Re: [WiX-users] WiX v3, VS2005, and Preprocessor Environment Variables

[Don Pratt]

every compiler and linker is probably at the mercy of Visual Studio’s environment variables I think that's probably an accurate assessment.  Take a look at the documentation for the Win32 CreateProcess function.  There's a parameter (lpEnvironment) that let's the calling process customize the environment for the new process.  If the parameter is NULL, the new process gets a copy of the calling process' environment which wouldn't have the newly created environment variable.  If VS is passing in an environment block, e.g. so that it can customize the path or add additional variables, it won't include the new environment variable since it doesn't exist for VS. Don Peterson, Joel wrote: Hi Cullen.   Thanks for putting my explanation into much better terms.   I’ve been thinking on this a little more, and I’ve decided that every compiler and linker is probably at the mercy of Visual Studio’s environment variables. This can’t be a bug in candle.exe, but more of the way Visual Studio handles paths.   Thanks again!   Joel Peterson [EMAIL PROTECTED]   From: Cullen Waters [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 3:53 PM To: Peterson, Joel; wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: RE: [WiX-users] WiX v3, VS2005, and Preprocessor Environment Variables   Joel,                   I think you may be seeing the difference between user scope environment variables, and system scope env variables.  When you set a user-scope variable, it is set in the instance of cmd.exe that is executing.  If you set a system-scope variable, it isn’t re-read until you kill and restart cmd.exe.                   I’m not sure how VS treats it, but based on the behavior you’re seeing, I would guess that VS keeps an instance of cmd.exe alive (with console redirected back to VS).  When you set the system-scope variable, VS isn’t aware of it until you cause the cmd.exe to be reloaded (by closing and re-opening VS).                   I’m not an expert on these issues, but that is what I think you’re seeing.   Cullen   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Peterson, Joel Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 3:42 PM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] WiX v3, VS2005, and Preprocessor Environment Variables   Hi all.   I know that when you open cmd.exe, it loads all of the environment variables and caches them. If you were to navigate to System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables and add a new System variable named “testvar”, typing “cd %testvar%” in the existing cmd.exe wouldn’t work. You’d need to open a new cmd.exe instance for it to know about the new environment variable.   This doesn’t seem be to true for candle.exe, which I assume uses what Visual Studio 2005 caches from Environment Variables when it starts. I was working on a project and wanted all of my File sources to inherit from a parent directory that will be different on the Team Foundation Build system and developer workstations. Leaving Visual Studio 2005 open, I created a new Environment Variable named “BuildPath” with the value “C:\Build”. I then referenced this path for each File in my .WXS, for example:   <File Id=”test.exe” Name=”test.exe” KeyPath=”yes” Source=”$(env.BuildPath)\TestFolder\test.exe” />   Upon pressing F7 (Build Solution), it returns the error “Error CNDL0150: Undefined preprocessor variable ‘$(env.BuildPath)’.” On a hunch I closed Visual Studio 2005, opened the Solution, and pressed F7 again to it have it work perfectly.   I’m having a hard time understanding why this would be different from my cmd.exe example, if each time I press F7 (Build Solution), a new instance of candle.exe is starting. I’m not familiar with all of the nuances of Visual Studio; is it standard for compilers and linkers to use environment variables cached by Visual Studio? If not, should I file this as a bug?   Thank you.   Joel Peterson [EMAIL PROTECTED]   ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys -- and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users

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