I am trying to make my Access (2013) application look less like Access and more like a "real" piece of software. One of the things I am trying to accomplish is changing the icon from the normal A/grid/lock to an image of my choosing.
Is this possible? If not really, what is my next best option?
Thanks!
You can change the icon that Access shows when running your database, it's under Options -> Current database.
You cannot change the icon that Explorer shows for your .accde file.
Of course you can create a shortcut with the commandline to MSACCESS.EXE and your database, and that shortcut can have a custom icon.
You may also be interested in this answer by Albert D. Kallal: https://stackoverflow.com/a/24638829/3820271
I just developed this method yesterday to allow an Access Executable to have a custom icon. It does involve making some additions to your computer's registry. Be aware I did this for Access 2010 on a Windows 7 machine. I have not tested this for windows 8 or 10, but I do think it will be the same.
I know the entries of .14 ONLY refer to Access 2010. Access 2013 should be .15 and Access 2016 should be .16.
When you export your "accde" registry entries to a .reg file, stick with the .14, .15, or .16 that is exported for your specific system. The only thing you will be changing is any occurrence of "accde" to "accxx" with the "xx" being your new letters for your chosen suffix for the Access executable database.
Below is the .reg file that will perform the registry "fixes" and I have included a few notes along the way. This is not for the beginner, but I do believe a seasoned Access developer should be able to follow. Are you a little uncomfortable with the registry? Use Google to help you find a write-up or two about the registry and how to make changes to the registry.
OK, the .reg file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.accVR]
"Content Type"="application/msaccess.exec"
#="Access.ACCVRFile.14"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.accVR\Access.ACCVRFile.14]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.accVR\Access.ACCVRFile.14\ShellNew]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts\.accVR]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts\.accVR\OpenWithList]
"a"="MSACCESS.EXE"
"MRUList"="a"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts\.accVR\OpenWithProgids]
"Access.accVRFile.14"=hex(0):
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14]
#="Microsoft Access ACCVR Database"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14\CLSID]
#="{73A4C9C1-D68D-11D0-98BF-00A0C90DC8D9}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14\DefaultIcon]
#="C:\\_Work\\VR\\VR Logo.ico"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14\shell]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14\shell\Open]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14\shell\Open\command]
#="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\MSACCESS.EXE\" /NOSTARTUP \"%1\" %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9"
"command"=hex (7):79,00,6b,00,47,00,5e,00,56,00,35,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,\
21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,21,00,4d,00,4b,00,4b,00,53,00,6b,00,41,00,43,00,43,\
00,45,00,53,00,53,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,32,00,41,00,5a,00,\
7e,00,60,00,4f,00,37,00,71,00,43,00,3f,00,4f,00,57,00,2c,00,66,00,65,00,5a,\
00,79,00,63,00,78,00,68,00,20,00,2f,00,4e,00,4f,00,53,00,54,00,41,00,52,00,\
54,00,55,00,50,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,20,00,25,00,32,00,20,00,25,\
00,33,00,20,00,25,00,34,00,20,00,25,00,35,00,20,00,25,00,36,00,20,00,25,00,\
37,00,20,00,25,00,38,00,20,00,25,00,39,00,00,00,00,00
From top line down:
Any .reg file has to start with the correct name of the regedit.exe you will be dealing with. In this case I am dealing with Windows 7, therefore version 5.00.
The rest of the code in this file came straight out of the registry.
Within [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT] I scrolled down to the entry ".accde"
Right click on this and select the "Export" option from the drop down menu.
Provide the folder and file name to export to.
Now you need to do the same within [HKEY_CURRENT_USER]. Here you will need to:
Scroll to Software, then Microsoft, then Windows, then CurrentVersion, then Explorer, then FileExts, and finally .accde.
Right click, select Export, etc.
And lastly, within the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT] scroll to "Access.ACCDEFile.14"
Right click on this and select the "Export" option, provide the saving info and save the file.
Put these three files together, leaving out the Windows Registry Editor Version line from the second and third files.
What I did from here was to create my own suffix rather than use the Microsoft .accde. I used the initials of the company this software is being written for. In this example, I will just use my own initials, VR. Keeping the ".acc" and just changing the "de" to whatever I will be using for the new suffix in order to use my custom icon.
You do not need to stay with only two characters.
In this new .reg file, carefully work your way through the file changing the "de" (or "DE") within any accordance of "accde" (or "ACCDE") you find.
For example, one of the places you will find "ACCDE" is in the string "[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCDEFile.14" Change the "DE" to "VR" (for this example) giving you the new string "[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.ACCVRFile.14"
When you are finished, I suggest you search for the string "accde" within the file to be sure you have changed them all to the new suffix you are going to use.
Before using this .reg file to update your registry, BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY!!!
Is there a tool / process by which I can decompile two .exes (one of which runs on a handheld device, the other which doesn't) so that I can get a glimpse into what differs/what the problem may be?
Of course, seeing that one has "00xA" where the other has "00xB" won't help me. I mean a way to see code that differs, or more likely, a compiled resource or config file difference, or some build option or so?
I'm almost positive the problem has nothing to do with code per se (if/while/switch statements, etc.) but with the project setup.
I cannot compare the working source, as it does not exist - I only have the .exe from which it came. The source I have available is a "reasonable facsimile" of it, but not exactly the same, at least not in project settings and configurations, etc.
UPDATE
Re: this page, I'm not familiar with some of the terminology; specifically, where it talks about a "FLATRELEASEDIR" - WTH?
Will this work to test my CE-bound* .exe on my PC:
Run depends.exe*
Open my CE-bound** .exe
Stare in wonder at the amazing plethora of errata and data
?
*Supposedly not to be confused with "adult diapers"
** "bound" as in, "that's where it's headed"
UPDATE 2
Here's what I see when running Dependency Walker on my app:
...but note my dilemma here.
UPDATE 3
Here's what I did to try to replicate my handheld environment on my PC as best as possible:
I wanted to just copy over the whole dad-burned thing (the entire handheld device representation from Windows Explorer), but it won't let me do that - it's not copyable, so I copied over just the "Program Files" folder (which contains the subfolder of my app and a couple of other folders which I don't know are standard or custom/peculiar to us).
This is from the handheld device where the .exe in question does run properly, so obviously (theoretically?) there should be no missing modules - Dependency Walker should run it and say all is well.
However, it doesn't; I get the same results as the one p[a,o]sted above.
Note: This is true even after selecting "Options > Configure Module Search Order... > The Application Directory > Move Up in Dependency Walker.
So since even an .exe that runs fine tests out as being "not ready for CE-time", how can I use this to accurately test which, if any, necessary files are missing?
Do I need to copy over other folders, too, or what?
UPDATE 4
So, the (supposedly?) missing modules are:
API-MS-WIN-APPMODEL-RUNTIME-L1-1-0.DLL
API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-ERROR-L1-1-0.DLL
API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-L1-1-0.DLL
API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-ROBUFFER-L1-1-0.DLL
API-MS-WIN-CORE-WINRT-STRING-L1-1-0.DLL
API-MS-WIN-SHCORE-SCALING-L1-1-1.DLL
DCOMP.DLL
GPSVC.DLL
IESHIMS.DLL
If true, then why does the .exe run on the handheld?
Note: Other folders on the handheld are:
Application Data => only contains "desktop.ini"
BTExplorer
My Documents => contains a "desktop.ini" and several SQLCE databases (*.SDF)
profiles => contains an empty "default" folder
Recycled => contains a single ".lnk" file
Temp => contains a handful of ".tmp" files
Windows => contains a slew of folders and files, including several .DLLs, but none of those listed above
The "Program Files" folder has a ".NET Compact Framework" subfolder, but it is empty.
In the \Windows\AppMgr folder, there are some interesting files, such as:
Microsoft .NET Compact Framework.DAT
Microsoft .NET Compact Framework.DLL
...several other DAT/DLL pairs, including:
Symbol Managed Class Libraries.DAT (no corresponding DLL)
...and even a pair:
SSCS HHS.[DAT,DLL]
-- which is our company acronym (SSCS) and name of the project (HHS)
What generates these? From where are they referenced??
Another possible piece of the puzzle is that the handheld device on which the .exe does not work does not have a \Windows\AppMgr folder, and thus does not have those .DAT/.DLL files listed above...
UPDATE 5
Another oddity:
After reading this: "Files that install in the GAC go in the\Windows directory" in the book "Microsoft .NET Compact Framework" by Andy Wiggly, et al, I tried copying the Windows folder from the handheld device to the spot on my PC below the folder named "3910ProgramFilesFolderCopy" which looks like this in Explorer:
C:
3910ProgramFilesFolderCopy
Program Files
Windows <= tried to copy the "Windows" folder from the handeld on top of "3910ProgramFilesFolderCopy" so it would end up here
...but it only copies a few files before borborygmas occurs (electronic borborygmas, that is) and it tells me, "the system cannot find the file specified"
Heavens to Murgratroid!?! Why does it find some but not all? Looking at the Windows folder on the handheld in Windows Explorer, I see that many of the precious DLLs are greyed out:
Arggh, double-arg, and (&c)
For PC you could try .NET Reflector.
http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/reflector/
You may try to use dependency walker to undestand wich DLL/APIs they need and check if those are supported on your device.
http://geekswithblogs.net/WindowsEmbeddedCookbook/archive/2011/02/02/using-dependency-walker.aspx
I'm trying to setup limeJS, the issue is the Internet connection is a problem. I had closure library, box2d, closure compiler and closure templates downloaded separately as .rar files, but I can't find a guide anywhere to set it up like this, everyone just uses(and with reason!!!) the python bin/lime.py init command to get it working. I managed to figure out(yay!) how to setup box2d and closure library but what about the other two?
My laptop is running 64 bits Windows 7. Any help appreciated
All I need is an advice on directory structure, like where to drop the compiler.jar and soy templates .js files, so that when I run the update/create command it doesn't try to download the compiler or templates like it does right now.
I got it working, after taking a quick look at the lime.py file it told me everything I needed, for example both the SoyJs templates file and the compiler need to be in the /path/to/lime/bin/external folder and for example, the lime.py file was expecting a compiler file named compiler-dateOfLatestCompiler.jar instead of compiler.jar.
In general, If you have LimeJS built up in one machine using Python and all, you can just copy paste the whole package anywhere you want and use it just as ususal.
You don't need network once you have all the files/codes for Lime is downloaded.
Infact, you dont even need python for normal development tasks(Python is required to build your js file once you complete development though)
Flash builder project files can't be opened on another computer even if the files were copied, for e.g. through version control like git or svn.
Importing and Exporting fxp projects is not possible as we do not want to overwrite files for git or svn unnecessarily.
How do people collaborate on Flash Builder projects without creating new project in Flash Builder and having to set up all the settings for the project again and again for multiple collaborators?
If you import the project using its folder location as per #Sean Fujiwara answer then:
One useful way to collaborate in Flash Builder projects is to utilise environment variables. You can access these using - Window > Preferences > General > Workspace > Linked Resources:
From here you can add a new variable or edit an existing one, from the example above you can see that we use a FRAMEWORK_SOURCE variable which points to the source for our shared framework code, we use a swc but this is handy for debugging errors.
We also have another variable called OUTPUT_FOLDER which in our case points to a folder where we run our project over localhost see example below, to use this in a project, you go to right click project name > Properties > ActionScript Build Path, here you enter the folder name you want creating inside the folder that OUTPUT_FOLDER points to:
When you do a Project > Clean from the menu, all resources from your html-template folder will be copied across to this folder and it should open in a browser.
Now we have been able to check in to SVN our .project and .actionScriptProperities files with few issues. When someone new to the project checks them out, they will get an Error in the Problems panel telling them they don't have for example - OUTPUT_FOLDER\MyProjectName, therefore the project leader should have a document listing all the required variables to be setup in your environment.
Other things you can share are paths to raw font files etc.
The only problem I've had with this approach is sometimes it asks for the path to the SDK if it is different from your location, not had chance to figure this one out yet.
Flash builder project files can't be opened on another computer even
if the files were copied, for e.g. through version control like git or
svn.
Flash builder projects can be imported into the workspace just like other Eclipse projects.
Once you copy them to another computer:
Right click in package explorer and go to Import....
Select General/Existing Projects into Workspace.
Select the folder containing the .project directory.
If you make sure Copy projects into workspaces is deselected, you can commit the files directly from wherever you checked the code out.
This is now solved in Flash Builder 4.7 where you can actually import the project folder as is.