Power shell script - can we set dll Product Version when we build it?

Question

I am new to Powershell. I am using power shell script to build VB6 dlls.

$compiler = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\VB6.EXE".
$vbpPath= "C:\...\Desktop\ProjectFile\ProjectName.vbp"
$Outputpath = "C:\...\Desktop\Destination\ProjectName.dll"

Start-Process -FilePath "`"$compiler `"" -ArgumentList "/out
error.txt /make `"$vbpPath`" `"$Outputpath `""  -PassThru -Wait

Can we set its product version by our self when we build it? Let's say set product version to "Mysoftware 5.1 Beta 6". Thanks in advance.

From memory (and I don't have a working copy of VB6 any more), there isn't a command line option to set product versions. Your best bet may be to script an update to the VBP file or to use a utility to set the version number after the build. — OldBoyCoder, Jul 06 '16 at 08:53
Hi, Thanks for your reply :), I am using TFS server to run it and the expected output i hope is the product version can be automatic update, the best will be update it after built as i got a lot of dlls and exes from different compiler need to be update. — Alden Ken, Jul 11 '16 at 01:22

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

Hi to anyone who faced similar issues,

After referencing this link: How do I set the version information for an existing .exe, .dll?

I was able to change dlls and exes' product version under a specific folder. This step is done after all the dlls and exes were built.

Use Resource Hacker to Extract the *.RC file from exes/ dlls :

$ResourceHackerPath = "C:\Tools\resource_hacker\ResourceHacker.EXE"
$Dllpath = "...\MySoftware\Mydll.dll" 
$RCpath = "...\MySoftware\Mydll.RC"
Start-Process -FilePath "`"$ResourceHackerPath`""  -ArgumentList "-extract `"$ProductPath`",`"$RCpath`",versioninfo,," -wait

Edit product version in *.RC file :

$OriProVer = (Get-Item -literalpath $Dllpath ).VersionInfo.ProductVersion
$NewProVer = "Mysoftware 5.1 Beta 6"
(Get-Content $Dllpath).Replace($OriProVer, $NewProVer ) | Set-Content $Dllpath

Use GoRC to change *.RC file format to *.RES file:

Start-Process -FilePath "`"$GoRCPath`""  -ArgumentList "/r `"$RCpath`"" -wait

Use Resource Hacker again to add the *.RES file to the dlls or exes

$RESpath = "...\MySoftware\Mydll.RES"
Start-Process -FilePath "`"$ResourceHackerPath`""  -ArgumentList "-addoverwrite  `"$Dllpath `",`"$Dllpath `",`"$RESpath`", , ," -wait

Your dlls' product version should be updated to any string that you want.

Extra tips, if you wish to update a lot of dlls and exes product version: You can try this:

Search all the dlls and exes under a specific folder:

$directory = "...\Desktop\New Folder"
$FileNameList = Get-ChildItem -literalpath  $directory -Include *.dll, *.exe  -recurse | foreach-object { "{0}" -f [System.Diagnostics.FileVersionInfo]::GetVersionInfo($_).FileName}

Doing the all 4 steps above in a for loop:

for ($i = 0;$i -lt $FileNameList.count;$i++){...}

Thanks & have a nice day :)

Power shell script - can we set dll Product Version when we build it?

1 Answers1