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With the SETENV command you can set environment variables from Visual Installer

In this blog post we explained how to use Windows’ environment variables in Visual Installer; for example as a part of a file path. You can also create or change values for environment variables in the system during an installation by using a script command in Visual Installer’s scripting language. The name of the command is SETENV and you can use this command to set an environment variable to a specific value. If the environment variable does not exists, it will be created. If it already exists, its value will be updated.

Examples of usage
The example below shows how to use the SETENV command to set an environment variable with the variable name MyVariable to the value MyValue:

// Example 1: Set MyVariable = MyValue
SETENV MyVariable, MyValue

You can also use Visual Installer’s variables (for example %DESTDIR) when you set values. The example below shows how to set an environment variable with the variable name MyAppsFolder to the path %DESTDIR\MyApps:

// Example 2: Set MyAppsFolder = %DESTDIR\MyApps
SETENV MyAppsFolder, %DESTDIR\MyApps

The picture below shows same examples in Visual Installer’s scripting editor:

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How to count the number of shortcuts and tiles in the Start menu in Windows 10

As mentioned in this blog post, the Start menu in Windows 10 has a limit of number of shortcuts and tiles that can be added to the menu. In the first release of Windows 10 the limit was 512 items. But in the latest update of Windows 10 (the “Threshold 2″ update) the limit has been increased to 2048 items.

If you use Visual Installer to install files and encounter problems with shortcuts that are not visible in the Start menu, a good first step is to count the number of shortcuts and tiles in the Start menu. This can be done by using Windows PowerShell and running the Get-StartApps | measure command there:

Get-StartApps | measure

Windows Powershell will then display the number of items in the Start menu in the PowerShell window. For example:

Count

If the build number of your Windows 10 is less than 10547 and the count is above 512 you have added / installed too many shortcuts and tiles to the Start menu. If you have a build number that is 10547 or above and the count is above 2048, you have added / installed too many shortcuts and tiles to the Start menu. In the latter case you need to remove some items before you can add new. In the first case you need to update your Windows 10 to the latest version of the operating system.

(To open Windows PowerShell you can enter “powershell” in Windows search box and press Enter; then Windows PowerShell is started. To see the build number you can enter “winver” in the same search box and choose the winver command in the list that is shown.)

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Using environment variables in Visual Installer

It is possible to use Windows environment variables in Visual Installer. The environment variables can be used in the Registry tab and in the INI files tab in Visual Installer. You can find a list of supported environment variables in this Wikipedia page (see the Windows section).

You use an environment variable in the same way as a Visual Installer variable. For example, to include the %ProgramFiles% environment variable in a file path you can include it like this:

%ProgramFiles%\SamLogic\Visual Installer

And during the installation the %ProgramFiles% variable will be replaced with the current value that the system returns (usually C:\Program Files (x86)).

The picture below shows how to use the %COMPUTERNAME% environment variable in the Registry tab in Visual Installer:

During the installation the %COMPUTERNAME% variable will be replaced with the current computer name of the computer.

See also
> With the SETENV command you can set environment variables from Visual Installer

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How to add more files from a previously used folder (Visual Installer)

I guess that you sometimes are in the situation that you need to add more files from the same source folder as some of the files that already are included in your project. But to get there you need to browse through many folders on your hard disk which may take some time.

To simplify and speed up this process we have added a new menu item to the local (right-click) menu in the File list tab in Visual Installer. The name of menu item is Add more files from same source folder and the picture below shows where in the menu to find the new choice.

If you right-click on a file in Visual Installer’s file list and thereafter choose the Add more files from same source folder menu item, the Add files dialog box in Visual Installer will be opened with the files in the same source folder as the selected file listed.

For example, if you right-click on a file in Visual Installer’s file list which source folder is C:\My Pictures\My Second Project, this folder will automatically be chosen and the files in this folder will be automatically listed in the Add files dialog box (see the picture below). And you can easily add more files from the same folder to the file list.

See also
> How to view source paths in the file list in Visual Installer

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How to insert a line feed in a setup dialog box (Visual Installer)

There are many built-in setup dialog boxes in Visual Installer that allows you to create a professional setup wizard in just minutes. In some of the setup dialog boxes you can enter many lines with information text, and to make the text easier to read it can be wise to include line feeds and empty lines in some part of the text.

To include a line feed in a dialog box text that you write you need to press Shift + Enter on your keyboard. A line feed will then be inserted at the cursor’s position. To include a blank line you can press Shift + Enter twice. The screen dump below shows how the text looks like with a blank line between the first sentence and the second sentence:

The screen dump below shows the same text in the setup wizard:

Related information
> Setup dialog boxes: How to choose, add text & change image
> Tip: How to add a link to a setup dialog box

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How do I code sign a setup package in Visual Installer?

Today it is important to have a setup package code signed before distribution. This is for many reasons:

– You will avoid deterrent warning messages in Windows.
– You will avoid that your installation can not be started in some systems.
– You can be sure that nobody has manipulated your setup package since creation.
– You will protect your setup package against viruses and malware.

How to code sign in Visual Installer
In Visual Installer it is easy to code sign a setup package. In the following tip we explain step by step how to code sign an installation:
> Tip: How to code sign a setup package

Articles about code signing
If you want to read more about code signing we recommend you to read the following articles on our website:
> What is Code Signing / Digital Signature / Digital Certificate?
> Extended Validation (EV) Code Signing

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Visual Installer can now import Visual Studio solution files

We have improved Visual Installer’s ability to co-operate with Microsoft Visual Studio. Since many years Visual Installer has been able to import Visual Studio / Visual Basic project files (.vbproj), but starting with Visual Installer 2015 also solution files (.sln) can be imported.

This is very useful if you have a solution that contains many projects. If you choose to import a solution file, Visual Installer will analyze all projects in the solution and import the necessary files.

How to import a Visual Studio solution file
If you want to import a Visual Studio solution file to Visual Installer you can choose the Import Visual Basic project — Visual Basic .NET 2005-2015 project menu item in the File menu in Visual Installer’s editor:

Thereafter you click on the Select project file button in the dialog box that is shown:

As default, project files (.vbproj files) are filtered out in the Open dialog box that is shown, but to the right in the Open dialog box you can choose solution files (.sln files) instead:

Now you can choose a Visual Studio solution file to import.

See also
We have published a step-by-step tip on our website that shows in detail how to import a Visual Basic project or solution to Visual Installer. There is also a tip video available.

> Tip: How to create an installation for a VB.NET application

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Easy to create multiple menu pages with CD-Menu Creator’s new wizard

Sometimes one menu page is not enough in a menu system. Sometimes you may want to create a menu system with many menu pages, for example one main menu and some sub menus. Although it has been possible to create such a system with CD-Menu Creator since many years, it has sometimes been complicated to get all file paths in all buttons correct. With CD-Menu Creator 2015 things have changed. We have now included an easy-to-use wizard that creates a menu system with more than menu page (for example a main menu and some sub menus) very easily.

When you use the wizard, all file paths will be set to correctly automatically. All files will also be created and copied to correct folders on your hard disk or USB flash drive, and all necessary project files (.CDP files) will be created automatically.

When you create a system with a main menu and sub menus, all sub menus will automatically have the same visual theme and use same colors, fonts, button styles etc. as the main menu. If you have added a logotype or menu picture to the main menu, they will be included automatically in all sub menus also.

All necessary buttons to open a sub menu or return to the main menu are included automatically in all menu pages and in all project files. If you create menu systems with many menu pages often, we are sure that you will appreciate this new function a lot!


More information
More information about the new wizard in CD-Menu Creator 2015 is available on this tip page on our website.

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CD-Menu Creator now supports Unicode characters

You can now use Unicode characters in a menu that you create with CD-Menu Creator. This allows you to use characters from any language in the world in your menus. E.g. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Arabic, Greek, Russian etc. You can also mix different languages in the same menu interface. For example, you can use Chinese, Japanese and English text in the same menu. Unicode characters can be used for titles, button text, tip text etc.

The Unicode characters in created menu interfaces will be shown correctly regardless of which language the Windows itself uses.

More information
Support for Unicode characters is a new function in CD-Menu Creator 2015. On this web page you can find more information about Unicode characters and information about how to use them in CD-Menu Creator 2015:

> Tip: How to use Unicode characters in a menu

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Build a setup package or menu interface silently using a batch file

With Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015 it is possible to build a setup package and a menu interface silently, without any interaction with a graphical user interface. The build process is invisible, and you use command line parameters and switches to handle the build operations. And errors that occur (if there are any) are returned via a log file that contain detailed error descriptions and error codes etc.

Build servers
The silent build processes via command line parameters / switches makes it easy to call Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015 from build servers. A build server is useful if you work in a team and your team want to, for example, compile applications, build setup packages and (perhaps) build menu interfaces in one operation.

Batch files
You can also utilize this new function from local batch files (for example from traditional .BAT files). You can add one line of code for each setup package or menu interface that you want to build, in the batch file. For example:

VI.exe C:\MyProjects\MySetup.vip /BUILD /BUILDFOLDER:C:\MyCreatedSetups\Setup1

More information
We have added two detailed tips on our website that describes how to use this new function in Visual Installer 2015 and CD-Menu Creator 2015:

> Tip: Visual Installer’s command line parameters
> Tip: CD-Menu Creator’s command line parameters