Is there a clean way to set a VS 2008 setup project's properties at build time?

Question

I have an Office add-in project with a setup project for deployment (using VS 2008), and I need to build the same product in a few different flavours.

I'm looking for a good way to make the installer resources dependent on the build configuration. The product name, manufacturer, manufacturer url, author, etc., etc. properties should be different for each of the builds. Also, the images shown in the installer UI will be different as well.

If possible, I'd like to do this without creating a new project for each different UI. I believe this could be done using the ORCAS tool and build events, but this approach seems overly complex and fragile.

Does anyone have any ideas on a clean way to go about doing this?

Answer 1

I think the best way is to create hand-made NAnt script.

Explaination:

NAnt is a build tool that besides building can execute scripts. By creating scripts and targets you can modify files that are checked out from your SCM, and then order them to build. Check out official NAnt site for more informations.

Answer 2

You could manually make copies of the vddproj file and edit them with a text editor. I admit, this is not a very robust solution and you would have to repeat this step every time the content of your setup changes.

Answer 3

Another option, although it is a bit more work up front, is to throw the setup project out the window and use e.g. WiX instead (http://wix.sf.net)