WixToolset directory structure copy - node.js

Question

I have a task to create installation for nodejs web application. I have found the solution to compress the whole application copy it as one file with Wix and extract it with wix custom actions. This works. But its downside is that targt server has to have compressing software installed. In this case 7z.
Watching other installations, they are extracting files with out any external software.
I have investigate a wix a bit it says that I should use HEAT, nut I am not sure what it that. There any simple start examples, where I can understand it conceptually. I have found out also that other guys out there have slow learning curve on Wix. I am quite serious in learning this but I need a little push. I would like to start from this example.
How to whole folder copy with wix? or what it best practice with. Maybe some compressing with out third party software.
EDIT:
Here is how my wixproj file looks like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
<ProductVersion>3.10</ProductVersion>
<ProjectGuid>a42f686d-72e6-4452-b066-796c441e0d65</ProjectGuid>
<SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
<OutputName>SomeManager</OutputName>
<OutputType>Package</OutputType>
<WixTargetsPath Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' AND '$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)' != '' ">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
<WixTargetsPath Condition=" '$(WixTargetsPath)' == '' ">$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\WiX\v3.x\Wix.targets</WixTargetsPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|x86' ">
<OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
<IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
<DefineConstants>Debug</DefineConstants>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86' ">
<OutputPath>bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
<IntermediateOutputPath>obj\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Product.wxs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="google-credentials-release-server.p12" />
<Content Include="LICENSE.rtf" />
<Content Include="some_service.tar.gz">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
<Content Include="XSLT\readme.txt" />
<Content Include="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" />
<Content Include="XSLT\XslFile.xslt" />
<Content Include="XSLT\XslProjectOutput.xslt" />
<Content Include="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" />
<Content Include="XSLT\_ERMPanel.xml" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<WixExtension Include="WixUtilExtension">
<HintPath>$(WixExtDir)\WixUtilExtension.dll</HintPath>
<Name>WixUtilExtension</Name>
</WixExtension>
<WixExtension Include="WixUIExtension">
<HintPath>$(WixExtDir)\WixUIExtension.dll</HintPath>
<Name>WixUIExtension</Name>
</WixExtension>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Folder Include="XSLT\" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\ERMPanel\ERMPanel.csproj">
<Name>ERMPanel</Name>
<Project>{F62EB2B5-967E-4E32-BE06-89248AFA3385}</Project>
<Private>True</Private>
<DoNotHarvest>
</DoNotHarvest>
<RefProjectOutputGroups>Binaries</RefProjectOutputGroups>
<RefTargetDir>INSTALLDIR</RefTargetDir>
</ProjectReference>
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<MakeDir Directories="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML" />
<MakeDir Directories="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='HeatFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) <= 12" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" UseTrustedSettings="true" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='HeatFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) >= 14" />
<ReadLinesFromFile File="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt">
<Output TaskParameter="Lines" ItemName="COMFilelist" />
</ReadLinesFromFile>
<ConvertToAbsolutePath Paths="#(COMFilelist)">
<Output TaskParameter="AbsolutePaths" ItemName="ResolvedCOMFilelist" />
</ConvertToAbsolutePath>
<Exec Command=""$(Wix)Bin\heat.exe" file "%(ResolvedCOMFilelist.Identity)" -sw -gg -sfrag -nologo -srd -out "$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(Filename).com.xml"" IgnoreExitCode="false" WorkingDirectory="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)" Condition="'%(ResolvedCOMFilelist.Identity)'!=''" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='TransformFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) <= 12" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" UseTrustedSettings="true" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='TransformFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) >= 14" />
<ReadLinesFromFile File="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt">
<Output TaskParameter="Lines" ItemName="XMLFileList" />
</ReadLinesFromFile>
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="%(XMLFileList.Identity)" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslFile.xslt" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\%(Filename).wsx" Parameters="<Parameter Name='sourceFilePath' Value='%(XMLFileList.Identity)'/>" Condition="'%(XMLFileList.Identity)'!='' And $(MSBuildToolsVersion) <= 12" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="%(XMLFileList.Identity)" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslFile.xslt" UseTrustedSettings="true" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\%(Filename).wsx" Parameters="<Parameter Name='sourceFilePath' Value='%(XMLFileList.Identity)'/>" Condition="'%(XMLFileList.Identity)'!='' And $(MSBuildToolsVersion) >= 14" />
<Exec Command=""$(Wix)Bin\heat.exe" project "%(ProjectReference.FullPath)" -projectname "%(ProjectReference.Name)" -pog %(ProjectReference.RefProjectOutputGroups) -gg -sfrag -nologo -out "$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml"" IgnoreExitCode="false" WorkingDirectory="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)" Condition="'%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'!='' And '%(ProjectReference.DoNotHarvest)'!='True' And '%(ProjectReference.ImportedFromVDProj)'=='True'" />
<HeatProject Project="%(ProjectReference.FullPath)" ProjectName="%(ProjectReference.Name)" OutputFile="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml" ProjectOutputGroups="%(ProjectReference.RefProjectOutputGroups)" ToolPath="$(Wix)Bin\" SuppressAllWarnings="true" AutogenerateGuids="false" GenerateGuidsNow="true" SuppressFragments="true" SuppressUniqueIds="false" Condition="'%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'!='' And '%(ProjectReference.DoNotHarvest)'!='True' And '%(ProjectReference.ImportedFromVDProj)'!='True'" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslProjectOutput.xslt" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\_%(ProjectReference.Name).wxs" Parameters="<Parameter Name='projectName' Value='%(ProjectReference.Name)'/><Parameter Name='projectFilePath' Value='%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\'/>" Condition="'%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'!='' And '%(ProjectReference.DoNotHarvest)'!='True' And Exists('$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml') And $(MSBuildToolsVersion) <= 12" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslProjectOutput.xslt" UseTrustedSettings="true" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\_%(ProjectReference.Name).wxs" Parameters="<Parameter Name='projectName' Value='%(ProjectReference.Name)'/><Parameter Name='projectFilePath' Value='%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\'/>" Condition="'%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'!='' And '%(ProjectReference.DoNotHarvest)'!='True' And Exists('$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested XML\_%(ProjectReference.Name).xml') And $(MSBuildToolsVersion) >= 14" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='CompileFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) <= 12" />
<XslTransformation XmlInputPaths="XSLT\RegisterForCOM.xml" XslInputPath="XSLT\XslRegisterForCOM.xslt" UseTrustedSettings="true" OutputPaths="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt" Parameters="<Parameter Name='operationType' Value='CompileFiles'/><Parameter Name='intermediateDir' Value='$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\'/>" Condition="$(MSBuildToolsVersion) >= 14" />
<ReadLinesFromFile File="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_COMFiles.txt">
<Output TaskParameter="Lines" ItemName="WSXFileList" />
</ReadLinesFromFile>
<CreateItem Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\_%(ProjectReference.Name).wxs" Condition="'%(ProjectReference.FullPath)'!='' And '%(ProjectReference.DoNotHarvest)'!='True' And Exists('$(IntermediateOutputPath)Harvested Output\_%(ProjectReference.Name).wxs')">
<Output TaskParameter="Include" ItemName="Compile" />
</CreateItem>
<CreateItem Include="#(WSXFileList)" Condition="Exists('%(WSXFileList.Identity)')">
<Output TaskParameter="Include" ItemName="Compile" />
</CreateItem>
</Target>
<!--
To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it.
Other similar extension points exist, see Wix.targets.
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
</Target>
-->
</Project>
Here is Product.wsx file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi">
<Product Id="*" Name="SomeManager" Language="1033" Version="1.0.0.2" Manufacturer="Certus" UpgradeCode="4810b5e4-21d8-4a45-b289-eafb10dddc0a">
<Package InstallerVersion="200" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" />
<MajorUpgrade DowngradeErrorMessage="A newer version of [ProductName] is already installed." />
<Media Id="1" Cabinet="Cab1.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />
<Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="SomeInstaller" Level="1">
<ComponentGroupRef Id="ProductComponents" />
<ComponentGroupRef Id="ERMPanel.Binaries" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_5D704CE7_9E55_4FC5_8CB2_6BA4612D6D35" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_C9901889_BAD5_4B2C_9407_EAF967B1526C" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_03332461_4D6C_4BB5_90D1_4C4D896D7775" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_3AE770A3_904C_4458_81BD_300F195A4250" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" />
</Feature>
<UIRef Id="WixUI_InstallDir" />
<WixVariable Id="WixUILicenseRtf" Value="LICENSE.rtf" />
<Property Id="WIXUI_INSTALLDIR" Value="INSTALLFOLDER" />
<CustomAction Id="ExtractService" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" Impersonate="no" Execute="deferred" ExeCommand="7z e -y some_service.tar.gz" Return="check" />
<CustomAction Id="ExtractService2" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" Impersonate="no" Execute="deferred" ExeCommand="7z x -y some_service.tar" Return="check" />
<!--<CustomAction Id="Create_Some_Files" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C "mkdir some_files"" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<CustomAction Id="Copy_p12" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C "xcopy google-credentials-release-server.p12 some_files"" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />-->
<!--<CustomAction Id="Create_Log" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C "mkdir Logs"" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />-->
<CustomAction Id="Cleanup_tarfile" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C "del some_service.tar"" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<CustomAction Id="Cleanup_targzfile" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C "del some_service.tar.gz"" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<CustomAction Id="Cleanup_bundle" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C RD "[INSTALLFOLDER]" /s /q" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />
<!--<CustomAction Id="Cleanup_Some_Files" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER" ExeCommand="cmd /C RD "some_files" /s /q" Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />-->
<InstallExecuteSequence>
<Custom Action="ExtractService" Before="InstallFinalize">NOT Installed</Custom>
<Custom Action="ExtractService2" After="ExtractService">NOT Installed</Custom>
<!--<Custom Action="Create_Some_Files" After="ExtractService">NOT Installed</Custom>
<Custom Action="Copy_p12" After="Create_Some_Files">NOT Installed</Custom>-->
<!--<Custom Action="Create_Log" After="ExtractService2">NOT Installed</Custom>-->
<Custom Action="Cleanup_tarfile" Before="RemoveFiles">REMOVE="ALL"</Custom>
<Custom Action="Cleanup_targzfile" Before="RemoveFiles">REMOVE="ALL"</Custom>
<Custom Action="Cleanup_bundle" Before="RemoveFiles">REMOVE="ALL"</Custom>
<!--<Custom Action="Cleanup_Some_Files" Before="RemoveFiles">REMOVE="ALL"</Custom>-->
</InstallExecuteSequence>
<UI />
</Product>
<Fragment>
<Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
<Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder">
<Directory Id="INSTALLFOLDER" Name="SomeInstaller">
<Directory Id="ERMPanel.Binaries" />
<Directory Id="dir_585C16B3_5205_4D63_87F5_D7576697D2A9" Name="some_files">
<Component Id="comp_3AE770A3_904C_4458_81BD_300F195A4250" Guid="E117F3ED-771F-4547-9713-4A8FCDF173C8" Permanent="no" SharedDllRefCount="no" Transitive="no">
<File Id="_95238475_7B18_4058_82A2_B56483BCEFD1" DiskId="1" Hidden="no" ReadOnly="no" TrueType="no" System="no" Vital="yes" Name="google-credentials-release-server.p12" Source="google-credentials-release-server.p12" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
<Directory Id="dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" Name="Logs">
<Component Id="comp_dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" Guid="2EB4F74F-2FF4-42A6-B149-746C25950972" KeyPath="yes">
<CreateFolder Directory="dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" />
<RemoveFolder Id="id_026B5F17_73B3_4F92_803A_7ED05A3E3D7A" On="uninstall" Directory="dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Directory>
<Directory Id="DesktopFolder">
<Component Id="comp_5D704CE7_9E55_4FC5_8CB2_6BA4612D6D35" Guid="32628FC1-02E6-486C-88BD-1E1B3EB24E44" Permanent="no" SharedDllRefCount="no" Transitive="no">
<Shortcut Id="_337FA89F_92ED_457C_899C_5344A548FD97" Directory="DesktopFolder" Name="ERMPanel" Show="normal" Target="[INSTALLFOLDER]ERMPanel.exe" WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER" />
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]\Installer" Name="comp_5D704CE7_9E55_4FC5_8CB2_6BA4612D6D35" Type="string" Value="User's Desktop directory" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
<Directory Id="StartMenuFolder">
<Component Id="comp_03332461_4D6C_4BB5_90D1_4C4D896D7775" Guid="98E2BC79-8D59-4FEF-B235-92BB611CC608" Permanent="no" SharedDllRefCount="no" Transitive="no">
<Shortcut Id="_69EBF121_EA14_40B0_A587_1F520C033E45" Directory="StartMenuFolder" Name="ERMPanel" Show="normal" Target="[INSTALLFOLDER]ERMPanel.exe" WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER" />
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]\Installer" Name="comp_03332461_4D6C_4BB5_90D1_4C4D896D7775" Type="string" Value="User's Start Menu directory" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
<Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
<Component Id="comp_C9901889_BAD5_4B2C_9407_EAF967B1526C" Guid="AAA016CC-1B36-417A-A5EA-CB92A1A440AF" Permanent="no" SharedDllRefCount="no" Transitive="no">
<Shortcut Id="_3732D7A6_3230_4CCB_8037_3DA1D02E98E6" Directory="ProgramMenuFolder" Name="ERMPanel" Show="normal" Target="[INSTALLFOLDER]ERMPanel.exe" WorkingDirectory="INSTALLFOLDER" />
<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]\Installer" Name="comp_C9901889_BAD5_4B2C_9407_EAF967B1526C" Type="string" Value="User's Programs Menu directory" KeyPath="yes" />
</Component>
</Directory>
</Directory>
</Fragment>
<Fragment>
<ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
<Component Id="packages" Guid="">
<File Source="some_service.tar.gz" />
</Component>
</ComponentGroup>
</Fragment>
</Wix>
What I am doing is manually compressing node application into file some_service.tar.gz, then I copy it as a single file, and extract it in custom actions. Of course that is wrong. I would like to have just nodejsdir on the same place as some_service.tar.gz and copy it with heat.exe
I must admit I find this quite confusing, if you could help me please based on my example.
Thank you.

Answer 1

Heat is just the harvesting tool included in wix. You can use it to harvest hundreds of files automatically if you have the directory structure on your build machine that you want to replicate on the install machine.
If your included files change rather frequently, setting up a heat task to run every build is something you should do. If the files included are rather static and you only add/remove or move some files infrequently, use heat to generate the first WXS with all the files and then manually update it when required.
Don't forget that the msi already compresses all the files it includes, there's no reason to compress all the files into a zip then include that into your msi only to unpack it after "installing" it. You just end up taking way too much space unnecessarily on the customer's machine and may fail to install since the MSI cannot properly do the file costing and may run out of disk space when unpacking.
You also forego all the useful file tracking and handling features of the windows installer when you use a zip containing all your files. Uninstalling requires extra steps, upgrading is basically impossible to do nicely. You can't roll back during a failure.
I harvest the "help" directory for our product with a "BeforeBuild" task of my wixproj.
I have a file called genComponents.targets which contains
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\CommonBuild.props" Condition="$(_CommonBuildPropertyLoaded) != 'true'"/>
<PropertyGroup>
<HeatEXE>$(WixToolPath)Heat.exe</HeatEXE>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="GenHelpDependsOn">
<PropertyGroup>
<HelpHeatArgs>dir "$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\Help" -gg -cg BinHelp -dr BINHELP -template fragment -sreg -sfrag -srd -var var.dirHELP -o "$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)Components\BinHelp.wxs"</HelpHeatArgs>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
<Target Name="GenBinHelp" DependsOnTargets="GenHelpDependsOn">
<Exec Command=""$(HeatEXE)" $(HelpHeatArgs)" Condition="!Exists('$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)Components\BinHelp.wxs')"/>
</Target>
</Project>
And just use
<Target Name="BeforeBuild" DependsOnTargets="GenBinHelp" />
in my wixproj which will generate the wxs for the BinHelp component group for the directory with all the help files. There's a thousand or so help files for all the languages we support.
In the wixproj I add the wxs as a link and just make sure it is included in a feature as a ComponentGroupRef.
You can just include an <Exec> task in your beforebuild task with all the correct arguments I just use a second file because I have many heat tasks. There are lots of different arguments to heat and you can take a look at them with heat /? to see them.
Just run heat.exe on your js dir and see what it looks like.
In one project where I harvest all files with heat has 3836 files in it. Here's the process for the build. I grab the zip file of built binaries and other files from a network location and unzip all the file contents into a folder that I called ZipFolder.
In my wixproj I put a heat call in the before build target
<Target Name="BeforeBuild" >
<Exec Command=""$(WixToolPath)Heat.exe" dir "$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\Binaries\ZipFolder" -ag -cg SDK -dr INSTALLDIR -suid -sreg -sfrag -srd -var var.ZipFolderDir -o "$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\src\InstallerSDK\Components\SDKFiles.wxs"" Condition="!Exists('$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\src\InstallerSDK\Components\SDKFiles.wxs')" />
</Target>
and in my wixproj I add an existing file SDKFiles.wxs as a link (small arrow on Add button shows drop down with "as link")
I'm using a few cmd line switches that you don't have defined in your heat call which I use so that I can reference the generated file's components properly. Firstly I use -var var.ZipFolderDir and this makes the source of your files equal to $(var.ZipFolderDir)\rest\of\path.dll. And you can just define this variable in your defineconstants (one for each configuration):
<DefineConstants>Debug;ZipFolderDir=$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\Binaries\ZipFolder\;</DefineConstants>
<DefineConstants>ZipFolderDir=$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\Binaries\ZipFolder\;</DefineConstants>
The other difference is also using -dr INSTALLFOLDER which will set the top level Directory to be INSTALLFOLDER which is defined by your INSTALLFOLDER directory in the product.wxs.
Finally there is -cg SDK defining the name of the component group which holds all the files harvested by heat. Here is where we tie in to the main product.wxs with a ComponentGroupRef
<Feature Id="ProductFeature" Title="SomeInstaller" Level="1">
<ComponentGroupRef Id="SDK" />
<ComponentGroupRef Id="ERMPanel.Binaries" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_5D704CE7_9E55_4FC5_8CB2_6BA4612D6D35" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_C9901889_BAD5_4B2C_9407_EAF967B1526C" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_03332461_4D6C_4BB5_90D1_4C4D896D7775" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_3AE770A3_904C_4458_81BD_300F195A4250" />
<ComponentRef Id="comp_dir_8F9BAB58_4415_4353_BE9E_36C8F7EEF78A" />
</Feature>
And you can remove your ProductComponents group at the bottom of the product.wxs
I've never used the <HarvestProject> but I do know wix has Harvest targets already defined but I never spent the time to figure out how to use them. I've also never used heat on a project either so I can't really help there. All my installer projects are built as their own separate projects due to the build process we use. Generally they grab a zip of binaries and unzip to a Binaries folder then build the installers calling heat on some folders.