Paraffin (WiX Fragment Creation Tool) 3.1

Paraffin (WiX Fragment Creation Tool) by John Robbins/Wintellect is a command-line utility that streamlines authoring Windows Installer XML (WiX) projects. It “harvests” a directory tree and generates clean, maintainable WiX fragments (.wxs) containing the appropriate Directory, Component, and File elements, so you can include them directly in your installer without hand-writing repetitive XML.

Designed to reduce churn and improve reliability, Paraffin emphasizes stable output: it preserves component identities across runs and can update previously generated fragments to reflect added, removed, or changed files while keeping existing IDs and GUIDs whenever possible. With flexible include/exclude filtering and sensible defaults, it helps teams keep installer definitions in sync with their build outputs and source trees.

Key benefits:

• Rapidly generate WiX fragments from folders, build drops, or staging directories
• Maintain stable component IDs and GUIDs to minimize installer upgrades issues
• Incrementally refresh existing fragments as files change
• Filter what gets harvested with include/exclude patterns
• Automate easily in CI/CD pipelines as part of your build process

Paraffin is ideal for WiX authors and build engineers who want consistent, repeatable installer fragments with minimal manual XML editing.

Paraffin (WiX Fragment Creation Tool) is developed by John Robbins/Wintellect. The most popular version of this product among our users is 3.1.