Build the C++ installer helper before running iscc

[thpoll83]

Summary

The Inno Setup fix worked — this run got all the way to iscc, which then stopped on a missing payload file:

Error on line 54 in …\installer.iss: Source file
  "…\src\installer\bin\Release\installer-helper.dll" does not exist.
Compile aborted.

installer.iss bundles a C++ helper DLL that is no part of the .NET build. src/Makefile gets it for free by building the whole solution; this workflow builds projects individually — deliberately, so signing can run between the app build and packaging — and nothing was building the helper.

Win32 is the only platform its vcxproj defines, and its OutDir (bin\$(Configuration)\) is already exactly the path the .iss expects, so no path wiring is needed. A following verify step asserts the DLL exists, so a toolset problem reports itself directly instead of resurfacing later as an iscc parse error.

Rather than fix one file per run

I've now burned two rounds discovering the next missing piece one at a time, so I checked the whole payload instead: every other Source: in the .iss resolves either to the wincompose.csproj output ({#BINDIR} — including the ~40 satellite language directories) or to files already in the tree (rules/*.txt). installer-helper.dll is the last gap.

Progress so far

step	status
Ensure Inno Setup 6	✅ (instant — found preinstalled)
Build InsertIcons	✅
Build (Release)	✅
Build installer helper	new
Build installer (iscc)	← reached, failed here
Package portable → assemble → upload	not yet reached

Remaining risk

The vcxproj declares PlatformToolset v143 while the runner reports VS 18; if v143 isn't installed there, this step fails with a clear toolset message and needs a -p:PlatformToolset= override. The steps after iscc — portable packaging, asset assembly, release upload — still haven't executed.

Testing

Once merged: Actions → Release → Run workflow with tag = PK-0.9.16, which builds and attaches the assets to the already-published release.

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Generated by Claude Code

Summary by Sourcery

Build the C++ installer helper and verify its output before running the Windows installer packaging step in the release workflow.

Build:

• Update release workflow to invoke msbuild on the C++ installer-helper project with Release/Win32 configuration.
• Add a verification step in the release workflow to ensure installer-helper.dll exists and report its size before invoking iscc.

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Review details

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: c85ec51b-7ce1-4b3a-895a-7a541541b287

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 429bfc7 and d5dd018.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• .github/workflows/release.yml

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Reviewer's guide (collapsed on small PRs)

Reviewer's Guide

This PR updates the release GitHub Actions workflow to explicitly build the C++ installer helper DLL before running Inno Setup (iscc), and adds a verification step to ensure the DLL exists so payload issues are caught early in the pipeline.

Sequence diagram for updated release workflow around iscc

sequenceDiagram
    participant GitHubActionsRunner as GitHubActionsRunner
    participant msbuild as msbuild
    participant PowerShell as PowerShell
    participant iscc as iscc

    GitHubActionsRunner->>msbuild: msbuild src\installer\installer-helper.vcxproj -p:Configuration=Release -p:Platform=Win32
    GitHubActionsRunner->>PowerShell: Test-Path src/installer/bin/Release/installer-helper.dll
    PowerShell-->>GitHubActionsRunner: [throw if installer-helper.dll missing]
    GitHubActionsRunner->>iscc: iscc installer.iss
    iscc-->>GitHubActionsRunner: Build WinCompose-Setup-<ver>.exe

Loading

File-Level Changes

Change	Details	Files
Add a dedicated workflow step to build the C++ installer helper DLL required by installer.iss.	Invoke msbuild on src\installer\installer-helper.vcxproj in Release configuration. Force Platform=Win32 to match the vcxproj definition and expected output path. Use minimal msbuild verbosity for cleaner workflow logs.	.github/workflows/release.yml
Add a verification step to ensure installer-helper.dll exists at the expected path before running iscc.	Run a PowerShell step that checks for src/installer/bin/Release/installer-helper.dll. Throw a clear error if the DLL is missing so the pipeline fails with an explicit payload issue. Log the DLL size to aid debugging and confirming the built artifact.	.github/workflows/release.yml

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