Project Manager

Clicking this button opens the New Project wizard, which allows you to select the desired project template, the initial project languages, and some options. You will be prompted for the location and file name of the new project. Once the project initialization is complete, the Product Identification page appears.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > New Project; the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+N.

Clicking this button opens a standard Open dialog that allows you to browse for an existing installer project on your computer or local network. By default, the Open dialog shows all applicable project file types; you can restrict this to a specific type by selecting the desired project type in the Files of type drop-down list in the Open dialog.

InstallMate can open the following installer project types:

• InstallMate Project (*.im7) - This is the project type that InstallMate uses natively to store its projects. For more information about this file format, see InstallMate project file format.
• Tarma Installer Project (*.tip) - This is the project type that Tarma ExpertInstall 3.x and Tarma Installer 5.x use natively to store their projects. For more information about this file format, see InstallMate project file format.
• Tarma QuickInstall 2.x Project (*.tin) - This is the project type used by Tarma QuickInstall 2.x. If you open a Tarma QuickInstall 2.x project file in InstallMate 7, the project will be automatically converted to new conventions and will be saved as a InstallMate 7 project from then on. The original Tarma QuickInstall 2.x project file is left unchanged. For more information about this conversion process, see Upgrading from Tarma QuickInstall.
• InstallShield Wizard Project (*.iwz) - This is the project type used by InstallShield Express. If you open this kind of project, the contents of the InstallShield Wizard project are converted and added to a newly create InstallMate project.
• Visual Basic 5 and 6 Project (*.vbp) - This is the Visual Basic project file. If you open this kind of project, the program executable and its dependencies (as listed in the .vbp file) are added as installation files in a newly create InstallMate project.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > Open Project...; the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+O.

Clicking this button opens the currently selected project from the Recent projects list further down on the Project Manager page. This list may contain a mixture of project types, similar to the Browse for Project... command's Open dialog. Treatment of the various project types is identical to that command.

Tip: The equivalent command on the main menu bar is File > Open Recent Project > project name

Check this box to bypass the Project Manager page when you start InstallMate and open the the most recent project automatically. This is useful if you often work with the same project. Clear this box to start with the Project Manager page.

Tip: You can also set or clear this option in the Preferences - General dialog box.

This list shows the projects that were most recently opened by the current user. By default, the projects are sorted by date and time with the most recent ones first. You can sort the projects on title, last used date, and path, but the sorting order will revert to descending last used date when a new project is created or an existing project opened. The maximum number of recent projects in the list can be set in the Preferences - General dialog box; the list can also be cleared there.

Tip: The same recently opened projects are also listed on the File > Open Recent Project menu on the main menu bar.

If you right-click on a project in the list, a popup menu appears with the following commands:

• Open Project - Opens the currently selected project. You can also press Enter to achieve this.
• Remove from List - Removes the currently selected project from the list. You can also press Del or Delete to achieve this.
• Clear List - Removes all projects from the list. (The projects themselves are not deleted; only the list is cleared.)