Visual Basic Discussion Boards

In a vb.net 2010 desktop application, I added an app.config file to the application 2 years ago. I did not so I can point to different directly paths without needing to recompile the application. This change worked at that time.
I have not needed to change the application until recently.

Now I actually have to recompile the application so the app.config file changes will be picked up.

Thus can you tell me what I can do to the application so I can change the app.config file without needing to recompile the application?

Does you code actually look for a setting in the app.config file? What does that code look like?

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Dave Kreskowiak

The code in the application looks like the following:

Private Sub frmMain_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
       frmMain.GlobalForm = Me
       Dim strUserName As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("NameofUser")
       If strUserName = "ANN" Then
           Dim strDirectoryPath As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("File_directory_path")
           If Not (Directory.Exists(strDirectoryPath)) Then
               Application.Exit()
               Exit Sub
           End If
       Else
           Dim strDirectoryPath2 As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("File_directory_path_KARON")
           If Not (Directory.Exists(strDirectoryPath2)) Then
               Application.Exit()
               Exit Sub
           End If
       End If

The code in the app.config file looks like:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
    <system.diagnostics>
        <sources>
            <!-- This section defines the logging configuration for My.Application.Log -->
            <source name="DefaultSource" switchName="DefaultSwitch">
                <listeners>
                    <add name="FileLog"/>
                    <!-- Uncomment the below section to write to the Application Event Log -->
                    <!--<add name="EventLog"/>-->
                </listeners>
            </source>
        </sources>
        <switches>
            <add name="DefaultSwitch" value="Information"/>
        </switches>
        <sharedListeners>
            <add name="FileLog" type="Microsoft.VisualBasic.Logging.FileLogTraceListener, Microsoft.VisualBasic, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL" initializeData="FileLogWriter"/>
            <!-- Uncomment the below section and replace APPLICATION_NAME with the name of your application to write to the Application Event Log -->
            <!--<add name="EventLog" type="System.Diagnostics.EventLogTraceListener" initializeData="APPLICATION_NAME"/> -->
        </sharedListeners>
    </system.diagnostics>
    <startup><supportedRuntime version="v2.0.50727"/> 
    </startup>	
	<appSettings>
		<add key="NameofUser" value="ANN"/>		
	</appSettings>
</configuration>

It's not entirely clear what you're doing or what you expect.

Any setting you want can be placed into the app.config appSettings section and loaded with an appropriate call to ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("name") to get the setting of that name.

The app.config file is NEVER compiled into the application. It must reside in the same folder as the .EXE that is loading it.

In your code snippets, you try to get settings called "File_directory_path" and "File_directory_path_KARON", but these never show up in the app.config file so the values returned for those names will be null, not any string value.

When you change the setting in app.config, the new setting will be loaded on the next call to retrieve that setting in the code.

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Dave Kreskowiak

I did not show the values in app.config file for "File_directory_path" and "File_directory_path_KARON",
since I just wanted to show you an example. I know what the code is supposed to do by it is not working. The app.config file will not let me change the values outside of the application. The file is locked.

Once a user signs on to their computer, I try to change the values in the app.config file. The permissions are locked. The network people say that the user and I have all the rights (permissions) that are needed. I open up the app.config file in notepad in the users computer and the values are not saved. Do you know what else could be wrong so I can not change the permissions. I install the application using the old setup and deployment project that is in visual studio.

If the app isn't running, the only other common possibility is that the executable (and the config file) are under Program Files, which is READ ONLY to everyone on the machine, except admins. If you're an admin on the machine and can't understand why when YOU try to save the changes to app.config, it's because you have to run Notepad as an administrator. (Search for notepad.exe, right-click it, pick Run as administrator..)

If you're putting settings in a file that needs to be written to by your app or even Notepad, put them in a file under C:\ProgramData\appName\...

You can then modify the code to load the settings from that path instead of from under Program Files. See this[^] for examples.

Asking questions is a skill
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Google: C# How to debug code
Seriously, go read these articles.

Dave Kreskowiak

In the bin directory, there is a runtime config file called 'programname.exe.config'. I do not deploy this when I deploy the application. Do I need to include the 'programname.exe.config' as part of the deployment? if so, when the application is only a user's computer, would I change the 'programname.exe.config' file and/or the app.config file in notepad?

Are you kidding me?

YES!! That's your app.config file. It has to go with your app if you expect settings to work.

Configuring Apps by using Configuration Files | Microsoft Docs[^]

Asking questions is a skill
CodeProject Forum Guidelines
Google: C# How to debug code
Seriously, go read these articles.

Dave Kreskowiak

Hello .... Please someone help me out. I want to insert new table in ms word from vb.net application, I use bookmark to define the range but it still give error "the range cannot be delete", below is my code.

Public Sub invoicePrinting1(ByVal strBasePath As String, ByVal userid As String)
        Dim oWord = New Word.Application With {.Visible = False}
        Dim oDoc As Word.Document = oWord.Documents.Open(strBasePath)
        Dim pos, len As Integer
        Dim reg As Regex
        Dim bookmarkName As String
        Dim rng As Object
        Dim search As String = "@@Item_List1@@"
        Dim dgv As DataGridView = printbox.DGVacct


        Dim headers = (From ch In dgv.Columns
                       Let header = DirectCast(DirectCast(ch, DataGridViewColumn).HeaderCell, DataGridViewColumnHeaderCell)
                       Select header.Value).ToArray()
        Dim headerText() As String = Array.ConvertAll(headers, Function(v) v.ToString)

        Dim items() = (From r In dgv.Rows
                       Let row = DirectCast(r, DataGridViewRow)
                       Where Not row.IsNewRow
                       Select (From cell In row.Cells
                               Let c = DirectCast(cell, DataGridViewCell)
                               Select c.Value).ToArray()).ToArray()

        Dim table As String = String.Join(vbTab, headerText) & Environment.NewLine
        For Each a In items
            Dim t() As String = Array.ConvertAll(a, Function(v) v.ToString)
            table &= String.Join(vbTab, t) & Environment.NewLine
        Next

        table = table.TrimEnd(CChar(Environment.NewLine))
        Clipboard.SetText(table)

        ' keyword that you want to search
        reg = New Regex(search)
        ' find the text in word file
        Dim m As Match = reg.Match(oDoc.Range.Text, 0)
        pos = m.Index

        ' start is the starting position of the token in the content...
        len = search.Length
        ' select the text
        rng = oDoc.Range(pos, len + pos)

        bookmarkName = "MyBookmarkName"
        oDoc.Bookmarks.Add(bookmarkName, rng)
        Dim tdRange As Word.Range = oDoc.Range(0, pos)
        With tdRange
            .Collapse(Direction:=Word.WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseEnd)
            .InsertParagraphAfter()
            .Collapse(Direction:=Word.WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseEnd)

        End With
        Dim oTable As Word.Tablespoons = oDoc.Tables.Add(oDoc.Bookmarks.Item(bookmarkName).Range, items.Count + 1, headers.Count)

        oTable.Range.Paste()


        oTable.Range.Font.Size = 9
        'make the first row bold, fs 14 + change textcolor
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Font.Bold = &H98967E
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Font.Size = 10
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Height = 20
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Font.Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorWhite
        oTable.Range.AutoFormat()

        'change backcolor of first row
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Shading.Texture = Word.WdTextureIndex.wdTextureNone
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
        oTable.Rows.Item(1).Range.Shading.BackgroundPatternColor = Word.WdColor.wdColorGray25

        'set table borders
        With oTable
            .Columns(1).SetWidth(oDoc.Application.CentimetersToPoints(wd(4.3F)), Word.WdRulerStyle.wdAdjustProportional)
            .Columns(2).SetWidth(oDoc.Application.CentimetersToPoints(wd(10.5F)), Word.WdRulerStyle.wdAdjustProportional)
            .Columns(3).SetWidth(oDoc.Application.CentimetersToPoints(wd(4.8F)), Word.WdRulerStyle.wdAdjustProportional)
            .Columns(4).SetWidth(oDoc.Application.CentimetersToPoints(wd(5.0F)), Word.WdRulerStyle.wdAdjustProportional)
        End With
        'set table borders
        With oTable.Range.Tables(1)


            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderLeft)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderRight)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderTop)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderBottom)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderHorizontal)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            With .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderVertical)
                .LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleSingle
                .LineWidth = Word.WdLineWidth.wdLineWidth025pt
                .Color = Word.WdColor.wdColorAutomatic
            End With
            .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderDiagonalDown).LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleNone
            .Borders(Word.WdBorderType.wdBorderDiagonalUp).LineStyle = Word.WdLineStyle.wdLineStyleNone
            .Borders.Shadow = False
            .Rows.Height = 7
        End With

        oDoc.Save()
        oWord.Quit()
        oDoc = Nothing
        oWord = Nothing
    End Sub

I'm trying to figure out how to make the Ascending / Descending extension in an Order By statement in a Linq query conditional based upon a menu selection. Here's the query:

VB

Dim fileItem = From files In itemList
	Where files.Tag(0) = "file"
	Order By files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text 'Ascending or Descending dependent upon menu selection
	Select files

(itemList is a List of listviewitems)
Any advice is appreciated.

Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.

See Linq Order By When You Have Property Name - DaedTech[^].

Not exactly what I was hunting since the menu item isn't a part of the collection. But no big thing. I finally just added code to reverse the collection if I needed it sorted in descending order.

Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.

Simple:

VB.NET

Dim fileItem = From files In itemList
    Where files.Tag(0) = "file"
    Select files

If shouldSortDescending Then
    fileItem = From files In fileItem
        Order By files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text Descending
        Select files
Else
    fileItem = From files In fileItem
        Order By files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text
        Select files
End If

Or, using "method syntax":

VB.NET

Dim fileItem = itemList.Where(Function (files) files.Tag(0) = "file")

If shouldSortDescending Then
    fileItem = fileItem.OrderByDescending(Function (files) files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text)
Else
    fileItem = fileItem.OrderBy(Function (files) files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text)
End If

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer

Here Alan was looking for some Linq magic (so was I) and you give him a simple if statement. Laugh | :laugh:

KISS is alive and well in CP!

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH

You could always create your own extension method. Smile | :)

VB.NET

Module SortingExtensions
    <Extension()> 
    Public Function OrderBy(Of TElement, TKey)(
        ByVal source As IEnumerable(Of TElement), 
        ByVal selector As Func(Of TElement, TKey), 
        ByVal sortDescending As Boolean) _
        As IOrderedEnumerable(Of TElement)
        
        Return If(sortDescending, source.OrderByDescending(selector), source.OrderBy(selector))
    End Function
    
    <Extension()> 
    Public Function ThenBy(Of TElement, TKey)(
        ByVal source As IOrderedEnumerable(Of TElement), 
        ByVal selector As Func(Of TElement, TKey), 
        ByVal sortDescending As Boolean) _
        As IOrderedEnumerable(Of TElement)
        
        Return If(sortDescending, source.ThenByDescending(selector), source.ThenBy(selector))
    End Function
End Module

...

Dim fileItem = itemList.Where(Function (files) files.Tag(0) = "file").OrderBy(Function (files) files.SubItems.Item(indx).Text, shouldSortDescending)

There's no option to extend the query syntax though.

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer

Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.

Thanks Richard. I ended up writing something similar to the "Simple" version. I've been shamelessly flip-flopping around on this thing for a month - good thing it's just for me and not a customer Big Grin | :-D

.

Sometimes the true reward for completing a task is not the money, but instead the satisfaction of a job well done. But it's usually the money.

I have an HTML file that I'm loading into a WebBrowser control via .Navigate(myfileURI) which works fine.
In my application I'm trapping Javascript errors in order to handle them myself via the code on this web page:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.htmlwindow.error%28v=vs.110%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

This seems to work fine until I tweak the compatibility mode in the html file. For example, using the meta tag:
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8">

or even no such tag at all works fine. However when I use the meta tag:
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=10">
or
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">

the code to trap Javascript errors no longer works.

I'd really like to know why?

I'd prefer to use IE10 or edge for access to better Javascript functionality.

Here's the code I used in a simple Visual Basic Form and WebBrowser control as well as a simple "test.html" file below it:
(Note: the "a.args" line in the html file is suppose to deliberately throw an error)

Thanks in advance,
Jeff

Form1.vb

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

Public Class Form1

    <ComVisible(True)>
    Public Class JSRequester

        Public this As Form1

        Public Sub log(s As String)
            Debug.Print(s)
        End Sub

        Public Sub send(MFSYS As String)
            Debug.Print("[" + this.Name + "]  INPUT   <" + MFSYS + ">")
            this.WebBrowser1.Document.InvokeScript("eval", New Object() {"alert('Hello Script!');"})
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(frmSender As Form1)
            this = frmSender
        End Sub
    End Class

    <ComVisible(False)>
    Public bMouseDown As Boolean = False
    Public bFormActivated As Boolean = False
    Public WithEvents ScriptWindow As HtmlWindow

    Private Sub nav(uriFile As Uri)
        Debug.Print("STARTED")
        WebBrowser1.Navigate(uriFile)
    End Sub

    Private Sub SuppressScriptErrors()
        If (WebBrowser1.Document IsNot Nothing) Then
            ScriptWindow = WebBrowser1.Document.Window
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub ScriptWindow_Error(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As HtmlElementErrorEventArgs) Handles ScriptWindow.Error
        MessageBox.Show("Suppressed error!")
        e.Handled = True
    End Sub
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        '*** Change this to your path ***
        Dim strAppPath As String = "D:\dev\vbnet\SuppressJavascriptErrors"
        Dim uriFile As New Uri("file:///" + strAppPath + "\test.html")
        Me.WebBrowser1.ObjectForScripting = New JSRequester(Me)
        nav(uriFile)
    End Sub

    Private Sub WebBrowser1_DocumentCompleted(sender As Object, e As WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs) Handles WebBrowser1.DocumentCompleted
        Debug.Print("COMPLETED")
    End Sub

    Private Sub WebBrowser1_Navigated(sender As Object, e As WebBrowserNavigatedEventArgs) Handles WebBrowser1.Navigated
        Debug.Print("NAVIGATED")
        SuppressScriptErrors()

    End Sub
End Class

test.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11">
	<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8"> <!-- change this to "10" or "edge" it FAILS -->
	<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
	<META HTTP-EQUIV="PRAGMA" CONTENT="NO-CACHE">
	<META HTTP-EQUIV="EXPIRES" CONTENT="0">
	<META HTTP-EQUIV="CACHE-CONTROL" CONTENT="NO-CACHE">
	<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
	<title>YouTube Viewer</title>
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ytv.css">
</head>
	<body onload="init();">
		<script type="text/javascript">
			function testme() {
				a.args = "hello" // deliberately throw error
				return;
			}

			function init() {
				window.external.log(">>>HELLO DEBUG...");
				window.external.send(">>>HELLO SENDER...");
				testme();
				document.write("<h1>Hello World!</h1>");
			}
		</script>
	</body>
</html>

Task:

Two windows have been opened.
1. Outlook
2. the Windows Explorer

If you now take a mail from the Outlokk Inbox with the left mouse button, pull it over to the Windows Explorer and release it there over a folder then the mail is stored there as a file under the name e.g. Request.msg
Request is the subject of the mail.

Now the second window should be the application to be developed.
There should be a textbox above in which the mail is dropped.
So far I have the following code:

Private Sub TextBox1_DragOver(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DragEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.DragOver
    'erlaubte DropEffects festlegen
    If e.Data.GetDataPresent("FileGroupDescriptor") Or e.Data.GetDataPresent("FileDropList") Then
      e.Effect = DragDropEffects.All
    Else
      e.Effect = DragDropEffects.None
    End If
  End Sub
 
  Private Sub TextBox1_DragDrop(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DragEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.DragDrop
' Drop durchführen
 
    Dim ioStream1 As IO.Stream = DirectCast(e.Data.GetData("FileGroupDescriptor"), IO.Stream)
 
    Dim Array1(CInt(ioStream1.Length)) As Byte 'Array anlegen
    ioStream1.Read(Array1, 0, Array1.Length) 'Array füllen
 
    'Build the FileName from the FileGroupDescriptor block.
    Dim sFileName As New System.Text.StringBuilder("")
    Dim i As Integer = 76 'The FileName starts at position 76 in the FileGroupDescriptor. 

     While Array1(i) <> 0
      sFileName.Append(Convert.ToChar(Array1(i)))
      i += 1
    End While

    ioStream1.Close()
 
    MessageBox.Show(sFileName.ToString) 'der Dateiname wird richtig angezeigt
 
    'Mail Inhalt auslesen
    Dim ioStream2 As IO.Stream = DirectCast(e.Data.GetData("FileDropList", True), IO.Stream)
    Dim Array2(CInt(ioStream2.Length)) As Byte 'Array anlegen
    ioStream2.Read(Array2, 0, Array2.Length) 'Array füllen
 
  End Sub

The file name is displayed correctly but ioStream2 is allways nothing

"FileDropList" is probably the wrong parameter. But which one is the right one?

Microsoft.Office.Interop or
System.Runtime.InteropServices and
Dim objOL As New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
may not be used because an error message is displayed on the Exchange Server.

How can I read the content of the mail?
Thanks in advance

There's a sample right here on CodeProject:
Outlook Drag and Drop in C#[^]

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer

Thanks for the answer!
But System.Runtime.InteropServices; is used.
This causes error messages on the Exchange Server.

Office Interop is blocked on a server. So, why would you want to create a UI for the server? And might what you want not be easier by writing an outlook-plugin?

Bastard Programmer from Hell Suspicious | :suss:

If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

I'll suggest it to my investigator. Thank you for all your answers!

Hello everyone,

I created a code to save all information in datagriedview1 when I close my application but it doesn't work. Could you help me to find my error?

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary

Public Class Form1
    <Serializable()> _
   Public Class TNode
        Public text As DataGridView
    End Class


    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        DataGridView1.Rows.Add(TextBox1.Text, TextBox2.Text)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        Dim DataGridView1 As DataView
        Dim Col As Integer
        Dim ran As Integer
        Dim contacttable As New List(Of String)
        Dim f As IO.FileStream = File.Create("enregistreContact.bin")
        Dim text As New BinaryFormatter
        Try
            For Ran = 0 To DataGridView1.Count - 1
                For Col = 0 To 2
                    text = DataGridView1.Item(Col, Ran).Value
                Next
            Next

            text.Serialize(f, contacttable)


        Catch File As Exception
            MsgBox("You must write a text!")
        End Try

        f.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

You should be storing all of your data in a suitable data stricture, NOT directly in the DGV. Once you have the data in a data structure, you set the DataSource of the DGV to the data structure. It also makes it MUCH easier to save the data structure to a file than the DGV.

You data structure can be a List<t>, a DataSet, a DataTable, some custom collection, ... whatever. Just don't use the DGV to "store" data. Controls are there to show a visual representation of data and edit that data, not to store it.

Asking questions is a skill
CodeProject Forum Guidelines
Google: C# How to debug code
Seriously, go read these articles.

Dave Kreskowiak