Archives

Archives / 2005 / November
  • Meet Robert Scoble in Dublin tomorrow

    This is another great evening tomorrow in Dublin, the chance to meet the Channel 9 guy himself, Robert Scoble.
    Register here
    We will also have an Expert Panel session, where any one in the room can challenge the experts (an MVP, a Microsoft Regional Director, the head of INETA Ireland and of course a Microsoft evangelist, not bad not bad), asking tough questions on .Net technologies, databases, web services, etc…
    The experts will judge the most intriguing question and the winner will be rewarded with some nice books!

  • SQL 2005 remote connection

    I really enjoy the new SQL 2005 management studio, everything I need in one location. However I have issues when I try to connect to any production databases (SQL 2000 or 2005).
    In the Connect To Server windows, if I browse for any remote services, I can see my databases, but I have all the time the same message if I try to connect to one of them ‘under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections (provider, etc…)
    I double checked SQL Surface tool and Named Pipes and TCP/IP protocols are enabled, I read already few blogs and forums on the subject, but still don’t know what to do.
    Any help?

  • The .Net 2.0 migration desk :-)

    This is what it takes when you are unlucky (or lucky depends on the day) when you are the lonely developer in your company and you have two weeks to maintain and migrate 25 websites (note: on the left, yes an Apple G5 for the creative side of my brain, and not in the picture three more PCs!)

  • Connecting to SQL 2005

    Two days on this issue, probably easy one but hard stuff for an average developer like me!

    Sadly a proof that you can’t really depend on .Net 2.0 books yet. I believe the lack of experience from many means we have to survive only with Scott Guthrie and his team.

    Anyway what happens here make sense when you finally see the light but at the start it baffled me for too much precious little hours.

  • VS 2005 HTML editor is cool

    OK I know some people can say I have a constant bad attitude regarding Microsoft products, but hey I like their products and I like also to say when something goes right or wrong.
    Here I want to say bravo for the HTML editor in VS 2005. It's really a great job, no more mess with my code reformatted.
    One thing I really enjoy is the fact I can collapse any nested div or table element when I am writing my code. It's make the code much more readable and because I am now moving away more and more from the table and use more CSS and div tags. I finally disabled the HTML intellisense validation because I disagree with some of the rules, it could be nice to have some granularity on the level of error the tool report or not. Actually it's just on or off.
    After one year of tests on the different betas, I finally start to write some real code. As I say before, I don't use really the migration tool, I prefer to start from a clean project and copy and paste what I need. I know it's a slow process, but I am quite sure its a winning situation in the long term. I hope also very soon to implement the new stuff like master pages, or web parts.

  • Weird error with VS 2005

    In case some people don’t believe I have issues with VS 2005 maybe you can help me there. Check my article too.
    Look at this screen grab (click to enlarge) and tell me what I am doing wrong (works perfectly fine under VS 2003).
    You can see a basic <a> tag link to go to another folder. Look that VS 2005 don’t like it, same with images tags too.

  • My life in hell with VS 2005

    OK the title is really strong but with all the annoying issues I have with web projects in VS 2005, I decided to record in an article all the bad and ugly I found when migrating my projects.
    I will post hopefully this on a regular basis, and my wish is to use that as a live journal for people who have also the same issues but don’t/can’t blog about it.
    Of course I hope also to find positive comments and solutions which will prove helpful for everybody.

  • MagicAjax.NET

    MagicAjax.NET is an open-source library designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to integrate AJAX technology into their web pages, without replacing the ASP.NET controls and/or writing tons of javascript code. MagicAjax initially appeared as a codeproject article. Now it is hosted on Sourceforge and a 0.2 version supporting NET 1.1 and NET 2.0 is coming soon. Until then you can try this unstable cvs snapshot.

  • Migrating to VS 2005, really too hard!

    I am really optimistic by nature (yes it’s true) but the migration to VS 2005 is really too hard :-(

    If only my boss could let met six months alone on a (tropical) remote island with my laptop, few .Net 2.0 books (and a good provision of beers) yes I will be so happy.
    But in my not so exotic life, I have to deal with many things and I don’t get the thing, too much things going wrong, really hairy and scary.

  • Exclude from Project, why I can't do it for a folder?

    Under pressure I guess so, I reckon it’s great to have ‘Exclude from Project’ back again. But why oh why I can’t exclude a folder itself?

    I want to keep a structure in my project, and I need to keep this specific folder under another project. But I don’t want to compile it. Now I need to exclude all the files ‘manually’. I have some images subfolder inside plus a lot of other subfolders, so imagine the job to exclude the files.

  • CodeVeil

    Encrypts .NET applications and DLLs.
    CodeVeil adds native code to assemblies to decrypt the assembly just before the .NET runtime needs access to the data.

    Features include:
    - Full MSIL encryption: your MSIL is encrypted and cannot be read with readers like ILDASM or Reflector.
    - Resource and string encryption: strings embedded in your code, and resources like images and form text can now be encrypted.
    - Blob encryption: selectively encrypt data stored in the blob heap. This data includes parameters for attributes, default values for fields, and method signature information.
    - Encrypt both EXEs and DLLs.
    - Obfuscation: obfuscate the names of public classes, methods, properties and fields.
    - Anti-debugging, anti-tracing.
    - Modification resistence: CodeVeil creates dependencies on the unmodified source so that a user cannot modify your assembly without making it completely unusable.

  • SQL 2005 Webcast by NewHorizons

    Today (Thursday, November 17) NewHorizons have another Webinar which will provide attendees with a preview of Microsoft SQL 2005 presented by David Gollob, Principal Database Specialist of Microsoft. It lasts one hour and please be aware that it starts at 12pm Pacific Standard Time, which is 8pm Irish time so it is for those who have time at 8pm. Most Webinars are recorded and can also be accessed online.

    A complete list of the upcoming Webinars can be found on the www.NewHorizons.com website by clicking on Webinars link in the left hand navigation menu.

    To register, go to www.newhorizons.com and select webinars.

  • New Google Analytics

    After buying Urchin Software, Google Analytics is now available and free to use (you need to have a Google account).
    From the site (doesn't seems to work yet anyway):
    Learn how visitors interact with your website and identify the navigational bottlenecks that keep them from completing your conversion goals. Find out how profitable your keywords are across search engines and campaigns. Pinpoint where your best customers come from and which markets are most profitable to you. Google Analytics gives you this and more through easy-to-understand visually enhanced reports.

  • VS 2003 and 2005 Service Packs, are you really sure it's good news?

    OK first I am like many very pleased that Microsoft (under a lot of pressure!) has finally announced some Service Packs for VS 2003 and 2005.
    But I read carefully the post, and I am not totally sure it's perfect.
    First a service pack for VS 2003 is scheduled for...April 2006 !?!? Hello Microsoft, you mean a service pack every 3 years and something? At this time, I don't thing I will use anymore VS 2003. I really don't get it, why not now? And does it mean we should expect the same delay with VS 2005? By the way what's about SQL 2005?
    Other thing, the hot fixes. This has always been a problem for many, because obtaining a fix by calling a support center is ridiculous and time consuming (don't even mention the phone cost).
    After all hot fixes are there to fix bugs, so why can't make them publicly downloadable?
    Other grief is the format used for this announcement. I like the blog idea but this should be made public on MSDN, as a kind of contract between Microsoft and their customers, an engagement to say yes we listened and we are willing to help.