6 replies to this topic

[cgarstin]

I've tried on many occasions to get patches to do what I want, and unfortunately, the way that patches are generated is awful.

I have been trying to create a patch using MSI files, which gives me full control over how the patch is installed. Yes this defeats the purpose of Windows Installers patching philosophy, but Windows Installer is a nuisance anyway.

The problem is that I'm trying to find a way to have my main application uninstall all MSI patches that were installed over top of it. Has anyone had to do this before?

Thanks,
Chris G

[Stefan Krueger]

MSI 3 (currently in beta) will have the ability to uninstall patches.

[cgarstin]

Are talking and MSI file, or an MSP file. I have avoided using MSP files because the Wise for Windows Install 5.1 software that we have is unsuccessful at generating a patch that works. I am not familiar with Windows Installer enough to use patchwiz.dll directyly and create my own patch, so I have had to resort to using MSI files. As previously stated this introduces a whole new set of hassles, such as how to ensure that the patch MSI is uninstalled when the main application MSI is uninstalled.

Thanks,

Chris

[Stefan Krueger]

Patch uninstall in MSI 3 aplies only to .msp. Minor Updates installed using .msi cannot be uninstalled.

[cgarstin]

What tools do you use to create your MSP patch files? We use Wise and it has so far been quite useless at creating a patch that actually works. I'd like to make my patches correctly using MSP files, but I became so frustrated at them, and couldn't find help anywhere, that I moved to MSI's.

Thanks,
Chris Garstin

[Stefan Krueger]

I'm using InstallShield which has an update validation tool. This helps to avoid many common mistakes for updates and patches.

[cgarstin]

The Wise software that I have also has a validation tool for checking these requirements, and our install pass these test for the most part (I mean, no matter what I do, there is always SOMETHING, not matter how small that it complains about. Perhaps it's a bug in the software, the support personelle admitted this to me on the phone.)

I got so frustrated that I tried to get help from their support team, which was very disappointing. They had out install for over a week and even THEY couldn't figure out what was wrong. Our install has some custom actions, but other than that, it's pretty run of the mill.

To this day I have never seen an MSP work. It's so frustrating too because the only advice I get is people telling me that it works for them. And that they use different tools than I do. I'd like to upgrade to InstallShield and ditch Wise, but who knows if that'll solve the issue?

Microsoft really created a nasty requirement when they said that application has to use Windows Installer to be Logo Compliant. My install scripts are bulletproof! Windows Install is nothing but headaches, and it doesn't solve DLL hell.

Chris