How about using Feature/Condition to disable the appropriate Features? Or if you need really fine grained control, maybe Component/Condition.
Maybe it just requires looking at the problem from a different point of view. Trying to be very procedural tends to be very frustrating in a declarative system. You end up fighting the design constantly. I'm still not terribly clear on your requirements but what you've described thus far seems like it should be pretty easy to do with the Windows Installer, with the right approach. Also, I don't think #4 is correct. Costing will be applied to Components which then roll up into Feature costing. As you turn Features on and off, the costing will be adjusted. On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 1:01 PM, Peter Stein <pst...@instec-corp.com> wrote: > I don't understand all of your explanation starting with "The key here...". > > I get what you are saying about the nesting of the features. I was already > aware of that as I have the book by Nick Ramirez. > > However that does not solve the problem. The user still needs to select > either FeatureA or FeatureB. That takes place via a dialog. Whether that > dialog is standard or custom doesn't matter, it is part of a chain of > dialogs. That chain has one or more dialogs which require the Directory > Manager. The Directory Manager is not initialized until after CostFinalize > in the InstallUISequence. That forces the dialog display to occur between > CostFinalize and ExecuteAction. *BUT* selected features must already be > identified before CostFinalize. And that cannot happen with my dialogs > because they haven't run yet! Remember, my dialog chain has a dependency on > DM (and it very well could have other dependencies that won't be exposed > until an attempt to re-sequence InstallUISequence). > > So I don't understand what you mean by "you don't need a separate dialog to > select the features thus getting feature selection to occur at the correct > time". A basic design requirement for this installer is to be user friendly > and consistent with other installers that acquire configuration info via > dialogs. So I can't get rid of the feature dialog. > > Here are the pertinent facts as I see them and how they apply to this > problem. This is based on the information available to me and I could very > well be wrong on any of these (working with WiX isn't exactly a confidence > boosting exercise). If you see one that is wrong and/or presents an > opportunity for solving the problem please identify it and the possible > solution approach. Please confine possible solutions to the realm of the > practical. I've spent far too much time on this already and can't afford to > take a year long sabbatical to redesign WiX. Thanks. > > 1. I cannot avoid having a feature dialog. The installer must ask the user > what features are wanted. > 2. That dialog must be part of the dialog chain. Dialogs must be contiguous > with no standard UI actions between. > 3. The dialog chain has one or more dependencies on earlier standard UI > actions in the InstallUISequence. > 4. Feature selection must have been made and be available at the time of > CostFinalize. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Castro, Edwin G. (Hillsboro) [mailto:edwin.cas...@fiserv.com] > Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 2:02 PM > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] RemoveExistingProducts doesn't work in 3.5 > > Suppose you have the following components: > * ComponentA > * ComponentB > * ComponentC > * ComponentD > > Suppose that we want FeatureA (subset) to install only ComponentA and > ComponentB. > Suppose that we want FeatureB (superset) to install everything in FeatureA > *and* ComponentC and ComponentD. > > FeatureB { > ComponentC > ComponentD > FeatureA { > ComponentA > ComponentB > } > } > > The key here is to set FeatureA to follow the parent feature (FeatureB). > Now in the standard feature selection dialog a user can select only FeatureA > _or_ they can select FeatureB which automatically selects FeatureA. With > this approach you don't need a separate dialog to select the features thus > getting feature selection to occur at the correct time. > > Edwin G. Castro > Software Developer - Staff > Digital Channels > Fiserv > Office: 503-746-0643 > Fax: 503-617-0291 > www.fiserv.com > P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Rob Mensching [mailto:r...@robmensching.com] > > Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 11:40 AM > > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] RemoveExistingProducts doesn't work in 3.5 > > > > Is it possible to organize your Components so that one Feature has > > most Components and the other Feature has less Components? A Component > > can be installed by two Features. Maybe I'm misunderstanding. > > > > BTW, deleting files that the Windows Installer thinks should be > > installed is a *very bad* design. You'll end up in an immediate > > "repair" state that has real potential of creating problems for you all > over the place later. > > > > ...or maybe I just don't really understand the scenario. > > > > On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 7:44 AM, Peter Stein <pst...@instec-corp.com> > > wrote: > > > > > I'm not attempting to upgrade anything. I'm trying to use this > > > mechanism to solve a problem with feature set installation (which I > > > described in another email). > > > > > > Basically my installer users can choose between 2 features in a > > > dialog. The problem is that the dialog choice is not available at > > > the time of CostFinalize and it doesn't seem possible to re-sequence > > > the UI standard actions. So simply modifying ADDLOCAL does not work. > > > > > > The relationship between these 2 features is that one is a subset of > > > the other. So two possible strategies may work: 1. Install the > > > subset and possibly add the other files, OR 2. Install the superset and > subtract (i.e. > > > remove files). When I discovered the post that contained "RemoveFiles" > > > I was hopeful that usage of "Remove" elements might lend itself > > > towards a solution based on the 2nd strategy. But based on your > > > email I appear to be barking up the wrong tree. > > > > > > It looks like it will be necessary to resort to a very ugly kludge, > > > namely including a helper exe in the installer that will remove the > > unwanted files. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Wilson, Phil [mailto:phil.wil...@invensys.com] > > > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 7:10 PM > > > To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > > > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] RemoveExistingProducts doesn't work in 3.5 > > > > > > There's a lot of other stuff that needs doing for upgrades to work, > > > and you haven't said if you actually have it, such as upgrade > > > specifications in your WiX. > > > > > > I'd look at all your FindRelatedProducts actions in your install to > > > see if they report anything about finding older versions of your > product. > > > > > > It's also not obvious that this is a solution to your problem, > > > whatever it is. During an upgrade the state of files being installed > > > or removed is about whether they have the same component guids or not. > > > In the scenario where RemoveExistingProducts after InstallFinalize > > > works, look at it something like this as a general flow guide: > > > > > > Every file in your original install has a guid associated with it. > > > > > > All the files in your upgrade where you want to replace the old file > > > with your new file need the same component guid. > > > > > > The upgrade install runs. Every file gets replaced, based on file > > > version rules where applicable. Where the component guids are > > > identical the ref count on that guid increments from 1 to 2. > > > > > > At the end the RemoveExistingProducts runs. It will look at each > > > file's guid and decrement the ref count. If it goes from 2 to 1 the > > > file will not be removed (it's in use by the product you just > > > installed). If the ref count on a guid goes down to zero then > > > nothing is using > > it. So it gets removed. > > > > > > If you don't want filexyz.exe in the product then just don't put it > > > in your upgrade. Once you get the upgrade really working with > > > RemoveExistingProducts, if it's not being removed then something > > > else is going on (clobbered ref counts, marked permanent etc). > > > > > > Phil Wilson > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Peter Stein [mailto:pst...@instec-corp.com] > > > Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 4:40 PM > > > To: 'WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net' > > > Subject: [WiX-users] RemoveExistingProducts doesn't work in 3.5 > > > > > > I based my code on this: > > > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3287626/wix-installer-remove-file > > > s- > > > on-uninstall-but-not-on-upgrade > > > > > > I saw no complaints about the suggested answer so I assumed it worked. > > > But when I adapted to my code it does nothing. > > > In product.wxs: > > > > > > <InstallExecuteSequence> > > > <RemoveExistingProducts > > > After='InstallFinalize'>1</RemoveExistingProducts> > > > </InstallExecuteSequence> > > > > > > And in my main installation directory I added: > > > > > > <Component Id="RemoveFilesComponent" > > > Guid="A749202E-E09A-4DED-B205-337B0E7FB736"> > > > <RemoveFile Id="R1" On="both" Name="filexyz.exe"/> > > > </Component> > > > > > > The installer runs and completes without error or warnings, but > > > filexyz.exe is not removed. As an experiment I tried "*.*", but that > > > didn't remove anything neither. > > > The msi.log shows RemoveExistingProducts being invoked, but it > > > doesn't remove anything. > > > > > > What am I missing? > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. > > > Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. > > > Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. > > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey > > > _______________________________________________ > > > WiX-users mailing list > > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > > > > > *** Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any associated or > > > attached files, is intended solely for the individual or entity to > > > which it is addressed. This e-mail is confidential and may well also > > > be legally privileged. 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Come on, we don't ask for help often. > > > Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. > > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey > > > _______________________________________________ > > > WiX-users mailing list > > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. > > Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. > > Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. > Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. > Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. > Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. > Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > -- virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. 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