wix - fill edit-control with value from registry - wix

Installer is writting SQL Server's name to registry during installing my service.
And I created a dialog window with edit control where user will type the servername . Now I want to fill this control with value from registry in ChangeMode. And if this registry key is empty to fill with some default name.
How is possible to resolve it?
I tried to put RegistrySearch node into Control node. But it seems to me it's not working..
Any help is appreciated
P.S. Looked some information here: link1. And tried code like:
<Property Id="SERVCONNSTR" Value=".\SQLEXPRESS">
</Property>
<Property Id="CONNSEARCH">
<RegistrySearch Id="servconstr" Root="HKLM"
Key="Software\$(var.Manufacturer)\SERVICE" Name="SQL Server" Type="raw"></RegistrySearch>
</Property>
<SetProperty Id="SERVCONNSTR" Value="CONNSEARCH"
After="AppSearch"><![CDATA[CONNSEARCH AND (!FEATURE1=3 OR !FEATURE2=3 OR !FEATURE3=3)]]></SetProperty>
But I'm still getting .\SQLEXPRESS in edit-control during modifying.
What i'm doing wrong?

Put RegistrySearch into a Property, and tie that property to the Control.

<Property Id="SERVCONNSTR" Value=".\SQLEXPRESS">
</Property>
<Property Id="CONNSEARCH">
<RegistrySearch Id="servconstr" Root="HKLM"
Key="Software\$(var.Manufacturer)\SERVICE" Name="SQL Server" Type="raw"></RegistrySearch>
</Property>
<SetProperty Id="SERVCONNSTR" Value="[CONNSEARCH]"
After="AppSearch">CONNSEARCH</SetProperty>

I don't know why you are using two properties, If you set your property CONNSEARCH with the registrySearch, it'll check the registry and assign it the value found there, if one is present. This happens in the AppSearch phase well before most UI's take place, where your edit box would be. So you shouldn't need to use SetProperty either.
Did you want to fill the registry key with a default value, or your property with a default value?
For the property just fill the Value attribute of the property element that is using a registry search. It'll default to that if nothing is found in registry, as I said above.
It would look like this;
<
<Property Id="CONNSEARCH" Value="DefaultValue">
<RegistrySearch Id="servconstr" Root="HKLM"
Key="Software\$(var.Manufacturer)\SERVICE" Name="SQL Server" Type="raw"></RegistrySearch>
</Property>
After Appsearch your property would be set, and if your control is tied to that property it'll be filled with that value. This will also set your default property value to "DefaultValue" If nothing is in the registry.
To create a default value for the key in the registry, I guess just put a registryKey/RegistryValue element in a component that will always be installed in this scenario, and set that key to your default value if you don't set it anywhere else.
Best

Related

Wix - How to distinguish registry key with no default value from no registry key

Given the following...
<Property Id="TESTSEARCH">
<RegistrySearch Id="LookingForKeyExists"
Root="HKLM"
Key="Software\Classes\.ext"
Type="raw" />
</Property>
... I can get one of three conditions.
The key is not present
The key is present but not set
The key is present and has a value
I would like to be able to tell the difference between the following conditions.
<Condition Message="The extension .ext is missing">
???
</Condition>
<Condition Message="The extension .ext has no default value">
???
</Condition>
But all I've been able to find/figure out is the OR of the two.
<Condition Message="The extension .ext is either missing or does not have a default value">
TESTSEARCH
</Condition>
Can the two separate conditions be distinguished without writing an extension? If so, how?
I don't think it is possible and it looks like Windows Installer limitation, rather than WiX toolset. This original article on MSDN states that explicitly:
Note that it is not possible to use the RegLocator table to check only
for the presence of the key. However, you can search for the default
value of a key and retrieve its value if it is not empty.

'Remember Property' pattern and the property used in RadioButtonGroup

I'm trying to save the property value in registry during setup and read it next time installation is run.
I follow 'Remember property' pattern as described here
It basically works as expected, but I cannot get one scenario working:
I run setup (property gets stored in the registry)
I run setup again without entering property value on command line
I expect value of the property to be read from registry, but it is assigned default value.
I think, I know where is the problem: I have "Value" assigned to the property, while the example I've mentioned above, declares "remembered" property without "Value". In my package, I have to define the value as I use the property in UI element with RadioButtonGroup. If I don't declare Value field of the property, I get compilation error:
error LGHT0204 : ICE34: Property LOCATION (of RadioButtonGroup control LocationSelection.InstallationLocation) is not defined in the Property Table.
Can anybody give me a hint how to manage it?
Here is solution draft:
Custom actions to fill properties
<CustomAction Id='SaveCmdLineValueLocation' Property='CMDLINE_LOCATION'
Value='[LOCATION]' Execute='firstSequence' />
<CustomAction Id='SetFromCmdLineValueLocation' Property="EFFECTIVE_LOCATION"
Value='[CMDLINE_LOCATION]' Execute='firstSequence' />
<CustomAction Id='SetFromRegValueLocation' Property="EFFECTIVE_LOCATION"
Value='[REG_LOCATION]' Execute='firstSequence' />
Execute sequence that assignes EFFECTIVE_LOCATION either from registry or msiexec command line:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action='SaveCmdLineValueLocation' Before='AppSearch'>
LOCATION
</Custom>
<Custom Action='SetFromCmdLineValueLocation' After='AppSearch'>
CMDLINE_LOCATION
</Custom>
<Custom Action='SetFromRegValueLocation' After='AppSearch'>
REG_LOCATION AND (NOT CMDLINE_LOCATION)
</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
Properties declaration:
<!-- Property used on command-line. -->
<Property Id="LOCATION" Secure="yes">
</Property>
<!-- Property used finally with ReadioButtonGroup. It must have Value assigned (required when used with RadioButtonGroup -->
<Property Id="EFFECTIVE_LOCATION" Value="OFFICE" Secure="yes">
</Property>
<!-- Read previous value from registy (from recent installation) -->
<Property Id="REG_LOCATION" Secure="yes">
<RegistrySearch Id="loc" Root="HKLM" Key="SOFTWARE\Company\Product" Type="raw" Name="LOCATION" Win64='yes'>
</RegistrySearch>
</Property>

Custom action to set a property after a failed RegistrySearch is not running

The aim is that if the value isn't found in the registry then I want to assign a default value and then have that value display as the default value in a field in the installer UI. The default value I actually want to use is [ComputerName] but obviously I can't use [ComputerName] directly in the property value attribute because it will give me errors on compiling, specifically:
warning CNDL1077: The 'MYPROPERTY' Property contains '[ComputerName]'
in its value which is an illegal reference to another property. If
this value is a string literal, not a property reference, please
ignore this warning. To set a property with the value of another
property, use a CustomAction with Property and Value attributes.
I want to get it working with plain text before I even try [ComputerName] but so far I can't even get that working.
In my project I have a Product.wxs file which contains the Product element, lots of custom actions (most of which are running fine but they're all running significantly later) and the following elements which are not cooperating and which are all siblings under the Product element.
Property definition and registry search:
<Property Id="MYPROPERTY" Value="ADefaultValue">
<RegistrySearch Id="MyProperty" Type="raw" Root="HKLM" Win64="$(var.Win64)"
Key="Software\MyCompany\MyApplication" Name="MyProperty" />
</Property>
Custom action definition:
<CustomAction Id="SetMyPropertyDefault" Property="MYPROPERTY" Value="MyCustomValue" Execute="immediate"/>
Custom action execution:
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="SetMyPropertyDefault" After="AppSearch"><![CDATA[MYPROPERTY="ADefaultValue"]]></Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>
It just will not work for me at all.
For the custom element content I have tried:
<Custom Action="SetMyPropertyDefault" After="AppSearch"><![CDATA[MYPROPERTY="ADefaultValue"]]></Custom>
<Custom Action="SetMyPropertyDefault" After="AppSearch">1</Custom> // I thought this would always run the custom action.
<Custom Action="SetMyPropertyDefault" After="AppSearch">NOT MYPROPERTY</Custom> // Back when I wasn't using the default value on the property at all.
The result is always the same, I'm still getting "ADefaultValue" showing up in the UI, never the alternate "MyCustomValue".
According to every blog and SO post I've seen I'm doing exactly what I should be doing except clearly I'm missing something.
Any ideas?
UPDATE/Answer:
The piece of information that I was missing which was provided by #sutarmin-anton was that InstallUISequence runs before InstallExecuteSequence (seems counter-intuitive to me but there you go).
But as it happened I didn't need to explicitly duplicate the custom action call in each of the install sequence elements, instead I used the SetProperty element.
So now I've got the following in my Product.wxs as children of the Product element:
<Property Id="MYPROPERTY">
<RegistrySearch Id="MyProperty" Type="raw" Root="HKLM" Win64="$(var.Win64)" Key="Software\MyCompany\MyApplication" Name="MyProperty" />
</Property>
<SetProperty Id="MYPROPERTY" After="AppSearch" Value="[ComputerName]">NOT MYPROPERTY</SetProperty>
It now runs the SetProperty after AppSearch in both InstallUISequence and InstallExecuteSequence, but the second time it runs the NOT MYPROPERTY will come out false so it doesn't get reset, and of course if it's run in quiet mode it'll still work correctly.
When you going through installer UI, installation is in InstallUISequence. InstallExecuteSequence runs after all UI events. This is cause of you have not seen "MyCustomValue". To change your property before UI sequence you should place your custom action in "InstallUISequence".
By the way, why don't you set default value of your property to "MyCustomValue"? Then, if AppSearch wont find value in regisrty, it just leave default value that you are trying to set manually.
You may be overcomplicating things. The MYPROPERTY value will not be set at all if you don't set a default. So then you call your CA to set it if 'NOT MYPROPERTY'
I see that you've tried this, and I'd say it's the correct approach that I'd try to diagnose rather than try something else. A verbose log would be invaluable. Do a:
msiexec /i [path to msi] /l*vx [path to a text log file]
and see what CA is called, what AppSearch does, property values etc.
Your original comment of "I can't use [ComputerName] - if that's the problem why not tell us what happened and maybe there is a solution that doesn't require all this. What's the compile error, for example?

WiX File Search Conditional

I have a WiX installer project that I'm creating where I'd like the installer to check to see if another application is already installed on the user's machine. If it is, then I'd like to set the install level of one of the features to "1", otherwise it should remain hidden (i.e. install level = 0). To find out where the application is installed, I first do a registry search:
<Property Id="MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER">
<RegistrySearch Id='InstallPathRegistry'
Type='raw'
Root='HKLM'
Key='SOFTWARE\SomeLongAppPath' Name='FileName'
Win64='yes'/>
</Property>
You'll notice that the registry value that I end up getting is actually the directory of the installed application including the actual program name with extension (let's say myapp.exe). So, once I get the full path of the installed application, I check to see if the file exists:
<Property Id="MYAPPINSTALLED">
<DirectorySearch Id="CheckFileDir" Path="[MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER]" AssignToProperty="yes">
<FileSearch Id="CheckFile" Name="myapp.exe" />
</DirectorySearch>
</Property>
Now, what I would expect to see is that if the file actually exists in that location, then the Property called "MYAPPINSTALLED" would be set to 1, otherwise it would be 0. Then, when I setup my features I use something like this:
<Feature Id="ThirdPartyPlugins" Title="Third Party Plugins" Level="0">
<Condition Level="1">MYAPPINSTALLED</Condition>
<ComponentGroupRef Id="MyAppPlugin" />
</Feature>
However, when I run my installer the third party plugin feature is always hidden. I've enabled msi datalogging by setting the property like this:
<Property Id="MsiLogging" Value="voicewarmupx"/>
And when I check the log file I can definitely see that the MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER property gets changed to the correct file path when it does the registry search. However, if I search the log for the property MYAPPINSTALLED, then I can see the following:
AppSearch: Property: MYAPPINSTALLED, Signature: CheckFileDir
Action ended 15:55:06: AppSearch. Return value 1.
So, it looks like it worked, however it doesn't seem to ever set the Property to equal the search value. Am I doing something wrong? Can someone explain why my feature install level never gets set to 1 even though the application file exists?
Edit
Ok, after more debugging... I think the issue is that the directory search is trying to use a path that includes the file name and extension (i.e. C:/Program Files/MyApp/myapp.exe") instead of just the directory where the file comes from. This is because the registry search has the full path including the file name stored (but not just the install directory). If I do a directory search just using the correct absolute directory (not using the registry search) then the process works. So, my follow up question is... my Property MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER contains the full path with file name and extension. Is there a way to strip the file name and extension from this property so that I just have the proper directory name to search for?
You're checking to see if another application is installed but that's rather a long way around. Also, the file search returns a path, not zero or 1, but either way a full verbose log should tell you if the properties are being set. It might help if you could post the entire log somewhere rather than the parts you think are the only relevant ones. e.g. There's probably an AppSearch in the execute sequence for silent installs.
It's requently easier to do a single search for other applications that were installed with MSI packages in these ways:
If you know the other product's UpgradeCode (and version ranges if applicable) then add Upgrade/UpgradeVersion elements with onlydetect set to yes, and that search will set a property if the product is detected.
If you know (or can find out) the Component id of any of the relevant components from that other product, then you can use them in a WiX ComponentSearch. If you get the target property set then that component is installed. This post contains a couple of ways to find out component guids:
How to find out which application requires a certain assembly from GAC?
It's also puzzling that the AppSearch log extract you posted only refers to one property. The Directory/FileSearch is also an AppSearch, so if the MSI actually contains two searches in AppSearch there should be references to all the properties being set. Again, that's a reason to post the entire log and look in the MSI file for those searches. The RegLocator search is documnented to occur before the DRLocator, so why is there no MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER property in the AppSearch log entry? You're not on a 32-bit system are you? (noticing the win64 search).
Per the WiX documentation:
Use the AssignToProperty attribute to search for a file but set the outer property to the directory containing the file. When this attribute is set to yes, you may only nest a FileSearch element with a unique Id or define no child element [of the DirectorySearch].
I added the text in the brackets to make it more clear.
So, after reading this sentence a few times and cross referencing your WiX XML, I think I see what the problem is with your current WiX XML. You perform a separate registry search from the directory search. Instead, you should nest these. There are two ways to perform the search, depending on what you want to do. One way is to simply retrieve the registry value from the registry, and if the value exists, then you make the assumption that the feature's required application is installed, at which point you appropriately set a property that would enable hiding/showing the feature within your installer's feature selection tree. The other way is to actually find the file you're interested in, using the results of the registry search as the basis for the file search.
Below is the XML for just a registry search, which doesn't check that the file actually exists on disk. You're making the assumption that if this registry value exists, the file is installed and available.
<Property Id="MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER">
<RegistrySearch Id='InstallPathRegistry'
Type='raw'
Root='HKLM'
Key='SOFTWARE\SomeLongAppPath' Name='FileName'
Win64='yes'/>
</Property>
<Property Id="SHOW_APP_FEATURE" Value="hidden" />
<SetProperty Id="SHOW_APP_FEATURE" Value="collapse" Sequence="both" After="CostFinalize">
<!-- If MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER is defined and contains any non-empty value, this
evaluates to TRUE; otherwise, it evaluates to FALSE.
-->
MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER
</SetProperty>
<!-- You could also be more explicit:
<SetProperty Id="SHOW_APP_FEATURE" Value="collapse" Sequence="both" After="CostFinalize">
<![CDATA[MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER <> ""]]>
</SetProperty>
-->
<Feature Id="MyAwesomeFeature" Title="My Awesome App Feature"
Display="[SHOW_APP_FEATURE]">
... <!-- Component/ComponentRefs go here -->
</Feature>
If you want to ensure that, even if the registry value exists in the registry, that the file it points to is 1) actually a file path; and 2) that the file actually exists on disk, then you need to perform a nested file search within a directory search, which itself is nested within a registry search. You would again need to use a SetProperty custom action to set a property that would enable the hiding/showing of the feature within your installer's feature selection tree. Here's the XML for this search:
<!-- Performing a FileSearch nested within a DirectorySearch,
which is itself nested within a RegistrySearch
This search twill ensure that the file exists on disk, and
if so, assign the full filename and path to the
MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER property.
-->
<Property Id="MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER">
<RegistrySearch Id='InstallPathRegistry'
Type='raw'
Root='HKLM'
Key='SOFTWARE\SomeLongAppPath' Name='FileName'
Win64='yes'>
<DirectorySearch Id='InstallPathDirectory' AssignToProperty='yes'>
<FileSearch Id='InstallPathFile' Name='myapp.exe' />
</DirectorySearch>
</RegistrySearch>
</Property>
<Property Id="SHOW_APP_FEATURE" Value="hidden" />
<SetProperty Id="SHOW_APP_FEATURE" Value="collapse" Sequence="both" After="CostFinalize">
<!-- If MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER is defined and contains any non-empty value, this
evaluates to TRUE; otherwise, it evaluates to FALSE.
-->
MYAPPINSTALLFOLDER
</SetProperty>
<Feature Id="MyAwesomeFeature" Title="My Awesome App Feature"
Display="[SHOW_APP_FEATURE]">
... <!-- Component/ComponentRefs go here -->
</Feature>
This should allow you to accomplish what you're trying to achieve.

How can I have a WiX Property default to null?

I am working on a set of WiX installers that are going to share a common form. Every application needs the values set, but they are going to be different for each application.
I am trying to allow for the properties (which are linked to controls) to have a default value (or not) and to allow for the property values to be set via command line.
in my "SharedDialog.wxs" I have:
<Fragment>
<PropertyRef Id="PROP1"/>
<PropertyRef Id="PROP2"/>
<UI>
<Dialog Id="SharedDialog" Width="370" Height="270" Title="[ProductName]">
<Control Type="Edit" Id="1" Property="PROP1" Wid... Indirect="no" />
<Control Type="CheckBox" Id="2" Property="PROP2" Wid...
CheckBoxValue="1" Indirect="no"/>
</Dialog>
</Fragment>
In a file for the application specific project:
<Fragment>
<Property Id="PROP1" Value="Test"/>
<Property Id="PROP2" Value="1"/>
</Fragment>
This all works for what I am trying to do, but the problem is that when I want to clear the values as so: (so they don't have a default)
<Fragment>
<Property Id="PROP1"/>
<Property Id="PROP2"/>
</Fragment>
I get this error:
Unresolved reference to symbol 'Property:PROP1' in section 'Fragment:'.
Unresolved reference to symbol 'Property:PROP2' in section 'Fragment:'.
WiX also will not let you set value to "". The problem is that as far I can tell the checkbox will always be checked if the property has a value. How can I set the property "PROP2" to "null"?
You can undefine an existing property by setting it equal to an empty string wrapped in braces like this: PROPERTY = {} in a set property custom action. This means the property doesn't exist, it is not an empty string. See the explanation here.
For properties to be available from the command line they must be PUBLIC - they are the properties that are all UPPERCASE.
Setting PUBLIC PROPERTIES secure means they can be passed from the client to the server installation process which is required for properties that are used in deferred mode custom actions. Technically this adds them to the list of SecureCustomProperties.
You can give PUBLIC PROPERTIES a default value in the Property table, and then set other values from the command line. The command line overrides the defaults:
msiexec.exe /I "C:\Test.msi" /QN /L*V "C:\log.log" TEST="MyValue" TEST2="MyValue"
See more info:
How to set a check box to "unchecked" from the msiexec command line?
Nevermind, I found the solution:
<Fragment>
<Property Id="PROP1" Secure="yes"/>
<Property Id="PROP2" Secure="yes"/>
</Fragment>