How To Create Mst File

Creating New Transform Files

AdminStudio 11.5 | Tuner

To create a new transform file:

Launch Tuner from the AdminStudio interface. The Tuner Start Page opens.

Click Create a new transform on the left side of the view or select New from the File menu. The right side of the view changes to display the fields necessary to create a new transform.

In the Select an MSI File field of the Base Windows Installer Package area, enter the name and location of the Windows Installer package that you are customizing, or click Browse to locate it.

If there are transforms already associated with the Windows Installer package, (for example, previous customizations or transforms containing language-specific information), go to the Provide a list of additional transforms to be applied area and click the New button:

A new entry appears in the list.

When an entry appears in the list, click the Browse button (...) to the right of it and locate the transform. If multiple transforms are associated with this package, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to specify the order in which the transforms are applied.

Caution: When using multiple transforms, keep in mind that the order in which they are applied is critical. For example, if you create a transform for a Windows Installer package that creates a new value for a property, and then create a second transform that changes the value created in the first transform, everything works correctly. However, if you apply the second transform first, that transform is attempting to modify the property's value, instead of creating it. That will result in an error.

One simple example of where this may be a problem is with the default company name. If the value is not set by default, and you set it in using the first transform, a new value for the property is created. If you create a second transform that modifies the combined original package and first transform, and the second transform changes the default company name, it is only changing the property. However, if you try to apply the second transform without the first one, Windows Installer interprets this as trying to change a null value to another value, which will result in an error.

By default, the transform will be created in the same directory as the Windows Installer package, and named the same as the base package with an .mst extension. However, if you want to change the name and/or location of the transform, you can also do so in the Windows Installer Transforms area. Click Browse to open the Save Customization File dialog box.

Navigate to the directory in which you want to store the transform file you are creating. Provide the name of the transform with an .mst extension (for example, MyTransform.mst) and click Save. The dialog box closes and the path and file name appear in the edit field.

If you want to create a Response Transform, check the appropriate box. If you are using a response transform, you can specify additional command-line properties (in property name/value pairs separated by semicolons) to pass to the response transform. These must be PUBLIC properties, and only control how the dialogs are displayed during creation of the response transform. They are not persisted outside of the UI sequence during creation. For example, you can pass the property/value pair ARPHELPTELEPHONE=1-111-111-1111 to set the value of the Help Telephone field of Add/Remove Programs. See Using Response Transforms for more information.

You might pass a property/value pair during response transform creation to display all dialogs during an installation that may not be displayed based on your system configuration (for example, to show Windows 9x-only dialogs on a Windows NT platform). You can then make appropriate responses and have them included in your transform.

Ensure all the information entered is correct, and click Create.

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If you are creating a Standard Transform, the transform file is opened in the Tuner interface, displaying the Package Validation View.

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If you are creating a Response Transform, a simulated installation of the selected application begins. Step through the installation, making changes as necessary. When you reach the end of the installation sequence and click Install, the installation will exit and the Tuner interface will open your transform, displaying the Package Validation View. Your transform contains all of the changes you made during the simulated installation.

Note: You can access information about the original MSI file and associated transforms by selecting Properties from the File menu.

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