A product action bean is provided for updating lines and keywords in computer system configuration flat text or ASCII files, which is especially useful for during installation of software applications on computer systems. In its embodiment as a Java Bean, it is customized and configured using a visual application builder across multiple computing platforms. The primary bean is a container bean, which includes an engine, and which provides a graphical user interface ("GUI") that developers can easily specify the required changes along with the file name to be changed when an application is installed or uninstalled. The container bean also contains a set of action beans which perform operations to modify the ASCII file, such as finding strings or lines, adding strings or lines, and deleting strings or lines. The specified actions are performed as a "unit of work" in the customized bean. Alternate classes of objects for modifying text files may be included in the container bean to expand the action options available to the developer.