Access forms in another project in VB.net 2010 - vb.net

I am using VB.net 2010 and I have two projects: SQLtesting and Controls. Their physical locations are:
C:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\SQLtesting\SQLtesting\ [forms reside here]
C:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\Controls\Controls\ [forms reside here]
The code shown below works fine. I run it from the project SQLtesting. It loads a listbox and a checkedlistbox with the controls found on a form. I can change the value of the ProjAndForm field to any form within the SQLtesting project and get the form's controls. The forms are not actually opened/shown and they are not suppose to be.
I would like to be able to access forms in other projects i.e.
*C:\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\Controls\Controls*
while running the code from the SQLtesting project.
In actual use, (when this application is an .exe) the user (developer) will enter the Project Name, Form name and whatever else this requires and click on Button7. There cannot be any hardcoding as in my example code. This application will be installed on individual pc's or on a network so the code must work based on what the developer enters.
What I really need is a way to POINT to another project and form and still use my code.
I believe the statements needed would precede the following 3 statements I have.
ProjAndForm = "SQLtesting.Form1"
FormInstanceType = Type.GetType(ProjAndForm, True, True)
objForm = CType(Activator.CreateInstance(FormInstanceType), Form)
Currently, if I change the value of ProjAndForm to "Controls.Form66" an exception is thrown on the FormInstanceType statement.
Could not load type 'Controls.Form66' from assembly 'SQLtesting,
Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.
As I said above, the code works fine and provides exactly what I want as long as I
reference a form in the current project SQLtesting.
Can anyone help me with this?
Thank you.
Private Sub Button7_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles Button7.Click
Dim CtlType As Type
Dim FormInstanceType As Type
Dim index As Integer
Dim objForm As Form
Dim ProjAndForm As String
Dim TypeName1 As String
Dim TypeName2 As String
ListBox1.Sorted = True
ListBox1.Items.Clear()
CheckedListBox1.Sorted = True
CheckedListBox1.Items.Clear()
CheckedListBox1.CheckOnClick = True
ProjAndForm = "SQLtesting.Form1"
FormInstanceType = Type.GetType(ProjAndForm, True, True)
objForm = CType(Activator.CreateInstance(FormInstanceType), Form)
For Each ctl As Control In objForm.Controls
CtlType = ctl.GetType
TypeName1 = CtlType.ToString.Substring(21) ' Remove system.windows.forms prefix
index = CheckedListBox1.FindStringExact(TypeName1)
If index = -1 Then
CheckedListBox1.Items.Add(TypeName1)
End If
TypeName1 = TypeName1 & ":" & ctl.Name & ":" & ctl.Text
ListBox1.Items.Add(TypeName1.ToString)
Next ctl
End Sub

What you are looking for is Assembly.LoadFrom. You will need the exe or dll for this.
Dim path As String = "youassemblywitpath.dll"
Dim ass As Assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(path)
ProjAndForm = "SQLtesting.Form1"
FormInstanceType = ass.GetType(ProjAndForm)
objForm = CType(Activator.CreateInstance(FormInstanceType), Form)
or you could use MEF.

Related

VS 2022 project is missing the x64 option, only has Any CPU as option

I am at my wits end. I have a VS 2022 VB Winforms application that was working perfectly fine up until last night. Now I am getting numerous errors, most of which state "Value of type 'ComboBox()' cannot be converted to 'ComboBox()' because 'ComboBox' is not derived from 'ComboBox'". Another error staes "'DropDownWidth' is not a member of 'ComboBox'". The only thing I noticed is that the solution platform now reads "Any CPU" instead of "x64". I did not change any code that has to do with the combobox routines so the errors seemed to have come out of nowhere and the x64 solution platform is no longer an option. Any ideas? I included my code where the errors started popping up.
Public Class GlobalVar
Public Shared cmbBurgType() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchBurgType, frmAddEntry.cmbAddBurgType}
Public Shared cmbSex() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchSex, frmAddEntry.cmbAddSex}
Public Shared cmbRace() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchRace, frmAddEntry.cmbAddRace}
Public Shared cmbPrefix() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchHomeStreetPrefix, frmAddEntry.cmbAddHAddressPrefix}
Public Shared cmbSuffix() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchHomeStreetSuffix, frmAddEntry.cmbAddHAddressSuffix}
Public Shared cmbState() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchHomeState, frmAddEntry.cmbAddHAddressState}
Public Shared cmbPrecinct() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchHomePrecinct, frmAddEntry.cmbAddHAddressPrecinct}
Public Shared cmbTattooLoc() As ComboBox = {frmSearchNOC.cmbSearchTattooLocation, frmAddEntry.cmbAddTattoo}
End Class
Public Sub LoadPresetDBDataCombobox(tableName As String, colName As String, objArray() As ComboBox)
Dim longestEntry As String = ""
Dim curText As String = ""
Dim sqliteReader As SQLiteDataReader
Dim sqliteReadCmd As SQLiteCommand
'clear combobox items
For Each curBox As ComboBox In objArray
curBox.Items.Clear()
Next
OpenDBConn() 'opens the database connection
sqliteReadCmd = GlobalVar.dbConn.CreateCommand()
sqliteReadCmd.CommandText = "Select " & colName & " FROM " & tableName
sqliteReader = sqliteReadCmd.ExecuteReader()
sqliteReadCmd.Dispose() 'disposes read command after it is used
'iterate through table
Using sqliteReader
While sqliteReader.Read
curText = sqliteReader.GetString(colName) 'gets the current table value for the selcted column
'places value into each combobox in array
For Each curBox As ComboBox In objArray
curBox.Items.Add(curText)
Next
'determines the length of the longest string to size to properly dize the drop down width to fit text
If (curText.Length > longestEntry.Length) Then
longestEntry = curText
End If
End While
'assigns the dropdownwidth based on an everage character width of 6 pixels
For Each curBox As ComboBox In objArray
curBox.DropDownWidth = ((longestEntry.Length * 7) + 10)
Next
sqliteReader.Close() 'close object
longestEntry = ""
End Using
CloseDBConn() 'closes the database connection
End Sub
Private Sub OpenChildForm(childForm As Form, formIndex As Integer)
If (currentChildForm IsNot Nothing) Then
currentChildForm.SendToBack()
End If
currentChildForm = childForm 'assigns passed in form as current form
childForm.TopLevel = False 'indicated the form is not top level because the main form is top level
childForm.Dock = DockStyle.Fill 'docks form to fill main form's panel
pnlMain.Controls.Add(childForm) 'adds form to the main panel on the main form
pnlMain.Tag = childForm 'associate form to main panel on main form
childForm.BringToFront() 'brings the related form to the front
childForm.Show()
Select Case formIndex
Case 0 'search noc form
'reloads various data from db into comboboxes in case items were added while on another tab
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("BurgType", "typeName", GlobalVar.cmbBurgType) 'tattoo location
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Sex", "sexName", GlobalVar.cmbSex) 'sex
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Race", "raceName", GlobalVar.cmbRace) 'race
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("StreetPrefix", "prefixName", GlobalVar.cmbPrefix) 'street prefix
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("StreetSuffix", "suffixName", GlobalVar.cmbSuffix) 'street suffix
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("State", "stateName", GlobalVar.cmbState) 'state
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Precinct", "precinctName", GlobalVar.cmbPrecinct) 'home precinct
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("BodyPart", "bodyPartName", GlobalVar.cmbTattooLoc) 'tattoo location
Case 1 'browse results form
Case 2 'add entry form
'reloads various data from db into comboboxes in case items were added while on another tab
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("BurgType", "typeName", GlobalVar.cmbBurgType) 'tattoo location
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Sex", "sexName", GlobalVar.cmbSex) 'sex
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Race", "raceName", GlobalVar.cmbRace) 'race
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("StreetPrefix", "prefixName", GlobalVar.cmbPrefix) 'street prefix
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("StreetSuffix", "suffixName", GlobalVar.cmbSuffix) 'street suffix
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("State", "stateName", GlobalVar.cmbState) 'state
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("Precinct", "precinctName", GlobalVar.cmbPrecinct) 'home precinct
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("BodyPart", "bodyPartName", GlobalVar.cmbTattooLoc) 'tattoo location
Case 3'user settings form
Case 4 'administrator form
End Select
End Sub
Above, the errors come into play with all the GlobalVar parameters as well as the dropdownwidth call:
LoadPresetDBDataCombobox("StreetPrefix", "prefixName", GlobalVar.cmbPrefix)
curBox.DropDownWidth = ((longestEntry.Length * 7) + 10)
I tried updating VS 2022 and then reinstalled it. Neither of which worked, obviously, considering I'm asking this question. It's probably something simple and stupid but I am fried and could use some help.
Thanks to anyone who spent time reading my question. I have no idea how or when the following import got added to one of my routines but I commented it out and all the errors went away:
Imports System.Windows.Controls
I noticed it when I was copying code from my broken project to a new project to see when the errors start popping up. My best guess is that it was importing a combobox control that was different from the combobox I was trying to pass into the routine, but any comments that explain the reason are appreciated.

Passing Parameter to Crystal Reports XI from Visual Studio 2015

I am running into problems with the passing of parameters to an externally created Crystal Reports XI report from the WinForms application I'm building in Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition. No matter what I try to do, the report doesn't seem to get the value unless I manually select it at the prompt (which shouldn't even be popping up) when the report is being displayed. I'm using the same code I've used in a previous application (although that one was built in VS2008), but I've tried a number of "alternate" versions of the code in my attempts to get this working. Here's the code that I'm currently using:
Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine
Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared
Module modReports
Private WithEvents DocumentToPrint As New Printing.PrintDocument
Private Sub ShowReport(ByVal LID As Integer, ByVal InHouse As Boolean)
Dim Report As New ReportDocument
Dim ReportParameters As ParameterFieldDefinitions = Nothing
Dim Parameter As ParameterFieldDefinition = Nothing
Dim ApplicationValue As ParameterDiscreteValue = Nothing
Dim ReportValues As ParameterValues = Nothing
Dim ReportViewer As New frmReport
Dim Response As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel
PrintingReport = True
Report.Load(CRYSTAL_REPORT_FILE_PATH & "ExampleReport.rpt")
Report.Refresh()
Report.VerifyDatabase()
ReportParameters = Report.DataDefinition.ParameterFields
Parameter = ReportParameters.Item("PrintAll")
ReportValues = New ParameterValues
ApplicationValue = New ParameterDiscreteValue
'Parameter.CurrentValues.Clear()
'ReportValues.Clear()
ReportValues = Parameter.CurrentValues
If LID = 7777 Then
ApplicationValue.Value = True
Else
ApplicationValue.Value = False
End If
ReportValues.Add(ApplicationValue)
Parameter.ApplyCurrentValues(ReportValues)
Response = MessageBox.Show("Do you want to send this report directly to the printer?", "SEND TO PRINTER", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question)
If Response = DialogResult.No Then
With ReportViewer
.rptViewer.ReportSource = Nothing
.rptViewer.ReportSource = Report
.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized
.rptViewer.RefreshReport()
' Set zoom level: 1 = Page Width, 2 = Whole Page, 25-100 = zoom %
.rptViewer.Zoom(1)
.rptViewer.Show()
.ShowDialog()
End With
ElseIf Response = DialogResult.Yes Then
Dim SelectPrinter As New PrintDialog
Dim PrinterSelected As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel
With SelectPrinter
.Document = DocumentToPrint
.AllowPrintToFile = False
.AllowSelection = False
.AllowCurrentPage = False
.AllowSomePages = False
.PrintToFile = False
End With
PrinterSelected = SelectPrinter.ShowDialog
If PrinterSelected = DialogResult.OK Then
Dim Copies As Integer = DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Copies
Dim PrinterName As String = DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.PrinterName
Dim LastPageNumber As Integer = 1
Dim PrintBuffer As String = String.Empty
LastPageNumber = Report.FormatEngine.GetLastPageNumber(New ReportPageRequestContext)
Report.PrintOptions.PrinterName = PrinterName
Report.PrintOptions.PrinterDuplex = DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Duplex
Report.PrintToPrinter(Copies, True, 1, LastPageNumber)
If Copies = 1 Then
PrintBuffer = "Printed " & Copies & " copy of "
Else
PrintBuffer = "Printed " & Copies & " copies of "
End If
If LastPageNumber = 1 Then
PrintBuffer += LastPageNumber.ToString & " page."
Else
PrintBuffer += LastPageNumber.ToString & " pages."
End If
MessageBox.Show("The report was sent to the following printer:" & vbCrLf & " • " & PrinterName & vbCrLf & PrintBuffer, "REPORT PRINTED", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
End If
End If
PrintingReport = False
End Sub
End Module
The report itself is built to use an XML file as the data source, which is dynamically created by this application. All of that works normally, and oddly enough, if I send the report directly to the printer, it seems to print correctly without prompting me. It's only a problem when I try to display the report through the CrystalReportViewer object.
Some of the things I've tried without success:
I've tried with and without calling the Clear() methods on the
Parameter.CurrentValues and ReportValues objects.
I've tried moving all of the parameter setting logic to after I set the
ReportSource of the CrystalReportViewer control (rptViewer.ReportSource)
I've tried using alternate Crystal Reports objects (ParameterFields instead of ParameterFieldDefinitions and ParameterField instead of ParameterFieldDefinition).
I've tried removing all of the "complicated" code and just using the SetParameterValue method (i.e., Report.SetParameterValue("PrintAll", True)
I've even tried creating different types of parameter fields in the report itself (String, Boolean, Number) and passing appropriate values for those datatypes.
If I walk through the code, it doesn't appear to error out anywhere, and everything looks like it's working just great until I get to the .rptViewer.RefreshReport() line in the With ReportViewer block. I've verified that all of the parameters and values have only the value I am "selecting" via the application by checking them every step up to that point, and it all looks exactly as I expect it to look.
But the application (via Crystal Reports) continues to prompt me for the value I just passed in the code. If I select the value in that prompt, the report does generate correctly based on the value I select, but no matter what I "pass" in the programming, the prompt always defaults to True.
Does anyone have any suggestions that I may have overlooked for how to get this parameter to correctly pass to the CrystalReportViewer control? Please let me know if you need any additional information or have any questions about what I've set up so far here. Thank you in advance.
Okay, so based on the information I found over on http://www.it-sideways.com/2011/10/how-to-disable-parameter-prompt-for.html, it seems that the RefreshReport method for the CrystalReportViewer control basically wipes out any parameters and/or log on information:
1. ) Do not invoke CrystalReportViewer.RefreshReport Method
This method will refresh the data for the report currently displayed
in the CrystalReportViewer control. The report will prompt for
parameters or logon info is necessary.
So, this method is not needed unless the same
CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument object is
reused.
By commenting out that line of the code, I was able to prevent the parameter prompt from being displayed. The only issue I have after making that change is that, even though the zoom level is being set to 1 (page width), and when I run the project the CrystalReportViewer control even shows that it's correctly set in the status bar ('Zoom Factor: Page Width' is displayed), the report itself is not actually zoomed in to the page width.
With the RefreshReport method uncommented, if I manually provided the value for my parameter, it would display the report properly zoomed. If I add the zoom button to the control (.rptViewer.ShowZoomButton = True), I can manually choose the Page Width option, which then correctly "re-zooms" the report to the desired level, but it won't immediately display that way if the RefreshReport method is not called.
Regardless, I can spend some time trying to fight that now, but I finally have it properly setting, passing and displaying the results of my parameter. I hope this helps someone else running into this issue.

How to use addin interface in Visual Studio 2008

Following is a code sample of Addin I copied from MSDN(http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/envdte.addin.aspx) and did some modifications to. I create a Add-in project by VS2008 and paste the following code into it.
But it seems that it does not work properly.
1> DTE Add-in count before and after the Update does not change
2> Guid of the added addin is all zeros
3> I get error: The parameter is incorrect, at code line: DTE.Solution.AddIns.Add
Public Sub OnConnection(ByVal application As Object, ByVal connectMode As ext_ConnectMode, ByVal addInInst As Object, ByRef custom As Array) Implements IDTExtensibility2.OnConnection
_applicationObject = CType(application, DTE2)
_addInInstance = CType(addInInst, AddIn)
Me.AddInExample(_applicationObject)
End Sub
Function BrowseFile() As String
Dim OpenFileDialog1 As New OpenFileDialog
OpenFileDialog1.Filter = "*.dll file (*.dll)|*.dll|All files (*.*)|*.*"
OpenFileDialog1.FilterIndex = 1dialog
OpenFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = True
If OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
'MsgBox(OpenFileDialog1.FileName)
Return OpenFileDialog1.FileName
End If
Return ""
End Function
Sub AddInExample(ByVal DTE As DTE2)
' For this example to work correctly, there should be an add-in
' available in the Visual Studio environment.
' Set object references.
Dim addincoll As AddIns
Dim addinobj As AddIn
' Register an add-in, check DTE Add-in count before and after the
' Update.
addincoll = DTE.AddIns
MsgBox("AddIns collection parent name: " & addincoll.Parent.Name)
MsgBox("Number of Add-ins: " & addincoll.Count)
' NOTE: Use regsvr32 for Visual C++, regasm for [Visual Basic
' and Visual C#. Also, the pathname used below is an example only.
'Shell("regasm F:\AddIns\RegExplore\Debug\regexplore.dll")
'Shell("C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\regasm e:\AddinTest1.dll")
Shell("C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\regasm " & BrowseFile())
addincoll.Update()
MsgBox("Number of Add-ins: " & addincoll.Count)
addinobj = addincoll.Item(1)
' Connect the add-in if it is not already connected
' and list its SatelliteDLLPath and Guid.
If addinobj.Connected = False Then
addinobj.Connected = True
End If
MsgBox("Satellite DLL Path: " & addinobj.SatelliteDllPath)
MsgBox("DLL GUID: " & addinobj.Guid)
' Activates a solution add-in so that it is available, then
'deactivates it.
MsgBox(addinobj.ProgID)
MsgBox(addinobj.Description)
MsgBox(addinobj.Name)
addinobj = DTE.Solution.AddIns.Add(addinobj.ProgID, addinobj.Description, addinobj.Name, False)
DTE.Solution.AddIns.Item(1).Remove()
End Sub
I would start at the begining if I were you: MSDN VS Addin
Doing it this way allows you to debug (step-through) your code and will give you a good start. The page you are on assumes you already know how to do this.

How to close parent form and open child?

Hey guys before I was just hiding the parent form, but now when I try to read from the parent file it says it can't because it's already running in a process. I followed some tutorial and it said to go to the project properties and have the application stop running when all the forms are closed.
But now since I did that it says the directory can't be found probably because I am reading the input from the parent form. Anyways here is my code
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(File.OpenWrite("C:\Users\Nick\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\LoginFixed\Accounts\" + frmLogin.txtUser.Text))
How should I go about doing this?
Edit:
Private Sub btnHunter_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnHunter.Click
selection = "Hunter"
writeData.classSelection()
End Sub
This is what I have when the button is clicked.
Here is the classSelection sub:
Public Sub classSelection()
If frmClass.selection = "Hunter" Then
writeFile1.WriteLine(frmClass.selection)
End If
If frmClass.selection = "Gatherer" Then
writeFile1.WriteLine(frmClass.selection)
End If
If frmClass.selection = "Farmer" Then
writeFile1.WriteLine(frmClass.selection)
End If
writeFile1.Close()
End Sub
The error points to this line:
If frmClass.selection = "Hunter" Then
Saying part of the file path cannot be found.
If you want to read input textbox in closed parent form, you have to declare public var
Make a new module in your project .. and add this
public sLogin as String
And before you hide or close frmLogin .. add this
sLogin = txtUser.Text
So, you could change your code with
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(File.OpenWrite("C:\Users\Nick\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\LoginFixed\Accounts\" & sLogin))
matzone has given you a good hint. And to check exactly what your path is, just add a MessageBox using variables :
Dim writePath1 As String
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter
writePath1 = "C:\Users\Nick\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\LoginFixed\Accounts\" & sLogin
If MessageBox.Show(writePath1, "Continue ?", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) = DialogResult.Yes Then
writeFile1 = New StreamWriter(File.OpenWrite(writePath1))
' ...
writeFile1.Close() ' Very important ! Adrian pointed it out.
End If
^^ and if it works, you can discard the Dialog test or replace it by some test code like If File.Exists(...)
However, I don't understand wether you want to close the parent Form or hide it. It's different !
Closing the parent Form will discard any access to parent Form members, including txtUser.Text.
If you want to close the parent Form, the ChildForm should not be a child of that parent you are trying to close, or you must just hide the parent Form :
frmLogin.Hide() ' Not frmLogin.Close()
If you close frmLogin, frmLogin.txtUser won't be accessible, or use sLogin provided by matzone instead. Alternatively, you should pass frmLogin.txtUser.Text value to a custom property of ChildForm.
Imports System.IO
Public Partial Class ChildForm1
' Inherits System.Windows.Form
' ...
Private _txtUserFile As String
Public WriteOnly Property TxtUserFile() As String
Set(ByVal NewFileName As String)
_txtUserFile = NewFileName
End Set
End Property
Public Sub LoadFile()
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(File.OpenWrite("C:\Users\Nick\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\LoginFixed\Accounts\" & txtUserFile))
' ...
writeFile1.Close()
End sub
' ...
End Class
Then use this in parent Form :
MyChildForm.TxtUserFile = Me.txtUser.Text
' Me.Close() ' This will definately KILL Form1 (the parent one)
Me.Hide() ' Always use Hide() until you'll terminate your Application
MyChildForm.Show()
MyChildForm.LoadFile()
^^ but this is not a good code either ! Your problem remains unclear (at least for me)
"Still saying it can't find part of the path", then check the path..
Does the file actually exists ?
Does the path contains glitch ? (use the provided MessageBox test)
Does your account can access that directory ? (Windows configuration and account levels)
Well !
In fact, the problem could be somewhere else.
For example, I was able to reproduce your exception by providing an empty string [""] as the value of, either :
frmLogin.txtUser.Text ' = ""
' or
sLogin ' = ""
' or
txtUserFile ' = ""
In fact, I get the "Could not find a part of the path..." exception because the StreamWriter couldn'd read/write to a File, as I didn't provided a valid FileName for that file. As the filename parameter was an empty string "", the provided path for StreamWriter was just representing a directory instead of a file and an exception was raised.
Now, you should check wether you have a valid path before building a new instance of StreamWriter to get sure you are actually pointing to a File ?
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter
Dim MyEntirePath As String = "C:\Users\...\Accounts\" + frmLogin.txtUser.Text
MessageBox.Show(MyEntirePath) ' would be enough to be sure your path is correct
' Some test code here...
If everythingOK then ' create the StreamWriter...
writeFile1 = New StreamWriter(MyEntirePath)
' ...
' ...
Also, it's not a good idea to create your streamwriter, and use it in another part/method of your code. You never known if one day, you'll change your code, and forget to make the link between
Dim writeFile1 As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(File.OpenWrite("C:\Users\Nick\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\LoginFixed\Accounts\" + frmLogin.txtUser.Text))
' plus
Private Sub btnHunter_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs)
...
End Sub
' plus
Public Sub classSelection()
...
writeFile1.Close()
End Sub
^^ too much "here and there"...
You'll obviously also get an exception if you try to click btnHunter twice.. I don't know what is the purpose of your code nor how it works, it looks like a game.. But I would use File.Exist(..) checks, create the file before, if none, and put that in a Try/Catch to check if I eventually don't have administrator rights to write to that directory. Otherwise, make a code that allow user to read/write files to a custom folder. Andalso, you have :
Application.StartupPath
^^ Very usefull, like :
Dim MyFilePath As String = Application.StartupPath + "\Datas\MyText.txt"
After two weeks of coding, I usually forget where I put those "C:\blabla.." or "D:\gnagna\" or what classes actually uses those absolute reference paths. I've dropped this way of getting directories long ago since the day I moved to Win7 on another computer and all such applications I developped using that approach was doomed...

Extracting Filename and Path from a running process

I'm writing a screen capture application for a client. The capture part is fine, but he wants to get the name and path of the file that the capture is of.
Using system.diagnostics.process I am able to get the process that the capture is of, and can get the full path of the EXE, but not the file that is open.
ie. Notepad is open with 'TextFile1.txt' as its document. I can get from the process the MainWindowTitle which would be 'TextFile1.txt - Notepad' but what I need is more like 'c:\users....\TextFile1.txt'
Is there a way of getting more information from the process?
I'm sure there is a way, but I can't figure it out
Any help greatly appreciated.
You can use ManagementObjectSearcher to get the command line arguments for a process, and in this notepad example, you can parse out the file name. Here's a simple console app example that writes out the full path and file name of all open files in notepad..
Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Management
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim cl() As String
For Each p As Process In Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad")
Try
Using searcher As New ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT CommandLine FROM Win32_Process WHERE ProcessId = " & p.Id)
For Each mgmtObj As ManagementObject In searcher.Get()
cl = mgmtObj.Item("CommandLine").ToString().Split("""")
Console.WriteLine(cl(cl.Length - 1))
Next
End Using
Catch ex As Win32Exception
'handle error
End Try
Next
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000000)
End Sub
End Module
I had to add a reference to this specific dll:
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Managment.dll
i think it is the simplest way
For Each prog As Process In Process.GetProcesses
If prog.ProcessName = "notepad" Then
ListBox1.Items.Add(prog.ProcessName)
End If
Next
I know this post is old, but since I've searched for this two days ago, I'm sure others would be interested. My code below will get you the file paths from Notepad, Wordpad, Excel, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Inkscape, and any other text or graphic editor's process, as long as the filename and extension is in the title bar of the opened window.
Instead of searching, it obtains the file's target path from Windows' hidden Recent Items directory, which logs recently opened and saved files as shortcuts. I discovered this hidden directory in Windows 7. You're gonna have to check if Windows 10 or 11 has this:
C:\Users\ "username" \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
I slapped this code together under Framework 4, running as 64bit. The COM dlls that must be referenced in order for the code to work are Microsoft Word 14.0 Object Library, Microsoft Excel 14.0 Object Library, Microsoft PowerPoint 14.0 Object Library, and Microsoft Shell Controls And Automation.
For testing, the code below needs a textbox, a listbox, a button, and 3 labels (Label1, FilenameLabel, Filepath).
Once you have this working, after submitting a process name, you will have to click the filename item in the ListBox to start the function to retrieve it's directory path.
Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint
Imports Shell32
Public Class Form1
'function gets names of all opened Excel workbooks, adding them to the ListBox
Public Shared Function ExcelProcess(ByVal strings As String) As String
Dim Excel As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application = CType(Marshal.GetActiveObject("Excel.Application"), Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application)
For Each Workbook As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Workbook In Excel.Workbooks
Form1.ListBox1.Items.Add(Workbook.Name.ToString() & " - " & Form1.TextBox1.Text)
Next
Return strings
End Function
'function gets names of all opened Word documents, adding them to the ListBox
Public Shared Function WordProcess(ByVal strings As String) As String
Dim Word As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application = CType(Marshal.GetActiveObject("Word.Application"), Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application)
For Each Document As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Document In Word.Documents
Form1.ListBox1.Items.Add(Document.Name.ToString() & " - " & Form1.TextBox1.Text)
Next
Return strings
End Function
'function gets names of all opened PowerPoint presentations, adding them to the ListBox
Public Shared Function PowerPointProcess(ByVal strings As String) As String
Dim PowerPoint As Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Application = CType(Marshal.GetActiveObject("PowerPoint.Application"), Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Application)
For Each Presentation As Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Presentation In PowerPoint.Presentations
Form1.ListBox1.Items.Add(Presentation.Name.ToString() & " - " & Form1.TextBox1.Text)
Next
Return strings
End Function
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
'clears listbox to prepare for new process items
ListBox1.Items.Clear()
'gets process title from TextBox1
Dim ProcessName As String = TextBox1.Text
'prepare string's case format for
ProcessName = ProcessName.ToLower
'corrects Office process names
If ProcessName = "microsoft excel" Then
ProcessName = "excel"
Else
If ProcessName = "word" Or ProcessName = "microsoft word" Then
ProcessName = "winword"
Else
If ProcessName = "powerpoint" Or ProcessName = "microsoft powerpoint" Then
ProcessName = "powerpnt"
Else
End If
End If
End If
'get processes by name (finds only one instance of Excel or Microsoft Word)
Dim proclist() As Process = Process.GetProcessesByName(ProcessName)
'adds window titles of all processes to a ListBox
For Each prs As Process In proclist
If ProcessName = "excel" Then
'calls function to add all Excel process instances' workbook names to the ListBox
ExcelProcess(ProcessName)
Else
If ProcessName = "winword" Then
'calls function to add all Word process instances' document names to the ListBox
WordProcess(ProcessName)
Else
If ProcessName = "powerpnt" Then
'calls function to add all Word process instances' document names to the ListBox
PowerPointProcess(ProcessName)
Else
'adds all Notepad or Wordpad process instances' filenames
ListBox1.Items.Add(prs.MainWindowTitle)
End If
End If
End If
Next
End Sub
Private Sub ListBox1_MouseClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles ListBox1.MouseClick
Try
'add ListBox item (full window title) to string
Dim ListBoxSelection As String = String.Join(Environment.NewLine, ListBox1.SelectedItems.Cast(Of String).ToArray)
'get full process title after "-" from ListBoxSelection
Dim GetProcessTitle As String = ListBoxSelection.Split("-"c).Last()
'create string to remove from ListBoxSelection
Dim Remove As String = " - " & GetProcessTitle
'Extract filename from ListBoxSelection string, minus process full name
Dim Filename As String = ListBoxSelection.Substring(0, ListBoxSelection.Length - Remove.Length + 1)
'display filename
FilenameLabel.Text = "Filename: " & Filename
'for every file opened and saved via savefiledialogs and openfiledialogs in editing software
'Microsoft Windows always creates and modifies shortcuts of them in Recent Items directory:
'C:\Users\ "Username" \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
'so the below function gets the target path from files's shortcuts Windows created
FilePathLabel.Text = "File Path: " & GetLnkTarget("C:\Users\" & Environment.UserName & "\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\" & Filename & ".lnk")
Catch ex As Exception
'no file path to show if nothing was saved yet
FilePathLabel.Text = "File Path: Not saved yet."
End Try
End Sub
'gets file's shortcut's target path
Public Shared Function GetLnkTarget(ByVal lnkPath As String) As String
Dim shl = New Shell32.Shell()
lnkPath = System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(lnkPath)
Dim dir = shl.NameSpace(System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(lnkPath))
Dim itm = dir.Items().Item(System.IO.Path.GetFileName(lnkPath))
Dim lnk = DirectCast(itm.GetLink, Shell32.ShellLinkObject)
Return lnk.Target.Path
End Function
End Class