Questions (evaluating setup builder)

[apai]

Hi,

I have a few questions.

1. Is there any way to remove a custom text resource group when it is added?

2. Is there a way to auto search and replace on text identifier values? e.g. change all instances of file://[SB5] to file://[SB5]/foo/

thanks,

Amar

[linder]

Amar,

To delete a Text Resource Group, please click the "Delete Button". In the upcoming SetupBuilder 6.1, the delete item is available in the right-click popup menu.

At the moment it is not possible to change all instances of file://[SB5] to file://[SB5]/foo/. I have added this to the wishlist, thank you.

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

"point. click. ship" - that's SetupBuilder 6
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[apai]

Hi Frederick,

Thanks for the quick response.

I am pretty happy with SetupBuilder based on my current evaluation & am leaning towards adopting it as the installer for our app EA Link (link.ea.com). However the main sticking point at the moment is Asian language support. I'm wondering if it's feasible for us to add support for languages such as Thai, Korean, etc. Would it be enough to localize just the subset of text resources used in our installer's particular dialogs? It seems like we'd also need to localize some or all error strings. If we set active language to an unsupported language code and set the corresponding string resources, would that suffice? I'd be worried about error cases popping up that we didn't localize though.

thanks

Amar

[linder]

Amar,

To be frank, support for the Asian language is still on our ToDo list. But we have absolutely no experiences with that.

What happens if you translate some test messages (e.g. from the standard English module) into an Asian language. Is it displayed correctly? And what happens if you add an Asian file name? Is it installed correctly?

Thank you for your help!

Friedrich

[apai]

Hi Friedrich,

I'll give it a try when I get a chance today. Doesn't sound too promising, but you never know.

Is SetupBuilder using UTF16 or some other unicode encoding?

thanks,

Amar

[linder]

Amar,

IMO, it does not work yet.

Some functions are already using unicode encoding, but not all.

The main problem at the moment is that we see an unprecedented peak in
business due to the release of Vista. Consulting is totally booked - things
have gone through the roof. And I think (I fear) that development for Asian language support is not trivial.

Friedrich

[apai]

Hi Friedrich,

I tested a few scenarios using Korean characters and did not achieve success. :(

1. Attempted to set text identifier to 이 게임을 실행하기 위해서는 CD를 드라이브에 넣거나 EA Link에 로그인 해 주십시오 (random Korean characters pulled from one of our existing localization files). It did not display directly-- rendered as ????? EA Link ????

2. Attempted to add an rtf file named with korean characters ( 스크린세이버.rtf ) to my installation. It was not recognized (showed up as 0 bytes and 'not found' when I attempted to compile.)

Without Unicode support it looks like we are not going to be able to use SetupBuilder. It's a shame as I think you have a high-quality product in other respects. The only other non-open source products I am considering (given our requirements) are Tarma ExpertInstaller and InstallAware. Don't suppose you have a recommendation in choosing between those two :)

thanks for your time,

Amar

[linder]

Amar,

I was afraid that would happen <g>. We'll definitely add full support for Unicode in a future version (this statement does not help you right now <g>).

But I have a recommendation. Use the first product you mentioned. Never ever use the second one. NEVER!

Friedrich

[apai]

Hi Friedrich,

Interesting to hear that you have a strong opinion on the 2nd product. If are able to, I would love to hear your thoughts. You can email me at apai@ea.com or post back, whatever works. For me the cons of InstallAware are chiefly the price & the MSI-targetted nature of it -- not sure how MSI installers perform relative to custom installers. But it sounds like they have a big support community & they have localization covered for all the languages we'd need. Do you think they're too much like Installshield? (I hate Installshield and am happy to be moving away from it.)

thanks

Amar

[linder]

Amar,

Will do in a minute...

Friedrich

[linder]

BTW, it was not my intention to say that I would recommend "Tarma ExpertInstaller". Development on the Tarma Installer products was stopped in December 2006. I don't know if they did find an investor to continue the product line.

Friedrich