MSI or Installscript project

[chopper]

Hi,

I've just started using installshield 11 as my company has decided that a professional install is the way forward!

Basically I need to check for running programs, install vb6 exes (moving to .net in the near future), get logon details for multiple SQL servers, generate registry keys and odbc connections and then run SQL scripts against existing databases based upon the logon details (and conditions) gathered.

Basically I need to know if MSI is the way forward?

ChrisL

[br_aguilar]

in my opinion msi is the way forward seeing as it we have great windows options such as the rollback feauture and what not. I found that in my companys installs which are very intense windows installers were the only way to go

[RobertDickau]

(Follow-up here (http://community.installshield.com/showthread.php?p=321491#post321491), too...)

[mikenac]

If your installer is going to used on an application server or a database server, I suggest that you use an InstallScript project. ;)

If you make one wrong move during the design of a Windows Installer upgrade, you can put yourself in a position where you cannot safely update your product without deleting important files. Major upgrades require the uninstallation (albeit automatic) of your old software. If you had a bug in your old installer (let's say you forgot to mark that one XML file as permanent), the "Upgrade" will remove that file, thus causing data loss. If you have added or removed components or features from your setup, you may not realize that important files are going to be magically removed from your target system.

The InstallScript projects may take a little more hand coding, but they generally act the way you thing they should, and allow you to have flexibility throughout the life of your application.