MsBuild Error

[gsibley]

Hi All,

I am attempting to integrate my InstallShield 2008 project with MsBuild, but it is erroring out without a message, which is making it very difficult to debug. Do any of you know how to get InstallShield to write the error message out, or do you know if it is stored in a log somewhere? Any input you could offer would be greatly appreciated as I am currently looking at trial and error testing, which is a major waste of time. I've posted the relevant MsBuild log text and the MsBuild script text below.

Thanks in advance!

MsBuild Log:

Target BuildInstaller:
Making the installer file writable ...
Attrib file 'C:\CodeBuilds\Viewpoints\Viewpoints Package\BuildType\..\Sources\Trunk\Viewpoints\Viewpoints.Installer\Viewpoints.Installer.ism'. 0
Executing the InstallShield task ...

Build FAILED.

MsBuild Script:

  
    C:\Program Files\Macrovision\IS2008\System
    $(ViewpointsDir)\Viewpoints.Installer\Viewpoints.Installer.ism
    Default Configuration
    Release
    $(BuildNumber)
  
  
    
      AssemblyVersion
    
    
      PATH_TO_BINARIES_FILES
    
    
      PATH_TO_RESOURCES_FILES
    
  
  
    
    
      

    
    
    
    
    
  

[MichaelU]

Try increasing the verbosity of the MSBuild procedure. If you're calling it from the msbuild.exe command line, include a /v:d and see if you get any better pointers.

[gsibley]

Ok, with diagnostic verbosity I recieve the following:

Task "InstallShield"
Checking path C:\Program Files\Macrovision\IS2008\System for InstallShield System Folder
Found IsWiBuild.dll.
Done executing task "InstallShield" -- FAILED.

That doesn't mean anything to me. How about anyone else?

[MichaelU]

I would expect to see something more like the following:

  Using "InstallShield" task from assembly "C:\Program Files\MSBuild\Macrovision\IS2008\Macrovision.InstallShield.Tasks.dll".
  Task "InstallShield"
    Checking path C:\Program Files\Macrovision\IS2008\System for InstallShield System Folder
    Found IsWiBuild.dll.
    Loaded IsWiBuild.dll.
    InstallShield (R)
    Release Builder
    Copyright 1997-2005 Macrovision Europe Ltd.
    and/or Macrovision Corporation.
    All Rights Reserved.
    Using Release Flags:
    Stop at first error: False
    Building Product Configuration: Default Configuration
    Building Release: Debug
    Only Upgrading: False
    Building project: c:\...\My.ism
    Created release folders
    ...

Since it appears to be failing between Found IsWiBuild.dll and Loaded IsWiBuild.dll, I would suspect a problem with IsWiBuild.dll or one of its dependencies. There should have been an error to this effect (but clearly you saw none).

Can you verify whether a (non Visual Studio) IDE build and IsCmdBld.exe build will get past this stage? Running IsCmdBld.exe /verbose should yield similar strings, especially after "Created release folders". If these tests confirm the problem, I would suggest running the InstallShield installation in repair mode

[gsibley]

Thanks Michael for the quick reply.

Using your suggestions I found that everything was building fine, except with my msbuild script. So, I peered over the file and found the following errors:

1) The "Project" attribute was using a PropertyGroup value rather than an ItemGroup value.
2) If I removed the "PropertyOverrides" attribute a complete build would take place, but with many errors. It seems as though it is not reading my "PathVariables" because it is looking in the default location for files rather than the path specified by the path variables I have declared in the ms build script.

So, it seems to me that I must have the "PropertyOverrides" declared incorrectly (I can't seem to find any documentation on these) and it seems as though my "PathVariables" are not declared correctly either, or are not being used by InstallShield.

Any ideas as to what might be incorrect? As a reference I have included my MSBuild code below:

  
    C:\Program Files\Macrovision\IS2008\System
		$(ViewpointsDir)\Viewpoints.Installer\Viewpoints.Installer.ism
		Default Configuration
		Release
		$(BuildNumber)
	
	
		
	
  
    
      AssemblyVersion
    
    
      PATH_TO_BINARIES_FILES
    
    
      PATH_TO_RESOURCES_FILES
    
  
  
    
    
    
    
		
		
  

[MichaelU]

I think your specification is correct, and that we have a problem once we start processing PropertyOverrides. I'll see if I can get a fix out soon...

[gsibley]

Hi Michael,

Were my PathVariable declarations incorrect, or is that also potentially a bug? All my attempts to replace the values of those variables have failed. Perhaps I am doing something incorrect, but as with the property overrides I cannot seem to find any documentation on these attributes (other than a description of what they should do).

Thanks.

[MichaelU]

I believe they were correct - if they were not, I believe you would have received an explicit error. I've attached an updated version of the tasks dll which I expect to address this problem. It hasn't gone through any QA, so please back up your original. The file in the zip goes into [ProgramFilesFolder]MSBuild\Macrovision\IS2008 or thereabouts. Let me know how this works.

[gsibley]

Hi Michael,

I am still receiving the same results. If I specify the PropertyOverrides attribute the build will fail just after the line "Found IsWiBuild.dll". If I do not specify the PropertyOverrides attribute, but still specify the PathVariables attribute the build will execute, but the path variables do not seem to be replaced as the build output shows that it cannot find the file in the default location that is specified in the .ism file (which is correct as those files are not in the default location on my build server).

Is there any other information you need from me to help trouble-shoot this on your end?

[gsibley]

I just noticed that the modified date on the file in the ZIP is 04/27/2007. That doesn't seem right if you just compiled a new version. Perhaps the version in the ZIP is the original release?

[SherylSikora]

On Michael's request, I have attached the correct version of the updated file to this post. Please try again with the new file and post your results.

[gsibley]

Thanks for the updated file!

The good news is that including the PropertyOverrides attribute no longer causes the installer to fail. I'll now test whether or not the value was replaced correctly.

The bad news is that the PathVariables still do not seem to be replacing.

[jschmidt]

Same problem here. PropertyOverrides are working now, but PathVariables overriding is still not working.

Anything new about this? Is there a new task available now?

[Vijay__K]

anyone got the PathVariables working?
thanks,
Vijay

[kolotik]

In IS2012 we still cannot get PathVariables working.