Symantec SOFTWARE MANAGER Installation guide

Brand: Symantec

Model: SOFTWARE MANAGER

Type: Installation guide

This manual is also suitable for

SOFTWARE MANAGER 7.0 SP2 - REFERENCE FOR WISE INSTALLATION STUDIO V1.0

Software Manager Reference

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Software Manager

The software described in this book is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of the

agreement.

Documentation version 7.0 SP2

Legal Notice

Symantec, the Symantec Logo, and Altiris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and

other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The product described in this document is distributed under licenses restricting its use, copying, distribution, and decompilation/reverse

engineering. No part of this document may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Symantec

Corporation and its licensors, if any.

THE DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES,

INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE

DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID. SYMANTEC CORPORATION SHALL NOT

BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THIS

DOCUMENTATION. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENTATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

The Licensed Software and Documentation are deemed to be commercial computer software as defined in FAR 12.212 and subject to

restricted rights as defined in FAR Section 52.227-19 “Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights” and DFARS 227.7202, “Rights in

Commercial Computer Software or Commercial Computer Software Documentation”, as applicable, and any successor regulations. Any use,

modification, reproduction release, performance, display or disclosure of the Licensed Software and Documentation by the U.S. Government

shall be solely in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

Symantec Corporation

350 Ellis Street

Mountain View, CA 94043

http://www.symantec.com

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Technical Support

Symantec Technical Support maintains support centers globally. Technical Support’s

primary role is to respond to specific queries about product features and functionality.

The Technical Support group also creates content for our online Knowledge Base. The

Technical Support group works collaboratively with the other functional areas within

Symantec to answer your questions in a timely fashion. For example, the Technical

Support group works with Product Engineering and Symantec Security Response to

provide alerting services and virus definition updates.

Symantec’s maintenance offerings include the following:

z A range of support options that give you the flexibility to select the right amount of

service for any size organization

z Telephone and/or web-based support that provides rapid response and up-to-the-

minute information

z Upgrade assurance that delivers software upgrades

z Global support purchased on a regional business hours or 24 hours a day, 7 days a

week basis

z Premium service offerings that include Account Management Services

For information about Symantec’s support offerings, you can visit our web site at the

following URL:

www.symantec.com/business/support/

All support services will be delivered in accordance with your support agreement and the

then-current enterprise technical support policy.

Contacting Technical Support

Customers with a current maintenance agreement may access Technical Support

information at the following URL:

www.symantec.com/business/support/

Before contacting Technical Support, make sure you have satisfied the system

requirements that are listed in your product documentation. Also, you should be at the

computer on which the problem occurred, in case it is necessary to replicate the

problem.

When you contact Technical Support, please have the following information available:

z Product release level

z Hardware information

z Available memory, disk space, and NIC information

z Operating system

z Version and patch level

z Network topology

z Router, gateway, and IP address information

z Problem description:

 Error messages and log files

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 Troubleshooting that was performed before contacting Symantec

 Recent software configuration changes and network changes

Licensing and registration

If your Symantec product requires registration or a license key, access our technical

support Web page at the following URL:

www.symantec.com/business/support/

Customer service

Customer service information is available at the following URL:

www.symantec.com/business/support/

Customer Service is available to assist with non-technical questions, such as the

following types of issues:

z Questions regarding product licensing or serialization

z Product registration updates, such as address or name changes

z General product information (features, language availability, local dealers)

z Latest information about product updates and upgrades

z Information about upgrade assurance and maintenance contracts

z Information about the Symantec Buying Programs

z Advice about Symantec’s technical support options

z Nontechnical presales questions

z Issues that are related to CD-ROMs or manuals

Support agreement resources

If you want to contact Symantec regarding an existing support agreement, please

contact the support agreement administration team for your region as follows:

Additional enterprise services

Symantec offers a comprehensive set of services that allow you to maximize your

investment in Symantec products and to develop your knowledge, expertise, and global

insight, which enable you to manage your business risks proactively.

Enterprise services that are available include the following:

Asia-Pacific and Japan [email protected]

Europe, Middle-East, and Africa [email protected]

North America and Latin America [email protected]

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To access more information about Enterprise services, please visit our Web site at the

following URL:

www.symantec.com/business/services/

Select your country or language from the site index.

Managed Services Managed services remove the burden of managing and

monitoring security devices and events, ensuring rapid response

to real threats.

Consulting

Services

Symantec Consulting Services provide on-site technical

expertise from Symantec and its trusted partners. Symantec

Consulting Services offer a variety of prepackaged and

customizable options that include assessment, design,

implementation, monitoring, and management capabilities. Each

is focused on establishing and maintaining the integrity and

availability of your IT resources.

Educational

Services

Educational Services provide a full array of technical training,

security education, security certification, and awareness

communication programs.

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Contents

Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 1: Introduction to Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

About Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Packages in Software Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Package Management with Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Starting Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

About the Software Manager Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Customizing the Software Manager Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Refreshing the Software Manager Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Icons in Software Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Resource Icons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Relationship Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

About the Wise Software Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

About the Software Manager Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

How Source Files Are Indexed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Sharing the Software Manager Database With Wise Package Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

About Applications and Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

About Package Meta Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Defining Custom Meta Data Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Defining a Custom Meta Data Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Product Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 2: Importing Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

About Importing Packages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

How to Get Packages Into the Software Manager Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

About Formatted Text Strings in Registry Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Package Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Import Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

About Patch and Transform Import. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Importing From the Share Point Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

About .QUE Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Importing a Windows Installer File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Importing a Merge Module File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Importing a Transform File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Importing a Windows Installer Patch File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Importing Multiple Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 3: Managing Packages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

About Managing Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Package Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Creating Package Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Selecting Superseding Packages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Adding Applications and Packages to Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Editing Package Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Viewing and Editing Package Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Viewing Resource Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Software Manager Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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Generating a Software Manager Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Using the Report Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Moving a Package to Another Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Deleting a Package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Changing the Package Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Chapter 4: Software Manager Database Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

About Software Manager Database Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Changing the Server Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Deleting a Server Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Restructuring the Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Rebuilding the Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

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Chapter 1

Introduction to Software Manager

This chapter includes the following topics:

z About Software Manager on page 8

z Starting Software Manager on page 9

z About the Software Manager Window on page 10

z Icons in Software Manager on page 12

z About the Wise Software Repository on page 14

z About the Software Manager Database on page 15

z About Applications and Packages on page 17

z About Package Meta Data on page 18

z Product Documentation on page 21

About Software Manager

Software Manager provides the interface for working with packages in the Software

Manager database, which contains information about all the software packages used by

your organization. Storing all your package information in a central location lets you

better manage packages during their lifecycle stages—from integration, testing, and

deployment through retirement.

Use Software Manager to import and organize packages and their resource information

in the Software Manager database, to obtain information about packages and their

resources, to set the status of packages, and to prepare a package or group of packages

for deployment. Corporate developers can use Software Manager as a centralized point

for managing all resources used by applications that they develop.

Software Manager is a tool in the Professional Edition of Wise Package Studio.

If you have an installation of Wise Installation Studio that is connected to a Wise

Software Repository, Software Manager is also available as a tool in Windows Installer

Editor.

See About the Wise Software Repository on page 14.

Note

Features that are specific to Wise Package Studio are not available when you access

Software Manager from Windows Installer Editor.

Packages in Software Manager

In Software Manager, a package consists of any combination of the following:

z Meta data. This is the is minimum amount of information that constitutes a package.

z The resources associated with each package’s installation.

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Introduction to Software Manager

Adding Packages to the Software Manager Database

For packages to be managed, they must be in the Software Manager database. To get

packages into the database, you can do any of the following:

z Add the package’s meta data in Windows Installer Editor.

z Import the package and its resources in Software Manager.

See How to Get Packages Into the Software Manager Database on page 23 and Package

Import on page 25.

Package Management with Software Manager

Once packages are in the Software Manager database, you can do the following:

Create and Manage Package Groups

A package group consists of a subset of the packages in the Software Manager

database. You can use groups to:

z Organize your packages.

See Package Groups on page 41.

Edit Package Information

Use Software Manager to maintain the packages in the Software Manager database.

z Change the package status so you can determine whether a package can be

deployed to end users.

z Edit package information. Example: You can rename the application or package, or

change the reference to the source file paths.

z Enter or edit user-defined package meta data.

z Delete a package from the Software Manager database.

See Viewing and Editing Package Attributes on page 45 and Changing the Package

Status on page 49.

View Package Resources

z Use the panes in Software Manager to drill down to the resources (examples: files,

registry keys, merge modules, shortcuts, and so on) that are used by each package.

See About the Software Manager Window on page 10 and Viewing Resource

Properties on page 46.

If an .MSI contains a merge module, the resources that appear under the Merge

Modules folder also appear in the corresponding folders elsewhere in the package.

(Example, if an .MSI contains a merge module that has .DLL files in the system32 folder,

these files will appear in the system32 folder under the package’s Merge Modules folder

and Files/Directories folder.) If a .WSI contains a merge module, the Merge Modules

folder and some of its subfolders appear, but none of the merge module’s resources

appear.

Starting Software Manager

In the Wise editor, select Tools menu > Software Manager. (In Visual Studio: Project

menu > Software Manager.)

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Introduction to Software Manager

Software Manager opens.

Which Database is Opened?

The first time you start Software Manager, it opens the database that you connected to

during installation. Thereafter, Software Manager opens the database most recently

used.

See also:

About the Software Manager Window on page 10

About the Software Manager Window

When you start Software Manager, the main Software Manager window appears. Some

of the panes might be empty if no packages are in the Software Manager database.

Software Manager Window

Toolbar

Contains buttons for quick access to many Software Manager commands.

Database Pane

Displays summary information about the Software Manager database.

The Database pane initially appears immediately below the toolbar, but you can move or

hide it.

Applications/

Packages

pane

Groups

pane

Application/

Package

Summary pane

Database pane

Package Details pane

Toolbar

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Introduction to Software Manager

Groups Pane

Displays the package groups defined for each database. A package group consists of a

subset of the applications in the database. When a group is selected, the Applications/

Packages pane lists only the packages assigned to that group. This lets you reduce the

number of packages you view at one time.

See Creating Package Groups on page 42.

The Groups pane initially appears on the left side of the window below the Database

pane, but you can move or hide it.

Application/Package Summary

Displays different information depending on what is selected in the Applications/

Packages pane:

z When you select an application, this pane is named Application and it lists the

packages contained in that application.

z When you select a package, this pane is named Package and it displays a summary

of the package’s resources, information about when the package was imported and

changed, and package meta data. It also contains a Package Status drop-down

list, which you use to change the package’s status.

See Changing the Package Status on page 49.

The Application/Package Summary pane initially appears on the right side of the window

below the Database pane, but you can move or hide it.

Applications/Packages Pane

Displays the applications and packages in the Software Manager database. Expand an

application to display its packages. Select a package to make it the active package.

For information on the icons that appear in this pane, see Icons in Software Manager on

page 12.

Package Details Pane

Displays the resources in the package selected in the Applications/Packages pane.

For information on the icons that appear in this pane, see Resource Icons on page 13.

Double-click an item in this pane to display the Properties dialog box.

See Viewing Resource Properties on page 46.

Customizing the Software Manager Workspace

z Hide or show the toolbar or one of the panes by selecting its name from the View

menu.

z Move, dock, and undock the panes as you would any Windows pane, by dragging

their title area.

The Applications/Packages pane and Package Details panes cannot be hidden or moved.

Refreshing the Software Manager Display

z Select File menu > Refresh.

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Introduction to Software Manager

This rereads the package data and redisplays package information. This can be useful if

packages have been added to the Software Manager database since you started this

Software Manager session.

Icons in Software Manager

The following icons appear in Software Manager to help you quickly identify items in the

database. Although you cannot import some of these items when you run Software

Manager from Windows Installer Editor, they might appear in the database if someone

else imported them through Wise Package Studio.

See also:

About the Software Manager Window on page 10

Icon Represents Appears in this pane

Software Manager database Applications/Packages

Group Groups

Application Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Windows Installer package (installation,

transform, patch, or Microsoft hotfix)

When you import an InstallShield®

Developer .EXE, it appears as a Windows

Installer package because an .MSI is

extracted from the .EXE.

Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Virtual software package (.WVP or .VSA)

created in Virtual Package Editor.

Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Wise package definition file (.WPF)

created in Workbench and imported.

Applications/Packages,

Package Details

WiseScript package Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Merge module package Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Any installation file imported using the

Universal Import option

Applications/Packages,

Package Details

SOE Snapshot Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Device driver package Applications/Packages,

Package Details

Group Policy Object package Applications/Packages,

Package Details

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Introduction to Software Manager

Resource Icons

The following icons appear in the Package Details pane in Software Manager. They

indicate the types of resources that are installed by a package.

See also:

About the Software Manager Window on page 10

Relationship Icons

In Software Manager, the following icons appear on the Dependencies tab on the

Package Relationships dialog box. These icons represent:

z The dependency relationship, which is what should happen to the dependency

package if the dependent package is installed.

z The association relationship, which is what should happen to the dependent package

if the dependency package is installed.

Icon Resource Type

File or Windows Installer component.

Registry key or named value.

Modification to Autoexec.bat. Not applicable in Windows Installer packages.

Modification to Config.sys. Not applicable in Windows Installer packages.

ODBC data source or driver.

Windows NT service.

Device driver installed in Win.ini. Not applicable in Windows Installer

packages.

.INI file and entries.

Shortcut.

Change to the PATH variable. Not applicable in Windows Installer packages.

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Introduction to Software Manager

About the Wise Software Repository

The Wise Software Repository™ is a collection of resources, and information about those

resources, for all applications that are developed and used by an organization. This

scalable repository provides a centralized point for managing software packages at any

stage of development.

You can connect to a Wise Software Repository that has been configured for an

installation of Wise Package Studio. This lets you develop consistent, accurate, and high

quality installations based on corporate standards by ensuring that you use the correct

versions of resources that are shared across multiple applications.

See Connecting to a Wise Software Repository in the Windows Installer Editor Help.

The Wise Software Repository consists of:

Icon Dependency relationship Association relationship

Required.

The dependency must precede the

dependent package during

installation.

None.

Required.

The dependency must precede the

dependent package during

installation.

Required.

The dependent package must be

installed with the dependency.

Required.

The dependency must precede the

dependent package during

installation.

Optional.

Installing the dependent package

with the dependency is optional.

Optional.

Installing the dependency package

is optional. If it is installed, it must

precede the dependent package.

None.

Optional.

Installing the dependency package

is optional. If it is installed, it must

precede the dependent package.

Required.

The dependent package must be

installed with the dependency.

Optional.

Installing the dependency package

is optional. If it is installed, it must

precede the dependent package.

Optional.

Installing the dependent package

with the dependency is optional.

Supersedes.

The dependency replaces the

dependent package during

installation.

None.

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Introduction to Software Manager

z Share Point Directory

Contains shared resources used to create Windows Installer installations. It also

contains source files for packages in the Software Manager database. All Wise

Software Repository databases are associated with a specific share point directory.

See About the Share Point Directory in the Windows Installer Editor Help.

z Workbench database

Stores information that Wise Package Studio creates and uses. Examples: project,

process, tool, and security information. A repository can contain only one

Workbench database.

The Workbench database is not used in Wise Installation Studio.

z Software Manager database

Contains all software packages created by an organization. Package resources might

be included also (examples: files, merge modules, registry keys).

See About the Software Manager Database.

z Wise Services database

Stores data that is generated and used by various background operations

(examples: package import, the upgrade process).

A repository can contain only one Wise Services database.

See also:

Setting Repository Options in the Windows Installer Editor Help

About the Software Manager Database

The Software Manager database contains:

z All software packages used or created by an organization. Package resources might

be included also (examples: files, merge modules, registry keys).

z Merge modules used by an organization.

z Other resources used by an organization, such as device drivers and Group Policy

Objects.

(These cannot be imported when you run Software Manager from Windows Installer

Editor.)

z Snapshots of standard operating environments used by an organization, for use

during conflict resolution. Create these snapshots with SOE Snapshot.

(These cannot be imported when you run Software Manager from Windows Installer

Editor.)

You manage the data in the Software Manager database through Software Manager.

Most organizations that use Software Manager work in a multi-user, team-based

environment. Multiple users can simultaneously access a single Software Manager

database that is stored on a shared server. This means that:

z Multiple users can distribute to the share point directory.

z When a package is added to the Software Manager database, all Software Manager

users can view and work with it.

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Introduction to Software Manager

See also:

About the Wise Software Repository on page 14

Sharing the Software Manager Database With Wise Package Studio on page 16

How Source Files Are Indexed

A sequentially-numbered directory structure is created under the share point directory

to store occurrences of installation source files when:

z You distribute a package to the share point directory.

z You import a single package or multiple packages to the Software Manager

database, and you distribute source files.

An index file named wamdb.idx, located in the share point directory, records the location

of the source files. Because files are indexed, distributing source files to the share point

eliminates storage of duplicate files and results in smaller storage requirements than if

you distribute to a network directory.

Example:

Suppose you have three packages, each containing a version of report.dll. The first time

you distribute a package containing report.dll, the file is placed in the share point’s

000\001 directory. If you distribute another package containing the same version of

report.dll, the file is not saved a second time, but a counter is set for that file in

wamdb.idx. If you distribute a third package that uses a different version of report.dll,

the file is stored in a second directory, 000\002. The result is a set of all the unique

source files used by all the packages in the Software Manager database.

See also:

About the Share Point Directory in the Windows Installer Editor Help

Copying an Installation to the Share Point Directory in the Windows Installer Editor Help

Importing From the Share Point Directory on page 27

Sharing the Software Manager Database With Wise Package Studio

Developers can use the Software Manager database solely to store information about

applications they develop. This situation is typical of an independent software vendor

(ISV) environment. Developers who create applications for internal, corporate use might

want to obtain information about external applications that have been tested and

deployed throughout their organization.

If the development team in your organization uses Wise Installation Studio, developers

can connect to the deployment team’s Software Manager database.

Why share information in the deployment Software Manager database? Because the

Software Manager database used by Wise Package Studio contains approved versions of

applications that have been deployed, developers can use this information to build

installations that adhere to corporate standards.

Example:

By checking the Software Manager database when building an installation, and selecting

source files from the database, developers can be sure to use the correct versions of

critical files (examples: the Visual Basic runtime or MDAC). The result is that developers

produce more reliable installations that will not conflict with applications already

deployed to end-users’ computers. This eliminates the need for the repackaging team to

Software Manager Reference 17

Introduction to Software Manager

repackage internally developed applications and lets them focus on other activities. It

also assures the deployment team that applications will perform as expected and

reduces calls to the help desk.

Process for Sharing the Software Manager Database

1. During development, the developer imports a new application to the shared

Software Manager database. The developer can view resources used by applications

that are in development and those that have been deployed.

2. When development is finished, the developer notifies a member of the deployment

team.

3. The deployment process begins.

Note

Because applications that are still in development will be mixed with those that have

been tested and deployed, members of the deployment team must be careful not to

deploy applications that are still in development.

See also:

Installation Resources and Their Locations in the Windows Installer Editor Help

About Applications and Packages

When you add a package to the Software Manager database, you assign it an application

name and a package name. An application is a group of similar packages. Packages

represent different versions of a single application installation, or different components

of a larger suite. Group packages that are not likely to coexist on the same computer

under a single application. This prevents you from seeing resources that are not relevant

to a specific application. Also, because ConflictManager does not look for conflicts

between packages of the same application, this speeds the conflict detection process

and avoids showing you conflicts that are not relevant.

Example:

Your Software Manager database might contain three Microsoft Office packages: Office

97, Office 2000, and Office XP. Because you are not likely to install multiple versions of

Microsoft Office on a single computer, you can group them under one application,

named Microsoft Office.

Obtaining Application and Package Names for Installations

If the package’s meta data is in the Software Manager database, the application and

package names are pre-filled during import.

Otherwise, they are assigned as described below.

When you import the application/package names are obtained

from:

a single installation file (any

type)

prompts during import.

Software Manager Reference 18

Introduction to Software Manager

Naming Applications and Packages for Other Items

z Merge module

You might group merge modules by manufacturer or function. Example: Create an

application named MDAC, and then import merge module files to packages named

MDAC 2.5, MDAC 2.6, MDAC 2.7, and so on.

z Patch

Application name: Use the base package’s application name.

Package name: Describe the patch. Example: Sample_5.01_Update.

z Transform

Application name: If the transform is applied to a blank database, you might give it

a unique application name, or group all such transforms under one application name

(example: General Application Registration Transforms). If the transform is applied

to a base package, use the base package’s application name.

Package name: Describe the transform. Example: If the base installation’s

application name is Sample, and the transform changes the language of the

installation dialog boxes to French, name the transform package Sample_French.

About Package Meta Data

Expand the value of the Software Manager database by using meta data to store

package information that is not otherwise recorded when the package is created.

z You can view meta data in the Package pane in Software Manager, provided

Package Pane is marked on the Meta Data Fields dialog box.

z You can view meta data on the Package Attributes dialog box.

z You can add meta data to custom reports as you would any other data in the

Software Manager database.

from the share point

See also:

Viewing and Editing Package Attributes on page 45

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