Project DescriptioniNSISt is a flexible script generation framework for the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS). It works by transforming XML input files into NSIS scripts.
To get started, consult the framework
documentation. Also, please leave us any
feedback you have.
Background Information and Project GoalsIf you're familiar with NSIS, you know it's a great tool for generating installers to deploy software, but you're probably also familiar with the following drawback: the script files it uses must be kept in sync with your development projects (as files are added or deleted, etc.). While you've probably seen some of the tools/wizards out there that have been created to make this easier, they have their own drawbacks as well, namely:
- The UIs aren't decoupled from the "business logic," so the logic of generating NSIS scripts is duplicated across different UIs.
- The business logic generally relies on a compiled executable, so changing how scripts are generated requires a recompile of the code.
To address these drawbacks, the iNSISt framework has the following design goals:
- Decouple the UI for generating NSIS scripts from the "business logic" so that any UI (or even none) can be used.
- Remove the dependency on compiled code from the auto-generated NSIS script structure.
- Design the framework itself to be extensible so that new functionality can be added as needed.
If these goals are met, then developers can leave the mundane task of generating code to the framework and instead focus on more value-added tasks like creating better UIs more suited to their needs or, better yet, finding ways to integrate the framework with popular development tools (such as Visual Studio.NET).
For more background information, see
How iNSISt Got Started.