Hi guys !

I'm fresh to D and really happy about the easy syntax compared to C++.
I would like to do automation with winword on my job here.

First of all, a little Ruby code, so that you can see what I mean:

Code starts here:

require "win32ole"
@word = WIN32OLE.new('Word.Application') # initialize a new word
# next line: create a new file with the given template
@word.documents.add(File.expand_path("myownfiletemplate.dot"))
# next line: show word, because it would be hidden!
@word.Visible = 1
# search for text
@word.selection.find.text = "Text to Search"
@word.selection.find.execute
# after search (text will me marked) exchange "Text to Search" with
# "Replaced by this Text"
@word.selection.typetext "Replaced by this Text"

Code ends here



Das a similiar lib (like this win32ole lib from ruby) exist for the D language? I also tried to work with dfl it does have a module named dfl.wincom, but there is no usable documentation about it, and I really don't know if its the right module.

Greets, Gregor

Hi Gregor,
Have a look at the dmd samples directory. dclient.d
As far as I can see your ruby sample is a typical late binding scenario.
D can do more, or, in other words  D can do what C++ can do, but in a readable way. Have a look at the JUNO tool chain at dsource.org ... projects JUNO.
Björn // btw : dsource is not avail. at the moment.


Gregor Kopp schrieb:
> Hi guys !
> 
> I'm fresh to D and really happy about the easy syntax compared to C++.
> I would like to do automation with winword on my job here.
> 
> First of all, a little Ruby code, so that you can see what I mean:
> 
> Code starts here:
> 
> require "win32ole"
> @word = WIN32OLE.new('Word.Application') # initialize a new word
> # next line: create a new file with the given template
> @word.documents.add(File.expand_path("myownfiletemplate.dot"))
> # next line: show word, because it would be hidden!
> @word.Visible = 1
> # search for text
> @word.selection.find.text = "Text to Search"
> @word.selection.find.execute
> # after search (text will me marked) exchange "Text to Search" with
> # "Replaced by this Text"
> @word.selection.typetext "Replaced by this Text"
> 
> Code ends here
> 
> 
> 
> Das a similiar lib (like this win32ole lib from ruby) exist for the D language? I also tried to work with dfl it does have a module named dfl.wincom, but there is no usable documentation about it, and I really don't know if its the right module.
> 
> Greets, Gregor

"BLS" <Killing_Zoe@web.de> wrote in message news:ejd1g9$2g0c$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Hi Gregor,
> Have a look at the dmd samples directory. dclient.d
> As far as I can see your ruby sample is a typical late binding scenario.
> D can do more, or, in other words  D can do what C++ can do, but in a
> readable way. Have a look at the JUNO tool chain at dsource.org ...
> projects JUNO.
> Björn // btw : dsource is not avail. at the moment.
>
>
> Gregor Kopp schrieb:
>> Hi guys !
>>
>> I'm fresh to D and really happy about the easy syntax compared to C++. I would like to do automation with winword on my job here.
>>
>> First of all, a little Ruby code, so that you can see what I mean:
>>
>> Code starts here:
>>
>> require "win32ole"
>> @word = WIN32OLE.new('Word.Application') # initialize a new word
>> # next line: create a new file with the given template
>> @word.documents.add(File.expand_path("myownfiletemplate.dot"))
>> # next line: show word, because it would be hidden!
>> @word.Visible = 1
>> # search for text
>> @word.selection.find.text = "Text to Search"
>> @word.selection.find.execute
>> # after search (text will me marked) exchange "Text to Search" with
>> # "Replaced by this Text"
>> @word.selection.typetext "Replaced by this Text"
>>
>> Code ends here
>>
>>
>>
>> Das a similiar lib (like this win32ole lib from ruby) exist for the D language? I also tried to work with dfl it does have a module named dfl.wincom, but there is no usable documentation about it, and I really don't know if its the right module.
>>
>> Greets, Gregor

You're better off using early binding than late binding. It's faster and a lot easier to use. You'll first need to translate the msword.olb type library to a D module. Tlbimpd should help you with that (look for Juno on DSource). Or use OleView and do it by hand.

Gregor Kopp wrote:
> Hi guys !
> 
> I'm fresh to D and really happy about the easy syntax compared to C++.
> I would like to do automation with winword on my job here.
> 
> First of all, a little Ruby code, so that you can see what I mean:
> 
> Code starts here:
> 
> require "win32ole"
> @word = WIN32OLE.new('Word.Application') # initialize a new word
> # next line: create a new file with the given template
> @word.documents.add(File.expand_path("myownfiletemplate.dot"))
> # next line: show word, because it would be hidden!
> @word.Visible = 1
> # search for text
> @word.selection.find.text = "Text to Search"
> @word.selection.find.execute
> # after search (text will me marked) exchange "Text to Search" with
> # "Replaced by this Text"
> @word.selection.typetext "Replaced by this Text"
> 
> Code ends here
> 
> 
> 
> Das a similiar lib (like this win32ole lib from ruby) exist for the D language? I also tried to work with dfl it does have a module named dfl.wincom, but there is no usable documentation about it, and I really don't know if its the right module.
> 
> Greets, Gregor

Oh no, another Gregor!  Oh, the confusion that will ensue!

 - Gregor Richards

Thank you all for the tipps ;)

I'll take a look at JUNO, when dsource is online again. Tried the last days to reach that site. But I think it will be back again soon.

Hehe, youre not the only Gregor *g*
But nevermind, I know lot's of people which don't draw distinctions between Georg and Gregor and THAT is annoying for me. But only a little bit ;)

Sorry my english, it isn't my natural language and thank you for your friendly acceptance.


Gregor Richards schrieb:
> Gregor Kopp wrote:
> 
>> Hi guys !
>>
>> I'm fresh to D and really happy about the easy syntax compared to C++.
>> I would like to do automation with winword on my job here.
>>
>> First of all, a little Ruby code, so that you can see what I mean:
>>
>> Code starts here:
>>
>> require "win32ole"
>> @word = WIN32OLE.new('Word.Application') # initialize a new word
>> # next line: create a new file with the given template
>> @word.documents.add(File.expand_path("myownfiletemplate.dot"))
>> # next line: show word, because it would be hidden!
>> @word.Visible = 1
>> # search for text
>> @word.selection.find.text = "Text to Search"
>> @word.selection.find.execute
>> # after search (text will me marked) exchange "Text to Search" with
>> # "Replaced by this Text"
>> @word.selection.typetext "Replaced by this Text"
>>
>> Code ends here
>>
>>
>>
>> Das a similiar lib (like this win32ole lib from ruby) exist for the D language? I also tried to work with dfl it does have a module named dfl.wincom, but there is no usable documentation about it, and I really don't know if its the right module.
>>
>> Greets, Gregor
> 
> 
> Oh no, another Gregor!  Oh, the confusion that will ensue!
> 
>  - Gregor Richards

Hm. I played around with it now for several hours. With Tlbimpd I always get an access violation, i dont know why. But I must say, that I don't know if I did it the right way. I seems that ive always the poor stupid guy who does always wants to learn something about new technologies and always gets undocumented pieces of software :(
Its really annoying.

I thought about using OleView and do it by hand about 2 seconds ;)
Im a Noob about such things, I think I need 3-4 years of experience before I know what I'm doing with that *g*

Anyway, enough mimimimi...

Can anyone tell me what I could do to reach my goal? I would be really be sad if i have to drop my interest on D because the lack of my knowledge about windows programming.

But maybe Im just to dump to use Tlbimpd :/
I don't know...



JohnC schrieb:

> 
> 
> You're better off using early binding than late binding. It's faster and a lot easier to use. You'll first need to translate the msword.olb type library to a D module. Tlbimpd should help you with that (look for Juno on DSource). Or use OleView and do it by hand. 
> 
> 

"Gregor Kopp" <gk@cutcopy.com> wrote in message news:ejepvc$1h3m$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> Hm. I played around with it now for several hours. With Tlbimpd I always
> get an access violation, i dont know why. But I must say, that I don't
> know if I did it the right way. I seems that ive always the poor stupid
> guy who does always wants to learn something about new technologies and
> always gets undocumented pieces of software :(
> Its really annoying.

Sorry it's not documented. I'm readying a new release of my Juno library and related tools, and will provide documentation this time around. It should be done by late December.

For now, get the latest test version of tlbimpd from http://wwwpaperocean.org/d/tlbimpd.zip.  The /? switch on the command line explains the various options.

Tlbimpd attempts to generate a D source module from a COM type library. It doesn't work on every type library yet. And when it does work you might need to tweak the generated files to get them to compile.

I just ran this version of tlbimpd on msword.olb, and it generated word.d without any errors. Here's what you need to do to get Word automation working:

1) Run tlbimpd (the latest version from the above link) on msword.olb,
mso.dll and vbe6ext.olb.
I had to search my system for vbe6ext.olb. It was buried in a CAB file - if
that's the same for you, copy it to another location before using tlbimpd on
it.

2) Download http://www.paperocean.org/d/comtest.zip and use the com module from there instead of the one from Juno.

3) Import the resulting "office" and "vbide" modules into word.d, like this:

    private import com, office, vbide;

Import the "office" module into vbide.d.

4) office.d requires IPictureDisp, which isn't defined in the included com module (I'll add it in the next release) so add the following lines to the bottom of the "com" module:

    interface IPictureDisp : IDispatch {
        static GUID IID = { 0x7BF80981, 0xBF32, 0x101A, 0x8B, 0xBB, 0x00,
0xAA, 0x00, 0x30, 0x0C, 0xAB };
    }

5) Try to compile everything, using DMD. You'll get a few errors saying something like "Range is used as a type". This means that Range is defined as a type but is also the name of a function, and they clash. So just go through them in turn and prefix the function names where the errors occur with "get_". For example change the function named Range to get_Range.

After following these steps, it should all compile.

I know I said it was easier to use early binding rather than late binding, and while this may make you think otherwise, it'll save you a lot of work in the long run.

>
> I thought about using OleView and do it by hand about 2 seconds ;)
> Im a Noob about such things, I think I need 3-4 years of experience before
> I know what I'm doing with that *g*
>
> Anyway, enough mimimimi...
>
> Can anyone tell me what I could do to reach my goal? I would be really be sad if i have to drop my interest on D because the lack of my knowledge about windows programming.
>
> But maybe Im just to dump to use Tlbimpd :/
> I don't know...

If you follow the guidance above, you shouldn't need to drop either.

Hi JohnC,

thank you very very much for your time and helping.
I downloaded your new version of Tlbimpd, found the 3 named files and now im stucking again with Tlbimpd (step 1).

But i don not know what I can do. I tried tlbimpd with the options, without the options, with full path in \ and / notation, a always get the Access Violation on all 3 files. I too tried, just to find out how, to generate it with the sqlite3.dll to see if it is tlbimpd, or me but here tlbimpd says, that he cannot open the dll file. Could it be, that tlbimpd don't do the job on a Windows 2000?

tlbimpd.exe is stored in my c:/dmd/bin directory wich is in my PATH Variable, if that helps.

Whatever i try to do with it, here is an example output:

C:\Documents and Settings\gk>f:

F:\>cd \dfiles\mswordolb

F:\dfiles\mswordolb>dir
 Volume in drive F is Daten
 Volume Serial Number is 6833-CBCE

 Directory of F:\dfiles\mswordolb

11/15/2006  02:13p      <DIR>          .
11/15/2006  02:13p      <DIR>          ..
09/01/2006  03:02p           9,816,840 MSO.DLL
02/19/2001  08:12p             626,688 MSWORD.OLB
01/22/2001  06:39p              45,056 VBE6EXT.OLB
               3 File(s)     10,488,584 bytes
               2 Dir(s)     928,391,168 bytes free

F:\dfiles\mswordolb>tlbimpd /?
Type Library to D Module Converter 1.0

Syntax: tlbimpd TypeLibName [Options]
Options:
    /comments             Adds documentation as comments
    /noblanks             Omits blank lines between members
    /noenums              Prevents generating named enums
    /nologo               Omits display of logo
    /silent               Suppresses all output except errors
    /tabs                 Indents new lines with tabs instead of spaces
    /indent:indentCount   Indents new lines with the specified number of spaces
    /braces:newLine       Places braces on a new line
    /module:moduleName    Name of module to be produced
    /out:fileName         File name of module to be produced
    /propget:prefix       Prefix to use for property getters
    /propput:prefix       Prefix to use for property setters
    /unnamed:value        Value for unnamed parameters
    /order:verbatim       Generate types in original order
    /? or /help           Displays this usage message


F:\dfiles\mswordolb>tlbimpd MSWORD.OLB /module:msword /out:msword.d
Type Library to D Module Converter 1.0

Access Violation


F:\dfiles\mswordolb>


JohnC schrieb:
> "Gregor Kopp" <gk@cutcopy.com> wrote in message news:ejepvc$1h3m$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> 
>>Hm. I played around with it now for several hours. With Tlbimpd I always get an access violation, i dont know why. But I must say, that I don't know if I did it the right way. I seems that ive always the poor stupid guy who does always wants to learn something about new technologies and always gets undocumented pieces of software :(
>>Its really annoying.
> 
> 
> Sorry it's not documented. I'm readying a new release of my Juno library and related tools, and will provide documentation this time around. It should be done by late December.
> 
> For now, get the latest test version of tlbimpd from http://wwwpaperocean.org/d/tlbimpd.zip.  The /? switch on the command line explains the various options.
> 
> Tlbimpd attempts to generate a D source module from a COM type library. It doesn't work on every type library yet. And when it does work you might need to tweak the generated files to get them to compile.
> 
> I just ran this version of tlbimpd on msword.olb, and it generated word.d without any errors. Here's what you need to do to get Word automation working:
> 
> 1) Run tlbimpd (the latest version from the above link) on msword.olb, mso.dll and vbe6ext.olb.
> I had to search my system for vbe6ext.olb. It was buried in a CAB file - if that's the same for you, copy it to another location before using tlbimpd on it.
> 
> 2) Download http://www.paperocean.org/d/comtest.zip and use the com module from there instead of the one from Juno.
> 
> 3) Import the resulting "office" and "vbide" modules into word.d, like this:
> 
>     private import com, office, vbide;
> 
> Import the "office" module into vbide.d.
> 
> 4) office.d requires IPictureDisp, which isn't defined in the included com module (I'll add it in the next release) so add the following lines to the bottom of the "com" module:
> 
>     interface IPictureDisp : IDispatch {
>         static GUID IID = { 0x7BF80981, 0xBF32, 0x101A, 0x8B, 0xBB, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x30, 0x0C, 0xAB };
>     }
> 
> 5) Try to compile everything, using DMD. You'll get a few errors saying something like "Range is used as a type". This means that Range is defined as a type but is also the name of a function, and they clash. So just go through them in turn and prefix the function names where the errors occur with "get_". For example change the function named Range to get_Range.
> 
> After following these steps, it should all compile.
> 
> I know I said it was easier to use early binding rather than late binding, and while this may make you think otherwise, it'll save you a lot of work in the long run.
> 
> 
>>I thought about using OleView and do it by hand about 2 seconds ;)
>>Im a Noob about such things, I think I need 3-4 years of experience before I know what I'm doing with that *g*
>>
>>Anyway, enough mimimimi...
>>
>>Can anyone tell me what I could do to reach my goal? I would be really be sad if i have to drop my interest on D because the lack of my knowledge about windows programming.
>>
>>But maybe Im just to dump to use Tlbimpd :/
>>I don't know...
> 
> 
> If you follow the guidance above, you shouldn't need to drop either. 
> 
> 

I went to another computer with Windows XP, and there it generated the d files! It seems, that its really a Windows2000 or Windows XP issue! And i thought im a jerky jerk *hrhr*
I keep you informed about my future experience about it.


Gregor Kopp schrieb:
> Hi JohnC,
> 
> thank you very very much for your time and helping.
> I downloaded your new version of Tlbimpd, found the 3 named files and now im stucking again with Tlbimpd (step 1).
> 
> But i don not know what I can do. I tried tlbimpd with the options, without the options, with full path in \ and / notation, a always get the Access Violation on all 3 files. I too tried, just to find out how, to generate it with the sqlite3.dll to see if it is tlbimpd, or me but here tlbimpd says, that he cannot open the dll file. Could it be, that tlbimpd don't do the job on a Windows 2000?
> 
> tlbimpd.exe is stored in my c:/dmd/bin directory wich is in my PATH Variable, if that helps.
> 
> Whatever i try to do with it, here is an example output:
> 
> C:\Documents and Settings\gk>f:
> 
> F:\>cd \dfiles\mswordolb
> 
> F:\dfiles\mswordolb>dir
>  Volume in drive F is Daten
>  Volume Serial Number is 6833-CBCE
> 
>  Directory of F:\dfiles\mswordolb
> 
> 11/15/2006  02:13p      <DIR>          .
> 11/15/2006  02:13p      <DIR>          ..
> 09/01/2006  03:02p           9,816,840 MSO.DLL
> 02/19/2001  08:12p             626,688 MSWORD.OLB
> 01/22/2001  06:39p              45,056 VBE6EXT.OLB
>                3 File(s)     10,488,584 bytes
>                2 Dir(s)     928,391,168 bytes free
> 
> F:\dfiles\mswordolb>tlbimpd /?
> Type Library to D Module Converter 1.0
> 
> Syntax: tlbimpd TypeLibName [Options]
> Options:
>     /comments             Adds documentation as comments
>     /noblanks             Omits blank lines between members
>     /noenums              Prevents generating named enums
>     /nologo               Omits display of logo
>     /silent               Suppresses all output except errors
>     /tabs                 Indents new lines with tabs instead of spaces
>     /indent:indentCount   Indents new lines with the specified number of spaces
>     /braces:newLine       Places braces on a new line
>     /module:moduleName    Name of module to be produced
>     /out:fileName         File name of module to be produced
>     /propget:prefix       Prefix to use for property getters
>     /propput:prefix       Prefix to use for property setters
>     /unnamed:value        Value for unnamed parameters
>     /order:verbatim       Generate types in original order
>     /? or /help           Displays this usage message
> 
> 
> F:\dfiles\mswordolb>tlbimpd MSWORD.OLB /module:msword /out:msword.d
> Type Library to D Module Converter 1.0
> 
> Access Violation
> 
> 
> F:\dfiles\mswordolb>
> 
> 
> JohnC schrieb:
> 
>> "Gregor Kopp" <gk@cutcopy.com> wrote in message news:ejepvc$1h3m$1@digitaldaemon.com...
>>
>>> Hm. I played around with it now for several hours. With Tlbimpd I always get an access violation, i dont know why. But I must say, that I don't know if I did it the right way. I seems that ive always the poor stupid guy who does always wants to learn something about new technologies and always gets undocumented pieces of software :(
>>> Its really annoying.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sorry it's not documented. I'm readying a new release of my Juno library and related tools, and will provide documentation this time around. It should be done by late December.
>>
>> For now, get the latest test version of tlbimpd from http://wwwpaperocean.org/d/tlbimpd.zip.  The /? switch on the command line explains the various options.
>>
>> Tlbimpd attempts to generate a D source module from a COM type library. It doesn't work on every type library yet. And when it does work you might need to tweak the generated files to get them to compile.
>>
>> I just ran this version of tlbimpd on msword.olb, and it generated word.d without any errors. Here's what you need to do to get Word automation working:
>>
>> 1) Run tlbimpd (the latest version from the above link) on msword.olb, mso.dll and vbe6ext.olb.
>> I had to search my system for vbe6ext.olb. It was buried in a CAB file - if that's the same for you, copy it to another location before using tlbimpd on it.
>>
>> 2) Download http://www.paperocean.org/d/comtest.zip and use the com module from there instead of the one from Juno.
>>
>> 3) Import the resulting "office" and "vbide" modules into word.d, like this:
>>
>>     private import com, office, vbide;
>>
>> Import the "office" module into vbide.d.
>>
>> 4) office.d requires IPictureDisp, which isn't defined in the included com module (I'll add it in the next release) so add the following lines to the bottom of the "com" module:
>>
>>     interface IPictureDisp : IDispatch {
>>         static GUID IID = { 0x7BF80981, 0xBF32, 0x101A, 0x8B, 0xBB, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x30, 0x0C, 0xAB };
>>     }
>>
>> 5) Try to compile everything, using DMD. You'll get a few errors saying something like "Range is used as a type". This means that Range is defined as a type but is also the name of a function, and they clash. So just go through them in turn and prefix the function names where the errors occur with "get_". For example change the function named Range to get_Range.
>>
>> After following these steps, it should all compile.
>>
>> I know I said it was easier to use early binding rather than late binding, and while this may make you think otherwise, it'll save you a lot of work in the long run.
>>
>>
>>> I thought about using OleView and do it by hand about 2 seconds ;)
>>> Im a Noob about such things, I think I need 3-4 years of experience before I know what I'm doing with that *g*
>>>
>>> Anyway, enough mimimimi...
>>>
>>> Can anyone tell me what I could do to reach my goal? I would be really be sad if i have to drop my interest on D because the lack of my knowledge about windows programming.
>>>
>>> But maybe Im just to dump to use Tlbimpd :/
>>> I don't know...
>>
>>
>>
>> If you follow the guidance above, you shouldn't need to drop either.
>>

I have only one last question (hope so).

I went now from 1 to 5, i got my files - i think all is correctly done.
If you have some sparetime, can you post me a really small example how to use the resulting files?
Maybe only start a Word, Insert "Hello World" and quit the program?

Thank you very much in advance, it would be a great help to avoid further headache *g*



JohnC schrieb:
> "Gregor Kopp" <gk@cutcopy.com> wrote in message news:ejepvc$1h3m$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> 
>>Hm. I played around with it now for several hours. With Tlbimpd I always get an access violation, i dont know why. But I must say, that I don't know if I did it the right way. I seems that ive always the poor stupid guy who does always wants to learn something about new technologies and always gets undocumented pieces of software :(
>>Its really annoying.
> 
> 
> Sorry it's not documented. I'm readying a new release of my Juno library and related tools, and will provide documentation this time around. It should be done by late December.
> 
> For now, get the latest test version of tlbimpd from http://wwwpaperocean.org/d/tlbimpd.zip.  The /? switch on the command line explains the various options.
> 
> Tlbimpd attempts to generate a D source module from a COM type library. It doesn't work on every type library yet. And when it does work you might need to tweak the generated files to get them to compile.
> 
> I just ran this version of tlbimpd on msword.olb, and it generated word.d without any errors. Here's what you need to do to get Word automation working:
> 
> 1) Run tlbimpd (the latest version from the above link) on msword.olb, mso.dll and vbe6ext.olb.
> I had to search my system for vbe6ext.olb. It was buried in a CAB file - if that's the same for you, copy it to another location before using tlbimpd on it.
> 
> 2) Download http://www.paperocean.org/d/comtest.zip and use the com module from there instead of the one from Juno.
> 
> 3) Import the resulting "office" and "vbide" modules into word.d, like this:
> 
>     private import com, office, vbide;
> 
> Import the "office" module into vbide.d.
> 
> 4) office.d requires IPictureDisp, which isn't defined in the included com module (I'll add it in the next release) so add the following lines to the bottom of the "com" module:
> 
>     interface IPictureDisp : IDispatch {
>         static GUID IID = { 0x7BF80981, 0xBF32, 0x101A, 0x8B, 0xBB, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x30, 0x0C, 0xAB };
>     }
> 
> 5) Try to compile everything, using DMD. You'll get a few errors saying something like "Range is used as a type". This means that Range is defined as a type but is also the name of a function, and they clash. So just go through them in turn and prefix the function names where the errors occur with "get_". For example change the function named Range to get_Range.
> 
> After following these steps, it should all compile.
> 
> I know I said it was easier to use early binding rather than late binding, and while this may make you think otherwise, it'll save you a lot of work in the long run.
> 
> 
>>I thought about using OleView and do it by hand about 2 seconds ;)
>>Im a Noob about such things, I think I need 3-4 years of experience before I know what I'm doing with that *g*
>>
>>Anyway, enough mimimimi...
>>
>>Can anyone tell me what I could do to reach my goal? I would be really be sad if i have to drop my interest on D because the lack of my knowledge about windows programming.
>>
>>But maybe Im just to dump to use Tlbimpd :/
>>I don't know...
> 
> 
> If you follow the guidance above, you shouldn't need to drop either. 
> 
>