in our WiX 3.8 project (creating an MSI) , we'd like to have new languages like es-es, fr-fr, ru-ru, etc.
After adding the files and building I get the following error multiple times saying that the variable is not defined:
"1>C:\src\wix38\src\ext\UtilExtension\wixlib\UtilExtension.wxs(54,0): error LGHT0102: The localization variable !(loc.msierrXmlFileFailedRead) is unknown. Please ensure the variable is defined."
Same error for those variables also: !(loc.msierrXmlFileFailedOpen), !(loc.msierrXmlFileFailedSelect), !(loc.msierrXmlFileFailedSave), !(loc.msierrSecureObjectsFailedCreateSD), !(loc.msierrSecureObjectsFailedSet), !(loc.msierrSecureObjectsUnknownType)
So I created a modified version of WiX. I downloaded the sources and added the corresponding language files (fr-fr.wxl, es-es.wxl, etc) into that folder: \src\ext\UtilExtension\wixlib
I also changed \src\ext\UtilExtension\wixlib\UtilExtension.wixproj so that it includes those files.
Then I built everything successfully, copied the new files into wix installation directory, restarted visual studio and built again - with exactly the same error.
What did I do wrong?!
Btw: I found a workaround by referencing the new language files (fr-fr.wxl etc) in the wixproj file, but I don't see this as a final solution.
Any help is appreciated!
As a solution can be downloaded en-us.wxl language file and modify it any references to your language indicated cultures.
Repository with extension WXL files: https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix3/tree/develop/src/ext/UtilExtension/wixlib
In light pass control these parameters with the path of your file with translation strings: light -ext WixUIExtension -ext WixUtilExtension -ext WixFirewallExtension -cultures:pt-br -loc D:\pt-br.wxl ...
I had/have the same problem, some googling turned up that the extensions aren't all translated yet.
I faced the same problem, and maybe my solution will be userfull to somebody.
There is no localization to this variables (msierrXmlFileFailedSelect etc) in fr-fr and es-es cultures, that's the key. You need to find files UtilExtension_fr-fr.wxl and UtilExtension_es-es.wxl and include them to your project OR copy the localization of this variables from this .wxl files to localization files in your project.
Related
I am trying to package the binaries of an external application in my installer. This external application is managed by another department. There can be multiple versions installed and in multiple locations (ie Program Files and Program Files (x86)). There is a batch file that can find the latest version installed.
What I am trying to do is to dynamically define a preprocessor that matches the location of this external app.
Here is how I proceed.
In the Pre-build Event Command Line of the wix project, I call a batch file.
This batch file finds the path to the external app (ie C:\Program Files (x86)\Foo company\Bar program v3.4) and saves it in an environment variable (%EXTERNAL_APP_PATH%).
Then I call heat with: call "%WIX%bin\heat.exe" dir "%EXTERNAL_APP_PATH%" -cg ExternalAppBinaryFiles -dr INSTALLBINDIR -sreg -srd -var var.ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir -ag -sfrag -out "heat_generated.wxs"
Then I generate a custom file heat_var_ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir.wxs whose content looks like the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<?define ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Foo company\Bar program v3.4" ?>
</Wix>
When building the project, I get the following error: heat_generated.wxs(6,0): error CNDL0150: Undefined preprocessor variable '$(var.ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir)'.
I was expecting that file heat_var_ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir.wxs which define this preprocessor variable would be sufficient for the heat generated file. Mostly because I do include heat_var_ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir.wxs in my project files.
My understanding is that heat generated files only resolves preprocessor variables from "global preprocessor variables" defined in the project properties (under Build section, label "Define preprocessor variables").
If I define this preprocessor variable as ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\Foo company\Bar program v3.4 in the project properties, the solution builds with no error.
However, I do have to hardcode the path which is the opposite of "dynamically find the path of my application".
A possible solution would be to add a custom include file (*.wxi) in the generated heat file. Is there a way to force my heat generated file to include another file? This way I could generate a custom include file with the preprocessor variable defined.
Maybe I am not using heat as intended. If I omit the -var var.ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir part in the command line, the Source attribute of <File> elements are prefixed with SourceDir\.
The result is a build fail with the following error: error LGHT0103: The system cannot find the file 'SourceDir\myapp.exe'.
Is there a way to have absolute paths for Source attributes in a heat generated file?
I would like to keep the process as lite as possible for people that build the installer. For example, double-click the solution file in File Explorer, the solution opens in Visual Studio, right-click the Wix setup project and select Build.
I have looked at many other wix example. I have not found people that have the same use case as mine. Most use cases hardcode a preprocessor with a relative path to the binaries from the project files. Some suggest to change the arguments to candle.exe/light.exe, but like I said, I build from Visual Studio and does not call light.exe or candle.exe directly.
I suspect that I should be able to specify "search paths" for resolving paths that are prefixed with SourceDir\. Looking at my project properties in Visual Studio, there is a "paths" section, but it is all grayed out. Again, I will need to be able to specify dynamic search paths. The problem is still the same. Also search paths might be problematic if multiple directories have the same filename. This is often problematic when packaging a dll with a standard name.
I am using Visual Studio 2017 and Wix Toolset 3.11.
If you want to use an environment variable as the base for your files, you have a few options. Both MSBuild and WiX provide ways to access environment variables directly:
In MSBuild, environment variables are straight-up available as properties. So you could use $(EXTERNAL_APP_PATH) in your .wixproj and get the path. In particular, you could use it in a DefineConstants property in your .wixproj like:
<PropertyGroup>
<DefineConstants>
$(DefineConstants);
ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir=$(EXTERNAL_APP_PATH)
</DefineConstants>
</PropertyGroup>
In WiX, you can directly reference environment variables in the preprocessor using $(env.EXTERNAL_APP_PATH). That will accomplish the same as the above but without using $(var.ExternalAppBinariesSourceDir) as an intermediary.
The option I would choose is a combination of the above two. I'd use BindPaths (a WiX feature designed to allow you to specify where your files are found) along with the MSBuild support for environment variables by adding the following item to your .wixproj:
<ItemGroup>
<BindInputPath Include="$(EXTERNAL_APP_PATH)" />
</ItemGroup>
Then all the file sources rooted in SourceDir\ will automatically search the list of BindInputPaths from your .wixproj to be found.
The latter option is the most powerful and flexible. But any of the above should get you what you want... assuming you want to use the environment variable. Modifying the above to use an MSBuild property from the command line (or other options) should not be hard either.
In my Visual Studio 2017 solution, I have a WiX 3 setup project that pulls in the output several other projects (libraries, executables, assets, content). Under the directory structure for the solution but not added to the solution as a project, I have a project that compiles some browser extensions using webpack. This webpack project outputs to an artifacts folder with subdirectories for each browser. Inside each subdirectory is the compiled extension with the version number included in the file name like:
artifacts
Chrome
myextension-0.1.0.0.zip
myextension-0.1.0.1.zip
myextension-0.1.0.2.zip
At compile time, ultimately I want to include the files matching the version number i.e. myextension-\$(var.VERSION).zip into the MSI package so it can then be placed into the application folder during installation. Even when I hard-code the version number i.e. myextension-0.1.0.2.zip into the component, I get an error from light:
LGHT0001: The system cannot find the path specified. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070003)
I'm getting the directory with a define like this:
<?define ChromeTargetDir=$(var.SolutionDir)Extensions\artifacts\chrome\?>
And then my component looks like this:
<Component Id="ChromeExt"
Location="local"
Guid="GUID_HERE">
<CreateFolder/>
<File Id="ChromeExtension"
Name="myextension-0.1.0.2.zip"
Source="$(var.ChromeTargetDir)myextension-0.1.0.2.zip"
KeyPath="yes"/>
</Component>
When I look in the wixobj created by candle, I see the full correct path replaced for the file where it resides on my system:
<field>C:\Users\me\source\repos\mysolution\Extensions\artifacts\chrome\myextension-0.1.0.2.zip</field>
So my question is, what is the correct way to include "arbitrary" files in my WiX project?
1) Solution vs Project Dir: The first thing I would try would be to replace $(var.SolutionDir) with $(var.ProjectDir) and try a recompile. I'll follow up if the problem is something else. Let's just rule that out first.
2) Quotes: I also use quotes around my paths:
<?define ChromeTargetDir="C:\Sources\Packages\MyChromeExtension\Files\" ?>
3) Project Variables: And finally you need a reference added to your project for project references and variables to work: WiX: How to use relative path to SolutionDir.
Maybe add: %ProgramFiles (x86)%\WiX Toolset v3.11\bin\WixUIExtension.dll
WiX Documentation: Using Project References and Variables
Obscure: More obscure causes could be lacking access rights (file not seen by the build process and light.exe - running impersonated?). Corrupted file or folder? (try to replace). And whatever else might conspire against you. Locked files?
I am trying to make changes to the WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.cpp and generate a dll as per the suggestion from this link. I have downloaded the wix310-debug source and am modifying the file present under wix310-debug\src\ext\BalExtension\wixstdba\ location. There is a wixstdba.vcxproj file under this location which I am trying to open using Visual Studio 2012. Whenever I try to do that I get the error:
Unable to read the project file "wixstdba.vcxproj". The imported project "C:\tools\WixBuild.props" was not found.
I am not sure what should I do to correct this. Also, based on the referenced link, I think I am updating the correct file but let me know if that is not the case. Any help in this would be great. Thanks in advance.
In your vcxproj there's a line like this:
<Import Project="$([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.
I have switched to WiX version 3.5 for my installer. I have seen that for adding a file we need to define a <Component> entry for each file. This is OK for me.
My application is localized and have defined resource string entries for French and English. The build creates a satellite structure in the /bin folder.
Do I have to add that structure to WiX in a similar way as any other file or is there a more straight way?
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...