How to modify embedded exe manifest?

How do I modify the XML manifest embedded in a Xojo-built .exe?

For example, as suggested by William Yu here for creating a High-Dpi-aware executable…

From his post
it requires the use of a resource editor like PE Explorer.
Beyond that I have no idea

Right. I was hoping for a less expensive/free tool. Does anyone know of one?

[quote=162713:@Peter Truskier]How do I modify the XML manifest embedded in a Xojo-built .exe?

For example, as suggested by William Yu here for creating a High-Dpi-aware executable…[/quote]

I looked into that quickly when I heard of the possibility to modify the manifest. You can download PE Explorer here :
http://heaventools.com/overview.htm . I did not play with it, but it looks very much like a glorified Hex editor.

There are apparently several other tools available : https://duckduckgo.com/?q=windows+executable+manifest+editor

Since I do not have an high dpi screen, I did not look any further.

It would be nice to have access to the manifest in a less hackish way, though. In Visual Studio, the manifest is fully customizable.

You should have said so from the get go :stuck_out_tongue:
A google for “modify windows exe manifest file” shows a few
Some free from MSDN

In older versions of REALbasic, I had some trouble trying to modify the EXE with PE Explorer and similar - the output would be corrupted. This may be better in EXEs built by later versions of Xojo?

Indeed, I should have :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ve looked at a few, all of which either fail to work on a Xojo .exe or seem to raise various security alerts when my anti-virus scans the installer.

Maybe somebody here has one to recommend…

Not with the tools I’ve tried so far…

There a quite old feature request in Feedback (2008 !)
<https://xojo.com/issue/6297>

With the arrival of the high dpi screens, and possibly new Windows 10 features, we do need access to the manifest. Is it that difficult to expose it before linking ?

I agree.

So far, PE Explorer is the only tool I’ve found that works. All of the free/less expensive tools I’ve tried (those that didn’t cause AV scan to flag a threat) refuse to open the Xojo EXE’s manifest or to save the modified version properly.

Unfortunately, PE Explorer costs $129 for a personal license, and $229 for a business license. That’s pretty pricey for functionality that I agree would be very desirable to have in Xojo, perhaps as a Build Automation step?

Ah time for the ever popular “File a feature request” response :slight_smile:

No; thanks to Michel’s research, I think it’s time for me to move some points over to the existing one :stuck_out_tongue:

This one works (and free).

Which one? Michel’s link points to a search results page with several tools on it…

This one:
http://csi-windows.com/toolkit/240-great-pe-editor-for-internal-manifests

[quote=163750:@Christoph De Vocht]This one:
http://csi-windows.com/toolkit/240-great-pe-editor-for-internal-manifests [/quote]
Buggy !