philjollans / regtoinno

A tool to convert registry values in a .reg file into the script format for Inno Setup.

RegToInno

RegToInno is a tool to convert a windows registry file (.reg) into a script file for use with Inno Setup.

Usage

The command line syntax for RegToInno is

RegToInno <reg file> [-d <directory>] [-r <replacement>]

where

Symbol	Descrition	Default
<reg file>	is the path to the .reg file	None
<directory>	is the local directory where the COM component was registered	The directory containing the .reg file.
<replacement>	is the string which should replace the local directory	{app}

The Inno Setup file is generated in the same directory as the .reg file and has the additional extension .iss.

For example, if the input file is

c:\MyProject\MyComponent.dll.reg

then the output file will be

c:\MyProject\MyComponent.dll.reg.iss

Directory name replacement

RegToInno is primarily intended handle .reg files containing the registration information for COM components. In this case. the .reg file will contain references to the local directory, where the COM component was registered.

In the Inno Setup file, the local directory must be replaced with a path based on an Inno Setup variable, representing the directory on the target machine where the COM component will be installed.

For example, if a COM component is installed in your main application directory, this can be represented by the variable {app}. If a component is installed into a subdirectory named com, then this could be represented with {app}\com.

You can specify the local directory and the replacement string as command line parameters.

Use case COM DLL registration

You can generate the renerate the registration information for a COM DLL by using RegSpy to extract the registration information from the DLL into a .reg file, and then using RegToInno to convert the .reg file into an Inno Setup script.

RegSpy c:\MyProject\MyComponent.dll
RegToInno c:\MyProject\MyComponent.dll.reg

Use case COM Visible C# or VB.NET component

You can register a COM Visible .NET comopnent using the utility RegAsm, with the option /codebase.

If you use the option /regfile, then RegAsm will generate a .reg file containing the registration information, instead of registering the component directly.

You can then use RegToInno to convert the .reg file into an Inno Setup script.

RegAsm c:\MyProject\MyComVisible.dll /codebase /regfile:c:\MyProject\MyComVisible.dll.reg
RegToInno c:\MyProject\MyComVisible.dll.reg

Using the Inno Setup Preprocessor

There are two strategies for using RegSpy and RegToInno to generate a setup:

• Run RegSpy (or RegAsm) and RegToInno as part of your build process and include the resulting .iss files in your installation script.

• RegSpy (or RegAsm) and RegToInno via the Inno Setup Preprocessor.

To run the tools via the Inno Setup Preprocesor you can use user defined functions based on the following examples.

📝 NOTE
I am not an expert on the Inno Setup Proprocessor. Please let me know if you can simplify or improve these functions.

User defined function to install a COM component

In the following example, the function RegisterCom runs the tools RegSpy and RegToInno and includes the resulting .iss file into the installation.

The function IncludeAndRegisterCom does the same as RegisterCom, but in addition it defines a [Files] section and includes the COM component in the installation.

📝 NOTE
In this example, the directory {app}\components is used as the directory on target system. You will have to change this to specify the right directory for your installation.

#define RegInnoFile
#sub IncludeRegInnoFile
  #include RegInnoFile
#endsub

#define ComFile
#sub IncludeComFile
[Files]
Source: {#ComFile}; DestDir: {app}\components; Flags: ignoreversion
#endsub

#define RegisterCom(str source)        \
  Exec("RegSpy.exe",source,,,SW_HIDE), \
  Exec("RegToInno.exe",source+".reg -r {app}\components",,,SW_HIDE), \
  RegInnoFile = source+".reg.iss",     \
  IncludeRegInnoFile

#define IncludeAndRegisterCom(str source)        \
  Exec("RegSpy.exe",source,,,SW_HIDE),           \
  Exec("RegToInno.exe",source+".reg -r {app}\components",,,SW_HIDE), \
  RegInnoFile = source+".reg.iss",    \
  IncludeRegInnoFile,                 \
  ComFile = source,                   \
  IncludeComFile

To use these functions, you must use the #expr directive, for example

#expr IncludeAndRegisterCom("FirstComponent.dll")
#expr IncludeAndRegisterCom("SecondComponent.dll")
#expr IncludeAndRegisterCom("ThirdComponent.dll")

IncludeRegInnoFile and IncludeComFile are helper functions to insert text into the installation script. There is probably a better way to achieve this.

User defined function to install a COM-Visible .NET component

In the following example, the function RegisterInterop runs the tool RegAsm to create a registry file with the COM-Visible .NET component and then runs RegToInno to convert the .reg file into INNO SETUP syntax.

The function IncludeAndRegisterInterop does the same as RegisterInterop, but in addition it defines a [Files] section and includes the .NET component in the installation.

📝 NOTE
In this example, the directory {app}\interop is used as the directory on target system. You will have to change this to specify the right directory for your installation.

#define RegInnoFile
#sub IncludeRegInnoFile
  #include RegInnoFile
#endsub

#define InteropFile
#sub IncludeInteropFile
[Files]
Source: {#InteropFile}; DestDir: {app}\interop; Flags: ignoreversion
#endsub

#define RegisterInterop(str source)   \
  Exec("c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe",source+" /codebase /regfile:"+source+".reg",,,SW_HIDE),  \
  Exec("RegToInno.exe",source+".reg -r {app}\interop",,,SW_HIDE), \
  RegInnoFile = source+".reg.iss",    \
  IncludeRegInnoFile

#define IncludeAndRegisterInterop(str source)   \
  Exec("c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe",source+" /codebase /regfile:"+source+".reg",,,SW_HIDE),  \
  Exec("RegToInno.exe",source+".reg -r {app}\interop",,,SW_HIDE), \
  RegInnoFile = source+".reg.iss",    \
  IncludeRegInnoFile,                 \
  InteropFile = source,               \
  IncludeInteropFile

To use these functions, you must use the #expr directive, for example

#expr IncludeAndRegisterInterop("FirstComVisibleComponent.dll")
#expr IncludeAndRegisterInterop("SecondComVisibleComponent.dll")
#expr IncludeAndRegisterInterop("ThirdComVisibleComponent.dll")

IncludeRegInnoFile and IncludeInteropFile are helper functions to insert text into the installation script. There is probably a better way to achieve this.

Download

You can download the executable file here.