BUG: Timestamp of Files Altered in Visual Studio Installer Setup Package (298788)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Studio Installer 1.0
  • Microsoft Visual Studio Installer 1.1
This article was previously published under Q298788

SYMPTOMS

When a file is added to a Visual Studio Installer project, the created and modified timestamp will be altered based on proximity to Greenwich mean time.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

When a file is added to the Visual Studio Installer project and the Package file as option in the project Properties menu is set to Compressed in setup file or Compress in cabinet files, then the file will have different "created" and "modified" dates than the original source files.

The Visual Studio Installer uses the proximity to Greenwich mean time rather than the local time to determine the file timestamp used on files placed in the .cab file. So if a package is created and modified in the eastern time zone of the United States, the modified time will be 4 hours ahead of the original source files, while a package created and modified in Japan will have its modified time set to 9 hours ahead.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Start Visual Studio Installer.
  2. Open an empty installer project.
  3. In the Visual Studio Installer Project Explorer add a file to the package.
  4. From the Project menu, click Property, and then select Build. Make sure Package file as is set to Compressed in setup file or Compress in cabinet files.
  5. Build and then start the .msi package. Notice that when you check the properties of the files that Visual Studio Installer installed, the Create and Modify property values have been altered compared with the original source files.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/20/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbnofix KB298788
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