Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

AJ — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:44:35 GMT

Why not just finish the story? Not to be a complete @$$, but honestly the Directory table is not that complicated.

I realize back then, yes, there was little information to work with, but now if someone can't figure out the Directory table from looking at it in combination with the SDK, they should probably be in a different profession.

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

Leon Zandman — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:39:53 GMT

I'm very curious as to what comes next :-)

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

Adam Bell — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 17:18:12 GMT

G’Day Rob,

I've been using MSI for about 5 years now. I tend to work quite heavily in Orca (nice work!), and I also found the Directory table was the first major stumbling block I had trouble getting my head around.

I'm interested to see what your talk with Ben brought to light. There's definitely a knack being able to read the table and understanding how it reflects the file system.

Nice to see your blogging again mate :-)

Cheers

Adam

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

n00dles — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 09:03:58 GMT

I'm backing Adam up 100%. The first time I opened up a directory table in Wise I thought WTF!?!?

Hopefully the next post isn't too far away... be interested to see the logic behind it's structure / nomenclature!

Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 2.

when setup isn't just xcopy — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:07:47 GMT

Imagine a blog entry where I slowly continue to take apart the Directory table.

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

robmen — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:29:45 GMT

AJ,

First, I'm trying to "write less" "more often" since it is obvious that when I try to "write more" "less often" that "less often" turns into "never". We'll see if it works. Second, there are a lot of subtleties of the Windows Installer that can be learned by digging deeply into such a simple table. I hope to go beyond what you can read in MSDN about the Directory table and explain why things ended up the way they did. Finally, I hope to grow from this topic into more complex topics related to the Directory table (such as the multitude of ways you can customize the install location for an application). Each topic will be able to build on the topic before it.

The real question open to me is how much information do I need to post in each blog entry along the way to keep readers interested? I'm finding that I'm doing much better posting two or three paragraphs instead of my typical seven to ten. Hopefully, it isn't too frustrating waiting for each weeks small installment. In any case, I'm reading the feedback and will try to adjust from that.

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

AJ — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 19:44:02 GMT

I guess I prefer the longer posts with a conclusion. Now, I am here to read the rest of the story and offer some more feedback.

Please understand, I love reading your blog and I almost always learn something new. It is much appreciated.

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

robmen — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 22:54:10 GMT

AJ, I appreciate the feedback.

After a couple weeks here is how I see things. I expect most readers (how many? 3? 5?) would rather I write complete stories as often as I'm writing this story in many parts. However, I think I've proven (to myself anyway) that I can't get complete stories posted at all. So we'll just have to take this as the lesser of two evils. <smile/>

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

Andrew — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 23:53:38 GMT

Your "File table" link points to the same link the "Directory table" link points to. I think it should be the file table link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/msi/setup/file_table.asp

re: Deciphering the MSI Directory table, part 1.

Andrew — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 22:01:33 GMT

Gee, I was going to ask another question, but I -finally- got a clue... That orca.exe is not distributed with the Platform SDK, but that *orca.msi * IS. - It took me a while - I must have read it a half a dozen times before it clicked. - Doh! ;)