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Manage Assembly Exclusions
MSI to WSI Conversion
Converting an .MSI to a .WSI File
Windows Installer Editor Reference
See also:
How Assembly Dependencies are Added to an Installation
About Dependency Scan Exclusions
A project dependency exclusion list is maintained for every .NET installation project. A
dependency is added to the list when you choose not to include the dependency during
an assembly scan.
See
About Dependency Scan Exclusions
When you run the Manage Assembly Exclusions tool, the Manage Assembly Exclusions
dialog box lists all the dependencies that are in the exclusion list for the current
installation. You can uncheck the check box next to a dependency to remove it from the
exclusion list so that it can appear in future assembly scans.
See
Removing Dependencies from the Project Dependency Exclusion List
Use MSI to WSI Conversion to convert existing .MSI files to Windows Installer project
files (.WSI). An .MSI is a distributable installation. Because an .MSI typically
encapsulates all the files in the installation, it is larger and takes longer to save. A
project file (.WSI) compiles to an .MSI. Instead of compressed files, a .WSI contains
paths to source files. A .WSI file is smaller and you can set multiple options for the
output of the .MSI. For information on the differences between project files and
installation database files, see
If you have an installation .MSI, you can open and edit it in Windows Installer Editor.
However, to take advantage of some Windows Installer Editor features, you can convert
the .MSI to a project file.
See:
Converting an .MSI to a .WSI File
Specifying Merge Module Source Directories
Specifying File Source Directories
By default, MSI to WSI Conversion extracts files and merge modules from an .MSI to a
directory you select. It then creates a project file (.WSI) that references those files and
merge modules. The project file, in turn, can be edited in Windows Installer Editor, and
then compiled to a new .MSI file. Alternately, instead of extracting files from the .MSI
and creating the new .WSI to point to them, you can redefine source paths so they point
to source files already on your computer. In this case, the files from the .MSI are not
extracted, but are substituted by files on your computer.
A .WSI file records the files and merge modules that should be compiled into the .MSI by
storing source paths. (To see the source path for a file in the installation, display its File
Details dialog box.) When you open a .WSI and compile, Windows Installer Editor reads
the source paths, and then compiles them into the .MSI.
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Project Files and Database Files
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Tools
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Troubleshooting
