Sorry - I'm a total newbie with InstallShield. I've inherited an InstallShield 2013 project that presents the user with a dialog that let's the user select a SQL Server and based on their selection sets a value in a config file. That's not working, so I opened the project in IS and looked in the Text File Changes under System Configuration and there's nothing there that would do this. So how do I figure out where this is happening (or not happening in my case), and then how do I get it to work? I need to set both data source and initial catalog in a file called server.config.
So how do I determine what the user selected and then save that in this file? It looks like I can set up a Text File Change, but how do I access the values selected by the user? And how can I figure out where the "code" is that is supposed to be doing this?
Thanks,
Ben
I would try to track this from the dialog and controls in question, or by following the value through a verbose log. Since you say it doesn't work today, there will probably be an interruption in the flow I describe below, and since you don't know the full state of the installation project, it may be hard to identify. So search from what you know.
Top down: what gets configured
First, find the dialog that you fill out as a user making the selection. Then figure out the property that the particular control is associated with. Now you've got a thread; pull on it.
Search in the direct editor for references to the property. If the property is named MYCONFIG search for just that: MYCONFIG. You'll probably find some sort of use that looks like [MYCONFIG] instead, which is typically a format string specifying to use the value of MYCONFIG. You may also have to search all the files related to your project, as Custom Action implementations can be code stored outside of your InstallShield project.
The use may be in a ControlEvent, CustomAction, or some other table. If it's in a ControlEvent, it may be used to set another property. Ditto if it's in a CustomAction that sets properties (type 51) which may be easier to understand in the Custom Actions and Sequences view. In that case, also search for the property that gets set.
If you find it in a table like ISSearchReplace* or ISXml*, or IniFile, it's probably part of the Text Files Changes, XML File Changes, or INI File Changes, and that view should make it easier to understand.
Maybe that thread dead-ends somewhere. A property gets set, but never referenced. So try to search from the other end.
Bottom up: what gets written
If there are text file changes, xml file changes, ini file changes, or custom actions that reference the file you need updated, see where they get their information. Try to follow it back. If they're well written, you should be able to identify the property (noting that one called CustomActionData comes from a property matching the name of the custom action it's used in), and then trace that further back using the same ideas as above, but in the other direction.
Where's the problem?
If the threads don't connect, that's probably the problem. It's also possible that a custom action lacks permissions but doesn't reports a failure, or that the file name or path got misconfigured somewhere along the way. Look for small things like that if things look like they should work but don't.
It turns out that I misunderstood the problem and the project was never set up to change that value, so all I had to do was set up a Text File Change and it works perfectly. Thanks #Michael Urman for the thorough response - I really appreciate it!
Related
I just encountered an issue with a Labview project.
Background
The software in question is usually a standalone application, but for the sake of debugging purposes we found a way to run it in the Labview environment with the source files.
Issue
When we press the run command (which is not broken btw), it starts processing the files I guess, and at some point a folder explorer will pop up without further detail on what it is requesting. We have been trying to select the MAIN folder (where the MAIN.VI is), the SOURCE folder which contains all the VIs and subVIs of the project, but either way it just updates a log tab with the text "The application has stopped"(which I assume is due to us not selecting the correct file/folder).
I guess my main questions are,
Is there a way to tell what this pop up is expecting us to select?
Are there known function blocks which could be asking for a file/folder path?
Additional information*
A couple of months ago, someone knew this path and we have run it correctly, but he just forgot it, so that is why I am certain that it works this way. It runs in a Labview 13 environment.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Greetings.
Try searching the VI Hierarchy by name for likely culprits:
Open a VI or project and select View»VI Hierarchy to display the VI
Hierarchy window.
Initiate a search by typing the name of the item
you want to find anywhere in the window. As you type the text, the
search string appears, displaying the text as you type. LabVIEW
highlights one item at a time whose name begins with the search
string.
If there is more than one item with a name that begins with
the search string, press the Enter key to search for the next item
that matches the search string. Press the Shift-Enter keys to find
the previous item that matches the search string.
I'm pretty sure all the LabVIEW primitives that can display a file or folder dialog have either file or folder in their names but if that doesn't help you could also try save or write.
If you find more than one result, set breakpoints on them before running the code. When execution reaches the breakpoint it will halt and highlight the breakpoint position; you can then use the Step In / Step Over to check whether that's the node that triggers the dialog (and the Pause button to continue execution if not).
this is one heck of a confusing question to ask so here it goes. Firstly, I'm not asking you to write me any code I just need help going in the right direction for what I'm trying to achieve here. Basically the task is this, I want to scan a select area of a web page's source code for changes and if something does change, I want to report it somewhere (like a console or something). However, I do not want just a notification of change, I also want what the change is/was. I've been looking into things like jsoup but I am still struggling to even find out what this is called.
Any pointers would be insanely appreciated. Thanks, Optimistic.
Here are some steps assuming this is from a node.js project:
Get the URL for the specific script file you're looking for a change in.
Using the request() module, fetch that URL.
Break the data up into lines (probably using .split()).
Find the specific line you are looking for either by counting line numbers of by searching for some representative text in that line.
Using some sort of search in that line (perhaps a regex), find the current value of the exact item in that line you are looking for.
Save the current value.
Then, at some future time, repeat this whole process and compare what you find to the previous value.
If this is being done from a browser instead of node.js, then use an Ajax call to retrieve the file. If the file is on another domain from your web page and that domain does not permit cross-origin requests, then you cannot solve this problem in an automated fashion from a browser in your own web page.
Here is how I would do it with Jsoup:
Document doc = Jsoup.connect(url).get();
String scriptCssQuery = "script"; // Tune this CSS query to find THE script you need.
Element script = doc.select(scriptCssQuery).first();
if (script != null) {
String scriptLines = script.html();
// Store the changing line somewhere and compare it to its previous value...
}
I have been asked to update a system where header information gets injected into a tif via a 3rd party console application. I don't need to worry about that bit.
The part I have been asked to look at it the merge process that generates the header information.
The current file generated by the process is assumed as correct, before I make any changes, so I want to add this as an approved result, from that I can then check that the changes I make will alter the file as expected.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at using ApprovalTests
The problem I have is that for what ever reason the links to the videos are considered corruptible (Possibly show me kittens jumping into boxes or something, which will stop me working, which ironically means I slow down my work done because I cannot see any help videos).
What I have been looking at is the Approvals.Verify and Approvals.VerifyFile extensions.
But what appears to be happening is confusing me.
using VerifyFile creates a received file, but the contents of the file are just a line the name of the file I have asked it to verify.
using Verify(new FileInfo("FileNameHere")) does not appear to generate the received file that I need to flag as approved, but the test does return saying that it cannot find the approved tif file.
I am probably using VerifyFile completely wrong and might be looking at using Verify wrong as well.
useful info?
Might be useful to know, that as this is a legacy application, running as a windows service, I have wrapped the service in a harness that allows me to call the routines, so the files are physically being written elsewhere on the machine outside of my control (well there is a config, but the return of the service I call generates a file in a fixed location if it is successful). I have tried copying that into the Unit Test project, but that doesn't appear to help.
Verify(File) and VerifyFile(string) are both meant to verify an existing file. As such they merely setting the received file to the file you pass in. You will still need to move/approval/create the approved file.
Here is the pseudo code and process.
[UseReporter(typeof(DiffReporter), typeof(ClipboardReporter)]
public void TestTiff()
{
string tif = YourProcessToCreateTifFile();
Approvals.VerifyFile(tif);
}
[Note: if you don't have an image diff installed, like TortoiseDiff, you might want to use the FileLauncherReporter]
Run this, once you get the result, move the file over by pasting your clipboard into a cmd window.
It will move the temporary tif to your test directory with the name ClassName.TestTiff.approved.tif
After that the test should pass until something changes.
Happy Testing!
I have a very strange problem. I load my app, switch to the correct tab and then press the button I need to press. This runs a function and when I first load the page it may only provide part of the correct result. However if I wait a few seconds it produces the correct result in full. Any ideas why this might be happening?
Additional Information
The button simply checks through a list of objects returned via ScriptDB. Objects that are valid are displayed and objects that are in-valid are not. If the object appears again in updates the text to display how many have been found in the list (eg: the label would change from "Object A" to "Object A (2)").
It seems to me like it doesn't have the rest of the list somehow as it doesn't always stop at the same object. It's Very strange and not something I've experienced before. The other features of my app using ScriptDB work completely regardless of how quickly I use them.
I've figured it out now. I somehow had some erroneous data in the database which was returning a null field. I can only assume that this was from a import that I did last week from a spreadsheet.
This was copied from my comment to show that it has been resolved.
I was wondering if there was any way of changing the background in access. The standard grey is ok but I would like to change it to an image that shows instructions or what was updated last. Also, if I can allow a user to change the background to an image of their choice that would be cool as well.
Can this be done
To be honest, I'm not sure if this is possible or not, but if it is, I'd advise you not to do it. Why?
Users will expect instructions under a help menu or on an intro
splash form
They will expect info. like what was updated last to appear in more
conventional places like the status bar
Allowing users to personalise your application with their photos can
make your application look pretty bad and increase load times.
Only advice though - good luck with it!
I have been able to allow users to change the background of the database. It works great and it works no matter what computer they log onto the database from. I did have a problem with remote users so I added a macro that allows them to disable the functionality. It works great. It was a little complicated to se up initially. Some of the modules below may have more stuff contained in them then what is needed for the purpose of this question. But here is what I did to make it work:
Add the Following modules to your database: modChangeMDI, SetBackgroundImage, and clsCommonDialog
Link to a zip file containing the code for the above modules: http://www.filedropper.com/changebackgroundimage
You can set the default location that a users sees when the search for file dialog pops up. This is located in the ThisFileToOpen function of the SetBackgroundImage module.
clsCommonDialog <-- Used to open the find file dialog box
modChangeMDI <--Used to change the background image
Create a table called $BackgroundLocation with the following fields. On my database this is contained in the backend database.
ID (AutoNumber, Primary Key)
UserID (Text, Required, 250 in length, don't allow zero lengths)
BackgroundLocation (Text, 255 in length, not required)
DisableBackground (boolean)
Create an AutoExec macro and add an action that runs the code SetTheBackgroundPictureOnStartup (1)
Create a BackgroundDisableEnable macro and add an action that runs the code DisableEnableBackground()
Create a BackgroundSet macro and add an action that runs the code SetTheBackgroundPictureOnStartup(2)
Then assign the BackgroundDisableEnable and the BackgroundSet macro to their own menu item.
When the database opens it will run the AutoExec by default.
You can use a start-up form as I suggested above. You can even base the start-up form on a comments table that can be edited by the users and will display the most recent and / or relevant information. The form can be displayed at start-up and then referred to at any time by the users.
In the past, I have included a ? button on forms that open such a form at the relevant page.