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If the build process cannot find a source file because it has been renamed or deleted, the build process returns error –6103 (“Could not find file file”) and –1007 (“Cannot copy source file to target directory”).

Two features of InstallShield can help you work with source files—path variables and dynamic file linking. Path variables are variables used by the InstallShield build process to represent the locations of source files on the development system. Whenever you add a file to a component, InstallShield by default creates a path variable or reuses an existing path variable to represent that file’s location. Instead of having to reestablish the file link if you move the source file, you can simply assign the path variable a new value in the Path Variables view of the InstallShield environment. The InstallShield help library also describes registry-based and environment variable-based path variables with which you can modify path variable values without having to modify the project file.

In addition, if you have source directories that contain lists of files continually changing, you can use dynamic file linking. With dynamic linking, you specify a directory and optional file name masks for inclusion and exclusion. Each build process then copies all of the matching files in the dynamic link into the corresponding component.

An important consideration regarding file linking is that a dynamically linked file cannot be the key file of its component. However, a component can contain any combination of static and dynamic links. A solution is to set a statically linked file as the key file, additionally marking the key file as an exclusion to the dynamic link.

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When using dynamic file linking, it is important to specify a “previous package” in the build settings to ensure File, Component, and Media table keys are synchronized between builds.

For more information, see the InstallShield help topic ― Upgrade Considerations. How have you solved missing source file errors?

 

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