Scripting

Is there a problem with compiling the WSE into an exe, and calling it as a custom action?

hehe.. no no you don't understand.. we're switching to InstallShield and the immediate need is to move our code over from WiseScript to InstallScript. We just need someone to translate our main code over to it so we can build our first InstallScript exe wrapper.

Well, since VBScab isn't here to say it:

That kind of enterprise-class work requires a non-trivial time commitment, and isn't likely to come for free. There are a few people on the boards you could PM for a quote, but you will probably be better off investigating the technology yourself, and rewriting your mystery WSE as required. I would imagine that the translation will be non-direct, as they are two independent pseudo-languages with their own little quirks and syntax issues.

If its a WSE to RUL translation then perhaps I am willing to pay. Its not like its a large super-complex script after all. I just need it done.

Why on earth would you want to use InstallScript? That's a retrograde step. Pretty much anything that happens in WiseScript can be accomplished natively in an MSI. Corporates HATE black-box packages and will re-package into an MSI so why not save them the bother? As for translation, I don't think you have a prayer.

That wasn't my call: they insisted on using Admin Studio 9 over Wise Studio 8. Anyway, the issue is really that we have a wrapper exe (done in WiseScript Editor) that calls the MSI and other custom functions but where I work they won't run Wise at all: just Admin Studio for which they have licenses for. I want to be able to build that WSE wrapper over so going forward they can edit it in Admin Studio. Granted, I would prefer them using Wise but thats not the shop I work at.

No, you misunderstand and *I* misunderstood you.

I'm not suggesting that you use Wise at all. Your post read as if your installs are ALL driven by WiseScript. I was recommending that you switch to using native Windows Installer technology for that. Either Wise or InstallShield will do for both, obviously.

My reading now is that your wrapper is in WiseScript. I presume that the wrapper is common to all your packages so, once it's translated, the job's done. I suggest you bite the bullet and just learn how it's done in InstallScript yourself. After all, how hard can it be?

EDIT:
If you wanted to pay, I found these guys (no affiliation, etc., etc.) who may be able to help.

Well the script logic in InstallScript is different to Wisescript hence the reason I need someone to look over the WiseScript we have and see how to translate it. We need this done asap.

Well, why not post it here anyway and see what happens? Remember to use the CODE tag, please.

Here is the script:

If System Doesn't Have Windows NT Running then

If System Doesn't Have Windows NT Running Abort Installation

End

If System Has Windows NT Running then

If System Doesn't Have Windows 95 Shell Interface Abort Installation

End

Rem If you do not want Rem statements to appear when you create a new installation,

Rem open Empty Project.wse from the Template folder in the Wise application

Rem directory, delete the Rem statements, and select Save from the File menu.

Stop writing to installation log



Rem If the destination system does not have a writable Windows\System directory, system files will be written to the Windows\ directory

If Directory not writable %SYS% then

Set Variable SYS to %WIN%

End



Rem ********************* <START> Please Edit or Add names as Required ************************

Rem MSI_PATH_NAME - Relative Path Name of the msi installation

Set Variable MSI_PATH_NAME to

Rem MSI_FILE_NAME - File Name of the msi installation

Set Variable MSI_FILE_NAME to .msi

Rem MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME - File Name of the mst Transform to be applied if needed.

Set Variable MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME to .mst

Rem APPTITLE is the application title of the installation

Set Variable APPTITLE to

Rem Insert the name of the application packager

Set Variable AUTHOR to

Rem SYSLEVEL LOCATION

Set Variable SYSLEVEL to C:\

Rem Packaging Tool and version used

Set Variable PACKAGE_TOOL to WiseStudio 7.x

Rem ********************* <END> Please Edit or Add names as Required ****************************

Rem DATE PACKAGED - Month -- Year

Set Variable DATE_PACKAGED to <month>/<year>



Rem Set the variable RESULT_CODE

Set Variable RESULT_CODE to 99



Rem GROUP is the variable that holds the Program Files Group that shortcuts will be placed on the Windows Start Menu

Set Variable GROUP to



Rem DISABLED variable is initialized for backward compatability

Set Variable DISABLED to !



Rem MAINDIR is the variable that holds the default destination directory

Set Variable MAINDIR to



Rem USERNAME is the variable that holds the Windows Logon name

Get System Information into USERNAME



Rem This IF/THEN/ELSE blocks reads the default Program Files and Common directories from the registry

If System Has Windows 95 Shell Interface then

Get Registry Key SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion place in Variable COMMON

Get Registry Key SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion place in Variable PROGRAM_FILES

Set Variable MAINDIR to %PROGRAM_FILES%\%MAINDIR%

Set Variable EXPLORER to 1

Else

Set Variable MAINDIR to C:\%MAINDIR%

End



Rem BACKUP is the variable that holds the path that all backup files will be copied to when overwritten

Set Variable BACKUP to %MAINDIR%\BACKUP



Rem DOBACKUP determines if a backup will be performed. The possible values are A (do backup) or B (do not do backup)

Set Variable DOBACKUP to B



Rem If COMPONENTS are enabled, the COMPONENTS variable is initialized with possible selections

Set Variable COMPONENTS to



Rem BRANDING determines if the installation will be branded with a name and company. By default, this is written to the INST directory (installation media).

Set Variable BRANDING to 0

If BRANDING Equals "1" then

Read INI Value from %INST%\CUSTDATA.INI into Variable NAME

Read INI Value from %INST%\CUSTDATA.INI into Variable COMPANY

If NAME Equals "" then

Set Variable DOBRAND to 1

Get System Information into NAME

Get System Information into COMPANY

End

End



Set Variable INSTALL_MODE to YES

Set Variable OPTIONS to %CMDLINE%

If OPTIONS Contains "/UNINSTALL" then

Set Variable INSTALL_MODE to NO

End



Rem The Wizard Loop contains the dialog screens that the user sees in the installation

Rem If you would like to change the graphic on the dialog boxes, you need to change it by double-clicking on the Wizard Loop line and change the bitmap path.

Rem If you need to change the size of your Custom Dialogs, you need only change the "Welcome" screen.

Rem It's size is the template for all following dialogs within the Wizard Loop.

If INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "YES" then

Wizard Loop

Custom Dialog "Welcome"

End

ElseIf INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "NO" then

Wizard Loop

Custom Dialog "Welcome-Uninstall"

End

End

Rem This reinitialized the BACKUP directory so that it reflects the change the user made to MAINDIR

If DISPLAY Equals "Select Destination Directory" then

Set Variable BACKUP to %MAINDIR%\BACKUP

End



Rem When the BACKUP feature is enabled, the BACKUPDIR is initialized

If DOBACKUP Equals "A" then

Set Variable BACKUPDIR to %BACKUP%

End



Rem The BRANDING information is written to the INI file on the installation media.

If BRANDING Equals "1" then

If DOBRAND Equals "1" then

Edit INI File %INST%\CUSTDATA.INI

End

End



Rem Begin writing to the INSTALL.LOG

Continue/Start writing to installation log



Rem Check free disk space calculates free disk space as well as component sizes.

Rem It should be located before all Install File actions.

Check free disk space



Rem This include script allows uninstall support



Rem The following two lines reset COMMON and MAINDIR to short filesnames. This is for backwards compatibility.

Set Variable COMMON to %COMMON%

Set Variable MAINDIR to %MAINDIR%

Set Variable LOGS to %WIN%\System32\LogFiles



If MSI_PATH_NAME Equals "" then

Set Variable MSI_PATH_NAME to %INST%

Else

Set Variable MSI_PATH_NAME to %INST%\%MSI_PATH_NAME%

End



Rem This IF/THEN/ELSE reads the correct registry entries for shortcut/icon placement

If System Has Windows 95 Shell Interface then

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable STARTUPDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable DESKTOPDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable STARTMENUDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable GROUPDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable CSTARTUPDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable CDESKTOPDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable CSTARTMENUDIR

Get Registry Key Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders place in Variable CGROUPDIR

Set Variable CGROUP_SAVE to %GROUP%

Set Variable GROUP to %GROUPDIR%\%GROUP%

Else

End



Rem All OCX/DLL/EXE files that are self-registered

Self-Register OCXs/DLLs/EXEs



Rem ******** application Installation starts here ********

If INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "YES" then

Set Variable LOG_FILE to %LOGS%\%APPTITLE%.log

If MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME Equals ".mst" then

Execute %SYS32%\msiexec.exe /i "%MSI_PATH_NAME%\%MSI_FILE_NAME%" REBOOT=Suppress /qn /l*v %LOG_FILE% (Wait)

Set Variable RESULT_CODE to %INSTALL_RESULT%

If RESULT_CODE Greater Than "0" then

Rem ********The following line can be commented in for troubleshooting purposes. Remember to comment out this line when finished testing.**********

/* Display Message "MSI Error Code"

Exit Installation

End

Else

Execute %SYS32%\msiexec.exe /i "%MSI_PATH_NAME%\%MSI_FILE_NAME%" TRANSFORMS="%MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME%" REBOOT=Suppress /qn /l*v %LOG_FILE% (Wait)

Set Variable RESULT_CODE to %INSTALL_RESULT%

If RESULT_CODE Greater Than "0" then

Rem ********The following line can be commented in for troubleshooting purposes. Remember to comment out this line when finished testing.**********

/* Display Message "MSI Error Code"

Exit Installation

End

End

Rem Create Durham_PKG Registry Marker File

Edit 2 registry keys

/* Insert line "Packaged by: %AUTHOR%" into text file %SYSLEVEL%\%APPTITLE%.Durham_PKG.

/* Insert line "Date Packaged: %DATE_PACKAGED%" into text file %SYSLEVEL%\%APPTITLE%.Durham_PKG.

/* Insert line "Packaged with: %PACKAGE_TOOL%" into text file %SYSLEVEL%\%APPTITLE%.Durham_PKG.

/* Insert line "Installation Location: %MSI_PATH_NAME%" into text file %SYSLEVEL%\%APPTITLE%.Durham_PKG.



ElseIf INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "NO" then

Set Variable LOG_FILE to %LOGS%\%APPTITLE%-UNINSTALL.log

If MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME Equals ".mst" then

Execute %SYS32%\msiexec.exe /x "%MSI_PATH_NAME%\%MSI_FILE_NAME%" REBOOT=Suppress /qn /l*v %LOG_FILE% (Wait)

Set Variable RESULT_CODE to %INSTALL_RESULT%

If RESULT_CODE Greater Than "0" then

Display Message "MSI Error Code"

Exit Installation

End

Else

Execute %SYS32%\msiexec.exe /x "%MSI_PATH_NAME%\%MSI_FILE_NAME%" TRANSFORMS="%MSI_TRANSFORM_FILE_NAME%" REBOOT=Suppress /qn /l*v %LOG_FILE% (Wait)

Set Variable RESULT_CODE to %INSTALL_RESULT%

If RESULT_CODE Greater Than "0" then

Display Message "MSI Error Code"

Exit Installation

End

End

Rem Remove Durham_PKG Registry Marker File

Edit 2 registry keys

/* Delete File(s) %SYSLEVEL%\%APPTITLE%.Durham_pkg

End

Rem ******** application Installation ends here *********



Rem This Wizard Loop finalizes the install

If INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "YES" then

Wizard Loop

Custom Dialog "Finished"

End

ElseIf INSTALL_MODE Equals (Ignore Case) "NO" then

Wizard Loop

Custom Dialog "Finished-Uninstall"

End

End

Hi Thudo can u pls explain me in detail (step by step)how to convert this WSE in to .ISM or in to install shield. i mean how to use this script step by step.

Well its never been converted over. Its basically a WISE wrapper to run an MSI with many options. I wanted to know how to make this exactly so it was build under Installshield rather than WiseStudio. Haven't yet got a response.

Hi Thudo,
It will take allot of time...! One more thing is that, how can we test that script if we don't have all those OS/Servers ?

Not sure what you mean? Testing it is a cinch as the InstallScripted wrapper would work just like the WiseScripted one. It would be transparent so long as the same functions are translated to InstallScript.

Hmmm... am not sure abt that, but if i get anything i will definitely love you post that.