Add a manifest to control your application Vista UAC behavior
Try this on Windows XP or Vista (I don’t remember if manifests are allowed on Win2000: can someone confirm please? Thanks)
Start Notepad, then choose File->Open and navigate to c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe and click Open.
Hit Ctrl-F to find the text “assembly”
You’ve now found the embedded XML manifest file.
Try the same with VFP9.EXE, then an EXE that you have built with VFP9
On XP, this manifest can specify additional dependencies. For VFP9, it indicates which version of Windows Common Controls to use. For an EXE that VFP built the manifest is the same as VFPs.
On Vista, this manifest can further specify security requirements for an application.
For example, on Vista, applications are not allowed to write into “Program Files” or Windows directories. Similarly with the registry. Some applications will attempt to write these.
If there is no requestedExecutionLevel, then the registry and file virtualization will be turned on. The program “thinks” it’s writing to “Program Files”, but it’s really writing to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files. The registry redirects HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\<Application Registry Keys>
You can further control Vista UAC settings by running secpol.msc and navigating to Local Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options
Try this on Vista: Start->Run->Cmd. Try to write a file to Program Files or Windows directories-> “Access Denied”
The MT.EXE tool that ships with Visual Studio or the Vista SDK can allow you to embed a manifest as a Windows Resource in an EXE file. Historically, only a Linker could build and manipulate a Windows Resource. Starting with Windows NT, the resources could be manipulated from within a program using the BeginUpdateResource family of functions.
Foxpro EXE files have been built the same way for about 18 years: using a Fox resource architecture. There is a stub loader, and 0 or more sections (such as the .APP) physically appended to the file. Windows tools that manipulate the EXE file format do not pay attention to any data appended to an EXE file, so when these tools write out the result, they do not write out any additional data. With no APP, the loader merely puts up a File->Open dialog requesting an APP to run.
These Windows Tools use the BeginUpdateResource family of functions, but Foxpro could not, because it still had to run on Windows 95 as well as NT
Starting with VFP8 (I think) VFP was able to add a generated Type Library as a Windows Resource inside a DLL, using the BeginUpdateResource functions. Now you know why this feature doesn’t work on Win 95.
Start Task Manager on Windows Vista, choose the Processes tab, choose View->Select Columns->Virtualization.
You will see that some processes have virtualization Enabled, Disabled, or nothing at all (depending on the privileges of the launcher) in that column.
Save this code as TestVista.Prg and run it
IF _vfp.StartMode>0 && If we're running as an EXE
MESSAGEBOX("Look at Task Pane Virtualization column for TestVista")
RETURN
ENDIF
BUILD PROJECT TestVista FROM TestVista
BUILD EXE TestVista FROM TestVista
!/n TestVista
RETURN
It builds an EXE that will show a MessageBox and then runs it. With the MessageBox showing, look at the Task Manager. The Virtualization is Enabled.
Now run this line from a VS Command prompt (Start->All Programs->Microsoft Visual Studio->Visual Studio Tools->VS Command prompt) in the same directory
mt -manifest TestVista.Exe.Manifest -outputresource: TestVista.exe;#1
Then run the TestVista.Exe. The Open File dialog shows up requesting an APP to run. Now the Virtualization is blank.
The sample below shows how to create a simple project hook that allows you to embed any file as a manifest. Try running it on Vista, with various values of requestedExecutionLevel.
For more about Vista User Account Control and manifests, see
· Creating a Manifest for Your Application
· For another example of project hooks and modifying the VFP built EXE/DLL, see Calvin Hsia's WebLog : Strongly typed methods and properties
(Another way to see a manifest: Using Visual Studio, you can chose File->Open->File to open an Executable. The default is to open it with the Resource Editor.
There’s a little down arrow that you can choose on the File->Open dialog so that you can choose to open the file using a different tool, such as the Binary Editor.
In the resource view, you can see the Manifest file of an executable.)
The sample code below creates a manifest and creates a project hook that will embed a manifest file
CLEAR
IF _vfp.StartMode>0 && If we're running as an EXE
MESSAGEBOX("Look at Task Pane Virtualization column for TestVista")
RETURN
ENDIF
MODIFY COMMAND PROGRAM() nowait
#if .t.
BUILD PROJECT TestVista FROM TestVista
BUILD EXE TestVista FROM TestVista
!/n TestVista
RETURN
#endif
CLEAR ALL
CLEAR
IF LOWER(JUSTFNAME(PROGRAM()))!="testvista"
?"This sample file must be called TestVista"
RETURN
ENDIF
#if .f.
To use with your project, you only need the projecthook class
#endif
SET SAFETY off
IF FILE("TestVista.Exe")
DELETE FILE TestVista.Exe
ENDIF
fAddManifest=.t.
IF !FILE("TestVista.pjx")
BUILD PROJECT TestVista FROM TestVista
ENDIF
MODIFY PROJECT TestVista NOWAIT
IF fAddManifest
*cExLevel="highestAvailable"
cExLevel="asInvoker"
* cExLevel="requireAdministrator"
TEXT TO cXML TEXTMERGE
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
<assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="X86" name="CalvinsDemo" type="win32"/>
<trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
<security>
<requestedPrivileges>
<requestedExecutionLevel level="<<cExLevel>>" />
</requestedPrivileges>
</security>
</trustInfo>
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity
type="win32"
name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
version="6.0.0.0"
language="*"
processorArchitecture="x86"
publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
/>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
</assembly>
ENDTEXT
STRTOFILE(cXML,"TestVista.Exe.xml")
_vfp.ActiveProject.ProjectHook = NEWOBJECT('MFestPHook') && use projecthook to modify typelibrary if necessary
ENDIF
BUILD EXE TestVista FROM TestVista
_vfp.ActiveProject.Close
*Now test it. Try running it from Windows Explorer or a CMD prompt
!/n TestVista
#define RT_MANIFEST 24 && from winuser.h
#define FOX_SIG 33536
DEFINE CLASS MFestPHook AS ProjectHook
PROCEDURE AfterBuild(nError)
IF nError=0
ExeName=JUSTSTEM(_vfp.ActiveProject.Name)+".Exe"
MFest=ExeName+".xml"
IF FILE(MFest) && if a manifest exists
strMFest=FILETOSTR(MFest) && read in the manifest into a string
DIMENSION asec[1] && preserve 2 sections of EXE
nSects=0
h=FOPEN(ExeName)
fpos=FSEEK(h,0,2) && go to EOF
FOR i = 1 TO 20
FSEEK(h,fpos-14,0)
pmt=FREAD(h,14)
sig=BITAND(CTOBIN(SUBSTR(pmt,1,2),"2sr") ,0xffff)
sz=CTOBIN(SUBSTR(pmt,11,4),"4sr")
* ?i,sz,sig,TRANSFORM(sig,"@0x")
IF sig != FOX_SIG
nSects = i-1
EXIT
ENDIF
FSEEK(h,fpos-sz,0)
DIMENSION asec[i]
asec[i]=FREAD(h,sz)
fpos = fpos - sz
ENDFOR
FCLOSE(h)
DECLARE integer BeginUpdateResource IN WIN32API string , integer
DECLARE integer EndUpdateResource IN WIN32API integer, integer
DECLARE integer UpdateResource IN WIN32API integer,integer,integer,integer, string, integer
DECLARE Integer GetLastError IN win32api
h=BeginUpdateResource(ExeName,0)
IF h =0
?"Err=",GetLastError()
ELSE
UpdateResource(h,RT_MANIFEST,1,0x409,0,0) && del existing one, if any
UpdateResource(h,RT_MANIFEST,1,0x409,strMFest+CHR(0),LEN(strMFest))
IF EndUpdateResource(h,0)=0
?"Err=",GetLastError()
ENDIF
h=FOPEN(ExeName,2)
fpos=FSEEK(h,0,2)
FOR i = 1 TO nSects
FWRITE(h,asec[i])
ENDFOR
FCLOSE(h)
ENDIF
?"Added manifest"
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDDEFINE
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