WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML

Table of Contents

• Preface

• Chapter 1: Getting Started
• Introducing Windows Installer XML
• What is WiX?
• Is WiX for you?
• Where can I get it?
• Visual Studio package (Votive)
• A word about GUIDs
• Your first WiX project
• XML declaration and Wix element
• The Product element
• The Package element
• The MediaTemplate element
• The Media element
• The Directory element
• The Component element
• The File element
• The Feature element
• Start menu shortcuts
• Putting it all together
• Adding a user interface
• Viewing the MSI database
• Orca.exe
• Turning logging on during installation
• Other resources
• Summary

• Chapter 2: Creating Files and Directories
• The File element
• The DirectoryRef element
• The ComponentGroup element
• The Fragment element
• Harvesting files with heat.exe
• Copying and moving files
• Copying files you install
• Copying existing files
• Moving existing files
• Installing special-case files
• Adding assembly files to the GAC
• Installing a TrueType font
• Installing 64-bit files
• Creating an empty folder
• Setting file permissions
• Speeding up file installations
• Summary

• Chapter 3: Putting Properties and AppSearch to Work
• Custom properties
• Declaring and setting properties
• Referencing properties
• Property visibility and scope
• Secure properties
• Property data types
• Predefined Windows Installer properties
• Implied properties
• Cited properties
• AppSearch
• DirectorySearch
• FileSearch
• ComponentSearch
• RegistrySearch
• IniFileSearch
• Summary

• Chapter 4: Improving Control with Launch Conditions and Installed States
• The syntax of conditions
• Condition syntax
• Launch conditions
• Feature conditions
• Component conditions
• Action state
• Installed state
• Summary

• Chapter 5: Understanding the Installation Sequence
• InstallUISequence
• UI standard actions
• FindRelatedProducts
• AppSearch
• LaunchConditions
• ValidateProductID
• CostInitialize
• FileCost
• CostFinalize
• MigrateFeatureStates
• ExecuteAction
• InstallExecuteSequence
• Execute standard actions
• InstallValidate
• InstallInitialize
• ProcessComponents
• UnpublishFeatures
• RemoveRegistryValues
• RemoveShortcuts
• RemoveFiles
• InstallFiles
• CreateShortcuts
• WriteRegistryValues
• RegisterUser
• RegisterProduct
• PublishFeatures
• PublishProduct
• InstallFinalize
• Immediate versus deferred
• Custom actions
• Setting a Windows Installer property
• Setting the location of an installed directory
• Running embedded VBScript or JScript
• Calling an external VBScript or JScript file
• Calling a function from a dynamic-link library
• Triggering an executable
• Sending an error that stops the installation
• Rollback custom actions
• Accessing properties in a deferred action
• Adding conditions to custom actions
• Deployment Tools Foundation
• The session object
• Getting and setting properties
• Logging
• Showing a message box
• Accessing feature and component states
• Querying the MSI database
• Inserting rows into the MSI database
• Summary

• Chapter 6: Adding a User Interface
• WiX standard dialog sets
• WixUI_Advanced
• WixUI_FeatureTree
• WixUI_InstallDir
• WixUI_Mondo
• Customizing a standard dialog set
• Creating your own dialogs
• ICE20 errors
• Adding dialog files
• The Dialog element
• Scheduling dialogs
• Adding TextStyle elements
• Adding a tabbable control
• Adding a progress dialog
• Modal windows
• ICE20 revisited
• FilesInUse
• Error
• FatalError
• UserExit
• Exit
• Summary

• Chapter 7: Using UI Controls
• Attributes common to all controls
• Specific control syntax
• PushButton
• Text
• ScrollableText
• Line
• GroupBox
• Bitmap
• Icon
• Edit
• MaskedEdit
• PathEdit
• CheckBox
• RadioButtonGroup
• ComboBox
• ListBox
• ListView
• DirectoryList
• DirectoryCombo
• SelectionTree
• VolumeCostList
• VolumeSelectCombo
• Billboard
• ProgressBar
• Summary

• Chapter 8: Tapping into Control Events
• Publishing control events
• Subscribing to control events
• Publish events
• DoAction
• EndDialog
• NewDialog
• AddLocal
• Publishing a property
• Subscribe events
• ScriptInProgress
• SelectionAction
• TimeRemaining
• Summary

• Chapter 9: Working from the Command Line
• Candle.exe
• Response files
• .wixobj files
• Command-line arguments (compiling)
• -arch
• -d
• -ext
• -fips
• -I
• -nologo
• -o
• -p
• -pedantic
• -sfdvital
• -ss
• -sw
• -trace
• -v
• -wx
• Compile-time variables
• Custom compiler variables
• Environment variables
• System variables
• Conditional statements and iterations
• if...elseif...else
• ifdef
• ifndef
• Iterations
• Errors and warnings
• Preprocessor extensions
• Light.exe
• Command-line arguments (linking)
• -b
• -bf
• -binder
• -cultures
• -d
• -dut
• -ext
• -loc
• -nologo
• -notidy
• -o[ut]
• -pedantic
• -sadmin
• -sadv
• -sloc
• -sma
• -ss
• -sts
• -sui
• -sv
• -sw[N]
• -usf <output.xml>
• -v
• -wx[N]
• -xo
• Command-line arguments (binding)
• -bcgg
• -cc <path>
• -ct <N>
• -cub <file.cub>
• -dcl:level
• -eav
• -fv
• -ice <ICE>
• -pdbout <output.wixpdb>
• -reusecab
• -sa
• -sacl
• -sf
• -sh
• -sice: <ICE>
• -sl
• -spdb
• -sval
• Link-time variables
• Localization variables
• Binder variables
• Custom linker variables
• Building an installer without Visual Studio
• Summary

• Chapter 10: Accessing the Windows Registry
• Reading from the registry
• Writing to the registry
• Writing a single value
• Writing multiple values
• Setting NeverOverwrite
• Removing registry values
• Remove all keys recursively
• Removing a single value
• Copying registry values
• Registry permissions
• Summary

• Chapter 11: Controlling Windows Services
• Creating a simple Windows service
• Using sc.exe
• Using WiX to install a service
• Starting, stopping, and uninstalling a service
• Setting the service's user account
• Adding service dependencies
• Service recovery with Util:ServiceConfig
• Summary

• Chapter 12: Localizing Your Installer
• WiX localization files
• The role of Light.exe
• Setting language and code page attributes
• The Package element
• The Product element
• Localizing the UI
• Error messages
• Progress bar messages
• EULA
• Resizing controls
• Creating a multi-language MSI
• Summary

• Chapter 13: Upgrading and Patching
• Planning for updates
• Choosing an update type
• Per-user or per-machine
• Preparing a major upgrade
• The minor upgrade
• Authoring a .wixmsp file
• Creating a patch from .wixpdb files
• Creating a patch from .wixout files
• The small update
• Summary

• Chapter 14: Extending WiX
• Building a custom WiX extension
• Setting the stage
• Extending the CompilerExtension class
• Adding an XML schema
• Parsing custom elements
• Creating a new MSI table
• Extending the WixExtension class
• Using the extension in a WiX project
• Tying a custom action to the custom element
• Summary

• Chapter 15: Bootstrapping Prerequisites with Burn
• Using the Bootstrapper Project template
• Describing the Bundle element
• Restricting the install by the operating system
• UpgradeCode and detecting related bundles
• Updating existing bundles
• Finding other related bundles
• Where the packages are cached
• Chaining packages
• The Chain element
• The MsiPackage element
• The ExePackage element
• The MspPackage element
• The MsuPackage element
• Downloading packages
• Counting package references
• Rollback boundaries
• PackageGroups
• The Standard Bootstrapper UI
• The RtfLicense user interface
• The HyperlinkLicense user interface
• Summary

• Chapter 16: Customizing the Burn UI
• Burn extension points
• Creating the class library
• Extending the BootstrapperApplication class
• Defining the model
• Implementing the viewmodel
• Declaring the properties and fields
• Defining the constructor
• Setting up the event handlers
• Helper methods
• Marking up the view
• Referencing the UI in a Burn bundle
• Passing user input to a bundled MSI
• Displaying progress
• Downloading packages
• Collecting command-line arguments
• Summary

• Index