[Python-Dev] MS open sources WiX (original) (raw)

Anthony Baxter anthony at interlink.com.au
Wed Apr 7 00:29:47 EDT 2004

Relevant to MvL's new MSI installer work:

http://blogs.msdn.com/robmen/archive/2004/04/05/107709.aspx

Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset has released as Open Source on SourceForge.net

The Windows Installer Xml (WiX) toolset (pronounced “wicks toolset”) appears to have finished propagating around the SourceForge.net CVS servers, so I can finally start writing this blog entry. As promised in my blog here, here, here, here, and here the WiX toolset and all of its source code has been released so that you can build Windows Installer databases (MSI and MSM files) the same way most groups inside Microsoft do. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. WiX became the first project from Microsoft to be released under an OSS approved license, namely the Common Public License.

Before everyone gets sidetracked by the Open Source implications, let’s talk about exactly what WiX is. WiX is a toolset composed of a compiler, a linker, a lib tool and a decompiler. The compiler, called candle, is used to compile XML source code into object files that contain symbols and references to symbols. The linker, called light, is fed one or more object files and links the references in the object files to the appropriate symbols in other object files. Light is also responsible for collecting all of the binaries, packaging them appropriately, and generating the final MSI or MSM file. The lib tool, called lit, is an optional tool that can be used to combine multiple object files into libraries that can be consumed by light. Finally, the decompiler, called dark, can take existing MSI and MSM files and generate XML source code that represents the package.

Anthony Baxter <anthony at interlink.com.au> It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

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