Using "*" for components should always be appropriate for all components that accept "*" for the Guid, as long as you have never shipped the component with a different GUID before.
It won't cause problems with generating Patches. What will cause problems with generating patches is removing any component from any feature, renaming the keypath for any component (which, when using "*" for the Guid effectively removes the old component and adds a new one in its place), and changing either the directory for the component or any of that directories parents (at least as far as the closest "well-known" directory), for those components who's keypaths are files. Have you shipped your product before using guids that were not "*"? -----Original Message----- From: James Poole [mailto:w...@slowcommotion.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 11:06 AM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Best Practices - Using "*" for GUID automation Could someone chime in with a time when you wouldn't want to use "*" on component Guids? Would this cause issues with generating patches? -James On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 1:19 PM, Andy Clugston <clug...@gmail.com> wrote: > Okay, it seemed like this approach would work, just wanted to verify. > Thanks! > > On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Cherney John-CJC030 < > john.cher...@motorola.com> wrote: > > > I haven't had any problems with component ids set to "*". We keep the > > Upgrade id constant but vary everything else, including the version and > > the MSI name (which contains the version). Because of the changing > > version and the constant upgrade id (and the PREVIOUSFOUND property > > getting set in the UpgradeVersion element), we are automatically > > uninstalling older versions as part of our install. Works very well. > > > > jwc > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Andy Clugston [mailto:clug...@gmail.com] > > Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:35 AM > > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > > Subject: [WiX-users] Best Practices - Using "*" for GUID automation > > > > I am trying to determine the best approach to take with creating GUIDs > > for the various WiX elements. We use a full upgrade approach so I > > believe for the Product Id="*" is okay. It probably goes without saying > > that setting Package Id="*" makes sense in all cases. It is my > > understanding that the Upgrade Id should be static (never changes) for > > the life of a product installer, assuming the name of the MSI does not > > change. > > > > The one that I need some assistance with is at the Component level. We > > want to automate as much as we can, and having to update Component GUIDs > > for hundreds of deliverables is a pain. Is it safe to set Component > > Guid="*", or will this cause problems in the future? I worry that this > > will affect how upgrades work, but I think I might be misunderstanding > > (or > > over-thinking) something. I would assume it is bad practice to leave > > the Component Guid the same for a deliverable if that deliverable is > > updated between versions, however if a particular deliverable does *not* > > change, is it safe to leave its Component Guid alone? > > > > Thanks. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------ > > This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint What will you do first with > > EVO, the first 4G phone? > > Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint > > What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone? > > Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint > What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone? > Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone? Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone? Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
