"Unable to create transform file" message when importing an MSI into AdminStudio with a custom Feature table

[#1]

Summary

Error when importing an MSI with a feature table with custom columns

Synopsis

When importing an MSI into AdminStudio, in the Import status dialog you see a "Unable to create transform file" message and no Software Tag transform is created.

Discussion

The cause of this issue is because of custom columns in the feature table. The software tag transform that we create adds a new record to the feature table. The feature that creates the transform does not support the ability to create new rows. If the custom columns are non-nullable then the creation of the transform will fail.

Workaround

At this time the only workaround is to remove the custom columns from the feature table. Once they are removed an import will cause the Software Tag transform to be created as expected.

Additional Information

Some Microsoft package that have custom columns in the feature table and fails to create the Software Tag transform are:

GnuWin32_PsUtils_1.17.2090.msi
Softland_novaPDFprinter_7.6_Rev01.msi
MS_DotNETFramework_1.1.4322_Rev02.msi
MS_DotNETFrameworkSDK_1.1.4322_Rev02.msi
MS_VisualC++2005Redist_8.0.56336_Rev01.msi
MS_VS2005OfficeRuntime_8.0.60940.0_Rev01.msi
MS_VisualJ#Redist_2.0.50727_Rev02.msi
MS_VisualC++2005Redistributables_8.0.59193_Rev02.msi
MicrosoftRedist8.0.59193Rev02.msi
Silicon_CP210xVCPDrivers_5.40.29_Rev01.msi