jusvu
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 9:28 am

Detect if folder exists and run exe if not

Tue Nov 02, 2021 3:49 pm

Hi! My app requires 3rd party app and I would like to install the 3rd party app using my installer if it is not installed (or show a note to the user that the 3rd party app is not installed)

Is there any way to include another app in the installer and check if folder exists (say, C:\Program Files\AwesomeApp) and try install it if the folder does not exist. Or can I write a condition that if C:\Program Files\AwesomeApp does not exist, my installer refuses to continue and shows some kind of note "Please install AwesomeApp first" instead?

This is possible with InstallShield, but I couldn't figure out how to do this in Advanced Installer. I checked this viewtopic.php?t=26253 and managed to create a search, which works OK, but then what's next...

Catalin
Posts: 6537
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Detect if folder exists and run exe if not

Tue Nov 02, 2021 4:24 pm

Hello,

The recommended approach here would be to add your 3rd party tool as a prerequisite in the "Prerequisites" page.

In order to install that said prerequisite based on a condition, you should use the "Install Conditions" field from "Prerequisites" page --> your prerequisite --> "Install Conditions" tab.

Please read the following article which I've written about this subject:

Prerequisite install detection criteria - How to create one

Hope that helps!

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
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jusvu
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 9:28 am

Re: Detect if folder exists and run exe if not

Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:07 pm

Thanks a lot! I checked the instructions you linked already earlier, but I thought I can use it for registry check only. But I re-checked it and found out that you can actually check if a file exists, so I created a new package prerequisite in Pre-install folder and just added following new "Install Condition":

Criteria: FIle Version
File to find: [ProgramFiles64Folder]\AwesomeApp\AwesomeApp.exe

...and now it works great

Thanks!

Catalin
Posts: 6537
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Detect if folder exists and run exe if not

Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:20 pm

You are always welcome!

Glad to hear everything is working as expected.

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
Follow us: Twitter - Facebook - YouTube

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