WiX: What is a WiX Extension?
A WiX extension is a dll that allows users to add their own custom elements, preprocessor functionality, and build customizations. These extensions take advantage of the various extension points in WiX. The most commonly used ones are Preprocessor, Compiler, and Binder extentions.
Mosts WiX extensions shipped with the WiX toolset are used to encapsulate common funtionality and make it easy for users to author things into their setups. They are targeted at solving setup problems in a standard way so everyone can benefit from and build on the WiX toolset.
Example: WixNetFxExtension.dll
Many people who write applications for the .NET Framework have various needs. I will discuss 2 here in an effort to describe 2 uses of extensions.
AppSearch (ComponentSearch, RegistrySearch, etc..):
Sometimes people want to find information about the system as part of their install. One way to get current system info is using an AppSearch.
Detecting if the .NET Framework is installed:
In reality, in order to detect if the .NET framework is installed, you need to search for a specific registry key and set a property if that key exists. Using the WixNetFxExtension you can just add the following to detect if the 2.0 Framework is installed.
<PropertyRef Id="NETFRAMEWORK20"/>
The logic defining this property and all the logic behind it is stored in a WixLib which embedded inside the WixNetFxExtension.dll
Custom Actions:
Sometimes people want to do things that are not supported by Windows Installer. In this case they write custom actions. WiX provides a good mechanism for sharing custom actions.
Ngen’ing an Assembly:
To add a custom action to a product there is a lot of authoring to do. You need to define it and its binary, schedule it, and condition it. This doesn’t even consider that most custom actions come in sets, all sequenced at different times. This can all be done using a CustomActionRef in a similar way as the previous example. After that, you need to populate any custom tables your custom action may rely on for its data. This is a lot complexity for users to author using standard WiX constructs. One use of a compiler extension can be to add your own element to the authoring and have that translate into a custom table in your msi that your customaction can read. The ngen custom actions have such an element.
<netfx:NativeImage Platform=”all” … />
The compiler will take this line and its context and populate a NativeImage table in the resulting MSI that will contain all the data needed by the ngen custom actions.
The custom action also requires a dll binary in the binary table. In WiX v2 you had to ship your binary along with your extension. WiX v3 has support for binary WixLib’s. The key thing here is that the binary will get added into the WixLib for you and you don’t have to worry about shipping 2 separate files.
The resulting extension file:
The result of this is a .NET dll with a WixLib embedded in it as a resource. That WixLib then in turn has a cabinet at the beginning of it that contains the custom action binary. All of this nesting is handled for you by the linker and the binder so all you have to do to use stuff you put in your WixLib is add the extension to your candle and light command lines and reference the things defined in the WixLib from your product authoring.
