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Find Location

The <Find><Location/></Find> element points to a location that, if it exists, satisfies the parent <Find/> block. No matter what Type of location used, the engine uses the value as a path and looks for a file with the name provided by the <Name/> tag. See Satisfaction.

Finding Files

A file location is the easiest way to locate the executable, but also the most brittle. Most installers can put their files into arbitrary locations, so this is generally not the best solution. Note that all variables are available here.

    <Location Type="file" 
         File="%programfiles%\Adobe\Illustrator 10\Illustrator.exe" />

Finding in the Registry

The second easiest way to locate the executable is to find the path to it in the registry, where most installers store a reference. This will take care of the case where the installer can put the files in arbitrary locations.

    <Location Type="registry" SubType="value">
         HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Acrobat.exe
    </Location>

Attributes

Description

Possible Values

Required?

Type

Specifies what type of location this is, and how the engine should attempt to look there.

file, registry

Yes

SubType

Specifies what part of the location to use.

value

No

File

For Type="file", identifies the file that, if it exists, will be used to satisfy the parent <Find/> block.

A path to a file

No

Children

Minimum

Maximum

Text: When Type="registry", the text is the registry path to the key to examine.

N/A

N/A