Self Hearing Query

[CChong]

I asked this question in a thread further down but never got an answer, can anyone put my mind at rest ?

ie:

Default Feature

Feature1
Component1
Component2

Feature2
Component3
Component4

If Windows Installer detects a key file change in Component4 and instantiates a Self Heal, will it just self heal the components within Feature2 ?
Just need to get this clear in my mind....

Thanks
Jon

[Paul_M_]

It should simply reinstall the feature and therefore just the components in that feature also.

[CChong]

Thanks for that Paul, much appreciated!!

One further question, if the feature being repaired is a child of another feature ie Feature2 here is performing a self heal:

Feature1
Component1
Feature2
Component2

Would Feature1 (the parent of Feature2) also self heal as well ?
Hope you understand what I mean and I look forward to the answer...

Thanks again
Jon

[Paul_M_]

That is a very good question and I am not entirely sure of the answer. The MSI help states "If the KeyPath of a feature's component is damaged in the source, or if there is an error in how the KeyPath is authored in the database, the installer may attempt to open an installation package and reinstall the feature each time the feature's shortcut is activated." It also states that in the event log there will be an entry for the given feature and then the component that is the problem. This would lead me to believe that it would only repair the current feature and not necessarily the parent/child features. One thing to check for more information on this behavior is the MSI help document titled "Searching for a Broken Feature or Component"

[prostetnic]

have tested this and it seems to only repair the sub feature, easy way to check is remove afile from the parent feature that is not a key file and then a key file from the sub feature, start the program from an advertised shortcut. in my test only the sub feature was repaired. maybe it will be different for someone else.