ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

[The Frog]

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to find a solution for handling zipped data without the
need to ship / install any DLL files with the database. Does anybody
know of code to handle ZIP files that does not require any external
references? If I can ship it 'built-in' as either a class module or
standard module then that would be perfect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

The Frog

[Tom van Stiphout]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:56:00 -0800 (PST), The Frog
<Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote:

That would require you to implement the zip file format and zip
decompression in VBA. Good luck with that.

-Tom.

>Hi Everyone,
>
>I am trying to find a solution for handling zipped data without the
>need to ship / install any DLL files with the database. Does anybody
>know of code to handle ZIP files that does not require any external
>references? If I can ship it 'built-in' as either a class module or
>standard module then that would be perfect.
>
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Cheers
>
>The Frog

[Stephen Lebans]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

I cannot find it right now but I have downloaded a VB6 class that supports
the ZIP file format. A Google search for "Zip Visual Basic class" should get
you started.

--

HTH
Stephen Lebans

http://www.lebans.com

Access Code, Tips and Tricks
Please respond only to the newsgroups so everyone can benefit.


"The Frog" <Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote in message
news:58cc3f9c-1b18-4e8a-bb8e-4613a683c48d@d6 1g2000hsa.googl egroups.com...

Hi Everyone,
>
I am trying to find a solution for handling zipped data without the
need to ship / install any DLL files with the database. Does anybody
know of code to handle ZIP files that does not require any external
references? If I can ship it 'built-in' as either a class module or
standard module then that would be perfect.
>
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
Cheers
>
The Frog

[Chuck Grimsby]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???


Create, extract, or both?

If the target machine is XP SP2, then all the DLLs you need are
already installed.

(Although to be honest, I've only does this with a VBScript file, not
in VBA.)



On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 01:56:00 -0800 (PST), The Frog
<Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote:

>I am trying to find a solution for handling zipped data without the
>need to ship / install any DLL files with the database. Does anybody
>know of code to handle ZIP files that does not require any external
>references? If I can ship it 'built-in' as either a class module or
>standard module then that would be perfect.
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

Chuck Grimsby <c.grimsby@worl dnet.att.net.in validwrote:

>
>Create, extract, or both?
>
>If the target machine is XP SP2, then all the DLLs you need are
>already installed.
>
>(Although to be honest, I've only does this with a VBScript file, not
>in VBA.)

Interesting. Got any URLs with VBScript code?

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
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[Chuck Grimsby]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:13:10 GMT, "Tony Toews [MVP]"
<ttoews@teluspl anet.netwrote:

>Chuck Grimsby <c.grimsby@worl dnet.att.net.in validwrote:

>>Create, extract, or both?
>>If the target machine is XP SP2, then all the DLLs you need are
>>already installed.
>>(Although to be honest, I've only does this with a VBScript file, not
>>in VBA.)

>Interesting. Got any URLs with VBScript code?

I got the source for this somewhere in Usenet, although I've forgotten
where. I have the full message, but it's on a Backup disk somewhere.
(It's not exactly new!)

Some who *really* knows VBScript could probably do a better job, but
this works.

This creates a Zip file and copies the contents of a whole folder into
it. As always, watch out for word wrap....

---------------------- Cut Here ------------------------------------
Option Explicit
Dim ZipFileName, FolderToZip
Dim oApp, MyHex, MyBinary, i
Dim oFSO, oTF

MyHex = Array(80, 75, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, 0,0, 0)
For i = 0 To UBound(MyHex)
MyBinary = MyBinary & Chr(MyHex(i))
Next

FolderToZip = "C:\Data Files\My Data\"
' in case someone forgets the last slash:
If Right(FolderToZ ip, 1) <"\" Then
FolderToZip = FolderToZip & "\"
End If

ZipFileName = "G:\Backups \" & _
FormatNowISO & _
"MyDataBackup.z ip"

'Create empty Zip File
Set oFSO = CreateObject("S cripting.FileSy stemObject")
Set oTF = oFSO.CreateText File(ZipFileNam e, True)
oTF.Write MyBinary
oTF.Close
Set oTF = Nothing
Set oFSO = Nothing

'Copy the files to the compressed folder
Set oApp = CreateObject("S hell.Applicatio n")
oApp.NameSpace( ZipFileName).Co pyHere _
oApp.NameSpace( FolderToZip).it ems

'Keep script waiting until Compressing is done
On Error Resume Next
Do Until oApp.NameSpace( ZipFileName).it ems.Count =
oApp.NameSpace( FolderToZip).it ems.Count
Application.Wai t (Now + TimeValue("0:00 :01"))
Loop
Set oApp = Nothing
On Error GoTo 0

'MsgBox "Done!" & vbnewline & _
"You'll find the zipfile here: " & vbnewline & _
ZipFileName

WScript.Quit

Function FormatNowISO
FormatNowISO = DatePart("yyyy" , Now())
FormatNowISO = FormatNowISO & Right("00" & DatePart("m", Now()), 2)
FormatNowISO = FormatNowISO & Right("00" & DatePart("d", Now()), 2)
' if the time is needed:
'FormatNowISO = FormatNowISO & _
Right("00" & DatePart("h", Now()), 2)
'FormatNowISO = FormatNowISO & _
Right("00" & DatePart("n", Now()), 2)
'FormatNowISO = FormatNowISO & _
Right("00" & DatePart("s", Now()), 2)
End Function
---------------------- Cut Here ------------------------------------

I'll have to dig out the backup to get at a un-zip script. As I
remember, it's pretty much the same thing, just copying the files out
of the (zipped) folder. I'll see if I can dig it out over the
Thanksgiving holiday.

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[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"Stephen Lebans" <ForEmailGotoMy .WebSite.-WWWdotlebansdot ...@linvalid.co mwrote:

>A Google search for "Zip Visual Basic class" should get
>you started.

Nope. way too many hits without the quotes and way too few hits with the quotes.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
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[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

Chuck Grimsby <c.grimsby@worl dnet.att.net.in validwrote:

>>Chuck Grimsby <c.grimsby@worl dnet.att.net.in validwrote:

>>>Create, extract, or both?
>>>If the target machine is XP SP2, then all the DLLs you need are
>>>already installed.
>>>(Although to be honest, I've only does this with a VBScript file, not
>>>in VBA.)

>

>>Interesting . Got any URLs with VBScript code?

>
>I got the source for this somewhere in Usenet, although I've forgotten
>where.

Thanks but I suspect that could be quite difficult to convert to VB/VBA. I suspect
that VBScripts opening of a .zip file is a lot more intelligent than would be
VB6/VBA.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at

http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

[Stuart McCall]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"Tony Toews [MVP]" <ttoews@teluspl anet.netwrote in message
news:vul7k35ggk a0h1vfjeaag88lf b0lhmdg0t@4ax.c om...

Thanks but I suspect that could be quite difficult to convert to VB/VBA.
I suspect
that VBScripts opening of a .zip file is a lot more intelligent than would
be
VB6/VBA.

Actually it wasn't too bad:

Sub CreateZip()
ZipFileName = "c:\temp\test1. zip"
FolderToZip = "c:\temp\testzi p\"

HexArray = Array(80, 75, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, 0, 0, 0)
For i = LBound(HexArray ) To UBound(HexArray )
BinStr = BinStr & Chr(HexArray(i) )
Next
Open ZipFileName For Output As 1
Print #1, BinStr
Close 1

Set oApp = CreateObject("S hell.Applicatio n")
oApp.NameSpace( ZipFileName).Co pyHere oApp.NameSpace( FolderToZip).it ems
Do Until oApp.NameSpace( ZipFileName).it ems.Count =
oApp.NameSpace( FolderToZip).it ems.Count
DoEvents
Loop
Set oApp = Nothing
End Sub

Although I've yet to find a way to copy individual files into the zip, other
than creating a folder, copying the files into it, then specifying this as
the source folder for the copy (which could be done transparently, but it's
a bit kludgy).

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"Stuart McCall" <smccall@myunre albox.comwrote:

>Thanks but I suspect that could be quite difficult to convert to VB/VBA.
>I suspect
>that VBScripts opening of a .zip file is a lot more intelligent than would
>be
>VB6/VBA.

>
>Actually it wasn't too bad:

No, that wouldn't have been bad at all. However I'm slightly skeptical that the
VBScript object would work in all systems. While I doubt I have any Win 2000 clients
left there could be some. And I'm just a skeptic.

So I think I'll use the infozip dlls so long as they will work if copied into the
same folder as the FE MDE. I do not want to worry about them having to be installed
in the system32 folder.

>Although I've yet to find a way to copy individual files into the zip, other
>than creating a folder, copying the files into it, then specifying this as
>the source folder for the copy (which could be done transparently, but it's
>a bit kludgy).

Interesting that.

Thanks, Tony

--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at

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[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"Stuart McCall" <smccall@myunre albox.comwrote:


BTW that might not even work on my system. I did the following to disable the
Windows zipping and am using (a legally purchased) Winzip.

Irritating searching within zip files
regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at

http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

The Frog <Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote:

>My goodness, we seem to have stirred up a lot of interest here.

<smile Sure, we were getting bored.

>With regards to using external dll's such as the infofzip ones, has
>anyone got an opinion to offer about their use? I was thinking that I
>would make a hidden table and store the dll as a blob, pop the dll
>into a temporary location when needed, then destroy it again at the
>end of the process. Has anyone done this before or have any other
>recommendation s? (Installing stuff is actually quite hard in this
>corporate environment, so minimising dependencies is crucial -
>effectively I need to be able to ship just an MDB / MDE file and let
>it do its job without concern for what is / isnt on the system in
>question).

Hmm, yes, that's possible I do beleive. Check Stephen Lebans website. Hmm, here's
one but it doesn't explicitly state dlls. http://www.lebans.com/oletodisk.htm That
said it does mention PDF files and such so it's quite possible. Worth spending a
half hour playing with it.

That's something I'm not too worried about as I don't mind packing up a few extra
DLLs for use. But I can see where you are coming from when dealing with IT Nazi
admins.

Tony


--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at

http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

[The Frog]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

Hi Tony,

The admins here largely are the root cause of my programming problems.
They make unpredictable changes to the OS's on every machine, dont
tell anyone anything, and refuse to take any accountability for their
actions - in short they dont manage all that well and arent made to.

The result is that I have lost many months worth of work due to their
actions (I think something like ~60k lines of code this year so far)
because I cannot guarantee that the application will actually be able
to run on any given day. Some days they work fine and others they
simply wont at all. No way to predict it unfortunately.

Because of this I have set about collecting / creating modules for MS
Access (97) that remove the dependencies from the system itself and
therefore minimise the risk of the application not running. I still
have to keep a copy of MDAC installers on standby, but thats about it.
Right now I am grappling with ZIP so that I can get some output into a
small enough filesize to email to a large group. The alternative would
be to use online drop-boxes such as rapidshare - but as I see it these
represent a risk that potentially sensitive data can end up easily in
the wrong hands (and besides, it probably breaches the rules I have to
stick to).

I will have a play with the DLL option and storing it in the app
itself, and dragging it out when necessary. I will keep you posted
with the progress. Probably wont have the time till next week though
to post any code on this one.

Cheers and thanks for your help

The Frog

[Stuart McCall]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"The Frog" <Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote in message
news:0c3274c2-8a2a-4c33-a719-bd9551ec9a35@g2 1g2000hsh.googl egroups.com...

Hi Tony,

<SNIP>

I will have a play with the DLL option and storing it in the app
itself, and dragging it out when necessary. I will keep you posted
with the progress. Probably wont have the time till next week though
to post any code on this one.
>
Cheers and thanks for your help
>
The Frog

You can try this module if you like. I've been using it successfully for
years, to "create" DLL's, icons, pictures and gen. purpose binary data. The
two main routines are FileToBinaryDat a and BinaryDataToFil e. The module as
it stands is intended to live in a library mdb. If you wish to use it in a
FE, simply change all CodeDB references to CurrentDb.

It requires a table tblBinaryData, with the structure:

Item Text 50
Value OLE Object

Item is the primary key.

''' CODE START '''
Option Compare Database
'
Private Const TPL_SELECT = "Select Value From tblBinaryData Where Item='?'"

Public Function GetBinaryData(B yVal Item$) As String
'Returns a binary item from tblBinaryData as a string

On Error GoTo GetBinaryData_E rr
'
With CodeDb.OpenReco rdset(Replace(T PL_SELECT, "?", Item),
dbOpenSnapshot)
GetBinaryData = !Value
.Close
End With

GetBinaryData_E xit:
Exit Function

GetBinaryData_E rr:
Resume GetBinaryData_E xit

End Function

Public Function PutBinaryData(B yVal Item$, ByVal Value$) As Boolean
'Stores a binary item in tblBinaryData
'Returns True for success

On Error GoTo PutBinaryData_E rr
'
With CodeDb.OpenReco rdset("tblBinar yData", dbOpenDynaset)
.FindFirst "Item=" & Quoted(Item)
If .NoMatch Then
.AddNew
!Item = Item
Else
.Edit
End If
!Value = Value
.Update
.Close
End With
'
PutBinaryData = True

PutBinaryData_E xit:
Exit Function

PutBinaryData_E rr:
Resume PutBinaryData_E xit

End Function

Public Function DelBinaryData(B yVal Item$) As Boolean
'Deletes a binary item from tblBinaryData
'Returns True for success

On Error GoTo DelBinaryData_E rr
'
With CodeDb.OpenReco rdset(Replace(T PL_SELECT, "?", Item), dbOpenDynaset)
If .BOF Then Exit Function
.Delete
.Close
End With
'
DelBinaryData = True

DelBinaryData_E xit:
Exit Function

DelBinaryData_E rr:
Resume DelBinaryData_E xit

End Function

Public Function FileToBinaryDat a(ByVal File$, ByVal Item$) As Boolean
'Retrieves a binary item from a file and stores it in tblBinaryData
'Returns True for success

On Error GoTo FileToBinaryDat a_Err
'
b$ = BinFileToString (File)
If b = "" Then Exit Function
FileToBinaryDat a = PutBinaryData(I tem, b)

FileToBinaryDat a_Exit:
Exit Function

FileToBinaryDat a_Err:
Resume FileToBinaryDat a_Exit

End Function

Public Function BinaryDataToFil e(ByVal File$, ByVal Item$) As Boolean
'Retrieves a binary item from tblBinaryData and creates a file from it
'Returns True for success

On Error GoTo BinaryDataToFil e_Err
'
b$ = GetBinaryData(I tem)
If b = "" Then Exit Function
StringToBinFile b, File
'
BinaryDataToFil e = True

BinaryDataToFil e_Exit:
Exit Function

BinaryDataToFil e_Err:
Resume BinaryDataToFil e_Exit

End Function

Public Function BinFileToString (ByVal File) As String
'Returns a binary item retrieved from a file

On Error GoTo BinFileToString _Err
'
f% = FreeFile
Open File For Binary Access Read Lock Write As f%
b$ = Space$(LOF(f))
Get #f%, , b
Close f
'
BinFileToString = b

BinFileToString _Exit:
Exit Function

BinFileToString _Err:
MsgBox Err.Description , vbCritical, "modBinaryData. BinFileToString "
Resume BinFileToString _Exit

End Function

Public Function StringToBinFile (ByVal bin$, ByVal File$) As Boolean
'Creates a file from the passed string
'Returns True for success

On Error GoTo StringToBinFile _Err
'
If Dir(File) <"" Then Kill File
f% = FreeFile
Open File For Binary Access Write Lock Read As f
Put #f, , bin
Close f
'
StringToBinFile = True

StringToBinFile _Exit:
Exit Function

StringToBinFile _Err:
MsgBox Err.Description , vbCritical, "modBinaryData. StringToBinFile "
Resume StringToBinFile _Exit

End Function
''' CODE END '''

[Stuart McCall]

Re: ZIP code module without DLL dependencies???

"The Frog" <Mr.Frog.to.you @googlemail.com wrote in message
news:49cdee52-13c2-4450-b5bd-a8729f4dc9f8@j2 0g2000hsi.googl egroups.com...

Hi Everyone,

<SNIP>

Thankyou all for the valuable input on this too. The scripting stuff
is actually quite intriguing. I would be interested to see the single
file version if anyone has an idea on that one.

Take a look here:

http://www.rondebruin.nl/windowsxpzip.htm#Code

Examples for just about everything.