There seems to be a bug using path variables in IS 2012.
As the feature to override path variables was not available in IS 2010 I created this on my own in our build process using a registry path variable. My files are located in \.... where PATH_TO_LICENSE is a standard path variable which resolves to \..\License\. SUB_PATH is a registry path variable which resolves to a simple name (e.g. "MyCompany"). When I modify the registry setting before each build this works fine with IS2010. If is C:\Installations\MyProject the files are loaded from C:\Installations\License\MyCompany\...
But IS 2012 tries to load from C:\Installations\MyProject\License\MyCompany\... which does not exist. The ".." is ignored, if there is another path variable behind it. When I change PATH_TO_LICENSE manually to \..\License\MyCompany it works fine and also if I use another variable: PATH_TO_LICENSE_BASE = \..\License PATH_TO_LICENSE = \
Of course I could do this as a workaround, but for about 50 projects? 😞
I can also reproduce this behaviour in the "Current Value" column of the Path Variables view.
It seems to be working fine on my side. IS 2012 does not ignore ".." in \..\License\. It is resolved as C:\Installations\License\MyCompany\. Would it be possible for you to provide a sample project that replicates the behavior you are experiencing?
I just started a new Basic MSI project using the wizard in IS 2012 Premier (Evaluation). I added the path variables as you can see in the attached screenshot and a matching registry value to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Nothing else.
As you can see from the screenshot, PATH_TO_LICENSE and PATH_TO_LICENSE3 should resolve to the same path, but they don't. PATH_TO_LICENSE3 is OK, as PATH_TO_LICENSE2 resolves correctly, but PATH_TO_LICENSE ignores the ".." before "License".
If you add a file to the project (e.g. \Test.txt), it will not be found during build.
