Video: How to convert a .vdproj to .wixproj in a click
You might already know or you might not that Visual Studio 2012 does not support setup projects. If this statement feels like a punch in the nose and you asking yourself, “does this mean what I think it means?”…the answer is “yes!”.
Good bye beloved .vdproj projects. I don’t know 100% why Microsoft has done away with them and MSFT isn’t going out of their way to explain the decision. What I do know is there is no point crying about it. There are other options and it is time to consider them.
Perhaps the best option is Windows Installer XML, or WiX. It’s an open source tool for building Windows Installation files. It’s easy to use but not as feature-rich as the Visual Studio setup projects. You can compare features on MSDN.
Although this is our situation, we decided something should be done about. So, we build a new tool, VDProj to WiX Converter. This new Add-in Express tool allows you to quickly convert existing .vdproj projects to the WiX format. It’s a single-feature tool and it’s a doozy.
I created a quick video to demo how it move the existing .vdproj to .wixproj setup within Visual Studio 2012. To steal a line from Steve Jobs, “It just works!”.
2 Comments
What if I don’t have VS 2010 installed ? What do you suggest to create a .vdproj project ?
Hi Michel
I’m not 100% certain I understand your question.
The WiX Convertor only converts Visual Studio setup projects and it requires Visual Studio in order to run. You need Visual Studio 2005-2010 to create .vdproj projects. VS 2012-2013 don’t support them.
Ty