Get product name from msi file in C#

Question

Hi,

I have an msi file that installs an application. I need to know the product name of that application before the installation starts.

I tried the following:

{ 

...
Type type = Type.GetType("Windows.Installer");
WindowsInstaller.Installer installer = (WindowsInstaller.Installer)
Activator.CreateInstance(type);

installer.OpenDatabase(msiFile, 0); //this is my guess to pass in the msi file name...
...
}

but now? Type is null, which throws me an error. And where do I pass in the name of the MSI file?

Thanks for any hints & comments.

Answer 1

Where did you get the "Windows.Installer" stuff from?

...because:

1. Type.GetType takes a .NET type name, not a COM ProgId.
2. Windows Installer (at least on Windows 2003) doesn't have a ProgId.

In summary: Use P/Invoke (DllImport, etc.) to talk to the MSI API.

Answer 2

Wouldn't it be easier to use this code:

Type type = typeof(Windows.Installer);

If you prefer the Type.GetType(String) overload you must include correct assembly name after full path to class, eg.:

Type type = Type.GetType("Windows.Installer, <assembly for MsiInstaller>");

Answer 3

You need to use:

        Type installerType = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("WindowsInstaller.Installer");

Here is a sample from some of my code - in my case I get the installer version:

        // Get the type of the Windows Installer object
        Type installerType = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("WindowsInstaller.Installer");

        // Create the Windows Installer object
        Installer installer = (Installer)Activator.CreateInstance(installerType);

        // Open the MSI database in the input file
        Database database = installer.OpenDatabase(inputFile, MsiOpenDatabaseMode.msiOpenDatabaseModeReadOnly);

        // Open a view on the Property table for the version property
        View view = database.OpenView("SELECT * FROM Property WHERE Property = 'ProductVersion'");

        // Execute the view query
        view.Execute(null);

        // Get the record from the view
        Record record = view.Fetch();

        // Get the version from the data
        string version = record.get_StringData(2);