heat.exe changes file permissions

[gquerret]

Executing heat.exe on the Flash ActiveX component changes the right of the file ; admin rights are then required to delete the file. I don't think it is expected that heat.exe would change anything on a source file.

Here is how I can reproduce with Wix 3.11 (as a standard user):

rem I assume you may have a different path on your machine
λ xcopy C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_adobe-flash-for-windows_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.18362.656_none_8bc2c5762f914d86\flash.ocx .
C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_adobe-flash-for-windows_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.18362.656_none_8bc2c5762f914d86\Flash.ocx
1 File(s) copied

rem Just to confirm it can be done before executing heat
C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix
λ del Flash.ocx

C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix
λ xcopy C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_adobe-flash-for-windows_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.18362.656_none_8bc2c5762f914d86\flash.ocx .
C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_adobe-flash-for-windows_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.18362.656_none_8bc2c5762f914d86\Flash.ocx
1 File(s) copied

C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix
λ C:\Users\gquer\Downloads\wix311-binaries\heat file flash.ocx -out heat.txt
Windows Installer XML Toolset Toolset Harvester version 3.11.2.4516
Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and contributors. All rights reserved.


C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix
λ del flash.ocx
C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix\Flash.ocx
Access is denied.

rem Output is generated correctly
C:\Users\gquer\AppData\Local\Temp\testwix
λ head heat.txt
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
    <Fragment>
        <DirectoryRef Id="TARGETDIR">
            <Directory Id="dirB75ECD46607023176E775C7CDFCD5163" Name="testwix" />
        </DirectoryRef>
    </Fragment>
    <Fragment>
        <DirectoryRef Id="dirB75ECD46607023176E775C7CDFCD5163">
            <Component Id="cmpE4F49A3083E05742746966532218FBDA" Guid="PUT-GUID-HERE">

Why does the file become locked when I execute heat ? Is that expected ?

[BMurri]

This looks like a support question, not a bug. The appropriate venue for support is the wix-users email list.

Short answer: heat will load and invoke code in binary (executable) files (by default), the reason being to extract the COM registration information. AFAIK executing flash will lock the file (as a security measure). This is thus by Adobe's design.

Running files can be skipped/suppressed in heat.

[gquerret]

From a user perspective, having a locked file after heat execution looked like a bug!

I didn't know heat would execute code from this OCX, and that the OCX would lock itself. What is the command line option to skip running the file ?

[barnson]

Heat capture self-registration which requires running code. For support, please contact the wix-users mailing list or post on Stack Overflow.