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POLYCENTER Software Installation Utility Developer's
Guide
Chapter 3
Creating the Product Description File
The product description file (PDF) is a required component of any
software product kit that you create using the POLYCENTER Software
Installation utility. The PDF does the following:
- Specifies all files that make up the product
- Identifies configuration options that are presented to the user at
installation time
- Specifies any dependencies the product may have on other software
products
- Defines various actions that must be performed during installation
This chapter discusses the following PDF topics:
3.1 General Guidelines
The POLYCENTER Software Installation utility is intended to simplify
the job of system managers, making products quick and easy to install
and manage. Use the following guidelines when writing PDFs:
- Minimize installation activity (such as linking images and building
databases). Instead, include all material required for product
execution on the reference.
- Make your products adapt to the target environment at execution
time rather than installation time. This practice keeps products
consistent across varying configurations.
- Avoid requiring system parameter settings on the target system that
would require rebooting the system.
- Minimize configuration choices at installation time.
- Ensure that the PDF expresses all the known requirements that your
product needs to execute. Use the checklist in Section 3.2 to define
the requirements for the target environment.
3.2 Defining Your Environment
To define the environment for your product, use the following checklist.
- Does your product depend on other software?
For example, your product may require a specific version of the
operating system or optional software products. To express these
software requirements, use the SOFTWARE function or statement.
Note
Note the distinction between the SOFTWARE statement and the SOFTWARE
function. The statement and function serve different purposes and are
not interchangeable. See Table 7-10 for a summary of differences.
The SOFTWARE statement specifies a software product that should be
installed on the system to satisfy a software product dependency. It
also specifies a software product that is a part of an integrated
platform (product suite) and should be included in the platform product
installation.
The SOFTWARE function tests for the presence of a
product. You can also specify the version of the product that must be
present. The SOFTWARE function, unlike the SOFTWARE statement, does not
create a permanent software reference to another product and does not
force the installation of the other product.
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Note that software you reference with a SOFTWARE statement must be
registered in the product database to be recognized by the POLYCENTER
Software Installation utility. If you install a product using a
mechanism other than the POLYCENTER Software Installation utility, the
product database will not contain information about the product unless
you register it using a full or transition PDF. For more information
about creating transition product descriptions, see Section 3.5.7.
- If you are creating a platform, what software products make
up the platform?
If you are creating a platform, you must
specify the software products that make up the platform. To specify the
products that make up your platform, use the SOFTWARE statement with
the component option.
- Does your product require specific hardware
devices?
For example, your product may require that the
system has access to certain peripheral devices, such as a compact disc
drive or printer. To display a message to users expressing these
hardware requirements, use the HARDWARE DEVICE statement.
- Does your product run only on specific computer
models?
Some products run only on certain computer models.
For example, recent versions of the OpenVMS operating system are no
longer supported on the VAX--11/725 computer. If this is the case with
your product, use the HARDWARE PROCESSOR statement to display a message
to users.
- Does your product require specific images, files, or
directories?
All the files, images, and directories that
your product requires should be expressed in FILE or DIRECTORY
statements.
- Does your product require a special account on the
system?
Some products require a dedicated account on the
system. Use the ACCOUNT statement to supply the account.
- Does your product require network objects?
Some products require network objects on the system. If your object
is designed for DECnet Phase IV, use the NETWORK OBJECT statement to
supply the required network objects. For DECnet-Plus you might want to
use a different mechanism. For example, supply an NCL script with a PDL
file statement.
- Do you want to set up rights identifiers?
Use
the RIGHTS IDENTIFIER statement.
- Does your product supply an image to the system loadable
images table?
Use the LOADABLE IMAGE statement.
- Does your product have several options that the user can
choose?
Although it is a good practice to limit the number
of user options, you may need to present the user with options during
installation. To present options to the user, use the OPTION statement.
- Does your product have specific security
requirements?
If the files and directories for your
product require special protection or access controls, you can express
this in the product description. See the descriptions of the DIRECTORY
statement and the FILE statement. You can also supply a rights
identifier using the RIGHTS IDENTIFIER statement.
- Does your product require certain values for system
parameters?
Many software products require that system
parameters have certain values for the product to function properly.
Use the SYSTEM PARAMETER statement to display system parameter
requirements to users.
- Does your product require certain values for process
parameters?
Use the PROCESS PARAMETER statement to display
these requirements to users.
- Does your product require certain values for process
privileges?
Use the PROCESS PRIVILEGE statement to display
these requirements to users.
- Do you want to include a functional test with your
product?
You can include it in the product material to
verify that your product installed correctly. To execute the functional
test for your product, use the EXECUTE TEST statement.
- Are there commands that your installation procedure needs
to execute that are outside the domain of the POLYCENTER Software
Installation utility?
Use the EXECUTE statement.
- Does your product have specific pre- or postinstallation
tasks?
You can use the POLYCENTER Software Installation
utility to automate these tasks; however, there may be some tasks you
want users to perform that are outside the capabilities of the utility.
You can inform users of such tasks using the INFORMATION statement. You
can also use several of the EXECUTE statements to perform these tasks.
- Does your product require command, help, macro, object, or
text library modules?
You should express the following
types of modules in your PDF:
- DIGITAL Command Language (DCL) command definition modules
- DCL help modules
- Macro modules
- Object modules
- Text modules
You can express these types of modules using the MODULE statement.
- What happens to existing product files?
Make
sure that your product's files are handled correctly during an
installation or upgrade. The POLYCENTER Software Installation utility
deletes all those files that are replaced by newly-installed products.
When upgrading a full, an operating system, or a platform product,
non-replaced files of the older product version are also deleted. When
installing partial, patch, or mandatory update kits, files that are not
replaced by new versions are preserved.
To remove obsolete files,
enclose FILE statements representing them in the REMOVE group statement.
- Does your product require documentation?
You
may want to include online documentation (such as release notes) with
your product. To express the documentation requirements for your
product, use the release notes option to the FILE statement.
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