I’ve a project targeting wix 3.7, using VS2013 with a VSO repository. When I add files to a project using “Add As Link”, the build fails with “cannot find the file”. E.g. in the wxs file, I have:
<Icon Id="ArpIcon" SourceFile="Images\favicon.ico"/>
The source file is in a folder outside of the project, and is already checked into VSO. When I build, the error in the Output includes:
… error LGHT0103: The system cannot find the file
'Images\favicon.ico'.
If the file is included directly (i.e. not as a link), then no problem.
Wix Tips & Tricks seems to suggest wix understands linked files. Any ideas on what am I missing?
I've just figured out that if I also change the SourceFile attribute to the real file location rather than where the link appears in the project structure, then it will build. So, with the wixproj line reading as
<Content Include="..\..\_Cobranded Common\Images\favicon.ico">
<Link>Images\favicon.ico</Link>
</Content>
and matching the wxs line to it as
<Icon Id="ArpIcon" SourceFile="..\..\_Cobranded Common\Images\favicon.ico"/>
it now builds.
Would be interested to hear if there's a simpler or more intuitive solution.
Related
I am trying to obfuscate bunch of files in a directory and every build there are more and more files being generated. I would like to know if there is a way I can dynamically create the Dotfuscator configuration xml file using a MSBUILD task that will generate the xml file every time there is a new file added to the directory?
This might be a good time to use the Directory input. Rather than representing a single assembly (.exe or .dll), this type of Dotfuscator input captures all the assemblies in a directory. When the contents of the directory change, Dotfuscator's build will automatically pick up any new assemblies.
To make a Dotfuscator config file with a Directory input, open the GUI and add an input as you normally would (directions for Community Edition's GUI and for Professional Edition's standalone GUI), but instead of selecting a file from the Browse... dialog, just navigate to the directory and click "Open" while the "File name" is still listed as "Folder Select". Then, save your configuration.
From now on, whenever you run Dotfuscator (whether from the standalone GUI, the command line, the Visual Studio integration, or the MSBuild task), all assemblies in the directory will be processed as input.
Note: If you look at the config file itself, you might be surprised that it will still list individual assemblies:
<input>
<loadpaths />
<asmlist>
<package refid="19e1b0c5-7221-476f-af4b-bafef68edc95">
<file dir="C:\code\BasicTestApp\BasicTestApp\bin" name="Debug" />
<asmlist>
<inputassembly refid="a6da5d8d-c181-4103-840d-d8cc7c85937a">
<option>honoroas</option>
<option>stripoa</option>
<option>transformxaml</option>
<file dir="" name="BasicTestApp.exe" />
</inputassembly>
<inputassembly refid="df84dad0-fbe8-49ab-b8c8-9fb59e706785">
<option>honoroas</option>
<option>stripoa</option>
<option>library</option>
<option>transformxaml</option>
<file dir="" name="ClassLibrary.dll" />
</inputassembly>
</asmlist>
</package>
</asmlist>
</input>
Despite this layout, Dotfuscator will process all assemblies in the C:\code\BasicTestApp\BasicTestApp\bin\Debug directory when it runs a build based off this config file, not just those two listed.
The assembly elements in the config are just there so that you can still make rules against individual assemblies in the GUI (e.g., to make one assembly be in Library Mode).
The list represents the state of the directory when the GUI last modified the config.
Disclaimer: I work for the Dotfuscator team, and am answering this question as part of my job.
Additional note due to clarification in the comments: the directory package has a feature where you can exclude certain assemblies from obfuscation. These assemblies will be treated as a Package Artifact and just copied from input-to-output without modification. Any obfuscated assemblies that refer to these excluded assemblies will still be processed correctly.
To do this in the GUI, right-click on the assembly within the package, and select "Exclude assembly from package". Or, if you'd prefer to edit the config file, add the following <option> tag as a child of each relevant <inputassembly> tag:
<option>artifact</option>
The latest Dotfuscator version 4.41.1 has the latest flag
true
This will generate the Dotfuscator config file if the file is missing. Also you can add this to the csproj as documented in the latest getting started guide https://www.preemptive.com/dotfuscator/pro/userguide/en/getting_started_protect.html
I am trying to make changes to the WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.cpp and generate a dll as per the suggestion from this link. I have downloaded the wix310-debug source and am modifying the file present under wix310-debug\src\ext\BalExtension\wixstdba\ location. There is a wixstdba.vcxproj file under this location which I am trying to open using Visual Studio 2012. Whenever I try to do that I get the error:
Unable to read the project file "wixstdba.vcxproj". The imported project "C:\tools\WixBuild.props" was not found.
I am not sure what should I do to correct this. Also, based on the referenced link, I think I am updating the correct file but let me know if that is not the case. Any help in this would be great. Thanks in advance.
In your vcxproj there's a line like this:
<Import Project="$([MSBuild]::GetDirectoryNameOfFileAbove($(MSBuildProjectDirectory), wix.proj))\tools\WixBuild.targets" />
The debug source isn't really the source of wix. It includes all the wix source files but it is not really buildable. This zip has all the built pdbs and is used to debug only.
You want to download the wix source from wixtoolset's github so that you can build wixstdba. But, this is for version 3.10.3 currently and may have some version specific changes but I don't see anything that would be an issue using the dll built here against wix 3.10.2 since the engine and bootstrapper application interfaces should have remained the same.
But, you should be able to build all this with only the WixStdBA project. You will have to copy over the wixstdba folder. Edit the vcxproj and remove the import line mentioned above (it should be near the bottom).
Now, add this project to your a new solution or your installer solution in visual studio. We need to add addition include and library directories. All these include directories will be in your wix install location (default C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.10) In Properties -> C/C++ -> General -> additional include directories add your wix SDK include path. If you are using visual studio 2013 you can use the full path or you can use "$(WIX)\SDK\vs2013\inc". $(WIX) should reference the WIX environment variable which points to the install directory which is added when installing wix. This should be the better option if you will be building on a build system with wix installed since the location may be different across machines.
Now for addition library directories, we go to the Properties -> Linker -> General -> Additional Library Directoryes and add in the correct lib path. If you are using visual studio 2013 you want to put in $(WIX)\SDK\vs2013\lib\x86. Finally we need to reference the libs that are needed to build the bootstrapper dll. Under Linker -> Input -> Additional Dependencies, add in "dutil.lib;balutil.lib". My additional dependencies has a lot more stuff and I don't remember if it was by default there. Here's my Additional Dependencies in full anyways
dutil.lib;balutil.lib;advapi32.lib;comctl32.lib;comdlg32.lib;gdi32.lib;gdiplus.lib;kernel32.lib;msimg32.lib;odbc32.lib;odbccp32.lib;ole32.lib;oleaut32.lib;shell32.lib;shlwapi.lib;user32.lib;uuid.lib;wininet.lib;winspool.lib;version.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)
With this you should be able to build the wixstdba project and get a dll built. Without editing any code this should be the exact same as the wix included wixstdba.dll.
You could try referencing this dll instead of the wix included one (have to define your own BootstrapperApplication instead of using the BootstrapperApplicationRef to one of the wix ones) or just drop in this dll into your wix location's bin.
This seems like a simple question, but I can't find it documented anywhere.
I'd like to add a ReadMe.txt file to the zipped binary archive in my MonoDevelop Packaging project.
I tried this:
<Package name="Linux Binaries">
<Builder targetFile="..\script-keeper-bin-linux.zip" platform="Linux" configuration="Release" ctype="BinariesZipPackageBuilder">
<ChildEntries>
<SolutionItemReference path="..\Keeper.OfScripts\Keeper.OfScripts.csproj" />
<!-- ************************************** -->
<!-- This is where I tried to add the file. -->
<SolutionItemReference path="..\Keeper.OfScripts\ReadMe.txt" />
</ChildEntries>
<ExcludedFiles>
<File>Keeper.OfScripts,ProgramFiles,System.Web.Mvc.dll</File>
</ExcludedFiles>
<RootEntry path="..\Keeper.OfScripts.sln" id=":root:" />
</Builder>
</Package>
But nothing got added (the package did build correctly, but it omitted the ReadMe.txt file).
Is this is same syntax as an MSBuild file? Either way, I can't find anything that helps.
Thanks.
Update:
Well, I thought I set the build-action to Content and properties to Copy to Output Directory for ReadMe.txt, but I didn't. If you set those things, then the file will be included in your package.
Doing so also checks the Include in deploy box in the file's property window.
The way packaging projects work is somewhat strange. The format is not currently compatible with MSBuild, despite the file header. Essentially, a packaging project only includes projects - the list of included projects can be edited in the package options. The files that are included from each project are controlled using the property grid when the files are selected in the solution tree. When the packaging project is built, it can generate several different kinds of package, but they all have the same sources.
I'm using Visual Studio to build my wix file. So far I have one file Product.wxs and it's working for a simple install.
Now I want to add some custom dialogs. I think from the two articles below, I understand how to do it - after I get my environment set up:
http://blog.torresdal.net/2008/10/24/WiXAndDTFUsingACustomActionToListAvailableWebSitesOnIIS.aspx
and
http://www.merlinia.com/mdt/WiXTutorial2.msl
I downloaded the source, and I see 35 *.wxs file in this directory
wix35-sources.zip\src\ext\UIExtension\wixlib
This is where I'm starting to get lost.
Do I need to copy some (only the ones I want to change) or all these files to my Visual Studio Project. Until now, I have been running with none of these source files.
How does my Product.wxs know to use these files? Does it look at local directory first? Or do I have to rebuild some C# modules?
I included these lines in my Product.wxs, and it gave me the user interface at execution time:
<UIRef Id="WixUI_Mondo" />
<UIRef Id="WixUI_ErrorProgressText" />
Thanks,
Neal
Do I need to copy some (only the ones I want to change) or all these files to
my VisualStudio Project. Until now, I have been running with none of these source files.
Since you are already using WixUI_Mondo, I assume you want to customize that UI. Locate WixUI_Mondo.wxs in the wix sources, and copy that to your visual studio project. Rename the file to WixUI_MyCustomUI.wxs and change the UI Id attribute inside the file to Id="WixUI_MyCustomUI". You don't need to copy any other files yet; the dialogs referenced in the copied UI sequence are compiled into the wix tools as resources, so wix "knows" these dialogs by name.
In your product.wxs file, change the UI reference to <UIRef Id="WixUI_MyCustomUI" />. If you now rebuild your setup, the UI should still look exactly as WixUI_Mondo as we haven't customized anything yet.
If that worked, you'll probably want to customize or add a dialog. Again, you can start from an existing dialog by copying it from the wix sources. You'll also have to edit the WixUI_MyCustomUI.wxs file so that it uses your new dialog. Take a look at this other answer I wrote for an example.
How does my Product.wxs know to use
these files? Does it look at local
directory first? Or do I have to
rebuild some C# modules?
You do not have rebuild any C# modules. The only reason you downloaded the wix sources is because the existing UI sequences and dialogs are good examples to start from. In principle you could also ignore the wix sources and write these wxs files for the UI sequence and dialog definitions from scratch.
When you use the command line tools, you combine multiple wxs files by simply passing multiple file arguments and they will be compiled and linked together. If you use wix with visual studio, you just have to add the wxs file to the project. A non-trivial wix setup will typically be defined by many wxs files.
The content of a wxs file can container references to elements in other wxs files through elements such as UIRef, ComponentRef, ComponentGroupRef, DirectoryRef etcetera.
If this is a repeat question, please direct me to the existing solution. I wasn't able to find a matching query.
We currently use InstallShield. I'm attempting to covert a project with 407 files to a WiX3 installation package. I tried using heat.exe to do some of the automation but I get the following warning for almost every file:
c:> heat dir "c:\projectDir\projectA" -gg -ke -template:Product -out "c:\install\projectA\heatOutput"
heat.exe: warning HEAT5150 : Could not harvest data from a file that was expected to be a SelfReg DLL: c:\projectDir\projectA\plugin1.dll. If this file does not support SelfReg you can ignore this warning. Otherwise, this error detail may be helpful to diagnose the failure: Unable to load file: c:\projectDir\projectA\plugin1.dll, error: 126.
Q: Is it normal for this warning to be reported for every file?
If there's a current "How To create/convert to your first WiX install project with many files" tutorial, please point me to it. The key requirement is "with many files".
PS. I know that WiX is designed for incremental install project creation but it would be nice to know if there's an automated way to convert existing install projects.
If there's a current "How To
create/convert to your first WiX
install project with many files"
tutorial, please point me to it. The
key requirement is "with many files"
You can take the msi file generated with installshield, and then decompile it with the dark.exe tool which comes with wix. As you can see in this diagram, dark.exe generates wxs files from a msi file.
You can use it like this:
dark installer.msi decompiled.wxs
See dark /? for more information.
edit: I don't use Votive, but AFAIK it should be able to handle the wxs files generated by dark. Did Votive show you an error?
edit2: wixproj files are just for visual studio and msbuild integration. The core tools don't know or use this format. Simply create a blank wixproj and add the wxs file to it from visual studio.
edit3: You should not compare the size of the wxs file to the msi file size. Like an installshield project file, a wxs does not contain the files to install. It only references them. Your installshield project file is not 70MB large either. If you want to extract the binary files from the MSI, then you should use dark.exe with the -x <path> switch.
Are you trying to extract data from x64 DLL's? That doesn't really work...