Is there a way to install the same file to two different folders? And can harvesting detect that somehow?

[marklam]

Suppose my deployment layout should look like this:

SmallSet
   File1.jpg
   File2.jpg
   File3.jpg
BigSet
   File1.jpg
   File2.jpg
   File3.jpg
   File4.jpg
   File5.jpg
   File6.jpg

And the two File1.jpgs are identical, same for File2.jpg and File3.jpg.

Part 1:

• Is there a way my cabinets can have only 1 copy of File1.jpg, only 1 File2.jpg, and only 1 File3.jpg but recreate the above folder layout upon install?

Part 2:

• Is there a way that harvest could detect that, or would the harvested wxs file have to be post-processed to match the answer to Part 1?

(Imagine the real files involved are close to 2GB, if you're wondering why it matters :-)

[robmen]

As long as the sources are the same, smart cabbing does that.

[marklam]

@robmen They're identical files in different folders which are harvested together, does that count as "sources are the same" ?

Also, is smart cabbing a default?

[robmen]

Smart cabbing is on by default. If multiple files come from the same source path (where the file is at build time), they are treated as the same file by smart cabbing. I don't remember if anyone did the work to recognize that two files from different source paths are the same file if they are otherwise identical (aka hash the same).

[robmen]

That is entirely possible. I've never had a customer hit such an issue so I've not investigated it deeper.

PS: I meant the cab splitting creating the issue, I'm pretty confident external cabinets smartcab just fine.

[marklam]

With no MediaTemplate, and no Compressed specifier in the Package element, it didn't eliminate duplicates - eg Cab11 and Cab4 each contained one file and they were identical. (although the wix compression which got activated works better than post-processing with zip, so the installer size did go down nonetheless)

[robmen]

Okay. It sounds like there is something to investigate. As I noted, I don't have any customers hitting this issue, so it's not a priority for me to dig into.

[marklam]

Fair enough.

[robmen]

Of course, that doesn't mean you couldn't open an issue with a repo and start digging into it.