title: launch a second installer from a custom action installer class
body: <p>I have a WinForms application that requires some configuration which I do at install time using a custom installer.</p>
  
  <p>We have also created a web service which is installed from a separate msi.</p>
  
  <p>I'd like to have a radio button selection allowing the installer to run just the client installer or the client and service installer.</p>
  
  <p>Creating the custom action for the radio button is simple enough (<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9x23561f.aspx" rel="nofollow">Example here</a>)</p>
  
  <p><strong>So to my questions:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Should I include the web service files into the client installer or
  execute the web service msi?</p></li>
  <li><p>Some of the parameters used by the client install are required in the
  web install. If I launch the separate msi, can I pass these values<br>
  across without the user having to enter the data twice?</p></li>
  <li><p>If I include the web service, how do I go about combining client and 
  web installations?</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT:</strong>
  Things I've tried:</p>
  
  <p>I have tried creating a web installer and creating the directory structure for the client executable but this then causes a permissions error (probably because I'm installing to the Program Files folder). I suspect this will be the same issue if I try a client installer and manually create the directory structure under inetpub for the web service.</p>
  
  <p>If I include the built output from the web service installer, I can not access it from the Custom Actions Editor screen and therefore can't apply the conditional launch.</p>
  
  <p>It's starting to look like I will need to extend the custom installer class that I currently use to launch the msi as a shell command but this doesn't seem like the correct way to do things.</p>