"Character is not valid" VB.NET - vb.net

So what this does is copy a report from the resources onto the computer and run it. The code is:
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim dir As String = My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Temp
Dim filename As String = dir + +"Report.exe"
IO.File.WriteAllBytes(filename, My.Resources.Report)
Process.Start(filename)
End Sub
It gives me an error for Process.Start saying
"Character is not valid"
I made another form and wrote the Process.Start part and gave me no errors. I tried removing all the previous code and replacing "filename" in Process.Start with an actual directory but nothing helps. I really need to some help on this, thanks.

What is likely occurring is that the temp folder is returning an invalid character. Instead, try using the IO.Path.GetTempPath method and also build the path by using the IO.Path.Combine method. Here is an example of building the String:
Dim dir As String = IO.Path.GetTempPath
Dim filename As String = IO.Path.Combine(dir, "report.exe")

Related

visual studio 2019 how do I know what References to import and path settings

I created a Visual Studio 2019 project that uses FileSystem.FileExists and both StreamWriter and StreamReader
I also created a folder named Resource with the intention of creating a txt file in this folder
Knowing I need to tell the Writer and Reader where to find the file I used these lines of code
Dim path As String = "C:/Users/Me/source/repos/TestForms/TestForms/Resource/"
If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(path & "Check.txt") Then
Because I do not full understand how to deal with a SQLite database yet lets say I put the database in the folder Resource. And if I make a EXE package that will run on another computer that string path is by my best guess is not going to work
In the process of leaning I keep seeing this line of code. I see no path to the database
m_dbConnection = New SQLiteConnection("Data Source=MyDatabase.sqlite; Version=3;")
Granted I am dealing with a txt file now but if it was a SQLite database file
My Question is how does the connection know where the database is ?
I also need to import this reference Imports System.IO
Coming from NetBeans I got spoiled with Auto Import
Second Question Does VS 2019 not have an Auto Import feature?
I am adding a screen shot of Solution Explore
Tried to add Resource folder to Resources that did not work real well
Stream Reader Code below without error
Private Sub btnRead_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnRead.Click
readDATA()
End Sub
Private Sub readDATA()
Dim line As String
Using reader As New StreamReader(path & "Check.txt", True)
line = reader.ReadToEnd.Trim
tbHaveOne.Text = line
End Using
End Sub
Code that creates Check.txt
Private Sub frmThree_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
haveFILE()
'tbHaveTwo.Text = frmOne.vR'KEEP see frmOne
'tbHaveOne.Select()
End Sub
Public Sub haveFILE()
'If My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(path & "Check.txt") Then
' MsgBox("File found.")
'Else
' MsgBox("File not found.")
'End If
If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(path & "Check.txt") Then
' Create or overwrite the file.
Dim fs As FileStream = File.Create(path & "Check.txt")
fs.Close()
tbHaveTwo.Text = "File Created"
tbHaveOne.Select()
Else
tbHaveTwo.Text = "File Found"
tbHaveOne.Select()
End If
End Sub
You should pretty much never be hard-coding absolute paths. If you want to refer to a path under the program folder then you use Application.StartupPath as the root and a relative path, e.g.
Dim filePath = Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "Resource\Check.txt")
Then it doesn't matter where you run your program from. For other standard folder paths, you should use Environment.GetFolderPath or My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories. For non-standard paths, you should let the user choose with a FolderBrowserDialog, OpenFileDialog or SaveFileDialog and then, if appropriate, save that path to a setting or the like.
When it comes to database connection strings, some ADO.NET providers support the use of "|DataDirectory|" in the path of a data file and that gets replaced at run time. What it gets replaced with depends on the type of app and how it was deployed. For Web Forms apps, it resolves to the App_Data folder. For ClickOnce Windows apps it resolves to a dedicated data folder. For other Windows apps, it resolves to the program folder, just like Application.StartupPath. I think the SQLite provider supports it but I'm not 100% sure. If it does, you could use something like this:
m_dbConnection = New SQLiteConnection("Data Source=|DataDirectory|\Resource\MyDatabase.sqlite; Version=3;")
EDIT:
If you add data files to your project in the Solution Explorer and you want those to be part of the deployed application then you need to configure them to make that happen. Select the file in the Solution Explorer and then set the Build Action to Content and the Copy to Output Directory property to Copy Always or, if you intend to make changes to the file when the app is running, Copy if Newer.
When you build, that file will then be copied from your project source folder to the output folder along with the EXE. You can then access it using Application.StartupPath at run time. That means while debugging as well as after deployment, because it will be copied to the "\bin\Release" output folder as well as the "\bin\Debug" output folder. If you add the file to a folder in the Solution Explorer, that file will be copied to, hence the reason I said earlier to use this:
Dim filePath = Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "Resource\Check.txt")
Here is the working code to Create a Text file if it does not exist and if it does exist the user is notified.
We also were able to Write & Read from the Text file
One of the disappointments is we were not able to use StreamReader
We did solve this error where the file name was created like this "Check.txtCheck.txt This line of code below created the File this way in the folder Bin > Debug
If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(filePath & "Check.txt") Then See Code for correct format
One other BIG lesson Do NOT create a folder and place your Text file in that folder
I am not sure using the code "Using" was a good idea further research needed on that issue
Working Code Below
Private Sub frmThree_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
haveFILE()
End Sub
Public Sub haveFILE()
If Not System.IO.File.Exists(filePath) Then
System.IO.File.Create(filePath).Dispose()
tbHaveTwo.Text = "File Created"
tbHaveOne.Select()
Else
My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(filePath) ' Then
tbHaveTwo.Text = "File Found"
tbHaveOne.Select()
End If
'This line of code created the File this was in the Bin > Debug folder Check.txtCheck.txt
'If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(filePath & "Check.txt") Then
End Sub
Sub PlaySystemSound()
My.Computer.Audio.PlaySystemSound(
System.Media.SystemSounds.Hand)
End Sub
Private Sub btnWrite_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnWrite.Click
If tbHaveOne.Text = "" Then
PlaySystemSound()
'MsgBox("Please enter a username.", vbOKOnly, "Required Data")
'If MsgBoxResult.Ok Then
' Return
'End If
Const Title As String = "To EXIT Click OK"
Const Style = vbQuestion
Const Msg As String = "Enter Data" + vbCrLf + vbNewLine + "Then Write Data"
Dim result = MsgBox(Msg, Style, Title)
If result = vbOK Then
'MsgBox("Enter Data")
tbHaveOne.Select()
Return
End If
End If
writeDATA()
End Sub
Private Sub writeDATA()
Dim file As System.IO.StreamWriter
file = My.Computer.FileSystem.OpenTextFileWriter(filePath, True)
file.WriteLine(tbHaveOne.Text)
file.Close()
tbHaveOne.Clear()
tbHaveTwo.Text = "Data Written"
End Sub
Private Sub btnRead_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnRead.Click
readDATA()
End Sub
Public Sub readDATA()
Dim fileReader As String
fileReader = My.Computer.FileSystem.ReadAllText(filePath)
tbHaveOne.Text = fileReader
End Sub

Not read text file correct

I want when I read txt file and add in ListBox1.items, add this text http://prntscr.com/on12e0 correct text §eUltra §8[§716x§8].zip not like this http://prntscr.com/on11kv
My code
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim appDataFolder = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData)
My.Computer.FileSystem.CopyFile(
appDataFolder & "\.minecraft\logs\latest.log",
appDataFolder & "\.minecraft\logs\latestc.log")
Using reader As New StreamReader(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData) & "\.minecraft\logs\latestc.log")
While Not reader.EndOfStream
Dim line As String = reader.ReadLine()
If line.Contains(" Reloading ResourceManager: Default,") Then
Dim lastpart As String = line.Substring(line.LastIndexOf(", ") + 1)
ListBox1.Items.Add(lastpart)
End If
End While
End Using
My.Computer.FileSystem.DeleteFile(appDataFolder & "\.minecraft\logs\latestc.log")
End Sub
This question is only different from your first question in that your have substituted a ListBox for a RichTextBox. It seems you got perfectly acceptable answers to your first question. But I will try again.
First get the path to the file. I don't know why you are copying the file so I didn't.
Add Imports System.IO to the top of your file. The you can use the File class methods. File.ReadAllLines returns an array of strings.
Next use Linq to get the items you want. Don't update the user interface on each iteration of a loop. The invisible Linq loop just adds the items to an array. Then you can update the UI once with .AddRange.
Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
Dim appDataFolder = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), "\.minecraft\logs\latest.log")
Dim lines = File.ReadAllLines(appDataFolder)
Dim lstItems = (From l In lines
Where l.Contains(" Reloading ResourceManager: Default,")
Select l.Substring(l.LastIndexOf(", ") + 1)).ToArray
ListBox1.Items.AddRange(lstItems)
End Sub
If this answer and the previous 2 answer you got don't work, please lets us know why.

Error copying from resources

While copying from resources to a folder under appdata folder: i get an error, but I'm not finding any mistake in code..
Private Sub Help_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
File.WriteAllBytes(MainPath & "\Help.rtf", My.Resources.HelpRTF)
Dim HelpRTF = (MainPath & "\Help.rtf")
Helpbox.LoadFile(HelpRTF)
End Sub
HelpRTF is a .rtf file, MainPath is a directory under %appdata% folder
Error: Value of type 'String' cannot be converted to 'Byte()'.
Error at: My.Resources.HelpRTF
The reason why you get that error is because the second parameter of the File.WriteAllBytes() method takes a Byte(), not a String. If you want to write text (String) to a file, you can use the File.WriteAllText() method.
Since RTF's can contain images, text, etc. treating it as text can corrupt it and needless to say, encoding issues might occur. So, instead of using the File.WriteAllText() method, change the FileType of the HelpRTF resource to Binary instead of Text like this:
After that, you can use your code as it was:
Private Sub Help_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
File.WriteAllBytes(MainPath & "\Help.rtf", My.Resources.HelpRTF)
Dim HelpRTF = (SWinPath & "\Help.rtf")
Helpbox.LoadFile(HelpRTF)
End Sub
References:
File.WriteAllText - MSDN
File.WriteAllBytes - MSDN

Opening an Empty Directory from a Windows Form - VB.net

I'm trying to open a directory via my Windows Form created in VB.Net but every solution I've found doesn't seem to work.
Currently I'm using-
Dim path As String = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()
Private Sub logDirBTN_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles logDirBTN.Click
Process.Start(path + "\Resources\Logs")
End Sub
Which returns "The system cannot find the file specified" exception. That's interesting because I know the folder is there. Furthermore this button's functionality works without any issue and from what I can tell the only difference is I'm opening a text file rather than an empty directory-
Private Sub stationListBTN_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles stationListBTN.Click
Process.Start("notepad.exe", path + "\Resources\StationList\StationList.txt")
End Sub
Here are all the other things I've tried-
Private Sub logDirBTN_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles logDirBTN.Click
'Process.Start("explorer.exe", path + "\Resources\Logs")
'Shell("explorer.exe", path + "\Resources\Logs", vbNormalFocus)
'Application.StartupPath & path + "\Resources\Logs"
'Shell(path + "\Resources\Logs", vbNormalFocus)
End Sub
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Dim MyProcess As New Process()
MyProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "explorer.exe"
MyProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "C:\Blah"
MyProcess.Start()
MyProcess.WaitForExit()
MyProcess.Close()
MyProcess.Dispose()
Or just...
Process.Start("explorer.exe", "C:\FTP\")
Application.StartupPath is going to get you to your bin\Debug or bin\Release folder by the way, whatever folder the *.exe is in.
I'm guessing this is what you're looking for:
Process.Start("explorer.exe", Application.StartupPath & "\Resources\Logs")
Also, don't use + for joining strings. Use &
I assume you are trying to invoke Windows Explorer.
Add a trailing \ in the call to .Start
IO.Directory.CreateDirectory("C:\temp\temp")
Process.Start("c:\temp\temp\")
In the OP first example you were trying to open a file 'Logs'

VB - cannot copy file due to "being used by another process" error

I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what is causing this error. All im trying to do is copy files (pdfs) that were created on the current day from 1 directory to another after a certain amount of time with the ticker. Here is my code:
Private Sub Timer2_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer2.Tick
Dim file As String
Dim now As String = DateTime.Today.ToShortDateString
Dim dir As String = "C:\PDFs\"
Dim bupdir As String = "C:\PDFs\copied\"
Dim Files() As String = Directory.GetFiles(dir)
For Each file In Files
Dim dt As String = IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(file).ToShortDateString
If dt = now Then
IO.File.Copy(Path.Combine(dir, file), Path.Combine(bupdir, file), True)
End If
Next
End Sub
Your problem lies in the fact that Directory.GetFiles() returns the full path name of the files in the source directory.
Then, when you try to build the destination file name, the Path.Combine sees that your file variable is an absolute path and doesn't add the path bupdir.
This gives back the value of the variable file and you end up with something like this
IO.File.Copy("C:\PDFs\file.pdf", "C:\PDFs\file.pdf", True)
To fix the problem
IO.File.Copy(file, Path.Combine(bupdir, Path.GetFileName(file)), True)
FROM MSDN
If one of the specified paths is a zero-length string, this method
returns the other path. If path2 contains an absolute path, this
method returns path2.