WiX tricks and tips

Answer 1

Instead of ORCA use InstEd which is a good tool for viewing MSI tables. Also it has the ability to diff two packages by Transform -> Compare To...

Additionally a Plus version with additional functionality is available. But also the free version offers a good alternative for Orca.

Answer 2

I'm surprised no one has mentioned using T4 to generate the WXS file during build. I learned about this by way of Henry Lee @ New Age Solutions.

Essentially, you create a custom MSBuild task to execute a T4 template, and that template outputs the WXS just before the Wix project is compiled. This allows you to (depending on how you implement it) automatically include all assemblies output from compiling another solution (meaning that you no longer have to edit the wxs ever time you add a new assembly).

Answer 3

Using the RobM special "Remember Property" pattern

http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2010/5/2/The-WiX-toolsets-Remember-Property-pattern

Answer 4

Keep all IDs in separate namespaces

• Features begin with F. Examples: F.Documentation, F.Binaries, F.SampleCode.
• Components begin with C. Ex: C.ChmFile, C.ReleaseNotes, C.LicenseFile, C.IniFile, C.Registry
• CustomActions are CA. Ex: CA.LaunchHelp, CA.UpdateReadyDlg, CA.SetPropertyX
• Files are Fi.
• Directories are Di.
• and so on.

I find this helps immensely in keeping track of all the various id's in all the various categories.

Answer 5

Modify the "Ready to install?" dialog (aka VerifyReadyDlg) to provide a summary of choices made.

It looks like this:
alt text http://i46.tinypic.com/s4th7t.jpg

Do this with a Javascript CustomAction:

---

Javascript code:

// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372516(VS.85).aspx
var MsiViewModify = 
    {
        Refresh          : 0,
        Insert           : 1,
        Update           : 2,
        Assign           : 3,
        Replace          : 4,
        Merge            : 5,
        Delete           : 6,
        InsertTemporary  : 7,   // cannot permanently modify the MSI during install
        Validate         : 8,
        ValidateNew      : 9,
        ValidateField    : 10,
        ValidateDelete   : 11
    };


// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sfw6660x(VS.85).aspx
var Buttons = 
    {
        OkOnly           : 0,
        OkCancel         : 1,
        AbortRetryIgnore : 2,
        YesNoCancel      : 3
    };

var Icons= 
    {
        Critical         : 16,
        Question         : 32,
        Exclamation      : 48,
        Information      : 64
    }

var MsgKind =
    {
        Error            : 0x01000000,
        Warning          : 0x02000000,
        User             : 0x03000000,
        Log              : 0x04000000
    };

// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371254(VS.85).aspx
var MsiActionStatus = 
    {
        None             : 0,
        Ok               : 1, // success
        Cancel           : 2,
        Abort            : 3,
        Retry            : 4, // aka suspend?
        Ignore           : 5  // skip remaining actions; this is not an error.
    };

function UpdateReadyDialog_CA(sitename)
{
    try 
    {
        // can retrieve properties from the install session like this:
        var selectedWebSiteId = Session.Property("MSI_PROPERTY_HERE");

        // can retrieve requested feature install state like this:
        var fInstallRequested   = Session.FeatureRequestState("F.FeatureName");

        var text1 = "This is line 1 of text in the VerifyReadyDlg";

        var text2 = "This is the second line of custom text";

        var controlView     = Session.Database.OpenView("SELECT * FROM Control");
        controlView.Execute();

        var rec             = Session.Installer.CreateRecord(12);
        rec.StringData(1)   = "VerifyReadyDlg";    // Dialog_
        rec.StringData(2)   = "CustomVerifyText1"; // Control - can be any name
        rec.StringData(3)   = "Text";              // Type
        rec.IntegerData(4)  = 25;                  // X
        rec.IntegerData(5)  = 60;                  // Y
        rec.IntegerData(6)  = 320;                 // Width
        rec.IntegerData(7)  = 85;                  // Height
        rec.IntegerData(8)  = 2;                   // Attributes
        rec.StringData(9)   = "";                  // Property
        rec.StringData(10)  = vText1;              // Text
        rec.StringData(11)  = "";                  // Control_Next
        rec.StringData(12)  = "";                  // Help
        controlView.Modify(MsiViewModify.InsertTemporary, rec);

        rec                 = Session.Installer.CreateRecord(12);
        rec.StringData(1)   = "VerifyReadyDlg";    // Dialog_
        rec.StringData(2)   = "CustomVerifyText2"; // Control - any unique name
        rec.StringData(3)   = "Text";              // Type
        rec.IntegerData(4)  = 25;                  // X
        rec.IntegerData(5)  = 160;                 // Y
        rec.IntegerData(6)  = 320;                 // Width
        rec.IntegerData(7)  = 65;                  // Height
        rec.IntegerData(8)  = 2;                   // Attributes
        rec.StringData(9)   = "";                  // Property
        rec.StringData(10)  = text2;               // Text
        rec.StringData(11)  = "";                  // Control_Next
        rec.StringData(12)  = "";                  // Help
        controlView.Modify(MsiViewModify.InsertTemporary, rec);

        controlView.Close();
    }
    catch (exc1)
    {
        Session.Property("CA_EXCEPTION") = exc1.message ;
        LogException("UpdatePropsWithSelectedWebSite", exc1);
        return MsiActionStatus.Abort;
    }
    return MsiActionStatus.Ok;
}


function LogException(loc, exc)
{
    var record = Session.Installer.CreateRecord(0);
    record.StringData(0) = "Exception {" + loc + "}: " + exc.number + " : " + exc.message;
    Session.Message(MsgKind.Error + Icons.Critical + Buttons.btnOkOnly, record);
}

---

Declare the Javascript CA:

<Fragment>
  <Binary Id="IisScript_CA" SourceFile="CustomActions.js" />

  <CustomAction Id="CA.UpdateReadyDialog"
              BinaryKey="IisScript_CA"
              JScriptCall="UpdateReadyDialog_CA"
              Execute="immediate"
              Return="check" />
</Fragment>

---

Attach the CA to a button. In this example, the CA is fired when Next is clicked from the CustomizeDlg:

<UI ...>
  <Publish Dialog="CustomizeDlg" Control="Next" Event="DoAction" 
           Value="CA.UpdateReadyDialog" Order="1"/>
</UI>

---

Related SO Question: How can I set, at runtime, the text to be displayed in VerifyReadyDlg?

Answer 6

Put Components which may be patched individually inside their own Fragments

It goes for both making product installers and patches that if you include any component in a fragment, you must include all of the components in that fragment. In the case of building an installer, if you miss any component references, you'll get a linking error from light.exe. However, when you make a patch, if you include a single component reference in a fragment, then all changed components from that fragment will show up in your patch.

like this:

<Fragment>
    <DirectoryRef Id="SampleProductFolder">
        <Component Id="SampleComponent1" Guid="{C28843DA-EF08-41CC-BA75-D2B99D8A1983}" DiskId="1">
            <File Id="SampleFile1" Source=".\$(var.Version)f\Sample1.txt" />
        </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>
</Fragment>

<Fragment>
    <DirectoryRef Id="SampleProductFolder">
        <Component Id="SampleComponent2" Guid="{6CEA5599-E7B0-4D65-93AA-0F2F64402B22}" DiskId="1">
           <File Id="SampleFile2" Source=".\$(var.Version)f\Sample2.txt" />
        </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>
</Fragment>

<Fragment>
    <DirectoryRef Id="SampleProductFolder">
        <Component Id="SampleComponent3" Guid="{4030BAC9-FAB3-426B-8D1E-DC1E2F72C2FC}" DiskId="1">
           <File Id="SampleFile3" Source=".\$(var.Version)f\Sample3.txt" />
        </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>
</Fragment>

instead of this:

<Fragment>
    <DirectoryRef Id="SampleProductFolder">
        <Component Id="SampleComponent1" Guid="{C28843DA-EF08-41CC-BA75-D2B99D8A1983}" DiskId="1">
            <File Id="SampleFile1" Source=".\$(var.Version)\Sample1.txt" />
        </Component>

        <Component Id="SampleComponent2" Guid="{6CEA5599-E7B0-4D65-93AA-0F2F64402B22}" DiskId="1">
           <File Id="SampleFile2" Source=".\$(var.Version)\Sample2.txt" />
        </Component>

        <Component Id="SampleComponent3" Guid="{4030BAC9-FAB3-426B-8D1E-DC1E2F72C2FC}" DiskId="1">
           <File Id="SampleFile3" Source=".\$(var.Version)\Sample3.txt" />
        </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>
</Fragment>

Also, when patching using the "Using Purely WiX" topic from the WiX.chm help file, using this procedure to generate the patch:

torch.exe -p -xi 1.0\product.wixpdb 1.1\product.wixpdb -out patch\diff.wixmst
candle.exe patch.wxs
light.exe patch.wixobj -out patch\patch.wixmsp
pyro.exe patch\patch.wixmsp -out patch\patch.msp -t RTM patch\diff.wixmst

it's not enough to just have the 1.1 version of the product.wixpdb built using the components in separate fragments. So be sure to correctly fragment your product before shipping.