We Keep Coding

How to access an API running on a remote machine via network

I want to connect to an OKUMA Windows based control from external PC (i.e. Other than OKUMA controller) and utilize the OKUMA Open API on that machine. Is it possible? (If yes then How?)
Below is my code which I want to run from my laptop to check machine running mode. I'm getting errors because Okuma.CLDATAPI can't run on my local PC :
using Okuma.CLDATAPI.Enumerations; // Part of the API on the machine
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace OKUMA_TRIAL
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
Okuma.CLDATAPI.DataAPI.CMachine objCMachine;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
objCMachine = new Okuma.CLDATAPI.DataAPI.CMachine();
objCMachine.Init();
}
private ExecutionModeEnum fnGetRunMode()
{
return objCMachine.GetExecutionMode();
}
private void btnRead_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
txtRunMode.Text = fnGetRunMode().ToString();
}
}
}
If this isn't possible, is there another way to communicate with the machine?

Use Windows Communication Foundation to wrap the API.
Due to popular demand, the Open API SDK now includes a WCF client / service example.
OkumaAmerica/Open-API-SDK/Examples/WCF/
It is important to note that we do not feel comfortable releasing code of a publicly available service with API access, so this example is configured for local-host only. Of course it is trivial to change the configuration, but whomever does so needs to accept all responsibility for doing so.
Microsoft has actually done a good job of documenting WCF features, see below.
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Samples for .NET Framework 4
Sample Code
Documentation

C# Based Testing Automation Attaching to Existing Browser

C#, Visual Studio 2015, .NET 4.x Framework, Internet Explorer 11 (or latest Chrome), Windows 8.1 Pro workstation.
For testing purposes, using a Windows Forms or Console application written in C#, I need to automate an existing browser instance running on a Windows 8 or 10 system.
I created a Windows Forms application, and I'm able to automate a browser that I start using the Navigate(...) method within the application using the WebBrowser control and do things like click on a button in a Javascript popup, login using a username and password, select an item from the datagridview and click on the "edit" button associated with that item.
However, once that "edit" button is clicked, additional browser windows are created that are now running outside the "scope" of the WebBrowser control.
The web application opens new instances of the browser using window.open(...,_blank);
I've tried working with the NewWindow event, but I don't seem to be able to grab any kind of "handle" or such to the newly opened windows. The event fires, but what I'm seeing when I debug inside the event is just information about the window that I'm currently working with (not the newly spawned window).
The other things I've tried are Selenium and WatIn.
For both, the examples I had an instance of Internet Explorer 11 running on my Windows 8.1 Pro workstation at www.google.com.
Generally, the examples seem to show that for "attaching to an existing instance" of a browser the examples first firing off the browser. I've tried to connect to an existing browser using both libraries, and I've not had success.
I've tried to use the RemoteWebDriver(...) for Selenium, using the InternetExplorer driver. Another Stack Overflow post indicates I don't need the server component running because the browser and application for testing are on the same machine. My code is as follows:
private void doSeleniumStuff()
{
DesiredCapabilities desired = DesiredCapabilities.InternetExplorer();
using (IWebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new Uri("http://www.google.com/wd/hub"), desired))
{
IWebElement query = driver.FindElement(By.Name("q"));
query.SendKeys("Cheese");
query.Submit();
var wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));
wait.Until(d => d.Title.StartsWith("cheese", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
Console.WriteLine("Page title is: " + driver.Title);
}
}
I'm somewhat confused about the URL used in the RemoteWebDriver constructor. The documentation doesn't seem to describe this usage well. What is this "/wd/hub" usage all about?
It failes with:
{"Unexpected error. <!DOCTYPE html>\r\n<html lang=en>\r\n <meta charset=utf-8>\r\n <meta name=viewport content=\"initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, width=device-width\">\r\n <title>Error 404 (Not Found)!!1</title>\r\n <style>\r\n *{margin:0;padding:0}html,code{font:15px/22px arial,sans-serif}html{background:#fff;color:#222;padding:15px}body{margin:7% auto 0;max-width:390px;min-height:180px;padding:30px 0 15px}* > body{background:url(//www.google.com/images/errors/robot.png) 100% 5px no-repeat;padding-right:205px}p{margin:11px 0 22px;overflow:hidden}ins{color:#777;text-decoration:none}a img{border:0}#media screen and (max-width:772px){body{background:none;margin-top:0;max-width:none;padding-right:0}}#logo{background:url(//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/1x/googlelogo_color_150x54dp.png) no-repeat;margin-left:-5px}#media only screen and (min-resolution:192dpi){#logo{background:url(//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/2x/googlelogo_color_150x54dp.png) no-repeat 0% 0%/100% 100%;-moz-border-image:url(//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/2x/googlelogo_color_150x54dp.png) 0}}#media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio:2){#logo{background:url(//www.google.com/images/branding/googlelogo/2x/googlelogo_color_150x54dp.png) no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:100% 100%}}#logo{display:inline-block;height:54px;width:150px}\r\n </style>\r\n <a href=//www.google.com/><span id=logo aria-label=Google></span></a>\r\n <p><b>404.</b> <ins>That’s an error.</ins>\r\n <p>The requested URL <code>/wd/hub/session</code> was not found on this server. <ins>That’s all we know.</ins>\r\n"}
I've tried using the AttachTo(...) method in WatIn.
[STAThread]
private void doWatNStuff()
{
using (IE myIE = Browser.AttachTo<IE>(Find.Any))
{
DomContainer dc = myIE.DomContainer;
}
}
Fails in the using with
{"Could not find an IE window matching constraint: Any. Search expired
after '30' seconds."}
The example code provided for WatIn has the code first creating an instance of IE and then attaching to it. I can't help but think that WatIn can attach to a running instance of a browser, but WatIn must first create that instance.
That won't meet my needs.
My final attempt was to use System.Windows.Automation to get an open Internet Explorer window and try to work with it. While I get the window, all I can get access to are the Windows and Transform patterns. Hence, I could potentially automate the resizing of the browser window and close it. But, I can't get the DOM or anything useful.
There are a few articles out there about using Interop with MSHTML or SHDocVw, but nothing super helpful.
I would appreciate any guidance anyone can provide on using whatever tools possible for a .NET C# Windows Forms or Console application to use to somehow connect to an independently opened browser window on the same Windows machine and automating it.

I've been using WatiN succesfully for this. A console app with Program.cs that looks like the following works for me:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using WatiN.Core;
namespace WatinTest
{
class Program
{
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var ie = IE.AttachTo<IE>(Find.ByTitle(new Regex(".*")));
foreach (var div in ie.Divs)
{
Console.WriteLine(div.IdOrName);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
This is with Windows 10 and WatiN 2.1.0.

How can I create and access test cases in Team Foundation Server using visual C# console

I am working with VS C# to manipulate test cases, create projects, and anything else that's beneficial to my testing in TFS. However, there are not any solid examples out there. The API that is on the Microsoft Developer site is just not helpful to me (could be my lack of experience in coding in VS), but I am becoming frustrated. Any progress that I make takes several days ( ... really hit and miss). Can someone direct me to a consolidated resource for using the team foundation server object model to implement features programmatically: WebSites, Books, etc...? Thanks!!! Below is what appears to be very straightforward code to create a Default collection/Project and write a test case in VSO TFS with C# (It continues to fail):
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Client;
using Microsoft.TeamFoundation.TestManagement.Client;
using Microsoft.TeamFoundation.WorkItemTracking.Client;
namespace myProject
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string serverurl = "http://localhost:8080/tfs";
string project = "Beta1";
ITestManagementTeamProject proj = GetProject(serverurl, project);
ITestCase tc = proj.TestCases.Create();
tc.Title = "Test";
tc.Save();
Console.WriteLine("TC: {0}", tc.Id);
}
static ITestManagementTeamProject GetProject(string serverUrl,
string project)
{
TfsTeamProjectCollection tfs = new TfsTeamProjectCollection(TfsTeamProjectCollection.GetFullQualifiedUriForName(serverUrl));
ITestManagementService tms = tfs.GetService<ITestManagementService>();
return tms.GetTeamProject(project);
}
}
}

The serverul "http://localhost:8080/tfs" in your code snippet means you are handling with on-premise TFS. But in your description, you want to create a test case work item in Visual Studio Online.
For Visual Studio Online api, you can refer to Visual Studio Online REST API at website:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/integrate/api/overview
For deal with on-premise TFS programmatically, you can refer to blogs below:
http://joymonscode.blogspot.in/2009/05/beginning-tfs-programming.html
http://geekswithblogs.net/TarunArora/archive/2011/06/18/tfs-2010-sdk-connecting-to-tfs-2010-programmaticallyndashpart-1.aspx

Crashing with C# and Directory Services on XP

I'm trying to do some simple data retrieval with C# and Directory Services, but for some reason it doesn't work on any XP machines. If I run my code on a Server 2003 machine, there are no problems. I've spent a fair bit of time trying to find out if maybe there's some redistributable I need on XP or if the functionality simply isn't there, but I've found references to other developers who have similar code working under XP. If anyone has any experience or advice to share, I'd appreciate it.
A simple code snippet that's crashing for me:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Navigation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.DirectoryServices;
namespace IIS_Site_Query_Tool
{
public partial class Window1 : Window
{
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();
DirectoryEntry W3SVC = new DirectoryEntry("IIS://localhost/w3svc");
foreach (DirectoryEntry Site in W3SVC.Children)
{
//Do some data processing
}
}
}
}
Running this under XP gives me the folowing error with an HRESULT of -2147463168:
System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException was unhandled
Message="Unknown error (0x80005000)"
Source="System.DirectoryServices"
ErrorCode=-2147463168
StackTrace:
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind(Boolean throwIfFail)
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind()
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.get_IsContainer()
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntries.ChildEnumerator..ctor(DirectoryEntry container)
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntries.GetEnumerator()
...
Googling the various pieces of information in the error lead me to think that it's a pretty generic COM interop error, and I'm out of ideas at this point. Any help is appreciated!

Based on the stack trace and reflector it looks like a call to ADsOpenObject is returning E_ADS_BAD_PATHNAME. This error indicates that the path you supplied to the DirectoryEntry class is not valid on the current machine.
If IIS is installed, then it's possible that the IIS provider is not properly installed on your machine.
See this SO question for more details: ADSI will not connect to IIS from XP Workstation

Installing IIS fixed it. I hadn't encountered ADSI before writing this little utility, so I didn't realize that software could install their own chunks of ADSI functionality. Thanks for the help!

System.Net's Webclient in C# won't connect to server

Is there something I need to do to get System.Net working with Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition? I can't seem to get any web type controls or classes to work at all.. the below WebClient example always throws the exception "Unable to connect to the remote server".. and consequently I can't get the WebBrowser control to load a page either.
Here is the code (Edited):
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
using (WebClient client = new WebClient()) {
string s = client.DownloadString("http://www.google.com");
this.textBox1.Text = s;
}
}
}
}
This is in a simple form with only a textbox control (with multiline set to true) in it. The exception gets thrown on the DownloadString(...) line. I also tried using WebRequest.. same exception!
EDIT:
I am connected to a Linksys WRT54G Router that connects directly to my cable modem. I am not behind a proxy server, although I did run proxycfg -u and I got:
Updated proxy settings
Current WinHTTP proxy settings under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\
WinHttpSettings :
Direct access (no proxy server).
I am using Windows XP and not running any kind of firewall. Only AVG at the moment. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have to forward any ports or anything, but I did try forwarding port 80 to my workstation on my router. Didn't help.

(update - I meant proxycfg, not httpcfg; proxycfg -u will do the import)
First, there is nothing special about "express" here. Second, contoso is a dummy url.
What OS are you on? And do you go through a proxy server? If so, you might need to configure the OS's http stack - proxycfg will do the job on XP, and can be used to import the user's IE settings.
The sample is fine, although it doesn't correctly handle the multiple IDisposable objects - the following is much simpler:
using (WebClient client = new WebClient()) {
string s = client.DownloadString("http://www.google.com");
// do something with s
}

Do you have any firewall software on your PC that might be affecting it? Have you tried with any sites other than Google?