WIX: Howto set the name of the msi output file dynamically

Question

I want to include some dynamic part in the filename of the msi file my wix projects produce. This dynamic part should be controlled by variables which are part of my wix project

Answer 1

Since it's just a file name, why not have a post-build action that renames the file in your build script (assuming MSBuild)?

Answer 2

I found a couple of great reference posts to do just this operation:

http://blog.tentaclesoftware.com/archive/2009/05/03/38.aspx

and a follow-on with a better method of creating the output file using a pre-build event:

http://blog.tentaclesoftware.com/archive/2010/08/05/99.aspx

I know the links are old, but the method is sound.

Here are the basic steps:

• Put the version you wish to use into a file you can access from your project. I use the main executable of my installation because I also bind to that version in my wxs. In my case, since I am building with C# and use SVN, I have a template version of my assembly.cs, assembly.cs.txt, that I run subwcrev on as a pre-build event to create the assembly.cs that gets compiled into my executable (I actually do it in a separate project in my solution). Subwcrev inserts some date and revision information that I use to create a version in the form "major.minor.version.0" where I use "year.month.revision.0" for my version.

• Now, I usually just set AssemblyFileVersion with this method, but to be able to use my version number in the wixproj build event referenced in the post above, I also need to set AssemblyVersion since that is what can be accessed with GetAssemblyIdentity. This method would be questionable if I were really using an assembly someone else links to, but for me it is OK since it is in my final application executable.

• Follow the steps outlined in the second post (the first post discusses using the binding method for version in wxs and how to unload and edit the wixproj - valuable context for the second post).

Works like a charm!

Update some years later - it looks like the links I referenced are dead. Here is a snapshot of what I changed to make it work.

In my main product wxs file, I changed (some names have been changed or omitted to protect the innocent and the guilty):

    <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
  <!-- TODO: Remove the comments around this Component element and the ComponentRef below in order to add resources to this installer. -->
  <Component Id="ProductComponent" Guid="DF1AB3A6-17D0-4176-B3AC-C073AC47AA80">
            <RemoveFile Id="PurgeAppFolder" Name="*.*" On="uninstall" />
            <File Source="$(var.MyApp.TargetPath)" KeyPath="yes"/>
            <File Source="$(var.MyApp.ProjectDir)\bin\Release\MyData.dll"/>
            <File Source="$(var.MyApp.ProjectDir)\bin\$(var.MyApp.Configuration)\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll"/>
        </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

to

    <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
  <!-- TODO: Remove the comments around this Component element and the ComponentRef below in order to add resources to this installer. -->
  <Component Id="ProductComponent" Guid="DF1AB3A6-17D0-4176-B3AC-C073AC47AA80">
    <RemoveFile Id="PurgeAppFolder" Name="*.*" On="uninstall" />
    <File Id="MAINEXECUTABLE" Source="$(var.MyApp.TargetPath)" KeyPath="yes">
      <Shortcut Directory="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Id="MYAPPEXEAPF" Name="My App Name" Icon="MyAppIcon.exe" IconIndex="0" Advertise="yes" />
      <Shortcut Directory="ApplicationDesktopFolder" Id="MYAPPEXEADF" Name="My App Name" Icon="MyAppIcon.exe" IconIndex="0" Advertise="yes" />
    </File>
    <File Source="$(var.MyApp.ProjectDir)\bin\Release\MyData.dll"/>
    <File Source="$(var.MyApp.ProjectDir)\bin\$(var.MyApp.Configuration)\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll"/>
  </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

and up at the top I added:

  <Product Id="C86505BF-303F-4D6B-8F5F-43A57635F85D" Name="My Application Name" Language="1033" Version="!(bind.FileVersion.MAINEXECUTABLE)" Manufacturer="My Software Shop" UpgradeCode="D1C628E5-5478-4DA5-A31A-F9191D5B1544">

Note that the Version is bound to the file version of MAINEXECUTABLE, which is defined in the main product component.

I hope this helps!