(API) Create ShortCut Function [Danilo Code]

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/(API) Create ShortCut Function [Danilo Code]

virtlands (Posted 2013) [#1]

I encountered some excellent "create shortcut" code by some PureBasic coder named Danilo. The function uses API methods. ...So I transferred his code into a DLL procedure for easy use with Blitz3D. Click here to download my "ShellLink.DLL" code, +etc., http://uploadingit.com/file/clale9n6z7iwu7ry/%5BAPI%5D%20Create%20Shortcut%20Function%20_%5BDanilo%20code%5D.zip Here's the B3D demonstration: (already included in link) ; This demonstration program shows a convenient way to create shortcuts ; on the desktop (or anywhere), and uses a DLL function to do it. ; This B3D program was created VirtLands (Feb 1,2013) ; ; The actual "ShellLink" code was created by an author named Danilo, ; <a href="http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=44477&p=340289#p340289" target="_blank">http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=44477&p=340289#p340289</a> ; I simply transferred it into a DLL, for use by Blitz3D ; Create a DECLS file named ShellLink.decls in your userlibs folder, and copy these 3 lines into it. ; .lib "ShellLink.dll" ; createShellLink%(obj$, lnk$, arg$, desc$, dir$, icon$, index%) ; getSpecialFolder$(id%) ; -- Following are some important constants. -- ; -- here are websites that show a complete list of these "Special Folder" constants: ; -- <a href="http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/24308/Accessing-All-of-Windows-Special-Folders" target="_blank">http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/24308/Accessing-All-of-Windows-Special-Folders</a> ; -- <a href="http://svnpenn.blogspot.com/2011/01/csidl-constants.html" target="_blank">http://svnpenn.blogspot.com/2011/01/csidl-constants.html</a> ; -- only about 2 of these constants will actually be used today. Const CSIDL_WINDOWS = 36 Const CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY = 16 Const CSIDL_DESKTOP = 0 Const CSIDL_PROGRAMS = 2 Const CSIDL_PERSONAL = 5 Const CSIDL_FONTS = 20 Const CSIDL_APPDATA = 26 Const CSIDL_SYSTEM = 37 Const CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES = 38 Const CSIDL_MYPICTURES = 39 Const CSIDL_PROFILE = 40 Global obj$, lnk$, arg$, desc$, dir$, icon$, index% ;; So, here are those variables described: --------------- ;; obj$ = destined to be the complete path+file name of the file to create a link to. ;; lnk$ = destined to be the complete path+file name of the link file to create, ( ends with .LNK ) ;; arg$ = if the program uses arguments then place them here; most programs don't need args. ;; desc$ = place your program description here ;; dir$ = this is the "working dir" or parent path of that file, i.e., where it "lives" ( dir$ is a subset of obj$ ) ;; icon$ = the link file also needs an icon, so we'll snatch it from some other file ;; ( in many cases, icon$=obj$ ) ;; index% = this describes the icon offset Graphics 800,600,32,2 ;; the "standard" graphics statement Print" This is a demonstration program for creating shortcuts " Print ;;------ obj = getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_WINDOWS) + "Notepad.exe" ;; Let's try to create a link to "NotePad" lnk = getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY) + "Demo Link A.lnk" ;; We'll save the shortcut to the desktop arg = "" ;; so far there are no program arguments desc = "Open Notepad" dir = getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_WINDOWS) ;; I've set the "working dir" of "notepad.exe" as = CSIDL_WINDOWS icon = obj ;; in this case, the icon for the shortcut link to be the same as that of "Notepad.exe" index = 0 ;; the icon index is 0 icon = getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_SYSTEM) + "shell32.dll" index = 41 ;; in shell32.dll, icon index 41 is a little green tree . , Print" Icon = "+icon ;Print" dir = "+dir ;Print getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_SYSTEM) ;; ;WaitKey():End createShellLink(obj, lnk, arg, desc, dir, icon, index) ;; <-- the actual function that creates the link. If FileType(lnk) Print" The desktop shortcut was successfully created. " Else Print" Error: The desktop shortcut was NOT created. " End If End WaitKey():End ; Be sure to create some file named "ShellLink.DECLS" inside ; your B3D userlibs folder. Copy these 3 details into it: .lib "ShellLink.dll" createShellLink%(obj$, lnk$, arg$, desc$, dir$, icon$, index%) getSpecialFolder$(id%) ;------------------------ The above demo code demonstrates creating a shortcut for something like " NotePad.exe " I'll try to explain in detail some of the variables: obj$ = path to the object to make a link for link$ = location and name of the actual shortcut *.LNK file .... You may snatch away icons from other DLL files (that are already on your PC) and use them as you wish to become the icon for the LINK. DLLs (and EXEs) typically have many icons within them. These icons can be accessed using 'icon indexes' (=offsets) index% = (choose the offset that you want) To see what the real icon offsets are, use this free program called IconsExtract http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/iconsext.html It was the only program that I could find that shows the true offsets. This screenshot shows a sample of the icons found in shell32.dll My shellLink.DLL program expects an offset starting at zero, but the offsets shown in IconsExtract start at "1". Therefore, you'll just have to subtract 1 to get the real thing. Notice, for example that the green tree icon has an index of 42. To use that icon, you must enter "41" as in "index=41" When you then run the example code, you may end up with an icon on your desktop that looks like this: Of course you can place the LNK file anywhere you wish, but most of the time they are placed on the desktop. The getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_WINDOWS) routine will return the path to your WINDOWS directory, { In Win7 it is "C:\WINDOWS } The getSpecialFolder(CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY)routine will return the path to your DESKTOP directory The create shortcut function is: createShellLink(obj, lnk, arg, desc, dir, icon, index) If you want to learn about the LNK format as much as possible, then you can download the [MS-SHLLINK] PDF, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd871305 THat PDF is about as detailed as you can possibly get. There is also this nice program called Windows LNK Parsing utility that will dissect LNK files, and tell you everything it finds. http://tzworks.net/prototype_page.php?proto_id=11 The purebasic code used to create the DLL is already included in the download link. The original website with all the Danilo code is this one: http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=44477&p=340289#p340289 Hope you enjoy the program. I already tested it, and it works.