How to build an installer without a license page using WiX Toolset

How to Build an Installer Without a License Page in WiX Toolset

The WiX UI Minimal dialog set will serve as a starting point for our project.

To get started, let's add the WiX UI minimal dialog set.

1. Add a new reference for the WixUIExtension.dll file, that you can find in the bin directory of the WiX Toolset installation folder.

2. Now that the WiX UI Extension is referenced, add this code to your project under the Product Tag:

<UI Id="WixUI_Minimal">
      <TextStyle Id="WixUI_Font_Normal" FaceName="Tahoma" Size="8" />
      <TextStyle Id="WixUI_Font_Bigger" FaceName="Tahoma" Size="12" />
      <TextStyle Id="WixUI_Font_Title" FaceName="Tahoma" Size="9" Bold="yes" />
      <Property Id="DefaultUIFont" Value="WixUI_Font_Normal" />
      <Property Id="WixUI_Mode" Value="Minimal" />
      <DialogRef Id="ErrorDlg" />
      <DialogRef Id="FatalError" />
      <DialogRef Id="FilesInUse" />
      <DialogRef Id="MsiRMFilesInUse" />
      <DialogRef Id="PrepareDlg" />
      <DialogRef Id="ProgressDlg" />
      <DialogRef Id="ResumeDlg" />
      <DialogRef Id="UserExit" />
      <DialogRef Id="WelcomeDlg" />
      <Publish Dialog="WelcomeDlg" Control="Next" Event="NewDialog" Value="PrepareDlg">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="ExitDialog" Control="Finish" Event="EndDialog" Value="Return" Order="999">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="VerifyReadyDlg" Control="Back" Event="NewDialog" Value="MaintenanceTypeDlg">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="MaintenanceWelcomeDlg" Control="Next" Event="NewDialog" Value="MaintenanceTypeDlg">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="MaintenanceTypeDlg" Control="RepairButton" Event="NewDialog" Value="VerifyReadyDlg">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="MaintenanceTypeDlg" Control="RemoveButton" Event="NewDialog" Value="VerifyReadyDlg">1</Publish>
     <Publish Dialog="MaintenanceTypeDlg" Control="Back" Event="NewDialog" Value="MaintenanceWelcomeDlg">1</Publish>
     <Property Id="ARPNOMODIFY" Value="1" />
</UI>
<UIRef Id="WixUI_Common" />

As you can see, this code implements the WixUI_Minimal dialog set – we slightly modified it to remove the license agreement dialog. The major difference is that it uses WelcomeDlg instead of WelcomeEulaDlg.

From this point on, all we have to do is wire up the dialogs.

Coming up, let's see how you can use Advanced Installer to build your installer without a license page – you won't need any code!

How to Use Advanced Installer to Build Your Installer without a license page

Yes, there's an even simpler way to build your installer without a license page. Here's how you can achieve that with the Advanced Installer GUI:

Advanced Installer doesn’t use the WelcomeEulaDlg by default, giving you the freedom to choose if your installer will include a License Agreement Dialog – you just need to add a LicenseAgreementDlg.

How can you add a License Agreement Dialog in Advanced Installer?

1. Go to the Dialogs page and press the Add Dialog button. A window will pop up containing a list of predefined dialogs that you can use without any extra fine-tuning.

2. From that list choose the LicenseAgreementDlg.

3. A new window will pop up where you will need to specify the path of the license file, which has to be an RTF file.

Conclusion

Now you know how to build an installer without a license page both with WiX Toolset and with Advanced Installer. It’s up to you which one you want to use.

While WiX enables you to code a friendly UI that is OK to begin with, Advanced Installer has its own dedicated GUI that you can use to quickly bring in any type of dialog.

What are your thoughts about WiX? Do you have any questions? Share them in the comments!