(You can just open the difxapp_<platform>.wixlib files in 7-Zip to get to the DLLs; I believe they are just MS cabinet files with some XML appended. No need to look at WiX source code; just extract and rename.)
>From the OP: "It would also be good if someone could verify with the DIFxApp team that WiX should update to this version. They are quite poor at documenting what's changed and versioning clearly, so there is some doubt in my mind." I am in 100% agreement with this. I did some rooting around in the WDK and WiX sources and came to some observations to summarize. First, I wondered whether an update occurred from WiX 3.0 to WiX 3.5. The answer is no. I compared DIFxApp DLL versions in Wix 3.0 vs. WiX 3.5 (escrow version from a couple days ago). They have identical DIFxApp DLLs (compared with diff). Therefore, simply upgrading to WiX 3.5 probably won't help anyone having problems with DIFx unless the WiX extension was having trouble sequencing the custom actions, or some such problem like that and was fixed in WiX 3.5 (I am not aware of a change like that, although I didn't look). These DIFxApp files included with WiX are dated 5/15/2009 02:27 UTC with a file version of 2.1.1.0; product version 2.1.1. The signing time of the digital signature was 8/27/2008 00:06 UTC. Then I downloaded the Windows driver kit 7.1.0 a few days ago; it installed to directory named 7600.16385.1 so I guess that is the exact version. Under C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1\redist\DIFx\DIFxApp\WixLib\x86 I found some DIFxApp DLLs. They are not the same as the files included with WiX. Strangely enough, I also found a 3 KB wixlib file in that directory with only the XML. These DLLs are dated 2/8/2010 21:59 UTC with a file version 2.1.0.0; product version 2.1. The signing time on the digital signature was 2/9/2010 06:00 UTC. To summarize: * WiX 3.0/3.5: DIFxApp version 2.1.1 signed 8/27/2008. * WDK 7.1.0: DIFxApp version 2.1.0 signed 2/09/2010. Some conclusions: * Apparently the DIFx team at Microsoft isn't properly versioning DIFxApp. How do we have newer files being distributed with older version numbers? Probably the only reliable method of versioning DIFxApp at this point is using the digital signatures! * Communication between the DIFx team and the WiX team could be improved. Why is there a wixlib file included with the WDK yet no mention is made of an update to DIFxApp in WiX? I searched the WiX bug tracker for DIFx; the only thing I have seen is the ticket submitted by Quinton earlier today. It would be great if they could take responsibility & contribute DIFx updates to the WiX project? The actual MSDN pages regarding DIFxApp have documentation on using DIFxApp with WiX; it would be only logical to assume that they would be helping to maintain the system that they advocate in the documentation. Updating WiX's DIFxApp only when users have problems seems like a poor long-term strategy. Perhaps the best thing might be if the DIFx wixlib files were removed completely from WiX if they aren't maintained? The definitive place to get these wixlib files could then become the WDK. (Side note: it would be very useful if Microsoft could publish a changelog for DIFxApp; I am wondering whether the new version might fix some of the problems Quinton Tormanen and I have been having with DIFxApp...) In the meantime, perhaps the best strategy for DIFxApp users to take might be to link in the wixlib file from the WDK and avoid what comes bundled with WiX? The OP created a ticket at: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3130590&group_id=105970&atid =642717 but since OP didn't include this link I thought I would add it to this discussion. James -----Original Message----- From: Quinton Tormanen [mailto:quint...@deltamotion.com] Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 18:38 To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] What version of DIFxApp is in DIFxAppExtension? Sorry to subject you all to my conversation with myself as I figure out what's what, but I thought one final(?) update on what I found out may be useful to someone else out there: * The latest version of the DIFx tools was included in WDK 7.1.0 (7600.16385.1) and includes files built on 2/8/2010. The WDK documentation recommends that although previous WDK's included 2.1 DIFx tools, the ones from WDK 7.1.0 should be used, which they are currently not. Hopefully the DIFxAppExtension can be updated soon with the current versions. --Quinton -----Original Message----- From: Quinton Tormanen Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 10:17 AM To: 'General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.' Subject: RE: What version of DIFxApp is in DIFxAppExtension? I think I figured it out. The files do appear to match the MultiLin versions of the 8/26/2008 versions (shipped with WinDDK 6001.18002) (I was comparing with the English versions). So, what can be done about getting DIFxAppExtension to use the latest versions of DIFxApp.dll and DIFxAppA.dll from v7600.16385? I did just go in an enter a Feature Request for this, although I assume it's too late for the v3.5 build. I would also be good if someone could verify with the DIFxApp team that WiX should update to this version. They are quite poor at documenting what's changed and versioning clearly, so there is some doubt in my mind. --Quinton On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 10:00 AM, Quinton Tormanen (quint...@deltamotion.com) wrote: > What version of DIFxApp DLLs is in the DIFxAppExtension included with WiX v3.0? > v3.5 appears to use the same-the sizes match anyway. I have downloaded the WiX > source, but it doesn't appears to include the DLLs themselves. > Notice that the version itself isn't sufficient, since the DIFxApp DLLs haven't > been versioned very well. For example, the version shipped with WinDDK > 6001.18002 are version 2.1.1.0, with build dates of 8/26/2008, and the version > shipped with WinDDK 7600.16385 are 2.1.0.0 with build dates of 7/13/2009. So, > the version looks backwards, although the I know that the DIFxInst shipped with > WinDDK 6001.18002 doesn't work on 32-bit Win7, so I'd definitely like the ones > that go with the later DDK. > > I extracted the DLLs from my final MSI files using Orca, but am confused because > the file sizes don't match either, although the digital signature is timestamped > 8/26/2008. > > Quinton Tormanen > Software Engineer > Delta Computer Systems, Inc. > http://www.deltamotion.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
