I am trying to use this code from the tutorial Getting version from MSI without installing it, but when I try to add the "msi.dll" to Visual Studio 2010 as a reference I get this error.
Could not load file or assembly 'msi.dll' or one of its dependencies. The module was expected to contain an assembly manifest.
This file may not be a managed assembly
Use "Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll" from the Wix project's Deployment Tools Foundation (DTF). DTF provides a managed wrapper for much of msi.dll. Wix also provides helpful documentation.
Using DTF here is how I accessed the version number of an msi in C#
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;
namespace Msi.Tables
{
public class PropertyTable
{
public static string Get(string msi, string name)
{
using (Database db = new Database(msi))
{
return db.ExecuteScalar("SELECT `Value` FROM `Property` WHERE `Property` = '{0}'", name) as string;
}
}
public static void Set(string msi, string name, string value)
{
using (Database db = new Database(msi, DatabaseOpenMode.Direct))
{
db.Execute("UPDATE `Property` SET `Value` = '{0}' WHERE `Property` = '{1}'", value, name);
}
}
}
}
Then from my application
string msiVersion = PropertyTable.Get("MyInstall.msi", "ProductVersion");
You can use Orca to view the msi tables. MSDN provides documentation on the Property Table. The details on SQL syntax for Windows Installer is also available in MSDN
to register asembly on 32 bit machine
REGSVR32 MSI.DLL
to register asembly on 64 bit machine
cd \windows\syswow64 regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\msi.dll
Activator.CreateInstance code in the tutorial.
/platform:x86 if it is only a 32bit COM library.From codeproject:
To access the version number or other product related stuff, we need to have the DLL reference in Visual Studio .NET. DLL name: msi.dll (which exists in system32).
I think you should add reference to your project in Solution Explorer (right click on References in SE -> Add Reference -> then browse to msi.dll in system32 directory).
Add system.management to references and include the namespace.
var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_Product where Name LIKE '%Your MSI Name%'");
foreach (ManagementObject obj in searcher.Get())
{
var version = obj["Version"];
}
This will give you version of any software installed in control panel.
var path = @"C:\Users\self\path\to\your\installFile.msi";
var view = ((dynamic)Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetTypeFromProgID("WindowsInstaller.Installer")))
.OpenDatabase(path, 0)
.OpenView("SELECT Value FROM Property WHERE Property = 'ProductVersion'");
view.Execute();
string version = view.Fetch().StringData(1);
Console.WriteLine(version);
No references, no NuGets, no nothin'
