When a DLL is registered, the `DllRegisterServer` method entry point in your DLL is invoked.  Similarly, `DllUnregisterServer` is invoked when a DLL is unregistered.

As described in [this MSDN article][1]:

&gt; Instructs an in-process server to
&gt; create its registry entries for all
&gt; classes supported in this server
&gt; module. If this function fails, the
&gt; state of the registry for all its
&gt; classes is indeterminate.

For COM DLLs, you will need to implement your own `DllRegisterServer` and `DllUnregisterServer` entry point methods which do the registering/unregistering as appropriate.  Example code for `DllRegisterServer` can be found [here][2].

The end result of registering a DLL is that all of the CLSIDs for the components in the DLL are registered under `HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID`.  This allows `CoCreateInstance` to find the correct server when instantiating COM objects from another DLL or application.

`DllUnregisterServer` will do the reverse, and remove all of the CLSIDs from the registry that were put in there by `DllRegisterServer`.

More general information about `DllRegisterServer` can be found [here][3].

  [1]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682162(VS.85).aspx
  [2]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd376682(VS.85).aspx
  [3]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369359.aspx

What is most commonly referred to as DLL registering is when it implements a COM object. regsvr32 ensures that an instance of the object can be created. When e.g. VBScript uses New or CreateObject(), the registration ensures that COM knows what DLL to load in order to make a new instance, whether by name or CLSID. 

See [&quot;the layman&#39;s explanation&quot;][1] for a (very) brief summary.


  [1]: https://chewychong.wordpress.com/2004/08/23/layman-s-explanation-of-regscvs-regasm-regsvr32/

Simply see the source code of regsvr32.exe

The problem is as follows:

I have the following XML snippet:

    &lt;time format=&quot;minutes&quot;&gt;11:60&lt;/time&gt;

The problem is that I can&#39;t add both the attribute and the restriction at the same time. The attribute format can only have the values minutes, hours and seconds. The time has the restriction pattern `\d{2}:\d{2}`

    &lt;xs:element name=&quot;time&quot; type=&quot;timeType&quot;/&gt;
    ...
    &lt;xs:simpleType name=&quot;formatType&quot;&gt;
        &lt;xs:restriction base=&quot;xs:string&quot;&gt;
            &lt;xs:enumeration value=&quot;minutes&quot;/&gt;
            &lt;xs:enumeration value=&quot;hours&quot;/&gt;
            &lt;xs:enumeration value=&quot;seconds&quot;/&gt;
        &lt;/xs:restriction&gt;
    &lt;/xs:simpleType&gt;
    &lt;xs:complexType name=&quot;timeType&quot;&gt;
        &lt;xs:attribute name=&quot;format&quot;&gt;
            &lt;xs:simpleType&gt;
                &lt;xs:restriction base=&quot;formatType&quot;/&gt;
            &lt;/xs:simpleType&gt;
        &lt;/xs:attribute&gt;
    &lt;/xs:complexType&gt;

If I make a complex type of timeType, I can add an attribute, but not the restriction, and if I make a simple type, I can add the restriction but not the attribute. Is there any way to get around this problem. This is not a very strange restriction, or is it?

Add attributes to a simpletype or restriction to a complextype in Xml Schema

I have a method in an object that is called from a number of places within the object. Is there a quick and easy way to get the name of the method that called this popular method.

Pseudo Code EXAMPLE:

    public Main()
    {
         PopularMethod();
    }
    
    public ButtonClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
         PopularMethod();
    }
    
    public Button2Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
         PopularMethod();
    }
    
    public void PopularMethod()
    {
         //Get calling method name
    }

Within `PopularMethod()` I would like to see the value of `Main` if it was called from `Main` ... I&#39;d like to see &quot;`ButtonClick`&quot; if `PopularMethod()` was called from `ButtonClick`

I was looking at the `System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()` but that won&#39;t get me the calling method. I&#39;ve looked at the `StackTrace` class but I really didn&#39;t relish running an entire stack trace every time that method is called.

Retrieving the calling method name from within a method

I know how to register dlls but I&#39;ve never really been sure why I&#39;m doing it or under what conditions a dll must be registered.  Could somebody explain or point me to some documentation?  

What does registering a DLL do?

<p>I know how to register dlls but I've never really been sure why I'm doing it or under what conditions a dll must be registered.  Could somebody explain or point me to some documentation?</p>


How do I get a path to the desktop for current user in C#?

The only thing I could find was the VB.NET-only class [`SpecialDirectories`][1], which has this property:

    My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop

How can I do this in C#?

  [1]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e0be29hd.aspx


How to get a path to the desktop for current user in C#?

On Windows, under normal circumstances a 32 bit process can only access 2GB of RAM (or 3GB with a special switch in the boot.ini file). When running a 32 bit process on a 64 bit operating system, how much memory is available? Are there any special switches or settings that can change this?

How much memory can a 32 bit process access on a 64 bit operating system?

I am finding it difficult to use MySQL with Python in my windows system.

I am currently using Python 2.6. I have tried to compile MySQL-python-1.2.3b1 (which is supposed to work for Python 2.6 ?) source code using the provided setup scripts. The setup script runs and it doesn&#39;t report any error but it doesn&#39;t generate _mysql module. 

I have also tried setting up MySQL for Python 2.5 with out success. The problem with using 2.5 is that Python 2.5 is compiled with visual studio 2003 (I installed it using the provided binaries). I have visual studio 2005 on my windows system. Hence setuptools fails to generate _mysql module.

Any help ?

Integrating MySQL with Python in Windows

I want to find out my Python installation path on Windows. For example:

    C:\Python25

How can I find where Python is installed?

How can I find where Python is installed on Windows?

We&#39;ve run into an interesting situation that needs solving, and my searches have turned up nill. I therefore appeal to the SO community for help.

The issue is this: we have a need to programmatically access a shared file that is not in our domain, and is not within a trusted external domain via remote file sharing / UNC. Naturally, we need to supply credentials to the remote machine.

Typically, one solves this problem in one of two ways: 

 1. Map the file share as a drive and supply the credentials at that time. This is typically done using the `NET USE` command or the Win32 functions that duplicate `NET USE`. 
 2. Access the file with a UNC path as if the remote computer were on the domain and ensure that the account under which the program runs is duplicated (including password) on the remote machine as a local user. Basically leverage the fact that Windows will automatically supply the current user&#39;s credentials when the user attempts to access a shared file. 
 3. Don&#39;t use remote file sharing. Use FTP (or some other means) to transfer the file, work on it locally, then transfer it back. 

For various and sundry reasons, our security / network architects have rejected the first two approaches. The second approach is obviously a security hole; if the remote computer is compromised, the local computer is now at risk. The first approach is unsatisfactory because the newly mounted drive is a shared resource available to other programs on the local computer during file access by the program. Even though it&#39;s quite possible to make this temporary, it&#39;s still a hole in their opinion.

They&#39;re open to the third option, but the remote network admins insist on SFTP rather than FTPS, and FtpWebRequest only supports FTPS. SFTP **is** the more firewall-friendly option and there are a couple libraries I could use for that approach, but I&#39;d prefer to reduce my dependencies if I can. 

I&#39;ve searched MSDN for either a managed or a win32 means of using remote file sharing, but I have failed to come up with anything useful. 

And so I ask: Is there another way? Did I miss a super-secret win32 function that does what I want? Or must I pursue some variant of option 3?

Accessing a Shared File (UNC) From a Remote, Non-Trusted Domain With Credentials

I&#39;m currently writing about dynamic typing, and I&#39;m giving an example of Excel interop. I&#39;ve hardly done any Office interop before, and it shows. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd264733(VS.100).aspx&quot;&gt;MSDN Office Interop tutorial&lt;/a&gt; for C# 4 uses the `_Worksheet` interface, but there&#39;s also a `Worksheet` interface. I&#39;ve no idea what the difference is.

In my absurdly simple demo app (shown below) either works fine - but if best practice dictates one or the other, I&#39;d rather use it appropriately.

    using System;
    using System.Linq;
    using Excel = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel;
    
    class DynamicExcel
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            var app = new Excel.Application { Visible = true };
            app.Workbooks.Add();

            // Can use Excel._Worksheet instead here. Which is better?
            Excel.Worksheet workSheet = app.ActiveSheet;

            Excel.Range start = workSheet.Cells[1, 1];
            Excel.Range end = workSheet.Cells[1, 20];
            workSheet.get_Range(start, end).Value2 = Enumerable.Range(1, 20)
                                                               .ToArray();
        }
    }

I&#39;m trying to avoid doing a full deep-dive into COM or Office interoperability, just highlighting the new features of C# 4 - but I don&#39;t want to do anything really, really dumb.

(There may be something really, really dumb in the code above as well, in which case please let me know. Using separate start/end cells instead of just &quot;A1:T1&quot; is deliberate - it&#39;s easier to see that it&#39;s genuinely a range of 20 cells. Anything else is probably accidental.)

So, should I use `_Worksheet` or `Worksheet`, and why?

Excel interop: _Worksheet or Worksheet?

**EDIT:** I&#39;ve written the results up as a [blog post][1].

***

The C# compiler treats COM types somewhat magically. For instance, this statement looks normal...

    Word.Application app = new Word.Application();

... until you realise that `Application` is an interface. Calling a constructor on an interface? Yoiks! This actually gets translated into a call to [`Type.GetTypeFromCLSID()`][2] and another to [`Activator.CreateInstance`][3].

Additionally, in C# 4, you can use non-ref arguments for `ref` parameters, and the compiler just adds a local variable to pass by reference, discarding the results:

    // FileName parameter is *really* a ref parameter
    app.ActiveDocument.SaveAs(FileName: &quot;test.doc&quot;);

(Yeah, there are a bunch of arguments missing. Aren&#39;t optional parameters nice? :)

I&#39;m trying to investigate the compiler behaviour, and I&#39;m failing to fake the first part. I can do the second part with no problem:

    using System;
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
    using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

    [ComImport, GuidAttribute(&quot;00012345-0000-0000-0000-000000000011&quot;)]
    public interface Dummy
    {
        void Foo(ref int x);
    }
    
    class Test
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Dummy dummy = null;
            dummy.Foo(10);
        }
    }

I&#39;d like to be able to write:

    Dummy dummy = new Dummy();

though. Obviously it&#39;ll go bang at execution time, but that&#39;s okay. I&#39;m just experimenting.

The other attributes added by the compiler for linked COM PIAs (`CompilerGenerated` and `TypeIdentifier`) don&#39;t seem to do the trick... what&#39;s the magic sauce?


  [1]: http://codeblog.jonskeet.uk/2009/07/07/faking-com-to-fool-the-c-compiler.aspx
  [2]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.type.gettypefromclsid.aspx
  [3]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.activator.createinstance.aspx

How does the C# compiler detect COM types?

I am using a COM object (MODI) from within my .net application.  The method I am calling throws a `System.AccessViolationException`, which is intercepted by Visual Studio.  The odd thing is that I have wrapped my call in a try catch, which has handlers for `AccessViolationException`, `COMException` and everything else, but when Visual Studio (2010) intercepts the `AccessViolationException`, the debugger breaks on the method call (doc.OCR), and if I step through, it continues to the next line instead of entering the catch block. Additionally,  if I run this outside of the visual studio my application crashes. How can I handle this exception that is thrown within the COM object?

    MODI.Document doc = new MODI.Document();
    try
    {
        doc.Create(sFileName);
        try
        {
            doc.OCR(MODI.MiLANGUAGES.miLANG_ENGLISH, false, false);
            sText = doc.Images[0].Layout.Text;
        }
        catch (System.AccessViolationException ex)
        {
            //MODI seems to get access violations for some reason, but is still able to return the OCR text.
            sText = doc.Images[0].Layout.Text;
        }
        catch (System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException ex)
        {
            //if no text exists, the engine throws an exception.
            sText = &quot;&quot;;
        }
        catch
        {
            sText = &quot;&quot;;
        }
    
        if (sText != null)
        {
            sText = sText.Trim();
        }
    }
    finally
    {
        doc.Close(false);
    
        //Cleanup routine, this is how we are able to delete files used by MODI.
        System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.FinalReleaseComObject(doc);
        doc = null;
        GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();
        GC.Collect();
        GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();
    
    }

How to handle AccessViolationException

I am trying to build a small application in C# which should start/stop an IIS Express worker process. For this purpose I want to use the official &quot;IIS Express API&quot; which is documented on MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg418415.aspx

As far as I understand, the API is based (only) on COM interfaces. To use this COM interfaces I&#39;ve added a reference to the COM library in VS2010 via Add Reference -&gt; COM -&gt; &quot;IIS Installed Versions Manager Interface&quot;:

![][1]


So far so good, but what&#39;s next? There is an `IIISExprProcessUtility` interface available which includes the the two &quot;methods&quot; to start/stop an IIS process. Do I have to write a class which implements this interface?

    public class test : IISVersionManagerLibrary.IIISExprProcessUtility
    {
        public string ConstructCommandLine(string bstrSite, string bstrApplication, string bstrApplicationPool, string bstrConfigPath)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        public uint GetRunningProcessForSite(string bstrSite, string bstrApplication, string bstrApplicationPool, string bstrConfigPath)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        public void StopProcess(uint dwPid)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }
    } 

As you can see, I&#39;m not a professional developer. Can someone point me in the right direction.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

**Update 1:**
According to the suggestions I&#39;ve tried the following code which unfortunately doesn&#39;t work:

![alt text][2]
Ok, it can be instantiated but I cannot see how to use this object...

![alt text][3]

![alt text][4]

    IISVersionManagerLibrary.IIISExpressProcessUtility test3 = (IISVersionManagerLibrary.IIISExpressProcessUtility) Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetTypeFromCLSID(new Guid(&quot;5A081F08-E4FA-45CC-A8EA-5C8A7B51727C&quot;)));
    
    Exception: Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {5A081F08-E4FA-45CC-A8EA-5C8A7B51727C} failed due to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040154 (REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG)).



  [1]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/x1el0.png
  [2]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/x70Ck.png
  [3]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/PEeMZ.png
  [4]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/Qlpqj.png

Starting and stopping IIS Express programmatically 

Using the example provided in [codeproject](http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/outlookconnector.aspx) I am struggling to work out where I can find the reference to the library Microsoft.Office.Core. 

I am getting the error &quot;The referenced component &#39;Microsoft.Office.Core&#39; could not be found.&quot;

I only have office 2007 enterprise edition and outlook 2003 installed on this system. Could this be the cause of this? Otherwise which specific dll am I supposed to be referencing?




Microsoft.Office.Core Reference Missing

I&#39;m trying to export classes from a DLL that contain objects such as `std::vectors` and `std::strings` - the whole class is declared as DLL export through:

    class DLL_EXPORT FontManager {

The problem is that for members of the complex types I get this warning:

&gt;     warning C4251: &#39;FontManager::m__fonts&#39; : class &#39;std::map&lt;_Kty,_Ty&gt;&#39; needs to have dll-interface to be used by clients of class &#39;FontManager&#39;
&gt;           with
&gt;           [
&gt;               _Kty=std::string,
&gt;               _Ty=tFontInfoRef
&gt;           ]


I&#39;m able to remove some of the warnings by putting the following forward class declaration before them even though I&#39;m not changing the type of the member variables themselves:

    template class DLL_EXPORT std::allocator&lt;tCharGlyphProviderRef&gt;;
    template class DLL_EXPORT std::vector&lt;tCharGlyphProviderRef,std::allocator&lt;tCharGlyphProviderRef&gt; &gt;;
    std::vector&lt;tCharGlyphProviderRef&gt; m_glyphProviders;

Looks like the forward declaration &quot;injects&quot; the `DLL_EXPORT` for when the member is compiled but is it safe?  
Does it really change anything when the client compiles this header and uses the `std::` container on his side?  
Will it make all future uses of such a container `DLL_EXPORT` (and possibly not inline)?  
And does it really solve the problem that the warning tries to warn about?

Is this warning anything I should be worried about or would it be best to disable it in the scope of these constructs?  
The clients and the DLL will always be built using the same set of libraries and compilers and those are header only classes...

I&#39;m using Visual Studio 2003 with the standard STD library.


---
### Update

I&#39;d like to target you more though as I see the answers are general and here we&#39;re talking about std containers and types (such as `std::string`) - maybe the question really is:

Can we disable the warning for standard containers and types available to both the client and the DLL through the same library headers and treat them just as we&#39;d treat an `int` or any other built-in type? (It does seem to work correctly on my side)  
If so would should be the conditions under which we can do this?

Or should maybe using such containers be prohibited or at least ultra care taken to make sure no assignment operators, copy constructors etc will get inlined into the DLL client?

In general I&#39;d like to know if you feel designing a DLL interface having such objects (and for example using them to return stuff to the client as return value types) is a good idea or not and why, I&#39;d like to have a &quot;high level&quot; interface to this functionality...  
Maybe the best solution is what Neil Butterworth suggested - creating a static library?

Exporting classes containing `std::` objects (vector, map etc.) from a DLL

&gt; **Possible Duplicate:**  
&gt; [How to tell if a .NET application was compiled in DEBUG or RELEASE mode?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/194616/how-to-tell-if-a-net-application-was-compiled-in-debug-or-release-mode)  

&lt;!-- End of automatically inserted text --&gt;

I&#39;m sure this has been asked before, but google and SO search failed me.

How can I identify if a DLL is a release build or debug build?


How to identify if the DLL is Debug or Release build (in .NET)

I know very little about DLL&#39;s and LIB&#39;s other than that they contain vital code required for a program to run properly - libraries. But why do compilers generate them at all? Wouldn&#39;t it be easier to just include all the code in a single executable? And what&#39;s the difference between DLL&#39;s and LIB&#39;s?

DLL and LIB files - what and why?

I need to get the product version and file version for a DLL or EXE file using Win32 native APIs in C or C++. I&#39;m *not* looking for the Windows version, but the version numbers that you see by right-clicking on a DLL file, selecting &quot;Properties&quot;, then looking at the &quot;Details&quot; tab. This is usually a four-part dotted version number x.x.x.x.


How do I programmatically get the version of a DLL or EXE file?

I would like to know when do we need to place a file under 

C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Windows\SysWOW64, on a 64-bits windows system.

I had two DLL&#39;s, one for 32-bit, one for 64-bit.

Logically, I thought I&#39;d place the 32-bit DLL under C:\Windows\System32, and the 64-bit DLL under C:\Windows\SysWOW64.

To my surprise, it&#39;s **the other way around**! The **32**-bit one goes into C:\Windows\SysWOW&lt;b&gt;64&lt;/b&gt;, and the **64**-bit DLL goes into C:\Windows\System&lt;b&gt;32&lt;/b&gt;.

Very confusing stuff. What&#39;s the reason behind this?

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	stimms	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Windows	LeopardSkinPillBoxHat	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Windows	Pontus Gagge	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Windows	sylvain99	View Answer on Stackoverflow

What does registering a DLL do?

Windows Problem Overview

Windows Solutions

Solution 1 - Windows

Solution 2 - Windows

Solution 3 - Windows

Retrieving the calling method name from within a method

Add attributes to a simpletype or restriction to a complextype in Xml Schema

Attributions