MAKEMSI quickly and reliably creates MSI files in a non-programmatic way\Source CodeCommandsTableDefinition

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The "TableDefinition" Command

Before MAKEMSI can refer to a table it needs to know some information about it. This applies to standard MSI tables or any that you might wish to create for your own uses.

This command begins the definition for a table which ends when the /TableDefinition command is encountered. Between these commands you would place a Column command for each column of the table you are defining.

If there is more than one definition for any particular table all but the first is ignored.

Note that you may wish to also populate the "_Validation" table for any custom table you define or you will get validation error messages although you could filter these out. I suggest that you do update the validation table to apply as tight a checking as possible so as to catch as many errors as you can in the build step.

If you already have a database which contains the table(s) (such as the SDK supplied "schema.msi" file) then the easiest way to generate the correct table definitions is to use the "export to .IDT" facility. If you already have ".idt" files then the "IDT Conversion" option is another possibility.

This command takes these parameters:

• Table Name (positional)
  This is the name of the table. MSI Table and Column names are all case sensitive.

EXAMPLE

This example shows the definitions for the standard MSI "Binary" and "File" tables:

<$TableDefinition "Binary">
   <$Column "Name"  TYPE="s72"  KEY="Y">  ;;Max 72 Characters
   <$Column "Data"  TYPE="v0">            ;;Binary field (unlimited length)
<$/TableDefinition>
<$TableDefinition "File">
   <$Column "File"        TYPE="s72"   KEY="Y">
   <$Column "Component_"  TYPE="s72">
   <$Column "FileName"    TYPE="l255">
   <$Column "FileSize"    TYPE="i4">
   <$Column "Version"     TYPE="S72">
   <$Column "Language"    TYPE="S20">
   <$Column "Attributes"  TYPE="I2">
   <$Column "Sequence"    TYPE="i2">
<$/TableDefinition>

;--- Define an internal MAKEMSI table ---------------------------------------
<$TableDefinition "MAKEMSI_FileSource">
   <$Column "File_"       TYPE="s72"   KEY="Y">
   <$Column "SourceFile"  TYPE="s255">
<$/TableDefinition>
<$TableCreate "MAKEMSI_FileSource">
<$Table "_Validation">
#(
   <$Row
            Table="MAKEMSI_FileSource"
           Column="File_"
         Nullable="N"
         KeyTable="File"
        KeyColumn="1"
         Category="Identifier"
      Description="Foreign key into the File table."
   >
#)
#(
   <$Row
            Table="MAKEMSI_FileSource"
           Column="SourceFile"
         Nullable="N"
         Category="Text"
      Description="Full name of source file."
   >
#)
<$/Table>

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