Hey I have been stuck on this bug for a long time I hope someone can help,
so in my .NET program when you press a button a timer starts which opens up multiple Internet Explorer windows but the problem is that I want each window opened to be a different size which can be done by adding randomness to the size. But I am not sure how to do that.
PLEASE HELP!!!
this what i have so far
Private Sub Timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
Process.Start("C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe", "www.google.com")
End Sub
Your sample code Timer1_Tick is in .Net
But, if you are looking for VBA solution , try something like this
Sub IE()
Dim oIE As Object
Set oIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
oIE.navigate2 "www.google.com"
oIE.Height = CInt(Int((1000 * Rnd()) + 1))
oIE.Width = CInt(Int((1000 * Rnd()) + 1))
oIE.Visible = True
End Sub
This link might help : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa752084(v=vs.85).aspx
This can be achieved by using interop and USER32.dll
Let me give u an example in c#.
[DllImport("USER32.DLL", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
internal static extern bool MoveWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int X, int Y, int nWidth, int nHeight, bool bRepaint);
public IntPtr win_handle;
void somefunction(){
string ie_win_class = "IEFrame";
string ie_win_nm = "New Tab - Windows Internet Explorer";
win_handle = FindWindow(win_class, win_name);
MoveWindow(win_handle, 600, 600, 600, 600, True);
}
sorry, i don't have experience with VB. I hope this helped you.
links-
MoveWindow function
COM Interop (Visual Basic)
I have some vbs code that will automatically change my windows theme via cmd as well as close it after the operation completes. The personalization window opens, Windows changes the theme, and then the personalization window closes. The problem is, sometimes the window doesn't close after changing the theme and I'm wondering why. Also, is there a one-liner code in cmd (or vbs that can execute through cmd) that just closes the personalization window? Thanks in advance for your help! My code used is as follows:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:""C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\basic.theme"""
Wscript.Sleep 1600
WshShell.AppActivate("Desktop Properties")
WshShell.Sendkeys "%FC"
WshShell.Sendkeys "{F4}"
Your Run call is being done asynchonously so your script will continue without waiting for Run to complete. This is fine, and it's what you need in your situation. But if it takes longer than 1600ms to launch the Desktop Properties dialog then AppActivate and your SendKeys commands are being sent to a nonexistent window. Have you tried increasing the sleep time to see if it works?
You can also test the availability of the window in a loop. AppActivate returns True if the window is found and False otherwise. For example, here's a snippet that tries for 10 seconds to see if the window appears (checking each second)...
For i = 1 To 10
WScript.Sleep 1000
If WshShell.AppActivate("Desktop Properties") Then
WshShell.Sendkeys "%FC"
WshShell.Sendkeys "{F4}"
Exit For
End If
Next
' If i > 10, it failed to find the window.
After trying a similar solution, I came up with the following powershell:
Function Get-WindowHandle($title,$class="") {
$code = #'
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("User32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
'#
Add-Type -MemberDefinition $code -Namespace MyWinAPI -Name GetWindowHandle
return [MyWinAPI.GetWindowHandle]::FindWindow($class, $title)
}
Function Close-WindowHandle($windowHandle) {
$code = #'
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("User32.dll")]
public static extern bool PostMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int flags, int idk, int idk2);
'#
Add-Type -MemberDefinition $code -Namespace MyWinAPI -Name CloseWindowHandle
#https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms632617(v=vs.85).aspx
$WM_CLOSE = 0x0010
return [MyWinAPI.CloseWindowHandle]::PostMessage($windowHandle, $WM_CLOSE, 0, 0)
}
Close-WindowHandle $(Get-WindowHandle 'Personalization' 'CabinetWClass')
first of all i'm sorry for my english.
I've one question about windows WMI and how to add a local port to shared printer. I've this script:
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:")
Set objNewPort = objWMIService.Get _
("Win32_TCPIPPrinterPort").SpawnInstance_
objNewPort.Name = "Ricoh3300C"
objNewPort.Protocol = 2
objNewPort.HostAddress = "XXX.XXX.X.XXX"
objNewPort.PortNumber = "9100"
objNewPort.SNMPEnabled = False
objNewPort.Put_
With this i can add a printer with IP address but i want to add a printer in samba server with an address like "\\XXX.XXX.X.XXX\printerColor". I've lost a lot of time in google trying to find an script and all that i've seen is for TCPIP ports. I wan't to do it but in local port.
I've tried to use this script with prnadmin.dll and no luck.
function PortAdd(strPort, portType)
on error resume next
dim oMaster
dim oPort
dim iResult
set oMaster = CreateObject("PrintMaster.PrintMaster.1")
set oPort = CreateObject("Port.Port.1")
iResult = kErrorFailure
oPort.PortName = strPort
oPort.PortType = portType
oMaster.PortAdd oPort
if Err = 0 then
iResult = kErrorSuccess
else
wscript.echo "Error: 0x" & Hex(Err.Number) & ". " & Err.Description
end if
PortAdd = iResult
end function
I get this error:
Error: 0x1A8. Se requiere un objeto
in english is like
Error: 0x1A8. An object is required
How can i fix that error or what script can i use to add a local port?. Thanks in advance.
I forgot to say that i want to do it with normal user without admin access. The first script works fine in that users but is for TCPIP.
Consider using XcvData, e.g.
private static void AddPort(string portName)
{
var def = new PRINTER_DEFAULTS();
def.pDatatype = null;
def.pDevMode = IntPtr.Zero;
def.DesiredAccess = 1; //Server Access Administrator
IntPtr hPrinter = IntPtr.Zero;
int n = OpenPrinter(",XcvMonitor Local Port", ref hPrinter, def);
if (n == 0)
throw new Exception("Local Port monitor has not been opened.");
if (!portName.EndsWith("\0"))
portName += "\0";
// .NET strings are formed by 2-byte characters
var size = (uint) (portName.Length*2);
IntPtr portPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal((int) size);
Marshal.Copy(portName.ToCharArray(), 0, portPtr, portName.Length);
uint needed, xcvResult;
XcvData(hPrinter, "AddPort", portPtr, size, IntPtr.Zero, 0, out needed, out xcvResult);
ClosePrinter(hPrinter);
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(portPtr);
}
[DllImport("winspool.drv", EntryPoint = "XcvDataW", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool XcvData(
IntPtr hXcv,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string pszDataName,
IntPtr pInputData,
uint cbInputData,
IntPtr pOutputData,
uint cbOutputData,
out uint pcbOutputNeeded,
out uint pwdStatus);
Are the following things possible using VBScript or any other programming language:
detect screen shape - or whether computer is docked
change the Windows taskbar location
What I am trying to achieve:
My laptop has a 14" widescreen: pretty wide, but not very high. I find it most convenient to have the Windows taskbar located on the left of the screen, since I can spare the width but not the vertical space.
However, when in the office, my computer sits in a docking station and is hooked up to a nice big squarish screen. Here I much prefer to have the taskbar in its default location i.e. at the bottom.
I know how to switch between the two taskbar locations manually in Taskbar Properties, of course. But I do this a few times daily, which is rather annoying. My question is: can I have the taskbar location change automatically?
For example, at startup (or wake up from hibernation) a script would run which detects either:
Is screen shape taller than 4:3? (or whatever number)
Is computer docked in docking station?
If yes, put taskbar at bottom, else at left.
Anyone know how to do this or can put me on the right track? Or is there already a utility out there that can do this?
//Normal augment on why this is not a good idea on someone else's machine omitted
A scripting language may not be a good choice here, you need something that pumps the message to listen to WM_DISPLAYCHANGE.
When you get the message you need to calculate the desired orientation of the task bar based on the resolutions of your monitors. Then you use RmShutdown to close Windows Explorer.
//undocumented behavior begins, may break anytime
The taskbar docking edge is stored in byte 13 (as one of the ABE values from APPBARDATA ) and the position is stored in byte 25-40 as a win32 RECT. You can modify the setting before restarting the explorer.
//undocumented behavior ends
Sample code (full source at https://github.com/jiangsheng/Samples/tree/master/AppBarTest):
//returns the process id and create time for the oldest explorer.exe
RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS GetExplorerApplication()
{
RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS result={0};
DWORD bytesReturned=0;
DWORD processIdSize=4096;
std::vector<DWORD> processIds;
processIds.resize(1024);
EnumProcesses(processIds.data(),processIdSize,&bytesReturned);
while(bytesReturned==processIdSize)
{
processIdSize+=processIdSize;
processIds.resize(processIdSize/4);
EnumProcesses(processIds.data(),processIdSize,&bytesReturned);
}
std::for_each(processIds.begin(), processIds.end(), [&result] (DWORD processId) {
HANDLE hProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION|PROCESS_VM_READ,
FALSE, processId);
if (hProcess) {
std::wstring imageName;
imageName.resize(4096);
if(GetProcessImageFileName (hProcess,(LPWSTR)imageName.data(),4096)>0)
{
if(wcscmp(L"explorer.exe",PathFindFileName(imageName.data()))==0)
{
//this is assmuing the user is not running elevated and won't see explorer processes in other sessions
FILETIME ftCreate, ftExit, ftKernel, ftUser;
if (GetProcessTimes(hProcess, &ftCreate, &ftExit,&ftKernel, &ftUser))
{
if(result.dwProcessId==0)
{
result.dwProcessId=processId;
result.ProcessStartTime=ftCreate;
}
else if(CompareFileTime(&result.ProcessStartTime,&ftCreate)>0)
{
result.dwProcessId=processId;
result.ProcessStartTime=ftCreate;
}
}
}
}
CloseHandle(hProcess);
}
});
return result;
}
//taskbar position calculating code omitted
DWORD dwSession=0;
WCHAR szSessionKey[CCH_RM_SESSION_KEY+1] = { 0 };
DWORD dwError = RmStartSession(&dwSession, 0, szSessionKey);
if (dwError == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS rgApplications[1]={GetExplorerApplication()};
dwError=RmRegisterResources(
dwSession,0,NULL,1,rgApplications,0,NULL);
DWORD dwReason;
UINT nProcInfoNeeded;
UINT nProcInfo = 10;
RM_PROCESS_INFO rgpi[10];
dwError = RmGetList(dwSession, &nProcInfoNeeded,
&nProcInfo, rgpi, &dwReason);
if(dwReason==RmRebootReasonNone)//now free to restart explorer
{
RmShutdown(dwSession,RmForceShutdown,NULL);//important, if we change the registry before shutting down explorer will override our change
//using undocumented setting structure, could break any time
//edge setting is stored at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2!Settings
HKEY hKey={0};
DWORD result=0;
result=::RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, _T("Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\StuckRects2"),
0, KEY_READ|KEY_WRITE, &hKey) ;
if (result== ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
std::vector<BYTE> data;
data.resize(256);
TCHAR settingValue[]= _T("Settings");
DWORD dwKeyDataType=0;
DWORD dwDataBufSize=data.size();
result=::RegQueryValueEx(hKey,settingValue, NULL, &dwKeyDataType,
(LPBYTE) data.data(), &dwDataBufSize);
while(ERROR_MORE_DATA==result)
{
data.resize(256+data.size());
dwDataBufSize=data.size();
result=::RegQueryValueEx(hKey,settingValue, NULL, &dwKeyDataType,
(LPBYTE) data.data(), &dwDataBufSize);
}
data.resize(dwDataBufSize);
if(result==ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
switch ( dwKeyDataType )
{
case REG_BINARY:
if(data.size()==40)
{
BYTE taskbarPosition=data[12];
taskbarPosition=edge;
data[12]=taskbarPosition;
RECT* taskbarRect=(RECT*)&data[24];
CopyRect (taskbarRect,&abd.rc);
result=::RegSetValueEx(hKey,settingValue,0,REG_BINARY,(LPBYTE) data.data(), dwDataBufSize);
}
break;
}
}
::RegCloseKey( hKey );
}
RmRestart (dwSession,0,NULL);
}
}
RmEndSession(dwSession);
You can do this in a simple batch or from a script.
Set the registry value to position the taskbar based on the current resolution of your screen (if in the docking it will be higher) and then restart explorer.exe.
So eg a batch to set the taskbar at the left of your screen would be (assuming you have the bottom.reg file in the d:\scripts folder)
reg add d:\scripts\Bottom.reg
#echo off taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
explorer.exe
The contents of bottom.reg are
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2]
"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,02,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,3e,00,00,00,2e,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,82,04,00,00,80,07,00,00,b0,04,00,00
and for left.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2]
"Settings"=hex:28,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,3e,00,00,00,2e,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,3e,00,00,00,b0,04,00,00
You will have some flickering but since you will do this when you start windows that won't be a problem i suppose. I tested this on Windows 7.
EDIT: made a vbscript that does the same thing based on screen resolution
HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set ObjRegistry = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")
'Get curr. user name
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_ComputerSystem")
For Each objItem in colItems
strCurrentUserName = objItem.UserName
Next
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_DesktopMonitor where DeviceID = 'DesktopMonitor1'",,0)
For Each objItem in colItems
intHorizontal = objItem.ScreenWidth
intVertical = objItem.ScreenHeight
Next
bottom = Array(&H28,&H00,&H00,&H00,&Hff,&Hff,&Hff,&Hff,&H02,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H03,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H3e,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H2e,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H82,&H04,&H00,&H00,&H80,&H07,&H00,&H00,&Hb0,&H04,&H00,&H00)
left_ = Array(&H28,&H00,&H00,&H00,&Hff,&Hff,&Hff,&Hff,&H02,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H3e,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H2e,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H00,&H3e,&H00,&H00,&H00,&Hb0,&H04,&H00,&H00)
if intHorizontal >= 1920 then
regdata = bottom
else
regdata = left_
end if
ObjRegistry.SetBinaryValue HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2\", "Settings", regdata
'Restart user shell
Set colProcessList = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'Explorer.exe'")
For Each objProcess in colProcessList
colProperties = objProcess.GetOwner(strNameOfUser,strUserDomain)
wscript.echo colProperties
If strUserDomain & "\" & strNameOfUser = strCurrentUserName then
wscript.echo "restarting"
objProcess.Terminate()
end if
Next
EDIT 3
OK, so it seems like this might not be an Installer issue after all. When I make a simple batch file:
exit /b 12
and call it as
cmd /c test.cmd
echo %ERRORLEVEL%
I get "12" on Windows Server 2003 R2, but "0" on XP. I thought I had tested this simple test case many times before but apparently not.
So, I've changed the tags and title but I'm leaving the other information here as there's actually a lot of useful stuff here that is not directly related to this issue.
Thoughts?
Original below
I have a custom action written in VBScript that in turn is calling a Windows batch file (the custom action is essentially allowing the user to execute something at install time they can also run later by running the batch file - it's a convenience). The function is below:
Function MainFunction
strCustomActionData = Session.Property("CustomActionData")
strSplit = Split(strCustomActionData, ";")
strInstallDir = strSplit(0)
strPostCopyAction = strSplit(1)
strScriptLocation = strInstallDir & "\MigrationMasterProcess.cmd"
strFullCommand = """" & strScriptLocation & """ " & strPostCopyAction
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim objExec
Set objExec = objShell.Exec(strFullCommand)
intReturnCode = objExec.ExitCode
Set objExec = Nothing
Set objShell = Nothing
WriteMessage "Return value: " & intReturnCode
' cf. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa371254(v=vs.85).aspx
If (intReturnCode = 0) Then
MainFunction = 1
Else
MainFunction = 3
End If
End Function
When I run the same kind of code outside of a custom action, and the batch file returns an error code (via EXIT /B), the return value is correctly captured in intReturnCode. However, from the custom action, the exit code seems to be "lost" - I always get a 0 back (I can see this in the installer log from the WriteMessage call). It doesn't matter if I use Exec or Run on the shell, I still get back a 0. The script writes its own return code out before returning it (I can see this in the stdout stream from Exec) so I know it's not actually 0. I need that return code to properly report an error back to the installer.
Ideas?
For the record this is Windows Installer 3.0 on Windows XP SP3. The installer is in Wise so I don't have a WiX snippet or I would include it, but this is the function being called.
Also this is somewhat stripped - I've left out comments and other calls to WriteMessage as well as that function. And yes psuedo-Hungarian is evil blah blah blah.
Edit: Here is the C version of the code. It's giving the same exact issue:
#include <Windows.h>
#include <msi.h>
#include <msiquery.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "LaunchChildProcess.h"
BOOL APIENTRY DllMain( HANDLE hModule, DWORD ul_reason_for_call, LPVOID lpReserved ) {
return TRUE;
}
UINT __stdcall RunMigrationAction(MSIHANDLE hModule) {
UINT uiStat;
DWORD dwPropertySize = MAX_PATH * 2;
TCHAR szValueBuf[MAX_PATH * 2]; // arbitrary but we know the strings won't be near that long
TCHAR *szInstallDir, *szPostCopyAction;
TCHAR *szNextToken;
TCHAR szScriptLocation[MAX_PATH * 2];
TCHAR szParameters[MAX_PATH * 2];
INT iReturnValue;
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Action Status"), TEXT("Starting"));
uiStat = MsiGetProperty(hModule, TEXT("CustomActionData"), szValueBuf, &dwPropertySize);
if (ERROR_SUCCESS != uiStat) {
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Startup"), TEXT("Failed to get custom action data"));
return ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE;
}
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Properties given"), szValueBuf);
LogTaggedInteger(hModule, TEXT("Property length"), dwPropertySize);
if (0 == dwPropertySize) {
return ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE;
}
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Properties given"), szValueBuf);
szInstallDir = wcstok_s(szValueBuf, TEXT(";"), &szNextToken);
szPostCopyAction = wcstok_s(NULL, TEXT(";"), &szNextToken);
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Install dir"), szInstallDir);
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Post-copy action"), szPostCopyAction);
wcscpy_s(szScriptLocation, MAX_PATH * 2, szInstallDir);
wcscat_s(szScriptLocation, MAX_PATH * 2, TEXT("\\MigrationMasterProcess.cmd"));
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Script location"), szScriptLocation);
wcscpy_s(szParameters, MAX_PATH * 2, TEXT(" /C "));
wcscat_s(szParameters, MAX_PATH * 2, szScriptLocation);
wcscat_s(szParameters, MAX_PATH * 2, TEXT(" "));
wcscat_s(szParameters, MAX_PATH * 2, szPostCopyAction);
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Parameters to cmd.exe"), szParameters);
iReturnValue = ExecuteProcess(TEXT("cmd.exe"), szParameters);
LogTaggedInteger(hModule, TEXT("Return value from command"), iReturnValue);
LogTaggedString(hModule, TEXT("Action Status"), TEXT("Finished"));
return (0 == iReturnValue) ? ERROR_SUCCESS : ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE;
}
void LogTaggedInteger(MSIHANDLE hInstall, TCHAR* szTag, INT iValue) {
TCHAR szValue[15];
_itow_s(iValue, szValue, 15, 10);
LogTaggedString(hInstall, szTag, szValue);
}
void LogTaggedString(MSIHANDLE hInstall, TCHAR* szTag, TCHAR* szMessage) {
MSIHANDLE hRecord;
UINT uiStat;
//TCHAR szFullMessage[4096];
//wcscpy_s(szFullMessage, 4096, TEXT("--------------- "));
//wcscat_s(szFullMessage, 4096, szTag);
//wcscat_s(szFullMessage, 4096, TEXT(": "));
//wcscat_s(szFullMessage, 4096, szMessage);
hRecord = MsiCreateRecord(3);
uiStat = MsiRecordSetString(hRecord, 0, TEXT("--------- [1]: [2]"));
uiStat = MsiRecordSetString(hRecord, 1, szTag);
uiStat = MsiRecordSetString(hRecord, 2, szMessage);
uiStat = MsiProcessMessage(hInstall, INSTALLMESSAGE(INSTALLMESSAGE_INFO), hRecord);
MsiCloseHandle(hRecord);
return;
}
int MsiMessageBox(MSIHANDLE hInstall, TCHAR* szString, DWORD dwDlgFlags) {
PMSIHANDLE newHandle = ::MsiCreateRecord(2);
MsiRecordSetString(newHandle, 0, szString);
return (MsiProcessMessage(hInstall, INSTALLMESSAGE(INSTALLMESSAGE_USER + dwDlgFlags), newHandle));
}
DWORD ExecuteProcess(TCHAR *szProcess, TCHAR *szParams) {
INT iMyCounter = 0, iPos = 0;
DWORD dwReturnVal = 0;
TCHAR *sTempStr = L"";
/* CreateProcessW can modify Parameters thus we allocate needed memory */
wchar_t * pwszParam = new wchar_t[wcslen(szParams) + 1];
if (NULL == pwszParam) {
return 1;
}
wcscpy_s(pwszParam, wcslen(szParams) + 1, szParams);
/* CreateProcess API initialization */
STARTUPINFOW siStartupInfo;
PROCESS_INFORMATION piProcessInfo;
memset(&siStartupInfo, 0, sizeof(siStartupInfo));
memset(&piProcessInfo, 0, sizeof(piProcessInfo));
siStartupInfo.cb = sizeof(siStartupInfo);
if (CreateProcessW(const_cast<LPCWSTR>(szProcess),
pwszParam, 0, 0, false,
CREATE_DEFAULT_ERROR_MODE, 0, 0,
&siStartupInfo, &piProcessInfo) != false) {
/* Watch the process. */
WaitForSingleObject(piProcessInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
if (!GetExitCodeProcess(piProcessInfo.hProcess, &dwReturnVal)) {
dwReturnVal = GetLastError();
}
} else {
/* CreateProcess failed */
dwReturnVal = GetLastError();
}
/* Free memory */
free(pwszParam);
pwszParam = NULL;
/* Release handles */
CloseHandle(piProcessInfo.hProcess);
CloseHandle(piProcessInfo.hThread);
return dwReturnVal;
}
When run on my Windows Server 2003 R2 Visual Studio 2008 box, I get the error code as expected:
--------- Return value from command: 5023
When run on my Windows XP test box, I get a 0, even though it should be an error:
--------- Return value from command: 0
Both machines have Windows Installer 3.1. XP is 3.01.4001.5512, 2003 R2 is 3.01.4000.3959.
So it's something acting different between the boxes although I have no idea what.
EDIT 2
The exact table row for the action, as generated by the Wise for Windows Installer tool, is:
"RunMigrationActionCA","1537","Calllaunchchildprocess","RunMigrationAction","0"
To test the immediate flag I added 0x800 to the type column and no change was seen in the end behavior.
To be clear - this works fine on the 2003 R2 machine. That machine is not joined to a domain, but the XP machine is. Is there anything in group policy that could cause this behavior? (Grasping at straws at this point.)
It seems to be a bug in the cmd.exe of WinXP.
The solution is to use exit 123 instead of exit /b 123 in the batch file.
If you don't wish to change existing batch files, just add a wrapper.bat:
#echo off
call %*
exit %errorlevel%
And invoke it:
system("wrapper.bat your.bat all your args")
WScript objects don't work inside custom actions Please reader more here. You could use a DLL custom action. Here is a step by step tutorial.