My Knowledge Collection
Things which move my world

SAP^® Community

My profile in the SAP^® Community
The SAP^® Community is a platform for each content round about SAP^®. You can find the SAP^® Community here and you can find my profile here.

SAP^® GUI Scripting

START, die Zukunft des SAP^® GUI Scripting?
Prakash Upadhyay von der SAP^® schrieb am 16.02.2017 in seinem Blog über das "Simple Test Automation for Regression Tests" (START) Framework. Hier eine zusammenfassende Übersetzung:
Bei START handelt es sich um ein UI Automation Framework zum Testen von Applikationen jeder SAP^® UI Technologie (FIORI^®, UI5^®, HTML GUI etc). START bietet einen generischen Ansatz zur Aufzeichnung von Benutzeraktivitäten und zur Erstellung von Testfällen, welche dann in unterschiedlichen Testphasen oder mit Testtypen zum Einsatz kommen können. Die Testfälle werden durch die Interaktion eines Benutzers mit der Applikation erzeugt. START unterstützt Applikationen welche im Rahmen FIORI^®, UI5^®, HTMLGUI etc. entwickelt wurden. START nutzt eCATT^® (extended Computer Aided Test Tool), Chrome WebDrivers, Selenium JAR files und andere DLLs zur Aufzeichnung von Benutzeraktivitäten in einem Browser auf der Windows-Plattform.
Mit START ist es nicht notwendig zu Programmieren, es ist ein absolutes Null coding test case Development Framework. Es nutzt das .NET Framework und den FIORI-Selenium WebDriver zum Aufzeichnen und Abspielen von Benutzeraktivitäten im Web UI. Die Testskripte, welche von der START-Engine erzeugt werden, werden auf dem Server gespeichert. Das reduziert die Ladezeiten für den Client und sorgt für eine Wiederverwendbarkeit der Tests. Die START Engine Utilities unterstützen dabei die Verwaltung, wobei auch eine Versionierung vorhanden ist. Entwickler können ihren Code in bestehende Tests einfügen. START hat eine Light-Client-Installation, die meisten Bibliotheken des Framework sind Server-seitig installiert. Als SAP^® internes Werkzeug besitzt START eine hohe Integration zum SAP-System und dem eCATT-Framework. START ist integriert in die SAP^® Test-Workbench, damit können die Testfälle später mit einem Debugger verarbeitet werden. START kann auf jedem Windows 64-bit System installiert werden.
Das START-Framework identifiziert die FIORI UI-Controls und speichert sie im Selenium-Script, welches von der START-Engine ausgeführt werden kann.
Software-Voraussetzungen: .NET Framework 4.0, JDK(64-Bit) und Uninstall 32-Bit Version, IE 10, Chrome-36 oder Firefox 30 und höher.

Es wird deutlich sichtbar, dass die UI-Entwicklung im SAP-Umfeld mehr und mehr den SAP^® GUI für Windows hinter sich läßt. Leider geht aus der Beschreibung nicht eindeutig hervor, ob es sich hier ausschließlich um ein Testwerkzeug für Web UIs oder für alle handelt, d.h. inklusive dem SAP^® GUI für Windows. Machen wir uns auf eine Web UI basierte Zukunft gefasst.

Web UI Automatisierung
Mehr und mehr werden Desktop-Anwendungen durch Web-Applikationen ersetzt. Für Automatisierungsansätze empfiehlt sich die Selenium Tools Suite. Zum Betrieb von Selenium wird der Standalone Server und der Client mit dem entsprechenden WebDriver Language Binding von hier benötigt. Weiterhin wird ein WebDriver für den Browser benötigt. Dieser ist natürlich abhängig vom verwendeten Browser. Beispielsweise für Google Chrome ist er hier resp. hier zu finden.
Hinweis: Es ist unbedingt darauf zu achten in welcher Version der WebDriver vorliegt - x86 (PE L) oder x64 (PE d). In Abhängigkeit dazu ist das entsprechende Runtime Environment der Programmiersprache zu wählen. Der WebDriver für Chrome liegt beispielsweise nur in der x86 Version vor, so muss hier z.B. für Java™ die i586 Version des JDK verwendet werden.
Nach dem Beschaffen der notwendigen Komponenten kann mit dem hier vorliegenden Java-Beispielprogramm ein einfacher Test durchgeführt werden.

How to read any table with SAP^® GUI Scripting and write it to a CSV file
You can do a lot of things with SAP^® GUI Scripting. Beside the simulation of user inputs you can automize a lot of other stuff. But therefore it is necessary to mix handy the possibilities of SAP^® GUI Scripting and Visual Basic^® Scripting. In the following source code I show how to read any table from the ALV-Grid of the transaction code SE16 record by record and write it in a text file. The delimiter between each field is a semicolon.
Look at the source here.
If you want to process the records of the table inside your Visual Basic^® Scripting code, it is not in any case a benefit to work with a file. In the following source I show the same way, but the target is an array - not a file.
Look at the source here.
With this examples it is very easy to export any table from SAP^® and import the data e.g. in Microsoft^® Excel^® to analyze or process it.

Access to SAP^® via ActiveX control
With the installation of SAP^® GUI for Windows^® on the presentation server you get also some ActiveX controls to connect and to communicate with a SAP^® system. You can use these ActiveX controls easily inside Visual Basic Script^® and therefore inside of a HTML file resp. HTML application - but only with Microsoft^® Internet Explorer^®. It is possible to build a HTML GUI and use it with data from a SAP^® system. Inside the HTML there is a VBScript^® functionality necessary, which gets the data from the SAP^® system and uses the Document Object Model (DOM).
In the following source I create an easy GUI. There is only the connection parameters, an input field for a SAP^® table name and a button to view the SAP^® table content in the HTML table. So you can view any SAP^® table content as HTML table.
Look at the source here.

Check the Existence of an Object Without Exception
Different SAP^® environments are not always identical. So it is possible that an GUI object is available in one environment, but not in another. Here a method how to check the existence of a GUI object in SAP^® GUI Scripting. In a normal case, if an object not exists, you get an exception error in a messagebox and the SAP^® GUI script terminate immediately. With this method you can choose whether the SAP^® GUI script terminate or not. I think this method is a way to make SAP^® GUI Scripting more robust for the work in different environments.
In the following source I create the sub procedure C which gets the SAP^® GUI Scripting command as string parameter and delivers it to the method Exe of the Check class. This method calls the method FindById and if it doesn't find an object, an exception is thrown. Now the class was destroyed and the destructor calls the method ErrCatch. This method opens a messagebox and sets a global flag. If the flag is set, with a positive answer of the messagebox, the script terminate immediately or runs again with a negative answer. In the example I check the objects of the logon screen.
Look at the source here.

ABAP^® code snippets

Import CSV file into table
In a few cases it is necessary to transfer table data from one system to another. Here a report how to import table data from a csv file in a system. To export table data you can use transaction code SE16. This method doesn't work with a table which contains RAW data fields.


Look at the source here.

Reset Passwords of SAP^® Standard Users in Different Clients
In a normal case you configure the SAP^® standard users like SAP* or DDIC once when you install the application server. But later, month ago, it could be possible that you forget the passwords of the standard users in the different clients of the application server. Here a program to set or copy the passwords of the standard users in the client 000 from client 001.
Look at the source here.

Examples of ActiveX^® Library Integration in ABAP^®

With ABAP^® and the include Ole2Incl resp. the type pool OLE2 it is possible to use OLE applications on the presentation server. Now a few examples to show some possibilities.

• How to use SAP^® GUI Scripting inside ABAP^®
  
  04.12.2011 / 22.07.2016
  In actual versions from SAP^® for Windows^® the security options don't allow the using of SAP^® GUI Scripting inside ABAP^®. Disable this security rules to try the following source.
  Look at the source here.
  
  
• How to use Visual Basic Script^®
  
  24.10.2011
  It is also possible to use Microsoft^® Visual Basic Script^® inside ABAP^®. This means you can execute scripts direct from ABAP^®.
  Look at the sources here and here.
  
  
• How to use Google^® translate
  
  24.01.2011
  With the Microsoft^® Internet Explorer^® it is possible to call web sites via COM. In the following code we call Google^® translate and send a text to translate it and get the result back. It translate from German to English language.
  This program bases on a VBA^® code snippet from Jean Pierre Allain, thanks to Jean Pierre.
  Look at the source here.
  
  
• How to use Microsoft^® Word^® spell and grammar checker
  
  03.10.2010
  The Microsoft^® Office^® applications are a quasi standard, installed on most of the business computers and it can be use via OLE. Now it is a small step to use the functionalities of the Office^® applications also in ABAP^®. In the following code we look at the spelling and grammar checker of Microsoft^® Word^®. You get any text you want from ABAP^® to Word^®, check it and it is returned in a corrected form.
  Look at the source here.
  
  
• How to call a Windows^® CHM help file with ABAP^®
  
  10.08.2009
  With this ABAP^® code it is possible to call each CHM help file on the presentation server and control them. You can switch between the tabs, open the content you want and close the file.
  Look at the source here.

Use DLL calls in ABAP^®
It is not ordinary but very easy to use DLL calls in ABAP^® or script languages, e.g. Visual Basic Script^® or JavaScript. Yuri Popov programmed a module, called DynamicWrapperX. It is an ActiveX component, which allow to call each function in a DLL you want via COM. A great module. You find the module here.
Thanks to Yuri Popov for this module.
The library offers a lot of functions but I miss the possibility to set a string on an address I want. So I programmed a small extension library to do it. The library contains only one function, with the name StrPut. You find it here.

• How to call Windows^® API OutputDebugString with ABAP^®
  
  25.01.2011
  To view ABAP^® debug output on the presentation server you can use the Windows^® API function OutputDebugString. zDebug is an example, it is a small collection of ABAP^® procedures or classes to use an external debugger, e.g. like DebugView from Microsoft^® TechNet, to catch the debug output.
  Look at the source here.
  Important hint: These procedures only works with foreground jobs and online processes. They does not work with background jobs and batch processes.
  
  
• How to call each DLL function in ABAP^®
  
  26.06.2009
  With this module you can use DLL calls in ABAP^®, the SAP programming language, very easy too.
  And it is necessary to register DynamicWrapperX on the presentation server too, with regsvr32.exe dynwrapx.dll.
  Look at the following example:
  
  

  Include OLE2INCL.
  
  Data:
    IDYes Type i Value 6,
    IDNo Type i Value 7.
  
  Data:
    Win32 Type OLE2_OBJECT,
    ret Type i.
  
  Create Object Win32 'DynamicWrapperX'.
  
  Call Method Of Win32 'Register'
    Exporting
      #1 = 'user32.dll'
      #2 = 'MessageBoxW'
      #3 = 'i=hwwu'
      #4 = 'r=l'.
  
  Call Method Of Win32 'MessageBoxW' = ret
    Exporting
      #1 = 0
      #2 = 'Hello World'
      #3 = 'Test'
      #4 = 4.
  
  If ret = IDYes.
    Write 'Ja'.
  ElseIf ret = IDNo.
    Write 'Nein'.
  Else.
    Write '?'.
  EndIf.
  
  Free Object Win32.

  Important hint: This method works only with foreground jobs and online processes. It works not with background jobs and batch processes.
  
  See also my thread in the SCN here.

RFC Read Table in JSON Format
Here the complete extended function module of RFC_READ_TABLE with the possibility to export the content in JSON format. You can find the corresponding post in the SAP Community here.


My collection of posts in the SAP^® Community

• How To Export SAP Table Content to SQLite Data Containers

Hints for miniSAP^®

Datenbankablage für ArchiveLink^® einrichten
Der Beitrag ist hier zu finden, die Installation des Adobe Reader wird vorausgesetzt.
Der Quellcode ist hier zu finden.

PowerShell

How to use VB.NET via PowerShell inside Java
Here an example how to use VB.NET inside Java, equivalent to the ABAP example. The VB code is in an external file in a project directory from Eclipse.
Look at the source here.




How To Use PowerShell Inside Java
I use JaCoB (Java COM Bridge) with SAPIEN Technologies ActiveX PowerShell library. On this way it is possible to use PowerShell seamless and easily inside Java. With regard to the Eclipse IDE this may be an interesting aspect - but I must admit a little bit exotic.
Look at the source here.



How to use SQLite ODBC with PowerShell
Here is an approach how to use SQLite databases with PowerShell script language via an ODBC driver. On this way we have the possibility to export tables from an SAP system into a SQLite container, to use it from the backend via ABAP and also to use it from the frontend via PowerShell. It should be also considered that SQLite is available for Android, Linux, Mac OS X and different Windows platforms e.g. like Windows Phone. So we can exchange static data or data without permanent changes easily.
Look at the source here.

My collection of posts in the SAP^® Community

Here a collection of interesting links from different perspectives for using Microsoft PowerShell with SAP:

• ABAP
  • Enhancement: How To Use .NET Languages Inside ABAP
  • Enhancement: How To Call DLL Functions In ABAP
  • How to Call DLL Functions Inside ABAP
  • How to Use VB# (Visual Basic dotNET) Inside ABAP
  • How to use Windows PowerShell Script inside ABAP
  
  
• Connectivity
  • Sandbox Web Scenario to Mockup Applications with PHP, PowerShell and NCo
  • How to Detect all Connected Systems and Programs with CCo and NCo
  • How To Use SAP HANA ABAP Source Search via PowerShell
  • How To Use NCo With PowerShell 5 Classes Feature
  • How to Call BAPI Function Modules with PowerShell via NCo
  • Load NCo in Relation to Shell and Get Destination with Password Requester
  • How To Use NCo With PowerShell: Client Apps (PowerShell uses .NET Connector)
  • How To Get Data From SAP NW Gateway Interface with OData via PowerShell
  • Windows PowerShell with SAP Gateway Services (from Scott Stefanich)
  • Review: Use Limits of SAP ActiveX Libraries in .NET Environment PowerShell
  
  
• SAP GUI Scripting
  • Collection vs. Children, the Busy Difference
  • Different Behaviour of the Chrome Browser in the Context of Selenium Script Recording and Replaying
  • How To Combine SAP GUI Scripting And Selenium WebDriver
  • Complete Launch Sequence of SAP GUI Scritping in PowerShell
  • Use SAP GUI Scripting with Native PowerShell
  • SAP GUI Scripting Recorder with PowerShell
  • How to Use PowerShell for Automated Login to SAP
  • How to use dotNET Languages Inside SAP GUI Scripting or GuiXT
  • How to Combine Windows PowerShell Script and SAP GUI Scripting
  • How to use SAP GUI Scripting Inside Windows PowerShell (Part 2)
  • How to use SAP GUI Scripting Inside Windows PowerShell
  
  
• COM Bridge to PowerShell
  • How To Use dotNET Connector NCo Inside VBA
  • Review: PowerShell Script Version 5 with SAPIENs ActiveXPosh Version 3
  
  

Links to PowerShell

• Microsoft PowerShell
• Windows PowerShell Blog
• Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog
• Social Technet PowerShell
• Microsoft Virtual Academy
• PowerShell GUI with HTML
• eBooks - Helping you Conquer the Shell

PHP

How To Use PowerShell Inside PHP
With SAPIEN Technologies ActiveX PowerShell library and PHP Windows extension for COM is it also possible to use PowerShell seamless and easily inside PHP.
Look at the source here.


Google^® Chrome™ version 55 executes PowerShell code with VB.NET


Microsoft^® Internet Explorer^® version 11 executes PowerShell code Get-Host and Get-Process

Windows based extensions - COM and .Net
The .Net extension for PHP accesses through to COM and from there to .Net. This means that all the .Net binaries need to be COM visible or it is not possible to use them with PHP, e.g. like sapnco.dll.

My collection of posts in the SAP^® Community
Here a collection of interesting links from different perspectives for using PHP with SAP:

• How to use NetWeaver RFC Library with PHP and COM Connector
  

Links to PHP

• PHP Group

AutoIt
AutoIt is a scripting language for automating the Windows^® GUI. Here is a collection of tips for AutoIt. Recently this was a copy of my blog in the AutoIt forum, but the operator of the forum decided to remove all blogs, because it was not well utilised. Now I will continue here my tips and add some more.

How to control a client from SAP^® ABAP^®
It is very easy to control a client system from SAP^® ABAP^®. Use the transaction code SOLE to register AutoItX on the SAP^® system and type in the fields the following content:

• OLE Application: AutoItX3.Control
• CLSID: {1A671297-FA74-4422-80FA-6C5D8CE4DE04}
• CLSID Type Lib: {F8937E53-D444-4E71-9275-35B64210CC3B}
• OLE-Objectname: AutoItX3.Control
• Language: DE
• Text: Scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI

Do not forget to register AutoItX on the client system via regsvr32.exe AutoItX.dll.
Now you can use AutoIt from ABAP^®, look at the simple example, it call notepad and type a text in it:

Include OLE2INCL.

Data:
  AutoIt Type OLE2_OBJECT,
  pid Type i.

Create Object AutoIt 'AutoItX3.Control'.

Call Method Of AutoIt 'Run' = pid
  Exporting #1 = 'notepad.exe'.

Call Method Of AutoIt 'WinWaitActive'
  Exporting #1 = 'Unbenannt - Editor'.

Call Method Of AutoIt 'Send'
  Exporting #1 = 'Hallo von ABAP'.

Free Object AutoIt.

You see how easy it is.

Is there a favorite way to access to the SAP^® GUI?
There are several ways to interact with the SAP^® GUI. One way I introduce in this blog, the direct interaction with the GUI from AutoIt. Another way is the SAP^® GUI Scripting, a library with COM interfaces which enables access to the SAP^® GUI. We all know that AutoIt support function calls via COM. You find a little introduction about SAP^® GUI Scripting here and here. Beneath the section literature you find the documentation for Microsoft^® Windows^® and general information about the technical infrastructure.
But now to the actual question: Is there a favorite way to access to the SAP^® GUI? I want to show few advantages and disadvantages for this or that.
With the SAP^® GUI Scripting it is necessary on the host system to activate explicit the scripting. You can do it with the transaction code (TAC) RZ11 and the parameter User Scripting, which must be set on true - in capital letters. The default of this parameter is false. If you do not have the rights to set this parameter, you can not use SAP^® GUI Scripting. Another requirement is the version of the SAP^® GUI, it must be equal or higher than 6.20. After these hurdles are taken, you can use SAP^® GUI Scripting, his tools and the COM interface. With the direct access via AutoIt to the GUI are these conditions all the same.
The access to the SAP^® GUI and the controls via AutoIt is not very easy, long and permanently changing window names and no names or ID of a lot of controls. If you use Au3Info you get a lot of information, but not all you need to ensure the correct function of your module. So it is the best to work only or mostly with keystrokes. If you work with SAP^® GUI Scripting it is easier but not trivial to use the windows and controls you want. SAP^® GUI Scripting uses an own object model. You can access to a control via a path of GuiApplication/GuiConnection/GuiSession/GuiMainWindow etc. In the coding it looks like these: /app/con[0]/ses[0]/wnd[0]/usr/ctxtDATABROWSE-TABLENAME. You can exactly do what you want.
You see, we finally can not decide which way is better. The direct access via AutoIt is easier to handle but more difficult, the access via SAP^® GUI Scripting needs special requirements but the GUI control is very fine.
You see, each way has its advantages and its disadvantages, a recommendation for one direction cannot be recognized clearly - perhaps a mixture from both. Let us looking forward to our experience.

How to create a Microsoft^® Access^® database without Access^®
Here is a way to create a Microsoft^® Access^® database without an installed Access^® on the system. It is very easy to create a database. It is necessary to open (System-)Control > Administration > Datasources (ODBC). With the ODBC administration it is possible to create the database. You can create a database and set the User-DSN (Data Source Name) in the ODBC administration - with one single mouse click.
Look at the source here.

Add your own buttons in SAP^® GUI with your own functions
Here is a program which adds a button in the toolbar of the SAP^® GUI. It is designed for the sub functions of the transaction SE80, especially ABAP^®-Editor resp. SE38. If the event of the button click fires, the function save (Ctrl+S), check (Ctrl+F2), activate (Ctrl+F3) and process (F8). I think, you can use this technic for any program.
Look at the source here.

Switch font in SAP^® GUI
With the following code you activate the I18N multi-byte functionality in SAP^®. After you activate it, it is possible to switch to another individual font on the SAP^® GUI.
Look at the source here.

Switch new or classic editor design in SAP^® SE80
With the following code you switch between new or classic design of the ABAP editor.
Look at the source here.

SAP^® GUI change always window name
At the analysis of the SAP^® GUI activities, I see that the window name always changes, if you choose another transaction. My solution is to work with AutoIt and the SAP^® GUI: Use only the class name of the window. With this way the title of the window never minds. Dim $WinTitle = "[CLASS:SAP_FRONTEND_SESSION]" But be careful, if you open more then one session, you can not divide between the windows. This way is useful if you have only one session.

Start SAP^® LogonPad and GUI, Login and start Object Navigator
This is the next step in the chain to start and control SAP¸. Now we must start the SAP^® LogonPad and choose the system we want to connect. After the start of the SAP^® GUI we must type the user name and password. I repeat this activities some times a day, so it is a good candidate for a script to automate it.
Look at the source here.
It is not very difficult to understand how the script works, I described it above. The script starts the transaction SE80, it means the object navigator, e.g. to code programs in ABAP^® language. After all the script kills the LogonPad.
Good Login.
Extension: I optimize the script on the 02/19/09 and integrate an information from Ahmad - Thanks a lot to Ahmad for his hint and his solution.

Start SAP^® ABAP^® server
It is not a problem to control SAP^® with AutoIt. With this entry I present the first step to automate SAP^® activities with AutoIt. Here is a code snippet to start a local ABAP^® Server of SAP^® NetWeaver^® 7.0. This step is very often only for administrators, not for normal users. But if you install a local SAP^® system, it is necessary for you.
Look at the source here.
I am a lazy man, and believe me, it is a little bit dodgy, if you experiment with ABAP^®, to start the application server. Open the SAP^® Management Console, start the server, type your password, always the same. Yeah, I know, under normal circumstances you do it once a day or so, or until the next start of the computer. Now, this script work for my idleness, only start it with a stupid twin click and the ABAP^® server start.
Good launch.

Helpful Hints for Microsoft^® Windows^®

How to find drivers for Windows^®
Microsoft^® offers a very good database to find hardware drivers. You find the catalog here.

How to update Windows^® Defender without online connection
It very easy to update Windows^® Defender, the actual security program in Windows^® 8, without an online connection. Use the link to microsoft.com and download the correct file. Execute the file, e.g. mpam-fe.exe, from the Explorer^® with administration rights. Now the Defender is up to date.

OLE experience
OLEView is an OLE/COM viewer from Microsoft^® and a part of the Windows^® SDK. It is possible with a simple mouse click to view the type library of the COM library with this tool in IDL (Interface Definition Language). But something is to notice: You must use a version number for the COM library 1.0 and higher. If you use a version number 0.x, it is not possible to view the interface - you get an error. The COM library work with a version number 0.x perfect, but OLEView can not read the interface and store the IDL file. The COM viewer, also from Microsoft^®, shows the interface without any problems.

Erkenntnisse zu Microsoft^® Word^® Dokumentenvorlagen
Die Dateien des normalen Word^® Dokumentenformates werden im Normalfall mit der Extension doc gekennzeichnet. Word^® kennt noch weitere Formate, u.a. die Dokumentenvorlagen, die mit der Extension dot versehen sind. So klar wie es auch sein mag, so unklar ist es oftmals: dot-Dateien sind keine doc-Dateien.
Einige Vorgehensweisen sind grundsätzlich anders und sollten bedacht werden, hier sind einige:

• Sollen die Dokumentenvorlagen angepasst werden, so dürfen diese niemals mit einem Doppelklick geöffnet werden. z.B. vom Desktop oder über den Windows^® Explorer^®. Mit dieser Art des Öffnens werden im Word^® Mechanismen gestartet und eine andere Behandlung der Datei durchgeführt, z.B. beim Speichern. Dot-Dateien die angepasst werden sollen sind immer über eine geöffnete Word-Instanz und dem Menüpunkt Datei > Öffnen zu öffnen.
• Die üblichen Startmechanismen werden durch das Ereignis AutoNew ersetzt, beim Öffnen mit einem Doppelklick, wie eben beschrieben. D.h. z.B. DocumentOpen usw. funktioniert nur noch beim Öffnen durch den Menüpunkt Datei > Öffnen. Programme die beim Öffnen von Dokumentenvorlagen ausgeführt werden sollen, sind dem Ereignis AutoNew zuzuordnen.

Collection of my tips in the tekom forum

HelpViewer als eigenständige Applikation installieren
Der HelpViewer kann als eigenständiges Programm installiert werden. Einfach aus dem MSDN das aktuelle Windows^® 7 SDK laden und beim Installieren alle Komponenten deaktivieren, bis auf den HelpViewer. Damit hat man auch ohne Visual Studio eine funktionsfähige Version. Zur Nutzung des HelpViewer muss allerdings das dotNet-Framework installiert sein, ohne funktioniert er nicht.

CHM-Dateien in HTML-Dateien zurückführen
Das Packprogramm 7-Zip kann CHM-Dateien wieder in ihre ursprüngliche HTML-Dateien zerlegen. Ein Feature das ich bei diesem Programm nicht vermutet habe.

CHM-Dateien aus SAP^® mit ABAP^®ansprechen
Oftmals werden in SAP^® die Dokumentationen von Objekten und Anleitungen direkt mit den "Bordmitteln" durchgeführt, z.B. dem IMG-Baum. Dass ist mehr oder weniger komfortabel und bietet auch "nur" die enthaltenen Möglichkeiten. Es gibt aber durchaus auch andere Wege dies zu gestalten. U.a. ist es möglich CHM-Dateien aus dem ABAP^®, der SAP^® eigenen Programmiersprache, direkt anzusprechen. Die dafür notwendige Klasse, inkl. Beispiel, ist hier zu finden.

AutoIt Script Language
Online-Hilfen unter Microsoft^® Windows^® bestehen meistens aus kompilierten HTML-Dateien, die als CHM-Dateien bekannt sind. Skripttechnologien bieten Möglichkeiten diese um aktive Inhalte zu erweitern. AutoIt ist eine Skriptsprache, die ursprünglich für das automatisierte Testen von Benutzeroberflächen unter Windows entwickelt wurde. Sie verwendet eine Kombination von simulierten Tastatureingaben, Bewegungen der Maus sowie Fenster- und Steuerelementmanipulationen. Damit können Programme gesteuert und Abläufe dem Anwender vorgeführt werden; dies ist mit anderen Skriptsprachen so nicht möglich. AutoIt bietet sinnvolle Möglichkeiten Online-Hilfen funktional zu erweitern. Ein Einsatz dieser Sprache kann auf jeden Fall empfohlen werden, da sie zu einer Anreicherung und vielfältigeren Gestaltung von Online-Hilfen (CHM-Dateien) beiträgt. Den Endanwendern der Hilfen wird damit eine weitere (aktive) Unterstützungsebene angeboten, die im bisherigen Rahmen so nicht möglich ist. Zu finden ist AutoIt hier.

PDF-Sammlung auf CD: Inhaltsverzeichnis erstellen
Hier ist ein VBA-Word-Programm zu finden, mit dem Inhaltsverzeichnisse von PDF-Dateien erstellt werden können. Mit Aufruf der Routine GetAllPDFFilesTitles wird das Startverzeichnis übergeben. Alle Unterverzeichnisse werden gelesen und die Titel der enthaltenen PDF-Dateien ermittelt, in das Word-Dokument geschrieben und dabei mit den PDF-Dokumenten verlinkt - damit entsteht das gewünschte Inhaltsverzeichnis. Voraussetzung ist die Installation eines Acrobats (nicht Reader, der reicht nicht) und eines Word. Die Routine kann leicht in eigene Dokumente übernommen werden.
Weiterhin hier eine VBA-Routine mit der Texte in PDF-Dokumenten gefunden werden können.

HLP-Dateien zu CHM-Dateien umleiten
Wird eine HLP-Datei in eine zeitgemäße CHM-Datei konvertiert (siehe How to Save Information from HLP file in the Post^® XP World), so funktionieren natürlich die Aufrufe aus den zugehörigen Applikationen nicht mehr. Um dieses Manko etwas zu mildern, kann der Aufruf einer HLP-Datei wie folgt umgeleitet werden:
Es ist eine leere RTF-Datei zu erstellen und dort eine Fussnote mit dem !-Zeichen einzufügen. Die Fussnote ist dann mit dem Makro ExecFile("MyHelp.chm");CloseWindow() auszustatten und mit dem HelpWorkshop zu kompilieren. Wird jetzt z.B. mit F1 in der Applikation die Hilfe aufgerufen, so wird die CHM-Datei aus der HLP-Datei gestartet und selbige sofort beendet. Sicherlich funktionieren nicht alle Aufrufe 100%ig vollständig, aber immerhin wird kein Fehler erzeugt.

CHM-Dateien erforschen
Mit dem HTML Help File Explorer von Paul A. O’Rear kann man den Inhalt von CHM-Dateien übersichtlich analysieren. In einer Baumstruktur werden alle integrierten Dateien angezeigt. Mit Display kann man die gerenderte Datei ansehen und mit TextView den Quellcode. Zu finden ist dieses Werkzeug hier.

CHM-Dateien auch unter Linux anzeigen
CHM-Dateien können auch unter Linux angezeigt werden. Dafür benutze ich den KChmViewer. Er verwendet die Qt-Bibliotheken von Trolltech und ist für den Einsatz unter KDE optimiert, aber KDE ist keine Bedingung. Es ist ein zuverlässiges Programm welches die Inhalte von CHM-Dateien sehr gut wiedergibt und in seiner Funktionalität dem Original in nichts nach steht.
Das Programm ist auch für Windows^® verfügbar, benötigt dann allerdings zwei Runtime-Bibliotheken von Qt, die dem Paket beiliegen, sowie eine weitere Bibliothek von MinGW, die aber leicht aus dem Internet beschafft werden kann. Vom Look & Feel sieht es aus und verhält sich wie das Linux-Programm.
Die Windows-Version versteht es leider nicht mit aktiven Inhalten umzugehen, hier JavaScript. Nach Rücksprache mit dem Programmierer des KChmViewer George Yunaev wird dies auch sobald nicht der Fall sein. So gesehen ist der Viewer keine echte Alternative zum Original, sofern der Anspruch aktiver Inhalte besteht.

How to Save Information from HLP file in the Post XP^® World
Microsoft^® stops the support for the HLP help files with Vista^®. HLP is a (very) old format, it exists since Windows^® 3. It bases on the Rich Text Format (RTF). The official format since Windows^® 98 is the CHM format, which bases on Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). At the moment the actual format is HxS, which bases on eXtended Markup Language (XML).
We have a lot of information store in HLP files. What can we do to save the information from the HLP files in the post XP^® world? It is very easy to do that.
At first you must get all your source files from the HLP files, e.g. RTF, BMP, SHG etc. But the first problem is: where are the files? Often we have only the HLP file, but not all sources. No problem, if you have the HLP file, you have all what you need. Now you need a decompiler, which extracts all files from the HLP file. You can load a very good decompiler here, call HELPDECO. It is a command line tool: open a console window, type HELPDECO MYHELP.HLP and a few seconds later you have all your source files.
The next step is to load and install the HTML Help SDK from Microsoft^®. Create a new project to convert an existing HLP file. Choose your project and a few seconds later the HLP project is converted to a CHM project. Now compile the project and you get your HLP content in CHM format. My experience is, after a conversion, that you loose a lot of format information but all links work well.
Thanks to Microsoft^® for all the information and the HTML Help SDK.
Thanks to Manfred Winterhoff for the HelpDeco tool.
You can find further and detailed information here.

UPX and/or Molebox compression and protection fires virus scanner phobia
It is a normal day, the sun is shining, I feel good and put my memory stick in a strange computer. Suddenly, the virus scanner gives alarm. He detects, that one of my programs is infected with a trojan. Mhmm, I programmed and compiled it and the virus scanner of my system means, it is all okay. Now I look a little bit nearer and analyze this situation:

• 1. Step: I send my program to www.virustotal.com and it gives me a report back. Several virus scanners found different viruses and trojans and mean my program is suspicious.
• 2. Step: I wrote a very easy program and compiled it and sent it to www.virustotal.com again. I was surprised about the result. One virus scanner gave alarm (see the results).
• 3. Step: Then I compressed the program with UPX and sent it to www.virustotal.com again. Now I was more surprised, three virus scanners found different viruses, and the virus scanner from the second step not (see the results).
• 4. Step: Then I protected the programs with Molebox and sent it to www.virustool.com and checked it again. It came what I expected: more different viruses and trojans (see the results).

Okay, what is the result of this test:
Virus scanners are necessary, nothing more to say, but if the phobia of the scanner makes users feel insecure, it goes to far. To use security mechanism in our programs is also necessary and allowed. But the scan technic of the virus scanner uses the same mechanism as a virus or trojan and our programs protect against "scan attack". So the virus scanner thinks, oh, it defends my "scan attack", it is suspicious and brands the program. The user thinks, oho, it is a virus or trojan in the program and deletes it, great.
What can we do?

• Check each program with www.virustotal.com and inform the user about the results.
• Create for each program a checksum e.g. MD5 and publish it with the link and with the file.

Thanks to the UPX team for the great program.
Thanks to the Molebox team for the great tool.
Thanks to Virustotal for the great scan service.
Look at: Virus scanning test results, Adobe Reader expected.