Solution
- Foundation3 with default CSS
- Foundation3 with SCSS (Sassy CSS, which is the syntax used by SASS – "Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets". SASS is an extension of CSS3 which brings familiar programming concepts to CSS like variables, nesting of selectors, functions aka mixins)
- Opened the design of table1 using SQL Server Management Studio.
- Selected the last 4 columns.
- Ctrl+C.
- Opened the design view of table2
- Ctrl+V
- Introduction to LINQ-SQL
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Understanding Data Context
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Mapping Schemas to Classes
-
Inserting data
-
Deleting
-
Updating
-
Joins with LINQ-SQL
-
Working with NULLs
- Understanding When queries execute
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Deferred loading of related entities
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Querying wth Stored procs
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Updating with Stored Procs
- Transactions
- I get to read the book as collegues expect something every day.
- I also get to summarize what I have read (best method to retain knowledge is to share it).
- Collegues also get to read the book at a glance.
No more flickering of my 4K external screen
Finally after many years of frustration, managed to stop the flickering of my 4k monitor when it was connected to my surface book. Turns out that the setting in Edge “Use graphics acceleration where available” was the culprit. As soon as I turned it off, I think the built-in Windows algorithm that decides to switch the graphics card, stopped doing it and now, I have a peaceful screen helping me focus on building Semantic Data Model.
Making Git Bash, SSH only GIT Remote, Pageant dance together
Given a SSH only GIT Repo, was unable to git clone the repo, despite my public key being successfully stored in the remote repo’s authorization_keys file.
The git clone command invoked from within the git bash kept prompting for password, but could not authenticate for some bizarre reason. Thought it could be some proxy issue. But no, was able to ping successfully to the server hosting the git repo.
Then came the saviour. Pageant.exe, which gets installed when PuTTy SSH client gets installed in windows. Pageant runs on the system tray and serves like a vault of .ppk keys. After adding my ppk to it, was able to successfully connect to the server using putty. Then I thought git clone will also work. But No. Apparently an environment variable GIT_SSH pointing to plink.exe (found within the putty installation directory) is needed. After adding that, I was able to git clone the repository without it prompting me for a password.
Getting started with SaSS, Foundation, Compass on Windows, for PHP web application development
My friend wanted to get started with using Foundation for an upcoming Greenfield project. The trouble is Foundation comes in two flavours:
The Compass framework does not have a Windows Installer. It is only available as a Ruby Gem package, which means we have to install Ruby for Windows first. After this, we follow the following steps to get Compass with Foundation:
Start Command Prompt with Ruby (Run as Administrator)
Cross-Domain, Ajax Fundamental understanding
I had promised my students that we would implement a “Find nearest XXXX” feature in our on going project. I was doing this for the first time and thought it would not be difficult. But, most of my time while preparing for the class, I was frustrated.
I could not come up with a WCF Web Service (hosted on Visual Studio’s development web server eg., [localhost/MyService...](http://localhost:1234/MyService.svc) ) that could be invoked by Javascript on my website (hosted again on Visual Studio’s development web server eg., [localhost/MyWebsite...](http://localhost:9876/MyWebsite/Default.aspx) ).
Due to time constraints, I abandoned the WCF Service implementation and went in for the ASP.NET Ajax Page Methods
It’s only after reading this nice article, I understand the mistake I made or the way the cross-domain web requests work.
Mash-it Up with ASP.NET AJAX: Using a proxy to access remote API
TIP: Copy/Paste Columns to Multiple Tables in SQL Server
Here is a tip I discovered today while at work. I had earlier postponed the addition of common columns needed for all the tables (columns needed for auditing purposes like AddedDate, AddedBy etc.). But, the time had come now to type in and set the properties for columns on all tables one by one. I finished adding these columns to the first table. When on the second table, my laziness kicked in and wanted an easier way to do this mundane task. So,
Remote access of SQL Server from Host Machine
I use Vista running on a Virtual PC as my development environment (I used to use WinXP, but then came along Windows Azure which required either Vista or Win Server 2003). The usage of SQL Server Management Studio on the Virtual PC was slowing down the system. So, I wanted to use my Host Operating System to access the SQL Server using SQL Management Studio. By default the SQL Server engine is configured to minimise the surface of attack. So, remote access to the sql server engine is also not enabled.
To access remotely, the TCP/IP protocol needs to be enabled, using the SQL Server Configuration Manager.
Start SQL Server from Command Line
I run a Virtual PC with Vista 32-bit as Guest operating system for my software development purposes. This VPC is quite slow despite taking measures to shut down various background services.
For reasons beyond my understanding (and me not willing to investigate on it), whenever a MMC console window is opened, CPU usage spikes to 100%. It was frustrating to to start SQL Server Engine by going to the services.msc console. So, I found a way to start SQL Server service from command line.
Please click on above image to see the command in clarity.
LINQ-SQL Nuggeting
On my recent project, I had to help my co-developer get an understanding of LINQ-SQL (Yes, I am aware that LINQ-SQL has been shelved by M$).
I remembered the brilliant MSDN Nuggets that were produced by the evangelist teams here in Microsoft UK. These were helpful short videos organised by tags based on technology/interests. They are even now hosted in MSDN UK web site. But, they have a search facility instead of the earlier tags/categories. I generally don't lend myself to searching on MSDN despite it insisting "live search" with green coloured attractions. So, felt a bit disappointed at the difficulty in locating nuggets for a specific technology/interest.
I just opted to view all the nuggets by Mike Taulty. Eventually picked up the list of nuggets for LINQ-SQL that might be of immediate help to my co-developer.
Hope that helps my friend to get up to speed with this project.
Web client software factory - Hands-on-lab
Having decided on giving the WCSF a try, I had a pretty smooth experience with installing WCSF.
The February-2008 release of WCSF does not use the Enterprise Library 4.0. It uses Enterprise Library 3.1. Although, the EntLib 3.1 is sufficient for WCSF-Feb'08, it just feels good to have and build upon the latest version. It took a few careful steps to get the WCSF working with EntLib 4.0. And even after that, at times, the guidance packages generate code that still uses EntLib3.1. This is not a major problem because I was able to re-reference the projects to the latest EntLib 4.0 assemblies.
The foremost concept to understand is the Modular structuring of the Web Application.
Then comes the understanding of Model-View-Presenter pattern. It took a while for me to figure out the role of Controller.
There is also the concept of a Service that gets consumed by a Controller. This Service has nothing to do with Web Services.
In fact, there is much more fundamentals to understand than I could discover in the hands-on-lab sessions.
The best resource (and by far the best writing) to explain concepts related to WCSF is Simon Ince's blog series. His posts made me understand the purpose of WCSF and have also inspired me on the various architectural considerations.
From VSS to CVS; From CVS to SVN
Hmm…..After VSS came CVS and now after CVS it’s time to try out SVN!
Yesterday, I was finally determined to make my machine a build system(with WinXP SP2 Pro) for which I had to install and configure CruiseControl.NET. For which I had to install VSS. Then I thought of CVS (because, I was comfortable with CVS way of doing things for the past 1 year). Oh…then I thought of SVN (because, SVN is to be a compelling replacement for CVS).
The best part of SVN is the availability of the free e-book which is quite exhaustive. I was indeed more happy to read the TortoiseSVN e-book because it gave detailed steps to install the SVN Server and not just the TortoiseSVN Client.
Since I did not have Apache Web Server in my system, I prefered the SVNServe type of SVN Server which listens on port 3690. With that I had my svn server setup but before running the server, I read a piece of information in the book which said that the svnserve.exe can be run as a windows service using a wrapper called SVNService. Without much thought, I tried running the svnserve as windows service.
But, to my despair when I tried to view the repository which I had just created using TortoiseSVN, I could not find the repository using the repo-browser of TortoiseSVN. Something has gone wrong somewhere….After 30 minutes, I started to suspect the SVNService wrapper. So, instead of going to that level of abstraction, I decided to run the svnserve manually using command prompt. And lo there was Windows XP SP2 in action asking my permission to unblock the port 3690. Phew! that was a relief. After unblocking it, I reverted back to SVNService.
There ended my initial adventure with SVN which was quite less exciting than my earlier ones with CVS and TortoiseCVS. I am expecting the real thrill when I start using ASP.NET application with SVN.
A Virtual Day with Virtual PC 2004
Today was a day dedicated to Virtual PC 2004.
My colleague (infact classmate) Ankur was the first one to have installed Virtual PC 2004 and have it up and running. His setup was quite surprising. He was able to install Virtual PC 2004 on a Windows XP Home edition. His one and only GUEST machine was Windows Server 2003. Infact, Virtual PC 2004 does not officially support this setup. Ankur’s need was quite different than mine. Since he had a laptop and a desktop computer he could afford for that kind of setup wherein he would be using the Windows Server 2003 for SQL Server 2000 and Source Control.
Since I don’t have the comfort of having a separate physical server, I wanted to install Windows Server 2003 as my GUEST machine with the HOST being a Windows XP Professional. The idea was to create a Virtual Network with the HOST and GUEST being the only nodes in the network. The excellent help provided by Virtual PC 2004 was useful only to get started.
I had to first install the new network adapter(Microsoft Loopback Adapter) using Add Hardware Wizard on my HOST machine and provide the HOST with a static IP address (192.168.1.1) for the connection associated with LoopBack Adapter. The similar proceedure was followed in my GUEST machine with the IP address being 192.168.1.2. I also changed the number of network adapters for the GUEST machine in the Virtual PC Console to include the Microsoft Loopback Adapter.
I restarted my GUEST machine and expected my HOST to detect the GUEST.
That looked like a distant future for me. Basically I could not get it to work. On googling, I found a link to a Virtual PC guy’s blog which explains a subtle problem. A chicken and egg kind of problem is what he says. Oh…and here is the actual Virtual PC guy’s blog. Now then I had to realize it will take quite more strain to make this thing work or conclude that it will NOT work. At this point I give up for the day and go to reality by taking a nap and iterating on this stuff tomorrow……..
LINKS:
My first experiments with NUnit and NAnt!
Finally I got a chance to use these tools (NAnt and NUnit)
The first to be used was NUnit 2.2 and had problems using it because I don’t have permissions to install any assemblies into the .NET 1.1 Global Assembly Cache. So, I had to obtain the source and did the manual installation of copying all the required assemblies into a single folder. Then I set up the Path Environment variable to include path where these assemblies were put.
After doing this I went cruising my way creating cool unit tests for my own library under construction. It all worked fine and I used the NUnit-GUI to test my applications.
Why not read a book for your collegues!
I have now originally copied an idea from Rick. The idea is on how to make myself read a book. Rick started by writing out snippets (in his own words) from a book he was reading. Not just writing it for himself, he was sending them as mails to the collegues.
It so happened that for sometime such mails stopped which prompted me to mail him to ask about the proceedings. He said he shall continue doing it. Which makes him read the book.
I have also started to do something like that now. I am reading the “Essential .NET - The CLR” by Don Box. And not just that. In our internal forum, a new forum has been dedicated to this purpose. (email becomes cumbersome due to maintainance problems).
Advantages:
A different advantage of multi-language support in .NET
The reason I chose today as the day for this is that I could see someone starting to go ahead with the project development like some student hacking his way around. I have lost the patience to even look at such kind of coding. Worst is the case when there are files named “WebForm1.aspx” and “WebApplication1.sln”. If not today then never it will be. If substantial amount of coding goes into the project then the natural tendency to resist change occurs and the result is spaghetti code. ( ”Denial is the most predictable of all human responses” - from Matrix - http://www.neoandtrinity.net/)
The arrival of Microsoft VS Team System
It makes me awe at the pace with which Microsoft is introducing new products. Added to that list is Microsoft VS Team System. Just the kind of product we wanted.
Got to appreciate the way this product was released. No clue about it till the last minute of announcement. Being a avid reader of the blogs, not many gave any clue about such a product. (or, have there been news about it? Not to my knowledge!)
While the attention was diverted in the blogs about new features in existing products (Office and Whidbey) or about features in some distant product (Longhorn), a silent product was under development with tight lips.
Now, is Microsoft creating a pattern for the usage of blogs. “Use blogs mostly for gaining/providing insights into distant/existing products”
This becomes evident as a blog being created immediately for VS Team System!
Any case, good going!
Lots of stuff ahead in 2005.
Finally, A Good Bye to Visual SourceSafe!
In my previous post on “Using CVS with VS.NET”, I’ve discussed the need to switch to CVS and also the problems faced in doing so.
After long time (nearly 2 months) my team has finally become very comfortable with using CVS and VS.NET. Looking back 2 months from today, I get reminded of those days when a whole day would be spent by me wondering who did what and what went wrong. With good push from my team-mate, Jimson, CVS was finally chosen as our Source Control. We did find a good plug-in called “Push-Ok” for VS.NET 2003. An excellent plug-in I should say. But, it came for a price.
We chose to stick on to Tortoise CVS and take the hard way around. We found that apart from files being edited by us, the VS.NET IDE also changed some files (like .csproj). Then with the help of Jimson, found out the right files to got into the CVS repository. Thus, after a half day session for the team on how to use “CVS with VS.NET” things got settled and now everyone seems to be comfortable with the “Copy-Modify-Merge” way of doing things.
A great feeling and a great relief….
Good going team…..
Working with ASP.NET UI Designer!
First, the controls could not be compacted within each cell of the table.
Second, confused whether to use the HTML view of Design view to create the pages.
Basic Integrated App using UIPAB and Forms Authentication
Just yesterday afternoon, when I thought of having a difficult weekend to crack the problem with UIPAB, lightning struck. I got a reply to my question posted to news.microsoft.public.dotnet.distributed_apps redirecting me to GotDotNET workspace where a fix to the Back button problem with UIPAB was posted. God, that was timing. Had the reply come at sometime evening, I would have been spending my entire day today searching for alternatives for UIPAB (specifically Maverick) and working on it. ( I think i’ll take some time off and try Maverick some time before UIPAB v 2.0 release).
As such, the Fix for Back button problem ( http://groups.msn.com/BDotNet/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=12337&LastModified=4675459353602606026 for a description on the problem) did infact work out very well. I guess, the fix has been taken care in UIPAB v2.0.
With this fix, I managed to complete a Demo application integrating UIPAB and Forms Authentication yesterday evening.
The demo application will be used in my presentation on Monday to share my knowledge on UIPAB and Forms Authentication to my collegues.
Currently trying to use Data Access Applicaton Block in my demo application.
Also listening to DonBox’s .NET Rocks Internet Audio Show (talking about Indigo,SOAP…..)
My Kata - Forms Authentication
Today’s task of the day was to enjoy. So, the Kata was to experiment with Forms Authentication.
It has taken nearly a week to understand the Security Issues related with the ASP.NET application. Finally got a hang on Roles, Users,IPrinciple,Encryption and all other simple matters related to security.
The best part of today’s Kata was that it got over is just 60 minutes (The last 60 minutes of the day).
Two more kata’s are pending. One is to integrate the previous kata on Storing Encrypted passwords in Database with today’s kata. The second is to integrate the resulting kata with User Interface Process Application Block.
Off to meet a friend and discuss C# Types.
C# Types
While having discussion with my friend yesterday, I realized that “There’s plenty of room in C# Types”.
Some of the questions i faced were:
Why did they go for Value Types?
What is actually a Stack and Heap?
Many more fundamental doubts arised. I am now in quest for answering those fundamental questions.
The First, among the plethora of doubts would be to clear “How much memory is allocated in Stack and in Heap for a simple program like the one below?”
//simple.cs
namespace ManiSoft.Practice
{
internal class Simple
{
public static void Main()
{
int x;
x = 7;
}
}
}
Also wondering at
Is x a Value Type? (B'cause it is within a Reference Type)
Ok. Out to read some basic stuff from Jeff Richter.