bAdmArk - Microsoft

Compress and decompress a Zip file in .NET in under 50 lines

bAdmArk — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:30:42 GMT

It's been a while since I needed to work with zip files, so when I found myself writing a small routine that periodically downloads and processes a Zip file, I need a quick and cheap (note: by cheap I mean free) method to decompress said file. Of course there are countless number of commercial components available, but most come with a hefty price tag. All I need is to extract a file. Wait, doesn't Windows include the ability to work with compressed folders?

Sure enough, Shell32 (Found in C:\Windows\System32\Shell32.dll) offers methods to extract and create Zips! So with a reference to Microsoft Shell and Automation Controls (Which will create an Interop assembly, Interop.Shell32.Dll), and some handy Googling, I was able to create a small class with 2 methods:

UnzipFileTo(zipPath, pathtoExtract): Extracts files in zipPath to pathtoExtract
ZipFolder(srcfolderString, dstfolderString): Compresses all files in srcFolderString to dstfolderString

Note: This method does display a Progress Dialog (Even though the proper options have been passed to the CopyHere method), so make sure to handle existing files and paths prior to using.

Below you will find this class in both Visual Basic and C Sharp compatible with Framework 2.0 and above.

Comments and suggestions always welcome!

Visual Basic:

Imports System.IO

Imports Shell32

Public Class ZipControl

Public ErrorMsg As String = ""

Public Function UnzipFileTo(ByVal zipPath As String, ByVal pathtoExtract As String) As Boolean

Try

Dim sc As New Shell32.ShellClass()

Dim SrcFlder As Shell32.Folder = sc.NameSpace(zipPath)

Dim DestFlder As Shell32.Folder = sc.NameSpace(pathtoExtract)

Dim items As Shell32.FolderItems = SrcFlder.Items()

DestFlder.CopyHere(items, 4 + 20 + 10 + 200)

Catch ex As Exception

Me.ErrorMsg = ex.Message

Return False

End Try

Return True

End Function

Public Function ZipFolder(ByVal srcfolderString As String, ByVal dstfolderString As String) As Boolean

Try

Dim fileContents() As Byte = {80, 75, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

File.WriteAllBytes(dstfolderString, fileContents)

Dim oShell As New Shell32.ShellClass

Dim oFolderSrc As Shell32.Folder

Dim oFolderDst As Shell32.Folder

Dim oFolderItems As Shell32.FolderItems

oFolderSrc = oShell.NameSpace(srcfolderString)

oFolderDst = oShell.NameSpace(dstfolderString)

oFolderItems = oFolderSrc.Items()

oFolderDst.CopyHere(oFolderItems, 4 + 20 + 10 + 200)

Catch ex As Exception

Me.ErrorMsg = ex.Message

Return False

End Try

Return True

End Function

End Class

C#:

using System;

using Shell32;

using System.IO;

public class ZipControl

{

public string ErrorMsg = "";

public bool UnzipFileTo(string zipPath, string pathtoExtract)

{

try

{

Shell32.ShellClass sc = new Shell32.ShellClass();

Shell32.Folder SrcFlder = sc.NameSpace(zipPath);

Shell32.Folder DestFlder = sc.NameSpace(pathtoExtract);

Shell32.FolderItems items = SrcFlder.Items();

DestFlder.CopyHere(items, 4 + 20 + 10 + 200);

}

catch (Exception ex)

{

this.ErrorMsg = ex.Message;

return false;

}

return true;

}

public bool ZipFolder(string srcfolderString, string dstfolderString)

{

try

{

byte[] fileContents = {80, 75, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,

0, 0};

File.WriteAllBytes(dstfolderString, fileContents);

Shell32.ShellClass oShell = new Shell32.ShellClass();

Shell32.Folder oFolderSrc;

Shell32.Folder oFolderDst;

Shell32.FolderItems oFolderItems;

oFolderSrc = oShell.NameSpace(srcfolderString);

oFolderDst = oShell.NameSpace(dstfolderString);

oFolderItems = oFolderSrc.Items();

oFolderDst.CopyHere(oFolderItems, 4 + 20 + 10 + 200);

}

catch (Exception ex)

{

this.ErrorMsg = ex.Message;

return false;

}

return true;

}

Windows Vista Ready? My A$$!

bAdmArk — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:25:14 GMT

Last year I decided to upgrade my laptop (An Averatec with a 15" screen), for something more lightweight. I had seen several ultra portables which made me drool! After some research and bargain shopping, I came across a nice unit, the HP Compaq NC4010 (CNET's Review). One of the selling points of the unit, was that it came "Windows Vista Ready". I was certain I would be making the move to the new operating system as soon as it launched, so I figured I may as well purchase a notebook which will be ready for the future. This option actually overweighed the short battery life (I purchased an extra battery, which doesn't affect its portability much).

Well, after much waiting, Vista finally arrived. I eargely loaded the OS unto my trusty nc4010, only to find that the video drivers were not found, all that was listed in Device Manager was a Standard VGA Adapter! What the truck? After scouring HP's Support web site I was unable to find Vista drivers. After several calls to HP's support center and hours wasted on hold, I've been told that HP does not support Windows Vista on the NC4010!!!

Excuse me? So this "Windows Vista Ready" sticker on the machine and the packaging means absolutely what? It was my impression that false advertising was considered a crime in the United States? Well, I guess from HP's executive actions, crime is not a concern. Well, I guess it's back to XP for now, 800 X 600 at 8 Bit just doesn't do Vista justice.

Moto Q may I use my SSL please?

bAdmArk — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:10:10 GMT

So I finally got around to setting up my SBS 2003 server up for Mobile. I installed Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 (Without the need for a reboot I might add) which went quite smoothly and added some extra functionality to my Mobile Settings in System Manager.

This service pack seems to give you a lot more features for OTA programming, very nice.

So I decided to plug in my trusty Motorola Q (In all truths, this is my Q 2.0, my first one took a bump or 2 too many and had to be recycled at the local Verizon store; boy do I hate dealing with them...). First thing is first, I tried to install the root certificate for SSL from my domain to my Q. Nope! Continued to receive the error "Security permission was insufficient to update your device"... Argh.....

So after some research and not much from help from Verizon's Data Support team (What a joke!), this is what I came up with. Note, this also works if your server's SSL root server is GoDaddy. Download GoDaddy's Root Certificate.

Steps to Add a Root Certificate to a Motorola Q (or other Windows Mobile 5 Device) - Please note MODIFYING YOUR REGISTRY CAN BE HARMFUL TO YOUR DEVICES' HEALTH

Download and install Windows Mobile Registry Editor, I tried several, the shining star by far is Resco Explorer, the registry module is included with the trial download.
Start "Resco Registry"
Navigate to HKLM\Security\Policies\Policies
Change these 3 registry keys:
00001001 - change value from 2 to 1
00001005 - change value from 16 to 40
000010017 - change value from 128 to 144
Close Registry Editor

Now you can install you .CER certificate file, and SSL to your Exchange Server will work as needed.

How to Remotely enable Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) using Computer Manager

bAdmArk — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:19:39 GMT

In continuing with numerous requests for Terminal Services / Remote Desktop tips;

This week's tip: How to enable Remote Desktop on a remote PC.

If you've ever managed a Microsoft Windows based network, I'm going to guess you've had a situation where you needed to connect to a remote PC on a network which you have access to, but for one reason or another you never enabled Remote Desktop. If you have access to the machine in question (From within the local network, you must have access to conduct RPC to the PC) you can enable Remote Desktop using Remote Registry.

Start > Run> Type 'Regedit'
Browse or type in the name of the computer

(Remember this has to be a computer you can browse to by UNC i.e. \\computername\)
Once connected, Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
Set fDenyTSConnection to 0
Close Regedit, within a few seconds the PC should start responding to Remote Desktop Clients

P.S.: It's a good thing to check the value TSEnabled, under this same key, and insure that this is set to 1

DotNetNuke Module Events Total Charges always equal 0

bAdmArk — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:39:11 GMT

While delivering a custom DNN (DotNetNuke) for a client, we came across a bug in the Events module. Apparantely one of the methods that passes the dollar amount of a paid event into the method that generates the PayPal link carries the dollar sign($) along, so the method essentially goes, $ is not a numeric so I'll just set the amount to $0.00. Well, that obviously is no good, who wants to charge nothing for an event?

So, to make a long story short, through some help from a Forum Posting on DotNetNuke Forums, I was able to fix the module and make a good client happy.

I've included the link to the fixed module below:

Download Events Module Fix

How to disconnect a Remote Desktop session from a command line

bAdmArk — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:34:11 GMT

In continuing with my Remote Desktop tricks (Who did not close their Remote Desktop Connection) , I thought I'd share another nugget of information. TSDISCON.exe is a command line tool included in Windows since 2000. With this tool you can disconnect a session from a remote server (Especially usefull for those times that someone forgot to logout and you keep receiving the maximum number of connections reached error.

Description of the TSDISCON Command

The tsdiscon command uses the following syntax:

tsdiscon SessionID | SessionName [/server:ServerName] /v

The parameters that are used by the tsdiscon command are:

•	`SessionID`: Use this parameter to specify the ID of the session that you want to disconnect. To determine the ID of the session that you want to disconnect, use the query session command.
•	`SessionName`: Use this parameter to specify the name of the session that you want to disconnect. To determine the name of the session that you want to disconnect, use the query session command.
•	/server:`ServerName`: Use this parameter to specify the Terminal Services server that hosts the session that you want to disconnect. If you omit this parameter, the current Terminal Services server is specified.
•	/v: Use this parameter to display information about the actions that are being performed.

NOTE: You can disconnect your own sessions, but if you want to disconnect another user's session, you must have Full Control access permissions. You cannot disconnect the console session.

How to Disconnect a Terminal Services Session

This is an example of how to use the tsdiscon command to disconnect a session on the current Terminal Services server:

1.	In a Terminal Services session, click Start, and then click Run.
2.	Type cmd, and then click OK.
3.	Determine the name or ID of the session that you want to disconnect. To do so, type query session, and then press ENTER. You see a list of information about the sessions on the current Terminal Services server. The list may be similar to: SESSIONNAME USERNAME ID STATE TYPE DEVICE console administrator 0 active wdcon rdp-tcp 65536 listen rdpwd >rdp-tcp#1 user1 1 active rdpwd rdp-tcp#2 user1 2 active rdpwd rdp-tcp#3 user2 3 active rdpwd rdp-tcp#4 user3 4 disc rdpwd rdp-tcp#5 user1 5 disc rdpwd 6 idle 7 idle Note that in this example, the name of the current session is rdp-tcp#1, the session ID is 1, and it is owned by user1.
4.	To disconnect the current session, type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER: tsdiscon
5.	To disconnect session 2 by using the session ID, and to display information about the disconnect operation, type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER: tsdiscon 2 /v You see the following line and session 2 is disconnected: Disconnecting sessionID2 from sessionname rdp-tcp#2
6.	To disconnect session 5 by using the session name, type the following line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER: tsdiscon rdp-tcp#5

How to copy files while connected to Windows computer using Remote Desktop

bAdmArk — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:18:38 GMT

Does anyone remember when remote desktop was still Citrix Framework (MetaFrame, RDP 4.0 whatever the heck it was called)? Back then I was happy to have the ability to access the box remotely, no more driving in the middle of the night through a rain storm to restart IIS. The one glaring omission in Terminal Services was the lack of file transfer. Yup, I'm connected to the server, but I'll have to ftp this file, which means I'll have to configure ftp, if the server doesnt have it, etc. I was very pleasently surprised when version 5.2 added local resource mapping. Yay, I could finally copy files between computers using remote desktop. Lately I've found that many people I assumed knew this, in fact did not. Hence my reason for sharing this with everyone.

To map your local hard drives using Remote Desktop (RDP) (Terminal Services)

Open Remote Desktop (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Communication > Remote Desktop Connection) Click Options
Put a checkmark in Disk Drives

Now connect to the remote client and when you open Windows Explorer and Shazam! There are your local drives.

Is that simple!

Tip: If you know you'd like to always have your drives available whenever you use Remote Desktop, you can make this change and Save As Default.rdp in your "My Documents" folder (It will ask you to overwrite the existing copy, go ahead), this applies for any default settings you might want to set, Display Resolution, Domain, Printers, Etc.

Walmart leaks possible Microsoft Zune pricing

bAdmArk — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 15:39:48 GMT

Apparantely someone at WalMart got a little ansy about adding the Microsoft Zune to their online database. Based on some reports, for a short time yesterday, Walmart had the Zune listed at a retail value of $284.00. Question is, was this price set prior to Apple dropping the price on their 30GB iPod down to $249.00 from $299.00? Will Microsoft come in even lower for this wonderful Zune we all keep hearing about?

Walmart has a whole section dedicated to the Zune.

Only time will tell....

UPDATE

It's seems someone at Microsoft leaked the final price of the Zune - Drumroll please - $229.00. Apparantely they've decided to drop some pre-loaded content to make the price below that of Apple's iPod.