Register Assembly Issues

[skibbs]

I was really excited to see the new Register Assembly command to register .NET libraries for COM interop. I had been manually entering the required registry entries so an automated method would be a huge step forward.

I converted a 5.3 installer to 6.0 and utilized the Register Assembly command instead of my manual registry entries. This failed to properly register my libraries. I then generated .REG files for each library using REGASM, which I took and imported into InstallAware using the import tool. My installation still failed with a class not registered error.

I ran those same .REG files on a clean box, then ran my installation and it proceeded perfectly. I noticed that while importing the registry entries from a .REG file, InstallAware reverses the order of the entries which makes the majority of the entries fail during installation. You end up with registry paths that contain no keys.

Does the register assembly command work for anyone with .NET COM libraries? or the import .REG tool?

Could the reverse order issue plague both tools?

I really appreciate the new tools, once these issues get worked out they will be amazingly useful!

Thanks!

[skibbs]

BTW I am using Version 6.0 (Build gwinnett_rtm.060606)

[skibbs]

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Record\\{BFD582D4-8E25-390A-9562-D54F8AC4525C}\\1.0.2358.28333]
"Class"="WizardInstallers.WizardPage"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Record\\{57C7D1FA-9E1E-3071-93EF-306BB59FE08B}\\1.0.2358.28333]
"Class"="WizardInstallers.Direction"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\WizardInstallers.WizardLoader]
@="WizardInstallers.WizardLoader"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\WizardInstallers.WizardLoader\\CLSID]
@="{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\CLSID\\{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}]
@="WizardInstallers.WizardLoader"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\CLSID\\{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}\\InprocServer32]
@="mscoree.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
"Class"="WizardInstallers.WizardLoader"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\CLSID\\{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}\\InprocServer32\\1.0.2358.28333]
"Class"="WizardInstallers.WizardLoader"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\CLSID\\{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}\\ProgId]
@="WizardInstallers.WizardLoader"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\CLSID\\{64EDF5B1-1614-42CA-844B-19632150CB6A}\\Implemented Categories\\{62C8FE65-4EBB-45E7-B440-6E39B2CDBF29}]


InstallAware generates the MSICode in the attached PNG image

File Attached:

InstallAware_RegistryEntries.png

[skibbs]

After installing my application with the .REG file imported via the tool, my registry entries for this simple example look like this...

File Attached:

InstallAware_ImportReg.png

[skibbs]

After deleting the InstallAware entries and manually running the .REG file on the client machine my registry looks like this... which is correct.

File Attached:

Manual_ImportReg.png

[skibbs]

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

I popped open the MSI with Orca to take a peak the registry entries while debugging the problem but didn't see them there, is it possible for me to see the registry entries in the compiled installer? If so, where are they located? I just would like to know so that I can debug issues locally a bit more efficiently in the future...

Thanks

[skibbs]

I get the same result, whether I use the Import .REG or use the Register Assembly commands... I've attached a screenshot of the registry after using the Register Assembly command.

File Attached:

InstallAware_RegisterAssembly.png

[MichaelNesmith]

I would just delete the superfluous blank entries that are created by the REG import tool - that should take care of it for you.

[skibbs]

I would just delete the superfluous blank entries that are created by the REG import tool - that should take care of it for you.

That will work for now, but will the Register Assembly/Import .REG tools be issued a patch soon? I'd love to skip all these manual changes all together with the Register Assembly tool.

I'm really liking the new features in IA6, great work

Thanks!

[skibbs]

In a .REG File:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Record\\{57C7D1FA-9E1E-3071-93EF-306BB59FE08B}\\1.0.2358.28333]
"Class"="WizardInstallers.Direction"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"

Should be inserted into the registry like this:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Record\\{57C7D1FA-9E1E-3071-93EF-306BB59FE08B}\\1.0.2358.28333]
"RuntimeVersion"="v2.0.50727"
"Class"="WizardInstallers.Direction"
"Assembly"="WizardInstallers, Version=1.0.2358.28333, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1a2ccb77e57d159e"
(After running the .REG file manually, then exporting the reg entries)

Instead InstallAware inserts this:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Record\\{57C7D1FA-9E1E-3071-93EF-306BB59FE08B}\\1.0.2358.28333]
"Class"="WizardInstallers.Direction"
@=""
(After running the IA MSI w/ the imported .REG file, then exporting the reg entries)


You can see that InstallAware not only creates additional blank entries, but it also omits values completely. This feature is completely broken. Will it be fixed soon?

Thanks!

[MichaelNesmith]

I tried to import a .REG file, and only one superfluous entry was created for the unnamed (default) value, and other entries were created successfully.

Deleting the superfluous root entry as previously discussed should resolve the issue for you.

[skibbs]

I've attached a .REG file for you to try locally.

If you import this into IA and run your installer, your registry will not contain all of the entries.

If you then manually import the .REG file through Windows, you will see all the entries.

Thanks!

File Attached:

WizardInstallers.reg

[MichaelNesmith]

Thanks, this file helps clarify the situation.
This is a REGEDIT4 format file. Do you have an opportunity to export this file as the latest REGEDIT format, and then try importing into InstallAware?
As far as I can see, the problem here is that multi-string values from the REG file are not being imported successfully under the REGEDIT4 format. Thanks for reporting it - I will have this logged in as a defect!

[skibbs]

I am using REGASM, the built in Visual Studio tool, to export the .REG file for my .NET COM libraries. There does not appear to be an option that allows me to specify the output format.

Example:

regasm classLibrary.dll /regfile:classLibrary.reg

Thanks!

[skibbs]

Multi-Valued attributes in general aren't importing correctly, in REGEDIT4 or REGEDIT5. So it doesn't just affect the REGEDIT4 format apparently.

I've attached a small subset of a .REG file in REGEDIT5 format (exported from my Windows registry using REGEDIT on XP).

Thanks!

File Attached:

WizardInstallers.reg