| Reference information | |
|---|---|
| Project page | Action Sequences, Installer Dialogs |
| Related topics | Working with attribute panes |
The Run DLL action calls an entry point in your extension DLL. The entry point must be defined as per the fTixCustomFunc prototype. You can define more than one entry point in your DLL and then call them through different Run DLL actions. You can also call the same entry point multiple times through different Run DLL actions, with the same or different arguments.
The entry point receives a pointer to the Setup runtime engine interface that you can use to communicate with the Setup process, plus an array of zero or more arguments. These arguments are similar to the traditional main arguments in C and C++ programs: they consist of 0-terminated strings that are parsed from the action's attributes (see Arguments, below).
The function must return ERROR_SUCCESS (0, zero) if successful, or a nonzero error code if a failure occurred. Typically, you would return a Win32-style error code if the function encounters a problem. The LastExitCode variable is set to the function's return value; nonzero values may cause the parent action sequence or the entire installation to be aborted (this is subject to the global Error handling options on the Installer Options project page).
Note: Using this function requires that you include an extension DLL on the Installer Options project page.
The Windows Installer equivalent is Run
DLL.
The installer stores the DLL function's return value in the LastExitCode variable; you can use this variable in the conditions of subsequent actions. The exit code is one of the following:
Note: LastExitCode is overwritten by the next action that runs an external program (including Run Script, Run DLL, Run Program, and Uninstall Product).
This pane contains the following attributes and options.
| Attribute | Description | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action name | Enter the name of the action. This name is only used in Tarma ExpertInstall and is not visible to the user. | ||||||||
| Description | Enter the localizable description of the action. This description is displayed in progress messages in the installer while the action is executing. | ||||||||
| Function name | Enter the name of the DLL entry point that must be called. You should enter the name as it appears in your source code (for example, MyCustomFunc as shown above); the installer will add the required name decorations before it tries to locate the entry point in the extension DLL. | ||||||||
| Arguments |
Enter the arguments for the program. Be sure to enclose any arguments that contain (or might expand to contain) spaces in quotes, for example "argument with spaces" or "<INSTALLDIR>". The installer will expand any symbolic references and break the argument string into separate arguments before calling the DLL function, similar to the way Windows parses command line arguments before calling the main entry point in a traditional C or C++ program. |
||||||||
| Prompt |
Check this box and enter the localizable prompt text to have Tarma Installer prompt the user before the action is run; clear it to run the action without prompting. If you use this option, then the prompt is displayed in a dialog box with (localized versions of) Yes and No buttons. The action is executed if the user clicks Yes and skipped if No is clicked. You should phrase your prompt accordingly. |
||||||||
| Condition |
Enter the conditional expression that determines if the action will be executed, or leave empty for unconditional execution. |
||||||||
| Platforms... |
Click this button to open the Select Installation Platforms dialog box that allows you to select the Windows versions on which the action must be executed. This platform selection acts as an additional condition for the action. |
||||||||
| Execute |
Select the action's execution mode from the drop-down list. The following choices are available:
|