About myself: I am an English electronic engineer,
turned software engineer. I program full-time in VB, VC C++ and Java. I work for
a company who own all I do, hence this site is a little quiet now.
I use this site to learn about the web and to
distribute programs I have written. These include utilities I
needed and wrote for myself and programs I wrote to
investigate some programming issue. For instance I have written BrainChk in VB, VC both 16 and 32 bit, the
VB version is here, it is the prettiest. The utilities might as
well be released as only be used by myself.
Ever get two files that look the same,
same size, same version and same date. One PC is crashing
and the other is not wouldn't you like a way of ensuring
the data within the file is also identical. You could
just copy the files but if it is in use that can be a
problem. Now you can just right-click on the files and
get a number that proves the contents are the same or not
- no question.
This is written in C++ and Assembly
language, the result is VERY FAST.
The archive crcpp.zip (624
KB) contains the program and support files, or crcppmin.zip
(16 KB) has just the program, you can use this if the version
of MFC42.DLL/MSVCRT.DLL on your PC is 6.00.8447.0/6.00.8397.0 or
better. More info CRCShExt.txt
Version 1.03 Recompile to use
faster CRC DLL, now based on assembly language.
Version 1.02 Recompile to remove debug info
oops!, now it is smaller and maybe faster.
Version 1.01 Fixes problems on files following
taking the CRC of an empty file, cosmetic display changes.
I am not alone in producing a utility to do this,
you could also check out Greg
Lorrimans' page
Blesser (AKA System
Switcher)
As a developer, I find I often have to switch OS (NT4x or Win9x) to test things in each
environment.
There are two problems with that, you have to
stay around long enough to select the new OS from the boot menu
rather than get a drink. And then for each reboot you have to
select the OS again if it is not the default.
This program does two things when run. It changes
the default operating system to be the opposite to the [current] system in
which it is run. Then it reboots.
Originally I used a batch file to change the boot.ini
file but this couldn't reboot the PC (Yes, I now know this
possible with rundll commands!).
This is a rudimentary drawing element as an OCX,
designed for use with VB5/6. If you have ever been
disappointed to find that the line in VB won't let the
user drag it around, this might be the answer. It is not
fast, just written in VB5 but it is useable
The archive
ActvLine.zip
(23 KB) contains the OCX there is no install, it is
designed to be used in a VB5/6 project.
You can download the source ActLineSrc.zip
(36 KB) here, mail me back what you make of it!
Freeware
Clock Entry OCX (Touchscreen
time entry control)
This control works in two modes, first as
a text mode strict 'masked' edit that will not allow
invalid times. It may be used in this way as freeware.
Second it can be used in a graphical mode that is
designed for use on touchscreens, where there is no
keyboard, although it works perfectly with a mouse
The
archive ClkOCX.zip
(47 KB) contains the OCX, a sample project and a reg
file (new style .LIC file!) there is no install, it is
designed to be used in a VB5 project.
Commercial users, see the about box for reg info (unlock
code and source), freeware/shareware authors, e-mail me
and I will swap an unlock code for a registered version
of any programs you produce using it.
Note: This control will not work in Access.
Calendar OCX
This control is a tightly controlled date entry
text box with the option to drop down a graphical calendar.
No apologies it uses UK short date
format I get sick of the erratic international support if
I let windows or VB anywhere near a date. American users
can use the medium date format.
It is designed to be used with VB5 and
does not require any files beyond the standard VB5
runtime.
The archive Cal.zip (35
KB) contains the OCX and a sample project there is no
install, it is designed to be used in a VB5 project. More
info calendar.txt
Freeware
Note: This control will not work in
Access.
ZLibOCX
This is a simple to use in-memory compression OCX,
designed for use with 32 bit VB. It is only a wrapper around the
excellent zlib libraries developed by written by Mark Adler and
Jean-loup Gailly. The compression used is the same as that used
in PNG graphics or PKZIP, the best you can get!
More info ZLib.txt or the
archive ZLibOCX.zip
(55 KB) there is no install, it is designed to be used in VB4/5.
Freeware
CRC OCX
This is a simple to use in-memory CRC calculation
OCX, designed for use with 32 bit VB. It calculates industry
standard 16 and 32 bit CRC's, simple LRC (sums) and XOR's of an
arrays, all possible from VB but at least 500 times quicker in C++/ASM.
More info crcocx.txt or
the archive crcocx.zip
(55 KB) there is no install, it is designed to be used in VB
4/5/6.
Freeware control, source available for commercial
users who need to guarantee maintainability.
Version 1.00 - Initial release.
Version 1.01 - Fixed requirement for second progress bar in VB
project.
Version 1.02 - Now adds support for ModBUS/XModem CRCs (ISO CCITT16).
Version 1.03 - Now adds support for Reversed CCITT16.
Version 1.04 - Now does CRC of byte arrays and variants, quicker
and avoids and Unicode problems.
Version 1.05 -
Added an 8 bit CRC, by request source supplied,
unsure of its use.
Added Custom CRCs
Added functions to retrieve crc as hex/dec
string, for VB!
Optimized most CRC calculations with Assembly
language.
Added help.
Unsorted property page listbox and change size
to please VB6, but it still moans sometimes :(
Added GetLastError fx, call
this if the crc is 0, if it is genuinely 0, GetLastError will
return 0, else it
returns whatever error
it got from the OS, could be anything (but 0)!
Added a function to process a file on
disk.
Added functions and events to process
a file on disk asynchronously
COMCRC
This is a beta at present, but I have wrapped up [most of] the
CRC OCX functionality into a COM DLL
(24 KB), this means that you can calculate CRCs from scripting environments
like VBA. Even C++ dinosaurs who hate the sight of OCXs can use it in C++ :)
BrainChk
A little puzzle program I wrote (this is the VB5
version, I also did the same program in 16 and 32 bit C++). I
made it shareware, just to see if anybody registers this sort of
thing. The shareware cripple is very light and if you are any
good at the game then it won't affect you at all.
In the UK it is like the number puzzle part of
countdown, and before they get excited about copyright, I played
this as a kid with normal cards. In the USA I am told that there
is a game called Crypto which is about the same.
In short it is a math(s) puzzle, you use the top
cards to arrive at the bottom card.
I have had several e-mails and reviews
saying that the program suffers from a lack of a working out area/function.
This is missing the point, the point is to improve your mental
arithmetic!
It stuns me that this site ever got noticed, but apparently it
has, and I got a little picture to prove it, although it would be
easy to add a bunch of these.
LockerGnome, a sort of techy newsletter
is/has reviewed this site, the e-mail said that 130,000
subscribers
would see it, that should please my ISP : )
