What happened to the ninetv merge module, after installing VS2019

[sparkymark567]

We use Network Shared Variables within a Measurement Studio project.
In the past, the "ninetv.msm" merge module was packaged into our application installer (using WIX).

After upgrading to Measurement Studio 2019 we can not find the module and can therfore not package this into the installer.

The module was previously located at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Merge Modules\ninetv.msm.

If the merge module is not included in our applicatioon installer, the deployed application reports "Unable to load ninetv.dll"

Please advise, how can the required modules/DLL's be included in a Windows Installer project or WIX Installer?

[hy_]

Please confirm whether the application works as intended on the machine it was compiled.

If so you can use Process Explorer to view loaded dlls and their locations,

• Run Process Explorer as administrator.
• Select your application from the list.
• Press CTRL+D to enable lower pane and show loaded dlls.

[sparkymark567]

We are looking to package the merge module into our application installer, as previously recommended and documented by NI.

The installer uses the merge module to install and register the required DLL's as a package.

It seems that the merge module disappeared after installing Measurement Studio for VS2019. 

We would like to know what happened to the merge module, or where to find it now?

Building an application installer without the merge module is likely to be considerably more complicated.

We do not know the inter DLL dependencies, including versioning requirements, and some of the DLL's also need to be registered in the GAC.

Installing the DLL's individually is not easily achievable and it would make the project much more difficult to maintain.

[hy_]

Do you know/remember last Measement Studio version where ninetv.msm was present?

[sparkymark567]

Before VS2019, we were using Measurement Studio 15 with VS2012 (we also used previous versions of Visual Studio and Measurement Studio before that).
Visual Studio 2012 did not support the 'Windows Installer' project type, so we created a WiX installer as recommended by NI.

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z0000019Q6MSAU&l=en-GB

https://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/372636F-01/mstudiowebhelp/html/netmergemodules/

In VS2019 the 'Windows Installer' project type was reinstated by Microsoft.

This is a really good thing, as Windows Installer is considerably easier than WiX.

(The alternative: NI Installer Builder, can not do everything that we need and creates it very bloated, messy installer).

Most of the NI dependencies are automatically detected by VS2019 and are therefore included in the 'Windows Installer' project, but the use of Network Variables still requires the correct version of ninetv.dll to be installed. Adding the merge module: "ninetv.msm", into the installer project, ensures that ninetv.dll is installed and registered in the correct way. The inclusion of the merge module in the Windows Installer project is effectively doing the same as it would when included in a WiX project, but because we cannot find it now, neither method works.

[sparkymark567]

Further it was found that NI Installer Builder cannot build a working installer without the merge module.

If the merge module is reinstated (with an old copy that we have found) then NI Installer Builder builds a working application installer, but 'Windows Installer' does not.

So what is the different? as both methods use the same merge modules and install the same DLL's:

 
•NationalInstruments.NetworkVariable.dll, Product version 2019, File version 19.0.45.49153, is installed into the application folder, and
•ninetv.dll, Product version 12.0.0.422, File version 12.0.0422 is installed into C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\Shared

It remains a mystery why after installing VS2019 with Measurement Studio 2019, the merge module disappeared. Also slightly strange, is that both developer PC's have a different version of the ninetv.dll (Product version: 19.0.0.f0, File version19.0.049152) and when using Windows Installer on these PC's, the installed application runs fine.

On a fresh PC, the application causes an exception: "Unable to load DLL 'ninetv.dll: The specified module could not be found."