Files and Folders

The tree view on the left lists directories on the destination machine. The file list on the right lists files to be installed in the selected directory.

Adding files and folders

Select a folder from the tree and drag & drop files from Windows Explorer into the file list on the right, or right-click a folder and choose Add Files..., to add files. All files and folders are added to the feature selected at the top of this view.

When adding files, the following window will pop up:

Choose which method of adding files you desire. It is recommended that you create a separate new component for each file.

Working with folders

All folders in Wise Installation Studio are shown by their IDs. To add a new folder, simply select a folder in the tree, right-click, and choose Add Folder to add a regular folder or Add Special Folder to add a special folder. Rename a folder by pressing F2 to change its ID. To change a folder's destination name, select it and change its Target directory name in the properties. Change the Source directory name to change the name of the directory on the source media (for uncompressed installations). You can also drag folders in the tree as you desire to change the directory structure.

Searching for files

To search for a file, right-click a folder and choose Find File... from the menu. You will see this window:

Enter the filename (or part of the filename) of the file you're looking for. Choose the scope of your search: Current folder to look only inside the selected folder or Entire tree to look for the file starting with the selected folder, all the way down the tree. Click Find to look for the next occurrence of a file matching your criteria. Click Close when you're done with the search.

Grouping and ungrouping files

Grouping a bunch of files means moving them into a single component. To group files, select a group of files from the selected folder, right-click, and choose Group Files from the menu. Choose the grouping method that you prefer and click OK to group the files.

Ungrouping a file means extracting it from a component containing more than one file, and placing it inside its own component. To do this, select a single file that is part of a multiple-file component, right-click, and choose Ungroup File from the menu.

Key file

The key file is a file that Windows Installer can search for to detect if the file's component is installed. Key files are shown with a key icon next to their names. It is strongly recommended that every component containing at least one file have a key file specified. To set the key file for a component, right-click a file and choose Set Key File from the menu. To reset the key file for a component, right-click a file with a key icon and choose Clear Key File from the menu.