On 10/30/2012 1:40 AM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>>> Snort.. Actually, the problem with the windows registry are:
>>>>
>>>> 1. Can't read the damn thing, without the editor.
>>>
>>> Why is that a problem? You always need some sort of software to read a
>>> computer file and regedit comes with Windows.
>>>
>> Uh.. Because the editor sucks
>
> ...which leads us back to "you're not supposed to touch this stuff
> manually".
>
> Ever tried using e2fstune? Not very intuitive, is it? Then again, how
> often do you even need to touch it?
>
>> (like, for example, listing all
>> related keys, in a filter of some sort, not using notepad, or a pad of
>> paper to write down keys, while hunting through a dozen extra searches
>> to find them all).
>
> 1. The registry editor is perfectly capable of dumping chunks of the
> registry as text. It also has a search function. (Admittedly it's not
> very scriptable.)
>
> 2. You can write your own application to access the registry. Hell, it's
> probably quite easy to throw something together in VB to do a quick
> search or two...
:snark: and how much of what that is supposed to do is "undocumented", 
in the same way that, prior to completely changing the system, you 
couldn't find any documentation on how the hell ActiveX interfaced with 
the scripting system, in their own editor, and Informal Exploder, so you 
could move them around on your "form"? :/snark:

That was about when I gave up looking to Microsoft's own documentation 
for anything useful. Here is how to add scripting: ... Here is how to 
create and use ActiveX controls: ... What, you actually want to, without 
creating new wrappers, and all the other BS, use the inbuilt ActiveX 
controls, with scripting, and, *Gasp!* go into "design mode" with them, 
so you can create custom layouts in your own applications? What, are you 
one something!? Yeah.. It would be nice to do that!!!

At the time ***one*** company I could find found a solution to the 
problem. There solution turned out to be, "Design controls that act 
exactly like the inbuilt ones, but which *we* could switch modes with, 
ourselves." The other solution was to leave them active, but wrapper 
them in a completely redundant method, which did nothing more than 
temporarily make them non-visible, draw a box where they where supposed 
to be, and provide drag handles. Redundant because this wasn't necessary 
in the original controls, in the compiler suite, they already have that 
functionality.

There are hints, all over the place, that its, at least in theory, 
possible to tell the OS to switch a specific form to that mode. There is 
jack all saying how, what messages to use to do it, etc.

Later, as I said, they, sort of, fixed this, but basically killing the 
old ActiveX entirely, and replacing it with something else, which 
included more sane methods to talk to, and get information back from, 
never mind instance, controls.

But, even the documentation for that is minimalist, and nearly useless. 
I have no idea if "design mode" is still something only a hacker, with 
detailed understanding of the OS internal messaging, has a clue how to 
access.

So, sure.. You can probably write something to access the registry, 
but... will it actually do what it claims to?

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