New Java code editor. Java-scripting is an important feature in install4j that is used to program flexible installers with screens, actions and form components. This version introduces a state-of-the art Java code editor powered by the eclipse framework with features that you know from the major Java IDEs. Code completion works for the install4j API, JRE runtime classes and your custom code:

Code gallery. To help you get started with scripting or to get useful pointers for common problems, install4j now offers a code gallery that can be invoked from the Java editor. In addition to common entries, the code gallery is is context-sensitive and shows special snippets for the current property in a bold top-level category if available.

File sets in the distribution tree. File sets are an additional level in the distribution tree that can hold files with the same relative installation path - something that was not possible before. You can can toggle the installation of file sets at runtime with scripting. File sets are also useful for defining platform specific files that are excluded at compile time in the media wizard and as building blocks for installation components.

Redesigned screens & actions tab. Screens and actions are now shown in a tree that better visualizes the connection between screens and actions. You can disable selected elements in this tree and search for strings. Instead of copying and pasting elements, you can now reuse them by creating links. Also, the IDs of all elements can be shown directly in the tree. IDs are useful if you reference screens or actions in script code.

Auto-update functionality. You can now add updater installer applications to your projects that check for new versions. When you build your project, an update descriptor file (updates.xml) is created that you can place on a web server to communicate the new version to your users. The updaters read this file and download new versions if appropriate.

Custom installer applications. The updater application shown above is just an example of a more general new feature in install4j 4.1: You can define additional installer applications that will be added to your installation and can be executed by the user or invoked by your application. You can use screens, actions and form components to program maintenance applications that reuse parts of the installation sequence. Another use case is that of "first-run installers" for archives where there is no installer and initialization is performed when the user first starts the application.

Action and screen groups. You can now organize your screens and actions into groups. This not only has the advantage of greater manageability, but also gives you additional control flow options: A group has a condition expression that can be used to skip the entire group. With the loop expression you can execute the group multiple times as long as the expression is true. In addition, action groups offer common error handling. Groups are also useful as link targets if want to you reuse parts of your installer sequence in a custom installer application. Instead of linking to many screens and actions, you can link to a small number of groups instead.

Comments. You can now add comments to applications, screens, actions and form components. By default, installer elements do not have comments. When you add a comment, a new "Comments" tab will be added to the configuration pane. Keyboard actions are provided to quickly jump between all comments in the project.

Installation types. A common requirement for an installer is to present the user with several default installation types, such as "Full", "Standard" and "Custom". In the new installation type standard screen you can configure several sets of installation components from which the user can choose when the installer runs.

Design-time JDK selection. Previously, install4j compiled scripts against the runtime library of the JRE that the install4j IDE or the command line compiler was running with. Now you can configure design-time JDKs and JREs that will be used for script compilation as well as for code completion of runtime library classes and context-sensitive Javadoc.

Support for Java 6 splash screens. install4j Windows launchers now support Java 6 splash screens. Previously, Java 6 splash screens were not displayed on Windows since the -splash VM parameter must be handled by the native launcher.

PDF screen and action. ej-technologies has partnered with Crionics Inc. to provide a screen that can display PDF documents as well as an action that shows a PDF file in a standalone viewer. This is a cross-platform solution that does not require the installation of any native binaries.