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I ve written an application and compiled this into a shared folder that users should be referencing.

I want to create an installer application which calls a seperate '.exe' and also checks that the user has read / write access to the shared fodler.

I ve been trying to do this using the File->New->Setup Project

I cannot see an option for writing code to call the seperate '.exe' and also do some cheks.

Any ideas please??

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  • What is the separate executable and why do you need to call it? Commented Oct 11, 2009 at 9:02

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To perform custom steps as part of your deployment/installation you can create a "custom action".

I have used this approach myself in the past and have found it very useful. (It might now be superseded by a newer approach, but I'm not aware of one).

This article gives a great tutorial on custom actions in .NET.

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If prerequisites are not met how do you stop the install using a custom action??
Also can you build a setup projet which does nothing apart from run the custom action???
You may want to look at Commit and Rollback Custom actions. The Commit custom action checks for pre-requisites and if not found, can throw an exception to cause the installation to Rollback. See: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371369(VS.85).aspx
If you want an installer with nothing but a custom action, you might be better off just creating a standard exe project and performing install steps there. As long as you provide a simple uninstall option you should be fine.
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You should have a look at Inno Setup, it is far much easier to set-up and has many features, including a compiled scripting language if you need to do some checkings at the installation and/or de-installation.

There is also a GUI provided as 3rd party software.

Also, you don't need to install anything else when you install a package made by Inno Setup, it creates independent .exe installers (unlike .msi files).

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Cant use third party software- Sorry
It's a free installer builder, are you sure it's not allowed in the case of your application?
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You may consider creating a custom installer action in your setup project which allows you to run arbitrary code during different stages of the deployment.

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Take a look at the custom actions. It will allow you to execute arbitrary .Net code during installation.

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