Currupted file in non-english locale (encoding problem?) - vbscript

Question

In my MSI Windows Installer I have a custom VBScript action which extracts some files from the 'Binary' table to the filesystem. This is the code I'm using:
Inspired by: https://www.itninja.com/question/how-to-call-an-exe-which-is-stored-in-a-binary-table-through-a-vbscript-custom-action-in-the-msi
Function ExtractFromBinary(ByVal binaryName, ByVal binaryOutputFile)
Dim oFSO : Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Const msiReadStreamInteger = 0
Const msiReadStreamBytes = 1
Const msiReadStreamAnsi = 2
Const msiReadStreamDirect = 3
Dim binaryView : Set binaryView = Session.Database.OpenView("SELECT Data FROM Binary WHERE Name = '" & binaryName & "'")
binaryView.Execute
Dim binaryRecord : Set binaryRecord = binaryView.Fetch
Dim binaryData : binaryData = binaryRecord.ReadStream(1, binaryRecord.DataSize(1), msiReadStreamAnsi)
Set binaryRecord = Nothing
Dim binaryStream : Set binaryStream = oFSO.CreateTextFile(binaryOutputFile, True, False)
binaryStream.Write binaryData
binaryStream.Close
Set binaryStream = Nothing
End Function
This has been used without any issues in production for 2-3 years now. However now we have a case on a Japanese Windows installation where the extracted binary files are corrupted:
As you can see, the problem typically after a '?' where the script either inserts an 'E', or overwrites the following character.
Both the ReadStream method and the CreateTextFile method have a parameter which affect encoding. The combination shown above seems to be the only one which works on my English Windows 10.
What do I need to change in the code above to make it work also on a Japanese system?

Answer 1

#Robert-Hegner I'll propose this as an answer, even though it is subject to your testing (I have no way of testing where I am)!
I've included an updated approach here (you will need to scroll down to the second example)
It uses msiReadStreamDirect (not msiReadStreamAnsi) to extract a string of Byte pairs, converts these into binary and creates the output file using the ADODB.Stream (not the FSO).
Dim oFSO : Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Dim tempFolder : tempFolder = oFSO.GetSpecialFolder(2)
Dim outputFile : outputFile = tempFolder & "\notepad.exe"
extractFromBinary "notepad", outputFile
Function MultiByteToBinary(MultiByte)
'obtained from http://www.motobit.com
'MultiByteToBinary converts multibyte string To real binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY)
'Using recordset
Dim RS, LMultiByte, Binary
Const adLongVarBinary = 205
Set RS = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
LMultiByte = LenB(MultiByte)
If LMultiByte>0 Then
RS.Fields.Append "mBinary", adLongVarBinary, LMultiByte
RS.Open
RS.AddNew
RS("mBinary").AppendChunk MultiByte & ChrB(0)
RS.Update
Binary = RS("mBinary").GetChunk(LMultiByte)
End If
Set RS = Nothing
MultiByteToBinary = Binary
End Function
Function SaveBinaryData(FileName, ByteArray)
Const adTypeBinary = 1
Const adSaveCreateOverWrite = 2
'Create Stream object
Dim BinaryStream
Set BinaryStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
'Specify stream type - we want To save binary data.
BinaryStream.Type = adTypeBinary
'Open the stream And write binary data To the object
BinaryStream.Open
BinaryStream.Write ByteArray
'Save binary data To disk
BinaryStream.SaveToFile FileName, adSaveCreateOverWrite
Set BinaryStream = Nothing
End Function
Function extractFromBinary(ByVal binaryName, ByVal binaryOutputFile)
Const msiReadStreamInteger = 0
Const msiReadStreamBytes = 1
Const msiReadStreamAnsi = 2
Const msiReadStreamDirect = 3
Dim binaryView : Set binaryView = Session.Database.OpenView("SELECT * FROM Binary WHERE Name = '" & binaryName & "'")
binaryView.Execute
Dim binaryRecord : Set binaryRecord = binaryView.Fetch
Dim binaryData : binaryData = binaryRecord.ReadStream(2, binaryRecord.DataSize(2), msiReadStreamDirect)
Set binaryRecord = Nothing
'convert to string of byte pairs to binary
binaryData = MultiByteToBinary(binaryData)
'save binary data
SaveBinaryData binaryOutputFile, binaryData
End Function
Set oFSO = Nothing

Answer 2

Japanese Code Page: From this blog entry: "Binary Files and the File System Object Do Not Mix": "In the Japanese code page, just-plain-chr(E0) is not even a legal character, so Chr will turn it into a zero... Do not use the FSO to read/write binary files, you're just asking for a world of hurt as soon as someone in DBCS-land runs your code."
Alternatives? How about .NET? I realized too late that you are in a custom action, I made the samples as standalone .NET console applications. The WiX framework has mechanisms to create a DTF custom action. Found this on github.com.
Rehashing?: Can we ask what you are actually doing? Why do you need to extract files this way? There could be other approaches that
are more reliable if you explain the scenario?
DTF / .NET: Though I am not a huge .NET fan for deployment use (too many layers of dependencies), I think you would do better using .NET / DTF for this. What is DTF?
Sample DTF C# Application: Below is a simple, C# sample application showing one way to extract a binary stream from the Binary table (there are several other ways, I am not a .NET expert).
Create a new C# Console App (.NET Framework).
Paste the below code in and adjust parameters.
Add reference to Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller.dll (DTF framework).
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;
namespace MSIExtractBinaryTableEntry
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// ADJUST 1: Name of Binary Table Entry
var binarytableentry = "ImageBmp";
// ADJUST 2: Source MSI path
var msifullpath = #"C:\MySetup.msi";
// ADJUST 3: Output target path for binary stream
var binaryfileoutputpath = #"C:\Output.XXX";
using (var db = new Database(msifullpath, DatabaseOpenMode.ReadOnly))
{
using (var binaryView = db.OpenView("SELECT Name, Data FROM Binary WHERE Name='" + binarytableentry + "'"))
{
binaryView.Execute();
binaryView.Fetch().GetStream(2, binaryfileoutputpath); // force overwrites output path
}
}
}
}
}
Alternative: Here is a tweak that exports the whole Binary Table to a folder called "Output" on the user's desktop.
Same procedure to create a test project as above. Only one parameter to specify: the full path to the input MSI.
using System;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.Deployment.WindowsInstaller;
namespace MSIExtractBinaryTableEntry
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// ADJUST 1: Specify MSI file path
var msifullpath = #"C:\MySetup.msi";
var outputpath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop), #"Output\");
Directory.CreateDirectory(outputpath);
using (var db = new Database(msifullpath, DatabaseOpenMode.ReadOnly))
{
using (var binaryView = db.OpenView("SELECT Name, Data FROM Binary"))
{
binaryView.Execute();
foreach (var rec in binaryView)
{
rec.GetStream("Data", outputpath + rec.GetString("Name"));
}
}
}
}
}
}

Answer 3

Here is what I ended up with.
As suggested by Stein Åsmul I rewrote the custom action using C# (.NET / DTF). Initially I was hesitant to writing custom actions in C# as it introduces additional prerequisites to the installer. But it turns out that if the custom action targets .NET Framework 2.0, it should be supported on most machines without the need to manually install the framework (see here).
So here is my code:
public static class TemporaryFilesExtractor
{
[CustomAction]
public static ActionResult ExtractTemporaryFiles(Session session)
{
ExtractFromBinary(session, "binaryname1", "<filePath1>");
ExtractFromBinary(session, "binaryname2", "<filePath2>");
return ActionResult.Success;
}
private static void ExtractFromBinary(Session session, string binaryName, string binaryOutputFile)
{
session.Log($"Extracting {binaryName} to {binaryOutputFile}");
byte[] buffer = new byte[4096];
using (var view = session.Database.OpenView("SELECT Data FROM Binary WHERE Name = '{0}'", binaryName))
{
view.Execute();
using (var record = view.Fetch())
using (var dbStream = record.GetStream(1))
using (var fileStream = File.OpenWrite(binaryOutputFile))
{
int count;
while ((count = dbStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) != 0)
fileStream.Write(buffer, 0, count);
}
}
}
}