codesynergy
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Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:29 pm

Enhanced UI Changes

Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:46 pm

Hello,

I recently upgraded from Advanced Installer 13.2.2 to 13.8.1 and ran into some... interesting changes to the enhanced/extended UI. It appears there is no way to disable the enhanced UI under the following circumstances:
- Installing pre-requisites (might be a certain kind of pre-req)
- Creating an EXE package type

I couldn't quite nail down the exact details here. But, in the end, just by upgrading Advanced Installer (no changes to my project), the enhanced UI was forced upon my installation. I could not figure out how to disable it (the "Never" option under Themes > Settings > Use Enhanced User Interface was removed).

Note that I am installing pre-reqs in my project ("Frameworks" and "Feature-based"), and the build type is "EXE setup with resources net to it". Prior to the upgrade, I could disable enhanced UI.

I would like to request to bring back the ability to disable the enhanced UI, even if installing pre-requisites (I think "Pre-install" was the exception).

Fortunately, I took a snapshot of my development machine before upgrading. I tried each version of AI between 13.2.2 and 13.8.1. It appears 13.4 is the version before the enhanced UI changes. So, I'm currently stuck at 13.4 for now.


Thanks.

Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:20 pm

Hello,

Indeed, starting with Advanced Installer 13.8 version the option to disable the Enhanced UI is no longer available when you build an EXE setup package. The Enchance UI is implicitly "Turned On" when you build an EXE setup.

Do you have any reason why do you need to disable the Enhanced UI when building an EXE setup package?

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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codesynergy
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:29 pm

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:23 pm

Do you have any reason why do you need to disable the Enhanced UI when building an EXE setup package?
I'm going to start of with an analogy for this one :D.

Imagine you go to a car dealership to buy a Honda Civic. A very basic, no-nonsense car without a lot of extra features. But, it's tried and true, very reliable, and you know exactly what you are getting. And, that's exactly why you are buying a Civic. You get to the dealership, only to find out the dealer is only selling custom/modified Civics. Modified engine, modified body, fancy rims, etc. You request a stock Honda Civic, but the dealer asks you why? Don't you want the "upgraded" civic with all the "enhancements"? After all, those upgrades only improve on the stock Civic.

Ok, enough with the analogy. In more specific terms:
  • I want to use the "standard" MSI interface specifically because it's "standard". I know exactly how it should behave, the MSI interface has proven itself over time, and it's Microsoft's technology. Meaning, they know better than anyone how to make sure it just keeps working.
  • The enhanced UI seems buggy. During my first complete install with the extended UI enabled, I ran into two "bugs". I put bugs in quotes, because the behavior was not as expected, and the behavior was not the same as with the non-extended UI. Two bugs in five minutes of testing... not good.
  • I want to design an installer where the logic is same across all installer technologies, not just Advanced Installer. That's one of the major reasons I moved away from InstallShield (their focus is on using InstallScript). The fact that I came across two "bugs" in the enhanced UI (that did not exist in the normal UI) makes me worried about this. I can't say for sure this point is really an issue, since I did not dig into the details of those two bugs. But, now it's in the back of my mind.
  • Personally, I don't like the look of the extended UI. I know the differences are minor, but they are noticeable, and things just seem too look a bit "off" to me.
Now, I'm not sure how the enhanced UI actually works. Maybe a special wrapper around the normal UI, invoked by the setup.exe bootstrapper? But, in any case, it effects the default MSI UI behavior.

I guess the main point I'm trying to get across is - you should always give the option of using the default MSI ui. Microsoft maintains the Windows Installer/MSI technologies, so, of course I would want to have the option of using their default UI.


Thanks.

Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:18 pm

Hello,

First of all I want to thank you for the detailed feedback and for sharing with us your point of view. Indeed, our old EUI feature generated in the past (very seldom though) sporadic UI issues, but we hope the last implementation of our new EUI feature won't generate any such issues, thus reaching a solid reputation so that you can use our EXE package type with utmost confidence.

Recently we worked on a major refactoring of our "Enhanced User Interface" feature and this feature is currently used, apart for the setup UI, to handle all the EXE bootstrapper specific features. The old EXE bootstrapper (without EUI enabled) mechanism was not quite scalable to our latest Advanced Installer version, thus becoming obsolete. This is why we decided to completely refactor the EUI feature and handle all our EXE specific features through a new implementation of the EUI feature. This is the main reason why the new EUI feature cannot be disabled for EXE package type. The only way to use the original MSI UI will be to build an MSI package type.

We really appreciate your understanding.

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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codesynergy
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:29 pm

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:12 pm

First of all I want to thank you for the detailed feedback and for sharing with us your point of view.
Anytime. Thanks for listening to the feedback!
Recently we worked on a major refactoring of our "Enhanced User Interface" feature and this feature is currently used, apart for the setup UI, to handle all the EXE bootstrapper specific features. The old EXE bootstrapper (without EUI enabled) mechanism was not quite scalable to our latest Advanced Installer version, thus becoming obsolete. This is why we decided to completely refactor the EUI feature and handle all our EXE specific features through a new implementation of the EUI feature. This is the main reason why the new EUI feature cannot be disabled for EXE package type. The only way to use the original MSI UI will be to build an MSI package type.
It sounds like you went all in on the EUI and did some... re-architechting to achieve that. I would have preferred to still have the option to disable the EUI , but it sounds like that wouldn't really be possible. I don't agree with this, but now it makes sense why the option (to disable EUI) was removed.

In my opinion, it would have been better to use the bootstrapper to handle all the typical bootstrapper functions (like installing pre-reqs), but don't touch the MSI. In other words, have the bootstrapper act only as a wrapper around the MSI. I'm not exactly sure how/what the bootstrapper is doing to the MSI, but it's affecting behavior and the look of the UI. I think the cons out-weigh the pros on this. Also, you have to think about the case in which a user wants to run the MSI by itself (system admins seem to like this). Will running the MSI (no bootstrapper) behave the same way as when running the MSI through the bootstrapper (the MSI itself, not the additional functions the bootstrapper provides)? It my installer, there are differences.

Anyways, that's just my two cents. I'll probably dive into the differences I'm seeing (I'll start another post) with the EUI and give it a fair chance. But, I feel like I might have to stick with 13.4 for now, or maybe look into using WiX to create the bootstrapper.


Thanks.

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

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:54 pm

Hello,

This improvement has been added in version 14.2 of Advanced Installer released on July 26th, 2017. In case the Enhanced User Interface is not required, we will fallback on standard MSI UI.

Best regards,
Dan
Dan Ghiorghita - Advanced Installer Team
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codesynergy
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:29 pm

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:13 pm

Awesome. Thanks for this and also fixing the command line issue (viewtopic.php?p=94870#p94870).

Daniel
Posts: 8237
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:11 pm
Contact:  Website

Re: Enhanced UI Changes

Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:27 am

You are always welcome.

All the best,
Daniel
Daniel Radu - Advanced Installer Team
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