The following walkthrough demonstrates the use of a custom action and the CustomActionData property to create a database and database table during installation.
On the File menu, point to New, and then choose Project. In the New Project dialog box, select Visual Basic Projects in the Project Type pane, and then choose Class Library in the Templates pane. In the Name box, type DBCustomAction. Click OK to close the dialog box. On the Project menu, choose Add New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box, choose Installer Class. In the Name box, type DBCustomAction. Click OK to close the dialog box.
In Server Explorer, select Data Connections. Right-click and choose Add Connection. In the Data Link Properties dialog box, do the following: Enter the server name. Select Use Windows NT Integrated Security. In the database box, type master. Click OK to close the dialog box. Drag the new connection and drop it on the DBCustomAction.vb designer to create a sqlConnection1 object.
In Solution Explorer, select the DBCustomAction project. On the Project menu, choose Add New Item. In the Add New Item dialog box, choose Text File. In the Name box, type sql.txt (must be in lower case). Click OK to close the dialog box. Add the following to the sql.txt file:
In Solution Explorer, select sql.txt. In the Properties window, set the BuildAction property to Embedded Resource.
In Solution Explorer, select DBCustomAction.vb. On the View menu, choose Code. Add the following Imports statement at the top of the module:
Add the following code to the class:
On the Build menu, choose Build DBCustomAction.
On the File menu, choose Add Project, New Project. In the Add Project dialog box, select Setup and Deployment Projects in the Project Type pane, and then choose Setup Project in the Templates pane. In the Name box, type DBCustomAction Installer. Click OK to close the dialog box. In the Properties window, select the ProductName property and type DB Installer. In the File System Editor, select the Application Folder. On the Action menu, choose Add, Project Output. In the Add Project Output Group dialog box, select the primary output for the DBCustomAction project. Click OK to close the dialog box.
Select the DBCustomAction Installer project in Solution Explorer. On the View menu, point to Editor, and choose User Interface. In the User Interface Editor, select the Start node under Install. On the Action menu, choose Add Dialog. In the Add Dialog dialog box, select the Textboxes (A) dialog, then click OK to close the dialog box. On the Action menu, choose Move Up. Repeat until the Textboxes (A) dialog is above the Installation Folder node. In the Properties window, select the BannerText property and type Specify Database Name. Select the BodyText property and type This dialog allows you to specify the name of the database to be created on the database server. Select the Edit1Label property and type Name of DB:. Select the Edit1Property property and type CUSTOMTEXTA1. Select the Edit2Visible, Edit3Visible, and Edit4Visible properties and set them to false.
Select the DBCustomAction Installer project in Solution Explorer. On the View menu, point to Editor, and choose Custom Actions. In the Custom Actions Editor, select the Install node. On the Action menu, choose Add Custom Action. In the Select item in project dialog box, double-click the Application Folder. Select the Primary output from DBCustomAction(Active) item, then click OK to close the dialog box. In the Properties window, select the CustomActionData property and type /dbname=[CUSTOMTEXTA1]. On the Build menu, choose Build DBCustomActionInstaller.
Select the DBCustomAction Installer project in Solution Explorer. On the Project menu, choose Install. This will run the installer on your development computer.
In Windows Explorer, navigate to your project directory and find the built installer. The default path will be \documents and settings\yourloginname\DBCustomAction Installer\project configuration\DBCustomAction Installer.msi. The default project configuration is Debug. Copy the DBCustomAction Installer.msi file and all other files and subdirectories in the directory to another computer. On the target computer, double-click the Setup.exe file to run the installer.
In the Windows Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs. In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, select DBCustomAction Installer and click Remove, then click OK to close the dialog box. Project menu, choose Uninstall.
