Brian H. Madsen - .Net Powered by Caffeine : ASP.Net

How to add a JavaScript file as a resource and reference it from a custom AJAX control

Brian Madsen — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:38:00 GMT

One of the problem areas of writing custom web control is the dependency you can get when referencing script files (such as javascript).

Another problem is ensuring that you always use the latest version of that file as well.

so how to overcome this? simple, add the javascript file as a resource and load it into the ScriptManager as a script reference.\

When you've written the javascript, in your control library project, simply go to your AssemblyInfo.cs file and add the following line:

assembly: WebResource("TestControl.Scripts.TestScript.js", "text/javascript")]

Where "TestScript.js" is the reference to the script file.

In your control's OnPreRender method you locate the ScriptManager in the current page and add the script reference:

protected override void OnPreRender(EventArgs e)
{
    var scriptManager = ScriptManager.GetCurrent(this.Page);
    if (scriptManager != null)
    {
        scriptManager.Scripts.Add(
            new ScriptReference
            {
                 Assembly = "TestControl.Scripts"
                 , Name = "TestControl.Scripts.TestScript.js"
                 , IgnoreScriptPath = true
            }
        );
    }

    base.OnPreRender(e);
}

Now you can easily reference functions within the javascript file or even run scripts, set up events etc, such as AJAX events.

Last step is simply to reference the assembly (TestControl.dll) in your ASP.Net project/Web Application and include the custom control in your page - voila..simple.

Service and support when it matters…Applied Innovations

Brian Madsen — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:48:19 GMT

A little while ago I was contacted by Kentico (www.kentico.com) with an offer for a free enterprise license of their CMS system. As I had planned on moving the Perth SQL Server User Group over to a site where we’re have a lot more control it came at a very convenient time.

With the offer came also a further offer for free web hosting for the CMS system – this was provided by Applied Innovations (www.appliedi.net (my apologies, got .com/.net switched around)) which is a hosting company.

We got the CMS system set up (or rather Kentico configured it for us) and we were off. The along came the first problem i face – the domain name. Naturally I wanted a .au domain name, but for me to get a .org.au domain name the user group needs to be incorporated (eg. a registered non-profit organisation), which carried a lot of benefits + administrative burdens. In the short timeframe there was no way i could get that organised.

So i registered two domains first, www.perthsqlserver.com and www.perthsqlserver.org, and set about getting it up and working. When i found the “Domains” tab in the Applied Innovations’ control panel (Helm i believe) i saw that it was set to perthsqlserver.org.au, as we had originally planned. So, delete and….oops…

Here came the biggest oops – I had inadvertedly deleted everything – domain, site and database. Christ!!!! Well, what can you do but to contact the service desk at Applied Innovations to figure out what I could possibly do to get things back. Now, generally you pay anywhere from $80 to $200 to have a backup restored which I was prepared to pay, just so i could get the system back up and running again.

First i noticed that there was an “online” chat – well, normally they’re closed for us in Australia, since it’s out of hours for most other countries, but i gave it a good try anyways.

First surprise was the message “Welcome to Applied Innovations’ LiveChat service. How may I help you today?”…woah, it was open for business.

The gentleman on the other line "- Scott Brown – listened to my newbie’ish (ok, total foolish mistake) and said simply – i’ll just have a look for you. Remember the domain, ip etc of the server..i had to admit i didn’t. Nevermind, he’d dig around a bit.

After a few minutes he came back and said “have a backup here from 5am this morning, will that do?”. I was literally gobsmacked..that fast, and then a backup that wasn’t a week old?

Naturally i told him that would do just fine – 10 minutes later my site, database etc had been restored for me..voila! as easy as that.

So, how’s that for a piece of service? Big thanks goes to Scott Brown, Applied Innovations, for helping a poor smuck like me out. When it comes to services on the internet today, a lot of companies fall through when it comes to delivering this support to their customers – and remember, i’m a freebie here – not a paid business class service holder which i’d pay big money for. No, this service came as a freebie in support of the community.

10 minutes guys…and i had a backup restored from earlier that day (literally 3-4 hours old). Even more surprised was i when Scott simply thanked off and asked me if there was anything else he could help me with.

We’re now up and running – the Perth SQL Server User Group has found a new home, thanks to Kentico and Applied Innovations. I’m still in the process of configuring everything, but for all sense and purposed we’ll be moving along fast and get everything fixed for us.

After having had a good thorough play around with the CMS system, I have to admit that it’s very intuitive and lends itself very easily to building and configuring a web site.

It works very much in the sense that you set up web part zones and apply web parts to them – very easy to manage and it’s extremely feature rich, with polls, calenders/events, sponsors, membership areas, articles etc available straight out of the box.

I’ll be doing a full review in the near future and will also attempt to do some development work with it – seems that plugging modules into the system is not only extremely easy, but also supporting the ASP.Net framework exceedingly well.

Kentico has also just launched a free edition – something a lot of CMS systems doesn’t have - http://www.kentico.com/Company/News/Kentico-CMS-Free-Edition.aspx

Technorati Tags: Kentico,Applied Innovations,CMS,ASP.Net

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .Net 3.5 SP1 released to RTM

Brian Madsen — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:38:28 GMT

I’m surprised that ScottGu didn’t post this news – but i guess he needs a well deserved rest after the work that’s been done with .Net 3.5 SP1.

Anyways, the long awaited Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .Net 3.5 SP1 has now finally reached RTM.

.Net 3.5 SP1 download can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AB99342F-5D1A-413D-8319-81DA479AB0D7&displaylang=en

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.

VS2008 SP1 can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FBEE1648-7106-44A7-9649-6D9F6D58056E&displaylang=en

Here’s some of the features that’s available in VS2008 SP1:

Class Libraries and Web Application Projects in Express
JScript Formatting
More Support for External JScript Libraries
Dynamic Data Templates
SQL Server 2008 Support
WCF Renaming Support
IIS Module and Handler Templates
Multiple Selection in Design View (new since SP1 Beta)
Ability to add ADO.NET Data Service Reference in web projects (new since SP1 Beta)

There’s also further releases available in conjunction with these two:

Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions with SP1 download available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F3FBB04E-92C2-4701-B4BA-92E26E408569&displaylang=en

Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition with SP1 - enables developers to rapidly create Web applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. This new version enables cool, fun features that build on the latest technologies including AJAX, CSS, LINQ and JavaScript IntelliSense.
Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition with SP1 – enables developers to rapidly create Windows applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. These new versions enable cool fun features that build on the latest technologies including WPF, WCF and LINQ.
Visual C# 2008 Express Edition with SP1 – enables developers to rapidly create Windows applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. These new versions enable cool fun features that build on the latest technologies including WPF, WCF and LINQ.
Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition with SP1 – is the development environment for creating native Windows applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. This new version includes an easy installation of the Windows Platform SDK.
SQL Server 2008 – SQL Server 2008 Express is a free full-feature database that is ideal for learning, creating and deploying Windows and Web data-enabled applications.
Also includes:
SQL Server Compact Edition.

IMPORTANT
If you have multiple Visual Studio products installed, you must upgrade all of them to SP1. If you have Visual Studio 2008 and one or more 2008 Express Editions, you cannot upgrade the Express Editions until you have upgraded Visual Studio.

Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1 download available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9E40A5B6-DA41-43A2-A06D-3CEE196BFE3D&displaylang=en

Support for Windows Server 2008.
Support for SQL Server 2008.
The Add to Source Control dialogs have been improved to be easier to use and more scalable.
Drag & Drop from Windows Explorer to add to Source Control.
Support for Version control operations on files not in bound solutions.
Right-click access to set Working Folder/Cloak of folders from within Source Control Explorer.
Check in date/time column in Source Control Explorer.
Editable path field for the Source Control Explorer.
Email work items and queries to someone.
A new API to download files to a stream.
Links to Team System Web Access pages from notifications.
Improvements to the number of projects per server.
Performance and scale improvements.
Improvements to the VSS converter to make it much more robust.
Support for creating Team Projects from the command line.

Since i’m handing my laptop in at the end of next week i’m not going to download this here, but i certainly will get my betas and previews etc replaced at home :)

and yes, this is fantastic news for sure!!!

ASP.Net MVC Framework articles

Brian Madsen — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:51:00 GMT

Naturally being in the web industry you HAVE to subscribe to Scott Guthrie's blog.

Lately he's been posting a lot of news on the ASP.Net MVC Framework - something I think has been missing from the .Net framework for a loooong time.

As always, Scott's thorough in his posts and these 5 take no exception to that:

If you want to have a sneakpeak at the framework, then download the ASP.Net 3.5 Extensions CTP from here: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/12/09/asp-net-3-5-extensions-ctp-preview-released.aspx.

Thanks for keeping us informed Scott!

New ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit Release - ScottGu's Blog

Brian Madsen — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:44:33 GMT

One thing about Scott Guthrie's blog is that there's always GOOD news coming from him. I know that he writes his own blog and doesn't have an assistant or some other write it for him.

I think Scott's blog was one of the first i ever subscribed to and have read ever since.

True to form, Scott just announced a new release of the ASP.Net AJAX Control Toolkit. fantastic!!

For more information about this release, and the numerous bug fixes, additions etc can be found on Scott's blog.

New ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit Release - ScottGu's Blog

On top of that there's also new ASP.Net AJAX videos available (already??) on the official ASP.Net website.

Perth Central Tafe Presentation - Professional .Net Development

Brian Madsen — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:13:25 GMT

Today I had the longest presentation i've yet to do - nearly 4hrs long - for Perth Central Tafe, a tertiary educational institution.

I broke the presentation down into 4 main groups:

.Net Framework - Overview of a development platform
ASP.Net - Working with the web
ADO.Net - Data manipulation and beyond
Tools of the trade - Visual Studio 2005, Expression Web and SQL Server 2005 Express

Here's a few screenshots - i used Office Powerpoint 2007 and the themes built it comes with per default..Actually quite happy with Powerpoint 2007 compared to earlier versions..

First slide..

history of ASP.Net

ADO.Net architecture

It was quite a success, but 4hrs is definitely a bit too long for only 1 presenter. I did give plenty of breaks, but for some reason each of my own "breaks" was taken up with answering questions...Still it was good to see the enthusiasm and how the interest spread quickly.

We also went over time by roughly 40 minutes as more questions came in - this time for how to implement interfaces and how to bind a custom collection to a GridView.

All in all, it was great - the organise, Helen Burgess covered her ankle brilliantly by providing me with plenty of coffee.

So, thanks for the introduction goes to Helen and to Perth Central Tafe for having me present.

Free SQL Server Training Videos...

Brian Madsen — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:14:17 GMT

The Godfather, Scott Guthrie, just informed people to the fact that they've just released a whole range, of brilliant imho, training videos for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Express over at www.asp.net.

When i first looked at the range of videos i was actually surprised with the contents - with basic database videos such as What is a Database and Understanding Database Tables and Records it brought me back to my earli(er) days. The videos range from about 30 odd miniutes and up to around 1hr long and they're fairly good quality.

When the surprised had settled a little smile crept out - when i consider how often i've expressed my opinion of how low skilled with databases a lot of developers really are, i can't help but think how appropriate these videos are. Instead of taking the tone of the big new features of SQL Server 2005 they've taken the time to get back to basics and cover what is essentially basic knowledge which i believe ANY developer should possess.

I know full well that nobody can cover every aspect of programming and the supporting technologies - there's simply just too much to absorb (though, with Scott i'm not sure mortal rules apply) - same really goes for people like Sahil Malik, Henrik Lykke Nielsen, Scott Hanselman, Greg Low, Greg Linwood (my very own favorite DB Guru) and of course the sexiest developer in the world - Chuck. Some of these guys are simply an inspiration to the development community.

taking in light the skills of these guys, it's not completely irresponsibly of me to hope, yes just hope, that databases would be covered in just a little part of the repertoire of skills we possess these days? I don't know if i'm more or less being fanatical and painting everybody else with my opinions - yes i know, oppressive isn't it...human rights and all that stuff!

But i don't think you realise how often it's seen today...a shame really because just to get up to scratch with a basic skillset you don't need to spend years working with it - so in saying that, i'm very happy to see the ASP.Net team at www.asp.net released the range of videos that they have.

Anyways - back on track - on post which i don't think i've seen before was also by Scott Guthrie (i know, does this guys ever sleep..or eat??), which was Tip/Trick: Online Database Schema Samples Library. Nice starter....it pointed to this which is a HUUUGE collection of schemas..i think there's at least 400 (if not more) sample schemas there.

Web Development Learning Series - by Frank Arrigo

Brian Madsen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:56:52 GMT

it's absolutely brilliant!

Microsoft has just released a new portal for Web Development.

Microsoft Web Development Learning Series which caters seriously for, well you guessed it, web development.

It addresses some rather curious topics, such as ASP.Net for PHP developers, ASP.Net for JSP developers, ASP.Net for Cold Fusion developers.

there's a whole host of hands-on-labs, live and on-demand web casts.

this is, by far the most usefull web site i've found so far (saw it on Frank's blog, obviously) to take a developer through the learning curve that is ASP.Net 2.0.

i'd even recommend it to the hard-core, already experience, developer as a refresher course :) never know what you haven't been exposed to yet or may have forgotten.

Cheers and happy coding.

Code crunching getting boring? Spice up your code with coding4fun

Brian Madsen — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 08:48:40 GMT

Believe it or not, but i actually wasn't aware of MSDN's Coding4Fun site until this weekend - i was looking for some info and saw this MSDN site linked on Live Search and thought..hmmm...click click click..open in new tab..

A whole host of applications and articles are plasted all over the site (nicely grouped of course). Excellent source and great entertainment when cutting that usual code is just getting a bit boring.

The categories are:

Click here to get started having some fun

Free Microsoft ASP.Net AJAX Hands-On Labs, by Ken Cox

Brian Madsen — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 08:15:52 GMT

My RSS feeds into Outlook finally started working and i caught up with a lot of news that i've manually had to chase down previoiusly, due to the fact that i had to go through a proxy server and it didn't allow me to grab the feeds.

Anyways - Scott Guthrie posted, like i do now, links from his own collection (think his was emailed to him) and one of the gems were links to some Hands-On Labs which had been translated from German and French into English by a fellow MVP- Ken Cox .

you can get the documentation and binaries from here.

Great work Ken!!

p.s. I should quickly mention that they were that i originally credited the work to Sascha P. Corti - which was inaccurate. Sorry Ken!

Goatlady (aka. Kay) shows some photos from the last port80 (AWIA) mini-talks.

Brian Madsen — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 10:52:33 GMT

Well, eventhough it was dark at the venue, Kay did seem to take some reasonably good shots (except she could have used a less "fat" one of me or at least airbrushed it a bit first).

http://goatlady.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/port80-perth-february-07/#comments

C# Code tips #4, Interfaces

Brian Madsen — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:57:00 GMT

One of the most important aspects of Object-Oriented Development is interfaces. By now, most developers would have touched on them from one time or another, but strangely enough, not many use them that often on a daily basis. So why is that? is it a lack of understanding how interfaces work? or is it simply because it does give you additional work, at least early on, that we don't bother with them?

It is a shame, because it's a very powerful way of allowing one object to be accessed by another. It also gives you the option (shouldn't really say option because i think it's almost a requirement to doing well-managed and segregated code) of seperating your UI logic from your Business Logic.

Here i'll show an example on how to utilise interfaces. mind you, for prosperity's sake it wont be a complete solution, but it should give you an idea on how to implement them.

This example, which is very simple, displays the content of an XML file, bound to a DataGrid - but it does show how to create a re-usable control.

I've create a solution with the following projects in it:

- Interfaces (simple aspx web site)

Books.xml

Default.aspx
- Controls (Class Library)

DataGridPanelControl.cs

IDataGridPanelControl.cs

First, we build our Control, which is a simple class that contains a Panel and a DataGrid

Code: DataGridPanelControl.cs

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Xml;

namespace Controls
{
    public class DataGridPanelControl : IDataGridPanelControl
    {
        #region Private member variables and objects
        private Panel m_gridContainer;
        private DataGrid m_dataGrid;
        #endregion
                
        public void Initialise(XmlDataSource xmlDataSource)
        { 
            // instantiate all objects required
            m_gridContainer = new Panel();
            m_dataGrid = new DataGrid();

            // create datagrid columns
            this.CreateDataGridColumns();

            // lets not auto-generate columns for the sake of argument
            m_dataGrid.AutoGenerateColumns = false;
            m_dataGrid.DataSource = xmlDataSource;
           
            // add GridView control to the panels
            // control collection.
            m_gridContainer.Controls.Add( m_dataGrid );
        }
        
        public Control GridPanel
        {
            get { return m_gridContainer; }
        }

        public void BindDataGridView()
        {
            m_dataGrid.DataBind();
        }

        private void CreateDataGridColumns()
        {
            BoundColumn businessColumn = new BoundColumn();
            businessColumn.DataField = "genre";
            businessColumn.HeaderText = "Genre";

            m_dataGrid.Columns.Add(businessColumn);

            BoundColumn isbnColumn = new BoundColumn();
            isbnColumn.DataField = "ISBN";
            isbnColumn.HeaderText = "ISBN";

            m_dataGrid.Columns.Add(isbnColumn);

            BoundColumn titleColumn = new BoundColumn();
            titleColumn.DataField = "Title";
            titleColumn.HeaderText = "Title";

            m_dataGrid.Columns.Add(titleColumn);

            BoundColumn priceColumn = new BoundColumn();
            priceColumn.DataField = "Price";
            priceColumn.HeaderText = "Price";

            m_dataGrid.Columns.Add(priceColumn);

        }
    }
}

Secondly, we need our interface.

Code: IDataGridPanelControl.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Xml;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;


namespace Controls
{
    public interface IDataGridPanelControl
    {
        void Initialise(XmlDataSource xmlDataSource);
        void BindDataGridView();
        Control GridPanel { get;}
    }
}

And to finish it all off, we just need to call the interface in our aspx.cs page. In this page you'll see a reference to a controlPlaceHolder which is a control i added in Design View - a Placeholder control. and the xmlBooks - a XmlDataSource control is also added in the Design View of the Default.aspx page.

Code: IDataGridPanelControl.cs

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

using Controls;

public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    #region Private member objects and variables
    private IDataGridPanelControl m_dataGridPanelControl;
    #endregion
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // initialise all objects
        m_dataGridPanelControl = new DataGridPanelControl();
        m_dataGridPanelControl.Initialise(this.xmlBooks);
                
        controlPlaceHolder.Controls.Add(m_dataGridPanelControl.GridPanel);

        m_dataGridPanelControl.BindDataGridView();
    }
}

That's how simple it is. a re-usable (well, pretty much useless datagrid - but it gets the point across) control..

and the XML file (Books.xml) contains this.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Books>
<book genre="Business" ISBN="BU1032" Title="The Busy Executive's Database Guide" Price="19.99" />
<book genre="Business" ISBN="BU1031" Title="The Busy Executive's KPI Reports Guide" Price="19.99" />
<book genre="History" ISBN="HI001" Title="The Rise and Fall of the VW Beetle" Price="25.00" />
<book genre="SCI-FI" ISBN="SF3263" Title="Monsters From Below" Price="9.95" />
<book genre="Kids" ISBN="KD7567" Title="Sally The Apple Girl" Price="5.85" />
<book genre="IT" ISBN="IT0001" Title="How To Waste Time - And Get Paid For It" Price="7.95" />
</Books>

Infragistic - NetAdvantage for WPF 2007 Volume 1 – Beta 1 released

Brian Madsen — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:55:00 GMT

yeps...WPF components from Infragistic. sweet looking toys for us big boys. http://www.infragistics.com/hot/wpf.aspx#NetAdvantageforWPFBeta get it there...(read more)

New idea - let readers suggest a topic to be covered

Brian Madsen — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:43:00 GMT

Sometimes you can get rather frustrated, that the exact scenario you're trying to solve a problem with, isn't documented on MSDN - or you end up finding 100s of tutorials which never really works in your case.

So, why not try something new - suggest a topic and i'll write up an article/tutorial/solution for it.

very simple - just bear in mind that i don't have unlimited resources at my disposal so i cant set up an enterprise environment, running a specific ERP together with a cluster of Oracle or SQL Servers.

also, please don't suggest anything even remotely related to MONO, MySQL or something that even touches on any Linux flavour...i left that world behind many years ago and i'm not going back.

To be on the same page - i'll list the platforms:

.Net
C#
.NET
SQL Server
.NET
Visual Studio
.Net

That pretty much sums it up...

I've put up a page for suggestions here

First request has come through - How to validate fields in a GridView.

Now i'm pretty sure there's other examples out there for this, but it's a place to start.

Note: Due to the high amount of spam directed at this post - i have disabled comments from it - if you have any questions or suggestions please just forward me an email through the contact section.

CSharpZealot.com needs a forum application...suggestions?

Brian Madsen — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:31:00 GMT

Well, the masterpages and controls are now created for the initial site schema of www.csharpzealot.com and i'm now working myself through houndreds of Forums/Bulletin Boards/Discussion Lists etc to see if i can find one that's suitable...

preferably it would be free - but i would be willing to pay for a license IF it would also get me the source code and rights to handle it in any way i saw fit (except reselling of course).

Looking at what is out there, here's a few items which i need to ensure is supported:

SQL Server 2005
ASP.Net 2.0
Extensible via modules OR API OR source code
C# (of course)
Forms and/or Windows authentication (either way it must be able to use custom authentication source)
Skinnable, via CSS and/or ASP.Net 2.0 Themes

Of course there's the question about basic functionality, but the following would be nice:

RSS or Atom feeds
Grouped/Cathegorised threads
Security grouping of users (eg. Role based security)

So, if anybody know of an application (off the shelf if need be), please let me know..Thanks guys.

www.csharpzealot.com gets its face sorted

Brian Madsen — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 05:27:00 GMT

My trustworthy designer, Andrew "Gerkin" Erkins has created the minimalistic design that i asked for.

one of the pet projects i'm trying to get off the ground is a C#.Net community - enter stage right, www.csharpzealot.com.

The design is done,now i just need to start coding up the site.

I'm currently planning on keeping the following "topics" mandatory:

ASP.Net (C#)
WinForms (C#)
SQL Server 2005 CLR Integration (C#)

The breakdown of each section is still to be determined, but i'm working on creating an "Author" portal for each section for registered "Authors" to publish their articles, tutorials etc. A blog may also become available at a later stage (still contemplating that one).

The sites fundamentals will be ASP.Net and Atlas. The data source will of course be SQL Server 2005. Other applications may be installed at some stage (such as sharepoint 2007) but is open for review at this stage.

For a quick review of the design click here

ASP.Net 2.0, ValidationGroup property article

Brian Madsen — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:05:00 GMT

Well, i was bored tonight (plus i have a pounding headache) so decided to fiddle around a bit and build the foundation for a larger article.

As i was putting the images and code together i thought i might as well write up a very small article for the ValidationGroup property.

It can be found here.

Anyways, no heckling is allowed...don't like the way i use the property, don't read the article :) j/k..anybody come up with another way of utilising the ValidationGroup property feel free to comment and/or send me a mail.

www.dailydevelopers.com - new Wiki

Brian Madsen — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:58:00 GMT

David Lemphers has always been a man of vision - and he's ever vigilant in getting in touch with the development community out there (he even presented for the Perth SQL Server UG some time back...i'll get him back to present for at my group again soon nudge nudge wink wink..).

Anyways, he's just launched a new initiative..a wiki...it's not a new concept, but it does run on Sharepoint 2007 which means i'll be going there constantly.

www.dailydevelopers.com << here it is..should be going REAL live pretty soon.

Note: due to the high amount of spam directed at this post - i have removed comments from it. If you have any questions just send me an email through the Contact section.

Darren Neimke - ASP.Net 2.0 Web Parts in Action - a must have!!

Brian Madsen — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 06:27:00 GMT

Another Aussie spreads his knowledge and this time its in a field which i know is sorely lacking quality content.

From speaking to Darren and feedback from other developers, he knows what he's talking about and i'm sure the book will be a hit!

a must have for your book shelf. i'm going to pre-order it myself now.....

the ETA for the release is September '06 and you can pre-order it from Amazon here - see details on the book itself and even download chapters for preview here

Microsoft® Expression® Web Designer

Brian Madsen — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:54:00 GMT

Well it's official - Microsoft has now taken up the gauntlet with Adobe/Macromedia and i hope they bloody their noses..

i for one cannot stand working with Dreamweaver since i'm more accustomed to the layout of Visual Studio so maybe Microsoft® Expression® will be a little brother to Visual Studio and also allow for the pixel pushers (eg. web designers) to interact completely with the developers.

I for one is going to have a look at it.

anyways, the CTP 1 has just been released and is available for download.

here