Can't remove file installed by another installer

Question

I want to:

1. Create a directory.
2. Run another installer (not MSI) that installs some files into directory from point 1.
3. Replace some of the files installed at point 2.

All of these must be done under my installation created with the help of WiX (Windows Installer XML).

There is an important part of my WiX file below. The problem is this installation doesn't replace the files as I want. To remove files I use RemoveFile element with Property attribute, because it is the only way (except writing code within custom action - that is I do not want) to remove files that isn't in the installer database.

<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
    <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="ManufacturerDirectory" Name="$(var.Manufacturer)">
            <Directory Id="ProductDirectory" Name="$(var.ProductName)">
                <Directory Id="SubDirectory" Name="$(var.SubDirectoryName)">
                </Directory>
            </Directory>
        </Directory>
    </Directory>
</Directory>

<!-- Create the directory at point 1. -->
<Component
    Id="RemoveOldData" Guid="..."   KeyPath="yes" 
    Directory="ManufacturerDirectory">
    <CreateFolder Directory="ProductDirectory" />
</Component>

<!-- Following two components replace the file(s) (point 3). -->

<Component
    Id="RemoveOldData" Guid="..."
    Directory="SubDirectory" KeyPath="yes"      
    >   
    <RemoveFile 
        Id="Remove_MyFile.exe" On="install"
        Property="SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY" Name="MyFile.exe" />
</Component>

<Component
    Id="FilesToReplace" Guid="..."
    Directory="SubDirectory">
    <File 
        Id="MyFile.exe" Vital="yes" KeyPath="yes" DiskId="1"        
        Source="$(var.SourcePath)MyFile.exe" Name="MyFile.exe"
        />
</Component>

<Binary Id="WiseInstallation" SourceFile="$(var.WiseSourcePath)..." />

<!-- Launch Wise installation at point 2. -->
<CustomAction
    Id="LaunchWiseInstallation"
    BinaryKey="WiseInstallation"
    ExeCommand=""
    Return="check"
    Execute="deferred"
    Impersonate="yes" />

<!-- Following custom action assigns a property.
This needs to remove files that are not in the current installer database.
To do it, the Property attribute of the RemoveFile element is needed. -->   
<CustomAction
    Id="Assign_SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY"
    Property="SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY"
    Value="[SubDirectory]" />

<InstallExecuteSequence>
    <Custom Action="Assign_SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY" After="InstallInitialize" >
        NOT Installed</Custom>
    <Custom Action="LaunchWiseInstallation" After="CreateFolders" >
        NOT Installed</Custom>
    <RemoveFiles Sequence="3720"/>
    <RemoveFolders Sequence="3730"/>
</InstallExecuteSequence>

InstallExecuteSequence from Orca's view:

• ValidateProductID 700
• CostInitialize 800
• FileCost 900
• CostFinalize 1000
• InstallValidate 1400
• InstallInitialize 1500
• Assign_SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY 1501
• ProcessComponents 1600
• UnpublishFeatures 1800
• RemoveRegistryValues 2600
• RemoveShortcuts 3200
• CreateFolders 3700
• LaunchWiseInstallation 3701
• RemoveFiles 3720
• RemoveFolders 3730
• InstallFiles 4000
• CreateShortcuts 4500
• WriteRegistryValues 5000
• RegisterUser 6000
• RegisterProduct 6100
• PublishFeatures 6300
• PublishProduct 6400
• InstallFinalize 6600

I also checked install log file:

• the SUBDIRECTORYPROPERTY property was assigned well;
• the InstallExecuteSequence was followed properly;
• installation was completed without errors.

BUT THE FILES WASN'T EVER REMOVED OR REPLACED!

Answer 1

First, an MSI cannot install another MSI so the installation package in #2 cannot be an MSI. If it is not, then schedule the custom action that launches the other installation package like so:

<InstallExecuteSequence>
   <Custom Action='LaunchOtherInstaller' After='CreateFolders' />
</InstallExecuteSequence>

The CreateFolders action happens before the InstallFiles action so your installer should be able to jump in between.

Answer 2

First of all, I realized that MSI can't directly delete the files installed by another installer (MSI or not) - it works only with files mentioned within its database at installation process (i.e. the files installed by itself or by previous version of itself). But with custom action it can. So the point 3 can't be achieved without custom action. So the right sequence can be like this:

<InstallExecuteSequence>
  <Custom 
    Action="LaunchWiseInstallation" 
    After="CreateFolders" 
    >
    NOT Installed
    </Custom>
  <Custom 
    Action="DeleteOldData" 
    After="LaunchWiseInstallation" 
    >
    NOT Installed
    </Custom>
</InstallExecuteSequence>

where DeleteOldData is a CustomAction element that points to the DLL or .exe that contains the custom action that actually deletes the files. It only can be mentioned that perhaps DeleteOldData custom action should have Execute="deferred" attribute to run in-script, and should have Impersonate="yes" attribute to avoid UAC restrictions and files access. The latter is true if the installer is running by the user with administrative privileges which is higher than LocalSystem's preveleges.

And the RemoveFile tag can only work with files mentioned within MSI's database - not with random files. So it is useless in this situation.