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- DEFINT A-Z
- '
- ' Sample program on how to set up your code for using "SSTPATCH.EXE".
- ' This Sample Program is laid out in MicroSoft Quick Basic format, but
- ' we have only used "Entry Level" Basic commands. This type of "Patch"
- ' will "definitely" work with Microsoft Quick Basic "EXE" files, & will
- ' "possibly" work with many other types of "EXE" files. It all depends
- ' upon how the DATA statements are stored inside of the "EXE" files,
- ' and if the character count on the data lines remains constant. We
- ' have not found ANY source code using "Line Numbers" that will work
- ' with SST-PATCH.
- '
- '
- ' <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<============================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- ' |||||||||||||||||| YOUR PROGRAM'S SOURCE CODE |||||||||||||||||||
- ' <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<============================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- '
- CLS
- PRINT "LET'S PRETEND THIS IS THE FIRST LINE OF YOUR MAIN SOURCE CODE"
- '
- ' The 'body' of your main program's source code
- ' would be placed in here.
- ' Many, many
- ' lines long.
- '
- PRINT "LET'S PRETEND THIS IS THE LAST LINE OF YOUR MAIN SOURCE CODE"
- GOSUB ShowPatch 'REM to display the new patch.
- CLOSE : END: SYSTEM
- '
- ' <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<============================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- ' |||||||||||||||||| END OF YOUR SOURCE CODE |||||||||||||||||||
- ' <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<============================>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
- '
- '
- '
- '
- ' Now, after the last line of code in your main program module,
- ' insert the following "DATA" lines. Make the entries EXACTLY
- ' as we have them. When "messing around" with binary "stuff",
- ' character counting is "everything".
- '
- ' Caution!
- ' - NO TRAILING "SPACEBARS" ON THE DATA ENTRY LINES
- ' - NO "REMARKS" ON THE DATA ENTRY LINES
- ' - NO OTHER CHARACTERS OF ANY KIND ON DATA ENTRY LINES
- ' - WHEN WE SAY "EXACTLY" - WE MEAN "EXACTLY!
- '
- '
- '
- DATA "Customer_Name_And_Number"
- DATA "123456789012345678901234567890"
- DATA "12345678"
- DATA "12345"
- '
- '
- '
- ' The 1st DATA line is a "File Place Marker" or "File Flag" only.
- ' The 2nd DATA line will hold a Customer's Name (Max Length = 30)
- ' The 3ed DATA line will contain your currently set "System Date"
- ' The 4th DATA line will contain up to a 5 digit Serial Number
- '
- ' That's all there is to it. Now compile and link your source code
- ' into an "EXE" file, and then run "SSTPATCH.EXE". The entries in the
- ' above "DATA" statements will be replaced with your customer's data.
- ' You can then view the patch with any good binary editor, or simply
- ' add something like the commands in "ShowPatch" to your source code
-
- '
- ' Once the above DATA lines are in place, you can patch the same EXE
- ' file over and over again with different information as many times
- ' as you wish. The System Date is always used, so set your calendar.
- '
- '
- '
- ShowPatch:
- ' To display the patched data on screen, you could do something like....
- READ X$, NAME$, DT$, SER$
- PRINT
- PRINT "'SAMPLE.EXE' - THE PATCHED ENTRIES ARE...."
- PRINT
- PRINT "Customer's Name......: "; NAME$
- PRINT "Date Of Transaction..: "; DT$
- PRINT "Product Serial #.....: "; SER$
- RETURN
- '
- '
- '
- ' The file called "SAMPLE.EXE" is a compiled version of this source code.
- ' Try SSTPATCH to patch SAMPLE.EXE to see how all of this works.
- '
- '
- ' **********************************************************************
- '
- ' Note: Common reasons why an EXE file won't work after a patch:
- '
- ' - You used a punctuation mark in your "CUSTOMER NAME" entry.
- ' Some of these characters will cause problems, others work
- ' just fine. The first time you try to patch a program, don't
- ' try to get fancy - Just enter Alpha/Numeric characters.
- '
- ' - You left trailing "spacebars" at the end of the "DATA" lines.
- ' There must be NO other characters of any kind after the last
- ' quote mark on any "DATA" line entry (not even a REMark).
- '
- ' - You didn't enter the "DATA" lines EXACTLY as we show them in
- ' the examples in "SAMPLE.BAS". If you are using Quick Basic,
- ' load "SAMPLE.BAS" along with your own program, and then
- ' "copy" the data lines from Sample.Bas to your program with
- ' Quick Basic's "Cut & Paste" feature.
- '
- '************************************************************************
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