DetailPrint From Inside .NET DLL

2008-09-13T04:10:59Z

VisualCSharp: Added DetailPrint code for C#

{{PageAuthor|rbchasetfb}}
== Description ==
If your using the [[Call .NET DLL methods plug-in]] to call .NET DLL functions to perform work during an install, one of the things that will be useful is to be able to update the Details list in the installer, from the DLL, while a .NET DLL function call is executing. Below is some VB.NET code, easily converted to C# at [http://labs.developerfusion.co.uk/convert/vb-to-csharp.aspx DEVELOPERfusion], that provides a method '''DetailPrint''' that adds an ''entry'' to the end of the Details list.

The VB.NET source code is for a complete namespace and class and includes an example function '''ChopString''' to test with. You'll also find an NSIS test script. Lastly, a zip file is attached with the complete Visual Studio 2005 project for the test .NET DLL and the NSIS test script. Also included in the zip is ''ListViewDeclarations.vb'' that has all the declarations necessary for working with List-view controls from VB.NET. This file also has the '''DetailPrint''' method...all this is contained in a VB.NET <font style="color:blue">#Region</font> you can drop in your .NET DLL.

== VB.NET Source Code ==
<highlight-vbnet>
Imports System
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

Namespace NSIS
Public Class TestClass
'The LVITEM stucture specifies or receives the attributes of a list-view item.
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Public Structure LVITEM
Public mask As Int32
Public iItem As Int32
Public iSubItem As Int32
Public state As Int32
Public stateMask As Int32
Public pszText As String
Public cchTextMax As Int32
Public iImage As Int32
Public lParam As IntPtr
End Structure

'SendMessage API declarations. Two different declarations to manage two lparam types.
Public Declare Function SendMessageLV Lib "user32" Alias _
"SendMessageA"(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, _
ByVal wMsg As Int32, _
ByVal wParam As Integer, _
ByRef lParam As LVITEM) As Integer
Public Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias _
"SendMessageA"(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, _
ByVal wMsg As Int32, _
ByVal wParam As Integer, _
ByRef lParam As Integer) As Integer

'Constants used by LVITEM and SendMessage
Public Const LVM_FIRST as Integer = &H1000
Public Const LVM_GETITEMCOUNT as Integer = LVM_FIRST + 4
Public Const LVM_GETITEM as Integer = LVM_FIRST + 5
Public Const LVM_INSERTITEM as Integer = LVM_FIRST + 7
Public Const LVM_SCROLL as Integer = LVM_FIRST + 20
Public Const LVIF_TEXT as Integer = &H0001
Public Const LVIS_FOCUSED as Integer = &H0001

'Here's the key function that writes to the Details list.
Public Sub DetailPrint(ByVal hwnd As IntPtr, entry as String)
Try
'Get current list count
Dim c as Integer = SendMessage(hwnd,LVM_GETITEMCOUNT,0,0)+1
'Setup a LVITEM structure for the Insert message
Dim lv As New LVITEM
lv.iItem = c
lv.pszText = entry
lv.mask = LVIF_TEXT
lv.stateMask = LVIS_FOCUSED
lv.state = LVIS_FOCUSED
'Insert the LVITEM into the list
c = SendMessageLV(hwnd, LVM_INSERTITEM, 0, lv)
'Scroll the list so the item is visible
SendMessage(hwnd,LVM_SCROLL,0,12)
Catch ex As Exception
'Do Nothing, no sense throwing an error just for logging.
End Try
End Sub

'Test function for calling from an NSIS installer using CLR.dll
Public Function ChopString(ByVal hwnd as IntPtr, ByVal stringToChop as String, _
ByVal chopToLength as Integer) As String
Dim ret as String = ""
If stringToChop.Length > chopToLength Then
DetailPrint(hwnd, "FROM DLL: Chopping String '" & stringToChop & "'")
ret = stringToChop.SubString(0,chopToLength)
DetailPrint(hwnd, "FROM DLL: String chopped to '" & ret & "'")
Else
DetailPrint(hwnd, "FROM DLL: String '" & stringToChop & _
"' insufficient length to chop to " & chopToLength & " characters")
ret = "error"
End If
Return ret
End Function
End Class
End NameSpace
</highlight-vbnet>

== DetailPrint C# Source Code ==

This code uses C# 3.0 object initializers, which for earlier versions of C# should be changed to standard property initializations.

<highlight-csharp>
public static class NSIS
{
private const int LVIF_TEXT = 0x1;
private const int LVIS_FOCUSED = 0x1;
private const int LVM_FIRST = 0x1000;
private const int LVM_GETITEMCOUNT = LVM_FIRST + 4;
private const int LVM_INSERTITEM = LVM_FIRST + 7;
private const int LVM_SCROLL = LVM_FIRST + 20;

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, int wParam, int lParam);

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, int wParam, ref LVITEM lParam);

public static void DetailPrint(IntPtr hWndDetail, string entry)
{
try
{
int c = SendMessage(hWndDetail, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0) + 1;
var lvitem = new LVITEM
{
iItem = c,
pszText = entry,
mask = LVIF_TEXT,
stateMask = LVIS_FOCUSED,
state = LVIS_FOCUSED
};

SendMessage(hWndDetail, LVM_INSERTITEM, 0, ref lvitem);
SendMessage(hWndDetail, LVM_SCROLL, 0, 12);
}
catch
{
}
}

#region Nested type: LVITEM

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct LVITEM
{
public int mask;
public int iItem;
public int iSubItem;
public int state;
public int stateMask;
public string pszText;
public int cchTextMax;
public int iImage;
public IntPtr lParam;
}

#endregion
}
</highlight-csharp>

== NSIS Test Script ==
<highlight-nsis>
Name "Test CLRDLL MakeLogEntry"
OutFile "TestCLRDLL.exe"
ShowInstDetails show
Var DetailsHWND
Page instfiles

Function .onGUIEnd
CLR::Destroy
FunctionEnd

Section
InitPluginsDir
SetOutPath $PLUGINSDIR
File "TestCLRDLL.dll"
DetailPrint "===================================="
FindWindow $0 "#32770" "" $HWNDPARENT
GetDlgItem $DetailsHWND $0 1016
CLR::Call /NOUNLOAD "TestCLRDLL.dll" \
"NSIS.TestClass" \
"ChopString" \
3 \
$DetailsHWND "Testing Make Log Entry" 9
Pop $0
DetailPrint "ChopString Result = $0"
DetailPrint "===================================="
DetailPrint "Chopping a short string to gen error"
CLR::Call /NOUNLOAD "TestCLRDLL.dll" \
"NSIS.TestClass" \
"ChopString" \
3 \
$DetailsHWND "Testing" 9
Pop $0
DetailPrint "ChopString Result = $0"
SectionEnd

</highlight-nsis>

== Prerequisites ==
You'll need to have the CLR.dll in your NSIS plugins directory. You can get it from the [[Call .NET DLL methods plug-in]] page or here <attach>CLR.zip</attach> ''(As Is)''.

== Download ==
Here's the latest version of this little package including the Visual Studio 2005 project, NSIS Test Script and ''ListViewDeclarations.vb'' file. <attach>TestCLRDLL.zip</attach> ''(As Is)''

== Acknowledgements ==
Many thanks to claesabrandt (the creator of [[Call .NET DLL methods plug-in]]) for the back-and-forth on getting the CLR.dll working smoothly without the need for anything other than .NET 2.0 Framework. That was some great team-work! This tool is awesome and is helping make a potentially ugly install a lot smoother.

== Version History ==
â€¢ 1.0 First release.

[http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?postid=2403963#post2403963 NSIS Forum Thread]

[[Category:Code Examples]]

NSIS Wiki - User contributions [en]

DetailPrint From Inside .NET DLL