I'm importing a kind of CSV security file for reporting in Excel. The file basically has the following format:
!Users
UserA
UserB
UserC
...
!Roles
RoleA
RoleB
RoleC
...
!Permissions
UserA|RoleA
UserA|RoleB
UserC|RoleA
UserB|RoleC
...
The report is a kind of matrix that would look like this:
| A | B | C | D
--|--------------|--------------|--------------|----------------
1 | | RoleA | RoleB | RoleC
2 | UserA | Y | Y | N
3 | UserB | N | N | Y
4 | UserC | Y | N | N
The easiest way I could think of doing this is to do the following steps:
Scripting.Dictionary.Obviously, the actual file format and implementation is somewhat more complex, but this is the gist of it.
It works fine for files up to about 10Mb, but when the files start exceeding that number (Thousands of users and roles), I get the following error:
Run-time error '430':
Class does not support Automation or does not support expected interface
This happens on the following line:
Set pubSecClassAccess.Item(vClass).Item(vValue).Item(vUser) = New Scripting.Dictionary
If I look under processes, EXCEL.EXE is using about 1.5Gb of RAM at the point where it throws the error. If I end, rather than debug and then close the workbook, I get the following message:
Excel cannot complete this task with available resources. Choose less data or close other applications.
I'm guessing I run out of RAM even though I still have about 4Gb of my 8Gb available.
My question is: How do I re-factor my code so that it does this without using so much RAM?
The sections in the file could be in a different order (Like the !Permissions could come before the !Users section).
Edit Forgot to say: the macro takes about one minute to process my 55 Mb test file.
I cannot find anything about the memory requirements of dictionaries. However, since "It throws the error way before I do the sort though", no minor improvement in the way the dictionaries are handled is going to help. My technique is totally different.
I first generated a test file with the following characteristics:
The resultant file is nearly 55 Mb and contains over one million permissions. I did not intend to create such a large file but had not thought enough about the implications of an average 25 permissions per user. I should admit that the file contains duplicate permissions. The macro below allows for this error and skips the duplicates.
My code has several steps:
I can open Report.txt (which is 21Mb) with Excel and tidy the formatting.
There are two modules below. The first contains the macro described above. The second contains a routine I use check when processes have completed.
Option Explicit
Sub CreateReport()
Dim FileName As Variant
Dim FlIn As Object
Dim FlLine As String
Dim FlLinePart() As String
Dim FlOut As Object
Dim FlSysObj As Object
Dim Found As Boolean
Dim InxProc As Long
Dim NumPermissions As Long
Dim NumRoles As Long
Dim NumUsers As Long
Dim PathCrnt As String
Dim Process() As String
Dim Roles() As String
Dim RoleCrnt As Long
Dim RoleNameLast As String
Dim TimeNow As Double
Dim Users() As String
Dim UserCrnt As Long
Dim UserNameLast As String
Dim StartTime As Double
StartTime = Timer
' I find it convenient to have all files in the same folder as the workbook
' Change PathCrnt as required
PathCrnt = ActiveWorkbook.Path & "\"
' Delete any files left by previous run of macro
' Replace Report.txt by your name for output file
' =====================================================================================
For Each FileName In Array("Users.txt", "Roles.txt", "Perms.txt", _
"SortedUsers.txt", "SortedRoles.txt", "SortedPerms.txt", _
"SortUsers.bat", "SortRoles.bat", "SortPerms.bat", _
"Report.txt")
If Dir$(PathCrnt & FileName) <> "" Then
Kill PathCrnt & FileName
End If
Next
' Split security log into three separate files: Users.txt, Roles.txt and Perms.txt
' =====================================================================================
Set FlSysObj = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set FlIn = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "testfile.txt", 1, False, 0)
FlLine = FlIn.ReadLine
Debug.Assert FlLine = "!Users"
NumUsers = 0
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "Users.txt", 2, True, 0)
Do While Not FlIn.AtEndOfStream
FlLine = FlIn.ReadLine
If FlLine <> "" Then
If FlLine = "!Roles" Then
Exit Do
End If
NumUsers = NumUsers + 1
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
End If
Loop
FlOut.Close
Debug.Assert FlLine = "!Roles"
NumRoles = 0
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "Roles.txt", 2, True, 0)
Do While Not FlIn.AtEndOfStream
FlLine = FlIn.ReadLine
If FlLine <> "" Then
If FlLine = "!Permissions" Then
Exit Do
End If
NumRoles = NumRoles + 1
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
End If
Loop
FlOut.Close
Debug.Assert FlLine = "!Permissions"
NumPermissions = 0
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "Perms.txt", 2, True, 0)
Do While Not FlIn.AtEndOfStream
FlLine = FlIn.ReadLine
If FlLine <> "" Then
NumPermissions = NumPermissions + 1
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
End If
Loop
FlOut.Close
FlIn.Close
' Create batch files to sort Users.txt, Roles.txt and Perms.txt
' I have successfully used Shell with command line parameters but not tonight
' Decided not to waste time investigating my error
' ===============================================================================================
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortUsers.bat", 2, True, 0)
FlOut.Write "Sort <""" & PathCrnt & "Users.txt"" >""" & PathCrnt & "SortedUsers.txt"""
FlOut.Close
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortRoles.bat", 2, True, 0)
FlOut.Write "Sort <""" & PathCrnt & "Roles.txt"" >""" & PathCrnt & "SortedRoles.txt"""
FlOut.Close
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortPerms.bat", 2, True, 0)
FlOut.Write "Sort <""" & PathCrnt & "Perms.txt"" >""" & PathCrnt & "SortedPerms.txt"""
FlOut.Close
' Sort Users.txt, Roles.txt and Perms.txt to create sorted versions
' ===============================================================================================
Call Shell(PathCrnt & "SortUsers.bat")
Call Shell(PathCrnt & "SortRoles.bat")
Call Shell(PathCrnt & "SortPerms.bat")
' Loop until all the btach files have been completed
' ===============================================================================================
Do While True
Found = False
Call GetProcessList(Process)
For InxProc = 1 To UBound(Process)
If Process(InxProc) = "cmd.exe" Then
Found = True
Exit For
End If
Next
If Not Found Then
Exit Do
End If
TimeNow = Now()
' Wait 1 second
Application.Wait TimeSerial(Hour(TimeNow), Minute(TimeNow), Second(TimeNow) + 1)
Loop
' Read SortedUsers.txt and SortedRoles.txt into arrays
' ===============================================================================================
Set FlIn = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortedUsers.txt", 1, False, 0)
ReDim Users(1 To NumUsers)
For UserCrnt = 1 To NumUsers
Users(UserCrnt) = FlIn.ReadLine
Next
FlIn.Close
Set FlIn = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortedRoles.txt", 1, False, 0)
ReDim Roles(1 To NumRoles)
For RoleCrnt = 1 To NumRoles
Roles(RoleCrnt) = FlIn.ReadLine
Next
FlIn.Close
' Read SortedPerms.txt and generate Report.txt
' ===============================================================================================
Set FlIn = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "SortedPerms.txt", 1, False, 0)
' Replace Report.txt" with your name for the output file
Set FlOut = FlSysObj.OpenTextFile(PathCrnt & "Report.txt", 2, True, 0)
' Create and output header row
FlLine = """User"""
For RoleCrnt = 1 To NumRoles
FlLine = FlLine & ",""" & Roles(RoleCrnt) & """"
Next
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
UserCrnt = 0
RoleCrnt = 0
UserNameLast = ""
RoleNameLast = ""
FlLine = ""
' Output header row within do loop
Do While Not FlIn.AtEndOfStream
FlLinePart = Split(FlIn.ReadLine, "|")
Debug.Assert UBound(FlLinePart) = 1
If FlLinePart(0) = UserNameLast And FlLinePart(1) = RoleNameLast Then
' My test file contains some duplicate permissions
Else
' Process good permission
If FlLinePart(0) <> UserNameLast Then
' New user or first permission
If FlLine <> "" Then
' Output line for last user
If RoleCrnt = NumRoles Then
' Last role already output
Else
' Add Ns for remaining roles
FlLine = FlLine & Replace(String(NumRoles - RoleCrnt, "N"), "N", ",N")
End If
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
End If
UserCrnt = UserCrnt + 1
FlLine = Users(UserCrnt) ' Initialise line for new user
RoleCrnt = 0
End If
Do While FlLinePart(0) > Users(UserCrnt)
' This user has no permissions. Output line of Ns for it
FlLine = FlLine & Replace(String(NumRoles, "N"), "N", ",N")
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine
UserCrnt = UserCrnt + 1
FlLine = Users(UserCrnt)
Loop
If FlLinePart(0) < Users(UserCrnt) Then
Debug.Assert False
' User for this permission does not appear in user list
' Assume this should not be possible.
' Output error message if it does
Else
' Have permission for current user
' Find entry in Roles() for permiisoin's role
Do While True
RoleCrnt = RoleCrnt + 1
If FlLinePart(1) > Roles(RoleCrnt) Then
' This user does not have this current role
FlLine = FlLine & ",N"
ElseIf FlLinePart(1) < Roles(RoleCrnt) Then
Debug.Assert False
' Role for this permission does not appear in role list
' Assume this should not be possible.
' Output error message if it does
Else
' This user has this permission
FlLine = FlLine & ",Y"
Exit Do
End If
Loop
End If
End If
UserNameLast = FlLinePart(0)
RoleNameLast = FlLinePart(1)
Loop ' For each permission
' Add Ns for remaining roles
FlLine = FlLine & Replace(String(NumRoles - RoleCrnt, "N"), "N", ",N")
FlOut.WriteLine FlLine ' Output final line
FlOut.Close
Debug.Print Format(Timer - StartTime, "#,##0.0")
End Sub
.
Option Explicit
' Source http://vbadud.blogspot.co.uk/2007/06/show-all-processes-using-vba.html
' Modified by Tony Dallimore
Const TH32CS_SNAPHEAPLIST = &H1
Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS = &H2
Const TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD = &H4
Const TH32CS_SNAPMODULE = &H8
Const TH32CS_SNAPALL = (TH32CS_SNAPHEAPLIST Or _
TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS Or _
TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD Or _
TH32CS_SNAPMODULE)
Const TH32CS_INHERIT = &H80000000
Const MAX_PATH As Integer = 260
Private Type PROCESSENTRY32
dwSize As Long
cntUsage As Long
th32ProcessID As Long
th32DefaultHeapID As Long
th32ModuleID As Long
cntThreads As Long
th32ParentProcessID As Long
pcPriClassBase As Long
dwFlags As Long
szExeFile As String * MAX_PATH
End Type
Private Declare Function CreateToolhelp32Snapshot Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal lFlags As Long, ByVal lProcessID As Long) As Long
Private Declare Sub CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hPass As Long)
' API Functions to get the processes
Private Declare Function Process32First Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal hSnapShot As Long, uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Private Declare Function Process32Next Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal hSnapShot As Long, uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long
Public Sub GetProcessList(Process() As String)
Dim hSnapShot As Long '* Handle
Dim uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32 '* Process
Dim lRet '* Return Val
Dim InxP As Long
Dim Pos As Long
ReDim Process(1 To 100)
InxP = 0 ' Array is empty
' On Error Resume Next
' Takes a snapshot of the running processes and the heaps, modules,
' and threads used by the processes
hSnapShot = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPALL, 0&)
uProcess.dwSize = Len(uProcess)
' Retrieve information about the first process encountered in our system snapshot
' uProcess.szExeFile is a fixed length string of 260 characters. Each new process
' name is terminated with &H0 and overwrites the previous name. Hence the need to
' discard the first &H0 and any characters that follow.
' In the original code, the first process name was ignored. During my
' experimentation, the first name was always "[System Process]" which appears to be
' a header. I continue to discard the first process name
' In the original code, the final lRet was output before being tested to be true.
' This meant the last name was junk. I always test lRet before extracting the name.
lRet = Process32First(hSnapShot, uProcess) ' Ignore "[System]"
lRet = Process32Next(hSnapShot, uProcess)
' lRet is 0 or 1. 1 means uProcess has been loaded with another process.
Do While lRet
InxP = InxP + 1
If InxP > UBound(Process) Then
ReDim Preserve Process(1 To UBound(Process) + 100)
End If
Pos = InStr(1, uProcess.szExeFile, Chr$(0))
If Pos > 0 Then
Pos = Pos - 1
Else
Pos = 0
End If
Process(InxP) = Left$(uProcess.szExeFile, Pos)
lRet = Process32Next(hSnapShot, uProcess)
Loop
CloseHandle hSnapShot
' This ReDim assumes there is at least one process.
ReDim Preserve Process(1 To InxP) ' Discard empty entries
End Sub