In-depth guidance for building complex WinForms Setup projects

Question

Where can I find in-depth guidance for building complex WinForms Setup projects? To be specific, I need to build a single setup package for a DevExpress eXpressApp WinForms application, including a setup for SQL Server 2008 Express, and the creation of a database from scripts. The DevExpress bit is no problem - the Setup Project Wizard neatly includes all dependencies, but guidance on SQL, running other programs from Setup, etc. seems scant. Nearly all articles I find overlook anything beyond the same package the wizard creates.

It looks like I have to go collecting little separate bits all over the place to get the whole task done. I would like to find a single, advanced and comprehensive resource that covers all aspects of WinForms deployment. Maybe somebody can recommend a book?

I used to be quite the master at this, even manually editing tables in the .msi files, writing C++ booby-trappers etc. but that was over 10 years ago, and my knowledge seems to have atrophied completely.

Answer 1

There are several resources:

• Apress Windows Installer http://www.apress.com/book/view/1590592972, but it was published in 2004, so it could be rather out of date;
• c-sharpcorner.com article http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/rahul4_saxena/Setup08232007071849AM/Setup.aspx;
• MSDN article http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/19x10e5c.aspx;

Hope it can help!