How to generate WiX XML from a .reg file?

Question

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

---

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

From Wix 4.0

C:\Program Files (x86)\WiX Toolset v4.0\bin>heat /? | find /i "reg"
   reg      harvest a .reg file
   -sreg    suppress registry harvesting

To use, where regfile.reg is the registry input file and fragment.xml is the output file to generate.

heat reg regfile.reg -o fragment.xml

Answer 2

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]);
        }
    }
}