In an MSI DLL custom action written with C or C++, the process of writing to the log file is
similar to the VBScript code, except that you use MsiCreateRecord to create the message
record and MsiProcessMessage to pass the record to the running installer.
You begin by creating a C or C++ DLL project in Visual Studio, for example. The C++ code
for this example might look like the following.
#pragma comment(lib, "msi.lib")
#include
#include
#include
// standard MSI DLL custom action signature
UINT __stdcall LoggingTestCpp(MSIHANDLE hInstall)
{
PMSIHANDLE hRecord = MsiCreateRecord(1);
// field 0 is the template
MsiRecordSetString(hRecord, 0, "Log: [1]");
// field 1, to be placed in [1] placeholder
MsiRecordSetString(hRecord, 1, "Calling LoggingTestCpp...");
// send message to running installer
MsiProcessMessage(hInstall, INSTALLMESSAGE_INFO, hRecord);
return ERROR_SUCCESS;
}
To ensure that the function name is properly exported from the DLL, you can create a .def
file with contents similar to the following:
LIBRARY "LoggingTestCpp" ; DLL name
EXPORTS ; exported function names
LoggingTestCpp
The DLL project in Visual Studio might look similar to the following.
After building the DLL, in InstallShield you can create an MSI DLL custom action, for this
example calling it callLoggingTestCpp, and again scheduling it for immediate execution after
LaunchConditions.
After rebuilding the project and running the MSI with the logging switch, lines similar to the
following should appear in the log file.
Action 25:00:00: callLoggingTestCpp.
Action start 25:00:00: callLoggingTestCpp.
[...lines omitted...]
Log: Calling LoggingTestCpp...
Action ended 25:00:00: callLoggingTestCpp. Return value 1.
For more information, see the MSI help library topic "Windows Installer Logging".
