How to insert a value of data type 'Formatted' into the MSI database

Question

I am trying to add a custom action in the CustomAction table of an msi.The problem is that the column name Target is of data type Formatted.It is failing when i am trying to insert a string into the column since the requested type is Formatted.

WindowsInstaller.Installer ins = (WindowsInstaller.Installer)new Installer();

string strFileMsi = @"D:\Pack.msi";


 Database db3 = ins.OpenDatabase(strFileMsi, WindowsInstaller.MsiOpenDatabaseMode.msiOpenDatabaseModeDirect);
            System.Console.WriteLine("testing 1");



  WindowsInstaller.View vw3 = db3.OpenView("INSERT INTO CustomAction (Action,Type,Target) VALUES ('DeleteAction',3174,'\'Option Explicit\n\n'On Error Resume Next\nDim objFSO, strappfolder, WshShell, strprogramfiles, WshProcessenv\nDim intFilesCount, intSubFolderCount, intFileCount, objGetFolder, ObjFolder\nSet objFSO = CreateObject(\"Scripting.FileSystemObject\") \nset WshShell = CreateObject(\"Wscript.Shell\")\nset WshProcessenv = WshShell.Environment(\"Process\")\nstrprogramfiles = WshProcessenv(\"PROGRAMFILES(x86)\")\n\nIf ObjFSO.FileExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\err.txt\") Then\nobjFSO.DeleteFile strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\err.txt\"\nEnd If\n\nIf ObjFSO.FileExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\out.txt\") Then\nobjFSO.DeleteFile strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\out.txt\"\nEnd If\n\n If ObjFSO.FolderExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\") Then\n\n    Set objFSO = CreateObject(\"Scripting.FileSystemObject\")\n\n   Set objGetFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\")\n\n    ObjFSO.DeleteFolder strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\"\n   End If')");

            vw3.Execute(null);
            System.Console.WriteLine("testing");

             db3.Commit();
            vw3.Close();   

It is always throwing exception.I am able to add values into Action Type without any problem.The problem comes with Target which is of formatted data type.

Answer 1

If it's the view.Execute that throws the exception, then say so, just to be explicit. Also somewhere in the exception itself (or the inner exception) there should be an MSI-related error number or text that says something about the details of the exception in MSI terms.

Anyway, Target is Formatted, which is text. The maximum length of a text string is 255 characters, and the length of your text is more than 255 characters by my count. That's most likely the issue. You could test with a very small string to verify. Your alternative would be to insert the script into the Binary table and alter the custom action accordingly.

Answer 2

i dont reformat the string so check it before using it :

WindowsInstaller.View vw3 = db3.OpenView("SELECT * FROM CustomAction");

        vw3.Execute(null);

        Record record = ins.CreateRecord(4);

        record.StringData[1] = "DeleteAction";
        record.IntegerData[2] = 3174;
        record.StringData[4] = "Option Explicit\n\n'On Error Resume Next\nDim objFSO, strappfolder, WshShell, strprogramfiles, WshProcessenv\nDim intFilesCount, intSubFolderCount, intFileCount, objGetFolder, ObjFolder\nSet objFSO = CreateObject(\"Scripting.FileSystemObject\") \nset WshShell = CreateObject(\"Wscript.Shell\")\nset WshProcessenv = WshShell.Environment(\"Process\")\nstrprogramfiles = WshProcessenv(\"PROGRAMFILES(x86)\")\n\nIf ObjFSO.FileExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\err.txt\") Then\nobjFSO.DeleteFile strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\err.txt\"\nEnd If\n\nIf ObjFSO.FileExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\out.txt\") Then\nobjFSO.DeleteFile strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\\out.txt\"\nEnd If\n\n If ObjFSO.FolderExists(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\") Then\n\n    Set objFSO = CreateObject(\"Scripting.FileSystemObject\")\n\n   Set objGetFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\")\n\n    ObjFSO.DeleteFolder strprogramfiles & \"\\datavision -BMS\"\n   End If";

        vw3.Modify(MsiViewModify.msiViewModifyInsert, record);