Summary

Symptoms

When building a project created with InstallShield, the following error may occur:

"Error -5047: Cannot create directory [1]"

[1] is a placeholder that contains the full path of the directory that could not be created.

Cause

This error has been known to occur in the following scenarios:

1. If the build location is deep in the Windows file system and exceeds the length allowed by the operating system.

2. When building to a network location and insufficient permissions are granted to the network folder(s).

3. The build folder is currently open in Windows Explorer, thereby locking the build location and preventing the build from completing successfully.

4. If a release has been corrupted because of insufficient disk space, a virus, etc., this error can occur.

Resolution

1. If the build location is deep in the file system, this results in an extremely long path being used that can exceed the limit imposed by the operating system. To resolve this issue, install InstallShield Express to a shallow path. For example, use a path such as C:\Express rather than a deeper path such as C:\Test Folder\Test SubFolder\This is a test\InstallShield\Express.

2. If building to a network location, contact your network administrator to ensure you have full permissions to this location. It is recommended that full administrative permissions are granted to ensure no issues occur because of lesser permissions.

   Another test to ensure full network access is to use Windows Explorer to manually browse to the network location and create folders or files manually. If this is possible, it is safe to conclude that permissions are not the problem.

3. When the build folder is currently open in Windows Explorer while attempting to perform a build, this error occurs because the build folder is being locked by Windows Explorer, and the build cannot proceed. Close all Windows Explorer windows that have this location open, and all applications or utilities that may be locking this location. Rebooting the machine is a good way to ensure nothing else is running that may be locking the build folder.

4. If the release has been corrupted, the only solution is to create a new release. To accomplish this, follow these steps:
   1. Select Tools > Open Release Folder in the InstallShield IDE. This will open Windows Explorer to the current releases built location.

   2. Navigate up two or three folders in the release folder to the directory with the current media name (CD_ROM, Custom, etc).
   3. Rename the existing release folder. For example, CD_ROM_bak or Custom_bak.

   4. In the Express IDE, select Build > Build <Release Name>.

   5. By creating a backup of the existing built release, this ensures when the release is built again that it is built from scratch. Therefore, if the previous release was corrupted, it should no longer be corrupted.

Additional Information

This error is briefly documented in the InstallShield Help topic Build Errors and Warnings.