Using Inf2Cat to Create a Catalog File

The Inf2Cat tool can be used to create catalog files for any driver package that has an INF file. For more information about Inf2Cat and its command-line arguments, see Inf2Cat.

This topic discusses how to create a catalog file from a driver package's INF file. In this example, the INF file of the ToastPkg sample driver package is used. Within the WDK installation directory, this INF file is named toastpkg.inf and is located in the src\general\toaster\toastpkg\inf directory.

The name of catalog file that Inf2Cat produces is specified through the CatalogFile directive. One or more of these directives are declared within the INF Version section of the INF file. The INF Version section of the toastpkg.inf file is shown below:

[Version]
Signature="$WINDOWS NT$"
Class=TOASTER
ClassGuid={B85B7C50-6A01-11d2-B841-00C04FAD5171}
Provider=%ToastRUs%
DriverVer=09/21/2006,6.0.5736.1
CatalogFile.NTx86  = tostx86.cat
CatalogFile.NTIA64 = tostia64.cat
CatalogFile.NTAMD64 = tstamd64.cat
PnpLockdown = 1

Two things should be noted about this INF Version section:

1. The INF Version section declares three different catalog files, one for each Windows version which the driver package supports. When Inf2Cat is executed, it creates a catalog file for each Windows version that is specified through the /os option.

   For example, Inf2Cat creates the catalog file toastamd64.cat if the command-line argument /os:Vista_X64 is used. Similarly, the tool creates the catalog file toastx86.cat if the /os:Vista_X86 option is used.

2. The DriverVer directive of the INF Version section declares an old time stamp and version.

   Before you use Inf2Cat, you must make sure that the INF file's DriverVer directive has a current time stamp and version value. This is needed for the driver package to install and replace a previously installed version of the package on the test computer.

   You can use the Stampinf tool to update the time stamp and version value in the DriverVer directive. For example, to update the DriverVer directive in the toastpkg.inf, run the following command:

   stampinf -f toastpkg.inf -d 09/01/2008 -v 9.0.9999.0
   

The following command line shows how to create a catalog file through the Inf2Cat tool by using the Toastpkg.inf file:

Inf2cat.exe /driver:src\general\toaster\toastpkg\toastcd\ /os:Vista_x64

Where:

• The /driver option specifies the directory which contains one or more INF files. Within this directory, catalog files are created for those INF files that contain one or more CatalogFile directives. For more information about the CatalogFile directive, see INF Version sections.

  In this example, only the toastpkg.inf INF file is located within the specified src\general\toaster\toastpkg\toastcd directory.

• The /os:Vista_x64 option specifies the catalog file is for the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. The Inf2Cat tool will match the name of the catalog file to the requested Windows version. Since the toastpkg.inf INF file contains a CatalogFile directive which has the NTAMD64 platform extension, Inf2Cat will create a catalog file that is named tstamd64.cat.

  One or more Windows versions may be specified in the /os: option. For example, if /os:Vista_x64, Vistax32 is specified, Inf2Cat will create the tstamd64.cat and tstx86.cat files because of the INF CatalogFile directives in the toastpkg.inf INF file.

For more information about the tool's command-line arguments, see Inf2Cat.