Storing InstallShield project files in source control

One of the many benefits of storing files in source control is so that you have a version history of your files.  Another benefit is so that you can compare 2 files stored in source control for differences.

Well, by default, InstallShield creates projects in Binary format, thereby making it very difficult to perform any types of comparisons when these files are stored in source control such as Team Foundation Server.

Fortunately, InstallShield offers the ability to store these project files as XML format as well.

You can do this in the following manner:

1. Open the InstallShield project
2. Click on General Information in the navigation
3. Under the Project File Format selection, select "XML"
4. Save the project file.
5. This will now store the contents of your project file as XML to make it easier for comparison in your source control repository.

In addition, if you looking to eventually migrate your InstallShield project to another tool such as InstallAware, InstallAware requires that your InstallShield project be in an XML format in order to support importing the project file.