Features

A feature is an aspect of an application that the end user can choose to install or leave on the source medium. An example of a feature may be a spelling dictionary, clip-art, or a multimedia tutorial. If the user decides that the functionality provided by one of these features is not worth the amount of disk space it requires, the feature does not need to be installed.

Features can be seen as the building blocks of an application from the end user's perspective. If you look at an application that has three different groups of attributes that can be selected or deselected for installation by the user, you will see how features work. Let's say this application has help files, tutorials, and a program executable. These three aspects of a program are its features.

Features can contain subfeatures that cannot be installed unless the parent feature is also installed. However, subfeatures don't need to be installed just because their parent feature is installed. Subfeatures allow you to add an unlimited amount of levels to your setup layout because each subfeature can have its own subfeatures.