DTF: Update a File within an Archive Without Extracting It

Question

I am using the Deployment Tools Foundation bundled with WiX 3.5. There is an archive that contains a file that I want to update without having to extract it first - the edits are based on user inputs during setup.

How do I obtain a reference to this file, perform the updates, and save the changes to the file without needing to extract it from the archive? The custom action is being written in C#.

I am using Wix v3.5.2415, which is the same version for the DTF assemblies.

Answer 1

Try using one of the free c# libraries to interact with a zip file.

For example:
SharpZipLib
SevenZipSharp

I'm not sure exactly why you are trying to avoid unzipping. Is this a silverlight xap file by chance? If so, I recommend a different approach like using initParams.