Setting working directory for a WiX shortcut

Question

I'm having trouble setting the working directory of a shortcut created as part of a WiX script. Here are the basics:

<!-- create a start menu shortcut. -->
<Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
  <Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="My Name">
    <Component Id="ApplicationShortcut" Guid="822A26AF-5231-4EDA-A18D-5DF15020BD94">
      <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut"
                Name="My Name"
                Description="My Description"
                Target="[INSTALLLOCATION]My.exe"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLLOCATION" />
      <RemoveFolder Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" On="uninstall"/>
    </Component>
  </Directory>
</Directory>

<!-- Install the app. -->
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
  <Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="My Name">
    <Component Id="ProductComponent" Guid="4740357A-69D3-4626-A0F7-D0667C93A2CE">
      <File Id="My.exe" Name="My.exe" Source="My.exe" />
    </Component>
  </Directory>
</Directory>

This jives with examples I've seen, and the shortcut gets created, and it points to the right exe, but the shortcut has no working directory specified, and so the app doesn't find its local resources.

Answer 1

I think you need square brackets around your INSTALLLOCATION in the working directory attribute.

Answer 2

You don't need to say [INSTALLLOCATION] because the ShortCut table defines the WkDir column describes "The name of the property that has the path of the working directory for the shortcut."

I would reccomend trying this:

<Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder"> 
  <Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="My Name"> 
  </Directory> 
</Directory> 

<!-- Install the app. --> 
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder"> 
  <Directory Id="INSTALLLOCATION" Name="My Name"> 
    <Component Id="ProductComponent" Guid="4740357A-69D3-4626-A0F7-D0667C93A2CE"> 
      <File Id="My.exe" Name="My.exe" Source="My.exe" />
        <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut" 
                  Advertise="yes"
                  Name="My Name" 
                  Description="My Description" 
                  Directory="ApplicationProgramsFolder"
                  WorkingDirectory="INSTALLLOCATION">
          <Icon Id="My.exe" SourceFile="My.exe" />
        <Shortcut>
    </Component> 
  </Directory> 
</Directory>