Direct Editor
AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0 | Tuner
Windows Installer packages are relational databases consisting of dozens of interrelated tables. These tables reflect the application’s features, components, relationship between features and components, registry information, and user interface.
The Direct Editor allows you to edit values in the MSI tables of the base Windows Installer package and store them in your transform. As you change values elsewhere in your transform, those changes are reflected in the Direct Editor, and vice versa. The complete list of MSI tables contained in the installation package is displayed in the left pane. When you select a table, the contents are displayed in the right pane.
Working Directly with MSI Tables
The Tuner Direct Editor provides the ability to work directly with MSI tables. This includes the ability to edit the contents, as well as find and replace values.
Tip:When viewing or editing specific tables, pressing F1 launches the Microsoft Windows Installer help system to the appropriate table, if it is a standard Windows Installer table. When F1 is pressed while viewing a non-standard table, the Windows Installer help system launches to its default topic. Consult the software vendor for information about custom tables.
Table Functionality
The following functionality is available for tables:
|
Function |
Keyboard Shortcut |
Description |
|
Add Records |
Insert |
Adds a new record to the table. |
|
Delete Records |
Del |
Deletes the selected record after user confirmation. Referential integrity is not maintained. |
|
Cut Row(s) |
Ctrl+X |
Enables users to cut single or multiple rows or cells in the grid to the clipboard. |
|
Copy Row(s) |
Ctrl+C |
Copies the selected cell or row in the grid to the clipboard. |
|
Paste Row(s) |
Ctrl+V |
Pastes the contents of the clipboard into a given cell or row(s). |
Editing Tables by Launching the Direct Editor from the Validation Tab
Upon completion of a Pre- or Postvalidation, the Validation tab is automatically selected, and all of the Errors, Warnings, and Info messages that were generated are listed in table format. Each table row lists an icon to indicate whether it is an Error (
), a Warning (
), or an Informational Message (
), the name of the ICE that generated it, and a brief description of what caused it to occur.
If a row is grayed out, it indicates that the table cannot be edited in the Direct Editor (perhaps because it is in an external package). If a row is active, you can double-click on it to open that row’s associated table. The Direct Editor is launched and the table and/or table cells that are causing the problem are highlighted in red.
This feature makes it very easy for you to use the Direct Editor to edit values in the MSI tables of the base Windows Installer package and store them in your transform.
Resizing Table Columns in the Direct Editor
When you initially open the Direct Editor, the selected table’s columns are listed in a compact format so that the maximum number of columns are displayed.
To automatically resize a column so that its width matches that of its longest entry, double-click on the column heading. This new column width setting is automatically saved and will be implemented the next time you view this table column in the Direct Editor.
Sorting Table Columns in the Direct Editor
To sort a table column, click the column heading once. The order will toggle between ascending and descending.
See Also