Repositories
5/10/2007
Repositories are collections of files that are available for copying to a run-time image during the build process. All of the files that compose the run-time image, with the exception of the registry hives and any files constructed dynamically during the build process, originate in one or more repositories. All repositories are categorized by their build type, either debug or release. Debug and release binary files are stored in separate physical repositories.
A physical repository is a .cab file or a folder that contains a flat file structure. This repository exists in a location such as a hard disk or CD-ROM, and is represented in the component database by an object known as its logical repository. A logical repository contains a name and a source path to its associated physical repository. A logical repository is defined with Component Designer, saved in an .sld file, and stored in the component database. It is recommended that you store the physical repository in the same folder as its .sld file.
Every component is associated with a single repository or a group of repositories called a repository set. The definition of a component specifies the name of a logical repository or the name of a repository set. A repository set names the logical repositories that compose it. The .sld file that contains the component definition is not necessarily the .sld file that contains the logical repository definition.
In effect, a component definition specifies a logical repository that points to a physical repository that contains the files to be copied to the run-time image for that component.