You make good arguments for MSI, and i will second the transactional support, but as i dig deeper into the MSI offering, i'm starting to believe that it simply will not work for what i'm trying to do. -> specifically, the msi from another msi problem that stefan pointed out (and i subsequently researched and validated and found that this is a common problem that has no easy/adequate solution). -> the lack of control over the install process (including not just custom dialogs, but complete full-screen control)
i can use windows workflow to get turnkey transactional support, but i still miss out on a lot of the cool MSI features, such as costing/progress, and now i'll have to figure out how to manually add things into the program registry (for uninstall via control panel), etc. but in the end, i think i'll need a completely custom pipeline, where i call MSIEXEC to execute msi distributables. and i'll probably package everything up in a winzip self-extracting exe. On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Brian Rogers <rogers.br...@gmail.com>wrote: > Hey Bryan, > > For the complications that you face and the possible points of failure I > would say that MSI would be the right choice in its ability to handle > installations as a transaction (install, rollback, uninstall, commit). This > might help you maintain a stable system state. Your install/uinstall should > be A.C.I.D. > > That being said there is a learning curve to getting involved in MSI. The > WIX toolset goes out of its way to make that curve smaller and handle some > of the "gotchas" along the way. However, it is still up to you to > understand > the Windows Installer API and its limitations. > > In the coming months the WIX toolset is going to be releasing a > bootstrapper > as well. This would be something for you to add to the pros for using WIX. > Although it is not out yet, and there are others, make sure that you choose > wisely in which bootstrapper you use if you can't wait until "Burn" comes > out. > > Thanks, > > Brian Rogers > "Intelligence removes complexity." - Me > http://icumove.spaces.live.com > > > On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Stefan Sinnige <s...@vasco.com> wrote: > > > One thing we came across: > > > > We had trouble with Windows Installer (not just WiX) when calling an MSI > > from another MSI, stating that a Windows Installer was already running. > > > > We opted for a simple MFC executable that would then invoke the MSI's > > using msiexec instead. > > > > Stefan > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: bryan costanich [mailto:br...@corp.tixsmart.com] > > Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:24 AM > > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > Subject: [WiX-users] noob/strategy questions > > > > Hi all! > > I'm evaluating WiX for use in a project. I have some pretty hairy > > installation requirements, and i'm trying to figure out if WiX is the > > right > > tool for the job. > > > > I need to create an install that does a number of things: > > -> install various other packaged software (MySQL, SQLExpress, etc.), > > these > > come in the form of msi and exe files that i can make silent via command > > line arguments > > -> install my own software (in the form of an .exe + a bunch of dlls) > > -> do a bunch of custom configuration tasks (that i can take care of > > with a > > dll call or whatever, will include modifying files, creating/modifying > > databases, etc.) > > > > some of this is fairly easy, for example, i could just use windows > > installer > > and point it at my application project to figure out dependencies and > > create > > an msi that would install it, it's dlls, etc. however, some of the > > other > > stuff is less easy. i could, potentially use windows installer to do the > > third task as well by defining custom actions. > > > > however, to make this even more complicated the installer needs to run > > full > > screen and use custom branding. > > > > also, this install package can/will be called by the software it > > installs > > (as an auto-update), needs to wait for the application to shut down, > > then > > install (potentially restart), and re-launch the application. > > > > finally, everything needs to be packaged into one exe (or at least an > > exe > > and one .msi). > > > > so, with all that said, would WiX even be useful here? a lot of this > > will > > have to be custom dialogs and such. > > > > at a minimum, could i use WiX to link together the bootstrapper + an msi > > that contained a bunch of custom dialogs and .net classes that do all > > the > > actual lifting? > > > > thanks all for your input. > > > > -b > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------ > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
