2 replies to this topic

[Remyga]

Hi all,
At first I'll explain situation. We have Product1 and Product2 which
consists of f
Product1 consits off:
Feature1
Feature2
Feature3
Product2 consists off:
Own files
Feature1 (the same as in Product1)
Also we need to distribute Feature1 Feature2 Feature3 as independent
products. So we decided for each Feature to create nested msi's and to call
them from Products.msi's. In other words we have:
Product1.msi in which with "Install MSI From Installation" custom action
we call Feature1.msi, Feature2.msi, Feature3.msi.
Product2.msi in wich with "Install MSI From Installation" custom action
we call Feature1.msi.
Before calling FeatureN.msi's I chech if this .msi is on mashine then don't
install. It works form me till now, Now I have to create patches for
Feature's. I maked Patch1.0 for Feature1 and if I try to run patch, when
Product1 or Product2 is installed (which consits of Feature1), I have got an
erorr: "This action is only valid for products that are currently
installed". I know that Feature1 is installed, but ... If I change "Install
MSI From Installation" custom action into "Istall MSI From Relative Path"
then patch works perfectly, but another probelm apairs after I install
Product1 and patch it, then try to uninstall Product1 Feature1 stays
installed (I know that action "Istall MSI From Relative Path" with Property:
REMOVE=ALL runs, but Feature1 stays installed). If I install only
Feature1.msi and patch it and then try uninstall Feature1 everything is OK.

Now questions:
1. Is my method off distribution our products is good? Maybe I'll have to do
everything it in one msi?
2. How to force to work my installation paching?
3. Maybe somebody knows method for this situation (Product1 consists off
FeaturesN, every FeatureN can be shiped as independent product, and can be
inclosed in other roducts Product2 in our situation) in other words Product
professional edition and Product Enterprise edition

Thanks.

[Stefan Krueger]

Nested installation custom actions should be avoided. The MSI documentation explicitly says. "Patching and upgrading may not work with nested installations."

One option would be using merge modules.

Another option (more convenient in my opinion) would be using a tool like installShield DevStudio that enables you to have one project that includes all features, and then build different configurations that inlcude only a subset of features. Thus you would have to maintain only 1 project but coudl still build separate setups for each feature, or one setup that inlcudes all or some of them.

[Remyga]

Thanks Stefan,
I will try your sugestion.