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I have a setup project (VS2008) for an existing application to which I have to add another project output, such that they reside in the same folder (two exes, and most of the dlls are shared).

The existing app has a CustomActionData argument of /Target="[TARGETDIR]\", but it installs its stuff in [TARGRETDIR]\EXE, which is fine although I can't see where this subfolder is defined, but I want the new project output to be in the same place. I've tried setting its CustomActionData argument to /Target="[TARGETDIR]\", and even /Target="[TARGETDIR]\EXE", but it always goes into [TARGETDIR].

So my question is: how do I ensure that both project outputs end up in the same folder (ie [TARGETDIR]\EXE)?

haughtonomous
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  • Use Wix instead of Visual Studio Setup projects. The latter is deprecated, was never intended for real setup work and just isn't flexible. Wix is it's successor and does support these kinds of scenarios. – jessehouwing Jan 13 '14 at 17:21
  • That's easy for you to say! This is legacy code that I have to work with. Are you saying that Setup projects WON'T do what I need? – haughtonomous Jan 13 '14 at 17:43
  • It's probably possible, but a mess. There is a reason the technology was retired. Wix works with Visual Studio 2008 and depending on how complicated the existing installer is, should be relatively easy to convert (once you get to know the XML syntax)... (http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/votive/) – jessehouwing Jan 13 '14 at 18:02
  • Thanks but that doesn't help me - I have a deadline to meet and recreating what is already a complex installer using wix instead won't fit the timescale by a long margin. So I really need some guidance on how to approach this, even if it does end up a conceptiual mess as long as it works. We can always address the conversion to wix at a later date. – haughtonomous Jan 14 '14 at 09:43

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Stop using the Project Output option. Just use your setup project File System view to drag the files from any project (or in fact anywhere on the system) into the destination folder.

PhilDW
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