While it is simple to implement it would only map the original WiX syntax one-to-one to a new simpler one and leave the all MSI limitations unaffected. The translation story has very little practical value in case of WiX. The typical DSL story is either a translation of one syntax to another one or a conversion of one programming model to another one. Though there is a less obvious reason for not choosing DLS approach. Then your development team doesn't need a designated WiX-guy, the usual programming skill set is sufficient enough for implementing practically any deployment algorithm. Instead, I wanted C# and your favorite IDE to become a one-stop-shop for the deployment development. Most likely DSL would also require developing Custom Actions in another syntax again.
HOW TO CREATE MSI CODE
DSL would mean that developers need to learn yet another syntax and also to suffer from absence of the code assistance tools (e.g.
HOW TO CREATE MSI SOFTWARE
I wanted the very same developers who creates software to be able to create very quickly and comfortably deployment solutions as well. I wanted to move it closer to the developers. With Wix# I wanted to bring the deployment development back to the main stream programming. The alternative syntax would only address one of many practical limitations of the MSI+WiX combination. Oleg: The objective of Wix# is not to replace XML syntax with a different syntax.
InfoQ: Why did you choose to express Wix# in the form of an API instead of a domain specific language? The InfoQ readers may be already familiar with it as I have already described it in my previous interview about CS-Script Notepad++ plugin. Wix# belongs to the CS-Script toolset - an Open Source script engine suite for executing C# scripts. Of course Wix# can handle more complex scenarios (Custom Actions or even custom UI written in WPF or WinForms) but the sample above is a perfect demonstration of what Wix# is really about. The following is a typical Wix# example that demonstrates a Wix# script for building an MSI file for installation of "My App" product: This also allows homogeneous, simplified and more consistent source code structure.īut what is even more important is that Wix# provides an abstraction layer that hides all the complexity and unintuitive nature of MSI/WiX and allows expressing the deployment algorithm in a more natural way. C++) by allowing both components and behavior to be defined in the same language (C#). Wix# also removes any need to develop MSI sub-modules (Custom Actions) in a completely different language (e.g. The code with a better compile-time error checking and availability of the advanced tools. A "more manageable syntax" in this context means less verbose and more readable code. Wix# follows the steps of other transcompilers like Script#, CoffeeScript or GWT by using source code of a more manageable syntax (C# in this case) to produce the desired source code of a less manageable syntax (WiX). It solves the common MSI/WiX authoring limitations in a very elegant and yet unorthodox way. Wix# answers many MSI authoring challenges. The typical Wix# source file for building MSI contains plain-vanilla C# code, which uses a C# class structure to define (mimic) WiX entities. Wix# allows building complete MSI setups from a deployment specification expressed with C# syntax.
HOW TO CREATE MSI WINDOWS
Oleg: Wix# (WixSharp) is a deployment authoring framework targeting Windows Installer (MSI). InfoQ: For the benefit of our readers who haven't heard of it before, what is WiX#? We brought back Oleg Shilo, author of the CS-Script for Notepad++, to talk about Wix#.
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