$(var.*) syntax refers to preprocessor variables either passed on the commandline to candle or using the <?define ...?> syntax. When using MSBuild/Votive, projects that are referenced have certain preprocessor variables assigned from those projects (such as TargetDir, TargetName, etc.). That set of variables (those defined by Votive) are valid for the build only.
Custom actions run during installation and have no access to paths used during the build. Instead you must reference either directories that exist at installation time (defined in the Directory table), files that the package knows about, or binaries you place in tables such as the Binaries, Icons, or similar tables that have binary columns. Custom actions either run "immediately" (and have access to the session variables and the database) or "deferred" (in the script and thus can change machine state, participate in rollbacks, etc.). WiX is a "semi-thin" wrapper around MSI itself (with some utility stuff added). MSDN is the official documentation on what MSI provides and how it works, and that is where most answers can be found. Many people on this list are willing to help out with simple queries and even hard-to-solve problems in the list. If you need more hand-holding, there are several people willing to provide more extensive help for a fee. -----Original Message----- From: Joshua Chambers [mailto:jos...@tdronline.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 3:32 PM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [WiX-users] InstallExecuteSequence problem! See... what is wrong here? I included a "reference" to the backupSettingsAction project in the WiX project. <Binary Id="backupSettingsAction.dll" SourceFile="$(var.backupSettingsAction.TargetDir)$(var.backupSettingsAction. TargetName).CA.dll"/> <CustomAction Id="BackupSettingsAction" BinaryKey="backupSettingsAction.dll" DllEntry="CustomAction" Execute="immediate" /> <InstallExecuteSequence> <Custom Action="backupSettingsAction" Before="InstallInitialize"/> <RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallFinalize" /> <Custom Action="restoreSettingsAction" After="RemoveExistingFiles"/> </InstallExecuteSequence> -- View this message in context: http://windows-installer-xml-wix-toolset.687559.n2.nabble.com/InstallExecute Sequence-problem-tp5126839p5128346.html Sent from the wix-users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
