Calvin Hsia's WebLog

Look at some hdden code in your VB project

Calvin_Hsia — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:41:00 GMT

Some code is always added to your VB project.

Try this:

Start VS (2008 or 2010 beta: the numbers below are for 2008)

File->New->Project->VB->Console App.

Build->Build Solution.

(I like to use temporary projects: see Use temporary projects in Visual Studio. I’m also using the General Profile (Tools->Import/Export Settings->Reset All Settings)

The build output window shows this:

------ Build started: Project: ConsoleApplication1, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Vbc.exe /noconfig /imports:Microsoft.VisualBasic,System,System.Collections,System.Collections.Generic,System.Data,System.Diagnostics,System.Linq,System.Xml.Linq /optioncompare:Binary /optionexplicit+ /optionstrict:custom /nowarn:42016,41999,42017,42018,42019,42032,42036,42020,42021,42022 /optioninfer+ /rootnamespace:ConsoleApplication1 /doc:obj\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.xml /define:"CONFIG=\"Debug\",DEBUG=-1,TRACE=-1,_MyType=\"Console\",PLATFORM=\"AnyCPU\",_MYTYPE=\"Empty\"" /reference:"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Core.dll","C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll",C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Deployment.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll,"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Xml.Linq.dll" /main:ConsoleApplication1.Module1 /debug+ /debug:full /filealign:512 /out:obj\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.exe /resource:obj\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.Resources.resources /target:exe Module1.vb "My Project\AssemblyInfo.vb" "My Project\Application.Designer.vb" "My Project\Resources.Designer.vb" "My Project\Settings.Designer.vb"

ConsoleApplication1 -> C:\Users\calvinh\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects\ConsoleApplication1\bin\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.exe

========== Build: 1 succeeded or up-to-date, 0 failed, 0 skipped ==========

You can make your programs smaller by removing some features.

Now right click on the Project in Solution Explorer, and “choose Open Folder in Windows Explorer”, navigate to the ConsoleApplication1.EXE file to see how big it is.

Open a Visual Studio Command Prompt( Program Files->Visual Studio->Visual Studio Tools) and do this:

dir "C:\Users\calvinh\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects\ConsoleApplication1\bin\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.exe"

The size I get is 14,336 bytes.

Now use the Intermediate Language Disassembler :

Ildasm "C:\Users\calvinh\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects\ConsoleApplication1\bin\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.exe"

You can navigate the tree view to see things like MyProject, MySettingsProperty, etc.

For example, even if you’re not using web services, this code is in your binary:

.method private static !!T Create__Instance__<.ctor T>(!!T 'instance') cil managed

{

.custom instance void [mscorlib]System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHiddenAttribute::.ctor() = ( 01 00 00 00 )

// Code size 32 (0x20)

.maxstack 2

.locals init ([0] !!T Create__Instance__,

[1] bool VB$CG$t_bool$S0)

IL_0000: nop

IL_0001: ldarg.0

IL_0002: box !!T

IL_0007: ldnull

IL_0008: ceq

IL_000a: stloc.1

IL_000b: ldloc.1

IL_000c: brfalse.s IL_0018

IL_000e: call !!0 [mscorlib]System.Activator::CreateInstance<!!0>()

IL_0013: stloc.0

IL_0014: br.s IL_001e

IL_0016: br.s IL_001d

IL_0018: nop

IL_0019: ldarg.0

IL_001a: stloc.0

IL_001b: br.s IL_001e

IL_001d: nop

IL_001e: ldloc.0

IL_001f: ret

} // end of method MyWebServices::Create__Instance__

Where does all this code come from? Is there a simple way to get rid of it?

VB Intellisense and background compiler know about this extra stuff too.

Type in this:

Dim r = My.WebService

Notice that after “My.” you see a a list of members of “My.”

Application

Computer

MySettings

Resources

Settings

User

WebServices

You can make the colored ones disappear.

Try this:

Project->Settings->Compiler->Advanced Compiler Options->Custom Constants

Put in _MYTYPE="Empty"

Immediately, you’ll see that there are compile errors for the My.Webservice line and that intellisense doesn’t show the colored members.

Now rebuild and see that the file size is 12,288.

This size difference is multiplied if you have multiple VB projects.

You can see some of the source VB that is used to generate this code:

File->Open->File-> "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll"

This will open the DLL in the VS Resource Editor. Navigate in the treeview to RCDATA->300 and you’ll see a binary dump of some code.

If you right click on the 300, choose Export->T.VB, then open T.VB, you see the contents below:

Now you can see the effect of changing “_MYTYPE” in the code.

See also:

Use temporary projects in Visual Studio

Host the CLR and Generate IL to call a MessageBox

<T.vb>

Option Strict On

Option Explicit On

Option Compare Binary

#If TARGET = "module" AndAlso _MYTYPE = "" Then

#Const _MYTYPE="Empty"

#End If

#If _MYTYPE = "WindowsForms" Then

#Const _MYFORMS = True

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = True

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "WindowsFormsWithCustomSubMain" Then

#Const _MYFORMS = True

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = True

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "Windows" OrElse _MYTYPE = "" Then

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = True

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Windows"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "Console" Then

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = True

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Windows"

#Const _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "Web" Then

#Const _MYFORMS = False

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = False

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Web"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Web"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "WebControl" Then

#Const _MYFORMS = False

#Const _MYWEBSERVICES = True

#Const _MYUSERTYPE = "Web"

#Const _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Web"

#ElseIf _MYTYPE = "Custom" Then

#ElseIf _MYTYPE <> "Empty" Then

#Const _MYTYPE = "Empty"

#End If

#If _MYTYPE <> "Empty" Then

Namespace My

#If _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms" OrElse _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Windows" OrElse _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console" Then

<Global.System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("MyTemplate", "8.0.0.0")> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> Partial Friend Class MyApplication

#If _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms" Then

Inherits Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase

#If TARGET = "winexe" Then

<Global.System.STAThread(), Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden(), Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Advanced)> _

Friend Shared Sub Main(ByVal Args As String())

Try

Global.System.Windows.Forms.Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(MyApplication.UseCompatibleTextRendering())

Finally

End Try

My.Application.Run(Args)

End Sub

#End If

#ElseIf _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Windows" Then

Inherits Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.ApplicationBase

#ElseIf _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console" Then

Inherits Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.ConsoleApplicationBase

#End If '_MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms"

End Class

#End If '#If _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms" Or _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Windows" or _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console"

#If _MYCOMPUTERTYPE <> "" Then

<Global.System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("MyTemplate", "8.0.0.0")> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> Partial Friend Class MyComputer

#If _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Windows" Then

Inherits Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices.Computer

#ElseIf _MYCOMPUTERTYPE = "Web" Then

Inherits Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices.ServerComputer

#End If

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

Public Sub New()

MyBase.New()

End Sub

End Class

#End If

<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.HideModuleName()> _

<Global.System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("MyTemplate", "8.0.0.0")> _

Friend Module MyProject

#If _MYCOMPUTERTYPE <> "" Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Computer")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Computer() As MyComputer

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_ComputerObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

Private ReadOnly m_ComputerObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of MyComputer)

#End If

#If _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Windows" Or _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "WindowsForms" Or _MYAPPLICATIONTYPE = "Console" Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Application")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Application() As MyApplication

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_AppObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

Private ReadOnly m_AppObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of MyApplication)

#End If

#If _MYUSERTYPE = "Windows" Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.User")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property User() As Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.User

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_UserObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

Private ReadOnly m_UserObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.User)

#ElseIf _MYUSERTYPE = "Web" Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.User")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property User() As Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WebUser

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_UserObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

Private ReadOnly m_UserObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WebUser)

#End If

#If _MYFORMS = True Then

#Const STARTUP_MY_FORM_FACTORY = "My.MyProject.Forms"

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Forms")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Forms() As MyForms

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_MyFormsObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyGroupCollection("System.Windows.Forms.Form", "Create__Instance__", "Dispose__Instance__", "My.MyProject.Forms")> _

Friend NotInheritable Class MyForms

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Private Shared Function Create__Instance__(Of T As {New, Global.System.Windows.Forms.Form})(ByVal Instance As T) As T

If Instance Is Nothing OrElse Instance.IsDisposed Then

If m_FormBeingCreated IsNot Nothing Then

If m_FormBeingCreated.ContainsKey(GetType(T)) = True Then

Throw New Global.System.InvalidOperationException(Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Utils.GetResourceString("WinForms_RecursiveFormCreate"))

End If

Else

m_FormBeingCreated = New Global.System.Collections.Hashtable()

End If

m_FormBeingCreated.Add(GetType(T), Nothing)

Try

Return New T()

Catch ex As Global.System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException When ex.InnerException IsNot Nothing

Dim BetterMessage As String = Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Utils.GetResourceString("WinForms_SeeInnerException", ex.InnerException.Message)

Throw New Global.System.InvalidOperationException(BetterMessage, ex.InnerException)

Finally

m_FormBeingCreated.Remove(GetType(T))

End Try

Else

Return Instance

End If

End Function

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Private Sub Dispose__Instance__(Of T As Global.System.Windows.Forms.Form)(ByRef instance As T)

instance.Dispose()

instance = Nothing

End Sub

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

Public Sub New()

MyBase.New()

End Sub

<Global.System.ThreadStatic()> Private Shared m_FormBeingCreated As Global.System.Collections.Hashtable

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> Public Overrides Function Equals(ByVal o As Object) As Boolean

Return MyBase.Equals(o)

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> Public Overrides Function GetHashCode() As Integer

Return MyBase.GetHashCode

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

Friend Overloads Function [GetType]() As Global.System.Type

Return GetType(MyForms)

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> Public Overrides Function ToString() As String

Return MyBase.ToString

End Function

End Class

Private m_MyFormsObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of MyForms)

#End If

#If _MYWEBSERVICES = True Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.WebServices")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property WebServices() As MyWebServices

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_MyWebServicesObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyGroupCollection("System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol", "Create__Instance__", "Dispose__Instance__", "")> _

Friend NotInheritable Class MyWebServices

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never), Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Public Overrides Function Equals(ByVal o As Object) As Boolean

Return MyBase.Equals(o)

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never), Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Public Overrides Function GetHashCode() As Integer

Return MyBase.GetHashCode

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never), Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Friend Overloads Function [GetType]() As Global.System.Type

Return GetType(MyWebServices)

End Function

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsable(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never), Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Public Overrides Function ToString() As String

Return MyBase.ToString

End Function

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Private Shared Function Create__Instance__(Of T As {New})(ByVal instance As T) As T

If instance Is Nothing Then

Return New T()

Else

Return instance

End If

End Function

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Private Sub Dispose__Instance__(Of T)(ByRef instance As T)

instance = Nothing

End Sub

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

Public Sub New()

MyBase.New()

End Sub

End Class

Private ReadOnly m_MyWebServicesObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of MyWebServices)

#End If

#If _MYTYPE = "Web" Then

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Request")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Request() As Global.System.Web.HttpRequest

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Dim CurrentContext As Global.System.Web.HttpContext = Global.System.Web.HttpContext.Current

If CurrentContext IsNot Nothing Then

Return CurrentContext.Request

End If

Return Nothing

End Get

End Property

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Response")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Response() As Global.System.Web.HttpResponse

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Dim CurrentContext As Global.System.Web.HttpContext = Global.System.Web.HttpContext.Current

If CurrentContext IsNot Nothing Then

Return CurrentContext.Response

End If

Return Nothing

End Get

End Property

<Global.System.ComponentModel.Design.HelpKeyword("My.Application.Log")> _

Friend ReadOnly Property Log() As Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.Logging.AspLog

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Return m_LogObjectProvider.GetInstance()

End Get

End Property

Private ReadOnly m_LogObjectProvider As New ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.Logging.AspLog)

#End If '_MYTYPE="Web"

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

<Global.System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(False)> _

Friend NotInheritable Class ThreadSafeObjectProvider(Of T As New)

Friend ReadOnly Property GetInstance() As T

#If TARGET = "library" Then

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

Dim Value As T = m_Context.Value

If Value Is Nothing Then

Value = New T

m_Context.Value() = Value

End If

Return Value

End Get

#Else

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

Get

If m_ThreadStaticValue Is Nothing Then m_ThreadStaticValue = New T

Return m_ThreadStaticValue

End Get

#End If

End Property

<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerHidden()> _

<Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableAttribute(Global.System.ComponentModel.EditorBrowsableState.Never)> _

Public Sub New()

MyBase.New()

End Sub

#If TARGET = "library" Then

Private ReadOnly m_Context As New Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyServices.Internal.ContextValue(Of T)

#Else

<Global.System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CompilerGenerated(), Global.System.ThreadStatic()> Private Shared m_ThreadStaticValue As T

#End If

End Class

End Module

End Namespace

#End If

</T.vb>

What is your computer doing with all that memory? Write your own memory browser

Calvin_Hsia — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:53:00 GMT

What is your computer doing with all that memory? There are various kinds of memory allocated and used in each process. These include:

· Managed memory (VB.Net, C#, managed C++)

· Heap memory

· Stacks

· Images (files loaded into a process)

VirtualAlloc is the basis of these allocations. If a process needs more of these types of memory, VirtualAlloc is called.

You can inspect the various kinds of memory by running the sample code below. It offers a list of current processes, from which you dbl-click one to inspect.

Once you choose a process, a snapshot of all Virtual memory allocations is shown in a ListView, along with the size, type, etc. If it’s an image, the filename is shown too. Hovering over addresses shows the memory contents in a tooltip. Double click to open another window with the entire memory contents. You can read strings in memory in these displays.

One can imagine this being the base of your own custom Task Manager. Perhaps you want to search for all strings in all processes. “Microsoft” occurs quite often!

Imagine taking a memory snapshot of a process, doing something in that process, then taking another snapshot and displaying the difference.

Caveats: you may not have rights to read some processes or some memory. Also, if you build to 32 bit (Project Options->Compile->AdvancedCompileOptions->TargetCPU->AnyCpu) and run on 64 bit, you might have problems.

It can examine both 32 and 64 bit processes. If you get Access Denied on some processes, you might have better luck running it as Administrator

Start Visual Studio 2008

File->New Project->VB WPF Application.

Open Window1.xaml.vb, replace the contents (about 650 lines) with the sample below.

How to Create dynamic XAML to display arbitrary XML

Remove double spaces from pasted code samples in blog

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

Class Window1

Private WithEvents _btnRefresh As Button

Private Sub Window1_Loaded(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs) Handles MyBase.Loaded

Me.Width = 800

Me.Height = 800

RefreshContent()

End Sub

Sub RefreshContent()

Dim q = From proc In System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses _

Select proc.Id, _

proc.ProcessName, _

proc.WorkingSet64, _

proc.PrivateMemorySize64, _

Is64 = ProcessType(proc) _

Order By ProcessName

Me.Title = "Choose a process. Count = " + q.Count.ToString

Dim XAML = _

<Grid

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

<Button Name="btnRefresh">Refresh</Button>

</StackPanel>

</DockPanel>

</Grid>

Dim gr = CType(System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(XAML.CreateReader), Grid)

_btnRefresh = CType(gr.FindName("btnRefresh"), Button)

Dim dp = CType(gr.FindName("dp"), DockPanel)

dp.Children.Add(New Browse(q, delDblClick:=AddressOf OnProcWindDblClick))

Me.Content = gr

End Sub

Shared Function ProcessType(ByVal proc As Process) As String

Dim is32 = False

If IntPtr.Size = 4 Then ' 64 bit=8, 32=4

is32 = True

End If

Dim retProcType = "64"

Try

Dim IsrunningUnderWow64 = False

If IsWow64Process(proc.Handle, IsrunningUnderWow64) AndAlso IsrunningUnderWow64 Then

End If

If IsrunningUnderWow64 OrElse is32 Then

retProcType = "32"

End If

Catch ex As Exception

retProcType = ex.Message

End Try

Return retProcType

End Function

<DllImport("Kernel32.dll", SetLastError:=True, CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.Winapi)> _

Public Shared Function IsWow64Process( _

ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, _

<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)> ByRef wow64Process As Boolean) As <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)> Boolean

End Function

Sub OnbtnRefresh_Click() Handles _btnRefresh.Click

RefreshContent()

End Sub

Sub OnProcWindDblClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

Try

Dim lv = TryCast(sender, Browse)

If lv IsNot Nothing Then

Dim tb = TryCast(e.OriginalSource, TextBlock)

If tb IsNot Nothing Then

Dim dt = tb.DataContext

If dt IsNot Nothing Then

Dim procTarget = tb.Text

Dim q = From a In Process.GetProcessesByName(procTarget)

If q.Count > 0 Then

Dim oWin = New VirtMemWindow(q.First) With {.Owner = Me}

End If

Catch ex As Exception

MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)

End Try

End Sub

Class VirtMemWindow

Inherits Window

Private _proc As Process

Private WithEvents _btnAggregate As Button

Private _Is32 As Boolean

Sub New(ByVal proc As Process)

Dim mbi As New MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION

_proc = proc

Dim ptype = ProcessType(_proc)

If ptype = "32" Then

_Is32 = True

ElseIf ptype = "64" Then

_Is32 = False

Else

Throw New InvalidOperationException(ptype)

End If

If IntPtr.Size = 4 AndAlso Not _Is32 Then

Throw New InvalidOperationException("32 bit app can't examine 64 bit process")

End If

Dim lpMem As UInt64 = 0

Do While VirtualQueryEx(_proc.Handle, New UIntPtr(lpMem), mbi, Marshal.SizeOf(mbi)) = Marshal.SizeOf(mbi)

_virtAllocs.Add(mbi)

lpMem = mbi.BaseAddress.ToUInt64 + mbi.RegionSize.ToUInt64

Loop

Dim XAML = _

<Grid

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

<Button Name="btnAgg">Aggregate</Button>

</StackPanel>

</DockPanel>

</Grid>

Dim gr = CType(System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(XAML.CreateReader), Grid)

_btnAggregate = CType(gr.FindName("btnAgg"), Button)

Dim dp = CType(gr.FindName("dp"), DockPanel)

If _virtAllocs.Count = 0 Then

dp.Children.Add(New TextBlock With {.Text = "No items found. Perhaps 64/32 bit or Rights issue"})

Else

Dim q = From a In _virtAllocs _

Select AllocationBase = Format64or32(a.AllocationBase), _

BaseAddress = Format64or32(a.BaseAddress), _

RegionSize = Format64or32(a.RegionSize), _

Filename = GetFileNameFromMBI(a), _

AllocationProtect = a.AllocationProtect.ToString, _

AllocationState = a.State.ToString, _

Type = CType(a.lType, AllocationType).ToString _

Order By Filename.ToString.Length Descending

Me.Title += String.Format("{0} Virtual Memory Use #items={1} ", proc.ProcessName, q.Count)

dp.Children.Add(New Browse(q, _

delMouseMove:=AddressOf On_VirtmemMouseMove, _

deldblclick:=AddressOf On_VirtmemDblClick))

End If

Me.Content = gr

Me.Show()

End Sub

Function Format64or32(ByVal num As UIntPtr) As String

Dim retval = ""

If _Is32 Then

retval = num.ToUInt32.ToString("x8")

Else

retval = num.ToUInt64.ToString("x16")

End If

Return retval

End Function

Sub OnbtnAggClick() Handles _btnAggregate.Click

Dim qAgg = From a In _virtAllocs _

Group By AllocationType = a.lType.ToString Into Tot = Sum(a.RegionSize.ToUInt64), Cnt = Count(a.RegionSize.ToUInt64 > 0)

Dim oWin = New Window With {.Title = "Aggregate"}

oWin.Content = New Browse(qAgg)

oWin.Owner = Me

oWin.Show()

End Sub

Private _virtAllocs As New List(Of MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION)

Sub On_VirtmemDblClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

Try

Dim lv = TryCast(sender, Browse)

If lv IsNot Nothing Then

Dim tb = TryCast(e.OriginalSource, TextBlock)

If tb IsNot Nothing Then

Select Case tb.Name

Case "AllocationBase", "BaseAddress"

ClearPriorToolTipIfAny()

Dim baseAddr = Convert.ToInt64(tb.Text, 16) ' convert from hex (base 16)

Dim allocQuery = From a In _virtAllocs _

Where If(tb.Name = "AllocationBase", a.AllocationBase, a.BaseAddress) = baseAddr

If allocQuery.Count > 0 Then

Dim virtAlloc = allocQuery.First

Dim strAddrDump = GetAddressDump( _

virtAlloc.BaseAddress, _

virtAlloc.RegionSize, _

nMax:=0 _

)

Dim tbxDump = New TextBox With { _

.Text = strAddrDump, _

.VerticalScrollBarVisibility = ScrollBarVisibility.Auto, _

.BorderThickness = New Windows.Thickness(0), _

.FontFamily = New FontFamily("Courier New"), _

.FontSize = 10 _

}

Dim oWin = New Window With { _

.Title = String.Format("Mem dump Address = {0:x8}, size = {1}", _

tb.Text, _

virtAlloc.RegionSize _

) _

}

oWin.Content = tbxDump

oWin.Owner = Me

oWin.Show()

End If

End Select

End If

Catch ex As Exception

End Try

End Sub

Sub ClearPriorToolTipIfAny()

If _LastTipObj IsNot Nothing Then

Dim lastTip = CType(_LastTipObj.ToolTip, ToolTip)

lastTip.IsOpen = False

_LastTipObj = Nothing

End If

End Sub

Private _LastTipObj As FrameworkElement

Sub On_VirtmemMouseMove(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

Dim lv = TryCast(sender, Browse)

If lv IsNot Nothing Then

Dim tb = TryCast(e.OriginalSource, TextBlock)

If tb IsNot Nothing Then

' Dim o = lv.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(tb)

If _LastTipObj IsNot Nothing Then

Dim lastTip = CType(_LastTipObj.ToolTip, ToolTip)

If tb Is _LastTipObj Then ' over same obj: don't create a new tip

Return

Else

' different object: close the tip

lastTip.IsOpen = False

End If

Dim dt = tb.DataContext

If dt IsNot Nothing Then

Dim ttipObj = New ToolTip

ttipObj.PlacementTarget = tb

ttipObj.Placement = Controls.Primitives.PlacementMode.Bottom

Select Case tb.Name

Case "AllocationBase", "BaseAddress"

Dim baseAddr = Convert.ToUInt64(tb.Text, 16) ' convert from hex (base 16)

Dim q = From a In _virtAllocs _

Where If(tb.Name = "AllocationBase", a.AllocationBase, a.BaseAddress) = baseAddr

If q.Count > 0 Then

Dim mbi = q.First

Dim baddr = If(tb.Name = "AllocationBase", mbi.AllocationBase, mbi.BaseAddress)

If CType(mbi.State, AllocationState) <> AllocationState.MEM_FREE AndAlso baddr.ToUInt64 > &H1000 Then

Dim strAddrDump = GetAddressDump( _

baddr, _

mbi.RegionSize)

Dim tbxDump = New TextBox With { _

.Text = strAddrDump, _

.BorderThickness = New Windows.Thickness(0), _

.FontFamily = New FontFamily("Courier New"), _

.FontSize = 10, _

.Background = Brushes.LightYellow _

}

Dim sp = New StackPanel With {.Orientation = Orientation.Vertical}

If CType(mbi.lType, AllocationType) = AllocationType.MEM_IMAGE Then

Dim sbFilename As New Text.StringBuilder(300)

Dim rr = GetFileNameFromMBI(mbi)

GetModuleFileNameEx(_proc.Handle, New UIntPtr(mbi.AllocationBase.ToUInt64), sbFilename, sbFilename.Capacity)

sp.Children.Add(New TextBlock With {.Text = "Filename = " + sbFilename.ToString})

End If

sp.Children.Add(tbxDump)

ttipObj.Content = sp

Else

ttipObj.Content = baddr.ToString + " bad address for mem dump"

End If

Case "RegionSize"

ttipObj.Content = String.Format(" Base 10: {0}", Convert.ToInt32(tb.Text, 16))

Case "Where", "Filename"

ttipObj.Content = tb.Text

Case Else

Return

End Select

ToolTipService.SetShowDuration(tb, 100000)

ttipObj.IsOpen = True

tb.ToolTip = ttipObj

_LastTipObj = tb

End If

End Sub

Const BlockSize As Integer = 1024

<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _

Structure ProcMemBlock

<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, sizeconst:=BlockSize)> _

Dim data() As Byte

End Structure

Public Function GetAddressDump(ByVal nAddress As UIntPtr, ByVal nTotalBytesToRead As UIntPtr, Optional ByVal nMax As Integer = 1024) As String

Dim sbAddrDump As New Text.StringBuilder

Try

If nMax > 0 Then

nTotalBytesToRead = Math.Min(nMax, nTotalBytesToRead.ToUInt64)

End If

Dim blk = New ProcMemBlock

Dim nBytesLeftToRead = nTotalBytesToRead

Do While nBytesLeftToRead.ToUInt64 > 0

Dim nBytesToReadForThisBlock = Math.Min(nBytesLeftToRead.ToUInt64, BlockSize)

Dim nBytesRead As UIntPtr = 0

If ReadProcessMemory(_proc.Handle, nAddress, blk, nBytesToReadForThisBlock, nBytesRead) Then

nBytesLeftToRead = nBytesLeftToRead.ToUInt64 - nBytesRead.ToUInt64

Dim innerCnt = 0

Dim strBytes = ""

Dim strChars = ""

For i = 0 To nBytesRead.ToUInt64 - 1 Step 4

If innerCnt Mod 8 = 0 Then

If i > 0 Then ' if we're ending a line, dump out the bytes and chars

sbAddrDump.AppendLine(" " + strBytes + " " + strChars)

strBytes = ""

strChars = ""

Else

sbAddrDump.AppendLine()

End If

If _Is32 Then

sbAddrDump.Append(String.Format("{0:x8} : ", nAddress.ToUInt32 + CUInt(i)))

Else

Dim offset = nAddress.ToUInt64 + CUInt(i)

sbAddrDump.Append(String.Format("{0:x16} : ", nAddress.ToUInt64 + CUInt(i)))

End If

innerCnt += 1

Dim dword = 0

For p = 0 To 3

dword += CInt(blk.data(i + p)) << shifts(3 - p)

' Dim dword = Marshal.ReadIntPtr(New IntPtr(nAddress + i)).ToInt32

toBytes(dword, strBytes, strChars)

sbAddrDump.Append(String.Format("{0:x8} ", dword))

' some leftovers

Dim startLeftover = innerCnt

Do While innerCnt Mod 8 > 0

sbAddrDump.Append(" ")

innerCnt += 1

Loop

sbAddrDump.AppendLine(" " + strBytes + " ")

innerCnt = startLeftover

Do While innerCnt Mod 8 > 0

sbAddrDump.Append(" ")

innerCnt += 1

Loop

sbAddrDump.AppendLine(strChars)

Do While innerCnt Mod 8 > 0

sbAddrDump.Append(" ")

innerCnt += 1

Loop

Else

Exit Do

End If

nAddress = nAddress.ToUInt64 + nBytesRead.ToUInt64

Loop

Catch ex As Exception

sbAddrDump.Append("Exception when reading " + nAddress.ToString + " " + ex.Message)

End Try

Return sbAddrDump.ToString

End Function

Const badchars = vbCr + vbLf + vbTab + Chr(&HB) + Chr(&HC)

Private Shared shifts As Integer() = {24, 16, 8, 0}

Shared Sub toBytes(ByVal num As Integer, ByRef strBytes As String, ByRef strChars As String)

For i = 3 To 0 Step -1

Dim abyte = CByte((num >> shifts(i) And &HFF))

strBytes += String.Format("{0:x2} ", abyte)

Dim thechar = " "

If abyte > 15 AndAlso abyte < 127 Then

If badchars.IndexOf(thechar) < 0 Then

thechar = Chr(abyte).ToString

End If

strChars += thechar

End Sub

<DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError:=True)> _

Public Shared Function ReadProcessMemory( _

ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, _

ByVal lpBaseAddress As UIntPtr, _

ByRef lpBuffer As ProcMemBlock, _

ByVal dwSize As Integer, _

ByRef lpNumberOfBytesRead As Integer _

) As Integer

End Function

<DllImport("psapi")> _

Shared Function GetModuleFileNameEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal hModule As UIntPtr, ByVal lpFileName As Text.StringBuilder, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer

End Function

<DllImport("kernel32")> _

Shared Function VirtualQueryEx( _

ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, _

ByVal lpAddress As UIntPtr, _

ByRef mbi As MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION, _

ByVal dwLength As UInteger) As UInteger

End Function

<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _

Structure MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION

Dim BaseAddress As UIntPtr

Dim AllocationBase As UIntPtr

Dim AllocationProtect As AllocationProtect

Dim RegionSize As UIntPtr

Dim State As AllocationState

Dim Protect As AllocationProtect

Dim lType As AllocationType

End Structure

<Flags()> _

Enum AllocationProtect

PAGE_EXECUTE = &H10

PAGE_EXECUTE_READ = &H20

PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE = &H40

PAGE_EXECUTE_WRITECOPY = &H80

PAGE_NOACCESS = &H1

PAGE_READONLY = &H2

PAGE_READWRITE = &H4

PAGE_WRITECOPY = &H8

PAGE_GUARD = &H100

PAGE_NOCACHE = &H200

PAGE_WRITECOMBINE = &H400

End Enum

<Flags()> _

Enum AllocationType

MEM_IMAGE = &H1000000

MEM_MAPPED = &H40000

MEM_PRIVATE = &H20000

End Enum

<Flags()> _

Enum AllocationState

MEM_COMMIT = &H1000

MEM_FREE = &H10000

MEM_RESERVE = &H2000

End Enum

Function GetFileNameFromMBI(ByVal mbi As MEMORY_BASIC_INFORMATION) As String

Dim retval = ""

If CType(mbi.lType, AllocationType) = AllocationType.MEM_IMAGE Or True Then

If mbi.AllocationBase.ToUInt64 > 0 Then

Dim sbFilename As New Text.StringBuilder(300)

If GetModuleFileNameEx(_proc.Handle, New UIntPtr(mbi.AllocationBase.ToUInt64), sbFilename, sbFilename.Capacity) > 0 Then

retval = sbFilename.ToString

End If

Return retval

End Function

End Class

' see http://blogs.msdn.com/calvin_hsia/archive/2007/12/06/6684376.aspx

Public Class Browse

Inherits ListView

Private _Browse As Browse = Me

Private _delDblClick As BrowEventDelegate

Private _delMouseMove As BrowEventDelegate

Public _query As IEnumerable

Delegate Sub BrowEventDelegate(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

Sub New( _

ByVal Query As IEnumerable, _

Optional ByVal delDblClick As BrowEventDelegate = Nothing, _

Optional ByVal delMouseMove As BrowEventDelegate = Nothing, _

Optional ByVal fAllowHeaderClickSort As Boolean = True)

_query = Query

Dim gv As New GridView

_Browse.View = gv

_Browse.ItemsSource = Query

If fAllowHeaderClickSort Then

_Browse.AddHandler(GridViewColumnHeader.ClickEvent, New RoutedEventHandler(AddressOf HandleHeaderClick))

End If

If delDblClick IsNot Nothing Then

_delDblClick = delDblClick

_Browse.AddHandler(MouseDoubleClickEvent, New RoutedEventHandler(AddressOf OnRowDblClickEvent))

End If

If delMouseMove IsNot Nothing Then

_delMouseMove = delMouseMove

_Browse.AddHandler(MouseMoveEvent, New RoutedEventHandler(AddressOf OnMouseMoveEvent))

End If

If Query.GetType.GetInterface(GetType(IEnumerable(Of )).FullName).GetGenericArguments(0).Name = "XElement" Then ' It's XML

Dim Elem1 = CType(Query, IEnumerable(Of XElement))(0).Elements ' Thanks Avner!

For Each Item In Elem1

Dim gvc As New GridViewColumn

gvc.Header = Item.Name.LocalName

gv.Columns.Add(gvc)

Dim bind As New Binding("Element[" + Item.Name.LocalName + "].Value")

gvc.DisplayMemberBinding = bind

gvc.Width = 180

Else ' it's some anonymous type like "VB$AnonymousType_1`3". Let's use reflection to get the column names

For Each mem In From mbr In _

Query.GetType().GetInterface(GetType(IEnumerable(Of )).FullName) _

.GetGenericArguments()(0).GetMembers _

Where mbr.MemberType = Reflection.MemberTypes.Property

Dim datatype = CType(mem, Reflection.PropertyInfo)

Dim coltype = datatype.PropertyType.Name

Select Case coltype

Case "Int32", "String", "Int64"

Dim gvc As New GridViewColumn

gvc.Header = mem.Name

gv.Columns.Add(gvc)

Dim XAMLdt = _

<DataTemplate

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

Text=<%= If(coltype = "String", _

"{Binding Path=" + mem.Name + "}", _

"{Binding Path=" + mem.Name + "}") %>

</TextBlock>

</StackPanel>

</DataTemplate>

gvc.CellTemplate = CType(System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(XAMLdt.CreateReader), DataTemplate)

If coltype <> "String" Then

' gvc.Width = 80

gvc.Width = Double.NaN ' auto

Else

' gvc.DisplayMemberBinding = New Binding(mem.Name)

' gvc.Width = 180

gvc.Width = Double.NaN ' auto

End If

End Select

End If

Dim XAMLlbStyle = _

<Style

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

TargetType="ListBoxItem">

<Style.Triggers>

</Trigger>

</Trigger>

</Style.Triggers>

</Style>

_Browse.ItemContainerStyle = CType(Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load(XAMLlbStyle.CreateReader), Windows.Style)

End Sub

Sub OnRowDblClickEvent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

If _delDblClick IsNot Nothing Then

_delDblClick.Invoke(sender, e)

End If

End Sub

Sub OnMouseMoveEvent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

If _delMouseMove IsNot Nothing Then

_delMouseMove.Invoke(sender, e)

End If

End Sub

Dim _Lastdir As System.ComponentModel.ListSortDirection = ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Ascending

Dim _LastHeaderClicked As GridViewColumnHeader = Nothing

Sub HandleHeaderClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RoutedEventArgs)

If e.OriginalSource.GetType Is GetType(GridViewColumnHeader) Then

Dim gvh = CType(e.OriginalSource, GridViewColumnHeader)

Dim dir As System.ComponentModel.ListSortDirection = ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Ascending

If Not gvh Is Nothing AndAlso Not gvh.Column Is Nothing Then

If _LastHeaderClicked IsNot Nothing Then

_LastHeaderClicked.Column.HeaderTemplate = Nothing

End If

Dim hdr = gvh.Column.Header

If gvh Is _LastHeaderClicked Then

If _Lastdir = ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Ascending Then

dir = ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Descending

End If

gvh.Column.HeaderTemplate = CType(Windows.Markup.XamlReader.Load( _

<DataTemplate

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

<TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Center"

Text="{Binding}"/>

<Path

Fill="DarkGray"

Data=<%= If(dir = ComponentModel.ListSortDirection.Ascending, _

"M 5,10 L 15,10 L 10,5", _

"M 5,5 L 10,10 L 15,5") %>/>

</DockPanel>

</DataTemplate>.CreateReader), DataTemplate)

Sort(CStr(hdr), dir)

_LastHeaderClicked = gvh

_Lastdir = dir

End If

End Sub

Sub Sort(ByVal sortby As String, ByVal dir As System.ComponentModel.ListSortDirection)

_Browse.Items.SortDescriptions.Clear()

Dim sd = New System.ComponentModel.SortDescription(sortby, dir)

_Browse.Items.SortDescriptions.Add(sd)

_Browse.Items.Refresh()

End Sub

End Class

</code sample>

Its easy to create a graph of memory use in Excel

Calvin_Hsia — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:40:00 GMT

In this post Examine .Net Memory Leaks I showed how to find a .Net managed memory leak.

Now let’s create a graph of memory and resource use over time.

Start Visual Studio 2008, File->New->Visual Basic (or C#) Windows, WPF application. Dbl click the WPF form to get to the Xaml.cs or Xaml.vb file

Paste in the appropriate version from below.

Hit F5 to run the code for about 2 minutes. Then Excel starts (if you have Excel installed)

When Excel starts, type these keystrokes exactly (we can automate Excel with a macro or use Automation, but that’s another story)

Right Arrow (to skip the iteration column)

Shift-Ctrl-End (to select the entire table)

Alt (to activate the menu shortcuts

N (to choose Insert)

N (to choose Line Graph)

Enter (to choose the first kind of line graph

See how easy it is to create a picture?

Try experimenting with the garbage collection and how it behaves. Try commenting out the UnSubscribe call.

Open the log.csv file from within VS. As the file changes, VS will automatically detect and reload the text, so you can watch as it runs.

Make your Task Switcher Window bigger

Calvin_Hsia — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:51:00 GMT

One of the best features of Windows is the ability to Cut and Paste data within an application or from one application to another.

You can alt-tab or click on the task bar to switch between actively running applications, like Word and Visual Studio. When you hit Alt-Tab, a window comes up.

This Task switcher window, by default has 3 rows of 7 icons. If you have more than 21 top level windows open, that dialog gets confusing.

Without tabbed browsing a few years ago (the ability of Internet Explorer to open multiple Tabs to view multiple web pages in a single top level IE Window), I had tons of these windows. (Try Window Key Tab to switch applications on any machine with Aero enabled!)

In fact, sometimes I run so many I get confused when I Alt-Tab and see the behavior of the default 21 (3 row by 7 column) icon display. So, I just modify this to be 5 rows by 9 columns.

Open RegEdit and change these keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\CoolSwitchRows

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\CoolSwitchColumns

See also CoolSwitchRows: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc978607.aspx

In the old days (the late 70's to early 80's, when a 5 Meg hard disk was cool!), you could only run one application on your computer at a time. To transfer data from one program to another, you would open one application, save the information temporarily to a file on (floppy) disk, then open the other application, import the temporary file.

Then along came Borland's Sidekick and AutoDesq DesqView. I think Sidekick had a way of storing text data: it was a TSR: a Terminate and Stay Resident program. That means it was always available even if you were running another application. Once you start it, it would “terminate” but still be running. It would always be in memory, reducing the memory available to other programs.

I remember writing various TSRs. One was a simple program that could flash on the screen any message at any time interval and duration:

Flashmsg /m:"You're getting hungry" /t:200 /d:1

Another would monitor key strokes. Every 100^th keystroke it could double a keystroke, substitute another, record, or suppress one. I didn't circulate these evil programs. (do you believe me? J)

A more useful one came about because a fellow ice hockey teammate and client heard I knew something about computers and wanted his business's Contact List to be instantly available at any time. So I wrote a TSR that would display a simple database of names and phone numbers around 1982. Over the years, I migrated the database maintenance to FoxBase and eventually FoxPro (1990?). So while the client was using WordPerfect, he could hit a key combination to bring up his Contact List instantly.

A TSR can monitor various interrupts, such as the keyboard, by just replacing the interrupt vector with its own. The interrupt vector was just a pointer to the code to run if the keyboard is hit. My TSR would just forward most requests to the original ISR (Interrupt Service Routine). Back in those DOS days, it was easy to replace system memory. “Protected mode” was unheard of.

DesqView was another TSR, but it allowed you to run multiple applications "simultaneously". If I remember right, it "paged" out one app for another, writing to disk the 256K that one was using for the other. This was an immense boost in productivity.

In those days, I was using a really great text editor called PC-Write (one of the first "shareware" programs) from Bob Wallace (Microsoft Employee #9). (It was around this time that dBase, FoxBase were born.)

When Windows 3.1 came out around the early 90's, you could use OLE (Object Linking and Embedding, which sort of got renamed to ActiveX later) and DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) to have applications communicate with each other. The big demo was a Word Document or Fox database embedding an Excel spreadsheet or a photograph.

You can still embed a photo or spreadsheet in Foxpro using a General field (on XP, Vista and Windows Server08 R2(which is Win7 under the hood)):

CREATE CURSOR temp (name c(10), gen g)

INSERT INTO temp (name) VALUES ("Photo")

APPEND GENERAL gen FROM d:\kids.jpg

MODIFY GENERAL gen

INSERT INTO temp (name) VALUES ("Excel")

APPEND GENERAL gen FROM d:\2008.07.xlsx

BROWSE

You can double click the image or Excel spreadsheet to see or edit it within Fox. You can also use the Edit->Insert Special menu to insert other kinds of objects.

For fun, try this:

x=DDEINITIATE("visualfoxpro","")

_cliptext="This text goes on the clipboard"

Or notice the intellisense when you try this from the Fox Command window

x=CREATEOBJECT("Excel.Application")

x.Visible=1

x.Workbooks.Add

x.Cells(1,1).Value="Hi"

Try starting Visual Studio and choose File->Open->File-> navigate to a photo or spreadsheet!

Create or open an existing VB project which has no build errors and then

Dim x=CREATEOBJECT("Excel.Application")

Stop

F5 to hit the breakpoint, Debug->Window->Immediate to open the immediate window.

Then resize VS so you can see Excel, type

x.Visible=1

x.Workbooks.Add

x.Cells(1,1).Value="Hi"

Try something similar in C# (add a reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic.Dll)

Object x = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction.CreateObject("excel.application","");

var z = "Put a bpt here";

Process Explorer and Process Monitor can help you understand a program

Calvin_Hsia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:37:00 GMT

Process Explorer and Process Monitor are must-have free utilities that you can download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb795533.aspx

For example you can use ProcExp to examine a particular behavior of Visual Studio.

Start Visual Studio (any version). I was using VS 2008.

Start Process Explorer (as Administrator)

Click on the Devenv.exe process (the main VS process) to select it.

Choose View->Show Lower Pane and View->Lower Pane View->Handles

In VS, try creating a new VB or C# console application.

Now ProcExp shows a list of handles opened by this particular process. A handle can be a file, an Event, a process, a thread, a registry key, etc.

Did you ever get a permission denied error message because the file is “opened by another process” but you didn’t know which process?

If you click on the Name column, the list of handles will be sorted by name.

I chose File->Save As to save the whole shebang to a file. Here’s a portion, showing the handle type (File), the file name, and the handle value:

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\enterprisesec.config.cch 0x264

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\security.config.cch 0x260

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\Microsoft.VisualBasic.xml 0x14D0

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\mscorlib.xml 0x8C0

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\System.Data.xml 0x89C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\System.xml 0x13F4

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.CSharp.targets 0x7F4

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll 0x88C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets 0x7F8

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.WinFX.targets 0x7E8

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorlib.dll 0x86C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll 0x13D4

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Deployment.dll 0x924

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll 0x174C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.XML.dll 0x15B8

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.CompactFramework.CSharp.targets 0x804

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.CompactFramework.VisualBasic.targets 0x808

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.CSharp.targets 0x7EC

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets 0x7F0

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.WinFx.targets 0x80C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\SqlServer.targets 0x7FC

You can see this portion by scrolling the view to some framework assemblies.

Now play around with Visual Studio to see what files in this folder get opened and closed. The newly opened ones show in green for a couple seconds, while ones that close flash red, then disappear.

In particular, try creating a new VB Console application to see which assemblies get loaded. Close the solution, reopen it a few times. You’ll see these files get opened/closed:

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll 0x13D4

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Deployment.dll 0x924

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll 0x174C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.XML.dll 0x15B8

Now type the letter “C” within Sub Main and you’ll see these XML files get opened:

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\Microsoft.VisualBasic.xml 0x14D0

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\mscorlib.xml 0x8C0

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\System.Data.xml 0x89C

File C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\en\System.xml 0x13F4

They will remain opened until you close the solution.

Now try typing the letter “C” before the Sub Main, but after the Module Module1 line.

No files get opened! Why?

Why does where you type make a difference? What are these files used for?

Here’s an excerpt. Does it provide any clues?

<summary>Provides an object representation of a uniform resource identifier (URI) and easy access to the parts of the URI.</summary>

</member>

<summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="T:System.Uri" /> class with the specified URI.</summary>

<paramref name="uriString" /> is empty.-or- The scheme specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not correctly formed. See <see cref="M:System.Uri.CheckSchemeName(System.String)" />.-or- <paramref name="uriString" /> contains too many slashes.-or- The password specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not valid.-or- The host name specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not valid.-or- The file name specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not valid. -or- The user name specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not valid.-or- The host or authority name specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> cannot be terminated by backslashes.-or- The port number specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> is not valid or cannot be parsed.-or- The length of <paramref name="uriString" /> exceeds 65534 characters.-or- The length of the scheme specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> exceeds 1023 characters.-or- There is an invalid character sequence in <paramref name="uriString" />.-or- The MS-DOS path specified in <paramref name="uriString" /> must start with c:\\.</exception>

</member>

Now try typing this very slowly and watch the Proc Exp Handles list:

Dim x = New Uri(

(In C#, try “Uri” )

You’ll get Intellisense and the parameter help for the constructor of the Uri. The strings for that help come from this XML file.

The “filterPriority” element indicates whether the item shows up on the Common or the All tab of the Intellisense list (VB only).

(BTW, did you know you can switch between the common and the All tabs Alt-Comma and Alt-Period?)

If you like, you can customize the XML of the framework assemblies. Edit the text and save it.

You can even author your own:

Try this: before Sub Main type 3 apostrophes. (for C#, try 3 slashes) This will appear:

''' <summary>

'''

''' </summary>

''' <remarks></remarks>

Try hitting Enter then “<” after the </summary> tag. Intellisense will prompt you for other XML Doc fields, such as Example, Remarks, See Also, Param.

You can fill out the “XmlDoc” information. On Project->Properties->Compile there’s a checkbox “Generate XML Documentation file” (see How to: Generate XML Documentation for a Project )

Now when your assemblies get referenced, you can provide the strings for intellisense, parameter help, info tips to show!

The “en” in the file path name indicates “English” version of the docs. Other languages will work too, if you have them installed on your machine.

The letter “C” in the VB sample above triggers intellisense. If you’re not within a method, then only a few keywords are allowed that start with “C”, like Class, Const, or Custom. Thus the XML doc files aren’t necessary.

If you’re within the context of a method, you can potentially type the name of a shared method, for example: Console.WriteLine, so the XML files are loaded.

Try experimenting with other project types, such as C#, a Web app, or even start Visual FoxPro to see what files get opened under varying conditions. Try adding references to other assemblies.

We’ll explore more of ProcExp and ProcMon in future posts.

You can use Visual Studio to debug itself!

Calvin_Hsia — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:22:00 GMT

How do you find out why your computer or a running program is so slow? Here’s one way.

Let’s attach the VS debugger to VS itself. The main executable for VS is devenv.exe.

Start Visual Studio 2008. This will be the “debugger”

Choose File->Open Project C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe

(You can also choose Debug->Attach to process to debug another instance of devenv.exe, or any other EXE, like Foxpro.exe or Excel.exe)

Hit F5, and a dialog pops up:

“Debugging information for ‘devenv.exe’ cannot be found or does not match. Symbols not loaded. Do you want to continue debugging?”.

Answer yes, and Visual Studio starts. This will be the “debuggee”

Do anything you like in the debuggee, such as create or load a project. Hit F12 to cause an asynchronous breakpoint (or go to the debugger and choose Debug->Break All).

That will freeze all the debuggee threads and put you in the debugger.

You can then examine the Threads window (Debug->Windows->Threads) and see what threads are running. There are several. You can dbl-click various threads and look at the Call stack for it (Debug->Windows->Call stack).

You’ll probably see that most threads are just waiting for something to happen.

Choose the main thread. When VS is idling, the stack will look like this:

ntdll.dll!7c90eb94()

[Frames below may be incorrect and/or missing, no symbols loaded for ntdll.dll]

ntdll.dll!7c90e9ab()

kernel32.dll!7c8094e2()

> msvcr90.dll!_onexit_nolock(int (void)* func=0x0072006f) Line 157 + 0x6 bytes C

00660072()

Each stack entry shows the module and address that called the next stack entry. This isn’t very useful, so you need to load symbols. You can use the public Microsoft Symbol Server:

Tools->Options->Debug->Symbols

http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

Cache the symbols to a local dir, like C:\Symbols

Right click on the various modules (like ntdll.dll, kernel32.dll, msenv.dll etc.) in the call stack to load symbols. Now it’s a little more intelligible:

> ntdll.dll!_KiFastSystemCallRet@0()

user32.dll!_NtUserKillTimer@8() + 0xc bytes

msenv.dll!CMsoCMHandler::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x36 bytes

msenv.dll!SCM::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x4f bytes

msenv.dll!SCM_MsoCompMgr::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x28 bytes

msenv.dll!CMsoComponent::PushMsgLoop() + 0x28 bytes

msenv.dll!VStudioMainLogged() + 0x19b bytes

msenv.dll!_VStudioMain() + 0x7d bytes

devenv.exe!util_CallVsMain() + 0xd8 bytes

devenv.exe!CDevEnvAppId::Run() + 0x5cb bytes

devenv.exe!_WinMain@16() + 0x60 bytes

devenv.exe!License::GetPID() - 0x4cf9 bytes

kernel32.dll!_BaseProcessStart@4() + 0x23 bytes

You can see the WinMain calls a MessageLoop.

Let’s make the foreground thread busy. Create a VB console application. Add an XML literal:

Module Module1

Sub Main()

Dim bigxml = <xml>

</xml>

End Sub

End Module

Make the XML literal big: open the file C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Data.Linq.xml and copy everything except the <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> into the literal (between the <xml> and the </xml>), so you have about 2000 lines.

Start Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift->Escape, or right click on the task bar and choose Task Manager). Observe the little tray icon in the System tray. It will indicate how busy your computer is.

For example, if you have 2 processors and 1 thread is very busy, it’ll show 50% busy.

Now, if you hover your mouse over the “bigxml”, you’ll trigger VB to create a Quick Info tooltip, but it takes quite a lot of calculation to figure out the tip.

Do your asynchronous breakpoint trick and you’ll see something like this:

> msvb7.dll!BCSYM::IsNamedRoot()

msvb7.dll!BCSYM::AreTypesEqual()

msvb7.dll!EquivalentTypes() + 0x17 bytes

msvb7.dll!ClassifyPredefinedCLRConversion() + 0x22 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ClassifyPredefinedCLRConversion() + 0x28 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ClassifyPredefinedConversion() + 0xbf bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ResolveConversion() + 0x234 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ClassifyUserDefinedConversion() + 0x40685 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ClassifyConversion() + 0x21e31 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::CompareParameterTypeSpecificity() + 0x57 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::CompareParameterSpecificity() + 0xa3 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InsertIfMethodAvailable() + 0x461 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::CollectOverloadCandidates() + 0x1e6 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ResolveOverloading() + 0xd9 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::ResolveOverloadedCall() + 0x5e bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretCallExpression() + 0x2656f bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::CreateConstructedInstance() + 0xfa bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::CreateConstructedInstance() + 0x5b bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlElement() + 0x241 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlContent() + 0x56 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlElement() + 0x27c bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlContent() + 0x56 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlElement() + 0x27c bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlContent() + 0x56 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlElement() + 0x27c bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlContent() + 0x56 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlElement() + 0x27c bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlExpression() - 0x13d bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlExpression() + 0xb0 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretXmlExpression() + 0xc3 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretExpression() - 0x1fc bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretExpressionWithTargetType() + 0x43 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretInitializer() + 0x36 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretInitializer() + 0x1a bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretInitializer() + 0x127 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretVariableDeclarationStatement() + 0x158c bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretStatement() + 0x7b2f bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretStatementSequence() + 0x2f bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretBlock() + 0x24 bytes

msvb7.dll!Semantics::InterpretMethodBody() + 0x1fa bytes

msvb7.dll!SourceFile::GetBoundMethodBodyTrees() + 0x126 bytes

msvb7.dll!CBaseSymbolLocator::GetBoundMethodBody() + 0xb6 bytes

msvb7.dll!CSymbolLocator::LocateSymbolInMethodImpl() + 0x29 bytes

msvb7.dll!CSymbolLocator::LocateSymbol() + 0x81f bytes

msvb7.dll!CIntelliSense::GenQuickInfo() + 0x52399 bytes

msvb7.dll!CIntelliSense::HandleQuickInfo() + 0x29 bytes

msvb7.dll!CIntelliSense::ProcessCompletionInfo() + 0x66cda bytes

msvb7.dll!CIntelliSense::GenIntelliSenseInfo() + 0x402 bytes

msvb7.dll!SourceFileView::GenIntelliSenseInfo() + 0x94 bytes

msvb7.dll!SourceFileView::GetDataTip() + 0x743 bytes

msvb7.dll!CVBLangService::GetDataTip() + 0x11d bytes

msenv.dll!CEditView::GetFilterDataTipText() + 0x37 bytes

msenv.dll!CEditView::HandleHoverWaitTimer() + 0x213 bytes

msenv.dll!CEditView::TimerTick() + 0x7d bytes

msenv.dll!CEditView::WndProc() + 0x1685b9 bytes

msenv.dll!CEditView::StaticWndProc() + 0x39 bytes

user32.dll!_InternalCallWinProc@20() + 0x28 bytes

user32.dll!_UserCallWinProcCheckWow@32() + 0xb7 bytes

user32.dll!_DispatchMessageWorker@8() + 0xdc bytes

user32.dll!_DispatchMessageW@4() + 0xf bytes

msenv.dll!EnvironmentMsgLoop() + 0xb6 bytes

msenv.dll!CMsoCMHandler::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x36 bytes

msenv.dll!SCM::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x4f bytes

msenv.dll!SCM_MsoCompMgr::FPushMessageLoop() + 0x28 bytes

msenv.dll!CMsoComponent::PushMsgLoop() + 0x28 bytes

msenv.dll!VStudioMainLogged() + 0x19b bytes

msenv.dll!_VStudioMain() + 0x7d bytes

devenv.exe!util_CallVsMain() + 0xd8 bytes

devenv.exe!CDevEnvAppId::Run() + 0x5cb bytes

devenv.exe!_WinMain@16() + 0x60 bytes

devenv.exe!License::GetPID() - 0x4cf9 bytes

kernel32.dll!_BaseProcessStart@4() + 0x23 bytes

Note how it’s easy to read the stack. The bottom of the stack (the first thing put on it) is _BaseProcessStart, which starts the process. You can see that a timer tick caused GetDataTip to call GenIntelliSenseInfo, which calls GenQuickInfo, -> LocateSymbol, etc.

Each stack entry indicates the name of the routine being executed. The “+ 0x23 bytes” means the # of bytes into the routine that the call occurred. A low number means near the beginning of that method.

Because XML is a tree, and is thus a recursive data structure, you see that XMLContent can contain an XMLExpression and vice versa. The depth of the recursion reflects the actual XML being processed.

BTW, the VB background compiler thread is:

0 > 4620 Worker Thread ThreadSyncManager::ThreadProc _KiFastSystemCallRet@0 Normal 0

And it’s stack at idle:

> ntdll.dll!_KiFastSystemCallRet@0()

ntdll.dll!_ZwWaitForMultipleObjects@20() + 0xc bytes

kernel32.dll!_WaitForMultipleObjectsEx@20() - 0x48 bytes

user32.dll!_RealMsgWaitForMultipleObjectsEx@20() + 0xd9 bytes

ole32.dll!CCliModalLoop::BlockFn() + 0x76 bytes

ole32.dll!_CoWaitForMultipleHandles@20() + 0xe6 bytes

msvb7.dll!ThreadSyncManager::ThreadProc() + 0x98 bytes

kernel32.dll!_BaseThreadStart@8() + 0x37 bytes

See also:

Dynamically attaching a debugger

Is a process hijacking your machine?

Stack overflow, expand your stack? Change your algorithm!

Calvin_Hsia — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:15:00 GMT

In the last post, Area fill algorithm: crayons and coloring book, I showed a program that emulates a kid drawing in a coloring book.

However, the algorithm wasn’t very efficient, and would explode even if you had a simple drawing: it was using the stack to store where to go.

The heart of the routine:

void AreaFill(Point ptcell)

{

if (ptcell.X >= 0 && ptcell.X < m_numCells.Width)

{

if (ptcell.Y >= 0 && ptcell.Y < m_numCells.Height)

{

// System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);

if (DrawACell(ptcell, m_brushFill))

{

m_oColor = Color.FromArgb((int)(((((uint)m_oColor.ToArgb() & 0xffffff) + 140) & 0xffffff) | 0xff000000));

m_brushFill = new SolidBrush(m_oColor);

AreaFill(new Point(ptcell.X - 1, ptcell.Y));

AreaFill(new Point(ptcell.X + 1, ptcell.Y));

AreaFill(new Point(ptcell.X, ptcell.Y + 1));

AreaFill(new Point(ptcell.X, ptcell.Y - 1));

}

It just checks boundaries, Draws the current point, then calls itself to draw the points North, South, East and West. Doing this for thousands of pixels eats up the current thread’s stack very fast.

One way to fix this is to expand the stack size.

You can examine the default stack size of an executable (EXE or DLL) by opening a Visual Studio command prompt (Start->Programs->VS2008->VSToos->VSCommand prompt), then type

link /dump /headers d:\dev\cs\Fill\bin\Debug\Fill.exe

Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 9.00.21022.08

Dump of file Fill.exe

PE signature found

File Type: EXECUTABLE IMAGE

FILE HEADER VALUES

14C machine (x86)

3 number of sections

4A1ECBC2 time date stamp Thu May 28 10:37:06 2009

0 file pointer to symbol table

0 number of symbols

E0 size of optional header

10E characteristics

Executable

Line numbers stripped

Symbols stripped

32 bit word machine

OPTIONAL HEADER VALUES

10B magic # (PE32)

8.00 linker version

2000 size of code

800 size of initialized data

0 size of uninitialized data

3E7E entry point (00403E7E)

2000 base of code

4000 base of data

400000 image base (00400000 to 00407FFF)

2000 section alignment

200 file alignment

4.00 operating system version

0.00 image version

4.00 subsystem version

0 Win32 version

8000 size of image

200 size of headers

0 checksum

2 subsystem (Windows GUI)

540 DLL characteristics

Dynamic base

NX compatible

No structured exception handler

100000 size of stack reserve

1000 size of stack commit

100000 size of heap reserve

1000 size of heap commit

This is a little misleading, because the default stack size is 100000 Hex, which is 1,048,576, or about 1 Megabyte.

You can change the stack size using Editbin.exe

D:\dev\cs\Fill\bin\Debug>link /dump /headers Fill.exe | find "stack"

100000 size of stack reserve

1000 size of stack commit

D:\dev\cs\Fill\bin\Debug>editbin /stack:10000,1000 Fill.exe

Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Editor Version 9.00.21022.08

D:\dev\cs\Fill\bin\Debug>link /dump /headers Fill.exe | find "stack"

2710 size of stack reserve

3E8 size of stack commit

A better way to fix this is to use heap memory , rather than the stack:

//* More efficient algorithm: don't use the stack to store state

void AreaFill(Point ptcell)

{

Queue<Point> queueCells = new Queue<Point>();

queueCells.Enqueue(ptcell);

while (queueCells.Count > 0)

{

ptcell = queueCells.Dequeue();

if (ptcell.X >= 0 && ptcell.X < m_numCells.Width)

{

if (ptcell.Y >= 0 && ptcell.Y < m_numCells.Height)

{

// System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);

if (DrawACell(ptcell, m_brushFill))

{

m_oColor = Color.FromArgb((int)(((((uint)m_oColor.ToArgb() & 0xffffff) + 140) & 0xffffff) | 0xff000000));

m_brushFill = new SolidBrush(m_oColor);

queueCells.Enqueue(new Point(ptcell.X - 1, ptcell.Y));

queueCells.Enqueue(new Point(ptcell.X + 1, ptcell.Y));

queueCells.Enqueue(new Point(ptcell.X, ptcell.Y + 1));

queueCells.Enqueue(new Point(ptcell.X, ptcell.Y - 1));

}

This solution is almost the same as the first: however, instead of recurring to go North, etc, the routine just puts the points to work on into a queue.

The VB solution is analogous:

Sub AreaFill(ByVal ptcell As Point)

Dim queueCells = New Queue(Of Point)

queueCells.Enqueue(ptcell)

While queueCells.Count > 0

ptcell = queueCells.Dequeue()

If (ptcell.X >= 0 And ptcell.X < m_numCells.Width) Then

If (ptcell.Y >= 0 And ptcell.Y < m_numCells.Height) Then

' System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);

If (DrawACell(ptcell, m_brushFill)) Then

Me.m_oColor = Color.FromArgb((((Me.m_oColor.ToArgb And &HFFFFFF) + 140) And &HFFFFFF) Or &HFF000000)

' m_oColor = Color.FromArgb((int)(((((uint)m_oColor.ToArgb() & 0xffffff) + 140) & 0xffffff) | 0xff000000));