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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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I am working with Dan at support@advancedinstaller.com. We are not able following the instructions at XXXX to get an installer that successfully registers my add-in to Office. We followed the instructions there to the T, and added a post-build step that we THINK replicates what the generated Windows setup project does, but still it does not work.
What precise incantation at the command line do we need at each stage, so I can try to do it locally?
Here are the commands we have defined that are not working:
On Uninstall:
[#adxregistrator.exe] /uninstall="[#Accelerate365.dll]" /privileges=user /generateLogFile=false
On Install:
[#adxregistrator.exe] /install="[#Accelerate365.dll]" /privileges=user /generateLogFile=true
On Rollback:
[#adxregistrator.exe] /uninstall="[#Accelerate365.dll]" /privileges=user /generateLogFile=false
Even though we don't understand what it does, we also added the following post-build command:
C:Program Files (x86)Add-in ExpressAdd-in Express for .NETBindxpatch.exe "[|AI_BUILD_OUTPUT_FOLDER]Accelerate365-Setup.msi" /UAC=Off /RunActionsAsInvoker=true
None of this is resulting in a properly installed add-in. Any assistance appreciated and you can also reach out directly to Dan as I'm not their only customer using ADX (obviously).
Also where might we expect the log file to go on a failed registration? |
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Posted 18 Apr, 2022 08:31:24
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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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Posted 18 Apr, 2022 08:32:14
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 18825
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello Bob,
For these commands to work, your setup project must deploy adxregistrator.exe.
Both Advanced Installer guys and us, we tested this instruction and it worked numerous times. Let's start with a newly created empty add-in project. That is, you create such a project, build it (do not register it!), create an Advanced Installer project, build the setup project and run the installer. This should end with your add-in installed and registered. After that, let's check the difference between the test add-in project and your real project.
Regards from Poland (CEST),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 19 Apr, 2022 03:51:12
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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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Andrei,
Thanks for the prompt reply but I am working with one of those Advanced Installer guys and we cannot seem to get the calls to adxregistrator.exe to result in my add in being registered from an msi based on Advanced Installer. The VS Windows Installer always correctly installs the add-in, but I have other unrelated issues with it getting confused and delivering the wrong transient dependencies that make me want to port it to a more powerful MSI building solution. The automated conversion wizard results in much less understandable settings than a methodical approach.
The instructions to which you refer do not, for example, discuss the post-build event that the VS Windows installer project performs with adxpatch.exe. Unsure what it actually does, we even got that call to appear to work during the post-build of the Advanced Installer project we created step by step following the apparently incomplete instructions at the link above. But still it didn't work. We even tried executing the commands at the command line and the adxregistrator.exe returns nothing, and if it does produce a log we are unsure where it is when produced.
I would ask you to get with them again to make sure the instructions really capture the full detail required to have it successfully register an ADX add-in. I am under fairly immanent deadlines with lots of other productization work on my plate at this point and cannot spend time creating throw away test projects for this purpose. Danut form AI is following this thread and eager to work with you and his colleague who wrote the original instructions to further the integration between AI and ADX.
- Bob |
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Posted 19 Apr, 2022 08:00:19
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 18825
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello Bob,
bobcalco writes:
The instructions to which you refer do not, for example, discuss the post-build event that the VS Windows installer project performs with adxpatch.exe.
A while ago Visual Studio Installer (now Visual Studio Setup Projects) was sort of a standard: a significant part of installers were developed using that tool. It is quite simplistic and this is why adxpatch was created. It looks like other installation software products don't require using adxpatch as they have means missing in Visual Studio Setup Projects. Say, Add-in Express creates a WiX setup project that doesn't use adxpatch. I assume, Advanced Installer allows specifying the permissions to be used, correct?
Anyway, if you only have a single project, you may not be sure whether this or that issue is attributed to this or that specific cause. This is why I suggest that you have a solid ground: a project that works for sure. You might complicate it step by step to find how to solve this or that specific issue.
bobcalco writes:
if it does produce a log we are unsure where it is when produced
{Add-in Express installation folder}\Docs\adxnet.pdf:
The process of registration/unregistration is documented in a log file, the default location of which is {user profile}\AppData\Local\Temp\<ProductName>\adxregistrator.log; the ProductName part reflects the ProductName field of AssemblyInfo.cs (AssemblyInfo.vb).
To Advanced Installer team: Guys, write me to support@add-in-express.com if you feel we can do or explain something.
Regards from Poland (CEST),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 19 Apr, 2022 09:25:14
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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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Hi Andrei,
Thanks for your response. The problem at this point is, I don't have a single project per se, but several projects, one of which is my add-in, one of which is an EXE, and several of which are DLLs. And I am trying to put the final productization touches on an initial release, and this problem is holding us up.
The challenge with the out of the box VS Windows installer, despite its perfect record correctly installing the add-in, is that it has proven unreliable at dependency management for the other projects, most of which require many of the same dependencies, but there seem to be subtle nuances in the transitive dependencies, and what it ends up delivering is hit-or-miss in terms of the correct downstream dependencies. Most recently I was applying obfuscation to the assemblies (as well as code-signing to some of them) and the automated build process was resulting in ...mixed results in terms of whether obfuscated assemblies in my project (which I could verify from their raw output were indeed obfuscated) and what ended up in the delivered binaries. Some were, some weren't and from build to build it was a different set of binaries. Very frustrating. And I won't even mention how much I had to fight it over system assemblies: it would add a whole bunch of them (sometimes multiple versions of them) and then tell me I shouldn't add them. So I would try to remove them (not possible) or exclude them (possible, but it changes its mind about that each time I refreshed dependencies). So in general, using VS Windows installer I've felt trapped in .NET's version of "DLL Purgatory" (since we know DLL Hell doesn't exist...ahem).
I tried WiX once but its output is even more inscrutable, using GUIDs everywhere in a bunch of different places defeats the purpose of human readability that supposedly making everything XML was suppose to accomplish. Again you start trying to remove duplicate dependencies and things start breaking till you root them out in several other places. I know there are a lot of command line tools that could help, but it's too big a learning curve on too short a deadline.
So those are my motivations for trying Advanced Installer. The how-to article gave me hope it would work without all the hassle, but even the AI guy I'm working with is stumped by the instructions aren't quite resulting in success, and it's hard for us to know whether it's and AI or an ADX issue. And I can't factor my entire solution to fit the one-project approach and there's no guarantee if we got one project approach to work, that it would translate to my actual scenario, which is getting urgent.
So it needs to be figured out, and I'm the guy between the three of us that doesn't know either of your tools except as a high level user, so I hope the AI folks get with you soon. |
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Posted 20 Apr, 2022 07:10:20
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 18825
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello Bob,
If the Advanced Installer guys need this, I could provide them with a temporary Add-in Express license and a newly-created sample project in C# or VB.NET.
Regards from Poland (CEST),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 20 Apr, 2022 09:40:03
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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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Thanks, Andrei!
I really appreciate your willingness to work with them on this. I have so many things going on right now I just need support to complete that port to AI when AI figures out what's preventing it. As I understand it they have reached out to you about connecting directly, so hopefully all this gets sorted quickly!
- Bob |
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Posted 20 Apr, 2022 11:26:23
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bobcalco
Posts: 66
Joined: 2019-03-20
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Andrei,
Danut at AI seems to be having trouble connecting with you via email.
It's been two weeks since we first ran into the problem, and we need resolution urgently.
I suggest as soon as possible we do some kind of three-way conference. Danut and I have worked well (albeit so far unsuccessfully) when he sets up a video conference via Google Meet; perhaps the three of us should do this at our earliest mutually agreeable time?
Sincerely,
Bob |
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Posted 22 Apr, 2022 08:02:02
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Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express team
Posts: 18825
Joined: 2006-05-11
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Hello Bobm
I've responded to his email some 4 hours ago. Provided them with a sample project and license key.
Regards from Poland (CEST),
Andrei Smolin
Add-in Express Team Leader |
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Posted 22 Apr, 2022 08:37:04
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