It is very important that inventory rules for a package or product define that product uniquely among all other products that may be installed on a machine. SMS uses the file names and characteristics (such as file size, file CRC, etc.) defined in the Inventory section of the PDF file to identify packages.
Developers normally build the Inventory section of the PDF file early in the development process, when target inventory file names have been identified. Because the chosen file characteristics can become invalid as the project progresses, a step must be included in the development schedule to ensure that the PDF Inventory section is updated whenever the file characteristics change.
You can avoid this problem by using a prodspec.INI file in conjunction with the Inventory section of the PDF file. A prodspec.INI file uses the standard .INI format and contains sections and keys that uniquely identify a specific version of a package. This file can be created early in the development process, and remains unchanged until the next and subsequent releases of the package. The Inventory section of the PDF file is then updated once to target the prodspec.INI file.
SMS identifies the package by searching for the file or files specified in the PDF Inventory section and, if found, comparing the files’ characteristics with those specified in the PDF file.
This section includes the following topics:
Contents of the prodspec.INI File
Adding Inventory Rules to the PDF File
Guidelines for Developing SMS Inventory Support