I have a C++ CLR/CLI project, I wonder how to embed a localized satellite dll into my exe application, I found similar solutions but it's for C# projects which is pretty different from my project structure.
Is it possible to embed it directly into the binary?
By the way I'm getting issues with namespaces, it seems my custom namespace is not linked to my localized resource file.
I've been searching for hours to find a solution for a C++ CLR/CLI project which is pretty different comparing with C# projects which apparently comes with Build Action and Custom Tool Namespace all these options we don't have in a CLR/CLI project, it's really important, especially if we have changed Namespaces so we gotta use Resource Logical Name instead. Here's my answer how to solve Namespace issues, this also works for localized resource files linked to satellite dlls.
After your localized satellite dll is generated, include that in your project as Compiled Managed Resource you can set that by opening its file property and setting the Item Type. In projects such as C# you won't find that but something similar like "Embedded Resource". Anyways this is intended to C++ CLR/CLI projects only. If you have changed namespaces, don't forget to set Resource Logical Name of the respective resource file.
Next step is to do some code in order to embed that dll into our exe application, here's a good one for that:
Since C++ CLR/CLI doesn't support lambda expressions we have to do this way:
private: System::Reflection::Assembly^ currentDomainAssemblyResolve(System::Object^ sender, System::ResolveEventArgs^ args) {
System::Reflection::AssemblyName^ assemblyName = gcnew System::Reflection::AssemblyName(args->Name);
System::String^ resourceName = assemblyName->Name + ".dll";
System::IO::Stream^ stream = System::Reflection::Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly()->GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName);
array<Byte>^ assemblyData = gcnew array<Byte>((unsigned long) stream->Length);
try {
stream->Read(assemblyData, 0, assemblyData->Length);
} finally {
if (stream != nullptr) delete stream;
}
return System::Reflection::Assembly::Load(assemblyData);
}
Usage:
//Put it in your constructor before InitializeComponent()
MyClass(void) {
AppDomain::CurrentDomain->AssemblyResolve += gcnew System::ResolveEventHandler(this, &MyNameSpace::MyClass::currentDomainAssemblyResolve);
InitializeComponent();
}
So now it's no longer necessary satellite dlls to load your localized resources.
Use a free application packer to bundle files into a single exe.
https://enigmaprotector.com/en/aboutvb.html
This one is free, I use it and it works very well for me.
Related
I'm trying to launch an image using WinRT API WIndows::System::Launcher::LaunchFileAsync().
Code snippet is as follows:
RoInitialize(RO_INIT_MULTITHREADED);
String^ imagePath = ref new String(L"C:\\Users\\GoodMan\\Pictures\\wood.png");
auto file = Storage::StorageFile::GetFileFromPathAsync(imagePath);
Windows::System::Launcher::LaunchFileAsync(file);
I'm getting this error from the LaunchFileAsync() API:
error C2665: 'Windows::System::Launcher::LaunchFileAsync' : none of
the 2 overloads could convert all the argument types
Can I please get help how to solve this. I'm very new to WinRT C++ coding .
The method GetFileFromPathAsync does not return a StorageFile, but it returns IAsyncOperation<StorageFile>^. What you have to do is convert the latter to the former, as follows:
using namespace concurrency;
String^ imagePath = ref new String(L"C:\\Users\\GoodMan\\Pictures\\wood.png");
auto task = create_task(Windows::Storage::StorageFile::GetFileFromPathAsync(imagePath));
task.then([this](Windows::Storage::StorageFile^ file)
{
Windows::System::Launcher::LaunchFileAsync(file);
});
Generally all Windows Store app framework methods that end in Async will return either an IAsyncOperation, or a task. These methods are what are known as asynchronous methods, and require some special handling. See this article for more info: Asynchronous programming in C++ .
So now everything is great, correct? Well, not quite. There is another issue with your code. It is that when you run the code above, you will get an access-denied error. The reason is that Windows Store Apps are sandboxed, and you cannot generally access just any file on the filesystem.
You are in luck, though, because you are trying to access a file in your Pictures folder. The Pictures folder is a special folder that Windows Store apps have access to. You can get at it using the KnownFolders class:
using namespace concurrency;
Windows::Storage::StorageFolder^ pictures =
Windows::Storage::KnownFolders::PicturesLibrary;
auto task = create_task(pictures->GetFileAsync("wood.png"));
task.then([this](Windows::Storage::StorageFile^ file)
{
Windows::System::Launcher::LaunchFileAsync(file);
});
Note that in order to access the Pictures folder your application has to declare it in the project manifest. To do so, double click on the Package.appmanifest file in the project "tree" in Visual Studio, and select the Capabilities tab. Then under Capabilities, check Pictures Library.
In the application that I am developing (using C++ and Qt), I am using QApplication::applicationDirPath() to access some resources, with respect of the application's path.
As an example, since I want to open a HTML manual from the application, I act this way:
void MainWindow::on_actionHelp_triggered()
{
QString link = QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/Guide/guide.html";
bool r = QDesktopServices::openUrl(QUrl::fromLocalFile(link));
}
This snippet works if the project's structure presents the path "ProjectName/bin/Release/Guide/guide.html" (since the .exe file is in "ProjectName/bin/Release/AppName.exe").
But what can I do to refer to a higher-directory-level resource? As an example, I wish my HTML file to be in "ProjectName/data/Guide/guide.html". But this way, it seems not possible to compose the path in the way I'm acting.
EDIT: After #olive's comment, I wish to clarify a thing:
"Why am I not using '../'?"
Because it won't work from Visual Studio, where I am massively launch the application to test it. From VS, in fact, I shall use "../data/Guide/guide.html", when "from the outside", I'd have to do "../../data/Guide/guide.html".
That's why (I think) QApplication::applicationDirPath() exists. However, I am not an expert, so don't blame me and correct any eventual mistake of mine, please!
Just use ... QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/../../data/Guide/guide.html" is perfectly valid path!
Of course there is another problem. When the application is installed, the relative path will probably be different again. You either need to configure the paths in visual studio so that the relative path works both during development and after deployment, or you need to detect the layout.
I have a need to create a Tcl extension that calls a managed .NET DLL/Class Library. Currently, the structure of my application is Tcl > DLL Wrapper (C++ CLR) > .NET Class Library (VB.NET), where ">" represents a function call.
My VB.NET DLL just takes a value and returns it back, keeping it simple for now. In the end, this will do some more advanced stuff that makes use of some .NET functionality.
Public Class TestClass
Public Function TestFunction(ByVal param As Integer) As Integer
Return param
End Function
End Class
My Tcl Extension (C++ CLR) creates an object of the type above
int TestCmd(ClientData data, Tcl_Interp *interp, int objc, Tcl_Obj *CONST objv[])
{
// Check the number of arguments
if (objc != 2) {
Tcl_WrongNumArgs(interp, 0, objv, "arg");
return TCL_ERROR;
}
int param, result;
if (Tcl_GetIntFromObj(interp, objv[1], ¶m) != TCL_OK)
return TCL_ERROR;
SimpleLibrary::TestClass^ myclass = gcnew SimpleLibrary::TestClass(); //System.IO.FileNotFoundException
result = myclass->TestFunction(param);
Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(result));
return TCL_OK;
}
And finally, my Tcl script loads the extension and calls the function.
load SimpleTclExtension.dll
TestCmd 2
If my VB.NET DLL is in the same directory as my extension DLL, the extension crashes when it instantiates a TestClass object. I've noticed if the VB.NET DLL is relocated to C:\Tcl\bin, the extension will find it, and TestCmd can be called just fine. The problem is that this will eventually need to be deployed across a number of PCs, and it's preferred not to mingle my application's files with another application's.
It seems like there should be some configuration settings that will fix this problem, but I'm not sure where. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Firstly, depending on just what kind of Tcl application you are using you may want to look at Eagle which is a implementation of Tcl in CLR.
I think you are bumping into .Net's desire to only load assemblies from your application's directory or its immediate subdirectories. The application here is the tclsh/wish executable which is why moving the .Net assembly makes it load. This is something you can fix with suitable manifests or calls to the API to permit assembly loading from alternate locations. In this case I think you will need to run some initialization code in your Tcl extension when it gets loaded into the Tcl interpreter to init the CLR and add the extensions location as a suitable place to load assemblies from. It has been a while since I was looking at this so I forgot the details but I think you want to look at the AppDomain object and check the assembly loading path properties associated with that or its child objects. Try AppDomain.RelativeSearchPath
To be more specific, Eagle includes Garuda which is a Tcl extension built specifically to allow calling .Net from Tcl
I'm looking for a simple example code for C++\IronPython integration, i.e. embedding python code inside a C++, or better yet, Visual C++ program.
The example code should include: how to share objects between the languages, how to call functions\methods back and forth etc...
Also, an explicit setup procedure would help too. (How to include the Python runtime dll in Visual Studio etc...)
I've found a nice example for C#\IronPython here, but couldn't find C++\IronPython example code.
UPDATE - I've written a more generic example (plus a link to a zip file containing the entire VS2008 project) as entry on my blog here.
Sorry, I am so late to the game, but here is how I have integrated IronPython into a C++/cli app in Visual Studio 2008 - .net 3.5. (actually mixed mode app with C/C++)
I write add-ons for a map making applicaiton written in Assembly. The API is exposed so that C/C++ add-ons can be written. I mix C/C++ with C++/cli. Some of the elements from this example are from the API (such as XPCALL and CmdEnd() - please just ignore them)
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void XPCALL PythonCmd2(int Result, int Result1, int Result2)
{
if(Result==X_OK)
{
try
{
String^ filename = gcnew String(txtFileName);
String^ path = Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly()->Location;
ScriptEngine^ engine = Python::CreateEngine();
ScriptScope^ scope = engine->CreateScope();
ScriptSource^ source = engine->CreateScriptSourceFromFile(String::Concat(Path::GetDirectoryName(path), "\\scripts\\", filename + ".py"));
scope->SetVariable("DrawingList", DynamicHelpers::GetPythonTypeFromType(AddIn::DrawingList::typeid));
scope->SetVariable("DrawingElement", DynamicHelpers::GetPythonTypeFromType(AddIn::DrawingElement::typeid));
scope->SetVariable("DrawingPath", DynamicHelpers::GetPythonTypeFromType(AddIn::DrawingPath::typeid));
scope->SetVariable("Node", DynamicHelpers::GetPythonTypeFromType(AddIn::Node::typeid));
source->Execute(scope);
}
catch(Exception ^e)
{
Console::WriteLine(e->ToString());
CmdEnd();
}
}
else
{
CmdEnd();
}
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
As you can see, I expose to IronPython some objects (DrawingList, DrawingElement, DrawingPath & Node). These objects are C++/cli objects that I created to expose "things" to IronPython.
When the C++/cli source->Execute(scope) line is called, the only python line
to run is the DrawingList.RequestData.
RequestData takes a delegate and a data type.
When the C++/cli code is done, it calls the delegate pointing to the
function "diamond"
In the function diamond it retrieves the requested data with the call to
DrawingList.RequestedValue() The call to DrawingList.AddElement(dp) adds the
new element to the Applications visual Database.
And lastly the call to DrawingList.EndCommand() tells the FastCAD engine to
clean up and end the running of the plugin.
import clr
def diamond(Result1, Result2, Result3):
if(Result1 == 0):
dp = DrawingPath()
dp.drawingStuff.EntityColor = 2
dp.drawingStuff.SecondEntityColor = 2
n = DrawingList.RequestedValue()
dp.Nodes.Add(Node(n.X-50,n.Y+25))
dp.Nodes.Add(Node(n.X-25,n.Y+50))
dp.Nodes.Add(Node(n.X+25,n.Y+50))
dp.Nodes.Add(Node(n.X+50,n.Y+25))
dp.Nodes.Add(Node(n.X,n.Y-40))
DrawingList.AddElement(dp)
DrawingList.EndCommand()
DrawingList.RequestData(diamond, DrawingList.RequestType.PointType)
I hope this is what you were looking for.
If you don't need .NET functionality, you could rely on embedding Python instead of IronPython. See Python's documentation on Embedding Python in Another Application for more info and an example. If you don't mind being dependent on BOOST, you could try out its Python integration library.
I am currently writing an application that will serve a similar purpose for multiple clients, but requires adaptations to how it will handle the data it is feed. In essence it will serve the same purpose, but hand out data totally differently.
So I decided to prodeed like this:
-Make common engine library that will hold the common functionalities of all ways and present the default interface ensuring that the different engines will respond the same way.
-Write a specific engine for each way of functioning....each one compiles into its own .dll.
So my project will end up with a bunch of libraries with some looking like this:
project_engine_base.dll
project_engine_way1.dll
project_engine_way2.dll
Now in the configuration file that we use for the user preferences there will an engine section so that we may decide which engine to use:
[ENGINE]
Way1
So somewhere in the code we will want to do:
If (this->M_ENGINE == "Way1")
//load dll for way1
Else If (this->M_ENGINE == "Way2")
//load dll for way2
Else
//no engines selected...tell user to modify settings and restart application
The question is...How will I import my dll(s) this way? Is it even possible? If not can I get some suggestions on how to achieve a similar way of functioning?
I am aware I could just import all of the dlls right at the start and just choose which engine to use, but the idea was that I didn't want to import too many engines for nothing and waste resources and we didn't want to have to ship all of those dlls to our customers. One customer will use one engine another will use a different one. Some of our customer will use more than one possibly hence the reason why I wanted to externalize this and allow our users to use a configuration file for engine switching.
Any ideas?
EDIT:
Just realized that even though each of my engine would present the same interface if they are loaded dynamically at runtime and not all referenced in the project, my project would not compile. So I don't have a choice but to include them all in my project don't I?
That also means they all have to be shipped to my customers. The settings in the configuration would only dictate with class I would use to initialize my engine member.
OR
I could have each of these engines be compiled to the same name. Only import one dll in my main project and that particular engine would be used all the time. That would render my customers unable to use our application for multiple clients of their own. Unless they were willing to manually switch dlls. Yuck
Any suggestions?
EDIT #2:
At this point seeing my options, I could also juste make one big dll containing the base engine as well as all the child ones and my configuration to let the user chose. Instead of referencing multiple dlls and shipping them all. Just have one huge one and ship/reference that one only. I am not too fond of this either as it means shipping one big dll to all of my customers instead of just one or two small ones that suit there needs. This is still the best solution that I've come up with though.
I am still looking for better suggestions or answers to my original question.
Thanks.
Use separate DLLs for each engine and use LoadLibrary in your main project to load the specific engine based on the configuration.
Have your engine interface in some common header file that all engines will derive from and this interface will be used in your main project aswell.
It might look like this:
// this should be an abstract class
class engine {
public:
virtual void func1() = 0;
virtual void func2() = 0;
...
};
In each different engine implementation export a function from the DLL, something like this:
// might aswell use auto_ptr here
engine* getEngine() { return new EngineImplementationNumberOne(); }
Now in your main project simply load the DLL you're interested in using LoadLibrary and then GetProcAddress the getEngine function.
string dllname;
if (this->M_ENGINE == "Way1")
dllname = "dllname1.dll";
else if (this->M_ENGINE == "Way2")
dllname = "dllname2.dll";
else
throw configuration_error();
HMODULE h = LoadLibraryA(dllname.c_str());
typedef engine* (*TCreateEngine)();
TCreateEngine func = (TCreateEngine)GetProcAddress(h, "getEngine");
engine* e = func();
The name of the exported function will probably get mangled, so you could either use DEF files or extern "C" in your DLLs, also don't forget to check for errors.
The solution I came to is the following:
Engine_Base^ engine_for_app;
Assembly^ SampleAssembly;
Type^ engineType;
if (this->M_ENGINE == "A")
{
SampleAssembly = Assembly::LoadFrom("path\\Engine_A.dll");
engineType = SampleAssembly->GetType("Engine_A");
engine_for_app = static_cast<Engine_Base^>(Activator::CreateInstance(engineType, param1, param2));
}
else
{
SampleAssembly = Assembly::LoadFrom("path\\Engine_B.dll");
engineType = SampleAssembly->GetType("Engine_B");
engine_for_app = static_cast<Engine_Base^>(Activator::CreateInstance(engineType, param1, param2, param3, param4));
}
I used the answer from Daniel and the comments that were made on his answer. After some extra research I came across the LoadFrom method.