OEM Branding

• Download demo project - 24.08 KB

Introduction

I find that OEM 'branding' is still a lot of trouble. I needed a simple way to produce OEM versions of multi-module products. Resources like graphics and icons are easy enough to deal with but the VERSIONINFO structures and embedded strings like the 'product name' are a hassle. Following is a simple method I have used for years to help ease things.

This method uses three header files (build.h, company.h, and product.h) and an object called CBrandingUtils that is defined in brandingutils.h and brandingutils.cpp.

(build.h)

#define BUILD_NUMBER "1"

(company.h)

#define LEGAL_COPYRIGHT                "Copyright © 2006"
#define LEGAL_COMPANY_NAME             "PlanetHarrington, Inc."
#define LEGAL_RIGHTS                   "All rights reserved."
#define LEGAL_FULL_COPYRIGHT           "Copyright © 2006 PlanetHarrington, Inc. 
                                        All rights reserved."
#define SIMPLE_COMPANY_NAME            "PlanetHarrington"
#define COMPANY_CONTACT_URL            "http://www.planetharrington.com"

(product.h)

#define PRODUCT_NAME                   "BrandingDemo"
#define PRODUCT_VERSION                "1.0"
#define PRODUCT_TRADEMARKS             "BrandingDemo is a trademark of PlanetHarrington."
#define PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION        "1,0,0,0"
#define PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART1   1
#define PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART2   0
#define PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART3   0
#define PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART4   0

(brandingutils.h)

#pragma once

#include <string>
using namespace std;
#include "build.h"
#include "company.h"
#include "product.h"

/*
 * CBrandingUtils provides methods that work in conjunction with the
 * definitions from the 'build.h', 'company.h', and 'product.h' files.
 */
class CBrandingUtils
{
public:
    CBrandingUtils(){};
    virtual ~CBrandingUtils(){};

    HRESULT Put_COMPANY_NAME_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_PRODUCT_NAME_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_PRODUCT_VERSION_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_BUILD_NUMBER_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_COPYRIGHT_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_COMPANY_CONTACT_URL_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_RIGHTS_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_FULL_COPYRIGHT_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_FULL_COMPANY_NAME_InControl(HWND, UINT);
    HRESULT Put_PRODUCT_NAME_InTitle(HWND, bool bPropPage = false);
    HRESULT ReplaceStringWithString(wstring&, LPCTSTR, LPCTSTR);
    HRESULT ReplaceStringWithStringInCtrl(LPCTSTR, LPCTSTR, HWND, UINT);
};

Most developers will want to modify the CBrandingUtils methods and constants to suit their particular needs.

Using

1. Using with a VERSIONINFO Resource

1. Add the three include files to your project.

2. Add the include files to the *.rc file:

   C++

   #define APSTUDIO_READONLY_SYMBOLS
   ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   //
   // Generated from the TEXTINCLUDE 2 resource.
   //
   #include "afxres.h"
   #include "..\include\company.h"
   #include "..\include\product.h"
   #include "..\include\build.h"
           
   #ifdef APSTUDIO_INVOKED
   ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   //
   // TEXTINCLUDE
   //
   
   1 TEXTINCLUDE 
   BEGIN
       "resource.h\0"
   END
   
   2 TEXTINCLUDE 
   BEGIN
       "#include ""afxres.h""\r\n"
       "#include ""..\\include\\company.h""\r\n"
       "#include ""..\\include\\product.h""\r\n"
       "#include ""..\\include\\build.h""\r\n"
       "\0"
   END

3. Move the entire VERSIONINFO section to the *.rc2 file.

4. Use the desired macros:

   C++

     VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
     FILEVERSION 1,0,0,1
     PRODUCTVERSION PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART1,PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART2,
         PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART3,PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION_PART4
     FILEFLAGSMASK 0x3fL
    #ifdef _DEBUG
     FILEFLAGS 0x1L
    #else
     FILEFLAGS 0x0L
    #endif
     FILEOS 0x4L
     FILETYPE 0x1L
     FILESUBTYPE 0x0L
    BEGIN
        BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
        BEGIN
            BLOCK "040904e4"
            BEGIN
            VALUE "CompanyName", LEGAL_COMPANY_NAME
            VALUE "FileDescription", "Branding Demonstration"
            VALUE "FileVersion", "1.0.0.1"
            VALUE "InternalName", "brandingdemo.exe"
            VALUE "LegalCopyright", LEGAL_FULL_COPYRIGHT
            VALUE "OriginalFilename", "brandingdemo.exe"
            VALUE "ProductName", PRODUCT_NAME
            VALUE "ProductVersion", PRODUCT_VSTRUCT_VERSION
            VALUE "SpecialBuild", BUILD_NUMBER
        END
    END
    BLOCK "VarFileInfo"
    BEGIN
        VALUE "Translation", 0x409, 1252
    END
   END

5. Check the results after building by opening the 'Properties' dialog for the deliverable using Explorer, selecting the "Version" tab, and confirming that the information displayed is correct.

2. Using with Code in a Dialog Object

1. Add the brandingutils.h and brandingutils.cpp files to your project. Turn off precompiled headers for the CPP file.

2. Include the CBrandingUtils.h file in your source file and declare an instance of a CBrandingUtils object. Use the definitions in the three header files along with the methods in the CBrandingUtils to replace the embedded keywords with the desired text.

   C++

   BOOL CBrandingDemoDlg::OnInitDialog() {
       CDialog::OnInitDialog();
   
       // Add "About..." menu item to system menu.
       
       // IDM_ABOUTBOX must be in the system command range.
       ASSERT((IDM_ABOUTBOX & 0xFFF0) == IDM_ABOUTBOX);
       ASSERT(IDM_ABOUTBOX < 0xF000);
   
       CMenu* pSysMenu = GetSystemMenu(FALSE);
       if (pSysMenu != NULL) {
           CString strAboutMenu;
           strAboutMenu.LoadString(IDS_ABOUTBOX);
           wstring strReplace = strAboutMenu;
           if(SUCCEEDED(m_brandingUtils.ReplaceStringWithString
               (strReplace, TEXT("_PRODUCT_NAME_"), TEXT(PRODUCT_NAME)))) {
           strAboutMenu = strReplace.c_str();
       }
                       
       if (!strAboutMenu.IsEmpty()) {
           pSysMenu->AppendMenu(MF_SEPARATOR);
           pSysMenu->AppendMenu(MF_STRING, IDM_ABOUTBOX, strAboutMenu);
       }
   }
   
       // Set the icon for this dialog.  The Framework does this automatically
       //  when the application's main window is not a dialog
       SetIcon(m_hIcon, TRUE);         // Set big icon
       SetIcon(m_hIcon, FALSE);        // Set small icon
       m_brandingUtils.Put_PRODUCT_NAME_InTitle(GetSafeHwnd());
   
       return TRUE;  // return TRUE  unless you set the focus to a control
   }

3. Check out brandingdemDlg.h and BrandingdemDlg.cpp for a complete example.

Demo Project

The demo project download includes all the required files and a Visual Studio 7 project. The project output is both a branded application and a test harness for the CBrandingUtils object. Run the application and note the application title and About Box information. Change the definitions in the three header files, recompile, and run again and check for your changes. Add another module to the solution and implement the branding in it to see how easy it is to change version information for both of the modules.

Summary

If I left out any details you think should be mentioned in the article, please let me know.

If you could take one last second to rate this article or even leave a comment, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading!