Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA
Indeed - this is pretty much the conclusion we've come to - managing features felt like a rabbit hole down which we didn't want to disappear! Thanks for you comments. Tom On 17 July 2014 00:05, Rob Mensching r...@firegiant.com wrote: I should also note that manipulating Feature states is way more challenging than it should be with the Windows Installer. At FireGiant, we generally encourage our clients to avoid Features and try breaking their installation down into smaller packages. Free advice, do with it as you wish. smile/ ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Rob Mensching [mailto:r...@firegiant.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 3:54 PM To: General discussion about the WiX toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Since the BA must take over the installation states for features, INSTALLLEVEL in the Packages is now essentially irrelevant. You'd need to define a concept like INSTALLLEVEL in your BA if that's what you want . ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 9:09 AM To: General discussion about the WiX toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Hi Rob, Thanks for the comment. I understand that I'd need to manage all feature states, but isn't that precisely why I'd need to know whether each feature should be installed by default or not? Surely without knowing INSTALLLEVEL, I must assume that all features should by default be installed, ie a 'complete' install. Wouldn't a 'typical' install would be the desired starting point, rather than 'complete', notably for non-interactive installs? The user could then meaningfully make use of command line properties like ADDLOCAL=ALL (which would be handled by the BA). Thanks, Tom On 15 July 2014 16:31, Rob Mensching r...@firegiant.com wrote: When you manage feature states, you need to manage all feature states. Thus the defaults aren't terribly relevant, thus INSTALLLEVEL can for all intents and purposes be ignored. ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:34 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Dear Wix Users, I'm working on the feature selection GUI of a custom (managed) BA. When running for installation, I need to determine which features of each package in the bundle should be installed by default: unless I'm missing something, this depends on comparing the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package to which a feature belongs and the @Level attribute for the feature which can be found in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml. My questions are: 1. Am I correct about how to determine which features should be selected for installation by default? If not, what is the right way? 2. If I am correct, how should I obtain the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package? Will the suggested method work if the package binary is not distributed with the bundle (ie, it must be downloaded if required). 3. Why isn't it the INSTALLLEVEL property of each package stashed as an attribute of WixPackageProperties in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml? This would seem to make sense to me, and be consistent with the existing stashing the Level field from the Feature table as an attribute in WixPackageFeatureInfo elements. Many thanks, Tom -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds
Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA
Since the BA must take over the installation states for features, INSTALLLEVEL in the Packages is now essentially irrelevant. You'd need to define a concept like INSTALLLEVEL in your BA if that's what you want . ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 9:09 AM To: General discussion about the WiX toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Hi Rob, Thanks for the comment. I understand that I'd need to manage all feature states, but isn't that precisely why I'd need to know whether each feature should be installed by default or not? Surely without knowing INSTALLLEVEL, I must assume that all features should by default be installed, ie a 'complete' install. Wouldn't a 'typical' install would be the desired starting point, rather than 'complete', notably for non-interactive installs? The user could then meaningfully make use of command line properties like ADDLOCAL=ALL (which would be handled by the BA). Thanks, Tom On 15 July 2014 16:31, Rob Mensching r...@firegiant.com wrote: When you manage feature states, you need to manage all feature states. Thus the defaults aren't terribly relevant, thus INSTALLLEVEL can for all intents and purposes be ignored. ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:34 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Dear Wix Users, I'm working on the feature selection GUI of a custom (managed) BA. When running for installation, I need to determine which features of each package in the bundle should be installed by default: unless I'm missing something, this depends on comparing the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package to which a feature belongs and the @Level attribute for the feature which can be found in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml. My questions are: 1. Am I correct about how to determine which features should be selected for installation by default? If not, what is the right way? 2. If I am correct, how should I obtain the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package? Will the suggested method work if the package binary is not distributed with the bundle (ie, it must be downloaded if required). 3. Why isn't it the INSTALLLEVEL property of each package stashed as an attribute of WixPackageProperties in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml? This would seem to make sense to me, and be consistent with the existing stashing the Level field from the Feature table as an attribute in WixPackageFeatureInfo elements. Many thanks, Tom -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds
Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA
I should also note that manipulating Feature states is way more challenging than it should be with the Windows Installer. At FireGiant, we generally encourage our clients to avoid Features and try breaking their installation down into smaller packages. Free advice, do with it as you wish. smile/ ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Rob Mensching [mailto:r...@firegiant.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 3:54 PM To: General discussion about the WiX toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Since the BA must take over the installation states for features, INSTALLLEVEL in the Packages is now essentially irrelevant. You'd need to define a concept like INSTALLLEVEL in your BA if that's what you want . ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 9:09 AM To: General discussion about the WiX toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Hi Rob, Thanks for the comment. I understand that I'd need to manage all feature states, but isn't that precisely why I'd need to know whether each feature should be installed by default or not? Surely without knowing INSTALLLEVEL, I must assume that all features should by default be installed, ie a 'complete' install. Wouldn't a 'typical' install would be the desired starting point, rather than 'complete', notably for non-interactive installs? The user could then meaningfully make use of command line properties like ADDLOCAL=ALL (which would be handled by the BA). Thanks, Tom On 15 July 2014 16:31, Rob Mensching r...@firegiant.com wrote: When you manage feature states, you need to manage all feature states. Thus the defaults aren't terribly relevant, thus INSTALLLEVEL can for all intents and purposes be ignored. ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:34 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Dear Wix Users, I'm working on the feature selection GUI of a custom (managed) BA. When running for installation, I need to determine which features of each package in the bundle should be installed by default: unless I'm missing something, this depends on comparing the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package to which a feature belongs and the @Level attribute for the feature which can be found in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml. My questions are: 1. Am I correct about how to determine which features should be selected for installation by default? If not, what is the right way? 2. If I am correct, how should I obtain the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package? Will the suggested method work if the package binary is not distributed with the bundle (ie, it must be downloaded if required). 3. Why isn't it the INSTALLLEVEL property of each package stashed as an attribute of WixPackageProperties in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml? This would seem to make sense to me, and be consistent with the existing stashing the Level field from the Feature table as an attribute in WixPackageFeatureInfo elements. Many thanks, Tom -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines
Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA
When you manage feature states, you need to manage all feature states. Thus the defaults aren't terribly relevant, thus INSTALLLEVEL can for all intents and purposes be ignored. ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:34 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Dear Wix Users, I'm working on the feature selection GUI of a custom (managed) BA. When running for installation, I need to determine which features of each package in the bundle should be installed by default: unless I'm missing something, this depends on comparing the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package to which a feature belongs and the @Level attribute for the feature which can be found in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml. My questions are: 1. Am I correct about how to determine which features should be selected for installation by default? If not, what is the right way? 2. If I am correct, how should I obtain the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package? Will the suggested method work if the package binary is not distributed with the bundle (ie, it must be downloaded if required). 3. Why isn't it the INSTALLLEVEL property of each package stashed as an attribute of WixPackageProperties in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml? This would seem to make sense to me, and be consistent with the existing stashing the Level field from the Feature table as an attribute in WixPackageFeatureInfo elements. Many thanks, Tom -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
Re: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA
Hi Rob, Thanks for the comment. I understand that I'd need to manage all feature states, but isn't that precisely why I'd need to know whether each feature should be installed by default or not? Surely without knowing INSTALLLEVEL, I must assume that all features should by default be installed, ie a 'complete' install. Wouldn't a 'typical' install would be the desired starting point, rather than 'complete', notably for non-interactive installs? The user could then meaningfully make use of command line properties like ADDLOCAL=ALL (which would be handled by the BA). Thanks, Tom On 15 July 2014 16:31, Rob Mensching r...@firegiant.com wrote: When you manage feature states, you need to manage all feature states. Thus the defaults aren't terribly relevant, thus INSTALLLEVEL can for all intents and purposes be ignored. ___ FireGiant | Dedicated support for the WiX toolset | http://www.firegiant.com/ -Original Message- From: Tom Glastonbury [mailto:t...@zanyants.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 2:34 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Determining default features for installation in a bundle from custom BA Dear Wix Users, I'm working on the feature selection GUI of a custom (managed) BA. When running for installation, I need to determine which features of each package in the bundle should be installed by default: unless I'm missing something, this depends on comparing the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package to which a feature belongs and the @Level attribute for the feature which can be found in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml. My questions are: 1. Am I correct about how to determine which features should be selected for installation by default? If not, what is the right way? 2. If I am correct, how should I obtain the INSTALLLEVEL property of the package? Will the suggested method work if the package binary is not distributed with the bundle (ie, it must be downloaded if required). 3. Why isn't it the INSTALLLEVEL property of each package stashed as an attribute of WixPackageProperties in BootstrapperApplicationData.xml? This would seem to make sense to me, and be consistent with the existing stashing the Level field from the Feature table as an attribute in WixPackageFeatureInfo elements. Many thanks, Tom -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users -- Want fast and easy access to all the code in your enterprise? Index and search up to 200,000 lines of code with a free copy of Black Duck Code Sight - the same software that powers the world's largest code search on Ohloh, the Black Duck Open Hub! Try it now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bds ___ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
