Build Order Dependencies

A build order dependency controls the order in which components are built during the run-time image build process. Sometimes a component must be built before or after another component to work properly. For example, a registry key created by one component might have to be edited by another component, or a file copied by one component might have to be overwritten by another component.

Unlike include dependencies, build order dependencies do not mandate the presence of components in a configuration. If the components specified in a build order dependency are not present in the configuration, the build process continues regardless.

A build order dependency can be expressed upon a single component or a special group of components called a dependency group. In either case, when you create the build order dependency within your component, you specify whether to build the selected component or group of components before or after your component.

A special variation of the "build before" dependency is the registry dependency. Registry dependencies are never explicitly expressed in a component and require no user action. Instead, they are automatically synthesized by an analysis of registry key processing specified by individual components. Registry dependencies behave exactly like a normal build before dependencies.

See Also

Dependencies | Dependency Groups

Last updated on Wednesday, October 18, 2006

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.