List of Tools
| Name | Description |
|
Candle |
Preprocesses and compiles WiX source files into object files (.wixobj). |
|
Light |
Links and binds one or more .wixobj files and creates a Windows Installer database (.msi or .msm). When necessary, Light will also create cabinets and embed streams into the Windows Installer database it creates. |
|
Lit |
Combines multiple .wixobj files into libraries that can be consumed by Light. |
|
Dark |
Converts a Windows Installer database into a set of WiX source files. |
|
Heat |
Generates WiX authoring from various input formats. |
|
Melt |
Converts an .msm into a component group in a WiX source file. |
|
Torch |
Performs a diff to generate a transform (.wixmst or .mst) for XML outputs (.wixout or .wixpdb) or .msi files. |
|
Smoke |
Runs validation checks on .msi or .msm files. |
|
Pyro |
Takes an XML output patch file (.wixmsp) and one or more XML transform files (.wixmst) and produces an .msp file. |
|
WixCop |
Enforces standards on WiX source files. WixCop can also be used to assist in converting a set of WiX source files created using an older version of WiX to the latest version of WiX. |
Response files
All WiX command-line tools support response files, which are text files that contain command-line switches and arguments. Anything you can put on a WiX tool command line can instead go into a response file. Response files are useful when you have command lines that are too long for your command shell. For example, you might want to generate a response file that contains command-line switches and the files that you want to compile with candle.exe:
-nologo -wx 1.wxs 2.wxs 3.wxs
and issue a command like:
candle @listOfFiles.txt
Specify a response file with the @ character, followed immediately by the pathname of the response file, with no whitespace in-between. Response files can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of command line arguments.