C++ project using Windows Event Log

Question

I´m trying to learn the concept of writing events to Windows Event Log using Manifest and I followed the documentation provided by Microsoft.

I´ll describe the steps I took and where it went wrong. Hopefully someone can tell me whats missing or what I'm doing wrong.

1. Created a Instrumentation Manifest using ECManGen.exe proving information about the provider (C++ Console application), e.g. path to .exe-file. Created channels for all the type (Debug, Administration, Operational, and Analytic). Finally created an event that I later wanted to write to log. (Also created Tasks and Keywords to organize the Event).

2. Created a new project in Visual Studio 2013 (C++ Console Application) and included the Manifest (.man) file.

3. Changed the build settings for the Manifest file to Custom build tool and set command line to mc -v -h . "%(FullPath)" and output to %(Filename).rc;%(Filename).h;.

4. I then built the project with no problems generating the .rc-file, .h-file, and .bin-files.

5. After the build I included the all the files to the project generated in Step 4 and rebuild. The rebuild generated the .res-file out of the .rc-file and the resource tab looks like this:

   Project -Manifest.rc
   -11

6. The last step was to register the provider with wevtutil im Manifest.man and this is where I get the error. I received the following error:

   Warning: Publisher GGSProvider resources are not accessible.

   Failed to open metadata for publisher GGSEventManifest.man. The system cannot find the file specified.

Does anyone see what is wrong or can provide a simple step-by-step guide?

Thanks for any contribution!

Answer 1

I did the following steps but with an DLL-project and it works fine. Can someone explain this behavior?

The next task is to create an event!

Answer 2

The resourceFileName and messageFileName attributes in your manifest file must point to the full path of your dll. You cannot use environment variables in that path.

See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd996926(v=vs.85).aspx.