Change the default installation folder programmatically for setup

Question

In a standard Setup project for a WinForms app I would like to programmatically change the default installation folder (i.e. do this when the installation happens).

Is there a way to do this? I thought using a custom Installer class might hep me with this but it seems by the time it gets to any custom actions in that class, the install folder has already been selected.

Answer 1

I had the same problem. Here Is my solution. I created an additional project, which called Win msi intaller, and add the TARGETDIR property's value as an argument.

    static void Main()
    {
            Process setupProcess = new Process();
            string msiFilePath = @"c:\path to msi package";
            string targetDir = @"target dir path";
            setupProcess.StartInfo.FileName = @"msiexec.exe /i " + msiFilePath + " TARGETDIR=\"" + targetDir + "\"";
            setupProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;    
            setupProcess.Start();
   }

Then you should run this program to install your msi package.