If anyone wants to take a crack at this I'd really appreciate it. I'm writing a VB.NET app that will control a commercial backup product. One of the things I need to do is loop through all existing jobs and look at the source drive. I am able to do this in VBScript very simply like this:
Dim SP, BackupJob, volumes
Set SP = CreateObject("ShadowStor.ShadowProtect")
For Each Job In SP.Jobs
Set BackupJob = SP.Jobs.GetBackupJob(Job.Description)
BackupJob.GetVolumes volumes
For Each Volume in volumes
WScript.Echo volume
Next
Next
Set SP = Nothing
However nothing I try in VB.NET works. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that the com functions are returning variant data types and arrays (specifically GetVolumes). I have tried using string arrays, object arrays, and even wrapping the return value in a VariantWrapper and I always get errors such as "not implemented" or "the parameter is incorrect." If anyone is bored and wants to write some code I'll gladly give it a shot and report back.
UPDATE:
This is odd. Look at this code:
Dim SP As Object = CreateObject("ShadowStor.ShadowProtect")
Dim gotJob As Object
Dim volumes() As Object
Try
For Each Job As Object In SP.Jobs
gotJob = SP.Jobs.GetBackupJob(Job.Description.ToString())
gotJob.GetVolumes(volumes)
For Each volume As Object In volumes
MsgBox(volume.ToString())
Next
Next
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message)
End Try
This will display the volume from ONE job, then it crashes if there is more than one jobwith the error "invalid callee."
Locate ShadowStor.ShadowProtect in your registry in HKCR. It will have a CLSID which is a GUID. Search for that GUID, also in HKCR. You should find it in the CLSID section. Under that key you should find the actual dll path under InprocServer32.
Now if that component has an embedded TypeLib you should be able to add a reference to it in Visual Studio. (If you have OLE View installed you can inspect the type lib easily as well).
And if you cannot add a reference to the dll, there might be a seperate .tlb file, and you can find that by searching on the GUID present in the TypeLib value.
For anyone interested, the solution was to Dim volumes() As Object inside the loop and then set volumes = Nothing at the end of the loop so that it was re-created each time. If anyone can explain why this is so I would love to understand it.
Related
I'm trying to run my code which was originally created using Visual Studio through another application where late bindings are disallowed and this option cannot be altered unfortunately. I am very new to programming in general and struggling to get my head around the issue. Here is the code im using in the invoke code stage:
Dim objIEShell As Object = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Dim objIEShellWindows As Object = objIEShell.Windows
Dim objIEWin As Object
For Each objIEWin In objIEShellWindows
If InStr(objIEWin.LocationURL,"google")>0 Then
objIEWin.Quit
objIEWin = Nothing
End If
Next
The code simply closes all instances of Internet Explorer with "google" in the URL. This is the error message I get when trying to compile it:
Message: Error compiling code
error BC30574: Option Strict On disallows late binding. At line 2
error BC32023: Expression is of type 'Object', which is not a collection type. At line 4
From the research I've done so far I realise the first error message on line 2 is to do with the type difference between objIEShell and the Windows method. I think I have to convert objIEShell like this, CType(objIEShell,?), but I don't know the type of the .Windows method or how to find this out. Also any insight on how the fix the second error would be greatly appreciated as I'm not sure where to start with that one either.
This dates back to the wonky days when Microsoft still had plans to make Explorer behave like a web browser. Makes it pretty hard to arrive at the correct code, it is a combination of two separate COM components that don't have much to do with each other.
You need to first add two references to those components so the compiler understands the names. Use Project > Add Reference > COM tab and tick "Microsoft Internet Controls" and "Microsoft Shell Controls and Automation". That adds the Shell32 and SHDocVw namespaces.
Now you can write the code early-bound like this:
Dim objIEShell = New Shell32.Shell
Dim objIEShellWindows = CType(objIEShell.Windows, SHDocVw.IShellWindows)
Dim objIEWin As SHDocVw.WebBrowser
For Each objIEWin In objIEShellWindows
If InStr(objIEWin.LocationURL, "google") > 0 Then
objIEWin.Quit()
End If
Next
The CType() expression is probably the most unintuitive one, the Shell.Windows property is of type Object to break the dependency between those two components. The cast is the necessary voodoo to keep the compiler happy.
I am currently half way through a project where I am migrating data from an ancient Adobe Workflow server using Visual Basic and COM.
I have hit a bit of a brick wall really as I am trying to perform a simple while loop that counts the number of records in a recordset, and I keep getting this error...
"An unhandled exception of type 'System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException' occurred in microsoft.visualbasic.dll
Additional information: Unspecified error"
There is little to no documentation to help me online so I am hoping there is some sort of VB wizard/veteran that can point me in the right direction.
I have set the record as a global variable like so...
Dim record As New EPSDK.Recordset
I have then tried...
Dim recCount As Integer = 0
Do Until record.EOF
recCount += 1
Loop
This...
Dim recCount As Integer = 0
Do While Not record.EOF
recCount += 1
Loop
This...
Dim recCount As Integer = 0
Do
recCount += 1
Loop Until record.EOF
And lots of other variations, but still cannot seem to source the problem. There are no code errors, nothing comes up in the console, and I just keep getting that message back.
Can anyone spot what I am doing wrong? Thanks
Ok, I've looked up the documentation for EPSDK. For those who are unaware (as I was), it's an object collection from Adobe for manipulating COM data. It's basically the most popular functionality in ADO.
MoveFirst, as its name suggests, moves to the first record in a recordset. There doesn't appear to be any such method supported by the EPSDK Recordset object. Since you can use the Move method to do the same thing, it isn't needed. In either case, you don't need to use it to move to the end of the file.
What you're doing wrong is expecting that you can increment a variable called recCount that you made up and the recordset cursor will magically move along. Doesn't happen. As you say, the doc is insubstantial, but you probably need to use MoveNext. Here's a cheat sheet you can use to look up what's supported.
Also, you need to specify a connection, open it, point the recordset to the open connection, and open the recordset. I would suggest that you familiarize yourself with ADO (NOT ADO.Net! Not the same thing), upon which this is clearly based. There's much more documentation, and it should apply fairly well. Read up on Connections and Recordsets in particular.
Now, your loops do pretty much the same thing. While Not is the equivalent of Until. However, if you put the while/until condition after the Do statement, you won't enter the loop unless the condition is met. If you put it after the Loop statement, you will always run the loop at least once. In this case, you should put "Do Until myRecordset.EOF", because then if the recordset is empty, you won't go into the loop.
This seems like a simple question but I after chasing forums for several hours I think it might be impossible.
I often want to convert a program from early binding to late binding. Usually, it is a vba, visual basic for applications, program that runs under Excel 2010 and windows 7 pro.
For discussion purposes, let’s pretend it is the following.
Sub EarlyBind()
' use IDE > Tools > references > and select “Microsoft Internet Controls”
Dim shellWins1 as shdocvw.shellwindows
Line1: Set shellWins1 = New SHDocVw.ShellWindows
MsgBox TypeName(shellWins1) ' this will display “IShellWindows”
' other code that expects to be working with an IshellWindows object …..
End Sub
In my experience, converting such a program to late binding is sometimes hard.
For instance, I found some forums that suggest I change it to
Set shellwins1 = createobject("Shell.applicaton")
But that creates a IShellDispatch5 object, not an IshellWindows object. That means I have to change other code to accommodate the new object type. And, of course I have to test that other code for subtle differences.
So, my goal is to find a general solution that will allow me to rewrite “Line1” to create the CORRECT object type with late binding. I also wish to avoid the need setting a reference to "Microsof Internet Controls. In other words, I want the code to look like this:
Sub LateBind()
Dim shellWins1 as object
Line1: Set shellWins1 = createobject(“xxxxxx.yyyyyy”).zzzzzz
MsgBox TypeName(shellWins1) ‘ this should display “IShellWindows”
….. other code that expects to be working with an IshellWindows object …..
End Sub
I know how to use the vba IDE to find the dll associated with the object. In this case the dll is Library SHDocVw C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ieframe.dll.
I have installed OleView and can find the associated IshellWindows “magic numbers” for the clsId, TypeLib, and Inteface (for instance the interface is 85CB6900-4D95-11CF-960C-0080C7F4EE85).
But, I don’t know how to convert them into a program id that can be used in line1 in the sample code posted above.
I hope someone here can help.
------ With MeHow's help, I now have the answer! ------
To switch 'set myObj = new xxxx.yyyyy' to late binding for arbitrary object types
Change set myObj = new xxxx.yyyyy
into set myObj = CreateObject("xxxx.yyyyy")
Very often that will work.
But, in the some cases, (e.g. "shDocVw.ShellWindows.") it gives error 429 ActiveX component cannot be created.
When that occurs I AM COMPLETELY OUT OF LUCK. It is impossible to use late binding with that EXACT object class. Instead I must find a substitute class that does approximately the same thing. (e.g. "Shell.Application").
Your short answer is
IShellWindows is an interface.
It
Provides access to the collection of open Shell windows.
Therefore
Take a look at the CreateObject() method.
Note:
Creates and returns a reference to a COM object. CreateObject cannot
be used to create instances of classes in Visual Basic unless those
classes are explicitly exposed as COM components.
IShellWindows is not exposed as a COM component so that's why there is no way to say CreateObject("SHDocVw.IShellWindows")
When you open your registry (regedit) and search for a key type in IShellWindows. If you find anything that means you've found your Prog ID and if you don't find anything it means that nothing like IShellWindows is registered as a prog Id therefore it would make sense to assume that you can't late bind IShellWindows
I bumped into your question trying to find something for myself. But I don't know if you have tried the following -
Set shellwins1 = createobject("Shell.Application")
MsgBox TypeName(shellWins1.Windows)
This answers your question for datatype. It prints IShellWindows for me. I'm not sure though if it could actually solve your purpose for latebinding meaning if this would be the object required though the datatype is what you need.
So, I would advise you to give it a try.
There is a slightly better approach outlined at https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28961564/How-to-find-the-class-id-of-an-arbitrary-object-Example-Set-x-CreateObject-New-1C3B4210-F441-11CE-B9EA-00AA006B1A69.html#a41743468.
I am attempting to use the VB.Net Excel COM interop to programmatically change the location of the first horizontal page break on an Excel spreadsheet being generated by the program. Code to do so is as follows:
Dim range As Excel.Range
xlActualWS.Activate()
xlActualWS.PageSetup.PrintArea = "$A$1:$K$68"
range = xlActualWS.Range("A68", "A68")
xlActualWS.HPageBreaks(1).Location = range
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(range)
On the line setting HPageBreaks, COM exception code 0x800A03EC is thrown, and I can't really find a thing related to this searching. Anyone have any idea what I'm missing here?
Based onthe code it looks like either the location of the page break cannot be set or that there are 0 page breaks and hence you're accessing an invalid index. A quick way to test this out is to do the following
Check the Count property on xlActualWS.HPageBreaks and see how many are available
Remove the set of the Location property and see if the error dissapears
Additionally you should probably remove the ReleaseComObject call. That's a very difficult API to get correct and the CLR is quite good at cleaning up COM object references on it's own.
For a very long time, when I have an error handler I make it report what Project, Module, and Procedure the error was thrown in. I have always accomplished this by simply storing their name via constants. I know that in a Class you get the name programmatically with TypeName(Me), but obviously that only gets me one out of three pieces of information and only when I'm not in a "Standard" module.
I don't have a really huge problem with using constants, it's just that people don't always keep them up to date, or worse they copy and paste and then you have the wrong name being reported, etc. So what I would like to do is figure out a way to get rid of the Constants shown in the example, without losing the information.
Option Compare Binary
Option Explicit
Option Base 0
Option Private Module
Private Const m_strModuleName_c As String = "MyModule"
Private Sub Example()
Const strProcedureName_c As String = "Example"
On Error GoTo Err_Hnd
Exit_Proc:
On Error Resume Next
Exit Sub
Err_Hnd:
ErrorHandler.FormattedErrorMessage strProcedureName_c, m_strModuleName_c, _
Err.Description, Err.Source, Err.Number, Erl
Resume Exit_Proc
End Sub
Does anyone know ways to for the code to tell where it is? If you can conclusively show it can't be done, that's an answer too:)
Edit:I am also aware that the project name is in Err.Source. I was hoping to be able to get it without an exception for other purposes. If you know great, if not we can define that as outside the scope of the question.
I am also aware of how to get the error line, but that information is of course only somewhat helpful without knowing Module.Procedure.
For the project name, the only way I can think of doing this is by deliberately throwing an error somewhere in Sub Main(), and in the error handling code, save the resulting Err.Source into an global variable g_sProjectName. Otherwise, I seem to remember that there was a free 3rd party DLL called TLBINF32.DLL which did COM reflection - but that seems way over the top for what you want to do, and in any case there is probably a difference between public and private classes. And finally, you could use a binary editor to search for the project name string in your EXE, and then try to read the string from the position. Whilst it is frustrating that the names of every project and code module is embedded in the EXE, there seems to be no predictable way of doing this, so it is NOT recommended.
There are several questions here.
You can get the Project Name by calling App.Name
You cannot get the name of the method you are in. I recommend using the automated procedure templates from MZ Tools, which will automatically put in all the constants you need and your headache will be over.
The last piece is possibly having to know the name of the EXE (or lib) that invoked your ActiveX DLL. To figure this out, try the following:
'API Declarations'
Private Declare Function GetModuleFileName Lib _
"kernel32" Alias "GetModuleFileNameA" (ByVal _
hModule As Long, ByVal lpFileName As String, _
ByVal nSize As Long) As Long
Private Function WhosYourDaddy() As String
Dim AppPath As String
Const MAX_PATH = 260
On Error Resume Next
'allocate space for the string'
AppPath = Space$(MAX_PATH)
If GetModuleFileName(0, AppPath, Len(AppPath)) Then
'Remove NULLs from the result'
AppPath = Left$(AppPath, InStr(AppPath, vbNullChar) - 1)
WhosYourDaddy = AppPath
Else
WhosYourDaddy = "Not Found"
End If
End Function
Unfortunately, you'll need to have individual On Error GoTo X statements for individual modules and procedures. The project is always stored in Err.Source. The VBA error handling isn't all that great in this area -- after all, how much good does the project name as the source of the error, as opposed to procedure/module, do you.
If you manually or programatically number your lines (like old-school BASIC), you can use ERL to list the line number the error occurred on. Be warned, though, that an error that occurs on a line without a number will make ERL throw its own error, instead of returning a zero. More information can be found at this blog post.
If you're using Access 2007 (not sure about other Office apps/versions), try this code snippet dug out of the help documentation:
Sub PrintOpenModuleNames()
Dim i As Integer
Dim modOpenModules As Modules
Set modOpenModules = Application.Modules
For i = 0 To modOpenModules.Count - 1
Debug.Print modOpenModules(i).Name
Next
End Sub
And Microsoft includes these remarks:
All open modules are included in the
Modules collection, whether they are
uncompiled, are compiled, are in
break mode, or contain the code
that's running.
To determine whether an individual
Module object represents a standard
module or a class module, check the
Module object's Type property.
The Modules collection belongs to the
Microsoft Access Application object.
Individual Module objects in the
Modules collection are indexed
beginning with zero.
So far, I haven't been able to find anything on referencing the current Project or Procedure. but this should point you in the right direction.
I suggest you take a look at CodeSMART for VB6, This VB6 addin has a customizable Error Handling Schemes Manager, with macros that will insert strings for module name, method name, etc., into your error handling code with a single context menu selection.
Has some other very nice features as well - a Find In Files search that's superior to anything I'd seen till ReSharper, a Tab Order designer, and much more.
At my previous employer, we used this tool for many years, starting with the 2005 version. Once you get used to it,it's really hard to do without it.