Summary

Use InstallChangeFolder style dialogs to allow users to set other properties.

Synopsis

This article explains how to create a dialog like the prepackaged InstallChangeFolder and apply it to a property other than INSTALLDIR. It explains how to create a dialog that allows users to visually select a directory and then set the value of a property to that path.

The procedure explained in this article can only be used if the value of the property in question is an existing path, such as C:\Program Files\InstallShield\InstallShield for Windows Installer\Support.

Discussion

The following steps explain how one can create a functioning dialog named InstallChangeDIRVAR that allows users to set the value of a property called DIRVAR to a selected path.

Step 1: Create the property

Open the Property Manager and create the property DIRVAR. Give it an initial value that is an existing path on the hard drive on which the installation will run, such as C:\.

Step 2: Copy the dialog

Make a copy of the InstallChangeFolder. Name the new dialog InstallChangeDIRVAR.

Step 3: Create an entry in the directory table for DIRVAR

Open the Direct Editor and go to the Directory table. Create a new entry and fill it out as follows:

Step 4: Adjust the dialog that calls InstallChangeDIRVAR

In this example, we will adjust DestinationFolder, the same dialog that spawns InstallChangeFolder, to spawn our new dialog, InstallChangeDIRVAR. However, you can choose any dialog to spawn InstallChangeDIRVAR and apply these changes to that dialog.

Create a new PushButton on the DestinationFolder dialog. This is the button that pops up InstallChangeDIRVAR. Now, go to the Behavior view of DestinationFolder and highlight the new PushButton.

Create two new events for this PushButton:

• First, set up a SpawnDialog event with InstallChangeDIRVAR as an argument. This causes the InstallChangeDIRVAR dialog to be popped up when the button is clicked.
  
  
• For the other event, enter [_BrowseProperty] into the event field. Make its argument DIRVAR. This sets _BrowseProperty to DIRVAR. The condition for both of these events should be 1.

The Behavior view of the new PushButton should look like this at the end of the step:

Step 5: Make sure that the dialog that calls InstallChangeDIRVAR is called by another dialog

If you have not already done so, make sure that DestinationFolder or whichever dialog calls InstallChangeDIRVAR is actually called by the next button of another dialog.

It is easiest to change the argument of the NewDialog event of the Next button on the CustomerInformation dialog from its default value of SetupType to DestinationFolder. Also, change the argument of the NewDialog event on SetupType's Back button to Destination folder.

Step 6 (Optional): Create a custom action that pops up DIRVAR

If you want to make certain that InstallChangeDIRVAR is working correctly, create a custom action that pops up the value of DIRVAR. If you do not know how to do this, see Creating a Custom Action that Displays a Property.

Then, select DesinationFolder's Next button in the Behavior view and add a DoAction event with a condition of 1 and specify your custom action as an argument. Your custom action should pop up the path that you select with the InstallChangeDIRVAR dialog.

WARNING: Your project must have a component or the SetTargetPath event on InstallChangeDIRVAR's OK button will fail with error 2731. SetTargetPath is not necessary; it checks to see if the path given to it as an argument is actually a valid writable path.

Additional Information

How Do the DestinationFolder and InstallChangeFolder Dialogs Work?