How to Use .NET 3.5 Features and C# 3.0 Syntax in .NET 2.0?

It is possible to benefit from some of the .NET 3.5 features and new syntactic sugar in C# 3.0, while still targeting customers that have only .NET 2.0 Framework. That's because these two versions share the same .NET CLR and mainly differ in the set of libraries available and compiler being used.

Features that you can leverage, while targeting .NET 2.0 Framework:
local variable inference;
anonymous types;
object initializers;
extension methods;
query expressions (LINQ syntax);
lambda expressions;
LINQ for objects;
new C# compiler that produces better code.

I've done this for production scenarios with ASP.NET Forms and Windows.Forms and everything has been working fine. It is possible that things like WCF or Linq2DB might also be supported, but I've never given it a try.

Below you will find different options for doing this in your solutions.

Note, that in any scenario you still need Visual Studio 2008 to develop these solutions.

Referencing LinqBridge

1. Create new project targeting .NET 2.0 Framework in Visual Studio 2008. This will already give you new syntax capabilities of C# 3.0

2. Download LinqBridge

3. Reference it in the project to get support for the extension methods and LINQ extensions.

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Visual Studio 2008 simplifies JavaScript debugging

With Visual Studio 2008 installed, there is one additional requirement for enabling JavaScript debugging: Internet Explorer must have script debugging enabled. This setting is available via the Tools | Internet Options menu within Internet Explorer. Once the Internet Options dialog box is open, select the Advanced tab and the Disable Script Debugging option is located in the Browsing section. It should not be checked so that it is enabled.

Features

The JavaScript debugger presents many standard debugging features. The following list provides a review of some of these features.

* Breakpoints: Breakpoints allow you to stop code execution at specific points within the source code. JavaScript breakpoints work just like C#/VB breakpoints.
Breakpoints are set/cleared by clicking to the left of the code within the IDE; by using the Debug menu or by using the Breakpoint Context menu available by right-clicking on the code. In addition, you may create conditional breakpoints to allow you to define conditions for the breakpoint, as well as set up a macro to run or a message to print when the breakpoint is triggered. Breakpoints are viewable in the Watch window located by default in the lower left of Visual Studio 2008.
* Call Stack: The Call Stack tab in the lower right of Visual Studio 2008 allows you to view what is being called when the ASP.NET page is loaded/running.
* Locals: The Locals tab in the lower left of Visual Studio 2008 allows you to view the values of variables and objects during script execution. Also, you may change the contents of one of the local variables while the page is running.
* Execute code: The Immediate Window tab in the lower right of Visual Studio 2008 allows you to execute JavaScript code on-the-fly during page execution.

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Google Introduces Advertisement in its Suggest Feature

In order to improve online advertising revenue Google Suggest, the search engine's tool that is able to list the most likely user searches through a drop-down menu only given the first characters of a query, is now featuring sponsored links among its suggestions.

The ads are currently visible to a fraction of the search engine users but, when present, are displayed at the top of the suggestion list; with a blue link at the top, green URL and an additional description, their layout closely resembles that of Google AdSense. The part of the user query that matches a sponsored link title is instantaneously rendered in bold, much link in normal search results.

As many have noted, though, the ad positioning may be less than ideal for advertisers, since there is a good chance that users could inadvertly click on the sponsored link and therefore generate many false positives — a gain for Google, but a clear loss for the advertiser, which already have to cope with a percentage of false positives that Google itself estimates at around 11 percent.

In its AdSense policy, the Google team is very clear in setting up strict guidelines for webmasters so that their sites can generate qualified visitors for the growing base of advertisers using their platform. Among other things, limits are set on the number of banners to be featured in each webpage as well as on the site content.

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Ruby on Rails 10 Tips

1. Use ActiveResource and avoid ActiveWebService. With ActiveResource and multiview support in Rails 2.x you can easily expose RESTful models as well as Atom/RSS feeds on these models as well as JSON and any other view format you can wish for.

2. Consuming ActiveResource is easy by using self.site = "URL" in the client side. However, that does not add data to the DB and every query will result in a REST call. Caching data is key.

3. Use Rake to automate any other tasks you do. Custom Rake tasks are easily added in lib/tasks. Use $rake -T to see current tasks available, including yours.

4. Use database migrations to update models once your design is solid and you have a first release and cannot avoid data losses. That is, to be clear, use one migration per model early on and then once app is released for beta, every change to the models should be via new migration (not an update to the old migration). This will save lots of headaches in future and allow you to easily move application from one version to next one.

5. Use Solr vs. Ferret for models searchability and associated acts_as_xyz plugins. This is due to the fact that Ferret indexes tend to get corrupted. This, in some sense, is a shame since Ferret is a nice and easy plugin.

6. Make sure to use Rails validations in your models. I would avoid special DB statements in migration code. This makes it easier to move to different DB, e.g., MySQL to DB2.

7. Use view partials to keep your views DRY. Essentially, partials should be any view code that is repeated, similar to a subroutine call (PullUp or PushDown method refactoring). Use a app/views/shared directory for partials that are across controllers. Also, always use the controller (or shared) name when calling the partial.

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Gradual Value Addition in Website Development

Advance versions of programming languages & frameworks are adding value to website development! Website development is gaining because of regular updates in technologies due to increasing demands of online business for most unique presentations and easy functionality.

Website development using ASP.NET framework is well known in the web development and its introduction after ASP has shown regular development phases. All over the world developers are enjoying its latest versions at regular intervals of time. ASP.NET is popular web application framework of Microsoft, since its inception in year 2002 with version 1.0; developers are using this exclusive technology to develop web applications as well as websites and various web services.

Every new feature in update version produces effective changes in website look as well functionality that helps ultimate user for better presentation of product and services online. Ultimately progressions in technologies also help in online business development such as professional developers use to get new avenues for earning more by providing fresh & easy to use websites to their clients.

So far ASP.NET has introduced its five updated versions with new added features in each version.

* It was first commenced to web world with version 1.0 in 2002 with Visual Studio .NET,
* In 2003 version 1.1 with Windows Server 2003 and Visual Studio .NET 2003,
* In 2005 version 2.0 with Visual Studio 2005, Visual Web Developer Express and SQL Server 2005,
* In 2007 version 3.5 released with Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008,
* In 2008 version 3.5 service pack released with Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1

ASP.NET allows developers for web application development to use fully featured languages like VB.NET and C# (C-Sharp). Feature of “web services” is unique by ASP.NET, class library, XML support and complete compatibility with other programming languages.

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Top 10 .NET News Stories of 2008

It’s that time of the year to reflect, analyze and compile our lives into a series of Top 10 lists. As with every other Top 10 list, the items on this list and their order are highly subjective. For example, some companies may not care about future versions of .NET — version 2.0 works just fine, thank you. Other companies may need to develop a web application, so Silverlight 2.0 is their top story of the year. So please comment below with your Top 10 List.

Following are the Top 10 stories in 2008 about software development with the Microsoft .NET Framework:

1. Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Announced

The biggest .NET buzz of 2008 came from the announcement of the next generation of the .NET Framework, C#, Visual Basic and Visual Studio, all to be released in 2009. New features include modeling tools integrated into the Visual Studio IDE, support for UML and Domain Specific Languages, improved testing tools, substantial improvements in collaboration capabilities, ability to link work items with code and models, and workflow-based builds. There are also significant improvements in C# 4.0 including co-variance and contra-variance, named and optional parameters, dynamic variables and programming features, and improved COM Interoperability.

2. Global Economic Recession

This news story will likely appear in most Top 10 News lists for 2008. The global economic recession touches just about everything in our lives. For software developers and most workers, this deep and lengthy recession may result in company closings, layoffs, stagnant or reduced salaries, reduced company spending on equipment and developer training, and a significant drop in venture capital. This means more stress on developers and software entrepreneurs. And perhaps more opportunity for innovation.

3. .NET Framework Source Code Available

Microsoft released the source code for the .NET Framework under its Reference License. This makes it much easier to debug .NET framework issues since you can dive down into the .NET code. The “read-only” license enables developers to inspect the source code for reference and debugging, but not modify or distribute the code.

4. Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1 Released

Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5. This update patched numerous bugs, improved performance, and even added a few new features. One of the best new features was a new .NET Framework installation optimized for client applications. The optimized download is less than 28 MB, compared to the original 200 MB download.

5. ASP.NET MVC Framework Introduced

MVC is a design methodology that divides an application’s implementation into three component roles: models, views, and controllers. ASP.NET MVC enables developers to build Model View Controller (MVC) applications with the ASP.NET framework and is an alternative, not a replacement, for ASP.NET Web Forms. ASP.NET MVC offers the following benefits: clear separation of concerns, support for Test-Driven Development (TDD), fine-grained control over HTML and JavaScript, and intuitive URLs. ASP.NET MVC is in the public preview stage and will be released to production next year.

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Web 2.0 Marketing is Simpler than You Think

Experts say that a down economy is the best time to invest in marketing. At the same time you may be looking at your budget and wondering where the additional money will come to increase your marketing spend and what investments will drive the most revenue and profit for your company. Good news, all you need to know is a little about Web 2.0.

Marketing has grown beyond television, billboards and print. New Web applications are introduced almost daily. Each application allows your customers to interface with you and your business in a less-expensive, more productive manner.

Here are some quick ways to work Web 2.0 into your marketing plan:

Review your Web site
Look to increase ways for your customers to talk with you. Offer live chat options increasing your technical support or support desk offerings. ZaZa Chat and Volusion both offer easy to use interfaces for your customers and your business. Allowing your customers to talk with your representative in both the consideration and purchasing stages can extend the reach of your staff and offer the availability your customer is seeking. If you are ready to expand your service offerings, this is a great option for technical or help desk support, allowing you to offer more with less investment.

Measure Marketing Success
If you have a Web site, you must measure your site’s effectiveness and how your customers interact with you. If not, you’re missing out on importance of Web marketing. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft offer business solutions to increase your SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing). Online marketing allows for greater measurability of your campaigns and promotions. Investing in a company that focuses on SEO and SEM can increase your marketing campaigns and drive both customer retention and incremental new business.

Start Talking More
There’s no end to the number of communication applications. Social networks like Facebook are adding more than 100,000 new users a week. Your customers are already there. Not sure how to use Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter? Consult with a social media marketing specialist. A good writer can assist you with your profiles, blogs and community interactions. It’s worth the expense to have a dedicated resource to keeping your information updated as the online marketing can go stale in a week.

Invest in Databases
I love Excel spreadsheets, but they cannot do what today’s customer relation management (CRM) systems can do. You can track everything about your customer from conversations to purchases to campaign responses. It’s a fact worth repeating: it costs five times more to get a new customer than it does to grow business with your existing customers. Keeping your customer information up to date will improve your customer satisfaction rates and prevent costly sales errors. Are you growing your services business? CRM databases are a must. Allowing your staff from marketing, sales and operations to view the activities, purchasing habits and renewal dates is crucial to growing revenues and profits.

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Web3.0 - Cloud Wars: Will Google and Microsoft Meet in the Cloud?

In the last few weeks we have seen some interesting developments coming from both the Google and Microsoft camps, which could indicate a shift for both companies in their direction, and therefore the future of the internet.

Google has released its first operating system, Android. There are rumours that Google is creating a desktop operating system to rival Microsoft Windows and Linux. If these rumours turn out to be true, then Google is moving into new territory, and will be competing directly with Windows. These rumours have been further stoked with the emergence of Google’s browser, Chrome. There are suggestions that Chrome is intended to be much more than a simple browser, it will allow Google to improve functionality of web applications. And it is here that we see Microsoft moving in Google’s direction.

Google’s emphasis to date has been for free software provided on its own servers - Google documents, GMail, Blogger, Google Sites and Google Pages, Calendar etc. etc. Even though the performance of its Blogger software could be enhanced if there was a desktop version (Blogger has poor FTP support for those hosting Google blogs on their own domains) they refuse to move in that direction, as their emphasis is on hosted applications. Microsoft, on the other hand, has always provided its software on disk, with a licence. However, last week we heard that Microsoft will soon be offering an online version of its Office bundle, albeit with advertisements.

So, is Microsoft moving into Google’s hosted applications territory? Will Google attempt to move into Microsoft’s desktop operating system territory? What will this mean for the internet, and for these companies? Diversification can be a dangerous strategy for a company. Google’s strength lie in search and advertising. Although criticised for an over reliance on its search engine, Google does now dominate the search engine market. By moving into Microsoft territory it risks diluting its brand. Unless of course it chooses to use the Android brand for its desktop operating system, and keep Google separate for Search. And will Microsoft Office online erode Google’s own online documents? And what of Microsoft’s other internet venture, its new CMS (website content management system) which seems to be taking on both Google’s Blogger and other offline CMS’s such as Wordpress, in one hit? And it is open-source, which looks like a seismic shift in company policy. The new CMS from Microsoft is called Oxite. It is built using the new ASP.NET MVC framework and is highly extensible, with features such as Microformats and source control integration. Will this revolutionise the way people build web pages? Is Microsoft planning a range of free software options, all served on the “cloud”. If so, it will be finding Google waiting, and hopefully ready for battle. Can they actually collaborate on projects, or will it be all out War in the Clouds?

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Beep in C# Console Application

How to Alert the user in C# console application

You can use “\a” to alert the user with the system beep sound. The following example alerts the user for input

private static void KeywordExample()

{

Console.Write("\a Your name please" );

string @MyString = Console.ReadLine();

Console.Write(@MyString);

}

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ASP.NET Development: MVC vs. Web Forms

ASP.NET Web Forms

ASP.NET Web forms is a mature technology that runs many large scale websites and is the traditional style of ASP.NET web development. Starting in the .NET framework version 1.0 it is the first technology where Microsoft made an effort to make web development very robust and much more simple. The web forms declarative syntax plus the event driven model allows you to take full advantage of visual designers by drag and dropping the controls onto ASP.NET pages and then writing code against them, much like Windows style development. This makes web forms development very enticing for a wide range of developers on both Windows and other platforms, where drag and drop development via visual designers is common and also provides a separation of web content and web page GUI logic. The key features of web forms include:

* Mature technology
* Rich toolset & controls
* Event driven model
* Easy state management
* Abstracts HTTP
* Feels like Windows development


ASP.NET MVC

MVC (Model View Controller) isn’t a Microsoft technology (and, it’s not even new). , it’s a pattern for web page creation that’s been around for some time now in other frameworks and just recently implemented in ASP.NET. As a developer using MVC you can get a ‘closer to the metal’ experience and finely tuned control of the HTML output, which will be exactly as you define it. Whereas web forms renders output based on your selections of controls and code, MVC is primarily your code with some HTML interspersed, so you get control of each pixel that’s rendered.

The three features of MVC, the model, view and controller are described here…

* The Model can be thought of as the data. This is going to be your fat layer, with all the goodies in it.
* The View is the UI representation of the Model. The view will render the model along with HTML, JavaScript and other page elements.
* The Controller chooses the view to be rendered and responds to user input. The view also manipulates the model, as needed, so the controller is the component that ties the Model and View together. The controller will be the most lightweight code-wise of the three.

As you can see, the MVC approach requires you to work with three objects rather than just one object (the page object) as web forms does. This object trio does give you some advantages over the traditional model:

* It’s testable, you can unit test easily
* Clear separation of concerns
* Control your output exactly
* Map URLs logically or dynamically
* Supports many web forms features (auth, caching, etc…)
* More geeky, higher coolness factor

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Microsoft Azure Services Platform

What is it?

It’s a platform where you can deploy and manage new services or even complete web applications into the “cloud”, in addition to make use of existing services already provided by the platform. This is often referred to as cloud computing. Today the Azure platform contains the following services: Windows Azure (the platform), Microsoft .Net Services, Microsoft SQL Services and Live Services. Microsoft SharePoint Services and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services are also mentioned in relation to the platform. All of these services make up the Microsoft Azure Services Platform. By reading these names you may see the potential naming confusion? When you say Azure, do you mean Windows Azure or Azure Services Platform?

Now you may ask, what is it really? From a simplified developers perspective it’s a platform on the internet (the cloud). Instead of hosting your web application/service on your local server, you publish it into the cloud. In addition it gives you access to the services you need to build a multi-tier architecture. From another perspective it’s big monster of a datacenter providing you with a lot of data power (virtual Win 2008 servers) to do your stuff, giving you the option to scale up and down at will or dynamically.

How committed are Microsoft to this platform?

As committed as they’ve never ever been before with anything as far as I can remember! They invest heavily in the technology and infrastructure needed to support this platform. By heavily I mean they’ve told the marked that this is such a huge investment that it will highly impact Microsoft’s money bin. As an example of this, here’s a short description of what they’re doing with their datacenters needed to host this beast:

Every datacenter is set up of a grid of physical and virtual computers. These computers are delivered by HP and Dell and some in preconfigured shipping containers ready to be plugged in. I don’t mean the computers are ready to be plugged in, but the containers! What Microsoft then does is put a bunch of these containers close to a power plant (for obvious reasons), plug all the containers in and they’re up and running. At least that’s how it was described to me The applications, services, data etc you have put into this cloud is distributed across many VM’s, meaning if a VM or server (hosting VM’s) goes down, it’s not a problem. There is always some VM on some server holding your data. Actually the shipping containers I mentioned are remotely managed and MS never enters any of these containers for maintenance. If a computer goes down and does not come up again, it just stays down. If this happens to a certain number of servers within one container, the whole container is disconnected from the grid and sent back to HP or Dell to be fixed, without affecting any of the applications or services! This little story told by Clemens Vasters really says a lot of the scale on this monster!

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Microsoft Releases First BizTalk 2009 Server Beta

Microsoft today released the public beta of BizTalk Server 2009 along with modules aimed at simplifying RFID deployments.

The BizTalk Server 2009 beta is the first public test version of Microsoft's latest services oriented architecture (SOA)-based integration platform. Microsoft indicated in September that the beta release was imminent. The live version is still on pace to ship in the first half of 2009, said Burley Kawasaki, a director with Microsoft's connected systems division.

"It's a feature complete release," Kawasaki said. "We're looking forward to gaining a lot more feedback on the release as part of finalizing it." The beta is available for download from Microsoft's Connect Web site to existing BizTalk customers subscribing to Microsoft's Software Assurance licensing program.

There are no major surprises in the release, commented Forrester analyst Ken Vollmer, but it is an important upgrade. "BizTalk has been widely used for low-end b-to-b connectivity, but it's gradually maturing and growing into a much more capable product in the enterprise integration space," Vollmer said.

BizTalk Server 2009 supports the latest versions of Microsoft's platform, notably the Windows Communications Foundation (WCF) component of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. With that comes support for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and the latest releases of SQL Server and Windows Server. It also will support native Hyper-V, improved clustering, improved failover clustering, and added adaptors and host integration interfaces. It has a new registry based on the UDDI 3.0 specifications.

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Microsoft Releases Open-source Content Management App

Microsoft has released an early version of an open-source content management platform that developers can use to build sophisticated blogs or large Web sites.

Called Oxite, its creators describe it as a standards-compliant and highly extensible content management platform. They built it not because there is a need for another blog engine, but because they were building the MIX Online site for Web designers and wanted to offer an example of a use for ASP.NET MVC, according to the Oxite Web site.

ASP.NET MVC lets developers use ASP.NET to build Web applications using an architecture called model-view-controller. Microsoft released a preview of the ASP.NET MVC framework, designed to make it easier for developers to test applications, late last year.

Oxite includes a number of important blog functions that can be complex to implement, according to Microsoft. The framework offers many features common in blogs, including pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated comments with the option to moderate comments, RSS feeds for any page and a Web administration panel.

It's also designed for users to easily add new Web pages and sub-pages.

At first glance Oxite appears to compete with established blogging products including those from Six Apart. However, Microsoft says that Oxite is designed for developers, rather than less-technical Web users wanting to set up a blog.

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Google Chrome fixes Hotmail by being Safari

Google is continuing its rapid development of its Chrome browser with the dev-channel release of Chrome version 0.4.154.33. Again this is mostly a bug fix, though two of the bugs are really interesting.

Bug #6482 fixes an issue with composing mail and switching folders in Hotmail. The really interesting part is that Google admits that Hotmail does not yet properly recognize the Chrome browser so users need to trick Hotmail into thinking that Chrome is actually Apple Safari (which is supported by Hotmail).

Here's the workaround from Google to make Chrome appear to be Safari for Hotmail use:
Add the following to the shortcut you use to launch Google Chrome: --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/525.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1 Safari/525.19" Right-click the Google Chrome shortcut, click Properties, and paste the line above to the end of the Target field.
Another interesting bug is #6418 which lets Google Desktop call Google Chrome as a default browser. Seems straight forward enough - though it sure does seem odd that Google Desktop wouldn't have fully supported Chrome from day one.

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Software coders turn to Ruby

Some of the most agile and robust programming in New England’s tech sector is now done in alternatives to status quo programming languages. Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java and variations of 30-year-old C still dominate surveys of popular code languages, but adventurous developers are experimenting with relatively obscure languages, and getting powerful results.

Many coders believe Ruby on Rails may be poised to make a dent in Java’s dominance on the front end of web applications. For powerful back-end processes, a handful of developers are turning to Erlang. Developed in the 1980s by the communications company Ericsson, this programming language has developer communities buzzing.

“This is what geeks do. They discover something and then someone becomes a fanatic for it,” said Will Koffel, CTO at Sermo Inc. The Cambridge software company uses component-based Ruby on top of the Rails framework to quickly write and test rich new capabilities in its collaborative application for physicians.

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition is a comprehensive set of tools that accelerates the process of turning the developer�s vision into reality. Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition was engineered to support development projects that target the Web (including ASP.NET AJAX), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, The 2007 Microsoft Office system, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Mobile devices. The number of platforms that developers must target to meet business needs is increasing rapidly. Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition provides the integrated toolset for addressing all of these needs by providing a superset of the functionality available in Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition.

Today�s developers face the challenge of targeting a broad range of platforms and crafting applications that quickly deliver value to the business. Integrated designers and language features in Visual Studio allow developers to build the connected applications demanded by today�s businesses while taking advantage of the .NET Framework 3.5 to reduce development time.

Deliver high-performance applications
Connect to the data you need, regardless of its location, and build datadrivenapplications using Language Integrated Query (LINQ).

Build great client applications
Develop compelling solutions that leverage the user experience and capabilities of the 2007Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista�.

Build powerful Web applications
Build rich, interactive applications using the ASP.NET AJAX interactive Web interfaces.


What's New in 2008
-> Build applications that utilize the latest Web technologies with improved support for AJAX and Web Controls and the Microsoft AJAX Library

-> Create Web applications more easily with an improved design surface and standards support

-> Utilize data from any data source more smoothly with LINQ, a set of language extensions to Visual Basic and Visual C#

-> Manage and build applications that target multiple versions of the .NET Framework. For the first time, you can use one tool to work on applications that run on .NET Framework versions 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5

-> Ensure application correctness more easily with integrated unit testing in Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition

-> Discover the full power of the .NET Framework 3.5 with integrated tools which simplify building great user experiences and connected systems

-> Build stunning user experiences with integrated designers for Windows Presentation Foundation. Experiences built with WPF can interoperate seamlessly with Windows Forms

-> Create connected applications using new visual designers for Windows Communications Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation

-> Use Visual Studio�s professional development environment to build Microsoft Office-based solutions that are reliable, scalable, and easy to maintain (available in Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition only)

-> Enhance collaboration between developers and designers to create more compelling user experiences

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How to Retrieve a GridView Based on a CheckBoxList of Items with Asp.Net

The problem is you have a list that you want to retrieve from that contains multiple values. Say for example, you have a list of 5 cities and you want to retrieve a list of people in some combination of those cities. If you use the class SelectValue method with GridView you run out of steam because it’s only one value. What you’d really like to do is pass the CheckBoxList into the GridView as a selection parameter, but unfortunately, when you do that, you just get the one selected value from the CheckBoxList, not all the values.

I’m sure you can make a custom ControlParameter in ObjectDataSource to solve this, but I really don’t have time for that. I just wanted something quick (which I now have and thought I’d share).

Basically, what I did was create an invisible label on my GridView that will get the string of values I want to retrieve, then, my ObjectDataSource gets one value (the string) and parses it into small values. My plan is to do a quick run through of the code here, but then also post the project so you can see for yourself how it works.

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3 New ASP.NET Hands-on Virtual Labs

Here are three new hands-on Virtual Labs for ASP and AJAX. Virtual Labs provide an easy way to test drive Microsoft technologies, online, in a guided environment without having to download the software or install them on your computer.

1. MSDN Virtual Labs: ASP AJAX 3.5 SP1

· Add history points to an ASP.NET AJAX Web application using server controls
· Add history points to an ASP.NET AJAX Web application

2. MSDN Virtual Labs: Developing ASP.NET Dynamic Data

· Create a data-driven web application using ASP.NET Dynamic Data
· Add validation to the data model of your application
· Customize ASP.NET Dynamic Data rendering
· Customize ASP.NET Dynamic Data pages
· Customize ASP.NET Dynamic Data fields

3.MSDN Virtual Labs: Introduction to ASP.NET MVC

· Understand ASP.NET MVC framework
· Create an ASP.NET MVC application
· Perform Testing when creating an ASP.NET MVC application
· Using the AJAX API

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Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5

If you think you're well versed in ASP.NET, think again. This exceptional guide gives you a master class in site building with ASP.NET 3.5 and other cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. You learn how to develop rock-solid web portal applications that can withstand millions of hits every day while surviving scalability and security pressures -- not just for mass-consumer homepages, but also for dashboards that deliver powerful content aggregation for enterprises. Written by Omar AL Zabir, co-founder and CTO of Pageflakes, Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 demonstrates how to develop portals similar to My Yahoo!, iGoogle, and Pageflakes using ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Workflow Foundation, LINQ and .NET 3.5. Through the course of the book, AL Zabir builds an open source Ajax-enabled portal prototype (available online at "www.dropthings.com"), and walks you though the design and architectural challenges, advanced Ajax concepts, performance optimization techniques, and server-side scalability problems involved.

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How to build an advanced ASP.NET AJAX Photo Slideshow featuring imaging effects and watermarks with ImageDraw for ASP.NET

Technologies used
- Neodynamic ImageDraw (3.0 or later) for ASP.NET
- Microsoft .NET Framework (2.0 or later)
- Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Framework (1.0 or later)
- Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit
- Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (2005 or later - Visual Web Developer Express Edition)

This ImageDraw demo - which source code files can be found at the end of this page available for downloading - demonstrates how easily you can use ImageDraw object model and ASP.NET AJAX Framework to design an advanced AJAX-based Photo Slideshow. This demo is based on the Slideshow (SlideShowExtender) sample of AJAX Control Toolkit (http://www.asp.net/AJAX/AjaxControlToolkit/Samples/SlideShow/SlideShow.aspx)

The following figure is a screenshot of the ASP.NET AJAX Photo Slideshow application that leverages ASP.NET AJAX Framework, ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit and ImageDraw. Each photo slide is dynamically created by ImageDraw objects adding built-in Rounded Rectangle Shapes for photo metadata; applying the desired imaging effect on the original photo and stamping the ImageDraw logo for watermarking.

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Microsoft Web Platform Installer Release Candidate

Release Candidates of the Microsoft Web Platform Installer are now available. Microsoft Web Platform Installer is a free tool that makes it simple to download and install the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including:

- Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 and 7.0
- SQL Server 2008 Express
- .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
- Visual Web Developer 2008 Express SP1
- Popular ASP.NET applications
- Popular PHP applications

The Web Platform Installer offers a single installer to help you obtain the software you need to build and run a complete Web solution on the Microsoft Web platform, whether you are using Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008. In addition, the Web Platform Installer checks online to ensure the most current versions and new additions to the Microsoft Web Platform are downloaded.

What is the Microsoft Web Platform Installer? (WebPI):

The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a simple tool that installs Microsoft's entire Web Platform, including IIS7, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework. Using the Web Platform Installer’s user interface, you can choose to install either specific products or the entire Microsoft Web Platform onto your computer. The Web PI also helps keep your products up to date by always offering the latest additions to the Web Platform.

What is the Microsoft Web Application Installer? (WebAI):

The Web Application Installer Beta is designed to help get you up and running with the most widely used Web Applications freely available for your Windows Server. Web AI provides support for popular ASP.Net and PHP Web applications including
- Graffiti
- DotNetNuke
- WordPress
- Drupal
- OSCommerce

and more. With just a few simple clicks, Web AI will check your machine for the necessary pre-requisites, download these applications from their source location in the community, walk you through basic configuration items and then install them on your computer.

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Yahoo taps EKA supercomputer

In a research pact with Yahoo Inc., India's Computational Research Labs (CRL) will provide its EKA supercomputer—claimed to the fourth fastest in the world—for research into cloud computing, which aims to provide supercomputing power over the Internet.

Researchers on the project will tap Apache Hadoop (an open-source distributed computing project of the Apache Software Foundation) to perform data-intensive computing research using CRL's EKA, a 14,400-processor supercomputer that delivers 28Tbytes of memory, 140Tbytes of disk space, peak performance of 180Tflops and a sustained computation capacity of 120Tflops by the Linpack benchmark.

Of the top 10 supercomputers in the world, EKA is the only supercomputer funded by the private sector. It is available for use on commercial terms.

EKA is expected to run the latest version of Hadoop and other Yahoo-supported, open-source distributed computing software (such as the Pig parallel programming language) developed by Yahoo Research.

"This partnership brings together Yahoo's leadership role in the development of Hadoop and CRL's expertise in high-performance computing and will help bridge the gap between traditional supercomputing and cloud computing research in India," said S. Ramadorai, chairman of CRL, a subsidiary of India's Tata Sons Ltd.

"We have made our leadership in supporting academic cloud computing research very concrete by sharing a 4,000-processor supercomputer with computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University for the last three months," said Ron Brachman, VP and head of academic relations at Yahoo. "Launching our cloud computing program internationally with CRL is another significant milestone in creating a global, collaborative research community working to advance the new sciences of the Internet."

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10 Dirty Little Web Development Tricks

1. I finally got work to switch from CVS to SVN o.O I finally got us to use "svn up" for staging, but not yet for production… We’re using "svn export --force" for production, which I guess is kind of nice, but afaik it doesn’t delete any files that were deleted in the repository… or if it does, then it also probably ends up deleting any uploaded/cached files as well.

2. I like using the CSS reset from Eric Meyer, but certain people at certain places I’ve worked at are doing well if they can remember an id is supposed to be unique on a page & that the class attribute is a space separated list (not a single value!) that can be used for more than CSS >.< … Granted, a particular brand of browser is doing good if it can figure out how to apply multiply classed CSS definitions to an element (i.e. .class1.class2 { color: #00f; } should be applied to ).

3. Kind of have system & static stuff separated at my current place of employment - templates, css, etc go into a templates directory under htdocs & people are too scared to use a framework or an index router >.< My preference is a framework that can handle this (see Symfony or ZF)

4. I don’t drink coffee, but it’s a nice idea - I’ve been drinking caffeine (in the form of pop) before going to bed for years… It helps me go to sleep. I have been drinking XS (no, it doesn’t use sugar - it uses Ace-K as a sweetener, uses B vitamins for the boost [similar to that 5 hour energy drink], and has lots of yummy flavors) to prolong the time before I need to get to sleep. Drinking 1 right before bed can also help give a boost in the morning.

5. Underscores are nifty, but I think he’s missing the boat - generally speaking, come up with a useful convention for letting the file system organize files in general… underscores are great, but other things deserve organization as well - i.e. date based data output should be done in YYYY-MM-DD format for automatic sorting as another example.

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User Interface Automation Evolution in Windows 7

Microsoft is leaving no components of the Windows client “unturned” in the evolution from Windows Vista to Windows 7. Loyal to the strategy of building the next Windows operating system as a superlative of Vista in all aspects, the Redmond company's overhauling efforts span from Win7's under-the-hood architecture to the GUI on the surface, and to the natural user interface interaction model. Michael Bernstein, the development lead for Accessibility and Speech Recognition experiences in Windows 7, pointed to the Microsoft User Interface Automation as the evolution of the foundation for accessibility in the next iteration of the Windows client.

“In Windows 7, we invested in improving the performance of the UI Automation system, and created a new, native-code API for UI Automation, to make sure that it can be used effectively by a wide range of assistive technology software,” Bernstein explained.


“Now applications written in C++, as well as those written using the .NET Framework, can take advantage of UI Automation. We also did a bunch of work to make sure that the UI Automation system was integrated even more closely with the legacy Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) system, and developed new bridging techniques between the best of the new and the old technologies.”

The Windows accessibility framework, intimately connected with the Windows Presentation Framework, is designed to take the manipulation of the UI beyond standard input via assistive technology products. A collection of applications programming interfaces and a set of default features, Windows Accessibility is designed to open up the operating system to as much people as possible, regardless of physical or cognitive disabilities.

“UI Automation Clients can read Accessibility information from MSAA applications, and vice versa, to ensure maximum Accessibility, regardless of which accessibility API an application used originally,” Bernstein added. “Since the UI Automation and MSAA systems cooperate closely in many scenarios, we decided to name the combination of the two, calling it the Windows Automation API. This architecture forms the foundation for the rest of our Accessibility effort, and we’re pleased to have this Accessibility foundation Windows 7.”

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Features of Visual Studio 2008

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition supports developers working on projects that target the Web (including ASP.NET AJAX), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Mobile devices.

Features

Write code faster
Use productivity-enhancing features such as IntelliSense technology, auto-completion, method lookup, syntax and type checking, code snippets, and more.

Build software for Windows
Develop with the Windows APIs or .NET Framework using the same tools to build Windows services, applications, utilities, games, or business applications.

Build software for the Web
Build dynamic Web sites that use AJAX programming techniques to optimize the user experience, or build Web services that integrate applications.

Build software for the Microsoft Office System
Build Office Business Applications to connect end users with data and businessprocesses managed by back-end systems through familiar Office programs.

Build software for mobile devices
Write embedded software and compelling mobile applications that extend data in line-of-business systems to mobile workers.

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Microsoft's C# to converse with dynamic languages

The next version of Microsoft's C# will see interoperability between languages for the enterprise and web, and with Microsoft's legacy COM architecture.

C# 4.0, expected with the next version of Visual Studio, will support something called dynamic look up in order to call dynamic languages like JavaScript, Python and IronPython from inside C#. Visual Basic .NET already works with dynamic look up.

Improved interoperability with Microsoft's Component Object Mode (COM), which gave way to .NET eight years ago, is also planned.

The idea is you'll be able to write C# code that looks like Office for Visual Basic as the dynamic look up will let you use C# to invoke any COM IDispatch object.

The statically typed C# was introduced with .NET in 2000 and has found huge success in the enterprise during the intervening eight years.

Microsoft, though, wants to make it easier for developers to call classes in dynamic-typed languages, particularly its versions of Python and Ruby - IronPython and IronRuby.

Anders Hejlsberg, the renowned software engineer working at Microsoft and lead C# architect, recently demonstrated C# 4.0 talking to JavaScript and IronPython.

Hejlsberg, speaking at Microsoft's Professional Developers' Conference (PDC), said he wanted to bring down the barriers not make things harder for those building in C# and using declarative and dynamic programming languages and methods.

"People say: 'Anders have you gone stark raving mad, haven't you taught us for 10 years static is the right and only way?," he told PDC.

"I'm not saying re-write all your code to be dynamic... However there are an increasing number of things that are important to talk to in your applications that are not dynamically typed and we should ask: should we make it harder to talk to, or easier?'"

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Top Five Things Microsoft Got Right

Virtually any technology analyst will tell you that Microsoft has made a lot of mistakes and just plain dumb decisions over its 33 year history. So how did it get to be the largest software company in the world?

Some would argue by conniving, cheating, and copping other companies' innovations. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) certainly has plenty of detractors. However, it's hard to explain its dominance across the board without a tip of the hat to Microsoft's business acumen and key strategies it has stuck with through the years.

That's the topic of a report released Monday by tracking firm Directions on Microsoft, an independent analysis company located in Kirkland, Wash., almost within spitting distance of the software titan's sprawling Redmond, Wash. campus. The brief report is entitled "Five Strategies Microsoft Got Right" and is a compilation of viewpoints from all the Directions on Microsoft analysts.

First on the list: Microsoft was unique early on in deciding that software was more important than hardware. At the time, the report points out, software for an IBM computer would only run on an IBM (NYSE: IBM) computer and that for an HP (NYSE: HPQ) would only run HP software. From the very early days, however, founder Bill Gates and company focused on software that would run on multiple computers – not just those from one hardware manufacturer.

"That was really the first thing they got right … selling [the] Basic [language] separate from the hardware was fairly innovative for the time," Rob Helm, director of research at Directions on Microsoft, told InternetNews.com. Microsoft soon went on to releasing the MS-DOS operating system that became standard on virtually all PCs in the 1980s – not just on IBM PCs as it started out.

A second strategic move by Microsoft that the report identified was the company's early embrace of outsourcing sales to an army of reseller partners in order to grow more quickly than if it had built its own in-house sales force.

"Today, more than 90 percent of Microsoft products are sold by somebody else," the report states. "This partner community, from small mom-and-pop computer shops to the world's largest systems integrators, enabled the company to achieve unprecedented sales volumes with astounding speed without having to spend huge sums to build a direct sales force and consulting practice."

The third successful strategy was to target its software at "the masses" by undercutting competitors on price while producing products that are simple enough to hold down support costs.

"Technologies for the masses [means] that Microsoft takes its technology mainstream by dialing down the cost and cutting back on the complexity so that IT can make it work, even in smaller IT shops," Helm said.

Strategy number four has almost become a mantra for CEO Steve Ballmer, who more than once has yelled out onstage: "developers, developers, developers."

Over the years, Microsoft has gone from courting developers with Basic to locking them in with Visual Studio, the company's integrated development environment and the high-level languages it supports. Visual Studio and the new Azure development platform for cloud computing are the result of decades of hand feeding developers, even when its own development tool groups wanted to keep the technologies private and internal.

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Visual Studio 2010 & .NET 4.0 Training Kit Available

If you're interested in learning more about the what's coming in the VS 2010/.NET 4.0 wave, check out the "Visual Studio 2010 & .NET 4.0 Training Kit" (November Preview)

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including: C# 4.0, Visual Basic 10, F#, Parallel Computing Platform, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX 4.0, ASP.NET MVC Dynamic Data. The kit will be expanded and updated periodically as final release approaches.

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Add-in Express 2009 Roadmap

Many of you have already enquired about our roadmap for the year 2009. Its rough outline is ready, but as you understand, we reserve the right to make some changes. Well, now in more detail…

When will the first Add-in Express 2009 release be published?
We are planning to publish the first release of generation 2009 in February.

What products will the Add-in Express 2009 product line contain?
We will update all products to generation 2009, namely:

1. Add-in Express 2009 for Office and .net
2. Add-in Express 2009 for Office and VSTO
3. Add-in Express 2009 for Office and VCL
4. Add-in Express 2009 for Outlook Express and .net
5. Add-in Express 2009 for Outlook Express and VCL
6. Add-in Express 2009 for Internet Explorer and .net
7. Security Manager 2009 for Outlook

Add-in Express 2009 for Microsoft Office
None of three editions of Add-in Express for Office (.net, VCL and VSTO) will undergo any substantial alterations in the core code and public API. All improvements will be concentrated around:

1. New versions of advanced Outlook view and form regions and advanced Excel task panes
2. Customization for Word and PowerPoint with advanced task panes
3. Visual designer enhancements
4. Deployment and redeployment
5. Complete compatibility with previous generations and other editions

New versions of advanced Outlook regions and Excel task panes
The new versions of the advanced Outlook view and form regions and advanced Excel task panes, which have gained so much popularity, improve their visual design. Now a region or a task pane can be minimized like the To-Do bar in Outlook. Developers can highlight some elements of such minimized regions or task panes. Of course, our Outlook regions and Excel task panes will work for Outlook 2000 - 2007 and Excel 2000 - 2007.

Advanced task panes for Word and PowerPoint
Yes, you can add your own task panes to your Word 2000+ and PowerPoint 2000+ extensions. All features of the advanced Excel task panes are on board.

Visual designers
Our visual designers will also gain certain enhancements. For instance, we will introduce the Ribbon UI and Office toolbars modules with their own visual designers. At last, will be able to do without modal designers for your toolbars and Ribbon tabs.

Deployment and redeployment
As I see, you use generation 2008 of Add-in Express as a stable and secure platform for your Office extensions. However, there is still some room for perfection in the deployment and redeployment fields. And we have something to offer here as well. I will give more details about innovations in deployment and redeployment for your Office extensions later. Stay tuned!

Compatibility
Probably not all of you have turned your attention to the fact that having bought the Add-in Express license, you also got the 100% compatibility assurance. Well then, I guarantee that Add-in Express 2009 will be fully compatible with your projects and extensions. Just install Add-in Express 2009 and recompile your projects. :-)

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Microsoft to explain innovations in Visual Studio and .NET 4.0

Microsoft has selected some of its key executives to explain innovations it planned incorporating in .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio. The move is part of an action plan evolved in the recently organised TechEd developer and PDC events.

Code-named as “Rosario”, Microsoft’s next version of Visual Studio is being promoted as a tool set which will raise analysis of application development process to new levels.

The company is committed to democratise application lifecycle management process. It is working on product enhancement which would meet software development requirements arising from cloud computing, virtualisation and parallelism trends.

Delegates visiting the UK to explain about forthcoming tools included Jason Zander, GM for Visual Studio and Matt Carter, Group Product Manager.

Shedding light on Visual Studio 2010 (VS2010), Carter stated that it is strongly focussed on providing insight, in terms of function and structure of code, of the development process. Microsoft is ensuring to make it easier for building web applications. It is also aimed at encouraging departmental business applications development that makes use of Office UI. Microsoft is also looking forward to make development of SharePoint feel like development of Visual Studio to improve usability.

Carter disclosed that Microsoft wants to reach out to those C++ developers who have made big investment on lines of C++ code, so that they could carry those into the Visual Studio environment.

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Microsoft Releases Free Chart Controls

Microsoft has rolled out a software package for the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 users that allows developers to quickly setup interactive charts and graphs for applications without writing any code. The Chart Controls software, released earlier this month, adds data visualization tools for developers creating ASP.NET pages or Windows Forms applications.

The free tools can be used to produce interactive charts that simplify complex statistical or financial analysis. The software package includes a comprehensive list of 2D and 3D chart types, customizable visual appearance features, built-in data manipulation and formulas, and annotations capabilities, among other features.

"This should provide a useful (and free) addition to your standard ASP.NET toolkit of functionality, and enable you to easily add richer visualization and data workflow scenarios to your ASP.NET applications," wrote Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's developer corporate vice president, in a blog posting on Monday.

Microsoft acquired the chart control technology in June of last year from Dundas Software, a Toronto, Ontario-based provider of data visualization technologies. Redmond first employed it in its SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Report Builder 2.0 release. The Data Visualization Group within the SQL Server Reporting Services Team gets credit for creating the new ASP.NET Chart Controls.

For new developers, Microsoft is providing a sample environment with more than 200 samples of ASP.NET and Windows Forms, as well as the C# source code. Every major feature in Chart Controls for the .NET Framework is covered in the samples. Users can see the Chart Controls in action and use the code as templates for their own Web and Windows apps.

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30% off in the mother of all online Microsoft Press promotions

Delegates who attended the TechEd in Durban this year bombarded the Intersoft stand to take advantage of the heavily discounted books.
advertisement

Chief amongst the titles bought were: Windows Server 2008, Admin Pocket Consultant, System Centre Config Manager 07, Visual C# 2008 Step By Step, Exc Server 2007 Admin Companion, Introducing Silverlight 2e, Office Communication Server 07, Powershell Scripting Guide, Programming Visual C# 2008, Visual Basic 2008 Step By Step, Programming Asp.Net 3.5, Programming Linq, Win Server 2008 Admin Comp and Windows Server 2008 Inside Out.

Visit www.microsoft-press.co.za for publishing dates on all SQL Server 2008 titles.

If you weren't at the Durban TechEd (and even if you were) you can take huge advantage of this success by checking out www.microsoft-press.co.za. This is an online promotion only for tech-savvy people and by the by, you can seize the opportunity to get great Xmas gifts for techno-wise friends or eager-to-learn family. If your purchases total over R500, delivery is free too!

Enjoy spreading the experience of the love of learning and finding neat tricky ways of getting more out of what you do – get online at www.microsoft-press.co.za and take your 30% off.

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Writing from a windows form to microsoft word 2007 using VSTO

First of all I want to thank all these people who read my posts and thank them for their encouraging comments.

In the feedack I receive I get some “complaints” that my posts are targeted towards the asp.net side of development. Well you are right. I am more knowledgeable in Asp.Net. But I promise to write more about windows forms in the future, starting from this post. And to all VB guys out there, i will try (starting from this post) to write more samples in VB, which is here to stay…

In this post I would like how easy it is to use Visual Studio Tools for Office. If you have never heard before of VSTO just google it. In a few words it is a component of Visual Studio(since Visual Studio 2005) that provides a robust, .NET-based environment for building business applications using classic Office programs like Word and Excel. So that means you do not have to learn the specific Office object models, and of course you do need VBA anymore.

Let’s show VSTO with a simple example. We will have a simple table(1 row and 3 cells) in a word 2007 (.docx) document and fill in the values of these 3 cells from a windows form.

1) Start Visual Studio 2008/2005 project.

2) From the “New Project” window choose a Office 2007 and from the templates Word 2007 Document. Select VB as the development language.Give a name to your project and Press OK

3) In the next window select “Create a new Document” and give name to your new word document, e.g “mydoc”.

4) Click “OK” to any window that asks you for access to the Office programs

5) If you have done everything right up to this point, you will be ablw to see in your visual studio window a blank word document,

6) Add a table with a single row and 3 cells from the ribbon

7) Add a new item in your project, a windows form and call it “wordform”

8) Add 3 Label controls on the form. Name them, Cell1,Cell2,Cell3.

9) Add 3 textbox controls on the form. Leave the default names

10) Add a button on the form. Leave the default name.

11) In the mydoc.vb(this is a file in my example-if you named your word, inputword, it will be inputword.vb) choose the Document.Open event.

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Is the Cloud Looking Like HDDVD vs. Blu-Ray?

I was reading through this post from Mary-Jo Foley about cloud computing, but more specifically about approaches to (in this case, data caching) how it gets done. I have to admit, for me, I sort of thought of the cloud options as being "out there" to the point where it just happens - who cares how? But now, after reading this and doing more poking around the 'net, reading articles, etc., I am beginning to wonder if we'll have emerging standards that impact how you develop applications, deploy those applications and support them.

If this ends up being a "war of formats" something like the HDDVD and Blu-Ray format wars, it would seem like this could really cripple adoption of the whole cloud computing model, certainly to the point where you'd have to add a new layer of testing and working with your systems to see what works best.

Mary-Jo's article focused on the cache element - how data is made available in a high-performance environment. It bleeds over into content delivery (since the platforms define it differently), which brings up additional points that you'll want to understand.

Perhaps I'm just misunderstanding, perhaps I'm over-estimating the amount of choice you really have in how things are done "up there" - but it's certainly worth trying to understand and see where the performance, security and implementation differ between options and platforms.

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Fixing the Enter Keypress Event in ASP.NET with jQuery

One of the most frustrating things about working with .NET from a front-end developer’s viewpoint is the Single Form Model. Enclosing an entire website or web-application in one single

element poses a number of accessibility and usability problems surrounding form input and usage. One of these is ensuring the correct default actions are assigned to sets of input fields when the enter key is used.

Traditionally, the default action for a is to fire the first submit button found within the current element. Every form has one default action.

Striking the enter key within a text input field should submit the current set of—logically grouped—fields; this is the expected behaviour. For pages with multiple forms and actions, this is easily separated by having multiple elements, each with their own submit buttons and actions. Each form operates independently, has its own default action, and doesn’t interfere with other forms.

In the Single Form Model, the presence of just one element, means that different default actions cannot be easily separated. Every input field on the page is automatically tied to just one default action – the first submit button on the page.

Take a blog site as an example – like this very page! It has a search form at the top, with associated submit button, a comment form further down the page and perhaps another form for signing up to a newsletter. Implemented with the Single Form Model, only the search form will produce the correct behaviour as it introduces the first submit button on the page. All subsequent fields will be tied to this same button as their default action – submitting a comment by pressing enter would cause the search form to submit, as would signing up to a newsletter. Not particularly useful.

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Using the .NET Assembly in PHP

Using the power of COM interop, you can write code in VB.Net or C# and use it in PHP, VB6, or any other language that can access COM. In this article Jayesh shows us how.The .NET Framework is a new computing platform that simplifies application development in the highly distributed environment of the Internet. The .NET Framework is designed to provide a consistent object-oriented programming environment, a code-execution environment that minimizes software deployment and versioning conflicts, which guarantees safe execution of code and to build all communication on industry standards to ensure that code based on the .NET Framework can integrate with any other code.

An assembly is the primary building block of a .NET Framework application. It is a collection of functionality that is built, versioned, and deployed as a single implementation unit containing one or more files. Each assembly contains an assembly manifest.

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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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.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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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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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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