Greg I'm recording this for my own future use, really (a reminder, since I tend to forget too much).
At Bob Arnson's blog, you can see some discussion about how Votive / Wix versions use the Microsoft Managed Package Framework (MPF) and the serious amount of work to be done by WiX once the latest version of MPF is released. No timetable on that release. That post <http://www.joyofsetup.com/2013/09/30/wix-v3-8-todo-list-votive-2013/> is in the context of what is needed to release a WiX specifically for VS2013. A short time later, he suggested <http://www.joyofsetup.com/2013/10/12/wix-v3-8-acceleration/> a more expedient course, to get an earlier release of WiX toolkit for VS2013 (and the WiX developers opted for that) - which is what was released a few days ago. Some time ago, I used to follow developments in WiX via Chris Painter's blog. But he's a professional installer, so there was not much of use to mere amateurs wanting an easy intro to making installers that required WiX with a range of custom actions, rather than the simpler setup projects in Visual Studio. For me, a major advance was when CAs could be authored in managed code, rather than requiring C++ (but that wouldn't be a problem for you, given your experience). Since, the more fundamental things like detecting Windows version, and .NET versions installed on a machine has crept into MSI as well as WiX. So in some ways it's not so messy now. Despite the tutorials, I have always found it difficult to get my head around how to even plan for a WiX installer project. But that was before WiX 3.x - so I should try again some day. I haven't downloaded v3.7 or v3.8 yet. _____ Ian Thomas Victoria Park, Western Australia From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 6:03 AM To: ozDotNet Subject: Re: WiX and VS2013 integration Stephen, yes, I installed WiX 3.8 (21-Oct) with my fresh VS2013 and at a glance it all looks and feels the same. I guess they just upgraded it to work with VS2013 but I can't see any improvements or new features at all. You just get a window full of XML and some prayers and off you go -- Greg P.S. I was also reminded of what a stupid self-indulgent incredibly slow counter-intuitive installer WiX has. It's not a good sign when an installer's installer is bizarre. P.P.S InstallAware looks interesting, but I can't find the free bit, and it will take off on a tangent. On 24 October 2013 18:08, Stephen Price <[email protected]> wrote: Well, while on this topic, the good news is that I've managed to quite easily get my work project working with VS2013. It doesn't like the work proxy so updates and the new Sign In feature don't work. I did have to make a few changes to get my Wix project running. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19448343/how-to-enable-wix-project-in-vis ual-studio-2013 Not yet noticed any new features other than a few more colours in the thing. Folders are yellow in Solution Explorer. DotCover doesn't yet support this version but everything else is very very similar to VS2012. And I can still open/build/run the solution in VS2012 after migration. (it only ads a couple of lines), so that means I can actually use it (without messing with the rest of the team!) I suppose I should actually test the output of my Wix installer project, hey? Its only a small windows service installer so should be fine. :) On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 10:36 AM, Ian Thomas <[email protected]> wrote: Greg In the early days of WiX there were several UI projects (outside of the main project), but I am not familiar with what has happened recently. Have you had a look at Oleg Shilo's Wix# project? <http://www.csscript.net/WixSharp.html> WixSharp uses C# scripting to manage' the arcane WiX framework. However, it is way behind the WiX releases - it uses WiX v3.0.4318.0 binaries. Conceivably the functionality in that old version of WiX would be sufficient for many purposes (but I have not tried); because it doesn't integrate in Visual Studio it may be usable. Mike Smith (meski) may have some thoughts on this. CS-Script targets .NET versions up to 4.5 and I think I'm correct in saying that Oleg Shilo lives somewhere in eastern Australia. _____ Ian Thomas Victoria Park, Western Australia From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ian Thomas Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 8:43 AM To: 'ozDotNet' Subject: RE: WiX and VS2013 integration Bob Arnson's latest post <http://www.joyofsetup.com/2013/10/22/wix-v3-8-1021-0-completes-visual-studi o-2013-support/> says it is complete as of now, and his short post has links to the issues that have been fixed (none of those will add much to your understanding) . WiX v3.8.1021.0 completes Visual Studio 2013 support 22 October 2013 WiX _____ Ian Thomas Victoria Park, Western Australia From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Keogh Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 7:10 AM To: ozDotNet Subject: WiX and VS2013 integration I finally found a link at http://www.joyofsetup.com/2013/09/13/getting-from-here-to-there-for-wix-v3-8 / which says that WiX 3.8 with VS2013 integration will be available by Halloween (luckily Australians know what Halloween means thanks to The Simpsons). However I can't find any other evidence that this might actually happen, getting clear announcements on WiX isn't easy. They seem a bit apologetic due to delays caused by end of year holidays and Thanksgiving, but since when did holidays stop a programmer? (I do my best coding on holidays!) As suggested, I had a quick for other IDEs over WiX, but they seem commercial or lagging behind. In any case I don't want yet another IDE. They claim V3.8 will have improved Votive <http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/votive/> , which a search reveals to be the VS2013 integration (I think, even that's vague). In VS2012 the integration of the project template, properties and build were very nice, however the only way to edit the wizard generated WiX source files was as plain xml. I wonder if there will be some kind of designer over the raw source, which is what WiX desperately needs. I know that creating a full designer experience over the complex WiX source files would be a huge job, but it's not beyond their developer community I would think. Greg K
