Since I incorrectly guessed that WIX was causing problems with my patch build, and in case this is of any use to anyone else trying to build patches, I thought I would pass along a some information that I've learned.
For various reasons, our product setups are built using a number of merge modules that package our own build products. This, along with my not thinking about the consequences, resulted in my previous attempts violating at least 3 of the rules that MS documents governing proper patch builds (ref http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368060(VS.85).aspx). Specifically, the file sequences were changing because files were added in the middle of the sequence, and files were deleted. Also the order the merge modules were referenced was inadvertently changed, which ends up changing the file sequence. All of these errors resulting in MSIMSP incorrectly believing that almost all the files had been ADDED as a part of the patch. The bottom line is that if you are building your own merge modules, you'll need to keep the following tips in mind: 1) For updates of existing modules, you need to update the ORIGINAL merge module that contained that module. Meaning that you cannot make a 1.0.1 merge module with the updated file, you need to REBUILD your 1.0.0 merge module with it instead. 2) In order to ADD any files to your product release, you either need to add them to the main product setup, or you need to make a new/additional 1.0.1 merge module containing only the new/additional files. Following the rules (which is tedious, I must admit), has brought my patch size from 294MB (nearly the size of the full installer) down to 72MB (not small, but a LOT better). FYI, John Schmitz Media Cybernetics ###################################################################################### CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email transmission and its attachments contain confidential and proprietary information of Princeton Instruments, Acton Research, Media Cybernetics and their affiliates and is intended for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient. Any use, dissemination, printing, or copying of this transmission and its attachment(s) is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, print, copy, distribute or take action in reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone or return email and promptly delete all copies of the original transmission and its attachments from your computer system. ####################################################################################### ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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
