uninstalling VISA using a specfile

[bef]

I am using a third party installer to install my LabVIEW application.
I need serial port support for that application, so I am installing VISA runtime in silent mode using the following specfile:

[Directories]
=c:\mydir
[features]
API.VSARU=Local
COM_Support.VSARU=NoChange
Enet_Serial.VSARU=NoChange
Ethernet.VSARU=NoChange
GPIB.VSARU=NoChange
GPIB_VXI.VSARU=NoChange
NIVISA.VSARU=Local
PXI.VSARU=NoChange
Run_Time_Support.VSARU=Local
Serial.VSARU=Local
VISA_core.VSARU=Local
VXI.VSARU=NoChange
Tulip.VSARU=NoChange
Remote.VSARU=NoChange
Remote_Passport.VSARU=NoChange
USB.VSARU=NoChange

That seems to work fine. The VXIPNP directory now appears in c:\mydir.
But how can I uninstall VISA?
I have tried to call visa301runtime's setup.exe again with this specfile:

[Directories]
=c:\mydir
[features]
API.VSARU=Absent
NIVISA.VSARU=Absent
Run_Time_Support.VSARU=Absent
Serial.VSARU=Absent
VISA_core.VSARU=Absent

Somehow this does not do the trick. (Or if it does it still leaves the VXIPNP in the 'mydir'-directory.)
Is there a better way to call the VISA uninstaller?

[Indiana]

A spec file allows programmatic control over an installation. Using a spec file, you can specify exactly which features in an installation should be enabled and disabled by default.

The spec file contents will affect which features are enabled or disabled by default during the installation. You can modify what should be installed by modifying the spec file. There are two main categories which will be useful, "[Features]" which are used to determine which product features will be installed by default, and "[Directories]", which describes where each feature would be installed.

The valid feature states are Local, Absent, NoChange, and Default. Default is equivalent to not listing the feature in the spec file; the feature follows its default behavior based on level, dependencies, etc.

The following table summarizes the Local, Absent, and NoChange feature states.
State: If the feature is already installed /// If the feature is not installed:
Local: Leave it installed /// Install it (on the local hard drive)
Absent: Uninstall it /// Do not install it
NoChange: Leave it installed /// Do not install it

As you see, there is the option to uninstall the feature. If you are uninstalling LabVIEW for example, the folder "LabVIEW" is still alive in your directory structure.

Message Edited by Indiana on 04-29-2005 03:22 AM

[LaF]

bef,

I try to use a specfile with NI-Visa Runtime like you. WinXp SP2, Windows Installer 3.01 and NI-Visa Runtime 3.6. It seems that the windows installer not recognise my specfile.

Can you take a look to my thread and give me some information about what you did...

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=140&message.id=20502

Thanks,

LaF

[bef]

Hi LaF,

well, I didn't really solve that problem. I took a different approach in the end.
I don't think it will help you...

My motivation was to use a different installer because I needed some other stuff (drivers, pdf-docs).
With LV7.1 you can include the serial port support only in the native installer. The size is quite small. But if you only use the exe, then you need to install VISA and LV-runtime seperately. That makes the installer really fat.
Now my solution was to create a "dummy"-VI (empty VI) and make an installer for it. Here I included the runtime-engine and the serial support. My third party installer (nullsoft) then called the dummy-installer silently and installed all the rest (including my real application exe).
I used this dummy installer on different projects.
Now, with LV8.x, there are a lot of installer options. So maybe my technique is obsolete.
For smaller projects I still prefer LV7.1. LV8 makes huge installers. It's hard to explain that to a customer, particularly when the app is only adding numbers...

Hope that helps a bit.

bef