Release 4.0  Copyright ã1996 by NeXT Software, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

NeXT System Administration Release Notes: 
The Installer Application

This file contains release notes for the Installer application.  Items specific to later releases are listed first, and notes from previous releases follow.  

Notes Specific to Release 3.3

New Features

The following new features have  been added to the Installer application since Release 3.2.

·	The ability to install language-specific components of packages.

	The Installer application now supports installation of language-specific components of a package.  No support currently exists for creating packages in this fashion, but it is planned for a future release.  Only systems running Release 3.3 will be able to select these components; earlier Releases will only allow the entire package to be installed.

Notes Specific to Release 3.1

New Features

The following new features have been added to the Installer application since Release 3.0.

·	The ability to create and install multi-architecture packages.

	If the source directory contains multi-architecture (ªfatº) files, the package created will automatically reflect this fact.  Multi-architecture packages look essentially the same as the ªnon-fatº ones, except that the BOM file now is in binary form.  This feature is completely compatible with the 3.0 Installer and its packages, except as noted below.

·	Support for the removal of unwanted architectures during installation.

	A multi-architecture package can optionally be ªthinnedº to a specified set of target architectures at installation time.  This will save space on the destination file system, but will mean that the resulting executables only will run on the selected system types.  You would have to redo the installation if you later wanted to ªfattenº a thinly installed package.  Only packages created using the 3.1 Installer can be thinned during installation; old 3.0 packages can still be installed, but only in their full form.

Notes Specific to Release 3.0

These notes were included with the Release 3.0 version of the Installer application.

Scripting

The Release 3.0 Installer lets developers add up to four programs (typically shell scripts) to Installer packages.  Two of these programs, the ªpre_installº and ªpost_installº programs, will be executed before and after the Install and Expand operations if the programs exist inside the Installer package.  Similarly the ªpre_deleteº and ªpost_deleteº programs, if they exist, will be run before and after Delete and Compress operations.  These programs must be written by the developer and can be used for a wide variety of pre- and post-processing tasks.

Localizable Packages

The Release 3.0 Installer supports localization of Installer packages by letting developers put localized .info files, .tiff files, and installation scripts inside packages, organized by language-specific subdirectories.  When a user opens such a package, the information that is displayed in the Installer Package window is read from the .info file and .tiff file that are chosen in the standard way based on the user's language preferences.  Also, scripts in localized packages are chosen for execution based on the user's current language settings.

Remote packages

The Release 3.0 Installer supports ªremote packagesº whose content archives are stored on public FTP servers.  A remote package contains the usual files that make up Installer packages (including scripts and localized files) except for the package archive (the .tar.Z file), which is not contained in the remote package, but instead is stored remotely on a machine that services anonymous FTP access.  Remote packages are small since they don't contain the package contents, and hence can be mailed or posted electronically without major resource consumption.  A user that receives a remote package via electronic mail or bulletin board can install the package in the usual way by opening the package icon.  When installation is performed, an anonymous FTP connection is created to the FTP server and the package contents are retrieved and installed on the user's machine.