From time to time, I noticed that the name of the manifest file (and others) created by AppGen is missing the name part of file name resulting in name like “.manifest” listed in the Solution Explorer. This seems to happen at random for so long that I cannot remember when or the which version of Clarion started this behavior. This issue also shows up with the version files (cwVersionRes Template) and EXP files.
A quick look points to the %ProjectTarget variable used in Clarion Templates for composing the file names. Unfortunately, my very limited knowledge of templates prevented me from tracing down this issue.
Has anyone seen this issue with their application suddenly have their file names corrupted? Is there a fix or workaround for this?
That did it. The file names are back. However, it did something that I do recall seeing before. When I tried to build this app, all the AppGen procedures are removed from the project list. So, the compile failed.
Also, I don’t think it was me that removed the “.” from the Output Path because this one of the settings I used when setting up a new application. I wonder why/how it got changed.
Anyway, is there a quick way to add all the missing files back into the project?
I got a backup copy of the .cwproj file and that appears to have worked. But upon closer inspection, I found two manifest files listed in the Solution Explorer! Before I started the build (after I restored the project file from my backup), I removed the .manifest from the Resource Files list. After a successful build, both “.manifest” and “MyApp.manifest” files are added back to the Resource Files list.
Anyway, it is working now with a little quirkiness. I will keep an eye on it until next time.
Yes. You are right. It was bugging me a bit, too. At the same time, my application started to miss the file name again!!! So, I whipped up a test application and added a single cwVersionRes Template for a little experimenting. I chose this because the version file generated with this template has the same issue.
As I started running tests, I remembered that I added an file for the Application Icon. I also remembered that the Clarion does not always like spaces in file names. The Icon file name just happens to have a space in it. So, here is the test results:
Output Path: <empty> & Application Icon: <empty> => AppGen correctly
Output Path: “.\” & Application Icon: <file name without spaces> => AppGen Correctly
Output Path: <empty> & Application Icon: <file name with spaces> => AppGen Failed
Output Path: “.\” & Application Icon: <file name with spaces> => AppGen Failed
When it fails, it also destroys the list of files in the project. But, once the file name is “fixed,” the list is recreated correctly.
This looks to me that the problem is having spaces in the icon file name. I remember having the some issues with using spaces in file name before but cannot remember the details.
Anyway, thanks for the push. Maybe this will help a little toward explaining the behavior.
The APP file contains the project that was used in C6. You can see it if you export to TXA. The C7+ MsBuild system CwProj duplicates the APP project. Sometimes the two projects get out of sync.
As Jeff suggested save and delete the CwProj + SLN then open APP to recreate. I usually compare old and new CwProj.
That’s interesting to know that Clarion keeps both versions when upgrading to newer versions from C6. This particular application was created using C9 but I have since exported to TXA and back at least once in C11. No sure if importing from TXA to C11 will remove any project info although the application should not have any project settings in the APP.
I try not to recreate cwProj and SLN if I don’t have to because there are settings in the original that the recreation misses and has to be manually add back in. Not too hard but just makes me feel like I am missing something when done.
From now on, I will have to be more careful with names of files used in Clarion.
Thank you for the info and the tip. (I really should compare the project files when I recreate a new one.)