Yesterday I wanted to make a small API hook detector in C#. It has to parse PE file, find exported functions, read bytes from the beginning of function and then compare them with the bytes in process memory. Sounds simple, right?

Well, good luck finding a PE parser that actually works!

Looking for PE parser

Most of PE parsers stop at parsing DOS header, NT headers and section headers. But I needed something that would also parse export table for me. After a couple of Google searches I ended up with PEReader by DKorablin. From the first look it's decent and even has a demo application. What else could you want?

Hmmm, how about working correctly on really simple files? wink

Sorry, nope.

It sure finds exported functions but it mismatches function names & RVAs. So, if you wanted to examine, say, CreateFileW, you will end up examining DeleteFileA. Or some other random API. Great job!

But it's opensource. Just fix it and submit a patch!

Umm, no. I was looking for a PE parser that I can take, load it in VS and use it. I don't want to spend days hunting down bugs and fixing them - this stops me from doing what I really want to do.

So, dear opensourcer, if you are publishing your code, make sure it actually works. If it doesn't work, please don't publish it at all - it's not helping anyone. Don't waste other people's time..

P.S. I ended up with using DNLib and writing my own PE export parsing. At least, I know it works properly..