Making gdi32.dll function calls in Azure Web App - supported? - c#

Trying to make some basic calls to gdi32.dll functions from C# after publishing a Azure Web App and I'm having lots of problems. Is it fully supported or is there a workaround / config change I can make?
The pointers below all return non-zero values when run in Visual Studio on a standard setup, but they return 0 when running in Azure.
Created a basic ASP.NET Web Forms project and added the blow to the codebehind of Default.aspx to test:
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr CreatePen(int enPenStyle, int nWidth, uint crColor);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr SelectObject(IntPtr hdc, IntPtr hgdiobj);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern bool MoveToEx(IntPtr hdc, int X, int Y, IntPtr lpPoint);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern bool LineTo(IntPtr hdc, int nXEnd, int nYEnd);
[DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
private static extern bool DeleteObject([In] IntPtr hObject);
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(100, 100))
{
using (Graphics graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap))
{
IntPtr hdc = graphics.GetHdc();
IntPtr pen = CreatePen(0, (int)2, (uint)0);
IntPtr hObject = SelectObject(hdc, pen);
DeleteObject(hObject);
DeleteObject(pen);
graphics.ReleaseHdc();
Response.Write(string.Format("HDC handle: {0}", hdc));
Response.Write("<br/>");
Response.Write(string.Format("CreatePen pen: {0}", hObject));
Response.Write("<br/>");
Response.Write(string.Format("SelectObject returned: {0}", hObject));
}
}
}

Most GDI calls are explicitly blocked by the Azure App Service sandbox, so the erroneous behavior you're seeing is expected. There are no workarounds, unfortunately.
You can find more information about the sandbox and the reasoning behind this limitation here: https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu/wiki/Azure-Web-App-sandbox
For the sake of radical attack surface area reduction, the sandbox prevents almost all of the Win32k.sys APIs from being called, which practically means that most of User32/GDI32 system calls are blocked. For most applications this is not an issue since most Azure Web Apps do not require access to Windows UI functionality (they are web applications after all).
Some exceptions are made to enable popular PDF generation libraries to work. See the link above for more details.

Most of those GDI calls are now available in the windows container in azure app service. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/app-service-announces-general-availability-of-windows-container-support/. However you need to deploy your application as a containerised one.

Related

C# How can I dock an application?

I wrote an application in C# that brings another application to the foreground.
This function so far. However, there is a problem.
If you set the focus, the application is opened and brought to the foreground, but the Windows docking function does not work. The application is only ever opened in its last window size.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention that the docking should be seen on the Windows desktop (monitor edge).
Does anyone have any idea how to get the docking feature on?
[DllImport("../user32.dll")]
private static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
[DllImport("../user32.dll")]
private static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);
public void SetWindowToForeground(List<string> formattedPartList)
{
string windowTitle = formattedPartList[4];
int activeResize = 5; //
IntPtr mainWindowHandle = GetProcessIdByName(windowTitle);
SetForegroundWindow(mainWindowHandle);
ShowWindow(mainWindowHandle, activeResize);
}

How Can My Win32 App Steal Focus From My UWP App?

I've tried the following code:
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int ShowWindow(IntPtr hwnd, int nCmdShow);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr SetFocus(IntPtr hwnd);
void TakeFocus()
{
var process = Process.GetProcessesByName("myProcess").FirstOrDefault();
if (process != null)
{
// Tried each of the following:
ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 1);
ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 3);
ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 9);
ShowWindow(process.MainWindowHandle, 5);
SetFocus(process.MainWindowHandle);
SetForegroundWindow(process.MainWindowHandle);
}
}
I have a WPF companion app which runs in the background while a UWP app is running in the foreground. They communicate via WebSocket. I'm trying to create a method in the WPF app so it (or any other window) can steal focus from an activated UWP app, sending it into suspended state. Nothing I try seems to work, and there's no way to programatically make a UWP app suspend itself AFAIK without using the Launcher class (not an option for me, unless there's a way to call it without actually launching something-I haven't been able to do this). Normally I would assume it can't be done but I've seen programs that do it. Steam Big Picture Mode, for example, will steal focus from a UWP app when it is launched from a background process.
The supported way of suspending a UWP programmatically is available in the Spring 2018 update for Windows 10. It's already available in Insider builds/SDKs. This is the API to call:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/api/windows.system.appresourcegroupinfo.startsuspendasync#Windows_System_AppResourceGroupInfo_StartSuspendAsync
IList<AppDiagnosticInfo> infos = await AppDiagnosticInfo.RequestInfoForAppAsync();
IList<AppResourceGroupInfo> resourceInfos = infos[0].GetResourceGroups();
await resourceInfos[0].StartSuspendAsync();
Here is a trivial sample app:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AovTwKUMywTNoYQ3PrmBfZIGXmbULA

Are there any dangers of using Windows API calls in C#

I want to watermark a textbox, and found several different ways of doing it, but one that I liked uses SendMessage and an external DLL. However, I think I heard somewhere that doing it this way can cause BSOD since it isn't managed. Is this true, or is it just hear-say.
http://vidmar.net/weblog/archive/2008/11/05/watermarked-textbox-in-windows-forms-on-.net.aspx
private const uint ECM_FIRST = 0x1500;
private const uint EM_SETCUEBANNER = ECM_FIRST + 1;
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = false)]
static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, uint wParam, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string lParam);
The short answer is no. It won't cause a BSOD, although it could crash your program.
WinForms is basically built on top of Windows API calls, so when done right, custom API calls should work good as well.
One other thing to keep in mind is that if you do call the Windows API, it may create portability issues, such as when porting to Mono, as those DLLs will most likely not be available.

How to dispose the Win32 APIs in c#.net

I am using c#.net to develop a winform application.My winform application is using the below components
1)Win 32 dlls (using System.Runtime.InteropServices)
2)Timers(3 in count) (System.Timers)
3)Excel Interop
The memory of the application is not at all coming down .As timers are running continuosly so i cannot dispose the
So would like to implement dispose patterns .
Is it necessary to dispose the win32 APIs apart from Excel interop.?
If necessary can you please suggest the best way to call and dispose the win32 APIs.
Some of the Win32 APIs Used in application are listed below.
DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
static extern uint RegisterWindowMessage(string lpString);
[DllImport("wininet.dll")]
private extern static bool InternetGetConnectedState(out int netConnection, int val);
[DllImport("Oleacc.dll")]
private static extern int AccessibleObjectFromWindow(IntPtr hwnd, uint dwObjectID, byte[] riid, ref Excel.Window ptr);
[DllImport("WtsApi32.dll")]
private static extern bool WTSRegisterSessionNotification(IntPtr hWnd, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.U4)]int dwFlags);
[DllImport("WtsApi32.dll")]
private static extern bool WTSUnRegisterSessionNotification(IntPtr hWnd);
The hWnd parameters in your function calls are all window handles. As a general rule, whenever you have finished using a window handle in the windows API, you need to explicitly release it using the CloseHandle function

Is it possible to completely prevent multiple instance on .NET Compact Framework?

Since I've try many ways to stop the multiple instance problem on handheld device which running on .net compact framework 3.5.
Currently , I got the solution by create "Mutex" and check if there is the same process is running. I put this statement in "Program.cs" which will executed at first time when program start.
But i think it's not shoot my problems cause I got request from user that they need to disable the "program icon" while it's running.
I understand the user's point that sometime they maybe "Open" the program multiple times or more within short period. So , If it still able to "Open". That mean the program will need to initial itself and maybe going fail finally. Is it possible to absolutely prevent the multiple instance ? or is there another way without programming like edit the registry on Windows CE ?
Here is my source code:
bool firstInstance;
NamedMutex mutex = new NamedMutex(false, "MyApp.exe", out firstInstance);
if (!firstInstance)
{
//DialogResult dialogResult = MessageBox.Show("Process is already running...");
Application.Exit();
}
NamedMutex is class from OpenNetCF.
Your code is almost fine. only missing thing is to remove the application exit and put in there the code needed to bring current running instance on top. i did this in the past so you do not need to disable or hide the icon you simply detect the already running instance and bring it on foreground.
Edit:
here some code snippet:
[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr FindWindow(IntPtr className, string windowName);
[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
internal static extern int SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
private static extern bool SetWindowPos(IntPtr hwnd, int hwnd2, int x,int y, int cx, int cy, int uFlags);
if (IsInstanceRunning())
{
IntPtr h = FindWindow(IntPtr.Zero, "Form1");
SetForegroundWindow(h);
SetWindowPos(h, 0, 0, 0, Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width,Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height, 0x0040);
return;
}
check these links for more info...
http://www.nesser.org/blog/archives/56 (including comments)
What is the best way to make a single instance application in Compact Framework?

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