WebLog of Ken Cox

Soma, Scottgu, and I Are on the Same Page!

Ah yes, S. Somasegar, Scott Guthrie and Ken Cox. What an influential trio! It's kind of a geeky rat pack.

We definitely run in the same circles... the MSDN Home page where my MVP profile is part of the current random display cycle. Just in case I disappear before you get there, here's a screenshot:

Thanks to my old MVP colleague (and current MSFT blue badge) Carl Prothman for the heads-up!

Set a Validator's Display to 'None' for the ValidatorCalloutExtender

If you look at Figure 15-1 in ASP.NET 3.5 For Dummies, you'll notice that there's an almost-hidden question mark (?) behind the AJAX Control Kit's ValidatorCallout control. The arrow in the picture points to the mistake (bug) in the book.

At the time I took the screenshot, I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the underlying validator's error message text. I left the question mark with the intention of getting back to it but I never did.

I figured out the problem by the time I shipped the book's source code...

The trick is to set the validator control's Display property to 'None' so the error text doesn't appear. However, the control kit's callout still picks up the text and uses it. I know it seems obvious, but I was just implementing the same validation for a client's application and had trouble recalling the technique.

So, here's the code to remind myself and anyone else how to deal with the built-in validator and the ValidatorCalloutExtender at the same time:

<asp:TextBox CssClass="TextBox" Width="200px" ID="txtUserName" 
    runat="server" TabIndex="1">
</asp:TextBox>
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="rqdUserName" runat="server" 
    ErrorMessage="The user ID (an email address) is required." 
    ControlToValidate="txtUserName" Display="None" >
</asp:RequiredFieldValidator> 
<cc1:ValidatorCalloutExtender ID="ValidatorCalloutExtender1" runat="server" 
    TargetControlID="rqdUserName">
</cc1:ValidatorCalloutExtender>

Annoying Teasing About the Virtual Earth ASP.NET Server Control

Update on July 28, 2008: New Virtual Earth ASP.NET Control Released  http://dev.live.com/blogs/devlive/archive/2008/07/27/386.aspx 

Many of us were quite excited to hear (and see) that Microsoft has a Virtual Earth ASP.NET control that allows "ASP.NET developers to easily drag and drop a VE map onto the canvas and then interact with it, 0 JavaScript".

Windows Live Platform MVP John OBrien has been working with the control and demonstrated it at a recent event.

Once something valuable becomes public knowledge, developers naturally want to get their hands on it. Unfortunately, instead of code, we're getting tease. Here's what Angus Logan, Technical Product Manager for Windows Live Platform had to say in an interview:

"We're just trying to decide should we release this  .NET control that will make it super-easy for Virtual Earth and .NET developers to integrate maps in their apps. Do we release it fully open source and maybe do some kind of support through that channel? Do we release it reference license similar to what we've done with .NET?  ... Or do we do it fully supported?

"We're really thinking through this because we don't want to put a control into market and then need to change the story on that. It would just be uncomfortable for developers."

On his blog, Angus Logan says (in the title of the posting) that "The Virtual Earth ASP.NET control WILL BE shipped in the Windows Live Tools CTP" but plays with us some more in the text saying, "As for timing - I'm hoping in the near future but there will be more updates coming."

If the control is ready (as Chris Duckett says), let everyone have a look. This nonsense of letting the cat out of the bag and then toying with us about when we can play with the bits is annoying and childish. It reminds me of the bad old days when companies announced vapourware to kill the prospects of competing products and generate false expectations.