CODEWITHSUNDEEP
wixshortcut
Will
Will

Reputation: 3585

Is it possible to use the same Component (Shortcut) in multiple places with WIX?

Disclaimer : I've been forced to jump ship from my favorite tried and true VS Setup project to WIX by a project requirement which, to my knowledge the VS Setup Project cannot fulfill (as described here). As such, I'm really, really new with WIX so this is probably a very "duh" question.

Trying to take it slow, I'm learning how to create shortcuts to the primary executable on the desktop and Program Files Menu. I've found how to create a component, and have stuck it in the ComponentGroup which will contain the main files (probably a wrong move right off) so this is what I have so far:

<Fragment>
    <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
        <!-- TODO: Remove the comments around this Component element and the ComponentRef below in order to add resources to this installer. -->
        <Component Id="CMP_FooSetup">
            <File Id="FILE_Foo.exe" Source="$(var.Foo.TargetPath)" KeyPath="yes"/>
        </Component>
        <Component Id="ApplicationShortcut">
            <Shortcut
                Id="FooShortcut"
                Name="Foo"
                Description="Foos your Bar."
                Target="[#FILE_Foo.exe]"
                WorkingDirectory="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY"/>
            <RegistryValue
                Root="HKCU"
                Key="Software\FooCompany\Foo"
                Name="installed" Type="integer" Value="1"
                KeyPath="yes"/>
            <RemoveFile Id="RemoveFooShortcut" Name="Foo.lnk" On="uninstall"/>
        </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>

I want one shortcut to go to the desktop, and another to go to a Program Menu shortcut. To that end, I've defined the following folder structures : 

<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
    <Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
        <Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="FooBar">
            <!--This is where a shortcut should be placed. How? -->
        </Directory>
    </Directory>
    <Directory Id="DesktopFolder">
        <!--This is where a shortcut should be placed. How? -->
    </Directory>
    <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="INSTALLPARENT" Name="FooBar">
            <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="Foo"/>
        </Directory>
    </Directory>
</Directory>

Everything in my bones and experience as a programmer (limited though it may be) screams "Hey, I should be able to use the ID of the Shortcut Component within the directory structures to instruct the installer to create these shortcuts!", but I do not know how to do that. It seems like it should be fairly rudimentary but my search has turned up nothing.

Is this possible? If so; how? If not; what should I do to make this work?

Please be kind...

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1005

Answers (1)

Marlos
Marlos

Reputation: 1965

It is not possible to use a component in multiple places (directories). The alternative is to create multiple components moving the Directory attribute from the ComponentGroup to the Component tag.

<ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents">
    <Component Id="CMP_FooSetup" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
        <File Id="FILE_Foo.exe" Source="$(var.Foo.TargetPath)" KeyPath="yes"/>
    </Component>
    <Component Id="ApplicationShortcut" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
        <Shortcut
            Id="FooShortcut"
            Name="Foo"
            Description="Foos your Bar."
            Target="[#FILE_Foo.exe]"
            WorkingDirectory="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY"/>
        <RegistryValue
            Root="HKCU"
            Key="Software\FooCompany\Foo"
            Name="installed" Type="integer" Value="1"
            KeyPath="yes"/>
        <RemoveFile Id="RemoveFooShortcut" Name="Foo.lnk" On="uninstall"/>
    </Component>
    <!-- Here I added the Directory attrib and changed the Id. -->
    <Component Id="DesktopShortcut" Directory="DesktopFolder">
        <Shortcut
            <!-- New Id -->
            Id="FooShortcutDesktop"
            Name="Foo"
            Description="Foos your Bar."
            Target="[#FILE_Foo.exe]"
            WorkingDirectory="APPLICATIONROOTDIRECTORY"/>
        <RegistryValue
            Root="HKCU"
            Key="Software\FooCompany\Foo"
            <!-- New Name -->
            Name="installed_desktop" Type="integer" Value="1"
            KeyPath="yes"/>
        <!-- New Id -->
        <RemoveFile Id="RemoveFooShortcutDesktop" Name="Foo.lnk" On="uninstall"/>
    </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

As you asked, it is possible to change the wxs to include the component inside the Directory tag, like this:

...
<Directory Id="DesktopFolder">
    <Component>
        <Shortcut ... />
    </Component>
</Directory>
...

Upvotes: 1

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