Add multiple files - folder names not always used

[David Wellman]

Hi,

I'm starting to use SUFWI (build 1004) and I'm not getting the results that I'd expect. Is there a setting somewhere that I'm missing ?

What I want to do is to add multiple files but to keep their relative folder names when they get added to the project. In my test case, one of the files does, but everything else gets added to the project with a "Destination" of INSTALLDIR.

As an example:
- in SUFWI I press the INSERT key to show the Open dialog box
- I navigate to the folder containing my executable
- I select the "all files in this folder and all sub-folders" option
- click the "Add" button.

I get all of the files added to the project ok but (with one exception) the files are all set to have a Destination of the INSTALLDIR and not in their relative sub-folders as they are in my development environment.

On my PC I have the following folder/file locations:
\main folder
rftp.exe (this is my application executable)
\main folder\resources
rftp.ini
\main folder\help
usingrftp.html
\main folder\help\images
heading_undrline.gif

In the SUFWI project, the "heading_undrline.gif" file is given a Destination of "INSTALLDIR\Help\Images" but all of the other files are given a Destination of "INSTALLDIR". Given that my application code is expecting (for instance) it's help file (the HTML file) to be in the Help sub-directory, this part of my application doesn't work.

This is obviously not insurmountable, but it's going to be a real pain when I've got 100+ files that have to go into correct, different directories.

Is this a bug or is there a setting somewhere which will tell SUFWI to use the relative folders from my development environment ?

Cheers,
Dave

[Lorne]

Setup Factory assumes that the folder of the first file you add (or the first folder you add recursively) represents the root of your source application folder on your development system. The destination equivalent by default is INSTALLDIR.

The destination paths for any files you add after that point will be made relative to INSTALLDIR if they are anywhere beneath that first folder. Anything "outside" that folder will just default to INSTALLDIR.

There are a couple exceptions -- for example files added from the System folder will be made relative to [SystemFolder] I believe -- but in general if you have files in completely separate folder trees, you will have to do a bit of editing to adjust their destination paths.

Note that you can select multiple files and edit their properties at once (you can append, prepend, even search and replace inside individual fields) so it isn't as big a task as it might seem at first.

However, it sounds like you have everything in a single folder, which means the relative folder structure should have been preserved...

As an example:
- in SUFWI I press the INSERT key to show the Open dialog box
- I navigate to the folder containing my executable
- I select the "all files in this folder and all sub-folders" option
- click the "Add" button.

I get all of the files added to the project ok but (with one exception) the files are all set to have a Destination of the INSTALLDIR and not in their relative sub-folders as they are in my development environment.

On my PC I have the following folder/file locations:
\main folder
rftp.exe (this is my application executable)
\main folder\resources
rftp.ini
\main folder\help
usingrftp.html
\main folder\help\images
heading_undrline.gif

In the SUFWI project, the "heading_undrline.gif" file is given a Destination of "INSTALLDIR\Help\Images" but all of the other files are given a Destination of "INSTALLDIR". Given that my application code is expecting (for instance) it's help file (the HTML file) to be in the Help sub-directory, this part of my application doesn't work.

Are you able to reproduce this in a new project? If so, what are the exact steps to reproduce it?

[cdundee]

I had the same problem.

Another problem I had was the setup factory project file does not keep files path relative to the setup factory project file path. Maybe it is there but I dont know how to set it up. Perhaps Lorne you could hep me. For instance, My setup factory project is in C:\temp and my setup files that I wish to add to project are in C:\temp\setup_files. In setup factory project the source location of the files is absolute path instead of relative path. If I move the setup factory project file and the installation files to say D:\hello, the source path for files in setup factory still shows C:\temp\setup_files instead of D:\Hello\setup_files.

In a nutshell, does setup factory project use relative paths for installation files added to the project. If so how can I enable it?

Thanks.

[Lorne]

SFWI does not accept relative paths for the source files at this time. However, because you can edit multiple file properties it is very easy to change the root part of all paths in the project when you happen to move the source location.

[David Wellman]

Hi Lorne,

What you've described is exactly what I had hoped would happen, but it's not.

Yes, I can re-create this with a new project (I'm only at the stage of 'playing' with SUFWI right now before I write my first non-SUF7 installer project).

The steps to re-create this are the ones I outlined as my example in my original post, namely:
- start a new project with an empty file list
- in SUFWI I press the INSERT key to show the Open dialog box
- I navigate to the folder containing my executable
- I select the "all files in this folder and all sub-folders" option
- click the "Add" button.

All of the files that I've added in this initial "Add" command are within the same file structure, but SUFWI is not using that structure (except for one file !).

Cheers,
Dave

[Lorne]

Hmmm, that doesn't happen here at all. The folder structure gets recreated properly and everything is relative to the first folder.

Is the folder you're adding on a networked drive, or is it on a local hard drive?

[David Wellman]

Hi Lorne,

It's on a local hard drive.

Dave

[Lorne]

I still can't reproduce it here.

Where is the "main folder" located? (I've tried it both at the root and in a subfolder, and they both work for me.)

What OS are you using?

What happens if you add rftp.exe by itself first, and then do the recursive add?

[David Wellman]

Hi Lorne,

The OS is XP Pro, SP2.

The main folder is a subfolder on my laptop, something like:
C:\Source Code\product name\version


Then I've also got files in:
C:\Source Code\product name\version\Help
C:\Source Code\product name\version\Help\Images
C:\Source Code\product name\version\Resources

I've just tried adding the exe module first followed by the otehrs and that worked ok.

Cheers,
Dave