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

Light.exe


Light is the WiX linker and binder. Its job is to first resolve all of the references to files, directories, and so on that are stored in the .wixobj files (the linking phase) and then to stream all of that data into the MSI file, compressing it along the way (the binding phase). To see information about its usage type light -? at the command prompt; the following is what you should see:

light.exe [-?] [-b bindPath] [-nologo] 
[-out outputFile] objectFile [objectFile ...] [@responseFile]

You'll use the -out flag to give a name to the resulting MSI package. You must then reference all of the .wixobj files, either individually or with an asterisk (*). For example, this creates an MSI file out of three .wixobj files that are in the current directory:

light.exe -out myInstaller.msi Product.wixobj Fragment1.wixobj Fragment2.wixobj

We can also use an asterisk:

light.exe -out myInstaller.msi *.wixobj

If you've created any .wixlib files, you can reference them in the same way:

light.exe...