Using VS.NET 2002 EE

During our nightly build, I would like to package the contents of a
particular folder into the MSI file created. Is there any way to do this?

For example, I've got a local folder whose contents contain miscelleanous
documents that have been created completely outside of this project. Its
contents could change without my project knowing about it. I would like the
nightly rebuild of the MSI file to basically reference the FOLDER and
package the contents of the folder into the installation.

any ideas or suggestions?

thanks

Just add those files in the setup project.

The project window for setup projects let you add files from anywhere, and
create folders anywhere on the target system. You can add whatever files you
like, and when the user runs setup, it will create the target folders and
place your files where they belong.



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oops. it would seem that I misread your post.

You're trying to get the entire folder, no matter what it contains, and grab
new files automatically if they show up?

Here's what I would do:
create a .zip file that contans the contents of your folder. You can use
Winzip for this, along with the command line utility (I use this for doing
backups)
include the zip file in your project
create a batch file that unzips the files to your desination
include the batch fie as a custom action. (right click your setup project,
click View, click Custom Actions)

all you need to do is make sure to rebuild your zip file before building
your project. I'm not sure if there's any way to specify a "pre-compile"
command for setup projects.


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