Compiling the script

(Example: D ^EPLOY F ^OX D ^EMO A ^PP S ^ETUP . ^EXE )

To compile a script, open it in Inno Setup and choose File Compile from the main menu. The Inno Setup compiler reads the script and attempts to build the setup executable. As it compiles the script, Inno Setup displays a log of its progress in a status window that appears below the edit portion of the window. If any errors are detected during compilation ‚ for example, if a specified source file is not found ‚ the compilation is halted, an error message is displayed, and the offending line of the script is highlighted in the edit window. If compilation is completed with no errors, the compiler creates the setup executable file.

The default filename for the setup executable file is SETUP.EXE. The default location for this file is a sub-directory named OUTPUT under the directory where the script itself is located. If the OUTPUT sub-directory does not exist, it is created without prompting the first time the script is compiled.

If you want to call your setup file something besides SETUP.EXE, you can change its name manually after compiling it. Alternatively, you can specify a different output filename and/or output file directory in the script by including the OutputBaseFileName and OutputDir directives in the Setup section. Note that if OutputDir is omitted or is not a complete path , it is treated as relative to SourceDir.

The installer will run fine no matter what you call the setup file, as long as it remains an EXE. For example, you may prefer to give it a name that is meaningful to you and your users, such as MY COOL PROGRAM SETUP.EXE or MY COOL PROGRAM VERSION 1.5 UPDATE.EXE.

Inno Setup compresses the files included in the setup executable. The default is ZIP type of compression at level 7 on a scale of 1 through 9. If desired, you can change the type and level of compression with entries in the Setup section of the script. Compression is helpful in reducing the size of the file you need to distribute to your users, but with a small application such as the demo app for this appendix most of the size of the setup file is due to the VFP runtime files, and binary files typically don ‚ t compress very much. The total size of the setup file for the demo app in this appendix is a reasonable 6.78 MB.

On The Web ‚  

The setup executable for the demo app is included in the source files for this appendix as DEPLOYFOX DEMO APP SETUP.EXE.