Software Packager for Linux and UNIX › Add and Change External Components

Add and Change External Components

External components are used to share commonly used files between multiple packages, for example, shared libraries. These commonly used files are packaged in a separate PIF package, which is only referred to by the original PIF package. At installation time, external components are added as standard components to the PIF package. Therefore, the external PIF package, which contains the external component, must exist on the target computer in the same folder as the PIF package. The Installer ensures that the latest version of the external component is installed on the target computer.

To add an external component to a PIF package

1. Select the package on the project pane
2. Select the External Components tab
3. Right-click in the external components list and select Add from the context menu.

   The External component dialog appears.

4. Set the following properties of the external component:

   External PIF package

   Indicates the name of the PIF package containing the external component. The file name of the external product must match the PIF package naming standards, as follows:

   	prodname.platformID.@pif 
   

   Type the name manually or click the browse button (...) to browse for a product.

   If you select a PIF package, the List components of the selected PIF package dialog appears and provides a drop-down list of components available. Choose one of them and click Add. The component name appears in the External component dialog input field.

   Component name

   Indicates the name of the external component.

   Version

   Indicates the version of the external component. If no specific version is defined for the external component, the version of the external PIF package is used by default.

   Operator

   Indicates the version operator that supplements the entered component version. Specifies the dependency to a range of component versions, for example, to all component versions equal to or newer as (>=) the entered version. Select one of the operators from the drop-down list.

   Installation time

   Specifies the time that the external component is installed. Select one of the values from the drop-down list:

   • Install after product—The external component is installed after installation of the PIF package.
   • Install before product—The external component is installed before the PIF package installation.

5. Click Add.

   The external component is added to the product and appears in the external components list.

To change properties of an external component

1. Select an entry on the External components tab.
2. Right-click the entry and select Properties from the context menu.

   The External component dialog appears.

3. Modify the properties values to your needs.
4. Click Change.

   The modified properties values are applied to the external component.