Reading XML Data with a System Search

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InstallShield includes extensive XML functionality, including the ability to create and modify XML files on a user's system. This article describes functionality included in the System Search Wizard for Basic MSI projects to search for an XML file and read data from it.

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For this example, consider the contents of Repositories.xml from the Repositories subdirectory of InstallShield:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Repositories>
     <Repository Key="Local" DisplayName="Local"
           Description="This is your repository where you can store elements on your system only."
           Path="C:\My InstallShield 10.5 Projects\LocalRepository\repo.xml" 
           Local="1"/>
      <Repository Key="Network" DisplayName="Network Repository"
           Description="Exported project elements for use in multiple projects."
           Path="\\Server\Everybody\SharedElements\repo.xml" Local="0"/>
</Repositories>

For this example, suppose you want to read the Path attribute from the Repository element that has its DisplayName attribute set to "Local.?

To set up the search, launch the System Search Wizard by visiting the System Search view in the "Behavior and Logic" view group, right-clicking in the System Search list, and selecting Add. In the System Search Wizard, select the search type "XML file value".

In the Details panel, you specify the name and location of the XML file. When specifying the location of the file, you can click Browse to open the Browse for Directory panel, with which you can build up the search path based on existing Directory properties. In this case, the desired path is [ProgramFilesFolder]InstallShield\2015\Repositories. Note the year should be changed depending on the version being used.

Next, in the Data panel, you specify the information you want to read from the XML file, if it is found. The data is specified using XPath syntax; for this example, the expression: /Repositories/Repository[@DisplayName='Local'] indicates to look for the Repository subelement of the root Repositories element that has its DisplayName attribute equal to "Local". Furthermore, in the Look For field you specify whether to read the value of an element's attribute, the element's contents, or just to detect whether the element exists. In this case, the search reads the value of the Path attribute of the detected element.

Finally, as with any system search, you specify the name of a public property in which to store the search results. In this case, the value of the specified attribute will be stored in a custom public property called VALUE_FROM_XML_FILE.

You can use the value of the search property in any way appropriate for your project. To test the example, you can display the value of the search property on the InstallWelcome dialog box by adding a Text control with its Text value set to VALUE_FROM_XML_FILE = [VALUE_FROM_XML_FILE].

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Case id: 00001065