The Feature Set Editor dialog box's interface is divided into three areas: the tree view, buttons, and package size information.
Features are grouped into a hierarchy which you can navigate using the tree control. Higher-level features consist of two or more lower-levels, child features. Navigate through the tree as you would through a typical Windows Explorer tree.
Features Menu
When you click on the drop-down button next to a feature, the Features menu opens.
Each of the features has an attribute that indicates how that feature is to be installed and maintained.
Names of features whose attributes are changed during the current session of the MSI Feature Set Editor appear in boldface in the tree.
Normally, by setting an attribute for a higher-level feature, the setting is automatically applied to all of the child features that comprise it. See the attribute descriptions in the following table for exceptions to this rule.
Feature Name | Icon | Description of Function |
---|---|---|
Run from My Computer |
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Features are physically installed on a hard drive on the agent computer, and therefore perform best. This applies to all child features, unless the child feature’s attribute is already set to Installed on First Use or Not Available. The children appear on branches of the tree, and are beneath and connected to the selected feature. |
Run all from My Computer |
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Features are physically installed on a hard drive on the agent computer. All features that are children have their attributes changed to Run from My Computer, and they, too, are physically installed on the agent computer. Features perform best because they are run from the end user’s machine. Mobile computer users should have all of the features they need while traveling set to Run from My Computer or Run all from My Computer. Otherwise, when they use a feature that is not installed on their computer’s hard drive, they will be prompted for the original installation media, which might not be available. |
Run from Source |
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Features are not physically installed on a hard disk on the agent computer; rather they are run from the Administrative Installation Point (AIP). This is normally a network share persistently accessible to the agent computer. When you select this attribute for a feature, the attribute is automatically applied to all features that are children, unless the child feature’s attribute is already set to Not Available. The Run from Source and Run all from Source attributes save local hard drive space at the expense of slower performance and the need to have an active connection to the AIP. |
Run all from Source |
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Features are not physically installed on a hard disk on the agent computer, rather they are run from the AIP. This is normally a network share persistently accessible to the agent computer. When you select this attribute, the Run from Source attribute is applied automatically to all features that are children, regardless of the attribute currently assigned to the child feature. The Run from Source and Run all from Source attributes save local hard drive space at the expense of slower performance and the need to have an active connection to the AIP. |
Installed on First Use |
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Features are not installed on the agent computer until the end user tries to use the feature through a shortcut or menu selection. Shortcuts for shortcut-accessible features are deployed when the package is initially installed. When the end user first invokes the feature, files that are needed to support the feature are installed on the end user's hard disk, where they remain. Future uses of the feature are run from the agent computer. In order to install such a feature, the agent computer must be running the Redirector service, and it must be able to connect to the Configuration Server computer. This minimizes the use of hard disk space on agent computers by allocating space only to features that they actually use. On the other hand, end users are subject to the delay needed to install the feature at the time when they first invoke it. When you select this attribute, the Installed on First Use attribute is applied automatically to all features that are children, unless the child feature's attribute is already set to Not Available. |
Not Available |
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Features are not installed, are unavailable to the end user, but could affect other services. The attributes for all child features are also set to Not Available. For example, one service is defined to deploy Microsoft Word, and all other features of Office are set to Not Available. Another service is defined to deploy Microsoft Excel, and all other features of Microsoft Office are set to Not Available. Now, imagine that the end user installs the Microsoft Word service. It installs successfully and does not install any of the other features of Microsoft Office. A bit later, the end user installs the Microsoft Excel service. The Microsoft Excel service indicates that all other features of Microsoft Office are Not Available. Therefore, Microsoft Excel is installed, but Microsoft Word is uninstalled. If the end user selects an option that requires the feature, the software instructs the end user to run the setup again and change the installation state of the feature. However, end users whose software is managed by HPCA generally do not have access to the setup. Assign the Not Available attribute only to features that must be unavailable to end users. Provide information to the end user about what to do if they receive a message. |
Ignore |
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Features set to Ignore are not installed and hence, they are unavailable to the end user. They will not affect other services. HPCA management products act as though the feature were not a component of the managed software at all. The attributes for all child features are also set to Ignore. For example, one service is defined to deploy only Microsoft Word, with all other features of Microsoft Office set to Ignore. Another service is defined to deploy Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint, setting all other features of Microsoft Office to Ignore. If an end user installs both services, the features installed by the first-installed service will not be affected by the installation of the second-installed service. Both services can be created from one package published to the CSDB. The package is cloned by copying it with another name. You can then use the Feature Set Editor to edit the features of each package. Note: This is available for backward compatibility. You do not need to determine which features need to be ignored by a service. |
Names of features whose attributes have been changed during the current session of the MSI Feature Set Editor appear in boldface in the tree.
Hide and Disable Features
When you right-click the name of a feature as in the following example, Microsoft Word for Windows, the shortcut menu for Hide and Disable opens:
When you select Hide, the feature and all of its child features will not appear in the native Microsoft Windows Installer Update Features dialog box, which is accessible to the user using the Control Panel’s Add/Remove Programs applet.
All features that are hidden appear in the MSI Feature Set Editor tree with the prefix (H) before the name of the feature.
When you select Disable, the feature and all of its child features are ignored by the HPCA agent. A disabled feature’s value is determined by Windows Installer, from the combination of MSI and MST files, instead of the value in the HPCA instance.
All features that are disabled appear in the MSI Feature Set Editor tree with the prefix [D] before the name of the feature.
The Feature Set Editor buttons are located on the right side of the Feature Set Editor window. The following table describes these buttons.
Button | Description of Function |
---|---|
Save & Exit | Click Save & Exit to accept the changes that were made to the attributes of the file and exit the Feature Set Editor. It is also possible to exit the Feature Set Editor by clicking the X on the top right corner. |
Exit (no Save) | Click Exit (no Save) to discard any changes that were made, and to then exit the Feature Set Editor. It is also possible to exit the Feature Set Editor by clicking on the X on the top right corner. |
Use defaults | Click Defaults to reset all features' attributes to the settings in the MSI file distributed with the software by the software vendor. The default setting will not be applied to the feature set until the feature set is saved when you click Save & Exit. |
Reset | Click Reset to discard any changes made to feature settings since you opened the current session of the MSI Feature Set Editor. Settings for all features are refreshed by re-reading them from the CSDB. |
Help | Click Help to access the HPCA Administrator CSDB Editor Help topics. |
Use the package information to view the size of the current Windows Installer-enabled features that you are configuring.
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