2

I have creeated an installer, which installs a database using the sqlstring element provided by the WixSqlExtension. Here is a sample of the code:

<ComponentGroup Id="DatabaseCreation" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
  <Component Id="CreateDatabase" Guid="SOMEGUID" KeyPath="yes">
    <sql:SqlString
      Id="CreateDB"
      Sequence="1"
      ExecuteOnInstall="yes"
      ContinueOnError="no"
      SqlDb="MasterDB"
      SQL="DECLARE @dbname nvarchar(128)
      SET @dbname = N'{[SQLDATABASE]}'

      IF(NOT EXISTS 
          (SELECT name 
          FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases
          WHERE ('[\[]' + name + '[\]]') = @dbname
          OR name = @dbname
          )
        )
      CREATE DATABASE {[SQLDATABASE]}"
      />
  </Component>
  <Component Id="DropDatabase" Guid="ANOTHERGUID" KeyPath="yes">
    <sql:SqlString 
      Id="DropDB" 
      Sequence="10000" 
      SqlDb="MasterDB" 
      ExecuteOnUninstall="yes" 
      ContinueOnError="no" 
      SQL="DECLARE @dbname nvarchar(128)
      SET @dbname = N'{[SQLDATABASE]}'

      IF(EXISTS 
          (SELECT name 
          FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases
          WHERE ('[\[]' + name + '[\]]') = @dbname
          OR name = @dbname
          )
        )
      DROP DATABASE {[SQLDATABASE]}"/>
    <Condition>
      <![CDATA[DROPDATABASE = "1"]]>
    </Condition>
  </Component>
</ComponentGroup>

After installing the package with the following command

msiexec /i package.msi /l*v install.log

the database is created as expected. But uninstalling the package with the command

msiexec /x package.msi DROPDATABASE="1" /l*v uninstall.log

does not drop the database as expected. Curiously, the property seems to be set, as documented in uninstall.log:

[...] MSI (s) (44:68) [14:42:12:442]: Command Line: DROPDATABASE=1 REMOVE=ALL CURRENTDIRECTORY=C:\install CLIENTUILEVEL=2 CLIENTPROCESSID=2532[...]
[...] MSI (s) (44:68) [14:42:12:462]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding DROPDATABASE property. Its value is '1'.[...]
[...]Property(S): MsiHiddenProperties = CreateDatabase;DropDatabase;ExecuteSqlStrings;RollbackCreateDatabase;RollbackExecuteSqlStrings[...]
[...]Property(S): DROPDATABASE = 1[...]

Now to the most interesting part: When installing the package with the following command:

msiexec /i package.msi DROPDATABASE="1" /l*v install.log

uninstalling the package with the following command:

msiexec /x package.msi DROPDATABASE="0" /l*v uninstall.log

drops the database. I cannot understand why this is happening. Here, the value "0" is passed for the DROPDATABASE property, but the code clearly states to only drop the database when the value of this property is set to the value "1". The assignment of the value can be seen in the log file again:

[...]MSI (s) (44:44) [14:49:12:587]: PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding DROPDATABASE property. Its value is '0'.[...]

Why is the DROPDATABASE property ignored on uninstallation? Where do the MsiHiddenProperties come from? How do I set properties for an uninstallation?

BdN3504
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1 Answers1

4

By default a Component Condition is only evaluated during install. If you want the Condition evaluated every time the installation package is executed you need to set the Transitive='yes' attribute on the Component element.

However, in my experience, during uninstall if the Component was installed by the MSI it will be removed when the MSI is uninstalled.

The MsiHiddenProperties comes from the SQL custom actions you are using. They prevent the Windows Installer from logging the SQL strings because sometimes there are passwords in the SQL strings and you don't want the passwords in plain text in log file causing a security vulnerability.

Rob Mensching
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