HOW_TO_NSIS.md

WINDOWS INSTALLER

Everything about the Windows installer of this project. Read about how to create it and edit it.

Compile the script/Create the installer.exe

1. Install Nullsoft Scriptable Install System from their official site: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Download
2. Find the folder WindowsInstaller in your Windows Explorer
3. Make a right mouse click on the installer script create_windows_installer.nsi
4. Click Compile NSIS Script
5. Wait some seconds an the installer is created.

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⚠️

Before you can do this you need to export the main Java project to a runnable .jar file with the name MusicVideoManager.jar and save it to the main directory of this repository.

(You can also just download the portable version from GitHub Releases and copy it there).

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How to edit the NSIS (.nsi) script?

You can edit the script with every text editor you have.

Text editors like Notepad++ support syntax highlighting of this script language which is the reason I use it for the installer script.

How to edit the images and icons of the installer?

Right now all the icons and images are based on vector graphic templates in the directory ImageResources.

Change there the vector graphic images installer.svg (the installer page image) and logo.svg (the icon image) and run the Python script create_image_ressources.py to automatically update the icons and images of this installer.

>> Learn more about the images and icons creator script here

How to use NSIS over the command line?

You can use NSIS over the command line either by default or if it does not work:

• After installing it open the [Windows] environment variables
• Add to the Path entry in the upper table with clicking the button Edit after selecting it the path to the bin folder of NSIS (for me this was C:\Program Files (x86)\NSIS\Bin)

​:arrow_right_hook: To compile any .nsi script over the command line you can now use the command

$ makensis path/to/script.nsi

↪️ Also you should now be able to run the python script build_windows_installer.py (install Python 3.* from https://www.python.org/downloads/therefore to run this script obviously too)

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⚠️

You need to execute the command makensis path/to/script.nsi in the folder WindowsInstaller to get all the resources because of relative paths. If you execute the build_windows_installer.py script Python automatically does that for you unimportant from where you start it.

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Summary

If you want to make changes you need to edit/look into:

• create_windows_installer.nsi to change parts of the installer (pages/behavior)

• create_image_ressources.py update un/install icon/ un/installer page image based on the following source images:

  • installer.svg installer page image
  • logo.svg icon image

• build_windows_installer.py to compile the before created jar file and add after the export a version number to the installer (also it renames the jar file before running the NSIS script)

Documentation of NSIS script language:

• Modern User Interface
• Examples Modern UI
• Main Documentation
• Examples