So I'm in the final stages of a project I've been working on. I went ahead and created an ICO file for my shortcut but now I'm not sure how to preserve the ICO file as the background.
When I compress the file and send it to someone else, they open it but the shortcut doesn't work, since the shortcut links to a difference space inside their local storage. The ICO is also not preserved- presumably because it is stored locally.
My question is this- what is the best/fastest way to create a shortcut that is persistent across all users computers, without forcing them to make their own? In a perfect world an ICO file could be embedded in a link, but it doesn't look like that's possible. I have no idea how you would go about addressing the issue with the hard drive, since a user's file layout could be different from my own. It seems that this would have to be accomplished programmatically.
I'm not clear on what you mean by "preserve the ICO file as the background".
You could possibly add the ICO file as a resource in you C++ project.
How to add the ICO as a resource will depend on your C++ IDE.
When you create a shortcut to the application it should use the first ICO file it can find in the .exe file.
Related
Basically I have an image I'm trying to use as a splash screen. I set up the splash screen and even told it the location(":/Nuclear_Vortex_100_About.jpg") but when I run the program, all I see is a general window background "window"(no close box or any of the decoration, just a widget for lack of a better word) and no image on it.
I added the file (along with a bunch of other images I want to later load and use in the app) and they show up in the "Other Files" folder - ok so I figured since they're in the project, that they would be seen as resources if not source or headers. Do I need to add a special section to the PRO file or something in order to use the file? I'm about to just hard code an absolute path just to get it to work but I want a system independent way to get this done. I'm going to be paid for this project and I don't have much experience with the resource system in QT but it wasn't hard in Visual Studio and other C++ environments. As I see the splash screen show up, I know that part is working. The only thing I don't know for sure is that the file is not being found - that is I have not verified by using QFile and checking if it exists - I'll be doing that after I post this as it'll take some time to get a response or 2.
I have been searching for over a day and a half all over google and haven't found anything telling me what I'm doing wrong.
Thank you!
create resource file (.qrc) and add picture in it. It'll appear in resources section of your project. Then you can use it freely in your program.
I am using visual studio to develop a windows form application in c++ to detect certain anomalies and log it.
The log file that I am intending to create will be of a common format such as .txt. I do not want users of the computer to modify this file that is I want only my program to modify it( I want users to read this file not modify it).
Is there any way to achieve this??
if you want to hide the content from other users then encrypt the file or use a binary format that only your program will be able to understand.
As long as the file resides on a publicly accessible area in the file system, then other users will be able to access it.
You can put the file in a specific user's Documents area, which might go some way to protecting the file from other users of that machine, but not from administrators.
You could even set the file attributes to "hidden" or something along those lines, to further make it hard for people to find it. But a complete access block is difficult (if not impossible).
After all this, you can also use NirMH's method to ensure that even if someone finds and attempts to read the file, then the encryption should make it difficult to crack it open. A binary format can still be read with a hex editor, if someone is really keen to read your file.
I know how to create and code my own setup program but i need to be redirected at some point. This point i'm sure inlight other people too.
I created a setup project. All is done. Except, installation files inside of EXE.
I know 2 different ways of doing this:
Create resource in EXE and embed RAR/ZIP file.
Put compressed archive with files along with EXE. EXE will read contents and data from this protected and compressed ZIP.
But what i want is number 1. I want to embed it. But;
What is the proper way of embedding this? Are other setup creators do the same thing? Embed resource as compressed single zip in EXE? Or do they another trick?
How do you extract files? On the fly by memory? Like read each file one-by-one. Synced. Or first, copy ZIP to temp and extract from it.
Or even embed all files separately to the resources.
I, even think that if i should create simple MSI without dialogs and embed it and run from background but i want to take all control. I want everything belongs to the original setup that i created.
Note:
I want to make my own dialogs, effects, procedures, functions and
steps. Yes, MSI is acceptable but i will stick with its features. Oh,
If im able to extend it, why should i spent more time doing this
instead of making my own? I am so confused... I am talking about very big setup project here. Not just a standard ugly UI with less features. At least, im gonna try :)
Do not give me any sample/code just show me a correct path, please.
Best options here:
Create ZIP compatible EXE that reads itself as ZIP and read the file list and extract.
Create non-zip compatible EXE that has a hidden body somewhere and read that area (seek) and get the list & extract.
The proper way to do it is to use the Windows installer technology, aka MSI. There is a nice, Microsoft blessed toolset called WiX that you can use to greatly simplify the process.
http://wix.codeplex.com/
If you are truly intent on reinventing the wheel, you can look through the source code to WiX on how things are done.
Best options here:
Create ZIP compatible EXE that reads itself as ZIP and read the file list and extract.
Create non-zip compatible EXE that has a hidden body somewhere and read that area (seek) and get the list & extract.
Why write your own? Much easier to use WiX (http://wixtoolset.org/) with optionally a graphical interface like WiXEdit (http://wixedit.sourceforge.net/). Have you thought about additional requirements like uninstall etc...
Good luck!
Would InnoSetup help with your problem? You can personalise the dialogs and extend its functionality quite a lot.
I have preferences file for my application in Qt.
Whenever I launch the application it loads the file & depending the contents creates the widgets accordingly. I have given some customisation option for the user. Now when my application is closed I am checking whether the preferences are changed. If yes then I am opening the preferences file again & then just adding everything again in it. I am not creating a temporary file, I am directly editing the file. Is this method an efficient one? or am I doing it wrong? because I found these threads:
1. What is the best way to edit the middle of an existing flat file?
http://qt-project.org/forums/viewthread/25924/
Should use I binary file? Currently I am using ASCII file.
Thanks.
UPDATE: In the stackoverflow link above the correct answer has
If you're stuck using flat, then you're stuck using the old fashioned
way of updating them
I meant to ask whether the method I am using is old fashioned & is there a better method used nowadays? & what does flat file mean?
Don't try to edit the file. Rewrite the whole thing
Rewrite by using a temporary file. i.e. write the current state of preferences into temp file. And then move/rename the file to your actual preference file after making sure the temp file has been written successfully. This helps in case there is a crash when you rewriting the file. If you rewrite it directly, you will be left with neither the old one nor a good new one. In case you do it through a temp file, then do it this way ensures that in case of a crash, you atleast have a good preferences file(though it contains the old preferences).
Text/Binary doesn't make much difference unless it's a really huge file. Text will help to hand edit it if required.
That's a perfectly fine way of doing it. Since you already seem to have all of the preferences loaded into memory and you have edited them there, you don't need to bother with a temporary file (unless you want to ensure safety if your program fails during writing). Just write all of the preferences back into the original file.
Whether you choose a binary file or text file is up to you. Preferences tend to be text files because they have the added benefit of being human readable with just a text editor, rather than some specialised software for viewing them. A binary file may, however, have slightly better performance due to simpler decoding.
I'm currently in the idea phase for a small application that requires keeping track of specific, user chosen files.
I want the system to be intuitive, such that a user can change the file name, directory name, or move the file to a new location, and the application would still be able to keep track of the file.
Now, I know that I can monitor directories already, for the majority of these kinds of changes, with windows system calls.
The problem I'd have is finding if/when a file is cut, copied, or pasted somewhere. I've read a little about shell extensions, but they have actually rather confused me (since I haven't had the time to actually read good and long about them yet). Is there a way I could monitor a file for being cut/pasted/copied, so that my application could continue to track the file in it's new location? Would I have to do this through a shell extension?
You can use shortcut objects to track files even if they are renamed or moved.