Components are the lowest level of organization in an installer. Each product must
have at least one component but most installers will by default contain at least two
components, as the uninstaller is considered a component of its own.
InstallAnywhere’s component architecture is designed to allow developers to plan for
future releases, suite installers, and other uses of their software elements in their
deployment plan.
InstallAnywhere will automatically create components as you add files to your project
and assign them to Features. This approach, while working well for most projects,
does not give you the most flexibility. To realize the ultimate benefits of
componentized software, you should manually manage the creation of components.

Best Practices for Components
When using components, first determine and organize which components to add.
A few things to keep in mind:
Make unique components for files that will need to be updated separately. For
example, a “Help” feature, may have both a User Guide and Javadocs. However, the
User Guide may be updated more frequently than the Javadocs. Make the two items
separate components so a unique “User Guide” component may be added which can
be versioned and updated individually.
Components should make logical sense. When building a Suite Installer, keep in mind
the pieces of applications that are shared between different products. When
componentizing a product for versioning purposes, designate the version of the
component in the Organization | Component | Properties task when the component is
added.

Adding Components
Components are managed in the Organization | Components task. Each component is
created with a long Name, a Short Name, and a Unique ID. The Version, and Key File
may be specified. Key Files are single files that are a core part of the component which
identify the component. A Key File should be a file that will always be included in a
component.
Assigning Files to Components
To assign files to a component, use the Assign Files to Components option in the
Install task to assign files to the components.

Removing Empty Components
Sometimes you may have components that are no longer needed or do not have any
files assigned to them. To remove empty components from the project click Clean
Components in the Organization | Components task.

Integrating Components Already Installed on
Target System
If the installer needs a component that should already be installed on the target
system, use the Find Component in Registry action to locate that component. This
action searches for the component by using the UUID, the unique identifier specified
for the component. The component’s location can then be used as an installation
location by the installer.
The installer can compare versions and locate the highest version found. The key file
may also be searched for.

Adding Features
Features are managed in the Organization | Features task. You can add and remove
Features, as well as assign Features to Install Sets.

Assigning Components to Features
You can manually assign Components to Features on the Organization | Components
task, or you can assign Files to Features directly, which creates the Feature to
Component assignments automatically. If you assign a file to a Feature that does not
already have a Component, a Component will be created automatically for you.