Wix toolset The system cannot find the file '[INSTALLFOLDER]\MyService.exe when build the project

Question

My product.wxs is like below

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi"
     xmlns:Util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension">
  <Product Id="*" Name="FileDeletionRecordServiceSetup" Language="1033" Version="1.0.0.0" Manufacturer="HP GIS" UpgradeCode="7ec63c63-ad12-4cc7-bf7e-138caa10380f">
    <Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" />

    <MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A newer version of [ProductName] is already installed." />
    <MediaTemplate EmbedCab="yes" />

    <Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="FileDeletionRecordServiceSetup" Level="1">
      <ComponentGroupRef Id="ProductComponents" />
      <ComponentGroupRef Id='svcComponents' />
    </Feature>

    <UI>
      <UIRef Id="WixUI_InstallDir" />
    </UI>
    <Property Id="WIXUI_INSTALLDIR" Value="INSTALLFOLDER" />
    <Property Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Secure="yes" />
  </Product>

  <Fragment>
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
        <Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="FileDeletionRecordService" />
      </Directory>
    </Directory>
  </Fragment>

  <Fragment>
    <ComponentGroup Id='svcComponents' Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
      <Component Id="svcInstallation" Guid="{05F58B9B-BC8F-44BD-A4D1-DB4B8F824111}">
        <File Id="FileDeletionRecordServiceEXE" Source="[INSTALLFOLDER]\FileDeletionRecordService.exe" />
        <ServiceInstall
          Id="ServiceInstaller"
          Type="ownProcess"
          Name="FileDeletionRecordService"
          DisplayName="FileDeletionRecordService"
          Description="Record file deletion for specified directory"
          Start="auto"
          Account="NT AUTHORITY\LocalService"
          ErrorControl="normal"
      />
        <ServiceControl Id="StartService" Start="install" Stop="both" Remove="uninstall" Name="FileDeletionRecordService" Wait="yes" />
      </Component>

      <Component Id="cmpEventLog" Guid="{D15001E4-24F7-407E-977B-47A1B1F0B4B4}" KeyPath="yes" >
        <Util:EventSource
         Name="FileDeletionRecordSource"
         Log="FileDeletionRecordService"
         EventMessageFile="%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\EventLogMessages.dll" />
      </Component>
    </ComponentGroup>
  </Fragment>
</Wix>

In above I use UIRef WixUI_InstallDir to get value for INSTALLFOLDER. And I use it for the windows service exe that I would like to install

  <File Id="FileDeletionRecordServiceEXE" Source="[INSTALLFOLDER]\FileDeletionRecordService.exe" />
  <ServiceInstall
    Id="ServiceInstaller"
    Type="ownProcess"
    Name="FileDeletionRecordService"
    DisplayName="FileDeletionRecordService"
    Description="Record file deletion for specified directory"
    Start="auto"
    Account="NT AUTHORITY\LocalService"
    ErrorControl="normal"
/>

But it shows

The system cannot find the file '[INSTALLFOLDER]\FileDeletionRecordService.exe'.

Error when I was trying to build the project. The part confuse me is, of course the file should not exist yet cause it has not been installed yet. But I need to install service from '[INSTALLFOLDER]\FileDeletionRecordService.exe' for sure.

Does that mean I should create the directories, move the files and install the service manually first so to create the setup pack? Is this the practice? Cause I feel it doesn't make sense I think there are some usages I misunderstood but not sure what I did wrong.

Answer 1

[INSTALLFOLDER] is the syntax to resolve (aka: dereference) the INSTALLFOLDER Property or Directory at install/uninstall time. Since the Source attribute is only used at build time the value there is no resolution. You need to refer to the file to be installed in the Source attribute.

For a more complete understanding, you might watch Deployment Dojo S1:E11 through Episode 18.