VersionInfo Component 1.1 - free

Last updated: 08/02/99, v1.1 MTS and EXE server support added
Initial Release: 07/11/99, v1.0

Download of the week 11/15/99

One of the most annoying problems with component-based programming (and ASP is just a good example for that) are version conflicts or problems with specific builds of components (MDAC being an good example for this scenario).
On the right-hand side you can see the version information you can get for the ADO components using Windows NT Explorer.
Information obtained that is crucial is File Version - among others, which are not shown here.
So how can you get at this information using Active Server Pages? Without an additional component, there is no way.
Version Information

Because of the problems we had with component versions, I created the Softwing.VersionInfo component that is capable of retrieving exactly the same information as Explorer does - plus some additional, low-level, version information.

The additional bonus of this component (and I think this is the real killer feature) is that you don't need to know the DLL or EXE location and exact name - you can also present it with a ProgId (like "ADODB.Connection" or "MSWC.BrowserCapabilities") and it will automatically locate the corresponding DLL and extract the version information.

Installation and Download
Methods
Properties
Samples

Methods

Bool GetByFileName(strFilename)	Retrieves the version information for a specific file (can be any executable, DLL, OCX etc. that has version information stored in its resources). You have to provide the full path, eg. c:\Myapp\Myapp.exe or c:\winnt\system32\mycomp.dll.
Bool GetByProgId(strProgId)	If you want to query version information for COM components, then you can take the easy way of only providing the ProgId (eg. ADODB.Connection) - the VersionInfo component then tracks down the corresponding DLL on its own (EXE servers are currently not supported) and retrieves the version information.
String GetValue(strKeyName)	After executing one of the two above methods, you can query for specific version information (company name, original file version, ...). See the samples provided with the component which keys you can query.
Bool IsMtxObject()	Check to see if the component in question is hosted in Transaction Server (such as "ExAir.History"). If this method returns true, then no version information can be obtained (at least, not in this release of VersionInfo).

The Bool type returns 1 for True and 0 for False. Excel handles Not statements correctly, however, ASP does not - you have to compare to the numeric values.

Properties

All properties return long values.

FileFlags	Returns specific file flags set for the component. See declares.vbs to find out what information you can gather using this property.
FileName	Returns the full path of the DLL/EXE - this is especially useful when you have a ProgId and don't know where the DLL/EXE is stored on your harddisk.
FileOS	Returns the OS this component/application was written for. See declares.vbs to find out what information you can gather using this property.
FileType	Information about the file type. See declares.vbs to find out what information you can gather using this property.
MajorVersion	Returns the major version for the component/application.
MinorVersion	Returns the major version for the component/application.

Samples

The component ships with an Excel workbook (vinfo.xls) that demonstrates many of the usage scenarios of the component and allows you to test the component's functionality interactively.

Also, there is a full-featured ASP example (in the downloadable ZIP)- and you can take the code and port it to any other Automation-capable environment if you like.

Retrieving Version Information

This example (Excel sub) retrieves common version keys for the ADO library (opened via the ProgId).

Sub GetADOVersion()
    Dim xObj As Object, bResult As Boolean
    Set xObj = CreateObject("Softwing.VersionInfo")
    
    bResult = xObj.GetByProgId("ADODB.Connection")
    If Not bResult Then
        MsgBox "Could not locate the ADO files."
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    Dim strValue As String, aKeys As Variant, i As Integer
    aKeys = Array("CompanyName", "FileDescription", "FileVersion", _
		"InternalName", "LegalCopyright", "OriginalFilename", _
		"ProductName", "ProductVersion")
    
    For i = 0 To UBound(aKeys)
        strValue = strValue & aKeys(i) & ": " & xObj.GetValue(aKeys(i)) _
			& vbCrLf
    Next
    MsgBox strValue
    
    Set xObj = Nothing
End Sub

To the right you can see the results you get with ADO 2.1. Note that all version information you can retrieve via the Explorer Properties dialog box is available to you via GetValue(..).

If you want to obtain more information, then please see the next example about version flags.

Retrieving Version Flags

This example (Excel sub) retrieves additional version flags for the ADO library (opened via the ProgId).

Sub FlagsByProgId()
    Dim xObj As Object, bResult As Boolean, strResult As String
    Set xObj = CreateObject("Softwing.VersionInfo")
    
    bResult = xObj.GetByProgId("ADODB.Connection")
    If Not bResult Then
        MsgBox "Could not load ADO files."
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    strResult = "Major Version: " &amp; xObj.MajorVersion & vbCrLf
    strResult = strResult & "Minor Version: " & xObj.MinorVersion & vbCrLf
    strResult = strResult & "File Flags: " & xObj.FileFlags & vbCrLf
    strResult = strResult & "File OS: " & xObj.FileOS & vbCrLf
    strResult = strResult & "File Type: " & xObj.FileType & vbCrLf
    
    MsgBox strResult
    Set xObj = Nothing
End Sub

Installation and Download

Before using the component you have to register it using the regsvr32 utility: regsvr32 vinfo.dll.

Download (size is approx. 26KB)
The most current version number of the component is 1.1. It is compiled with Visual C++ 6.0 SP3 using ATL.

If you do have any questions, please feel free to send mail to Christoph Wille.