The File element

The File element, as you've seen, is used to designate each file that you plan to copy to the end user's computer. At a minimum, it should contain a Source attribute that identifies the path to the file on your development machine, as shown:

<Component Id="CMP_MyProgramEXE"
           Guid="2C34F22F-1F48-4949-B68B-939F852F8B35">
  <File Source="MyProgram.exe" />
</Component>

There are a number of optional attributes available. The Name attribute tells the installer what the file will be called after it's installed. If omitted, the file will retain its original name as specified in the Source attribute. The KeyPath attribute explicitly marks the file as the keypath for the component, although if there is only one File element in Component it will, by default, be the keypath. The Id attribute uniquely identifies the file in the MSI database's File table. The following is an example that demonstrates these attributes:

<Component Id="CMP_MyProgramEXE"
   ...