WiX EmbeddedChainer Examples? - wix

Question

With Windows Installer 4.5, there was a new table added for MsiEmbeddedChainer Table. This table was supposed to allow multiple-package installation. WiX added support for the table by creating the EmbeddedChainer element. I've read the wiki, but are there any examples on how to use the element?
I'm attempting to install a JRE before my program.

Answer 1

Embedded chainers only work after the installer that contained them is installed, and can only install raw .msi files (.msi files with their own bootstrap .exe files cannot be used), so I don't think you'll be able to install the JRE the way you want.

Answer 2

Do the following steps:
Changes in WXS file:
...
<Component DiskId="1" Guid="5CE59096-E197-4694-8DC2-E8EB4601C7C5" Id="CHAINERRUN.EXE">
<File Id="CHAINERRUN.EXE" Name="ChainerRun.exe" Source="..\ClinAppChainers\bin\ChainerRun.exe" />
<File Id="MICROSOFT.DEPLOYMENT.WINDOWSINSTALLER.DLL" Name="Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Windows Installer XML v3.6\SDK\Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll" />
<File Id="MICROSOFT.CSHARP.DLL" Name="Microsoft.CSharp.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\Microsoft.CSharp.dll" />
<File Id="SYSTEM.DLL" Name="System.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\System.dll" />
<File Id="SYSTEM.CORE.DLL" Name="System.Core.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\System.Core.dll" />
<File Id="SYSTEM.XML.DLL" Name="System.Xml.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\System.Xml.dll" />
<File Id="SYSTEM.XML.LINQ.DLL" Name="System.Xml.Linq.dll" Source="C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.0\System.Xml.Linq.dll" />
</Component>
...
<EmbeddedChainer Id="ChainerRun" FileSource="CHAINERRUN.EXE" />
The FileSource is the reference to the File element ID defined in the component
Create a C# project, reference to the file Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll, or create a new WIX "C# Custom action project" then change the output to Console application EXE instead of DLL. The body of the CS file should contain the Main function
ChainerRun.CS
namespace ChainerRun
{
public class CustomActions
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();
try
{
IntPtr ptr = new IntPtr(Convert.ToInt32(args[0], 16));
//ptr = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemAuto(args[0]);
Transaction transaction = Transaction.FromHandle(ptr, true);
transaction.Join(TransactionAttributes.JoinExistingEmbeddedUI);
// Installer.InstallProduct(#"c:\MyOtherApp.msi", argline);
transaction.Commit();
transaction.Close();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
throw e;
}
}
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult CustomAction1(Session session)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();
session.Log("My CustomAction1() begins ...");
}
}

Answer 3

There is a bug in the c# code below: In the line "IntPtr ptr = new IntPtr(Convert.ToInt32(args[0], 16));" the "16" must be a "10"!
Otherwise you will get "bad handle" errors when there are more than 10 transactions (e.g. when there are five or more sub msi's called from the embedded chainer).

Answer 4

The approach to embed the JRE as a package in a multi package transaction is an overkill which unnecessarily complicates maintenance.
There are two reasonable solutions with low maintenance.
Use burn and install the JRE as a separate package in the bundle. Advantage of being able to use a prepared installation such as the ones from Oracle.
The JRE by design is self versioned and requires no registrations or special handling, given that it may be best to include the jre in the main application MSI. This is a practice that I've seen in many professional java-based applications and has the added advantage of easily creating application shortcuts by referencing java.exe directly.