NAnt interoperability

[wixbot]

Convert? Autodetect & seamless interop?

Originally opened by sjoerdverweij from http://sourceforge.net/p/wix/feature-requests/4/

[wixbot]

So, is this feature something that should be done in WiX or
should it be done in Nant? As I understand it, Nant is GPL
code and that makes it very difficult for me to go anywhere
near it. Thus, I'm going to tend toward making WiX easy for
someone else to integrate into Nant.

Suggestions? Comments?

[wixbot]

schuur's analysis looks good to me, closing this request. If
you're looking to just get started with Nant and WiX you
might check out this blog entry:
http://weblogs.asp.net/lorenh/archive/2004/04/06/108811.asp
x

[wixbot]

Can be done in NAnt -> one or two very simple WiXTasks
could be added to NAnt which search the system PATH (or
the install location of WiX: we'll need WiX to package itself)
for light.exe and candle.exe. No licensing problems either in
that case.

Beside issues of licensing, very tight integration with NAnt
(wix-code inside build files, much like the current msi-task in
nant) is imho useless, because you'll completely loose the
library/include mechanism.

Moreover, NAnt is a build tool, not a setup tool; the ongoing
fuzz about the Nant msi-task: completely refactored twice
and still quite messy, and the numerous support questions on
the msi-task alone are, to me, a sign that a build file is not a
good place to store a complex installer script. Instead, it's the
right place to call some tool for creating your installer.

[wixbot]

Converting wix to an integrated nant task (like the current
msi task in nant-contrib) means the end of the really useful
wxs -> wixobj and include + library mechanism.

I think it's much better to see wix as just another compiler /
linker combination and regard your wxs files as regular source
files in your project.

In that case a NAnt wix task which detects the presence of
the wix toolset and executes the compiler and / or linker will
suffice.

Of course, detecting the presence of wix can be done:

a) really simple: requiring candle.exe and light.exe to be on
the system PATH. (e.g. the nant msi task requires cabarc.exe
to be on the path)

b) really hypercorrect: having a wix toolset setup package
that writes some path information in the registry. (I believe
that's the way the ndoc task locates the CHM compiler, which
is part of the HTML Help Workshop)