Creating a Single Executable File for Distribution

To package a build as a single executable file, use the Create a single file executable option in the General Options panel of the Release Wizard, or the Singe Exe File Name property in the Releases view, as described in the following procedures.

The single executable file that you create accepts any command-line parameter that Setup.exe accepts.

Launch the Release Wizard.

Navigate to the General Options panel.

Select the Create a single file executable check box.

By default, the file name <project name>.exe is entered in the File Name box. If you want the self-extracting executable file to have a different name, type a new file name in the box or select a path variable whose value defines the file name.

In the Icon box, you can specify the fully qualified name of the file from which the executable file's icon is taken at build time; if no file is specified, a default icon is used. To specify a file, type an explicit path, select and append to a path variable, or click the Browse button to open the Change Icon dialog box, in which you can click the Browse button to select a file. By default, the icon with index 0 is used; to specify a different icon, either select an icon in the Change Icon dialog box or append the icon's index or resource ID (preceded by a minus sign) to the file name. For example, C:\Temp\MyLibrary.dll,2 indicates the icon with an index of 2, and C:\Temp\MyLibrary.dll,-100 indicates the icon with a resource ID of 100.

Note that you can specify a non-default icon only when building on a Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP machine.

If you want the executable file to extract the installation files to the target machine and not run the installation, enter -extract_all:<path> in the Setup Command Line box, where <path> is the desired target folder; for example:

-extract_all:"C:/ProductName Setup Files"

Complete the Release Wizard; in the Summary panel, select the Build the Release check box and then click the Finish button.

To package a build as a single executable file by using the properties in the Releases view:

Open the Releases view.

Select the release that you want to package as a single executable file.

In the Singe Exe File Name property, type a file name or a path variable (enclosed in angle brackets—for example, <MY EXE FILE NAME>) whose value defines the file name.

In the Singe Exe Icon File property, specify the fully qualified name of the file from which the executable file's icon is taken at build time; if no file is specified, a default icon is used. To specify a file, type an explicit path or path variable, or click the ellipsis (...) button to open the Change Icon dialog box, in which you can click the Browse button to select a file. By default the icon with index 0 is used; to specify a different icon, either select an icon in the Change Icon dialog box or append the icon's index or resource ID (preceded by a minus sign) to the file name. For example, C:\Temp\MyLibrary.dll,2 indicates the icon with an index of 2, and C:\Temp\MyLibrary.dll,-100 indicates the icon with a resource ID of 100.

Note that you can specify a non-default icon only when building on a Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP machine.

If you want the executable file to extract the installation files to the target machine and not run the installation, enter -extract_all:<path> in the Setup Command Line property, where <path> is the desired target folder; for example:

-extract_all:"C:/ProductName Setup Files"

Build the release.

To learn how to digitally signing your executable file, see Digital Signing and Security. For information about requiring end users to enter a password in order to launch the self-extracting executable file, see Password-Protecting Installations.