Project Manager

Clicking this button opens the New Project wizard, which allows you to select the desired project template, the initial project languages, and some options. You will be prompted for the location and file name of the new project. Once the project initialization is complete, the Product Identification page appears.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > New Project; the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+N.

Clicking this button opens a standard Open dialog that allows you to browse for an existing installer project on your computer or local network. By default, the Open dialog shows all applicable project file types; you can restrict this to a specific type by selecting the desired project type in the Files of type drop-down list in the Open dialog.

Tarma ExpertInstall can open the following installer project types:

• Tarma ExpertInstall Project (*.tip) - This is the project type that Tarma ExpertInstall uses natively to store its projects. For more information about this file format, see Tarma ExpertInstall project file format.
• Tarma Workspace (*.tiw) - This is an auxiliary file type that contains ExpertInstall-related settings for a project. If you select a workspace file for opening, Tarma ExpertInstall will open the associated project file as well. (Conversely, if you open a project file, the accompanying workspace file is also opened.)
• Tarma Installer 2.x Project (*.tin) - This is the project type used by Tarma Installer 2.x. If you open a Tarma Installer 2.x project file in the ExpertInstall, the project will be automatically converted to Tarma ExpertInstall conventions and will be saved as a Tarma ExpertInstall project from then on. The original Tarma Installer 2.x project file is left unchanged. For more information about this conversion process, see Upgrading from Tarma Installer 2.
• Windows Installer Database (*.msi) - This is the installation package format used by Windows Installer (also known as MSI). If you open a Windows Installer database in Tarma ExpertInstall, its contents will be imported and converted to Tarma ExpertInstall conventions and will be saved as a Tarma ExpertInstall project from then on. Furthermore, its source files and binary data files are extracted from the database and copied to newly created Sources and Resources folders. The original Windows Installer database is left unchanged. For more information about MSI imports, see Conversion of MSI and MSM databases.
• Visual Basic 5 and 6 Project (*.vbp) - This is the Visual Basic project file. If you open this kind of project, the program executable and its dependencies (as listed in the .vbp file) are added as installation files in a newly create Tarma ExpertInstall project.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > Open Project...; the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+O.

Clicking this button opens the currently selected project from the Recent projects list further down on the Project Manager page. This list may contain a mixture of project types, similar to the Browse for Project... command's Open dialog. Treatment of the various project types is identical to that command.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > Open Recent Project > project name

Check this box to bypass the Project Manager page when you start Tarma ExpertInstall and open the the most recent project automatically. This is useful if you often work with the same project. Clear this box to start with the Project Manager page.

Tip: You can also set or clear this option in the Preferences - General dialog box.

This list shows the projects that were most recently opened by the current user. The projects are sorted by date and time, with the most recent ones first. The maximum number of recent projects in the list can be set in the Preferences - General dialog box; the list can also be cleared there.

Tip: The same recently opened projects are also listed on the File > Open Recent Project menu on the main menu bar.

If you right-click on a project in the list, a popup menu appears with the following commands:

• Open Project - Opens the currently selected project. You can also press Enter to achieve this.
• Remove from List - Removes the currently selected project from the list. You can also press Del or Delete to achieve this.
• Clear List - Removes all projects from the list. (The projects themselves are not deleted; only the list is cleared.)