Manifest Files

InstallAnywhere uses a manifest file to identify the files that will be put in the installer. Manifest files allow you to build installers directly from a list of files without needing to open and modify entire project files within InstallAnywhere. Useful when groups of developers are working on a project, manifest files can be used to combine files. Development groups only need to supply a list of files, rather than to provide partially built options within InstallAnywhere (although that capability is also available through the use of merge modules and templates).

Developers can allow builds to succeed even if files referenced in the manifest file cannot be found. This flexibility allows for a single manifest file to identify all portions of a development project, promoting parallel development of software projects.

Manifest files' ability to set UNIX file permissions gives the developer fine-grained control over the files that will be written to UNIX target platforms.