On Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:35:45 -0700, "Richard" <legal...@xmission.com> said: > > In article <1231871231.14692.1294570...@webmail.messagingengine.com>, > "Curtis Jewell" <lists.wix-us...@csjewell.fastmail.us> writes: > > > Can I do something like this to hardcode the installation directory? > > Or is there another way to do this? > > Hardcoding the installation directory is a bad idea. You can provide > defaults and a constraint check that doesn't allow destinations with a > space, but hardcoding it is going to be a problem. Not everyone has > a writable C: or D: or whatever. You're better off picking a > reasonable default and then allowing them to browse to whatever folder > they want and then checking for the folder including a space. (Even > if it does include a space, you can use the short filename for the > path, which won't have a space, i.e. C:\Program Files becomes > C:\PROGRA~1.)
You're not telling me what I don't already know... I was just asking if it could be done. As for why I'm asking, I'll explain below. In this case, the installer I'm working on happens to be for the "Strawberry Perl" distribution of perl, [ http://strawberryperl.com/ ] which at the moment happens to need to be "compiled in place" and then made into an installer, because if you try to relocate it, it can't find its files because the locations are hardcoded into the executable (actually the main DLL, I think) when it's built, therefore I have to hardcode the same location into the installer. I understand that this is being worked on, (Perl is a 20-year-old program, after all) but we'd like to get the new installer done sooner than that. The only alternative at this point would be to install the MingW compiler (which could be relocated with a "no-spaces restriction", I think, and is being installed anyway) and the source and make the compile as a custom action... do I really want to go there at the moment??? and is that large a process really the intent of the MSI custom-actions facility? They currently use Inno Setup, they (meaning the people writing the perl code to make the Strawberry Perl installer) know they're hitting Inno's limitations and want to change to WiX created MSI's and are taking volunteers that'll write code to do it, so I volunteered. Right now, they have perl code that installs the prerequisite compiler and libraries, builds perl in place [by "in-place", I mean that the currently installed perl rebuilds perl in a second specified location], installs a default set of additional modules, and generates an .iss file that is then compiled that packages up perl, the prequisite libraries and compilers, and the modules. (One of the goals of Strawberry Perl is that it provides the compiler to build additional modules with.) The first step in the switchover is to write perl code that installs the prerequisites, builds perl in place, adds the modules, and generates .wxs files that are then compiled instead. Once I get code to create a working "hard-coded location" MSI, then one of the next goals is to get the hard-coding out. I'm told most of the problem is in some of the core modules, but I have to start somewhere. I can't make two big changes at once. It's VERY painful to debug when things go wrong. [I've done it, I know.] (P.S. C drive and D drive versions of the installer are being provided at the moment, so having a locked-down C drive shouldn't stop the installation of the D-drive version. If both are locked, there are other problems. It's an administrator-access-required "all users" install, anyway.) --Curtis -- Curtis Jewell swords...@csjewell.fastmail.us %DCL-E-MEM-BAD, bad memory -VMS-F-PDGERS, pudding between the ears [I use PC-Alpine, which deliberately does not display colors and pictures in HTML mail] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by: SourcForge Community SourceForge wants to tell your story. http://p.sf.net/sfu/sf-spreadtheword _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
