Oh .Net

Here's my generic collection question

2009-09-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

[My Post]

I want to write code that is decouple and clean, and I know that by programming to an interface instead of the implementation, my code will be more flexible and extensible. So, instead of writing methods like:

bool IsProductAvailable(ProductTypeA product);

I write methods like:

bool IsProductAvailable(IProduct product);

As long as my products implement IProduct:

class ProductTypeA : IProduct

I should be OK. All is well until I start using generic collections. Since C# 3.0 doesn't support covariant and contravariant, even though both ProuctTypeA and ProductTypeB implements IProduct, you cannot put List in List. This is pretty troublesome because a lot of times I want to write something like:

bool AreProductsAvailable(List products);

So that I can check product avaialbility by writing:

List productsArrived = GetDataFromDataabase();
bool result = AreProductsAvailable(productsArrived);

And I want to write just one AreProductsAvailable() method that works with all IProduct collections.

I know that C# 4.0 is going to support covariant and contravariant, but I also realize that there other libraries that seemed to have the problem solved. For instance, I was trying out ILOG Gantt the gantt chart control, and found that they have a lot of collection intefaces that looks like this:

IActivityCollection
ILinkCollection

So it seems like their approach is wrapping the generic collection with an interface. So instead of "bool AreProductsAvailable(List products);", I can do:

bool AreProductsAvailable(IProductCollection products);

And then write some code so that IProductCollection takes whatever generic collection of IProduct, be it List or List.

However, I don't know how to write an IProductCollection interface that does that "magic". :-< (ashame) ....

Could someone shed me some light? This has been bugging me for so long, and I so wanted to do the "right thing". Well, thanks!

JavaScript debugging with Visual Studio 2008: Awesome

2009-09-03T15:24:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that I never tried debugging Javascript on Visual Studio 2008 before. I was relying on FireBug so far and it was not as integrate with my development workflow as I want. But with Visual Studio 2008, all I need is:

- Go to menu [File][Browse With...] and select "Internet Explorer" as your default debugging browser.
- In Internet Explorer, select menu [Tools][Internet Options...], then go to [Advanced] tab, under the "Browsing" group, make sure the item "Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer)" is NOT CHECKED.
- Set break point on the script in Visual Studio 2008.

That's it. Start debugging session and you will see you code stopped at the breakpoint you just set.

Somehow SQL CLR deployment doesn't work on office laptop but working on VM

2009-07-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

I had problem getting SQL CLR development running in my desktop Visual Studio 2008 Test Edition. However it works on my VM. I really don't know what's the difference.
Well at least I find some way to continue working.

Journey to SQL CLR

2009-07-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

To turn on CLR support in SQL Server 2008 ...

No more Surface Area Configuration Tool in SQL Server 2008

Turn on CLR support for SQL Server 2005

Program and manually deploy SQL CLR Integration

Create and Deploy SQL CLR manually

Very simple and nice example on how to create and deploy SQL CLR code

Windows Server 2008 blue

2009-05-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

Windows Server 2008 is so pain in the butt to deal with. Changing any minor stuff will require me to run the operation as administrator. Painful shit.

How to make your WPF automatically fill up the hosting form

2009-04-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

I was puzzled about the fact that in WPF controls, there's nothing called Anchor. I was used to use Anchor to make the height and width to link to the size of the form with WinForm, but they are not there for WPF controls.

Finally I realized that the property of Height and Width for a WPF control can be set to "Auto". Doing so makes the control to automatically resize to match the form size. Pretty awesome.

slow slow VM

2009-03-20T08:20:00.001-07:00

Totally feeling chocked by the slow slow VMWare. In addition, any USB access slows the machine down, like, dramatically.

So it's time to move on and not depending on the VM as much but instead rely more on environment on actual machine.

Now my life is relatively better.

Hmmm, View Model

2009-03-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

So I was reading the MSDN article March 2009 issue about using Model View View-Model pattern. Then I tried to garb and run the sample project, but found that Visual Studio 2008 has problem opening the project. I turned out the I have to download the Microsoft® Silverlight™ Tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP1. I did and it works. It comes with the unit test framework for Siliverlight 2, so I don't have to download the Test Framework (Source Code and Unit Tests for Silverlight 2 Controls) saperately.

And to run the test, just following the instruction here.

2009-02-05T08:35:00.001-08:00

Wasted too much time to figure out why all Template item in my Visual Studio 2005 disappeared. Trying to fix it by following some advices here and none of them work. Finally I fed up with the whole thing and I am rolling back my desktop partition now.

Trying to install Visual Studio 2008 on my Tablet PC laptop

2009-02-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

To satisfy my craft of impulsive programming need, I was installing Visual Studio 2008 on my Lenovo X60T Tablet PC, which recently cleanly installed Windows 7 in it.

The process was more troublesome than I expected since there's no simply clean way to open an .iso file on Windows 7. I actually have to extract the ISO to a folder on my removable hard disk on my XP machine, and then do the installation using the expanded files.

The installation of The VS 2008 was ok snappy, but once in a while I got a "Deep Copy Service Stopped" error message, makes me think like ... WHAT?

The installation of VS 2008 Service Pack 1 takes a LONG TIME.

Another minor complain: the VS2008 Pro image from MSDN Library was NOT updated to SP1 yet. Why can't they have SP1 integrated in the disk?

Interesting issue about SSIS and VMWare

2008-11-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

I was a bit puzzle when I got the following error when running a SSIS (SQL Server Integration Service) job:

An inconsistency was detected during an internal operation in database 'tempdb'(ID:2) on page (1:5193). Please contact technical support. Reference number 3.

A few things worth noticing:

SSIS is running in a VM with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 under a VMWare 1.0.7 environment
Restarting SQLServer does NOT resolve the problem
I have ANOTHER VM running at the same time.

So my solution was stopping both of the VM that was running, and then only run ONE VM at a time. I eventually got the problem resolved ... or at least the problem doesn't show up again.

I still don't know if it's because 2 VMs are running at the same time.

SQL Server Transformation Service

2008-08-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

I spent whole day working on SQL Transformation service, and at least get a simple transformation done, create a file, and the ftp the result to another machine. However, I am still struggling to figure out:

How to support Secure FTP with Integration Service.
How to setup error handling
How to define success criteria for a flow element in Control Flow

SQL Server 2005 Installation hell

2008-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

I got an "Unexpected Error message" for the Installation. And when I tried to do it again, the problem persist.

So tried another approach by installing components one at a time. But it still failed. So I reboot the machine. But still not working.

So I am uninstall the following items now.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (left over by the failed installation)
- .....
(shoot, I forgot to write them down... but trust me... everything with the name "SQL Server" on it.)

Still doesn't work.

So I did Windows Update. Darn, a bunch of Windows update to do. And then I got a blue screen of death during the Windows update. What in the world.

And then I find out that the whole mess could be caused by not having all the files in place. So here's what I did:

Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\ directory and remove all the "MSSQL.x" directories.
Uninstall all the "SQL Server" entries in "Add or Remove Program" list.
Following the instruction here in Microsoft site to manually remove all the SQL Server components. (Pay special attention to the "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\ARPWrapper.exe /Remove" section)
Expand en_sql_2005_dev_x86_cd1.iso and en_sql_2005_dev_x86_cd2.iso into a folder. Run the .exe and install.

After tried and tried, it finally worked. I have SQL Server 2500 installed, and now installing service pack. But should I know that expanding both Disc 1 and Disc 2 image fiel into one place is such an import issue, I would have saved a lot of time by doing that in advance.

At least the nightmare is over now.

Contiune my journey of installing software for new machine

2008-06-24T08:25:00.001-07:00

OK, the default setting for installing Visual Studio 2005 worked. Good.

Before installing Visual Studio 2005 SP1 on Windows Server 2003, remember to install the hotfix first.

I should have installed SQL Server 2005 before installing VS 2005. Now I have to UNINSTALL the SQL Server 2005 workstation component installed by VS 2005 (which does NOT have Management Studio, and have the lame SQL Express engine instead.) Well at least I found a way out.

Continue the saga of installing Visual Studio 2005

2008-06-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

I found out in both case of installing Visual Studio .Net 2003 and 2005 that when installing across the network from a shared drive, both apps will not prompt you to swap disc, but instead simply stated that the file is not in the installation directory, and ask user to choose between retry and abort. And by that time I should swap the virtual .iso on my disc image hosting machine.

trying to install Visual Studio 2005

2008-06-24T07:02:00.001-07:00

I got blue screen of death while I was trying to install Visual Studio 2005 through a network drive mounted to a virtual CDROM. I don't know what the heck is happening but if I encounter this crazy thing again I will copy all the installation files to the destination machine and install it locally instead.

Also I am going to do the Default installation instead of the full installation.

Essential software for .Net development, support and maintenance

2008-06-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

I need to set up a baseline machine. Then the machine will be cloned so that all developer will have the same set of tools. Here's the list I came up, order by the Installation order:

- Daemon Tool 4.1.23 Lite (for virtually mount .iso )
- IIS 6.0 with Classic ASP
- Microsoft Office 2003 + Service pack 3
- Microsoft Office Communicator 2005
- Visual Basic 6 + Service Pack 5
- Visual Sourcesafe 6.0d + Service pack 6
- Visual Studio 2003 + Service Pack 1
- Visual Studio 2005 + Service Pack 1
- SQL Server 2005 Client + Service Pack 2
- Visual Studio 2008
- Tortoise 1.4.5
- NUnit 2.2.8
- NCover 1.3.4
- NCover Extra 1.3.4
- TestDriven.Net 2.12.2179
- ASP.net Ajax 1.0
- .Net Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5

Problem using MSBuild 3.5 with PublishUrl and OneClick

2008-06-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

I posted the following at MSDN forum:

-------------------------------

We experienced a serious problem publishing our WinForm (Visual Studio 2008 project but targetted to .net Framework 2.0) with MSBuild 3.5 that we had to rollback to MSBuild 2.0. Knowing that we eventually need to move to .Net Framework 3.5, I think I better resolve the problem now before it's too late.

Before we moved to Visual Studio 2008, we used the following command line with MSBuild 2.0.50727 to build and publish our WinForm application:

msbuild c:\awesome_app\awesome.csproj /p:ApplicationVersion=1.2.3.4;Configuration=release;PublishUrl='http://awesome/myApp.AwesomeApp.Admin'

It did the following for us:

Create a folder called "...\bin\Release\myApp.AwesomeApp.AdminTemp" (as specified within the project setting)
Have the application compile and stored in "myApp.AwesomeApp.AdminTemp"
After we copied the files manually from "myApp.AwesomeApp.AdminTemp" the physical folder for the URL 'http://awesome/myApp.AwesomeApp.Admin', user can access the WinForm app by clicking a link that points to "myApp.AwesomeApp.Admin.Application"

Then we moved to Visual Studio 2008, and found that the command line doesn't work and thorw us error saying that "C:\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" is missing. Although we found a workaround by modifying the .csproj file, we decide to try doing the right thing by using MSBuild 3.5 . However, it seems like the behavior of MSBuild has been changed:

Instead of creating a folder based on the name specified in the project, it creates a folder "...\bin\Release\App.Deploy" regardless.
After we copied the files manually from "App.Deploy" the physical folder for the URL 'http://awesome/myApp.AwesomeApp.Admin', we can't access the WinForm app. Clicking the link that points to "myApp.AwesomeApp.Admin.Application" caused the downloading but eventually it says that something is wrong with the package, yet didn't explicitly say what.

So it seem like some behavior has been changed since 2.0.50727 regarding to OneClick and Publishing to an URL. Does anyone have the similar kind of experience, and able to find a way to work around the issue?

Daniel

How to map Windows domain user group to SQL Server 2005 database object permission setting

2008-05-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I was very disappointed when I found out I can’t directly map Windows domain user group to SQL Server 2005 database object permission setting. While you can add a Windows domain user to Security-Logins, and then assign database object permission setting to the Windows domain user account, you can’t do the same to user group. Object permission has to be associated with a user.

I found a doable way to workaround this problem, though. In SQL Server Management Studio:

For each database I need to create a Database Role, say “MyAppAdminUser”.
Right click on the Windows domain user group, select Properties. In Login Properties window, select User Mapping. In the “User mapped to this login”, check the database, and then check the Database Role we just create (“MyAppAdminUser”.)
Finally, configure all database object permission for MyAppAdminUser.

Now whatever right “MyAppAdminUser” gets will be the right the domain user group gets.

Add Windows domain group into SQL Server 2005 Login list

2008-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

To add a Windows user group as a SQL Server 2005 login:

Under Management Studio, right click on Security\Logins, and select "New Login ...".
In the "Login - New" window, click [Search..]
Check the "Groups" checkbox, then click [OK]
Click [Advnaced]
Click [Object Types]
Make sure the location is listing the right machine or domain, otherwise click [Locations...] in case you need to change.
Click [Find now]

Your domain group should be in the list.

Use XmlPoke to replace Xml node

2008-05-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

My goal was to update the project file (.proj) of a Visual Studio 2008 project in NAnt script. At first I thought it was a simple task, and I found all the knowledge I need to learn and figure out the proper XPath to find the path I need to modify:

/Project//PostBuildEvent

However, I couldn't get the script XmlPoke running. After a while, I realize that the code WILL run if I take out the name space reference in the project file:

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"

I looked into Nant's manual, and found out how to specify namespace entry. But I have problem figuring out what namespace prefix I should use.

Finally I came across this post, which gave me the exact way to write it. So here it goes:

    <target name="SetEnviornmentForBeforeCompilation">
       <xmlpoke
          file="Configuration.csproj"
          xpath="/ns:Project//ns:PostBuildEvent"
          value="$(TargetPath) $(SolutionDir) BUILD" >
             <namespaces>
                   <namespace prefix="ns" uri="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" />
             </namespaces>
        </xmlpoke>
   </target>

Recycling Application Pool using NAnt Script

2008-04-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I tried out several different syntax to run a .vbs script ( C:\windows\system32\iisapp.vbs ) to recycle Application Pool. The arg way didn't work. Things that work directly work on Windows command line doesn't necessary work with NAnt script directly. Eventually I resolved it by using this:


    <target name="ResetAppPoolForSNAPP25">
        <exec program="${vbscript.executable}"  
              commandline = "C:\windows\system32\iisapp.vbs /a AppPoolForSNAPP25 /r"

        />
    </target>

Recycle Application Pool on IIS 6.0 (under Windows Server 2003)

2008-04-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

For IIS 7.0, you can recycle application pool using AppCmd. On IIS 6.0, though, there's no command ine command to do that. Still, you can call the script IISAPP.vbs that comes with IIS to do that magic. The syntax is like this:

IISApp /a TheApplicationPoolName /r

Why Does Advanced Disk Catalog so .....

2008-04-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

I just found out that the product I use, called Advance Disc Catalog 1.5.1 , is not longer supported. That is just great, since this is the only disc cataloging software I use, and it works fine with me so far. Plus, I was hoping that can improve the export feature, because most of them pretty suck.

.csv: This one does not work because I have tons of records, and Excel has limitation on number of rows imported. Plus, it enclose the string in quote.
.dbf: This one failed because it created messed up data. Some string overrun into other fields. Basically it's a mess.
.xml: I couldn't can app that can directly convert it into an Access database. Sure I can write my own code but .... I am lazy.
.sql: it's basically a collection of SQL statements, but I tried execute it using SQLServer Management Studio. It didn't work well because of the double quote thing.

So my last and probably best solution is by writing a C# application, read XML file and then insert the data into a blank access database.

Stupid Mistake

2008-04-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

I was stuck figuring out why the ultra simple WCF web service that I created was not working .... until later which I realized that I forgot to set the ASP.Net version of the web application on IIS from 1.1 to 2.0. Once I switched, everything was working Great. Duhhhh ....

Test Driven in .Net

2008-04-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was trying to use TestDriven.Net to run Unit Test on my Visual Studio 2008 project. I got the message saying "0 Passed 0 ....". Basically, all zero.

It happened so many times, and since I keep forgetting, I better write it down now.

I happened mainly because something didn't set right. In my case yesterday, it was because I stuff in something that upset the web.config file. It's strange that it didn't prompt error message, but if you pay attention to the message below you will see that there's something mentioned in warning section.

ACL, IIS and my low EQ

2008-03-23T11:03:00.001-07:00

It's funny how easy I can get frustrated by myself.

I can trying to figure how to run the Silverlight Surface demo running on my own machine. First I download the Source Code (by the way it's super freaking hard to navigate to the right page), and then tried to just open the Default.html out of the Run folder. It didn't work.

And then I saw the web.config file, and I thought, hey, maybe I need to run this thing under a web server, so I created a virtual directory and point it to .... notice this .. a folder that I expanded directly on my desktop. This is what the headache started, because I keep getting error saying that ACL access prohibit me from accessing any file in my virtual directory.

Eventually I solved the problem by move the Silverlight Surface folder until Q driver. And now everything work out fine. I guess there's some special security going on for folder on my desktop.

Speaking of that Surface demo, it seems to be a great demo to illustrate how to put items on a canvas in a object oriented way....

My first Silverlight page

2008-03-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is my first Silverlight Page created using Silverlight 2 Beta 1 SDK. I am very excited since now I can leverage my C# knowledge aquired at my day job and do some fun interactive content.

[Click to see my Starry Sky page at http://roleplay.myweb.io/ ]
Source Code

My problem is, though, that the random star shining doesn't seem to be as random as my thought. Maybe I did something wrong in my code. Maybe I'll come back later to see what I didn't wrong, but for now I want to continue working on using Opacity Mask....

So much to learn...

Tried Microsoft Deep Zone ... Nice, but not now

2008-03-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

I downloaded and tried the Microsoft Deep Zone photo zooming for Silverlight technology by downloading the editing tool and sample code. It was nice and fascinating, and I sure will use it when it goes production. Trouble is that when I use the current version of Deep Zoom compsing tool, it crashed consistently if:

I try to reopen the project I saved.
I try to click on the "Export" button.

So basically it's unusable for me for now (unlike the Silverlight 2 beta 1 tools which actually works pretty well.) But it's getting there.

Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 1 for Visual Studio 2008

2008-03-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

If you try to install "Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 1 for Visual Studio 2008", don't install Silverlight 1 and 2 and Silverlight 2 SDK Beta 1. Otherwise the installation process for "Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 1 for Visual Studio 2008" will fail.

What the ...

2007-12-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

Coding ASP.Net can be such a "what the **ck" experience.

Just like a while ago I was puzzle by errors saying that it didn't see "AjaxControlToolkit". But turns out after I cleaned up all the code behind, suddenly everything become sunshine. This was a bit uncool since I almost got sidetracked and wonder if I didn't include the assembly properly.

Well, at least the problem was resolved.

SharePoint 2007 .. strange problem

2007-11-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

I had a SharePOint 2007 server setup on my own VMWare environment, and it was working OK when I set it up several months ago. But while ago I turned it back on, and it give error message on the SharePoint 2007 local home page. I was so puzzled. Then I tried to open "SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration, and I got the same "Unknown page error" message. Finally I ran "SharePoint Products and technologies Configuration Wizard. And then I was able to start up the the "Central Adminiatrion". Then I use the Central Administration to create a new SharePoint site at different port. Not only then that the new site is working (I do need to start a command line something like "iistart /noforce" twice.

After then, not only the new site is working, but the old site (http://sps2k7test/Pages/Default.aspx) is also working.

So .. .freaking strange.

FitNesse Blues

2007-11-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was struggling a bit about why I got some .Net runtime error dialog box when trying to run a fitness case. It turns out that the DLL and FitServer.exe are not insync. After I got the "right set" from the "..\FitNesse\DotNetFitNessePatch\dotnet2" folder, it seems to working OK now.

Now next step would be actually done some ColumnFixtures and CalculateFixtures.

Marching into the land of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server

2007-10-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

I just installed Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007. It goes pretty straight, just that a lot of stuff need to do before the installation:

- Apply latest service packs on Windows Server 2003. So I installed sp2 and did all update.
- I installed .net framework 3.0 runtime, which already included the 2.0 runtime installation.
- I setup IIS with iis registration script

And then just run the install.

I'll probably also install Office 2007 and use it as a sharepoint client.

Complex problem, simple answer

2007-10-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I didn't though of it before, but yeah, thanks Daniel, my colleague at work place, for providing me a solution on combining all DLL needed to deploy a ASP.Net user control.

Originally I had 3 solutions in mind:

Rewriting the user control into custom control.
Use ILMerge to merge all DLL into one DLL. [Example]
Create a ASP.Net 2.0 web site (instead of an ASP.Net web project), compile the code and grab the DLL with strange name. (It mentioned in MSDN magazine, and also in this blog.

Well my friend Daniel told me the 4th solution: why not just combine all the projects (Presentation, Business Object and Data Access) into the user control project! Then we will only have one project .. one DLL ... simple.

Well ... I'll damned,but I am trying it out now.

Package DLL into one assembly for user control

2007-10-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

My teammate wanted to package a UserControl into "a single DLL with single asmx" deployment thing. I found this article that may solve my problem.

Broken rule Pattern

2007-10-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here some info about Broken Rule Pattern in CSLA.Net .

Learned from code review

2007-10-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

- You initialize an object in variable declaration like:

public static readonly ContactInfo = new ContactInfo(constantCompanyName);

- You can use interface to differncitate differnt presenters targetted to differnt platform, like one for web and one for WPF:

public class SearchEnginePresenter : IWebPresenter

- .... is there a design pattern called Broken Rule Pattern?

- There's an argument about whether we should call a collection of Rules as "repository". Seems like repository is a "Domain Driven Design" thing.

- Domain Specific language encourages using Positive English Phrasing instead double (or qudriple) negative like !(IsNotRight(!IncorrectItem(a)).

- Instead of using HasBeenSaved(), use IsDirty or IsNew which sounds clearer.

- Seems like a lot of code use "out" to return value... doesn't look too OO..

- Readabulity Issue: Is the method "ThisIsNotTheItemsWeAreLooingFor() " a more readable method ..... a debate....

- Role of Presenter: how much workflow logic should be in presenter, or should we use Presenter as as thin a layer as possible, and call Business Layer as much as possible in presenter instead?

- use nullable type (int?) as return value is a good way to differentiate empty value return and no return. And try aviod using checking zero as indicator of no return. nullable type is here, so use it.

Interop between Blend 1.0 and VS.Net 2005

2007-10-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

After an attempt to merge Blend created UI into Visual Studio 2005 (with WPF), I found out that:

When you are at Microsoft Blend and try to create a new page, remember to create the code file too. Otherwise it will get messy later on (like when try to integration your code back into Visual Studio.
Sometime there are issues that you don't see unless you have some data put inside the control. So it could be beneficial if you bind some static XML data to the control just to see how things look like.
It's way way better to actually open the VS Solution in Blend 1.0 instead of just opening a project. You will see the benefit when you do a Test Project in Blend.

Microsoft Expression Blend 1.0: Right direction, long way to go

2007-10-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

I was intensely using Blend 1.0 for the last one day, and my impression was that:

Blend 1.0 is a much better way to learn xaml. Switch between code and graphic view gives you better understanding about the power and limitation of Xaml.
The videos tutorial provided by Microsoft are extremely helpful. On the other hand, online help sucks.

Since I am such a bitchy person, here's my complain on Blend 1.0.

Difficult to Stack Panel and items within it. I need to get used to the Selection and Direct Selection thing. Turns out the best way to select stuff is from "Object and Timeline".
Moving label into a Panel will result in losing the text! I was like, what the *&%%$%^&(- . Sigh, never mind.
Switching between Design and XAML view doesn't automatically select the corresponding code or object. We really need that to be productive, man!
No intellisense for XAML on XAML view ... bad... bad ...
Not much flexibility on rearranging workspace. You basically only have 2 workspace setting: time line and regular. The best you can do is yank everything out of the main window.
The hell! Just seconds ago I crashed Expression by messing with timeline.

Finally let me bitch about the XAML technology itself.

Xaml does not allow percentage in width and height based on the hosting container. Admitted by a PM in Microsoft, there's no stronge Layout concept in Xaml ... yet. Well, one can alway dream.

MyGeneration not portable friendly

2007-10-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

At first I thought my generation is portable friendly, but turns out it's not.

Object binding with WPF

2007-10-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Just learn from a hardway (by wasting 1.5 hours) that when object binding to a control in WPF, only properties are presentable using DataTemplate. I used this before:

public string ProductCode;

and couldn't get the data displayed. Turns out I have to do:

private string mProductCode;
public string ProductCode ....
.................

Well, at least I got it solved.

Having Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 Together

2007-10-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

I figured out from the hard way that you cannot installed Visual Studio 2005 extension for WPF Nov 2006 CTP if you already have Visual Studio 2008 beta 2 installed on your machine. Though goddness that I figured this shit out through using VMWare. If I have them installed on my hosting workstation machine I will be totally screwed.

But I still have to deal with the pain that Visual Studio 2005 doesn't read Visual Studio 2008, and vice verse. My plan on crossing over two world doesn't seem to work as I planned.

LINQ and Dynmaic Typing

2007-10-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this guy really thinks that dynamic typing is a good idea. In the meantime, Likethis article really shows the problem of dynamic typing).

To me, I am just starting to learn that in C# 3.0. Hopefully someday I will find a reason to justify it .. like .. LINQ.

Rundown for my little WPF/Popfly/Silverlight/Blend presentation (v.2)

2007-10-03T10:52:00.002-07:00

Windows Presentation Foundation

Declarative Model
Xaml : Taking the best form the Web model
CSS-like Styling:

Transparent
Animation
3D and media support

Data Binding with Business Objects
Drag and Drop
Routed Event

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2

Demo: MVP on WPF, Simple App, and Simple User Control
Beta fustration:

Where the heck is control event?
Crash once in while. Thank goodness for auto save.
Behave strangely with TestDriven.net
Slow update on XAML UI (Require faster hardware for fancy rendering?)

Side note: VMWare Server 1.0.4:

Simple way to test new environment without messing your box.
Core2Duo native: "Virtualization" support
Fast performance
Free.

Blend

Graphic design tool for Xaml
Round trip editing between designer and developer

Silverlight

Subset of WPF: Same old Xaml, simplified for scripting
1.o [Showcase gallery] vs 1.1 [Showcase gallery]
Xaml Pad: Try out Xaml without installing a thing

PopFly

Microsoft's answer for social networking site Gadget (like iGoogle, gadget in Facebook)
Overview video
Right now you can only host projects at Popfly Space
Value to us: the Xaml based interface, seeing what direction Microsoft heading

Setting up Test Driven Development with Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2

2007-10-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here I am, setting up Setting up Test Driven Development with Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2:

Installed NUnit : NUnit-2.4.3-net-2.0.msi (really need to install first)
The I tried to install TestDriven : TestDriven.NET-2.0.1714_Personal.exe. Well it failed. So I tried TestDriven.NET-2.8.2130_Personal.exe. And it worked. At least right click shows the proper menus. When I right click a test case and try to run test though, I got "Couldn't connect to test runner process". Still I can just right click -> [Test with ... ] -> [InProc]

CruseControling my code

2007-09-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

To "CruseControl" my code:

Modify the config file (ccnet.config ) in my CruiseControl.net folder (C:\Program Files\CruiseControl.NET\server) . Mimic the existing entry.
Write the build file
Setup sample web site (for system test)
Run the script even from the build directory, or by pressing [Force] build button on local CuriseControl web UI
Enjoy the successful build!

Stuff I learned in today's code review

2007-09-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here's something I learned or have my memory refreshed during today's code review:

use of internal as in "internal const int a; "
static constructor
using keyword. You can even use it as alias. Of course most of the time you use it as statement.
Obsolete attribute
Predicate delegate. Example is here.
Enum.Parse
Enum can have base other than int
PreRender seems to be a better place to put final UI code (like popup windows) than LoadComplete .
Best Practice: To test authorization, some suggest using a collection of security attribute stored in base class, while the others think that using overriding method seems better because it force developer to write all the corresponding test, or else the code won't even compiled.
learn to use IsNullOrEmpty
The as keyword in C#
The difference of out and ref in C#, and why do we have both of them. And the implication of passing array using out or ref.

Pissed by Visual Studio 2005 SP1 installation

2007-09-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

I encountered an error when I tried to install Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 on a Windows Server 2003 machine. The crazy error message pointed me to this Microsoft Knowledge Base article and I am in porcess of rebooting my machine after installing the hotfix mentioned in the article. Hopefully it will work before I go postal.

So that's why I couldn't carea a ASP.Net Web Application project

2007-09-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

I was pretty confused yesterday about why I cannot create a ASP.Net web application project in order to neatly package the User Control I created. And then finally something hit me this morning when I read this article about Visual Studio 2005 ASP.Net Web Application Project and realized one important thing:

I DID NOT have Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 installed on my machine.

So I am installing it now. Hopefully it will solve my problem.

Interview Questions

2007-07-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

- Write a factorial function with C# in ONE LINE.

- What if you pass an array in a C# function change items in that array, and then try to access the content of the array outside of the function. Will be still see the changes the funciton made?
What if you use the out keyword?

(Druing the interview, I confused the out keyword and the ref keyword.)

- What is the new datatype provide in ADO.Net 2.0

- How to code HTML table?
(I can't believe that they are still coding HTML in notepad fashion. And they haven't move to CSS yet. .....)

- How do I effectively display 500 records on a DataGrid with paging , and with optimized both the network traffic and the machine resources?

Add Data Access block (Enterprise Library 3.1) to my project

2007-07-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here's how I add Data Access block (Enterprise Library 3.1) to my current project instead of adding the packaging to my solution:

- Install Enterprise Library 3.1
- After the installation done, find the source code directory.
- Copy the two folder "Common" and "Data" and the two files GlobalAssembllyInfo.cs and localtestrun.testrunconfig in a local directory.
- Include the two projects in my own project.
- Compile, and it should be fine.

To use it, include libraries like:
System.Data
System.Data.SqlClient
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data
System.Data.Common

Error when debugging ASP.Net 2.0 site with VS.Net 2K5?

2007-07-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well I resolved my problem by reading here.

(NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE) does not have write access -- same problem again

2007-07-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

I encounted the "The current identity (NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE) does not have write access to 'C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files'." error again, and this time I have to give access right to the user "NETWORK SERVICE". And the funny thing is that I DID NOT KNOW there's a user called "NETWORK SERVICE" before. Oh well, better late than never.

Proven: Visual Studio .Net 2003 Pro with Visual SourceSafe 2005 works

2007-06-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

I just tried and found it was successful: Visual Studio .Net 2003 Professional can work with Visual SourceSafe 20o5. Awesome. So I don't have to upgrade to VS.Net Enterprise edition, since all I care is the SourceSafe feature.

Version Controlling SQL Server 2000: Real World Experience

2007-06-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Finally, thanks to the MSDN document ("How to add SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedures to Visual SourceSafe by using Visual Studio .NET"), I successfully version controlled the staging database for the production SQL Server. Here's some of the experience that I gained along the way:

- Pay extra attention when entering the Source Control Project (Directory) Name for the database. DO NOT put $/ in the beginning, or otherwise you got tons of freaky error. So like if you want to put stuff in $/Staging_Database , just put "Staging_Database"

- The version control is done within VS.Net 2003 IDE, under Server Explorer-> Servers-> [whatever SQL Server you registred]. If things goes right, you can see the menu item "Add To SourceControl" will show up when you right click on the Store Procedure, or in each Store Procedure item.

- To version control your SQL Server, you HAVE to have VS.NET Control Server components installed on your SQL Server. Otherwise, you won't see the "Add To SourceControl" menu item showing up.

- I am a bit puzzled about why they only allow us to version control Stored Procedure. There are other objects in database that are worthy of version controlling, like table structure and such. Oh well.

- When a stored proc is version controlled, you will see a tiny lock in the SErver Explorer view.

Now I know why "Application Pool" is a selection

2007-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

I never tried to run two different version of APS.Net (1.1 and 2.0) on the same box, thus when I do such thing in the production box today, I saw something funny like this when I tried to access the ASP.Net 2.0 site that I deployed:

-------------------- (start) -------------------
Server Application Unavailable

The web application you are attempting to access on this web server is currently unavailable. Please hit the "Refresh" button in your web browser to retry your request.

Administrator Note: An error message detailing the cause of this specific request failure can be found in the application event log of the web server. Please review this log entry to discover what caused this error to occur.
--------------------- (end) -------------------------

So I followed the instruction and check the Application section of Event Log on the web server. Here's the message I got:

-------------------- (start) -------------------
It is not possible to run two different versions of ASP.NET in the same IIS process. Please use the IIS Administration Tool to reconfigure your server to run the application in a separate process.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
--------------------- (end) -------------------------

I see! And the solution is so simple! I went to MMC, right click on Application Pool section under IIS, and select [New][Application Pool ...] . I picked the "Use default setting" one and clicked OK. Finally I went to my web app and set the Application Pool of my web app to use the newly created Application Pool. Result? A successful ASP.Net 2.0 deployment.

Deploying ASP.Net 2.0 Application

2007-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that the logistic of messing with ASP.Net 2.0 is pretty new to me, but now that I have a chance to do the study and actually try out deploying ASP.Net 2.0 in a production environment, I don't want to pass the opportunity. Here are the steps and some tidbits about how to get it working:

- First finish the web application in Visual Studio .Net 2005
- Use Deploy Site to deploy the clean files (without source code and such) into a directory.
- On the server, created a new virtual directory, and set it to run ASP.Net 2.0
- Copy the files to the virtual directory.

If something failed, then maybe this is the first time the site having ASP.Net 2.0 deployed. You can fix the problem issues accordingly.

- If you got "Page not found", it's possible that ASP.Net 2.0 scripts was not being installed properly. First change directory to "drive:\%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727" then execute "aspnet_regiis.exe -sn W3SVC/1/ROOT/YourNewAppVirtualName". The problem should be fixed by then. [Reference]

- If you get "The current identity (NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE) does not have write access to 'C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files'." error, then need to make ASPNET account to have all the right on the "Temporary ASP.NET Files" directory. Make sure that you set it so that all the child folder also have that kind of privilege. [REference]

I can foresee that more prblem will be coming but ... oh well .. one at a time.

Orcas disappered

2007-05-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's great that I installed Orcas (Visual Studio .Net 2008 beta) on a VMware machine, because a while ago I tried to start it, as it give me something like component didn't exsist kind of mess. Sigh. Sorry, but I don't have time and patient to reinstall it again.

Beta fun with Microsoft

2007-05-16T16:32:00.001-07:00

Since I am currently jobless, I have more time to play with all the latest Microsoft beta products, especially when the VMWare run smoothly on my X60t even when I assigned 768Mb memory to VMWare.

I briefly played with the following two products today:

- Visual Studio .Net 2008 (Orcas) Beta 1
- Windows Server 2008 Beta Longhorn

Both products works pretty well under VMWare.

My impression of Orcas was that it included a lot of SDK into the application. Maybe it will allow the Development IDE to have better integration with these SDKs.

I also found that Longhorn server has a lot of fine grain configuration provided by the new Control Panel.

I definitely need to find some info online in order to explore these two products effectively.

Fun with Ajax ASP.Net Extension 1.0

2007-02-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

I need to prototype a site using Ajax ASP.Net Extension version 1.0. So far it's a fun experience. Here's some random tidbits:

- The easier way to kickoff an event after a user "Loss Focus" on a text box is :
* first put the text box in a Update Panel
* Turn on the AutoPostbox on the textbox
* Write code for the TextChanged event
Done. When the textbox off focus, it will automatically kick off the TextChange event.

- Seems like I need to install "ASPAJAXExtSetup.msi" on the server before I deploy any site created with the AJAX ASP.Net feature. (Yep. Confirmed)

- To view the Documentation, read the readme.txt inside the zip package.

- Deploying web application is a bit different in VS.Net 2005. Copy Web is gone. Now it's done this way:
* Right click on the web project.
* Select "Publish ..."
* Adjust the setting in the diaglog box. Pretty darn easy.

More to come ....

Cannot find free Bluetooth toolkit for .Net Framework 2.0

2007-01-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

I was disappointed that there's no open source or free library for developing Bluetooth software for .Net Framework 2.0 . Sigh.... glad that I didn't spent more than HK$25 for my Bluetooth USB adapter :-I .

First XNA task: import a model from graphic application

2006-12-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

My first task of dealing with XNA is to import some 3D models I created from 3D animation into XNA framework. From the online help of XNA I figured out that I need to get FXB Exporter for the corresponding 3D modelling application I use. Since the help file explictly said that it works great on "2006.11 version of 3D Max's FBX exporter", so that's what I will try first.

I use this Unity discussion pages as stepping stone, and found the FBX plugins for Lightwave and 3DStudio Max. (By the way, I may spent sometime to try out Unity later). Here you can get all the FBX plug in stuffs, while you can get the Lightwave plugs here.

BTW, when I started up my Lightwave 8.5 green app, the program bugged me for accessing the Net (as the request was stopped by my firewall). I have to allow it to do some stuff at least once, or it the application (both the modeller and animation tracker) will not work.

Game making

2006-12-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

I was a bit excited about the XNA which seems to a way to write game software using .Net Framework. I was particular excited about the fact that some tedious logistic aspect of game development, like moving Maya models to a coding environment, will be greatly reduced in complexity.

So I headed over to install the thing in VMWare. It requires C# 2005 Express even when I already have Visual STudio .net 2005 (later I realize that the reason was that they have a professional version to be released later this year that will integrated with Visual Studio .Net 2005). So I installed C#2K5 express and then the XNA Studio Express. All seems to work fine until I tried to run some demonstration.

The VMWare is not capable to run XNA Studio Express because of one big reasons: it doesn't emulate the DirectX accelerated hardware. I got this error message: "Direct3D hardware acceleration is not available or has been disabled." Besides, mapping a drive to a folder in removable harddisk also caused some security alert.

So I have no choice but install the C# Express on my desktop (I super rarely install app on my desktop these days unless I really really have to. Like now.)

All installed, and the demo went well. I will try to complete the first tutorial today.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished the Ghost In the Movie 2: Solid State City movie. I have to say that I was not too satisfy with it. However, I myself maybe the one to blame since I chopped off the viewing experience by watching a segment very once in a while. In fact, it took me about 2 weeks to completely finish this movie. Scary isn't it?

Programming Security with .Net Framework 2.0 - Seems like headache

2006-10-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

I was planned to write some code to set Security setting (like Policy setting) on a Windows Server 2003 box, but found that ...

- There's no easy way to write script to do that.
- If you want to write .Net code to do so, you need to use .Net Framework 2.0
- Even with .Net 2.0, write security related code is pain in the butt.

So turned out I gave up.

Problem I missed during today's interview

2006-08-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

I had problem answering question about Disposer regardingly to disposing some unmanaged resource. So I guess I need to read a bit about this before the next interview:

- Avoid C# Memory Leaks with Destructor and Dispose
- Demystifying Dispose
- From MSDN
- More From MSDN
- Top Ten Traps in C# for C++ Programmers

Windows Workflow foundation

2006-07-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was kind of interested in Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation after watching the dnrtv episodes about it, but was a bit disappointed that the technology is still in beta, and I can want to spend time on beta stuff as I have tons of other things working on already. Nevertheless this seems to be something worth looking into.

Visual SourceSafe 2005, good and bad

2006-06-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to install and use Visual SourceSafe 2005, and here's the tidbit I figured out along the way:

- You need Visual Source Safe 2005 to work with Visual Studio .Net 2005. VisualSourceSafe 6 won't work with VS.Net 2005.

- SourceSafe 2005 is no long a green application. Sigh :-<

- Visual SourceSafe 2005 can recognize SourceSafe 6 database and it works just fine.

- Visual SourceSafe 2005 is NOT included in VS.Net 2005 Pro. You have to find it in VS.Net 2005 TEam System DVD.

- To make VS.Net 2005 starts using Visual SourceSafe 2005, you need to go to [Tools][Option], and in SourceSafe section, set the Plug-in selection and Plug-in setting (for proper user name).

Fun with Dot Net Compact Framework 2.0 SP1

2006-06-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

To use Dot Net Compact Framework 2.0 SP 1 with Visual Studio .Net 2005
Step 1: uninstall Dot Net Compact Framework 2.0.
Step 2: Install Dot Net Compact Framework 2.0 SP 1
Done.

Installing .Net Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 Redistributable

2006-06-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

Once again, Microsoft's documentation failed to point out what shit needed to be done in order to be able to successfully Install .Net Compact Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 Redistributable.

I later figured out that I need to remove the Microsoft.Net Compact Framework 2.0 in order to get CF 2.0 SP1 installation running properly.

But unfortunately, along the process I accidentally removed Microsoft .Net Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 DEveloper. Now I don't have access to .Net Compact Framework 1.0 (the whole thing). Damn it.

DNR TV

2006-05-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

I wasn't have time to check out DNR TV until today. I am downloading some episode's now, and should give you some of my comments really soon.

MagicAjax

2006-05-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I settled with using MagicAjax instead of using Altas to development Ajax application because:

- It's open source.
- It supports ASP.Net 1.1
- It seems to work with my current production project so far.
- It's free.

Sweet. Compare AJAX framework for ASP.NET

2006-05-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

This comparison is totally awesome, because:

- It gives you a clear idea about what framework support ASP.Net 1.1
- It shows the pros and cons are each framework.

ASP.Net Atlas March 2006 CTP released

2006-03-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

At least, a kind of stable version of Altas released. This the Microsoft's answer to AJAX, a way of doing AJAX in ASP.Net fashion. You can try this demo page with any major browser like IE and FireFox. When you are ready, download the stuff from this ATLAS site. Then read more info on the ATLAS documentation.

Freaking App.config

2006-03-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

I learned this from hard way. It turns out that writing user data in app.config file is a BAD IDEA. And here's why with suggestion.

For reading the app.config file, you can read this .

ConfigurationManager.AppSettings

2006-03-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

It's good that I didn't jump into the VS.Net 2005 right away, since there's quite some gotta that people need to jump thru.

For instance, when I used ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings, I got a message saying that the object has been retired. I need to:

- Add reference to the System.Configuration.dll
- Use System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings instead.

Reference:
- ConfigurationManager.AppSettings
- Another reference

Finding Spelling Checker for Visual Studio.Net

2006-03-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

I was trying to find some spelling check add-on for Visual Studio .Net (since I found a free plug-in to do spelling check for IntelliJ IDEA, and thought VS.Net IDE needs to have one), and I can only find this Visual Studio 2005 Automation Sample, and it didn't work as expected. I wish I have money to buy this CodeSMART G2 for Visual Studio since it comes with a spelling checker. Sigh.

Oh, my friend found this: Spell Checker for VS.NET 2003 Add-in (v. 2.0)

Printing MSDN articles

2006-03-13T04:33:00.000-08:00

If you need to print any MSDN Library article, remember NOT to use FireFox. The printout will got all mess up. ONly the IE will print things out properly.

Search Files: .Net 2.0 Style

2006-03-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

I am writing an app that search and copy files, and found the following links help during my development process:

- Search for Files
- DirectoryInfo Class
- SearchOption Enumeration
- FileInfo Class
- Working with File Names