I would definitely consider using a Bundle for your scenario. I believe the world is moving (has moved?) to a place where .msi files are building blocks stacked together and wrapped with a bootstrapper (Burn Bundles in WiX toolset). You do need to think about the problem a little differently when using Bundles because you'll get many more degrees of freedom which may come with a bit extra work (particularly in the UI department) since Bundles are still pretty young.
On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 5:28 AM, John Ludlow <john.ludlow...@gmail.com>wrote: > Hi, > > It's really up to you, but there's a couple of things to consider: > > * Would the reference data ever be installed without the main application? > > * How do customers get hold of your application and the reference > data, and relevant updates? > > * Have you looked at patching? > > Normally, in your situation I think I would make the reference data a > feature in the MSI. However, because of the size, and the fact that > this data doesn't change very often, this might not be a good idea - > you don't want to force your users to download (if that's how the data > is delivered) 1GB of data every quarter. > > In that situation, you could look at patching. This would allow you to > build a patch which conatains only the files you have changed, which > is usually the application files. This also covers the situation > where only a small change to the reference data has been made. > However, patching is pretty non-trivial. > > Chaining a separate MSI containing the reference data is the other > approach (becoming more popular these days with tools like Burn) but > you need to think about how new users would get hold of the package > with the application + reference data, and how existing customers > would get hold of just the application - you could do this by building > two packages, perhapsor by building one package with a downloader > (which detects that the reference data is up to date, and doesn't > download that component). Unlike patching, however, if a small change > is made to your reference data, the user would need to download the > whole reference data package again, rather than just the relevant > files. > > Hope that helps > > John > > On 5 December 2012 12:34, Bull, Thomas <thomas.b...@defensegp.com> wrote: > > I am exploring moving a moderate size installer to WiX and I am > stumbling through with some good successes thanks to the active support > community out there. My application has a large amount (~1gb) of reference > data that does not change much from version to version. This data is not > required for all installations, but in the past we have installed it by > default through a custom action that expands archives to the correct > location on the destination machine. Moving forward I would like to put > this reference information into a MSI, but I am not sure if it makes sense > to use a separate MSI and chain it using Burn or create a Feature and > package it in my application's MSI. We release a minor upgrade to our > application (not reference data) about quarterly, with a major upgrade > yearly. However our reference data will typically only have 5% files > replaced and even less added/removed in a given year. > > > > So, is it better to create a separate MSI for the reference data and > chain or to include it in the main MSI? What is the best practice here? > > > > Thanks for taking the time as I get my WiX feet wet! > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial > > Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support > > Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services > > Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial > Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support > Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services > Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers > http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > -- virtually, Rob Mensching http://RobMensching.com LLC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
