Develop Reference

CoolUtils TotalPDFPrinterX causes ASP C# site to crash

My company has purchased the CoolUtils TotalPDFPrinterX from https://www.coolutils.com/TotalPDFPrinterX
I make an HTTP PUT from Postman to the API and I get “Could not get any response”.
When running on my Windows machine the PDF prints fine however on the server the site crashes and in the event log I get the error "A process serving application pool '[MY_APP_POOL]' failed to respond to a ping. The process id was '[MY_PROCESS_ID]'."
Here is my C# code:
PDFPrinterX ppx = new PDFPrinterX();
ppx.Print(fileName, printerName, "-ap Default");
if (ppx.ErrorMessage != null)
{
WriteToSQL(id, false, ppx.ErrorMessage, 2);
Console.WriteLine(ppx.ErrorMessage);
}
By writing to the event log I know the site crashes on this line: PDFPrinterX ppx = new PDFPrinterX(); I have also surrounded the above code with a try catch and no exception is thrown. The site still crashes.
Things I have tried:
Uninstalling and Reinstalling the CoolUtils software
Giving EVERYONE Full control to the site folder and the CoolUtils program folder
Creating a C# desktop application using the same code. THIS WORKS FINE ON THE SERVER. It's just the ASP site that crashes.
Does anyone know what might be causing this?

The more I research this thing online the more I'm inclined to say that ActiveX which is the X in PDFPrinterX doesn't seem to work well when hosted in IIS.
I've seen a few forums where they say it works fine when they debug on localhost but when deployed to server is crashes.
...works fine when used inside localhost(Visual studio)
One of their feature pages shows that it requires Win 2000/NT/XP/2003/Vista/7
You should look into whether your server supports ActiveX components that can work in conjunction with IIS.
Looking at one of their other products support page: TotalPDFConverterX:
the following note in my opinion may also apply to TotalPDFPrinterX, given its dependency on ActiveX as well.
Note: Pay attention to some details during installation Total PDF Converter X:
Do not forget to register ActiveX in your web-server account.
Total PDF Converter X supports only Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Firefox browsers.
ActiveX works only with 32-bit internet information server. 64-bit server is not supported. Use command line version instead.

Thanks to #Nkosi I was able to find a workaround.
ActiveX works only with 32-bit internet information server. 64-bit server is not supported. Use command line version instead.
Our IIS server is 64 bit so that is what probably caused the site to hang up.
Buttt... the command line still worked in printing the PDFs on the server.
Client side code (makes the HTTP POST):
private void SendToPrinter(string fileName, string printerName, int id, decimal documentSequence)
{
// use http client to make a POST to the print api
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
// compile the values string to transfer in POST
// should finish to look something like this:
// C:\print.pdf&PRTFTW_OFIT&ValShip-155320-1
var values = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "", fileName + "&" + printerName + "&ValShip-" + id + "-" + documentSequence},
};
// URL encode the values string
var content = new FormUrlEncodedContent(values);
// make the POST
// DEBUG
var response = client.PostAsync("http://localhost:54339/api/print", content);
// retrieve the response
var responseString = response.Result.ToString();
}
}
Server side code (receives the HTTP POST):
using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Http;
namespace api.valbruna.print.Controllers
{
public class PrintController : ApiController
{
// POST api/print
public HttpResponseMessage Post(HttpRequestMessage request)
{
try
{
// parse the content recieved from the client
var content = request.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
// decode the content, certain characters such as
// '&' get encoded to URL lingo such as '%26'
content = HttpUtility.UrlDecode(content);
// split the string into 3 seperate parts
String[] str = content.Split('&');
// remove the equal sign from the first string
str[0] = str[0].Trim('=');
// compile the arguments command line string
// should finish to look something like this:
// "C:\Program Files (x86)\CoolUtils\Total PDF PrinterX\PDFPrinterX.exe" "C:\print.pdf" -p"\\PRINTERS\PRTFTW_OFIT" -ap Default -log "C:\inetpub\logs\CoolUtils\log-ValShip-155320-4.txt" -verbosity detail"
String arguments = "\"" + str[0] + "\" -p\"\\\\PRINTERS\\" + str[1] +
"\" -ap Default -log \"C:\\inetpub\\logs\\CoolUtils\\log-" + str[2] +
".txt\" -verbosity detail";
// file location for PDFPrinterX.exe
String file = #"C:\Program Files (x86)\CoolUtils\Total PDF PrinterX\PDFPrinterX.exe";
// start the process
System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
startInfo.FileName = file;
startInfo.Arguments = arguments;
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
return new HttpResponseMessage() { Content = new StringContent(content) };
}
catch (Exception e)
{
return new HttpResponseMessage() { Content = new StringContent(e.Message) };
}
}
}
}

Is it possible to check if a Mutex is created by using wildcards?

For example my application creates mutex's like so:
MyApplication\\{UserName}
and then my updater program (that updates this application) needs to check whether this has been created or not but it doesn't know the username.
I have the code:
string mutexString = "MyApplication\\User1"
bool isNew;
var mutex = new Mutex(true, mutexString , out isNew);
if(isNew)
{
//Run my program
}
This works fine if I know the username but I would like to know if it is possible for this to work with wildcards?

So from the comments I get the sense that this is impossible so a better solution might be to check the running processes which I achieved like so:
foreach (var process in Process.GetProcesses())
{
if (process.MainWindowTitle.IndexOf("MyApp",StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) >= 0)
{
isNew = false;
}
}

How to close a file in Autocad using C# keeping acad.exe running?

I am using visual studio 2010 and I am having a .DWG file which I want to open in autocad. Till now I have used this.
Process p = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo s = new ProcessStartInfo("D:/Test File/" + fileName);
p.StartInfo = s;
p.Start();
But what I want is to close the file inside the Autocad but not the autocad itself. (Means atocad.exe should be kept running).
Till now I hve used this but its closing the acad.exe not the file.
foreach (Process Proc in Process.GetProcesses())
{
if (Proc.ProcessName.Equals("acad"))
{
Proc.CloseMainWindow();
Proc.Kill();
}
}

Take the Autocad .NET libraries from Autodesk Sites (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=773204&siteID=123112)
Then you will be able to use Application and Document classes.
They will give you full control over opening and closing documents within the application.
You can find many articles on that, and can ask further questions.

AutoCAD does have an api. there are 4 assemblys. Two for in-process and two for COM.
inprocess :
acdbmgd.dll
acmgd.dll
COMInterop :
Autodesk.Autocad.Interop.dll
Autodesk.Autocad.Interop.Common.dll
this is a method that will open a new instance of AutoCAD or it will connect to an existing running instance of AutoCAD.
you will need to load these .dlls into your project references.
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Interop;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Interop.Common;
namespace YourNameSpace {
public class YourClass {
AcadApplication AcApp;
private const string progID = "AutoCAD.Application.18.2";// this is AutoCAD 2012 program id
private string profileName = "<<Unnamed Profile>>";
private const string acadPath = #"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2012 - English\acad.exe";
public void GetAcApp()
{
try
{
AcApp = (AcadApplication)Marshal.GetActiveObject(progID);
} catch {
try {
var acadProcess = new Process();
acadProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = string.Format("/nologo /p \"{0}\"", profileName);
acadProcess.StartInfo.FileName = (#acadPath);
acadProcess.Start();
while(AcApp == null)
{
try { AcApp = (AcadApplication)Marshal.GetActiveObject(progID); }
catch { }
}
} catch(COMException) {
MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Cannot create object of type \"{0}\"",progID));
}
}
try {
int i = 0;
var appState = AcApp.GetAcadState();
while (!appState.IsQuiescent)
{
if(i == 120)
{
Application.Exit();
}
// Wait .25s
Thread.Sleep(250);
i++;
}
if(AcApp != null){
// set visibility
AcApp.Visible = true;
}
} catch (COMException err) {
if(err.ErrorCode.ToString() == "-2147417846"){
Thread.Sleep(5000);
}
}
}
}
}
closeing it is as simple as
Application.Exit();
and forgive the code. its atrocious, this was one of my first methods when i just started developing...

I doubt you will be able to do this unless AutoCAD has an API that you can hook into and ask it to close the file for you.
Your c# app can only do things to the process (acad.exe) , it doesn't have access to the internal operations of that process.

Also, you shouldn't use Kill unless the process has become unresponsive and certainly not immediately after CloseMainWindow.
CloseMainWindow is the polite way to ask an application to close itself. Kill is like pulling the power lead from the socket. You aren't giving it the chance to clean up after itself and exit cleanly.

There is one other possibility - this will only work if your C# code is running on the same machine as the AutoCAD process and it is not really recommended, but, if you are really stuck and are prepared to put up with the hassle of window switching you can send key strokes to an application using the SendKeys command.
MSDN articles here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/ms171548(v=VS.110,d=hv.2).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.sendkeys.send.aspx
Using this you could send the key strokes to simulate the user using the menu commands to close the file.

To perform the closing of file, best way out is to follow the steps at this ObjectARX SDK for c# and change the following code with the below code.
[CommandMethod("CD", CommandFlags.Session)]
static public void CloseDocuments()
{
DocumentCollection docs = Application.DocumentManager;
foreach (Document doc in docs)
{
// First cancel any running command
if (doc.CommandInProgress != "" &&
doc.CommandInProgress != "CD")
{
AcadDocument oDoc =
(AcadDocument)doc.AcadDocument;
oDoc.SendCommand("\x03\x03");
}
if (doc.IsReadOnly)
{
doc.CloseAndDiscard();
}
else
{
// Activate the document, so we can check DBMOD
if (docs.MdiActiveDocument != doc)
{
docs.MdiActiveDocument = doc;
}
int isModified =
System.Convert.ToInt32(
Application.GetSystemVariable("DBMOD")
);
// No need to save if not modified
if (isModified == 0)
{
doc.CloseAndDiscard();
}
else
{
// This may create documents in strange places
doc.CloseAndSave(doc.Name);
}
}
}

Opening a web page in a non-elevated browser from an elevated process C#

I've been trying for a couple weeks now to run a non-elevated web browser from an elevated process, I have tried various things, duplicating the explorer token, using the WinSafer Apis mentioned here and various other techniques that all failed. Finally I decided to use Microsoft's suggestion of using the Task Scheduler to run the application.
I used the Task Scheduler Managed Wrapper, at first I tried running explorer.exe and passing the url as a command but that did not work so I created a dummy executable that'll launch the site using Process.Start.
Here is how I create the task:
public static void LaunchWin8BrowserThroughTaskScheduler(string sURL)
{
String RunAsUserExecPath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "URLLaunch.exe";
String Command = string.Format("-w \"{0}\"", sURL);
using (TaskService ts = new TaskService())
{
TaskDefinition td = ts.NewTask();
td.RegistrationInfo.Description = "URL Launch";
td.Principal.LogonType = TaskLogonType.InteractiveToken;
TimeTrigger trigger = new TimeTrigger(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(2))
{
Enabled = true,
EndBoundary = DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(10)
};
td.Triggers.Add(trigger);
td.Actions.Add(new ExecAction( RunAsUserExecPath, Command, null));
td.Settings.StartWhenAvailable = true;
//Delete the task after 30 secs
td.Settings.DeleteExpiredTaskAfter = new TimeSpan(0,0,0,30);
ts.RootFolder.RegisterTaskDefinition("URL Launch", td, TaskCreation.CreateOrUpdate, null, null, TaskLogonType.InteractiveToken);
}
}
and this is the code to my dummy executable:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if(args.Length<=1)
return;
string sCmd = args[0];
string sArg = args[1];
if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(sCmd)||string.IsNullOrEmpty(sArg))
return;
switch (sCmd)
{
case "-w":
{
Process prs = Process.Start(sArg);
}
break;
}
}
This method is working, and the browser is indeed launched non-elevated and I was able to confirm that by checking the Elevated column in Windows 8's task manager.
The only nuance here is that the browser is not launched as the top most window, it is running in the background and I think its got to do with the fact that its being run through task scheduler.
This is causing me problems especially with Modern UI browsers because Windows does not switch to them when a page is launched. I can see that the page has been successfully launched in Chrome, for example, while running in Windows 8 mode, but the fact that it does not switch to the browser just defies the whole purpose of this workaround.
I thought about using SetForegroundWindow but sadly running a URL like the example above or through explorer.exe, Process.Start returns null.
I was wondering if someone can help me fix this and be able to run the browser in foreground.
Regards

I've been able to solve the issue with a very simplistic method.
Just write a shortcut file to somewhere like the TempFolder and execute it through explorer.exe likes so:
public static void GoURL(string url)
{
string sysPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System);
string ExplorerPath = Path.Combine(Directory.GetParent(sysPath).FullName,
"explorer.exe");
string TempDir = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.InternetCache);
string shortcutPath = Path.Combine(TempDir, "Mylink.url");
urlShortcutToTemp(url, shortcutPath);
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ExplorerPath, shortcutPath);
}
private static void urlShortcutToTemp(string linkUrl, string shortcutPath)
{
using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(shortcutPath))
{
writer.WriteLine("[InternetShortcut]");
writer.WriteLine("URL=" + linkUrl);
writer.Flush();
}
}
The same solution can be applied to executables with lnk shortcuts.

hijack program’s command to run notepad

I have a utility programs’s EXE file, when i run this file there is a winform only and there is button when we click on it, it run windows’s notepad. Now I want to hijack this program’s command to run notepad and instead of running notepad I want to run MS Word. I know C# and VB.NET. What I need to do this ?

You can try to add in folder with this program your own program called notepad.exe that should do only one thing: run word.
If you want to do it programatically in C then you should read this page - maybe it helps: Intercepted: Windows Hacking via DLL Redirection

You can use a trick to replace programs with another by making changes to the registry. This will work even if the program you are running uses absolute paths to run notepad. It overrides any instance of the running program with the chosen one no matter where it resides. And you won't have to patch the file. The key you'd be interested in is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
Add a key with the name of the program and add a Debugger string with the path to the program you want to replace it with. Of course you need to have permissions to make the necessary modifications. This page explains how you can replace Windows Notepad with another program. You can apply the same process here.
Though you'll probably not want to have this permanent change, so you can write up a program to temporarily add/change the key, run your program then change it back. Here's a complete one I just whipped up to temporarily replace Notepad with Word for a demonstration. Seems to work perfectly fine (though as always, use at your own risk). Just make all the necessary changes to fit your situation.
using System.Diagnostics;
using Microsoft.Win32;
namespace ProgramLauncher
{
class Program
{
// change the following constants as needed
const string PROGRAM_NAME = #"notepad.exe";
const string REPLACEMENT_PATH = #"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE";
const string RUNNING_PATH = #"C:\Windows\notepad.exe";
// root key
const string KEY = #"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (var rootKey = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(KEY, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.ReadWriteSubTree))
{
var oldPath = default(string);
var needsRestoration = false;
try
{
oldPath = BackupKey(rootKey, PROGRAM_NAME, REPLACEMENT_PATH);
needsRestoration = true;
Process.Start(RUNNING_PATH).WaitForExit();
}
finally
{
if (needsRestoration)
RestoreKey(rootKey, PROGRAM_NAME, oldPath);
}
}
}
static string BackupKey(RegistryKey rootKey, string programName, string newPath)
{
Debug.Assert(rootKey != null);
Debug.Assert(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(programName));
Debug.Assert(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(newPath) && System.IO.File.Exists(newPath));
if (newPath.Contains(" "))
newPath = string.Format("\"{0}\"", newPath);
using (var programKey = rootKey.CreateSubKey(programName, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.ReadWriteSubTree))
{
var oldDebugger = programKey.GetValue("Debugger") as string;
programKey.SetValue("Debugger", newPath, RegistryValueKind.String);
return oldDebugger;
}
}
static void RestoreKey(RegistryKey rootKey, string programName, string oldPath)
{
Debug.Assert(rootKey != null);
Debug.Assert(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(programName));
if (oldPath != null)
{
using (var programKey = rootKey.OpenSubKey(programName, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.ReadWriteSubTree))
programKey.SetValue("Debugger", oldPath);
}
else
{
rootKey.DeleteSubKey(programName);
}
}
}
}