*and* if the Components you generate *never* overlap with any other products (including your own). There are enough caveats in the "just use major upgrades" statement that it makes it very hard to say, "Oh, sure, just go ahead and ignore the Component Rules... they don't matter." for every project. I don't know how many SKUs someone might ship. I don't know if there are any shared Components provided by some core team in the company. I don't even know if the project will *stay* small enough that major upgrades will be acceptable user experience for their product forever.
If you want to make the suggestion to someone who has less experience with the Windows Installer than you do without you understanding all the details of their product then you can do that. However, if your suggestion is under informed and Components end up overlapping in some way then you have screwed that person royally. There are no good user experiences out of mismanaged Component GUIDs. The Windows Installer is very unforgiving on this front. Personally, I feel negligent if I do not at least make the developer aware of the challenges Component GUIDs (and to a lesser extent Product/@Ids) present. Of course, I have worked at Microsoft for a while so I tend to automatically think in "platform terms" (which means considering the widest set of scenarios [success *and* failure] to ensure they are handle). If you have an isolated application that isn't too big (or you don't mind making your users wait) then narrower (and usually simpler) options become possible... or said another way if you can make your application smaller and more isolated you can usually simplify your setup. <smile/> -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Luke Bakken Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 07:18 To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Automating the inclusion of a mess of files > Rob, > > Any pointers on tips for getting the GUIDs right? Will HeatTask take care of > this for me? If not, what rules do I need to follow? If I understand how Windows Installer works (which may or may not be the case) ... if you never intend to do patches or minor upgrades you can always generate new component GUIDs and Product Ids and then rely on doing major upgrades all the time. Sort of the blunt hammer approach. Otherwise, you'll have to pay more attention to your Product Id and component GUIDs to make sure they stay the same when appropriate, and change when appropriate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards: VOTE NOW! Studies have shown that voting for your favorite open source project, along with a healthy diet, reduces your potential for chronic lameness and boredom. Vote Now at http://www.sourceforge.net/community/cca08 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards: VOTE NOW! Studies have shown that voting for your favorite open source project, along with a healthy diet, reduces your potential for chronic lameness and boredom. Vote Now at http://www.sourceforge.net/community/cca08 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
