How does Burn in WiX 3.6 associate .msi files with .exe?

Question

I am interested to know how WiX links EXE files created with Burn. I know that creating a self-extracting EXE file is quite simple, having done it a million times in WinRAR . In what directory is the EXE file that is unpacked, and how does the installation record this location in "Add or Remove Programs"?

Also, how is a UX file stored for deletion? And even more interestingly, what happens during the upgrade?

Answer 1

The entry does not create the typical "self-extracting .exe" that unpacks the contents and starts it. Instead, it extracts the bits it needs (a UX application or a boot application) into a temporary directory and then caches the packets that are needed when they are needed. Thus, time is not wasted in retrieving packages that are not in use.

The cache folder is called the “Package Cache” and is stored in the appdata folder, which depends on whether it is for each user or for each package.

There is nothing special about updates, except that when one package updates another, the cache of the previous package is deleted.