Providing the necessary information to allow a Support engineer to begin troubleshooting your issue is one of the best ways to avoid delays.  This article discusses what type of information to include and how to gather it when submitting an InstallShield case to Flexera Technical Support.

Version and Edition of InstallShield

Include the version and edition of InstallShield used to design and build the installer.  Going to Help > About InstallShield in the IDE is one of the easiest ways to verify this information.

IDE, Stand Alone Build, Integration with Visual Studio

Specify whether you are using InstallShield as a stand-alone product with its IDE, using the Stand Alone Build to build a project, or using InstallShield integrated with Visual Studio.

Project Type

There are several project types available in InstallShield.  Including the project type being used will clear up any ambiguity and allow the Support engineer to dive right in to troubleshooting.  With the project open in the IDE, the project type will be listed alongside the project name on the title bar of the IDE.  Otherwise, attaching a copy of the project file to your case will allow the Support engineer to quickly determine the project type.

When the Error Occurs

Most errors can be classified as either a “Design/Build Time Error” or a “Runtime Error” depending on whether the issue occurs in the process of creating your installer or when running your installer.

Expected Versus Actual Results

Describe in as much detail as possible what you expect the behavior to be and what the actual behavior observed is.

Screenshots

When applicable, including screenshots often provides valuable information that supplements the written description of the issue.  Screenshots comparing expected to unexpected or desired to actual appearance can be incredibly helpful.

Reproducibility

The best way to ensure a timely resolution to your issue is to provide a list of steps the Support engineer can use to reproduce the issue you are reporting.  Steps to reproduce that start with creating a new project in InstallShield are the best, though not always possible.  Detailed steps to reproduce the issue allow the Support engineer to understand the exact scenario and submit to Engineering if necessary.

Verbose Log File

Attaching a verbose log file from when the issue was reproduced is always a good idea.  See the following Knowledge Base articles for more information regarding generating a log file:

Logging an MSI Installation

Logging an InstallScript Project

Logging an InstallScript MSI Project

Logging an Express Installation

Verbosely Log a Command Line Build

Additional Pertinent Details

Providing any additional details you believe are integral to the issue being reported is most often helpful.  It’s often better to provide more details than necessary rather than providing too few.