C# Discussion Boards - CodeProject

Re: read and display image in c#

majid abdollahi10-Mar-12 3:11

majid abdollahi

10-Mar-12 3:11

hi there

run .exe file in a panel

pancakeleh9-Mar-12 19:09

pancakeleh

9-Mar-12 19:09

How to place a .exe file into the panel in visual studio windows form application c#.

using this

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("calc.exe");

the calculator.exe will pop up after a button is being clicked. how do i do it in a way such that the calculator is being displayed in the panel after the button is clicked?

and also if i want to run another exe file of my own in this panel how do i go about doing it?

Re: run .exe file in a panel

Abhinav S9-Mar-12 19:35

Abhinav S

9-Mar-12 19:35

Using the SetParent API might help you achieve this.

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr SetParent(IntPtr hWndChild, IntPtr hWndParent);

void LoadProcessInPanel
{
...
Process process = Process.Start("calc.exe");
SetParent(process.MainWindowHandle, myPanel.Handle);
...
}

modified 10-Mar-12 1:44am.

Re: run .exe file in a panel

OriginalGriff9-Mar-12 22:06

OriginalGriff

9-Mar-12 22:06

Unless Calc.exe starts a lot quicker than it does on my PC, you need a delay before you change the parent - it won't work until the window is fully constructed. Laugh | :laugh:

Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water

Re: run .exe file in a panel

OriginalGriff9-Mar-12 22:02

OriginalGriff

9-Mar-12 22:02

The solution Abhinav gave you will not work as is: you need to wait for the window to be fully loaded before you set the new value:

Process process = Process.Start("calc.exe");
Thread.Sleep(500);
SetParent(process.MainWindowHandle, myPanel.Handle);

You will also need to move it to a "sensible" location within your panel after you display it.

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr SetParent(IntPtr hWndChild, IntPtr hWndParent);
[DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "SetWindowPos")]
public static extern IntPtr SetWindowPos(IntPtr hWnd, int hWndInsertAfter, int x, int Y, int cx, int cy, int wFlags);
private const short SWP_NOMOVE = 0X2;
private const short SWP_NOSIZE = 1;
private const short SWP_NOZORDER = 0X4;
private const int SWP_SHOWWINDOW = 0x0040;

private void myButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
    Process process = Process.Start("calc.exe");
    Thread.Sleep(500);
    IntPtr processHandle = process.MainWindowHandle;
    SetParent(processHandle, myPanel.Handle);
    SetWindowPos(processHandle, 0, 0, 0, myPanel.Bounds.Width, myPanel.Bounds.Height, SWP_NOZORDER | SWP_SHOWWINDOW);
    }

You might want to look at this: Window Tabifier[^] - it's a bit more complex that you appear to need, but it does everything you want to!

Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water

Re: run .exe file in a panel

DaveyM699-Mar-12 22:15

DaveyM69

9-Mar-12 22:15

You can use the IsWindowVisible[^] function with a while loop instead of sleeping the thread

Dave

Binging is like googling, it just feels dirtier.
Please take your VB.NET out of our nice case sensitive forum.
Astonish us. Be exceptional. (Pete O'Hanlon)

BTW, in software, hope and pray is not a viable strategy. (Luc Pattyn)

Re: run .exe file in a panel

OriginalGriff9-Mar-12 22:24

OriginalGriff

9-Mar-12 22:24

I need another coffee...

Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water

Re: run .exe file in a panel

DaveyM699-Mar-12 22:11

DaveyM69

9-Mar-12 22:11

I've just been playing around with this as your question interested me. There's a bit more to just setting the parent handle. This is what I came up with after a little research and testing, it will still need further work but it's a start:

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

internal static class NativeMethods
{
    public const int GWL_STYLE = -16;
    public const int WS_VISIBLE = 0x10000000;

    // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms633530(v=vs.85).aspx
    /*
BOOL WINAPI IsWindowVisible(
__in  HWND hWnd
);
     */
    [DllImport("User32.dll")]
    [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
    public static extern bool IsWindowVisible(IntPtr hWnd);

    // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms633534(v=vs.85).aspx
    /*
BOOL WINAPI MoveWindow(
__in  HWND hWnd,
__in  int X,
__in  int Y,
__in  int nWidth,
__in  int nHeight,
__in  BOOL bRepaint
);
     */
    [DllImport("User32.dll")]
    [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
    public static extern bool MoveWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int X, int Y, int nWidth, int nHeight, bool bRepaint);

    // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms633541(v=vs.85).aspx
    /*
HWND WINAPI SetParent(
__in      HWND hWndChild,
__in_opt  HWND hWndNewParent
);
     */
    [DllImport("User32.dll")]
    public static extern IntPtr SetParent(IntPtr hWndChild, IntPtr hWndNewParent);

    // http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms633591(v=vs.85).aspx
    /*
LONG WINAPI SetWindowLong(
__in  HWND hWnd,
__in  int nIndex,
__in  LONG dwNewLong
);
     */
    [DllImport("User32.dll")]
    public static extern int SetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex, int dwNewLong);
}

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

internal class ProcessWrapper
{
    private Process process = null;

    public ProcessWrapper(Process process)
    {
        this.process = process;
    }

    public void Close()
    {
        if (process != null)
            process.CloseMainWindow();
    }
    public void PlaceInControl(Control control)
    {
        if (control != null && process != null)
        {
            while (
                process.MainWindowHandle == IntPtr.Zero || 
                !NativeMethods.IsWindowVisible(process.MainWindowHandle))
            {
                process.Refresh();
            }
            process.WaitForInputIdle();
            NativeMethods.SetParent(process.MainWindowHandle, control.Handle);
            NativeMethods.SetWindowLong(
                process.MainWindowHandle,
                NativeMethods.GWL_STYLE,
                NativeMethods.WS_VISIBLE);
            Resize(control.ClientRectangle);
        }
    }
    public void Resize(Rectangle rectangle)
    {
        if (process != null)
            NativeMethods.MoveWindow(
                process.MainWindowHandle, 
                rectangle.X, 
                rectangle.Y, 
                rectangle.Width, 
                rectangle.Height, 
                true);
    }
}

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows.Forms;

// panel is Panel added to form with Anchor set to Top, Bottom, Left and Right
public partial class FormMain : Form
{
    private ProcessWrapper processWrapper;

    public FormMain()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        FormClosing += new FormClosingEventHandler(FormMainFormClosing);
        panel.Resize += new EventHandler(PanelResize);
        processWrapper = new ProcessWrapper(Process.Start("calc.exe"));
        processWrapper.PlaceInControl(panel);
    }

    private void PanelResize(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (processWrapper != null)
            processWrapper.Resize(panel.ClientRectangle);
    }

    private void FormMainFormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
    {
        if (processWrapper != null)
            processWrapper.Close();
    }
}

Re: run .exe file in a panel

Ravi Bhavnani10-Mar-12 4:38

Ravi Bhavnani

10-Mar-12 4:38

See this[^] article.

/ravi

My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536
Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware
ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

Re: run .exe file in a panel

pancakeleh10-Mar-12 8:54

pancakeleh

10-Mar-12 8:54

i have tried out and it works! but right now i am facing another problem! how do i adjust the panel width and height? I fixed my panel on the top left hand side with a width of 400px and height 400px. however after the button is being clicked, the exe appear but the position of the panel shifted. how do i ensure that the panel stays where it was as of before?

and also before the exe file is being displayed in the panel, it will pop up the exe first. how can i do it in such a way that it wont pop up and will be displayed immediately in the panel?

C# .net pointer to variable length array

MichCl9-Mar-12 9:54

MichCl

9-Mar-12 9:54

I'm trying to figure out how to pass pointers to variable length arrays. I can't seem to get this to work. Any help? It looks like this:

<pre>
class CHandler:
public int ReadFileBytes(string fileName, byte[] dataForReturn)  //can probably leave second param as-is?
{
   //read it here but return both ptr to array and 
   //int return status code
   FileStream fs = File.OpenRead(fileName);
   dataForReturn = new byte[fs.length];
   fs.Read(dataForReturn, 0, dataForReturn.Length);
   fs.Close();
   int status = 1;
   return status;
}

class DUser:
private void button_Click(...)
{
   //??not sure if this is how I call my accessor method
   Read_File(fileName, byte[]dataForReturn);
   //??the above dataForReturn will eventually be
   //passed to someone
}

//??not sure if this is how second param needs to be
public int Read_File(string fileName, Byte[]* data)
{
   CHandler fio = new CHandler();
   //??not sure about how access method to get data
   int result = fio.ReadFileBytes(fileName, data);
}

Re: C# .net pointer to variable length array

PIEBALDconsult9-Mar-12 10:30

PIEBALDconsult

9-Mar-12 10:30

MichCl wrote:
how to pass pointers to variable length arrays

Not in C#.

CHandler -- can it be static?

ReadFileBytes -- looks OK, but why not return the numbre of bytes read? (Or -1 on failure?)

Read_File -- out byte[] data (no asterisk)

button_Click -- should probably declare dataForReturn

Re: C# .net pointer to variable length array

Luc Pattyn9-Mar-12 13:04

Luc Pattyn

9-Mar-12 13:04

That is just silly. Simply use the one-line approach based on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.file.readallbytes.aspx[^].

May I suggest you choose, buy and study an introductory book on C#?

And then, when you really need them, look for the ref and out keywords.

Smile | :)

Luc Pattyn [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

Regarding file path wildcards

PIEBALDconsult9-Mar-12 9:03

PIEBALDconsult

9-Mar-12 9:03

For an app I'm working on, I want the user to be able to include wildcards when specifying the files to open from the command line, e.g. myapp C:\projects\*.cs.
But that causes trouble when I try to extract the path and filename (filespec) with System.IO.Path -- the wildcard characters cause Exceptions.

As a work around, I'm using the following, which works OK, but I doubt it's very robust:

    private void
    OpenFiles
    (
      string[] Paths
    )
    {
      foreach ( string path in Paths )
      {
        int off = path.LastIndexOfAny ( new char[] { '\\' , ':' } ) + 1 ;

        string p = off==0 ? ".\\" : path.Substring ( 0 , off ) ;
        string f = path.Substring ( off ) ;
        foreach ( string fn in System.IO.Directory.GetFiles ( p , f ) )
        {
          OpenFile ( fn ) ;
        }
      }

      return ;
    }

Does anyone here have a better solution to this?

Re: Regarding file path wildcards

Luc Pattyn9-Mar-12 9:47

Luc Pattyn

9-Mar-12 9:47

That is basically it, I created this just the other day:

string folder="";
int i=pattern.LastIndexOf(@"\");
if (i>=0) {
    folder=args.Substring(0,i);
    pattern=pattern.Substring(i+1);
}
string[] files=Directory.GetFiles(folder, pattern);

Mind you it only accepts wildcards in the fillname itself, not in the folder path. If you need that, you'd have to code a recursive scan.

Smile | :)

Luc Pattyn [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

Re: Regarding file path wildcards

PIEBALDconsult9-Mar-12 10:08

PIEBALDconsult

9-Mar-12 10:08