How to exec .dat at boot

satimis · Apr 1, 2010

Hi folks,

Windows XP and Vista

What will be an easy way to popup a .dat file on starting Windows. The file runs on Linux popup a Bible verse according to date. I expect to have the verse of that day popup on desktop on starting Windows. TIA

B.R.
satimis

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

You cannot do this. .dat files do not have an association in Default Windows, and so trying to run it or execute it will not work (they cannot be run) To prove this, open Windows, and double click on the .dat file. This is what will happen if you try to auto-execute it at startup. To make it do what you want, you will need to write a small program to read the .dat file, choose a verse, and then print it to the screen.

If this is a program you downloaded, can you please send me the link. Also, if you upload the .dat file to this website (in zip format - use 7-Zip to do this if you don't already know how: 7-Zip), and I manage to work out the algorith used to save it, I may write you a quick program to do as you ask.

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
Hi,

- snip -

If this is a program you downloaded, can you please send me the link. Also, if you upload the .dat file to this website (in zip format - use 7-Zip to do this if you don't already know how: 7-Zip), and I manage to work out the algorith used to save it, I may write you a quick program to do as you ask.

HI Richard,

Thanks for your advice and help.

The site seems not working for the time being;
http://thelinuxlink.net/

This is a small size file. I just upload it here without success. .dat is not in the Filetype of "Attachment Key" The .dat file can be read in text editor. Therefore i save it as .txt file and attach it here.

B.R.
satimis

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

The plain text .dat file makes it easy. Just one question, do these go in order, looping around, and eventually getting back to the beginning, or should the program choose a random verse every day?

Thanks,

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
Hi,

The plain text .dat file makes it easy. Just one question, do these go in order, looping around, and eventually getting back to the beginning, or should the program choose a random verse every day?

Hi Richard,

The verse is displayed according to the date of today when the computer starts. They are repeated each year. Thanks

B.R.
satimis

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

satimis said:
niemiro said:

Hi,

The plain text .dat file makes it easy. Just one question, do these go in order, looping around, and eventually getting back to the beginning, or should the program choose a random verse every day?

Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

The verse is displayed according to the date of today when the computer starts. They are repeated each year. Thanks

B.R.
satimis

I get it now! I now understand why there are so many numbers in the verse reference! I will start coding now, so give me a few hours. I will come back soon, but there is no need for you to wait online, you may do something else.

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
satimis said:

niemiro said:

Hi,

The plain text .dat file makes it easy. Just one question, do these go in order, looping around, and eventually getting back to the beginning, or should the program choose a random verse every day?

Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

The verse is displayed according to the date of today when the computer starts. They are repeated each year. Thanks

B.R.
satimis

Click to expand...

I get it now! I now understand why there are so many numbers in the verse reference! I will start coding now, so give me a few hours. I will come back soon, but there is no need for you to wait online, you may do something else.

Hi Richard,

Thanks. I'll come back later.

A further question: for multiple langages, e.g. 3 .dat files, how can I switch to another language before login or before closing down the PC. So that verse of new language will be displayed on next boot. Thanks

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

Yes I can do that (except there is no way of providing input before login, but before shutdown is fine)

May you please send me those .dat files as well so I can analyse the method used to store the date?

Also, do these languages use the same alphabet as English?

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
Hi,

Yes I can do that (except there is no way of providing input before login, but before shutdown is fine)

May you please send me those .dat files as well so I can analyse the method used to store the date?

Hi Richard,

Thanks. I'm now attaching one additional .txt file to this posting (linbread_zh.txt). It is only partially finished.

Also, do these languages use the same alphabet as English?

No. The language of this file is Chinese.

Futhermore for French what shall we do. There are special alphabets. e.g;
surtout n'hésitez pas
adressés à moi
etc.

German also has special alphabets

B.R.
satimis

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

The dating system is the same which is very useful, and I will work out how to put in special characters, so don't worry.

Richard

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

I may need a few more hours because of the Chinese characters, but mainly because there is a power cut at my end at the moment, so coding from my main Desktop has to be put on hold (this is from my laptop which I cannot code on)

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
Hi,

I may need a few more hours because of the Chinese characters, but mainly because there is a power cut at my end at the moment, so coding from my main Desktop has to be put on hold (this is from my laptop which I cannot code on)

Hi Richard,

No problem. Thanks

Which language to be used for coding?

satimis

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

Hi,

I am coding in English (because that is my language), but once I have finished coding and compiled it, it is languageless (for the computer, so it will run on a computer of any language). Only the text that I deliberately code to appear on screen has a language, and you have provided all that language in the .dat files.

Richard

niemiro · Apr 2, 2010

satimis said:
niemiro said:

Hi,

I may need a few more hours because of the Chinese characters, but mainly because there is a power cut at my end at the moment, so coding from my main Desktop has to be put on hold (this is from my laptop which I cannot code on)

Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

No problem. Thanks

Which language to be used for coding?

satimis

Idiot that I am, the first time I read this question, I completely misunderstood it! The answer you are looking for is: I am using C# 3.5 and the .Net Framework 3.5. For your interest, I will post the code so you can have a look at it!

Richard

satimis · Apr 2, 2010

niemiro said:
Idiot that I am, the first time I read this question, I completely misunderstood it! The answer you are looking for is: I am using C# 3.5 and the .Net Framework 3.5. For your interest, I will post the code so you can have a look at it!

Thanks. I'm interested to learn.

satimis

niemiro · Apr 3, 2010

Hi,

I have now fully coded the English part. The layout of the message box showing the quote of the day is very bad (it was just for me to see if it all worked) Can you please upload all the other .dat files, and I will work on the special characters, Chinese, language selection and layout. There was one minor corruption in the English .dat (a double quote had been missed) which messed everything up. I have fixed this, so you need to use my .dat file, or fix your own one (I will explain later) This was not picked up in the Linux version because I think the original developer split the string using the | symbol rather than the " symbol that I used. Neither is correct, both work.

My code is not any better than any other code. There are several good ways of doing this job, and I just chose one. This is still in beta, but is safe to try.

MY TO DO LIST:

Special characters
Chinese
Language selection
Make it look nice
Fix bug where half of title will be removed on December 31st.

I have uploaded the .exe and English .dat file, and I have also uploaded my current code. To make it easier to understand, it is NOT refactored. The varaibles are usually stored in a separate class. It is therefore not code to just copy. Also, because there is so much string manipulation, it is not quite like normal code. There are some better ways of doing some of it, but I wanted to practice my string manipulation.

Program.cs:

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Verse_of_the_Day
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>

        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {      
            // Get today's date in format used in .dat file
            Variables.today = DateTime.Now.ToString("MMdd");

            try
            {
                // Create an instance of StreamReader to read from a file.
                // The using statement also closes the StreamReader.
                using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("linbread.dat", System.Text.Encoding.Default))
                {
                    // Read ALL of the .dat file into one (big) string
                    Variables.file = sr.ReadToEnd();
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // Let the user know what went wrong.
                MessageBox.Show("The file could not be read:" + e);
            }

            // Split the one big string into many smaller strings
            string[] split = Variables.file.Split('"');

            for (int i = 0; i < split.Length; i++)
            {
                // This section cuts up the string sections and stores them
                if (i % 2 == 0 && i != 0) // << For every other string (all the even ones except for string 0) NOTE: List indexes start at 0 not 1 so index 0 is the first string in list
                {
                    // Cut into date and title and remove any unwanted characters, store date and title
                    string result = split[i].Remove(0,1);
                    result = result.Remove(result.Length - 1, 1);

                    Variables.date = result.Substring(result.Length - 5);
                    Variables.title = result.Remove(result.Length - 5);

                    Variables.date = Variables.date.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "");

                    Variables.datelist.Add(Variables.date);
                    Variables.titlelist.Add(Variables.title);

                }
                else if (i == 0) // << If string index is 0
                {
                    // Remove unwanted character and store date
                    Variables.date = split[i].Remove(4);
                    Variables.date = Variables.date.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "");
                    Variables.datelist.Add(Variables.date);
                }
                else if (i % 2 != 0) // << For every other string (all the odd ones)
                {
                    // No unwanted characters so just store
                    Variables.verse = split[i];
                    Variables.verselist.Add(Variables.verse);
                }                         
            }

            try
            {
                if (Variables.today == "0101")
                {
                    // Exception to rule at 1st January
                    Variables.publicI = Variables.datelist.IndexOf(Variables.today);
                }
                else
                {
                    // Every other date, find index of that date (dates in order)
                    Variables.publicI = Variables.datelist.IndexOf("\n" + Variables.today);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // Tell user what went wrong
                MessageBox.Show("Fatal Error:" + e);
            }

            try
            {
                // Using index from previous section, get matching verse and title
                MessageBox.Show(Variables.verselist[Variables.publicI] + "\t" + Variables.titlelist[Variables.publicI]);
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // Tell user what went wrong
                MessageBox.Show("Fatal Error:" + e);
            }
        }
    }
}

Variables.cs:

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace Verse_of_the_Day
{
    class Variables
    {
        public static string today;
        public static string date;
        public static string title;
        public static string verse;
        public static string file;
        public static int publicI;
        public static List<string> datelist = new List<string>();
        public static List<string> verselist = new List<string>();
        public static List<string> titlelist = new List<string>();
    }
}

Sorry that it is not coloured. It makes it so much easier to read and understand. I have also uploaded the beta to see what you think so far (remember that the visual is being changed) I will explain later how to add this to start-up. You will need to install the .Net Framework 3.5, let me know if you have any problems.

P.S: It even supports leap years properly!

Richard

satimis · Apr 3, 2010

Hi niemiro,

Thanks for your work and time helping me.

I have Debug.zip file download and extracted to 2 files;
linbread.dat
Verse_of_the_Day.exe

clicking Verse_of_the_Day.exe
showing 3 files;
.reloc
.rsrc
.text

How can I read those files?

Noted that you have made modification on the linbread.dat file.

I have program.cs copied/saved to a text file and Variables.cs to another text file

Can you please upload all the other .dat files, and I will work on the special characters, Chinese, language selection and layout.

Sorry they are NOT ready yet. I only have the English version. I have to do the translation here as follows;

Traditional Chinese
Simplied Chinese
French
...

It would be a tedious work for me.

Traditional Chinese and Simplied Chinese are NOT the same. Their translations are nearly finished. I'll send them to you when they are available. Can I send them to you via PM?

MY TO DO LIST:

Special characters
Chinese
Language selection
Make it look nice
Fix bug where half of title will be removed on December 31st.

A good planning. To display Chinese characters correctly needs installing some Chinese fonts on the PC to be used for testing. French and German will be easier.

My first attempt is to display the verse of today. My 2nd step will be voice, reading the verse while displaying it. However to find a good narrator is NOT easy (Male must have convincing voice and female sweet tone)

How to compile program.cs as Verse_of_the_Day.exe? What compiler is needed?

You will need to install the .Net Framework 3.5, let me know if you have any problems.

Whether you meant;
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Download details: .NET Framework 3.5

Shall I install it on Vista? I'm prepared testing your program on it.

I have Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows XP(a very old version), all running on VM(guests) of the Virtual Machine. They are for testing only. All production PCs here are running Linux/Unix

I have also uploaded the beta to see what you think so far (remember that the visual is being changed) I will explain later how to add this to start-up

Whether you meant the Variables.cs? I think it'll better testing it in real environment, field test, to check/see the displaying result.

P.S: It even supports leap years properly!

Yes, 0229

Thanks

B.R.
satimis

niemiro · Apr 3, 2010

Hi,

satimis said:
Clicking Verse_of_the_Day.exe
showing 3 files;
.reloc
.rsrc
.text

How can I read those files?

Those files were not meant to appear. I think it is somethink to do with this program still being compiled in Debug mode, rather than Release mode. In the next version, these files should not appear. Tell me if they do. They are not designed to be opened, and I do not know how to open them (you could try Notepad if you really want)

Sorry they are NOT ready yet. I only have the English version. I have to do the translation here as follows;

Traditional Chinese
Simplied Chinese
French
...

It would be a tedious work for me.

Traditional Chinese and Simplied Chinese are NOT the same. Their translations are nearly finished. I'll send them to you when they are available. Can I send them to you via PM?

I will do the visual and fix the bug now, and add the extra languages when I get the files. There is no rush. You always have permission to send me a PM, but when you reply here, it will flag up on my User CP. You cannot attach files to PM.

I have program.cs copied/saved to a text file and Variables.cs to another text file. How to compile program.cs as Verse_of_the_Day.exe? What compiler is needed?

You can use almost any compiler that supports C#. This is not an advanced program, and so the free compilers will work. You can either download a free IDE or use the free command line compiler that comes with Windows (csc.exe) This gets really fiddly, and so unless big downloads are a problem, use an IDE. Once you have chosen an IDE, I will send you the files in a format that your chosen IDE can open. I do not know how to compile on Linux/Unix.

Some good free IDEs (for Windows):

Visual Studio, top of the list heads down:
Microsoft Express Downloads You need the C# Express 2008, or the 2010 Beta 2.

Open source C# IDEs:
Open Source IDEs in C#

For full details on CSC:
Csc Task

My first attempt is to display the verse of today. My 2nd step will be voice, reading the verse while displaying it. However to find a good narrator is NOT easy (Male must have convincing voice and female sweet tone)

Will implement this when you ask.

Whether you meant;
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Download details: .NET Framework 3.5 Shall I install it on Vista? I'm prepared testing your program on it.

This is correct, and is often installed already, but it is worth trying to install it. No harm will be done, and you may be updated. Note, this is a web installer, so the download will be bigger than 3.5mb. Web installers are recommended.

Whether you meant the Variables.cs? I think it'll better testing it in real environment, field test, to check/see the displaying result.

When I said the beta, I meant the precompiled .exe.

Richard

niemiro · Apr 4, 2010

Hi,

MY TO DO LIST:

Special characters << When I recieve the files
Chinese << When I recieve the files
Language selection << When I recieve one file
Make it look nice << Now
Fix bug where half of title will be removed on December 31st. << Fixed
Make sure those extra files do not appear << I think fixed, can you confirm?

Richard

satimis · Apr 4, 2010

Hi niemiro,

Sorry for prompting you a late reply because today I was full engaged in church. I'll reply your posting #19 first.

Special characters << When I recieve the files

I can't give you a fixed date because translation to French/German not started yet.

Chinese << When I recieve the files

By the end of this week, both Traditional and Simplied Chinese.

Language selection << When I recieve one file

It is simple, just a text file.

Code:

Language:
English
繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
简体中文 (Simplied Chinese)
Français (French)
Deutsch (German)
etc.

We can omit (Traditional Chinese)/(Simplied Chinese)/(French)/(German) etc. on above. Because if the user don't speak French he/she won't click Français. Same as other languages.

Similarily for "Language" we can leave out follows:
語文(Traditional Chinese)/语文(Simplied Chinese)/Langue(French)/Sprache(German)

The user will understand it is a language selector.

Make it look nice << Now
Fix bug where half of title will be removed on December 31st. << Fixed
Make sure those extra files do not appear << I think fixed, can you confirm?

Wonderful

Please advise how to test the files on Vista. On which folder shall I save them? Thanks

To streamline our work and to better our mutual understanding may I suggest following arrangement:

All files exchanged are dated e.g.

Code:

linbread_20100404_r.dat
Verse_of_the_Day_20100404_r.exe

They indicate the file sent from you to me on Apr 04, 2010

Code:

linbread_20100404a_s.dat
Verse_of_the_Day_20100404a_s.exe

files from me to you on Apr 04, 2010, same day, "a" indicating following your files (i.e. your files come first)

Code:

linbread_zh.dat (traditional Chinese)
linbread_cn.dat (simplified Chinese0
linbread_fr.dat (French)
linbread_de.dat (German)
etc

Code:

Verse_of_the_Day_zh.exe
Verse_of_the_Day_cn.exe
Verse_of_the_Day_fr.exe
Verse_of_the_Day_de.exe

date and name to be added after country.

In this way I can send you the incomplete translation for you to start your work NOT until its completion. It'll take sometime.

Your suggestion is welcome. TIA

B.R.
satimis

How to exec .dat at boot

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