MSI Build Warnings and Errors

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InstallShield Tips & Tricks

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As InstallShield builds your project, status messages are displayed in the output window at the bottom of

the development environment.

For a command-line build using IsCmdBld.exe, status messages are displayed at the command prompt.

If any errors or warnings occur, they are displayed in the Build tab of the output window, as well as in the

Tasks tab. The Tasks tab contains links to the InstallShield Knowledge Base for the latest information about

resolving these warnings. (This requires a live Internet connection.)

Addressing Build Errors and Warnings

Build errors and warnings typically refer to missing or unexpected source files or merge modules, but can

refer to any condition that prevents a build from completing. For example, the build process reports error –

1014 (―Cannot rename directory…‖) if an installation inside the build folder is running, or if Windows

Explorer or a command prompt is pointing to the build folder.

In addition, the InstallShield environment will prevent you from entering some project settings that would

cause the package to fail at deployment time. For example, a project cannot use DATABASE or PATCH as an

internal Directory-table identifier—the way INSTALLDIR or SystemFolder is a Directory identifier—as these

are reserved identifiers used by Windows Installer. If you try to define a component destination folder with

internal identifier DATABASE, the environment will rename the identifier to a valid value such as

DATABASE_DIR1. (If, however, you use the Direct Editor to define a Directory called DATABASE or PATCH,

the build process will report error –6262.)

All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.

www.flexerasoftware.com U.S. +1 800-809-5659 EMEA: +44 870-871-1111 +44 870-873-6300 APAC: +81 3-4360-8291

TIP: When you manually search the InstallShield Knowledge Base for a particular build warning or error

number, omit the minus sign in the search. For example, instead of searching for ―–1014‖, search for

―1014‖.

Errors Regarding Missing Source Files

If the build process cannot find a source file, because it has been renamed or deleted, the build process

returns error –6103 (―Could not find file file‖) and –1007 (―Cannot copy source file to target directory‖).

Two features of InstallShield that can help you work with source files are path variables and dynamic file

linking. Path variables are variables used by the InstallShield build process to represent the locations of

source files on the development system. Whenever you add a file to a component, InstallShield by default

creates a path variable or reuses an existing path variable to represent that file’s location. If you move the

source file, instead of having to reestablish the file link, you can simply assign the path variable a new value

in the Path Variables view of the InstallShield environment. (The InstallShield help library also describes

registry-based and environment variable–based path variables, with which you can modify path variable

values without having to modify the project file.)

In addition, if you have source directories that contain lists of files that are continually changing, you can

use dynamic file linking. With dynamic linking, you specify a directory and optional file name masks for

inclusion and exclusion. Each build process then copies all of the matching files in the dynamic link into the

corresponding component.

An important consideration regarding file linking is that a dynamically linked file cannot be the key file of its

component. However, a component can contain any combination of static and dynamic links, and therefore

a solution is to set a statically linked file as the key file, additionally marking the key file as an exclusion to

the dynamic link.

Moreover, when using dynamic file linking, it is important to specify a ―previous package‖ in the build

settings to ensure File, Component, and Media table keys are synchronized between builds. For more

information, see the InstallShield help topic ―Upgrade Considerations‖.

Another error related to missing data on the build system is –1024 (―File not found. Cannot stream the file

into the Binary file.‖), which occurs if a file used by a custom action or dialog box (such as a DLL or bitmap

file) has been moved or deleted. Similarly, build error –7017 occurs if your project includes merge modules

or other redistributables that are not present on your build system. Other errors sometimes related to

missing source files are –6271 (―File file not found. An error occurred building the MsiFileHash table

record…‖) and –1501 (―Could not compress file into file.cab‖).

Design Issues and Build Warnings

In addition to issues related to source files, some build warnings address design issues in your project.

A deferred custom action must be placed between InstallInitialize and InstallFinalize in the Execute

sequence of an installation. To help detect problems with improper placement of deferred actions, the build

process generates warning –6524 if it detects a deferred custom action outside the range of InstallInitialize

and InstallFinalize.

All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.

www.flexerasoftware.com U.S. +1 800-809-5659 EMEA: +44 870-871-1111 +44 870-873-6300 APAC: +81 3-4360-8291

TIP: By default, the build process will continue to completion even if any build errors occur. To cancel a

build, you can click the Stop Build toolbar button, or press Ctrl+Break. To specify always to stop a build if

an error occurs, you can pull down the Tools menu and select Options; in the General tab, select the check

box labeled ―Stop build process when first error is encountered‖.

If you use the command-line build tool IsCmdBld, the -x switch enables you to stop the build when the first

error occurs, and the -w switch lets you specify that build warnings should be treated as errors.

Begin a Free Evaluation of InstallShield

You can download a free trial version of InstallShield from the Flexera Software Web site at:

www.flexerasoftware.com/installshield/eval

Want to learn more best practices for building quality installations? Join an InstallShield training class –

visit www.flexerasoftware.com/training for available classes.

You can also get more tips on building MSI installations in our white papers area at