Shortcuts View/Shortcut Target

AdminStudio 2024 | 27.0 | Tuner

There are four shortcut Target Types you can add to a transform:

Shortcut Target Types
Target Type	Description
File from MSI Package	Used if the shortcut’s target is a file that is part of the base Windows Installer package.
File from File System	Used if the shortcut’s target is a file already existing on the target system.
Advertised Shortcut	Used if you want this to be a shortcut to an “advertised” feature. Advertised features are not installed immediately during the setup process. Instead, they are installed when requested. The shortcut makes it appear that the feature is already installed, although it is not installed until the end user requests it.
Destination Folder	Used if the shortcut points to a folder rather than a file.

The Target Type that is selected affects what you should enter in the Target property field:

File from MSI Package & File from File System

Under most circumstances, shortcut targets are applications or batch files. You simply provide the full path to the application or batch file in the Target property. However, after entering the target, if you leave the Shortcuts view and then return to it, you find that the target has changed. For example, you might have entered C:\Temp\MyFolder\mytarget.exe as the target, but it now reads [MyFolder]mytarget.exe. What has happened is that the path has been replaced based on entries made to the Directory table. For more information, see Determining the Path of Changed Shortcuts.

By stringing together the directories you just located in the Directory table, you can determine the path represented by [MyFolder] in the shortcut target. If you use the drop-down list in the Target property, you can determine the absolute values of these other directories in the same fashion.

Destination Folder

To point the shortcut to a folder rather than a file, select Destination Folder in the Target Type property, and then select a folder name from the Target property drop-down list. The Target list includes available folders on the target system, from the MSI package, and from the transform.

Advertised Shortcut

You can also target Windows Installer features, which you can use for feature advertisement. To specify a feature as a shortcut target, simply enter the feature name in the Target field. You can determine the name of the feature by going to the Direct Editor and selecting the Feature table. The list of features that you can target is listed in the Features column of the table.