Windows 7 Usefull Shortcuts

Ctrl + Shift + Right Click

          Get options for ‘Run as administrator’ and ‘Run as Different user’
          This is very handy when you want to login to TFS as different user.
          Thanks to Praveen for sharing this idea!

Ctrl + Shift + Escape
          Opens the ‘Task Manager’ directly

Windows-botton + Pause

         Opens ‘System Properties’ 

Shift + Click on Taskbar item

         Opens a new instance of the program

Windows-button + Number

        Opens the programs available in the taskbar

 Ctrl + Shift + N

        Creates a New folder in the active window

Shift + Right Click

 

                ·         Open in New Process
                ·         Open Command window for the path[Useful in day to day tasks]
                ·         Copy the path

Installer Logging for InstallScript Type Project

Installer Logging for InstallScript Type Project

A log file can be generated to record the progress of an InstallScript based installation via a registry key. The log file can be used to diagnose the cause of failure or unexpected behavior in an installation.
Follow these steps on the target machine where the failure or unexpected behavior is occurring:
1. Add the following registry key (case insensitive):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ISlogit
2. A log file is automatically be generated on the Desktop after running any InstallScript setup.
3. The InstallScript log is encrypted (.bin file), and customers should contact support.
InstallShield KB article, has more details.

Handling sub-features in Silent Installation / uninstallation

This post aims at providing a deeper insight into "Handling sub-features in Silent Installation" using Basic MSI Project verified in InstallShield 2012 SP1.

Assume you have a Basic MSI Project which has the following Feature Tree
               

 

 

 

Installing selected features silently from command line

msiexec.exe /I "SampleProduct.msi" /quiet ADDLOCAL=FeatureOne,Sub-FeatureOne,FeatureTwo  /Lv* "C:\SampleProductinstall.log

For Sub features, if the Required property is set to "No" then including the feature name in ADDLOCAL will override and install it from command line / silent mode. In other words, by default Sub feature may not be selected for installation if main feature is selected. The reason is Required property is set to "No"

Remove a feature using msiexec command line

Following msiexec command removes a specific feature of the Product silently

msiexec /qb /i "SampleProduct.msi" REMOVE="FeatureOne"

 

Note: Feature Name is case sensitive.

 

Steps to Setup of CruiseControl.NET with TFS 2005 under a 64bit server

1)      Install latest plugin for TFS, which we can download here.

2)    Modify the configuration file as below.

<project>
    <name>Example1</name>
    <triggers>
      <intervalTrigger seconds="240"/>
    </triggers>
    <modificationDelaySeconds>120</modificationDelaySeconds>
    <sourcecontrol type="vsts" autoGetSource="true" applyLabel="true">
      <server>http://tfs:8080</server>
      <project>$/CA.Example1</project>
      <username>user</username>
      <password>pwd</password>
      <domain>mydomain</domain>
      <workingDirectory>C:\WorkingDirectory\example1\</workingDirectory>
    </sourcecontrol>
    <tasks>
      <msbuild>
        <executable>C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\MSBuild.exe</executable>
        <workingDirectory>C:\WorkingDirectory\example1workingDirectory>
        <projectFile>Example1.sln</projectFile>
        <buildArgs> /p:Configuration=Debug</buildArgs>
        <targets>Build</targets>

      </msbuild>
    </tasks>
    <publishers>

    </publishers>
  </project>

How is upgrade code stored in the registry?

Did you wonder how is upgrade code stored in the registry? Its using the Darwin Transform..

 

A standard GUID requires 38 characters and contains 5 groups of hexadecimal characters separated by dashes. The valid format for a standard GUID is:

 {XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}

where X is a hex digit (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F).

 

A packed GUID is an alternative representation that allows Windows Installer to reduce the space in the registry database when storing a GUID. A packed GUID requires only 32 characters. Its valid format is: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

where X is a hex digit.

 

A packed GUID can be obtained by applying a transform to a standard GUID. This transform performs the following operations:

* removes the curly braces and separating dashes from a standard GUID;

* writes the first three groups of hexadecimals characters in a standard GUID in reverse order;

* switches every two characters in the fourth and fifth group in a standard GUID.

This conversion procedure,is called Darwin Transform since its primary use is to construct a well-known Darwin Descriptor, which is a combination of the product code GUID, a feature name, and a component code GUID.