ScriptMaker Tutorial

The [Options] Page

The first option Check executable version number is useful if you intend to issue various versions of your program. With this option selected (ticked), when you reload an existing script into ScriptMaker, it will check the product version number of the main executable file in your project against the version number in the script and warn you if there is a discrepancy. This should help to remind you to change the version number in your script if necessary. To make this option work, you must include the version details in your main executable file - this is done using a VERSION_INFO resource. If this resource is not included in your file there is little point in selecting this option. You can get ScriptMaker to change the script version number automatically when necessary by selecting the Change script version number automatically option. You may want to review the section on formatting version numbers on the [Initial Setup] page of this tutorial.

Script Associations

Version 1.3 onwards of Inno Setup associate themselves with .iss script files (i.e. by double-clicking a file in Windows Explorer, or choosing Open from the context menu for the file, the script will be automatically opened in Inno Setup). This section allows you to make changes to the script associations. You can choose to make .iss script Open automatically either in Inno Setup (the default) or ScriptMaker. Similarly, by checking Open in ..., you can choose to add either Open in Inno Setup or Open in ScriptMaker to the file's context menu.

Normally ScriptMaker will ask you if you want to run Inno Setup when you click the Create Setup button. The Run Setup without prompting option disables this prompt and automatically runs Inno Setup when you click the button.

When you have completed your script, and before starting Inno Setup to compile the script, the output directory directory is checked to see if it is empty. If it is not, ScriptMaker will ask if it should be cleared. You can disable this prompt by using the Do not ask whether to delete contents of Output folder checkbox on this page, in which case the files will not be deleted. Alternatively you can select Delete Files in Output Folder without Prompting. As with the previous choice, this disables the prompt but causes any files in the Output folder to be deleted automatically.

Entries on all grids are usually separated by grid lines. Some users, however, prefer not to have these grid lines, so the Hide Grid Lines option allows you to turn them off if you wish.

Customising the Files Grid Context Menu

Up to three extra user-specified menu items can be added to the context menu which appears when you right-click the Files Grid. This might be useful, for example, if you use a file packer other than ASPack (for which a menu item already exists). Three pieces of information must be given for each of the three menu items. In the Command field you should give the full path and filename of the program you want to run when this menu item is selected. You can either type this into the field or use the "Browse" button to navigate to the file on your hard disk. The Parameters field should contain any parameters which need to be passed to the program. Most commonly this will be the name of the currently selected file in the Files Grid - this can be indicated by the abbreviation %1 (possibly surrounded with quotes: "%1"). The final field, Menu Wording, should contain the wording you want to appear on the menu item itself (i.e. the menu item caption).

The details you have entered are saved by ScriptMaker and will be available in each session of ScriptMaker. If you want to remove a menu item, simply blank each of the three fields for that particular menu item.