<paramList> Element

The <paramList> element is a child of the <installSteps>, <uninstallSteps>, <snapshot>, and <control> elements. This element declares a list of parameters that can be used by the steps of the enclosing element. The value of the parameters are defined by the caller based on the contents of the caller's <argList> element. For example, in the case of a <paramList> within an <installSteps> block, parameter values are defined based on the <argList> of the <install> step that invoked the <installSteps> block.

The steps of the enclosing element can use the following variables and parameters:

• Locally scoped variables that are declared in the local <varList> element

• Parameters that are declared in the <paramList> element

• Component-scoped variables that are declared in the component <varList> element of the enclosing component

If a <paramList> parameter has the same name as a component <varList> variable, the value of the parameter is used. In this case, the parameter is said to “hide” the component variable. Hiding is not permitted between local variables and parameters because their names must be distinct.

The <paramList> element has one child, <param>, which is required. This child element is a parameter declaration, which includes a name and a default value. Specify one <param> element for each parameter that you want to define.

<param> ELEMENT

The <param> element is a child of the <paramList> element. This element declares a parameter, which includes a name and a default value. The default value is only used if the caller does not explicitly pass a value for this parameter. If the default value is unspecified and the caller does not explicitly pass a value for this parameter, a preflight error occurs at plan runtime.

ATTRIBUTES FOR THE <param> ELEMENT

The <param> element includes the following attributes. Use the prompt and displayMode attributes when the containing install, uninstall, or control block is invoked directly by the user rather than from a plan or another component.

• name – A required attribute of type identifier that is the name of the parameter. The name must be unique among every other local variable and parameter that is declared by the enclosing element.

• prompt – An optional attribute that is a string that specifies the text to display in the user interface when prompting for the parameter value. If this attribute is omitted, the value of name is used.

• default – An optional attribute that is a string that specifies the default value of the parameter. The parameter can include references to component variables, target host attributes, session variables, and installed component variables, but not to other parameters.

• displayMode – An optional attribute that specifies the display mode of the parameter. The legal values are as follows:

  • PASSWORD – The user-specified value is hidden, which means that the password is not shown or is replaced by asterisks.

  • BOOLEAN – The parameter is specified by means of a check box.

  • CLEAR – The value is displayed as entered.

If the value is CLEAR or BOOLEAN, it can be safely displayed as entered. If the attribute is omitted, the value is CLEAR.