C# Discussion Boards - CodeProject

how to encode string in serialization

13-May-05 2:52

It's impossible to regenerate the original source code exactly how you wrote it. What you'll see is the equivalent code as translated from the IL.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

Green Fuze12-May-05 14:36

Green Fuze

12-May-05 14:36

hey everybody!

I'm serializing some strings in an application, but one of the string is a password. the thing is that when I go to the file that I'm serializing to, I can see with notepad the password clearly.

is there anyway to encode and decode this string before serializing it ?

Re: how to encode string in serialization

Stefan Prodan12-May-05 20:11

Stefan Prodan

12-May-05 20:11

Well here it is a function that i use to encode strings in XML files:

/// <summary><br />
/// Convert To Base64<br />
/// </summary><br />
/// <param name="text">clean text</param><br />
/// <param name="type">1(Unicode) 2(ASCII) 3(UTF7) 4(UTF8)</param><br />
/// <returns>Base64 string</returns><br />
public static string ToB64(string text, Int16 type)<br />
{<br />
        string rez = null;<br />
        switch (type)<br />
	{<br />
		case 1: //Unicode<br />
		rez = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(text));<br />
		break;<br />
		case 2: //ASCII<br />
		rez = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(text));<br />
		break;<br />
		ase 3: //UTF7<br />
		rez = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF7.GetBytes(text));<br />
		break;<br />
		case 4: //UTF8<br />
		rez = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(text));<br />
		break;<br />
	}<br />
	eturn rez;<br />
}

and to decode:

/// <summary><br />
/// Convert From Base64<br />
/// </summary><br />
/// <param name="text">encrypted text</param><br />
/// <param name="type">1(Unicode) 2(ASCII) 3(UTF7) 4(UTF8)</param><br />
/// <returns>clean text</returns><br />
public static string FromB64(string text, Int16 type)<br />
{<br />
	string rez = null;<br />
	switch (type)<br />
	{<br />
	case 1: //Unicode<br />
	rez = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(text));<br />
	break;<br />
	case 2: //ASCII<br />
	rez = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(text));<br />
	break;<br />
	case 3: //UTF7<br />
	rez = Encoding.UTF7.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(text));<br />
	break;<br />
	case 4: //UTF8<br />
	rez = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(text));<br />
	break;<br />
	}<br />
	return rez;<br />
}

Re: how to encode string in serialization

StealthyMark13-May-05 4:38

StealthyMark

13-May-05 4:38

I'm assuming you want to serialize your class with the XmlSerializer. The simplest trick is to mark your cleartext Password field/property with XMLIgnore and add another property providing an encrypted password.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
 
[Serializable]
public class UserData
{
    [XmlIgnore]
    public string Password;
 
    [XmlElement("Password", DataType = "base64Binary")]
    [EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
    public byte[] EncryptedPassword
    {
        get
        {
            // use the classes in the System.Cryptography
            // namespace to return the encrypted password
            return YourEncryptMethod(Password);
        }
        set
        {
            // use the classes in the System.Cryptography
            // namespace to decrypt the encrypted password
            Password = YourDecryptMethod(value);
        }
    }
}

Another possibility is to implement the IXmlSerializable interface and serialize your class manually.

HTH, Mark

Interop question C#

IsaacB12-May-05 12:58

IsaacB

12-May-05 12:58

Hi, anyone has an idea of how to call a function with the following signature

long csp2TimeStamp2Str(unsigned char *Stamp, char *value, long nMaxLength)

in C# I declare it like this

[DllImport("csp2.dll", EntryPoint="csp2TimeStamp2Str")]
public static extern int csp2TimeStamp2Str(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)] System.Text.StringBuilder blah,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray)] byte[] lpBuffer, int maxLength);

Thanks in advance

Re: Interop question C#

pubududilena12-May-05 17:10

pubududilena

12-May-05 17:10

hi pl check like this:-
[DllImport("csp2.dll",EntryPoint="csp2TimeStamp2Str",ExactSpelling=false,SetLastError=true)]
public static extern int csp2TimeStamp2Str(out char stamp,out char value,int maxLength);

regards,
pubudu.

Re: Interop question C#

StealthyMark13-May-05 5:18

StealthyMark

13-May-05 5:18

Do you have any documentation?

The first parameter unsigned char *Stamp might be
1. a pointer to a simple value, possibly taken from an enumeration
ref char stamp
ref short stamp
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.U2)] ref YourEnumType stamp
2. a [In] null-terminated unicode string
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string stamp
3. a [Out/maybe In] null-terminated unicode string
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder stamp
4. a [In] data array, its length is given in parameter nMaxLength
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeParamIndex = 2)] char[] stamp
5. a [Out] data array, its length is the return value of the function
IntPtr stamp

This goes for the second parameter as well, except for the last two possibilities, one is an [Out] parameter, the other one is an [In] parameter.

Without some documentation it is very hard to tell.

Mark

Application always on top?

Anthony Mushrow12-May-05 12:32

Anthony Mushrow

12-May-05 12:32

How can i get my app to always beinfront of all other running programs, even when its not active (Just like the task manager)

If your task manager is not always on top go 'Options' --> 'Always on top'

Dave Kreskowiak12-May-05 14:25

12-May-05 14:25

In your Form's properties, find TopMost and set it to true.
Or, in the form's code:

this.TopMost = true;

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

cjengler13-May-05 0:00

cjengler

13-May-05 0:00

It may be that I just don't have enough coffee in me yet this morning but out of curiousity, if I have two apps with both set to TopMost which one actually appears on top? Guessing it would be the last one open but I may be wrong.

Dave Kreskowiak13-May-05 0:57

13-May-05 0:57

The last one opened gets the top spot in the Z-Order.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

Sebastian Schneider13-May-05 1:30

Sebastian Schneider

13-May-05 1:30

Out of curiosity (as well):

Is Z-Order shared among monitors or does each screen have its own Z-Order?

Meaning, if I have 2 programs which are set to top-most and I drag one to another screen, will it "stay" on top of others apps on that screen?

Im asking because the program I am writing would be ideal to have on top on a second screen, so I just was curious if setting "top-most" would be enough.

As usual, the user can easily disable "top-most" at the press of a menu item Wink | ;)

Cheers,
Sebastian

--
Contra vim mortem non est medicamen in hortem.

Dave Kreskowiak13-May-05 2:50

13-May-05 2:50

If your desktop is shared among all the monitors, then the Z-Order is also shared among them. If not, then each monitor has it's own Z-Order.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

Windows XP Icons

Peter Vertes12-May-05 12:18

Peter Vertes

12-May-05 12:18

Anyone know where I could get access to the icons Windows XP uses ? I'd like to use the native Windows icons in my own application. Specifically I'd like to use the icons that are present in the Control Panel. Is this possible ?

Re: Windows XP Icons

Dave Kreskowiak12-May-05 14:22

12-May-05 14:22

You might first want to consider, or better yet - find out for sure, if this is a copyright violation.

The icons you find in the control panel are stored in the control panel files themselves (*.CPL). The are articles here on CP that explain how to pull the icons out of various .EXE and .DLL files. .CPL files are pretty much just like .EXE's. Just search the articles for "extract icon".

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

Re: Windows XP Icons

Polis Pilavas13-May-05 0:12

Polis Pilavas

13-May-05 0:12

You can google for a nice little tool called "Buddy Icon Grabber". It will extract all icons out of any .exe or .dll file for you.

It can also scan your machine for all icons and let you save them to different formats and sizes. However, this mode is a system-resources eater!

Regards,
Polis

Can you practice what you teach?

C# to extract

ziczaczoom200412-May-05 12:09

ziczaczoom2004

12-May-05 12:09

Can anyone help in extracting the exe files in such a way that the exe file does not install but extracts the all the files in a separate folder?

Stefan Prodan12-May-05 12:15

Stefan Prodan

12-May-05 12:15

I gues you need a Zip like utility.
There is a free zip lib made in C# here icsharpcode.net

ziczaczoom200412-May-05 13:09

ziczaczoom2004

12-May-05 13:09

thanks for ur response. No i don't want any zip like utility. if i use diagonostics.process...,start(),waitforexit(), the exe file is extracted to install, but i want the exe file to extract to be unzipped or stored & not installing the exe package.

Dave Kreskowiak12-May-05 14:17

12-May-05 14:17

You'll have to find out what the command line parameters are for the file you want to unpack. If the .EXE supports the functionality you want, you're in business, all you have to do is use the correct commandline parameters to tell the .EXE to unpack itself but not run its setup. If not, oh well...

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

ziczaczoom200413-May-05 9:58

ziczaczoom2004

13-May-05 9:58

system.diagnostics.process.start("filename.zip"); will extract the file (if it is an exe file , it starts to install)...all i need is to unzip the filename.zip, so that i can store the unzipped contents in another folder.

thanks

Dave Kreskowiak13-May-05 11:59