I'm using MSI to create a setup, it's all fine but I have a question that I got this:
Why do we get .dll and .DLL file? And what is the difference between them.
Thanks
There's no difference between them, just that the creator of the name and extension chose to name them that way. The Operating system considers them the same types of files. Same thing happens with .EXE and .exe, .AVI, .... Some organizations may consider it a naming convention.
On a Windows filesystem, there is absolutely no difference as file names are case insensitive.
The only time you will notice a problem is when accessing the filesystem through a file sharing protocol that is case sensitive.
That screenshot is Visual Studio Deployment Projects view and it appears it isn't smart enough to realize those are the same DLL's. I'd build the MSI and look at it in ORCA and see if it actually tried to package it twice and create a component rule violation in the process. It wouldn't surprise me at all but this isn't one of well known issues that I can recall at the moment.
In addition to Windows being case aware but case insensitive, fill extensions don't really matter that much either. A Windows dynamically loaded library (PE format) can be any extension as the LoadLibrary() function doesn't really care. Common extensions are .DLL, .SYS, .OCX and .DRV.
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I've searched far an wide for this specific problem, but I only find separate solutions for each problem individually. I basically want to know what the name of the environment variable should be. My assumption is that the name of the variable should be the name of the component and that it should be User variable and not System variable, for example:
name -> "mydll.dll"
path -> "c:\myCustomPath\mydll.dll"
The reason why I want to do this is because of two reasons. First, I often run my custom made tools either directly from the source code in a VM (which is sort of a pain), or I compile it and run it in W10. However, I just cannot do that with more complex apps that have dependencies because then I would have to register tons of DLLs onto the system root, and I know that I would lose track of it easily. The second reason is because I read this reply the guy says it's not recommended to use the system root for private libraries and he also suggests using an environment variable which sounded like a good solution to my problem.
The reason why I have not tested this myself through trial and error is because I'm afraid of leaving my only computer unusable if I put something wrong in the variable. Also all the libraries and exe files that I'm using are written and compiled in VB6, so I have no easy way around it since I already tried merging the multiple projects into one on a rather small project. I ended up rewriting almost the whole thing because VB6 doesn't like public types enums, etc in private Object Classes.
Finally, I am not sure if my question should be here since it doesn't involve programming, but I just felt it would be better understood here.
If I understand your question correctly, you are asking where you can place COM DLLs so that you can register them on your computer.
The answer is - fundamentally - that it does not matter where they are located because registration has a "global" effect. (Simplifying a little).
Now of course there are standards or conventions for where system-wide registered DLLs should go - e.g., Windows\SysWOW64 folder. But the point is that if you register the wrong thing, or leave out dependencies, or remove a registered DLL without unregistering it - etc. etc. - you will cause problems.
I am not aware of any environment variable that has anything to do with this basic function of COM DLLs. (I may be ignorant of something).
If you are actually using an application manifest (as maybe implied in the question) then you don't need to and should not register any DLL which is manifested.
I'm writing a command-line utility in Go that (as part of its operation) needs to get a password from the user. There's a great gopass module for Unix that does this, and I know how to write one for the Windows console. The problem is that the Windows module obviously won't build on *nix, and the *nix version won't build on Windows. Since Go lacks any preprocessor support (as far as I can tell), I have absolutely no idea what the right way to approach this is. I know it's possible, since Go itself must do this for its own libraries, but the tooling I'm used to (conditional imports/preprocessors/etc.) seems to be missing.
Go has build constraints, which can either be specified as comments in a .go file, or as part of the file name.
One set of constraints is for target operating system, so you can have one file for Windows, one for e.g. Linux and implement the same function in two different ways in the two.
More information on build constraints are at http://golang.org/pkg/go/build/#hdr-Build_Constraints
Ì have had this problem in a number of projects and I have almost given up. I am sure there is a solution though. When I insert a Flash object in a VB.Net Windows Forms application, it works fine for a little while and then I see this error in the Design Screen. I am using Visual Studio 2010
Could not load file or assembly 'Interop.ShockwaveFlashObjects, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
I have read several descriptions of why this happens, and apparently it has something to do with strong naming (or lack thereof), but have not found a solution yet. I used Add Reference->COM->Shockwave Flash (C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\Flash32_11_2_202_235.ocx) If I ignore the error it appears to work fine, but I don't want my users to have a problem.
I know I can use a browser control and play the Flash in that, but for reasons I won't get into, I have to use a Flash control. Any ideas would help.
Okay. I can't promise this to work for you, but it worked for me.
First, you have to locate a file on your computer titled AxImp.exe. You have to run it from the command prompt. This file is located (for me at least) here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0\Bin\x64
Once you do find and run it, you have to point it to the correct Flash.ocx file you're using, like so:
AxImp.exe <path>\Flash.ocx
Once you've done that you should end up with 2 DLL files in the same directory as the .ocx file. One called AxShockwaveFlashObjects.dll and another called ShockwaveFlashObjects.dll.
You don't care about ShockwaveFlashObjects.dll, just AxShockwaveFlashObjects.dll.
Grab that file and the Flash*.ocx file and paste them into the project directory.
Then include them into your references. This should open up two new references, AxShockwaveObjects and ShockwaveObjects.
Make sure you're Using both of them.
After this, you have to register the Flash*.ocx using RegSvr32 from your command prompt (make sure to run CMD in admin mode). That is done like so:
C:\RegSvr32 <path>\Flash.ocx
This worked for me. I was having the exact same problem (which is what led me here). It could be a half backed hack workaround but for now, that's how it worked for me.
Let me know if it works for you or not.
Hope it goes well for you.
I know this is an old post but I had this issue yesterday and the solution, at least in my case, was very simple. All I had to do was to change the Platform and Platform Target to x86 (Build tab of project property).
There are many programs out there that will allow you to pack a few files together and generate an executable that has the necessary code to extract them. Somehow, those files are residing inside the executable. I am interested in doing the same thing; how is this done?
FYI, I'm interested primarily in Windows .exe files, if it makes a difference.
Look at this: Article
You could probably save a file/files in a resource, compile it into the exe then use some code in the exe to extract it out to a file.
ie:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/winsdk/binaryresources.aspx
Self extracting .exe files are usually archive files (zip, rar, tar, etc) concatenated together with a small program that does the extraction then executes the program that was extracted from the archive.
A really sophisticated one could extract the archive into memory and then jump to the extracted code and run it, but back in the old days, that sort of thing was easier to do.
If you wanted to write your own in Windows, you would create a small console application that did the extraction, and you would include the 'real' program in the console programs' resources.
There are also products like pkzip and winzip which do it for you. If your time is worth anything, those would be more efficient.
UPX is a well known packer for Windows .EXE which can be found here on WikiPedia. And here is the main site on sourceforge for UPX.
Hope this helps,
Best regards,
Tom.
I have been trying to load a OCX file into one of my VB6 projects for most of the day today. I've tried checking the COM registration in the registry the best that I know how, and have attempted several times using REGSVR32 on the file to no avail. All I keep getting from VB6 when I try to load the component (Under Project --> Components) is 'FilePath\FileName.ocx' could not be loaded. Has anyone else seen this before, and if so, any ideas how to fix it?
Just a couple of tips to help isolate the problem....
Look at the control with OleView
Examine the name: if it is one of the reserved words such as 'Menu', vb6 will fail to load it. (Although vb6 will happily let you create (and use) one with a bad name until it is saved and reloaded)
Examine the interface: does it describe the functionality? You may have a damaged or unlicensed ocx.
Attempt to load it with the ActiveX Control Test Container...
If you can, the problem is with VB6 and not the ocx.
This it may be a dependency issue -- some other component needed by the OCX is not present. Dependency Walker will find any static dependencies.
We fixed similar error recently. In our case the error was in the Visual Basic project (.vbp) file. Project file had been edited outside standardized build machine and contained references to OCX components - including workstation specific paths & versions of the components.
You can either edit the the project file in text editor or get a working version from version control.
Un-registering and registering again worked for me too.
Please note that you need to register this component using this syntax:
regsvr32 /i:design olch2x8.ocx
When you say you have used "REGSVR32 on the file to no avail" do you mean that you get a file name succeeded message, or an error message? If registering the file succeeds CMB is likely right about the ocx being unlicensed.
Licensing aside, there are a couple of other trip points with vb6. Especially if the OCX was developed in VB6.
If so, the 'officially' system registered version may conflict with the specific ocx you're using. In other words, both of them might have the same proper name (or classid) but the one you're attempting to use may not implement all the functionality described in the system registered one (i.e. you have a less evolved version). This arises when the author desires to maintain binary compatibility while enhancing the functionality of a control. As long as the public interfaces remain compatible, vb will not recalculate the classid.
You can fix this by forcibly unregistering the specific control (actually unregister all instances of the control). (regsvr32 /u control.ocx ) Then re-register the one you intend to use. Be certain that no running instance of VB6 exists when you do this or the results might not work. (Check your task list)
Hope that helps...
The control may be reliant on another DLL or OCX that may be missing or not registered and this could manifest itself as VB reporting that the control you're trying to use is missing. However, I'm not sure how you would identify the dependencies. As far as I know, dependency walker identifies static dependencies; I'm not sure if it can identify COM dependencies.
Un register the Ocx
re register the ocx
then loaded the project again in VB6, it worked for me.
Thanks everyone