Generate file on msi setup creation

Question

I am creating a .msi setup of my Web Application. I want to create a readme.txt file in which version, product name, date and any other detail print whenever I build the deployment project(i.e whenever I make .msi setup). Assembly information file is also present in my project but I want to log it in text file. Which is the best way to do it.

Answer 1

You seem to be asking if your MSI build tool can do this, but you haven't said what you're using. If it was WiX, for example, maybe you'd just read the values from the Xml and write them to your text file.

Or maybe you're asking if there's a way to extract the info from an MSI file and write it to a text file. The Windows SDK has script examples (like wifilver.vbs) that query MSI files and get data out, and there are other C# etc examples like these:

Checking ProductVersion of an MSI programatically

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/4047/Reading-Data-from-MSI-Database

So I assume you'd use some of these techniques to create your text file.

Answer 2

Advanced Installer can also create setup packages to install IIS web apps, websites or app pools.

It also has a built-in files generator, so you can have dynamic content in it very easily. For example the attached screenshot shows a file that will automatically contain the version of the MSI, product name and time of installation, plus an additional custom public property that you might set from a custom action to any value you want, or from the installer UI.

Also, it has a VS extension, so you can easily integrate the projects in your solutions and build system.