Net4x.InstallerLibrary 1.8.1.26250

Net4x.InstallerLibrary

Generates a WiX Toolset v3 setup project for the projects of a Visual Studio solution, and adds the generated projects back into the .sln.

You point it at a solution and say which of its projects should get an installer. For each one it writes a *_Setup folder next to the solution — a .wixproj plus the .wxs / .wxi / .rtf files WiX needs — and returns the solution with the new project, its dependency on the project it installs, and its build configurations already in place. The setup project harvests the project's build output with HeatDirectory, so the file list never has to be maintained by hand.

Net4x.InstallerTool is the same thing as a command line executable and an MSBuild target; use this package when you want to drive the generation from your own code.

Installing

dotnet add package Net4x.InstallerLibrary

Targets net40, net45 and netstandard2.0. Generating an installer needs the WiX Toolset v3.11 (or newer) only when the generated project is built; generating it does not.

Adding installers to a solution

using ConfigurationLibrary.Arguments;
using ConfigurationLibrary.Configuration;
using ConfigurationLibrary.Configuration.Json;
using InstallerLibrary;
using InstallerLibrary.Installers;

AppConfigFactory.Instance.AppConfigBaseType = typeof(IJsonConfig);

ConfigurationVariables.Instance.Configuration = "Release";
ConfigurationVariables.Instance.Platform = "x64";
ConfigurationVariables.Instance.ProjectsToCreateInstall = new[] { "MyApp.csproj" };

var solution = InstallerHelper.Instance.AddInstallersToSolution(@"D:\src\MyApp\MyApp.sln");
solution?.SaveAs(@"D:\src\MyApp\MyApp.sln");

AddInstallersToSolution returns null when no project was asked for, and otherwise a Solution you can inspect or save. It is safe to run again: a setup project already referenced by the solution is left alone.

Rather than setting ProjectsToCreateInstall in code, you can put a .json file beside the solution and name it after it — MyApp.sln is paired with MyApp.json:

{ "appSettings": { "ProjectsToCreateInstall": "MyApp.csproj" } }

Several projects are separated by the argument separator (| by default), and a project may name the target framework it should be built for after a comma: "MyApp.csproj,net48|MyService.csproj".

To decide the list at run time — by asking the user, for instance — handle EnrichProjectsToCreateInstall, which is raised with whatever configuration supplied and whose Value you may replace:

InstallerHelper.Instance.EnrichProjectsToCreateInstall += (sender, e) =>
{
    if (e.Value.Length == 0)
    {
        e.Value = new[] { "MyApp.csproj" };
    }
};

What is generated

For a project MyApp.csproj the library writes, beside the solution, a directory named after the project and the target framework — MyApp.net48_Setup — containing:

Product.wxs, the .wixproj and License.rtf are written only if they are not already there, so edits to them survive a regeneration; Defines.wxi and Shortcuts.wxi are rewritten from the project every time.

The installed project also gains a <GeneratedInstaller>true</GeneratedInstaller> property, which marks it as already handled.

The templates come from a Resources directory next to the running assembly. Point ConfigurationVariables.Instance.ResourcesDirectory elsewhere to use your own.

Configuration

Everything is read through ConfigurationLibrary's ArgumentGetter, so each of these can come from the command line, the application configuration, an environment variable, or the solution's .json. ConfigurationVariables.Instance is the typed view of them.

Reading and editing a solution

The .sln parser is usable on its own:

using InstallerLibrary;
using InstallerLibrary.Solutions;

var solution = Solution.Parse(@"D:\src\MyApp\MyApp.sln");
foreach (var project in solution.Projects)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{project.ProjectName}: {project.RelativePath}");
}

var found = solution.FindProject("MyApp.csproj");
solution.SaveAs(@"D:\src\MyApp\MyApp.Copy.sln");

Solution.Projects lists the buildable projects; GetProjects(true) includes the solution folders. Lines is the whole file, with every Project(...) entry parsed into a SolutionProject, so a solution can be rewritten line by line and saved back.

Copyright: Copyright (c) Piero Viano. All rights reserved. Authors: Piero Viano Company: Piero Viano