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Often times, custom code will need to pass an InstallAnywhere variable back in to the running installer. It is possible to set InstallAnywhere variables from within custom code by using the setVariable(String varName, Object value) method where ‘varName’ is the full variable name such as “$USER_INSTALL_DIR$” and value is an object containing the value to be stored within the InstallAnywhere variable.

All InstallAnywhere variables are stored as strings. Although an object can be stored to an InstallAnywhere variable, it will be converted to a string. The delimiter dollar signs must be included. The method is defined in multiple classes within the API, but it comes from the VariableAccess Interface. To set a sample variable, follow this:

package com.ia.kb;
import com.zerog.ia.api.pub.*;

public class SetAVariable extends CustomCodeAction
{
public void install( InstallerProxy ip) throws InstallException
{
ip.setVariable(“$MY_TEST_VAR$”, “Test value”);
}
public void uninstall (UninstallerProxy up) { }
public String getInstallStatusMessage() {return “My Action”; }
public String getUninstallStatusMessage(){return “My Action”; }
}

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Doing so will set $MY_TEST_VAR$ within InstallAnywhere for use during the rest of the installation.

Have any tips or other questions on setting variables from within custom code? Let us know.

 

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