Wix remove appdata folder on uninstall

Question

I am using Wix 3.11 and have tried a number of different ways and methods and can't seem to be able to figure out why Wix isn't removing my ApplicationDataFolder folder. During install I create the folder in the ApplicationDataFolder location for the user.

My application uses logging and stores it along with a few other things in the directory. During uninstall everything in the application folder is removed but the appdata folder with the logs and other files are left untouched.

I can't figure out why or what I am missing.

WXS Template

<Wix xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/2006/wi" xmlns:util="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wix/UtilExtension">
  <Product Id="*" UpgradeCode="9e578e3d-0119-425c-8633-f54ffaaa4929" Name="@product.name@" Version="@product.version@" Manufacturer="@product.company@" Language="1033">
    <Package InstallerVersion="400" Compressed="yes" InstallScope="perMachine" Comments="@product.version@" Description="@product.description@"/>
    <Media Id="1" Cabinet="SomeApp.cab" EmbedCab="yes" />

    <!-- Installer Properties -->
    <Property Id="WIXUI_INSTALLDIR" Value="INSTALLDIR" />
    <PropertyRef Id="WIX_IS_NETFRAMEWORK_46_OR_LATER_INSTALLED"/>

    <!-- Installer Resources -->
    <Icon Id="ApplicationIcon" SourceFile="SomeApp 4\SomeApp 4_vista.ico"/>
    <Property Id="ARPPRODUCTICON" Value="ApplicationIcon" />

    <Property Id="INSTALLDIR">
        <RegistrySearch Key="SOFTWARE\Acme\SomeApp" 
                        Root="HKCU" Type="raw" 
                        Id="APPLICATIONFOLDER_REGSEARCH" Name="installation-path" />
    </Property>

    <WixVariable Id="WixUILicenseRtf" Value="SomeApp 4\license.rtf" />
    <WixVariable Id="WixUIBannerBmp" Value="WixUIBannerBmp.bmp" />
    <WixVariable Id="WixUIDialogBmp" Value="WixUIDialogBmp.bmp" />

    <!-- Check Existing Install -->
    <Upgrade Id="9e578e3d-0119-425c-8633-f54ffaaa4929">
        <UpgradeVersion Minimum="@product.version@" OnlyDetect="yes" Property="NEWERVERSIONDETECTED"/>
        <UpgradeVersion Minimum="0.0.0" Maximum="@product.version@" IncludeMinimum="yes" IncludeMaximum="no" Property="OLDERVERSIONBEINGUPGRADED"/>   
    </Upgrade>
    <Condition Message="A newer version of this software is already installed.">NOT NEWERVERSIONDETECTED</Condition>

    <!-- Prerequisites -->
    <Condition Message="This application requires .NET Framework 4.6 or newer. Please install the .NET Framework then run this installer again.">
      <![CDATA[Installed OR WIX_IS_NETFRAMEWORK_46_OR_LATER_INSTALLED]]>
    </Condition>

    <Condition Message="This application requires at least Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Please upgrade your computer to a supported operating system and run this installer again.">
      <![CDATA[Installed OR (VersionNT >= 601)]]>
    </Condition>

    <!-- Define the directory structure -->
    <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">
      <Directory Id="ProgramFilesFolder" Name="ProgramFiles">
        <Directory Id="INSTALLDIR" Name="@product.company@">
            @product.applicationfiles@
            @product.servicefiles@
        </Directory>
      </Directory>
      <Directory Id="ProgramMenuFolder">
        <Directory Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" Name="@product.name@"/>
        <Directory Id="ServiceProgramsFolder" Name="@product.name@"/>
      </Directory>
      <Directory Id="DesktopFolder" Name="Desktop" /> 
      <Directory Id="LocalAppDataFolder">
        <Directory Id="ApplicationDataFolder" Name="Acme" />
      </Directory>            
    </Directory>

    <DirectoryRef Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder">
        <Component Id="ApplicationShortcut" Guid="1e578e4d-0229-425c-8633-f54ffaaa4901">
            <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut" 
                Name="SomeApp 4.6" 
                Description="@product.company@ @product.name@ @product.version@"
                Target="[INSTALLDIR]SomeApp 4\SomeApp.UserInterface.exe"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                Icon ="ApplicationIcon"/>       
            <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut2" 
                Name="SomeApp 4.6 (Multiple Instances)" 
                Description="@product.company@ @product.name@ @product.version@"
                Target="[INSTALLDIR]SomeApp 4\SomeApp.UserInterface.exe"
                Arguments="MultipleInstance=True"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                Icon ="ApplicationIcon"/>  
            <Shortcut Id="ApplicationStartMenuShortcut3" 
                Name="SomeApp 4.6 (Notifications)" 
                Description="@product.company@ @product.name@ @product.version@"
                Target="[INSTALLDIR]SomeApp 4\SomeApp.UserInterface.exe"
                Arguments="Notifications=True"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                Icon ="ApplicationIcon"/>                   
            <Shortcut Id="HelpStartMenuShortcut" 
                Name="SomeApp 4.6 Help" 
                Target="[INSTALLDIR]SomeApp 4\Documentation\SomeApp.chm"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR"/>                 
            <Shortcut Id="UninstallProduct"             
                      Name="Uninstall SomeApp 4.6"
                      Target="[SystemFolder]msiexec.exe"
                      Arguments="/x [ProductCode]"
                      Description="Uninstall @product" />                    
            <Shortcut Id="desktopshortcut" 
                      Directory="DesktopFolder" 
                      Name="SomeApp 4.6" 
                      WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR" 
                      Target="[INSTALLDIR]SomeApp 4\SomeApp.UserInterface.exe" />
            <RemoveFolder Id="ApplicationProgramsFolder" On="uninstall"/>
            <util:RemoveFolderEx On="uninstall" Property="ApplicationDataFolder" />                       
       </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>

    <DirectoryRef Id="ServiceProgramsFolder">
       <Component Id="ServiceShortcut" Guid="9e578e3d-0229-425c-8633-f54ffaaa4901">
            <Shortcut Id="ServiceStartMenuShortcut"
                Name="@product.name@ Reporting Service" 
                Description="@product.name@ Reporting Service"
                Target="[INSTALLDIR]Reporting\SomeApp.ReportingService.exe"
                WorkingDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                Icon ="ApplicationIcon"/>
            <RemoveFolder Id="ServiceProgramsFolder" On="uninstall"/>                    
            <RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\Microsoft\Acme\SomeApp" Name="service-installed" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes"/>                   
       </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>   

    <DirectoryRef Id="INSTALLDIR">
        <Component Id="CleanupMainApplicationFolder" Guid="*">
            <RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="SOFTWARE\Acme\SomeApp" Name="installation-path" Type="string" Value="[INSTALLDIR]" KeyPath="yes" />
            <util:RemoveFolderEx On="uninstall" Property="INSTALLDIR" />                
            <util:RemoveFolderEx On="uninstall" Property="ApplicationDataFolder" />                
        </Component>
    </DirectoryRef>

    <!--  Feature: SomeApp Application -->            
    <Feature Id="Feature.Application"
                     Title="SomeApp 4 - Application"
                     Description="SomeApp is an asset management and maintenance application designed to optimize asset value and improve manufacturing productivity."
                     ConfigurableDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                     Level="1"
                     AllowAdvertise="no">
                    @product.applicationcomponents@
                    <ComponentRef Id="ApplicationShortcut" />                    
                    <ComponentRef Id="CleanupMainApplicationFolder" />                    
    </Feature>

    <!--  Feature: Reporting Service -->
    <Feature Id="Feature.Service"
                     Title="SomeApp 4 - Reporting Service"
                     Description="This service generates and delivers reports that have been scheduled in the SomeApp Maintenance Management System."
                     ConfigurableDirectory="INSTALLDIR"
                     Level="3"
                     AllowAdvertise="no">
                    @product.servicecomponents@    
                    <ComponentRef Id="ServiceShortcut" />                    
        <Component Id="ReportingServiceInstaller" Guid="B72CAA3F-F2DB-48D2-90DD-061209AB2CE5" Directory="INSTALLDIR">
            <CreateFolder />
            <File Id="ReportingService.exe" Name="ReportingService.exe" KeyPath="yes" Source="@product.sourcedir@\Reporting\SomeApp.ReportingService.exe"/>
            <ServiceInstall Id="ReportingServiceInstaller"
                Type="ownProcess"
                Vital="yes"
                Name="SomeApp Reporting Service"                    
                DisplayName="SomeApp - Reporting Service"
                Description="This service generates and delivers reports that have been scheduled in the SomeApp Maintenance Management System."
                Start="auto"
                Account="NT AUTHORITY\LocalService"
                ErrorControl="ignore"
                Interactive="no" />
        </Component>     

    </Feature>

    <CustomAction Id="Cleanup_logfile" Directory="INSTALLDIR" 
    ExeCommand="cmd /C &quot;rmdir %LOCALAPPDATA%\Acme /s /q&quot;" 
    Execute="deferred" Return="ignore" HideTarget="no" Impersonate="no" />

    <InstallExecuteSequence>
      <Custom Action="Cleanup_logfile" After="RemoveFiles" >
        REMOVE="ALL" 
      </Custom>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>

    <InstallExecuteSequence>
        <RemoveExistingProducts After="InstallValidate"/>
    </InstallExecuteSequence>   

    <UIRef Id="WixUI_FeatureTree" />
    <UI>
      <DialogRef Id="FilesInUse" />
      <DialogRef Id="MsiRMFilesInUse" />
      <!-- Add the GUI logic for installation -->
    </UI>
  </Product>
</Wix>

Answer 1

I have one project that uses util:RemoveFolderEx where it is working properly. The only difference I can see is that I explicitly set a property at runtime to the value of the install directory. My guess is that "INSTALLDIR" and "ApplicationDataFolder" are not actually properties since they are stored in the Directory table of your msi and not the property table. (Checked using ORCA)

Try doing

<SetProperty Id='AcmeAppDataFolderToRemove' Value='[ApplicationDataFolder]' After='AppSearch'/>

and then change your util:RemoveFolderEx to

<util:RemoveFolderEx On="uninstall" Property="AcmeAppDataFolderToRemove" />

and see if that works. (You might need to use Value='ApplicationDataFolder' without the []'s not sure.)

---

In response to your edit I went and looked at the RemoveFolderEx page and this looks important

The custom action that implements RemoveFolderEx does so by writing temporary rows to the RemoveFile table for each subfolder of the root folder you specify. Because it might dramatically affect Windows Installer's File Costing, the temporary rows must be written before the CostInitialize standard action. Unfortunately, MSI doesn't create properties for the Directory hierarchy in your package until later, in the CostFinalize action.

I figured setting it to the directory would work but apparently these directories don't have values yet when RemoveFolderEx action actually executes. So, when this tries to resolve the properties or set the properties they are actually just empty.

A difference in what I said my installer does and what it actually does is that I get the value I set the property to through a RegistrySearch.

<Property Id="INSTALLDIR">
    <RegistrySearch 
        Id='InstallDirRegistrySearch' 
        Type='raw'
        Root='HKLM' 
        Key='SOFTWARE\$(var.OEMRegistryRootKeyName)' 
        Name='SDKPath' />
</Property>
<SetProperty Id='SDKFolderToRemove' Value='[INSTALLDIR]\$(var.OEMProduct) SDK' After='AppSearch'/>

So I would try writing the appdata dir to a registry key and getting the value into a property via registry search then using that property in your removefolderex, you probably don't need the setproperty, I just used it because I needed a folder under INSTALLDIR but in your case you can just have the registry key be the right folder.