xin..on....net

Xll load and debug (2)

xinonnet — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:10:57 +0000

In order for a dll to work correct, the caller and callee must agree on a calling convention that dictates who cleans up the stack. MSDN specified that __stdcall is the correct calling convention (as opposed to _cdecl, the default) when dlls are called from VBA applications. On top of specifying the calling convention, __stdcall also specifies that the function names will be decorated. A definition file or a #pragma comment(linker, “/export …”) inside the function definition is required to export functions under their original names. Nxll uses the second approach via macor XLLEXPORT.

Note when the calling conventions don’t agree, functions still appear to behave normally.

Reference:[1],[2]

Visual Leak Detector troubleshoot

xinonnet — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:01:20 +0000

Symptom:

“The procedure entry point EnumeratedLoadedModulesW64 could not be located in the dynamic link library dbghelp.dll”

Cause:

this situation is caused because the version of dbghelp.dll supplied with Windows XP (and possibly other Windows versions as well) is too old.

Solution: install a recent version of Debugging Tools for Windows from here. Version 6.11.1.404 worked fine for me (using VLD 2.0a from CodePlex, Windows XP SP3 & Visual Studio 6). Then, grab dbghelp.dll installed with it from “C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows (x86)” and copy it to your executable’s path.

Reference:
[1], [2]

Xll load and debug

xinonnet — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:33:41 +0000

The way an exported C function is declared in C++ source file affects its symbol in the compiled dll. Below lists the result of some commonly found declarations.

WINAPI, no extern “C”, no DEFINITION file:
struct xloper12 * __cdecl Func1(struct xloper12 *)

no WINAPI, no extern “C”, has DEFINITION file:
Func1

no WINAPI, has extern “C”, no DEFINITION file:
Func1

To expose dll functions through VBA:
extern “C” __declspec(dllexport) returnType __stdcall functionName(…)
add DEFINITION file

To expose dll functions through xll:
define xlAutoOpen and DllMain in xll
extern “C” __declspec(dllexport) returnType functionName(…)

To expose dll functions through both xll and vba
extern “C” __declspec(dllexport) returnType __stdcall functionName(…)
add DEFINITION file

To Call xll function in VBA
Application.Run(…)

To debug xll in Excel:
Change debug information format to Program Database (/Zi)
Change extension to xll, output filename ends in .xll
Set Excel as the debug host program under Debugging
Set the project to be debugged as StartUp project

Reference: howto at codematic

Git

xinonnet — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:53:12 +0000

Set up msysGit

Run
git-bash.bat
Set HOME:
HOME=
Edit bash shell start up script
Create bash_profile under /etc
Run
ssh-keygen -C -t rsa
DONT change the default key directory. Skip setting paraphrase.
Upload public key to git server.

Note on const with * and &

xinonnet — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:58:20 +0000

Part 1: Pointers *

p is the variable name. constants are assignable at initialization, but not in subsequent calls.

‘s’
type char
“s”
type char*

char* const p

p is a constant pointer to char*

char* const p = argv[0]; // OK, initialize a const to point to a char*
p = argv[0]; // FAIL, subsequently changes a const
*p = ‘c’; // OK, (*p) is char.

const char* p

p is a pointer to const char

*p = ‘c’; // FAIL, (*p) is const char, not assignable.

const char c = ‘c’;
p = &c; // OK, p is a pointer, c is const char.

char const** p;

p assignable
(*p) assignable
(**p) constant

char* const* p;

p a pointer assignable
(*p) a constant pointer to char, not assignable
(**p) char assignable

chat** const p;

p is a const, not assignable.
(*p) is char*, assignable
(**p) is char, assignable

const char* const* p;

p is a pointer, assignable
(*p) is a constant pointer, not assignable
(**p) is a constant char, not assignable

const char** const p;

p is a constant pointer, not assignable
(*p) is a pointer, assignable
(**p) is a const char, not assignable

Part 2: References &

pass by reference, if not preceded by const, the callee can change the value of the parameter.
pointers is a value. pass by reference vs value is instruction

const char *& p;

p is a pointer passed by reference. callee may change it to point to another const char*.
p otherwise is pointer, a value. (*p) is a constant.

char* const& p

p is not assignable.
(*p) is assignable.

Observations:

main uses pass by value.

void change( char* const& p ) { (*p) = ‘d’; } throws if p was initialized with
p = “abc”;
instead of
p = new char[3]; …

Reference: http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/15501/

MySQL Quick Setup

xinonnet — Sun, 01 May 2011 20:44:16 +0000

Download MySQL and My SQL Workbench
(Optional) Create option file
Start the server, Run: mysqld –console
Quick test, Run: mysqlshow -u root for a list of databases. mysql, information_schema, and test (most of the time) should appear.
Start command line client, Run mysql -u root.
Change root password.
1. SELECT user,host,password FROM mysql.user; to list all user accounts.
2. Remove unnecessary root accounts.
3. Change root password by SET PASSWORD FOR ‘root’@'localhost’ = PASSWORD(‘newpassword’);
Create superuser account.
1. CREATE USER ‘admin’@'localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘newpassword’;
2. GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ‘admin’@'localhost’ WITH GRANT OPTION;
Remove anonymous account: DROP USER ”@’localhost’;

Compiling ObjectHandler

xinonnet — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:07:02 +0000

Environment: Windows 7 32 bit, Visual Studio 2008, Excel 2007

Download source from the svn repository.
Compile
Start Excel.
Load ObjectHandler-*.xll.
Load ExampleXLLDynamic*.xll

Protect XLA

xinonnet — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:42:42 +0000

heres what the discussion group has
in order to protect the addin as tightly as possible.
1. Save the Excel workbook (.xls) file into an add-in (File >
SaveAs…..)
2. After you have the saved add-in (.xla), close the Excel workbook
(.xls)
3. Double click on the add-in to open it
4. Press Alt+F11 to access the add-in’s vba project
5. Lock the vba-project with a password
6. Double-click on the “ThisWorkbook” code module
7. Press F4 to open the Properties window
8. Change the “IsAddin” status to FALSE
9. Return to Excel by Pressing Alt+Q (or close the vbe window)
10. Go to Tools > Share Workbook OR Review–Changes–Share Workbook
11. When the dialogue appears, check the box for: (Allow changes
by…..)
12. Press OK to close the Dialogue
13. When prompted to save, Press OK
14. Press Ok to accept that “macros cannot be accessed”
15. You should feel giddy at this point because you just realized what
you have
been missing right under your nose
16. Verify that the [SHARED] appears in the application title bar
17. Now save the workbook again as an Add-in (File > SaveAs…)
overwriting the
previous one (I think this should not be done.)
18. Close this Excel workbook without saving the changes (you don’t
need it)
19. Test out your newly saved add-in (open it, access the vbe, try to
expand
the project window, you should get the new message “Project is
Unviewable”
20. Your done

Compile generic.xll using Visual C++ Express

xinonnet — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:33:05 +0000

Download Excel 2010 XLL SDK, extract to .
Create a solution, BuildGenericXll, in Visual C++
Create a Static Library project, Framewrk, under BuildGenericXll. Copy *.h and *.c* under /Excel2010XLLSDKSAMPLESFRAMEWRK to Framewrk. Add include directories. Successfully created Framewrk.lib.
Create a DLL Project, Generic, under BuildGenericXll. Copy GENERIC.H, GENERIC.C, GENERIC.DEF, RESOURCE.H, GENERIC.RC under /Excel2010XLLSDKSAMPLESGENERIC to Generic. Add include directories. Add Linker dependencies. Successfully created generic.xll. All binary objects are for 32 bits.
Examine generic.xll in depends.exe. The only missing dependency is IESHIMS.dll which according to others is non essential.
Open generic.xll in Excel.

Ensure GENERIC.DEF is supplied to the Linker.

Add second router to FiOS

xinonnet — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:50:59 +0000

Copy from http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/Existing-sub-router-doesn-t-work-with-FIOS-router/m-p/236425#M15907 for reference.

Reset the Linksys to factory settings (just so we know we are starting at the same state)

Disconnect the Linksys from the ActionTec router

Connect a PC directly to the Linksys via ethernet cable

Power up the Linksys

Power up the PC

Settings as follows:

– Internet address: Obtain automatically

– Local / Router IP: 192.168.2.1 (note the difference!)

– Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

– Local DHCP Server: Enabled (note the difference!)

Save the settings (you will be disconnected from the Linksys at this point due to the address change)

Power down the PC

Power down the Linksys

Connect the WAN port of the Linksys to a LAN port on the ActionTec (note the difference)

Power up the Linksys

Power up the PC attached to the Linksys

You should be able to reach the internet thru the Linksys

If you like, you can login to the Linksys (http://192.168.2.1) from the PC attached to the Linksys (note that machines on the ActionTec portion of the network won’t be able to access systems on the Linksys (although a port forward could be established if there is a specific requirement).