Running a program off the network?

myurick · April 1st, 2008, 10:07 PM

I have created a little program that has a webbrowser in it. The webbrowser has a URL on the network. When I compile the program, I get an exe file that I can run. The program works when the exe file is on the local harddrive. When I move the exe file to the network, it no longer works and I get an error message when I run it.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

BrianWren · April 2nd, 2008, 12:23 PM

Is the URL relative? Do you assemble the string you are using for the URL through "reading" properties of the app (like where it is running) that would change by running it from a different location?

What is the error message you get (not the number, the message)?
Does it arise when you launch the app, or only when you take a particular action?

myurick · April 2nd, 2008, 07:50 PM

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

The URL is Z:\public\program\notice And that is the folder I have moved the exe into.

The error message is very generic. It just says "Notice has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." It goes on to say "If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost. Please let Microsoft about this problem . . . ." It then gives you an option to send an Error Report.

Any suggestions?

BrianWren · April 3rd, 2008, 11:46 AM

I suggest you add a sub to your app that takes a Strng argument, and writes it to a file.
Let's say it is Public Sub Say (Text As String).

Then repeatedly in your code add

Code:

    Say "Opening Folder"

(or whatever you are about to do in the program flow.) You can concatenate values, what time it is, and so on. This way you can read through that log file, and see what your app was able to accomplish, and where the problem happensâexactly. (One you get to the general area of the error, you can remove the "Say" statements that are nowhere near the pproblem, and add more detail reporting in the vicinity of the problem.)

Once you have found where the problem is, you can try various work-arounds to see if you can find a way to accomplish your task.

Or, if this gives you insight, you can post that insigt here so that maybe a solution can be discovered.

One thing you can report is:

Code:

Private Declare Function GetUserName _
                Lib "advapi32.dll" _
                Alias "GetUserNameA" (ByVal lpBuffer As String, _
                                               nSize As Long _
                                     ) As Long

...

    Dim lngCnt  As Long
    Dim lngRtrn As Long
    Dim sUserNm As String * 150

    lngRtrn = GetUserName(sUserNm, 149)
    lngCnt  = InStr(sUserNm, Chr$(0))

    If lngCnt < 2 Then
        Say "No UserName obtained by GetUserName()."
    Else
        sUserNm = Left$(sUserNm, lngCnt - 1)
        Say "UserName = """ & sUserNm & """"
    End If

If you find a distinct difference in the username, perhaps you'll uncover a permission issue. Who knows?

myurick · April 3rd, 2008, 02:22 PM

Thanks Brian. I appreciate your help. However, that coding you suggested would be longer than my entire program. The only code I have is as follows:

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub btnClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnClose.Click
        Close()
    End Sub

End Class

That's it. It is one form with 2 objects on it. The Webbrower that points to the html file it is to display, and the Close Button.

I am really new to Visual Basic 2008. Never used 2005, and only experience is with VB6.

Do you know of a way to create a single instance program? So that I don't have to run through an installation process to run the program?

Thanks for your time,
Mike