Just a few more remarks on #2 below in case someone cares. We too do not use VS for all the stuff installed by our WiX-created installers (one part of our stuff is a legacy application library of sorts which interoperates via execute and exit codes); in fact we use (e.g.) candle and light behind the scenes of a simplified graphical builder that we've created: one need not use the VS projects at all in such a case. No editor needed, which is part of the point: we want to fix some of the details for our environment and remove the complication of having to remember to redo it every installer. This is proving to be quite useful, though we are still working on details.
While I'm on the subject, my bosses are likely to ask: under what circumstances are candle and light likely to use lots of CPU or memory (for some value of lots)? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? (Our installers are going to be tiny enough that I don't think it matters, but I figured I'd anticipate anyway since the hosting of the installer builder thing I mentioned will likely be with other tools.) Keith Douglas Statistics Canada | 170 Tunney's Pasture Driveway, Ottawa ON K1A 0T6 Statistique Canada | 170, promenade Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa ON K1A 0T6 keith.doug...@statcan.gc.ca Telephone | Téléphone 613-951-4405 Facsimile | Télécopieur 613-951-1966 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada -----Original Message----- From: Ian Brooke [mailto:ianbro...@hotmail.com] Sent: April-09-12 11:39 PM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] WiX How To... Thanks for your replies. I've started reading the book that Neil mentions but have a three early questions: 1. The book specifically states that Visual Studio 2005/2008 is required - I assume that is only for Votive and there is no reason that I cannot use WiX without VS? 2. Question 1 aside, I do have VS2008 but this particular project does not use it - it's a legacy VB6 app. However, can I use VS2008 to create a wxs for that project i.e. can I use VS as a glorified wxs editor and make use of it's intellisense etc without it knowing anything about the project? If not, can anyone recommend an editor? 3. I've confused myself somewhat on the Package element of Product, specifically the InstallerVersion attribute. I have no idea what minimum version of msiexec I require (if indeed I have any version requirements - how would I know?). Can I omit this element and what are the consequences? To expand, the app is installed on many different versions of Windows (from XP to Win7), if I cannot omit the element what value should I specify (I most certainly do not want to require people to upgrade their version of msiexec)? Many thanks Ian -----Original Message----- From: Neil Sleightholm Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 12:10 AM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] WiX How To... There is also a WiX book that would point you in the right direction https://www.packtpub.com/wix-a-developers-guide-to-windows-installer-xml/book Neil -----Original Message----- From: Rob Mensching [mailto:r...@robmensching.com] Sent: 06 April 2012 05:59 To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] WiX How To... Have you read the tutorial: http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/tutorial ? It's pretty good. On Thu, Apr 5, 2012 at 5:16 PM, Ian Brooke <ianbro...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi, > I'm new to this package so please excuse my lack of knowledge and > please keep any explain simple! I basically have three questions but > I will describe my situation first... > > I need to produce an installer/uninstaller for a new version of a > Windows legacy application. This app is in use on hundreds of > computers around the world on an "at home" basis so I have no ability > to interact with the computers and everything needs to be automatic > and as foolproof as possible > as all users are non-technical. Some users of this installer will be > new, > others have an existing (old) version of this app but they cannot > uninstall it as that would remove certain files they need to retain. > The existing version has no guid's but it is simple to detect when and > where it is installed as it creates a registry key pointing to the > exe. If a version already exists then as part of the install I need > to do two things (as well as install the new files!) - (1) remove an > entry in Add/Remove programs, > (2) > remove a Start Menu folder (and it's sub-items). Both of these I > assume would require Admin privs. > > So, the 3 questions.... > 1. How would I do those two things in WiX? > > 2. At uninstall time I need to automatically delete a file that the > program has created in the application folder, OR, I need to be sure > the Application folder (under Program Files(x86) ) and sub-folders are > removed whether or not they are empty. How would I go about this? > > 3. Finally, I having trouble locating some complete documentation on > WiX, especially a detailed description/list of the various > tags/attributes that are available, what they do, their usage, etc. > Can someone please point me where to start my learning process. > > Many thanks > Ian > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -------- For Developers, A Lot Can Happen In A Second. > Boundary is the first to Know...and Tell You. > Monitor Your Applications in Ultra-Fine Resolution. Try it FREE! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/Boundary-d2dvs2 > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > -- virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Developers, A Lot Can Happen In A Second. Boundary is the first to Know...and Tell You. Monitor Your Applications in Ultra-Fine Resolution. Try it FREE! http://p.sf.net/sfu/Boundary-d2dvs2 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Developers, A Lot Can Happen In A Second. Boundary is the first to Know...and Tell You. Monitor Your Applications in Ultra-Fine Resolution. Try it FREE! http://p.sf.net/sfu/Boundary-d2dvs2 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Better than sec? Nothing is better than sec when it comes to monitoring Big Data applications. Try Boundary one-second resolution app monitoring today. Free. http://p.sf.net/sfu/Boundary-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Better than sec? Nothing is better than sec when it comes to monitoring Big Data applications. Try Boundary one-second resolution app monitoring today. Free. http://p.sf.net/sfu/Boundary-dev2dev _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
