README

Path: README
Last Update: Fri Dec 14 11:49:16 -0300 2007

windows-pr

Description

   A collection of Windows functions predefined for you via Win32::API.
   Hence the 'pr', for 'Pure Ruby'.

Synopsis

   require 'windows/path'

   class Foo
      include Windows::Path

      if PathIsRoot.call("C:\\") > 0
         ...
      end

      # or

      if PathIsRoot("C:\\")
         ...
      end
   end

Methods

   Each of the various files included as part of this package provide a series
   of constants corresponding to the equivalent Windows API function and
   related numeric constants.  For example, if you require 'windows/path',
   you now have PathIsRoot, PathIsUNC, etc, available to you as Win32::API
   objects in the form of constants.

   A wrapper has been provided for each method in order to avoid the
   Win32::API#call method. So, instead of PathIsRoot.call(path) you can
   invoke it as PathIsRoot(path). If the original function is lower case
   then the wrapper method is lower case as well.  For example, instead of
   doing 'Memcpy.call(dest, src, size)' you can do 'memcpy(dest, src, size)'.

   Remember boys and girls, if you write 'PathIsRoot', you're referring to
   the constant. If you write 'PathIsRoot()', you're calling the wrapper
   method.

   Boolean methods automatically perform a check for success or failure. So,
   instead of having to do something like 'if PathIsRoot(path) > 0' you can
   just do 'if PathIsRoot(path)'. However, I do not add this nicety for the
   MSVCRT functions that return int's because some functions have multiple
   return values which you may want to inspect. So, rather than making you
   guess, I have simply declared that you must inspect return values manually
   for any MSVCRT module.

   Source files contain related functions, by topic. For example, the
   clipboard.rb file contains clip board related functions, such as
   CloseClipboard(), as well as constants such as CF_TEXT, CF_BITMAP, etc.

Wide character functions

        I decided that the $KCODE handling was a bad idea, so most of the $KCODE
        handling has been removed.  The only methods that change their behavior
        based on $KCODE are the multi_to_wide and wide_to_multi helper methods
        in the Windows::Unicode module.  If $KCODE is set to UTF8, then the code
        point used is CP_UTF8.  Otherwise, CP_ACP is used.

        The modules all come with explicit ANSI and Wide (Unicode) functions,
        when available from MS Windows. By default, a function without an explicit
        'A' at the end of the function name uses the ANSI version. It is up to you
        to use the wide ('W') functions explicitly if you wish.

Platform specific functions

   Not all functions are defined on all platforms.  For example, the
   AttachConsole() function is only defined on Windows XP and later.  If you
   need to conditionally test for its existence, simply use the 'defined?'
   method:

   if defined? AttachConsole
      # Do something
   else
      # Do something else
   end

Where are the tests, dude?

   While I've made some effort to test these functions, there are simply too
   many for me to effectively test them all.  We're ultimately talking about
   hundreds, if not thousands, of functions, and I don't know what all of them
   actually do.  That being said, I will add tests where and when I can.

   If you find that I've declared the function prototype wrong for a given
   function, please let me know ASAP and I'll fix it.  An example program
   demonstrating the problem would be helpful, too.  Or, if you'd just like
   to contribute some test cases, that's fine as well.

What‘s the point?

   I became tired of redefining Windows functions over and over whenever I
   wanted to use the Win32API package.  I thought it would be very handy to
   have them predefined for me in a package with convenient wrapper methods
   to boot.

   While it's true that Moonwolf has a package on the RAA that includes many
   of these functions defined already, there are a few issues with it.  First,
   it puts *every* function and constant in one or two files.  That's a waste
   of memory, hard to organize & maintain, and impossible to test.  Second,
   some of his function declarations are wrong.  Third, some of the functions
   I needed for my own projects are missing.  Fourth, there's no gem.  Lastly,
   I haven't seen an update in over 6 years, which leads me to believe it is
   no longer maintained.

Hey, I‘m missing function X!

   I have only defined a small subset of the overall Windows API.  It would
   take me years to define them *all*.  I defined the ones I needed first,
   plus some that I thought would be useful to others.  I will continue to
   add functions in my spare time, or (especially) by request.

Bugs

   None that I'm aware of.  Please report any bugs on the project page at
   http://www.rubyforge.org/projects/win32utils.

   The only real bugs you could find are either bad prototype declarations
   or bad constant values.  Sometimes I forget to wrap functions properly
   that may not be defined on older Windows platforms.  But, please report
   any of these issues on the project page should you stumble into them.

Known Issues

   In some cases the MSDN docs are wrong, and we have to learn it the hard
   way. If you should happen to find a documentation bug on their site,
   please contact them and let them know. They're generally good about fixing
   them.

   In other cases library functions are not exported by the dll. For example,
   my version of shlwapi.dll does not export the PathIsHTMLFile() function,
   despite being well past the minimum version for that DLL file.  There is
   nothing you or I can do about it short of rebuilding the DLL file from
   scratch and/or reporting the issue to Microsoft.

Supported Platforms

   I only support the Windows NT family of Windows, and really only Windows
   2000 and later, though I'll make an effort to support NT 4 if there are
   any NT 4 related issues and requests to support it.

License

   Ruby's

Warranty

   This package is provided "as is" and without any express or
   implied warranties, including, without limitation, the implied
   warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Copyright

   (C) 2006, 2007, Daniel J. Berger
   All Rights Reserved

Author

   Daniel Berger

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