WiX: preserving recursive directory structure during component transfer

Wix 3.11.2 and Visual Studio Community 2019 here. My project has the following directory structure:

...\Source\Repos\my-app-setup\
  my-app-setup\
    bin\
    obj\
    testo\
      fizz\
        abc\
          def\
            ghi\
              abba.txt
      buzz\
        bar.txt
      foo.txt
    my-app.exe
    my-app-setup.wixproj
    my-app-setup.wxs
  my-app-setup.sln

Where my my-app-setup.wxs file is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
  <Product Id="*" Name="MyApp" Language="1033" Version="1.0.0.0" Manufacturer="MyCompany" UpgradeCode="1e540666-dda2-4cbe-91b7-ac9525d96c86">
    <Package Description="MyApp tool" Compressed="yes" />
    
    <MediaTemplate EmbedCab="yes"/>
    
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="MyApp" />
      </Directory>
    
      <Directory Id="DesktopFolder" Name="Desktop">
        <Component Id="ApplicationShortcutDesktop" Guid="*">
          <Shortcut Id="ApplicationDesktopShortcut"
            Name="MyApp"
            Description="Shortcut for MyApp"
            Target="[INSTALLFOLDER]my-app.exe"
            WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER"/>
          <RemoveFolder Id="DesktopFolder" On="uninstall"/>
          <RegistryValue
            Root="HKCU"
            Key="Software/MyApp"
            Name="installed"
            Type="integer"
            Value="1"
            KeyPath="yes"/>
        </Component>
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
    
    <Component Id="FooTxtComponent" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <File Source="testo/foo.txt" />
    </Component>
    
    <Component Id="AbbaComponent" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <File Source="testo/fizz/abc/def/ghi/abba.txt" />
    </Component>
    
    <Component Id="ExecutableComponent" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <File Source="my-app.exe" />
    </Component>

    <Feature Id="MainFeature" Title="MyApp" Level="1">
      <ComponentRef Id="FooTxtComponent" />
      <ComponentRef Id="AbbaComponent" />
      <ComponentRef Id="ExecutableComponent" />
      
      <ComponentRef Id="ApplicationShortcutDesktop" />
    </Feature>
  </Product>
</Wix>

So it basically just copies a bunch of files from the project into the C:\Program Files (x86)\MyApp directory and then creates a shortcut (to the EXE) on the desktop. Simple stuff.

When I build this and run the MSI the resulting C:\Program Files (x86)\MyApp directory looks like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\
  MyApp\
    foo.txt
    abba.txt
    my-app.exe

So WiX is just plucking the files I specified and dropping them into the MyApp directory, at the same level as the EXE file. I don't want this; I want to preserve the same recursive directory structure as what exists in my VS project. So instead of the above I would like the WiX MSI to generate:

C:\Program Files (x86)\
  MyApp\
    testo\
      fizz\
        abc\
          def\
            ghi\
              abba.txt
      foo.txt
    my-app.exe

What is the simplest way to accomplish this?

Thanks!

Solution

You need to nest the folders as shown in this sample (towards bottom): https://www.codeproject.com/Tips/105638/A-quick-introduction-Create-an-MSI-installer-with

Illustration:

<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
   <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
      <Directory Id="INSTALLDIR" Name="Example">
         <Component>
              <File Source="example.exe"/>
         </Component>
      </Directory>
   </Directory>
</Directory>

Maybe also check: