Variable does not expand correctly in File

Hello,

I try the following code

Var MyVar
StrCpy MyVar "C:\Path\myfile.txt"

SetOutPath "$INSTDIR"
File "$MyVar"

When I try to compile my installer I get the error message:

File "$MyVar" -> no files found.

Why is this?

If I try
File "C:\Path\myfile.txt"
it works.

Thanks,

Tieum

Variables are used at runtime. File is a compile-time command, so you can't use variables to define the file name.

You muse either use a 'real' name (File "C:\Path\myfile.txt") or you can use a symbol, like:
!define myFile "C:\path\mayfile.txt"
File ${myFile}

But, you can use variables to specify the output, such as:
File "/oname=$myFile" "C:\myfile.txt"

The problem is !define is not "variable." I have documentation in several languages and need to be able to change the path where the documentation is taken from depending on the language on the fly. How can I achieve that?

Update just did it with !define and !undef. Thanks for the help.

I was just going to mention that if you wanted to control what gets installed, then here's a way that should work:

!include LogicLib.nsh

#...

Section 

${Switch} $LANGUAGE

  ${Case} ${LANG_ENGLISH}

    File "C:\English.txt"

    ${Break}

  ${Case} ${LANG_FRENCH}

    File "C:\French.txt"

    ${Break}

${EndSwitch}

SectionEnd

But, if you instead wanted to build an separate installation for each language, then you could probably use !ifdef blocks for each language. Example:

!ifdef UseEnglish

    ; code for adding English files

!endif

edit You might also have a look at languages.nsi included in your nsis examples folder for more ideas.

it would be helpful if the FILE instruction error explained that variables cannot be used... I've been banging my head for a couple of hours on this weird fault 🙂

Variables only work on the end-users machine, not your machine. "$Whatever" is a valid filename, there is no way for the compiler to guess if you wanted a variable or if that is just the name.