Add or Edit Parameter Dialog Box

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

Use the Add Parameter dialog box or Edit Parameter dialog box to add a new parameter for your application package or edit an existing parameter.

UI Elements

Element Name Description

Name

Type a name for your parameter. For example, Connection String.

Default Value

Type a default value for the parameter. When the package is later deployed, the parameter will have this value unless the user specifies a different value. For example, if you typed Connection String for the parameter name, you can use Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Database=Test;Integrated Security for the default value. This entry is not required.

Important
If you want to require the user to provide a value for the parameter, do not specify a default value.

Tags

Type a comma-delimited list of custom attributes, or click the drop-down to select from the list of provided values. Tags are optional attributes for the parameter that can be referenced later. For example, your parameter might be tagged as a password so that a user interface will not display the password value. This entry is not required. By using the example in the Default Value element description, you can use the tags SQL, SQLConnectionString for the Connection String parameter.

Description

Enter a description for your parameter. For example, "This is the connection string for the database that your application uses. Please change it if your environment has a different SQL server or database." The description will be put into the Parameters.xml file inside the package and can be displayed at a command prompt by typing msdeploy -verb:getParameters -source:package=<PackageFileName>.

Type

Optionally select a parameter validation type. Possible values are None, Regular Expression, Enumeration, or Boolean. The default value is None. If you select a parameter validation type other than None, the value that the user provides for the parameter will be checked to see if it meets the conditions that you specified. If you select Regular Expression or Enumeration, you must provide a validation string in the Validation String box.

Allow empty values

Select this option if you want to allow the user to specify an empty (blank) value for the parameter.

Validation String

Type a regular expression or a comma-delimited list of enumeration values. For more information about Regular Expressions, see Regular Expressions.

See Also

Concepts

Select Parameters Page
Export Application Package and Export Server Package Wizard Pages