Installing to %PROGRAMDATA%

[hsc]

Hi,

I am creating a custom dialog which lets the user select a folder for data storage. The default location should be %PROGRAMDATA%\Par, and the related property is LOCAL_PAR_DIR. I believe this should be easy to do, but I didn't find a way.

I thought I could simply initialize LOCAL_PAR_DIR in the "Properties" table but didn't find how to use %PROGRAMDATA%. So I initialized LOCAL_PAR_DIR to "[|]" which results in an empty string, and then used a custom action to insert the default value if the property is still empty. This worked.

When I inserted a "browse for folder" button into the dialog, I followed instructions on viewtopic.php?t=1721 which indicate that I should create a "Property Based" folder for the property. Since I did that, the LOCAL_PAR_DIR property is initialized to C:\LOCAL_PAR_DIR, rather than to an empty string, although the value in the "Properties" tale hasn't changed. I created an installation log which confirms that. This prevents my custom action from initializing the property.

Can you help me to overcome my confusion?

Thanks
Hans

[Liviu]

Hello Hans,

In order to achieve your scenario please follow the step from our How to browse for a folder at install time article.

If you still can not get this working, can you please forward to me your .AIP (setup project) file by email to support at advancedinstaller dot com so I can have a look on it?

Best regards,
Liviu

[hsc]

Hi Liviu,

thanks for the instruction. I could follow the steps and created the folder and the dialog to define it. However, the initial value of MY_DIR is "C:\" and not "C:\ProgramData" (or rather, %PROGRAMDATA%). Do I have to create a custom action, or is there a predefined property which I can use for initialization?

Thanks
Hans

[Liviu]

Hello Hans,

In order to achieve this, you can add the [CommonAppDataFolder] peroperty instead of the [WindowsVolume] property at Step 3 of the above tutorial:

3. In the Custom Actions page, create a "Set installer property" custom action with sequence before the "Wizard Dialogs Stage -> Searches" action group. Use the following options for this custom action:

a) Property: MY_DIR (defined in the "Properties" page)

b) Value: [WindowsVolume]

my dir.png (88.05 KiB) Viewed 2825 times

Please let me know if that helped you.

Best regards,
Liviu

[hsc]

[CommonAppDataFolder] - that was the one I had been looking for! Thanks a lot, Liviu, and have a great weekend.

Hans

[Liviu]

You're always welcome, Hans!

Have a nice weekend too!

Best regards,
Liviu