I am trying to merge two exe file using ILMerge. When I execute the merged exe, it is only execuing the primary exe..Could any one tell me how an ILMerge can be used for merging the exe files
Based on information from here and here, what you want is not possible. Only one EXE can run.
For ilmerge.exe, the first file argument is treated as primary, others will be packaged as DLLs. How the primary file will work is something you can control using a command line argument t (you need /t:exe, but it will only run one file, the first one).
The t parameter is used to set output type: exe for Console app, winexe for Windows forms, librarys for DLL.
Related
I need a batch file compiler that doesnt leave the source in %tmp%, so it cant be cracked that way. If there isnt a compiler that can do that, is there a way to prevent it? I have tried AbyssMedia QBFC, but it just makes the file hidden.
I agree with Hackoo: This can't be done.
A batch file is a Windows command script. Like all scripts being just a text file, also batch files need an interpreter for execution which is the Windows command processor cmd.exe for all versions of Windows NT (NT4, 2K, XP, Vista, ...).
All bat-to-exe converters simply embed the batch file compressed or even uncompressed into an executable. The created executable extracts the batch file into directory for temporary files and execute it as process resulting in being interpreted with cmd.exe.
So what all those bat-to-exe tools do can be done for example also with WinRAR by creating a self-extracting RAR archive which on execution extracts the batch file (and other added files) automatically into temporary files directory and executes the batch file which as last line deletes itself.
In other words bat-to-exe tools are completely useless tools in my point of view. SomethingDark is right: bat-to-exe converters are garbage.
I have a library which includes samples of how to use the library along with unit tests.
I'm trying to create custom VS2012 solutions that will be in the deployment.
Depending on input given when initiating the deployment, I want to be able to create a solution - e.g. Samples.sln - which includes projects specified in the input file.
Example:
//inputfile1.txt
ProjectA
ProjectB
I run an MSBuild xml file or an F# script (or anything that can do this) and I get a Samples directory with a Samples.sln containing ProjectA, ProjectA.Tests, ProjectB, ProjectB.Tests
A similar thing would happen if I gave an input file with ProjectX & Project7... etc.
With MSBuild, I've figured out how to read the file input, copy project folders to a new folder, and do some other things I would need for this whole process but I can't figure out how to create and customize a solution. I'm not sure this is even possible with MSBuild - I think I can only alter an already existing solution (but I've had trouble doing this as well).
I figure I have these options:
A. Add all projects to a Samples solution, then use msbuild to turn them on or off
or
B. There exists some other way (not using msbuild) to do this whole process
Is msbuild even capable of A?
You should understand that MsBuild mainly is a build platform. It also happens to be able to read and write file etc but that's not it's core business. So while you can generate solution files for it, it's going to be pretty hard using just MsBuild as it's simply not meant to be able to do things like that directly.
Here's an option C: if you open an sln in the text editor you'll see the structure is quite straigtforward: for every project there's a Project ... EndProject. You could generate these strings in the proper format (that is, genareate guid, figure out relative path to solution, get project name from path, ...) in an MsBuild target, put all of them in an ItemGroup then write it to a solution files using WriteLinesToFile. Perfectly possible, but a lot of work and I wouldn't recommend it.
For your option A, that's even harder: to include/exclude projects from a build, VisualStudio uses the .suo files and those are in some binary proprietary format which I have no idea how to generate.
That leaves you with option B which is basically option C but without reinventing the wheel: find a tool that can generate solution files for selected projets and have MsBuild invoke it useing Exec. There are probably a bunch of tools that can do this, but here's an example using the first usable one I found on the internet called SolutionMaker. Suppose your projects are in directory Foo, you'd use it like this:
<Exec Command="SolutionMaker /s Foo/foo.sln /p Foo /v 2012"/>
since the corresponding command line options are
/s <solution>: Solution file path
/p <path>: project root path
/v <fileVersion>: New solution file will be generated in the specified format.
valid versions: 2008, 2010, 2012.
I have an installer exe which takes a channel_id param as a command line parameter and uses it.
The channel_id may be different for different downloads and installs.
I want to host my installer exe on web in such a way that when it's downloaded and executed (by double clicking) the channel_id is passed to it in someway ,which should be equivalent to running the installer exe in cmd with channel_id as below.
cmd> myinstaller.exe channel_id.
How is it possible to do so ?
You can append data to the end of the .exe file.
You can include your param in the name of the file. For example, instead of setup.exe, call it setup_XXXX.exe. Then from NSIS you can read and parse $EXEPATH and extract your param from the filename.
Probably not the most reliable way to do this (if there is any), but you could probably check for the Zone.Identifier. I'm not aware of a way to this natively in NSIS, but you might be able to achieve by parsing the result through the commandline.
Try
nsExec::ExecToLog 'more < "$EXEPATH:Zone.Identifier"'
or
nsExec::ExecToLog 'dir /r "$EXEPATH"'
I've also found several Powershell (and VisualBasic) scripts that allow interacting with Alternate Data Streams, but personally I'm not a big fan of using third party scripting languages.
I'm trying to get my website to talk to a friend's program. Think ITunes - one main program with hundreds of thousands of little things installed into it. We don't want to have to create an InstallShield install program for each of those hundreds of thousands of little things.
We have the files grouped into the folder sub-structure.
We have a .REG file for what registry entry needs to be added to see the new folder group.
But is there a way to do a self extracting zip file that reads a registry entry so we know where they installed the original program to be able to dump the new files there as well? I want them to double-click the EXE and click Finish and for everything to work.
(I've been looking into INF and CAB files through IExpress.exe, but haven't found the answer. I remember Package for the Web didn't have an option to read a registry entry, but did let you modify the suggested install path.)
Thanks so much.
Best wishes,
Andrea
But is there a way to do a self extracting zip file that reads a registry entry so we know where they installed the original program to be able to dump the new files there as well? I want them to double-click the EXE and click Finish and for everything to work
Well, yes and no. There are self-extractors that can run a program after extracting all files. DotNetZip, for example, can produce an SFX which can do this.
Just an aside: a normal SFX is just a zip file, with a "stub" executable merged with it. The stub exe can do anything it wants to do, but the most basic thing it does is extract the files in the zip. When you use DotNetZip to produce an SFX, it embeds its particular stub into the zip. That stub knows how to extract files, and also knows how to invoke a program after extracting. You can also produce your own stub that can do other more exotic things.
So you could use an SFX for your purpose. When run, it would extract, then invoke it's extra program. The program could look in the registry, then move or relocate the extracted files to the appropriate place. Then terminate.
For a different twist, the SFX might have just two files: the program-to-run (the one that reads the registry, and another embedded zip. Then when the SFX runs it generates 2 files. Then it invokes the program-to-run, which reads the registry, then unpacks the contained zip and puts the files into the desired place.
Ok, so you could do it.
Should you?
mmm, maybe. This really is an installer, so, you should decide whether you want to use a zip as an installer. Don't forget, if you use an SFX as an installer, there's no good way to uninstall.
Have you tried Inno Setup toolchain? It's a bit better than a bare Self-Extracting ZIP file, it's a setup creation utility. I'm convinced it has got something to put some entry in the Registry, look also at the plugins.
Basically, a self-extracting executable that alters the registry, it's a setup program. So why don't you go for a proper one?
Website: http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
I would like to control a subset of files and only allow some of them to be installed if run with a command line switch for instance.
Is this possible?
For example
if (some condition)
install full set of files
else
Install other set of files
Alternatively I can just run another installer but then I have to pass the file/path location to that second installer. There is also the issue of bundling that second installer with the first one. I think that part is not that difficult though
Yes, it is even rather easy. There are several ways to do this, all of which depend on Pascal scripting.
Method 1
You can use the GetCmdTail, ParamCount, and ParamStr functions to obtain the entire or parts of the command-line.
Then you can use the Check parameter on separate files. Hence, each file will be installed if and only if the called function returns true.