Viewing the MSI database

I mentioned before that an MSI file is really a sort of relational database. WiX does all the work of creating tables, inserting rows, and matching up keys in this database. However, as we progress through the rest of the book, I encourage you to explore how it looks behind the scenes. For example, we discussed the File and Component elements. Sure enough, there are two tables called File and Component in the MSI package that contain the definitions you've set with your XML markup. To get inside the installer, you'll need a tool called Orca.

Orca.exe

Once you've compiled your project in Visual Studio, you'll have a working MSI package that can be installed by double-clicking on it. If you'd like to see the database inside, ...

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