/* Copyright (C) 2026 The Qt Company Ltd.
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only
*/

/*!
    \previouspage ifw-use-cases-settings.html
    \page ifw-tutorial.html
    \nextpage ifw-creating-installers.html

    \title Tutorial: Creating an Installer

    This tutorial describes how to create a simple installer for a small
    project:

    \image ifw-introduction-page.png "Introduction page"

    This section describes the following tasks that you must carry out to
    create the installer:

    \list 1

        \li Create a \e {package directory} that will have all the
            configuration files and installable packages.

        \li Create a \e {configuration file} that has information about how
            to build the installer binaries and online repositories.

        \li Create a \e {package information file} that has information
            about the installable components.

        \li Create installer content and copy it to the package directory.

        \li Use the \c binarycreator tool to create the \e installer.

            To create the installer pages, use the information set in the
            configuration and package information file.

    \endlist

    You can find the example files in the \c{examples\tutorial} directory in the
    Qt Installer Framework repository.

    \section1 Creating a Package Directory

    Create a directory structure that reflects the design of the installer and
    allows for future extension. The directory must contain subdirectories
    called \c config and \c packages.

    \image ifw-tutorial-files.png

    For more information about the package directory, see \l{Package Directory}.

    \section1 Creating a Configuration File

    In the \c config directory, create a file called \c config.xml with the
    following contents:

    \quotefile ../examples/tutorial/config/config.xml

    The configuration file includes the following information for the
    introduction page:

    \list

        \li The \c <Title> element sets the installer name and displays it on
            the title bar (1).

        \li The \c <Name> element sets the application name and adds it to
            the page number and introduction text (2).

    \endlist

    \image ifw-tutorial-introduction-page.png "Introduction page"

    The other elements customize the behavior of the installer:

    \list

        \li The \c <Version> element sets the application version number.

        \li The \c <Publisher> element sets the publisher of the software
            (as shown in the Windows Control Panel, for example).

        \li The \c <StartMenuDir> element sets the name of the default
            program group for the product in the Windows \gui Start menu.

        \li The \c <TargetDir> element sets and displays \c InstallationDirectory
            in the home directory of the current user as the default target
            directory displayed to users (because it uses the predefined
            variable \c @HomeDir@ as part of the value). For more information,
            see \l{Predefined Variables}.

    \endlist

    For more information about the configuration file format and the available
    elements, see \l{Configuration File}.

    \section1 Creating a Package Information File

    In this easy scenario, the installer handles only one component,
    \c{com.vendor.product}. To give the installer information
    about the component, create a file called \c package.xml with the
    following contents and place it in the \c meta directory:

    \quotefile ../examples/tutorial/packages/com.vendor.product/meta/package.xml

    Below is a more detailed description of the elements in the example file.
    For more information about the package information file, see
    \l{Package Information File Syntax}.

    \section2 Specifying Component Information

    The component selection page displays information from the following elements:

    \list

        \li The \c <DisplayName> element sets the name of the component in the
            component list (1).

        \li The \c <Description> element sets and displays text based on the
            selected component (2).

    \endlist

    \image ifw-tutorial-select-components.png

    \section2 Specifying Installer Version

    The \c <Version> element offers updates to users when they become
    available.

    \section2 Adding Licenses

    The \c <License> element sets the name of the file, which has the
    license agreement text (1). The license check page displays this license
    text.

    \image ifw-tutorial-license-check.png "License check page"

    \section2 Selecting Default Contents

    The \c <Default> element specifies whether the selected component
    is a default value. The value \c true sets the component as selected. This
    example uses the value \c script to resolve the value during runtime. The
    \c <Script> element sets the name of the JavaScript script file,
    installscript.qs.

    \section1 Creating Installer Content

    The \c data directory of a component can store content available for
    installation.
    As there is only one component, place the data in the
    \c{packages/com.vendor.product/data} directory. The example already has
    a file for testing purposes, but you can place basically any files in the
    directory.

    For more information about packaging rules and options, see
    \l{Data Directory}.

    \section1 Creating the Installer Binary

    You are now ready to create your first installer. Switch to the
    \c examples\tutorial directory on the command line. To create an installer called
    YourInstaller.exe that has the packages identified by
    com.vendor.product, enter the following command:

    \list

    \li On Windows:
    \code
    ..\..\bin\binarycreator.exe -c config\config.xml -p packages YourInstaller.exe
    \endcode

    \li On Linux or macOS:
    \code
    ../../bin/binarycreator -c config/config.xml -p packages YourInstaller
    \endcode

    \endlist

    \IFW creates the installer in the current directory and you can deliver it
    to end users.

    For more information about using the \c binarycreator tool, see
    \l{binarycreator}.

    \note If an error message appears when you run the tutorial installer,
    check that you used a statically built Qt to create the installer. For more
    information, see \l{Configuring Qt}.
*/
