Creating precompiled modules to speed up build and patching

[a_j_burgess]

Hi,

I am using AI to install an application that is 250MB once installed. This is made of of many small files and takes a long time to build each release. We have now started to use the msp approach to patching and the process of building the "before" and "after" releases and then generating a very small patch takes a long time.

I know that the vast majority of my code will not change from release to release (as it is third party code which we do not touch). Is there a way to precompile this part of the code so that the msi/msp file does not have to regenerate that part each time?

I have looked at merge modules (although not actually tried them). However, these still seem to need to be assimilated into the msi each time so my issue is not solved.

I thought that one way might be to wrap an installer (of the core code) within the main installer but do not know if:
a) that is a good idea or not; and
b) how to do it

Any suggestions are most welcome

Thanks

Anthony

[gigi]

Hi Anthony,

To optimize the patch build you can do like this:

After you add the MSI images target and upgraded and administrative install is done go to the folder where administrative install was done and delete the files you know are not modified between versions.

After you do this select the target image in the project and use the "Ignore missing source files" option.

Also you can use "Cache" folder for faster patch creation. Read more about this here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370592.aspx

Reade more about how to use patches in AI here:
http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... oject.html

Here is a tutorial about how to create a patch:
http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... patch.html

Here is the rules you must follow for patch creation:
http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... tches.html

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Gigi
______________
Gheorghe Rada
Advanced Installer Team
http://www.advancedinstaller.com

[a_j_burgess]

thanks Gigi. I shall tr this