Selectable per-user and per-machine installations does not seem to work when using the theme 'Surface'

[hthomas]

Hello,

I use the Surface theme and I'd like to set a selectable per-user and per-machine installation installation.

I set these:
Install parameters:
- Installation type: Per-machine if user is administrator, per-user otherwise
- Application folder is [AI_UserProgramFiles]\product_family\product_name
- everything else is the default as far as I can tell
Under builds, I have the Single EXE setup (resources inside)

I added the InstallTypeDlg in Dialogs.

If I apply the classing theme, then everything works as it should be.

If I apply the BlackSurface theme we used before, then I get weird errors.
First, the install path is not changed whether I am admin or not, and then just before the file copy operation should start, I get an dialog box where I can cancel the installer or go back to the previous step. I cannot proceed with the installation.

I also noticed, that in this case the InstallTypeDlg is after the InstallDlg which does not really make much sense. When using Classic, the FolderDlg is after InstallTypeDlg, as it should be.

Also, another small but quite annoying issue I bumped into:
I also have an Msi only build, where the Package Type is set to Single MSI (resources inside),plus where I set 'Limit to basic user interface' to true.
If I change the theme to classic and back to Surface, then the Package Type for the Msi build is silently changed to Single-Exe.

[Liviu]

Hello Thomas,

If I apply the BlackSurface theme we used before, then I get weird errors.
First, the install path is not changed whether I am admin or not, and then just before the file copy operation should start, I get an dialog box where I can cancel the installer or go back to the previous step. I cannot proceed with the installation.

Currently, there is a problem on the Surface theme. When the Per-user install is choose, the installer still asks for admin privileges (the UAC still appears).

This was already fixed by our development team and most likely will be included in our next major release that should be out by the end of this month.

But from what I tested, it looks like the APPDIR is still correctly set.

Regarding the "weird errors" you get, can you please send us the .AIP (setup project) file and some screenshots with the error by email to support at advancedinstaller dot com so we can further test and investigate this?

I also have an Msi only build, where the Package Type is set to Single MSI (resources inside),plus where I set 'Limit to basic user interface' to true.
If I change the theme to classic and back to Surface, then the Package Type for the Msi build is silently changed to Single-Exe.

Please keep in mind that the "Surface" theme requires "Enhanced User Interface" which is handled by our EXE Bootstrapper.

Also, when you choose a theme that requires Enhanced User Interface from the "Themes" page, the package type is automatically turned to EXE in the "Builds" page. Then, when the project is built it creates an EXE setup file and the MSI file next to it (the MSI file can also be included in the EXE file). When you run your package, you should run the EXE file for the bootstrapper to handle correctly all the dialogs and controls.

This is happening because Windows Installer is not able to manage our Enhanced User Interface.

If you have other questions, please let us know.

Best regards,
Liviu

[hthomas]

Hi Liviu,
thanks for the reply! I'll send our project file and the screenshots soon.

Please keep in mind that the "Surface" theme requires "Enhanced User Interface" which is handled by our EXE Bootstrapper.

I'm aware of that. What we are trying to do is to have an EXE installer with enhanced user interface and an MSI with a basic user interface in the same AIP file. These are set up as two different builds. This seems to be working so far and I am able to configure the Install parameters for each build.

Also, when you choose a theme that requires Enhanced User Interface from the "Themes" page, the package type is automatically turned to EXE in the "Builds" page.

It would be nice to show an explicit warning dialog when this happens, to make things more clear (maybe with a 'Do not show this in the future' checkbox).

[Liviu]

Hi Thomas,

It would be nice to show an explicit warning dialog when this happens, to make things more clear (maybe with a 'Do not show this in the future' checkbox).

A notification is already displayed in the right corner when the package type is automatically changed:

notification.png (31.29 KiB) Viewed 4302 times

And is also displayed in the Notifications tab:

Notifications tab.png (13.59 KiB) Viewed 4302 times

Also, I have received your email with the files and once I will conclude my investigations, I will follow you up over the email.

Best regards,
Liviu

[hthomas]

Thank you, I missed the popup notification (imho it's easy to miss after the popup has disappeared, but it's definitely there on the Notifications tab )

[Liviu]

You're welcome, Tamás!

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,
Liviu

[Catalin]

Hello Tamás,

This has been fixed in version 19.2 of Advanced Installer, released on February 21st, 2022.

Best regards,
Catalin