MSI Builder Step-by-Step: User Interface

The third part of our MSI Builder Step-by-Step series examines how you can add and customize a user interface for your installer.

This particular step for the MSI builder has already been discussed here, but we would be remiss if we did not include a recap in this article.

User Interface

No User Interface

Some installers need more choices than others. If your installer requires no input, selecting “No user interface” is a good choice. Please note that this does not mean your installer will be completely silent—for that, you need to use the Windows Installer command-line switches intended for this purpose. It means that there will be no user interface that requires the user to make a selection or press a button to proceed.

The other choices act as described below and show the dialogs mentioned in these settings.

Minimal, Welcome, and Exit

This is a good option if you want the user to know what is being installed and when the installation is finished. The Product and Company names you initially specified will be used here.

Minimal, Welcome (including EULA), and Exit

You can augment the Welcome dialog with a EULA (End-User License Agreement). As opposed to the last choice in this list, the text is displayed in the Welcome dialog rather than a separate dialog.

Welcome, Install folder, and Exit

This choice adds an option for the user to select an install folder. While it is no longer common to allow that selection, if your product does not conform to standard folders anyway, this might be a good choice.

Welcome, License agreement, Install folder, and Exit

The last option combines all dialogs (Welcome, EULA, Install folder, and Exit) and displays the EULA in a separate dialog.

Options

End-User License Agreement

Please note that the EULA text has to be RTF. Many advanced word processors, such as Microsoft Word, insert formatting and processing items that Windows Installer cannot process. If your EULA in your installer shows up blank, simply open the RTF file in Windows WordPad and save it again.

Top Banner Bitmap and Background Bitmap

To customize the installer dialogs, the image dimensions must be exactly as specified:

493 x 58 pixels (banner)
493 x 312 pixels (background)

The image format can be BMP, JPG, or PNG. The installer uses the white spaces in the images to display user elements or text and should be left empty. Placing graphics into the white parts may interfere with text or could cover controls.

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SAPIEN Technologies