site_archiver@lists.apple.com Delivered-To: installer-dev@lists.apple.com Thanks for the input. Maybe a solution could be to: Use a Metapackage containing 2 packages: By gotchas, do you mean something like: On 20-Jun-07, at 12:38 PM, Mike wrote: Mike Making your own installer is a waste of time. A custom shell script is your best bet. Mike _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Installer-dev mailing list (Installer-dev@lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/installer-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a... Well, a simple installer to merely copy some files is only a day of work, but yes, there are many potential complications. I see that "IFPkgFlagAltSourceLocation" is not documented but has some people commenting on how it works, and Apple seems to use it. So, the next course of action is to attempt to make an installer using PackageMaker and create a script to copy the extra files and also a plug-in to ask for a location for the extra files. And then just see how this works out. If it does not, then roll my own. Package A: it contains your application. Standard package, no magic involved. Package B: it contains no .pax. It used the undocumented "IFPkgFlagAltSourceLocation" flag. As I've never used the "IFPkgFlagAltSourceLocation", I can't confirm that it will work. If not, then I may resort to writing my own installer since I will be in full control of the install process then. Are there any gotchas with making your own installer? - bugs - security flaws - files being deleted - not being able to blame someone else for the first 3 items on this list. If you think you can write an installer in a day you are dreaming. It's going to take several weeks. You also want to use Apple's installer so that your users have a consistent install experience. Installer will set a message saying it is running the post install script. To allow the user to determine where to copy files you will need to write a custom installer plugin using Cocoa. I suggest you read Software Delivery Guide on the ADC website to get familiar with all the issues before you attempt this undertaking. Steve Israelson wrote: Well, if I could write an installer in a day, or spend a day fiddling with Apple's installer.... These data files are big, and it seems the post install script doesn't have a progress bar or any other indication it is being run. Also, how do I let the user choose where to install these data files? On 20-Jun-07, at 12:16 PM, Mike wrote: What is wrong with writing a postinstall script to copy the files to their destinations? That is what shell scripting is for. Alternately you could write an AppleScript to do it or write your own custom installer plugin in Cocoa to copy the files but that is a bit overkill. Steve Israelson wrote: I am trying to determine if PackageMaker can create a package that can install my application and also its data files where the data files are not in the package but are on the install disk in an external directory. I want to do this so that the Windows installer can also access these data files. The install is very simple, just the App, data files, and one defaults tweak to point at the data files. I saw a couple of threads on this subject and there was no good solution other that to write your own shell script to copy the files. My deployment target is 10.3.9 or later. Has there been any other solutions found to this issue? If not, then I may resort to writing my own installer since I will be in full control of the install process then. Are there any gotchas with making your own installer? _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Installer-dev mailing list (Installer-dev@lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/installer-dev/lists% 40michael-amorose.com This email sent to lists@michael-amorose.com This email sent to site_archiver@lists.apple.com