windows 7 problems

[clipper01]

Recently had 2 cases where users switched to Win 7 and applications 100% BROKE In both cases the solutions turned out to need NO CHANGE to application, just some thngs about Win 7 that were real gotchas's
Interested to know if other users had similar experiences

1) app used vfpexmapi.fll from Craig Boyd Sweet Potato

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com

, this gets around the hassle with Outlook 2003+ prompting users when called .

error message was Library file \\winsrv6\apps\foxpro\vfpexmapi.fll is invalid
searched google , got all sorts of red herrings
tried usual things like adding msvcr71.dll to the app folder,no joy.

Then used Dependency Walker ,

http://www.dependencywalker.com

to find more info , mentioned a dll MSVCP71.dll.
User googled/added that to the app folder , problem fixed !!

So what is MSVCP71.dll ? : seems to be something to do with C++ run-times but seems to be only in XP’s system32 and not W7’s.

Watch for this if you find any old fll or activex modules failing

2) user got error message " File is in use by another user "
Was using an order entry routine that limited access to exclusive user, checked that user had not second session running etc ,wtf is going on ?

Turns out it was a very old bit of code that wrote a 'work' file to the C:\ root folder, but Win7 by default does not allow that. User turned off UAC ,probleml solved

Hope this might help others if find similar issues

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Well, blame Craig for not deploying the MSVCP71.dll, blame yourself for writing into root.

UAC issues are well known and it has been evangelised by MS to write appdata into appdata system folders since at least windows 95. There are several system folders for common, local, roaming, user specific or all users or system data. Developing with a sense for problematic habits and what are best practices or recommendations is part of the developer job. It's knowing how to work with windows from the developer perspective.

Craig Boyd mentioned this in a comment on one of his blog posts:
"Just throw msvcr71.dll and msvcp71.dll into System32 and all of the DLLs I post on this blog will work."
You'll find this if you google Craig MSVCP71. And for sure: It's easy to be smart after you know a solution. Again, blame Craig, he didn't do a setup of his product. Then it's not a full blown prduct, it's intended for developers and not end users, and it's free, isn't it?

He could have put these DLLs inside the downloads, sure.

Dependencywalker is a good thing to use for finding missing files anyway.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I also had a problem with writing a temporary file to the root directory. That was in 1995, with FoxPro 2.6 under MS-DOS 6.1. I think I've got the hang of it now.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[clipper01]

re commment

" You'll find this if you google Craig MSVCP71 "

this reminds me a bit about a favorite story my son used to like , RUMPELSTILTSKIN , you know the one where you the guess the name of the wicked wizard , silly of me not to have googled for " Craig MSVCP71 "

 

[Olaf Doschke]

No, it's not silly of you. As I said it's easy to be smart, if you know the solution.
In this regard Craig is to blame sior sure.

You found it via dependencywalker anyway, didn't you?

That's what I was saying. I'm not blaming you for not knowing about MSVCP71.DLL

Bye, Olaf.

 

[clipper01]

Just kidding Olaf , your VFP knowledgeable is awesome , but for sure , especially when you get into dotNet , everything seems to be a RUMPELSTILSKIN , easy when know the answer , sean m

 

[Olaf Doschke]

You still don't get my point, do you?

I'm not blaming you for not knowing about MSVCP71. I'm saying blame Craig.

I was just googling this myself for two reasons: I read the blog and read comments in there and I remembered Craig having mentioned MSCVP71.DLL, also I'm pointing you to it, so you can verify he has said so, he knows.

And that still is not blaming you to not have read this, this is to blame for keeping that DLL out of the download, even though he knows.

OK? See now?

Bye, Olaf.

 

[clipper01]

ok , seems senses of humours can differ ( pardon the plurals ), appreciate your great work on this site !!

 

[craigber]

Not sure I totally agree with you Olaf. The C/C++ runtimes have long been standard files shipped with Windows. There was no need to distribute them. But over time, Microsoft has stopped including older versions of the runtime. Perhaps you should blame Microsoft?

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual C# MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com/blog

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Well, yes, I was not getting you're really kidding, as you said so, sorry.

I already may have sensed the wrong tone in your initial post. What got me on the plan was your complaints. Looking back you may haven't meant it that way from the start. But I also never was saying you should have googled the solution in the first place.

Recommending Depenedencywalker is a good thing. Seeing it from that perspective.

Doing a setup even with just the reduced feature set of the installshield coming with foxpro you can let it find dependencies and point out missing setup files, runtime dlls or add the corresponding merge module, and these merge modules always contain everything that belongs together, that also helps not missing out the seldom necessary parts.

In regard of C runtime the unfortnuate situation is the ruintimes coming with Windows change. So what works in XP doesn't work anymore in Vista or Win7, because their C version has changed. The same applies to OCXes. Microsoft puts more and more in Windows and end users complain about it's growth. On the other side it would grow even larger, if MS kept anything it distributed with any older Windows version jsut for sake of compatibility.

And I was also a visctim of a missing slider control in Vista and Datetime picker.

And I think even Craig didn't know you also needed MSVCP71.DLL from the start. I remembered him saying you don't need nothing else but the FLL as it was done in the same C++ version as VFP9, so the C Runtime could be shared with the one you distribute for your app anyway, but VFP does indeed not need the MSVCP71.DLL

There's a german Webcast from TMN CEO Michael Niethammer describing lots of stuff about VFP on Vista (and later). There's more than C runtime and UAC and system folders. Another thing is Aero Bugs (fixed with SP2), Application Manifest and more. I'm sure you also find info aboiut Vista and Win7 essential things to know in blog articles of Doug Hennig and Rick Schummer.

Bye, Olaf.