Develop Reference

How can I get for reading and writing Properties.Settings.Default.UpgradeRequired property?

In my WPF MVVM application I need to check if my application runs first after its installation. I had reviewed some examples in SO and in one of them - how to check whether my c# window app is running first time after installation I found the following code where the author recommended the use of UpgradeRequired:
// this must happen as soon as your program starts, before
// you do anything else with the settings
if (Properties.Settings.Default.UpgradeRequired)
{
// upgrade FIRST, before doing anything else with the settings
Properties.Settings.Default.Upgrade();
Properties.Settings.Default.UpgradeRequired = false;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
I quote here his words: "I also suggest adding a "UpgradeRequired" boolean to the settings which is by default true...." But when I try to add the same code in my App.xaml.cs file in OnStartUp event handler then the following error occured: "Settings does not contain a definition for UpgradeRequired" and UpgradeRequired was underlined with a red wavy line. I havn't faced with Properties.Settings before. So I'd like to know: Which assembly reference I should add to my application? What must I do to get access to Properties.Settings.Default.UpgradeRequired? our help would be greatly appreciated.

This not in any Assembly it's your oun custom settings. It's all explained here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/a65txexh(v=vs.140).aspx

"The specified solution configuration "Debug|AnyCPU" is not valid" error when building solution via Microsoft.Build

I need to compile an old WPF project written in VB via code. For this I'm writing a class library in C# that loads the solution and invokes a build process.
Code as follows:
// solution_file is a FileInfo object that points to the .sln file
// logger is a class that implements ILogger
var solution = new ProjectCollection();
var solution_properties = new Dictionary<string, string>();
solution_properties.Add("Configuration", "Debug");
solution_properties.Add("Platform", "AnyCPU");
var build_parameters = new BuildParameters(solution);
var logger = new SimpleLogger();
build_parameters.Loggers = new List<ILogger>() { logger };
var build_request = new BuildRequestData(
solution_file.FullName,
solution_properties,
"14.0",
new string[] { "Build" },
null);
var build_result = BuildManager.DefaultBuildManager.Build(build_parameters, build_request);
if (build_result.OverallResult != BuildResultCode.Success)
throw new Exception();
Problem is, in every case the build falis with the following error:
The specified solution configuration "Debug|AnyCPU" is not valid. Specify a valid solution configuration with the properties Configuration and Platform (eg. MSBuild.exe Solution.sln /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform="Any CPU") or leave these properties empty to use the default solution configuration.
(Message might not be an exact translation, I'm translating from Spanish.)
Any combination of Configuration (Debug or Release) and Platform (x86, x64 or AnyCPU) fails with the same error (the only thing that changes is the The specified solution configuration Debug|AnyCPU is not valid part. If I leave these properties empty, the error message is the same with Debug|MCD instead of Debug|AnyCPU.
Any pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

PROTIP: Next time, kids, read the error messages properly. I was passing as platform "Any CPU" instead of "AnyCPU" (note the non-existant space in the correct term).

Trying to get an Eventlog file to be copied to another folder for backup purpose

I try to copy the EventLog "Application" to another folder on my PC but always get the error that
"....Could not find a part of the path
'C:\Windows\System32\winevt\Logs\Application.evtx..."
I use the code:
public void collectEventLogsFromSystem(string RequestedlogName,string newFolderPath)
{
string combinedLogToFind = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\Eventlog\\" + RequestedlogName;
string LogEventsPath = (string)Registry.GetValue(combinedLogToFind, "File", null);
if (LogEventsPath != null)
{
System.IO.File.Copy(LogEventsPath, newFolderPath +"\\"+ RequestedlogName, true);
}
}//collectEventLogsFromSystem method
Even if i use explicit folder path it won't work:
System.IO.File.Copy(#"C:\Windows\System32\winevt\Logs\Application.evtx", "c:\\ttt\\Application.evtx", true);
any idea?

I found this answer on StackOverflow which will probably solve your problem. I have a 64 bit machine which exhibited the same behavior. This post by John Rasch solved the issue and explains why it failed.

If you are trying to get the log file while the program is running, the way above will not work. This post Export Event Log (.evtx) without "run as administrator" will allow you to backup the event log, even if you are currently using the event log in your application.

How to get the (.lnk) shortcut filepath in a program which started by the shortcut?

I have a c# program which open *.postfix file.
If a user runs a (.lnk)shortcut which points to my type of file, my program will open the target.
So, how could my program know it is started by a (.lnk)shortcut (and get it's file path)?
In some circumstances,i need to replace the .lnk file.
Thanks!
Edited
First, thanks to guys who answered my question.
By following #Anders answer, i find out my problem lays here.
I made some changes to windows registry, so browser knows to throw customized protocol string to certain program.
some thing like this..
[InternetShortcut]
URL=myProtocol://abcdefg.....
That's maybe why i lost lpTitle. :(
I'm going to try this way:
Whenever my program invoked, of course fed with %1, program checks current opened explorer(Window), and try to get it's current path with IWebBrowserApp. With that path and desktop of course, scan and analyze *.lnk to determine which one to replace.
I think this will probably work, but not be sure. I will try.
continued

In native code you can call GetStartupInfo, if the STARTF_TITLEISLINKNAME bit is set in STARTUPINFO.dwFlags then the path to the .lnk is in STARTUPINFO.lpTitle. I don't know if there is a .NET way to get this info, you probably have to P/Invoke...

You don't. There's no way to do it. End of story.
So this has been brought to my attention due to a recent downvote. There's an accepted answer showing an idea that gets the path to the launching shortcut most of the time. However my answer is to the whole. OP wants the link to the shortcut so he can change it. That is what can't be done most of the time.
Most likely case is the shortcut file exists in the start menu but is unwritable. However other cases involve the shortcut coming from another launching application that didn't even read it from a disk but from a database (I've seen a lot of corporate level restricted application launch tools). I also have a program that launches programs from shortcuts not via IShellLink but by parsing the .lnk file (because it must not start COM for reasons) and launching the program contained. It doesn't pass STARTF_TITLEISLINKNAME because it's passing an actual title.

If you're using Visual Studio Setup Project to build an installer and do the file type association, you should follow these instructions http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/58005-file-associations-in-visual-studio/
Open up your solution in Visual studio.
Add a Setup Project to your solution by file , add project,New project, Setup & Deployment projects,Setup project
Right-click on your setup project in the "Solution Explorer" window,Select view,then select file types.
you'll see the "file types" window displayed in Visual studio.At the top of the window will be "File types on target machine"
Right-click on "File types on target machine".the menu will pop up with Add "file type" Click on this.
you'll see "New document Type#1" added,and "&open"underneath it.
The "new document type#1" can be anything you want - change it to something descriptive.although the user never sees this,never use something common- be as unique as possible,Because you can overlay current file associations without even realizing it.For example,you might think"pngfile" might be a useful name- but using that will now send all"*.png" files to your application,instead of to an image viewer.A good practice maybe "YourCompantName.Filetype",where your company name is your name of your company's name, and "Filetype" is a descriptive text of your file.
In the "properties" window for your new type,you will need to change a few properties.:
Command:Change to the application that you want to run.If you click on the "..." and you will proberly want to locate and use the "primary Output..." File
Description: This is the description of the file type(if it doesn't describe it's self"
Extensions:This your list of extensions for you chosen Program.Separate each one with a ","
Icon:This will associate the icon with your file type,This shows up in the window explorer.
Now we move to that "&open ".This is an action that is available if your right-click on the file.The default action("&Open" is currently set as the default) is what happens when you double click on the file.Right click on your "New document type#1" to add actions,but for the moment,lets define our "&open" action
Click on "&Open".You will see in the properties window "Name","Arguments","Verbs". Verb is hidden from the user,but is the key that is stored in the registry.Leave it same as the name,But without the "&".The default for"Arguments" is "%1",Which means to pass the full path and filename to your application.You can add other stuff here as well,if you need to pass flags to your application to do special stuff.All this infomaton is getting passed to your application on the command line,so you'll need to be familiar with the "Environment.CommandLine" object.
If you need to set a different action as your default,just right click on the action and "set as default"
Basically, you'll pass the file path as an argument to your program. Then if it's a console application or Windows Forms , you should check the arguments in Program.Main
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//if file association done with Arguments %1 as per forum post above
//you file path should be in args[0]
string filePath = null;
if(args != null && args.Length > 0)
filePath = args[0];
}
For a WPF application you'll need to handle that in the StartUp event for your Application
void App_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
{
string filePath = null;
if ((e.Args != null) && (e.Args.Length > 0))
{
filePath = e.Args[0];
}
}

Custom Action - Error 1001: Could not find file myApp.InstallState

I have tried to create a custom action for a Visual Studio Installer project to modify the permissions for a config file.
The Installer.cs is as follows:
public override void Commit(IDictionary savedState)
{
base.Commit(savedState);
// Get path of our installation (e.g. TARGETDIR)
//string configPath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Context.Parameters["AssemblyPath"]) + #"\config.xml";
string configPath = #"C:\Program Files\Blueberry\Serial Number Reservation\config.xml";
// Get a FileSecurity object that represents the current security settings.
FileSecurity fSecurity = File.GetAccessControl(configPath);
//Get SID for 'Everyone' - WellKnownSidType works in non-english systems
SecurityIdentifier everyone = new SecurityIdentifier(WellKnownSidType.WorldSid, null);
// Add the FileSystemAccessRule to the security settings.
fSecurity.AddAccessRule(new FileSystemAccessRule(everyone, FileSystemRights.Modify | FileSystemRights.Synchronize, InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit | InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit, PropagationFlags.None, AccessControlType.Allow));
// Set the new access settings.
File.SetAccessControl(configPath, fSecurity);
}
public override void Install(IDictionary stateSaver)
{
base.Install(stateSaver);
}
public override void Rollback(IDictionary savedState)
{
base.Rollback(savedState);
}
public override void Uninstall(IDictionary savedState)
{
base.Uninstall(savedState);
}
Then I add the Primary Output (Installer class = true) into the Commit section of the setup project's Custom Actions.
When I run the installer, I get the following error:
Error 1001: Could not find file 'c:\mypath\myapp.InstallState'
Scouring the web I've found a few examples of similar experiences, but none of the solutions offered have worked for me.
Any ideas?

You can find a solution here
To quote:
The problem is that the MSI infrastructure is looking for the installation state file which is usually created during the Install
phase. If the custom action does not participate in the Install phase,
no file is created.
The solution is to add the custom action to both the Install and the
Commit phases, although it does nothing during the install phase.

I had this problem when I didn't specify a custom action in my installer project for all four overrides (Install, Uninstall, Commit, and Rollback). As soon as I specified my project output as the custom action for all four, the issue went away.
The only overrides in my installer class that did anything were Commit and Uninstall; I think that Install was in charge of creating the InstallState file in the first place, and since it was never called the InstallState file was never created.

Sometimes this happens when the installer class is not created correctly. Here is a tutorial which may help you: http://devcity.net/Articles/339/1/article.aspx
Make sure that your custom action follows the tutorial recommendations.

Sometimes, "Debugger.Launch();" is put at those overwritten functions for debugging. If you build the installer with the statement there, and during your installation, a dialog will popup to ask you whether debug is needed, if you press 'cancel debugging', you'll get this error dialog. Because you added the 'Debugger.Launch()' at your function, then that function will be considered as 'missed' by installer. So, don't forget to remove it.

Try installing this as in an administrator command prompt. This worked for me.!

For me, the issue was as simple as just adding a closing quote around one of the textbox names in my CustomActionData string.
I was using the "Textboxes (A)" and "Textboxes (B)" windows in the User Interface section. A has 1 box, EDITA1, where I get the path to a file, and B has 2 boxes, EDITB1 and EDITB2, for some database parameters. My CustomActionData string looked like this:
/filepath="[EDITA1]" /host="[EDITB1] /port="[EDITB2]"
It should have been:
/filepath="[EDITA1]" /host="[EDITB1]" /port="[EDITB2]"
(closing quote on [EDITB1])
I used the Install override in my Installer class to get the values (i.e. string filepath = Context.Parameters["filepath"];) and used it to write them to an INI file for my app to use once installed. I put the "Primary output" under all of the phases in the Custom Actions GUI, but did nothing with the InstallerClass property (default: True) and only set the CustomActionData string on the Install one. I didn't even include override functions in my Installer class, since I was doing nothing that was custom in the other phases.

create your post install executable as you would a console app ex: "mypostinstallapp.exe".
install the "mypostinstallapp.exe" with your msi product. maybe put it with the Application Folder or a shared folder if you want to use it with multiple installs.
in the custom actions (rightclick the msi project and view custom actions) and add an action in the Commit section. assuming you want it to run towards the end.
then select your "mypostinstallapp.exe" from the actions view and in its properties set InstallerClass False.
what I do in "mypostinstallapp.exe" is look for a cmd file and run it as a process.
so i can add stuff to the cmd file and try to forget about the custom action process.

Make sure in the output properties you check installer class to false

You can set a register key to the installation path. Click on the Setup Project, View Register, and set the value as: [ProgramFiles64Folder][Manufacturer][ProductName].
Then you can create a Console App to get in to the register and take this information and run your program. Just need to add as a custom action on Commit the Console App you created.

Try setting Installer class = false instead of true in the properties for your custom action. That fixed this problem for me.