What about writing a registry key (or keys) to indicate "Dependencies of Product A are installed" ?
This could be a reference count that you increment when B, C, etc are installed, or a more detailed description that indicates exactly what products are installed. If you are using a bootstrapper you could extend this to prompt the user and uninstall B,C before removing A... if you're sticking with standard MSI then you could use a custom action that lists products depending on A and notifies the user or blocks uninstall. As far as I know this inter-dependency isn't something supported with Windows Installer, it sounds like you're using a separate MSI instead of shared components, wixlibs or merge modules. That said, is this something you really need to prevent? Think about the bigger picture, if your application depends on .NET, IIS or some other 3rd party software/library/etc how would you prevent your users from removing those? It may seem obvious to you that they should remain, but if your customers are removing Product A how do you know they won't remove something else that you depend on? Sascha On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 2:45 AM, Rob Mensching <r...@robmensching.com> wrote: > Sadly, no. We will have to tackle this in Burn but probably in its v2. > > On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 7:23 AM, Cody Gibson <cgib...@artoftest.com> wrote: > >> I am wondering if there is a way set a product dependency in the Windows >> product install information somewhere. My goal here is that if the user >> tries to uninstall product A (via our installer or via Add/Remove Programs) >> before uninstalling product B (which has a dependency on A causing B to >> break if they inadvertently uninstall A) I would like that uninstall >> blocked. I realize I could modify the installer for product A to look >> specifically for product B and block the uninstall if found. That approach >> worries me because what happens when we create and add product C to the mix >> with the same dependency after product A's release. We're back to the same >> problem that product C will be broken because the user (not knowing better) >> uninstalled product A. >> >> In other words I'd like a method in which at the time product B, C, etc. is >> installed to have a dependency added/recorded somewhere somehow so that when >> the user tries to uninstall product A, they are blocked and told something >> like "Product A cannot be uninstalled because it is used by products B, C, >> etc.". >> >> Does such a mechanism exist natively in Windows Installer? I've been >> looking and haven't found it so far. >> >> Thanks, >> Cody >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> The Planet: dedicated and managed hosting, cloud storage, colocation >> Stay online with enterprise data centers and the best network in the >> business >> Choose flexible plans and management services without long-term contracts >> Personal 24x7 support from experience hosting pros just a phone call away. >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/theplanet-com >> _______________________________________________ >> WiX-users mailing list >> WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users >> >> > > > -- > virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > The Planet: dedicated and managed hosting, cloud storage, colocation > Stay online with enterprise data centers and the best network in the business > Choose flexible plans and management services without long-term contracts > Personal 24x7 support from experience hosting pros just a phone call away. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/theplanet-com > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Planet: dedicated and managed hosting, cloud storage, colocation Stay online with enterprise data centers and the best network in the business Choose flexible plans and management services without long-term contracts Personal 24x7 support from experience hosting pros just a phone call away. http://p.sf.net/sfu/theplanet-com _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
