 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
.NET Forum / Visual Studio.NET / Setup / June 2004Detecting Outlook running CA fails inside MSI
I have a VB.NET app that detects if outlook is running. Works fine when I run the app by it's self. When I put it in an MSI as a CA, it fails, such that the "Dim oOutlookApp As New Outlook.Application" command throws an exception with the oh so helpful message "Server execution failed". My code is as follows: Try Dim oOutlookApp As New Outlook.Application If TypeName(oOutlookApp.ActiveExplorer) = "Nothing" Then Return False Else Return True End If Catch ex As Exception MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "DetectAppRunning") End Try Return False I know weird things happen inside the MSI and it's hard to get normal apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? It doesn't seem to me that you're going in the right direction here. You're not detecting that Outlook is running, you're trying to early-bind instantiate Outlook via its COM interface, a completely different thing. This will cause Outlook to run if it's not already running, and (because you're using managed code) will need an interop assembly to be present for your VB.NET code to work, Interop.something.Dll, which is probably in your app folder from an import but missing when your custom action runs.  SignaturePhil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer] ---- > I have a VB.NET app that detects if outlook is running. Works fine > when I run the app by it's self. When I put it in an MSI as a CA, it [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? As I said before, the CA exe runs fine on the target machine when not running it from within the MSI. When I run it from in the MSI it fails. To run it on the target machine, I simply copy the exe and nothing else to the target machine and run it. I'm open to other approaches to detect if Outlook is running, but this method is promoted quite a lot within these google groups as a .Net way to do this. The dependant files you mention are: Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.dll Office.dll stdole.dll All of these are in the GAC, so why would I need to include them on a system that has Office installed? Do I need to include these files in my setup so that they can be found when running the CA exe from within MSI? If there is a better way to see if outlook is running, I'm all for it. Thanks! ---JHG > It doesn't seem to me that you're going in the right direction here. You're > not detecting that Outlook is running, you're [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? If I go to a system with Outlook installed but not running and run that code of yours, it *starts* Outlook (with no UI shown). The ActiveExplorer method tells you if Outlook has a UI showing. It returns Nothing because there's no UI, but Outlook.exe *is* now running because you fired it up. As a way to detect if Outlook is *running* it's therefore inaccurate because it really just looks for a UI. So if you want to know if Outlook has a UI showing, that code is fine. If you want to know if it's running the answer should always be yes because you just fired it up! I'm being picky yes, but you asked to detect if Outlook.exe was running, not whether it had a UI showing. If a program is using the Outlook COM interface to send mail, it will be running but that code of yours won't detect it. SignaturePhil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer] > As I said before, the CA exe runs fine on the target machine when not > running it from within the MSI. When I run it from in the MSI it [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > > > apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on > > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? Ok, I see what you are saying, and yes I thought it was a dubious way to check for outlook running (or as you pointed out UI displayed) , but I'm still curious why this code will not run correctly when executed with in an MSI? ---JHG > If I go to a system with Outlook installed but not running and run that code > of yours, it *starts* Outlook (with no UI shown). The ActiveExplorer method [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] > > > > apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on > > > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? I think it's a permissions problem. The custom action works when Outlook isn't running, but if it is running it cannot connect to it (COM tries to use the running Outlook as the COM server for the custom action). Custom actions run in a DCOM environment - they're not a direct call from the install, so I think the custom action code doesn't have enough privilege. SignaturePhil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer] Definitive Guide to Windows Installer http://apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=280 > Ok, I see what you are saying, and yes I thought it was a dubious way > to check for outlook running (or as you pointed out UI displayed) , [quoted text clipped - 76 lines] > > > > > apps to work correctly, but I don't have a clue on how to proceed on > > > > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is running? I don't pretend to know what you mean on the DCOM thing, but for now I just understand that programs run from within a MSI might not work due to DCOM vs COM privledges? Did I get that right? In any event, is there a way to get the required privilege's? Would "elevated privileges" fix this? I noticed in the MSI docs that CA's run using user privileges by default, and the user in this case is Admin, so why would there still not be adequate priviliges? Is there a way to set a Visual Studio Setup to have elevated privileges? Thanks again! ---JHG > I think it's a permissions problem. The custom action works when Outlook > isn't running, but if it is running it cannot connect to it (COM tries to [quoted text clipped - 99 lines] > > > > > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is > running? I'm not exactly sure, but when you're in a custom action you're being impersonated with a particular set of privileges. There's probably something in the security that doesn't let you connect to a running COM server, but whether it's actually a missing privilege I'm not sure. I'm beginning to think you should just look for a process called Outlook.exe. What do you want to do if it's running? Ask the user to shut it down? SignaturePhil Wilson [MVP Windows Installer] ---- > I don't pretend to know what you mean on the DCOM thing, but for now I > just understand that programs run from within a MSI might not work due [quoted text clipped - 115 lines] > > > > > > > fixing this. Is there a better way to detect if outlook is > > running? Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
|
Reply to this Message
|
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.