Installer option to "Run executable at the beginning of uninstallation"

[Jim_Kring]

We currently have an option to "Run executable at the end of installation".  This is useful for installing other stuff required by your application.  However, we also need the ability to clean up these things during the uninstall process.  So, I'd like an option to "Run executable at the beginning of uninstallation".

[altenbach]

I never used that option, but I like symmetry in the universe. If there's a Yin, there ought to be a Yang. 😄 Kudos to that!

[Mads]

I see my ideas are beginning to get popular in their repeated forms;-)

This is a duplicate of this.

Mads

[battler.]

Mads, needs pictures to be popular 😉

[Mads]

Pictures seem to have a significant effect on the rating indeed:-)

[Jim_Kring]

> Pictures seem to have a significant effect on the rating indeed 🙂

Yes, putting a picture is critical -- it helps people understand exactly what you're talking about in a matter of seconds, rather than requiring them to fully read and understand what you're talking about in minutes.  Most people aren't willing to invest much time in understanding an idea that might turn out to be a bad one.  Also, I think that a picture just makes things more interesting/fun for the reader.  After all, we're all LabVIEW developers becase we like pictures, right? 🙂

[David S.]

If you're doing any manual registry manipulation (like backing up keys you're about to modify) during installation with a custom executable that's run after the installer, then it's critical that you be able to manually undo your work with an executable that's run before the uninstaller. As far as I can tell, this feature is sorely lacking from all three major NI ADEs: LabVIEW, CVI, and TestStand.

I haven't yet figured out a workaround, either. I thought to treat the "UninstallString" value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{GUID} as a command line and insert my custom executable's path before MSIExec.exe, but nothing liked that worked. I'm stumped!

[Jim_Kring]

Hey David: After some googling, I found a link that says "unless the WindowsInstaller value is set to 0 the UninstallString is ignored". Maybe this is a path to explore.

[crelf]

I agree that the NI installer could have many more features, but, in these cases, I find it makes more sens to use a tool like InnoSetup http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php to wrap these, and other, installers. another neat thing is the NIUninstaller – I usually bundle that with my applications, and call it on application uninstall to clean up whatever I like.

PS: I use the ISTool IDE with Inno Setup.

[Darren]

 Available in LabVIEW 2012 and later. There is a 'Run executable before uninstallation' option on the 'Advanced' page of the Installer build spec dialog.