All three can be done, yet I do not recommend #3 at all (just don't do it). Use Windows Installer properties to implement #1 would best meet your goals. If you don't put any condition on the custom action you use to generate your properties, it will run every time (install, remove, repair, upgrade, everything). Make sure your custom action is an immediate custom action so that it can set the properties. Know that immediate custom actions are not normally elevated, so hopefully you can read Excel's registry key without requiring elevation.
-Blair -----Original Message----- From: Miles Waller [mailto:miles.wal...@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 6:53 AM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [WiX-users] Installer with variable registry key Hi, I'm writing an installer for an excel addin. In order to register the addin, with excel, I need to add an entry under a registry key. The entries are named OPEN, OPEN2, OPEN3 ... sequentially for each addin that is registered. Because many addins could have been installed by the user before the installer runs, and also the user could remove some other addin (which causes excel to rewrite the registry entries so they are still sequential with no gaps), then go to uninstall my addin, the names of the entries in the registry need to be determined at install time, which I will do in a custom action. What's the cleanest way to do this, to ensure uninstall and rollback all work properly? I considered the following: 1. run an immediate action which examines the registry and sets a property with the entry name that will be used; this property can then be used by a normal registry action within wix; 2. run an immediate action which examines the registry and inserts rows in the "registry" table so that when the install actually runs, it will insert the correct key; 3. run a deferred action that does all the checking and adds the registry entries in one place. I was aiming to do as little as possible in the custom action, and keep as much in the xml as possible, but it does seem to be an uphill struggle...! Last of all, in the uninstall sequence, do immediate actions get to run (and if so, when) or would 1 or 2 above not work simply because they never get fired. Thanks, Miles ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- vRanger cuts backup time in half-while increasing security. With the market-leading solution for virtual backup and recovery, you get blazing-fast, flexible, and affordable data protection. Download your free trial now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/quest-d2dcopy1 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vRanger cuts backup time in half-while increasing security. With the market-leading solution for virtual backup and recovery, you get blazing-fast, flexible, and affordable data protection. Download your free trial now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/quest-d2dcopy1 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
