Daniel, xcopy deployment is just that ... literally copying the files to the destination drive and that is all that is required.
However, the ability to not depend on anything else is a function of the application's design. Given the example you gave you could create a batch file on your CD that copied your C# application binaries from the CD to a hard set path on the end user hard drive using the "xcopy" DOS command. BUT ... C# is built on the .NET framework and the client would need the .NET runtime (version 1.1 or 2.0) installed on their PC for the application to run. AND yes you could build into your batch file the install of the dotnet runtime. Now what WIX is for .... WIX gives you a structured method for creating windows MSI distributions of your software in a manner that allows the end user to install, repair, uninstall, and modify the installation. GUIDs ... In order for the windows installer engine to keep up with the applications and their state GUIDs are used ... and thus why you see GUIDs in WIX. Note however that WIX has a pretty darn cool feature of putting in ? for a GUID digit and it will just make up one so in your case you could always do what is called a major upgrade by always changing the product Id GUID and the package Id GUID. Versions ... each build of the WIX setup needs an incremented version but you don't have to keep track of it or tie it to anything. Dave Williamson Clear Sky Software www.clearskysoftware.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Daniel Goldman Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 1:37 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] xcopy deployment? Can someone explain what "xcopy deployment" is, or point me to examples/references? Or point out alternative installer mechanisms that might meet my needs? Background: I need to distribute a C# .NET application family. It is a series of data analysis softwares, with preloaded data (eg, Texas birth data). Each customized version has different data files, different auxillary files, etc. There are many customized versions. The application was previously in C using curses. Distribution was pretty simple. For each customized version (there could be several on a CD), I put a zip file, a batch file, and the unzip executable in it own directory on a cd. To install, the batch file unzipped everything into several hard-coded directories, copied some icons to the desktop, and displayed some messages. The old installation mechanism looked "clunky", but worked great. I'd rather not keep track of versions. If a user installs a new version, I'd like to simply overwrite any existing files. There is no need for them to keep the "old version". I'd like to avoid the complexity of having to deal with hundreds of different version numbers and GUIDs. I'm concerned that some mistake may make it fail to upgrade. I've read through the wix tutorial. I'm trying to reduce the great complexity I'm sensing from windows installer, figure out a simple, attractive install mechanism. Daniel Goldman http://www.ehdp.com/vitalnet/ 425-235-4747 Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
