Windows: Report installation messages to console

constructor/nsis/main.nsi.tmpl

@@ -28,29 +28,26 @@ Unicode true
   !endif
 !macroend
 
+var /global QuietMode # "0" = print normally, "1" = do not print
+var /global StdOutHandle
+var /global StdOutHandleSet
 !define Print "!insertmacro PrintMacro"
 !macro PrintMacro INPUT_TEXT
   DetailPrint "${INPUT_TEXT}"
   ${If} ${Silent}
-    System::Call 'kernel32::GetStdHandle(i -11)i.r0'
-    System::Call 'kernel32::AttachConsole(i -1)i.r1'
-    ${If} $0 = 0
-    ${OrIf} $1 = 0
-        System::Call 'kernel32::AllocConsole()'
+  ${AndIf} $QuietMode != "1"
+    ${IfNot} $StdOutHandleSet == "1"
         System::Call 'kernel32::GetStdHandle(i -11)i.r0'
-        FileWrite $0 "${INPUT_TEXT}$\n"
+        System::Call 'kernel32::AttachConsole(i -1)i.r1'
+        ${If} $0 = 0
+        ${OrIf} $1 = 0
+            System::Call 'kernel32::AllocConsole()'
+            System::Call 'kernel32::GetStdHandle(i -11)i.r0'
+        ${EndIf}
+        StrCpy $StdOutHandle $0
+        StrCpy $StdOutHandleSet "1"
     ${EndIf}
-  ${EndIf}
-!macroend
-
-!define CloseStdout "!insertmacro CloseStdout"
-!macro CloseStdout
-    ${If} ${Silent}
-        System::Call 'kernel32::GetStdHandle(i -11)i.r0'
-        FileClose $0
-        System::Free $0
-        System::Free $1
-        System::Call 'kernel32::FreeConsole()'
+    FileWrite $StdOutHandle "${INPUT_TEXT}$\n"
   ${EndIf}
 !macroend
 
@@ -112,6 +109,7 @@ var /global ARGV_NoRegistry
 var /global ARGV_NoScripts
 var /global ARGV_NoShortcuts
 var /global ARGV_CheckPathLength
+var /global ARGV_QuietMode
 
 var /global IsDomainUser
 var /global CheckPathLength
@@ -284,6 +282,7 @@ FunctionEnd
                 /CheckPathLength=[0|1] [default: 1]$\n\
                 /? (show this help message)$\n\
                 /S (run in CLI/headless mode)$\n\
+                /Q (omit CLI logging)$\n\
                 /D=[installation directory] (must be last parameter)$\n"
         # There seems to be a limit to how many chars per ${Print} we can pass.
         # The message will get truncated silently, no errors.
@@ -376,6 +375,12 @@ FunctionEnd
         ${EndIf}
     ${EndIf}
 
+    ClearErrors
+    ${GetOptions} $ARGV "/Q" $ARGV_QuietMode
+    ${IfNot} ${Errors}
+        StrCpy $QuietMode "1"
+    ${EndIf}
+
 !macroend
 
 Function OnInit_Release
@@ -1339,7 +1344,6 @@ Section "Install"
         AccessControl::SetOnFile "$INSTDIR" "(DU)" "GenericRead + GenericExecute"
     ${EndIf}
     ${Print} "Done!"
-    ${CloseStdout}
 SectionEnd
 
 !macro AbortRetryNSExecWaitLibNsisCmd cmd

constructor/winexe.py

@@ -347,6 +347,8 @@ def make_nsi(
     ppd["custom_welcome"] = info.get("welcome_file", "").endswith(".nsi")
     ppd["custom_conclusion"] = info.get("conclusion_file", "").endswith(".nsi")
     ppd["has_license"] = bool(info.get("license_file"))
+    ppd["post_install_pages"] = bool(info.get("post_install_pages"))
+
     data = preprocess(data, ppd)
     data = fill_template(data, replace, exceptions=nsis_predefines)
     if info['_platform'].startswith("win") and sys.platform != 'win32':

docs/source/cli-options.md

@@ -68,14 +68,14 @@ Windows installers have the following CLI options available:
   `0`.
 - `/RegisterPython=[0|1]`: Whether to register Python as default in the Windows registry. Defaults
   to `1`. This is preferred to `AddToPath`.
+- `/Q` (quiet): do not report to the console in headless mode. Only relevant when used with `/S`
+  (see below).
 
 You can also supply [standard NSIS flags](https://nsis.sourceforge.io/Docs/Chapter3.html#installerusage), but only _after_ the ones mentioned above:
 
 - `/NCRC`: disables the CRC check.
 - `/S` (silent): runs the installer or uninstaller in headless mode. Installers created with
-  `constructor 3.10` or later will report information to the active console. Note that this
-  is not the stdout stream of the process, so stream redirection (like `>`, `>>` or `|`)
-  won't work.
+  `constructor 3.10` or later will report information to the active console.
 - `/D` (directory): sets the default installation directory. Note that even if the path contains
   spaces, it must be the last parameter used in the command line and must not contain any quotes.
   Only absolute paths are supported. The uninstaller uses `_?` instead of `/D`.
@@ -104,6 +104,31 @@ Run the uninstaller in silent mode from its original location:
 > cmd.exe /c start /wait "C:\Program Files\my_app\uninstaller.exe" /S _?=C:\Program Files\my_app
 ```
 
+:::{admonition} Stream redirection in EXE installers
+:class: info
+
+When run in `/S` mode, EXE installers will output some minimal info to the console when invoked
+like this:
+
+```batch
+> cmd.exe /c start /wait my_installer.exe /S
+```
+
+This call waits until the installer is done. However, stream redirection won't work like this:
+
+```batch
+> cmd.exe /c start /wait my_installer.exe /S > logs.txt
+```
+
+Stream redirection does work as expected if run directly:
+
+```batch
+> my_installer.exe /S > logs.txt
+```
+
+Unfortunately, in this case the call won't block. You will have to poll the `logs.txt` file and block until finished (e.g. you find `Done!` or `:error:`).
+:::
+
 :::{admonition} EXE installers with file logging
 :class: tip
 

docs/source/debugging.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ See `man installer` for more details.
 
 ## Verbose EXE installers
 
-Windows installers do not have a verbose mode. By default, the graphical logs are only available in the "progress bar" dialog, by clicking on "Show details". This text box is right-clickable, which will allow you to copy the contents to the clipboard (and then paste them in a text file, presumably).
+By default, the graphical logs are only available in the "progress bar" dialog, by clicking on "Show details". This text box is right-clickable, which will allow you to copy the contents to the clipboard (and then paste them in a text file, presumably).
 
 If you want `conda` to print more details, then, run it from the CMD prompt like this: