Knowledge Base

PRB: VB 4.0 EXEs Are Different When Compared Byte-by-Byte

Article ID: 129288

Article Last Modified on 12/9/2003

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q129288

SYMPTOMS

When making two executables in a row from the same project no matter how small, the .EXE files will come out with a difference in bytes when using the FC (File Compare) utility. No two executable files created from the same Visual Basic source code are identical. While the file sizes may be the same between two .EXE files, a byte-by-byte comparision reveals that the actual .EXE files are different.

CAUSE

Many internal identifiers and GUIDs that may be used in the application are reassigned on every compile. A few of these are written out into the .EXE file in internal tables. Also, the Win32 file format has an entry in it for the time stamp of the executable. This will be set to a different value each time you make a new .EXE file.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  2. Choose Make EXE File from the File menu, and specify P1.EXE as the name of the .EXE file.
  3. Choose Make EXE File from the File menu again, and specify P2.EXE as the name of the .EXE file this time.
  4. Open an MS-DOS Command box, and change directories to the one that contains both P1.EXE and P2.EXE.
  5. Type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

    FC P1.EXE P2.EXE

The file compare utility will report differences on a byte-by-byte level.

Additional query words: 4.00 vb4win vb4all

Keywords: kbprb KB129288


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