C# Distilled : C# Programming Language

CodePlex Project - CSharpDistilled.Diagnostics 1.0.0.3

DougHolland — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 06:24:00 GMT

You've probably noticed that it has been a few weeks since my last blog posting here and that is largely due to the fact that I've been working on a open source project called CSharpDistilled.Diagnostics.

While at Microsoft TechEd this year I got talking to the folks at the CodePlex area about the exciting things they were doing with exposing Microsoft Team Foundation Server through the Web for open source projects.

Uploaded tonight, is the first version of the CSharpDistilled.Diagnostics framework which includes the main C# library project, unit testing project, database project, and associated setup project. Although you'll need Visual Studio 2005 Team Developer or Team Suite to use the unit testing project.

CSharpDistilled.Diagnostics introduces a new framework for publishing exceptions, based upon the ASP.NET 2.0 Provider design pattern. Using this framework you can configure one or more exception providers within an application domain configuration file (e.g. app.config or Web.config) and at runtime the framework determines the appropriate provider to publish the exceptions to.

The default exception provider within the framework is the SqlExceptionProvider class, which is responsible for persisting exceptions within a SQL Server 2005 database. Within the database there is the Exception table which contains columns for the each of the properties defined within the System.Exception base exception class, however it also contains a column that uses the new XML column type, within SQL Server 2005, to enable the database to store the exceptions serialized using the .NET Framework's SoapFormatter class. The serialized exceptions will then allow developers to examine the various properties that may exist on exceptions derived from System.Exception.

When debugging exceptions that occur either within a development environment, or especially within a production environment, knowledge is power!!!

CSharpDistilled.Diagnostics is intended to provide that power such that .NET developers can sleep easy at night knowing that their exceptions are being published and that they'll be able to resolve the issues that caused the exception in the first place.

Although the project is listed as an alpha release on CodePlex the framework is fully functional and will persist exceptions, and the various inner-exceptions, to the SQL Server 2005 database. In reality it is alpha because I'd like to get as much feedback from people who download it before I release a beta release which will then be functionally complete and unlikely to change aside from some internal workings which may be tweeked before a final RTM build is made available.

So hopefully the alpha nature of the release won't stop you from downloading the framework and letting me know what you think.

Finally, once the framework has been released with one or two exception providers it is my intent to provide both a Windows Forms and ASP.NET based Diagnostics Management Studio, which would allow development teams to more easily search through exceptions that have been logged either in production or development environments. There is even a chance that the Diagnostics Management Studio will find itself as a plug-in to either Visual Studio 2005 or Microsoft Outlook 2007 (once released).

Windows Vista Build 5456 and .NET Framework 3.0 June CTP

DougHolland — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 10:47:00 GMT

Yesterday Microsoft released the June CTP of the newly renamed .NET Framework 3.0 which was previously known by the codename WinFX. You can download this CTP here:

.NET Framework 3.0 June CTP

Interestingly, this download page mentions that this CTP is intended only for users of Windows Vista Build 5456, Windows XP, or Windows 2003 Server. Those of you with a keen eye will notice that Windows Vista Beta 2 was build 5384, meaning that Microsoft must be about to release build 5456 to beta testers although it is unclear if this build will also be made available to MSDN subscribers. I would hope that it would be made widely available to MSDN subscribers so that they too can contribute to the quality, not only of Windows Vista, but of the .NET Framework 3.0 as it progresses towards the RTM milestone. If you install this CTP and have any suggestions or bugs to report I would advise you to surf on over to the Microsoft Product Feedback Center and log them there for Microsoft to triage and hopefully act upon accordingly. The Microsoft Product Feedback Center is now hosted on the Microsoft Connect website which has recently undergone a major revision.

In addition to the CTP build of the .NET Framework 3.0, a release candidate (RC) build of the Windows Workflow Foundation has also been released and can be downloaded here:

June CTP Available, RC Build of WF

Update June 24, 2006 1:08PM PST - Microsoft may well have uploaded Windows Vista Build 5456 as Microsoft Connect is suddenly very slow...

Update June 24 2006 1:35PM PST - Build 5456 of Windows Vista is now available for download on Microsoft Connect in both x86 and x64 editions.

Was an Assembly Built in Debug or Release Mode?

DougHolland — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:21:00 GMT

Sometimes you find yourself wondering if an assembly was compiled with or without the /debug compiler option, in the case of the C# compiler. The following download link will allow you to download a small C# program that given the path to an assembly will print either debug more or release mode to the console.

Basically this is determined by looking at the IsJITTrackingEnabled property of the DebuggableAttribute class as applied to the assembly in question. This property returns true if the runtime will track information during code generation for the debugger; otherwise, false.

Thanks to Bill for providing a blog posting in VB that this C# solution is based upon.

Notes: Within the Visual Studio 2005 solution that can be downloaded from this blog posting you will find three C# projects. The first of these projects, DebugBuild, contains the actual program that establishes if an assembly was built with the debug or release modes. Also within the solution are two other projects, Debug and Release, that are intended to allow you to test the DebugBuild program. These projects are simply new C# projects with only the Debug or Release configuration set, nothing more interesting than that there. If you have any questions regarding this code please contact me through the blog.

Chatting about LINQ and ADO.NET Entities

DougHolland — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:47:00 GMT

In preparation for Microsoft TechEd 2006 which begins this weekend in Boston; I've been absorbing as much information as I can regarding some of the future technologies that I plan to attend sessions for while at TechEd. These technologies include LINQ (Language Integrated Query) and the Windows Communication Foundation (previously known by the Microsoft code-name Indigo.

MSDN Channel 9 is an excellent resource for developers, and today I noticed that Anders Hejlsberg and Sam Druker are chatting about LINQ and ADO.NET Entities. The May CTP of LINQ is now available for download from the LINQ homepage

CLR via C#

DougHolland — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:55:00 GMT

Jeffrey Richter (Wintellect) has produced an awesome C# book in CLR via C# published by Microsoft Press.

Unlike many books on the C# programming language, which simply show you the syntax behind some programming concept as supported by the CLR, this book lifts up the hood to expose the inner workings of the CLR enabling the reader to appreciate the why as well as the how.

Incidentally, Jeffrey Richter will be presenting a two day virtual course entitled Effective Threading, which I would recommend to any developer who feels as though they would like to master threading and asychronous programming on the .net platform.

Mix06 Sessions Online

DougHolland — Fri, 26 May 2006 23:28:00 GMT

If you're interested in seeing where the future of web-based applications will take you then I would recommend you check out some of the sessions from the recent Mix06 conference, these sessions are now available online at http://sessions.mix06.com/.

Say Goodbye to Courier New within Visual Studio 2005

DougHolland — Fri, 26 May 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Tired of using the age old Courier New font for coding, well Microsoft now provides a new Consolas font which installs itself as the default font within Visual Studio 2005.

Sean Laberee within the Visual Studio Editor's blog, cautions that the Consolas font will only look good if you have ClearType enabled. Using the Appearance Tab of the Display applet within the Windows Control Panel you need to ensure that the check box "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" is checked and that it is set to Clear Type.

Just when you thought C# couldn't look any better...

Get the Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" LINQ May CTP

DougHolland — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:41:00 GMT

Microsoft wants you to get the "Orcas" LINQ preview code and tell them if you believe they are taking the .net framework in the right direction, including in this preview are C# and VB samples and walkthroughs showing you how the next version of Visual Studio will change the way you develop code.

Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" LINQ May CTP

Visual Studio Orcas Class Designer

DougHolland — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 19:58:00 GMT

Unfortunately I'm not about to divulge Microsoft's plans for the Visual Studio Orcas Class Designer but rather discuss some enhancements that I'd really like to see included in the Orcas release of this wonderful addition to the Visual Studio environment. If you agree with any of these suggestions then I would encourage you to surf on over to the MSDN Product Feedback Center and then vote on the suggestions. The FDBK numbers below are hyperlinked to the suggestions within the Product Feedback Center.

FDBK24225 Display Custom Attributes on Class Diagrams

Class diagrams should show custom attributes adorning the types shown within class diagrams, including those adorning the fields, methods, properties, events, etc. Custom attributes could be shown within the class diagram using either a language specific notation (e.g. [Serializable] in C# and in VB) or in a language neutral notation not too dissimilar to UML stereotypes.

FDBK23744 Visual Differencing of Class Diagrams

With most UML tools I've ever used from IBM/Rational Software and other vendors, there hasn't been an ability to perform differencing at the diagram level although this would be an exceptionally powerful feature. I've seen this feature implemented in IBM/Rational Software Architect 6.0 although this is the only tool that I'm aware of that provides support for visual differencing

FDBK23695 Class Designer Interface Realization Association

It would be nice when the interface is shown on the class diagram in its class form rather than the lollipop notation for a dashed realization association to be shown and optionally hidden if the diagram becomes too chaotic.

FDBK23743 Support for Design Pattern Wizards in Visual Studio Class Designer

This was a feature that was really useful with Rational XDE for Visual Studio 2003, the ability to apply design pattern wizards for the Gang-of-Four design patterns; especially if the wizard infrastructure allowed for extensibility with other pattern wizards provided either by the developer themselves or by Microsoft and third parties.

FDBK11348 Visual Debugging using Sequence Diagrams

Not directly related to the class designer which shows static code structure, but what would be an excellent debugging tool (similar to the Visual Trace tool in Rational XDE for Visual Studio 2003) is the ability to generate sequence diagrams showing the execution path for a set of types that are ‘watched’ in a given debugging session.