If you are supplying both the tool and the framework MSI, why don't you just go "wix-all-the-way" and do this:
Framework: supplied wixlib (instead of MSI) that contains Product element Tool: harvests files into wixlib (instead of merge module) Call light to link wixlibs into shipping MSI (instead of Orca) Then you will have total control over the Media element that controls compression/etc as well as faster build speeds/etc. -----Original Message----- From: Reuss, Matthias [mailto:matthias.mr.re...@siemens.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 11:29 PM To: chr...@deploymentengineering.com; General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Compression in a Merge Module Hi Christopher, sorry for the late reply. The setup is for a group of product catalogues (databases) that are issued by several manufacturers. The files are different for each manufacturer, but the structure and the setup logic are the same (mostly determined by the software that uses the databases). I am developing a setup framework (IS project), containing the logic but nearly no files, and a tool that harvests a manufacturer's files into a WiX file, calls WiX to produce a merge module, calls Orca to merge the module into the setup framework, and adjusts some settings in the MSI package. The manufacturers get the framework (as an MSI package) and the tool, then they build their setup and ship it to their customers. This means that the merge modules are not present at InstallShield build time, so I cannot adress them in the IS project. Now I got the issue that the compression in the final MSI package was considered poor. Best regards Matthias > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: Christopher Painter [mailto:chr...@deploymentengineering.com] > Gesendet: Dienstag, 8. September 2009 16:16 > An: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. > Betreff: Re: [WiX-users] Compression in a Merge Module > > I'm curious why you do it this way. InstallShield has > Product Configurations and Release Flags that would alow you > to build MSI's in various ways to address the variation > points you describe. A limitation would be if you wanted to > have the same feature tree but different module inclusions > but even then the SAAuto interface would allow you to > manipulate that as a prebuild authoring step. > > 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 Tue, 9/8/09, Reuss, Matthias > <matthias.mr.re...@siemens.com> wrote: > > > From: Reuss, Matthias <matthias.mr.re...@siemens.com> > > Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Compression in a Merge Module > > To: "General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset." > <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> > > Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 4:57 AM > > Thanks for your response. > > > > I may have started to handle the issue from the wrong > > side: > > > > My project consists of several merge modules created with > > WiX and a "main" package, which is actually authored with > > InstallShield. The merge modules are not addressed in the > > InstallShield project, so I first build an MSI without merge > > modules (it contains a small CAB file), then one of the > > merge modules is merged in using the command-line version of > > Orca. Finally some settings (ProductName, ProductCode, > > Upgrade Code, PackageCode etc.) are adjusted corresponding > > to the merge module used. > > > > Orca adds the files from the merge module to the CAB file > > orginally created by InstallShield and adjusts the Media > > table. > > > > So I may have to control the compression of these files > > added by Orca. However, I have not found a way to achieve > > this. I did try to increase compression in the > > InstallShield project, however this did not influence > > the size of the final CAB file. > > > > Best regards > > > > Matthias > > > > > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > > > Von: Pally Sandher [mailto:pally.sand...@iesve.com] > > > > > Gesendet: Dienstag, 8. September 2009 11:23 > > > An: General discussion for Windows Installer XML > > toolset. > > > Betreff: Re: [WiX-users] Compression in a Merge > > Module > > > > > > As you say the Module element doesn't seem to have the > > Media child > > > element > > > (http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/wix_xsd_module.htm) > > but > > > it doesn't really matter. When the merge module is > > consumed > > > into an MSI > > > its files will be compressed into the media table of > > the MSI and > > > therefore use the same level of compression as all the > > other files in > > > the MSI. > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal > > Reports 2008 30-Day > > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and > > deployment - and focus on > > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's > > new with > > Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july > > _______________________________________________ > > WiX-users mailing list > > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------- > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal > Reports 2008 30-Day > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and > deployment - and focus on > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with > Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july > _______________________________________________ > WiX-users mailing list > WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
