February 2008 | Visual Studio Setup

Another Workaround to Add New Components to Existing Features

Heath StewartFebruary 19, 2008Feb 19, 200802/19/08

Yesterday I described an issue when adding new components to existing, not-installed (absent) features the feature tree is installed. This can lead to prompts for source or failed installations. One workaround is to add new, top-level hidden features. This works well unless new resources have a dependency on the older resources installed by th

Adding New Components to Existing Features Installs the Feature Tree

Heath StewartFebruary 18, 2008Feb 18, 200802/18/08

As Developer Division starts to ship patches for the Visual Studio 2008, some users are being prompted for installation source media. This is a resulting of Windows Installer needing the original source files if, for example, files are missing from disk when you repair your product or backup files are not available during patch install. If you

Debugging Custom Actions: Leaked Handles

Heath StewartFebruary 12, 2008Feb 12, 200802/12/08

Debugging custom actions isn't exactly the easiest action to do; Windows Installer spawns separate processes - remoting servers - to run in-process custom actions. Any opportunity to diagnose issues without debugging can be helpful.For example, an issue that comes up from time to time is leaked handles. A Windows Installer debug log might show

Get Binder Variables for Assemblies without Installing into the GAC

Heath StewartFebruary 8, 2008Feb 8, 200802/8/08

Binder variables in WiX are variables that are resolved, coincidentally, at bind time. This is when the linker, light.exe, collects file information, assigns auto-GUIDs, and generates the output packages among other things. There are binder variables for all versioned binaries, and binder variables specific to both managed and native assemblie

Visual Studio Setup

February 2008 | Visual Studio Setup

Another Workaround to Add New Components to Existing Features

Adding New Components to Existing Features Installs the Feature Tree

Debugging Custom Actions: Leaked Handles

Get Binder Variables for Assemblies without Installing into the GAC

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