Book Image

WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML

Book Image

WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML

Overview of this book

The cryptic science of Windows Installer can seem far off from the practical task of simply getting something installed. Luckily, we have WiX to simplify the matter. WiX is an XML markup, distributed with an open-source compiler and linker, used to produce a Windows Installer package. It is used by Microsoft and by countless other companies around the world to simplify deployments. "WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML" promises a friendly welcome into the world of Windows Installer. Starting off with a simple, practical example and continuing on with increasingly advanced scenarios, the reader will have a well-rounded education by book's end. With the help of this book, you'll understand your installer better, create it in less time, and save money in the process. No one really wants to devote a lifetime to understanding how to create a hassle-free installer. Learn to build a sophisticated deployment solution targeting the Windows platform in no time with this hands-on practical guide. Here we speed you through the basics and zoom right into the advanced. You'll get comfortable with components, features, conditions and actions. By the end, you'll be boasting your latest deployment victories at the local pub. Once you've finished "WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML", you'll realize just how powerful and awesome an installer can really be.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
WiX 3.6: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Service recovery with Util:ServiceConfig


Windows allows you to set actions to be taken if your service fails at some point while it's running. Note that at this point, we're handling errors that crash the service during its lifetime and not errors during the installation. Your three options are: try to restart the service, run an executable file or script, or reboot the machine. You can see these settings in the services management console by viewing Properties of your service and clicking on the Recovery tab.

First, let's alter the original Windows service that we created by changing the WriteToLog function so that it throws an error the third time it prints a message. As this error is uncaught, it will cause the service to stop running. This will give the failure recovery actions a chance to kick in. The following is the new code for WriteToLog:

protected void WriteToLog()
{
   int count = 0;

   string appDataDir = Environment.GetFolderPath(
      Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData...