Jimco Software Reviews - Wise for Windows Installer 6.1 Professional (continued)
Digging In
Let's have a look at some of the features of WFWI that make it such a powerhouse tool for application deployment.
Windows Installer packages are required to register themselves in the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel in order to be fully compliant. WFWI makes this easy via the Add/Remove Programs panel shown in figure 2. Simply fill in the information and your users will be able to easily modify, repair, or remove your installation from Add/Remove Programs.
Figure 2 - The Add/Remove Programs Pane
When users install or modify their installation, you way want to provide them with the ability to select specific features of your application to install or remove. WFWI makes this an easy task via the Features panel. Simply add the features you want for your application as shown in figure 3. Each feature will have its own list of files, Registry entries, shortcuts, etc. In fact, as you configure other WFWI panels, you will have access to a dropdown (shown in figure 4) that lists all of your features so that you can configure settings specific to each feature if necessary.
Figure 3 - The Features Pane
Figure 4 - The Feature Dropdown (Shown here in the Files pane.)
WFWI is excellent at handling Merge Modules. Merge Modules are an important aspect of Windows Installer packages. A Merge Module is packaged with your application. When the Windows Installer installs your application, it will automatically detect whether a Merge Module's files are necessary and install them if required.
Merge Modules generally are for files that are shared between multiple applications and sometimes the operating system as well. For that reason, if your application overwrites versions on the user's computer with the wrong version, it can end up not only breaking your own application, but also Windows itself! The Merge Module architecture is designed to resolve that problem. However, in order for you to get the most advantage from Merge Modules, you need to ensure that you are using the latest Merge Module available for the component you are installing.
WFWI makes this task incredibly easy by allowing you to update all of the Merge Modules on your machine with the click of a button! Shown in figure 5, the Add Merge Module Wizard provides access to all of the Merge Modules on your machine, but by clicking the Download button, your computer will connect to Wise Solutions's Web site and check for updates on all Merge Modules. You can then download only those Merge Modules you need for the installation at hand or you can choose to download all of them. Great job, Wise!
Figure 5 - The Add Merge Module Wizard