Windows Installer Editor Reference
400
Tools
Converting an .MSI to a .WSI File
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.
Running MSI to WSI Conversion involves redefining source paths, either by extracting
files and merge modules from the .MSI itself, or by redefining the source paths to point
to files and merge modules that already exist on your computer.
To convert an .MSI to a .WSI
1. (Visual Studio integrated editor only.) To add the installation project to a specific
solution, first open the solution in Visual Studio.
2. Open an .MSI.
If a message appears asking you to convert this Windows Installer database to a
Wise project file, click Yes. Otherwise, select Tools menu > MSI to WSI Conversion.
In Visual Studio: Project menu > MSI to WSI Conversion.
The Welcome page appears.
3. In New Source Directory, specify the directory to which all files and merge
modules in the .MSI will be extracted. In the converted .WSI file, all source paths
will point to the files and merge modules located in this directory. You can override
this directory for individual files and merge modules later in this wizard.
If the .MSI contains any merge modules, the Merge Module Sources page appears;
otherwise, the File Sources page appears.
4. On the Merge Module Sources page, you can change the default for extracting
merge modules, which is to extract them from the .MSI into the default source
directory you specified on the Welcome page. To accept the default, click Next.
You can change the default.
See
Specifying Merge Module Source Directories
on page 401.
5. On the File Sources page, you can change the default for extracting files, which is to
extract them from the .MSI into the default source directory you specified on the
Welcome page. To accept the default, click Next.
You can change the default.
See
Specifying File Source Directories
on page 402.
The Create WSI File page appears.
6. In New .WSI File, specify the path of the new .WSI to create. Do not select a
directory that already contains an .MSI of the same name, because when you
compile this .WSI file, it overwrites any .MSI of the same name that resides in the
same directory.
