[wix-users] Stable (wrt. repair) conditional installation of component based on user selection at install time

[Hoover, Jacob]

Or create separate installers for development vs production....

Assuming a user will never choose the wrong option, or that you can "hide" the option in the MSI from the user is a bad design in my opinion.

-----Original Message-----
From: wix-users [mailto:wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org] On Behalf Of Stephen Oberholtzer via wix-users
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2018 8:33 PM
To: Edwin Castro <egcastr at gmail.com>
Cc: Stephen Oberholtzer <stevie at qrpff.net>; WiX Toolset Users Mailing List <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
Subject: Re: [wix-users] Stable (wrt. repair) conditional installation of component based on user selection at install time

While I can't find any explicit documentation either way, I strongly suspect that the CostFinalize action is scheduled in a "firstSequence"
style (i.e. it is only run inside InstallExecuteSequence if InstallUISequence isn't executed, such as in a silent install.)

One other thing that I'm looking into is if it's possible to create a pair of invisible sub-features with very low priority (say, level=32767)  that are automatically selected when the 'development mode' option is selected; however, I need to better understand what sorts of things can enable/disable a feature for installation, to prevent unintended installation in production mode.

On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 8:20 PM, Edwin Castro <egcastr at gmail.com> wrote:

> I might be wrong here but if you get the UI data in the 
> InstallUISequence, then that data in the form of a property will be 
> used during CostFinalize in the InstallExecuteSequence to determine if 
> the component should be installed or not. Is this not the behavior you're seeing?
>
> You are correct, to make the selection sticky you'll want to use the 
> remember property pattern/idiom. I don't think you have another option 
> there. You can determine if you're doing a major upgrade or not and 
> include that into your conditions in InstallUISequence and InstallExecuteSequence.
>
> --
> Edwin G. Castro
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 4:57 PM Stephen Oberholtzer via wix-users < 
> wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:
>
>> I seek advice on how to manage a messy situation.
>>
>> I have a component (a file) that is shared by two features.   At
>> installation time, the user specifies whether they are doing a 
>> "development" or "production" installation. (This is done in one of 
>> three
>> ways: (1) by setting a property when running the installer, (2) 
>> placing a file with a certain name in [SOURCEDIR], or (3) answering a 
>> prompt displayed during the UI sequence.)
>>
>> - For a "development" installation, this component *must* be 
>> installed if either of the two features is enabled.
>>   If, later, the user opts to repair, this component *should* be 
>> reinstalled if missing, but I can't get both that *and* the 
>> never-install-for-production, I can make due.
>>
>> - For a "production" installation, this component *must not* be installed.
>> Doing so could cause the feature to behave in an unpredictable fashion.
>>   If later, the user opts to repair, this component *must not* be 
>> installed.
>>
>> - Note that the features that use this component are not the only two 
>> features in the product.
>>
>> I see one way that the problem could be solved, but there are several 
>> hitches, so I'm wondering if there's a better way.
>>
>> * A component can have a Condition on it, but this Condition is only 
>> evaluated during CostFinalize, which is well before any UI kicks in; 
>> therefore, I would have to create a CA that calls MsiSetComponentState.
>> * To make the dev/prod selection sticky, I could create a registry 
>> key; however, I need the dev/prod selection to *not* be sticky across 
>> major upgrades.  (Also, it's a bit clunky.)
>>
>> --
>> -- Stevie-O
>> Real programmers use COPY CON PROGRAM.EXE
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________________
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>>
>


--
-- Stevie-O
Real programmers use COPY CON PROGRAM.EXE

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