Background Image

[hahaha]

Hi,

i wanna show some background images during installation (as big as the desktop), but I dont know, whether it is possible with the advanced installer. if yes , how do i do it?
2nd thing: i know how to play a sound alongwith the installer, but is there a possibility to decide, whether it should be looped or not?

Regards

[Cosmin]

Hi,

i wanna show some background images during installation (as big as the desktop), but I dont know, whether it is possible with the advanced installer. if yes , how do i do it?

Currently this feature is not supported by Advanced Installer. However, we have it on our TODO list and it will be available in a future version. Until then, you could try using a custom action.

i know how to play a sound alongwith the installer, but is there a possibility to decide, whether it should be looped or not?

The custom action which plays the audio file is configured to always loop. However, I have added on our TODO list an improvement which will allow you to specify if the file will be looped or not. Thank you for your suggestion.

Regards,
Cosmin

[hahaha]

so is there at the moment the possibility (with custom action) to place an image in the background which is as big as the desktop?
when will the new version be released?
is there some other installer which supports

-playing an audio file
-changing appearances of the pages (custom actions)?
-placing a big background image (or more of them)

?

Regards

[Cosmin]

Hi,

so is there at the moment the possibility (with custom action) to place an image in the background which is as big as the desktop?

Yes, but you would need to write the necessary code yourself. I'm afraid that we do not have a predefined custom action or sample code for showing a background image.

when will the new version be released?

The 6.8 version of Advanced Installer should be released next month (January 2009).

is there some other installer which supports
-playing an audio file
-changing appearances of the pages (custom actions)?
-placing a big background image (or more of them)

I'm not sure. However, Advanced Installer can play an audio file, change the appearance of the installation dialogs through the Dialog Editor and in the future it will be able to show background images during the installation.

Regards,
Cosmin

[hahaha]

thanks for the answer. where do i write the necessary code?

[Cosmin]

Hi,

For a custom action you can use one of the following:
- a C++ DLL
- a VBScript file
- a JScript file
- an EXE

You can write the code in any IDE using any language you want as long as you obtain one of the above.

Regards,
Cosmin

[hahaha]

what should be the function of the EXE? just showing an image as background? or should it be somehow connected with the installer?

[Cosmin]

Hi,

The EXE should only show the background image. I'm not sure if you can connect it to the installation because the EXE will run in a different process. You could try using a DLL custom action. This way you would have a handle to the installation and perhaps you can find a way to link the background image to the installer.

Please note that the custom action should run with the "Asynchronous execution, do not wait for return" option in order to show the background image in parallel with the installation.

Regards,
Cosmin

[hahaha]

thanks for the explanation!