Optional post-install prerequisite

[alco]

What is the best way to go about this:
- when installing the main app, installer must provide the user an option to install related app/s
- the related app/s must be listed in checkbox/es only if not already installed
- each related app must provide a short description upon selecting it on the list to let user know about what that app is/does
- if all related apps are already installed, the list must not be shown
- these post-install prerequisites must not affect existing pre-install prerequisites in any way

The closest I can find from the manual is this, but it's missing some of the requirements listed above: https://www.advancedinstaller.com/user- ... ction.html

[Catalin]

Hello Alco,

In what regards the pre-install prerequisites, the check is done automatically. If the pre-install prerequisite is not already installed, the following dialogs will be shown:

preinstall.PNG (61.57 KiB) Viewed 3430 times

and a dialog which will let the user choose if he either wants to install the prerequisite or not:

selectionlist.PNG (21.07 KiB) Viewed 3430 times

In what regards the "Feature-Based" and "Post-Install" prerequisite, the logic behind them is quite the same. For both feature based and post install prerequisites, a new feature is created in the "Organization" page. To take care of this, you can simply add the "OptionalFeatsDlg" dialog (in the "Dialogs" page). The optional features dialog looks something like this:

optfeatsdlg.PNG (21.6 KiB) Viewed 3430 times

and it also lets the user choose if whether he wants to install the prerequisites or not.

if all related apps are already installed, the list must not be shown

If the prerequisites are already installed, the dialogs will not be shown.

each related app must provide a short description upon selecting it on the list to let user know about what that app is/does

I am afraid that this is not possible by using the predefined dialogs I was talking about above. However, this can be achievable by creating your own custom dialog, which will contain the check-boxes. For each checkbox, you can set a "Tooltip" which will display a small description when you bring your mouse over it. In order to add a tooltip to a checkbox control, you can simply click on the checkbox control and then, on the right side, under "Properties" --> "Help" section --> "Tooltip", you can add a little description about the checkbox.

these post-install prerequisites must not affect existing pre-install prerequisites in any way

This should not be happening anyway.

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Catalin

[alco]

Thanks for your reply, Catalin!

you can simply add the "OptionalFeatsDlg" dialog (in the "Dialogs" page)

I tried this and it looks like this could serve our purpose.

I am afraid that this is not possible by using the predefined dialogs I was talking about above.

You're right, the closest I can make it is add a Description in the Feature Properties for the optional post-install item, where the Description shows up as a tooltip on hover.

I'll experiment some more and ping back if needed. Thanks again!

[alco]

you can simply add the "OptionalFeatsDlg" dialog (in the "Dialogs" page)

I tried this and it looks like this could serve our purpose.

It turns out this is not desirable because it downloads the optional feature before the main feature gets installed, then optional feature gets installed before Finish Step shows up. The intended behavior is that the optional feature should only download and install upon clicking the Finish button, so optional feature installation does not add to the total install time of the main feature.

Do you see another/better way than adding a custom checkbox at the Finish Step for the optional feature?

[Catalin]

Hello Alco,

First of all, please accept my apologies for the delayed reply, but we had our Orthodox Easter holiday here.

In what regards your requirement, you can try to add the prerequisite as a post-install prerequisite. Indeed, feature-based prerequisites are installed before the main feature is installed. Post-Install prerequisites are installed after the finish button is pressed.

However, in what regards the download, that will still occur during the installation process (after the user presses the "Install" button).

If you want, you can try to configure your own custom action that will do all the job (both download and install) after the "Finish" button is pressed.

Hope this helps.

All the best,
Catalin