How to pass parameters to the custom action?

Question

I'm trying to create a custom action with "Value" attribute, I want to pass parameters to the C# code (the TARGETDIR and the version).

However, I get an error stating that DLLENtry and Value cannot coexist. But the custom action without dllentry is invalid.

This is the code:

 <CustomAction Id="SetMAWPrefferences"
                Value="InstallDir=[TARGETDIR];Version=2.0.0.1"
                Return="check"
                Execute="commit"
                BinaryKey="ImportExportBinary"                    
                />

And for it I get this error:

Error 9 ICE68: Invalid custom action type for action 'SetMAWPrefferences'.

Any ideas how to do it?

Answer 1

Note, you're using Value attribute in the wrong way:

...this attribute must be used with the Property attribute to set the property...^Source

---

Based on the Creating WiX Custom Actions in C# and Passing Parameters article you should:

1. Create properties with desired values:

   <Property Id="InstallDir" Value="someDefaultValue" />
   <Property Id="Version" Value="2.0.0.1" />
   

2. Create custom action to set the InstallDir property:

   <CustomAction Id="SetDirProp" Property="InstallDir" Value="[TARGETDIR]" />
   

3. Create custom action:

   <CustomAction Id="SetMAWPrefferences" 
       Return="check" 
       Execute="commit" 
       BinaryKey="ImportExportBinary" 
       DllEntry="YourCustomAction" />
   

4. Schedule custom actions for execution during installation process:

   <InstallExecuteSequence>
       <Custom Action="SetDirProp" After="CostFinalize" />
       <Custom Action="SetMAWPreferences" ... />
       ...
   </InstallExecuteSequence>
   

5. Access those properties from your custom action as follows:

   [CustomAction]
   public static ActionResult YourCustomAction(Session session)
   {
       // session["InstallDir"]
       // session["Version"]
   }