of whether or not to include these features as part of the install.

The fact that there are so many desktop computers in use around the globe today, and so many people using them in languages other than English, means you have to carefully consider international language support even during the install. Polte continues, "In Visual Studio 2008, the limited runtime dialogs are only translated into a limited number of languages. InstallShield delivers a full set of dialogs already translated into 35 languages. InstallShield increases the chances that ISVs will be able to save money on translations." And with InstallShield, you'll only need to create one project to support all of your language releases.

Since most applications today either connect to a database or over the Internet or both, you need an installer that allows you the ability to run SQL scripts or manage a web site, its directories or applications. "InstallShield extends MSI (the Windows Installer) using custom actions to work with both IIS and databases," says Polte. "InstallShield goes further by supporting all the native custom action types and packaging options, and extends with InstallScript, 'standard DLL', and managed code custom actions."

Once an application is installed, the installer's work isn't necessarily completed. Inevitably you will have to supply the user with either patches or upgrades or both. With InstallShield you can easily create upgrades and patches for your product, making it easier for you to roll these changes out to users.

You also need to think about validating your installation project. This requires applying a set of internal consistency evaluator (ICE) rules to your installation. These rules help determine whether an installation package contains a valid database that performs its actions correctly. If a package fails one or more ICEs, InstallShield reports the specific ICE rules that were violated and offers additional information to help you troubleshoot the problem.

Microsoft created many of the ICEs that are available in InstallShield; Flexera created the custom InstallShield ICEs (ISICEs) that are available for the InstallShield Certified for Windows Vista Validation Suite and the InstallShield Certified for Windows Vista Merge Module Validation Suite. The ISICEs help you validate your package against best practices for Windows-based installations. With the InstallShield Premier Edition you get a set of validators called the InstallShield Best Practice Suite (ISBP) which alert you if your installation violates best-practice guidelines. All of this helps developers be sure that their application adheres to Microsoft logo guidelines.

"A professional application starts with a professional installation and the only way you get that is with a professional installer," concludes Polte. If you want a professional installation with your application, you need to get InstallShield.