[wix-devs] XML file search

Fri Feb 17 14:49:45 PST 2017

Nir,

I haven't looked at it yet, but I'd encourage you to incorporate it into the Toolset.

Blair

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

From: Nir Bar<mailto:nir.bar at panel-sw.com>
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 1:21 PM
To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List<mailto:wix-devs at lists.wixtoolset.org>
Subject: Re: [wix-devs] XML file search

Just to clarify, my implementation of XML search is native, open source and used in production environments.You can grab it from https://bitbucket.org/nirbar1/panelswwixextension

---- On Fri, 17 Feb 2017 22:36:37 +0200 Edwin Castro<egcastr at gmail.com> wrote ----

So a great deal of documentation that many, if not most, developers
won't read would be required to warn them about the choices they are
making when they want to search XML if the current managed
implementation is selected for inclusion into the WiX Toolset proper.
The reality is that people, developers and customers, will be
surprised by this behavior.

There would be a lot less support issues if the functionality is
simply ported to a native implementation. Nobody will be surprised
when they don't need .NET but WiX installs it on the target system to
use the XML search functionality.

I'll make myself available to help the contributor port the code to
native if additional help is needed.

On Fri, Feb 17, 2017 at 12:15 PM, Christopher Painter <chrpai at iswix.com> wrote:
> I'd argue that you haven't imposed anything. The setup developer made that choice when they chose to use that extension. They can roll their own if they prefer but I don't like taking that choice away from everyone else.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: wix-devs <wix-devs-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org> on behalf of Blair Murri <osito at live.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 1:51 PM
> To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [wix-devs] XML file search
>
> Case in point: a recent client I had is still supporting Windows Server 2008 (pre R2) which is very easily installed without any managed runtime. We can't require adding that system when the product doesn't use it post-installation.
>
>
>
> It's still not ubiquitous. As a platform, we can't impose that requirement.
>
>
>
> Some of us could possibly help migrate code to native, if needs be, to include it. Just ask.
>
>
>
> Blair Murri
>
>
>
> Sent from my Windows 10 phone
>
>
>
> From: Rob Mensching<mailto:rob at firegiant.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 10:05 AM
> To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List<mailto:wix-devs at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> Subject: Re: [wix-devs] XML file search
>
>
>
> You can build managed code Custom Actions if you ensure the correct .NET Framework gets installed. So, managed custom actions in your personal package are possible.
>
> However, from a platform point of view, unless you require customers to ensure they install the .NET Framework before using your platform, taking a dependency on a SxS platform isn't a good platform decision.
>
> Take the very real example, if you built a custom action on .NET Framework v2.0 back when v2.0 was brand new then all those custom action would be failing today because they do not have the legacy bit set to allow them to run on v4.0. So, shipped software that used to work would start failing because the WiX Toolset added code to your package.
>
> Note the same issue exists with the MSVCRT. That is why we statically link with the CRT, so we don't rely on a SxS platform.
>
> That is why .NET Core as a managed platform for Custom Actions is more interesting. It essentially allows one to statically link the CRT. However, where the CRT adds a 100K or so (haven't measured recently) the .NET Core adds ~18MB.
>
> This is why we don't take managed custom actions or custom actions that are dependent on MSVCRT in the core toolset today. They can break through a change from the underlying platform that the underlying platforms explicitly call out as a degree of freedom they may use.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-devs [mailto:wix-devs-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of Christopher Painter
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 3:54 AM
> To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List <wix-devs at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> Subject: Re: [wix-devs] XML file search
>
> Rob,
>
>
> While I understand your point of view, my management at work always pressures me to do something even if it's not perfect. Other tools have had XML Locator patterns for 10+ years now. If the toolset doesn't have the feature the wix-user is likely going to do the very thing that concerns you: Write it themselves, probably in C#/DTF.
>
>
> Personally, I compile my .NET CAs for 2.0 or 3.5 wherever possible and use the CustomAction.Config to tell it to run on whatever. This hasn't bit me yet. Didn't we see a new version of VS that shipped over the years that initially created DLLs that wouldn't run on Windows XP? (Not that I care about XP.. more the point that native can have issues also.)
>
>
> Microsoft seems to change their roadmaps and codenames every few months and I've lost track... what ever happened to .NET Native? I guess that never panned out into a way to write native MSI custom actions.
>
>
> Fyodor- If you take this a step further and build it as a WiX Extension (.DLL/.XSD) I would happily take this as a feature in my IsWiX open source project. I'd write a UI designer also that let the developer author their XML search.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: wix-devs <wix-devs-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org> on behalf of Rob Mensching <rob at firegiant.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:44 PM
> To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [wix-devs] XML file search
>
> That would be very nice. However, do note that we can't take managed code custom actions into the WiX Standard CustomActions. Managed code creates long term dependencies on a platform that may ship side-by-side and can break today's users in the future. That is why all WiX Standard CustomActions are written in native code.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-devs [mailto:wix-devs-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of fyodorkor at gmail.com
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 2:19 PM
> To: WiX Toolset Developer Mailing List <wix-devs at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> Subject: [wix-devs] XML file search
>
> Hi,
> I have added a new feature request to add capability to search in xml file like RegSearch or DirSearch.
>
> I would like to hear opinion if this feature will be welcome and if some developers added this to their setups already.
> We had to implement this in fast mode using .NET custom action and custom table.
>
> I would like to add this to WIX toolset in more professional manner so that every one can use this.
>
> Regards,
> Fyodor Koryazhkin
>
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