Develop Reference

C# - Shell32.NameSpace does not work when trying to extract metadata from files

I am attempting to get the metadata from a few music files and failing miserably. Online, there seems to be absolutely NO HOPE in finding an answer; no matter what I google. I thought it would be a great time to come and ask here because of this.
The specific error I got was: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component. I really wish I could elaborate on this issue, but I'm simply getting nothing back from the COMException object. The error code was -2147467259, and it in hex is -0x7FFFBFFB, and Microsoft have not documented this specific error.
I 70% sure that its not the file's fault. My code will run through a directory full of music and convert the file into a song, hence the ConvertFileToSong name. The function would not be running if the file were to not exist is what I'm trying to say.
The only thing I can really say is that I'm using Dotnet 6, and have a massive headache.
Well, I guess I could also share another problem I had before this error showed up. Dotnet6 has top level code or whatever its called, this means that I can't add the [STAThread] attribute. To solve this, I simply added the code bellow to the top. Not sure why I have to set it to unknown, but that's what I (someone else on Stack Overflow) have to do. That solved that previous problem that the Shell32 could not start, but could that be causing my current problem? Who knows... definitely not me.
Thread.CurrentThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.Unknown);
Thread.CurrentThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
Here is the code:
// Help from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37869388/how-to-read-extended-file-properties-file-metadata
public static Song ConvertFileToSong(FileInfo file)
{
Song song = new Song();
List<string> headers = new List<string>();
// initialise the windows shell to parse attributes from
Shell32.Shell shell = new Shell32.Shell();
Shell32.Folder objFolder = null;
try
{
objFolder = shell.NameSpace(file.FullName);
}
catch (COMException e)
{
int code = e.ErrorCode;
string hex = code.ToString();
Console.WriteLine("MESSAGE: " + e.Message + ", CODE: " + hex);
return null;
}
Shell32.FolderItem folderItem = objFolder.ParseName(file.Name);
// the rest of the code is not important, but I'll leave it there anyway
// pretty much loop infinetly with a counter better than
// while loop because we don't have to declare an int on a new
// line
for (int i = 0; i < short.MaxValue; i++)
{
string header = objFolder.GetDetailsOf(null, i);
// the header does not exist, so we must exit
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(header)) break;
headers.Add(header);
}
// Once the code works, I'll try and get this to work
song.Title = objFolder.GetDetailsOf(folderItem, 0);
return song;
}
Good night,
Diseased Finger

Ok, so the solution isn't that hard. I used file.FullName which includes the file's name, but Shell32.NameSpace ONLY requires the directory name (discluding the file name).
This is the code that fixed it:
public static Song ConvertFileToSong(FileInfo file)
{
// .....
Shell32.Shell shell = new Shell32.Shell();
Shell32.Folder objFolder = file.DirectoryName;
Shell32.FolderItem folderItem = objFolder.ParseName(file.Name);
// .....
return something;
}

Network printers ignoring number of copies sent programatically

The setup - a local Windows 10 PC has multiple network printers installed. A GUI C# WinForm application (.NET) is constantly running in the background, and occasionally downloads a PDF file from a predefined URL (read from an *.ini file).
The problem occurs when the said PDF file is printed. Instead of accepting the number of copies sent from the application, the printer keeps printing just one copy of the file.
This is the relevant part of my code:
string webPrinter = "HP LaserJet PCL 6"; // is set in another part of the code
string iniFilePrinter = "hp LaserJet 1320 PCL 5"; // is set in another part of the code - read from the ini file
string dirName = "C:\\mydir";
string newDocName = "mydoc.pdf";
short numCopies = 1;
if(event1 == "event1") { // taken from another part of the code
numCopies = webNumCopies; // taken from another part of the code
} else if(event2 == "event2") {
numCopies = iniNumCopies; // taken from another part of the code - read from the ini file
}
var path = dirName + "\\" + newDocName;
try
{
using (var document = PdfiumViewer.PdfDocument.Load(path))
{
using (var printDocument = document.CreatePrintDocument())
{
System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings settings = new System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings();
string defaultPrinterName = settings.PrinterName;
printDocument.DocumentName = newDocName;
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrintFileName = newDocName;
printDocument.PrinterSettings.Copies = numCopies;
printDocument.PrintController = new System.Drawing.Printing.StandardPrintController();
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = webPrinter;
MessageBox.Show("Before: " + printDocument.PrinterSettings.Copies.ToString() + " --- " + newDocName);
if (!printDocument.PrinterSettings.IsValid)
{
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = iniFilePrinter;
if(!printDocument.PrinterSettings.IsValid)
{
printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = defaultPrinterName;
}
}
MessageBox.Show("After: " + printDocument.PrinterSettings.Copies.ToString() + " --- " + newDocName);
printDocument.Print();
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex) {
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
The exception has never been triggered, and the print succeeds on every single try. Changing the number of copies within if/else also happens when the conditions are met, and the MessageBox.Show() parts of the code do show the expected number of copies (2,3,7, anything but 1, when it's not supposed to be 1) immediatelly before invoking printDocument.Print().
I've also tried printing unrelated documents from various other programs (MS Word, various custom applications, PDF readers and the like), and the number of copies has always been 1. However, software like Google Chrome or FireFox manage to get things printed in the specified number of copies.
I was thinking that there might be something about the printer's setting which makes it ignore the number of copies sent. Based on that assumption, I've checked the settings of all of the printers, and have found that the number of copies is actually set to 1.
If that is indeed the cause of my problem, how can I bypass that setting (without actually changing it), the way that Google Chrome and Firefox seem to be able to do it? I know that I could probably change that limit programmatically (set it to my number of copies, and then change it back to the original value, once the printing has been completed), but that doesn't seem like the proper way of doing it.
EDIT
I've expanded my code by including a print dialog, like this:
PrintDialog printDlg = new PrintDialog();
printDlg.Document = printDocument;
printDlg.AllowSelection = true;
printDlg.AllowSomePages = true;
if (printDlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
printDocument.Print();
}
Still, the results are the same - even when the user changes the number of copies within the print dialog, the printer ignores them. The same code was tested on another (local) printer, connected to an unrelated Windows 10 PC, and there the number of copies from the dialog was not ignored.
I've also noticed that the print dialog from my application, and that from notepad.exe are different (image below). Is there a way for me to call up the same print dialog notepad.exe uses? The reason I'd like to do this, is because that one gets the job done (xy number of copies in the print dialog, xy number of copies printed).

Is there a way to check if a printing process was successful?

I have an application where I need to print a ticket. Each ticket must be unique. The application is windows forms and written entirely in c#. For our application we're using Samsung ML- 2525 laser monochromatic printers.
The flow is basically the following, the operator picks a product/ticket (which is unique) and then it presses a button that does 2 things:
Connects to a database and updates the product as used
Prints the ticket (this is done using System.Drawing and GDI+)
For some reason, every once in a while, the image that needs to be printed is not sent to the printer. It's a rare case, but it happens.
I tried to connect to the printer using Win32_Printer ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Aa394363 ) but I can't get to get the current printer's state (online, offline, low toner, paper jam, etc). I can only check if the printer exists and that the paper size is installed correctly. I tried code similar to the following but it didn't work
private string MonitorPrintJobWmi()
{
var jobMessage = String.Empty;
var scope = new ManagementScope(ManagementPath.DefaultPath);
scope.Connect();
var selectQuery = new SelectQuery { QueryString = #"select * from Win32_PrintJob" };
var objSearcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, selectQuery);
var objCollection = objSearcher.Get();
foreach (var job in objCollection)
{
if (job != null)
{
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["Name"].ToString());
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["JobId"].ToString());
_jobId = Convert.ToInt32(job["JobId"]);
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["JobStatus"].ToString());
jobMessage += String.Format("{0} \r\n", job["Status"].ToString());
}
}
return jobMessage;
}
I tried to get an API for the printer but I couldn't get a hold of it. By the way, the printer's software do indicate different errors in the windows toolbar.
My question is if anyone can lead me in the right direction as to how to connect to a printer and check if printing was successful.
Also, it would be helpful if someone know of some other specific printer in which I may accomplish this ie, changing hardware.
Thanks,

To get a list of print queues on the local machine, try PrintServer's GetPrintQueues method.
Once you have an instance of the PrintQueue object associated with the relevant printer, you can use it to access the printer's status (IsOffline, IsPaperOut, etc.). Also, you can use it to get a list of the jobs in the given queue (GetPrintJobInfoCollection) which then will allow you to get job-specific status information (IsInError, IsCompleted, IsBlocked, etc.).
Hope this helps!

After try to print your PrintDocument (System.Drawing.Printing), try to check status of printjobs.
First step: Initialize your printDocument.
Second step: Get your printer Name From System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Cast<string>();
And copy it into your printerDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName
Third step: Try to print and dispose.
printerDocument.Print();
printerDocument.Dispose();
Last step: Run the check in a Task (do NOT block UI thread).
Task.Run(()=>{
if (!IsPrinterOk(printerDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName,checkTimeInMillisec))
{
// failed printing, do something...
}
});
Here is the implementation:
private bool IsPrinterOk(string name,int checkTimeInMillisec)
{
System.Collections.IList value = null;
do
{
//checkTimeInMillisec should be between 2000 and 5000
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(checkTimeInMillisec);
// or use Timer with Threading.Monitor instead of thread sleep
using (System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher searcher = new System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * FROM Win32_PrintJob WHERE Name like '%" + name + "%'"))
{
value = null;
if (searcher.Get().Count == 0) // Number of pending document.
return true; // return because we haven't got any pending document.
else
{
foreach (System.Management.ManagementObject printer in searcher.Get())
{
value = printer.Properties.Cast<System.Management.PropertyData>().Where(p => p.Name.Equals("Status")).Select(p => p.Value).ToList();
break;
}
}
}
}
while (value.Contains("Printing") || value.Contains("UNKNOWN") || value.Contains("OK"));
return value.Contains("Error") ? false : true;
}
Good luck.

Get Safe sender list in Outlook 2007 C# Add in

I have created an Outlook 2007 add-in in C#.NET 4.0.
I want to read the safe sender list in my C# code.
if (oBoxItem is Outlook.MailItem)
{
Outlook.MailItem miEmail = (Outlook.MailItem)oBoxItem;
OlDefaultFolders f = Outlook.OlDefaultFolders.olFolderContacts;
if (miEmail != null)
{
string body = miEmail.Body;
double score = spamFilterObject.CalculateSpamScore(body);
if (score <= 0.9)
{
miEmail.Move(mfJunkEmail);
}
}
}
So, the above code moves all email to spam, even though they are present in the safe sender list. Thus I want to get the safe sender list so that I can avoid this spam checking.
Could anybody please help me on this?

The Outlook object model doesn't expose these lists (for more or less obvious reasons). The safe sender list can be read straight from the registry at:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\[PROFILE NAME]\0a0d020000000000c000000000000046\001f0418
This binary registry key contains double-byte characters, separated by a semicolon (;).
The MAPI property mapping onto this registry key is
PR_SPAM_TRUSTED_SENDERS_W, documented here.

Chavan, I assume since this hasn't been updated in over 4 years, you don't need any more information, but this question and the answer helped me find what I was looking for (it was very hard to find) and enabled me to write the code below that may help if you're still looking for an answer.
This code runs in LINQPad, so if you aren't a LINQPad user, remove the .Dump() methods and replace with Console.WriteLine or Debug.WriteLine.
Cheers!
const string valueNameBlocked = "001f0426";
const string valueNameSafe = "001f0418";
// Note: I'm using Office 2013 (15.0) and my profile name is "Outlook"
// You may need to replace the 15.0 or the "Outlook" at the end of your string as needed.
string keyPath = #"Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles\Outlook";
string subKey = null;
var emptyBytes = new byte[] { };
var semi = new[] { ';' };
string blocked = null, safe = null;
// I found that my subkey under the profile was not the same on different machines,
// so I wrote this block to look for it.
using (var key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(keyPath))
{
var match =
// Get the subkeys and all of their value names
key.GetSubKeyNames().SelectMany(sk =>
{
using (var subkey = key.OpenSubKey(sk))
return subkey.GetValueNames().Select(valueName => new { subkey = sk, valueName });
})
// But only the one that matches Blocked Senders
.FirstOrDefault(sk => valueNameBlocked == sk.valueName);
// If we got one, get the data from the values
if (match != null)
{
// Simultaneously setting subKey string for later while opening the registry key
using (var subkey = key.OpenSubKey(subKey = match.subkey))
{
blocked = Encoding.Unicode.GetString((byte[])subkey.GetValue(valueNameBlocked, emptyBytes));
safe = Encoding.Unicode.GetString((byte[])subkey.GetValue(valueNameSafe, emptyBytes));
}
}
}
// Remove empty items and the null-terminator (sometimes there is one, but not always)
Func<string, List<string>> cleanList = s => s.Split(semi, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).Where(e => e != "\0").ToList();
// Convert strings to lists (dictionaries might be preferred)
var blockedList = cleanList(blocked).Dump("Blocked Senders");
var safeList = cleanList(safe).Dump("Safe Senders");
byte[] bytes;
// To convert a modified list back to a string for saving:
blocked = string.Join(";", blockedList) + ";\0";
bytes = Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(blocked);
// Write to the registry
using (var key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(keyPath + '\\' + subKey, true))
key.SetValue(valueNameBlocked, bytes, RegistryValueKind.Binary);
// In LINQPad, this is what I used to view my binary data
string.Join("", bytes.Select(b => b.ToString("x2"))).Dump("Blocked Senders: binary data");
safe = string.Join(";", safeList) + ";\0"; bytes = Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(safe);
string.Join("", bytes.Select(b => b.ToString("x2"))).Dump("Safe Senders: binary data");

PST and IMAP4 (ost) stores keep the list in the profile section in the registry. Profile section guid is {00020D0A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}. To access the data directly, you will need to know the Outlook version and the profile name.
Exchange store keeps this data as a part of the server side rule that processes incoming messages on the server side. You can see the rule data in OutlookSpy (I am its author) - go to the Inbox folder, "Associated Contents" tab, find the entry named (PR_RuleMsgName) == "Junk E-mail Rule", double click on it, take a look at the PR_EXTENDED_RULE_CONDITION property.
Outlook Object Model does not expose Junk mail settings. If using Redemption (I am also its author) is an option, it exposes the RDOJunkEmailOptions.TrustedSenders collection (works both for the PST and Exchange stores):
set Session = CreateObject("Redemption.RDOSession")
Session.MAPIOBJECT = Application.Session.MAPIOBJECT
set Store = Session.Stores.DefaultStore
set TrustedSenders = Store.JunkEmailOptions.TrustedSenders
for each v in TrustedSenders
debug.print v
next

detecting presence of bluetooth printer

I'm working on a mobile application (C#/WPF on a tablet PC) that prints to a bluetooth connected printer. Right now I just fire off a print job, and if the printer is not present the printer subsystem reports an error to the user. I'm not doing anything programatically with Bluetooth, just using PrintDialog().
I'd like to modify this process to detect the printer first - if it is not available, then I'll just store the document without printing. Is there a way in code for me to detect if the bluetooth device is connected/active/available?
If I look at the device in the Bluetooth panel under Control Panel, it doesn't seem to have any sort of status that reflects whether or not the device is available, so maybe this isn't possible.
I'm assuming the printer has already been setup and configured in Windows - all I need to do is detect if it is actually present at a given point in time.

Perhaps use the 32feet.NET library (of which I am the maintainer) and check if the printer is present before submitting the job. You'd need to know the Bluetooth address of the printer; can one get that from the system, or maybe you always know it.
Discovery on the MSFT Bluetooth stack always returns all known devices in amongst those in range :-( but we can use other means to detect the device's presence/absence. Perhaps using BluetoothDeviceInfo.GetServiceRecords in its BeginGetServiceRecords form. e.g. something like (not tested/compiled):
bool IsPresent(BluetoothAddress addr) // address from config somehow
{
BluetoothDeviceInfo bdi = new BluetoothDeviceInfo(addr);
if (bdi.Connected) {
return true;
}
Guid arbitraryClass = BluetoothService.Headset;
AsyncResult<bool> ourAr = new AsyncResult<bool>(); // Jeffrey Richter's impl
IAsyncResult ar = bdi.BeginGetService(arbitraryClass, IsPresent_GsrCallback, ourAr);
bool signalled = ourAr.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(Timeout);
if (!signalled) {
return false; // Taken too long, so not in range
} else {
return ourAr.Result;
}
}
void IsPresent_GsrCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
{
AsyncResult<bool> ourAr = (AsyncResult<bool>)ar.AsyncState;
const bool IsInRange = true;
const bool completedSyncFalse = true;
try {
bdi.EndGetServiceResult(ar);
ourAr.SetAsCompleted(IsInRange, completedSyncFalse);
} catch {
// If this returns quickly, then it is in range and
// if slowly then out of range but caller will have
// moved on by then... So set true in both cases...
// TODO check what error codes we get here. SocketException(10108) iirc
ourAr.SetAsCompleted(IsInrange, completedSyncFalse);
}
}