MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Tips and TricksToolsMSIDIFF.VBSHow to Post Process MSIDIFF Output

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How to Post Process MSIDIFF Output

The generation of the MAKEMSI documentation uses "SeqTable.DH" and creates some ".html" files (from MSIDIFF.VBS output) containing the sequencing information of "uisample.msi". This output looks like:

Action	Sequence Number
FatalError	-3
UserExit	-2
ExitDialog	-1
LaunchConditions	100
PrepareDlg	140
FindRelatedProducts	200
AppSearch	400
CCPSearch	500
RMCCPSearch	600
CostInitialize	800
FileCost	900
CostFinalize	1000
MigrateFeatureStates	1200
WelcomeDlg	1230
ResumeDlg	1240
MaintenanceWelcomeDlg	1250
ProgressDlg	1280
ExecuteAction	1300

The "MSIDIFF.VBS" output contains "table", "row" and other macros to describe the table data. It is a simple matter to define what each of these macros does when generating HTML and the "#include" this output.

The contents of "SeqTable.DH" code is:

;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;     MODULE NAME:   SEQTABLE.DH
;
;         $Author:   USER "Dennis"  $
;       $Revision:   1.4  $
;           $Date:   31 Jul 2007 17:49:22  $
;        $Logfile:   C:/DBAREIS/Projects.PVCS/Win32/MakeMsi/SeqTable.DH.pvcs  $
;
;     DESCRIPTION
;     ~~~~~~~~~~~
;     The "MsiSeqTable" macro below calls "MSIDIFF.VBS" to dump a
;     "UISAMPLE.MSI" <$sequence "sequence table"> into a html file.
;
;     I generate an intermediate html file for performance, this way I only
;     have to generate the output once and include in as many places as I wish
;     to use it (the #include is much quicker).
;
;     This is used in the generation of the MAKEMSI documentation, it uses
;     the table like:
;
;           <$Title Text="InstallUISequence">
;           <p>The default sequence of custom actions:
;           #include "out\InstallUISequence.html"    ;;Previously generated
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- MAIN MACRO (call to generate html files for <$sequence "sequence tables">) -----------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#(  ''
    #define MsiSeqTable

    ;--- Call MSIDIFF to generate "raw" output ------------------------------
    #evaluate ^^ ^call AddressCmd 'cscript.exe //NoLogo out\MsiDiff.vbs uisample.msi +{$Table} /NoSort /JustTableData /MacroPrefix @@ > out\{$Table}.TXT 2>&1'^

    ;--- Generate the start of the TABLE/file -------------------------------
    #output "out\{$Table}.HTML" ASIS
    <!-- Created by "SeqTable.DH" from MSIDIFF.VBS output! --><?NewLine>
    <?NewLine>
    <table class="SeqTable" border=1 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3><?NewLine>
    <tr align='left'>
        <th>Action</th>
        <th>Sequence<br>Number</th>
    </tr><?NewLine>

    ;--- Generate HTML (by including the data we captured above) ------------
    #include "out\{$Table}.TXT"   ;;Macros (defined below) execute to produce required HTML output

    ;--- End the table/file -------------------------------------------------
    <?NewLine>
    </table>
    #output
#)


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- SUPPORT MACROS (see "/MacroPrefix" on MSIDIFF.VBS command) -------------
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#(
  #define  @@TABLE
  #RexxVar @@Row.0 = 0           ;;Reset count
#)
#define  @@TABLECREATE
#( ''
  #define  @@/TABLE

  ;--- Sort the data --------------------------------------------------------
  #evaluate '' ^call ArraySort "@@Row"^

  ;--- Output the information -----------------------------------------------
  #{ for @@X = 1 to @@Row.0
     ;--- Split up info -----------------------------------------------------
     #DefineRexx ''
         parse var @@Row.@@X @@Ignore '00'x @@Sequence '00'x @@Action;
         @@ActionLink = '<' || '$SdkStdCa "' || @@Action || '">';
     #DefineRexx

     ;--- Output table row --------------------------------------------------
     <tr>
        <td><??@@ActionLink></td>
        <td><??@@Sequence></td>
     </tr><?NewLine>
  #}
#)
#(
  #define @@Row
  #evaluate ^^ ^<$@@Rexx2LoadInformationInSortableFormat {$?}>^
#)
#DefineRexx '@@Rexx2LoadInformationInSortableFormat'
    ;--- Get parameters we care about ---------------------------------------
    @@Action   = '{$Action}';
    @@Sequence = '{$Sequence}';

    ;--- Work out sort key (sort is textual - not numeric) ------------------
    @@SortKey = @@Sequence + 900000;

    ;--- Save information ---------------------------------------------------
    @@Sortable     = @@SortKey || '00'x || @@Sequence || '00'x || @@Action;
    @@RowCnt       = @@Row.0 + 1;
    @@Row.@@RowCnt = @@Sortable;
    @@Row.0        = @@RowCnt;
#DefineRexx


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;--- Now create the ".HTML" files for the tables (will #include as required) ---
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
<$MsiSeqTable Table="InstallExecuteSequence">
<$MsiSeqTable Table="InstallUISequence">

"DumpMsiUpgradeCodes.cmd" is a more primative example that uses a batch file to extract some information.

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