Re: Saving to exe - C# Discussion Boards

musefan4-Feb-09 7:31

4-Feb-09 7:31

Ive never done it, and dont know if possible but i can offer a theory that may lead you somewhere:

Lets say for example you hardcode a string that is 100 chars long. When you compile you application that string is stored in the .exe somewhere. Now if you could find out how .exe are compiled you may be able to find the byte range for that hardcoded value somehow. Then maybe you could write what ever string to that byte range and it would save... Theoretically.

Of course you will have to get around a write issue, when trying to write to the app you are running lol

Maybe, you have a second app that is called, closes the first app, writes the value, then executes the first app again. This is getting rather tediuos thou so im sure you want want to take this route.

But if you do go for it, then dont forget to post any results you find, im sure people would be interested

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

musefan4-Feb-09 7:44

4-Feb-09 7:44

Hey, i think im onto something:

I open my .exe in a hex editor (PSPAD) and found the string towards the end of the file. coded in ASCII but split with 0x00 values. can see the offset so know where to edit, problem being modifying the app will prob move the location of the string Frown | :(

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

Alan N4-Feb-09 7:51

Alan N

4-Feb-09 7:51

"coded in ASCII but split with 0x00 values"

That'll be a 16 bit unicode then!

Alan.

musefan4-Feb-09 22:32

4-Feb-09 22:32

well i assumed it was 16 bit values

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

Dave Kreskowiak4-Feb-09 10:32

Dave Kreskowiak

4-Feb-09 10:32

Finding and writing the string to and .EXE file is only one problem. The other problem is that you can't modify an .EXE file if it's currently running. You'll need a second app that takes the parameters and waits for the main .EXE to end, then it can modify the .EXE.

Though, this really isn't a good idea since it's not "version agnostic". If you make a small change to the code and recompile into a new .EXE, the string can very easily change position in the file.

Oh! And if the resulting .EXE is signed with a digital signature, you'll break the security envelope around the .EXE and the code won't run since it will no longer be trusted by the .NET CLR.

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Dave Kreskowiak
Microsoft MVP
Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008

SimpleData4-Feb-09 10:40

SimpleData

4-Feb-09 10:40

So, instead of my writing into EXE idea. What can I do to change a variable within the application and keep that variable same after I restarted it?

By the way. As an extra idea, how can I make an application which creates another exe from itself with modifying a variable or value of itself?

I have looked for it in Google. But I haven't find satisfactoring answers to my questions.

Dave Kreskowiak4-Feb-09 12:27

Dave Kreskowiak

4-Feb-09 12:27

SimpleData wrote:
So, instead of my writing into EXE idea. What can I do to change a variable within the application and keep that variable same after I restarted it?

There is no alternative, other than saving in the Registry or files external to the .EXE.

SimpleData wrote:
As an extra idea, how can I make an application which creates another exe from itself with modifying a variable or value of itself?

The same way you read/write any binary file. Read the .EXE file until you get to the point where the string is, write all that data to a new file, then write the string data, skip reading the string in the source .EXE file, and continue to read the old file to the end, writing it's data to the new file.

But, you have a problem. You STILL need an external application to delete the old .EXE and rename the new .EXE to the old filename. Not, a good solution...

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak
Microsoft MVP
Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008

come2san5-Feb-09 1:33

come2san

5-Feb-09 1:33

Ya You Can by creating a variable in the settings of an application.
. on Form load you can call that for ex.

where VariableName is a variable which u need to create in settings of the application
and txtbox1 is a textbox.

public form1()
{

InitializeComponent();
txtbox1.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.VariableName;
}

and on form close you need to save that

private void form1_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
{
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}

Thanks.
Sandy

Dave Kreskowiak5-Feb-09 2:08

Dave Kreskowiak

5-Feb-09 2:08

You may want to go back and re-read the thread, plus read the documentation on Properties.Settings.

You missed the entire point of the conversation. The OP wanted to save "settings" back to the .EXE instead of a seperate *.settings file. You cannot do that in a "nice" manner. He did NOT want to use an external file, which is what you're proposing doing.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak
Microsoft MVP
Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008

PIEBALDconsult9-Feb-09 12:14

9-Feb-09 12:14

But then it wouldn't work properly if the system has multiple users.
And what if the user types the name wrong or something?

I suggest saving to a file (I'd use XML), perhaps in the user's "Application Data" directory.

You could also use a database, especially if the user may use several different systems.

WPF in WinForms

musefan4-Feb-09 7:07

4-Feb-09 7:07

Hello,

I have the need for spell checking in my windows forms application.

I initially attempted my own using a Forms.RichTextBox which didnt turn out too badly, i got spelling mistakes to highlight with red font.

Then i found out the the WPF RichTextBox has spell check functionality, including red squigly line and correct spelling suggestions.

So i looked for a way to have the WPF RichTextBox in my appliation. The solution i found was to use an elementHost in my app and then have the WPF RichTextBox as a child of that.

This solution works, i have all the functionality i require.

The problem is, its causing performance issues when loaded any form containing the control. or rather the customControl i have made which contains the WPF RichTextBox. This custom control also contains a toolStrip with a number of buttons for formatting the WPF RichTextBox content.

Can anyone offer an explaination to the delay in initialisation? Or any alternatives for how i can use the WPF RichTextBox in my WinForms Application?

Any help is greatly appriciated, as always Smile | :)

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

Re: WPF in WinForms

Christian Graus4-Feb-09 9:25

Christian Graus

4-Feb-09 9:25

WPF is slow to load, especially the first time it is used in an app.

If your users have Word, you can use Word for spell check.

Christian Graus

Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista.

Re: WPF in WinForms

musefan4-Feb-09 22:30

4-Feb-09 22:30

Thanks for your reply, I will take a long into using word.

Thou i do use for some mail merging and that can be slow to init the word application so will have to see how well it works for spell checking.

Thanks again

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

Parsing text files

alwaysthinking4-Feb-09 6:59

4-Feb-09 6:59

I need to parse Log files with different operations that will require different grammars as each operation is organized differently. I have been using
char[] delimiterChars = { ',' 'WHATEVER' }; to detemine what gets parsed. the problem with that is, it does not seem to discriminate which parameter it chooses and when. Is there anyway to make it a little more automated instead of just creating a whole bunch of delimiter chars and then calling them in order at which they wouldd appear?

musefan4-Feb-09 7:10

4-Feb-09 7:10

I have no idea as to what you mean... please examplify

My opinion is... If someone has already posted an answer, dont post the SAME answer

PIEBALDconsult4-Feb-09 7:11

4-Feb-09 7:11

Can you provide a small sample of the various types of data?

alwaysthinking4-Feb-09 7:25

4-Feb-09 7:25

directly from the log file:

E 12:28:45 Line 1 : Dispense
tip 1 : dispense 0.00nl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,1]
10.00µl ">> Water << 23" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Single

E 12:28:47 Line 2 : Aspirate
tip 1 : aspirate 60.00µl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,2]
10.00µl "Water" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Multi

E 12:28:45 Line 1 : Dispense
tip 1 : dispense 0.00nl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,1]
10.00µl ">> Water << 23" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Single

E 12:28:47 Line 2 : Aspirate
tip 1 : aspirate 60.00µl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,2]
10.00µl "Water" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Multi

alwaysthinking4-Feb-09 7:36

4-Feb-09 7:36

scratch the last reply...

these three commands are the bread and butter of the operations. most are just combination of these 3...

E 12:28:45 Line 1 : Dispense
tip 1 : dispense 0.00nl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,1]
10.00µl ">> Water << 23" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Single

E 12:28:47 Line 2 : Aspirate
tip 1 : aspirate 60.00µl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,2]
10.00µl "Water" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Multi

E 12:28:57 Line 3 : Wash Tips
wash (2ml + 1ml), grid 26 and grid 26

now they look similar but each hasa different set of information needed to cut out or set as variables. I do plan on calling a "dispense", "asperate" and "Wash Tips" grammar structure when needed. if i tell it to parse at the comma's, i will get data that i dont want. I could remember each value of the word, and set that to a variable like word[1]=volume and word[5]=fluid type but i dont really want to do that. is there any way to make it a little more automated so that it knows the sequence to skip over bits not biased on charactor length as that will change as well.

Alan N4-Feb-09 7:46

Alan N

4-Feb-09 7:46

Hi,
I've reviewed your posts on the topic of parsing these instrument log files. What I haven't got from any of your questions is what information you want to extract.

So, for example, in the log just posted what output do you want?

Alan.

PIEBALDconsult4-Feb-09 8:07

4-Feb-09 8:07

Oh, this is the same thing I've seen posted before.

I'd use a Regular Expression. Not having much else to do today, I think I'll experiment a little... I'll be back.

PIEBALDconsult4-Feb-09 10:18

4-Feb-09 10:18

So far I've created this Regex:

System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex reg = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex
(
    @"(?'Type'\S)\s(?'Time'\d\d:\d\d:\d\d)\sLine\s*(?'Line'[^:]*)\s:\s(?'Operation'[^\r]*)\r\n(?'Data'([^\r]*\r){1,3})"
,
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Compiled |
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Singleline |
    System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.CultureInvariant
) ;

It matches the three log entries you provided and provides the named groups:

E 12:28:45 Line      1 : Dispense
- --------           -   --------
|       |            |         |
|       |            |         Operation
|       |            Line
|       Time
Type
 
and then the following two or three lines go into Data

You can then use the Operation to determine further processing of the Data, perhaps each operation would have its own Regex to parse its data.

alwaysthinking9-Feb-09 8:35

9-Feb-09 8:35

Sorry for the late reply I thank you for the help. So far you have pretty much hit the pin on the head. The problem here is... I dont know what you mean by regular expressions and how I would build them for each operation. Ill show you the desired data and maybe give some pointers on how to create one for this operation and then Ill be able to use that to create more. This is the dispense operation.

tip 1 : dispense 0.00nl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,1]
----- | | | |
| | | | |
a b c d e

10.00µl ">> Water << 23" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Single
----- ----
| |
| |
f g

Also, my plan right now is to take each word that is parsed in the array, assign the desired arrays with the proper variables (time=word[8]) and work it that way. Im not sure if that is the most effective way to do it, im sure it will work but maybe not the best.

alwaysthinking9-Feb-09 8:36

9-Feb-09 8:36

Ignore the last post forgot the change HTML setting

Sorry for the late reply I thank you for the help. So far you have pretty much hit the pin on the head. The problem here is... I dont know what you mean by regular expressions and how I would build them for each operation. Ill show you the desired data and maybe give some pointers on how to create one for this operation and then Ill be able to use that to create more. This is the dispense operation.

tip 1 : dispense 0.00nl 1, 1 Deep Well, landscape [1,1]
----- | | | |
| | | | |
a b c d e

10.00µl ">> Water << 23" Fixed <3 - 50µl> Single
----- ----
| |
| |
f g

Also, my plan right now is to take each word that is parsed in the array, assign the desired arrays with the proper variables (time=word[8]) and work it that way. Im not sure if that is the most effective way to do it, im sure it will work but maybe not the best.

PIEBALDconsult9-Feb-09 11:59

9-Feb-09 11:59

You could put the stuff in a "code block" to have it appear properly in the message.

alwaysthinking10-Feb-09 10:01