The Media Settings Tab

Here you can specify how you want Advanced Installer to create the package for you.

Package

Folder

Your package's path. Click on the [ ... ] button to change the folder where the installation package is created. By default, this shares the same folder with the project file. Removing the package name will delete the whole path.

The path will be saved relative or absolute, as specified in the Project Options Tab.

File Name

Specify the name of the MSI package. By default the name of the project name is used. This field is of PseudoFormatted Type and can be edited with Smart Edit Control.

Archive

Place files unpacked next to the MSI database

The files in the package will be copied as they are next to the MSI file.

If you select the unpacked files option, a directory structure similar to that of the target computer will be created. Your installation will contain the MSI and all the files and folders next to it.

When the files are placed unpacked near the MSI and the MSI is set to be downloaded from an URL location (Bootstrapper page) the files and folders will be created with short names.

Archive installation files uzing LZMA compression for smallest package size.

In case of LZMA compression, all installation files and the MSI file will be packed into one archive that will be included in an EXE package. The main advantage of LZMA compression is that it generates a smaller package size than CAB archiving; the disadvantage is that, during installation, the package requires more time and disk space (for extracting the LZMA archive).

Compression Level

You can select the desired compression level for the LZMA archive. The following options are available:

• Fastest - Fastest compression, poor compression level.
• Fast - Fast compression, good compression level.
• Normal - Compression with balanced settings: speed versus size.
• Good - Gives better compression ratio than Normal level, but it is slower and it requires more memory.
• Best - Gives the best compression ratio, but it is slower and it requires a lot of memory.
• Custom - You can customize the LZMA archive parameters according to your needs.

For more information about LZMA compression go to the LZMA Compression page.

Archive installation files into CAB files

The files of the package will be packed into cabinet files.

You can choose between a single file or multiple volumes. If you create one single CAB, you may include it in the MSI file. The result will be one MSI file that will contain all your software - a single file installation. On the other hand, multiple CABs allow the creation of multi-volume installs.

You also have the option to create a CAB file for every feature that your package contains. This means that all the files contained by a certain feature will be placed in the same CAB. This is useful when installing the MSI from an URL location as only the CABS corresponding to the features selected for installation will be downloaded.

Advanced CAB Layout

This option enables you to perform extensive customization concerning the media volumes and CABs in the Advanced Media Tab.

This feature allows to control the following packaging options:

• The maximum size of the media volume.
• What files a CAB will contain.
• The maximum CAB size
• Specify whether a CAB should be embedded in the MSI database.
• The media volume for each CAB.
• You can leave files outside the CABs, and you can decide on which volume they will be placed. The files placed outside will be stored directly on the volume. No directory structure will be created.

Please make sure that you estimate correctly the volumes and CABs sizes. If a CAB or external file will not fit on it's current volume, it will automatically be moved on the next volume (if this volume doesn't exist it will be automatically created).

If the files contained by a CAB will exceed, after compression or storage(CAB without compression), the specified maximum CAB size, there will be created as many CABs as needed with the same characteristics until all the files will be packed.

This configuration mode requires that al least one CAB should be created. If you want to leave all the files outside CABs you should enable the "Place files unpacked next to the MSI database" option.

Multiple Volumes

When you select multiple volumes, you can specify the size for the first and following volumes. This gives you the possibility to author multiple installation disks. You can customize the CAB size in the Edit CAB Settings Dialog. Use the [ CABs... ] button.

Do not forget to make the first volume smaller to allow space for the MSI next to the CAB files.

You can also specify the disk label in the "Volume Label" field. Use "#" to specify the disk index. This character will be automatically replaced with the disk number at build time.

If "#" is not used the disk number will be appended at the end of the label string.

Multi volume install can only be tested from the appropriate removable media.