Thanks for this, Chris. I hadn't considered the implications of XML schema changes in my config file. Since I'm distributing so-called "small updates" as reinstalls using an updated .msi, it's likely that the create date of the config file will be different (since I'll have rebuilt the project), and thus will overwrite it every time. What are some other ways to approach this scenario?
Am I going to have to resort to a custom action to read the settings and propagate them? If so, ugh. It seems like there should be a WiX custom action for simply reading the contents of an XML file (value or attribute) and putting the value into a property. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christopher Painter Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:30 AM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Protecting "config" files during an upgrade Did the user ever edit it? The default behavior in msi ( REINSTALLMODE property set to OMUS ) for unversioned resources is that if the creation and modification date differ, don't replace the file. MSI/XML can be tricky when you get into situations where the developers want it both ways. They make a schema change to an XML file that also has configuration data and they want the XML file upgraded and the configuration data persisted. It's not too difficult for a file here or there but once I worked as a company that had a data driven SaaS application that had thousands of these files. Regards, Chris Christopher Painter, Author of Deployment Engineering Blog Have a hot tip, know a secret or read a really good thread that deserves attention? E-Mail Me --- On Mon, 6/30/08, Chris Ridd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Chris Ridd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [WiX-users] Protecting "config" files during an upgrade > To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net > Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 12:58 AM > In a mistaken piece of design, one of our MSI packages ends > up > installing a file that we expect the user to then edit. > > Unfortunately doing a package upgrade (or even just a > repair of the > current package, I guess) loses those edits by replacing > the file. > > Are there any attributes that can be set on the File to > mark it as > user-editable/preserve on upgrade? I'm led to believe > that > Installshield had a flag like this. > > Cheers, > > Chris > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - > Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. > It's the best place to buy or sell services for > just about anything Open Source. > http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
