Introduction:
In this post, I will explain you how can we write a unit test in c#. It is a basic guideline for those who wants a quick start.
Unit testing is an integral part of any software that is developed. It is an advantage which most of us are either not aware of or we are neglecting it. It actually helps a developer to write error free code.
To write unit test, we will first install a unit-testing framework.
About Unit-Testing Framework:
Well, Unit-Testing Frameworks are useful to simplify the process of unit testing. If you don’t want to use any framework then you can still do unit-testing by writing the client code which implements assertions, exception handling etc.
There are numerous framework available for unit testing. A list of which can be found here . But in our case, we will use NUnit to test our code because it is easy to use, show detail test reports and of course open source.
Installing NUnit:
To download the NUnit goto : http://www.nunit.com/ and download NUnit Windows MSI. The installation is a conventional next next stuff. So, you will not face any hard time.
Writing Testable code:
Now open visual studio and create a new console application (I name it TestAbleApp). Please note, to do unit-testing it is not important to write your code in console application. It is just a matter of my choice because I want to make it simple and easy to understand.
Create a new class call it “Utilities” and write the following code.
public class Utilities
{
public enum Gender
{ Male =1,
Female = 2
}
public string GetCompleteProfession(string professionName, Gender g)
{
string strPronoun = string.Empty;
if (g == Gender.Male)
strPronoun = "he";
else
strPronoun = "she";
if (Regex.IsMatch(professionName,"^[aeiou]"))
return strPronoun + " is an " + professionName;
else
return strPronoun + " is a " + professionName;
}
public decimal GetWeeks(DateTime dtFrom, DateTime dtTo)
{
int Days = ((TimeSpan)(dtTo - dtFrom)).Days;
decimal Weeks = Math.Ceiling((decimal)Days / 7);
return Weeks;
}
public decimal GetDays(DateTime dtFrom, DateTime dtTo)
{
int Days = ((TimeSpan)(dtTo - dtFrom)).Days;
return Days;
}
}
Let me explain, we have an enum here which hold the gender and we have a function which have Profession and Gender as parameter. it will simply return a formatted string. For example if someone pass
GetCompleteProfession(“System Analyst”,Gender.Male). It will return “He is a System Analyst”. A very simple function.
Then we have a function that will take date range as parameter and return the number of weeks in that range. We call it GetWeeks and another function is GetDays which takes same date range as parameter but return days instead of week.
We are completed with the testable code. If you want, you can check the output of the functions.
Writing Unit-Test:
To write a unit-test, create a class library project under the same solution and call it, “TestProject”. Now, create a new class and name it “UtilitiesUnderTest”. The naming convention can explain that this class contain the unit test of class “Utilities”.
Now, Add the executable of console application which we have created before (In my case, it is TestableApp ) as a reference in TestProject.
To use the NUnit Testing framework, we also need to add the reference of NUnit Dll which you will find under the .net Tab in Add Reference window.
Create a class and call it UtilitiesUnderTest. Naming convention shows that we are creating a test code for class “Utilities”. Now write the following code.
[TestFixture]
class UtilitiesUnderTest
{
[Test]
public void GetCompleteProfession_Return_SheIsASoftwareEngineer()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
string strResult = objUtil.GetCompleteProfession("software engineer", Utilities.Gender.Female);
StringAssert.AreEqualIgnoringCase("She is a software engineer", strResult);
}
[Test]
public void GetCompleteProfession_Return_HeIsAProjectManager()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
string strResult = objUtil.GetCompleteProfession("software engineer", Utilities.Gender.Male);
StringAssert.AreEqualIgnoringCase("He is a software engineer", strResult);
}
[Test]
public void GetCompleteProfession_Return_HeIsAnEngineer()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
string strResult = objUtil.GetCompleteProfession("engineer", Utilities.Gender.Male);
StringAssert.AreEqualIgnoringCase("He is an engineer", strResult);
}
[Test]
public void GetWeeks_Return_6()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
decimal weeks = objUtil.GetWeeks(DateTime.Now.AddDays(-42), DateTime.Now);
Assert.AreEqual(6, weeks);
}
[Test]
public void GetDays_Return_25()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
decimal days = objUtil.GetDays(DateTime.Now.AddDays(-25), DateTime.Now);
Assert.AreEqual(25, days);
}
}
Notice the Attribute, [TestFixture] is used to mark a class as a test class where as [Test] is used to mark a method as Unit-Test (test method). It is used by Unit testing framework like N-Unit to test the code.
Also notice, the name of methods. It is named like “{MethodUndertestName}_Return_{ExpectedReturnValue}”. The naming convention is there to make your tests readable for others.
Now come to the explanation part of the first three functions.
In the first of line each function we are creating an object of the class under test (In our case Utilities).
In the second line we are calling a method under test by specifying parameters.
In the third line we are using StringAssert to Assert the returned value.
Now notice the last two functions, the first two lines are same. The minor difference is in the last line. Instead of using StringAssert, we are using Assert to test the return value.
Once, you have complete writing the Unit-Test. Now its time to see it in action.
Running Unit-Tests:
Run NUnit, Goto File –> New Project and specify the location.
Now, Goto Project menu and select Add Assembly and locate your TestProject DLL, the one which you created to test your code.
Once, you have done that, you will all your Unit-Test in the left pane as shown below.
Now, click the big run button on the right pane and you will see the result as give below.
Happy ending, green progress bar means every thing went well. Now let’s create another unit-test in out test class which will fail out tests. So that, we can see how NUnit reacts when a test fails.
Lets add the following method in our test class.
[Test]
public void GetWeeks_Return_3()
{
Utilities objUtil = new Utilities();
decimal weeks = objUtil.GetWeeks(DateTime.Now.AddDays(-8), DateTime.Now);
Assert.AreEqual(3, weeks);
}
Here I am giving the range of eight days and expecting my function to return 3 weeks instead of two. Now, when I run the test it will get fail and NUnit display us something like below.
Red progress bar means, some thing went wrong and notice the text area at the bottom. It will show you the detail that you were expecting three but the function returns two. That is the test get fails.
Now lets see what happen when any exception occur in the function we are testing. Add the following line in GetWeek function
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
Now, when we run out tests, we will see some thing like below.
NUnit fails our test with the exception with Stacktrace at the botoom.
Conclusion:
This was just a quick start of doing test driver development and write Unit-Tests that is why we create unit-test for very simple functions. In future, I will be posting the unit-tests which I will write for some more complex functions.
I have tried to make it simple for you guys to grab it and start writing your own unit-test. The resource I found very valuable for starting test driven development is Roy Osherove’s The Art of Unit Testing.
Introduction:
In this post, I will explain you how can we get the countries name filled in any collection using .net without using any database.
It is a regular task, which we all as developers did some past day but the difference is we used database table or xml file to hold the country names. But .net framework provide us with all the countries information in Globalization namespace.
So, here is the code for that
Dictionary<string,string> objDic = new Dictionary<string,string>();
foreach (CultureInfo ObjCultureInfo in CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.SpecificCultures))
{
RegionInfo objRegionInfo = new RegionInfo(ObjCultureInfo.Name);
if (!objDic.ContainsKey(objRegionInfo.EnglishName))
{
objDic.Add(objRegionInfo.EnglishName, objRegionInfo.TwoLetterISORegionName.ToLower());
}
}
var obj = objDic.OrderBy(p => p.Key );
foreach (KeyValuePair<string,string> val in obj)
{
ddlCountries.Items.Add(new ListItem(val.Key, val.Value));
}
Explanation:
Notice that, we have used typed dictionary object to store the name and the values of the countries.
Then, we use CultureInfo.GetCultures to get the cultural information of the countries.
Later on, we use RegionInfo to get the regional information of that culture.
Since, there can be multiple cultures of the same country that is why there is a condition which check either the country is already added in dictionary. If not, then simply add the country name and country two letter name. (Note : We are treating the two letter country name as the value)
After the loop, I used some LinQ stuff to sort county names, and then iterate through the returned object to add the values in drop down list.
That’s it. Now you are not only limited to show the English name of the country but you can also show the native name. For example, the name of my country in English is “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” but the native name is پاکستان.
Also, you can get the following country information using RegionInfo
Some developers are habitual of using country id along with the country name. if they still want to use some id to save the country information they can use the GeoId property of the RegionInfo.
In this post, I will explain you how can we show Loading message in asp.net ajax without using Update Progress. Now some one may asked, why do I want to skip Update Progress ?
Well, there can be several reasons for this, fist of all you have to work on every single page, and on every update panel to get the update progress working.
There are basically three methods of meeting this requirement.
- Using Master Pages : A very smart way, but not all of us are using them .. right ?
- Extending Page Class : A little harder but to me it is very elegant way.
- Extending Script Manager : Similar to the page class one, but implementation is comparatively simple.
The Basics:
Before I start with exploring the different approaches let me first create a ground by showing what things will be involve in creating a loading message.
I want the background to be grayed and displayed a simple loading text at the top, for that we need a style sheet, which will apply to the loading message div. Create a stylesheet and call it style.css
.ModalProgressContainer
{
z-index: 10005;
position: fixed;
cursor: wait;
top:0%;
background-color: #ffffff;
filter: alpha(opacity=50);
opacity: 0.5;
-moz-opacity: .5;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
text-align: center;
}
.ModalProgressContent
{
padding: 10px;
border: solid 0px #000040;
font-weight: bold;
background-color:#ffffff;
margin-top:300px;
}
Now lets read and understand the following script.
var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();
prm.add_initializeRequest(InitializeRequest);
prm.add_endRequest(EndRequest);
// ----------------------------- //
// the below script will be saved in JS File, create a JS file and call it ajaxload.js and save the following script
function InitializeRequest(sender, args) {
if (document.getElementById('ProgressDiv') != null)
$get('ProgressDiv').style.display = 'block';
else
createContorl();
}
function EndRequest(sender, args) {
if (document.getElementById('ProgressDiv') != null)
$get('ProgressDiv').style.display = 'none';
else
createContorl();
}
function createContorl() {
var parentDiv = document.createElement("div");
parentDiv.setAttribute("class", "ModalProgressContainer");
parentDiv.setAttribute("Id", "ProgressDiv");
var innerContent = document.createElement("div");
innerContent.setAttribute("class", "ModalProgressContent");
var img = document.createElement("img");
img.setAttribute("src", "/Images/Images/Loading.gif");
var textDiv = document.createElement("div");
textDiv.innerHTML = 'Loading....';
innerContent.appendChild(img);
innerContent.appendChild(textDiv);
parentDiv.appendChild(innerContent);
document.body.appendChild(parentDiv);
}
Notice,in the first three lines. We are getting the instance of PageRequestManager and then defining InitilizeRequest and EndRequest functions to display or hide the loading div. Where as, in createControl function we are simply writing DHTML, to be more specific there is no HTML of the loading div in our markup. So, we are writing that from JavaScript.
Also, note the that I have break down this script into two part by using comments. First is the declaration and second is definition of the functions.
note: The definition will take place on a seperate JS file where as the declaration need to be made in the page, under body markup. Now we are all set to explore different approaches.
Using Master Pages :
A very simple approach, all you need to do is open your master page and paste the following lines in the head section.
<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="ajaxload.js"></script>
And in body, after form tag create a script section and paste the following JavaScript.
var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();
prm.add_initializeRequest(InitializeRequest);
prm.add_endRequest(EndRequest);
Notice it is the same declaration section which we have discussed above and that’s it you are done. All the content form of your web application should now display loading div on each partial postback.
Extending Page Class :
For this, create a class file and call it ajaxPage and inherit it from System.Web.UI.Page and write the following code.
public class ajaxPage : Page
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
//Include CSS File
Page.Header.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl("<link href='style.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />"));
//Include JS file on the page
ClientScript.RegisterClientScriptInclude("ajaxload", ResolveUrl("~/ajaxload.js"));
//Writing declaration script
String script = "var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();";
script += "prm.add_initializeRequest(InitializeRequest);";
script += "prm.add_endRequest(EndRequest);";
ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(typeof(string), "body", script, true);
base.OnLoad(e);
}
Well, we have simply extend the System.Web.UI.Page into our own class and override OnLoad function to include the JS file and write the declaration markup.
Now, on the page code behind where you want to implement Loading message change the inherit namespace from System.Web.UI.Page to ajaxPage (make sure you namespace).
Extending Script Manager :
Now instead of extending page class we will extend Script Manager control and for that create a new class file and call it ScrtipManagerExt and write the following code.
public class ScriptManagerExt : ScriptManager
{
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
//Include CSS File
Page.Header.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl("<link href='style.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' />"));
RegisterClientScriptInclude(this, typeof(Page), "ajaload", ResolveClientUrl("~/ajaxload.js"));
String script = "var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();";
script += "prm.add_initializeRequest(InitializeRequest);";
script += "prm.add_endRequest(EndRequest);";
RegisterStartupScript(this, typeof(Page), "ajaxtest", script, true);
base.OnLoad(e);
}
}
Almost the same thing we did in extend page approach, only the implementation will be change. Instead of using the old Script Manager we will use our new one. the include directive and markup will look like as below.
<%@ Register Assembly="AssmblyName" Namespace="NameSpace" TagPrefix="cc1" %>
<cc1:ScriptManagerExt ID="ScriptManagerExt1" runat="server">
</cc1:ScriptManagerExt>
That’s it we are done. I tried to make it simpler and show you every possible way I know of doing this task. Again, any approach selection will be on you and your project type. You can also download the VS 2008 project file.
In this post, I will explain how to migrate a blog running on Word Press (Self Hosted) to BlogEngine. But before I start let me say, that Word Press simply rocks. The reason why I plan to switch my blog is customization. Since I am a dotnet geek, I really have no great idea of what I can make out of Word Press using PHP and when it comes to Blogging in .net, I guess I made a very right decision to use BlogEngine. It is open source and included all the necessary blogging utilities.
The main thing which I want to migrate is as follows
- Post
- Categories
- Tags
- Comments
The moment I start, I was thinking to get some export / import tool. Then I came to know about BlogML. A format that is created to interchange content between different bloging engines. Natively, Word Press don’t support BlogML but Robert McLaws did great job on wiring this tool. Unfortunately, that tool didn’t work for me, for some reason it is keep giving me error.
Finally, I tried it in my own way. Since that blog was self hosted, I have access to mysql database engine through phpMyAdmin. Hence, I decided to export SQL of my related tables and data in MSSQL (TSQL) format.
- After the login into phpMyAdmin, go to the table list by selecting the databases comes at left.
- From the tab at the top select export.
- In the export group, select SQL and tables in my case it is wp_comments, wp_posts, wp_term_relationships, wp_term_taxonomy, and wp_term
- Now from the SQL Compatibility Mode, Select MSSQL. Save the file and your are complete.
Your selection screen should like like below.
Now open the generated SQL in MSSQL and before you run you might need to fix some column names and some data type issues of the table. But believe that is pretty easy. To help you more, please see the table creation script below
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[wp_comments](
[comment_ID] [bigint] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[comment_post_ID] [int] NOT NULL,
[comment_author] [varchar](200) NOT NULL,
[comment_author_email] [varchar](100) NOT NULL,
[comment_author_url] [varchar](200) NOT NULL,
[comment_author_IP] [varchar](100) NOT NULL,
[comment_date] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[comment_date_gmt] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[comment_content] [text] NOT NULL,
[comment_karma] [int] NOT NULL,
[comment_approved] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[comment_agent] [varchar](255) NOT NULL,
[comment_type] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[comment_parent] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[user_id] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[comment_subscribe] [varchar](1) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[comment_ID] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[wp_posts](
[ID] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[post_author] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[post_date] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[post_date_gmt] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[post_content] [text] NOT NULL,
[post_title] [text] NOT NULL,
[post_category] [int] NOT NULL,
[post_excerpt] [text] NOT NULL,
[post_status] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[comment_status] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[ping_status] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[post_password] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[post_name] [varchar](200) NOT NULL,
[to_ping] [text] NOT NULL,
[pinged] [text] NOT NULL,
[post_modified] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[post_modified_gmt] [datetime] NOT NULL,
[post_content_filtered] [text] NOT NULL,
[post_parent] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[guid] [varchar](255) NOT NULL,
[menu_order] [int] NOT NULL,
[post_type] [varchar](20) NOT NULL,
[post_mime_type] [varchar](100) NOT NULL,
[comment_count] [bigint] NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[ID] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[wp_terms](
[term_id] [bigint] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[name] [varchar](200) NOT NULL,
[slug] [varchar](200) NOT NULL,
[term_group] [bigint] NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[term_id] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[wp_term_relationships](
[object_id] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[term_taxonomy_id] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[term_order] [int] NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[object_id] ASC,
[term_taxonomy_id] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[wp_term_taxonomy](
[term_taxonomy_id] [bigint] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[term_id] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[taxonomy] [varchar](32) NOT NULL,
[description] [text] NOT NULL,
[parent] [bigint] NOT NULL,
[count] [bigint] NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[term_taxonomy_id] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]
GO
Please note that it is just the schema script. All you data will be included in mysql generated SQL File which we have created before.
Now, we have all the required tables with data imported from Word Press to Blog Engine Db but we will fill Blog engine tables to show imported data. Lets first start with category.
Category:
There is no such table in wp_categories in word press instead it uses wp_term and wp_term_taxonomy to store categories where as in Blog engine we have a table called be_categories which hold categories information. So following query will dump the data from wp_terms , wp_taxonomy to be_categories.
INSERT INTO [dbo].[be_Categories]
([CategoryID]
,[CategoryName]
,[Description]
,[ParentID]
,[Slug])
SELECT
NEWID(),
w1.[name],
('Posts in ' + w1.[name]) as Description,
NULL, -- as I am not going to make any parent child relation now ...
w1.[slug]
FROM [BlogEngine].[dbo].[wp_terms] w1
INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy w2 on w1.term_id = w2.term_id and w2.taxonomy = 'category'
GO
Posts:
Now lets deal with posts, a very easy query because we have the post table in both the blogging engines. In Word Press it is wp_posts where as in Blog Engine it is be_post.
INSERT INTO [dbo].[be_Posts]
([PostID]
,[Title]
,[Description]
,[PostContent]
,[DateCreated]
,[DateModified]
,[Author]
,[IsPublished]
,[IsCommentEnabled]
,[Raters]
,[Rating]
,[Slug])
SELECT newid(),
post_title,
post_excerpt,
post_content,
post_date,
post_modified,
'username',
1,
1,
0,
0,
post_name
from wp_posts where post_type ='post'
Post Category Relation:
Now its time to set, which post have which categories. The table which is repsonsible for saving this information is called wp_term_relationship in Word Press and be_PostCategory in Blog Engine. See the following query.
select wp.post_title ,wtr.name into #temp1 from wp_term_relationships wr inner join
wp_term_taxonomy wt on wr.term_taxonomy_id = wt.term_taxonomy_id and wt.taxonomy = 'category'
inner join wp_terms wtr on wt.term_id = wtr.term_id
inner join wp_posts wp on wr.object_id = wp.ID and post_type = 'post'
INSERT INTO [dbo].[be_PostCategory]
([PostID]
,[CategoryID])
select (select postId from be_Posts where Title= convert(nvarchar(max),t.post_title)),
(select CategoryID from be_Categories where CategoryName = t.name) from #temp1 t
drop table #temp1
GO
I guess this query might need some explanation. See, in the top query I am getting the title of posts and name of categories and storing it to temp table.
Now come to the second part, here I insert new reords in be_postcategory based on the category names and post titles we filled before.
Tag:
In Blog Engine we have a table called be_PostTag which manage all the tags related stuff but in wordpress again involve all the tables containing wp_term. So, I write the following query which get the data from those tables and store it in Tags.
INSERT INTO [dbo].[be_PostTag]
([PostID]
,[Tag])
SELECT
(select postId from be_Posts where Title= convert(nvarchar(max),wp.post_title)) ,SUBSTRING(w1.[name], 1, 50)
FROM [BlogEngine].[dbo].[wp_terms] w1
INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy w2 on w1.term_id = w2.term_id and w2.taxonomy = 'post_tag'
inner join wp_term_relationships wr on wr.term_taxonomy_id = w2.term_taxonomy_id
inner join wp_posts wp on wr.object_id = wp.ID
Comment:
This one is comparatively easy. We have table called wp_comments in Word Press and be_postcomment in Blog Engine to manage the comments. Here is the final query.
INSERT INTO be_PostComment]
([PostCommentID]
,[PostID]
,[ParentCommentID]
,[CommentDate]
,[Author]
,[Email]
,[Website]
,[Comment]
,[Country]
,[Ip]
,[IsApproved])
SELECT
newId()
,(select postId from be_Posts where Title= convert(nvarchar(max),wpp.post_title)) as PostID
,(select postId from be_Posts where Title= convert(nvarchar(max),wpp.post_title)) as PostID
,[comment_date_gmt]
,[comment_author]
,[comment_author_email]
,[comment_author_url]
,[comment_content]
,NULL
,[comment_author_IP]
,1
FROM [wp_comments] wpc
INNER JOIN BlogEngine.dbo.wp_posts wpp on wpc.comment_post_ID = wpp.ID
where wpc.comment_approved = '1'
Note : You might see some /r/n between some post and comments. Don’t get afraid of this, just replace “/r/n” with “<br/>” on effected using Replace function of TSQL.
That’s how you can import all the data from Word Press to Blog Engine and this is fairly a huge issue why people don’t move their blogs. I have tried to explain the method by making it more simple, if you still face any issue please feel free to contact me.
In this post I will explain you, How to make calendar extender control to show month / year view by default and instead of selecting dates how can we use calendar extender to select months.
Before I start, let me say that I got extensive support from this forum post http://forums.asp.net/t/1349086.aspx. Thanks to Zhi-Qiang Ni, but the way he follow was a little bit lengthy. However, all credit still goes to him because I gain the exact idea from his post.
Let me start by creating a calendar extender control and attach it to a textbox.
<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
<cc1:CalendarExtender ID="TextBox1_CalendarExtender" runat="server" OnClientHidden="onCalendarHidden" OnClientShown="onCalendarShown" BehaviorID="calendar1"
Enabled="True" TargetControlID="TextBox1">
</cc1:CalendarExtender>
Now, in extender markup, notice onClientHidden and OnClientShown event which I implemented as below.
function onCalendarShown() {
var cal = $find("calendar1");
//Setting the default mode to month
cal._switchMode("months", true);
//Iterate every month Item and attach click event to it
if (cal._monthsBody) {
for (var i = 0; i < cal._monthsBody.rows.length; i++) {
var row = cal._monthsBody.rows[i];
for (var j = 0; j < row.cells.length; j++) {
Sys.UI.DomEvent.addHandler(row.cells[j].firstChild, "click", call);
}
}
}
}
function onCalendarHidden()
{
var cal = $find("calendar1");
//Iterate every month Item and remove click event from it
if (cal._monthsBody) {
for (var i = 0; i < cal._monthsBody.rows.length; i++) {
var row = cal._monthsBody.rows[i];
for (var j = 0; j < row.cells.length; j++) {
Sys.UI.DomEvent.removeHandler(row.cells[j].firstChild,"click",call);
}
}
}
}
Pretty simple, In onCalendarShown method I just set the default mode to month and then iterate the control to get month item and attach on click event to it. So that, it will not go further to show us dates of that month and select the first day of that month instead.
Where as, In onCalendarHidden I am simply detaching the click event from month items. Now notice the last parameter of Sys.UI.DomEvent.addHandler function, it is the name of the function which will do the rest of the magic as below.
function call(eventElement)
{
var target = eventElement.target;
switch (target.mode) {
case "month":
var cal = $find("calendar1");
cal._visibleDate = target.date;
cal.set_selectedDate(target.date);
cal._switchMonth(target.date);
cal._blur.post(true);
cal.raiseDateSelectionChanged();
break;
}
}
Here we are simply selecting the month as the selected date of calendar control. and finally the control will look like as below.
You can get the source code from here :
http://cid-cdbfe38dc780f729.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Calendar%20Extender%20Month.zip
Background :
In my last post about SQL Server 2008 new feature File Stream (Saving and Retrieving File Using FileStream SQL Server 2008), we did an example of saving an image to the file stream and then retrieve it back and make it available for download.
The result of that example looks like as below.
But, one has to press the button to download the image file. One of my blog reader raise a point that he wants to display the same image instead of Get File button which is going to download.
Introduction :
So, in this post I will explain you, how can we rendered the image before actually downloading it and show that in the grid (Maybe as thumbnail, but this post will not discuss any thing about generating thumbnails).
Note : If you want to know. How to add files to the file stream please see my post Saving and Retrieving File Using FileStream SQL Server 2008
Getting Started:
We will complete this goal by using HttpHandler. lets first alter our gridview.
1: <asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False"
2: onrowcommand="GridView1_RowCommand">
3: <Columns>
4: <asp:BoundField DataField="ID" HeaderText="ID" />
5: <asp:BoundField DataField="SystemNumber" HeaderText="System Id" />
6: <asp:TemplateField>
7: <ItemTemplate>
8: <asp:LinkButton ID="lbGetFile" runat="server" CommandName="GetFile" CommandArgument='<%#Eval("ID") %>' ><img src='<%#Eval("ID") %>.jpg' /></asp:LinkButton>
9: </ItemTemplate>
10: </asp:TemplateField>
11: </Columns>
12:
13: </asp:GridView>
Notice the link button on line no 8. I have now specify an image tag inside Link button and pass the primarykey of tbl_files as the file name along with random “.jpg”. So that, it can finally looks like as follows
8e7af927-cc7e-4515-8409-d94566246de8.jpg
a3de6abb-382f-484c-822c-7f93e0ede0c7.jpg
4ad64bf1-ea6e-4228-bdc0-300a0cd90f5a.jpg
The idea is, I will attach the handler with jpg file type to accommodate the incoming requests.
Now, lets create HttpHandler and name it “imageHandler”
public class imageHandler : IHttpHandler
{
#region IHttpHandler Members
public bool IsReusable
{
get { return false; }
}
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
//Getting file name from incoming request.
string url = Path.GetFileName(context.Request.Path);
Guid FileId;
try
{
//Since we have all our primary keys stored in GUID
//Try parsing the file name to Guid
FileId = new Guid(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(url));
}
catch (FormatException)
{
//If some other JPG file is requested
FileId = Guid.Empty;
}
if (FileId != Guid.Empty) // If the call is for valid Image File Stream
{
SqlConnection objSqlCon = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConnectionString"].ConnectionString);
objSqlCon.Open();
SqlTransaction objSqlTran = objSqlCon.BeginTransaction();
SqlCommand objSqlCmd = new SqlCommand("FileGet", objSqlCon, objSqlTran);
objSqlCmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
SqlParameter objSqlParam1 = new SqlParameter("@ID", SqlDbType.VarChar);
objSqlParam1.Value = FileId.ToString();
objSqlCmd.Parameters.Add(objSqlParam1);
string path = string.Empty;
string fileType = string.Empty;
using (SqlDataReader sdr = objSqlCmd.ExecuteReader())
{
while (sdr.Read())
{
path = sdr[0].ToString();
fileType = sdr[1].ToString();
}
}
objSqlCmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT()", objSqlCon, objSqlTran);
byte[] objContext = (byte[])objSqlCmd.ExecuteScalar();
SqlFileStream objSqlFileStream = new SqlFileStream(path, objContext, FileAccess.Read);
byte[] buffer = new byte[(int)objSqlFileStream.Length];
objSqlFileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
objSqlFileStream.Close();
objSqlTran.Commit();
context.Response.AddHeader("Content-disposition", "attachment; filename=" + Path.GetFileName(path) + fileType);
// Here you need to manage the download file stuff according to your need
context.Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
context.Response.BinaryWrite(buffer);
}
else
{ // If the call is for some other JPG file, nothing to do with file stream.
context.Response.WriteFile(context.Request.Path);
}
}
Well, read the comments I wrote in the code. That will of course help you to understand what actually I have done.
And then register the HttpHandler.
<httpHandlers>
<add verb="*" path="*.jpg" type="LearningApp.imageHandler, LearningApp"/>
</httpHandlers>
Conclusion:
There we go, In this way we can show the images stored on file stream in grid view. You can download both VS 2008 and VS 2010 project files.
So, it takes too long for me to write this post. even though I completed the coding stuff a week back but it is really hard to manage time these days.
In this post, I will explain and demonstrate you how to create custom paging in Grid view control. Paging which works like the Google Paging. Let me elaborate more, say for example you have a record set of 500 items and you want to display 10 items per page. Now what happen to the pages numbers. Either you use the default with “..” sign after 10th page link which cause the post back and then get some new page numbers. Or you want to make it like Google. i.e as soon as user move forward on page index, hide the previous pages and show the new numbers and when user is getting back hide new numbers and show the previous page links. following image can give you some idea what we are going to do.
To start, lets first create a Grid view .
1: <asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AllowPaging="True"
2: onrowcreated="GridView1_RowCreated" >
3: </asp:GridView>
Yes, we have allow the paging but we are not going to use the default paging of asp.net. That is why we have write onrowcreated implementation in which we will simply detect and hide the pager row.
1: protected void GridView1_RowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
2: {
3: if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.Pager)
4: {
5: e.Row.Visible = false;
6: }
7: }
Now lets move to some global variables which we need through out our code.
1: const int pageSize = 10;
2: const int pageDispCount = 10;
3: private DataTable dt = new DataTable();
pagesSize : number of records we want to display per page.
pageDispCount : number of page numbers we want to display on custom paging.
dt : A datatable which we will use to store data and use it on different post backs.
Ok, now we need to get data from database, dump it to datatable and define the datasource of grid view.
1: protected void bindData()
2: {
3: SqlConnection objSqlCon = new SqlConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["AdventureWorksConnectionString"].ToString());
4: objSqlCon.Open();
5:
6: SqlDataAdapter objSqlDa = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from Production.Product", objSqlCon);
7:
8: objSqlDa.Fill(dt);
9:
10: GridView1.DataSource = dt;
11: GridView1.DataBind();
12:
13: managePaging(dt);
14: }
On line number 13, managePaging function will be used later to implement the paging logic. But before that, lets understand that we have taken the datatable as a global variable and each time after postback when we try to read our datatable we will get no results because there is no state management for this object.
So lets override the LoadViewState and SaveViewState function of System.Web.UI.Page to save and restore the datatable by using viewstate.
1: protected override object SaveViewState()
2: {
3: object baseState = base.SaveViewState();
4: return new object[] { baseState, dt };
5: }
6: protected override void LoadViewState(object savedState)
7: {
8: object[] myState = (object[])savedState;
9: if (myState[0] != null)
10: base.LoadViewState(myState[0]);
11:
12: if (myState[1] != null)
13: {
14: dt = (DataTable) myState[1];
15: GridView1.DataSource = dt;
16: GridView1.DataBind();
17:
18: managePaging(dt);
19: }
20:
21: }
Well, SaveViewState function is simply putting the base.SaveViewState object and datatable in and object and returning it. A Simple Logic :)
Where as, LoadViewState is retrieving and type casting the object exactly in the sequence it was save in the SaveViewState method.
1: protected void managePaging(DataTable _dt)
2: {
3: if (_dt.Rows.Count > 0)
4: {
5:
6: // Variable declaration
7: int numberOfPages;
8: int numberOfRecords = dt.Rows.Count;
9: int currentPage = (GridView1.PageIndex);
10: StringBuilder strSummary = new StringBuilder();
11:
12:
13: // If number of records is more then the page size (specified in global variable)
14: // Just to check either gridview have enough records to implement paging
15: if (numberOfRecords > pageSize)
16: {
17: // Calculating the total number of pages
18: numberOfPages = (int)Math.Ceiling((double)numberOfRecords / (double)pageSize);
19: }
20: else
21: {
22: numberOfPages = 1;
23: }
24:
25:
26: // Creating a small summary for records.
27: strSummary.Append("Displaying <b>");
28:
29: // Creating X f X Records
30: int floor = (currentPage * pageSize) + 1;
31: strSummary.Append(floor.ToString());
32: strSummary.Append("</b>-<b>");
33: int ceil = ((currentPage * pageSize) + pageSize);
34:
35: //let say you have 26 records and you specified 10 page size,
36: // On the third page it will return 30 instead of 25 as that is based on pageSize
37: // So this check will see if the ceil value is increasing the number of records. Consider numberOfRecords
38: if (ceil > numberOfRecords)
39: {
40: strSummary.Append(numberOfRecords.ToString());
41: }
42: else
43: {
44: strSummary.Append(ceil.ToString());
45: }
46:
47: // Displaying Total number of records Creating X of X of About X records.
48: strSummary.Append("</b> of About <b>");
49: strSummary.Append(numberOfRecords.ToString());
50: strSummary.Append("</b>Records</br>");
51:
52:
53: litPagingSummary.Text = strSummary.ToString();
54:
55:
56: //Variable declaration
57: //these variables will used to calculate page number display
58: int pageShowLimitStart = 1;
59: int pageShowLimitEnd = 1;
60:
61:
62:
63: // Just to check, either there is enough pages to implement page number display logic.
64: if (pageDispCount > numberOfPages)
65: {
66: pageShowLimitEnd = numberOfPages; // Setting the end limit to the number of pages. Means show all page numbers
67: }
68: else
69: {
70: if (currentPage > 4) // If page index is more then 4 then need to less the page numbers from start and show more on end.
71: {
72: //Calculating end limit to show more page numbers
73: pageShowLimitEnd = currentPage + (int)(Math.Floor((decimal)pageDispCount / 2));
74: //Calculating Start limit to hide previous page numbers
75: pageShowLimitStart = currentPage - (int)(Math.Floor((decimal)pageDispCount / 2));
76: }
77: else
78: {
79: //Simply Displaying the 10 pages. no need to remove / add page numbers
80: pageShowLimitEnd = pageDispCount;
81: }
82: }
83:
84: // Since the pageDispCount can be changed and limit calculation can cause < 0 values
85: // Simply, set the limit start value to 1 if it is less
86: if (pageShowLimitStart < 1)
87: pageShowLimitStart = 1;
88:
89:
90: //Dynamic creation of link buttons
91:
92: // First Link button to display with paging
93: LinkButton objLbFirst = new LinkButton();
94: objLbFirst.Click += new EventHandler(objLb_Click);
95: objLbFirst.Text = "First";
96: objLbFirst.ID = "lb_FirstPage";
97: objLbFirst.CommandName = "pgChange";
98: objLbFirst.EnableViewState = true;
99: objLbFirst.CommandArgument = "1";
100:
101: //Previous Link button to display with paging
102: LinkButton objLbPrevious = new LinkButton();
103: objLbPrevious.Click += new EventHandler(objLb_Click);
104: objLbPrevious.Text = "Previous";
105: objLbPrevious.ID = "lb_PreviousPage";
106: objLbPrevious.CommandName = "pgChange";
107: objLbPrevious.EnableViewState = true;
108: objLbPrevious.CommandArgument = currentPage.ToString();
109:
110:
111: //of course if the page is the 1st page, then there is no need of First or Previous
112: if (currentPage == 0)
113: {
114: objLbFirst.Enabled = false;
115: objLbPrevious.Enabled = false;
116: }
117: else
118: {
119: objLbFirst.Enabled = true;
120: objLbPrevious.Enabled = true;
121: }
122:
123:
124: //Adding control in a place holder
125: plcPaging.Controls.Add(objLbFirst);
126: plcPaging.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" | ")); // Just to give some space
127: plcPaging.Controls.Add(objLbPrevious);
128: plcPaging.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" | "));
129:
130:
131: // Creatig page numbers based on the start and end limit variables.
132: for (int i = pageShowLimitStart; i <= pageShowLimitEnd; i++)
133: {
134: if ((Page.FindControl("lb_" + i.ToString()) == null) && i <= numberOfPages)
135: {
136: LinkButton objLb = new LinkButton();
137: objLb.Click += new EventHandler(objLb_Click);
138: objLb.Text = i.ToString();
139: objLb.ID = "lb_" + i.ToString();
140: objLb.CommandName = "pgChange";
141: objLb.EnableViewState = true;
142: objLb.CommandArgument = i.ToString();
143:
144: if ((currentPage + 1) == i)
145: {
146: objLb.Enabled = false;
147: }
148:
149:
150: plcPaging.Controls.Add(objLb);
151: plcPaging.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" | "));
152: }
153: }
154:
155: // Last Link button to display with paging
156: LinkButton objLbLast = new LinkButton();
157: objLbLast.Click += new EventHandler(objLb_Click);
158: objLbLast.Text = "Last";
159: objLbLast.ID = "lb_LastPage";
160: objLbLast.CommandName = "pgChange";
161: objLbLast.EnableViewState = true;
162: objLbLast.CommandArgument = numberOfPages.ToString();
163:
164: // Next Link button to display with paging
165: LinkButton objLbNext = new LinkButton();
166: objLbNext.Click += new EventHandler(objLb_Click);
167: objLbNext.Text = "Next";
168: objLbNext.ID = "lb_NextPage";
169: objLbNext.CommandName = "pgChange";
170: objLbNext.EnableViewState = true;
171: objLbNext.CommandArgument = (currentPage + 2).ToString();
172:
173: //of course if the page is the last page, then there is no need of last or next
174: if ((currentPage + 1) == numberOfPages)
175: {
176: objLbLast.Enabled = false;
177: objLbNext.Enabled = false;
178: }
179: else
180: {
181: objLbLast.Enabled = true;
182: objLbNext.Enabled = true;
183: }
184:
185:
186: // Adding Control to the place holder
187: plcPaging.Controls.Add(objLbNext);
188: plcPaging.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" | "));
189: plcPaging.Controls.Add(objLbLast);
190: plcPaging.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(" | "));
191: }
192:
193: }
Yes, the code is complex that is why I wrote proper comments which will let you understand the stuff easily.
One last thing which is left, is the implementation of dynamically created link button onclick event.
1: void objLb_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
2: {
3: plcPaging.Controls.Clear();
4: LinkButton objlb = (LinkButton)sender;
5: GridView1.PageIndex = (int.Parse(objlb.CommandArgument.ToString()) - 1);
6:
7: managePaging(dt);
8: }
There it is, we have now completed Custom Paging in Grid View. If you want to download the source code, here is the VS 2008 Solution.
Modification:
I have been receiving emails regarding the issues of this post. Especially with the initial five page numbers. I have modified this post to fix the bug it had. Please feel free to point further issues. Also, the download links are also modified.
In this post I will explain you, how can we serialize Datatable to JSON. So that, it can easily pass to JavaScript to get the AJAX done.
First of all fill a Datatable with some results.
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
SqlConnection objSqlCon = new SqlConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["AdventureWorksConnectionString"].ToString());
objSqlCon.Open();
SqlDataAdapter objSqlDa = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from Production.Product", objSqlCon);
objSqlDa.Fill(dt);
Now create a String Builder object that will contain the JSON text and JavascriptSerializer which will serialize the output in JSON.
StringBuilder objSb = new StringBuilder();
JavaScriptSerializer objSer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
Now here we are going to iterate each row and column of data table and put all of them in Dictionary
Dictionary<string, object> resultMain = new Dictionary<string, object>();
int index = 0;
foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows)
{
Dictionary<string, object> result = new Dictionary<string, object>();
foreach (DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
{
result.Add(dc.ColumnName, dr[dc].ToString());
}
resultMain.Add(index.ToString(), result);
index++;
}
Notice that, I have created a new dictionary object for every row and finally put all of the dictionaries in Another dictionary I.E. resultMain.
In the end, I have simply Serialize the resultMain Dictionary to render JSON.
A complete post of utilizing Datatable in JavaScript through AJAX is in the process, I will post that soon.
In this post I will explain you how authenticate the request directly coming to access a file that is downloadable. some thing like *.pdf or *.zip.
Mostly, people make it working by creating an *.aspx page and then write binary of that file in Response.WriteFile. So, user will have no idea where the file is coming from. now this is the fair approach but what if somebody, somehow know the path of downloadable files.
So, to stop the un authenticated access to our files, we will first create a session enable HTTP handler.
public class MyHttpHandler : IHttpHandler, IReadOnlySessionState
{
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
if (context.Session["userId"] == null)
// I am using a session variable you can also use context.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated
{
context.Response.Redirect("/login.aspx?retUrl=" + context.Request.RawUrl);
//Redirecting to the login page ... alternatively you can also set context.Response.StatusCode
}
}
public bool IsReusable
{
get { return false; }
}
}
Now, once we have created that. Let me register my newly creater handler for *.zip and *.pdf files in web.config.
<httpHandlers>
<add verb="*" path="*.zip" type="LearningApp.MyHttpHandler, LearningApp"/>
<add verb="*" path="*.pdf" type="LearningApp.MyHttpHandler, LearningApp"/>
</httpHandlers>
That’s it. If you want more file types to be authenticated add more verbs in handler section of HttpHandler.
Don’t try to put *.* : That can create some serious problem because then each of your *.aspx, *asmx and all your logic stuff will need authentication.
In this post, I will explain how you can pass parameter to the dynamically added (from code behind) User Control. Most of you might aware of how we can achieve this in web application project. Following is the code for that
1: Dim objCon As Control = Page.LoadControl("~/Controls/MyControl.ascx")
2: Ctype(objCon,MyControl).PropertyOne = "Test"
3: Ctype(objCon,MyControl).PropertyTwo = "USAM"
4: MyPanel.Controls.add(objCon)
Now what if you have a web site project which does not have the pre-compiled assemblies and you are no more able to access the class of your user control. That is what the sum of last two ays.
Here is how you can do that by using System.reflection.
1: Dim objCon As Control = Page.LoadControl("~/Controls/MyControl.ascx")
2: 'Creating Dynamic Assmebly which holds control
3: Dim objAssembly As Assembly = Compilation.BuildManager.GetCompiledAssembly("~/Controls/MyControl.ascx")
4: 'You should definately know the name of your user control class
5: Dim objType As Type = objAssembly.GetType("Controls_MyControl")
6:
7: 'Properties
8: Dim objPropOne As PropertyInfo = objType.GetProperty("PropertyOne")
9: Dim objPropTwo As PropertyInfo = objType.GetProperty("PropertyTwo")
10:
11: 'Setting Value of Properties
12: bjPropOne.SetValue(objCon, 1, Nothing)
13: objPropTwo.SetValue(objCon, 13, Nothing)
14:
15: 'Finally placing control on the page
16: pnlCommentsCon.Controls.Add(objCon)
So in this way you can pass parameters to the dynamically added user control.
More Posts
Next page »