Dear Rob,

Thank you for your reply.

Am 23.07.2010 08:01, schrieb Rob Mensching:
> 1. You can have multiple .wxs files to create a single or set of MSI files.
> I recommend breaking your product down into useful chunks and putting them
> in Fragments then grouping the Fragments in logical files. Managing a
> product in a single .wxs file can be very challenging.<smile/>

I have already splitted my project into different files.

However, the difference between my product is not only different files 
but also for example the WixUILicenseRtf WiX variable.

I thought it is helpful to have a single Main.wxs file and compile the 
different flavours from that. The difference is handled with variables, 
for example:

<WixVariable Id="WixUILicenseRtf" Value="$(var.License)" />

and then:

candle Main.wxs -dLicense="License1.rtf" -out Edition1.wixobj
candle Main.wxs -dLicense="License2.rtf" -out Edition2.wixobj

light ... Edition1.wixobj -out Edition1.msi
light ... Edition2.wixobj -out Edition2.msi

However, there is also need to replace Product/@Id and 
Product/@UpgradeCode ...

Is this a good idea?
If not why?

As said before, the different editions are more or less the same so I 
would like to prevent creating a separate wxs file for each edition 
because 99% of the contents would be the same.

Even if I would only use fragments in different files, there is much 
information in the Main.wxs which would be redundant, e.g. Package, 
Condition, CustomAction, ...

Regards,
   Luke


> 2. I think Burn would work very well for your scenario below. That doesn't
> help you since Burn isn't available yet and won't really be stable until
> early next year. They way things could work in Burn, is you could break 1 -
> 4 into 4 separate MSI package but make one Bundle. Then you can release ever
> increasing versions of the Bundle with various major or minor or small
> updates to the contained packages.Burn is smart enough to update only the
> MSIs that are newer...
>
> Basically, I think your scenario is best served by a multi-MSI design. The
> problem with multi-MSI design is you need a chainer to manage the
> install/unistall/update process.
>
> On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 12:37 PM, Lukas Haase<lukasha...@gmx.at>  wrote:
>
>> Thank you everybody for the discussion!
>>
>> The result is clear to me: I won't use minor- and small updates.
>>
>> One question concerning "Best practice" left for the deployment.
>>
>> In fact my application consists of:
>> - "Viewer" (EXE, DLL, CHM)
>> - "Database" (dat-file (80MB), bunch of PDFs)
>> - License1.RTF, License2.RTF
>>
>> Now I ship my program in various flavours:
>>
>> 1.) Corporate edition with License1.RTF
>> 2.) Private edition: Everything the same except License2.RTF
>> 3.) (private) Network edition: Same as (2) except the name
>> 4.) Demo version: Modified Database (30MB instead of 80MB)
>>
>> And finally each (1)-(3) get updates every few months.
>>
>> At first I thought with WiX it would be possible to just create one
>> installer for all of those.
>>
>> But according to the discussions so far, am I right to just generate
>> separate projects (wxs files) for each of the cases above?
>>
>> And according to the updates: Each of the (1), (2), (3), (4) shares the
>> same UpgradeCode, doesn't it?
>>
>> Regards,
>>    Luke
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Am 22.07.2010 05:28, schrieb Christopher Painter:
>>> I wrote thatI had read several blog posts over the years and cited one of
>> them
>>> as Vagmi and couldn't recall who the others were.  I didn't say any of
>> them were
>>> from you.  In fact, I recall you writing a post about why WiX uses Major
>>> Upgrades and I referred to that as vindication; evidence that we have
>> shared
>>> beliefs.
>>>
>>> BTW, I could ask you the same question considering your still
>> unapologetic
>>>    personal attack on me several years ago.   I still believe that if we
>> ever met
>>> in real life we'd hit it really well.  I for one sure wish you could
>> spend some
>>> time in Austin seeing the work I've done combining WiX with
>> InstallShield.
>>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: Rob Mensching<r...@robmensching.com>
>>> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
>>> <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
>>> Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 10:10:42 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>
>>> I think you have me confused with someone else. I've always had the
>> stance:
>>> "If you can use a Major Upgrade do so. Life is too short to deal with the
>>> difficulties otherwise."
>>>
>>> What else have you told people I believe?<smile/>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 7:53 PM, Christopher Painter<
>>> chr...@deploymentengineering.com>   wrote:
>>>
>>>> Rob- I seem to recall several blog articles years ago talking about
>>>> how major
>>>> upgrades are "ugly".  One was from an active blogger at the time ( Vagmi
>>>> ) but
>>>> I don't remember the others.
>>>>
>>>> http://geekswithblogs.net/Vagmi.Mudumbai/archive/2006/06/11/81426.aspx
>>>>
>>>> Blair-  My MSI mojo is good, but what development throws over the wall
>> to
>>>> me
>>>> frequently will not end well with anything other then a major upgrade
>> with
>>>> respect to msi servicing patterns and rules.  I'm sure you've seen that
>>>> also.
>>>>
>>>> Chris
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>>> From: Rob Mensching<r...@robmensching.com>
>>>> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
>>>> <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
>>>> Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 9:33:40 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>>
>>>> Uhh, I personally always recommend Major Upgrades over all the other
>>>> options. IMHO, the other options (minor updates and small updates) add
>> pain
>>>> that is rarely worth it (i.e. you have to be really big with lots of
>>>> customers to bother with .msp's).
>>>>
>>>> I'd be curious to see who actually recommends anything but Major
>> Upgrades
>>>> for the general case.
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 4:07 PM, Christopher Painter<
>>>> chr...@deploymentengineering.com>   wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Same here.  I've heard people post for years about how Major Upgrades
>> are
>>>> a
>>>>> pain
>>>>> and you better follow the component rules to a letter if you want minor
>>>>> upgrades, small updates and patching to work.  I've choosen to only
>>>>> support
>>>>> Major Upgrades and it's a bit of a vindication to now see the likes of
>>>> Rob
>>>>> talk
>>>>> about why WiX's own installer only does Major Upgrades.
>>>>>
>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>>>> From: Neil Sleightholm<n...@x2systems.com>
>>>>> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
>>>>> <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
>>>>> Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 5:58:54 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>>>
>>>>> But a key point is that this is only a possible** problem for minor
>>>>> upgrades. If
>>>>> you do major upgrades you can ignore it.
>>>>>
>>>>> **I say possible because I have never seen an issue but I mainly stick
>> to
>>>>> major
>>>>> upgrade because they are less hassle.
>>>>>
>>>>> Neil
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Blair [mailto:os...@live.com]
>>>>> Sent: 21 July 2010 23:12
>>>>> To: 'General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.'
>>>>> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>>>
>>>>> That could help reduce the chance of that problem, but depending on
>> which
>>>>> file the user changes (the initial or the update) you may not get a
>>>> chance
>>>>> to warn the user to not rename the MSI.
>>>>>
>>>>> In most of the failure cases I have seen due to not finding the MSI
>> file
>>>> at
>>>>> the indicated directory caused by looking for a different name than
>>>>> expected
>>>>> (usually due to attempting a minor upgrade using an MSI downloaded
>> using
>>>>> IE)
>>>>> Windows Installer never even starts parsing any sequence table.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is part of the reason huge numbers of software producers
>>>> distributing
>>>>> over the internet use self-extract-and-launch-style wrappers (zip-exe
>>>>> style)
>>>>> for their MSI distribution.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Christopher Painter [mailto:chr...@deploymentengineering.com]
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:51 PM
>>>>> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.
>>>>> Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>>>
>>>>> It is true that changing the MSI file name forces a major upgrade.  If
>>>> you
>>>>> are
>>>>> concerned that your user will interfere with your servicing strategy by
>>>>> renaming
>>>>> the MSI, you can use the OriginalDatabase property in a LaunchCondition
>>>> to
>>>>> abort
>>>>> the install if they have renamed the MSI.  I would suggest something
>> like
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> [OriginalDatabase]>>   \MYSUPPORTEDFILENAME.msi
>>>>>
>>>>> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370562(VS.85).aspx<http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370562%28VS.85%29.aspx>
>>>>>
>>>>> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368012(VS.85).aspx<http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368012%28VS.85%29.aspx>
>>>>>
>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>>>> From: Lukas Haase<lukasha...@gmx.at>
>>>>> To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
>>>>> Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 4:42:20 PM
>>>>> Subject: [WiX-users] Does the msi-filename matter?
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> Does the filename of the msi file matter in any way?
>>>>>
>>>>> I really DO NOT hope so! Because I have no influence if the user
>> renames
>>>>> the file before installing?!
>>>>>
>>>>> [1] says: "There are cases when the Windows Installer forces you to use
>>>>> a major upgrade [...] You have to when you change the name of the .msi
>>>>> file for any reason. [...]"
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Luke
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> [1] http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/lesson4.php#4.1
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> virtually, Rob Mensching - http://RobMensching.com LLC
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
>



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