This package does not support hiding dialogs. Problem with MST
Hi there
I'm fairly new to packaging in that I've repackaged a few applications using Wise package Studio 8 and done some ICE correction and created some MSTs purely based on information I've been able to find on here and other websites.
I've got a requirement to automate the installation of AutoCAD Map3D 2011 and various third party plugins for remote deployment. Whilst I've got the AutoCAD bit working fine, predictably the third party plugins I need to deploy don't have any support for unattended/silent installations. The plugins come as an InstallShield executable which just serves as a container for a single MSI. Running through a manual installation the MSI installer prompts the user for license information and towards the end launches a shortcut creation wizard that creates a shortcut to launch AutoCAD along with the relevant plugin.
When I tried to run through Wise Install Tailor I get a message early on that 'The package does not support hiding dialogs', Install Tailor then finishes before all the dialogs I saw during the manual installation appear. The resulting MST file if used with the MSI will populate the information required early in the install sequence such as installation directory and EULA but I'm then, unsurprisingly, prompted for the license details and the shortcut wizard appears. My problem appears to be almost the same as the one reported here http://itninja.com/question/silent-uninstall-oracle-8-cilent223.
I've read through that thread and managed to follow some of the advice. I fired up Windows Installer Editor and from the MSI Script view I selected the drop down from the top for 'all custom actions'. I could see there was a custom action for launching the shortcut creation wizard so I edited my MST file to delete this custom action as I can script this separately outside of the MSI. This appears to have worked as now if I run the installer with the new transform I don't get the shortcut wizard appearing at the end and the application installs successfully.
My problem lies with the license information. The licensing for these plugins actually works off a USB dongle. The license information you enter during the install is just an owner name and 4 digit serial number. There doesn't appear to be any validation taking place during the install as I can enter anything here and the installation still completes successfully. It just appears to be writing the data to a key in HKLM\Software so I'm thinking I can just add this using the MST. I can't spot where during the installation sequence the License Dialog appears though (admittedly I haven't got a clue what I'm looking for). At the end of the User Interface script in MSI Script view there is a 'Display Dialog' entry which if I right click and check properties looks like the dialog that appears before the license prompt. The next line after this is 'ExecuteAction', if I look at the properties of this it tells me it's a standard action and it can only be moved or deleted. Could this be the license prompt? There are some other custom actions for 'Call DLL From Installation but again it's not obvious what these do.
Any help with this is massively appreciated. Apologies if this doesn't make sense but as I mentioned this is all new to me.
Cheers
I'm fairly new to packaging in that I've repackaged a few applications using Wise package Studio 8 and done some ICE correction and created some MSTs purely based on information I've been able to find on here and other websites.
I've got a requirement to automate the installation of AutoCAD Map3D 2011 and various third party plugins for remote deployment. Whilst I've got the AutoCAD bit working fine, predictably the third party plugins I need to deploy don't have any support for unattended/silent installations. The plugins come as an InstallShield executable which just serves as a container for a single MSI. Running through a manual installation the MSI installer prompts the user for license information and towards the end launches a shortcut creation wizard that creates a shortcut to launch AutoCAD along with the relevant plugin.
When I tried to run through Wise Install Tailor I get a message early on that 'The package does not support hiding dialogs', Install Tailor then finishes before all the dialogs I saw during the manual installation appear. The resulting MST file if used with the MSI will populate the information required early in the install sequence such as installation directory and EULA but I'm then, unsurprisingly, prompted for the license details and the shortcut wizard appears. My problem appears to be almost the same as the one reported here http://itninja.com/question/silent-uninstall-oracle-8-cilent223.
I've read through that thread and managed to follow some of the advice. I fired up Windows Installer Editor and from the MSI Script view I selected the drop down from the top for 'all custom actions'. I could see there was a custom action for launching the shortcut creation wizard so I edited my MST file to delete this custom action as I can script this separately outside of the MSI. This appears to have worked as now if I run the installer with the new transform I don't get the shortcut wizard appearing at the end and the application installs successfully.
My problem lies with the license information. The licensing for these plugins actually works off a USB dongle. The license information you enter during the install is just an owner name and 4 digit serial number. There doesn't appear to be any validation taking place during the install as I can enter anything here and the installation still completes successfully. It just appears to be writing the data to a key in HKLM\Software so I'm thinking I can just add this using the MST. I can't spot where during the installation sequence the License Dialog appears though (admittedly I haven't got a clue what I'm looking for). At the end of the User Interface script in MSI Script view there is a 'Display Dialog' entry which if I right click and check properties looks like the dialog that appears before the license prompt. The next line after this is 'ExecuteAction', if I look at the properties of this it tells me it's a standard action and it can only be moved or deleted. Could this be the license prompt? There are some other custom actions for 'Call DLL From Installation but again it's not obvious what these do.
Any help with this is massively appreciated. Apologies if this doesn't make sense but as I mentioned this is all new to me.
Cheers
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Answers (7)
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Posted by:
naveen.packager
12 years ago
Stew,
Break the log brfore license dilouge and again break the log after license dilouge. Then check that part to know exactly which custom action is getting executed.
Have you checked the log and are you sure it does not have a property. There is a chance that the property is managed by the control condition table and so you cannot get that inputs in mst when created using install tailor.
Break the log brfore license dilouge and again break the log after license dilouge. Then check that part to know exactly which custom action is getting executed.
Have you checked the log and are you sure it does not have a property. There is a chance that the property is managed by the control condition table and so you cannot get that inputs in mst when created using install tailor.
Posted by:
Stewmang
12 years ago
Hi Naveen
Thanks, I think you may have sorted my problem. I tried what you mentioned and took a copy of the log while the license dialog was displayed then compared it with the complete log and the next action in the complete log was called Get_Customer_Details. I'd seen this custom action listed but thought it was relating to another stage during the install.
I've deleted this custom action and if I write the info to the registry separately I can now install the whole package silently. I suppose my options now are to either just add the registry key using the mst or move the custom action earlier in the sequence so the data can be captured by install tailor. I can see the Custom action appears at the end of the installation sequence on the Execute Immediate tab just before ScheduleReboot and InstallFinalize. I wouldn't know where would be a suitable location to move to though so I'm guessing the former will be the simpler option.
Many thanks!
Stew
Thanks, I think you may have sorted my problem. I tried what you mentioned and took a copy of the log while the license dialog was displayed then compared it with the complete log and the next action in the complete log was called Get_Customer_Details. I'd seen this custom action listed but thought it was relating to another stage during the install.
I've deleted this custom action and if I write the info to the registry separately I can now install the whole package silently. I suppose my options now are to either just add the registry key using the mst or move the custom action earlier in the sequence so the data can be captured by install tailor. I can see the Custom action appears at the end of the installation sequence on the Execute Immediate tab just before ScheduleReboot and InstallFinalize. I wouldn't know where would be a suitable location to move to though so I'm guessing the former will be the simpler option.
Many thanks!
Stew
Posted by:
anonymous_9363
12 years ago
I'd recommend commenting out unwanted CAs using an impossible-to-meet condition rather than deleting them. Don't worry about moving it, since it won't ever appear in a silent deployment anyway.
As for the license details, the data must end up in a public property somewhere, so just populate that property in your transform.
As for the license details, the data must end up in a public property somewhere, so just populate that property in your transform.
Posted by:
Stewmang
12 years ago
Hi VBScab, thanks for your help. Just to clarify, again this is another total novice question I'm afraid, should I be able to just move the custom action to any random position that's earlier in the UI sequence? I tried doing this in both the UI and Execute immediate sequences and got a message that this should only be moved to a position after InstallFinalize.
Also with regard to the public property into which the license details must be stored. All I've done is go into Installation Expert and add the two registry keys it creates to the destination computer (bearing in mind I've deleted the CA in the latest version of the MST). Should I be looking for this property in addition or would this only be relevant if I'd kept the CA and moved it? Also where would I look for the property? The Properties table in Setup Editor?
Cheers
Stew
Also with regard to the public property into which the license details must be stored. All I've done is go into Installation Expert and add the two registry keys it creates to the destination computer (bearing in mind I've deleted the CA in the latest version of the MST). Should I be looking for this property in addition or would this only be relevant if I'd kept the CA and moved it? Also where would I look for the property? The Properties table in Setup Editor?
Cheers
Stew
Posted by:
naveen.packager
12 years ago
Stew,
Do not move the custom action, as VBScab mentioned just comment it. If I have understood your first post in this thread correctly, I think you cant see this license dialouge in the dialouges tab in your msi.
Check if it is present there and then in that dialogue u can check the properties that handles for those inputs.
If not add the reg values in the mst.
If you add the property then check in silent intsall whether you are getting the desired values after installation.
Hope this helps.
Do not move the custom action, as VBScab mentioned just comment it. If I have understood your first post in this thread correctly, I think you cant see this license dialouge in the dialouges tab in your msi.
Check if it is present there and then in that dialogue u can check the properties that handles for those inputs.
If not add the reg values in the mst.
If you add the property then check in silent intsall whether you are getting the desired values after installation.
Hope this helps.
Posted by:
Stewmang
12 years ago
Hi Naveen
Yes that's right, the license dialogue is missing when I view that tab in WPS so at present I've deleted the CA (will go back and change this to commented out) and added the reg keys in the MST using Installation Expert view..
I was confused by the bit about adding the property and whether this is another approach to adding the reg key as opposed to adding it in Installation Expert or should be done in conjunction.
Thanks again
Stew
Yes that's right, the license dialogue is missing when I view that tab in WPS so at present I've deleted the CA (will go back and change this to commented out) and added the reg keys in the MST using Installation Expert view..
I was confused by the bit about adding the property and whether this is another approach to adding the reg key as opposed to adding it in Installation Expert or should be done in conjunction.
Thanks again
Stew
Posted by:
anonymous_9363
12 years ago
It might be that the CA is calling a function in a custom DLL. If it is, it's probable that it passes a property/value pair back to the WI engine. Your verbose log will show you all the properties and their values.
EDIT:
I meant to say in my first post that you can ignore the warning "This package does not support hiding dialogs". It's just informational.
EDIT:
I meant to say in my first post that you can ignore the warning "This package does not support hiding dialogs". It's just informational.
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