I've been making a project in visual basic that runs games, but i need help. Is there a way that when i click a button it will find a certain exe then if it finds that exe it will run it.
Actually, sometimes you need to do exactly that. In my case, I am working on developing RTMaps packages using msvc and for that I need to run RTMaps(exe) for debugging and other stuff.
The way I am doing this is adding the .exe path as following
Project->Propreties->Debugging->Command =>(path_to_exe)
This way, clicking on debug will launch the ".exe" program you attached.
Hope it helps !
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I am not familiar with Windows installer builder tools, other than having a conceptual understanding of them. I have a hopefully simple installer-file-wrapping-problem to solve where i would need some advice from people who know this field better than myself:
I have a vendor provided vanilla Setup.exe installer along with a custom config.dat file.
I can run the installer with "Setup.exe /S" which picks up the config.dat file in the same directory for a silent install just as I need it.
I now want to wrap both files into a single file self executable installer "CustomSetup.exe" that if launched with "Run as Administrator" silently unpacks the two files into the same directory, runs the silent install command line "Setup.exe /S" and deletes the previously unpacked files and directory afterwards. Effectively giving me a single-file one-click silent installer with custom settings from the vendor provided vanilla installer.
What is the simplest, most straight forward and elegant way of getting this done?
Most InstallShield/WIX/Windows Installer Tools tutorial- and documentation-pages i could find want to take me to an elaborate installer-project-building-academy first, something that is certainly useful for developers needing to learn how to build complex installer projects, but feels like overkill for just getting this seemingly simple thing done. Is there a lean way to do this? Many thanks in advance for your help.
For the record, I have found the answer to my own question.
Running the Windows on-board IExpress (as Administrator) easily produced exactly what I was after. Just type "Iexpress" into the command search box, run as Administraor and fidlle with it. Alternatively, this is someones Video explaining it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXZyq0cMuKI
I would like to try and avoid the VB6.exe application when trying to compile my project. It tends to create the *.obj files and then crashes leaving me with no idea what went wrong.
"c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\VB6.EXE" /m MyProject.vbp
I would like to try and use LINK.exe and C2.exe to compile my application instead. I found a really great article located here on the process with all the switches etc. I was hoping someone has tried something link this and been successful so they can tell me exactly what switches I need to use and a step by step process of how to create the object files and then link them all to the EXE.
I ended up getting this old source to compile. I'm sure my situation was unique but I thought I would share in hopes of helping someone else find their way if this happens to them.
First, I could NOT get this one project to compile to save my life in the end. At first it would compile in the IDE, then only by running the following in a command line...
"c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\VB6.EXE" /m MyProject.vbp
Then that would not even work and I had to use the package and deployment wizard to compile it which worked some of the time.
I think it was really just hit or miss in the end. But at some point something pointed to a specific module file I had that was used to access (read/write) the registry. I think it was between looking at logs and maybe even the windows event viewer etc. So I started thinking... Maybe it will compile if that was not used. So I removed the module from the project, tried to compile, then VB was nice enough to show me every call that would not work because the referenced function did not exist. I commented out all of those as well then I was able to compile with very little effort and it went smooth again!
So that helped me identify what VB was flipping out about but it did not solve the underlining issue (that I could not compile ALL of my source). So I started trying to work all the source back into the application one by one to see where it would break at.
I first added the module file to the project and just compiled.
Success!
I then tried to uncomment the first thing I commented out (reference to the function in that module) and then recompiled.
Success!
I managed to get all the way back through all my commented out lines of code and put them back the way they were originally. I then recompiled for the final time.
Success!
So at this point I had EVERYTHING back to the exact way I had it before I started trying to compile. Now it works with no issues at all!
I am working on a legacy (20 years plus) code base and doing the development in MSDEV 2010. The code is not built in MSDEV, it is done via a batch file using nmake.
I have created an empty windows project in MSDEV and pointed it at the relevant binaries. This works, I can either attach to the exe when it is running or run it in debug from the start - breakpoints, stepping etc all work.
However, I cannot use F12 to lookup the definition of things. When I press it I just get told it cannot find the definition. I have tried adding the files in but that does not seem to help.
Anyone know how I can set this up?
It was far easier than I thought. There is a separate option in 2010 to create a project from existing code.
I simply created the project and added the code from the root of my source tree. Intellisense now works (as does Phat Studio).
I am now trying to figure out how to set the build system up within MSDEV!
I know I will miss so much of Visual Studio but I am getting really sick of it crashing all the time and being slow, PLUS it is always changing things in my repository that I don't want to change, so I want to just edit with Notepad++. However, now I will have to load up VS just to build things. Is there a way I can build from command line and make a script for it and what not? Will it show the compile errors?
Please don't try to troubleshoot VS for me, I am just asking what is in the question and the rest was just given for context and so nobody was like 'Y U NO RIKE VIZAL STUDIA?'.
build: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe "PATH TO YOUR SOLUTION FILE"
help: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe /help
What you need is directly calling csc.exe, the C# compiler (which is called by the build system of Visual Studio, anyways). If you ever worked with GCC, it is quite similar except that options are passed Windows-style with / signs instead of -- and there are no object files or additional linking. The MSDN library has documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/78f4aasd.aspx.
Generally, you'd need something like:
csc /target:exe /out:Something.exe *.cs
plus any /reference's you would add in Visual Studio.
If your project is large, it may be uncomfortable to maintain a .bat file to do the compilation, so a build tool like NAnt may be needed, which is quite similar to the Ant used for Java.
This is of course if you want to eliminate Visual Studio entirely. Otherwise, Snowbear's solution of invoking MSBuild.exe will be just as fine.
This may sound like a newbie question - and it is. I'm relatively new to vs, we started using it a few months ago, and I still haven't "mentally" made the change from the command line. So, if you could help me with 2 things:
I create a new project (not a solution). He puts the files in some directory. After putting my code inside it, I click on the little green triangle (Debug, it says), and he compiles it, builds it and runs it. It works ok. Now, sometimes, I have to change only a tiny bit of code and I don't feel like getting the whole VS up just for that. How can I do that Debug thing from the command line, with the assumption I didn't change anything else.
Where do I tell him not to create a "Debug" subdirectory, not to create a HTML Build log, an object file ... and so on, generally, where can I find the settings which will help me to get as little files ... apart from my original source, and the .exe resultant one ?
I have to change only a tiny bit of code and I don't feel like getting the whole VS up just for that. How can I do that Debug thing from the command line, with the assumption I didn't change anything else.
I think what you want here is not debugging but a rebuild of your project.
Where do I tell him not to create a "Debug" subdirectory, not to create a HTML Build log, an object file ... and so on, generally, where can I find the settings which will help me to get as little files ... apart from my original source, and the .exe resultant one ?
The answer to both these questions is to use the command line! You can make VS emit a make file from the loaded project. Use NMAKE to build this make file after you have made your desired modifications. The ".obj" files are created as an intermediate step between compilation and linking phase this is how the C++ compilation model works. Why do insist on not generating them?
You can't really start debugging without starting up Visual Studio, since Visual Studio is the debugger. You can tell VS to rebuild a solution from the command line without firing up the UI if you want to just build it: See MSDN for details.
You can control the creation of the DEBUG and RELEASE directories via the 'intermediate files' option in the project settings. Though you need to create the obj file somewhere in order for the compile to work.