InstallShield 2016 Express Edition

Release Notes

originally released August 2016; updated to include SP2, released May, 2017

Introduction

InstallShield is the industry standard for authoring high-quality Windows Installer–based installations. InstallShield 2016 Express Edition offers new features and enhancements that make it easy to use the latest technologies.

For the latest information about InstallShield 2016 Express Edition, including updates to these release notes, see the online version of the InstallShield 2016 release notes.

Changes in SP2

Integration with FlexNet Code Aware

InstallShield now includes integration with FlexNet Code Aware, an automated open source risk assessment and package discovery solution that enables you to quickly scan your products for security and intellectual property (IP) compliance risk.

The current release of FlexNet Code Aware supports analysis of the following files:

Java Packages
Node Packages
Nuget Packages
RPM Packages
Ruby Packages
EXE & DLL Files

Security vulnerabilities are looked up against the National Vulnerability Database (NVD).

Running FlexNet Code Aware

FlexNet Code requires a separate license from InstallShield. There is also trial/evaluation version. For more information, refer to the FlexNet Code Aware product page of the Flexera Software website.

To run FlexNet Code Aware from within InstallShield, click Scan Project using FlexNet Code Aware from the InstallShield Project menu. This menu option is disabled out if you are not currently in an open InstallShield project. A FlexNet Code Aware icon is also available on the InstallShield standard toolbar.

When FlexNet Code Aware completes the scan of your project, a summary displays showing the number of files scanned, and the number of open-source packages and vulnerabilities found. A View report button is provided if you have a fully licensed version of FlexNet Code Aware. For more information about the details provided in this report, refer to Reading the FlexNet Code Aware Report.

Reading the FlexNet Code Aware Report

Note • The FlexNet Code Aware Report is not available in trial/evaluation mode. A fully licensed version of FlexNet Code Aware is required.

To view the FlexNet Code Aware Report, click View report on the summary dialog that appears after FlexNet Code Aware has scanned your project.

The FlexNet Code Aware report consists of several sections:

The initial Summary View presents the user with a Scan Summary, Operational Risk assessment, Security Vulnerability Exposure, and License Exposure.
The Scan Summary section provides details regarding the codebase that was scanned, including a breakdown of file types, percent of files analyzed, and number of findings.
The Operational Risk section provides a composite risk rating based on the combination of packages with Intellectual Property (IP) issues and packages with Security Vulnerabilities.
The Security Vulnerability Exposure and License Exposure sections provide a breakdown of the types and categories of identified issues.
The Package Inventory View, available by clicking view full package inventory in the Scan Summary section, provides a complete list of discovered open source and third-party packages with associated licenses, security vulnerabilities, dependencies, and detected copyright statements.

The Package Inventory View provides filters that you can use to execute targeted queries to refine the list to various package types of interest.

The following figures show the initial Summary View of a sample FlexNet Code Aware Report.

FlexNet Code Aware Initial Summary View

The following figures show the Package Inventory View of a sample FlexNet Code Aware Report.

FlexNet Code Aware Package Inventory View

Viewing Package Details

Click a vulnerability count listed in the Vulnerabilities column of the Package Inventory report page for each package you want to review:

The Vulnerabilities detail page appears, covering a portion of the Package Inventory report:

Resolved Issues in SP2

For descriptions of resolved issues in SP2, refer to InstallShield 2016 SP2 Express Edition.

Changes in SP1

Support for Microsoft Visual Studio 2017

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition includes support for Visual Studio 2017. You can create InstallShield 2016 Express Edition projects from within this version of Visual Studio.

Resolved Issues in SP1

For descriptions of resolved issues in SP1, refer to InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition.

New Features

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition includes the following new features:

Support for the Latest Releases of Windows Operating Systems
Tile Configurations
New InstallShield Prerequisites for Microsoft Visual C++ 2015, .NET Framework 4.6, and More
Predefined System Searches for Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office and the .NET Framework

Support for the Latest Releases of Windows Operating Systems

InstallShield 2016 supports the latest releases of the Windows operating system:

Windows 10 Anniversary Update
Windows Server 2016

Not only can you install InstallShield on these operating systems, but you can also create installers that target these operating systems.

 

Tile Configurations

Windows 8 introduced a grid of application tiles to the Start screen, replacing the usual list of shortcuts, and also presented tiles in place of shortcuts. InstallShield supports customizing the appearance of a desktop app's tile on the Start screen. The following tile configuration settings are available:

A toggle between light or dark text when including the app name on medium-sized (150x150) tiles
Choice of tile background color
Option to use custom tile images (small: 70x70 and medium:150x150)
Preference to show or hide the app name on medium-sized tiles

The Tile Configurations node appears in the main Shortcuts/Folder view. Any applicable tile configurations are listed.

To learn more, see the following topics in the InstallShield Help Library:

Configuring the Appearance of a Desktop App’s Tile on the Start Screen 
Tile Configuration Settings 

New InstallShield Prerequisites for Microsoft Visual C++ 2015, .NET Framework 4.6, and More

InstallShield includes the following InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to projects:

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 Full
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 Web
Microsoft ReportViewer 2015
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express System CLR Types (x86)
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express RTM (x64)
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express RTM LocalDB (x64)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Update 3 Redistributable Package (x86)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Update 3 Redistributable Package (x64)
Windows Management Framework 4.0 for Windows 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 SP1 (x64)
Windows Management Framework 4.0 for Windows Server 2012 (x64)
Windows Management Framework 5.0 for Windows 7 SP1 (x86)
Windows Management Framework 5.0 for Windows 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 SP1 (x64)
Windows Management Framework 5.0 for Windows 8.1 (x86)
Windows Management Framework 5.0 for Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 (x64)
Windows Management Framework 5.0 for Windows Server 2012 (x64)

These prerequisites install the appropriate technologies on supported target systems.

These prerequisites install the appropriate technologies on supported target systems.

Note • The Web prerequisite for the .NET Framework requires an Internet connection. This prerequisite downloads the required redistributable files if appropriate. The Full prerequisite for the .NET Framework is a stand-alone installation that does not require an Internet connection.

Predefined System Searches for Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office and the .NET Framework

InstallShield has new predefined system searches:

Adobe Reader 11
Adobe Reader DC
Microsoft Office 2013
Microsoft Office 2016
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1

If your installation requires one or more of these, you can use the Requirements view or the Installation Requirements page in the Project Assistant to add these system searches to your project. When end users launch your installation, Windows Installer checks the target system to see if the requirements are met; if they are not met, the installation displays the error message that is defined for the system search.

Enhancements

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition includes the following new enhancements:

Ability to Filter Items by Features in Additional Views
Digital Signature Updates

Ability to Filter Items by Features in Additional Views

The following views now contain a View Filter that lets you filter the view list by any feature in your project:

Environment Variables View—You can use the View Filter list at the top of this view to show and hide environmental variables that are associated to a particular feature in your project. You can also select a feature from the View List in order to associate only that feature with a subsequent event (e.g., the creation, modification, or removal of an environmental variable). Lastly, to see all of the environmental variables that are in your project, select the All Application Data option in the View Filter list. For more information, refer to the “Environment Variables View” topic in the InstallShield Help Library.
INI File Changes View—You can use the View Filter list at the top of this view to show and hide initialization (.ini) files that are associated to a particular feature in your project. You can select a feature from the View List in order to associate only that feature with a subsequent event (e.g., the creation, importing, modification, or removal of .ini files). The resulting modification takes place at run time on the target system when the feature is installed. Lastly, to see all of the .ini files that are in your project, select the All Application Data option in the View Filter list. For more information, refer to the “INI File Changes View” topic in the InstallShield Help Library.

Digital Signature Updates

Beginning with InstallShield 2015, support was added to enable you to use digital certificates that use the SHA-256 hashing algorithm for signing your installations and files at build time.

In InstallShield 2016, support for SHA-256 digital certificates has been enhanced for Windows Installer and InstallScript projects to:

Give you the ability to specify a digest type using the new Signature Digest drop-down on the Certificate Selection Dialog Box
RFC3161 timestamping is now supported and can be specified in settings.xml, noting that:
DigitalSignature/@Timestamp can be an Authenticode or RFC3161 server for .msi, .exe, and .dll files
DigitalSignature/@TimestampRFC3161 used for UWP app package files must be an RFC3161 server
Handle similarly-named certificates in the Certificate Store

Important • Any new signatures created or timestamped after Jan 1, 2016 must be SHA-256-based signatures. Any files signed with an SHA-1 certificate need to have a timestamp showing a date and time prior to Jan 1, 2016 in order to continue to be supported. Those files will still be allowed through the 'Mark-of-the-web" system until Jan 14, 2020, when all SHA-1 support will stop in all current versions of Windows.

Important Information

Evaluating InstallShield

If you have not purchased a license for InstallShield, you can install it and use it for a limited number of days without activating it or connecting it to a license server. When you use InstallShield before activating it or connecting it to a license server, it operates in evaluation mode, and some of its functionality is not available. For details, see KB article Q200900. Note that the evaluation limitations are removed when you activate InstallShield or when you connect it to a license server and check out a license for it.

Obtaining the Installations for InstallShield, InstallShield Add-Ons, and the Redistributable Files

The following installations are available for download from the Flexera Software Product and License Center as documented in the InstallShield download and licensing instructions:

InstallShield
Redistributable files (for example, InstallShield prerequisites and InstallScript objects)
Add-ons (if you are entitled to them) such as the Standalone Build, InstallShield Collaboration, and the InstallShield MSI Tools
FlexNet Licensing Server software (if you purchased concurrent licenses and you need to set up your organization's license server)
Skin Customization Kit
InstallScript Object templates
InstallShield service packs (if available)

Installing More than One Edition of InstallShield

Only one edition of InstallShield 2016—Premier, Professional, or Express—can be installed on a system at a time. In addition, the InstallShield 2016 DIM Editor cannot be installed on the same machine with any edition of InstallShield 2016.

Microsoft Visual Studio can be integrated with only one version of InstallShield at a time. The last version of InstallShield that is installed or repaired on a system is the one that is used for Visual Studio integration.

Installing More than One Version of InstallShield

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition can coexist on the same machine with other versions of InstallShield.

The InstallShield 2016 Express Edition Standalone Build can coexist on the same machine with other versions of the Standalone Build. In most cases, the Standalone Build is not installed on the same machine where InstallShield is installed. If you do install both on the same machine and you want to use the automation interface, review the "Installing the Standalone Build and InstallShield on the Same Machine" topic in the InstallShield Help Library to learn about special registration and uninstallation considerations.

Project Upgrade Alerts

The following information describes possible upgrade issues that may occur when you upgrade projects that were created with InstallShield 2015 Express Edition and earlier to InstallShield 2016 Express Edition. It also alerts you to possible changes in behavior that you may notice between new InstallShield 2016 Express Edition projects and projects that are upgraded from InstallShield 2015 Express Edition or earlier to InstallShield 2016 Express Edition.

General Information about Upgrading Projects that Were Created in Earlier Versions of InstallShield

If you use InstallShield 2016 Express Edition to open a project that was created with an earlier version, InstallShield 2016 Express Edition displays a message box that asks you if you want to convert the project to the new version. If you reply that you do want to convert it, InstallShield creates a backup copy of the project with a file extension such as .775 before converting it. Delete the .775 part from the original project's file name if you want to reopen the project in the earlier version of InstallShield. Note that you cannot open InstallShield 2016 Express Edition projects in earlier versions of InstallShield.

You can upgrade projects that were created with the following versions of InstallShield Express Edition to InstallShield 2016 Express Edition: InstallShield 2015 Express Edition and earlier, InstallShield 12 Express Edition and earlier, and InstallShield Express 5 and earlier. Note that projects that were created with InstallShield MultiPlatform or InstallShield Universal cannot be upgraded to InstallShield 2016 Express Edition.

Localized String Considerations

Changes to the handing and detection of localized strings have been introduced in InstallShield 2016. For example, localized string content that includes square brackets around invalid characters can now trigger a build time warning or error. Accordingly, the following new warning and errors might occur when you are working with your installation. .

Error or Warning Number

Message

Troubleshooting Information

-7355

The %4 value for string %2 does not meet validation criteria for table %1 column %3.

This warning occurs if a localized string value does not meet validation criteria for a column in the String Editor table. To resolve this warning, update the flagged value in the String Editor.

-7354

The %4 value for string %2 does not contain a legitimate value for table %1 column %3.

This error occurs if a localized string value does not contain a legitimate value in the named column of the String Editor table. To resolve this error, update the flagged value in the String Editor.

Resolved Issues

This section lists the customer issues that were resolved in the following versions of InstallShield:

InstallShield 2016 SP2 Express Edition
InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition
InstallShield 2016 Express Edition

InstallShield 2016 SP2 Express Edition

The following issues have been resolved in InstallShield 2016 SP2 Express Edition:

Issue Number

Issue Summary

IOJ-1814315

InstallShield's signing feature now includes support for a SHA-1 RFC 3161 timestamp server. Previously, InstallShield was unable to timestamp signed files with any SHA-1 RFC 3161 timestamp server.

IOJ-1810308

You can now set the Display Icon (in the General Information view) to an .ico file contained in a folder path that contains a comma. Previously, the path containing a comma was not being handled correctly, resulting, in build error -3204 ("Cannot extract icon with specified index from the file specified for the icon").

IOJ-1809878

The InstallShield .NET dependency scanner can now locate .exe dependencies. Previously, InstallShield was able to locate only .dll dependencies.

IOJ-1817415

Setup.exe files created by Express projects now resume on reboot even if the setup.exe name contains spaces. Previously, extra double quotes were being written to the RunOnce registry value key, which in turn prevented the install from resuming after reboot.

This behavior was caused by a fix for a bootstrapper issue and was introduced in InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition (File version: 23.0.0.406).

IOJ-1816527

Uncompressed setup.exe files created by Express projects can now be launched from the command line using a relative path. Previously, this resulted in unexpected behavior such as an inability to read the setup initialization file.

This behavior was caused by a fix for a bootstrapper issue and was introduced in InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition (File version: 23.0.0.406).

InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition

The following issues have been resolved in InstallShield 2016 SP1 Express Edition:

Issue Number

Issue Summary

IOJ-1781451

The InstallShield integration with Visual Studio uses an MSBuild-compatible XML format project file (.isproj), which enables MSBuild to seamlessly build Visual Studio solutions that include InstallShield projects. The .isproj file has now been updated to correct an invalid path to the file InstallShield.targets. Previously, the MSBuild Integration with InstallShield Express 2015 and 2016 was not using the correct path in the .isproj file which resulted in the following MSBuild error:

MSB4019: The imported project "C:\Program Files\MSBuild\InstallShield\xxxxExpress\InstallShield.targets" was not found

IOJ-1777091

In the Setup Complete Success dialog page (available under Dialogs in the Installation Designer tab) an All Files filter has been added to the Browse for a Destination File dialog that appears when you click the Browse button on the Program File property. The All Files filter lets you select any file as the launch program. Previously, you were only able to filter and select executable files. With this update, the Installation Designer view and the Project Assistant are now consistent in that both allow you to filter on All Files when browsing for the program to launch.

IOJ-1780767

When the Generate Autorun.inf option on the Advanced Settings of the Release Wizard is not checked, an Autorun.inf file is not created. Previously, when building a CD-ROM release using the Project Assistant, an Autorun.inf file was being created when building a CD-ROM release even if the Generate Autorun.inf option was not checked.

IOJ-1774042

The installation conditions for the following .NET framework versions created using the Project Assistant have been fixed to work correctly:

.Net Framework 4.5.1
.Net Framework 4.5.2
.Net Framework 4.6.1
.Net 4.6 Full

IOJ-1774403

InstallShield has improved internal processing in order to limit the issuance of error -7354 (“The %4 value for string %2 does not contain a legitimate value for table %1 column %3”).

IOJ-1779292

On 64-bit systems, a standard DLL custom action which targets a 64-bit DLL now executes properly. Previously, 64-bit standard DLL custom actions were resulting in a "file cannot be found" error.

InstallShield 2016 Express Edition

The following issues have been resolved in InstallShield 2016 Express Edition:

Issue Number

Issue Summary

IOJ-1760351

The .exe files associated to the downloads of the following Microsoft SQL Server 2014 prerequisites have been updated as follows:

Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express RTM (x86 & x64Wow)—Previous versions of InstallShield were downloading SQLEXPR32_x86.exe for this prerequisite but are now downloading SQLEXPR_x86.exe.
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express RTM (x86)—Previous versions of InstallShield were downloading SQLEXPR_x86.exe for this prerequisite but are now downloading SQLEXPR32_x86.exe.

As a result of this update, the correct platform files are now downloaded and the correct operating system conditions are now checked.

For further clarification, the following installation note provided by Microsoft states the correct file names to use on each platform.

Note • Microsoft® SQL Server® 2014 Express includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. SQLEXPR32_x86 is a smaller package that can be used to install SQL Server 2014 Express onto only 32-bit operating systems. SQLEXPR_x86 is the same product but supports installation onto both 32-bit and 64-bit (WoW) operating systems. SQLEXPR_x64 is a native 64-bit SQL Server 2014 Express and supports installation onto only 64-bit operating systems. There is no other difference between these packages. Microsoft® SQL Server® 2014 Express is not supported on IA64 systems.

IOJ-1755786

InstallShield produces build warning message -1027 if a timestamp is not successfully created for a digital signature. Prior to InstallShield 2015, when a build failed to create a timestamp for the signature, the -1027 build warning was issued. In InstallShield 2015 however, no warning or error appeared even if the resulting build contained no timestamp on the signature.

IOJ-1752004

InstallShield displays files correctly in the Files view when a user chooses to include dynamically linked files (using the Include Subfolders option). In InstallShield 2015, files included in a subfolder were also being displayed in the parent folder in this scenario.

Note • This was a display issue only. The resulting install package installed the correct number of files without duplicates.

IOJ-1742556

InstallShield supports integration with Visual Studio 2013 Update 5. Previously, InstallShield 2015 SP1 integration with Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 was causing you not to be able to click around the solution and access different views or be able to build with Visual Studio 2013 Update 5.

IOJ-1742525

The path to local file for the following prerequisites has been updated to use the predefined search path variable <ISProductFolder>:

Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package (x86)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package (x64)

Previously, an improper path to the local file was resulting in build failures when using the InstallShield Standalone Build because the redistributable package files could not be found.

IOJ-1742125

InstallShield successfully builds in Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server or MSBuild when there are parentheses included in the solution name referred to by VSSolutionFolder. Since MSBuild escapes special characters, including parentheses, VSSolutionFolder paths that include parentheses previously resulted in a build failure.

IOJ-1741079,
IOJ-1742968

Beginning with InstallShield 2015, support was added to enable you to use digital certificates that use the SHA-256 hashing algorithm for signing your installations and files at build time InstallShield has now been updated to:

Automatically match the hashing algorithm from the certificate.
Let you specify an algorithm for the digest in your signed file to always sign as SHA-1 or SHA-256 regardless of the certificate used.

Previously, the build could fail with signing error -1027 or the signature could not be verified on older versions of Windows.

IOJ-1740227

When two digital signing certificates exist in the same certificate store with similar subjects, only the selected certificate is used to sign the setup. Previously, this scenario led to inconsistent results with the incorrect certificate being used to sign in some instances.

IOJ-1732554

RFC3161 timestamping is now supported: .msi, .exe, .dll files use the original attribute, but try as either Authenticode or RFC3161 timestamps; .appx files use the new attribute always for RFC3161.

Previously, InstallShield did not provide a valid timestamp when attempting to use the RFC 3161 timestamp server.

IOJ-1732436

The following note has been added to the License Agreement to describe how to upgrade the linkage of the Print button for cases when you use a file name other than LicenseAgreement.rtf:

Note that if you want to use a file name other than ‘LicenseAgreement.rtf’ you need to update the click event link of the Print button to point to the new license agreement RTF file.

IOA-000081824

The Best Practices to Avoid Windows Setup Launcher Executable Issues article has been added to the Flexera Software Knowledge Base. The associated hot fixes available for previous versions are included in this release.

IOA-000064469

The Browse sample projects option has been removed from the Project Tasks pane in the Express edition of InstallShield and has been replaced with the Browse Help Tutorials link. Sample projects are provided in the Premier and Professional editions of InstallShield.

System Requirements

This section contains the minimum requirements for systems that run InstallShield (the authoring environment), as well as for target systems that run the installations created with InstallShield (the run-time environment).

For Systems Running InstallShield

InstallShield runs on the latest versions of these operating systems, fully updated with the most recent patches and service packs.

Item

Description

Processor

Pentium III-class PC (500 MHz or higher recommended)

RAM

256 MB of RAM (512 MB preferred)

Hard Disk

500 MB free space

Display

Designed for XGA resolution at 1024 × 768 or higher

Operating System

Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 8
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows 10
Windows Server 2016

Privileges

Administrative privileges on the system

Mouse

Microsoft IntelliMouse or other compatible pointing device

Optional Integration with Visual Studio

The following versions of Microsoft Visual Studio can be integrated with InstallShield Express Edition:

Visual Studio 2008
Visual Studio 2010
Visual Studio 2012
Visual Studio 2013
Visual Studio 2015
Visual Studio 2017

The following editions of these versions of Visual Studio can be integrated with InstallShield Express Edition:

Community
Professional
Premium
Ultimate

For Target Systems

Target systems must meet the following minimum operating system requirement:

Windows XP SP3
Windows Server 2003 SP2
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 8
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8.1
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows 10
Windows Server 2016

Target systems must also support the SSE2 instruction set.

Known Issues

For a list of known issues, see: https://flexeracommunity.force.com/customer/articles/en_US/INFO/InstallShield-2016-Express-Edition-Known-Issues.

Legal Information

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2017 Flexera Software LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This publication contains proprietary and confidential information and creative works owned by Flexera Software LLC and its licensors, if any. Any use, copying, publication, distribution, display, modification, or transmission of such publication in whole or in part in any form or by any means without the prior express written permission of Flexera Software LLC is strictly prohibited. Except where expressly provided by Flexera Software LLC in writing, possession of this publication shall not be construed to confer any license or rights under any Flexera Software LLC intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise.

All copies of the technology and related information, if allowed by Flexera Software LLC, must display this notice of copyright and ownership in full.

Intellectual Property

For a list of trademarks and patents that are owned by Flexera Software, see http://www.flexerasoftware.com/intellectual-property. All other brand and product names mentioned in Flexera Software products, product documentation, and marketing materials are the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Restricted Rights Legend

The Software is commercial computer software. If the user or licensee of the Software is an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government, the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure, or transfer of the Software, or any related documentation of any kind, including technical data and manuals, is restricted by a license agreement or by the terms of this Agreement in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 12.212 for civilian purposes and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 227.7202 for military purposes. The Software was developed fully at private expense. All other use is prohibited.