Onteora Software

BlogEngine .Net

Blog Author — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:48:24 GMT

I moved my blog today over to BlogEngine .Net today. It is a nice blog engine that stores the blog entries in xml. You can also publish blog entries with windows live writer or Word 2007.

To keep my existing links working I added to the rewriter class in the BlogEngine.Core. I created an xml file which stores the OldUrl and the NewUrl to rewrite to. I store the urls I am rewriting in an xml (rewrite.xml) file in the App_Data directory

In the UrlRewrite class I changed the context_BeginRequest procedure to this.

private void context_BeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
HttpContext context = ((HttpApplication)sender).Context;
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
int intStart = context.Request.RawUrl.IndexOf('/', 8) + 1;
string UrlPart = context.Request.RawUrl.Substring(intStart);
ds.ReadXml(context.Server.MapPath(@"~/App_Data/rewrite.xml"));
DataRow[] dr = ds.Tables["Urls"].Select("OldUrl Like '" + UrlPart + "'", null);
if (dr.Length > 0)
{
      string s = dr[0]["NewUrl"].ToString();
      if (s.Contains(@"/"))
      {
          // if rewrite path is not in same directory we have to redirect
          context.Response.Redirect(s);
      }
      else
      {
          // we can use repath if in same directory
          context.RewritePath(s);
      }

return;
}

if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains(".aspx"))
{
    if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("/post/"))
    {
      RewritePost(context);
    }
    else if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("/category/"))
    {
      RewriteCategory(context);
    }
    else if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("/page/"))
    {
      RewritePage(context);
    }
    else if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("/author/"))
    {
        string author = ExtractTitle(context, "/author/");
        context.RewritePath("~/default.aspx?name=" + author + GetQueryString(context), false);
    }
    //else if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToLowerInvariant().Contains("/tag.aspx/"))
    //{
    // string tag = ExtractTitle(context, "/tag.aspx/");
    // context.RewritePath("~/default.aspx?name=" + tag + GetQueryString(context), false);
    //}
}
}

The XML file Rewriter.xml in the App_Data directory to store the Urls to rewrite

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<DocumentElement>
<Urls>
<OldUrl>sitemap.aspx</OldUrl>
<NewUrl>sitemap.axd</NewUrl>
</Urls>
</DocumentElement>

I also added a webpage rewrite.aspx in the admin/pages directory for editing the Urls

<%@ Page Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/admin/admin1.master" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Rewrite.aspx.cs" Inherits="admin_Pages_Rewrite" Title="URL Rewrites" %>
<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="cphAdmin" Runat="Server">
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblOld" Text="Old Url" ></asp:Label><asp:TextBox runat="Server" ID="txtOld"></asp:TextBox><br />
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="New Url" ></asp:Label><asp:TextBox runat="Server" ID="txtNew"></asp:TextBox><br />
<br />
<asp:Button ID="btnAdd" runat="server" OnClick="btnAdd_Click" Text="Add" /><br />

<asp:GridView runat="server" ID="gridRewrite" AutoGenerateColumns="false" UseAccessibleHeader="true" Width="100%" HeaderStyle-HorizontalAlign="left">
<Columns>
    <asp:BoundField DataField="OldUrl" HeaderText="<%$ Resources:labels, OldUrl %>" />
    <asp:BoundField DataField="NewUrl" HeaderText="<%$ Resources:labels, NewUrl %>" />
    <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="<%$ Resources:labels, delete %>">
      <ItemTemplate>
        <a href="?delete=<%# Eval("OldUrl") %>" onclick="return confirm('<%# string.Format(Resources.labels.areYouSure, Resources.labels.delete.ToLower(), Eval("OldUrl")) %>')"><%=Resources.labels.delete %></a>
      </ItemTemplate>
    </asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
</asp:Content>

The code behind

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Collections;
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;

public partial class admin_Pages_Rewrite : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        DataSet ds = new DataSet();
        string strPath = Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/rewrite.xml");
        ds.ReadXml(strPath);
        if (!Page.IsPostBack)
        {
            if (Request.QueryString["delete"] != null)
            {
                DataRow[] dr = ds.Tables["Urls"].Select("OldUrl ='" + Request.QueryString["delete"].ToString() + "'", null);
                try
                {
                    ds.Tables["Urls"].Rows.Remove(dr[0]);

                }
                catch (Exception)
                {
                    System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print("Not found");
                }
                ds.WriteXml(strPath);
            }
        }
        gridRewrite.DataSource = ds.Tables["Urls"];
        gridRewrite.DataBind();
    }
    protected void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string strPath = Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/rewrite.xml");
        DataSet ds = new DataSet();
        ds.ReadXml(strPath);
        DataRow dr = ds.Tables["Urls"].NewRow();
        dr["OldUrl"] = txtOld.Text;
        dr["NewUrl"] = txtNew.Text;
        ds.Tables["Urls"].Rows.Add(dr);
        ds.WriteXml(strPath);
        Response.Redirect("rewrite.aspx", true);
    }
}

Paging a Windows Forms DataGridView with LINQ

Blog Author — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:48:23 GMT

Since Visual Studio 2008 is due out by the end of the Month I am updating some of my datagridview samples for LINQ.

To start off create a new windows forms application in VS 2008 make sure you select FrameWork 3.5 so you can use linq

I now added a new Linq to Sql designer to the project and named it Northwind. Drag the Northwind Products Table on to the design surface from the Server Explorer.

On your windows forms add a DataGridView (DataGridView1) and a NumericUpDown control (nuPage). For this example I will have the datagridview show 15 items at a time. In the form load event we will figure out how many pages there are and load the first 15 items into the datagridview. In the NumericUpdown controls value changed event we will update the data displayed

Public Class Form1
Dim bs As New BindingSource

Private intPages As Integer
Dim db As New NorthwindDataContext

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        intPages = Math.Ceiling(db.Products.Count / 15)
        nuPage.Maximum = intPages
        nuPage.Minimum = 1
        Dim p = From prod In db.Products _
                Select prod Skip 0 Take 15
        bs.DataSource = p
        bs.AllowNew = False
        DataGridView1.DataSource = bs
    End Sub

    Private Sub nuPage_ValueChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles nuPage.ValueChanged
        Dim p = From prod In db.Products _
                Select prod Skip (nuPage.Value - 1) * 15 Take 15
        bs.DataSource = p
    End Sub
End Class

Silverlight 3 Could Not download the silverlight Application

Blog Author — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

I created a simple Silverlight 3 app.

When I run it I get this error

Line: 56
Error: Unhandled Error in Silverlight Application
Code: 2104
Category: InitializeError
Message: Could not download the Silverlight application. Check web server settings

Well if you look in the ClientBin folder you will see it is empty so the xap file is not available to be used

To fix this right click on the web application and select Build Order. On the Dependencies tab make sure the Checkbox next to the Silverlight app is checked.

Space Coast .Net Meeting – June 16, 2009 John Papa

Blog Author — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

John Papa - Ado.Net Data Services

6/17/2009 6:30:00 PM

6/17/2009 8:00:00 PM

About

John Papa is a Microsoft C# MVP, INETA speaker, member of the WPF and Silverlight Insiders, consultant, speaker, author, and trainer for ASPSOFT who specializes in professional application development with Microsoft technologies including Silverlight, WPF, C#, .NET and SQL Server. John has written over 70 articles and authored 9 books including his latest book Data Driven Services with Silverlight 2 by O’Reilly Media. John is currently working on a follow up to his Silverlight book, with a working title of Silverlight for Business.

He can often be found speaking at industry conferences such as MIX, VSLive and DevConnections, speaking at user groups around the country, and viewed on MSDN Web Casts. John also spearheaded the 1^st annual Silverlight MIXer, a gathering of some of the most influential members of the Silverlight community for a great night a MIX09. You can always find John at johnpapa.net.

John Papa will be showing Astoria using Silverlight 3 beta as the client.

ADO.NET Data Services (codenamed Astoria) exposes entity models through RESTful services. It can dramatically simplify the code required to expose business objects through web services and reduce a tremendous amount of code. This session will show how to expose entity models using ADO.NET Data Services, how to consume and save data, and how to debug the communications using various tools. When the technology does not quite do what you need out of the box, it also allows for customizations to create custom service operations, intercept queries, and enforce permissions. Attendees will walk away with an understanding of the capabilities of ADO.NET Data Services, how to use them with Silverlight, and when and where it is ideal to use in an application architecture and when there are better options.

Street: 8045 N. Wickham Road
City: melbourne
Country: USA
State: Florida

Windows 7 RC User Profile Service Failed the Logon

Ken Tucker — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:40:22 GMT

I upgraded my laptop the other day to use Windows 7 RC. I am really liking the speed improvements and the windows virtual pc that it comes with. Dont forget to enable virtualization on your microprocessor in your computer's bios settings if you want to use windows virtual pc.

The other day after the upgrade I was not able to log into my account. I got an message User Profile Service Failed the Logon. The error was caused by a messed up registry key for the user profile for my account. Well I was able to boot into safe mode and follow the instructions in this post in the Windows Vista Forums and fix the problem.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/130095-user-profile-service-failed-logon-user-profile-cannot-loaded.html

Hope this helps

Getting Windows Mobile Device ID

Ken Tucker — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:10:32 GMT

I got email today asking me how to get the device ID from a pocket pc with vb

Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    <System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("coredll.dll")> _
Private Shared Function GetDeviceUniqueID(ByVal appdata As Byte(), ByVal cbApplictionData As Integer, ByVal dwDeviceIDVersion As Integer, ByVal deviceIDOuput As Byte(), ByRef pcbDeviceIDOutput As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    Private Function GetDeviceId(ByVal appData As String) As Byte()

        Dim appDataBytes As Byte() = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(appData)
        Dim outputSize As Integer = 20
        Dim output(19) As Byte

        Dim result As Integer = GetDeviceUniqueID(appDataBytes, appDataBytes.Length, 1, output, outputSize)

        Return output

    End Function

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim sbId As New StringBuilder

        Dim bID() As Byte = GetDeviceId("MyAppName")

        For Each b In bID
            sbId.Append(String.Format("{0:x2}", b))
        Next

        Debug.WriteLine(sbId.ToString)
    End Sub
End Class

References

http://www.peterfoot.net/GetDeviceUniqueIDForVB.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms893522.aspx

Microsoft Patterns & Practices’ Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight now in VB.NET!

Ken Tucker — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:35:09 GMT

The Patterns and Practices team has released VB versions of the Quick Starts, Hands on Labs, and How to Topics. You can download them here

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=537da1cd-43e1-4799-88e7-a1da9166fb46

Silverlight 2.0 Interacting with html

Ken Tucker — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:28:44 GMT

With SilverLight 2.0 you can interact and handle events with the html elements on your page. Here is a simple example that places a select (drop down control) on a web page which will change the color of a ellipse on a SilverLight app. So lets start with the html

<body style="height: 100%; margin: 0;">
    <form id="form1" runat="server" style="height: 100%;">
    <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">
    </asp:ScriptManager>
    <br />
    <span>Select a Color </span>
    <select id="ddColor">
        <option>Red</option>
        <option>Blue</option>
        <option>Green</option>
    </select>
    <br />
    <br />
    <div style="height: 100%;">
        <asp:Silverlight ID="Xaml1" runat="server" Source="~/ClientBin/HtmlAndSilverlight.xap"
            MinimumVersion="2.0.30923.0" Width="100%" Height="100%" />
    </div>
    </form>
</body>

Now the XAML

<UserControl x:Class="HtmlAndSilverlight.Page"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Width="400" Height="300">
    <Canvas x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="Tan" >
        <Ellipse x:Name="el" Width="400" Height="300" Fill="Red"></Ellipse>
    </Canvas>
</UserControl>

Now build the app so we have intellisense for the controls. Ok first off lets get access to the drop down (select) on the web page. Then we can use AttachEvent to handle the onchange event.

Dim cbo As HtmlElement
Private Sub Page_Loaded(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs) Handles Me.Loaded
    cbo = HtmlPage.Document.GetElementById("ddColor")
    cbo.AttachEvent("onchange", AddressOf ColorChanged)
End Sub

Once the user selects a color we will change the color of the ellipse. Here is the complete code listing

Imports System.Windows.Browser 

Partial Public Class Page
    Inherits UserControl 

    Public Sub New()
        InitializeComponent()
    End Sub
    Dim cbo As HtmlElement
    Private Sub Page_Loaded(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs) Handles Me.Loaded
        cbo = HtmlPage.Document.GetElementById("ddColor")
        cbo.AttachEvent("onchange", AddressOf ColorChanged)
    End Sub 

    Private Sub ColorChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As HtmlEventArgs)
        Dim x = CInt(cbo.GetAttribute("selectedIndex").ToString)
        Select Case x
            Case 0
                el.Fill = New SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red)
            Case 1
                el.Fill = New SolidColorBrush(Colors.Blue)
            Case 2
                el.Fill = New SolidColorBrush(Colors.Green)
        End Select
    End Sub
End Class

Hope this helps

Making a REST service with VB and WCF

Ken Tucker — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:25:51 GMT

REST which stands for Representational State Transfer is a way of sending data over the Internet without an additional message layer. Standard web services use soap for there message header. In this example we will create a service that uses the northwind database to send a list of the products for a category.

Lets start by create a new VB web application. In that web application add a Ado.Net Entities data model. In that class add the northwind database's product class.

Now add a service named Service1 to the web application. Lets start by modify the web.config for the service to support rest. First remove the ServiceBehavior section and add a endpointBehaviors section for webHttp. In the endpoint we have to change the binding to webHttpBinding and the behaviorConfiguration to the webBehavior we created.

    <system.serviceModel>
        <behaviors>
      <endpointBehaviors>
        <behavior name="webBehavior">
          <webHttp/>
        </behavior>
      </endpointBehaviors>
        </behaviors>
        <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="True"></serviceHostingEnvironment>
        <services>
            <service name="RestTest.Service1">
                <endpoint address="" behaviorConfiguration="webBehavior" binding="webHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="" contract="RestTest.IService1">
                </endpoint>
            </service>
        </services>
    </system.serviceModel>

When we added the service we got 2 items the wcf service and an interface for the service. Before we go any further we need to add a reference to system.servicebehavior.web

In the Interface we need to define the how the categoryId is passed to the service. In this example it expects product/categoryID in the url for the service

Imports System.ServiceModel
Imports System.ServiceModel.Web 

<ServiceContract()> _
Public Interface IService1 

    <OperationContract()> _
    <WebGet(UriTemplate:="Product/{categoryID}", ResponseFormat:=WebMessageFormat.Xml, BodyStyle:=WebMessageBodyStyle.Bare)> _
    Function GetProducts(ByVal categoryId As String) As List(Of Products) 

End Interface

In the service we need to set the AspNetCompatibilityMode and write some code to return the products

Imports System.ServiceModel.Activation 

<AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode:=AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Allowed)> _
Public Class Service1
    Implements IService1 

    Public Function GetProducts(ByVal categoryId As String) As System.Collections.Generic.List(Of Products) Implements IService1.GetProducts
        Dim dc As New NorthwindEntities
        Dim q = From p In dc.Products Select p Where p.CategoryID = CInt(categoryId)
        Return q.ToList
    End Function
End Class

To call the service you would use a url like http://localhost:2050/Service1.svc/Product/7

you will get an xml file like this returned

Rendering problems with IE8

Ken Tucker — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:18:37 GMT

Microsoft released IE8 during Mix 2009. Microsoft spent a lot of time making IE8 comply with the browser standards. When you upgrade your browser to IE8 if you find the web site does not render right. Do not worry there is a simple fix for this.

There is a tag you can place in the Head section of your webpage which will force IE8 into IE7 compatibility mode.

<html>
<head>
  <!-- Mimic Internet Explorer 7 -->
  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />
  <title>My Web Page</title>
</head>

For more info on IE8 compatibility read this article

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288325(VS.85).aspx

Hope this helps