ActiveSync Page
Desktop ActiveSync Installations represent the most common delivery mechanism for Windows Mobile/CE CAB packages. This is also called registering the application with the "Windows CE Application Manager" ("CEAppMgr.exe", a component of the Microsoft ActiveSync services), which resides on the user's computer. The Application Manager handles the installation and removal of mobile applications (packaged as CABinet files) onto Windows Mobile/CE devices.
This page allows you to specify mobile applications that should be registered with the Application Manager when the MSI package is installed. You can specify the order in which the corresponding CAB packages are installed as well as how they are grouped together, in order to achieve the smallest possible number of prompts from the Application Manager (if this is a requirement).
Creating a new ActiveSync Application Group
Use the toolbar button or the “New Application
Group” context menu option or press the
Insert key while the left tree control is
focused.
Application Groups are used to collect one or more related mobile applications and to register them with the Windows CE Application Manager in one single step (this means there will be only one prompt asking whether to allow the installation on a cradled device).
Creating a new ActiveSync Application
Use the toolbar button or the “New
Application” context menu option or press the
+ key while the left tree control is
focused.
An ActiveSync Application represents a mobile application, but is not necessarily limited to a single CAB package. You can add multiple CAB packages, each one targeting a different platform or device type.
Renaming an ActiveSync Application or Group
Use the “Rename” context menu option or press the F2 key while an ActiveSync Application or Group is selected in the tree control.
The name for an Application Group is only stored in the
project, whereas the name for an ActiveSync Application will also be the name
of the generated Application Manager INI
file. This file will be automatically generated for you by
Advanced Installer based on the information you provide and appears in the Files and Folders page.
Deleting an ActiveSync Application or Group
Use the
toolbar button or the “Delete” context menu option or press
the Del key while an ActiveSync Application or Group is
selected in the tree control.
You can set the order of installation for ActiveSync Applications and
Groups by drag & drop in the tree control.
ActiveSync Global Settings
The global settings from this page can be changed only when there is at least one Application Group defined. Otherwise, this page is not showed.
Run WinCE Application Manager to install mobile applications
Condition
This global condition affects the installation of all mobile applications you have defined. If the condition evaluates to FALSE, then no mobile applications are registered with the Application Manager. This is because the expression you enter in this field is used as an execution condition for the Advanced Installer predefined custom action that launches the Application Manager executable "CEAppMgr.exe".
If this condition evaluates to TRUE, then the installation of a particular mobile application is affected by the condition set for the Application Group it belongs to.
The default condition is set to AI_CEAPPMGR_SEARCH AND (NOT Installed), which means that the predefined AI custom action (which invokes "CEAppMgr.exe") is executed only if the Application Manager executable has been found and this is the MSI package's first-time installation.
The predefined AI_CEAPPMGR_SEARCH Property is
set to the Application Manager executable's full path, retrieved using a
registry search.
Run WinCE Application Manager to remove mobile applications
Condition
The expression you enter in this field is used as an execution condition for another Advanced Installer predefined custom action, which invokes the Application Manager executable without any parameters. This shows the Application Manager "Add/Remove Programs" dialog, from which the user can select the mobile applications to be removed.
The default condition AI_CEAPPMGR_SEARCH AND (REMOVE="ALL") ensures that the Application Manager executable is launched when the MSI package is uninstalled, provided that this executable exists. If however you do not want the Application Manager "Add/Remove Programs" dialog showed when the MSI package is uninstalled, enter an always-FALSE condition in this field, for instance 0.
ActiveSync Application Group
Application Groups are used to collect one or more related mobile applications and to register them with the Windows CE Application Manager in one single step (this means there will be only one prompt asking whether to allow the installation on a cradled device). At install time, each Application Group corresponds to one of the Application Manager executable's invocations and thus each Group must contain at least one Application. If this requirement is not met, an error will be shown at build time.
General
Condition
The expression you enter in this field affects the installation of all mobile applications from this group. If the condition evaluates to FALSE, then no mobile applications from this group are registered with the Application Manager. If this condition evaluates to TRUE, then the installation of the mobile applications from this group (as well as other groups) depends on whether the first condition from the ActiveSync Global Settings page evaluates to TRUE. Edit this field using Smart Condition Edit Control.
The default condition for an Application Group is set to AI_CEAPPMGR_SEARCH AND (NOT Installed), which means that the mobile applications belonging to it are registered with the Application Manager only if the Application Manager executable has been found and if the MSI package is installing for the first time.
The predefined AI_CEAPPMGR_SEARCH Property is
set to the Application Manager executable's full path, retrieved using a
registry search.
ActiveSync Application
In this page you can specify the CAB package(s) for your mobile application as well as any other settings required by the Application Manager.
Advanced Installer will automatically generate the Application Manager INI
file based on the information you provide. This file appears
in the Files and Folders page, is
read-only, but can be moved to any folder you want.
General
Description
A string that will appear in the Application Manager "Add/Remove Programs" dialog's Description field when a user selects the application. This field is required and cannot be left empty.
Uninstall
A string that identifies the application's Windows Uninstall registry key name. This name must match the application's registered Windows Uninstall key name, which is found under the following registry key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
For Windows Installer products, this string is usually the Product Code GUID. Access to this name enables the Application Manager to remove automatically the mobile application from the computer and from the device when the user clicks the button in Application Manager "Add/Remove Programs" dialog. Note that the button may not be present, depending on the ActiveSync version the user has installed.
If you want to disable this functionality, leave this field empty.
Device File
The name of the mobile application's main executable file. The purpose of this field in the Application Manager INI file is unknown.
These fields are of Formatted Type and can
be edited using Smart Edit Control.
Display
Icon File
This icon appears next to the mobile application in the Application Manager "Add/Remove Programs" dialog. If no icon file is specified, a default icon is used. Choose a file from your project that contains icons by using the button and select from the available icons in the drop-down list. Press to use the default icon.
CAB Files
You can specify the CAB package(s) for the mobile application. Providing more than one CAB file allows you to target multiple device platforms.
Make sure the Windows Mobile/CE CAB packages you add in the list are for
the same mobile application, with each one targeting a different platform,
device type, processor etc. For instance, the CAB packages may have
resulted by building an Advanced Installer Windows Mobile CAB
Project which contains several configurations.
Adding one or more CAB packages
Use the button or the “Add...” context-menu option or press the Ins key while the "Cab Files" list is focused.
Removing one or more CAB packages
Use the button, the “Remove” context-menu option or press the Del key while one or more items are selected in the list control.
Specifying the order of CAB files in the generated Application
Manager INI file
Use the / buttons, “Up” / “Down” context menu options or press the PgUp / PgDown keys while a CAB file is selected in the list control.
The official documentation provides the following guidelines to ensure that Application Manager installs the correct CAB file for the currently cradled device:
- the CAB files targeted at the widest range of platform types and versions must reside at the top of the list, while the CAB files for the most specific platform types and versions will be placed at the bottom of the list.
- the list must also use an order that begins with the newest version and ends with the earliest version.
- if the platform string and version information are specified, information about the WinCE operating system version is ignored.