Having written a lot (and I mean a lot) of custom actions (http://msiext.codeplex.com), the best practice for custom actions is to avoid them :)
I recommend going the route of wix extensions that wrap/embed custom actions. I would write deferred, table-driven CAs and a lot of tests, one per task. Wix extensions aren't hard to implement and that will make a lot of CAs manageable. If you're building something useful for others, maybe you want to base yours on a framework and contribute. The link above could be a good start, a lot of MSI infrastructure has been written that makes it rather easy to implement complex stories around, for example, databases. Hope this helps, -dB. dB. @ dblock.org Moscow|Geneva|Seattle|New York -----Original Message----- From: Kerber, Cameron [mailto:cameron.ker...@philips.com] Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 1:21 PM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: [WiX-users] Custom Actions Best Practicies If I have a lot of custom action work going on and I mean a lot. Is it better to have a few custom actions that encompass most of the work, obviously this can be split into multiple functions within the custom action or have a ton of separate custom actions? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of either way, but I'm not sure what the best approach is ________________________________ The information contained in this message may be confidential and legally protected under applicable law. The message is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, forwarding, dissemination, or reproduction of this message is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by return e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
