Wise Package Studio, Part 10: Orca, What is It and Why Do We Need It?

We use Wise Package Studio to do several tasks. Especially when we need software that is packaged and validated against our company's standard. These packages are packaged as so called MSI packages. The packages we build with Wise Package Studio are said to be the best packages for YOUR environment and we check if the packages have no conflicts with other packages. That is why we maintain a software database. All packages that we build should be checked against this database.

When we build and configure MSIs, we have to comply with several other rules also. Several applications break these rules. This is what we call ICE (Internal Consistency Errors) errors.

On the Juice there are several good articles about ICE errors. One of the best can be found by clicking on the link: About Internal Consistency Evaluator (ICE) Error Validation

Quote: "Validation is very important; it finds all sorts of problems with per-user installations, collisions between installed files, and other common mistakes that are hard to catch until the complete MSI file is built. Often, when debugging a set-up problem, I've found that just running validation would quickly find the mistake(s). So if validation is so important, why doesn't everyone run it? There are a few reasons: some people simply aren't aware of MSI validation, others are lazy, and the great majority of people simply just forget because it's an optional step."

To check if a package that we have build contains ICE errors we can use Wise Package Studio. But most peers I know use a different program to perform this task. The tool is called Orca and it is a Microsoft MSI editor. Orca can be downloaded with the Microsoft SDK.

In this article I'm going to guide you through the installation of Orca and making the first steps into ICE error checking.

Orca is part of the Windows SDK. To get the software you need to download and install the whole SDK.

The latest version can be found by selecting the link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?Fa...

This link will first require you to validate if you have a valid Windows Operating System license before it enables the download link.

The complete download is 1178 MB, so take your time to download it.

When you have downloaded the SDK, you will see that it is an ISO file. So first step is to mount the ISO file. You can use Daemon tools to mount the image. In VMware you can also mount it by selecting the CD player and point it to the ISO file.

If you do not have Daemon tools or want to know more you can follow the link: SVS Packaging Best Practices, Part 2: Packaging Daemon Tools

This article helps you in downloading and installing daemon tools.

When the ISO file is mounted you will see the welcome screen.

Click to view.

Click Next to continue.

Then you get the license agreement screen. You have to agree with the license and click Next to continue.

Click to view.

Select the default paths where you would like to install the software. In my case I keep it on the default selection that is in the package. The second line is for the samples. You can locate the samples on another drive if you like. Keep in mind that you need over 2.4 GB of disk space to install the Windows Software Development Kit successfully.

Click to view.

Now you have to select what software you like to install. I only install the software for the 32 bit system. Select the software you want and click Next to continue. Then again click next to install all the software on your computer. This will take some time, so it's time to grab a cup of coffee.

When the installation is completely finished you only have to click Finish.

The next step is to find Orca. Browse to c:\ program Files\ Microsoft SDKs\ Windows\ v6.0\ Bin. There you will find Orca.msi.

Start the installation by double clicking on it.

You now get the Welcome screen. Click Next to continue. Then select I accept the terms in the license agreement and click Next. Now you can choose what options you wish to install. I select the complete installation and click Next to continue.

Now you only have to click Install to start the installation.

In your start menu you now find a shortcut Orca under Programs. Double click it to start the Orca MSI editor.

Click to view.

Go to File Open and select the MSI you want to edit. I use the first MSI we built in this series of articles, and that is Abiword.

Click to view.

As you see, you now have various options. For instance, go to Dialogs and there you will be able to edit the Dialogs that will appear when a user does an install.

This guide will help you to check for ICE errors, so we are going to see if Abiword is ICE compliant.

Go to tools and select Validate.

Click to view.

Now you have to select an evaluation file that you wish to use. Abiword is built for my Windows XP environment so I select the Windows XP logo test evaluation file. In the field ICEs to run you can type a specific IC error. Then you have to deselect Show "INFO" Messages. Now just click Go to test for all ICE errors.

Below you will find the table of errors that are found.

So now we can do things. We can leave the MSI as is, or we can remove the ICE errors by going to the appropriate tables etc. to resolve the errors.

Orca will help you to find the various errors, because they are marked in the program.

Click to view.

In the example you see that there is a red line before Extension and when you browse you will see the same red line in the table where the error is.

Now you are able to find the error and resolve it. The error that needs to be resolved is always given in red.

ICE errors do not specify an error. We even create ICE errors to give the MSI specific functionality. Before you remove ICE errors, please make sure you understand what you are doing, and eventually you will learn how to make your packages as good as it gets. But do not try to make all your packages ICE error free. It is not necessary. Also the fact that a package contains an ICE error will not make it a bad package. There are several reasons why an ICE error occurs without the need to remove it.

As already mentioned there are more articles on the Juice about ICE errors that can help you in understanding and the prevention of many ICE errors.

Wise Package Studio, Part 9: Packaging the WAIK - Windows Automated Installation Kit

Wise Package Studio, Part 11: Testing Our Packages