WiX
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| Original author(s) | Rob Mensching |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Outercurve Foundation |
| Initial release | 5 April 2004 |
| Stable release |
3.10.3 / 4 July 2016
|
| Preview release |
4.0 / updated weekly
|
| Repository | git01 |
| Written in | C++, C# |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Type | Software development tools |
| License | Microsoft Reciprocal License |
| Website | wixtoolset |
Windows Installer XML Toolset (WiX, pronounced "wicks"), is a free software toolset that builds Windows Installer packages from XML code. It consists of a command-line environment that developers may integrate into their build processes to build MSI and MSM packages. WiX was the first Microsoft project to be released under an open-source license, the Common Public License. It was also the first Microsoft project to be hosted on an external website.
After its release in 2004, Microsoft has used WiX to package Office 2007, SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005/2008, and other products.
WiX includes Votive, a Visual Studio add-in that allows creating and building WiX setup projects using the Visual Studio IDE. Votive supports syntax highlighting and IntelliSense for .wxs source files and adds a WiX setup project type .wixproj to Visual Studio.
Candle compiles the XML documents to .wixobj object files that contain symbols and references to symbols.
Light takes one or more object files and links the references in the object files to the appropriate symbols in other object files. Light is responsible for collecting all of the binaries, packaging them appropriately, and generating the final MSI or MSM file.
Lit combines multiple object files into a library for convenience.
Dark takes existing MSI and MSM files and generates XML documents that represent the package.
Heat creates WiX file list code from a file, directory, Visual Studio project, website, VB6 COM component, performance counter category, or Registry file. It produces a .wxs file that can be compiled and linked with other .wxs files. WiX 3.0's Heat replaced WiX 2.0's more limited Tallow tool.
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