Summary

Synopsis

The Windows Installer provides the ability to author the user interface for multiple levels. The user interface level used depends on the value of the MSI property UILevel in Basic MSI projects. This article provides a brief description of each level.

Discussion

In a Basic MSI project, the MSI property UILevel can be detected to determine the user interface level. Following is a brief description of each value of UILevel, and what it indicates:

• Full UI ? Displays both modal and modeless dialogs. Displays built-in modal error-message boxes.

  msiexec /i SampleApp.msi

• Reduced UI ? Displays authored modeless dialogs. Displays built-in modal error-message boxes.

  msiexec /i SampleApp.msi /qr

• Basic UI ? Displays built-in modeless dialogs that display progress messages.

  msiexec /i SampleApp.msi /qb
  msiexec /i SampleApp.msi /qb! (hides cancel button)

• None ? No User Interface is displayed.

The level of user interface used is determined by the value of UILevel property.

If UILevel is set to 2 then the installation uses No UI.
If UILevel is set to 3 then the installation uses Basic UI.
If UILevel is set to 4 then the installation uses Reduced UI.
If UILevel is set to 5 then the installation uses Full UI.

Additional Information

• If using an InstallScript MSI (formerly Standard) project, use the MODE system variable to detect if the setup is running in silent mode or normal mode. Additional information on this variable can be found in the InstallShield Help Library topic "MODE".
• Dialogs can be authored via the dialog editor. Modal dialog boxes require user input before the installation can continue. A modeless dialog box does not require user input for the installation to continue. Setting the Modal field in the dialog editor determines if the dialog is modal or modeless.
• As an alternative to using msiexec.exe, you can launch an MSI package from VBScript code using the InstallProduct method of the MSI Automation interface; you can set the UI level for an installation launched from VBScript code by setting the UILevel property of the Installer object before calling InstallProduct. For example:

• Similarly, in C code, you can call MsiSetInternalUI before calling MsiInstallProduct. Note, however, that you cannot change the user-interface of a running installation (that is, inside a custom action).

For further Information on user interface levels and the UILevel property, see the Windows Installer Help Library topics User Interface Levels and UILevel Property.