Using constants in source file names in Inno Setup

Question

I want to include a file from program files\my org\my app in an Inno Setup install. The file actually lives in c:\program files (x86)\my org\my app but I would like to be able to compile the setup on 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows so I would like to use a constant as part of the source file names:

[Files]
Source: "{pf}\my org\my app\myapp.exe"; DestDir: "{app}"

Inno setup just treats the {pf} literally and I get a message saying it can't find the file "{pf}\my org\my app\myapp.exe"

In the help it says you can only use constants for the source file if the external flag is used but this only works for files that already exist on the target system.

There is another similar question that suggests that you can use constants in the source file name but I can't get this to work:

How to use parent of a directory in a Source parameter of the Files section?

I also tried setting:

[Setup]
SourceDir={pf}\my org\my app

but again the compiler treats the {pf} as literal text rather than replacing it, unlike DefaultDirName where constants are replaced.

I'm using Inno Setup version 5.5.3 (a).

Any ideas?

The {pf} constant is expanded at runtime, not at compilation time, so you're out of luck with this approach. Preprocessor has declared only variable for Windows folder, but well, you could read the path to Program Files somewhere from the registry which is, uhm, crazy. If I were you, I would make a subfolder e.g. Deploy and there put the setup script. Then you can reach your files with relative paths which is much better than hoping them to be in a certain Program Files folder. Besides, Program Files folder is not a good folder for deployment... — TLama
Ok - that makes sense. The linked example uses the {src} constant as part of the source file name but I guess the {src} constant will be available at compile time. Thanks — user3214734
Well, it is expanded at compilation time but it cannot be used for the Source parameter nor SourceDir directive. For instance Source parameter value must be known after preprocessing (before the compilation starts) if you don't specify external flag. In short, you cannot do what you want other way than using preprocessor. — TLama
I'll put everything in a separate folder as you suggest. Thanks again — user3214734

ygoe ygoe · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-11T22:34:15

You can use the preprocessor for that. It doesn't have all those useful directory constants, but it can read from environment variables, which gives you most system path names as well. In your example:

[Setup]
#define ProgramFiles GetEnv("ProgramFiles")
SourceDir={#ProgramFiles}\my org\my app

Pay attention to the bitness of the program files directory in particular. Other directories like AppData are less problematic.

Using constants in source file names in Inno Setup

1 Answers