I have been working on creating a pretty advanced GUI enabled database in Microsoft Access and am now in the implementation phase of my project.
My dream is to make an .exe file that will point to the actual .accdb database file (which will be hidden) as I cannot change the icon of the .accdb but will be able to modify the .exe's icon thus giving my implementation a more professional feel.
I'd prefer not to just create a shortcut to the .accdb and change that icon.
Through some quick digging, my plan was to create a .bat file that opens the .accdb and then use some online ".bat to .exe" converter to then add an icon to the .exe.
I can't figure out how to create a .bat file that opens my .accdb. I've tried a variety of different things like:
start "" C:\Program Files (x86)\CompassTrack "Science Department.accdb"
and other things that dont work.
It occurred to me that a .bat to .exe approach may not be the best way to do this. I don't particularily like the brief command prompt window appearance and would be open to any suggestions as to how to get a nice looking .exe file to open my .accdb.
If the best way really is a .bat file, I'd appreciate some help with the .bat file. The path to the file is C:\Program Files (x86)\CompassTrack\Science Department.accdb but for some reason every time, command prompt would return "Cannot find C:\Program "
Thanks in advance!
to change icon of an exe file using batch, look here
and to start your file use:
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\CompassTrack"
start "" "Science Departement.accdb"
I believe you can just change the icon of your Access database. Go to Current Database (in recent versions under Office Button > Access Options) and the option is in there.
Here's a really simple C# program that you can compile into an exe very easily to if you have .NET 3.5 installed. it uses a utility called the command line compiler. You'll have to change the file path obviously.
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
public class App
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Process myProcess = new Process();
myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = #"c:/your_file_path_goes_here/YourDB.accdb";
myProcess.Start();
}
}
You'll write the above to a text file with the extension .cs. Then create a batch file (a text file with the extension .bat) with this code.
#echo OFF
echo Compiling A File . . .
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\csc.exe /win32icon:_.ico /target:winexe /recurse:*.cs
echo.
#pause
Put these in the same dir as whatever icon you want to use, but make sure the icon is an iso file named _, as seen in the batch program. When you run the bat file, it will create the exe with the icon of your choice and it will simply launch the access database.
The feature and ability is part of the Access development system. Attempting to modify some .exe file etc. will not work.
I do suggest that you set the icon under file->options current database. It not clear why this is not working (perhaps start a new question to resolve that issue).
Keep in mind that if you deploy or change the resulting location, then you have to change the above “options” setting (manually, or by code – this much explain why your icon is not displaying – the path name cannot be relative – must be absolute.
ALSO select the box that says to use the icon for all forms and reports (this will give your application a MUCH more polished look. Since the .exe that actually runs your file is msacces.exe, then you can’t really change the application icon any other way. You see icons for the application AND ALSO forms like this "when" you set the application icon as per above:
So you WILL want to set the application icon. You then create a shortcut on your desktop. And again set the icon for that windows shortcut (it will nicely show up in the task bar with that icon).
The actual shortcut will look much like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\MSACCESS.EXE"
"c:\RidesDev\SkiRides\ RidesXP.accde" /runtime
The above shortcut will be on a single line (space between the two lines). The above is for Access 2010, so for 2013, then the folder is office15, and for 2016, it is office16 in above.
Also NOTE very important is the /runtime. This will ensure that the access icon NEVER shows during start-up.
Also, during start-up you will often see the MS Access splash logo during start-up. E.g. this:
You can replace this splash screen by placing a .bmp (picture) file in the SAME folder as the accDE with the same name.
So in above, if I place a RidesXMP.bmp picture file, then during start-up in place of the access splash screen, you see this:
Since you likely want the forms + reports icon to be custom, then the above makes the most sense. Your approach would ONLY give you a desktop icon, not one for the task bar, forms etc.
The above will result in hiding the access splash logo during start-up, and also apply an icon to all forms etc. I don’t suggest some approach that attempts to modify some .exe or some such – that’s likely to cause issues on customers computers. And using some .exe will not give you the icon for forms and repots.
Where is in the registry the path executed when I run the "notepad" command in windows "Start->run command" interface? I want to change it for notepad++ (it is required so, although could look not really good)
If you are like me you use windows run command all the time. I hate using the mouse to point and click a shortcut on the start menu. WIN-R are probably the two most over used keys on my keyboard. After thinking about if awhile I hunted down how the run command works. It turns out that it makes a call to ShellExecute, which I guess is not too surprising. The next thing I wanted to find out was exactly how the commands are resolved. The following is an ordered list of how they are resolved ([1]):
The current working directory
The Windows directory (no subdirectories are searched)
The Windows\System32 directory
Directories listed in the PATH environment variable
The App Paths registry key
Naturally the next thing I wanted to do was customize existing commands or add new commands so I do not have to type as much (standard lazy approach). After examining my options which were to put the executable in one of those paths (since it only locates executables and not shortcuts), modify the path environment variable or add a key to App Paths. The App Paths option seems to be the easiest and most flexible to me. Here is a layout of what you need to do to add an App Paths entry ([1]):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-->
SOFTWARE-->
Microsoft-->
Windows-->
CurrentVersion==>
App Paths-->
file.exe-->
(Default) = The fully-qualified path and file name
Path = A semicolon-separated list of directories
DropTarget = {CLSID}
Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. I cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.
The minimum needed to add a new entry is to add the key file.exe where file is the string you want to type into the run command and to add the Default entry which is the fully-qualified path to the file you want to execute. Note that even it the file you are going to reference isn't an exe file you still need to put the .exe on the key. Here is a sample registry file that I created to add a shorter keyword for Internet Explorer:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App
Paths\ie.exe] #="C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
After entering that entry into the registry I can simply type “ie” at
the run command to open internet explorer.
Here is a list of some common commands I use at the run command:
cmd – Command prompt winword – Microsoft Word excel – Microsoft Excel
outlook – Microsoft Outlook iexplore – Internet Explorer firefox –
Mozilla Firefox notepad – Notepad compmgmt.msc – Computer Management
Console control appwiz.cpl – Add/Remove programs dialog mstsc –
Microsoft Terminal Service Client regedit – Registry Editor
…
If there is some program that I find myself using all the time I figure out what the run command is for it and if there is not a short easy one I add one to my App Paths as described above. Does anyone else have some other common run commands they use?
I am trying to open a .chm file.
I downloaded the source, extracted it, and double clicked on Waffle.chm and clicked "Open" but no matter what element in the chm file I click, I get the message:
Navigation to the webpage was canceled.
What you can try:
Retype the address.
What's going on here?
Summary
Microsoft Security Updates 896358 & 840315 block display of CHM file contents when opened from a network drive (or a UNC path). This is Windows' attempt to stop attack vectors for viruses/malware from infecting your computer and has blocked out the .chm file that draw data over the "InfoTech" protocol, which this chm file uses.
Microsoft's summary of the problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054
Solutions
If you are using Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, windows has created a quick fix. Right click the chm file, and you will get the "yourfile.chm Properties" dialog box, at the bottom, a button called "Unblock" appears. Click Unblock and press OK, and try to open the chm file again, it works correctly. This option is not available for earlier versions of Windows before WindowsXP (SP3).
Solve the problem by moving your chm file OFF the network drive. You may be unaware you are using a network drive, double check now: Right click your .chm file, click properties and look at the "location" field. If it starts with two backslashes like this: \\epicserver\blah\, then you are using a networked drive. So to fix it, Copy the chm file, and paste it into a local drive, like C:\ or E:. Then try to reopen the chm file, windows does not freak out.
Last resort, if you can't copy/move the file off the networked drive. If you must open it where it sits, and you are using a lesser version of windows like XP, Vista, ME or other, you will have to manually tell Windows not to freak out over this .chm file. HHReg (HTML Help Registration Utility) Utility Automates this Task. Basically you download the HHReg utility, load your .chm file, press OK, and it will create the necessary registry keys to tell Windows not to block it. For more info: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-cannot-view-chm-files-network-xp-2003-vista/
Windows 8 or 10? --> Upgrade to Windows XP.
"unblocking" the file fixes the problem. Screenshot:
Win 8 x64:
just move it to another folder or rename your folder (in my case: my folder was "c#").
avoid to use symbol on folder name. name it with letter.
done.
In addition to Eric Leschinski's answer, and because this is stackoverflow, a programmatical solution:
Windows uses hidden file forks to mark content as "downloaded". Truncating these unblocks the file. The name of the stream used for CHM's is "Zone.Identifier". One can access streams by appending :streamname when opening the file. (keep backups the first time, in case your RTL messes that up!)
In Delphi it would look like this:
var f : file;
begin
writeln('unblocking ',s);
assignfile(f,'some.chm:Zone.Identifier');
rewrite(f,1);
truncate(f);
closefile(f);
end;
I'm told that on non forked filesystems (like FAT32) there are hidden files, but I haven't gotten to the bottom of that yet.
P.s. Delphi's DeleteFile() should also recognize forks.
The definitive solution is to allow the InfoTech protocol to work in the intranet zone.
Add the following value to the registry and the problem should be solved:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000001
More info here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054
Go to Start
Type regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx
You should get a success message like:
" DllRegisterServer in hhctrl.ocx succeeded "
Now try to open your CHM file again.
other way is to use different third party software. This link shows more third party software to view chm files...
I tried with SumatraPDF and it work fine.
I fixed this programmatically in my software, using C++ Builder.
Before I assign the CHM help file, Application->HelpFile = HelpFileName, I check to see if it contains the "Zone.Identifier" stream, and when it does, I simply remove it.
String ZIStream(HelpFileName + ":Zone.Identifier") ;
if (FileExists(ZIStream))
{ DeleteFile(ZIStream) ; }
There are apparently different levels of authentication. Most articles I read tell you to set the MaxAllowedZone to '1' which means that local machine zone and intranet zone are allowed but '4' allows access for 'all' zones.
For more info, read this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/892675
This is how my registry looks (I wasn't sure it would work with the wild cards but it seems to work for me):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"UrlAllowList"="\\\\<network_path_root>;\\\\<network_path_root>\*;\\ies-inc.local;http://www.*;http://*;https://www.*;https://*;"
As an additional note, weirdly the "UrlAllowList" key was required to make this work on another PC but not my test one. It's probably not required at all but when I added it, it fixed the problem. The user may have not closed the original file or something like that. So just a consideration. I suggest try the least and test it, then add if needed. Once you confirm, you can deploy if needed. Good Luck!
Edit: P.S. Another method that worked was mapping the path to the network locally by using mklink /d (symbolic linking in Windows 7 or newer) but mapping a network drive letter (Z: for testing) did not work. Just food for thought and I did not have to 'Unblock' any files. Also the accepted 'Solution' did not resolve the issue for me.
Moving to local folder is the quickest solution, nothing else worked for me esp because I was not admin on my system (can't edit registery etc), which is a typical case in a work environment.
Create a folder in C:\help drive, lets call it help and copy the files there and open.
Do not copy to mydocuments or anywhere else, those locations are usually on network drive in office setup and will not work.
A java application is using the %PUBLIC% environment variable to get the path to "c:\users\public". It then appends that with "public documents" and tries to read a file from the folder and fails (it previously read and wrote the file successfully). The application shows no data and when it tries to write to the "c:\users\public\public documents" folder a duplicate "c:\users\public\public documents" folder is created with the new version of the content. You can still get to the original content using windows explorer and see it all there, but now there are two "public documents" folders.
Previously it was reading and writing to the public documents folder without any problem. This is happening with every account on the system, but it is still working just fine on every other PC the software is installed on.
What Windows Explorer doesn't make evident is that the real folder is not actually called "Public Documents", but is actually called "Documents". The "Public Documents" is simply a display name, but as far as NTFS is concerned you can have both a "Documents" and "Public Documents" folder with no ill effects.
Use %PUBLIC%\Documents to refer to the actual folder you're looking for.
I'm trying to do the following I'm not sure if it's possible using VB.NET.
I want to specify default saving point for all files type for example:
In my program you choose the path "C:\Users\Markus\Pictures" for pictures and everytime you download pictures files from website, or using skype or any other program when Save File Dialog opens up (external one not via my program or connected to vb.net just the windows default one) then it will show "C:\Users\Markus\Pictures" always for .jpg .gif type of files etc...
Thanks a lot.
This bits of codes should solve your problem
SaveFileDialog1.InitialDirectory = #"C:\Users\Markus\Pictures"
InitialDirectory property represents the directory to be displayed when the open file dialog appears first time.
SaveFileDialog1.Filter = "txt files (*.jpg)|*.jpg|All files (*.*)|*.*"
Filter property represents the filter on an open file dialog that is used to filter the type of files to be loaded during the browse option in an open file dialog.
refer to this link for more info
You can programmatically modify the paths of the Windows special directories (My Pictures, etc) in the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
However, your app will have to be granted permissions to do so (see RegistryPermission Class)
Of course, this will work for those file types that have entries in this registry key, and only if an external application uses this key