You may be able to use the MSI logging if you want to trace data into the MSI log file. Another cheap trick I've used is to set interestingly named properties to whatever I want to see the values of. The setting of these properties and values is logged.
Phil Wilson -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Painter [mailto:chr...@deploymentengineering.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 5:13 PM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] How to debug CustomAction DLL I think I recall you sometimes have to reboot and/or restart the Msiexec service after setting MsiBreak because the Service Control Manager doesn't get the env update. I haven't used it in a long time so I could be wrong. on the C#/DTF side I tend to use MessageBox during intitial development and almost never need to debug a custom action later in it's life cycle. ----- Original Message ---- From: Tony Juricic <tjuri...@tradestation.com> To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. <wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net> Sent: Tue, August 24, 2010 5:00:47 PM Subject: Re: [WiX-users] How to debug CustomAction DLL Good ole' MessageBox is the most reliable way to debug C/C++ CAs that I found. You may be able to set the breakpoint after the MessageBox and then attach to the running msiexec process. -----Original Message----- From: little.forest [mailto:little.for...@ymail.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 5:12 PM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] How to debug CustomAction DLL Dear Wix Experts: We have a CustomAction DLL written in C. How to debug it? There are a few posts about it: Post1: http://www.davidmoore.info/2010/06/28/how-to-debug-a-windows-installer-custom-action/ Post2: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2005/06/17/430320.aspx Post3: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368264(VS.85).aspx I tried it in Windows 7. I did set MsiBreak, but that famous "message box" never showed up. So I tried it in XP, the "message box" showed up. It says "To debug your custom action, attach your debugger to process 5632(0x1600) and press OK". I opened Windbg. Post1 says "attach the process", Post2 says "Open Executable...". I tried both, neither works for me. In both cases, I got "*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntdll.dll - ntdll!DbgBreakPoint: 7c90120e cc int 3" in Windbg. Questions: 1. What's the problem here? 2. Should I attach process? Or should I "Open Executable..."? 3. If I should attach process, why it doesn't work? 4. If I should "Open Executable...", what the "File name" and "Arguments" fields should be? For example, the "File name" should be "C:\Temp\MyApp.msi" or "C:\Windows\system32\msiexec.exe"? How about arguments? Should it be "/i C:\Temp\MyApp.msi"? 5. Why it doesn't work in Windows 7? If you even debug DLL CustomAction, pls let me know. Thanks! TradeStation Group, Inc. is a publicly-traded holding company (NASDAQ GS: TRAD) of three operating subsidiaries, TradeStation Securities, Inc. (Member NYSE, FINRA, SIPC and NFA), TradeStation Technologies, Inc., a trading software and subscription company, and TradeStation Europe Limited, a United Kingdom, FSA-authorized introducing brokerage firm. None of these companies provides trading or investment advice, recommendations or endorsements of any kind. The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sell apps to millions through the Intel(R) Atom(Tm) Developer Program Be part of this innovative community and reach millions of netbook users worldwide. Take advantage of special opportunities to increase revenue and speed time-to-market. Join now, and jumpstart your future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-atom-d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sell apps to millions through the Intel(R) Atom(Tm) Developer Program Be part of this innovative community and reach millions of netbook users worldwide. Take advantage of special opportunities to increase revenue and speed time-to-market. Join now, and jumpstart your future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-atom-d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users *** Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including any associated or attached files, is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This e-mail is confidential and may well also be legally privileged. If you have received it in error, you are on notice of its status. Please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and then delete this message from your system. Please do not copy it or use it for any purposes, or disclose its contents to any other person. This email comes from a division of the Invensys Group, owned by Invensys plc, which is a company registered in England and Wales with its registered office at 3rd Floor, 40 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7AW (Registered number 166023). For a list of European legal entities within the Invensys Group, please go to http://www.invensys.com/legal/default.asp?top_nav_id=77&nav_id=80&prev_id=77. You may contact Invensys plc on +44 (0)20 3155 1200 or e-mail recept...@invensys.com. This e-mail and any attachments thereto may be subject to the terms of any agreements between Invensys (and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates) and the recipient (and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sell apps to millions through the Intel(R) Atom(Tm) Developer Program Be part of this innovative community and reach millions of netbook users worldwide. Take advantage of special opportunities to increase revenue and speed time-to-market. Join now, and jumpstart your future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-atom-d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
