I have a WPF application and I've created an MSI to install it with the WixToolset 3.11 and Visual Studio Extension 2019. I'm trying to add either XmlFile or XmlConfig item to change values in the config file. I'm getting the following error:
Failed to open XML file C:\Program Files(x86)\CO Apps\Main App\OurApp.exe.config. system error: -2147024786
The file path is the full filepath because I gave it the full path trying to resolve the issue. Here's the important parts of the wxs file
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
xmlns:wixutil="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension">
<Product Id="9E76F000-5525-4BDF-8262-AE46B035D9CE"
Name="Our App"
Language="1033"
Version="2.0.0.0"
Manufacturer="CO Apps"
UpgradeCode="7CFB1B51-F5D5-4AD4-A509-F5C9BC05F875">
<Package Id="*" InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" Description="Our production application." />
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="VTAPPSDIR" Name="CO Apps">
<Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="Our App">
<Component Id="MainExecutable" Guid="748368D7-7581-4809-A8FE-DFB1093D6A02">
<File Id="MainFile" Name="$(var.OurApp.TargetFileName)" DiskId="1" Source="$(var.OurApp.TargetDir)OurApp.exe" KeyPath="yes"></File>
<File Id="OurApp.exe.config" ReadOnly="no" Source="$(var.OurApp.TargetDir)OurApp.exe.config"></File>
... More File items for DLLs
<wixutil:XmlFile Id="SetAppMode" Action="setValue" File="C:\Program Files (x86)\CO Apps\Our App\OurApp.exe.confg" ElementPath="configuration/userSettings/OurApp.Properties.Settings/setting/AppMode/value" Value="Main" />
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
So I'm trying to set the "AppMode" value to "Main" when this installs. What I'm trying to set isn't the point it's that it can't seem to find or open the file. I've tried putting the XmlFile in its own component. I've tried several variations of File paths including [INSTALLDIR] and [INSTALLLOCATION] and the filename by itself. Without that line everything works great. With that line in, I get the error and it rolls back the install. I also tried XmlConfig instead of XmlFile:
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="ClearConfigAppMode" Action="delete" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" ElementPath="userSettings/OurApp.Properties.Settings" Name="AppMode" />
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="SetAppMode" Action="create" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" ElementPath="userSettings/OurApp.Properties.Settings" On="install" Node="element">
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="SetConfigAppModeName" ElementId="SetAppMode" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" Name="name" Value="AppMode" />
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="SetConfigAppModeSerializeAs" ElementId="SetAppMode" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" Name="serializeAs" Value="String" />
</wixutil:XmlConfig>
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="SetAppModeValue" Action="create" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" ElementPath="userSettings/OurApp.Properties.Settings" On="install" Node="element" Sequence="2">
<wixutil:XmlConfig Id="SetAppModeVAlueMain" ElementId="SetAppModeValue" File="[INSTALLLOCATION]OurApp.exe.config" Name="Value" Value="Main" />
</wixutil:XmlConfig>
Since XmlConfig doesn't have setValue on an existing element I used the delete action to remove the item for use in development and insert a new one. Same error. It happens logged on as myself or as Administrator. Does anyone have a working example of WiX with WPF creating a MSI? I'm not looking for something as complex as WixBA. I just need to modify the app.exe.config file on install.
Thanks,
Mike
Example: Though I rarely use this feature, I have this working example here (my test project for XML): https://github.com/glytzhkof/WiXUpdateXmlFile. Snippets of the sample here and here.
Disclaimer: I am not sure if follows best practice for XML updates, since I prefer to do XML updates from application launch code instead - if possible (single source, easier debugability and in general more familiar territory for most developers).
app.config/web.config appsettings: Maybe check out this answer regarding appsettings or this answer (looks better) - just for your review, not necessarily a suggestion. Keeping deployed files read-only helps a lot to overwrite them reliably during updates and the file you generate can be kept untouched by the installer (the file is de-coupled from installer - it never touches them). Or as I wrote: HKCU can also be used to write "the few settings you actually have to change". Not so nice conceptually?
Clouded Settings: Personally I think settings should never be file-based but clouded in our day and age (kept in a remote database). See section 6 and 7 here. How realistic this is for your application I don't know. New challenges and problems - no doubt (network issues, firewalls, launch problems, etc...), but benefits: versioned settings, recovery and management (enforce new settings). Not sure about all the practicalities - never been involved that much, but would love to get rid of settings files - especially for corporate apps. However, sometimes nice concepts don't meet reality well - maybe it is too involved?
This question has been danced around a bit, forgive me if it is a duplicate but I haven't been able to find an exact answer.
I am trying to create a Parameters.xml for deployment configuration that specifies the destination physical file folder for a web site. This is for an automated build using TeamCity, e.g. commandline using .deploy.cmd.
Can someone explain what I need to do?
Parameters.xml:
<parameter name="physicalPathLocation" description="Physical path where files for this Web service will be deployed." defaultValue="\" tags="PhysicalPath">
<parameterEntry kind="DestinationVirtualDirectory" scope="Default\ Web\ Site/iag\.application\.services\.exampleservice/" match="" />
</parameter>
And in SetParameters.xml
<setParameter name="physicalPathLocation" value="C:\MyFolder\MySite" />
I suspect my problem is in how I am declaring the scope but am unsure what needs to be done.
Assuming Default Web Site/iag.application.services.exampleservice is a virtual directory in IIS (DestinationVirtualDirectory is only valid for "applications"), you can probably just get away with removing the / suffix and not encoding it. (I've also removed the match attribute)
<parameter name="physicalPathLocation"
description="Physical path where files for this Web service will be deployed."
defaultValue="\"
tags="PhysicalPath"
>
<parameterEntry kind="DestinationVirtualDirectory"
scope="Default Web Site/iag.application.services.exampleservice" />
</parameter>
Keep in mind that you don't have to declare parameters before you set them. You could just as easily declare the full parameter and set it at the same time:
<setParameter name="physicalPathLocation"
kind="DestinationVirtualDirectory"
scope="Default Web Site/iag.application.services.exampleservice"
value="C:\MyFolder\MySite" />
I am using the solution to this question in order to apply configuration changes to App.config in a Winforms project. I also have an installer project for the project that creates an installable *.msi file. The problem is, the config file bundled in the installers is the original, un-transformed config file. So we're not getting the production connection strings in the production installer even though the config file for the built winforms project has all the correct transformations applied.
Is there any way to force the installer project to use the output of project build?
First of all: it is impossible to make the Setup Project point to another app.config file by using the Primary output option. So my solution is going to be a work around. I hope you find it useful in your situation.
Overview:
The basic idea is:
Remove the forced app.config from the Setup Project;
Add a file pointing to the app.config, manually;
Use MSBuild to get into the vdproj file, and change it to match the real output of the transformed app.config.
Some drawbacks are:
The setup project only gets updated, if the project it deploys build. ahhh... not a real drawback!
You need MSBuild 4.0... this can also be worked around!
Need a custom Task, called FileUpdate... it is open source and has installer.
Lets Work:
1) Go to your Setup Project, and select the Primary Output object, right click and go to Properties. There you will find the Exclude Filter... add a filter for *.config, so it will remove the hard-coded app.config.
2) Right click your Setup Project in the Solution Explorer -> Add -> File... select any file that ends with .config.
3) Download MSBuild Community Tasks Project, I recomend the msi installer.
4) Unload your project (the csproj) and replace the code from the other question with this one:
Code:
<UsingTask TaskName="TransformXml" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v10.0\Web\Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll" />
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets" />
<Target Name="AfterCompile" Condition="exists('app.$(Configuration).config')">
<!-- Generate transformed app config in the intermediate directory -->
<TransformXml Source="app.config" Destination="$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFileName).config" Transform="app.$(Configuration).config" />
<!-- Force build process to use the transformed configuration file from now on. -->
<ItemGroup>
<AppConfigWithTargetPath Remove="app.config" />
<AppConfigWithTargetPath Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFileName).config">
<TargetPath>$(TargetFileName).config</TargetPath>
</AppConfigWithTargetPath>
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<SetupProjectPath>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFileName).config</SetupProjectPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<!-- Change the following so that this Task can find your vdproj file -->
<FileUpdate Files="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\Setup1\Setup1.vdproj"
Regex="(.SourcePath. = .8:).*\.config(.)"
ReplacementText="$1$(SetupProjectPath.Replace(`\`,`\\`))$2" />
<FileUpdate Files="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\Setup1\Setup1.vdproj"
Regex="(.TargetName. = .8:).*\.config(.)"
ReplacementText="$1$(TargetFileName).config$2" />
</Target>
5) The previous code must be changed, so that it can find your vdproj file. I have placed a comment in the code, indicating where you need to make the change.
Now, everytime you build your main project, the MSBuild will change the Setup project, so that it uses the correct app.config file. It may have drawbacks, but this solution can be polished and become better. If you need leave a comment, and I'll try to respond ASAP.
Resources I Used
MSBuild 4.0 is needed because I need to use String's Replace function, to replace single "\" to double "\" in the path. See
MSBuild Property Functions for details about using function in MSBuild.
I learned about the FileUpdate Task in this other question. The official project is MSBuild Community Tasks Project.
These two topics were important to my findings:
Trying to include configuration specific app.config files in a setup project
Problems with setup project - am I thick?
Another solution I've found is not to use the transformations but just have a separate config file, e.g. app.Release.config. Then add this line to your csproj file.
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86' ">
<AppConfig>App.Release.config</AppConfig>
</PropertyGroup>
This will force the deployment project to use the correct config file when packaging.
I combined the best of the following answers to get a fully working solution without using any external tools at all:
1. Setup App.Config transformations
Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/5109530
In short:
Manually add additional .config files for each build configuration and edit the raw project file to include them similar to this:
<Content Include="App.config" />
<Content Include="App.Debug.config" >
<DependentUpon>App.config</DependentUpon>
</Content>
<Content Include="App.Release.config" >
<DependentUpon>App.config</DependentUpon>
</Content>
Then include the following XML at the end of the project file, just before the closing </project> tag:
<UsingTask TaskName="TransformXml" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\Web\Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.dll" />
<Target Name="AfterCompile" Condition="exists('app.$(Configuration).config')">
<TransformXml Source="app.config" Destination="$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFileName).config" Transform="app.$(Configuration).config" />
<ItemGroup>
<AppConfigWithTargetPath Remove="app.config" />
<AppConfigWithTargetPath Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFileName).config">
<TargetPath>$(TargetFileName).config</TargetPath>
</AppConfigWithTargetPath>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Finally edit the additional .config files to include the respective transformations for each build configuration:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
<!-- transformations here-->
</configuration>
2. Include the appropriate .config in the setup project
First, add a command in the postbuild event of your main project to move the appropriate transformed .config file to a neutral location (e.g. the main bin\ directory):
copy /y "$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName).config" "$(ProjectDir)bin\$(TargetFileName).config"
(Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/26521986)
Open the setup project and click the "Primary output..." node to display the properties window. There, add an ExludeFilter "*.config" to exclude the default (untransformed) .config file.
(Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/6908477)
Finally add the transformed .config file (from the postbuild event) to the setup project (Add > File).
Done.
You can now freely add build configurations and corresponding config transforms and your setup project will always include the appropriate .config for the active configuration.
I accomplished this in a different manner with no external tools:
I added a post-build event that copied the target files to a 'neutral' directory (the root of the /bin folder in the project) and then added this file to the .vdproj. The deployment project now picks up whatever the latest built version is:
Post Build Command:
copy /y "$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName).config" "$(ProjectDir)bin\$(TargetFileName).config"
This worked for what I needed without any external tools, and works nicely with SlowCheetah transformations.
Based off Alec's answer, here is a similar element that you can use along with the transformations and still get their full benefit:
<ItemGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
<Content Include="$(OutputPath)$(AssemblyName).dll.config">
<InProject>false</InProject>
<Link>$(AssemblyName).dll.config</Link>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>
This way, you can use the SlowCheetah transforms or the built-in ones to transform your .config file, and then go into your Visual Studio Deployment Project (or other) and include the Content from the affected project in your Add -> Project Output... page easily, with minimal changes.
None of the above solutions or any articles worked for me in deployment/setup project. Spent many days to figure out the right solution. Finally this approach worked for me.
Pre requisites
I've used utility called cct.exe to transform file explicitly. You can download from here
http://ctt.codeplex.com/
I've used custom installer in setup project to capture installation events.
Follow these steps to achieve app config transformation
1) Add your desired config files to your project and modify your .csproj file like these
<Content Include="app.uat.config">
<DependentUpon>app.config</DependentUpon>
</Content>
<Content Include="app.training.config">
<DependentUpon>app.config</DependentUpon>
</Content>
<Content Include="app.live.config">
<DependentUpon>app.config</DependentUpon>
</Content>
I've added them as content so that they can be copied to output directory.
2) Add cct.exe to your project which you downloaded.
3) Add custom installer to your project which should look like this
[RunInstaller(true)]
public partial class CustomInstaller : System.Configuration.Install.Installer
{
string currentLocation = Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);
string[] transformationfiles = Directory.GetFiles(Path.GetDirectoryNam(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), "app.*.config");
public CustomInstaller()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Attach the 'Committed' event.
this.Committed += new InstallEventHandler(MyInstaller_Committed);
this.AfterInstall += new InstallEventHandler(CustomInstaller_AfterInstall);
}
void CustomInstaller_AfterInstall(object sender, InstallEventArgs e)
{
try
{
Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(currentLocation);
var environment = Context.Parameters["Environment"];
var currentconfig = transformationfiles.Where(x => x.Contains(environment)).First();
if (currentconfig != null)
{
FileInfo finfo = new FileInfo(currentconfig);
if (finfo != null)
{
var commands = string.Format(#"/C ctt.exe s:yourexename.exe.config t:{0} d:yourexename.exe.config ", finfo.Name);
using (System.Diagnostics.Process execute = new System.Diagnostics.Process())
{
execute.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
execute.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
execute.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
execute.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
execute.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
execute.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
execute.StartInfo.Arguments = commands;
execute.Start();
}
}
}
}
catch
{
// Do nothing...
}
}
// Event handler for 'Committed' event.
private void MyInstaller_Committed(object sender, InstallEventArgs e)
{
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
var execonfigPath = currentLocation + #"\yourexe.exe.config";
var file = File.OpenText(execonfigPath);
var xml = file.ReadToEnd();
file.Close();
doc.LoadXml(FormatXmlString(xml));
doc.Save(execonfigPath);
foreach (var filename in transformationfiles)
File.Delete(filename);
}
private static string FormatXmlString(string xmlString)
{
System.Xml.Linq.XElement element = System.Xml.Linq.XElement.Parse(xmlString);
return element.ToString();
}
}
Here I am using two event handlers CustomInstaller_AfterInstall in which I am loading correct config file and transforming .
In MyInstaller_Committed I am deleting transformation files which we don't need on client machine once we apply has been applied. I am also indenting transformed file because cct simply transforms elements were aligned ugly.
4) Open your setup project and add project output content file so that setup can copy config files like app.uat.config,app.live.config etc into client machine.
In previous step this snippet will load all available config files but we need supply right transform file
string[] transformationfiles = Directory.GetFiles(Path.GetDirectoryNam
(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), "app.*.config");
For that I've added UI dialog on setup project to get the current config. The dialog gives options for user to select environment like "Live" "UAT" "Test" etc .
Now pass the selected environment to your custom installer and filter them.
It will become lengthy article if I explain on how to add dialog,how to set up params etc so please google them. But idea is to transform user selected environment.
The advantage of this approach is you can use same setup file for any environment.
Here is the summary:
Add config files
Add cct exe file
Add custom installer
Apply transformation on exe.config under after install event
Delete transformation files from client's machine
Modify setup project in such a way that
set up should copy all config files(project output content) and cct.exe into output directory
configure UI dialog with radio buttons (Test,Live,UAT..)
pass the selected value to custom installer
Solution might look lengthy but have no choice because MSI always copy app.config and doesn't care about project build events and transformations. slowcheetah works only with clickonce not setup project
The question is old, but the following could still help many folks out there.
I would simply use Wix WiFile.exe to replace the concerned file in the msi this way (for the sake of this example, we call your msi yourPackage.msi):
Step 1. From command prompt run: WiFile.exe "yourPackage.msi" /x "app.exe.config."
The above will extract the "wrong" app.exe.config file from the msi and place it the same directory as your msi;
Step 2. Place the new (prod) config file (must have the same name as the extracted file: app.exe.config) in same location as your msi;
This means that you are overwritting the app.exe.config that has just been extracted in step 1 above, with your new (production config file);
Step 3. From command prompt run: WiFile.exe "yourPackage.msi" /u "app.exe.config."
THAT'S ALL!
The above can be done in a few seconds. You could automate the task if you wanted, for instance, by running it as batch or else.
After running step 3 above, your msi will contain the new config file, which will now be installed at your clients' when they run the setup.
Need to know the procedure for overlaying multiple KML files on a single Google Map that is displayed in the browser. The KML files intended for this can point to different locations. Ex:KML1 for North America & KML2 for Asia. Could anyone help me out in this.
I think you are looking for this:
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/kml_tut.html#network_links
example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2">
<Folder>
<name>Network Links</name>
<visibility>0</visibility>
<open>0</open>
<description>Network link example 1</description>
<NetworkLink>
<name>Random Placemark</name>
<visibility>0</visibility>
<open>0</open>
<description>A simple server-side script that generates a new random
placemark on each call</description>
<refreshVisibility>0</refreshVisibility>
<flyToView>0</flyToView>
<Link>
<href>http://yourserver.com/map1.kml</href>
</Link>
</NetworkLink>
<NetworkLink>
<name>Random Placemark</name>
<visibility>0</visibility>
<open>0</open>
<description>A simple server-side script that generates a new random
placemark on each call</description>
<refreshVisibility>0</refreshVisibility>
<flyToView>0</flyToView>
<Link>
<href>http://yourserver.com/map2.kml</href>
</Link>
</NetworkLink>
</Folder>
</kml>
You can do it with Google Maps JS API. You need to create overlays with google.maps.KmlLayer for each KML files.
See this example: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/layer-kml.html
API Documentation:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/overlays.html#KMLLayers
I want to run my wpf application "A" from another assembly "B".
I use the following code:
static void main()
{
var app = new A.App();
app.InitializeComponent();
app.Run();
}
when i run my app I got the following error:
Cannot convert string '/Resources/icon.gif' in attribute 'Icon' to object of type 'System.Windows.Media.ImageSource'. Cannot locate resource 'resources/icon.gif'. Error at object 'MainWindow' in markup file 'A;component/shell/shellview.xaml'.
How can I transfer from B images and resources info to A?
Thanks!
Are you using the Pack URI?
You can use the pack URI syntax to access resources embedded in other assemblies. The following example demonstrates the basic pack URI syntax for accessing embedded resources in other assemblies:
pack://application:,,,/;component//
Thus, if you wanted to locate a file named myPic.bmp in the folder myFolder in another assembly named myAssembly, you would use the following pack URI:
Pack://application:,,,/myAssembly;component/myFolder/myPic.bmp
As with other pack URIs, if the embedded file does not exist within a folder, the folder is omitted in the URI.
TRy using something like this:
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary
Source="CustomControls.Controls;component\Themes/...."
/>
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
Today I had the same problem, and I solved it by putting just:
Source="../../Resources/name.jpg"