I am not looking for the "answer", but for guidance on how to look for the answer.
We have some old .wsi files from back when the WISE install builder was used for a product. WISE is not sold anymore and we may not have access to a working WISE installation. Nevertheless, I imported the .wsi file into a new Simple Advanced Installer project. After adjusting files for their new locations (and making one change I'll describe below), I successfully built an .msi installer without any evident errors. I can run the .msi installer to completion without any evident errors. But when I try to run the program (which does run when the old installer is used), nothing at all seems to happen. No warnings or error messages. Nothing.
I'm primarily looking for advice in how to track down exactly why this isn't working. It isn't the fault of the application executable itself (since it works when installed by the old WISE .exe installer). There must be something like a missing installation step or an incompatibility in the new installer.
The main change I made from the imported WISE .wsi install is that it involved some special custom steps (of unspecified nature) by WISE components that may not have an available counterpart. In order to make an installer that would Build, I removed a section for
<COMPONENT cid="caphyon.advinst.msicomp.MsiBinaryComponent">
...
<ROW Name="WiseCustomCall" SourcePath="...wisecustomcall"/>
<ROW Name="WiseCustomCall2" SourcePath="...wisecustomcall2"/>
...
</COMPONENT>
It would not be surprising if the old WISE custom operations need to be replaced by non-WISE equivalents. But I would hope to be able to determine what isn't working about the way it is. The question I am asking is about how to investigate why the new install doesn't function when trying to run the program, yet gives no obvious errors.
I expect there are techniques that are apparent to an experienced install builder. Unfortunately, though I have experience as a developer, this is my first entry into building an installer. Thanks in advance for your patient help.