ComponentGroups @Source seems to be ignored

[chrpai]

• Which version of WiX are you building with?

4.0.0

• Which version of Visual Studio are you building with (if any)?

VS2022 Professional 17.5.3

• Which version of the WiX Toolset Visual Studio Extension are you building with (if any)?

HeatWave 1.0.1.0

• Describe the problem and the steps to reproduce it.

This Fragment compiles successfully:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://wixtoolset.org/schemas/v4/wxs">
  <?define SourceDir="..\Deploy"?>
  <Fragment Id="TestAppLib">
    <ComponentGroup Id="TestAppLib">
      <Component Directory="INSTALLLOCATION">
        <File Source="$(var.SourceDir)\TestApp.exe" KeyPath="yes" />
      </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>
  </Fragment>
</Wix>

This fragment gives a WIX0103 Cannot find the file 'TestApp.exe'. The following paths were checked: TestApp.exe

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://wixtoolset.org/schemas/v4/wxs">
  <?define SourceDir="..\Deploy"?>
  <Fragment Id="TestAppLib">
    <ComponentGroup Id="TestAppLib" Source="$(var.SourceDir)">
      <Component Directory="INSTALLLOCATION">
        <File Source="TestApp.exe" KeyPath="yes" />
      </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>
  </Fragment>
</Wix>

I also attempted removing the preprocessor variable and just setting ComponentGroup @source to "..\Deploy" but the error message was the same.

• Describe the behavior you expected and how it differed from the actual behavior.

It's possible I'm using ComponentGroup @source incorrectly but I'm not certain as the doc page has a broken link to specifying source files. (Bug filed). My expectation is that it would combine compine the source from the parent ComponentGroup element and the File element and resolve the path to the file and find it.

[robmen]

The File element Source attribute overrides the default inherited from the parent elements.

PS: You can get the combined behavior by using the File element Name attribute.

[chrpai]

Thanks for the File@Name tip. There's just one more piece that I don't know or doesn't exist in v4.

Consider var.SourceDir = Deploy and Deploy has

File1
SubDir\File2

Component / File Name = File1 grabs Deploy\File1
Component SubDirectory="SubDir" / File Name=File2 trys to grab Deploy\File2 instead of Deploy\SubDir\File2

I'm doing all this as business rules for automation that I'm writing. I'm trying to come up with the most minimalist, expressive easy to read code as possible.

[barnson]

@Subdirectory is for target path and doesn't enter into source logic. Directory/@FileSource is a thing but doesn't have a parallel if you're not creating child Directorys.