Izpack simple installation just to copy files - izpack

Question

I am trying to make a very simplistic installer using IzPack. It should do the following two things
1. Copy and paste all the content of dist directory to UserHome/MyApp dir.
2. Execute a batch file to edit registry entry to start the jar file on user logon.
But I am stuck at the first step only! nothing is installed if I use the following XML and generate the installer. Generated installer runs and does show the InstallPanel but nothing is copied to the user_home directory.
From what it seems like I am not able to assign value to Install_path variable.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" standalone="yes" ?>
<installation version="1.0">
<variables>
<variable name="INSTALL_PATH" value="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
</variables>
<info>
<appname>My App</appname>
<appversion>1.0</appversion>
<authors>
<author name="My APP Author" email="support#myapp.com"/>
</authors>
<url>http://SomeURL.net</url>
</info>
<guiprefs width="640" height="480" resizable="yes"/>
<locale>
<langpack iso3="eng"/>
</locale>
<panels>
<panel classname="InstallPanel"/>
</panels>
<packs>
<pack name="Base" required="yes">
<description>The base files</description>
<fileset dir="dist" targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH"/>
</pack>
</packs>
</installation>
UPDATE
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" standalone="yes" ?>
<installation version="1.0">
<variables>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.windows" value="$USER_HOME\MyTeamNinja"/>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.mac" value="$USER_HOME/MyTeamNinja"/>
</variables>
<info>
<appname>My App</appname>
<appversion>1.0</appversion>
<authors>
<author name="MyTeamNinja" email="support#MyTeamNinja.com"/>
</authors>
<url>http://myteam.ninja</url>
</info>
<guiprefs width="640" height="480" resizable="yes"/>
<locale>
<langpack iso3="eng"/>
</locale>
<panels>
<panel classname="DefaultTargetPanel"/>
<panel classname="InstallPanel"/>
<panel classname="SimpleFinishPanel"/>
</panels>
<packs>
<pack name="Base" required="yes">
<description>The base files</description>
<fileset dir="dist" targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH"/>
</pack>
</packs>
</installation>
Now as soon as I click the installer it starts the install but in c:\program files\My App\

Answer 1

what you need is a TargetPanel. it allows the user to select the destination dir. to install the files. the location selected in this panel sets the value of $INSTALL_PATH.
however, you may also override the default value of the $INSTALL_PATH.in order to override the default value of $INSTALL_PATH, you may do the following:
<variables>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.windows" value="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.unix" value="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
</variables>
or,
<variables>
<variable name="DEFAULT_INSTALL_PATH" value="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
</variables>
and also, remember to include the TargetPanel before the InstallPanel in case you choose to allow the user to select the target loc. for the installation.
<panels>
<panel classname="TargetPanel"/>
<panel classname="InstallPanel"/>
</panels>
See HERE for more on this.
UPDATE:
place the entry for TargetPanel before the InstallPanel in the <panels> section.
remove the <resources> section:
<resources>
<res id="TargetPanel.dir.windows" src="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
<res id="TargetPanel.dir.unix" src="$USER_HOME/MyApp"/>
</resources> This is where the error is being generated. Instead use <variables> to specify default values for ${INSTALL_PATH} (see in my answer above).
also, to set a value for ${INSTALL_PATH} through <variables> you need to use name="DEFAULT_INSTALL_PATH" or TargetPanel.dir.windows/unix
UPDATE 2: The following piece of code installs in the correct location (as specified by you in the defaultInstallDir.txt).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" standalone="yes" ?>
<installation version="1.0">
<!-- variables>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.windows" value="$USER_HOME\MyTeamNinja"/>
<variable name="TargetPanel.dir.mac" value="$USER_HOME/MyTeamNinja"/>
</variables -->
<!-- remove the above <varible> section and include the REQUIRED defaultInstallDir.txt to set the value for the DefaultTargetPanel -->
<resources>
<res id="TargetPanel.dir" src="defaultInstallDir.txt"/>
</resources>
<info>
<appname>My App</appname>
<appversion>1.0</appversion>
<authors>
<author name="MyTeamNinja" email="support#MyTeamNinja.com"/>
</authors>
<url>http://myteam.ninja</url>
</info>
<guiprefs width="640" height="480" resizable="yes"/>
<locale>
<langpack iso3="eng"/>
</locale>
<panels>
<panel classname="DefaultTargetPanel"/>
<panel classname="InstallPanel"/>
<panel classname="SimpleFinishPanel"/>
</panels>
<packs>
<pack name="Base" required="yes">
<description>The base files</description>
<fileset dir="dist" targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH"/>
</pack>
</packs>
</installation>
now, create a file named defaultInstallDir.txt and simply write the following within this file :
$USER_HOME/MyApp
just make sure that you include this file correctly in the installer through the src=".." attribute of the <resources> section and you're good to go.
double clicking on the installer directly installs the files in $USER_HOME/MyApp (in my case: at C:\Users\Sunny\MyApp)