MSDE 2000 Release A and Windows Installer

I am currently writing an installer for our product, which needs to incorporate MSDE 2000.
Previous versions of the MSDE install included merge modules (.msm files) that could be incorporated straight into a Windows Installer .msi file. However, the latest version (Release A) does not include the merge modules, and to top that, also states tha
t "Desktop Engine does not support nested installations. You must not call an .msi file from within another .msi file".
My questions are:
- How are we supposed to install MSDE when we are distributing .msi files? We need .msi functionality for other components of our install, so using a non-Windows Installer technology is not an option. Do we need to ask our users to install MSDE separat
ely (ouch)?
- Why did the merge modules disappear? I thought that these were the Microsoft-sanctioned method for installing runtime components...
- Are there any other options - we want to distribute a single file, and we really don't want to have to mix and match .msi and other setup technologies...
Marc Durdin
Software for Specialists
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the comment. However, this page is not up to date. It recommends using the merge modules... which are not supported any more by Microsoft (and are not even included in the latest release of MSDE). Any other suggestions?
Regards,
Marc