Further to my original question, I have been doing some testing. If find that:
(1) if the patch contains a _new_ file that belongs to a feature that the is not installed on the user machine, then the patch effectively installs the feature (and uninstalling the patch does not remove the feature) along with the new file. (2) If the patch contains an _existing_ file update from a feature that is not installed, it has no effect (it doesn't install the file or alter the features installed on the machine). Can someone confirm this is what you would expect (and provide an explanation)? Thanks sanjay > -----Original Message----- > From: Sanjay Poria [mailto:sanjay.po...@xanalys.com] > Sent: 05 February 2012 21:21 > To: 'General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset.' > Subject: [WiX-users] Patching and Pyro Warning PYRO1110 > > I have created an MSI product installer for a product that has a main feature > (call it MF) and a sub feature (call it SF). It is mandatory to install the > main > feature but the sub feature is optional. > > I am experimenting with creating patches (small updates) using Wix 3.5 for > this product. I have a patch which adds a couple of new files to the > distribution. Using Pyro to generate the msp file using the diff.wixmst > between the two builds (the original and the one with added files), Pyro > gives me the waning: > > "Pyro.exe: warning PYRO1110 : Component 'XXX' was added to feature > <SF>. If you cannot guarantee this feature will always be installed, you > should consider adding new components to top-level features to prevent > prompts for source when installing this patch." > > I would have expected that if you initially installed the product without > feature SF, then you install the patch, that the relevant component 'XXX' > would not be installed (because you don't the feature that it belongs to). > Then if you ever modified the original installation to include feature SF > (with > the patch already installed), a new view of the product would be generated > that includes component XXX. It seems that this is not the case? Can anyone > explain how MSI works in this case? I have found this blog > (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pmarcu/archive/2008/05/30/patching-something- > you-didnt-build-with-wix-using-wix-.aspx ) where Peter Marcu says that you > should create a new top level feature (presumably that is always installed?) > in order to add these new files via a patch. Otherwise "Adding them to > existing features that are not always installed can leave you in some pretty > unfortunate situations". Can someone explain to me what these > "unfortunate situations" are? > > Also, If I have to create a new top level feature in the patch that always > installs the components, that would be pretty odd because I would have to > potentially install many redundant files (in the cases where the user never > installs the sub feature). Can I avoid this? > > Thanks in advance > sanjay ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Try before you buy = See our experts in action! The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, Metro Style Apps, more. Free future releases when you subscribe now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/learndevnow-dev2 _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
