| Term |
Definition |
| administrative installation |
An uncompressed image of the installation, including the MSI file
and all other installation files. |
| advertised |
A component that is advertised is not physically installed on the
user's computer, but merely configured to install on the first run. That
is, when the component is first accessed by the user, it is installed.
Also, if the component is ever accidentally removed or corrupted, it
will reinstall itself automatically the next time it is accessed. |
| bootstrapper |
A setup launcher application that may install additional
prerequisite components before it begins the actual installation. |
| component |
Components are reusable units of an application. A component can be as simple
as a single file or as complex as a .NET assembly. |
| cost |
Disk usage, usually in bytes. |
| feature |
Features are parts of your application that define specific functionality of
your application. For instance, the documentation could be a separate feature
from the main program files. |
| GUID |
Globally unique identifier. |
| key file |
The key file is a file that Windows Installer can search for to
detect if the file's component is installed. |
| major upgrade |
A large update of the product warranting a change in the product
code as well as the product version. This can be shipped as a full
installation package or as a patch. |
| merge module |
Merge modules are essentially simplified MSI files. A standard merge
module has an .msm file name extension. Merge modules cannot be
installed by themselves and must instead be merged with an MSI
installation. |
| merge module search paths |
A list of locations where merge modules are found. To learn how to
configure this list, click here. |
| minor upgrade |
A small update making changes significant enough to warrant a change
in the product version but not in the product code. This can be shipped
as a full installation package or as a patch. |
| MSI |
Short form for Microsoft Installer. It
is synonymous with Windows Installer. |
| path variables |
Path variables are used to store directory paths representing the
locations of the setup source files. These variables are resolved at
build time but do not appear in the built MSI package. |
| product code |
A unique code assigned to a specific release of a product. Different
languages and versions of the same product must have different product
codes. |
| qualified components |
Components associated with a qualifier string and a category GUID,
for single-level indirection. |
| small update |
An update to a few files that is too small to warrant changing the
product version. The product code also doesn't change. This update can
be shipped as a full installation package or as a patch package. |
| special folder |
A special folder is a folder whose target path is determined by
Windows Installer at install time. Examples include the Program Files
folder or the Windows folder. |
| transform |
A file containing only the differences between two MSI databases. |
| upgrade code |
An upgrade code uniquely describes a related set of products. The
upgrade code of your product should be the same for all versions of the
same product. |
