Pass flag to merge module from WiX installer?

Question

We have merge modules that will install PDB files when a certain conditional variable is true however we need this condition to be set.

Can I set this condition in the WiX installer and pass it to the merge module somehow?

Answer 1

You can set installer properties in merge modules by using this format:

<property_name>.<module_GUID>

For example:

CONDITION_PROPERTY.32D73316_E513_43C3_99F5_381A4B5F0A78

In your installer you can try using a custom action to set the property used in the merge module condition.

The custom action element can look like this:

<CustomAction Id="SetMsmProperty" Return="check" Property="CONDITION_PROPERTY.32D73316_E513_43C3_99F5_381A4B5F0A78" Value="myValue" />

You can schedule the action after InstallExecuteSequence -> AppSearch, so you can add this InstallExecuteSequence element:

<InstallExecuteSequence>
  <Custom Action="SetMsmProperty" After="AppSearch">NOT Installed</Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>

You can read more about wix custom actions here:

• http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix2/wix_xsd_customaction.htm
• http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix2/wix_xsd_installexecutesequence.htm

Answer 2

I just typically create a subfeature to create a variation point in the installer. You can then put a feature condition on it to control whether the components brought in by the merge modules get installed or not. This is a lot simpler then putting a condition on each component and gives you more flexibility of whether you want to show the "debug symbols" feature to the end user or not.