[wix-users] WIX Training

[Christopher Painter]

I offer free one hour talks about MSI. I'm not able to go deep into every single area but I'm able to give you the big picture on the design and philosophy of MSI along with a few things to help accelerate your learning curve.

________________________________
From: wix-users <wix-users-bounces at lists.wixtoolset.org> on behalf of Edwin Castro via wix-users <wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org>
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2019 3:07 PM
To: WiX Toolset Users Mailing List
Cc: Edwin Castro
Subject: Re: [wix-users] WIX Training

I don't personally know of formal training.

If you're not familiar with the Windows Installer then I really, really
recommend the WIndows Installer documentation.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/windows-installer-portal
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/about-windows-installer
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/using-windows-installer
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/windows-installer-guide

I think the Windows Installer documentation is very daunting for a beginner
but understanding those concepts and constraints imposed by the Windows
Installer is critical for authoring effective MSI packages.

I found the examples helpful but they're not written for any specific
authoring toolset:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/windows-installer-examples

I attempted to implement those examples in WiX referencing the WiX Toolset
Reference Manual:

https://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/

That experience, while demanding, helped me really understand how
everything works together.

Now there is also a WiX Toolset Tutorial:

https://www.firegiant.com/wix/tutorial/

As well as a couple of WiX books available, see
https://wixtoolset.org/documentation/ for links to the books. I haven't
read these books but they might be helpful.

If this sounds like a lot of homework, then that is because it is a lot of
homework. I think the biggest mistake made by beginners is to assume they
can just pick up WiX and an example and be effective. Taking that route you
encounter the constraints set by the Windows Installer very quickly which
causes beginners lots of frustration and ultimate dislike the Windows
Installer (and WiX or whatever authoring tool they're using). I think a
better approach is to invest the time early to really learn the Windows
Installer and how one can use WiX to author MSI packages for the Windows
Installer. You'll be much happier in the end.

I'd also like to mention Rob Mensching's blog: http://robmensching.com/blog/

This blog had a number of Windows Installer blog articles that I found very
helpful for understanding things like the component rules. It's a little
hard to find those articles now but they're there. Somewhere. Still. I'll
reply if I find them again.

Robert Flaming also has a series of blog articles for UAC in MSI which I
think are very helpful in understanding how the Windows Installer works.
Here's the link to the last article, effectively, which is helpful because
it has links to all previous articles in the series!

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rflaming/2006/10/01/uac-in-msi-notes-answers-to-questions-in-comments-from-earlier-blog-posts/

These UAC in MSI articles are certainly advanced and you should not start
here. I found the article for the "Saw Tooth" Diagram  very enlightening:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rflaming/2006/09/21/uac-in-msi-notes-the-saw-tooth-diagram/


Finally, the wix-users mailing list is a great place to ask questions. I
recommend you learn enough on your own to ask specific questions. If your
questions are too vague then we won't know how to help you. :-)

--
Edwin G. Castro


On Fri, May 24, 2019 at 12:41 PM uday kumar reddy kundarapu via wix-users <
wix-users at lists.wixtoolset.org> wrote:

> I'm looking fot training on WIX/MSI.Let me know if anyone able to help on
> this,thanks.
>
> ____________________________________________________________________
> WiX Toolset Users Mailing List provided by FireGiant
> http://www.firegiant.com/
>

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