Smart Paste in vs2010

One of the really useful Visual Studio add-ins is Smart Paster. It adds a "Paste As." context menu that allows you to paste in the clipboard text as a comment, a correctly quoted string or a string builder.

There are versions for VS 2003, 2005 and 2008. But not 2010.

Sometimes you can just copy in the dll and addin file into the VS 2010 Addins folder (.\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Addins) and edit the addin file (it's just xml) to say "10.0" instead of "9.0". But that doesn't work for SmartPaster - VS 2010 shows an error and insists on disabling the addin.

The VS 2008 download includes the source, so I tried to upgrade it.

It turns out the problem is when it creates the context menus it sets the CommandBarButton.FaceId property (to show an image next to the text). But in VS2010 that throws a DeprecatedException.

Ok, simple fix, but the original source is old code with a fairly high WTF-per-line ratio (well, it was written 2004, .Net 1.1). Before long I had ported it from VB.Net to C# (thanks Telerik) and rewritten large parts (mostly refactoring with Coderush). I simplified by dropping the "regionize" stuff (never use it), the VB support and the configuration form. Here's my code- you can create a new Extensibility Addin project, replace the Connect class and add the SmartPaster class- see below.

It's still a port, so certainly not as clean as something just written from scratch. And perhaps VS2010 has nicer ways of doing all these things now the code window is a WPF control - the EnvDTE objects are ugly and hard to use. Anyway, thanks to Alex Papadimoulis for the original code.

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Launching a webpage on final dialog

Recently, I had a customer want to launch a webpage when the final installation dialog was presented. 

Obviously the original request was for a traditional web page link shown by the traditional underscored phrase.  No version of InstallShield supports this feature – although in the Release Notes for InstallShield 2010, there is a mention of being able to embed a hyperlink within a dialog.  For for all of you who are not up-to-date with the latest IS version, here are the steps that I took to handle this request.

I modified the existing link that enabled you to "Launch a program" that is built into the final dialog "SetupCompleteSuccess".  The important parts of the dialog are:

• CheckLaunchProgram – this is the CheckBox field
• LaunchProgramText – this is the text that accompanies the CheckBox field, relatively small
• UpdateTextLine2 – this is another text field that I commandeered to provide more accomplanying text than what was available.

Step 1: 

Ensure all fields have the same launch conditions.  The one I grabbed had a different launch conditions – so ensure the conditions are the same - alter the SHOW Condition

"SHOWLAUNCHPROGRAM="-1″ And PROGRAMFILETOLAUNCHATEND <> "" And NOT Installed And NOT ISENABLEDWUSFINISHDIALOG

This allows all of the fields to show on the dialog that you are working with. 

Step 2:

Alter the wording on the Text fields to your requirements.  Then reshift the TOP and LEFT values so that it lines up on the screen.  The original locations tend to bunch up near the top screen.  Suggestion – if you have a massive installation project, you won't be able to view the changes easily – I used a "testbed" project with no files to get the look and feel of the dialog to my likeing before I injected the changes into the final project.

Step 3:

Add the properties that control the visibility of the new fields into the Property Manager.  These are:

IE_EXPLORER_PATH   (no value needed for this one)

LAUNCHPROGRAM="1″
SHOWLAUNCHPROGRAM="-1″
PROGRAMFILETOLAUNCHATEND="-1″

Note that the last two properties have "-1″ – this matches up with the Launch Conditions.

Step 4:

Now create the new InstallShield Custom Action that will be triggered by the checkbox.  I named my Custom Action "ISI_LaunchURL" and when using the Custom Action Wizard, it was a "New EXE" that had a "Path in Property Value".  Since its execution is from a DOACTION, there is no sequencing required.  Since you want the installation to finish while the URL is being launched, specify for the Return Processing property – Asynchronous (Don't wait for completion).  The property that holds the path is "IE_EXPLORER_PATH" and will be created next via a System Search function.  The command line will be something like this:

[WEB_ADDRESS]/Docs/Help.aspx#ServiceInstallation

Now, the [WEB_ADDRESS] is a MSI Property that comes across within one of the Dialogs - the customer had entered that value, so I know that the value contains Http://www.XXXX.com – if the format was not correct, then I would need to append/prepend the required values.  Warning:  Be aware that if the customer enters a space at the end of the  WEB_ADDRESS field, then that space would be incorrectly carried forward to this URL – so you may need to edit the field after the entry was made in the dialog.

Step 5:

Now create the new System Search entry.  Use the Wizard and choose "Registry – File Path as specified by a reg entry"  On the next screen, enter "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" for the Registry Root entry and enter "SOFTWARE¥Microsoft¥Windows¥CurrentVersion¥App Paths¥IEXPLORE.EXE" and leave the remaining fields blank.  On the MSI Property, enter "IE_EXPLORER_PATH".  This System Search will kick off at the very beginning of the install and will retrieve the path entry of the Internet explorer and put the value in the MSI Property "IE_EXPLORER_PATH", which should be like this "C:¥Program Files¥Internet Explorer¥IEXPLORE.EXE"

Step 6:

Now we need to modify the dialog "SetupCompleteSuccess" and have it launch the web page URL when the button is checked.  Navigate to the dialog, and select the dialog's "Behavior" section.  Find the OK button and enter the following condition:  DOACTION as the Event, then select from the Argument dropdown  "ISI_LAUNCHURL" and finally put in the condition  LAUNCHPROGRAM="1″

Now you must move that Event up to be in front of the EndDialog EXIT event! 

Step 7:

Now Test / evaluate your finished work.  Note that when the final dialog is displayed, the checkbox will automatically be checked.  This is because the MSI Property was present within the Property Manager.  You had to put it there to be able to reference it within the above steps.  If you now remove it from the Property Manager, the default action is that the box is unchecked.  When testing, you can check the box, hit FINISH button and the URL should be launched.

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Make an MSI run multiple times

One of the options that was available to you with installations prior to Windows Installer emergence was the ability to rerun an installation multiple times.  By this I mean running the setup again without entering Maintenance Mode – as if it had never been run before.

You can still use InstallShield to create an InstallScript using the  option and then select the Multi-Instance option which lets your end users rerun an installation multiple times as a first-time installation rather than as a maintenance installation. 

But as you know, I studiously avoid InstallScript projects – I use Basic MSI Projects, so how do you make a Basic MSI Project eligible to be rerun?

Note that there are four Standard MSI actions that are the primary method by which the MSI Application is registered under the Windows Installer that we need to be concerned with: 

• RegisterUser
• RegisterProduct
• PublishFeatures
• PublishProduct

Alter the condition on each of these Standard Actions to use zero – which means the condition will never be set true and the Standard Action will never run.  I recommend you alter the comment to reflect the change – as I have shown above.

Impact

The usage of this technique means the product will not be registered under Windows Installer – nor will it appear in the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel.   Use only if you have a specific requirement!

Usage Scenarios

I have encountered two separate situation where this technique served admirably.  

Once a vendor was creating unique sales video/slideshow presentations to sell to his customers.  After a few customers used his services, he encountered a situation where the same end-client was attempting to install the presentations from two of his customers.  The dreaded Maintenance mode was disrupting the end-client from installing the second presentation.   I was able to make the install rerunable – and used a scripted Custom Action to read a special file delivered with each presentation.  This information allowed me to install the unique files, create shortcuts to access the presentation and create a uninstall technique to allow the end-user to remove the files when no longer required.

Another vendor needed to be able to allow an unlimited amount of customers to be established on the server.  Each customer would have a unique IIS Virtual Directory with the same files installed.  XML documents that were specially configured during the install would maintain the customer data within the Virtual Directory.  A very complex Visual Studio .NET solution was involved to support the customer processes.  Each customer install used a rerunable Basic MSI Webproject to deliver the files and create the Virtual Directory.

Warning!

I don't recommend you do this to simply to avoid the Maintenance Mode!  A great technique if you have a specific requirement – but you will lose so much functionality that Windows Installer/MSI packages offer.

 

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