I'm referencing an WiX extension in a WiX library project — how do I avoid having to reference this extension in other projects that use this wixlib?

Question

I'm referencing a WiX extension in a WiX library project. This WiX library project is itself referenced by my main WiX MSI project. Why does the main project have to also reference the WiX extension, even though it doesn't directly need it?

I'd like to keep my wixlib's as self-contained as possible, so that other projects that use them don't need to know about their inner workings.

I'm using latest stable release of WiX (3.0.x).

Answer 1

You need the extension because lit.exe doesn't pull the stuff in the WiX extension into your library. This is generally the recommended way to do things in the ".lib" world because it is very easy to end up with duplicate symbols if content is duplicated across ".libs". WiX ".wixlibs" follow the same pattern.