The Custom Actions Page

You can add Custom Actions to the installation process in the Custom Actions page.

In the left-side pane there is a tree with a number of branches representing the stages of the installation. There are two main branches which correspond to the two main installation phases and a secondary branch which represents the custom actions which can be used by DoAction control events on the dialogs of the installation:

• InstallUISequence - Contains the actions that are executed when displaying the user interface (if the user interface is set to full). The actions in this sequence are executed only if you have not selected the basic type of interface (in the Install Parameters page).
• InstallExecuteSequence - Corresponds to the sequence that follows the pressing of the [ Install ] button.
• UI Custom Actions - These custom actions are used by the Dialog Editor and are executed by control events..

For each of these you can show more branches in which you can add custom actions, using the [ Show Standard Action ] toolbar button. These branches represent the standard actions which are executed during an installation.

When adding a custom action under a standard action, the custom action is executed after the standard action runs.

The custom actions from a branch will be executed in the order they appear in the tree. You can drag and drop a custom action to change the order in a branch or even move it from a branch to another.

You can also share a custom action between two standard actions, provided one it is located in the InstallUISequence and the other in the InstallExecuteSequence. Simply drag a custom action from one sequence to the other, while pressing the Shift key.

In the right-side pane you can see all the Custom Action Properties for the one selected in the tree.

Creating a new custom action using a wizard

Use the [ New Custom Action Wizard ] toolbar button, to quickly and easily create a new custom action, following step-by-step directions.

Adding a custom action to be run from a file attached to the installation

Use the [ New Attached Custom Action ] toolbar button or tree context menu item, or press the Insert key while the focus is the "Install Sequence" panel. An "Open File" dialog will appear and you can choose the custom action file from your disk.

It is not recommended to use a "MSI database attached to installation" custom action because it has been deprecated. Also, this type of custom action cannot be uninstalled from the "Add or Remove Programs" applet.

Adding a custom action to be run from a file installed with the installation

Use the [ New Installed Custom Action ] toolbar button or tree context menu item, or press the + key while the focus is the "Install Sequence" panel. An File Picker dialog will appear and it will allow you to select a file only from your project.

Removing a custom action

Use the [ Delete ] toolbar button, the "Delete" tree context menu item or press the Delete key while the focus is on the "Install Sequence" panel.

Renaming a custom action

You can rename a custom action by selecting the "Rename" tree context menu option or by pressing the F2 key, while the focus is on that branch.

Show Standard Action

The "Show Standard Action >" context sub-menu presents more Standard Actions after which you can schedule custom actions. The standard action available depends on the sequence you have clicked (for example InstallUISequence has only few standard actions. In the case of InstallExecuteSequence, those actions are divided into three groups: "Before Initialization >", "Before File Installation >" and "Before Finalization >". After adding such actions to the "Install Sequence", you can schedule custom actions in the sequence range starting with them. To do that, select a folder in the left side tree and then create a new Custom Action, or drag&drop an existing custom action from another folder.

Some standard action have identical names for both sequences but they represent distinct stages in the install sequence.