ASP.NET Weblogs

A practicle guide to gateways - Geeks on a role S01E04

Visual WebGui — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:09:00 GMT

The forth episode of “Geeks on a role”, the show presented for Web & Visual WebGui developers, was released. This episode focuses on gateways and how you can use them in your application. You can view the new episode following this link: A practicle guide to gateways...(read more)

Microsoft Virtual labs - getting the lab notes directly

svdoever — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:46:14 GMT

Microsoft has great virtual labs available, but it takes some time to get in there. If you just want the lab notes, type the following in Google: site:download.microsoftvirtuallabs.com filetype:pdf or just follow this link.

Silverlight 3 ComboBox Control

manish.dalal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:11:00 GMT

This post outlines technique for displaying ComboBox control with .net RIA services to handle Foreign Key scenarios.

When ComboBox control was introduced as part of Silverlight 2, I blogged about a technique to use ComboBox control in foreign key scenarios, to workaround the lack of SelectedValue\SelectedValuePath property. I further enhanced the technique to handle cascading selection as outlined in this post. Fast forward to Silverlight 3. ComboBox control still does not have SelectedValue\SelectedValuePath property and the same technique still works. Moreover, if you are using Silverlight 3 with .net RIA services, majority of the code is automatically generated by the framework. In fact, with Silverlight 3 and .net RIA services there is no requirement for SelectedValuePath property!

Background

In business applications with relation database as backend data store, foreign keys are often used to form association between entities. When working with such an entity in UI, a friendly description is shown to user, while system handles the actual foreign key value behind the scene. For ComboBox, this translates to displaying foreign key entity with a friendly description (perhaps using a custom template), and storing the results of selection as foreign key value to the base entity. However, ComboBox does not provide a SelectedValuePath property to set selected foreign key value back to the base entity. Simplest workaround is to use SelectedItem property. By adding Foreign key entity as a property to the base entity, we can data bind SelectedItem to the foreign key entity, automating the whole process.

With .net RIA services, you can do this easily, just by setting Include attribute on the associated foreign key entity. This results in foreign key entity being added a property to the base entity, which can then be data bound to SelectedItem property. Now when SelectedItem sets new foreign key entity, property setter in turn sets related foreign key value property, as indicated by the Association attribute. All of this code is already in place, generated automatically by the .net RIA services code generator. All you have to do is to data bind to SelectedItem and take care of ItemsSource.

Model

I will use the same Address/City model that I had previously used for Silverlight 2 ComboBox post, so that you can contrast the code, except that this time I will start with a database model. Model consists of Address and City tables.

Application

Create a Silverlight Navigation Application. Next add the ADO.NET Entity Data Model as AddressModel and generate the AddressEntities from database tables, Address and City.

Next add a Domain Service Class as AddressService, adding Address and City entities. Select Enable editing and also generate associated meta data.

In the class AddressMetadata, decorate City field with Include attribute.

internal sealed class AddressMetadata {

    // Metadata classes are not meant to be instantiated.
    private AddressMetadata() {
    }

    public Guid AddressId;
    [Include]
    public City City;
...

This will ensure that City entity in included as a property in the Address class and it is sent to client. Also modify GetAddress method in AddressService class to include City in retrieved data.

public IQueryable<Address> GetAddress() {
    return this.Context.Address.Include("City");
}

Compile and build the application.

Auto generated City Property

Find the Generated Code folder (unhide by clicking Show All Code for client application) and navigate to City field in Address entity class. Note that City property is decorated with Association attribute that ties Address.CityId foreign key to City.CityId primary key. Also note the Set property assessor for City property. When ever a new City value is set, it also automatically sets CityId property to proper foreign key value. Following is the auto generated code for the City Property:

[Association("City_Address", "CityId", "CityId", IsForeignKey = true)]
public City City {
    get {
        if ((this._city == null)) {
            this._city = new EntityRef<City>(this, "City", this.FilterCity);
        }
        return this._city.Entity;
    }
    set {
        City previous = this.City;
        if ((previous != value)) {
            this.ValidateProperty("City", value);
            if ((previous != null)) {
                previous.Address.Remove(this);
            }
            this._city.Entity = value;
            if ((value != null)) {
                value.Address.Add(this);
                this.CityId = value.CityId;
            } else {
                this.CityId = default(Guid);
            }
        }
    }
}

So far, .net RIA services has generated all the code necessary for City property and tying it to corresponding CityId foreign key property. All that is now needed for us to do is to add code to allow ComboBox to find a City entity in the ItemsSource entity list.

Shared City Partial Class

Add shared City partial class as City.shared.cs to the Silverlight server web application.

public partial class City {

    public override bool Equals(object obj) {
        if (null == obj) return false;
        City cityToCompare = obj as City;
        if (null == cityToCompare) return false;
        return CityId.Equals(cityToCompare.CityId);
    }

    public override int GetHashCode() {
        return CityId.GetHashCode();
    }
}

This code will be copied over to client and is used to find City entity from list of cities.

City List Provider

Next add class CityListProvider to the Silverlight client Application.

public class CityListProvider {
    AddressContext _dc;
    public AddressContext DomainContext {
        set {
            _dc = value;
            _dc.LoadCity();
        }
    }
    public EntityList<City> CityList {
        get {
            return _dc.Cities;
        }
    }
}

ComboBox XAML

Add a new page to display Address data using DataGrid. Following shows City column XAML snippet:

<data:DataGridTemplateColumn Header="City">
    <data:DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <TextBlock Text="{Binding City.CityName}" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </data:DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
    <data:DataGridTemplateColumn.CellEditingTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding CityList, Source={StaticResource cityListProvider}}"
                      SelectedItem="{Binding City, Mode=TwoWay}"
                      DisplayMemberPath="CityName" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </data:DataGridTemplateColumn.CellEditingTemplate>
</data:DataGridTemplateColumn>

Note that ComboBox control’s SelectedItem is directly bound to the City property. User is shown friendly “CityName” by setting DisplayMemberPath. Also add CityListProvider as a resource to the root Grid control.

Modify code behind to set DataGrid ItemsSource to Address property on AddressContext (domain context) and load addresses using LoadAddress method of address domain context.

AddressContext _dc;

void AddressList_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    _dc = new AddressContext();
    addressDataGird.ItemsSource = _dc.Addresses;
    //
    CityListProvider cityListProvider = LayoutRoot.Resources["cityListProvider"] as CityListProvider;
    cityListProvider.DomainContext = _dc;
    //
    _dc.LoadAddress();
}

Compile and test the application. Note that appropriate City field is automatically selected when ComboBox drop down opens, thanks to Equality override in City class. When a new City is selected from the drop down, CityId is auto updated to reflect the new selection.

Use of ComboBox for Implementing foreign key scenarios is now completely automatic with aid of .net RIA service. Framework generates necessary Foreign Key entity property and also generates corresponding code to keep underlying foreign key value in sync.

Steps to get started

Use Include attribute on foreign key entity. Also include foreign key entity in data retrieval.
Provide Equality override code to find entity in entity list
Data bind ItemsSource to entity list provider
Data bind SelectedItem directly to foreign key entity

Source Code: SL3ComboBox.zip (417KB)

Technorati Tags: Silverlight

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.

Daily tech links for .net and related technologies - July 1-4, 2009

SanjeevAgarwal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Daily tech links for .net and related technologies - July 1-4, 2009 Web Development How to serve the same data in Json, Xml or Html with Asp.Net MVC ASP.NET MVC Screencasts AJAX Features in ASP.NET MVC 22 Extremely Useful Tools for Web Designers and Developers Easy E-Commerce With Magento Creating Excel spreadsheets .XLS and .XLSX in C# HighOnCoding: Get high on ASP.NET articles, videos, podcasts and more! SharePoint Search-as-You-Type with jQuery Three IIS Concepts ASP.NET Developers Should Know...(read more)

How To: Install Windows 7/Vista From USB Drive [Detailed 100% Working Guide]

Jose Rolando Guay Paz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:04:40 GMT

This guide works 100% for Vista & Windows 7 unlike most of the guides out there. I have seen many sites/blogs that have “Install Vista from USB guide” but either with incomplete steps or not working guide. I have also seen some guides that don’t’ use proper commands in this guide. After spending many hours I have come up with this 100% working guide.

I just did this method on one of my friends machine and installed the new Windows 7 BETA. The main advantage is that by using USB drive you will be able to install Windows 7/Vista in just 15 minutes. You can also use this bootable USB drive on friend’s computer who doesn’t have a DVD optical drive.

The method is very simple and you can use without any hassles. Needless to say that your motherboard should support USB Boot feature to make use of the bootable USB drive.

Requirements:

Motherboard supporting USB Boot.
USB Flash Drive (Minimum 4GB).
Windows 7 or Vista installation files.

Full story here.

Enjoy!!

CodingQA Podcast Episodes 10-12

farmas — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:02 GMT

Episode 10 Project Structure

In this show Matthew and Federico talk about how the ASP.NET team structures it’s sources and the theory behind it all. They talk about how the team handles the organization of all of it’s sources and what seems to work well along with what seems to cause hang ups.

Episode 11 Interviewing Hong Li

In the eleventh installment of Coding QA Federico is on vacation so Matthew sits down with his mentor, Hong Li, for an interview. Join Matthew as he learns a little about one of his fellow team members, servicing an released product, and working with team members that are offshore in China.

Episode 12 Jim Wang on Microsoft AJAX

In the twelfth installment of Coding QA Federico is still enjoying his vacation so Matthew sits down with his officemate Jim Wang to discuss the ins and outs of test the Microsoft AJAX libraries. Tune in as Matthew picks Jim’s brain on what it was like to test a client side framework.

Federico Silva Armas
SDET, ASP.NET QA Team

Creating IT strategy (with a little help from enterprise architecture)

nattYGUR — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:48:00 GMT

Creating IT strategy is one of the complicated task that I know. To create a good IT strategy, you have to use many ingredients from different types and sources. Those ingredients should be used in unique combination that can be cooked and then be served as a delicious Cake to different customers ( IT workers, IT management, Information workers, enterprise CxOs and sometimes the board). In this post I'll try to describe what, and who I manage to create an IT strategy.

Usually I tend to split my work into 6 main work streams:

Collecting as-is data
1. Mapping IT assets: collecting existing IT assets to understand what IT manage and to get a hint how.
  1. Information model: information entities and their relations. Helps to understand interaction between business units and level of integration from business perspective. Information model is also being used as an input to Information management.
  2. Applications and products : applications (internal development), External products and relations. Will be used for different aspects as well as mapping to core-context model.
  3. Technologies, Databases and servers : collect data about technical component and their relations. Used to understand what stand behind each application/product and to find out if resources are balanced (from usage point of view) and if new technologies (such as virtualization) are applicable.
  4. Communication infrastructures : same as technologies, but focused on communication.
  5. DRP : current design recovery plan.
  6. Information security : what procedures and IT assets are in place to support information security.
  7. Information from externals: what type of information the enterprise is getting from externals, in what format and how the data is being handled by the enterprise.
1. Information management: how information is manage, who own information, who use it, what is each information availability, etc'
2. Program of Work (POW) management : what is the current (if exists), how POW is being prepared, who is involved in this effort, what are the inputs for the process, is the POW address IT needs or just business needs, is it multiyear plan, is the plan enable prioritization and control, do we have milestones, deliverables and time tables, etc'
3. Budget management : who current budget is build (centralized or separated between business units), how the process is being done, who is involved, what are the inputs, is it multiyear budget, do we have breakdown of budget chapters, is the budget structure represent the major areas of expanses, is the structure enable management queries regarding budget behavior, Can we optimize budget without changing IT deliverables, etc'
4. IT equipment procurement management: are there any policies regarding procurement (Tender, predefined suppliers, how the process is done, where), what are the relations to other business units (when IT purchases), how IT physical assets are managed, any retire principles for IT equipment, etc'
5. Project management : is there one and uniform process for IT project, is the project follow PRINCE2, PMBOK or any other project management methodology.
6. IT infrastructure management (ITIL) : checking who much ITIL is implemented (even if its not ITIL explicitly) . Are we implementing any management of Incident, problem, configuration, release, change, capacity, financial, availability, continuity and service level.
7. Governance: mapping the IT against governance frameworks such as COBIT.
8. IT organizational structure and Human resources management. Existing structure and how it should support current tasks, one shop or shop per business unit, duplicated teams, location of teams in hierarchy, are teams located in the same physical location, compensation per role, etc'.
9. Training / Education : Current training and education plan or opportunities available, are they per role, are they address known gap in worker knowledge, are they related to POW, etc'
10. IT management - supporting forums: Are there any IT or enterprise wide forums that serve IT needs or IT is involved in, what is the perception of IT, is the CIO has CEO support, what is the CIO location in organization structure, etc'

Understand the business, future direction and who it impact IT
1. Business capabilities : what are the functions performed by the business to reach goals and objectives. Including new capabilities (or changes in capabilities) that support new business directions, or any business change. Used to see alignment between IT and business needs (current and future)
2. End-to-End business processes (Value chain): mapping main processes that generate value to the enterprise. Used to see interaction and integration between business units.

Understand new technology future IT directions and how they can Impact the business.
Create TO-BE architecture: Creating new architecture (blueprint or high level architecture) based on business directions, new technology options, key finding from IT assets mapping and IT as-is mapping.
Identify gaps between as-is and to-be: list all gaps in each element that we mapped in the "AS-IS"
Translate gaps into a roadmaps with dependencies and assignments : group gaps into projects, write one page of project high level analysis, assign resources to projects and creating a road map (taking in account dependencies )

Then I translate the work streams data into a word document with 6 main chapters:

Executive summary. Actually I'm writing different executive summary for each audience using relevant linkage to document paragraphs. I found out that although it's more work it proves to be more digestible. This way I can use different lingo and sharp different aspects of the strategy for each audience without rewriting the entire document and with ability for adjustments on the other hand.
Description of the as-is + to-be. Describe the data as it was collected from different roles. This part should hold just facts. I'm using it to build my findings on top of agreed facts.
Analysis : TO-BE based on analysis of collected data.
Blue-prints and Principles : based on the analysis what need to be done, and which principles should be followed by the enterprise.
Roadmap : Translate blueprints and principles into defined projects with assignments and dependencies with other projects and resources.

Fill out a survey, win a chance for a SharePoint Conference 2009 pass

Bil Simser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:13:16 GMT

Yeah, title says all. Mindsharp, Nintex, and Combined Knowledge are sponsoring a Global SharePoint Survey. This is an independent survey that you can fill out to let them know about your experience with adoption and usage of SharePoint from your perspective. The survey is quick (only 15 questions) and most questions are multiple choice. You could probably let your cat or two year old fill it out (I did) but also consider taking a few minutes to put some thought behind it (unlike what I did).

In the end, you get a chance to win a conference pass to the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 (October 19-22) in Las Vegas. This pass is worth $1,119 USD if purchased with real money. A winner will be drawn randomly after the closing of the survey July 17th then notified by email and/or phone. Note the contest is *only* for the conference pass. You still need to provide a way to get there and pay for your hotel, mini-bar, and pub crawl expenses (and trust me, when you hang with SharePoint dudes, the bar bill can get pretty hefty). Still, it’s a short slice out of your life for a chance to make it big in the city that never sleep.

You can fill out the survey here. Enjoy and good luck!

Your Company's Next Senior Software Architect???

CSharpener — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:08:00 GMT

I would *love* to join a new and exciting software development team that has a single-minded focus on delivering high-quality software products to great customers. Perhaps that team is working in your company! Please have a look at my resume (http://weblogs.asp.net/jtobler/articles/48839.aspx) to find out if my skills match your customers' needs! If interested, contact me by email so I can get to work with you as quickly as possible! I currently live in San Diego, CA, but would consider relocating to Las Vegas, NV, or the Miami Ft. Lauderdale area, FL, to join the right company with the right challenge!

Client App Dev MVP for 2009!

aaguiar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:55:00 GMT

I'll be an MVP for Client App Development for 2009!

I want to thank to all the people in Microsoft Uruguay and Latinoamerica that kept inviting me to talk in their events.

Here is my almost-empty MVP Profile. I'll complete it during the following days.

Thanks!