How do I actually use the LinkerBindInputPaths PropertyGroup in a WiX Installer script

Question

I've got a WiX installer script that references files in a folder at the root of my Visual Studio Solution folder. In my .wixproj, I've tried setting the Properties | Tool Setting | Linker to

-b $(SolutionDir)\WixSource

and get an error because within the middle of the $SolutionDir variable is a folder with a space. So, I tried

-b "$(SolutionDir)\WixSource"

and get an error complaining about using quotes around the name and that I should put a double backslash at, apparently, the end of the folder with spaces in it. --can't do that because it is inside the $(SolutionDir) macro.

So, following a suggestion on SO, I looked toward trying to use the LinkerBindInputPaths PropertyGroup, but the documentation is severely lacking on actual usage of this property.

I'm running WiX 3.7, and the following isn't allowed...

While Googling, I was told to that it needs to go inside the <Package> element like:

<Package ...>
    <PropertyGroup>
        <LinkerBindInputPaths ???/>
    </PropertyGroup>
</Package>

The WiX documentation @ http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/msbuild_task_reference_light.htm says

Specifies a binder path that the linker should use to locate all files. This is equivalent to the -b switch in light.exe. Named BindPaths are created by prefixing the 2-or-more-character bucket name followed by an equal sign ("=") to the supplied path.

With no examples found from googling, I can't decipher what a '2-or-more-character bucket name' is, or if there are any rules around it.

I was hoping to be able to specify something like $(var.SolutionDir)\WixSource, but need some help identifying how to solve this problem...

Answer 1

LinkerBindInputPaths is an item group, not a property group. It goes in your .wixproj MSBuild project file. For example:

<ItemGroup>
  <BindInputPaths Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)" />
  <BindInputPaths Include="$(WIX_ROOT)src" />
  <BindInputPaths Include="$(WIX_ROOT)bin" />
  <BindInputPaths Include="$(WIX_ROOT)" />
</ItemGroup>