This is a common question. I don’t do it with just a custom action. The only way I know, is to modify the .msi after it has been generated. I run a Javascript script as a post-build event to do exactly that. It inserts a new dialog in the installer wizard, with a checkbox that says “Launch Application Foo?”. And then there is a custom action to run the app, if the checkbox is checked.
It appears as the last screen in the install Wizard sequence. Looks like this:
This is the script I use to modify the MSI:
// EnableLaunchApplication.js <msi-file>
// Performs a post-build fixup of an msi to launch a specific file when the install has completed
// Configurable values
var checkboxChecked = true; // Is the checkbox on the finished dialog checked by default?
var checkboxText = "Launch [ProductName]"; // Text for the checkbox on the finished dialog
var filename = "WindowsApplication1.exe"; // The name of the executable to launch - change this to match the file you want to launch at the end of your setup
// Constant values from Windows Installer
var msiOpenDatabaseModeTransact = 1;
var msiViewModifyInsert = 1;
var msiViewModifyUpdate = 2;
var msiViewModifyAssign = 3;
var msiViewModifyReplace = 4;
var msiViewModifyDelete = 6;
if (WScript.Arguments.Length != 1)
{
WScript.StdErr.WriteLine(WScript.ScriptName + " file");
WScript.Quit(1);
}
var filespec = WScript.Arguments(0);
var installer = WScript.CreateObject("WindowsInstaller.Installer");
var database = installer.OpenDatabase(filespec, msiOpenDatabaseModeTransact);
var sql;
var view;
var record;
try
{
var fileId = FindFileIdentifier(database, filename);
if (!fileId)
throw "Unable to find '" + filename + "' in File table";
WScript.Echo("Updating the Control table...");
// Modify the Control_Next of BannerBmp control to point to the new CheckBox
sql = "SELECT `Dialog_`, `Control`, `Type`, `X`, `Y`, `Width`, `Height`, `Attributes`, `Property`, `Text`, `Control_Next`, `Help` FROM `Control` WHERE `Dialog_`='FinishedForm' AND `Control`='BannerBmp'";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
record = view.Fetch();
record.StringData(11) = "CheckboxLaunch";
view.Modify(msiViewModifyReplace, record);
view.Close();
// Insert the new CheckBox control
sql = "INSERT INTO `Control` (`Dialog_`, `Control`, `Type`, `X`, `Y`, `Width`, `Height`, `Attributes`, `Property`, `Text`, `Control_Next`, `Help`) VALUES ('FinishedForm', 'CheckboxLaunch', 'CheckBox', '9', '201', '343', '12', '3', 'LAUNCHAPP', '{\\VSI_MS_Sans_Serif13.0_0_0}" + checkboxText + "', 'CloseButton', '|')";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
view.Close();
WScript.Echo("Updating the ControlEvent table...");
// Modify the Order of the EndDialog event of the FinishedForm to 1
sql = "SELECT `Dialog_`, `Control_`, `Event`, `Argument`, `Condition`, `Ordering` FROM `ControlEvent` WHERE `Dialog_`='FinishedForm' AND `Event`='EndDialog'";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
record = view.Fetch();
record.IntegerData(6) = 1;
view.Modify(msiViewModifyReplace, record);
view.Close();
// Insert the Event to launch the application
sql = "INSERT INTO `ControlEvent` (`Dialog_`, `Control_`, `Event`, `Argument`, `Condition`, `Ordering`) VALUES ('FinishedForm', 'CloseButton', 'DoAction', 'VSDCA_Launch', 'LAUNCHAPP=1', '0')";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
view.Close();
WScript.Echo("Updating the CustomAction table...");
// Insert the custom action to launch the application when finished
sql = "INSERT INTO `CustomAction` (`Action`, `Type`, `Source`, `Target`) VALUES ('VSDCA_Launch', '210', '" + fileId + "', '')";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
view.Close();
if (checkboxChecked)
{
WScript.Echo("Updating the Property table...");
// Set the default value of the CheckBox
sql = "INSERT INTO `Property` (`Property`, `Value`) VALUES ('LAUNCHAPP', '1')";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
view.Close();
}
database.Commit();
}
catch(e)
{
WScript.StdErr.WriteLine(e);
WScript.Quit(1);
}
function FindFileIdentifier(database, fileName)
{
// First, try to find the exact file name
var sql = "SELECT `File` FROM `File` WHERE `FileName`='" + fileName + "'";
var view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
var record = view.Fetch();
if (record)
{
var value = record.StringData(1);
view.Close();
return value;
}
view.Close();
// The file may be in SFN|LFN format. Look for a filename in this case next
sql = "SELECT `File`, `FileName` FROM `File`";
view = database.OpenView(sql);
view.Execute();
record = view.Fetch();
while (record)
{
if (StringEndsWith(record.StringData(2), "|" + fileName))
{
var value = record.StringData(1);
view.Close();
return value;
}
record = view.Fetch();
}
view.Close();
}
function StringEndsWith(str, value)
{
if (str.length < value.length)
return false;
return (str.indexOf(value, str.length - value.length) != -1);
}
I originally got this from Aaron Stebner’s blog, and then modified it.
Save that Javascript file to the project directory (same dir as contains .vdproj), name it ModifyMsiToEnableLaunchApplication.js . For each unique setup project, you need to modify that script and put the proper exe name into it. And then, you need to set the post-build event in the Setup project to be this:
cscript.exe "$(ProjectDir)ModifyMsiToEnableLaunchApplication.js" "$(BuiltOuputPath)"
Be sure to type the name of the macro $(BuiltOuputPath) correctly. The word Ouput is misspelled by Microsoft, and Built is not spelled Build !
That oughtta do it.
See also: this modification which does not include the “run Foo.exe” checkbox on UNINSTALL.