Here is a recent blog that has links to some previous blogs ( including mine ) on this topic.
http://blog.genom-e.com/PermaLink,guid,8044083d-8153-4046-8601-ec3556f7adaf.aspx Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves attention? E-Mail Me --- On Fri, 7/11/08, Neil Enns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Neil Enns <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [WiX-users] Automating the inclusion of a mess of files > To: "General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset." > <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> > Date: Friday, July 11, 2008, 1:01 AM > My application will wind up shipping with a ton of loose > resource files on disk*. We will have several items with > the following well-defined structure: > > MyFile1.foo > MyFile1_files > \ 0 > \ somefile.txt > \ 1 > \ somefile.txt > ... > \ 9 > \ somefile.txt > > This is how the files live on disk as source, and how we > need them to live on disk on the target machine. As you can > imagine, I have no desire to author the WiX to install these > suckers by hand, especially since they're going to > change relatively often between now and when we ship. I > want to automate the process somehow. > > I started tonight by thinking a custom extension would do. > My plan was to create a new <MyFile> element that > took the root .foo file, then would automatically add all > the necessary entries into the MSI for all the files and > subdirectories. I got a custom extension up and running > pretty quickly, but when it came time to actually think > about adding the things to the MSI this approach seemed, > well, insane. I have no desire to recreate what the > <File>, <Directory>, and <Component> > elements do in code. > > My new alternate approach is to do this via a custom > MSBuild task that runs before Candle and generates a WiX > file that then gets added to the list of things to compile. > > Anyone have any other suggestions for good ways to automate > this? > > Thanks, > > Neil > > * Don't ask why we have this structure and why they are > loose files. It's a very long story best told over a > frosty beverage. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Sponsored by: SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards: VOTE > NOW! > Studies have shown that voting for your favorite open > source project, > along with a healthy diet, reduces your potential for > chronic lameness > and boredom. Vote Now at > http://www.sourceforge.net/community/cca08 > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards: VOTE NOW! Studies have shown that voting for your favorite open source project, along with a healthy diet, reduces your potential for chronic lameness and boredom. Vote Now at http://www.sourceforge.net/community/cca08 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
