%CEn% Directory Macros

When specifying destination directories for files and shortcuts on a target Windows Mobile/CE device, so-called directory macros (having the form %CEn%, where n is an integer number from 1 to 19) can be used inside the CAB package. This facilitates localization, because directories can have different names depending on the language that the target device is localized into.

These directory macros are translated at install time into the corresponding standard directories for the device. For instance, the %CE1% directory macro is usually translated to "\Program Files" on English-language devices. On localized devices, the %CE1% macro may resolve to a different value.

If a default storage volume is present on the device, the default storage volume string is added to the beginning of the listed directory. For example, if the default storage volume is "Storage", %CE1% is automatically changed to "\Storage\Program Files" when a %CEn% directory macro is used. A default storage volume usually exists on SmartPhone 2003 and SmartPhone 2003 Second Edition devices.

Advanced Installer directories and corresponding %CEn% directory macros

The below table shows the Advanced Installer directory tree from the Files and Folders page and the corresponding Windows Mobile/CE %CEn% directory macros that are written in the CAB package at build time. The right part of the table shows the resolved directory macro values for the Handheld PC / SSDK (Standard SDK), Palm-size PC / Pocket PC and SmartPhone platforms, respectively. The meaning of the highlighted cells is the following:

• cells highlighted red indicate installation failure cases for undefined macros for a certain platform type; you should add files to the corresponding directories in Advanced Installer only if you are not targeting those platforms, otherwise the installation will fail.
• cells highlighted brown indicate that the installation may fail on the specified platforms when using the corresponding directory macros, but, as opposed to the previous case, there are also devices where the installation works; as previously, you should avoid using these directory macros if you are targeting those platforms.
• cells highlighted green indicate the recommended directory macros for a platform which are guaranteed to be resolved correctly (there might still be some device-specific differences).
• cells that are not highlighted indicate directory macros that should not cause the installation to fail but they are not necessarily recommended for the given platforms.

These should be the correct directory macro values for most devices, but there can also be differences on some embedded, highly specialized devices. These differences may involve different values than the ones from the above table or even undefined (missing) %CEn% directory macros.