General UI Settings Area

InstallAnywhere 2013 » Advanced Designer » Installer UI » Look & Feel

Edition: Some of this information is applicable to the Premier edition of InstallAnywhere. Edition-specific information is noted where applicable.

Use the General UI Settings area in the Look & Feel view to customize the appearance of your installer.

The settings in the General UI Settings area are organized into the following main categories:

Allowable UI Modes
Startup Splash Screen
Choose Language Console Panel
Installer Background Image
Installer Frame

Allowable UI Modes

Edition: InstallAnywhere Premier Edition can create installers that operate in console and silent modes. Silent and console modes are not available for installers that are built with InstallAnywhere Professional Edition.

Select one or more UI modes that you want your installers to support. Available options are:

GUI—The project supports graphical (GUI) installers.
Console—The project supports console installers.
Silent—The project supports the ability to run the installers in silent mode.

Note: InstallAnywhere supports Arabic and Hebrew locales in GUI mode only. Console mode installers cannot run on these locales.

Startup Splash Screen

Edition: The ability to localize the splash screen is available in InstallAnywhere Premier Edition.

Graphical installers can show a customized title and image on the installer splash screen. (By default, the splash screen for internationalized installers renders an empty title bar and the default splash screen image along with a Locale selector. Installers that support only one locale do not show the title bar or the Locale selector.)

Startup Splash Screen Controls

Control

Description

Image

This setting indicates the path and file name of the splash screen image file (.gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png) that you want to use for your installer. The splash screen image can be any size; the preferred size is 470 pixels for the width and 265 pixels for the height.

To browse to a different image, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting.

To revert back to the default image file, click the Default button in this setting.

To see how the splash screen looks with the currently specified background image, click the Preview button in this setting.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Title

Specify the text that you want to be displayed in the title bar of the installer’s splash screen. This setting is blank by default, and no text is displayed in the title bar.

The value that you enter can be text, an InstallAnywhere variable, or a user-defined variable; however, only $INSTALLER_TITLE$ and $PRODUCT_NAME$ are automatically resolved in the splash screen. All other variables must have their value assigned when the installer is invoked in order to be correctly resolved in the splash screen.

Variable values can be passed to the installer using the -D command-line option or an installer.properties file.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Instructions

Specify the text that you want to be displayed on the splash screen next to the drop-down list that contains the available locales for the installer. This setting is blank by default, and no text is displayed next to the drop-down list.

The instruction text is displayed on the splash screen if the installer supports more than one locale.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Confirmation

Specify the text that you want to be displayed for the confirmation button on the splash screen. The default value is OK.

The confirmation button is displayed on the splash screen if the installer supports more than one locale.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Note: For details on localization elements that are related to the startup splash screen (splashScreenGUIImageName, splashScreenGUIImagePath, splashScreenGUIInstructions, splashScreenGUITitle, splashScreenGUIConfirm, splashScreenConsoleTitle, and splashScreenConsolePrompt), see Common Localizable Elements. The keys for these elements appear in the locale files as installer.<referenceID>.<element>—for example, Installer.68a9edb1a601.splashScreenGUITitle.

Choose Language Console Panel

Console-mode installers that support multiple languages include a Choose Locale console panel to enable end users to set the language for the installer. The controls in this area enable you to customize the title and prompt on that console.

Choose Language Console Controls

Control

Description

Title

Specify the text that you want to be displayed for the title of the Choose Locale console panel. The default text is:

Choose Locale...

The Choose Locale console panel is displayed if the console installer supports more than one locale.

This setting is disabled if the Console check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Prompt

Specify the text that you want to be displayed for the prompt on the Choose Locale console panel. The default text is:

CHOOSE LOCALE BY NUMBER

The Choose Locale console panel is displayed if the console installer supports more than one locale.

This setting is disabled if the Console check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Installer Background Image

The Installer Background Image area is where you specify various characteristics for the background image.

Installer Background Image Controls

Control

Description

Installer Background Image

To include a background image in the UI of your installer, select the Use background image check box in this setting.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

File

This setting indicates the path and file name of the image file that you want to use for the background of your installer panels.

To browse to a different image, click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting.

To revert back to the default image file, click the Default button in this setting.

To see how a panel looks with the currently specified background image, click the Preview button in this setting.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared, or if the Use background image check box in the Installer Background Image setting is cleared.

Scale Image to Fit

This setting lets you specify whether you want the image to be scaled to fit the width of the panel, the height of the panel, or both the width and height of the panel. Select the appropriate check boxes as needed.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared, or if the Use background image check box in the Installer Background Image setting is cleared.

Mirror Image for Right-to-Left Locales

This setting is for languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, that are read from right to left.

If your project includes support for these locales, and if you want the background image that you specify in the File setting to be mirrored on its vertical axis (flipped left-right) for those locales, select this check box.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared, or if the Use background image check box in the Installer Background Image setting is cleared.

Installer Frame

The Installer Frame area is where you customize the colors, style, and size of the installer panels.

Installer Frame Controls

Control

Description

Titles, Labels, and InstallAnywhere Logo color

Use this setting to customize the colors for the titles, labels, and InstallAnywhere branding on your UI’s panels.

To override the default colors, clear the Use default check box in this setting, and then click the ellipsis button (...) in this setting and specify the appropriate colors.

To restore the default colors, select the Use default check box in this setting.

To see how a panel looks with the currently specified color information, click the Preview button in the Installer Frame Size setting in this view.

If you select the Gray beveled text option in the Display logo text using setting, the InstallAnywhere branding and the horizontal line that is next to the InstallAnywhere branding are displayed in gray; this setting overrides any color choice that you specify in the Titles, Labels, and InstallAnywhere Logo color setting.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Inner Panel Background Color

Use this setting to specify the background color for the main body part of each panel in your UI.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Display logo text using

Indicate how you want the InstallAnywhere branding to be displayed on your UI’s panels. Available options are:

Gray beveled text—The branding is shown with a gray bevel effect.
non-beveled text—The branding is shown without a bevel effect. The color that is configured in the Titles, Labels, and InstallAnywhere Logo color setting is used for the branding.

To see how a panel looks with the currently specified logo information, click the Preview button in the Installer Frame Size setting in this view.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Installer Panel Border

Specify whether you want to include a border around the main body area of your UI panels.

To see how a panel looks with the currently selected option, click the Preview button in the Installer Frame Size setting in this view.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

Installer Frame Size

Specify the width and height (in pixels) that you want to use for your installer UI panels.

To restore the default size for panels (600 pixels for the width and 400 pixels for the height), click the Default button.

To see how a panel looks with the currently specified size, click the Preview button in this setting.

This setting is disabled if the GUI check box in the Allowable UI Modes setting is cleared.

See Also