That's the kind of solution I'm looking for, I just can't figure out how to do it. I'm using Visual C# 2008 Express and I can't find any settings that let me configure how the assembly is referenced in my project. I looked at my .csproj file and where I reference that assembly there's a line "<SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>". I've never changed that setting so I don't think that's the reason.

Joseph LeBlanc

ehRecObj actually isn't COM, it's a managed API.

Joseph LeBlanc

Hello, I have an application that references a particular assembly that contains the Windows Media Center Click-To-Record API (Windows\eHome\ehRecObj.dll). The problem is that when my application runs on Vista this assembly is version 6.0.6000.0 and when it runs on MCE 2k5 the version of this assembly is 5.1.2710.2732. My development machine is running Vista, so when I add a reference to this assembly to my project it's to the 6.0.6000.0 version. This results in my application crashing when I run it on MCE 2k5 with a "could not load file or assembly" exception because that particular version of that assembly does not exist on MCE 2k5. What do I need to do to my project so that my application will work with either version of the ehRecObj assembly? I've searched for documentation but since I don't understand assembly versioning very well I can't quite seem to find anything that answers my question.

Joseph LeBlanc

Hello, I'm using a picturebox control on my form which displays a bitmap object that's created programmatically. The problem is that when I go to save the bitmap (using bitmap.Save) it's saved with transparency enabled. How can I disable transparencies on my bitmap object? I've searched the MSDN but all I've managed to find is bitmap.MakeTransparent(). I'm quite surprised that there isn't a bitmap.MakeNotTransparent() function to go along with that, seems rather useless to have a clear and concise way of turning something on but then having to tear your hair out trying to find out how to shut it off ;) Thanks a lot, Joseph LeBlanc

I have one of these: http://www.sonicblue.com/audio/rio/riovolt\_sp100.asp I really like it, I can carry my entire Nine Inch Nails collection with me on just 1 cd :) Joseph LeBlanc

David Wulff wrote: Yes. The rules are very clear. Of course, if it would stand up in court is another matter altogether. They could force you to disclose your source code to them so they can check you have not copied additional portions of their IP. How could the answer to my question possibly be yes? I can understand an algorithm being intellectual property because it took the company time and money to research and develop it. I consider source code to be speech. So writing your program in a similar style using similar code techniques to the other is fine. Using the algoritm that the other company developed for commercial gain without their permission would be stealing their intellectual property. Joseph LeBlanc

Matt Philmon wrote: If you even like the way it's implemented and choose that to do it the same way, you're still stealing even if you do it without anymore peaking. It's intellectual property. So if you use a for loop in your code to do something, and I look at your source which I downloaded for free and use a For loop to do the exact same thing in a project i started from scratch then I've stolen your "intellectual property"? Joseph LeBlanc

Roger Wright wrote: How do you keep the eggs from gumming up your modem? You scramble them then call Eggs.Descramble() when they're done downloading. :) Joseph LeBlanc

I've been thinking about getting a book on C++ lately (not windows programming just C++ itself). I've been looking at Bjarne Stroustrup's The C++ Programming Language Special Edition with some interest. I've seen Stroustrup mentioned here on CP many times so I'm curious as to how good a book this is. I've got a "Teach Yourself C++ In 21 Days" book but it's not written very well and the examples aren't very good either. Is Stroustrup's book something you could read cover to cover to learn C++ or is it more of a reference? I'm not looking to learn how to crank out compilable C++ in a week (the 21 days book can give me that) but to actually learn the language well. Any recommendations? Joseph LeBlanc

Todd C. Wilson wrote: Suggestion: skip the memory upgrades from the vendor, and get them yourself through Crucial. Better memory, mondo cheaper. Same for harddrives, unless they are having a special. I wish I did that when I got my Dell. My ram cost me a couple limbs, I'm typing this with my toes. Joseph LeBlanc

I have a dell Inspiron 5000e and it's great. Got the 15" UXGA screen (1600x1200 ya!), DVD, modem, 512m ram, 30gig hdd and a wicked backpack case for it (www.spireusa.com, very nice carrying cases). Some of my friends have dell Inspiron 8000's and my boss just got a new 1.2ghz p3 Inspiron 8100. Very nice machines although quite expensive. I find dell's service to be fairly decent. I just had the motherboard replaced on mine because the serial port fried. After calling dell a tech guy came with a new board within a couple days, installed it so far so good. If you get a dell and your planning on keeping it for a while I really recommend getting the 3 year complete care warranty. It's worth the extra $$$. Joseph LeBlanc

Fazlul Kabir wrote: The .property way (aka Delphi/VB way ) of programming is not specific to C# language. You can perfectly have that feature, including other RAD (Rapid Application Development) /CBD (Component Based Development) features in C++ too. Check Capitolsoft's RadVC and Borland's C++ Builder for proof. How widely used are these tools though compared to Microsofts? Looking at this from a career point of view, would it be better to learn to use Microsoft tools (if they are the defacto-standard)? Or is this not really an issue? Joseph LeBlanc

Chris Losinger wrote: If you try C#, you'll be learning it at the same time as everyone else in the world. That I think is definitely a reason to begin with C#. Chris Losinger wrote: The learning curve for C# may or may not be shorter than that for C++... I have O'Reilly's "C# Essentials" in front of me right now and I'm not convinced it's much simpler than C++. Well it's not really the *language* that I'm concerned with, it's more the method of programming. I like the developement environment of vb and delphi, where you access all the properties of an object by .property to change. Making setting the text on a label as easy as Label1.Caption="label caption". Isn't C# supposed to provide an environment similar to that only provide the same programming power/functionality of C++? I have used C++ before (I'm far from being a guru) and I found learning it wasn't very difficult. Joseph LeBlanc

Paul Watson wrote: You have confused me thoroughly... excellent. ;) Well, I mostly just want to be able to write windows applications that can actually do stuff, like play with COM, networking, or anything else cool but I also want to be able to really play with the OS. I don't really like VB because it hides away too much of what's going on. So I guess I want a little bit of both worlds :) Joseph LeBlanc

Hello, I'm a hobby programmer, I'm 18 and I've been programming for the past 4 years or so. I started out with Turbo Pascal 7 on dos, then moved to linux and c, and now I have a growing interest in windows programming (i've since abandoned linux as a desktop os and moved to win2k/xp). Unfortuneatly I'm not quite sure where to begin programming on windows. I've used visual c++ 6 to make a few programs, just some simple dialog apps and an SDI app or too. Nothing overly complicated. However C# has made me curious. I like the idea of a language that has the power of c++ and ease of use of vb however I'd like to learn what's going on "under the hood" of windows. I find the biggest problem I have when I'm trying to accomplish something in VC++ is the task seems to be trivial but I have no idea of exactly what I'm looking for so I spend more time trying to find an example of some sort and when I finally do, it usually doesn't work (I find unless you know what your doing the MSDN is rather useless, and I don't know what I'm doing most of time :)). So my question is what would be better to begin learning? Visual C++ or C#? Joseph LeBlanc,

Well today I just dug my old 486 linux box out of the corner. When I got it its specs were: 80mhz 4 megs ram (built right onto the mb) 124meg hdd onboard 2 meg gfx card 14.4 modem (which needed jumpers soldered on before it would work) 640x480x256 12" beat up old ibm vga monitor 2x cdrom This was my first very own computer that I had in my room (I was 14 at the time, I think) and didn't have to share with my siblings. I ran slackware linux 3.0 and browsed the web using a text based browser. Man was it wicked. Now it just sits waiting to have a purpose in life again. Joe,

slashdot.org Have to get my daily dose of geek news every morning :)

Hello, I'd like to write a user mode program that accesses the printer port in Windows NT using NT's internal PARPORT driver instead of writing my own. Now what I'm having difficulty with is setting up my VC++ project so I can use DeviceIoControl and anything else necessary to communicate with device drivers (including the right include files, adding in all necessary library files, etc). I have the NT DDK installed (as well as the Platform SDK and the MSDN Library). I've never worked with the NT DDK before so any tips/pointers/good DDK specific web sites are very much appreciated. Thanks! Joseph LeBlanc unixd0od@hotmail.com

Hello, How can I catch CTRL key combinations in a CEditView? I want to catch CTRL-0 through CTRL-9. Thanks! Joseph LeBlanc unixd0od@hotmail.com

Hello, Question #1: I'm using a CEditView in my application to display text as it's read from the serial port. I'm having difficulty figuring out how to programatically insert text into the view. I tried the ReplaceSel function which works as long as the cursor remains at the end of the last text that was inserted. If the user selects any text in the window then it will be overwritten by this function. How can I just append a string to the view? Question #2: How can I turn the check marks next to menu options on/off (like the Toolbar & Statusbar commands under the View menu that Appwizard adds by default)? Thanks a lot, Joseph LeBlanc unixd0od@hotmail.com