You use the stand-alone Web Application Source to MSI Converter tool to generate an MSI file from a set of web application sources files. Because this tool can be run independently of AppDNA, you can send it to the web application administrators and ask them to run it on the web server, for example. Afterwards they simply send you the MSI files and you import them into AppDNA on the Web Direct Import tab in the Import Web Applications Screen.
This means that you do not need to request permissions to access the web application source files on the server.
To start the stand-alone MSI Converter tool:
If this option is not available, you must install the stand-alone web capture tools as described in Installing the Stand-alone Web Capture Tools.
The main part of the web Application Source to MSI Converter window lists the folders that contain the web application source files that you want to capture into an MSI file for import into AppDNA.
You can double-click in the Product Name, Product Version, and Manufacturer Name columns to edit the details. This is useful because these details are used to identify the web application when you import it into AppDNA (although you can change these details within AppDNA).
The space below the list of folders displays a log of the processing. Click Refresh to update this part of the screen with the latest details.
Toolbar options:
Select – Click to select a folder that contains the files that you want to convert into an MSI for import into AppDNA. This adds the folder to the list.
Search for folders – Opens the Search for Folders dialog box. You can use this to enter sophisticated folder search options. The options are:
Option | Description |
---|---|
<No mapping> | Use the default values – Product Name is Unknown Product, Product Version is 1.0.0.0 and Manufacturer Name is Unknown Manufacturer. |
…\Product | Base the Product Name on the name of the last folder in the path and use the default values for the Version and Manufacturer Name. |
…\Manufacturer\Product\Version | Base the Manufacturer Name, Product Name and Version on the names of the last three folders in the tree, respectively. |
…\Manufacturer\Product | Base the Manufacturer Name and Product Name on the names of the last two folders in the tree, respectively, and use the default value for the Version. |
…\Product\Version | Base the Product Name and Version on the names of the last two folders in the tree, respectively, and use the default value for the Manufacturer Name. |
Import list – Opens the Import List dialog box, where you can specify a CSV file that contains a list of folders to import. The options are:
Directory,ProductName,Version,Manufacturer c:\test,TestApp,1.0.0.0,TestCompany
You can select a predefined option from the drop-down list. The available options are as described for the Search for Folders dialog box, except that the <No mapping> option derives the values from the CSV file. Alternatively you can enter your own regular expression.
Configure – Opens the Configuration dialog box where you enter the locations of the generated MSI files and log files and processing options.
Start – Start converting the selected folders.
Cancel – Cancel the conversion of the selected folders.
Select all – Select all folders in the list.
Invert – Select the folders that are not currently selected and deselect the ones that are selected.
Remove – Remove selected folders.