[wix-users] Make WiX Project work in Visual Studio & Build Machine
Edwin Castro
egcastr at gmail.com
Mon Dec 30 13:28:25 PST 2019
I have not yet reproduced the problem but I think I had a similar sounding
issue at work with Visual Studio 2015 a few months ago. Here is what I
ended up doing there.
First, I kept the normal definition of WixTargetsPath in the first
PropertyGroup in the .wixproj. Immediately after this first PropertyGroup I
did my custom import. The end of the .wixproj has the normal Import of
$(WixTargetsPath).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="
http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == ''
">Debug</Configuration>
<Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
<ProductVersion>blahblah</ProductVersion>
<ProjectGuid>blahblah</ProjectGuid>
<SchemaVersion>blahblah</SchemaVersion>
<OutputType>Package</OutputType>
<WixTargetsPath Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' AND
'$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)' != ''
">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
<WixTargetsPath Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == ''
">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="path\to\custom\wix\wix.props" Condition="
'$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' AND Exists(' path\to\custom\wix.props ') "/>
...
<Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
<!--
To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets
below and uncomment it.
Other similar extension points exist, see Wix.targets.
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
</Target>
-->
</Project>
In my custom wix.props I declared the properties below. I think I found all
of these properties needed to be defined so that Visual Studio will
properly load the .wixproj. I suspect the wix .targets can be updated to
handle this a little better so that a smaller number of properties need to
be customized as per the current documentation.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="
http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<WixRootDirectory>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)</WixRootDirectory>
<WixBinDirectory>$(WixRootDirectory)bin</WixBinDirectory>
<WixExtensionsDirectory>$(WixBinDirectory)</WixExtensionsDirectory>
<WixSdkDirectory>$(WixRootDirectory)sdk</WixSdkDirectory>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<WixTargetsDirectory>$(WixExtensionsDirectory)</WixTargetsDirectory>
<WixTasksDirectory>$(WixBinDirectory)</WixTasksDirectory>
<LuxTargetsDirectory>$(WixExtensionsDirectory)</LuxTargetsDirectory>
<LuxTasksDirectory>$(WixBinDirectory)</LuxTasksDirectory>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<WixExtDir>$(WixBinDirectory)</WixExtDir>
<WixInstallPath>$(WixBinDirectory)\</WixInstallPath>
<WixToolPath>$(WixInstallPath)</WixToolPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<WixTargetsPath>$(WixTargetsDirectory)\wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
<WixTasksPath>$(WixTasksDirectory)\WixTasks.dll</WixTasksPath>
<LuxTargetsPath>$(LuxTargetsDirectory)\lux.targets</LuxTargetsPath>
<LuxTasksPath>$(LuxTasksDirectory)\LuxTasks.dll</LuxTasksPath>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
The custom wix.props lives in a directory that includes the wix bin and sdk
directories:
path\to\custom\wix\
+-- wix.props
+-- bin\
+-- sdk\
I'd recommend you have a single wix.props file for overriding the wix
properties so that the import at the end of the .wixproj works properly and
import that .props file immediately after WixTargetsPath is defined if it
is still not defined as shown above. This way this single wix.props file
has a single responsibility.
You could then use a second .props or .targets file to import other
customizations at whatever time that makes the most sense.
Please let me know if this strategy works a little better for you. If it
doesn't then please let me know and I'll see about actually reproducing
your setup.
--
Edwin G. Castro
On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 8:55 AM Edwin Castro <egcastr at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Ven,
>
> I think this is not reproducing on Visual Studio 2012. I'll see about
> installing Visual Studio 2019 and try to reproduce your issue there.
>
> --
> Edwin G. Castro
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 8:31 AM Ven H <venh.123 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks a lot for your help, Edwin. Please find the .wixproj and .targets
>> below.
>>
>> *.wixproj*
>>
>> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
>> <Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build"
>> InitialTargets="EnsureWixToolsetInstalled" xmlns="
>> http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
>> <PropertyGroup>
>> <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == ''
>> ">Debug</Configuration>
>> <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
>> <ProductVersion>3.10</ProductVersion>
>> <ProjectGuid>{9ecbe76b-ecc4-4a17-bc8b-f2224421f616}</ProjectGuid>
>> <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
>> <OutputName>My.Custom.MSI</OutputName>
>> <OutputType>Package</OutputType>
>> <PublishDir>..\HeatFolder</PublishDir>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' ==
>> 'Debug|x86' ">
>> <OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
>> <IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
>> <DefineConstants>Debug;HeatFldrPath=$(PublishDir)</DefineConstants>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' ==
>> 'Release|x86' ">
>> <OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
>> <IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
>>
>> <WixVariables>$(FilePath)=$(ProjectDir)HeatFolder;$(PVersion)="1.11.0.111"</WixVariables>
>>
>> <DefineConstants>HeatFldrPath=$(FilePath);ProductVersion=1.11.0.111;BuildNumber=$(BldNum)</DefineConstants>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' ==
>> 'Full-Release|x86' ">
>> <OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
>> <IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
>> <DefineConstants>Release;HeatFldrPath=$(PublishDir)</DefineConstants>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <ItemGroup>
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalCustomActions.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalExitDlg.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalFatalError.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalInstallDlg.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalLicenseAgreementDlg.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalSetupFolderDlg.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalWelcomeDlg.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\GlobalWixUI.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\Product.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\UserFiles.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\UserIIS.wxs" />
>> <Compile Include="Content\UserRegistry.wxs" />
>> </ItemGroup>
>> <ItemGroup>
>> <Folder Include="conf\" />
>> <Folder Include="Content\" />
>> <Folder Include="Images\" />
>> <Folder Include="lib\" />
>> </ItemGroup>
>> <ItemGroup>
>> <Content Include="AppPoolAttrs.xml" />
>> <Content Include="AppPoolUpgradeChanges.xml" />
>> <Content Include="conf\default.yml" />
>> <Content Include="Content\CustomActions.CA.dll" />
>> <Content Include="Content\GlobalProperties.wxi" />
>> <Content Include="Content\License.en-us.rtf" />
>> <Content Include="CustomWix.targets" />
>> <Content Include="Images\Banner.bmp" />
>> <Content Include="Images\DEST.ICO" />
>> <Content Include="Images\dialog.bmp" />
>> <Content Include="Images\dialog_cust.bmp" />
>> <Content Include="Images\dialog_template.bmp" />
>> <Content Include="Images\Exclam.ico" />
>> <Content Include="Images\folder.ico" />
>> <Content Include="Images\folderNew.ico" />
>> <Content Include="Images\New.ico" />
>> <Content Include="Images\warn.ico" />
>> <Content Include="lib\WixIIsExtension.dll" />
>> <Content Include="lib\WixMsmqExtension.dll" />
>> <Content Include="lib\WixUIExtension.dll" />
>> <Content Include="lib\WixUtilExtension.dll" />
>> <Content Include="packages.config" />
>> </ItemGroup>
>> <ItemGroup>
>> <EmbeddedResource Include="Content\en-us.wxl" />
>> </ItemGroup>
>> <Import Project="CustomWiX.Targets"
>> Condition="Exists('CustomWiX.targets')" />
>> <Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' !=
>> '' " />
>> <Import
>> Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets"
>> Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' AND
>> Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets') " />
>> <Target Name="EnsureWixToolsetInstalled" Condition="
>> '$(WixTargetsImported)' != 'true' ">
>> <Error Text="The WiX Toolset v3.11 (or newer) build tools must be
>> installed to build this project. To download the WiX Toolset, see
>> http://wixtoolset.org/releases/" />
>> </Target>
>> </Project>
>>
>> *.targets*
>>
>> <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
>> <PropertyGroup>
>>
>> <DefineConstants>HeatFldrPath=F;ProductVersion=1.11.0.345;BuildNumber=345</DefineConstants>
>>
>> <OutputName>$(MSIName)</OutputName>
>> <OutputPath>$(MSIPath)</OutputPath>
>> <SuppressPdbOutput>True</SuppressPdbOutput>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <PropertyGroup>
>> <WixBinPath>$(SolutionDir)\Build\wix\</WixBinPath>
>> <WixToolPath>$(WixBinPath)\</WixToolPath>
>> <WixTargetsPath>$(WixToolPath)Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
>> <WixTasksPath>$(WixToolPath)wixtasks.dll</WixTasksPath>
>> </PropertyGroup>
>> <ItemGroup>
>> <WixExtension Include="WixUtilExtension">
>> <HintPath>lib\WixUtilExtension.dll</HintPath>
>> <Name>WixUtilExtension</Name>
>> </WixExtension>
>> <WixExtension Include="WixUIExtension">
>> <HintPath>lib\WixUIExtension.dll</HintPath>
>> <Name>WixUIExtension</Name>
>> </WixExtension>
>> <WixExtension Include="WixMsmqExtension">
>> <HintPath>lib\WixMsmqExtension.dll</HintPath>
>> <Name>WixMsmqExtension</Name>
>> </WixExtension>
>> <WixExtension Include="WixIIsExtension">
>> <HintPath>lib\WixIIsExtension.dll</HintPath>
>> <Name>WixIIsExtension</Name>
>> </WixExtension>
>> </ItemGroup>
>> <Target Name="HeatTarget" BeforeTargets="Build">
>> <Exec Command='"$(WixToolPath)\heat.exe" dir $(HeatFldrPath) -cg
>> UserFeatureFiles -dr APP_DIR -gg -g1 -sfrag -sw -svb6 -srd -sreg -ke -var
>> var.HeatFldrPath -out "Content\UserFiles.wxs"' />
>> </Target>
>>
>> </Project>
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 11:42 PM Edwin Castro <egcastr at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There is a good chance that using a Condition attribute in one or more
>>> places will likely help. It will likely need to look "normal" to Visual
>>> Studio while still have the ability to overwrite that default when running
>>> from command line without Visual Studio installed.
>>>
>>> Can you share your .wixproj and your .targets?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Edwin G. Castro
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Dec 27, 2019, 07:36 Ven H via wix-users <
>>> wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Let me give some more detail. In my WiX project, I need to run Heat
>>>> command
>>>> on a folder (not included in the project) and include the wxs content
>>>> into
>>>> an empty file I have. Then I need to pass the name of the MSI (since it
>>>> should be configurable), the path of the MSI (since this also needs to
>>>> be
>>>> configurable) and the Build Number (since this will be part of the MSI
>>>> name). I also need to pass the Product Version, since this will also
>>>> have
>>>> Build number in it. Apart from this, I also need to pass the path of the
>>>> WiX binaries (downloaded). Even though, my machine has WiXToolSet
>>>> installed
>>>> and Votive is also installed, I need to be able to build this project
>>>> using
>>>> msbuild command. So, I have included all the above mentioned parameters
>>>> as
>>>> properties (some as DefineConstants) in a separate targets file and have
>>>> imported this targets file into the wixproj file.
>>>>
>>>> I want to be able to build the MSI both from Visual Studio and also from
>>>> command line using MSBuild. But I am having a hard time getting both
>>>> working at the same time. Any help would be appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 12:43 PM Ven H <venh.123 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > I have a setup project in Visual Studio 2019. I use Heat command in
>>>> that
>>>> > project. I followed the below link to make it working in build
>>>> machine,
>>>> > which won't have VS or WiXToolSet installed.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> https://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/msbuild/daily_builds.html
>>>> >
>>>> > For this, I modified the .wixproj as per the link above. But now,
>>>> it's no
>>>> > longer working in Visual Studio. Has anyone faced this issue? Has
>>>> anyone
>>>> > had success in making a WiX project build successfully in Visual
>>>> Studio as
>>>> > well as build machine? If so, please help.
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> ____________________________________________________________________
>>>> WiX Toolset Users Mailing List provided by FireGiant
>>>> http://www.firegiant.com/
>>>>
>>>
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