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Chapter 13
Merge Modules and Transforms
About Merge Modules
Windows Installer Editor Reference
This chapter includes the following topics:
About Merge Modules
Available Tabs and Pages in Merge Modules
Creating a Merge Module As a New Installation
Creating a Merge Module Within a Solution
Creating a Merge Module From Existing Components
Creating a Configurable Merge Module
About the Merge Modules Page
Adding a Merge Module to an Installation
About Transforms
on page 384
Creating a Transform Based on an Existing .MSI
Applying a Transform to an Installation
Multiple Instance Installations
A merge module is a special kind of Windows Installer database that contains the
components needed to install a discrete software bundle. A merge module cannot be
installed alone, but must be merged into a standard Windows Installer installation
during compile of the installation. Typically, a merge module or a collection of merge
modules related by dependencies installs an application or portion of an application at
run time. The purpose of merge modules is to let you add self-contained software
modules to multiple installations. See Merge Modules in the Windows Installer SDK Help.
Example: Suppose you have five applications that require a specifically configured
version of the Visual Basic runtime. You could create a merge module that installs and
configures the Visual Basic runtime. Then you add the merge module to each installation
that requires that particular Visual Basic runtime. This saves you from having to add the
necessary files, registry entries, and other components to every installation individually.
It also saves time if you update the merge module; instead of updating the five
installations for all applications, you update only the merge module, then recompile the
five installations.
When deploying software through a merge module, keep update considerations in mind.
Example: If you deploy MSDE through a merge module, end users cannot use
Microsoft's MSDE security patches to update that installation of MSDE. Microsoft patches
only operate on software packages installed by .MSI. You would have to incorporate the
MSDE patch changes in an update to your own application and distribute it to your end
users. This could cause security and timing issues for your end users.
You can obtain merge modules from several sources:
on page 364
on page 365
on page 371
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on page 381
on page 381
on page 387
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Table of Contents
Troubleshooting
