WIX 5 doesn't publish dependent project on build

[jurassicjp]

I have a similar problem as this Post I have a WiX 5 Setup Project UserInterfaceSetup.wixproj that is intended to install my WPF-Razor Project on Project file UserInterface.csproj and Publish Settings in FolderProfile.pubxml. Even with the Attribute Publish="true" in the ProjectReference Element of UserInterfaceSetup.wixproj, the UserInterface Project is not published when I build the WiX 5 Setup Project. When I first publish manually the UserInterface Project and then Build the WiX 5 project, then everything runs well. How do I have the UserInterface published automatically when building the WiX 5 Setup UserInterfaceSetup Project?

Content of UserInterface.csproj

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor">
	<PropertyGroup>
		<TargetFramework>net8.0-windows</TargetFramework>
		<ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>
		<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
		<OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
		<UseWPF>true</UseWPF>
		<RootNamespace>XYZ.UserInterface</RootNamespace>
		<AssemblyName>XYZ.UserInterface</AssemblyName>
		<ApplicationIcon>wwwroot\img\paired.ico</ApplicationIcon>
		<Platforms>x64</Platforms>
		<PublishProfile>FolderProfile</PublishProfile>
	</PropertyGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<Compile Remove="NewFolder\**"/>
		<Content Remove="NewFolder\**"/>
		<EmbeddedResource Remove="NewFolder\**"/>
		<None Remove="NewFolder\**"/>
		<Page Remove="NewFolder\**"/>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<Content Remove="nlog.config"/>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<PackageReference Include="GitVersion.MsBuild" Version="5.12.0">
			<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
			<IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
		</PackageReference>
		<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.WebView.Wpf" Version="8.0.7"/>
		<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client" Version="8.0.2"/>
		<PackageReference Include="MiniValidation" Version="0.9.0"/>
		<PackageReference Include="NLog" Version="5.2.8"/>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<ProjectReference Include="..\Core\Core.csproj"/>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<Compile Update="Resources\Resource.Designer.cs">
			<DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
			<AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
			<DependentUpon>Resource.resx</DependentUpon>
		</Compile>
		<Compile Update="Resources\__Resources.Designer.cs">
			<DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
			<AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
			<DependentUpon>__Resources.resx</DependentUpon>
		</Compile>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<Content Update="wwwroot\img\paired.ico">
			<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
		</Content>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<EmbeddedResource Update="Resources\Resource.resx">
			<Generator>ResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator>
			<LastGenOutput>Resource.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
		</EmbeddedResource>
		<EmbeddedResource Update="Resources\__Resources.resx">
			<Generator>ResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator>
			<LastGenOutput>__Resources.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
		</EmbeddedResource>
	</ItemGroup>
	<ItemGroup>
		<None Include="nlog.config">
			<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
		</None>
	</ItemGroup>
</Project>

Content of FolderProfile.pubxml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=208121.
-->
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
    <Platform>x64</Platform>
    <PublishDir>bin\x64\Release\publish\</PublishDir>
    <PublishProtocol>FileSystem</PublishProtocol>
    <_TargetId>Folder</_TargetId>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Content of UserInterfaceSetup.wixproj

<Project Sdk="WixToolset.Sdk/5.0.0">
  <ItemGroup>
    <BindPath Include="..\..\src\UserInterface\bin\x64\$(Configuration)\Publish">
      <BindName>BinPublishPath</BindName>
    </BindPath>
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="img\Branding Setup.png" />
    <Content Include="img\Branding Setup_58.png" />
    <Content Include="img\CTE_Setup.ico" />
    <Content Include="ReadMe.txt" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="WixToolset.UI.wixext" Version="5.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\UserInterface\UserInterface.csproj" Publish="true" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Content of Package.wxs

  <Wix xmlns="http://wixtoolset.org/schemas/v4/wxs"
      xmlns:ui="http://wixtoolset.org/schemas/v4/wxs/ui">

    <?define Titel = "Test Setup"?>
    <?define ProductName = "XYZ.UserInterface"?>
    <?define ProductManufacturer = "XYZ" ?>
    <?define DirectoryCompany = "$(var.ProductManufacturer)" ?>
    <?define DirectoryProduct = "$(var.ProductName)" ?>

    <Package
        Name="$(var.Titel)"
        Manufacturer="XYZ"
        Version="!(bind.FileVersion.MainExeFile)"
        UpgradeCode="ba1b4010-0adf-4dbb-bb86-60b4c1c5c618"
        Compressed="yes">

        <SummaryInformation Manufacturer="XYZ" />

        <MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A newer version of [ProductName] is already installed." />
        <MediaTemplate EmbedCab="yes" />


        <WixVariable Id="WixUIBannerBmp" Value="img\Branding Setup_58.png"/>
        <WixVariable Id="WixUIDialogBmp" Value="img\Branding Setup.png"/>

  
        <Icon Id="icon.ico" SourceFile="img\CTE_Setup.ico"/>
        <Property Id="ARPPRODUCTICON" Value="icon.ico" />



        <Feature Id="Main" Title="$(var.ProductName)">
            <ComponentGroupRef  Id ="AllMyFiles"/>
            <ComponentRef Id ="ExeFiles"/>
         </Feature>


        <ui:WixUI Id="WixUI_InstallDir_NoLicence" InstallDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER"/>



    </Package>

    <Fragment>
        <ComponentGroup Id="AllMyFiles" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
            <Files Include="!(bindpath.BinPublishPath)\**">
                <Exclude Files="!(bindpath.BinPublishPath)\$(var.ProductName).exe" />
                <!-- Hier entfernen weil er schon unter MainExeFile integriert ist-->
                <Exclude Files="!(bindpath.BinPublishPath)\appsettings.json" />
            </Files>
            <Component NeverOverwrite="yes" Permanent="yes">
                <File Source="!(bindpath.BinPublishPath)\appsettings.json" />
            </Component>
        </ComponentGroup>
        <Component Id="ExeFiles" Guid="F13F59E5-B2AB-4676-B9E1-20A219EFBAAD"  Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
            <File Id="MainExeFile" Source="!(bindpath.BinPublishPath)\$(var.ProductName).exe"/>
        </Component>
    </Fragment>


    <Fragment>

        <StandardDirectory Id="ProgramMenuFolder" >
            <Directory Id="XYZ" Name="XYZ"/>
        </StandardDirectory>
        <StandardDirectory Id="ProgramFiles6432Folder">
            <Directory Id="CompanyFolder" Name="$(var.DirectoryCompany)">
                <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="$(var.DirectoryProduct)" />
            </Directory>
        </StandardDirectory>
    </Fragment>
 
</Wix>

Any help or support will be greatly appreciated.

[jurassicjp]

Does anyone have an answer or idea how to solve this?

[jjolidon]

Hi JurassicJP - What I do is adding a target to the wixproj that calls the publish target before starting the installer's build. With modern Wix you could also use Files to reference all the files in the resulting publish folder, but I do it old style with a T4 target (not shown here).

  <!-- MSBuild does not properly resolve .net project references for wix projects. This is a workaround for that. -->
  <!-- This target also collects the output directory of the .net framework project references. -->
  <Target Name="PublishDependencies" BeforeTargets="ComputeDynamicComponentsTargetFiles">
    <MSBuild Projects="..\NetConsoleApp\NetConsoleApp.csproj"
             Targets="Publish"
             Properties="Platform=$(Platform);Configuration=Release" />
    <MSBuild Projects="..\NetConsoleApp\NetConsoleApp.csproj"
             Targets="GetTargetPath"
             Properties="Platform=$(Platform);Configuration=Release">
      <Output TaskParameter="TargetOutputs" PropertyName="CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_PrimaryTargetPath" />
    </MSBuild>
    <PropertyGroup>
      <CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir>$([System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName('$(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_PrimaryTargetPath)'))</CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir>
    </PropertyGroup>
  </Target>
  <Target Name="ComputeDynamicComponentsTargetFiles">
    <ItemGroup>
      <CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_File Include="$(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir)\publish\**\*" />
      <CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_Folder Include="$([System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories(&quot;$(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir)\publish&quot;, &quot;*&quot;, System.IO.SearchOption.AllDirectories))" />
    </ItemGroup>
    <!-- Add metadata to the files - can't be done in one pass -->
    <ItemGroup>
      <CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_File>
        <RelativePath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative("$(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir)\publish", %(FullPath)))</RelativePath>
      </CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_File>
      <CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_Folder>
        <RelativePath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative("$(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir)\publish", %(FullPath)))</RelativePath>
      </CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_Folder>
    </ItemGroup>
    <Error Condition="'@(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_File)' == ''" Text="No files found in folder $(CG_NETCONSOLEAPP_OutDir)\publish - component would be empty!" />

BTW, cheers from La Chaux-de-Fonds.

[jurassicjp]

Thanks for your answer, I will have to look into it.
But does that mean this is really a problem in WiX 5.0? Or are you running an older version?
Thanks and best regards
JP

[jjolidon]

As of Wix 5 I don't believe there is an official way of performing that workflow in one pass without my "trick".