WritePrivateProfileString

[donkey]

Hi Andy,

The private profile (INI) functions are exceedingly easy to use and you should be able to muddle through the api documentation and figure this out yourself but if you're incapable of deciphering this information then perhaps try coding your app in another language as assembler is very unforgiving. Once you have coded the application in say C, then examine it and determine how you might translate it into assembler, for this you can use a disassembler or debugger, Olly is a great tool to look at the actual assembly code.

Beyond that, you are very welcome to email me with your question but I will not participate in long drawn out discussions about this, it is a simple issue and I will probably just return your corrected example code and not discuss it further. Obviously, if you do not supply me with the non-functional source and an exectuable I will not respond to any queries at all, you have to prove that you have at least tried to accomplish something before I will consider helping you. And by the way, some sloppily thrown together code or any code polluted by macros like "fn" will only result in a deleted email and no response, I don't use or waste my time finding macros or bother to read sloppy code. So any code you send must be self contained and use only functions intrinsic to MASM, none of that MASM32 crap.

As a tip, don't quote posts over and over, it is annoying and you are simply pissing people off, those people are extremely knowledgable and you are questioning their advise where they are completely correct. Until you have a better understanding of what youu're talking about you should accept the advise given here at face value. I have a great deal of respect for P1 and have found him to be overly patient in this thread, you have done nothing except goad him on and have done your best to alienate him. Your understanding level of what he is trying to tell you is lacking and you do not seem willing to research anything at all, just deride him for not explaining every last little detail. This board is not a programming course, it is meant to supply answers to questions and assumes that you are competant and have the background to understand them. Comments like "I'll keep posting more. There are still plenty here who keep a positive learning attitude. :-)" are inflamatory in nature and in my opinion rude and spiteful to those who are trying to help you, and don't be fooled, there are not many in the assembler community who will even consider answering your posts anymore. You have managed to make quite a few "gurus" ingore you and stay away from your questions, don't piss off the few that are left.

Edgar

[skywalker]

I've made numerous posts about GetPrivateProfileString in the past and even wrote a multi-line version to fix a "bug" present in its inherent design. Doing a simple site search would have yielded my complete examples, plus 4 other threads on how this API is used. Did you search for GetPrivateProfileString??? :dazzled:

Yes, I did search. Nothing in there about using extended ASCII charcters which I have now determined can not
be done with that API.

And I know you've read my posts asking other newcomers to read MASM32.HLP, HLHELP.HLP, MASMLIB.HLP, and ASMINTRO.HLP. Have you? Because they all contain KEY INFORMATION required to program in assembly language.

Again, I have read those several times.

I'll keep posting more. There are still plenty here who keep a positive learning attitude. :-)

Yeah, feign indifference... but truth is, nobody is going to keep handing you all the answers Andy, and worse they are starting to dislike you for pestering them, ignoring their hard-earned advice, and quoting every post! See this link for a word discribing these actions.

I am working hard and studying, so if someone thinks like you feel, they have the option of not answering.


Please, either try to figure out the answers yourself first (by try I mean spend at least a week on it, then ask one question and be kind about any response you get!) or as P1 says, switch to another language. Assembler is NOT an easy language, and is not user-friendly at all. It very well might be more suited for you to learn something like VB or .NET. An employer is not going to hire you unless you have 20 years or more of assembly programming experience, and since you're interested in cryptography of hidden registry keys and posting links about PE hacking programs and whatnot, I think you're into this for the wrong reasons anyways.

Regards,
Mark

Mark, I think you are thinking the worst.

There is nothing wrong with protecting code. No hacking code has ever been posted by me and never will. PEID is a hacking code, thus anti-PEID code is a good thing.

Have a good day,
                        Andy

[donkey]

Hi Andy,

You obviously have a problem, you have been asked many times not to f*cking quote whole posts, the post you were replying to is directly above your post, do you think that we are incapable of scrolling ????

Edgar

[P1]

Just for the record, the "Reply" button ( at the bottom of the thread ) is how you start the next entry for this thread.

"Quote" button is for including PART of the post in question for clarity or emphases. Not intended to include a whole post or start another reply with a complete previous post in it.  It is your responsibility to edit out the material that does not apply to the point you are making/repling to.

If this is confusing, just always use "Reply" button at the bottom of the thread.  Then insert the quote ( Using the ballon dialog button ) in the Reply screen, then cut and pasting what you want into the "["quote"]["/quote"]" pair.

Regards,  P1  :8)

[skywalker]

Thanks,

Your answers are concise and without the extra 'Festus" dialogue. (Gunsmoke)
"I am a chemist, and sometimes I leave my glass on top of my car."

Hope U had a good Easter.

[mnemonic]

I'll bring this one up again... should be made sticky as a bad example...

Hi skywalker,

your main mistake explained for you in a nutshell.
If I wrote a function that parses numbers from a string (i.e. GetPrivateProfileInt) I would in the first step assume that the string contains numbers from the decimal system (base 10) which means that the string must consist of the characters "0123456789".
Now tell me to which number system the character "é" belongs. Which base will that number system have? Is it lysergdecimal?

That was the first point, now on to the bigger one.
If the pros in here give you advice, you would better start thinking instead of complaining.
Maybe you shouldn't use the force or whatever but your brain.

Here is some interesting link on how to behave in usegroups:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
The same again, but in german:
http://www.lugbz.org/documents/smart-questions_de.html

Kind regards from germany
Jens

[skywalker]

I'll bring this one up again... should be made sticky as a bad example...

Hi skywalker,

your main mistake explained for you in a nutshell.
If I wrote a function that parses numbers from a string (i.e. GetPrivateProfileInt) I would in the first step assume that the string contains numbers from the decimal system (base 10) which means that the string must consist of the characters "0123456789".
Now tell me to which number system the character "é" belongs. Which base will that number system have? Is it lysergdecimal?

My string contained extended ASCII characters and that is simply what I would like to store. That is what I am asking help for. Hopefully you understand what I am looking for.

[P1]

My string contained extended ASCII characters and that is simply what I would like to store. That is what I am asking help for. Hopefully you understand what I am looking for.

Hint #9:
What is the difference between GetPrivateProfileInt and GetPrivateProfileString ???  Look at what DATA TYPES, these are handling !!!

Regards,  P1

[skywalker]

Thanks.
I didn't even know there was a GetPrivateProfileString. String function is what I need.

[P1]

skywalker,

If you read my first response to this thread.  It should jump out at you, that you did indeed picked the wrong API based on data type you were trying to use.  You see, it was not about the win.ini after all.

Regards,  P1  :8)

[skywalker]

My buffer is filling with the correct character, but
this is returning 3Ch in ax. Do I have to have the buffer in the code segment ?

[code}
StrBuf   db   16 dup(0)

; returns only number of characters in string
;   |
fn GetPrivateProfileString,Offset sec,ADDR key,0,ADDR StrBuf,SIZEOF StrBuf,ADDR file

xor bx,bx
xor ax,ax
lea bx,StrBuf[0]  ;point to 1st character in the buffer
mov al,bl
cmp al,0E9h

Code Select Expand



One of the APIs you did mention on an older post did only write to win.ini. The functions with Private in them, allow you to access any file.

[Light-I]

use

Code Select Expand

lea ebx, StrBuf
movzx eax, BYTE PTR [ebx]
cmp eax, 0E9hinstead

Code Select Expand

xor bx, bx
xor ax, ax
lea bx, StrBuf[0]
mov al, bl
cmp al, 0E9hOther way :

Code Select Expand

xor eax, eax
lea esi, StrBuf
lodsb
cmp eax, 0E9hTake attention about most often using full 32-bits-wide registers in 32 bit asm (not "ax", "bx", but "eax", "ebx"), particulary if you are addressing. If you forgot about, processor doesn't think by you... ;)

[P1]

This is 32bit API/code folks, why are you using 16bit registers ???

Fix the code you have for 32bit pointers.

Regards,  P1  :8)

[skywalker]

Thanks, Light-I.

I was using 16 regs because I didn't  need the full 32 bit regs for my app. I'll use 32 bit regs from now on.

I am confused about the Reply button. This there is only one button for everything on the screen, how do I know
for sure who I am responding to.

Thanks.

[Light-I]

I was using 16 regs because I didn't  need the full 32 bit regs for my app.

But processor reads whole 32-bit addres regardless if you change 8, 16 or 32 bits a while ago, or not. 32 bit is for full control... ;)

I'll use 32 bit regs from now on.

Not always nessesary, but if you are not exactly sure what's going, this should be best way.

I am confused about the Reply button. This there is only one button for everything on the screen, how do I know
for sure who I am responding to.

Does it really matter ? Your reply appears as last... Of corse IMHO borderline between last reply and "Reply", "Notify" and "Print" buttons is to tiny... ;)

Quotation ([quote="Quoted person"]Few words[/quote]) can be some kind of singification that you reply to current words, not person... ;)
If you want reply to person, just send private/personal message... ;)