Scott Hanselman

MSI2XML and back...converting Windows Installer Databases to XML

March 05, 2003 Comment on this post [0] Posted in Web Services | XML | Tools
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http://msi2xml.sourceforge.net/

"The command line tool msi2xml converts Windows Installer Databases (.msi) to text based XML files. The complementary tool xml2msi reconstructs the .msi from the XML file."

Utterly brilliant. [Via Almost Perfect] [Via Joshua Allen.]

Ooooo....that is nice...

The command line tool msi2xml converts Windows Installer Databases (.msi) to text based XML files.
The complementary tool xml2msi reconstructs the .msi from the XML file.

There are several possible uses for msi2xml/xml2msi:

  • Quality assurance: use the human readable XML file to compare changes between different versions of a .msi file.
  • Version control: many version control systems are text based. Store the XML file instead of the .msi file.
  • Automated build systems: using xml2msi, existing installations may be updated with new files, and automatically rebuilt.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.