When you install the WiX toolset, you are given an assembly called BootstrapperCore.dll
. You'll find it in the WiX SDK directory, which, on my computer, is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v3.6\SDK. This library is all we need to plug a new user interface into the Burn engine. It contains base classes for us to override in our own code, events to hook into, and methods that allow us to control the bootstrapper.
In this chapter, we will build a UI using WPF and C#. WPF uses an XML markup called XAML for designing its interface. This allows designers to work on the layout of the window while developers work on the C# business logic separately. WPF has a number of other benefits including strong support for data binding, reusable styles, and a variety of containers for organizing UI controls. That's not to say this is our only option. We could use Windows Forms or unmanaged code if we chose to. However, WiX's own installer is written with WPF and offers a...