Installing special-case files

In the following sections, we'll take a look at installing files that are different from other types that we've talked about so far. Specifically, we'll cover how to install an assembly file (.dll) to the Global Assembly Cache and how to install a TrueType font file.

Adding assembly files to the GAC

The Global Assembly Cache (GAC) is a central repository in Windows where you can store .NET assembly files so that they can be shared by multiple applications. You can add a .NET assembly to it with WiX by setting the File element's Assembly attribute to .net. The following example installs an assembly file to the GAC:

<DirectoryRef Id="MyProgramDir">
  <Component Id="CMP_MyAssembly" 
             Guid="4D98D593-F4E0-479B-A7DA-80BBB78B54CB">
    <File Id="File_MyAssembly"
          Assembly=".net" 
          Source="MyAssembly.dll"
          KeyPath="yes" />
  </Component>
</DirectoryRef>

Even though we've placed this component inside a...