[wix-users] Upgrade Related Questions

[Edwin Castro]

On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 4:59 AM, Joseph L. Casale via wix-users <
wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf
> Of Ven H via wix-users
> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 5:33 AM
> To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
> Cc: Ven H <venh.123 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [wix-users] Upgrade Related Questions
>
> > I am completely new to WiX and trying to learn it from scratch. I am
> > now struggling with Upgrades. I am going through the Firegiant
> > tutorials, but I am not able to understand Upgrades clearly from that.
> > I need clear understanding of Major, Minor and Patch upgrades with
> > clear cut examples. Can anyone please help?
>
> Read http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/
> howtos/updates/major_upgrade.html
> and https://www.firegiant.com/wix/tutorial/upgrades-and-modularization,
> then post any specific questions.


I understand the Windows Installer documentation is huge and difficult to
read but that really is your first stop for understanding how the Windows
Installer works.

For Patching and Upgrades in general, see
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa370579.aspx

For Major Upgrades specifically, see
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa369786.aspx

Remember that WiX is just an authoring tool for creating Windows Installer
packages. You really need to understand how Windows Installer works to use
WiX effectively.

The root page for the Windows Installer documentation is
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/cc185688.aspx

While the examples the Windows Installer documentation are not WiX
specific, I found them to be helpful in understanding how everything
worked:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa372837.aspx

"An Upgrade Example" might be helpful:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa367564.aspx

When I was first learning, I worked through implementing the examples using
WiX. That experience really helped me understand because I needed to
translate what I was reading in the Windows Installer documentation into
the equivalent syntax in WiX. I think everybody using WiX should go through
that experience. There really is no better teacher than hands-on learning.

--
Edwin G. Castro