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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

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Visual Installer 2015 has now been released

We have now released a new version of our setup tool SamLogic Visual Installer. The name of the new version is SamLogic Visual Installer 2015 and the version number is 10.5. Some new features in the new version are:

• Support for Windows 10.
• Support for Office 2016 and Office 365.
• Support for Visual Studio 2015.
• Support for AutoCAD 2015 and AutoCAD 2016.
• You can now install both 32 bit and 64 bit files from the same installation.
• Clickable e-mail addresses and web addresses can be included in setup dialog boxes.
• Setup packages can now be built without user interaction from build servers and batch files.
• Visual Studio’s solution files (.sln files) are now supported.
• Improved code signing functions.
• Improved support for installation and uninstallation of Excel Add-Ins.
• Improved handling of license keys.
• Improved support for Twitter.

A detailed list with new features in Visual Installer 2015 is available on this web page. In the following blog posts we will describe some of the new features in Visual Installer 2015 in detail.

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CD-Menu Creator 2015 has now been released

A new version of our menu designer tool SamLogic CD-Menu Creator has now been released. The name of the new version is SamLogic CD-Menu Creator 2015 and some of the new features in the new version are:

• Support for Microsoft Windows 10.
• A wizard to create a system with a main menu and sub menus is now available.
• Full Unicode support. You can now create menu interfaces in any language in the world.
• The social media functions now also support Pinterest and Instagram.
• Menus can now be built without user interaction from build servers and batch files.
• The social media functions now also support Pinterest and Instagram.
• The logotype in the menu interface can now be clickable.

A more detailed list with the new features is available on this page. In coming blog posts we will describe the new features in CD-Menu Creator 2015 in more detail.

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Schneider Electric uses SamLogic Visual Installer

SamLogic Visual Installer can create setup packages for various purposes; for example for installation of applications, documents, images, videos, spreadsheets etc. The tool is suitable for both experienced developers and beginners, and it is used by companies in different sizes, and by individual consultants and by schools.

Schneider Electric
One company that uses Visual Installer to create installations is Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric uses Visual Installer for very various purposes, and they chose Visual Installer because they needed an easy-to-use tool that can create different type of installations quickly.

The company was founded 1836 and has it´s roots in iron and steel industry, heavy machinery, and ship building, and today the company is one of the largest in the electricity and automation management industry and have more than 130,000 employees in over 100 countries. See the company website for more information:

> Schneider Electric – Global Specialist in Energy Management

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Ubisoft used CD-Menu Creator to create a game menu interface

The first version of SamLogic CD-Menu Creator was released already 1997, and today the menu designer tool has users all over the world and is used by both small companies and large companies, and by government agencies, schools, and private individuals etc. SamLogic CD-Menu Creator can create menu interfaces for various purposes; for app installations, utility programs, business presentations etc. It can also be used to create menu interfaces for games.

One of the world’s largest game development companies, Ubisoft Entertainment, used CD-Menu Creator a few years ago to create a menu interface for games and movies that they distributed on a USB stick. The picture below shows how the menu looked like:

The end-user group was children who needed a simple and intuitive interface. By clicking on one of the pictures on the menu they started either an Adobe Flash game or a movie.

Built-in support for Adobe Flash
CD-Menu Creator has built-in support for Adobe Flash. This means that no external Flash player needs to be deployed with the disc or USB stick. Everything is handled by the tool.

Ubisoft Entertainment
Ubisoft is a game developer and game distributor with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company was founded in 1986 and has over 5,7500 employees.

More examples of game menu interfaces
More examples of game menu interfaces created with SamLogic CD-Menu Creator can be viewed in this video on our YouTube video channel: