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Q192913: PRB: EnableModeless Causes Events to Fire Late

Article: Q192913
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): WINDOWS:1.0,1.1,2.0,97; WINNT:5.0,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbAutomation kbVC500bug kbVCObj kbVisID100bug kbVJ100bug kbVJ110bug kbVS97 kbDevStudio
Last Modified: 17-JUL-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Learning Edition, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual InterDev, version 1.0 
- Microsoft Visual J++, versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 
- Microsoft Visual Studio 97 
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SYMPTOMS
========

While automating the Developer Studio environment (MSDev.exe), events do not
occur when expected. For example, the BeforeBuildStart event might not fire
before the start of a build.

CAUSE
=====

Developer Studio is visible and the Application.EnableModeless property is set
to False.

RESOLUTION
==========

If Application.EnableModeless must be False, set Application.Visible to False to
receive events at the time they actually happen. Otherwise, keep
Application.EnableModeless set to True.

STATUS
======

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The purpose of EnableModeless is to minimize user interface messages from
Developer Studio while a macro or add-in is displaying a modal dialog box.
EnableModeless should be set to False before invoking a modal dialog box, and
set to True after dismissing the dialog box. The object model stores events
while EnableModeless is False, and fires them when it is set to True. Under
normal conditions, EnableModeless should be set to True.

The following Visual Basic subroutine demonstrates the problem. Call
CheckBuildEvents with the name of a workspace that includes at least one
buildable project. Before you can run the sample code, you must set a reference
to the Visual Studio object model.

1. From the Project menu, click References.

  For Visual Studio 97, click:

   - Visual Studio 97 Shared Objects

  -and-

   - Visual Studio 97 Project System

  For Visual Studio 6.0, click:

   - Visual C++ Shared Objects

  -and-

   - Visual C++ Project System

2. Click OK.

Sample Code
-----------

     Private WithEvents DevSt As DSSharedObjects.Application
     Private Sub CheckBuildEvents(strWksp As String)
        Dim cfg As DSProjectSystem.Configuration

        ' Create a new instance of DevStudio.
        Set DevSt = New DSSharedObjects.Application
        DevSt.Visible = True   ' Developer Studio must be invisible for
                               ' EnableModeless.
        DevSt.EnableModeless (False)
        Debug.Print "Opening Workspace "; strWksp
        DevSt.Documents.Open strWksp
        cfg = DevSt.ActiveProject.Configurations.Item(1)
        Debug.Print "Starting build: "; cfg
        DevSt.RebuildAll cfg
        Debug.Print "Closing workspace "; strWksp
        DevSt.ExecuteCommand "WorkspaceClose"
        DevSt.EnableModeless (True)   ' Events occur here if DevStudio is
                                      ' visible.
        DevSt.Quit
     End Sub
     Private Sub DevSt_BeforeBuildStart()
        Debug.Print ">BeforeBuildStart"
     End Sub
     Private Sub DevSt_BuildFinish(ByVal nErr As Long, ByVal nWrn As Long)
        Debug.Print ">BuildFinish: nErr ="; nErr; "; nWrn ="; nWrn
     End Sub

For example, if you have a workspace named MyWksp.dsw with one project named
MyProj, the following Visual Basic subroutine call

     CheckBuildEvents "MyWksp.dsw"

produces the following output in the debug window:

  Opening Workspace MyWksp.dsw
  Starting build: MyProj - Win32 Release
  Closing Workspace MyWksp.dsw
  >BeforeBuildStart
  >BuildFinish: nErr = 0; nWrn = 0

Now modify the subroutine, changing the following line

     DevSt.Visible = True ' Developer Studio must be invisible for
                          ' EnableModeless.

to the following:

     DevSt.Visible = False

Rerunning the test correctly produces the following output:

  Opening Workspace MyWksp.dsw

  Starting build: MyProj - Win32 Release
  >BeforeBuildStart
  >BuildFinish: nErr = 0; nWrn = 0
  Closing Workspace MyWksp.dsw

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q192912 BUG: MSDev Doesn't Close When COM Reference Is Zero

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbAutomation kbVC500bug kbVCObj kbVisID100bug kbVJ100bug kbVJ110bug kbVS97 kbDevStudio kbVJ200bug kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbVSsearch kbVJsearch kbVisIDsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVC32bitSearch kbVisID100 kbVJ100 kbVJ110 kbVS97 kbVCPE500 kbVCPE600 kbVCEE500 kbVCEE600 kbVCLE600
Version           : WINDOWS:1.0,1.1,2.0,97; WINNT:5.0,6.0
Issue type        : kbprb
Solution Type     : kbpending

=============================================================================

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