Friday, November 28, 2008

How Microsoft blew its own RIA invention

Cast your mind back to the year 2000. Microsoft has just announced its .NET Framework, complete with a new language called C# - that was in July, at the Orlando Professional Developers Conference.

A couple of months later, Mark Anders and Scott Guthrie from Microsoft's ASP+ team turned up at the Wrox Web Developer Conference in Las Vegas. Remember ASP+? This was the pre-release name for what became ASP.NET, the web application framework built on .NET.

Anders and Guthrie presented their new technology in the Wrox keynote, following which I interviewed them. They were absolutely the key people. "We started the team about two-and-half years ago. At the beginning it was just the two of us, working on it," said Guthrie.

Was ASP+ based on .NET from the beginning? "No," said Anders. "There were a number of groups around Microsoft that were looking at how we could move the programming model forward. We were on the IIS team; we had just shipped IIS 4.0, and thought we could do a lot better for web development. The tools team thought that they needed to make things simpler. We came up with some stuff, showed it to the tools team. They were working with the runtime team, we liked what the runtime team was doing, and started doing it like that."

Anders later revealed that the first ASP+ experiments were done in Java.

We also discussed how.NET components hosted in the browser might become a more secure alternative to ActiveX. "That is there today," said Anders. "If you create controls using WinForms, those can be hosted in IE [Internet Explorer] and run within the security sandbox. It's not through ActiveX hosting.

"As your binding to code within one of those components that comes down in the browser, if it's not present on the machine it will be downloaded. We have a great incremental download and deployment story. We expect it to be very popular."

Good idea, but it never really happened. Microsoft got security cold feet, and ended up crippling the feature in the 1.0 Framework so that Windows Forms controls did not run at all in the default Internet Zone. This was fixed in 1.1, but web developers disliked the .NET dependency and the fact that it only worked with IE and Windows.

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Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=130f7986-bf49-4fe5-9ca8-910ae6ea442c&DisplayLang=en

Once installed the control shows up under the "Data" tab on the Toolbox, and can be easily declared on any ASP.NET page as a standard server control:

supports a rich assortment of chart options - including pie, area, range, point, circular, accumulation, data distribution, ajax interactive, doughnut, and more. You can statically declare chart data within the control declaration, or alternatively use data-binding to populate it dynamically. At runtime the server control generates an image (for example a .PNG file) that is referenced from the client HTML of the page using a element output by the control. The server control supports the ability to cache the chart image, as well as save it on disk for persistent scenarios. It does not require any other server software to be installed, and will work with any standard ASP.NET page.

To get a sense of how to use the control I recommend downloading the Microsoft Chart Controls Sample Project. This includes over 200 ASP.NET sample pages that you can run locally. Just open the web project in VS 2008 and hit run to see them in action - you can then open the .aspx source of each to see how they are implemented.

The below example (under Chart Types->Line Charts->3D Line and Curve Charts) demonstrates how to perform Line, Spline and StepLine charting:

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Host Department Launches New Hosting Options

After the pre-launch last week, Host Department (www.hostdepartment.com), a leading web hosting and domain name registration provider, announced yesterday that they have now officially launched their Premium Hosting. The UNIX Premium hosting offers the latest technological standards for both UNIX and Windows, new brand server, and prompt support.

As it was planned, Host Department releases three Unix Premium plans - Advance, Professional, and E-Commerce - offering the latest technologies of UNIX in each plan. They include MySQL 5.0, Perl 5, PHP 5, CGI, and Ajax support in all Unix plans; Ruby on Rails in Professional and E-Commerce plus Dedicated SSL Module and Dedicated E-commerce Setup, special for E-Commerce plan only. They are all included for customers’ growth.

And just like Unix platform, Host Department also releases three plans for Windows - Business, .NET, and Ultimate - that offer the latest features version of Windows in each plan. MySQL 5.0, MS-SQL Server 2005, Perl 5, PHP 5, and AJAX support are all included in all plans plus the other Windows technologies specified in each plan.

For those requiring ASP 3.0, it is offered in Business and Ultimate plan while .NET framework version 3.5 and ASP.NET 1.1 and 2.0 are included in the .NET plan. If clients expect for “ultimate” use, Host Department has the Ultimate plan with Cold Fusion MX 7, Custom DLL Components, and Dedicated SSL Module included.

Moreover, the pricing schemes range from only $10.95/month for UNIX Advance to $19.95/month for Windows Ultimate if the customers subscribe for annual billing or more. They are also entitled a free domain of their own for annual payment and above. Another benefit is that customers are also eligible of 20% price discount with the coupon code “XMAS20″ when they sign up.

Furthermore, as it was informed, UNIX Premium hosting uses a new brand server with more raw power, the IBM XSeries Hardware blade-servers. The data center itself is located in Interserver, New Jersey.

“We’d like to give an earlier ‘Christmas gift’ for you” said Stanley Morgan, Host Department’s Business Development Manager “We have now opened them for public sign up so all of you can now take the advantage from our beneficial Premium Hosting”

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Microsoft details plans for Visual Studio and .NET

In the wake of the recent PDC and TechEd developer events, Microsoft has decided to put some of its key executives out on the road to explain the innovations that Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 have in store.

Microsoft is promoting the next version of its Visual Studio toolset, code-named Rosario, as offering new levels of analysis of the application development process.

On the back of a well-rehearsed pledge to democratise the application lifecycle management process, the company is hedging its bets with a set of product enhancements it says will meet the software development needs arising from trends such as virtualisation, cloud computing and parallelism.

Attempting to shed light on the forthcoming tools with a visit to the UK were Redmond-based Jason Zander, general manager for Visual Studio, and Matt Carter, group product manager in the same division. ZDNet UK caught up with them both at Microsoft's London headquarters in Victoria.

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 is a full cumulative update that contains many new features building incrementally upon .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, and includes cumulative servicing updates to the .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0 subcomponents. .NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack 1 provides the following new features and improvements:

• ASP.NET Dynamic Data, which provides a rich scaffolding framework that enables rapid data driven development without writing code, and a new addition to ASP.NET AJAX that provides support for managing browser history (back button support). For more information, see What’s New in ASP.NET and Web Development.

• Core improvements to the CLR (common language runtime) that include better layout of .NET Framework native images, opting out of strong-name verification for fully trusted assemblies, improved application startup performance, better generated code that improves end-to-end application execution time, and opting managed code to run in ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) mode if supported by the operating system. Additionally, managed applications that are opened from network shares have the same behavior as native applications by running with full trust.

• Performance improvements to WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), including a faster startup time and improved performance for Bitmap effects. Additional functionality for WPF includes better support for line of business applications, native splash screen support, DirectX pixel shader support, and the new WebBrowser control.

• ClickOnce application publishers can decide to opt out of signing and hashing as appropriate for their scenarios, developers can programmatically install ClickOnce applications that display a customized branding, and ClickOnce error dialog boxes support links to application-specific support sites on the Web.

• The Entity Framework is an evolution of the existing suite of ADO.NET data access technologies. The Entity Framework enables developers to program against relational databases in according to application-specific domain models instead of the underlying database models. For more information, see Getting Started with the Entity Framework. The Entity Framework introduces some additional features, including support for new SQL Server 2008 types, default graph serialization of Entities, and the Entity Data Source. This release of the Entity Framework supports the new date and file stream capabilities in SQL Server 2008. The graph serialization work helps developers who want to build Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services that model full graphs as data contracts. The Entity Data Source provides a traditional data source experience for ASP.NET Web application builders who want to work with the Entity Framework.

• LINQ to SQL includes new support for the new date and file stream capabilities in SQL Server 2008.

• The ADO.NET Data Services Framework consists of a combination of patterns and libraries, which enable data to be exposed as a flexible REST (Representational State Transfer)-based data service that can be consumed by Web clients in a corporate network or across the Internet. The ADO.NET Data Services Framework makes data service creation over any data source. A conceptual view model of the underlying storage schema can easily be exposed through rich integration with the ADO.NET Entity Framework. Services created by using the ADO.NET Data Services Framework, and also compatible Windows Live (dev.live.com) services, can be easily accessed from any platform. For client applications that are running on Microsoft platforms, a set of client libraries are provided to make interaction with data services simple. For example, .NET Framework-based clients can use LINQ to query data services and a simple .NET Framework object layer to update data in the service.

• Windows Communication Foundation now makes the DataContract Serializer easier to use by providing improved interoperability support, enhancing the debugging experience in partial trust scenarios, and extending syndication protocol support for wider usage in Web 2.0 applications.

• The .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) adds new support for file stream and sparse column capabilities in SQL Server 2008.

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Kojax: Mobile AJAX from Microsoft?

Microsoft is reportedly working on a mobile AJAX technology code-named Kojax. The goal of Kojax is said to be to enable developers to create interactive mobile applications using a combination of Visual Studio tools and JavaScript.

Who loves ya, baby? Well, it appears Microsoft does if you are an AJAX developer building mobile applications.

According to published reports, Microsoft is working on an AJAX-style mobile application development environment code-named Kojax, designed to help developers create mobile applications, purportedly for use in emerging markets. AJAX is a Web development technique used for creating interactive Web applications.

The code name for the technology brings to mind Kojak, the tough, bald-headed, lollipop-licking cop from 70s-era TV crime drama of the same name. Kojak's catchphrase was, "Who loves ya, baby?" Microsoft must be hoping AJAX developers will dig Kojax. However, the company would not comment on the project.

Microsoft blogger and code-name maven Mary Jo Foley, who uncovered the Kojax name and information, said, "Kojax is a mobile development platform, according to my sources, that will allow Microsoft- and third-party-developed applets [to] run in an AJAX-like way, using a combination of Visual Studio tools and JavaScript, on Java-based mobile phones."

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Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Launched

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
Brief Description::
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 contains many new features building incrementally upon .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0, and includes .NET Framework 2.0 service pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.0 service pack 1.

Overview
.NET Framework 3.5 builds incrementally on the new features added in .NET Framework 3.0. For example, feature sets in Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows CardSpace. In addition, .NET Framework 3.5 contains a number of new features in several technology areas which have been added as new assemblies to avoid breaking changes. They include the following:

* Deep integration of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) and data awareness. This new feature will let you write code written in LINQ-enabled languages to filter, enumerate, and create projections of several types of SQL data, collections, XML, and DataSets by using the same syntax.
* ASP.NET AJAX lets you create more efficient, more interactive, and highly-personalized Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers.
* New Web protocol support for building WCF services including AJAX, JSON, REST, POX, RSS, ATOM, and several new WS-* standards.
* Full tooling support in Visual Studio 2008 for WF, WCF, and WPF, including the new workflow-enabled services technology.
* New classes in .NET Framework 3.5 base class library (BCL) that address many common customer requests.

IMPORTANT:
* If you have installed earlier pre-release versions of .NET Framework 3.5, then you must uninstall them prior to running this installation by using Add or Remove Programs.

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Nero 9.0.9.4 Ultra Edition with Microsoft NET Framework 3.0

Simply Create, Rip, Burn, Copy, Share, Backup, Play, and Enjoy! Nero 9, the easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – share and enjoy with family and friends anytime, anywhere.
Nero 9 is the next generation of the world’s most trusted integrated digital media and home entertainment software suite. It features new cutting-edge functionality that makes enjoying digital media content simple. This easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – enjoy and share with family and friends anytime, anywhere. With easy-to-use Nero StartSmart command center, your digital life has never been more flexible, feasible, and fun.

Nero 9 Highlights:
• Fast and easy rip, burn, Autobackup, and copy functions
• Backup files to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs*
• Create professional-looking DVD movies with integrated 3D menus
• Copy, burn, share, upload, and create music mixes like a DJ
• Convert music, photos, and DVDs to play on your iPod® and other mobile devices
• Quick photo and video upload to My Nero, YouTube™, and MySpace
• Watch, record, pause, and customize your live TV experience
• Play AVCHD and other HD formats

Creative Projects Are Easier than Ever
Using the intuitive Nero StartSmart command center of Nero 9, your digital life has never been more flexible, feasible, and fun. You directly access features and perform one-click functions such as Audio Ripping, Burning, Copying, and AutoBackup, with optimized performance for Windows Vista® with Nero DiscCopy Gadget and Nero Live (TV) for Windows Vista Sidebar.

Fully Enjoy Your Content at Home, Online and On-the-go
Whether it’s video, photo, or music, you can convert and share everything your imagination creates in your digital world. Convert & share multimedia files to play on iPod®, PSP®, and upload online your coolest photos and videos to share with online communities like My Nero, YouTube™, and MySpace.

Make Your PC a Dynamic Home-Entertainment Device
Experience TV from the comfort of your sofa with state-of-the-art TV technology, even for HDTV and DVB Radio. Pause, record, schedule, manage, and playback your TV shows.

Best in the Business Software Gets Better
The ripping and burning capabilities of Nero 9 are the most reliable in the industry. Burn and copy to CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc – even copy movies*. With DVD-R Dual Layer and DVD+R Double Layer support, you’ll get more data on a disc than ever before!*

Trusted and Reliable – Backup, Restore, and Secure
Don’t lose your valuable memories and important files to life’s potential hazards, system crash, or risky hardware. Backing up, securing, and managing files and data is a point-and-click away.

Nero 9 is available in the following languages:
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Czech, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil), English, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, French, Spanish (Latin America), German, Swedish, Greek, Thai,, Hungarian, Turkish, Italian.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Micrsoft Virtual Earth ASP.NET Control CTP release

For all those .NET savys and Javascript haters there is finally some good news in the virutal earth world. Microsoft finally released its long waited Microsoft Virtual Earth ASP.NET control CTP version. After playing with it for couple hours I've to agree it really rocks.

Some of the compelling reasons for microsoft shifting its gears from pure JavaScript control to Microsoft ASP.Net Control are tedious javascript development, application and code security, difficulties in leveraging .NET framework. This VE ASP.Net control has it all. You can take advantage of Visual studio 2008 intellisense and write code for Map control on fly. Not only you can write code on fly but you can debug the code using standard Visual studio 2008 debugger.

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New ASP.NET Chart Control

Microsoft recently released a cool new ASP.NET server control - - that can be used for free with ASP.NET 3.5 to enable rich browser-based charting scenarios:


To use this new & cool asp.net chart control you need .NET Freamwork 3.5 SP1 installed in your desktop .

Available downloads are:

1. Download Microsoft Chart Controls

2. Download VS2008 tool support for Chart Controls

3. Download Microsoft Chart Control Samples

4. Download Microsoft Chart Controls Documentation


Once installed chart controls() easily find under "Data" tab in VS2008 toolbox, and you can easily decalred a new chart control in asp.net page like another Web Controls of asp.net

supports a rich assortment of chart options - including pie, area, range, point, circular, accumulation, data distribution, ajax interactive, doughnut, and more. You can statically declare chart data within the control declaration, or alternatively use data-binding to populate it dynamically. At runtime the server control generates an image (for example a .PNG file) that is referenced from the client HTML of the page using a element output by the control. The server control supports the ability to cache the chart image, as well as save it on disk for persistent scenarios. It does not require any other server software to be installed, and will work with any standard ASP.NET page.

To get a sense of how to use the control I recommend downloading the Microsoft Chart Controls Sample Project. This includes over 200 ASP.NET sample pages that you can run locally. Just open the web project in VS 2008 and hit run to see them in action - you can then open the .aspx source of each to see how they are implemented.

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how to read and write XML Files in asp.net 2.0

Microsoft .NET introduces a new suite of XML APIs built on industry standards such as DOM, XPath, XSD, and XSLT. The .NET Framework XML classes also offer convenience, better performance, and a more familiar programming model, tightly coupled with the new .NET data access APIs—ADO .NET. XmlWriter, XmlReader, and XmlNavigator classes and classes that derive from them, including XMLTextReader and XMLTextWriter, encapsulate a number of functionalities that previously had to be accomplished manually. This tutorial will show you a sample of how to operate XML in ASP.NET and VB.NET.

The System.Xml namespace contains the XmlDocument Class .we can use this class to operate xml file.

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Disadvantages of the ASP.NET MVC Framework

The ASP.NET MVC framework is a new and lightweight architectural pattern still in its infancy. Although evolving from Preview 1 to Preview 4, there are still a great many supplements and enhancements necessary. So far, there have not been any real scenarios of ASP.NET applications putting it into practice. Now, I'm going to use scraps of code to list the disadvantages (immaturity) of ASP.NET MVC as far as I know. This is the fourth part of a four-part series that compares ASP.NET Web Forms with ASP.NET MVC.

(1) Writing View Contents the Old ASP-Like Way

As you may have noticed above, it uses an inline mode, foreach, to render the .aspx page’s contents. Indeed, code generated in the above mode is spotless whether in the case of cleanness or from the angle of self definition. But……yes, as you have seen, it’s the original ASP mode, just switched to another term—the ASP.NET MVC-styled template! Isn't it ironic? Yet, this is indeed the fact.

Since a flock of developers are now ready to embrace ASP.NET MVC without hesitation, are they also ready to deal with the old-style inline mode? Due to the features of ASP.NET MVC (mainly a ViewData transferred from the Controller to the View), the true ASP.NET MVC template syntax requires a plus CAST, such as the following (of course, you can also use the strong-typed ViewData supported by ASP.NET MVC, which can help to avoid such a cast operation).

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Working with the New Data Source Controls in ASP.NET

With ASP.NET 2.0 and after, you are introduced to a bunch of new data source controls, i.e., LinqDataSource, ObjectDataSource, XmlDataSource, SqlDataSource, etc. You can use the newly added data source controls of ASP.NET 2.0 to implement CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations in your applications without having to write much code. All of these controls support paging, sorting, caching, editing, inserting, selecting and deleting data. You can use these controls to bind data to your ASP.NET data bound controls (GridView, Repeater, ListView, etc) declaratively, i.e., without writing even a single line of code. This article discusses these controls and how easily one can work with them.

The New Data Source Controls of ASP.NET 2.0
ASP.NET 2.0 and beyond ships with a lot of data source controls, namely:

- ObjectDataSource
- SQLDataSource
- AccessDataSource
- XMLDataSource
- LinqDataSource

Besides these controls, you also have the SiteMapDataSource control that can be used to loads a site map file and expose it to controls such as the TreeView and SiteMapPath. Using these controls is easy: simply drag and drop one from the toolbox into your web form in the design view mode in Visual Studio.

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What’s New With Robotics Developer Studio 2008

At the RoboDevelopment Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, California, Microsoft released the new version of Microsoft Developer Studio 2008 (Microsoft RDS), the latest version of the robotics programming platform and the third major release in two years. The toolkit allows developers, whether professional or hobbyists, to create software applications that run on robots.

RDS 2008

In the new version RDS 2008, there are now several new features, including:

• Increased runtime performance.
Performance is improved 1.5 to three times faster in message throughput between services, and services now load two times faster. Developers can now also define more specific message communication between services, reducing network utilization and optimizing the processing of data.

• Improvements to the Visual Programming Language (VPL) tool.
The simple drag-and-drop-based visual programming tool now includes a simple method for defining and configuring distributed applications, making it easier to create applications that can run across networked devices.

• Improvements to the Visual Simulation Environment (VSE) tool.
VSE now includes the ability to record and play back simulations, which allows for easier review of simulation experiences. VSE also adds a new floor-plan editor to simplify the definition of interior structures, and three new sample simulation environments (apartment, outdoor and urban) that enable developers to better test their robot applications. Another new feature is support for importing content from DS SolidWorks® 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) software and Microsoft trueSpace 3-D modeling software.

• Greater development flexibility.
This new release provides support for both Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, which makes it accessible to a broad audience of developers. Improved support for running VPL and VSE on 64-bit Windows platforms provides more flexible installation options.

Along with the new release, ABB, a supplier of industrial robots and robotics software, is offering a connectivity package known as ABB Connect to Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 (ACM). ACM lets robotics students work in a virtual environment in order to design and implement virtual robotics. The package contains all the services needed to build a complete virtual robot controller.

Challenges for Robotics Devs
So now that you have the software, what can you do with it? Visit RoboChamps, of course! At Robochamps, there are a series of challenges for developers which are based in simulation, thus removing the barriers to entry that normally exist when writing code for robots…things like cost and deep hardware knowledge, for example. RoboChamps is built on top of the simulation functionality provided in Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008, which means that participants can program their robots using the .NET languages they are already familiar with.

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What is the ASP.NET Ajax Framework? What versions have been released so far?

ASP.NET AJAX is a free framework to implement Ajax in asp.net web applications, for quickly creating efficient and interactive Web applications that work across all popular browsers.

The Ajax Framework is powered with
1 - Reusable Ajax Controls
2 - Support for all modern browsers
3 - Access remote services and data from the browser without tons of complicated

script. Versions of Ajax release
1 - ASP.NET Ajax Framework 1.0 (earlier release to this was called the Atlas)
2 - ASP.NET Ajax Framework 1.0 was available as a separate download for ASP.NET 2.0

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C++ enhancements in VS 2010

As part of my series of blog posts talking about VS 2010 and .NET FX 4, I want to focus on the work we are doing for the native developer as part of Visual C++.

In an earlier post, I mentioned how the Visual C++ team is investing heavily in enabling developers with large native applications to be successful on the Windows platform. As a part of that, we released the Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack earlier this year. Visual Studio 2010 continues down this path by focusing on making native C++ developers more productive with significant enhancements to the overall IDE experience as well as improvements in the language and library space that further extend the power available to C++ developers.

Native C++ applications have been growing larger and more complex over the years. VS2010 makes C++ developers more productive by scaling better when working with larger codebases. One of the key areas where we are making significant improvements is IntelliSense. The IntelliSense engine, which powers the majority of the IDE features, received a major architectural overhaul with a sharp focus on eliminating inefficiencies that surface when dealing with large codebases. A prime example of this is that the IDE remains responsive even while editing source files in very large codebases. Source edits no longer trigger massive updates of the symbol database even with the most complex source dependencies. Visual C++ developers who often edit header files deep down in the include hierarchy or switch project configurations will notice the huge improvement in IDE responsiveness.

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Microsoft Would Still Do a Yahoo Search Deal

At Microsoft’s annual shareholder’s meeting today, CEO Steve Ballmer has put the kibosh on speculation that the company will resurrect its bid to acquire Yahoo. However, Ballmer did suggest that a search deal was possible.

Microsoft’s single-minded pursuit to acquire Yahoo never made much sense to me. Sure, it would obtain substantial search market shareover night, but it would still have to claw its way up to compete with Google. Even when the two companies are combined, Google still holds the upper hand in market share.

There is also a great deal of overlap between Microsoft and Yahoo products, and there would certainly be a culture clash among employees. Brain drain is another issue. If Microsoft were to buy Yahoo today, it would not be obtaining the talent that it would have just a few months back. It would also be costly to retain people–even its own employees, many of whom would be hesitant to spend their time at Microsoft getting caught up in turf wars.

A merger with Yahoo would distract Microsoft from important initiatives that are core to its future success, such as project Oslo, an multi-product effort to steer developers toward model driven development and service oriented architecture, as well as continued investment in the .NET Framework.

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Flex development framework

Flex is a highly productive, free open source framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. While Flex applications can be built using only the free Flex SDK developers can use Adobe Flex Builder3 software to dramatically accelerate development.

Flex overview

Flex is a free, open source framework for building highly interactive, expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. It provides a modern, standards-based language and programming model that supports common design patterns.

MXML, a declarative XML-based language, is used to describe UI layout and behaviors, and Action Script 3, a powerful object-oriented programming language, is used to create client logic. Flex also includes a rich component library with more than 100 proven, extensible UI components for creating rich Internet applications (RIAs), as well as an interactive Flex application debugger.

RIAs created with Flex can run in the browser using Adobe Flash Player software or on the desktop on Adobe AIR, the cross-operating system runtime. This enables Flex applications to run consistently across all major browsers and on the desktop. And using AIR, Flex applications can now access local data and system resources on the desktop. Both Flash Player and Adobe AIR are available as a free download on Adobe.com.

You can accelerate application development with Adobe Flex Builder 3 software, a highly productive, Eclipse based development environment, and Adobe Live Cycle Data Services software, a set of advanced data services that can be used in Flex development. Both of these products are available for purchase.

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Asp.net Development Benefits

Web development is the process by which you can get more features of innovative technology – web design, back end programming and software solution for more business efficiency, simply get more from your website infrastructure by integrating each element. Skilled ASP.NET web developers are available for ASP.NET software development, ASP.NET website development & ASP.NET programming.

Advantages of ASP.NET:

* Any application can talk to a host of other applications, running on diverse technology and hardware, in turn lowering the operation costs. Consider this one case, wherein the stock management system is connected to the accounting system, resulting in ample savings.

* Bring on one platform all your internal applications, your partners as well as your customers.

* Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET and the .NET Framework supports varied languages, in turn helping developers to focus on work at hand instead of trying to learn a new language that can do the job.

* Employees can look for updated information on desktop applications, internet browsers or even mobile devices.

* Optimum speed of development

* Ability of cross platform migration

* High Reliability

* Rigorous Security

* Easy configurations of applications

* Vast and enriched Class library, features, controls

* ASP.NET Framework supports varied languages

Outsourcing author providers furnish unlike services much as the designing and the usage of websites, as advantageously as software and e-commerce development. One big advantage for choosing to outsource your web development needs is you would be competent to get the resource of good engineers to get ample results spell session in your office.

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WINDOWS OR LINUX – WHICH ONE IS BETTER OPTION FOR WEB HOSTING?

Once a web site is ready, the next confusing thing is the server on which the web site goes on. Deciding on a web hosting service is something that might get anybody perplexed. There are mainly two types of website hosting services – Windows and Linux. If the business is small then you can even try out the Shared Linux and Windows hosting service. Windows as well as Linux website host services have different benefits and limitations.

Linux hosting is one of the most common and significant hosting service on the net. The main reason for this web hosting is that many companies which are using it are open sources and quite affordable compared to Windows. Linux is much easier to manage as the business grows online. Windows hosting supports all operational functions of Windows system. It maintains programming frameworks such as ColdFusion and ASP.net. It also backs SQL servers which is extremely useful when creating a website regarding a searchable list. Windows hosting service is apt for people who are used to Microsoft based technologies or equipments.

The biggest difference between these two hosting services is the cost factor. Linux services are much low-priced in comparison to Windows. Money does play an important in website hosting especially when new web owners are starting off. But, the main reason for Windows hosting service costs to be higher is the fact that many Windows technologies are licensed. Windows also scores over Linux in the programming department; there are many Windows softwares which are not supported on Linux operating systems.

After drafting out your needs, you can also consult professionals in the web site hosting field on which is a better option. But, it is always advisable to weigh the pros and cons before making that choice, so that you do not regret in any possible whre. There are many hosting companies that can help you with the right web hosting solution which will take away all your tension and your entire job will be done within moments. But, make sure to do a reference check before hiring any company’s service.

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Adobe accommodates Visual Studio, Eclipse

Adobe Systems at its Adobe Max 2008 conference Tuesday heralded a slew of new technologies, including links between its Flex application development platform and Microsoft's Visual Studio software development platform.

Also paraded at the conference was Flash Catalyst, an interactive design tool for building interfaces and interactive content without coding. The planned Bolt release of the ColdFusion IDE, featuring Eclipse capabilities, was touted as well.

In addition, two developments pertaining to Flex development support for Microsoft's .Net software development technology were unveiled.

"A partner of ours, called Ensemble, out of Vancouver, has created a Visual Studio plug-in called Tofino, which gives you Flex and MXML support," said Ben Forta, director of platform evangelism at Adobe, in an interview after the morning keynote presentation. Also, Adobe itself is working on a project to boost Flex development in .Net, featuring data services capabilities. That project is with Adobe Labs.

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Why program Microsoft SQL Server from .NET?

Microsoft developers may use LINQ or other data access technologies for applications that implement common business operations. But larger, more specialized applications are good candidates for .NET-enabled SQL Server. Microsoft’s José Blakely, a partner architect for SQL Server, offers three scenarios where programming the database from .NET makes sense:

Deep extensibility in the database. Developers can build core database constructs such as table-valued functions, user-defined aggregates or rich types using a CLR language (such as C# or VB.NET) in Visual Studio. The managed environment is safer and more robust compared with unmanaged extensions (built in C++, for example). And it runs faster and scales much better than similar functionality in Transact-SQL.

A more powerful environment for database developers. They can leverage .NET libraries (such as those for regular expressions, string manipulation and math functions) and use them in SQL Server.

The ability, via the CLR, to write specialized business logic using modern .NET programming languages and run those programs close to the data inside the database. With the very high data volumes being stored in databases—often hundreds of terabytes or even petabytes—managing data in the middle tier is unworkable. Embedding the CLR in SQL Server lets developers move complex business computations to the database.

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Microsoft files suit to defend Visual Studio users

Microsoft filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco last week, asking a judge to invalidate several patents that are the subject of infringement suits filed by WebXchange against three large companies over their use of Microsoft's Visual Studio development tools. The software vendor seeks to invalidate patents used to sue Allstate, Dell and FedEx.

Microsoft said in its lawsuit against WebXchange that the claims against Allstate Insurance Corp., Dell and FedEx relate to their use of Visual Studio. Microsoft added that by asking the court in San Francisco to declare WebXchange's patents invalid, it hopes to defend the three sued customers and spare other Visual Studio users from similar legal actions.

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Advantages of the ASP.NET MVC Approach

As I hinted in earlier articles in this series, to overcome the deficiencies of the ASP.NET Web Forms solution, Microsoft created an alternative to Web Forms—the ASP.NET MVC framework. In the MVC framework, a whole web application is separated into three components: the model, view, and controller. We will take a close look at this approach in this article, the third part of a four-part series.
Introducing the ASP.NET MVC framework

Typically, the model component maintains state by persisting data in a database, while the view component is selected by the controller and renders the appropriate UI. By default, the ASP.NET MVC framework utilizes the existing ASP.NET page (.aspx), master page (.master), and user control (.ascx) for rendering to the browser.

The center and most important controller component takes the responsibility of locating the appropriate action method in the controller, obtaining data to use as the action method's arguments, and handling any errors that might occur when the action method runs. Then, the controller renders the requested view. Figure 1 gives a rough perspective of the way ASP.NET MVC works.

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What’s New in ASP.NET and Web Development

The .NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack 1 includes enhancements for ASP.NET in targeted areas. Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express Edition also include enhancements and new features for improved Web development.

The most significant advances are improved support for developing AJAX-enabled Web sites and support for Language-Integrated Query (LINQ). The advances include new server controls and types, a new object-oriented client type library, and full IntelliSense support in Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express Edition for working with ECMAScript (JavaScript or JScript).

The following sections of this topic describe the changes in ASP.NET and Visual Web Developer.

* ASP.NET Enhancements in SP1
* ASP.NET Enhancements in version 3.5
* Visual Web Developer Enhancements

ASP.NET Enhancements in SP1

The following sections provide information about enhancements and new features in Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Web Developer Express Edition.

Dynamic Data

ASP.NET Dynamic Data is a framework that lets you create data-driven ASP.NET Web applications easily. It does this by automatically discovering the data model at run time and determining UI behavior from it. A scaffolding framework instantly provides a functional Web site for viewing and editing data. This scaffolding can then be easily customized using metadata, templates, or by creating standard ASP.NET pages to override the default behavior. At the same time existing applications can easily integrate pieces of the scaffolding logic with their existing pages.

URL Routing

URL routing in ASP.NET enables you to use URLs that do not have to map to specific files in a Web site. Because the URL does not have to map to a file, you can use URLs in a Web application that are descriptive of the user’s action and therefore more easily understood by users. In URL routing, you define URL patterns that contain placeholders for values that are used when you handle URL requests. At run time, the pieces of the URL that follow the application name are parsed into discrete values, based on a URL pattern that you have defined.

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Understanding the Virtual Machine Technology

The Orcas March CTP came in Virtual Image format and so the Beta-1 and Beta-2. For many people Virtual Machine is a new teminorlogy. In this post I am trying to help you understand what does this Virtual Machie mean.

While downloading the Virtual Machine files, you must have noticed that Orcas virtual machine requires Virtual PC 2004 SP1 or Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server 2005 R2 to work with downloaded files. Any of this software will help to achieve the concept of virtualization; as Orcas CTP/Beta comes in the form of virtual image, so virtualization concept is required to run the Orcas CTP/Beta.

Normally, computers run only one operating system at a time. Applications run on top of the operating system. The operating system uses device drivers to address the computer’s hardware. And the hardware includes every single piece of hardware for example, the mouse and keyboard, processor, memory, disk drives and drive controllers, video cards, network cards, sound card and other physical devices etc. In other words, a computer contains one set of devices, runs one operating system at a time, and has one set of applications on that operating system.

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Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1

Microsoft has recentky launced the development tool support for Windows Cloud Computing - Windows Azure.

Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio extend Visual Studio to enable the creation, building, debugging, running and packaging of scalable services on Windows Azure.

Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio includes:

*C# and VB Project templates for building Cloud Services
*Integration with the Development Fabric and Development Storage services
*Debugging Cloud Service Roles running in the Development Fabric
*Building and packaging of Cloud Service Packages
*Browsing to the Azure Services Developer Portal
*Role configuration
*SSL Certificate selection

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.Net application pools

Why it is a bad idea to isolate ASP.Net applications by using Application Pools.

1. ASP.Net applications all require the .Net Framework, which is a fixed overhead (in the neighborhood of at least 20MB RAM) paid by every process that loads an ASP.Net application. Suppose you have 10 ASP.Net applications. If each application is in its own Application Pool, you can have up to 10 copies of the .Net Framework loaded in memory by each w3wp.exe of each Application Pool. Efficiency says that you really only need one copy of the .Net Framework for all of the ASP.Net applications, and this is possible only if all 10 ASP.Net applications are in the same Application Pool.

2. ASP.Net applications do not benefit from Application Pool based isolation (by process identity) because ASP.Net runs managed code, which already has CAS and does NOT rely on user identity nor process space for isolation. AppDomain is the logical concept that is enforced by ASP.Net to isolate the ASP.Net applications. Of course, this is a different story for native code applications like ASP, ISAPI, CGI which do benefit from using process space for isolation.
Application pool is used to not affect the applications running in other application pools while errors in one application pool. It only affects current application pool. Modifying web.config will cause the application to restart. There is a difference between application pools and application. The application pool will consist of one or several worker processes and may host one or several applications. When application restarts, which doesn’t cause application pool to recycle, instead, it only restarts one of the applications hosted by the application pool.


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Monday, November 17, 2008

.NET and Dynamic Languages

In the months and years ahead, dynamic languages are going to take on an increasing important role in the .NET platform. To support this Microsoft is heavily investing in integration between the dynamic languages and the CLR.

Before we get into how that integration works, we have to take a moment to discuss open source. The most important dynamic languages on the .NET platform are IronPython and IronRuby. As both of these are under an open source license, they won’t follow the normal schedule for language changes. All open source languages officially supported by Microsoft will have two release cycles. There will be the release early/release often schedule common for open source projects, which of course results in a lot more rollouts. Parallel to this will be the formal, highly tested releases that Microsoft prefers. Companies and developers will have the option use either style of release, as both will use the same code base.

As for integration, is all revolves around the IDynamicObject interface. This acts as a method binder allowing each object to use the semantics of the language it was written in. The languages that will have binders out of the box include IronPython, IronRuby, JScript, and COM. Yes, COM is considered a dynamic language for this purpose of late binding and dynamic method invocation.

In addition to language specific binders, developers can have special rules for just a single class. The easiest way to do this is to start with the abstract class DynamicObject. What follows is a list of actions that can be overridden for custom behavior. As you browse the list you will undoubtedly see some actions not supported directly by the syntax in your language of choice.

- GetMember
- SetMember
- DeleteMember
- UnaryOperation
- BinaryOperation
- Convert
- InvokeMember
- Invoke
- CreateInstance
- GetIndex
- SetIndex
- DeleteIndex

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New Features in ASP.NET 3.5

ASP.NET has for long been a popular web application development platform. ASP.NET 2.0 added a lot of new features compared to its earlier counterpart, i.e., ASP.NET 1.1. With ASP.NET 3.5, you have even more features. This article will present the new features that have been added to ASP.NET and Visual Studio 2008.


In ASP.NET 3.5, a new tool has been introduced called the ASP.NET Merge Tool. You can use this tool for merging pre-compiled assemblies. No, this is not all. There isa lot of other exciting features and we will explore each of them as we progress through this article.

The most significant improvements in ASP.NET are:

* Integrated Ajax Support
* New Data Controls (ListView and DataPager)
* The LinqDataSource Control

Visual Studio 2008 has also included some features for an improved web application development experience. Here is the list of such improvements:


* Support for LINQ
* IntelliSense for JavaScript and ASP.NET Ajax
* Improved Design time experience

We will explore each of these features as we progress through this article.

New ASP.NET Features


We will start our discussion with the improvements in ASP.NET. The sections that follow discuss the significant improvements made in ASP.NET 3.5.

Integrated Ajax Support


Before we proceed further, let us have a quick look at what Ajax is all about. Ajax, an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a cross-platform technology that can be used to make your web pages fast, rich and responsive. Note that in Ajax enabled web applications, requests are sent to the server only for the data that is needed. Incidentally, Ajax is mainly a mix of Javascript, Html, CSS, XML, DOM and the XMLHttpRequest Object. It is a technology that can be used to send and receive data (usually in XML format) from a server-side application using Javascript. According to Enrich Peterson, "AJAX-enabled pages provide a slick, responsive user experience, making web-based applications function more like desktop-based ones".

MSDN states, "ASP.NET AJAX is a set of technologies to add AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) support to ASP.NET. It consists of a client-side script framework, server controls, and more. Although AJAX is essentially a client-side technique, most of its real-world deployments call for server-side processing."

Here is a list of the advantages of using Ajax in web applications.

* Reduction of unnecessary web server hits, i.e., the round trips are minimized
* Rich, responsive user interface
* Real-time web page updates
* Language neutrality
* Faster web page renderings
* Less consumption of server’s resources (memory and processor load is reduced)

Ajax was introduced in ASP.NET as a separate add-on called ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions. This extensions library enabled you to design and implement Ajax enabled web applications using ASP.NET. The ASP.NET 2.0 framework incorporates the client script libraries of the ASP.NET Ajax framework. "The framework includes two distinct yet not mutually exclusive API's: client and server, which enable the developers to accomplish AJAX functionalities using direct client-side programming, traditional server-side programming, or any combination of both".

And, you also have the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit, a community project from Microsoft that comprises of a SDK and code samples. According to Microsoft, "The ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit provides a set of sample controls and extenders that makes it a snap to spice up your web site with rich functionality".

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Difference between ADO.net Dataset and ADO Recordset

A DataSet can represent an entire relational database in memory, complete with tables, relations, and views.

· A DataSet is designed to work without any continuing connection to the original data source.
· Data in a DataSet is bulk-loaded, rather than being loaded on demand.
· There's no concept of cursor types in a DataSet.
· DataSets have no current record pointer You can use For Each loops to move through the data.
· You can store many edits in a DataSet, and write them to the original data source in a single operation.
· Though the DataSet is universal, other objects in ADO.NET come in different versions for different data sources.

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What is difference between ExecuteReader, ExecuteNonQuery and ExecuteScalar.

1. ExecuteReader : Use for accessing data. It provides a forward-only, read-only, connected recordset.

2. ExecuteNonQuery : Use for data manipulation, such as Insert, Update, Delete.

3. ExecuteScalar : Use for retriving 1 row 1 col. value., i.e. Single value. eg: for retriving aggregate function. It is faster than other ways of retriving a single value from DB.

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Fundamentals of Asp.net Programming Vs. Php Programming

Hyper-text-pre-processor (PHP) and Active-server-pages (ASP) are the two standard programming languages for website application development and more significantly when it comes to produce database-driven websites to interrelating hugely with databases. PHP is an open-source programming language which is derived from lots of different languages. On the other hand ASP is such kind of programming languages which preferring Microsoft product mostly.

Both programming languages PHP and ASP are used to develop dynamic database oriented websites. Active Server Pages (ASP) is normally from Microsoft and is used only with Internet Information Server (IIS) that runs on Microsoft Servers also. But on the other hand you can say PHP is platform independent programming languages and can connect with several kinds of databases.

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The Future of WebForms And ASP.NET MVC

ASP.NET Themes

If you watch the ASP.NET 4.0 Roadmap talk at PDC, you’ll see that there are five main areas of investment that the ASP.NET team is working on. I’ll provide a non-comprehensive brief summary of the five here.

Core Infrastructure

With our core infrastructure, we’re looking to address key customer pain points and
improve scale and performance.

One feature towards this goal is cache extensibility which will allow plugging in other cache products such as Velocity as a cache provider. We’ll also enhance ASP.NET Session State APIs. There are other scalability investments I don’t even personally understand all too deeply. ;)

To learn more about our cache extensibility plans, check out this PDC talk by Stefan Schackow.

Web Forms

In WebForms, we’re looking to address Client IDs which allow developers to control the id attribute value rendered by server controls. We’re adding support for URL routing with Web Forms. We’re planning to improve ViewState management by providing fine grain control over it. And we’re making investments in making our controls more CSS friendly. There are many other miscellaneous improvements to various control we’re making that would require me to query and filter the bug database to list, and I’m too lazy to do that right now.

AJAX

With Ajax, we’re implementing client side templates and data binding. Our team now owns the Ajax Control Toolkit so we’re looking at opportunities to possibly roll some of those server controls into the core framework. And of course, we’ve added jQuery to our offerings along with jQuery Intellisense.

To see more about our investments here, check out Bertrand Le Roy’s Ajax talk at PDC.
Data and Dynamic Data

In Dynamic Data (which technically could fall in the Web Forms bucket) we’re looking to add support for an abstract data layer which would allow for POCO scaffolding. We’re implementing many-to-many relationships, enhanced filtering, enhanced meta-data, and adding new field templates.

There’s a lot of cool stuff happening here. To get more details on this, check out Scott Hunter’s Dynamic Data talk at PDC.
ASP.NET MVC

We’re still working on releasing 1.0. In the future, we hope to leverage some of the Dynamic Data work into ASP.NET MVC.

Notice here that ASP.NET MVC is just one of these five areas we’re investing in moving forward. It’s not somehow starving our efforts in other areas.

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Thursday, November 13, 2008

New Features in Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0

Visual Studio 2008 may be better than sliced bread, but the development team at Microsoft has already been working on the next release. They have recently given us Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0 as a Community Technology Preview (CTP); it boasts several features that would appeal to developers.


This article won't go into every single feature, but will go into features that are the most relevant to .NET developers. Please note that because this is a CTP, it doesn't mean that the final release will be exactly as you see in the CTP or as is described here. I can go over the features roughly as follows:

New Features in the Visual Studio 2010 IDE and .NET Framework 4.0

- Call Hierarchy of methods
- A New Quick Search
- Multi-targeting more accurate
- Parallel Programming and Debugging
- XSLT Profiling and Debugging
- The XSD Designer

New ASP.NET features


- Static IDs for ASP.NET Controls
- The Chart control
- Web.config transformation

New VB.NET features

- Auto Implemented Properties for VB.NET
- Collection Initializers
- Implicit Line Continuations
- Statements in Lambda Expressions

New C# features

- Dynamic Types
- Optional parameters
- Named and Optional Arguments

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Uploading In ASP.NET

With classic ASP, uploading a file from the client to a server required one of three approaches: use of a third-party COM component, use of a custom-written component, or (messy) script code. The easiest option providing the most features was to use a third-party COM component, such as SA-FileUp or ASPUpload. Problems with using the COM model for Web application components are numerous. First off, these components must be registered (generally using the regsvr32.exe tool) before they can be used from a conventional ASP application. Remote administration of these types of applications is not possible, because the registration tool must be run locally on the server. These components remain locked on disk once they are loaded by an application, and the entire Web server must be stopped before these components can be replaced or removed. Furthermore, these third-party COM components cost money.

ASP.NET easily allows developers to provide upload support without the need of any COM component. This is accomplished via the HtmlInputFile class in the .NET Framework. An instance of this class can be created and used easily through an ASP.NET Web page in just a few lines of code. In this article we'll examine how to upload a file from the client to the Web server using ths server control. We'll also examine how to add some extra functionality, such as creating the upload directory.

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How To Localize Your Application Using String Tables

Until a couple of years ago, most software applications were released in English. Unfortunately for us the developers, nowadays, many customers require that that the product they purchase, will be localized to a specific language (other than English). I know, for instance, that there is a European law which requires healthcare products to be localized to the European market (starting from 2009 or 2010). Because this article is about how to localize your application using string tables, I recommend you to first read about a free tool which helps you extract hard coded strings to string tables. Don’t go any further before you also read about how to generate public properties for string tables, you must read it.

Setting up a String Table

I assume that you already have some user interface which needs to be localized, I will demonstrate this process with Windows Forms but it doesn’t matter what UI framework is being used. The first thing to do is to add a string table, you can add it to your UI project or to another project (if it will be used from other assemblies as well).

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

ASP.NET Web Forms Weaknesses


The Weakness of ASP.NET Web Forms


On the whole, the weakness of the traditional ASP.NET Web Forms solution mainly lies in the following four aspects. Let's check each of them one by one.

(1) ViewState and Postbacks

Maybe the most disputable point people often bring forward about ASP.NET Web Forms relates to ViewState and Postbacks. To introduce an event-driven approach and overcome the stateless nature (and also obstacle) of HTTP protocol to simulate the old Windows form model development experience, ASP.NET Web Forms introduces ViewState and Postback. The end result is both ViewState and Postbacks have caused lots of problems and increased the complexity of web application development. Even simple web pages can produce a ViewState larger than 100KB in size that heavily affects the performance of the application sometimes.

Is ViewState is a must have in an ASP.NET application? In fact, most existing web pages usually feature a good many hyperlinks. When you click one of the links, you will be navigated to a new page. Since clicking the links will lead you to another page, what is the use of ViewState within the page? In practice, when I start to write a new web project, the first thing I do is turn off the enableViewState (and sometimes enableSessionState) parameter from inside the Web.config file.

Some may ask me what sense there is to using Web Forms since I turn off ViewState. My answer is: there are many reasons. Web Form provides a control model, and so users can take advantage of the easy-to-grasp mode to set/get the value of a text box, and also, they can use many button events easily to write related event handlers to trigger various business logics. Moreover, using Web Forms is simple and clear.

Well, without ViewState why can you use the events of the controls? Of course, you can if the events are not complex ones. Here is an example. The TextBox's TextChange event belongs to complex events, as well as the Command event of the GridView control. However, the click event of a Button control is the "simple event."

As with the event, there are also complex states and simple ones. Take, again, for example: the state of each sub-control within each line inside the GridView control is a "complex state," while the Text property of a TextBox control belongs to a "simple state." "Complex states" and "complex events" require ViewState, while the simple ones do not. So, why not try to use simple states and events instead of complex ones?

One of the most prominent and significant features of ASP.NET Web Forms lies in its powerful (and complex) component model. Inside this model was introduced something named "page life cycle." Many people threw stones at it and accused it of killing system performance. In essence, this complex life-cycle does, at some times, run without any efficient result again and again. However, assuming that the ASP.NET "page life cycle" kills performance is not right.

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Chart Controls released in .Net Framework 3.5

Microsoft today announced the (out-of-band) release of the ASP.NET Chart Control for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. The ASP.NET Chart Control is a free, full-featured chart control package which enables developers to easily add rich data visualization to ASP.NET and Windows Forms applications.

Acquired from Dundas Software, the industry leader in .NET charting solutions, the ASP.NET Chart Control is a highly comprehensive, powerful, and easy-to-use solution for adding simple to advanced interactive charts and graphs to applications with minimal coding. Similar functionality resulting from the technology acquisition from Dundas was released earlier in SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Report Builder 2.0.

Releasing this technology in the .NET Framework will save developers effort by allowing their end users to quickly setup and visually configure charts without writing a single line of code. Until now, customers had to purchase this capability from 3rd party vendors or spend a great deal of effort developing their own controls.

Overview of Features

* Comprehensive list of 2D and 3D chart types
* Multiple Chart Areas, Legends and Titles
* Highly customizable visual appearance
* Built-in data manipulation and formulas
* Annotations
* Axis scale breaks
* Smart label positioning

Samples Environment
Microsoft provides a sample environment for ASP.NET Chart Control geared towards getting developers started fast. The sample environment includes over 200 samples for both ASP.NET and Windows Forms and include the C# Source Code for each sample. The samples enable developers to see the Chart Controls in action as well as use the code as templates. Samples to get your development started are available on MSDN.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Asp.NET Development Benefits

Microsoft .Net Application Development

Microsoft .NET is a technology that connects information, people, systems and devices. .NET connects a broad range of personal and business technologies, enabling the access and use of important information, whenever and wherever it is needed. Built on XML Web service standards, .NET enables both new and existing applications to connect with software and web application to the services across platforms, applications and programming languages.

Benefits of Asp.net

* Any application can talk to a host of other applications, running on diverse technology and hardware, in turn lowering the operation costs. Consider this one case, wherein the stock management system is connected to the accounting system, resulting in ample savings.
* Bring on one platform all your internal applications, your partners as well as your customers.
* Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET and the .NET Framework supports varied languages, in turn helping developers to focus on work at hand instead of trying to learn a new language that can do the job.
* Employees can look for updated information on desktop applications, internet browsers or even mobile devices.
* Optimum speed of development
* Ability of cross platform migration
* High Class library, features, controls
* ASP.NET Framework supports varied languages
* Reliability
* Easy configurations of applications
* Vast and enriched

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What’s New in ASP.NET 2.0?

ASP.NET is a programming framework built on the common language runtime that can be used on a server to build powerful Web applications. The first version of ASP.NET offered several important advantages over previous Web development models. ASP.NET 2.0 improves upon that foundation by adding support for several new and exciting features in the areas of developer productivity, administration and management, extensibility, and performance:
Developer Productivity
ASP.NET 2.0 encapsulates common Web tasks into application services and controls that can be easily reused across web sites. With these basic building blocks, many scenarios can now be implemented with far less custom code than was required in previous versions. With ASP.NET 2.0 it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of code and concepts necessary to build common scenarios on the web.

* New Server Controls. ASP.NET 2.0 introduces many new server controls that enable powerful declarative support for data access, login security, wizard navigation, menus, treeviews, portals, and more. Many of these controls take advantage of core application services in ASP.NET for scenarios like data access, membership and roles, and personalization. Some of the new families of controls in ASP.NET 2.0 are described below.

- Data Controls. Data access in ASP.NET 2.0 can be accomplished completely declaratively (no code) using the new data-bound and data source controls. There are new data source controls to represent different data backends such as SQL database, business objects, and XML, and there are new data-bound controls for rendering common UI for data, such as gridview, detailsview, and formview..

- Navigation Controls. The navigation controls provide common UI for navigating between pages in your site, such as treeview, menu, and sitemappath. These controls use the site navigation service in ASP.NET 2.0 to retrieve the custom structure you have defined for your site.

- Login Controls. The new login controls provide the building blocks to add authentication and authorization-based UI to your site, such as login forms, create user forms, password retrieval, and custom UI for logged in users or roles. These controls use the built-in membership and role services in ASP.NET 2.0 to interact with the user and role information defined for your site.

- Web Part Controls. Web parts are an exciting new family of controls that enable you to add rich, personalized content and layout to your site, as well as the ability to edit that content and layout directly from your application pages. These controls rely on the personalization services in ASP.NET 2.0 to provide a unique experience for each user in your application.

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Monday, November 10, 2008

New version of Enterprise Service Bus software extends the Microsoft .NET Platform

Neudesic, a leading provider of business solutions that leverage the capabilities of the Microsoft product line, announced today the release of version 2।0 of Neuron-ESB. Neuron-ESB is an Enterprise Service Bus that extends the Microsoft Platform by providing real-time messaging, integration and web service management. Neuron-ESB accelerates SOA adoption by helping companies successfully implement real-time integration across their enterprise, allowing timely response to changing events within their business.

Neuron-ESB is built on the Microsoft Windows Communication Framework (WCF) technology to provide real-time reliable messaging options for companies adopting SOA। Neuron-ESB manages all communication over the bus by sending messages over "Topics" using a publish-subscribe pattern and supports federated, geographic deployments। Neuron-ESB helps companies administer and automate complex tasks and is proven to significantly reduce the infrastructure, development, training and long term support costs for businesses developing SOA solutions.

"Neuron-ESB provides the messaging backbone for all of our critical applications," said Jeffrey Sullivan, Chief Information Officer of ThinkCash. "Neuron-ESB allowed us to leverage our developers much more effectively while providing us the ability to go to market quickly with new solutions. We were able to shift our service development from the architect role to the more ubiquitous developer role while, decreasing our deployment time of new services by 50%. We started with just 1 developer who received 4 days of Neuron-ESB training. Within 6 months and no additional training, we had a 15X increase in the number of our internal developers who were able to use Neuron-ESB."

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Microsoft: Scoop On BizTalk Server 2009

Microsoft's BizTalk Server 2009 is on track for availability during the first half of next year with a full public Community Technology Preview of the business process management server product slated for this year's fourth quarter, Microsoft said Friday. Microsoft also provided more details about new capabilities in the software, which until now Microsoft had called BizTalk Server 2006 R3.

As it has done with some of its other products, Microsoft is committing to a regular and more transparent development schedule for BizTalk Server, said Burley Kawasaki, product management director for Microsoft's Connected Systems Division. Microsoft wants to fall into a "rhythm of releases" for BizTalk Server, delivering a major upgrade every two years as it plans to do with Windows Server and other products. "We're trying to be more predictable for our enterprise customers," Kawasaki said.

Microsoft has begun planning for the product release that follows BizTalk Server 2009, code-named "BizTalk Server 7," Kawasaki said, and will start providing customers and channel partners with information about that release early next year. Priorities for that and future generations of the product include more tools for enterprise connectivity, support for the latest capabilities in the Windows platform such as messaging and workflow, and improved visibility throughout a business for such applications as business intelligence and asset tracking.

Enhancements and new capabilities offered in BizTalk Server 2009 generally revolve around improved enterprise connectivity, expanded platform support and improved developer productivity, Kawasaki said. "It's a pretty full release. It helps reinforce the focus on enterprise connectivity."

BizTalk Server 2009 will support Microsoft's new wave of platform systems including Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and .Net Framework 3.5, as well as supporting Microsoft's new Hyper-V server virtualization software. Managing the life cycle of applications developed for BizTalk will be easier with a new release of ESB Guidance 2.0 patterns and practices.

The new software will offer improved connectivity both inside and outside the firewall through a new UDDI v3-compliant services registry; new and enhanced line-of-business adapters for SQL Server, Oracle (NSDQ:ORCL)'s E-Business Suite and other applications; enhanced integration with host systems such as IBM (NYSE:IBM) WebSphere MQSeries and CICS; and a new mobile RFID platform. The software will also provide enhanced business-to-business capabilities with updates to its EDI, AS2 and SWIFT protocols.

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ASP.NET BLOB & Thumbnail Controls 2.0 description

A set of ASP.NET server controls for rendering 2 way data bindable images or other files on the fly from SQL BLOB, programmable download links and many BLOB and file related operations without requiri

A set of ASP.NET server controls for developing SQL BLOB & Thumbnail related web applications in the most efficient, organized and object oriented manner without requiring you writing any codes or ashx http handler files. A set of controls: BlobImageButton, BlobImage, BlobThumbnail, BlobIFrame, BlobButton, BlobHyperlink. BlobImageButton, inherited from ImageButton, will behave exactly like a standard image button with extra byte[] type property named BlobData. The image will be rendered from the value of this byte[] property instead of ImageURL property. Also you can display the image as a thumbnail by setting a checkbox. BlobThumbnail Control will display a thumbnail and clicking the thumbnail will show a popup window with the full sized image or prompt Download dialog box. BlobButton and BlobHyperlink controls are used to display a Download prompt/dialog to download the byte[] content as a file. You can program those controls to create a secured download link so that your visitor won?t see the real location of the file in your server, good for developers who are selling digital products like eBooks or softwares. SpiceLogic BLOB & Thumbnail Control suit will not only display your Images directly from your SQL Blob, but also it will create Thumbnails on the fly. The power of this control is its BLOB 2 way data binding feature. Now, you can simply bind the byte[] BlobData property of this control to your VarBinary or any byte[] datatype of your DataSource and place this control in your DataBound Container Control like GridView or DetailsView. You can also Update/Insert new Blob records using this control (Setting Upload Mode=true). UploadMode will show a Upload form element and upload button element, and that gives you the power to upload files directly to the BlobData property. This control never creates any temporary file in your server so you won?t need to worry about setting any WRITE permission to your web folders. A very straight forward and friendly control.

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Advantages of ASP.NET

* Any application can talk to a host of other applications, running on diverse technology and hardware, in turn lowering the operation costs. Consider this one case, wherein the stock management system is connected to the accounting system, resulting in ample savings.
* Bring on one platform all your internal applications, your partners as well as your customers.
* Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET and the .NET Framework supports varied languages, in turn helping developers to focus on work at hand instead of trying to learn a new language that can do the job.
* Employees can look for updated information on desktop applications, internet browsers or even mobile devices.
* Optimum speed of development
* Ability of cross platform migration
* High Reliability
* Rigorous Security
* Easy configurations of applications
* Vast and enriched Class library, features, controls
* ASP.NET Framework supports varied languages

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Advanced ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls For .NET Framework 3.5

ASP.NET AJAX server controls can encapsulate even the most powerful AJAX functionality, helping you build more elegant, maintainable, and scalable applications. This is the first comprehensive, code-rich guide to custom ASP.NET AJAX server controls for experienced ASP.NET developers. Unlike other books on ASP.NET AJAX, this book focuses solely on server control development and reflects the significant improvements in ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX and the latest Visual Studio 2008 features for streamlining AJAX development

Adam Calderon and Joel Rumerman first review the core Microsoft AJAX Library and JavaScript techniques needed to support a rich client-side experience. Next, they build upon these techniques showing how to create distributable AJAX-enabled controls that include rich browser-independent JavaScript client-side functionality. The authors thoroughly explain both the JavaScript and .NET aspects of control development and how these two distinct environments come together to provide a foundation for building a rich user experience using ASP.NET AJAX.

Create object-oriented cross-browser JavaScript that supports .NET style classes, interfaces, inheritance, and method overloading
Work with components, behaviors, and controls, and learn how they relate to DOM elements.

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Sequence of Master-Content Page Events Execution [ASP.NET]

Life cycle of an ASP.NET web page has a series of events. We handle the appropriate events to plug in the required code for developing the web page. If we use Master-Content web pages of ASP.NET v2.0, it is important to understand the order in which the events of Master-Content pages are raised.
Till today I was in the assumption that events of Master page are raised before the Content page events are raised. But it is not true for all the events. For example Page Load of Content page is raised before Master pages Page Load event.

Here is the sequence in the which the events of Master-Content pages are executed

1.Content page PreInit event.
2.Master page controls Init event.
3.Content controls Init event.
4.Master page Init event.
5.Content page Init event.
6.Content page Load event.
7.Master page Load event.
8.Master page controls Load event.
9.Content page controls Load event.
10.Content page PreRender event.
11.Master page PreRender event.
12.Master page controls PreRender event.
13.Content page controls PreRender event.
14.Master page controls Unload event.
15.Content page controls Unload event.
16.Master page Unload event.
17.Content page Unload event.

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Friday, November 7, 2008

Google Maps and ASP.NET

What makes the service even better is the availability of the Google Maps API (Application Programming Interface) as a free Beta service. The API allows developers to embed Google Maps in their custom applications. It also allows them to overlay information on the map and customize the map to their needs. As I write this article there are quite a few sites that utilize Google Maps, and more and more of them are appearing by the day.

The API by itself is pretty straightforward and easy to use; however, it requires the developer to have a good command of JavaScript because it extensively relies on client-side Java scripting. In this article we will be looking at building a custom ASP.NET server control that would allow a .NET developer to harness the power of Google Maps in the code-behind model. We will see how to accomplish most of the functionality exposed by Google Maps using this control, and we'll also see how to data bind the control, thereby allowing developers to easily build data-driven custom ASP.NET Web applications. The control would eliminate the need for the developer to write any JavaScript to accomplish most of the Google Map functionality.

Some Google Maps Basics
Before we get into the details of the ASP.NET control, let's look at the basics of the Google Maps API. A detailed description of the API can be found at www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/. The first step before using Google Maps is to register for a key with Google (www.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html). This is absolutely free and hardly takes a few minutes. Each Web site that uses Google Maps has to have its own key. Make sure that you go through Google's Terms of Use (www.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html) before you start using Google Maps in your application.

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ASP.NET Is The Latest Version Of ASP Technology

ASP.NET is the next generation ASP, but it's not an upgraded version of ASP. ASP.NET is an entirely new technology for server-side scripting. It was written from the ground up and is not backward compatible with classic ASP.ASP.NET is the major part of the Microsoft's .NET Framework.
ASP.NET is a server side scripting technology that enables scripts (embedded in web pages) to be executed by an Internet server.

•ASP.NET is a Microsoft Technology
•ASP stands for Active Server Pages
•ASP.NET is a program that runs inside IIS
•IIS (Internet Information Services) is Microsoft's Internet server
•IIS comes as a free component with Windows servers
•IIS is also a part of Windows 2000 and XP Professional

ASP.NET 2.0 improves upon Asp.Net by adding support for several new features and ASP.NET 3.0 is not a new version of ASP.NET. It's just the name for a new ASP.NET 2.0 framework library with support for Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation; and Windows Card Space.

Benefits of ASP.Net

•ASP.NET has better language support, a large set of new controls and XML based components.
•ASP.NET provides increased performance by running compiled code.
•ASP.NET code is not fully backward compatible with ASP.
•Event-driven programming
•User authentication, with accounts and roles
•Higher scalability
•Easier configuration and deployment


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NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack 1 provides the following new features and improvements

* ASP.NET Dynamic Data, which provides a rich scaffolding framework that enables rapid data driven development without writing code, and a new addition to ASP.NET AJAX that provides support for managing browser history (back button support). For more information, see What’s New in ASP.NET and Web Development.

* Core improvements to the CLR (common language runtime) that include better layout of .NET Framework native images, opting out of strong-name verification for fully trusted assemblies, improved application startup performance, better generated code that improves end-to-end application execution time, and opting managed code to run in ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) mode if supported by the operating system. Additionally, managed applications that are opened from network shares have the same behavior as native applications by running with full trust.

* Performance improvements to WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), including a faster startup time and improved performance for Bitmap effects. Additional functionality for WPF includes better support for line of business applications, native splash screen support, DirectX pixel shader support, and the new WebBrowser control.

* ClickOnce application publishers can decide to opt out of signing and hashing as appropriate for their scenarios, developers can programmatically install ClickOnce applications that display a customized branding, and ClickOnce error dialog boxes support links to application-specific support sites on the Web.

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

AJAX Gauge Control by DevExpress

DevExpress has announced the immediate availability of the ASPxGauge Component Suite for Windows Forms. Built and optimized for Visual Studio .NET, this Gauge control simplifies the way in which developers create and deliver dashboard-style UIs to their customers.

With the DevExpress Gauge control for ASP.NET, you have the following features and options available to you when building your next dashboard-style interface:

- 130 ready to use gauge presets
- 10 stunning visual styles
- 4 individual gauge types including: Circular Gauge, Linear Gauge, State Indicator and Digital Gauge
- Built-in gauge data binding support
- Real-time performance support via its highly optimized architecture

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

What's new in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1?

SP1 advances the art of application development
The new ADO.NET Entity Framework feature in SP1 offers developers a model-based paradigm and a rich, standards-based framework for creating data-oriented applications shared across multiple applications and platforms. The separation of presentation, data, and business logic used in concert with a single data model will enable developers to spend less time writing plumbing code and more time refining business logic.

SP1 makes data-driven programming easier
SP1 offers developers support for ASP.NET Dynamic Data, which provides a rich scaffolding framework that enables rapid data-driven development. Since ASP.NET takes care of creating the presentation layer, a fully functional Website is output and ready for customization without the developer writing a single line of code. Further, with ADO.NET Data Services, Web developers can create RESTful Web 2.0-style applications that have better server scalability and improved caching support.

SP1 is the fastest and easiest way to deploy Windows applications
With the .NET Framework Client Profile, a small subset of the Framework that powers client applications, developers can offer their end users a dramatically streamlined and rapid application download experience. In addition, improvements in SP1 result in dramatic reductions in cold start times, allowing developers to serve a broader set of customers with varying hardware profiles.

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Improving Web Development Using Virtualization

Most web developers have a particular development environment on their computer. They may have the .NET Framework version 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 installed, along with Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3. In a perfect world this environment would be static and the developer would not need to install beta or old versions of software that may or may not allow side-by-side installation with the current version. But in the real world, the site needs to be tested against Internet Explorer 5.5, 6, and the beta version of version 8, as well as against Firefox 2. And the developer may want to install the the ASP.NET Futures, which provide an early preview of future functionality for ASP.NET.


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Web Based File Manager in ASP.NET 3.5

FileVista is a web based file management solution developed with ASP.NET technology. Basically, it will turn your standard browser into "Windows Explorer" like user interface and allow managing files


FileVista is a web based file management solution developed with ASP.NET technology. Basically, it will turn your standard browser into "Windows Explorer" like user interface and allow managing files on your web server on the fly. Its a complete replacement of traditional FTP, allowing you to manage files on your web server just with a web browser instead of a FTP client that you would have to install on the client computer first. It also provides extended features which are impossible with FTP such as zipping and unzipping files on the fly.

Key features:

- Multi-User infrastructure, every user can have different permissions and quota limits on folders.
- Administration page to manage users/groups/root folders on the fly.
- Upload upto 2GB of files with progress bar! Minimal use of server resources with upload/download.
- Zip/Unzip files !
- Cross browser, works with most modern browsers. Tested with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
- Ability to log events (audit trail). The following events are logged for each user: Login, Logout, Failure, Browse, Create, Delete, Rename, Copy, Move, Compress, Extract, Upload and Download
- Fast response: communicates with the server via XML, no reloading of the pages
- Stunning user interface rendering, extending the limits of a web application.
- Easy and fast folder navigation with tree view.
- Fast file listing, client-side sorting on the fly.
- Context menus for a neat and simple user interface.

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Sunday, November 2, 2008

Run ASP.NET MVC on Windows Azure

If you’ve purposefully been ignoring the announcements out of PDC, I don’t blame you one bit. Everybody knew it would be the unveiling of Microsoft’s “cloud computing” initiative, and just about the only thing we didn’t know was the official name of it: Windows Azure. And of course I pronounce it wrong every time (I say “ah-jour”, as in “soup-de-jour”). It’s hard to call it “initiative” when they’re the 3rd one to bring a product to the table. ;)

One thing I was looking forward to was hearing about the ASP.NET MVC story on Azure. So color me surprised when I found out there wasn’t one. Since ASP.NET MVC is bin-deployable it shouldn’t be impossible, and doing some quick searches didn’t retrieve any results showing anybody else having tried this. Of course later I discovered that Phil and Eilon had whipped up a sample app that ran ASP.NET MVC on Azure, but was pleased to find out that the downloadable sample app didn’t work. In fact, it seemed to just be MVC stuff slapped into a WebRole project. (I’m guessing something got “lost in translation” since it wasn’t Phil or Eilon that posted the code.)

Anyway, here’s how you can get ASP.NET MVC up and running on Azure. I’ve created a Visual Studio template for this to make it easy to set up - download it here. To avoid distributing code that isn’t my own (i.e. Windows Azure SDK Samples) there are a few steps you’ll have to take. I’m presuming that you’ve already installed the Windows Azure SDK and the Azure Visual Studio tools.

One thing that running a web application “in the cloud” means is that you can instantly scale higher by adding more “instances”. This means the leaky-as-a-sieve abstraction of “session state” isn’t immediately available (finally!) since any given HTTP request could be going to a different server. The default session state provider for ASP.NET is an in-memory provider. This assumes that every request comes to the same physical machine. Session state providers have varied in their reliability and handling of scalability, but the other built-in providers include an out-of-proc provider (still same machine, but more resilient to IIS going up and down) and a SQL Server provider. None of these are enabled on the Azure platform, for good reason.

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