Requiring the Installation of Another Network Component

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A network component may require the installation of one or more other network components in order to function properly. A network INF file specifies each such dependency with a RequiredAll value. The RequiredAll value is added (through an add-registry-section) to the Ndi key of the network component that requires the installation of another network component.

The following example shows a RequiredAll entry in an add-registry-section:

[ndi.reg]
HKR, Ndi, RequiredAll, 0, "component id"

The component ID is the hw-id of the required network component. For more information, see INF Models Section. If a network component requires the installation of more than one other network component, use one RequiredAll entry for each network component that must be installed, as shown in the following example:

HKR, Ndi, RequiredAll, 0, "component1 id, component2 id"

Note  The RequiredAll value should only be used to install hidden network components that cannot be installed by the user. Such components should not support a user interface. Any network components specified by RequiredAll cannot be removed until the network component that required their installation through RequiredAll is itself removed.

For example, if the INF file for component A specifies, through RequiredAll, a dependency on component B, component B cannot be removed until component A is removed. RequiredAll should therefore install only network components that are absolutely required for the operation of another network component. For example, if an INF file for a Net component (an adapter) uses RequiredAll to specify that TCP/IP must be installed, the user will not be able to remove TCP/IP until that adapter is removed. Since the adapter does not require TCP/IP to operate, the INF for the adapter should not use RequiredAll to specify a dependency on TCP/IP.

The INF file that specifies a RequiredAll dependency must ensure that the INF file for the required network component is present in the inf directory. Typically, this is accomplished with a CopyINF directive. For more information about the CopyINF directive, see INF CopyINF Directive. For more information about copying INF files, see Copying INFs.

If the installation of a network component specified by a RequiredAll entry fails, the installation of the network component that requires the specified component fails as well.