Microsoft Windows SDK Blog : How-to

Development with Windows SDK & DirectX SDK when Visual Studio 2008 is installed

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:08:00 GMT

In order to utilize DirectX SDK resources you should ensure that the DirectX SDK include, library, and executables directories are set correctly in Visual Studio 2008. The order in which Visual Studio 2008 looks for executable directories and library files is important. The Windows SDK directories should appear above the DirectX SDK directories.

The DirectX SDK includes some files that are also shipped in the Windows SDK. These files may also be installed with the Windows headers and libraries that are included in Visual Studio 2008. It's possible to get a mixture of different versions of DirectX files on your computer, depending on what versions of the Windows SDK, DirectX SDK, and Visual Studio you install.

The Windows SDK Configuration tool can be used set the Windows 7 SDK as the “current” SDK for MSBuild and VCBuild. This will update the Windows 7 SDK build environment and the Visual Studio 2008 build environment to use the Windows 7 SDK headers, libraries and tools. You can also use this tool to switch it back again. However, the configuration tool does not set the DirectX SDK paths. You will need to do this manually, following the instructions in this article.

If you have installed the DirectX SDK and wish to build an application in the Windows SDK command line build environment, or in the Visual Studio build environments, you will need to set the VC++ directory paths manually. If you wish to build with the Windows 7 headers and libraries, you should ensure that directory path for this content is found first, before the DirectX SDK content.

In the following example I have installed the November 2008 version of the Microsoft DirectX SDK on a computer with the Windows 7 SDK and Visual Studio 2008.

How to set the C++ Directories manually

1. Launch Visual Studio 2008.

2. Open the Tools menu and select Options…. The Options dialog box appears.

3. In the left pane of the Options dialog box, expand the Projects and Solutions node.

4. Under Project and Solutions, select VC++ Directories.

5. In the right pane, set the "Platform" drop-down list box to Win32® and the "Show directories for" drop-down list box to "Executable" files.

6. At the bottom of the list of executable file directories, create a new entry for the DirectX SDK: [drive]:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX SDK [version]\Utilities\bin\x86 (If there is already such an entry, move it to the bottom of the list.)

7. Set the "Show directories for" drop-down list box to "Include" files.

8. At the bottom of the list of directories, create a new entry for the DirectX SDK: [drive]:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX SDK [version]\Include (If there is already such an entry, move it to the bottom of the list.)

9. Set the "Show directories for" drop-down list box to "Library" files.

10. At the bottom of the list of directories, create a new entry for the DirectX SDK: [drive]:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX SDK [version]\LibX86 (If there is already such an entry, move it to the bottom of the list.)

11. If you are developing an application to run on AMD64, you should repeat these steps to set the AMD64 paths by setting the "Platform" drop-down list box to X64 and providing the appropriate paths.

12. Click OK.

Karin Meier-Magruder
Program Manager
Windows C++ Team

Send your thoughts to the Windows SDK Feedback alias. Tell us how you use the SDK and what we can do to improve your development experience.

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Windows SDK Configuration Tool May Report an Error When OS Display Format is not English

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:33:00 GMT

This post describes a problem with the Windows SDK Configuration Tool, which is used to set the version of Windows SDK headers, libraries and tools you wish to build with in the Visual Studio or Windows SDK build environments.

Issue: When you launch the Windows SDK Configuration Tool on a system which has Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008 and the display format of the operating system is not English, an error may be thrown: “Your system does not have Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008 installed."

This error will occur when the OS is Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008 is installed. This error can be reproduced in the Windows 7 SDK and the Windows Server 2008 SDK.

Cause: With some non-English operating system display formats, the Windows SDK Configuration Tool is unable to parse the version number of Visual Studio as written in the registry.

Solution: There are two workarounds to the problem:

(1) Use the command-line version of Windows SDK Configuration Tool to change to the version of the Windows SDK you wish to target. For example to target the Windows 7 SDK go to the Windows SDK prompt by Clicking All Programs -> Select Microsoft Windows SDK v7.0 -> Select CMD shell. At the Windows SDK command prompt, type “ WindowsSdkVer.exe -version:v7.0 “ [without quotes]

(2) Change the OS Display Format to English (United States). Go to Control Panel and navigate to your Regional and Language Options. On the Formats tab ensure English (United States) is selected. You should now be able to use the Windows SDK Configuration Tool to target the appropriate build environment. Note: once you have changed the target you may return your OS Display Format to its original setting.

Send your thoughts to the Windows SDK Feedback alias. Tell us how you use the SDK and what we can do to improve your development experience. The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Window SDK Team

Troubleshooting Windows 7 SDK Download/Install

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:51:00 GMT

This article applies to the Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Read these other posts to troubleshoot issues with the Windows SDK for Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 or to troubleshoot issues with the Windows SDK Update for Vista and .NET Framework 3.0.

The Windows 7 SDK is available for download in ISO or Web Setup format. Web setup allows you to select a specific subset of the SDK so you do not have to download the entire SDK. The ISO setup allows you to download the entire SDK to burn to disk or a virtual drive, and install later. This release provides three platform-specific ISOs. Choose the ISO that matches the CPU platform (x86, x64, or Itanium) that you are installing on. If you are having problems downloading the correct ISO from the Microsoft Download Center, use these direct links:

Running the Windows SDK web setup on some connections can sometimes have issues when downloading the files. We recommend that you clear the %temp%\sdksetup directory and retry your web setup. If that fails, switch over to the ISO setup for the Windows SDK.

Typical %temp%\sdksetup directory:

On Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\%user%\AppData\Local\Temp\ SDKSetup_7.0.6918.0.log
On Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\%User%\Local Settings\ SDKSetup_7.0.6918.0.log

Get the Web Install of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c17ba869-9671-4330-a63e-1fd44e0e2505
Get the ISO Downloads of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=71deb800-c591-4f97-a900-bea146e4fae1

About ISO image files

Many products are posted as ISO image files. An ISO file is an exact representation of a CD or DVD, including the content and the logical format. ISO files end with an .ISO extension. The most common use of an image file is to write it to a blank CD-R or DVD-R. ISO image files can also be opened and their contents copied to a local folder, much like ZIP files. ISO files may also be virtually mounted and accessed as a device. These two methods of using ISO images are described below.

Copying the contents of ISO files to a drive

The contents of image files can be used as virtual discs using utilities such as ISObuster, Daemon Tools or Virtual CloneDrive for Windows. Using this method you can extract the files from an image file to a temporary folder on your hard drive, then run setup.

Writing ISO files to CD-R or DVD-R

Most CD-R/DVD-R writing software includes a feature to create a disc from an image file. Note: you must use the special "copy image to CD" or "burn image" functionality. See your software’s Help for detailed information. Common utilities for writing ISO file to recordable media such as DVD-R include Nero and Roxio. In Windows 7, you can burn and ISO by right-clicking the .iso file and selecting “Burn disc image”. After a CD/DVD-R has been written, you should verify that the file was successfully written. Many freeware programs are available for calculating the SDK SHA-1 hash value. Use an Internet search engine to search for “sha1 hash” to find a freeware program. Windows SDK for Windows 7 verification information:

File Name: GRMSDK_EN_DVD1.iso
Chip: X86
CRC#: 0xCA4FE79D
SHA1: 0x8695F5E6810D84153181695DA78850988A923F4E
================================================
File Name: GRMSDKX_EN_DVD1.iso
Chip: AMD64
CRC#: 0xB417A4F7
SHA1: 0x3393C98B8468CB3505557854922707510F8B65E1
================================================
File Name: GRMSDKIAI_EN_DVD1.iso
Chip: Itanium
CRC#: 0x5E0E4BEA
SHA1: 0xAE454215585A044EBE593E9F71FF1A4BC03D56A8

Other Resources

Windows SDK Online Release Notes http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/8/0/8808A472-6450-4723-9C87-977069714B27/ReleaseNotes_Win7RTMSDK.Htm

Windows SDK blog http://blogs.msdn.com/windowssdk

Windows SDK MSDN Developer Center http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb980924.aspx

Windows SDK Developer Forum http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/windowssdk/threads/

Using the Win 7 SDK Build Environment with VS 2008

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:50:00 GMT

Changes have been made to the Windows SDK build environment and how the SDK interacts with MSBUILD and Visual Studio 2008. This post applies to the RTM release of the Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

What changed with the Windows SDK for Windows 7?

The Windows SDK for Server 2008 sets a registry key upon installation to identify the SDK as the “current” SDK to use when building. This key is used by the VC++ toolset in both Visual Studio 2008 and in the Windows SDK build environment:

On an X86 computer: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows
On an X64 or IA64 computer: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows

The Windows SDK for Windows 7 does not set this key during installation in order to avoid unexpected changes to Visual Studio 2008. To set the Windows SDK used by Visual Studio, use the Windows SDK Configuration Tool.

Out-of-the-box experience with the Windows SDK for Windows 7

If you install the Windows SDK for Windows 7 on a clean computer and create an application with the SDK build environment, the SDK will use the Windows 7 headers, libraries and tools that are included with the SDK.

If Visual Studio 2008 is installed, MSBuild and/or VCBuild will default to the headers, libraries and tools that have been previously integrated with Visual Studio 2008, in most cases, this is the (Vista-level) Windows SDK v6.0a. If this is the case, the Windows SDK build environment will display a warning when launched.

How to use the Windows SDK for Windows 7 headers, libraries and tools with Visual Studio 2008

Use the Windows SDK Configuration Tool to set the Windows 7 SDK as the “current” SDK for MSBuild and VCBuild. This will update the Windows 7 SDK build environment and the Visual Studio 2008 IDE build environment to use the Windows 7 SDK headers, libraries and tools. You can also use this tool to switch it back again.

To run the GUI version of the Windows SDK Configuration Tool, go to Start, All Programs, Microsoft Windows SDK v7.0, Visual Studio Registration, Windows SDK Configuration Tool.

Send your thoughts to the Windows SDK Feedback alias. Tell us how you use the SDK and what we can do to improve your development experience. The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Karin Meier-Magruder
Program Manager
Windows SDK Team

Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:56:00 GMT

Excited about Windows 7 and would like to use new features from your managed application, but do not have a convenient way to do that? Always wanted to use many of the useful features from Windows Vista or older versions of Windows but could not do so because they were not available via .NET Framework?

There is help available now for some of your needs. Perhaps, you are already aware of Windows® API Code Pack for Microsoft® .NET Framework and have tried the version 0.85 or 0.80. We have just released the version 0.90 of this Code Pack. For people reading about it for the first time, Windows API Code Pack is a source code library to support targeting some new Windows 7 features and some other features existing in older versions of Windows from managed code. These features are not available via .NET Framework Class Library today. Using Windows API Code Pack you can target many of these useful Windows features without having to write interop code yourself. If this sounds familiar to VistaBridge, that is because the Windows API Code Pack evolved from it.

The Window API Code Pack includes a complete source code library, sample applications and API reference documents. You can build the included solution files to get the assemblies for use in your applications (pursuant to the attached license). And since the source code is available to you, it can be modified to extend functionality as needed.

We will discuss individual feature areas of the Windows API Code Pack in detail in subsequent posts; this post is intended to provide a brief overview of various feature areas.

Shell (including Windows 7 Libraries) – Windows Shell APIs provide a rich set of COM interfaces and functions for developers to interact with Shell. But managed developer cannot easily access these APIs unless they write their own interop layer. Shell related features in the Code Pack enable managed developers to access many of the vast resources of Windows Shell APIs in a standard .NET friendly way.

The Code Pack provides an overall hierarchy of various Shell entities like ShellItems, ShellLinks, Files, Folders, Known Folders, Windows 7 Libraries, non-file system containers, Shell icons, Thumbnails, Saved searches, Network Drives etc. Using the Code Pack APIs, you can easily traverse the Shell Namespace objects and perform the needed operations.
It also provides easy access to the Shell Property System. Developers can get or set the properties of various Shell objects they need from managed code.
An Explorer Browser control is included to allow developers to add a Windows Explorer lookalike inside their managed application.
Developers can easily use the latest features of Common File Open and Save Dialogs including custom controls in their applications. The TaskDialogs introduced in Vista is also available.
It includes rich thumbnail/icon support integrated with the Shell objects.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, screen shots of some of the sample applications (included in the Code Pack) eloquently demonstrate the capabilities of the above features

Shell Hierarchy Tree Demo application shows how to traverse the Shell namespace starting with the Desktop object

ShellObject Browser demonstrates the integration of Common File Dialogs and various ShellObject types.

Star Backup using Libraries mimics a backup application that takes advantage of the new Windows 7 Shell Libraries.

Known Folders Browser displays all the Known Folders present in the system and show various properties for each folder. The application also uses ExplorerBrowser control to display the known folders

Windows 7 Taskbar – Taskbar features of the Windows API Code Pack provide convenient access to the new Taskbar functionality

Management of tasks and items in Jump Lists
Displaying icon overlays on the Taskbar button to convey state of the application
Displaying progress bar on the Taskbar button to show the status of time taking operations
Displaying Tabbed thumbnails for MDI and TDI applications
Ability to add Thumbnail Toolbar for most frequently used commands.

Screen shots of some of the sample applications (included in the Code Pack) demonstrating the above features

This sample application shows the management of jump lists in an application, progress bar and usage of Taskbar overlay icons

This sample application shows the Tabbed thumbnail and Thumbnail Toolbar features

The screen shot below shows an image viewer application with thumbnail toolbar exposing important commands.

DirectX Technologies – The DirectX features of Windows API Code Pack expose a wide range of Windows graphics APIs to managed developers. Many of these are new to Windows 7.

Direct3D 11.0, Direct3D 10.1/10.0 features can be used to add 3D graphics to your managed applications.
Direct 2D feature allow you to access powerful new 2D graphics APIs in your applications.
DirectWrite feature expose parts of the new text rendering APIs
Windows Imaging Component (WIC) feature makes working with images and image data convenient by exposing some WIC APIs.
Also included are some utilities for Math computations, texture loading etc.

Screen shot of a ‘Paint’ like sample application built using these features showcases some of the capabilities of the Code Pack.

Screen shot of another application showcasing the advanced texture and mesh features of Direct3D, WIC managed APIs and some utilities

Sensor Platform APIs - The Sensor feature of the Code Pack gives developers access to the new Sensor Platform APIs from managed code. Windows 7 has introduced standardized support for physical sensors, such as accelerometers and ambient light sensors. A developer can use the Code Pack to collect data reports from sensors attached to the computer and process changes received in the sensor data reports.

Screen shots of sample applications demonstrating use of accelerometer and ambient light sensor data.

Extended Linguistics Services (ELS) APIs – ELS APIs are new to Windows 7. ELS feature of the Code pack provides managed developers the ability to detect the script or language being used and adjust the user experience accordingly.

Power Management – provides managed code access to power settings and notifications for related changes.

Screen shot of the sample application that demonstrates the use of power management related APIs

Application Restart and Recovery – lets a managed application save data and state information before an application exits because of an unhandled exception.

The screen shot of a sample application below demonstrates this feature. In the event of an application crash, the library allows the application to recover its data and when restarted by the system, it can load the previously saved data

Network List Manager APIs – provides managed code access to network details
Managed code access to Command Link control and System defined Shell Icons

There are many other samples (available both in C# and VB.NET in some areas) included in the Code Pack. Please download and play with the Windows API code pack and samples to explore its full potential. We are currently working on fixing bugs and preparing for the final update around the Windows 7 RTM release. Please let us know if you find any issues or have any suggestions, by using the Discussions or Issues tab and help us make the Windows API Code Pack better.

More detailed post on different feature areas coming soon.

Sumit Kumar

Program Manager, Windows SDK Team

Win SDK for Server 2008 plus VS2008 causes double X64 platform entries in VC directories

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:57:00 GMT

Issue: Installing the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 after Visual Studio 2008 Standard on a computer with an X64 operating system corrupts VC directories, causing a double X64 entry

Scenario: You probably have this issue if your computer setup matches the setup described below:

1. Visual Studio 2008 Standard is installed on an X64 OS. To determine what version of Visual Studio you are using, launch Visual Studio, choose Help, About Visual Studio.

2. The Windows SDK for Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 is installed (this is v6.1).

3. The VC++ Directories Platform Entries are corrupted. To determine if your directories are corrupted, launch the VS IDE and go to tool->options->projects and solutions->VC++ Directories. If the entries in the drop down “Platform” box appear as "x86", "x64" and "x64", your directories are corrupted. If the platform entries appear as "x86", "x64" and "Itanium", you do not have this issue.

4. It is not possible to create an X64 target. Neither of the X64 directory entries work.

Cause: The installation order of the compiler components that ship with the Windows SDK for Server 2008 creates the problem. Because Visual Studio Standard does not have ia64 support it does not install the file VCProjectIA64Platform.dll. The Windows SDK does support IA64 development and does install this file. However Visual Studio VC++ is a 32-bit application and requires an X86 version of the file. The Windows SDK installs a 64-bit version of the VC compiler/CRT package on 64-bit operating systems. This package includes the 64-bit version of VCProjectIA64Platform.dll, which causes the double directory entry. This issue has been fixed in later releases of the Windows SDK.

Workaround: Pick one of the following workarounds:

1. If you do not need to build targeting IA64, you can simply delete IA64.VcPlatform.config from %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcpackages.

2. If you have the Windows Server 2008 SDK installed on an X86 computer, you can copy the x86 version of VCProjectIA64Platformd.dll and drop it to %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcpackages.

3. If the above workarounds don’t work for your situation, download the Windows SDK for Server 2008 ISO package. Find the file named "\Setup\vc_stdx86.cab\FL_VCProjectIA64Platform_dll_76114_76114_x86_ln.3643236F_FC70_11D3_A536_0090278A1BB8". Rename the file “VCprojectIA64Platform.dll”. Copy it to %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcpackages.

Note: Running “Repair” on the Windows SDK will revert these fixes.

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Troubleshooting Windows SDK Server 2008 Download/Install

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:33:25 GMT

This article applies to the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. Read this other post to troubleshoot issues with the Windows SDK Update for Vista and .NET Framework 3.0.

Typical %temp%\sdksetup directory:

On Windows Vista: C:\%user%\AppData\Local\Temp\SDKSetupLog.txt
On Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\%User%\Local Settings\SDKSetupLog.txt

Get the ISO Download of the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F26B1AA4-741A-433A-9BE5-FA919850BDBF&displaylang=en
Get the Web Install of the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E6E1C3DF-A74F-4207-8586-711EBE331CDC&displaylang=en

About ISO image files

Copying the contents of ISO files to a drive

The contents of image files can be used as virtual discs using utilities such as ISObuster, Daemon Tools or Virtual CloneDrive for Windows Vista. Using this method you can extract the files from an image file to a temporary folder on your hard drive, then run setup.

Writing ISO files to CD-R or DVD-R

Most CD-R/DVD-R writing software includes a feature to create a disc from an image file. Note: you must use the special "copy image to CD" or "burn image" functionality. See your software’s Help for detailed information. Common utilities for writing ISO file to recordable media such as DVD-R include Nero and Roxio. After a CD/DVD-R has been written, you should verify that the file was successfully written. Many freeware programs are available for calculating the SDK SHA-1 hash value. Use an Internet search engine to search for “sha1 hash” to find a freeware program. Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 ISO verification information:

CRC: 0x812A81E3
Size: 1394618368

Other Resources

Windows SDK Online Release Notes http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/1/1/911e67d3-f7cc-4035-b76c-67d38e06784c/ReleaseNotes.Htm

Windows SDK blog http://blogs.msdn.com/windowssdk

Windows SDK MSDN Developer Center http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb980924.aspx

Windows SDK Developer Forum http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/windowssdk/threads/

How to: find the right Windows SDK for your needs

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:11:50 GMT

Several versions of the Windows SDK and earlier Platform SDKs (PSDK) are available. Generally, developers should use the most recent Windows SDK, which supports several Windows operating systems. However, some developers have development requirements that call for an earlier SDK. When deciding which release of the Windows SDK to use, consider which version of Windows you will be installing the SDK on, which version of Windows and/or the .NET Framework you are targeting, and which version of Visual Studio you are using. Use the “Which SDK is Right for Me?” table on the Windows SDK Developer Center to help determine the best choice for your needs.

What’s the Difference between the Windows SDK and the old Platform SDK (PSDK)?

The Windows SDK is the successor to the Platform SDK and the .NET Framework SDK. The Windows SDK supports development with the Win32 programming model on x86, x64, and Itanium platform architectures, and also supports development with the .NET Framework programming model. Windows SDKs include most content found in recent PSDKs plus content for the .NET Framework. The PSDKs do not include content for the .NET Framework programming model.

Karin Meier
Program Manager, Windows SDK Team

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

ESENT (Extensible Storage Engine) API in the Windows SDK

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:22:00 GMT

I’m not sure how many people know that Windows comes with an embeddable, transactional database engine which is available to developers through the Windows SDK. The ESENT database engine can be used whenever an application wants high-performance, low-overhead storage of structured or semi-structured data. This can range from something as simple as a hash table which is too large to store in memory to a complex application with many tables, columns and indexes. ESENT is used by the Active Directory, Windows Desktop Search, Windows Mail and several other Windows services and a slightly modified version of the code is used by Microsoft Exchange to store all its mailbox data. The ESENT API is available through the SDK and can be used on all versions of Windows from Windows Server 2000 on up.

The significant technical features of ESENT include:

· ACID transactions with savepoints, lazy commits and robust crash recovery.

· Snapshot isolation.

· Record-level locking — multi-versioning provides non-blocking reads.

· Highly concurrent database access.

· Flexible meta-data (tens of thousands of columns, tables and indexes are possible).

· Indexing support for integer, floating point, ASCII, Unicode and binary columns.

· Sophisticated index types including conditional, tuple and multi-valued.

· Individual columns can be up to 2GB in size. A database can be up to 16TB in size.

· Can be configured for high performance or low resource usage.

· No administration required (even the database cache size can adjust itself automatically).

· No download. Your application uses the esent.dll which comes with the operating system.

Caveats: ESENT should only be used for applications which have simple, predefined queries; applications that want to do ad-hoc queries should investigate a storage solution that provides a query layer. The database file cannot be shared between multiple processes simultaneously.

To use ESENT you just need to link with esent.lib and include esent.h, which is part of the Windows SDK. Here is a sample program that creates a database with one table, inserts a record and then retrieves the data from the record:

// We need to define JET_VERSION to be at least 0x0501 to get access to the

// JET_bitDbOverwriteExisting option and JetCreateInstance. That means this

// program will run on Windows XP and up (Windows Server 2003 and up).

#undef JET_VERSION

#define JET_VERSION 0x0501

#include <stdio.h>

#include <string.h>

#include <esent.h>

// One possible error-handling strategy is to jump to an error-handling

// label whenever an ESENT call fails.

#define Call(func) { \

err = (func); \

if(err < JET_errSuccess) { \

goto HandleError; \

} \

int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {

JET_ERR err;

JET_INSTANCE instance;

JET_SESID sesid;

JET_DBID dbid;

JET_TABLEID tableid;

JET_COLUMNDEF columndef = {0};

JET_COLUMNID columnid;

// Initialize ESENT. Setting JET_paramCircularLog to 1 means ESENT will automatically

// delete unneeded logfiles. JetInit will inspect the logfiles to see if the last

// shutdown was clean. If it wasn't (e.g. the application crashed) recovery will be

// run automatically bringing the database to a consistent state.

Call(JetCreateInstance(&instance, "instance"));

Call(JetSetSystemParameter(&instance, JET_sesidNil, JET_paramCircularLog, 1, NULL));

Call(JetInit(&instance));

Call(JetBeginSession(instance, &sesid, 0, 0));

// Create the database. To open an existing database use the JetAttachDatabase and

// JetOpenDatabase APIs.

Call(JetCreateDatabase(sesid, "edbtest.db", 0, &dbid, JET_bitDbOverwriteExisting));

// Create the table. Meta-data operations are transacted and can be performed concurrently.

// For example, one session can add a column to a table while another session is reading

// or updating records in the same table.

// This table has no indexes defined, so it will use the default sequential index. Indexes

// can be defined with the JetCreateIndex API.

Call(JetBeginTransaction(sesid));

Call(JetCreateTable(sesid, dbid, "table", 0, 100, &tableid));

columndef.cbStruct = sizeof(columndef);

columndef.coltyp = JET_coltypLongText;

columndef.cp = 1252;

Call(JetAddColumn(sesid, tableid, "column1", &columndef, NULL, 0, &columnid));

Call(JetCommitTransaction(sesid, JET_bitCommitLazyFlush));

// Insert a record. This table only has one column but a table can have slightly over 64,000

// columns defined. Unless a column is declared as fixed or variable it won't take any space

// in the record unless set. An individual record can have several hundred columns set at one

// time, the exact number depends on the database page size and the contents of the columns.

Call(JetBeginTransaction(sesid));

Call(JetPrepareUpdate(sesid, tableid, JET_prepInsert));

char * message = "Hello world";

Call(JetSetColumn(sesid, tableid, columnid, message, strlen(message)+1, 0, NULL));

Call(JetUpdate(sesid, tableid, NULL, 0, NULL));

Call(JetCommitTransaction(sesid, 0)); // Use JetRollback() to abort the transaction

// Retrieve a column from the record. Here we move to the first record with JetMove. By using

// JetMoveNext it is possible to iterate through all records in a table. Use JetMakeKey and

// JetSeek to move to a particular record.

Call(JetMove(sesid, tableid, JET_MoveFirst, 0));

char buffer[1024];

Call(JetRetrieveColumn(sesid, tableid, columnid, buffer, sizeof(buffer), NULL, 0, NULL));

printf("%s", buffer);

// Terminate ESENT. This performs a clean shutdown.

JetCloseTable(sesid, tableid);

JetEndSession(sesid, 0);

JetTerm(instance);

return 0;

HandleError:

printf("ESENT error %d\n", err);

return 1;

}

There is a lot of information about ESENT, including complete documentation for all the APIs, on MSDN http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684493(VS.85).aspx. You can get an overview of the underlying technologies by reading the “Using Extensible Storage Engine” topics http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa964813(VS.85).aspx.

Laurion Burchall
Software Design Engineer, ESENT Team

How it works: Windows SDK Documentation Part 2

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:39:00 GMT

Many Windows SDK users have questions about the system behind the documentation provided with the SDK. Part 1 of this series explained the basic structure behind the Windows SDK help system. It also looked at how ms-help:// URLs can be used to learn about the organization of the documentation “behind the scenes”. Knowledge of the information in that post is assumed for this post.

In this post, the mechanism behind the table of contents (TOC) will be explained. I will include a couple of easy ways to customize the TOC.

TOC Manipulation
Topics that appear in the documentation all belong to an HXS file. Every HXS file is a compressed collection of topic files gathered together. Each HXS represents one unit of documentation, a collection of topics about the same subject. By default (for English), the Windows Server 2008 SDK installs them to %programfiles%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Help\1033. Each HXS file contains the .htm files of the pages themselves, as well as a TOC definition file (.hxt) that explains how those topics are organized. Outside of the HXS files, in addition, every namespace has its own TOC definition file, explaining where and how each HXS will appear in the TOC.

Here is a table of the three namespaces created for the SDK and its corresponding TOC file:

Namespace	TOC Definition File
MS.LHSMSSDK.1033	MSSDK.HXT
MS.LHSNETFX30SDK.1033	NETFX30SDK.HXT
MS.LHSWINSDK.1033	WINSDK.HXT

Because the .HXT files are simple XML, users have the option to make changes to them and consequently change the appearance of the TOC.

Note: It is highly recommended that you save the original copies of your .HXT files somewhere safe as a backup so that you are able to retrieve them later if you want to restore your TOC to its original state.

Note: Whenever a change is made to the TOC, DExplorer will need to be closed and reopened before those changes will take effect.

Different TOC Node Types
There are several different kinds of tags in the HXT files, each corresponding to a different behavior in how the TOC is displayed to the user in DExplorer.

A “Regular” node is simply a container. It will provide a nest for child nodes. If the tag contains a valid Url= attribute as well, clicking that node in the TOC will also navigate to that topic. In other words:

[Other TOC info…]

</HelpTOCNode>

This will create a TOC node called “Getting Started”, and everything until the closing tag [Other TOC info…] will be nested inside of it. Clicking on that node will also navigate to the indicated page.

Regular nodes don’t have to wrap anything, they can serve almost like bookmarks to topics, with no nested contents underneath of it.

The other most common type of TOC node is the “TOC” type. It passes control of the TOC over to the individual HXS files, plugging them in. It looks something like this:

In this kind of node, the Url must refer to the name of an HXS file that appears in the same namespace. It is possible to turn control over to an HXS file in a different namespace by adding the namespace in question before the name of the file.

So what does this all mean to the user? It is possible to customize the TOC with most commonly used materials gathered in one place.

For instance, a developer that uses the System.Web.Services namespace a great deal and wants to pin it to the top of their TOC, and also wants to keep handy the character class codes for regular expressions, and also wants to keep the cascading style sheet topics toward the top might modify the top of their MSSDK.HXT like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE HelpTOC>
<HelpTOC DTDVersion="1.0" PluginStyle="Flat">
    <HelpTOCNode NodeType="Regular" Title="My Favorites">
       <HelpTOCNode NodeType="Regular" Title="System.Web.Services Namespace">
       <HelpTOCNode NodeType="TOC" Url="MS.LHSNETFX30SDK.1033/fxref_system.web.services"/>
    </HelpTOCNode>
       <HelpTOCNode NodeType="Regular" Title="Regex Character Classes" Url="ms-help://MS.LHSMSSDK.1033/MS.LHSNETFX30SDK.1033/dv_fxfund/html/0f8bffab-ee0d-4e0e-9a96-2b4a252bb7e4.htm"/>
       <HelpTOCNode NodeType="Regular" Title="Cascading Style Sheets">
          <HelpTOCNode NodeType="TOC" Url="MS.LHSWINSDK.1033/css" />
       </HelpTOCNode>
    </HelpTOCNode>
    <HelpTOCNode NodeType="Regular" Title="Getting Started"...
[the rest of the original file comes after here]

This creates a new top level node called “My Favorites” at the very top of the TOC. Underneath of it is a node called “System.Web.Services Namespace” that contains all of the API reference topics for that namespace. Next is a singleton node called “Regex Character Classes” that points to the specific page that has the character class codes on it. Last is a node called “Cascading Style Sheets” that points to the CSS topics.

In some ways this can be more powerful than simply bookmarking things in your Help Favorites. This is because you can reorganize multiple sets of topics by referring to their HXS file, rather than bookmarking one single topic at a time.

Conclusion
With this basic information it’s easy to manipulate the SDK TOC in ways that make sense to the user. Just be sure to save the originals so you will have a backup. In a later post we’ll discuss how to merge together multiple sets of documentation from different products. For instance, many users are interested in combining their Windows SDK documentation and their Visual Studio documentation in a customized way.

Mike Johnson
Software Development Engineer in Test

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

How it works: Windows SDK Documentation (Part 1)

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:03:00 GMT

Introduction

Many Windows SDK users have questions about the system behind the documentation provided with the SDK. Here is the first in a series of posts explaining how this system works and how to customize it. This post provides an overview of the basic structure behind the Windows SDK help system. It also looks at how ms-help:// URLs can be used to learn about the organization of the documentation “behind the scenes.” Look for part 2, which will explain the mechanism behind the table of contents (TOC), and show you how to customize it.

Explanation of Help Services and the Viewer

There are two major pieces to the documentation that ships with the Windows SDK. The first is a set of help services (called Help 2.0). These services allow us to create namespaces for holding sets of documentation, register documentation files (.HXS files) to those namespaces, and provide that content to the customer by servicing requests from URLs in the form ms-help://

The second big piece is the viewer. The viewer that ships with the Windows SDK currently is DExplorer 9.0. DExplorer has been around for quite a long time. It is the application that launches when you click the icon for Windows SDK documentation in the start menu.

These two pieces, the help services and the DExplorer viewer, make up the primary offline help experience for Microsoft. It is used by many teams across the company, including MSDN, SQL Server, and of course the Windows SDK.

Windows SDK Namespaces

Different product units use different schemes for their documentation. For the Windows Server 2008 SDK, we chose to organize our documentation into three namespaces. The first, MS.LHSMSSDK.1033, is our root “parent” namespace. It is mostly empty, containing only introductory topics about the SDK and some API catalog information. The second, MS.LHSNETFX30SDK.1033, contains our “managed” content, topics aimed toward the .NET developer. The third, MS.LHSWINSDK.1033, contains the “native” content, topics aimed toward the Win32 and COM developer. This is how we allow the user to only install the Win32 and COM documentation, .NET Framework documentation, or both. At installation time, we always install the parent node, and then install and plug-in the appropriate children depending on the user’s selections.

Deciphering ms-help URLs

When paying attention to the URL box toward the top the documentation in DExplorer, the user can learn more about where topics live in the documentation system. From the URL users can determine not only which HXS file contains each topic, but which namespace the HXS file is registered to. This will help later in figuring out how to customize the TOC.

URLs for the SDK are almost always in the form:

ms-help://MS.LHSMSSDK.1033/<hxsname>/…
Or
ms-help://MS.LHSMSSDK.1033/<child namespace>/<hxsname>/…

For instance, open the SDK documentation, expand the Win32 and COM node, expand the Administration and Management node, expand the Application Installation and Servicing node, then click on the Application Recovery and Restart node.

Observe that the URL is:

ms-help://MS.LHSMSSDK.1033/MS.LHSWinSDK.1033/recovery/recovery/portal.htm

This URL tells us the topic lives in recovery.hxs, which belongs to the MS.LHSWINSDK.1033 namespace, which is a child of the master MS.LHSMSSDK.1033 namespace as outlined earlier.

Conclusion

Hopefully this basic overview of what is going on “behind the scenes” with the Windows SDK documentation is helpful. A basic understanding that the help system is made up of a set of services and a viewer to those services can help troubleshoot problems with the documentation. Being able to look at a help URL and understand something about the way files and topics are organized can help users better see the structure.

In a future post, we’ll take this basic information and use it to make TOC customizations. With some additional information, reorganizing the table of contents is easy and can help users quickly get to the content they use most often.

Mike Johnson
Software Development Engineer in Test

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Windows SDK Hidden Gems Part 3: TcpAnalyzer.exe and Consume.exe

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:47:00 GMT

I’ve been writing about some of the useful but sometimes overlooked tools in the Windows Software Development Kit for Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. For this installment, let’s have look at couple of tools that are related in that they are both used for testing. Check out my other ‘hidden gems’ posts, Part 1: Windows Installer Verbose Log Analyzer and Part 2: XAMLPad.

TcpAnalyzer.exe

Your new application works great most of the time, but it inexplicably pauses for long periods of time. You suspect that it might be the connection to the backend server. TcpAnalyzer.exe is the tool to use to figure out what’s going on.

The tool displays a constantly updating list of all network connections in and out of your machine.

It allows you to zero in on a particular connection and log performance information for that connection.

It gives you the information needed to pin down network related delays or unexpected high traffic that might be slowing the network connection.

Consume.exe

This command line tool can consume system resources for a specified amount of time and is useful for reproducing errors that might be caused by resource starvation.

The resources it can consume include physical memory, page file space, disk space, kernel pool, and CPU time.

As an example, start Windows Task Manager (Start->Run->taskmgr.exe) and select the Performance tab. Next, open the Windows SDK CMD window (Start->All Programs->Windows SDK v6.1->CMD Shell) and enter the following “consume.exe -cpu-time -time 15”. You’ll see the CPU Usage History chart(s) climb to maximum for 15 seconds.

For other options use “consume.exe /?”

In closing…

These are just two of the many tools included in the Windows Software Development Kit for Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. A summary of the tools included with the Windows SDK can be found at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Bin\StartTools.htm, which can be also be launched from a shortcut key on the Start Menu.

I will keep hunting for gems and report them here.

Cheers
Curtis

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

WinSDK bug notification: SDK Config Tool appears to work but fails

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:20:00 GMT

This article applies to the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, when used with Visual Studio 2008 (all versions). This post describes a problem with the GUI version of the Windows SDK Configuration Tool, which is used to set the version of Windows SDK headers, libraries and tools you wish to build with in Visual Studio. This article applies only to Visual Studio 2008, and does not apply to those using the Windows SDK with Visual Studio 2005. This article does not apply to the command line version of the Windows SDK Configuration Tool.

Issue: The Windows SDK Configuration Tool (GUI mode) appears to update Visual Studio 2008 header, library and executable directories, but directories are not updated. Users may not be aware of this because the SDK Configuration Tool returns a message saying that directories have been successfully updated. The user may then build applications using an unexpected set of headers, libraries and tools.

Scenario: A user has Visual Studio 2008 (any SKU) installed on her computer, and also has the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 installed. The user knows she can use the Windows SDK Configuration Tool to tell Visual Studio 2008 which version of the Windows SDK to use: the Windows SDK components that ship in Visual Studio 2008, or the Windows SDK components installed with the standalone Windows SDK for Server 2008.

The user runs the Windows SDK Configuration Tool and changes the “current” SDK. The tool returns a message saying the “Windows SDK Configuration Tool successfully set version X as the current version for Visual Studio 2008.” In fact, the “current version” of the SDK has not been reset.

The cause: After installing the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 (any SKU), you’ll have two sets of SDK resources installed by default to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\:

· \v6.0A contains the SDK resources installed by Visual Studio 2008

· \v6.1 contains the SDK resources installed by the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008

When a Windows SDK (including the Windows SDK embedded in Visual Studio 2008) is installed, it writes the “currentInstallFolder" value in both of the following keys:

· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\

· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\

Visual Studio 2008 looks to these keys to determine the “current” SDK. Visual Studio 2008 IDE first checks the HKCU key, and if that key is missing, it will look next in HKLM. However, the Windows SDK Configuration Tool only updates the HKLM key:

· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\

Two workarounds are available. Start the Windows SDK Configuration Tool in command line mode, or Update HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the registry to point to the version of the SDK that you wish to build with.

Workaround option 1 (recommended): Start the Windows SDK Configuration Tool in command line mode:

1. Launch Visual Studio 2008 command prompt

2. CD to the directory where the SDK Configuration Tool is located (by default, C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Setup).

3. Run the SDK Configuration Tool, specifying which SDK version to make current: (Type: WindowsSdkVer.exe -version:v6.1)

4. You can now build at the command line using version v6.1 of the SDK

5. If you’d like to build in the Visual Studio IDE, while still in the Visual Studio command window, type: devenv /useenv

6. The SDK version you have set as “current” will remain the current SDK for the current Visual Studio session.

Workaround option 2: Update HKEY_CURRENT_USER to point to the version of the SDK that you wish to build with:

(Modifying the registry is only recommended for advanced users, but if you have sufficient experience, you can update the HKEY_CURRENT_USER to point to a different version of the SDK. Anyone considering this should review the article, Windows registry information for advanced users before using regedit.

This workaround is to update the "CurrentInstallFolder" value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\ and set it to the SDK you wish for Visual Studio 2008 to use. (Installation directories shown here are default installation paths. If you chose to install the SDK to a non-default location your path will be different.)

· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\@CurrentInstallFolder = C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\ to build with the Windows SDK content included in VS2008;

· HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\@CurrentInstallFolder = C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\ to build with the Windows SDK content included in the Windows SDK for Server 2008.

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Workaround: SDK build env fails on X86 XP with VS2005

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:30:00 GMT

This article applies to the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. Problem: If your usage scenario matches the one listed below, you will be unable to build in the Windows SDK command line build environment. If you type cl.exe in the SDK command window and press Enter, you will see this error:

This application has failed to start because mspdb80.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

Computer setup required to repro issue:

1. Windows XP on x86 machine (which has version 5.1.2600.2180 of REG.exe)

2. Visual Studio 2005 installed, but Visual Studio 2008 is NOT installed

Cause: When the SDK build environment window is launched, the SDK file SetEnv.cmd launches Reg.exe. Reg.exe generates standard output when a valid KeyPath is specified and also generates error output when invalid Value is specified. In this scenario, the KeyPath is valid but the value doesn’t exist:

Command:

REG QUERY "%VSRegKeyPath%" /v 9.0

Output:

! REG.EXE VERSION 3.0

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\SxS\VC7

Error: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value

The second call to REG in setenv.cmd is grabbing the output from the call above and setting VSRoot=VERSION 3.0, which breaks the Windows SDK build environment. (Other versions of REG.EXE will immediately throw an error when an invalid KeyPath/Value combination is specified.)

Workaround: follow these instructions to manually edit SetEnv.cmd to remove the second call to REG:

Open up SetEnv.cmd in Notepad or another editor.
For this line:

FOR /F "tokens=2* delims= " %%A IN ('REG QUERY "%VSRegKeyPath%" /v 9.0') DO SET VSRoot=%%B

Either comment out using the REM command (like this):

REM FOR /F "tokens=2* delims= " %%A IN ('REG QUERY "%VSRegKeyPath%" /v 9.0') DO SET VSRoot=%%B

OR delete the line completely.

Save SetEnv.cmd.
Restart the Windows SDK command prompt.

||Karin Meier||Windows SDK PM||Build Environment.Samples.Community||

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.

Integrating Windows SDK and VS with new SDK Configuration tool

wsdkblog@microsoft.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:29:00 GMT

This article describes the use of the Windows SDK Configuration tool, which is included in the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 and works with Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, including Visual Studio 2008 Express SKUs.

A serious bug has been discovered with the Windows SDK Configuration Tool. This bug is not apparent as the tool appears to work correctly. Please read the blog post WinSDK bug notification: SDK Config Tool appears to work but fails, to learn more about the issue and find workaround steps.

What is the Windows SDK Configuration tool for?

The Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, released in February, 2008, includes a new tool to help you develop more easily with Visual Studio. You can use this tool to set which version of Windows SDK headers, libraries and tools you want to build with in Visual Studio.

The Visual Studio 2008 editions are seamlessly integrated with the Windows SDK. VS2008 editions include the same Vista RTM headers and libraries that shipped in the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit Update for Windows Vista released in March, 2007. (The SDK tools in VS2008 are more recent.) You can use these integrated Windows Vista headers and libraries right out of the box with Visual Studio 2008. If you want to use the content in another Windows SDK, the SDK Configuration Tool will allow you to do just that, by setting which SDK is the ‘current’ SDK to build with.

Updating the Windows SDK Content in Visual C++2008

You can build Win32 applications right out of the box with the Vista RTM SDK components that are embedded in Visual Studio 2008. It’s also easy to switch to the more recent components that ship with the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 by installing this SDK on your computer. If you install the SDK after you installed VS, you are ready to develop with the headers, libraries and tools in the SDK for Windows Server 2008. If you installed the Windows Server 2008 SDK before you install Visual Studio, you will need to use the SDK Configuration Tool to set the directories.

Windows SDK headers, libraries and tools

After installing the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 (any SKU), you’ll have two sets of SDK resources installed by default to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\:

· \v6.0A contains the SDK resources installed by Visual Studio 2008

· \v6.1 contains the SDK resources installed by the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008

Visual Studio 2008 will point to v6.0A headers, libraries and tools, which installed with VS by default. Use the SDK Configuration Tool to update the Visual C++ directories to point to the v6.1 headers, libraries and tools that shipped with the Windows SDK for Server 2008.

How does the SDK Configuration Tool work?

The tool works by altering the Visual Studio 2008 directories through a registry key setting. (The tool works differently with Visual Studio 2005. This will be covered in a future post.)

· On an X86 computer: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows

· On an X64 or IA64 computer: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\Windows

The settings “CurrentVersion” and "CurrentInstallFolder" refer to the version and location of the registered Windows SDK headers, libraries and tools. These settings get updated during Windows SDK installation or when the Windows SDK Configuration Tool is used to choose which Windows SDK content users want to use with Visual Studio 2008.

SubKey	Window SDK Version
V6.0	Windows SDK for Windows Vista and Windows SDK for Windows Vista Update
V6.0A	Windows SDK Visual Studio Components
V6.1	Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008

Visual Studio 2008 looks at this key to determine how to set the following directories:

· Visual Studio Library Directory sets the paths to use when searching for library files while building a VC++ project. It corresponds to environment variable LIB.

· The Visual Studio Include Directory sets the paths to use when searching for include files while building a VC++ project. It corresponds to environment variable INCLUDE.

· The Visual Studio Executables Directory sets the path to use when searching for executable files while building a VC++ project. It corresponds to environment variable PATH.

The VC++ 2008 Library, Include and Tool path are set upon install to the Windows SDK content that ships embedded with Visual Studio 2008. If you want to change these paths you can do so manually through Visual Studio, or use the SDK Configuration Tool to set these directories.

The SDK Configuration Tool has a GUI interface that works with the Visual Studio Retail (non-Express) SKUs, and a command line interface that works with either the VS Retail or Express SKUs. (See Using Visual C++ 2008 Express with the Windows SDK for more information on working with Visual Studio Express.)

How to use the SDK Configuration Tool in GUI mode

To launch the SDK Configuration Tool GUI interface, go to Start, All Programs, Microsoft Windows SDK v6.1, Visual Studio Registration, Windows SDK Configuration Tool.

Use the drop box to pick which version of SDK content you want to integrate with Visual Studio, and click Make Current.

How to use the SDK Configuration Tool at the command line

The SDK Configuration Tool can be used with either the GUI or command line interfaces with Visual Studio 2005 Retail or Visual Studio 2008. The tool can only be used at the command line for Visual Studio 2008 Express SKUs. (See Using Visual C++ 2008 Express with the Windows SDK.)

1. Launch the Windows SDK Command Window (Start, All Programs, Microsoft Windows SDK v6.1, Command Window)

2. CD to \Program Files\Microsoft\Windows\v6.1\Setup>

3. Type: WindowsSdkVer.exe -version:v6.1

This will set the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 (v 6.1) as the “current” SDK for Visual Studio to use for headers, libraries and tools.

How to validate that Visual Studio Directories were successfully updated

Open the Visual Studio command window and check the PATH to see if the v6.1 directory has been added:

1. Start, All Programs, Visual C++ Express Edition 9.0, Visual Studio Tools, Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt

2. At the prompt, type: PATH

How to Switch back to the SDK content that shipped ‘in the box’ with Visual Studio 2008

To restore the default directories, use the SDK Configuration Tool at the command line to make the v6.0A directories ‘current.’

1. Launch the Windows SDK Command Window (Start, All Programs, Microsoft Windows SDK v6.1, Command Window)

2. CD to \Program Files\Microsoft\Windows\v6.1\Setup>

3. Type: WindowsSdkVer.exe -version:v6.0A

Troubleshooting:

After Visual Studio Repair, environment variables are reset. If Visual Studio is Repaired (through Add/Remove Programs), the environment variables will point back to the default VS content. You will need to use the SDK Configuration tool if you want to point to the content in the Windows Server 2008 SDK.

After Windows SDK Repair, environment variables are reset. If the Windows SDK is ‘Repaired’ (through Add/Remove Programs), the environment variables will point to Windows SDK content. You will need to use the SDK Configuration tool if you want to point to the content that shipped with Visual Studio 2008.

Please send feedback on this tool.

The MSDN Windows SDK Developer Center is the place to find resources and links to Windows SDK products, release notes, technical articles, and more.