psf
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:00 am

merge module signature

Fri Sep 11, 2015 4:42 pm

I have developed a merge module using AI 11.4.1 to replace an existing Visual Studio merge module.
I didn't use the conversion tool when developing this new merge module.
I now realise I would like it to keep the same 'signature' as the old one. i.e. to appear to be a newer version of the same merge module, so that reference counts get handled ok etc. when installing products which deliver this merge module.
The Visual Studio project module signature looks something like "MergeModule.A33A615277E1451EAE0691505D169EBE'.
The AI merge module , on the module details page, has module id, and module guid.
the id, I guess I could set to 'MergeModule' ?
But the guid appears to be in a different format to visual studio's : e.g. D3BA42AD_2DC1_40AB_8FA2_D69675219ECB , i.e. with underscores to separate out the various portions.

Is it possible to modify the settings to achieve my requirement ?

Dan
Posts: 4513
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 3:51 pm

Re: merge module signature

Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:24 am

Hello,
The Visual Studio project module signature looks something like "MergeModule.A33A615277E1451EAE0691505D169EBE'.
Please note that the ModuleID of a merge module created with Visual Studio is as follow:

Code: Select all

MergeModule2.FA105F32_241C_4FE0_B9F6_A473B3560D89
The same format of the ModuleID is generated when using Advanced Installer. You can check this by yourself. Create a dummy MergeModule project in VisualStudio and build it. Open the .MSM with Orca or Advanced Installer and check the ModuleSignature table.

As it states in the ModuleSignature article, if the readable name of the merge module is MyLibrary and the GUID is {880DE2F0-CDD8-11D1-A849-006097ABDE17}, the entry in the ModuleID column becomes MyLibrary.880DE2F0_CDD8_11D1_A849_006097ABDE17. As you noticed, Advanced Installer follows guidelines and best practices.

If you have other questions, please let us know.

Best regards,
Dan
Dan Ghiorghita - Advanced Installer Team
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psf
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:00 am

Re: merge module signature

Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:41 pm

Using a new VS2010 merge module setup project to create a dummy merge module, and looking at the output merge module using Orca, I don't get the module id format you do. Mine is still without the underscores.

Dan
Posts: 4513
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 3:51 pm

Re: merge module signature

Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:45 am

Hi,

I've used VS 2013, to create the sample mergemodule project. Not sure if the signature has been changed. As you can see below in the attached image, I get the expected behaviour:
MergeModuleSignature - VS 2013.png
MergeModuleSignature - VS 2013.png (47.59KiB)Viewed 3893 times
Best regards,
Dan
Dan Ghiorghita - Advanced Installer Team
Follow us: Twitter - Facebook - YouTube

psf
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:00 am

Re: merge module signature

Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:42 am

The old Visual Studio Setup and Deployment project disappeared after VS2010; I just tried in VS2012 and it gave me instructions on how to enable installshield limited edition.
So whatever you used is different from what our original VS setup projects were developed with.
So I guess the answer to my original issue is that no, AI can't generate a module signature like my old setup, because that signature was not in the standard format.
Regards
Paul

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