How can I deploy the .dna file from ExcelDna? - pivot-table

I am trying to create an Excel (2007) Add-in that will respond to PivotTable changes, using this code:
private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Excel.Worksheet sh = this.Application.ActiveSheet;
sh.PivotTableUpdate += new
Excel.DocEvents_PivotTableUpdateEventHandler(sh_PivotTableUpdate);
}
void sh_PivotTableUpdate(Excel.PivotTable TargetPivotTable)
{
MessageBox.Show("sh_PivotTableUpdate event fired");
}
private void ThisAddIn_Shutdown(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
}
Once the .dll was created, deploying it/generating an .xll file became a challenge; I used this post for guidance there, and do now have an .xll file.
I was able to add this to the Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx file) that I want to respond to the code (via File > Excel Options > Add-Ins > Go... > Browse), but get this err msg on adding the .xll file:
I did see that there is a *.dna file here \packages\ExcelDna.AddIn.0.33.9\content\ExcelDna-Template.dna
...but making a copy of that file and changing the name of it to [projectName].dna (Excel2010AddInForRptRunner-AddIn.dna), and then copying it to the same location as the .xll file with the .xlsx file is not the solution (no pun intended). Changing the PivotTable manually does not fire the event/I see no "sh_PivotTableUpdate event fired" message.
The .dna file does reference the .dll like so:
<ExternalLibrary Path="Excel2010AddInForRptRunner.dll" LoadFromBytes="true" Pack="true" />
So what do I need to do to resolve the err msg I get and get the .xll file to be accepted by the spreadsheet so that its code will run and the PivotTableUpdate event handler is fired?

There are two issues that I see in your snippet:
The first is that you seem to have mixed the VSTO Office stuff with Excel-DNA (I see this from the ThisAddIn_... code, which relates to VSTO). These don't mix at all - you can't use Excel-DNA inside a VSTO add-in project. Any namespaces that start with Microsoft.Office.Tools... indicate there is a problem. This might happen is you start with an "Office Add-In" or "Excel Add-in" as your project type.
There is a also mess in your project related to the NuGet packages - somehow the output files are inside the package directory, or the package directory has been overwritten or changed somehow. You should not have to ever edit anything under packages\...
If everything is correct, then the files you are interested in will be found in bin\Debug and bin\Release under your project directory. Usually you can redistribute only the single ...-AddIn-packed.xll file (which you can also rename if you want to).
I suggest you make a new "Class Library" project (not an Office add-in or anything like that) and install the ExcelDna.AddIn package again. Then follow the instructions in the ReadMe file that pops up to make a simple add-in with a single UDF function, and check that this runs and can be debugged and deployed correctly.
After you have that working perfectly, you can incorporate access the COM object model into your add-in by following these two steps:
Add a reference to the Excel Interop assemblies (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel and Office), either directly via "Add Reference", or by installing the ExcelDna.Interop assembly from NuGet.
Get hold of the right Application root object by calling ExcelDnaUtil.Application. The object returned can be cast to a Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application and used to get to the whole COM object model from there, and hook up your event handlers etc.

Related

Windows Forms save to dataset but not table [duplicate]

I have following C# code in a console application.
Whenever I debug the application and run the query1 (which inserts a new value into the database) and then run query2 (which displays all the entries in the database), I can see the new entry I inserted clearly. However, when I close the application and check the table in the database (in Visual Studio), it is gone. I have no idea why it is not saving.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data.Entity;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Data.SqlServerCe;
using System.Data;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
string fileName = "FlowerShop.sdf";
string fileLocation = "|DataDirectory|\\";
DatabaseAccess dbAccess = new DatabaseAccess();
dbAccess.Connect(fileName, fileLocation);
Console.WriteLine("Connected to the following database:\n"+fileLocation + fileName+"\n");
string query = "Insert into Products(Name, UnitPrice, UnitsInStock) values('NewItem', 500, 90)";
string res = dbAccess.ExecuteQuery(query);
Console.WriteLine(res);
string query2 = "Select * from Products";
string res2 = dbAccess.QueryData(query2);
Console.WriteLine(res2);
Console.ReadLine();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
class DatabaseAccess
{
private SqlCeConnection _connection;
public void Connect(string fileName, string fileLocation)
{
Connect(#"Data Source=" + fileLocation + fileName);
}
public void Connect(string connectionString)
{
_connection = new SqlCeConnection(connectionString);
}
public string QueryData(string query)
{
_connection.Open();
using (SqlCeDataAdapter da = new SqlCeDataAdapter(query, _connection))
using (DataSet ds = new DataSet("Data Set"))
{
da.Fill(ds);
_connection.Close();
return ds.Tables[0].ToReadableString(); // a extension method I created
}
}
public string ExecuteQuery(string query)
{
_connection.Open();
using (SqlCeCommand c = new SqlCeCommand(query, _connection))
{
int r = c.ExecuteNonQuery();
_connection.Close();
return r.ToString();
}
}
}
EDIT: Forgot to mention that I am using SQL Server Compact Edition 4 and VS2012 Express.
It is a quite common problem. You use the |DataDirectory| substitution string. This means that, while debugging your app in the Visual Studio environment, the database used by your application is located in the subfolder BIN\DEBUG folder (or x86 variant) of your project. And this works well as you don't have any kind of error connecting to the database and making update operations.
But then, you exit the debug session and you look at your database through the Visual Studio Server Explorer (or any other suitable tool). This window has a different connection string (probably pointing to the copy of your database in the project folder). You search your tables and you don't see the changes.
Then the problem get worse. You restart VS to go hunting for the bug in your app, but you have your database file listed between your project files and the property Copy to Output directory is set to Copy Always. At this point Visual Studio obliges and copies the original database file from the project folder to the output folder (BIN\DEBUG) and thus your previous changes are lost.
Now, your application inserts/updates again the target table, you again can't find any error in your code and restart the loop again until you decide to post or search on StackOverflow.
You could stop this problem by clicking on the database file listed in your Solution Explorer and changing the property Copy To Output Directory to Copy If Newer or Never Copy. Also you could update your connectionstring in the Server Explorer to look at the working copy of your database or create a second connection. The first one still points to the database in the project folder while the second one points to the database in the BIN\DEBUG folder. In this way you could keep the original database ready for deployment purposes and schema changes, while, with the second connection you could look at the effective results of your coding efforts.
EDIT Special warning for MS-Access database users. The simple act of looking at your table changes the modified date of your database ALSO if you don't write or change anything. So the flag Copy if Newer kicks in and the database file is copied to the output directory. With Access better use Copy Never.
Committing changes / saving changes across debug sessions is a familiar topic in SQL CE forums. It is something that trips up quite a few people. I'll post links to source articles below, but I wanted to paste the answer that seems to get the best results to the most people:
You have several options to change this behavior. If your sdf file is part of the content of your project, this will affect how data is persisted. Remember that when you debug, all output of your project (including the sdf) if in the bin/debug folder.
You can decide not to include the sdf file as part of your project and manage the file location runtime.
If you are using "copy if newer", and project changes you make to the database will overwrite any runtime/debug changes.
If you are using "Do not copy", you will have to specify the location in code (as two levels above where your program is running).
If you have "Copy always", any changes made during runtime will always be overwritten
Answer Source
Here is a link to some further discussion and how to documentation.

Visual Studio 2010 Project - can't adjust the relative path

I have a Windows Forms project. I have a Resources folder and I wan to use the files there using relative path. Here is a printscreen of my project tree
As you may see I have folder UserControls where I have FileExplorer.cs it contains aa openFileDialog + pictureBox. I use this control in some of my forms which are in Forms folder. The case is that in Resources folder I have this T380.jpg image that I want to load by default but for now I can do it only by inserting the full path to it. Here is my code where I try to load the image:
private void FileExplorer_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
pictureBox1.ImageLocation = #"ShoesUnlimitedAdmin\Resources\T380.jpg";
pictureBox1.Load();
}
I use the Load event of the user control to load my image but it only works when I set the full path to the image like C:\\... and so. How can I point to the Resources folder of the project using relative path?
If these images are small then favor adding them as resources in the executable file so you can use Properties.Resources in your code and don't have to deploy the files on the user's machine. Use Project + Properties, Resources. Click the arrow on the "Add Resource" button and select Add Existing File.
If they are big (more than a couple of megabytes) then you'll indeed want to deploy them as separate files. You can find them back by using the location of the EXE program, here's a helper method, spelled out for clarity:
public static string GetResourcePath(string filename) {
string exepath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location;
string exedir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(exepath);
string resdir = System.IO.Path.Combine(exedir, "Resources");
return System.IO.Path.Combine(resdir, filename);
}

Create a directory dynamically inside the "web pages" folder of a java web application

So I'm trying to dynamically create a folder inside the web pages folder.
I'm making a game database. Everytime a game is added I do this:
public void addGame(Game game) throws DatabaseException {
em.getTransaction().begin();
em.persist(game);
em.getTransaction().commit();
File file = new File("C:\\GameDatabaseTestFolder");
file.mkdir();
}
So everything works here.
The file get's created.
But I want to create the folder like this:
public void addGame(Game game) throws DatabaseException {
em.getTransaction().begin();
em.persist(game);
em.getTransaction().commit();
File file = new File(game.getId()+"/screenshots");
file.mkdir();
}
Or something like that. So it will be created where my jsp files are and it will have the id off the game.
I don't understand where the folder is created by default.
thank you in advance,
David
It's by default relative to the "current working directory", i.e. the directory which is currently open at the moment the Java Runtime Environment has started the server. That may be for example /path/to/tomcat/bin, or /path/to/eclipse/workspace/project, etc, depending on how the server is started.
You should now realize that this condition is not controllable from inside the web application.
You also don't want to store it in the expanded WAR folder (there where your JSPs are), because any changes will get lost whenever you redeploy the WAR (with the very simple reason that those files are not contained in the original WAR).
Rather use an absolute path instead. E.g.
String gameWorkFolder = "/path/to/game/work/folder";
new File(gameWorkFolder, game.getId()+"/screenshots");
You can make it configureable by supplying it as a properties file setting or a VM argument.
See also:
Image Upload and Display in JSP
getResourceAsStream() vs FileInputStream

Silverlight: Business Application Needs Access To Files To Print and Move

I have the following requirement for a business application:
(All of this could be on local or server)
Allow user to select folder location
Show contents of folder
Print selected items from folder (*.pdf)
Display which files have been printed
Potentially move printed files to new location (sub-folder of printed)
How can I make this happen in Silverlight?
Kind regards,
ribald
First of all, all but the last item can be done (the way you expect). Due to security protocols, silverlight cannot access the user's drive and manipulate it. The closest you can get is accessing silverlight's application storage which will be of no help to you whatsoever in this case. I will highlight how to do the first 4 items.
Allow user to select folder location & Show contents of folder
public void OnSelectPDF(object sender)
{
//create the open file dialog
OpenFileDialog ofg = new OpenFileDialog();
//filter to show only pdf files
ofg.Filter = "PDF Files|*.pdf";
ofg.ShowDialog();
byte[] _import_file = new byte[0];
//once a file is selected proceed
if (!object.ReferenceEquals(ofg.File, null))
{
try
{
fs = ofg.File.OpenRead();
_import_file = new byte[fs.Length];
fs.Read(_import_file, 0, (int)fs.Length);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
finally
{
if (!object.ReferenceEquals(fs, null))
fs.Close();
}
//do stuff with file - such as upload the file to the server
};
}
If you noticed, in my example, once the file is retrieved, i suggest uploading it to a webserver or somewhere with temporary public access. I would recommend doing this via a web service. E.g
//configure the system file (customn class)
TSystemFile objFile = new TNetworkFile().Initialize();
//get the file description from the Open File Dialog (ofg)
objFile.Description = ofg.File.Extension.Contains(".") ? ofg.File.Extension : "." + ofg.File.Extension;
objFile.FileData = _import_file;
objFile.FileName = ofg.File.Name;
//upload the file
MasterService.ToolingInterface.UploadTemporaryFileAsync(objFile);
Once this file is uploaded, on the async result, most likely returning the temporary file name and upload location, I would foward the call to some javascript method in the browser for it to use the generic "download.aspx?fileName=givenFileName" technique to force a download on the users system which would take care of both saving to a new location and printing. Which is what your are seeking.
Example of the javascript technique (remember to include System.Windows.Browser):
public void OnInvokeDownload(string _destination)
{
//call the browser method/jquery method
//(I use constants to centralize the names of the respective browser methods)
try
{
HtmlWindow window = HtmlPage.Window;
//where BM_INVOKE_DOWNLOAD is something like "invokeDownload"
window.Invoke(Constants.TBrowserMethods.BM_INVOKE_DOWNLOAD, new object[] { _destination});
}
catch (Exception ex) { System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString()); }
}
Ensure you have the javascript method existing either in an included javaScript file or in the same hosting page as your silverlight app. E.g:
function invokeDownload(_destination) {
//some fancy jquery or just the traditional document.location change here
//open a popup window to http://www.myurl.com/downloads/download.aspx? fileName=_destination
}
The code for download.aspx is outside the scope of my answer, as it varies per need and would just lengthen this post (A LOT MORE). But from what I've given, it will "work" for what you're looking for, but maybe not in exactly the way you expected. However, remember that this is primarily due to silverlight restrictions. What this approach does is rather than forcing you to need a pluging to view pdf files in your app, it allows the user computer to play it's part by using the existing adobe pdf reader. In silverlight, most printing, at least to my knowledge is done my using what you call and "ImageVisual" which is a UIElement. To print a pdf directly from silverlight, you need to either be viewing that PDF in a silverlight control, or ask a web service to render the PDF as an image and then place that image in a control. Only then could you print directly. I presented this approach as a lot more clean and direct approach.
One note - with the temp directory, i would recommend doing a clean up by some timespan of the files on the server side everytime a file is being added. Saves you the work of running some task periodically to check the folder and remove old files. ;)

Can't get rid of a deleted Settings reference in DataSet.Designer.vb

I had a connection string to a MS Access DB file, Foo.accdb, defined and used in my project. It was defined as a connection string Setting in the Settings section of my project properties. The program referenced the connection string setting and everything worked fine.
Then I decided to replace Foo.accdb with two different DB files, A.accdb and B.accdb each of which would be used under different circumstances. I added connection strings for them in Settings and removed the Setting definition for Foo.accdb connection string.
The name of my application is Foo and the name of the Foo.accdb connection string was FooConnectionString.
But now when I build the program both in debugger and for release I get the following error message:
'FooConnectionString' is not a member of 'Foo.My.MySettings'.
The offending reference, in file FooDataSet.Designer.vb, is:
<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCodeAttribute()> _
Private Sub InitConnection()
Me._connection = New Global.System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection
Me._connection.ConnectionString = Global.Foo.My.MySettings.Default.FooConnectionString
End Sub
What is going on here? FooConnectionString is not in any other file in the project directory nor in the My Project subdir. I completely got rid of it in my code and in my project properties yet it persists in FooDataSet.Designer.vb (whatever that is).
While researching this on the web I saw a recommendation to select the FooDataSet.xsd file, right click it and execute the "Run Custom Tool" option. I did this and it appears to rebuild FooDataSet.Designer.vb (the time stamp changes) but the problem persists.
I also tried removing the offending reference by manually editing FooDataSet.Designer.vb but that gave me some other error message.
Why is this old reference staying around and what can I do about it?
This is a standalone app. I'm using VS2008 Standard Ed., VB.Net 3.5
Thanks.
Open the FooDataSet XSD file in a text editor. Right click on dataset in the solution explorer and select "Open With..." and the select XML (text) Editor or open it outside the solution.
Look for the <Connections> tag near the top of the file. Remove the line that looks like this
<Connection AppSettingsObjectName="Settings" AppSettingsPropertyName="FooConnectionString" ConnectionStringObject="" IsAppSettingsProperty="true" Modifier="Assembly" Name="FooConnectionString(Settings)" ...

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