Summary

Symptoms

The SourceDir or SRCDIR directory variables resolve to a location under the system?s Temp directory, not where 'setup.exe' file is located, when the installation is a compressed network image. This article applies to Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI projects.

Cause

When you execute an installation that was built as a compressed network image, 'setup.exe' extracts the source files for the installation to a temporary location and launches the installation from that location. When the installation is executed, the source location (as specified by the variables SourceDir and SRCDIR) resolves to this temporary location because that is its current working directory.

Resolution

The SETUPEXEDIR property is set by setup.exe and can be used to resolve this issue. This property points to the location of the original setup.exe file, regardless if it is compressed or uncompressed. SETUPEXEDIR can be used in place of SourceDir or SRCDIR. SETUPEXEDIR must be retrieved using the MSI API MsiGetProperty. Sample code for this API can be found in the InstallShield Help Library topic "Getting and Setting Properties".

Additional Information

For more information on MsiGetProperty and SourceDir, see the Windows Installer Help Library topics MsiGetProperty and SourceDir Property.