Wix,Heat and Wxi File

Question

I am using heat.exe to genrate file listing, I need to replace File/@Source="SourceDir" so I am passing -var and directory name , but those variable are defined in my .wxi file How can I include .wxi file in the heat generated wxs file . as this file will be generated each time i make a build.

I think I found another option to resolve this issue. Use -var and use the same on candle command line. — Avinash, Oct 21 '09 at 07:00

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

An update for wix 3.7, when you use HeatDirectory task in your wixproj instead of running heat.exe, you can PreprocessorVariable to set the SourceDir.

<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<HeatDirectory Directory="..\distribution"
               PreprocessorVariable="myVar"  <--- your variable name
               OutputFile="HeatGeneratedFileList.wxs"
               ComponentGroupName="HeatGenerated"
               DirectoryRefId="INSTALLFOLDER"
               AutogenerateGuids="true"
               ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)"
               SuppressFragments="true"
               SuppressRegistry="true"/>
</Target>

More detail:

http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/msbuild_task_reference_heatdirectory.htm

WIX HeatDirectory Task - Setting the preprocessorVariable

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 22 '09 at 00:30

1

Why replace SourceDir?

You can just pass in additional base folders to light with the -b switch and for all references of SourceDir, WiX will look in the base folders you've specified. Makes it easy to move things around between machines and only have to update a parameter in your build system, rather than editing an include file.

answered Oct 22 '09 at 00:30

saschabeaumont

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When you have multiple folders, with the same filename, the SourceDir is a nightmare. – Brain2000 Sep 26 '18 at 00:05

Wix,Heat and Wxi File

2 Answers2