Question

Is there a tool to generate WiX XML given a .reg file?

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In 2.0, you were supposed to be able to run tallow to generate registry XML:

tallow -r my.reg  

For what it’s worth, the version of tallow I have is producing empty XML.

In 3.0, tallow has been replaced with heat, but I can’t figure out how to get it to produce output from a .reg file.

Is there a way to do this in 3.0?

Answer 1

I couldn’t find a tool, so I made one.

The source code may not be elegant, but it seems to work:

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; using System.IO; using System.Xml; using System.Text.RegularExpressions;  namespace Reg2Wix {     class Program     {         static void PrintUsage()         {             Console.WriteLine('reg2wix <input file> <output file>');         }          /// <summary>         /// Parse the hive out of a registry key         /// </summary>         /// <param name='keyWithHive'></param>         /// <param name='hive'></param>         /// <param name='key'></param>         static void ParseKey(string keyWithHive, out string hive, out string key)         {             if (keyWithHive == null)             {                 throw new ArgumentNullException('keyWithHive');             }             if (keyWithHive.StartsWith('HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\'))             {                 hive = 'HKLM';                 key = keyWithHive.Substring(19);             }             else if (keyWithHive.StartsWith('HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\'))             {                 hive = 'HKCR';                 key = keyWithHive.Substring(18);             }             else if (keyWithHive.StartsWith('HKEY_USERS\\'))             {                 hive = 'HKU';                 key = keyWithHive.Substring(11);             }             else if (keyWithHive.StartsWith('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\'))             {                 hive = 'HKCU';                 key = keyWithHive.Substring(18);             }             else             {                 throw new ArgumentException();             }                 }          /// <summary>         /// Write a WiX RegistryValue element for the specified key, name, and value         /// </summary>         /// <param name='writer'></param>         /// <param name='key'></param>         /// <param name='name'></param>         /// <param name='value'></param>         static void WriteRegistryValue(XmlWriter writer, string key, string name, string value)         {             if (writer == null)             {                 throw new ArgumentNullException('writer');             }             if (key == null)             {                 throw new ArgumentNullException('key');             }             if (value == null)             {                 throw new ArgumentNullException('value');             }              string hive;             string keyPart;             ParseKey(key, out hive, out keyPart);              writer.WriteStartElement('RegistryValue');              writer.WriteAttributeString('Root', hive);             writer.WriteAttributeString('Key', keyPart);             if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(name))             {                 writer.WriteAttributeString('Name', name);             }             writer.WriteAttributeString('Value', value);             writer.WriteAttributeString('Type', 'string');             writer.WriteAttributeString('Action', 'write');              writer.WriteEndElement();         }          /// <summary>         /// Convert a .reg file into an XML document         /// </summary>         /// <param name='inputReader'></param>         /// <param name='xml'></param>         static void RegistryFileToWix(TextReader inputReader, XmlWriter xml)         {             Regex regexKey = new Regex('^\\[([^\\]]+)\\]$');             Regex regexValue = new Regex('^\'([^\']+)\'=\'([^\']*)\'$');             Regex regexDefaultValue = new Regex('@=\'([^\']+)\'$');              string currentKey = null;              string line;             while ((line = inputReader.ReadLine()) != null)             {                 line = line.Trim();                 Match match = regexKey.Match(line);                                 if (match.Success)                 {                     //key track of the current key                     currentKey = match.Groups[1].Value;                 }                 else                  {                     //if we have a current key                     if (currentKey != null)                     {                         //see if this is an acceptable name=value pair                         match = regexValue.Match(line);                         if (match.Success)                         {                             WriteRegistryValue(xml, currentKey, match.Groups[1].Value, match.Groups[2].Value);                         }                         else                         {                             //see if this is an acceptable default value (starts with @)                             match = regexDefaultValue.Match(line);                             if (match.Success)                             {                                 WriteRegistryValue(xml, currentKey, (string)null, match.Groups[1].Value);                             }                         }                     }                 }             }         }          /// <summary>         /// Convert a .reg file into a .wsx file         /// </summary>         /// <param name='inputPath'></param>         /// <param name='outputPath'></param>         static void RegistryFileToWix(string inputPath, string outputPath)         {             using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(inputPath))             {                 using (XmlTextWriter writer = new XmlTextWriter(outputPath, Encoding.UTF8))                 {                     writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;                     writer.Indentation = 3;                     writer.IndentChar = ' ';                     writer.WriteStartDocument();                     writer.WriteStartElement('Component');                     RegistryFileToWix(reader, writer);                     writer.WriteEndElement();                     writer.WriteEndDocument();                 }             }         }          static void Main(string[] args)         {             if (args.Length != 2)             {                 PrintUsage();                 return;             }             RegistryFileToWix(args[0], args[1]);         }     } }