Base64Util (145KB zip)

Screenshot

This is a simple Windows application that converts text to and from base 64 representation. Unlike other such utilities I've come across, this one allows you to specify whether the input text should be treated as ANSI/MBCS or Unicode. Also, when converting from base 64, it attempts to determine whether the data is Unicode or ANSI/MBCS text, or binary - and displays the result accordingly.

Instructions:

Enter or paste the text you want to encode in the text field, select the Unicode or ANSI/MBCS option above, and press the "To Base64" button to see the encoded form in the Base 64 string field.

To decode a base 64 string, paste it into the base 64 string field and press the "From Base64" button.

If the decoded data appears to be text it will be shown in the text field and the Unicode or ANSI option above will be set accordingly. If the decoded data appears to be binary, it will be shown in this field as pairs of hexadecimal characters for each byte of data. Because the determination of text or binary is not foolproof you can select the "Binary Display" check box to force the display to the binary format.

CFTest (53 KB)

This is something I wrote when I first started developing for the 32-bit Windows platforms because I found the documentation for the CreateFile API options slightly confusing. Since then I've found it invaluable when testing applications for file sharing situations.

CFTest lets you exercise the most common options available with the CreateFile API. You can open files exclusively, or for read/write sharing, and you have full interactive control over when  you close the file.

CSIDLS (16KB zip)

This is a test program that illustrates a quirk I came across using the SHGetFolderPath API under different platforms.

The program was published in association with an item titled "SHGetFolderPath() Platform Differences" in the "Tech Tips" column of Windows Developer's Journal March 2002 Volume 13, Number 3

DLLReg (1KB)

This one is simplicity itself! It's just a simple registry file (DllReg.reg) that I always find extremely useful to install on any system that I'm developing on when working with self-registering DLLs.

All it does is add registry entries to register 2 commands for .DLL and .OCX files. These commands run the regsvr32 commands to register and unregister files.

Download the file and merge the information to your registry. You'll then have a "Register" and "Unregister" context menu for .DLL and .OCX files.

Lots of Files (109KB zip)

This program lets you quickly create large numbers of (zero length) files - which can be useful if you need to test file enumeration code. It also has a simple find files test too.

FileTms (15KB zip)

This is a command line program that displays all 3 timestamp values for files and directories. It's a non-intrusive means of displaying the timestamps and is a program I use when testing TouchPro.

FlipSS (12KB zip)

This utility lets you change the screen-saver state (it will stop the screen saver if its running when the program switches the state to off), and manually start the screen saver. It might be useful if you're burning CDs and don't want the screen saver to start up. Command line options are /on, /off, or /start.

ForeLock (27KB zip)

This console application lets you view and change the Windows foreground lock timeout value. It uses the SystemParametersInfo API (SPI_GETFOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT & SPI_SETFOREGROUNDLOCKTIMEOUT).

SetDefPr (13 KB)

This program lets you change the default Windows printer from a command line (or shortcut).

Usage:

SetDefPr PrinterName

For example:

SetDefPr "Microsoft Fax"

SetDefPr "HP Deskjet 850C"

... and some further examples supplied by a user:

For a network printer installed in another PC:

SetDefPr \\Machine\PrinterShare

For a network printer with IP address in the Network and not attached to any PC:

SetDefPr "\\Machine\HP LaserJet 8100 Series PCL 6"

SetWorkingSet (33KB zip)

This simple console application allows you to call the SetProcessWorkingSetSize API on an arbitrary process.

Use Task Manager (or whatever other tool you like) to find the PID of the process you want to affect, and use the utility like this:

SetWorkingSet PID [Min Max]

ShellExec (102KB zip)

I've found this a surprisingly useful little test program for the ShellExecute(Ex) APIs. It lets you easily test how an application behaves with different verbs.

SpaceHog - V1.1 - 111 KB (113,807 bytes)

This program is useful for testing applications against low-disk space situations.

You can configure how much free space to leave on a drive, or alternatively, you can set the size of the hog file.

Windows XP Source Search Registry File (2KB)

This REG file adds the registry settings for several commonly used source file extensions so that the Explorer search facility works as you'd expect under Windows XP.

You'll need to close and restart Explorer after merging the file. Depending on your Explorer "launch folder windows in a separate process" setting, it may be easiest just to log off and back on again.