Installers
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Don't use that phrasing when talking with Linux affectionados! As if a command line interface is not a "user interface" :-) You still edit the .wxs file (the main input file, identifying files and components and all the other stuff describing which pieces to put together in which way, and other red tape such as which user dialog style to user, product IDs etc.) in a textual format (XML), but all the rest is usually handled well by Visual Studio. You don't have to care about that crowd of individual Wix tools; when you build your solution, VS will take care of the building steps of Wix as well. There is no sort of graphic interface for putting your system together like with Lego blocks (if that is what you were hoping for). I was an active Wix user several years ago, subscribing to the mailing lists and eagerly reading the blogs of the developers (at WiX Toolset[^]). I see only two issues with WiX: First, it has got (almost) all the functionality you could dream of, but does it really have to be that complex? You've got two options, either the very naive, simplistic use where VS handles everything for you, or you have to accept the full complexity with a crowd of individual tools and a hundred call line options, "Linux style" in the worst possible sense. You just got to keep that 450 page book handy at all times... (and be aware in which parts the book is outdated). Second, and this is a non-issue if you think it is perfectly OK to fill up your machine with all sorts of obsolete software. Between three and four years ago, I did a major cleanup of about twenty build agents, installing only tools in actual use, updating tools to new versions, to clean out .NET 2.x and 3.x (and a lot of other obsolete stuff). WiX 3.x requires .NET 3.x, which pulls 2.x along, so we decided to go for WiX 4, based on .NET 4, even though it was not yet released, and no VS integration was available. Sure, WiX 4 itself does not need obsolete .NET versions, but the installer package for WiX 4 itself (probably made with WiX 3) needs it! The WiX development team didn't believe me when I reported this, not until I mailed a full log from everything from Windows reinstallation on a newly formatted disk to the WiX installer complaints. So I was promised a new release that would fix this. It didn't. Nor did the second attempt. Then I gave up, accepted that I had to maintain a .NET version released in 2006 for a
Thank you for that informative post. The first time I looked into WiX I thought it was the greatest thing, but I wasn't prepared for the steep learning curve. It was then that I purchased InstallShield. :)
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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I'm ready to upgrade from an old, old version of InstallShield Express and I was wondering if anyone has any stories, good or bad about InstallAware, a cheaper competitor?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
Yes, I have used it (and paid for it regrettably). Didn't like the product or the company. I settled on WiX Toolset, it takes a little extra effort to learn but your installer can then be pure "you" when you create your own bootstrapper.
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I'm ready to upgrade from an old, old version of InstallShield Express and I was wondering if anyone has any stories, good or bad about InstallAware, a cheaper competitor?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Thank you for your comment. Does Wix have a UI now?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
I've used WixSharp in the past. It's a C# like overlay to create a Wix installer. GitHub - oleg-shilo/wixsharp: Framework for building a complete MSI or WiX source code by using script files written with the C# syntax.[^]
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Seems relatively unknown, I added it to the list of installers here: https://www.slant.co/topics/4794/~installers-for-windows-programs[^] Maybe users will add their recommendation or comments (can take a while :-\ )
Not in this list, but I readily recommend SetupBuilder from https://www.lindersoft.com. I have been using this product but for many years. Easy to configure and their tech support is phenominal. Sim
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Not in this list, but I readily recommend SetupBuilder from https://www.lindersoft.com. I have been using this product but for many years. Easy to configure and their tech support is phenominal. Sim
Thanks! I will add it to the list :-\
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Don't use that phrasing when talking with Linux affectionados! As if a command line interface is not a "user interface" :-) You still edit the .wxs file (the main input file, identifying files and components and all the other stuff describing which pieces to put together in which way, and other red tape such as which user dialog style to user, product IDs etc.) in a textual format (XML), but all the rest is usually handled well by Visual Studio. You don't have to care about that crowd of individual Wix tools; when you build your solution, VS will take care of the building steps of Wix as well. There is no sort of graphic interface for putting your system together like with Lego blocks (if that is what you were hoping for). I was an active Wix user several years ago, subscribing to the mailing lists and eagerly reading the blogs of the developers (at WiX Toolset[^]). I see only two issues with WiX: First, it has got (almost) all the functionality you could dream of, but does it really have to be that complex? You've got two options, either the very naive, simplistic use where VS handles everything for you, or you have to accept the full complexity with a crowd of individual tools and a hundred call line options, "Linux style" in the worst possible sense. You just got to keep that 450 page book handy at all times... (and be aware in which parts the book is outdated). Second, and this is a non-issue if you think it is perfectly OK to fill up your machine with all sorts of obsolete software. Between three and four years ago, I did a major cleanup of about twenty build agents, installing only tools in actual use, updating tools to new versions, to clean out .NET 2.x and 3.x (and a lot of other obsolete stuff). WiX 3.x requires .NET 3.x, which pulls 2.x along, so we decided to go for WiX 4, based on .NET 4, even though it was not yet released, and no VS integration was available. Sure, WiX 4 itself does not need obsolete .NET versions, but the installer package for WiX 4 itself (probably made with WiX 3) needs it! The WiX development team didn't believe me when I reported this, not until I mailed a full log from everything from Windows reinstallation on a newly formatted disk to the WiX installer complaints. So I was promised a new release that would fix this. It didn't. Nor did the second attempt. Then I gave up, accepted that I had to maintain a .NET version released in 2006 for a
Rule #1 of using third party packages. 1. You must make it work with what is currently supported -because- 2. Never trust anyone else's "ship date" Flashback to a module I used during the 16bit to 32bit transitions. I had to write a 16bit service to process requests from 32bit applications. It seemed backwards to me, but that was the only way the APIs would let you do it. The promised 32bit version never shipped over a 1 year span of promises! Maybe it shipped after I left that position. Thank goodness the 16bit Intel architecture is no longer relevant to Windows. There are probably similar problems with 32bit and 64bit, but I have not had to dive into anything like that for a long time.
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I'm ready to upgrade from an old, old version of InstallShield Express and I was wondering if anyone has any stories, good or bad about InstallAware, a cheaper competitor?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
I gave up on InstallShield years ago. I wrote programs to generate the complex install scripts, but it didn't do everything I needed to do. Then I found Visual Installer Visual & Installer[^] which does everything I need to have done. I still use a program to generate the code, but the program does the entire build for a CD or download installation. Visual Installer works very well for me.
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I gave up on InstallShield years ago. I wrote programs to generate the complex install scripts, but it didn't do everything I needed to do. Then I found Visual Installer Visual & Installer[^] which does everything I need to have done. I still use a program to generate the code, but the program does the entire build for a CD or download installation. Visual Installer works very well for me.
Wow. It looks promising. I'll give it a try. Thanks!
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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I'm ready to upgrade from an old, old version of InstallShield Express and I was wondering if anyone has any stories, good or bad about InstallAware, a cheaper competitor?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
