I a have a multithread application (MIDAS) that makes uses of windows messages to communicate with itself.
MAIN FORM
The main form receives windows messages sent by the RDM LogData(‘DataToLog’)
Because windows messages are used they have the following attributes
- Received messages are Indivisible
- Received messages are Queued in the order they are sent
QUESTION:
Can you Suggest a better way doing this without using windows messages ?
MAIN FORM CODE
const
UM_LOGDATA = WM_USER+1002;
type
TLogData = Record
Msg : TMsgNum;
Src : Integer;
Data : String;
end;
PLogData = ^TLogData;
TfrmMain = class(TForm)
//
private
procedure LogData(var Message: TMessage); message UM_LOGDATA;
public
//
end;
procedure TfrmMain.LogData(var Message: TMessage);
var LData : PLogData;
begin
LData := PLogData(Message.LParam);
SaveData(LData.Msg,LData.Src,LData.Data);
Dispose(LData);
end;
RDM CODE
procedure TPostBoxRdm.LogData(DataToLog : String);
var
WMsg : TMessage;
LData : PLogData;
Msg : TMsgNum;
begin
Msg := MSG_POSTBOX_RDM;
WMsg.LParamLo := Integer(Msg);
WMsg.LParamHi := Length(DataToLog);
new(LData);
LData.Msg := Msg;
LData.Src := 255;
LData.Data := DataToLog;
WMsg.LParam := Integer(LData);
PostMessage(frmMain.Handle, UM_LOGDATA, Integer(Msg), WMsg.LParam);
end;
EDIT:
Why I want to get rid of the windows messages:
- I would like to convert the application into a windows service
- When the system is busy – the windows message buffer gets full and things slows down
Use Named Pipes. If you don't know how to use them, then now is the time to learn.
With named pipes, you can send any type of data structure (as long as both the server and the client know what that data structure is). I usually use an array of records to send large collections of info back and forth. Very handy.
I use Russell Libby's free (and open-source) named pipe components. Comes with a TPipeServer and a TPipeClient visual component. They make using named pipes incredibly easy, and named pipes are great for inter-process communication (IPC).
You can get the component here. The description from the source is: // Description : Set of client and server named pipe components for Delphi, as // well a console pipe redirection component.
Also, Russell helped me out on Experts-Exchange with using an older version of this component to work in a console app to send/receive messages over named pipes. This may help as a guide in getting you up and running with using his components. Please note, that in a VCL app or service, you don't need to write your own message loop as I did in this console app.
program CmdClient;
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
uses
Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Pipes;
type
TPipeEventHandler = class(TObject)
public
procedure OnPipeSent(Sender: TObject; Pipe: HPIPE; Size: DWORD);
end;
procedure TPipeEventHandler.OnPipeSent(Sender: TObject; Pipe: HPIPE; Size: DWORD);
begin
WriteLn('On Pipe Sent has executed!');
end;
var
lpMsg: TMsg;
WideChars: Array [0..255] of WideChar;
myString: String;
iLength: Integer;
pcHandler: TPipeClient;
peHandler: TPipeEventHandler;
begin
// Create message queue for application
PeekMessage(lpMsg, 0, WM_USER, WM_USER, PM_NOREMOVE);
// Create client pipe handler
pcHandler:=TPipeClient.CreateUnowned;
// Resource protection
try
// Create event handler
peHandler:=TPipeEventHandler.Create;
// Resource protection
try
// Setup clien pipe
pcHandler.PipeName:='myNamedPipe';
pcHandler.ServerName:='.';
pcHandler.OnPipeSent:=peHandler.OnPipeSent;
// Resource protection
try
// Connect
if pcHandler.Connect(5000) then
begin
// Dispatch messages for pipe client
while PeekMessage(lpMsg, 0, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE) do DispatchMessage(lpMsg);
// Setup for send
myString:='the message I am sending';
iLength:=Length(myString) + 1;
StringToWideChar(myString, wideChars, iLength);
// Send pipe message
if pcHandler.Write(wideChars, iLength * 2) then
begin
// Flush the pipe buffers
pcHandler.FlushPipeBuffers;
// Get the message
if GetMessage(lpMsg, pcHandler.WindowHandle, 0, 0) then DispatchMessage(lpMsg);
end;
end
else
// Failed to connect
WriteLn('Failed to connect to ', pcHandler.PipeName);
finally
// Show complete
Write('Complete...');
// Delay
ReadLn;
end;
finally
// Disconnect event handler
pcHandler.OnPipeSent:=nil;
// Free event handler
peHandler.Free;
end;
finally
// Free pipe client
pcHandler.Free;
end;
end.
Option 1: Custom Message Queue
You can build a custom message queue, and push messages to the queue, sort the queue based on business rules, and pop messages from queue from the main thread for processing. Use a critical section for synchronization.
Option 2: Callbacks
Use callbacks to send data back and forth from the threads. Again, use a critical section for synchronization.
OmniThreadLibrary contains very efficient message queue in OtlComm.pas unit.
Documentation is not very good at the moment (start here) but you can always use the forum.
Yes – Gabr you can use windows messages in a service.
==============================
Before Windows Vista, you could have configured your service to interact with the desktop. That makes the service run on the same desktop as a logged-in user, so a program running as that user could send messages to your service's windows. Windows Vista isolates services, though; they can't interact with any user's desktop anymore.
=============================
A Quote from Rob Kennedy answer to ‘TService won’t process messages’
But I will not able to use 'frmMain.Handle' to post messages from the RDM to the main form in windows Vista.
All I need to do is find a different way of posting & receive the message
Windows Messages CAN still be used in Windows Vista! The issue at hand is that a technology in vista called User Interface Privilege Isolation (UIPI) prevents processes with a lower integrity level (IL) from sending messages to a proccess with a high IL (e.g. a windows service has a high IL and user-mode apps have medium IL).
However, this can be bypassed and medium IL apps can be allowed to send wm's to high IL processes.
UIPI is not a security boundary, and does not aim to protect against all shatter attacks. UI Accessibility Applications can bypass UIPI by setting their "uiAccess" value to TRUE as part of their manifest file. This requires the application to be in the Program Files or Windows directory, as well as to be signed by a valid code signing authority, but these requirements will not necessarily stop malware from respecting them.
Additionally, some messages are still allowed through, such as WM_KEYDOWN, which allows a lower IL process to drive input to an elevated command prompt.
Finally, the function ChangeWindowMessageFilter allows a medium IL process (all non-elevated processes except Internet Explorer Protected Mode) to change the messages that a high IL process can receive from a lower IL process. This effectively allows bypassing UIPI, unless running from Internet Explorer or one of its child processes.
Someone over at Delphi-PRAXIS (link is in German. Use Google to Translate the page) has already tackled this problem and posted their code using ChangeWindowMessageFilter. I believe their issue is that WM_COPYDATA would not work on Vista until they modified their code to bypass UIPI for WM_COPYDATA.
unit uMain;
interface
uses
Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Variants, Classes, Graphics, Controls, Forms,
Dialogs, ExtCtrls, StdCtrls, uallHook, uallProcess, uallUtil, uallKernel;
type
TfrmMain = class(TForm)
lbl1: TLabel;
tmrSearchCondor: TTimer;
mmo1: TMemo;
procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
procedure tmrSearchCondorTimer(Sender: TObject);
procedure FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);
private
{ Private-Deklarationen }
fCondorPID : DWord;
fInjected : Boolean;
fDontWork : Boolean;
procedure SearchCondor;
procedure InjectMyFunctions;
procedure UnloadMyFunctions;
function GetDebugPrivileges : Boolean;
procedure WriteText(s : string);
procedure WMNOTIFYCD(var Msg: TWMCopyData); message WM_COPYDATA;
public
{ Public-Deklarationen }
end;
var
frmMain: TfrmMain;
ChangeWindowMessageFilter: function (msg : Cardinal; dwFlag : Word) : BOOL; stdcall;
implementation
{$R *.dfm}
type Tmydata = packed record
datacount: integer;
ind: boolean;
end;
const cCondorApplication = 'notepad.exe';
cinjComFuntionsDLL = 'injComFunctions.dll';
var myData : TMydata;
procedure TfrmMain.WMNOTIFYCD(var Msg: TWMCopyData);
begin
if Msg.CopyDataStruct^.cbData = sizeof(TMydata) then
begin
CopyMemory(@myData,Msg.CopyDataStruct^.lpData,sizeof(TMyData));
WriteText(IntToStr(mydata.datacount))
end;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.WriteText(s : string);
begin
mmo1.Lines.Add(DateTimeToStr(now) + ':> ' + s);
end;
procedure TfrmMain.InjectMyFunctions;
begin
if not fInjected then begin
if InjectLibrary(fCondorPID, PChar(GetExeDirectory + cinjComFuntionsDLL)) then fInjected := True;
end;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.UnloadMyFunctions;
begin
if fInjected then begin
UnloadLibrary(fCondorPID, PChar(GetExeDirectory + cinjComFuntionsDLL));
fInjected := False;
end;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.SearchCondor;
begin
fCondorPID := FindProcess(cCondorApplication);
if fCondorPID <> 0 then begin
lbl1.Caption := 'Notepad is running!';
InjectMyFunctions;
end else begin
lbl1.Caption := 'Notepad isn''t running!';
end;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);
begin
UnloadMyFunctions;
end;
function TfrmMain.GetDebugPrivileges : Boolean;
begin
Result := False;
if not SetDebugPrivilege(SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED) then begin
Application.MessageBox('No Debug rights!', 'Error', MB_OK);
end else begin
Result := True;
end;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
@ChangeWindowMessageFilter := GetProcAddress(LoadLibrary('user32.dll'), 'ChangeWindowMessageFilter');
ChangeWindowMessageFilter(WM_COPYDATA, 1);
fInjected := False;
fDontWork := not GetDebugPrivileges;
tmrSearchCondor.Enabled := not fDontWork;
end;
procedure TfrmMain.tmrSearchCondorTimer(Sender: TObject);
begin
tmrSearchCondor.Enabled := False;
SearchCondor;
tmrSearchCondor.Enabled := True;
end;
end.
The creators of the madExcept library etc provide IPC functionality which can be used instead of Windows messages.
http://help.madshi.net/IPC.htm
I developed a Windows screensaver at one stage, and I wanted to get my screensaver to send some notification to another program, and while the screensaver was active, I was unable to get window messages to work between the two apps.
I replaced it with the IPC functionality mentioned above.
Worked a treat.
I use this library for IPc (uses shared memory + mutex): http://17slon.com/gp/gp/gpsync.htm
It has TGpMessageQueueReader and TGpMessageQueueWriter. Use "Global\" in front of the name, so you can use it to communicate between a Windows Service and a "Service GUI Helper" when a user logs in. (the Global\ prefix is needed for Vista because of session security rings, but also for Windows XP/2003 between user sessions).
It is very fast, multithreaded, etc. I would use this one instead of WM_COPYDATA (slow & much overhead if you use it a lot, but for small things messages can be OK)
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/360289/looking-for-an-alternative-to-windows-messages-used-in-inter-process-communicati