Fooling Around

Window API provides useful functions OleCreatePropertyFrame and OleCreatePropertyFrameIndirect, which allow easily to pop up object’s property pages, OLE property pages. The frame, however, is not customizable, does not even allows centering relative to parent’s window. COlePropertyFrameDialogT template class is to be a solution for this problem.

Additionally the template offers useful methods to discover available property pages from object’s ISpecifyPropertyPages interface, if available. With multiple objects you have a choice to show union of individual object’s pages, or intersection of the pages (that is show only pages supported by all provided objects).

Code excerpt:

CMyOlePropertyFrameDialog Dialog;
Dialog.SetObject(pSampleObjectUnknown);
// NOTE: This instructs dialog to query for proeprty pages from assigned object(s)
Dialog.SetObjectPages();
INT_PTR nDialogResult = Dialog.DoModal(m_hWnd); 

Continue Reading »

The COM object that allows automated file resource updates is updated with a few new features:

• STRINGTABLE management, methods and properties to read/write string resources of a binary
• BITMAP management, methods and properties to read/write bitmap resources of a binary

Documentation and samples are still pending, just a binary this time once again.

Here is where one can find syntax:

Some more sample code:

WshShell = WScript.CreateObject(”WScript.Shell”);
WScript.Echo(”Current Directory: ” + WshShell.CurrentDirectory);
Image = new ActiveXObject(”AlaxInfo.ResourceTools.Image”);
Image.Initialize(WshShell.CurrentDirectory + “\\Sample.dll”);
Index = 77;
Value = Image.Bitmaps.Bitmap(Index).SaveToFile(null, WshShell.CurrentDirectory + “\\Bitmap.bmp”);
Value = Image.Bitmaps.Bitmap(Index + 1).LoadFromFile(1033, WshShell.CurrentDirectory + “\\Bitmap.bmp”);
Value = Image.Bitmaps.Bitmap(Index + 1).LoadFromFile(1049, WshShell.CurrentDirectory + “\\Bitmap.bmp”);
Image.Bitmaps.Update();
Image.EndUpdate(false);

Application Name: Alax.Info Resource Tools
License: Free for personal use, request commercial licenses via email or contact form
Latest Version: 1.0.1.226
Download Link: Alax.Info Resource Tools 1.0.1.226 (285K)

As well known, WTL provides CHyperLinkImpl custom control implementation to use clickable hyperlink controls. Also control uses a few styles (underlining, tags, command vs. notify notifications), the main implementation is limited:

• control frequently requires static text, tooltip text and location for ShellExecute; you cannot embed all three strings into dialog template control’s window text so you need an additional resource strings separated from the control definition
• you cannot have two or more links per control
• you can mix clickable text with unclickable, however this style is underimplemented: text wrap is not supported

So, CHyperLinkImpl is great when you have nothing, but you are likely to still want more. Here goes more.

Continue Reading »

Alax.Info ScreenShot Shell Extensions extend windows shell to provide a helpful command to work with screenshots. A new command “Paste Image as PNG File…” is added to directory context menus when clipboard contains an image.

User will be prompted to enter file name for the saved image. Should Control key be pressed at the moment of command invocation, the shell extension will auto-name the file using ImageNNN.png format, where NNN is an auto incremented number.

Images are saved in PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format with an automatic color depth reduction to create more compact images for web.

The extension is designed to work with Windows hotkeys PrintScreen and Alt+PrintScreen, which copy a shot of screen or active window into clipboard. The image becomes pasteable into file with this shell extension.

Application Name: Alax.Info ScreenShot Shell Extensions
License: Free for personal use, request commercial licenses via email or contact form
Latest Version: 1.0.0.42
Download Link: Alax.Info ScreenShot Shell Extensions 1.0.0.42 (237K)

CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” which is more known to public as a verification code one needs to enter in order to proceed with certain action. The challenge is aimed to prevent from automated operation, such as, for instance, user registration, spam or data mining.

Alax.Info Captcha Module offers a COM object to generate CAPTCHA PNG (Portable Network Graphics) images:

Continue Reading »

Alax.Info Replace in Clipboard updates:

• New: hotkey (default Win+C, configurable) to perform pending replacement; “global” section of configuration file defines hot key to use
• New: “suppresstooltips” per-replacement option to suppress system tray icon tool tips for the replacement
• Updated: after replacement the tool tip also shows the replacement text put into clipboard

Application Name: Alax.Info Replace in Clipboard
License: Free for personal use, request commercial licenses via email or contact form
Latest Version: 1.0.0.100
Download Link: Alax.Info Replace in Clipboard 1.0.0.100 (71K)

Simple stress application brings down Windows Sockets subsystem within tens of seconds on Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2… It appears to be a key point that SO_RCVBUF and SO_SNDBUF sockets options are increased from default value.

The expected behavior, and it is the case with default socket buffer sizes, is running out of available anonymous sockets (ports 1024-5000 are engaged by active sockets or those on wait list to be freed, see “Windows NT Clients Run Out of Ports” for details). Expected failure code is 10048 (WSAEADDRINUSE) “Address already in use” on client.

Instead, at some critical moment client side sockets start failing with 10054 (WSAECONNRESET) “Connection reset by peer” error and server side sockets massively fail with 10093 (WSANOTINITIALISED) “Successful WSAStartup not yet performed” code including, as it seems, a number of sockets already closed on client side and expected to get closed on server. After server connection sockets report failure, the listening socket reports ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY error.

Download Visual Studio .NET 2003 source code and compiled binaries.