createDependency Step

A step used to create a persistent dependency of the current component on another component. When executed, this step first checks for an installed component matching the given criteria, and fails if no such component exists (just as with the <checkDependency> step). If match is found, then a persistent dependency is created between the matching component (the "dependee") and the calling component (the "dependant"). Note that if multiple installed components match the criteria (possible when no install path is specified), then the latest is used as the dependee. The persistent component is created with the name specified in the step. The name must be unique amongst all dependencies created in the install block.

Once created, the persistent dependency remains until the dependant component is uninstalled. Note that if the installation of the dependant component fails in a subsequent step after having created a persistent dependency, then the dependency is removed immediately at the time of failure.

A given component may depend on any number of other components by executing a <createDependency> step for each. It is recommended (but not required) that the createDependency steps appear as the first steps within an install block so that the installation fails prior to doing any real work if the dependencies are not satisfied.