Welcome to WixTool home page!
Windows Installer XML Tool
We have made some tests with different setup builder tools.
Jump to WixTool developers page and grap latest release.
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Project Support Note
This project is not actively developed any more.
Please, contact me if you with to contribute.
Current features list
All WiX features are supported, depending of which WiX binaries are used.
Almost all of the following features are supported but you have to code them in XML
manualy. If there is a GUI implemented in WixTool it will be hoted with a plus sign.
| Tool integrated feature | GUI |
| XML project files for easy integration in SCV tools. |  |
| XML project file built-in editor with highlighting support. | |
| XML parser with syntax, compile and link error handling. | |
| Associate with project files for quick shell execution. | |
| Command line mode execution for integration in automated build systems. | |
| Full project testing: Compile, Run (install), Repair and Uninstall. | |
| Adding and removing packages. | |
| Adding and removing media disks. | |
| Adding and removing folders. | |
| Adding and removing files. | |
| Adding and removing file shortcuts. |  |
| Adding and removing other shortcuts. | |
| Adding and removing registry keys and entries. | |
| Adding and removing environment variables. | |
| Specifying files for "on install" auto registration. | |
| Single file and media based installation. | |
| Cabinet file compression. | |
| Setting required MSI properties and codes. | |
| Setting optional MSI properties. | |
| Forcing reboot upon completion of successful installation. | |
| Limiting the User Interface to basic (simple progress and error handling). | |
| Upgrading older versions of the product automatically. | |
| Per-user and per-machine installs. | |
| Preventing the installation on unsupported operating systems. | |
| Illustrated, context sensitive, help and tutorials. | |
| Creation of valid MSI packages. | |
| Zero-overhead installation packages. | |
| Custom actions (in EXE, DLL, VBS or JS files) during any installation stage. | |
| Installing, registering and controlling services. | |
| Including Merge Modules into your installation. | |
| EXE bootstrapper, with custom icon and file version. | |
| Installing or updating Windows Installer on target machine. | |
| Opening readme file or launching application when installation finishes. | |
| User Interface custom banners and images. | |
| User Interface additional dialogs: License, Readme, User Registration. | |
| User registration with serial code validation hooks. | |
| Custom User Interface dialogs. | |
| Adding and removing file associations and mime types. | |
Competitors test
We have made some tests with different setup build tools in order to compare
result intallation package overhead. For each tested tool was created a test
setup script which installs WixTool itself and a sample script comming with it.
It also creates a start menu shortcuts for WixTool launch and uninstall.
| Tool name and version | Size in bytes | Overhead |
| Original files (uncomressed) for comparison. | 1 207 935 | |
| Original files (ZIP) for comparison. | 572 889 | |
| WixTool 2.0 pre-release | 611 328 | 38 439 |
| Small Installer 1.2.0.41 | 641 617 | 68 728 |
| Inno Setup 4.1.8* | 707 794 | 134 905 |
| Advanced Installer 1.5* | 819 200 | 246 311 |
* this installer also generates Setup Wizard interface.
Legal notices
WixTool is Copyright (C) 1996-2008 by 5Group, Maintained by Dako.
Windows Installer and WiX are Copyright (C) 2004 by Microsoft Corporation.