Windows Installer makes calls to the Cabinet API to decompress your cab files. Other than using multiple cabs in your package I don't think there's much you can do to change Windows Installer behaviour using WiX. As the first read to the start of the cab file isn't always at the same place & is always reading 16 bytes, one assumes it's reading a table of contents or similar to find out where the actual file starts & ends before it tries pulling it from the cab. There's a C++ example on using the Cabinet API to extract files at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff797927.aspx if you wish to test it outside of Windows Installer to see what behaviour it exhibits.
If you want to eliminate it you can forgo the use of cab files entirely but that brings it's own problems & concerns. Palbinder Sandher Software Deployment & IT Administrator T: +44 (0) 141 945 8500 F: +44 (0) 141 945 8501 http://www.iesve.com **Design, Simulate + Innovate with the <Virtual Environment>** Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited. Registered in Scotland No. SC151456 Registered Office - Helix Building, West Of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP Email Disclaimer -----Original Message----- From: Leung, John C.H. [mailto:johnle...@ea.com] Sent: 23 September 2010 01:02 To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Question with performance on installer using cab files I have some performance question on installer setup that uses cab files. I'm wondering if I just didn't set up my WiX project properly or it this is how cab files install behaves. I notice that during installation of the files listed in the cab files, it always read 16 and 256 bytes (see below table from Process Monitor) near the start of the cab file and then seek forward to read 32KB chunks and write data. This is happening for every single file in the cab file. We have over 10,000 files in the cab file. This constantly seeking back and forth on the DVD drive seems inefficient. Is this normal? Or is there something I'm supposed to do in my WiX project setup? I've tried different compression level (default, none, low, etc), they don't seem to have any effect on this behaviour. "4:36:31.9308030 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 108, Length: 16, Priority: Normal" < - - - Reading 16 + 256 bytes near beginning of cab file. "4:36:31.9308395 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 124, Length: 256, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9337166 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Config.Msi\b684f13.rbs","SUCCES S","Offset: 4,766, Length: 97" "4:36:31.9387399 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\DummyImage2.bmp"," SUCCESS","Offset: 0, Length: 10,850, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9388491 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","C:","SUCCESS","Offset: 41,885,696, Length: 96, I/O Flags: Non-cached, Paging I/O, Synchronous Paging I/O, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9389737 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 27,673, Length: 8, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9390101 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 27,681, Length: 194, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9392198 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\DummyImage2.bmp"," SUCCESS","Offset: 10,850, Length: 32,768, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9396917 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 27,875, Length: 8, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9397258 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 27,883, Length: 178, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9398968 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\DummyImage2.bmp"," SUCCESS","Offset: 43,618, Length: 32,768" ... "4:36:31.9776340 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\DummyImage2.bmp"," SUCCESS","Offset: 2,468,450, Length: 11,068" "4:36:31.9813752 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 172, Length: 16, Priority: Normal" < - - - Reading 16 + 256 bytes near beginning of cab file. "4:36:31.9814126 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 188, Length: 256, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9840158 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Config.Msi\b684f13.rbs","SUCCES S","Offset: 4,863, Length: 92" "4:36:31.9886911 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\Image3.bmp","SUCCE SS","Offset: 0, Length: 21,700, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9888493 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 57,571, Length: 8, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9888881 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 57,579, Length: 2,174, Priority: Normal" "4:36:31.9891042 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\Image3.bmp","SUCCE SS","Offset: 21,700, Length: 32,768, Priority: Normal" ... "4:36:32.0270798 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\Image3.bmp","SUCCE SS","Offset: 2,282,692, Length: 18,770" "4:36:32.0306709 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 231, Length: 16, Priority: Normal" < - - - Reading 16 + 256 bytes near beginning of cab file. "4:36:32.0307078 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 247, Length: 256, Priority: Normal" "4:36:32.0332996 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Config.Msi\b684f13.rbs","SUCCES S","Offset: 4,955, Length: 92" "4:36:32.2163116 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\Image4.bmp","SUCCE SS","Offset: 0, Length: 13,998, Priority: Normal" "4:36:32.2165258 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 207,409, Length: 8, Priority: Normal" "4:36:32.2165745 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","ReadFile","F:\CabGroup.cab","SUCCESS","Offset: 207,417, Length: 1,500, Priority: Normal" "4:36:32.2167896 PM","msiexec.exe","4992","WriteFile","C:\Program Files\Test Install\SimpleTest\TestCabGrp\TestFolder1\SubFolder11\Image4.bmp","SUCCE SS","Offset: 13,998, Length: 32,768, Priority: Normal" John Leung Software Engineer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
