'Application Mode Changer 'Copyright (c) 2002 Nir Sofer ' 'Web site: http://nirsoft.mirrorz.com ' 'This small utility allows you to change the mode of an executable file (.exe) from 'GUI mode to console mode and vise versa. 'You can use this utility for creating console applications in Visual Basic environment. ' 'In order to do this, follow the instructions below: '1. Write a console application in Visual Basic by using API calls (You can learn how to do it from my sample project) '2. Create an executable file from your VB project. '3. Run this utility, select your executable file, and click the "Change Mode" button. Your executable will be switched from GUI mode to console mode. ' 'If you successfully do the above 3 steps, you'll get a real console application ! Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA" (ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal dwShareMode As Long, ByVal lpSecurityAttributes As Long, ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Long, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, ByVal hTemplateFile As Long) As Long Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Long, lpNumberOfBytesRead As Long, ByVal lpOverlapped As Long) As Long Private Declare Function WriteFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToWrite As Long, lpNumberOfBytesWritten As Long, ByVal lpOverlapped As Long) As Long Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" (Destination As Any, Source As Any, ByVal Length As Long) Private Const INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE = -1 Private Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000 Private Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000 Private Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3 Private Declare Function SetFilePointer Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, ByVal lDistanceToMove As Long, lpDistanceToMoveHigh As Long, ByVal dwMoveMethod As Long) As Long Private Const FILE_BEGIN = 0 'Application Modes: Private Const IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_GUI = 2 'GUI Application Private Const IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_CUI = 3 'Console Application Private Const ERROR_CANNOT_WRITE_FILE = 1 Private Const ERROR_BAD_FILE_FORMAT = 2 Private Const ERROR_CANNOT_READ_FILE = 3 Private Const ERROR_CANNOT_OPEN_FILE = 4 Private Function GetErrorDesc(iError As Integer) As String Select Case iError Case ERROR_CANNOT_WRITE_FILE GetErrorDesc = "Cannot write to the file" Case ERROR_BAD_FILE_FORMAT GetErrorDesc = "Bad file format" Case ERROR_CANNOT_READ_FILE GetErrorDesc = "Cannot read from the file" Case ERROR_CANNOT_OPEN_FILE GetErrorDesc = "Cannot open the file" End Select End Function Private Sub ChangeMode(sFilename As String, iAppMode As Integer) Dim hFile As Long Dim iError As Integer Dim buffer(1024) As Byte Dim lBytesReadWrite As Long Dim lPELocation As Long 'Open the file with Win32 API call hFile = CreateFile(sFilename, GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, 0, 0, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, 0) If hFile <> INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE Then 'Read the Dos header. If ReadFile(hFile, buffer(0), &H40, lBytesReadWrite, 0) <> 0 Then If buffer(0) = &H4D And buffer(1) = &H5A Then 'Get the location of the portable executable header. CopyMemory lPELocation, buffer(&H3C), 4 If lPELocation = 0 Then iError = ERROR_BAD_FILE_FORMAT Else SetFilePointer hFile, lPELocation, ByVal 0, FILE_BEGIN 'Read the portable executable signature. If ReadFile(hFile, buffer(0), 2, lBytesReadWrite, 0) <> 0 Then 'Check the signature. If buffer(0) = &H50 And buffer(1) = &H45 Then buffer(0) = iAppMode SetFilePointer hFile, lPELocation + &H5C, ByVal 0, FILE_BEGIN 'Change the byte in the executable file to the desired application mode. If WriteFile(hFile, buffer(0), 1, lBytesReadWrite, 0) = 0 Then iError = ERROR_CANNOT_WRITE_FILE End If Else iError = ERROR_BAD_FILE_FORMAT End If Else iError = ERROR_CANNOT_READ_FILE End If End If Else iError = ERROR_BAD_FILE_FORMAT End If Else iError = ERROR_CANNOT_READ_FILE End If 'Close the file CloseHandle hFile Else iError = ERROR_CANNOT_OPEN_FILE End If If iError = 0 Then MsgBox "The application mode was successfully changed", vbOKOnly Or vbInformation, "" Else MsgBox "Error: " & GetErrorDesc(iError), vbOKOnly Or vbExclamation, "Error" End If End Sub Private Sub cmdBrowse_Click() On Error GoTo canceled 'Show the open dialog. OpenDialog.Flags = cdlOFNExplorer Or cdlOFNFileMustExist Or cdlOFNHideReadOnly OpenDialog.ShowOpen txtFilename.Text = OpenDialog.FileName Exit Sub canceled: End Sub Private Sub cmdChange_Click() ChangeMode txtFilename.Text, IIf(ModeOption(1).Value, IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_GUI, IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_CUI) End Sub

Return back to the main console application page