Zen and the Art of Custom Actions

I have been asked a great many times to talk about how to create Windows Installer custom actions. Each time I've dismissed the request noting that it would take tons of time to organize my thoughts on the topic and actually write them all down. I just don't have that kind of time. Besides, I gave up trying to create comprehensive blog entries a long time ago.

So, I've decided to compromise and at the same time test Technorati's search-ability of tags here. What I'm going to do is write random topics about creating custom action and use the tag zataoca. There will be no series here. One blog won't necessarily follow logically from another. Each topic will stand alone and hopefully the search engine will be able to tie the body of knowledge back together again. It seems everyone searches for everything now anyway, so let's see how far we can push it.

If you didn't guess, zataoca stands for "Zen and the Art of Custom Actions" a title borrowed heavily from the incredible book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. If you have never read that book, do so.

Speaking of things to I highly suggest reading, the following are a few links to custom action topics to get you in the mood.

1. MSI SDK Topic about Custom Actions

2. My blog entry why Script Custom Actions suck

3. Heath Stewart describes another reason why Script Custom Actions suck

Until next time, keep coding... you know I am.