Summary

Synopsis

The searching capability described in this article is now available in the System Search view. The steps described in this article can easily be accomplished using the System Search view instead of the Direct Editor. There is no real advantage to creating the entry manually via the Direct Editor as described in this article instead of the System Search view. However, this article can be used to provide a better understanding of how the system searches works or if you are using an older version of the product in which the System Search view is not yet available. The article applies to Basic MSI Project Type.

Discussion

The AppSearch action searches for a specific file signature and sets a corresponding property, specified in the AppSearch table, to the location of the file or directory. File signatures are listed in both the AppSearch and the Signature table, whereas directory signatures are located in the AppSearch table only. Thus, if the AppSearch action finds the signature you specified in the AppSearch directory, but not in the Signature table, it looks for a directory. You can use the Direct Editor to edit the Signature, AppSearch, and DrLocator MSI tables of your installation.

You can perform several types of searches by editing the Signature, AppSearch, and DrLocator tables using the Direct Editor. You can search for a file on all fixed drives or in a specific location on the user's system. You can also search for a directory, then search for a file in that directory.

Searching all fixed drives for a file

1. Edit the Signature table using the Direct Editor. Enter the file's signature, such as FileSig, into the Signature column and the filename, CoolApp.exe, into the Filename column.

   Signature	Filename
   FileSig	CoolApp.exe

2. Edit the AppSearch table. Enter a property you have defined, such as ISPROP, into the Property column, and the same file signature, FileSig, into the Signature column. Leave the other columns blank.

   Property	Signature
   ISPROP	FileSig

3. Edit the DrLocator table. Enter the same file signature into the Signature column. Leave the Parent and Path columns empty. Enter the number of sublevel directories to which you would like to search for your file into the Depth column.

   Signature	Parent	Path	Depth
   FileSig			1

   The MSI AppSearch Action is included in the Actions/Scripts view of the IDE. If the AppSearch action finds this file in the location you specify on the target system, this action will set the property you specified, ISPROP, to the location of the file.

Searching for a file in a specific location on the target system

1. Follow the first two steps in the above example.

2. Edit the DrLocator table by entering the same file signature into the Signature column. Enter the full path, such as C:\Program Files\InstallShield, into the Path column. Indicate the number of subdirectory levels you wish to search in the Depth column. To search just the InstallShield subdirectory in the example, you would enter 1 in the Depth column. Leave the other columns blank.

   Signature	Parent	Path	Depth
   FileSig		C:\Program Files\InstallShield	1

   The MSI AppSearch Action is included in the Actions/Scripts view of the IDE. If the installer finds this file on the target system, this action will set the property you specified, ISPROP, to the location of the file.

Additional Information

For more information, see the Windows Installer Help Library topics Signature, AppSearch, and DrLocator MSI tables.