Multiple installers, same product

Right now I have 3 installers for our product:

1. "Beta" - currently our main project, for internet distribution
2. "Test" - a parallel installation, for dedicated beta testers to pound on the very latest features before we push to the regular beta servers
3. "Disc" - to be burned to optical media, a rare build mostly used for pitches overseas where transfer rate sucks.

I'm getting really tired of making the same changes in 3 places. What I'd really like to do is have a single installer that can read a configuration file to load up compiler variables or constants that determine the details of the configuration.

But the stuff in Project Definition doesn't look like it's externally configurable. So then, I'd like to make a single include script with our main installation tasks, and the only real information in the sb6 files would be in the Project Definition section.

But then I find that the shortcuts and registry keys can only be edited in the visualizer; can't be copy & pasted. I can't figure out how to make a shortcut on the desktop or in the Start Menu through the Create Shortcut script action; I can't figure out how to set a registry key through any script action.

I love SetupBuilder, a lot. But I sure wish you were less binary- and more text-oriented.

Are there any plans to add support for this kind of modularity and external configuration? Any tips to help me avoid duplication (and the attendant maintenance nightmare) in SetupBuilder projects?

Tim,

You'll be able to use the same project for multiple products (or product editions) in SetupBuilder 6.5 (using the new "Releases" feature).

Copy and Paste support is in SB65.

See:
http://www.lindersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2116

HTH,
Friedrich

That's why I love SB. Whenever I run into a missing feature I need "it's in the next release"!

I'm using the multi-Release feature in SB6.5 and love it. I have just one SB project for a 3-member product line, and trial and full versions of each. Also, I have just one second SB project for Web Updates of all of those 6 combinations. This new SetupBuilder multi-Release feature is super!

Cheers
-- Mark