RevSession opening issue (was RE: RunRev versus WinRar)

[Ken Ray]

On 4/11/05 12:20 AM, "Richard Gaskin" <ambassador at fourthworld.com> wrote:

> In fact, if the combined efforts of Ken and myself are any indication,
> it's not even simple to find out how to do it.  The best we could turn
> up are workaround snippets from third parties; we could not turn up a
> Microsoft recommendation for implementing single-instance apps, and the
> issue appears to be avoided altogether in the Microsoft HIG.
> 
> If you have a URL to a Microsoft recommendation in their code examples
> and/or HIG please add it to your Bugzilla feature request.

Here's some interesting info on multiple/single instances:

Article at DeveloperFusion by Joseph Newcomer
==============================
I found a very good description of the problem and also how Microsoft
chooses mistaken approaches to handle multiple instances themselves. Here's
the URL:

  http://www.developerfusion.co.uk/show/1716/4/

That and the next 6 pages (hit "next") give you these articles:

  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - The basic problem
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - Why FindWindow doesn't
work
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - Send Message: Race
Conditions
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - Shared Variable: A
different problem
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - Generalizing the solution
for NT
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - The source code
  Avoiding Multiple Instances of an Application - Summary

Of course, this *still* isn't Microsoft's official stance on things.

Article from Microsoft
=============
However here's an article *from* Microsoft on "How to Write an Application
That Supports Fast User Switching in Windows XP":

  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310153/EN-US/

Where you get the curious (funny!) statement:

  "Note that wherever possible you must ensure that Windows XP applications
support multiple instances running simultaneously in the same or different
user sessions. Applications that do not allow multiple instances are not
considered best-practice Windows XP applications."

ROFLOL!

Go figure!

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com