.NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API [Paperback]

John Paul Mueller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 078214134X | ISBN-13: 978-0782141344 | Publication Date: September 24, 2002

If you've begun programming using Microsoft's .NET Framework, you've discovered a lot of new and improved functionality. But, more than likely, you've also discovered a lot of missing functionality. Indeed, a third of the functions supported by the old Win32 API are not yet supported by .NET. Although you may not at first notice the loss of Win32 API functionality in .NET, the more you program, the more you'll realize how essential it is. As a programmer, you will not want to do without these solutions.

.NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API is one more thing you can't do without: a complete guide to your options for dealing with the functionality missing from .NET. As you'll learn, some functions are handily situated within Visual Basic or C#. In most cases, however, you'll need to access the old Win32 API from the .NET Framework. This is demanding work, but this book makes it easy, walking you through every step and paying special attention to the work of managing memory manually--the most error-prone part of the process.

The topics covered inside are as varied as the missing functionality: direct hardware access, low-level security control, certain aspects of OS access, support for multimedia and utilities, and DirectX. You also get hard-to-find information on COM access, plus a collection of examples--dealing with DirectX and the MMC Snap-ins--that unite COM and Win32 access in especially illuminating ways.

Over time, you can expect to see the .NET Framework expanded to include much of what it now lacks. But your programming tasks can't wait, and .NET Framework Solutions makes you productive--today.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If you’ve begun programming using Microsoft’s .NET Framework, you’ve discovered a lot of new and improved functionality. But, more than likely, you’ve also discovered a lot of missing functionality. Indeed, a third of the functions supported by the old Win32 API are not yet supported by .NET. Although you may not at first notice the loss of Win32 API functionality in .NET, the more you program, the more you’ll realize how essential it is. As a programmer, you will not want to do without these solutions.

.NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API is one more thing you can’t do without: a complete guide to your options for dealing with the functionality missing from .NET. As you’ll learn, some functions are handily situated within Visual Basic or C#. In most cases, however, you’ll need to access the old Win32 API from the .NET Framework. This is demanding work, but this book makes it easy, walking you through every step and paying special attention to the work of managing memory manually—the most error-prone part of the process.

The topics covered inside are as varied as the missing functionality: direct hardware access, low-level security control, certain aspects of OS access, support for multimedia and utilities, and DirectX. You also get hard-to-find information on COM access, plus a collection of examples—dealing with DirectX and the MMC Snap-ins—that unite COM and Win32 access in especially illuminating ways.

Over time, you can expect to see the .NET Framework expanded to include much of what it now lacks. But your programming tasks can’t wait, and .NET Framework Solutions makes you productive—today.

About the Author

John Paul Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor; he has written 53 books and 200 articles on various programming and networking topics. He has written articles for Visual C++ Developer, Visual Basic Developer, and SQL Server Professional magazines. He is currently the editor of the .NET electronic newsletter for Pinnacle Publishing. Recent books include Visual C# .NET Developer's Handbook for Sybex and Special Edition Using SOAP for Que.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078214134X
• ISBN-13: 978-0782141344
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,301,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 87 books and over 300 articles to date. The topics range from networking to artificial intelligence and from database management to heads down programming. His most recent book is "Windows Command Line Administration Instant Reference" (Sybex, ISBN: 978-0-470-65046-2). His technical editing skills have helped over 52 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. You can reach John on the Internet at [e-mail] and his Web site at: http://www.mwt.net/~jmueller/.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 50 life-saving tips for accessing the WIN32 API, December 19, 2002

By 

David Selwood "David" (RUISLIP GARDENS, MIDDLESEX United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: .NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API (Paperback)

A book that is definitely worth its weight. Any developer who is using VB. NET or C#, and requires the difficult knowledge on accessing the WIN 32API for Component writing, DirectX or Security (etc, etc), will find this book invaluable.

About two months ago I decided never to purchase another developer book again, because I'm sick and tired of paying good money for books whose content has just been copied and pasted from the Microsoft Help. However I recently went against my morals because of my struggling efforts in accessing Win 32 API calls from VB .NET. I ended-up getting a copy of John Mueller's "In Search of the Lost Win32 API" book and I'm happy I did.

This book contains original content with many gems of detail on almost every page. From reading the book it soon becomes apparent that John Mueller has a serious Windows and software development detailed background, and he is able to express his thoughts and reasons well. All in a well constructed and very readable manner. The book contains many examples, and most examples show how the same task is done in VB .NET and also C#. He also presents reasons why one language may be better than another for particular types of API calls. He does not however sell the merits of C# above VB.NET or vice versa. What this book is able to do is to give you the options and recommendations so that when you make a decision, it is an informed decision. For example if you ever attempted to replicate a Win32 API union or old variable type structure with VB.NET or C# then you will realise just how difficult or impossible this task is. John Mueller recommends that you use Visual C++ .NET to write a wrapper DLL. He is also tactful to remind us that using Visual C++ .NET will introduce other new challenges, since Visual C++ .NET is a more involved environment. Again examples of the latter are presented.

Should you buy this book I would strongly recommend that you read chapters 1 to 5 first and then read the appendices. The appendices contain over 50 life-saving tips for accessing the WIN32 API. You will most likely find yourself reading these chapters twice because the subject is so detailed!

All in all this is a great book, and am happy to recommend it to any serious developer. David Selwood.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book overall., May 21, 2003

By 

H. Ramos "herbman" (Miami Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: .NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API (Paperback)

This is a great book for developers seeking to understand how to translate C++ datatypes in the Win32 API functions into C# and VB.NET. It's not in-depth like Dan Appleman's VB's Guide to the Win32 API in past years, but it's the first of its' kind for .NET. My only wish is that the author not have spent so much time on DirectX and instead provided more general examples of other API calls. DirectX coverage should have been left for another book aimed specifically at that technology.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful book, October 27, 2002

By 

William J. Burris (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: .NET Framework Solutions: In Search of the Lost Win32 API (Paperback)

I am in the process of writing code to communicate with a microcontroler chip via USB. This requires calling the Win32 DeviceIoControl function to pass the requests to the device driver. Each USB funtion requires different data structures to be passed and returned using DeviceIoControl. These data structures use many of the wierd data types that Microsoft has defined in the Win32 API, which makes it dificult to write code in C# using Platform Invoke.

This book dosn't cover DeviceIoControl, or USB, but it has all the techniques I need to solve this problem, and has saved many hours of my time. I was starting to think that I would have to write my USB code in C++ with a managed C++ wrapper, but I am now making progress writing it completly in C#.

This book also discusses how to use managed C++ to wrap API calls, when you need to do something which can't be done directly with Platform Invoke.

There are 4 chapters on using DirectX from .NET, which I havn't read yet.

A great book for C# & VB.NET programmers who need to use the Win32 API, or other DLLs. You need to know C#, VB.NET, or another .NET language before reading this book. It also helps if you have had some experience with the Win32 API using C++ or VB6.