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[WiX-devs] [ wix-Feature Requests-932412 ] Include complete directory trees in wxs/msi
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From: SourceForge.net <no...@so...> - 2004-04-21 17:00:38
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Feature Requests item #932412, was opened at 2004-04-09 10:43 Message generated for change (Settings changed) made by robmen You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=642717&aid=932412&group_id=105970 Category: None Group: None >Status: Closed Priority: 5 Submitted By: Gertjan Schuurmans (schuur) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: Include complete directory trees in wxs/msi Initial Comment: It's a real pain to hand-write a wxs file when you want to include really large amounts of files located in numerous subdirectories. Typical examples would be: a web site or a html documentation directory. For every subdirectory you need to add a Directory entry, come up with a nice ID, add a Component, come up with an ever nicer GUID, and add a FileGroup element. I can think of two ways to ease this process: 1. A modification to the Wix linker to scan subdirectories, create Components on the fly and add Files. 2. An extension to the preprocessor to write out the entries in the XML stream before it reaches the compiler. 3. A stand-alone utility to write the entries in your wxs file. The first option will keep your wxs files readable, but the big problem with it is that, for every setup package you build, a set of completely "new" components will be included in your msi file. I'm not sure whether this will cause problems with upgrade packages: but I surely won't bet the house on it. [You can invent a mechanism in which the linker inspects the component ID's of the previously built msi file. That brings back some really horrible experiences with the "binary compatibility" option in Visual Basic 5] The second option would be nice, but it will introduce some really bizarre precompiler directives. The third option will bloat your wxs files, but, other than that, seems to be the way to go. On a sidenote: this can be a very simple tool; I mean, we're talking xml files. Nice bonus will also be that, some day, someone will feel the irresistible urge to add a UI to the tool, and we'll have a better Installshield ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >Comment By: Rob Mensching (robmen) Date: 2004-04-21 10:00 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=991639 Closing and hopefully one of the editor tools for WiX on SourceForge will take off and implement this feature. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Gertjan Schuurmans (schuur) Date: 2004-04-21 05:52 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=95619 Thought about it and I agree with you, this is something to put into separate (even command-line) authoring tool. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Rob Mensching (robmen) Date: 2004-04-21 00:44 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=991639 Respecting the Component Guid's is exactly why this feature has never been added to WiX. I think this is a feature for a higher level authoring environment rather than the core compiler/linker. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Gertjan Schuurmans (schuur) Date: 2004-04-09 10:46 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=95619 The tool should, of course, respect existing Component ID's generated in the wxs file the last time it was run. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=642717&aid=932412&group_id=105970 |
