KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q297112: BUG: VB Compiler Pads Embedded Resources with NULLs

Article: Q297112
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbVBp kbVBp600 kbDSupport
Last Modified: 16-MAY-2002

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

If you compile XML or XSL resources in your Microsoft Visual Basic project, XML
or XSL parsers may not be able to parse the XML or XSL document from the
resources embedded in the Visual Basic executable file.

CAUSE
=====

The Visual Basic compiler pads embedded resources to align on 32-bit dword
boundaries with "0" (zero) characters. Because 0 is not a valid character in XML
or XSL, XML or XSL parsers may consider documents that contain 0s as invalid
documents.

RESOLUTION
==========

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but
it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers
that are experiencing this specific problem.

NOTE: You must have a Visual Studio license agreement to obtain this fix.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the
fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and
information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World
Wide Web:

  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or
later:

  Date              Version      Size      File name    
  ----------------------------------------------------
  04/23/2001        6.0.91.15    1.78 MB   VB6.EXE  
  04/23/2001        6.0.0.8965   1.62 MB   VBA6.dll




STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the
beginning of this article.

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

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
---------------------------

1. Use Microsoft Notepad to create an XML file named "Test.xml" (without the
  quotation marks) and copy the following text into the file:

<XML>
<Name>Test Name </Name>
</XML>

2. Use Notepad to create a new file named "Test.rc" (without the quotation
  marks) and copy the following text into the file. Make sure this file is in
  the same folder as Test.xml.

TEST.XML          HTML    DISCARDABLE     "TEST.XML"

3. With the working directory set as the folder where you want to save the
  Test.rc file, run the following command from a command prompt:

  "Rc Test.rc" (without the quotation marks)

  A new file named Test.res is generated.

4. Open Visual Basic 6 and create a new standard EXE project. Use the default
  name.

5. From the Project menu, select Add File, and add the Test.res file to the
  project.

6. Compile the project to be Project1.exe.

7. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer and type the following line in the address
  bar:

  "res://<localpath>\project1.exe/test.xml" (without the quotation marks)

  where <localpath> is replaced with the real path. For example, C:\test.

You should see the following error message:

  The XML page cannot be displayed
  Cannot view XML input using XSL style sheet. Please correct the error and then
  click the Refresh button, or try again later.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Invalid at the top level of the document. Line 3, Position 7

  </XML>

If you use the steps provided above but add two spaces to the end of the Test.xml
file so that the size of the file becomes 40 bytes, it should work as expected.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbVBp kbVBp600 kbDSupport 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB600Search kbVB600
Version           : :6.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbpending

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

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.