Reference information on the MSI & CAB file formats.

References on MSI & CAB File Format

MSI Files/Databases

Tables

MSI files are essentially a relational database. So the Tables are the key to MSI databases. The key reference page from Microsoft that documents what all the tables are is at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368259(v=vs.85).aspx

Important Tables

• File Table
• Component Table
• Directory Table
• Media Table
• _Streams Table
• _Storages Table

Notes on _Streams and _Storages Tables

...and how they related to embedded OLE Streams:

• Extract Files from Patches - Setup & Install by Heath Stewart

CAB File Format Notes

Just in case I ever stop procrastinating about implementing a CAB reader that is not dependent upon the Windows API below are some references that I have compiled on the CAB file format - Been there done that: https://github.com/activescott/libmspack4n

• Microsoft's Windows Cabinet API Reference
• CAB File Format info from MS: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb417343.aspx
• libmspack Is an open C library that deals with CAB format on *nix. No dependencies.
• In lessmsi we created a .NET wrapper around a minor fork of libmspack and use it to decompress cabs. It brings lessmsi one step closer to working on mac/linux and was more interesting (and probably easier) than using the windows cabinet API. The code for that is at http://code.google.com/p/lessmsi/source/browse/?repo=libmspack4n
• http://www.cabextract.org.uk/wince_cab_format/
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb267310(VS.85).aspx
• http://www.ddj.com/184410186;jsessionid=30Q2P0IQ3EA4XQE1GHPSKH4ATMY32JVN?*requestid=420442
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367841%28VS.85%29.aspx
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet*%28file_format%29