WiX

Windows Installer XML ( WiX short ) is a collection of programs (English toolset ) to create Windows Installer packages ( MSI and MSP files) by using XML files.

WiX was originally developed internally at Microsoft and is the first program from Microsoft, which was released as free software. When it was registered on SourceForge on 31 March 2004, which caused quite a stir. Currently WiX is hosted at Codeplex, followed by a symbolic HTML Download indicating the Sourceforge presence. In September 2012, the WiX project from Microsoft was transferred to the Outer Curve Foundation.

A graphical user interface for WiX exists only in the form of a plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio called Votive. There are now WixEdit with a free GUI.

Program Structure

WiX is made up of various components whose names are derived from a play on words with " wicks " (English for candle wicks ):

• Candle ( engl. candle ), the compiler is used to compile the XML documents into object files that contain symbols to the symbols and references.
• Light (English light), the linker takes one or more object files and links the references in the object files with the correct symbols from other object files. Light is also responsible to manage the binaries to process it correctly and finally to generate an MSI or MSM file from it.
• Lit ( cf. literature, English. Illuminated), the library tool is an optional tool, which allows you to combine multiple object files into libraries that can be parsed with Light.
• Burn (English burn ), the burn- Engine is a bootstrapper to install the Setup Prerequisites on the one hand and the other hand to Chainen several installation packages ( for example, MSI, MSP files or exe installer).
• Dark ( engl. darkness ), the decompiler, takes existing MSI and MSM files and creates XML documents that represent the package.
• Tallow (English sebum ) and Heat ( engl. heat) - Tallow is a tool to generate the XML script for WiX file lists and to convert it into a directory tree. It produces a WiX "fragment", which can combine with other WiX source files to compile. From Wix 3.0 it will take over the so-called heat - tool that should work even better. There is also an unofficial version of Tallow, known as " Mallow ", which has synchronization capabilities and improved component ID.