Wix, How to dynamically change the installation Directory based on InstanceID

Question

I'm learning about the Wix Installer and have a requirement that the msi is installer multiple times.

My question is how can i change the INSTALLFOLDER from WWTagNet.Service to WWTagNet.Service1, WWTagNet.Service2, WWTagNet.Service3, without specifying the InstallDir on the command line to msiexec?

I've used the InstanceTransforms element and defined three instances, and added MultiInstance="yes" some components.

I guess i thought the Directory i specified as INSTALLFOLDER would automagically change based on the InstanceID.

I would like to just append the InstanceID to the INSTALLFOLDER instead of specifiying as a commandline to the msiexec.

I've tried using the following, but it does not appear to work.

<SetProperty Id="INSTALLFOLDER" After="LaunchConditions" Sequence="first" Value="[TARGETDIR][ProgramFilesFolder][Company][INSTANCEID]"><![CDATA[NOT Installed]]></SetProperty>

these are the relevant parts of my product.wxs file.

<Property Id="INSTANCEID" Value="0" />
<InstanceTransforms Property="INSTANCEID">
    <Instance Id="I01" ProductCode="a4d890ed-e624-438e-8fd9-938cd7aa06be" ProductName="Service1" />
    <Instance Id="I02" ProductCode="17c81aa7-0524-44f7-a2ea-3a618c9ceb6b" ProductName="Service2" />
    <Instance Id="I03" ProductCode="8d858d7c-f66c-4ccb-9427-77b5c426c3e1" ProductName="Service3" />
</InstanceTransforms>

<Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="WWTagNet.Service" Level="1">
    <ComponentGroupRef Id="ProductComponents" />
    <ComponentGroupRef Id="Modules" />
</Feature>

<Fragment>  
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
        <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
    <Directory Id="COMPANYFOLDER" Name="W W Wood Products Inc">
      <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="WWTagNet.Service">
        <Directory Id="MODULESFOLDER" Name="Modules" />
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
        </Directory>
    </Directory>
</Fragment>

<Fragment>

    <ComponentGroup Id="Modules" Directory="MODULESFOLDER">
    <!--Install some files-->
    </ComponentGroup>

    <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
    <!--Install some files-->
    </ComponentGroup>

</Fragment>

muscleman71 muscleman71 · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-12T18:21:26

Well the following seems to work for me. Guess the property needs a default value which can then be changed during LaunchConditions

<Property Id="COMPANYFOLDER" Value="W W Wood Products Inc"/>
<Property Id="INSTALLERFOLDER" Value="WWTagNet.Service"/>
<SetProperty Id="COMPANYFOLDER" After="LaunchConditions" Value="[ProgramFilesFolder]\W W Wood Products Inc"/>
<SetProperty Id="INSTALLFOLDER" After="LaunchConditions" Value="[COMPANYFOLDER]\[ProductName]"/>

Wix, How to dynamically change the installation Directory based on InstanceID

1 Answers