Child Install? Need nested EXE (not MSI) for MS Report Viewer during install
Hi all -
I've been reading up on how to create nested installations, but they all seem to only apply to MSI's. (i.e. put them in the UI sequence instead of the Exec sequence, etc).
I need to distribute MS Report Viewer with my product (as per their fair use agreement this is fine), and I have ReportViewer.exe to do it with. I have expanded this file (to see what was inside it and see if maybe I could install it if it was uncompressed) and it contains both an MSI and a compiled EXE installer inside it.
However - no matter which way I install it (uncompressed or compressed), if I execute it during the EXEC sequence, it complains that there's already an installer running and errors out. If I install it during the UI sequence, I get a generic error (Return Value 3) with *no* details on why it's failing. (I really hate custom actions because even verbose logging tells you *nothing* about why they failed. Verbose logging needs to include better error returning even for 3rd party apps.)
Does anyone have any idea why this is failing? I can send sample code if needed - I've created a testing installer that only does the report viewer install.
The error you get in the Execute sequence is part of the Windows Installer design - you cannot run two instances of the Windows Installer execute sequence at the same time.
As for why it would error out during the UI sequence, you would have to check with the vendor to determine the reason and/or what command line switches their install might support.
A better method for your situation might be to install the 3rd-party product as a pre-requisite instead of from a custom action inside your MSI.
