Share Intelligence

Microsoft Silverlight 2 Beta 2 Released & Upgrading

Last Monday at TechEd, it was announced that Silverlight 2 Beta 2 would available later in the week.  Well, it hit the streets late last Friday.   So I decided to upgrade my NFL Free Agency app to the new beta.  I got it upgraded but it wasn't a smooth process.

My first order was to download the new bits.  I downloaded the silverlight chainer which contains the run-time, SDK, KB950630, KB950632, and the Tools for VS 2008.  I also downloaded the June preview of Expression Blend 2.5.  Once, I downloaded them I launched the silverlight chainer and it when through the install without a hitch.  Of course, I should have know that was too easy.  I tried opening the Free Agency project, low and behold an error.

So let me try a new project.  Nope that didn't work either.

I tried to uninstall everything and reinstalling along with rebooting.  Nothing.  After a little digging I came across a post, Upgrading to Silverlight Tools Beta 2 and Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta, which described the problem I was having.  Unfortunately, he stated that as long as I didn't have the beta of VS 2008 SP1 installed it should work fine.  That the installer should install KB949325 so the new Silverlight bits would install correctly.  I check through Control Panel and I did not see hotfix installed.  I then remembered, I had to manual install the bits for beta 1.  So, I thought I would manually uninstall KB949325.  What I thought was the correct command to uninstall the hotfix was actually a command to uninstall Visual Studio 2008.  After MSDN download and install of a fresh copy of Visual Studio, I tried to install the chainer again.  This time everything when smoothly along with the install of Expression Blend.

I finally opened my project, it prompted that it was built with an earlier beta and do I want to update the project.  Of course I answered yes and everything looked good. 

Next, I tried to build the project and there were errors.  So I started to go through the errors along with the list of breaking changes between Beta 1 and Beta 2.  

DependencyProperty.Register and DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached functions now take PropertyMetadata as a parameter instead of PropertyChangedCallback

The first change I came accross was with a lot of my properties on my custom Silverlight controls.  Most were setup as dependency properties.  The method now took a PropertyMetadata type instead of a PropertyChanged Callback.  The easy way to fix was to wrap the PropertyChangeCallback class with a PropertyMetadata class. I noticed I really wasn't using the Callbacks anyway so I set them to null and that fixed that issue.

ToolTip is being hidden and can no longer be used directly—ToolTips can now only be added to controls through the ToolTipService

The next problem I had was with the close button.  It had a tooltip set for it.  The Tooltip class is now hidden and you have to set the Tooltips through the ToolTipService.

this.FindName vs this.Layout.FindName

Those were the only design time errors I ran into.  Not too bad.  Now to fire the app up.  I launch the app in debugging mode, I hit a null reference exception when it tries to set the logos for the team list on the left side.  

Canvas teamCanvas = this.FindName(selectedTeam.ToString()) as Canvas; 

The FindName was no longer working.  It used to be able to search through all the UI Elements including sub controls.  However, it no longer worked.  I changed it to the following and it was able to find the canvas.

Canvas teamCanvas = this.Layout.FindName(selectedTeam.ToString()) as Canvas; 

ActualHeight vs Height

I launched the app again and it loads.  However, all the player controls are stacked on top each other in the middle.  The layout function is not working correctly.  Back into the code I go.  The application uses a example player control at run-time to determine a standard player controls dimensions. 

double playerLayoutSize = playerCount * example.ActualHeight + spacerCount * 10;

When debugging the preceding ling the ActualHeight now returned 0.  Height now seems to return the correct value of 40.  So I changed all the lines to use Height and Width properties for the example control.

double playerLayoutSize = playerCount * example.Height + spacerCount * 10;

Once I made all these changes everything worked correctly.  I uploaded my new XAP file to my hosting provided.  I also uploaded the BIN directory which contains all the new Silverlight controls and libraries. 

Overall, my upgrade experience was not the worse one I've ever done, but wasn't the smoothest either.

SharePoint Tip - Activating Publishing, Access Denied

A friend of mine has just recently gotten into working with MOSS.  He started sending my emails with tips and tricks he's learning as he gets into the guts of it.  I figured I would post them for others who may be new or run into similar problems. 

You ever get that feeling that your missing something in the Site Settings menu? Do you get the "Access denied" when trying to activate Publishing Infrastructure?

A common mistake is to overlook the "Publishing Resources" option when installing SharePoint MOSS 2007.

Fortunately there is a way to correct it without having to give up, crawl under a blanket and eat comfort food because you need to re-install MOSS.

 

FIX: Use the following stsadm command (make sure to replace 'http://website' with your correct website...only needs to be the root) for each site collection that needs Publishing Resources functionality

1. Execute these command from the following command prompt: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN>

  a. stsadm -o activatefeature -name PublishingResources -url http://website

    NOTE: You also may want to run stsadm -o execadmsvcjobs when that finishes; this will force the jobs to run, instead of waiting on the SharePoint timer service.

2. Log into the site collection root website with a valid Site Collection administrator ID

3. Go to Site Settings and click on "Site Collection Features" under the Site Collection Administration column

4. ACTIVATE Office SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure

5. Go back to the Site Settings page and click on "Site Features" under the Site Administration column

6. ACTIVATE Office SharePoint Server Publishing

Repeat steps 1-6 for each site collection. For each sub-site, you only need to do steps 5 and 6.

My Personal Project - NFL Free Agency Movement

Its been awhile since I posted.  I haven't been sitting on my thumbs though.  I've been working on a personal project, NFL Free Agency Movement.  Anyone that knows me knows I'm a big sports guy, especially the NFL.  I'm also a big advocate of data visualization as seen by some of my posts.  Well, this lead to my side project. 

I wanted to do a visualization of NFL free agent movements between teams.  I've been kicking the idea around for awhile.  When Microsoft released the beta for Silverlight 2, I figured it was about time to take a crack at it while learning Silverlight 2.  The basic concept was to map players to teams through an input / output diagram.   The players on the left are players signed with the team, while the players on right are the ones that have left.

I also link the players to their profiles on Wikipedia to give a full background to them.

I also add some basic analytics to show players by conference, in division, offense/ defense,  and player ranking.  The data for the the application is pulled from open sources and press clippings.  The ratings are based on my experience and also information provided on public sites.  The data itself is stored in a simple XML document.  In another post, I'll go into details on the architecture, design, and the maintenance of the application.

I've certainly learned a lot about Silverlight 2 in building the application and hope others enjoy the application as much as I did in creating it.  I'll keep tweaking it over time.  I do have some know issues like the delay on loading when a team is selected in the list.  BTW, if you really want to see a massive overhaul of a team, click on Miami.  You can see Parcell's influence.

CMAP Code Camp 2008 Spring Edition is Almost Here

This Saturday, April 12th CMAP (Central Maryland Association of .NET Professionals) will be holding its spring edition code camp.  One of the tracks will be Busness Intelligence focused on sessions ranging from beginning to learn Business Intelligence to the more in-depth Business Performance with Monitoring with PerformancePoint.  I attend the code camp last year and it was very informative and a great way to network with other developers and professionals who are also interested or working with the same technologies as you.  If you are in the Baltimore metropolitan area, I recommend signing up and attending.  If Business Intelligence is not your interest (well it should be :P), there are other sessions that include current topics such as Silverlight 2 and Microsoft Expression, Introducing .Net 3.5 "Extensions" ADO.NET Data Services, and Using Features to Modify the SharePoint Environment.  You can check out the schedule here. 

The code camp will be held on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at the Loyola College Graduate Center Columbia Campus.

Loyola College Graduate Center
Columbia Campus
8890 McGaw Road
Columbia, Maryland 21045

Interview with Kurt Schlegel, Gartner BI Anaylst, on the BI Trends and Its Future

Yesterday was the kickoff of the Gartner BI Summit 2008.  One of the keynote speakers is Kurt Schlegel, a Gartner BI Analyst whose credits include the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 2008 gave an interview to Intelligent Enterprise magazine.  Its a very interesting Q & A session and I recommend you read it. 

The main topic of the Q & A and the keynote is on three main areas of  innovation in Business Intelligence.  Kurt hammers home the areas that I believe have the opportunity for future growth in the BI industry.

Like Kurt I believe the biggest driver for BI should be business driven (hence the name Business Intelligence).  Too often BI initiatives revolve around the IT side of things, which bog down in technology driven reporting solutions.  There needs to be a partnership between the business and the technology with the main star being the business side.

The other area I wholeheartedly agree with Kurt is on data visualization.  I believe this is a key factor in BI adoption and making it easier for business people to analyze their data.  I believe IT people have been so focused on building and storing information that we sometimes forget that its just as important how we present the information back to the users.  A couple of points that Kurt brings out are areas that i'll start to dive into more detail like search.  I believe that search is a great area to add value and drive more users into the BI arena.  Imagine the power of fully integrating, not just the surface data elements, Microsoft SharePoint search capabilities with the analytics of Microsoft SQL Server.

The last area Kurt mentions is one that I have brought up recently with my company.  I recently mentioned about creating more BI into applications themselves.  Not only have your BI solution for a look across the enterprise, but having it built into each of the applications with a focus on that application's function.  This would allow more users to become familiar with BI processes, driving them to want and use the enterprise level BI solution.

Its a great read and I encourage you to check out the article.  I can't wait to here what else comes out of the summit.

PerformancePoint Service Pack 1 Set for May Release

Yesterday Alyson Powell Erwin, the PerformancePoint Program Manager at Microsoft, hosted a TechNet webcast on Advanced Dashboard Creation with PerformancePoint Server 2007.  Overall the webcast was very good and covered dashboard creation thoroughly.  One of the notes Alyson mentioned in passing was that Microsoft is looking to release Service Pack 1 for PerformancePoint in May.  Alyson mentioned 2 fixes that are going to included in the service pack.  The first is that strategy map reports are going to allow more than one dashboard filter.  The other fix is that the  multi-select SSRS parameters will be supported. 

Hopeful as the date approaches we will hear more details on the service pack.

How Pervasive is Business Intelligence? How About Video Games

While I was searching for new blogs, I came across one that had a post a post about data visualizations in Halo 3.  For awhile now many video games, especially first person shooters, have had leaderboards showing top kills, most points, etc.  Bungie has upped the ante on this.  It goes further than just giving you simple statistics.

HeatMaps

Bungie has created a data visualization called heatmaps.  The heatmaps show you hotspots where players were killed or killed someone else on a top down map of the level.  An example would be of the Construct level kills with the Plasma grenade.  Not only can you slice the data by Kills or deaths and weapon used, but they also have personal heatmaps for each player.  This allows players to perform analysis both from a global level but a personal level.  It will allow players to be able analyze what weapons are used most on which maps and where on that map even.  It gives the player actionable data to be able to change their style and become a better player. 

I can also see this data and visualization important to Bungie itself.  It allows .hem to exam each map and how players react and move throughout the level.  This would allow Bungie to continue to improve on the level layout and see how different layout work.

Game Viewer

Another data visualization used by Bungie is the Game Viewer.  The Game Viewer allows a player to analyze a single game visually.  Its a visual map of areas of the level.  It shows markers where the player is and where they either killed another player at or where they were killed at.  Again this allows a player to see where they are making mistakes and be able to improve their kill/death ratio.

It certainly looks like Bungie gets Business Intelligence and has adopted it.  It gives their users the power to view and slice and dice their data allowing them to be able to analyze their games to be able to make better decisions in future games.   This is an awesome idea and I'm hoping other games follow suit.  This is a wide open area in BI for both the players and the game companies themselves.

SQL Server 2008 Feb CTP - DVD ISO Details - Part 2

This is the follow up post that finishes describing in detail the files on the SQL Server 2008 CTP DVD.

 Tools Folder

The Tools folder contains the bits for the client tools installs along with any of the prerequisites that need to be installed.  This folder would be on the second CD if you were using CDs instead of a DVD.  The Tools folder is setup very similar to the Servers folder.

 Tools\redist Folder

This folder contains the redistributable software packages that are prerequisites for SQL Server to be installed.  The folder contains no files just folders of each package.  This folder does not have the .net frameworks like the Server folder.

 Tools\redist\Powershell\x86 Folder

The powershell folder contains folders for each of the chip architectures.  We will focus on the x86 folder. This folder contains the same items as the the Server folder.

Tools\redist\Windows Installer Folder 

This folder contains the folders for each of the chip architecture updates. It also has one update file.  This folder contains the same items as the Servers folder.

Tools\redist\Windows Installer\x86 Folder

This folder contains the x86 version of the Windows Installer updates.  This folder is identical to the Servers folder.

Tools\Setup Folder

Where the Servers root folder holds the overall chainer and setup program, this folder holds the installs for each of the SQL server components.

Tools\Setup\MergeMod Folder

This folder holds the MergeMod COM Server Library.  Merge modules provide a standard method by which developers deliver shared Windows Installer components and setup logic to their applications. Merge modules are used to deliver shared code, files, resources, registry entries, and setup logic to applications as a single compound file.

Tools\Setup\Remote Debugger\x86 Folder

This folder contains the Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugger install for the x86 chipset.

Tools\Setup\wcu Folder

The wcu, Windows Component Upgrade, folder contains the upgrades required to run the client tools, including the .net frameworks and web designer. 

Tools\Setup\wcu\DotNetFrameworks Folder

This folder contains the install packages for the .Net frameworks required. Note, that SQL Server needs the new 3.5 framework to run. This folder is the same as the one in the Servers folder.

Tools\Setup\wcu\WebDesignerCore Folder      

This folder contains the Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component.  The Web Authoring Component is a new HTML/ASP.NET design surface that is based on former FrontPages technologies, similar to Expression Web Designer.

SQL Server 2008 Feb CTP - DVD ISO Details

With the release of the full feature SQL Server 2008 CTP recently, I've decided to install the CTP to become familiar with the new Business Intelligence features.  Since I'm going to go install it for the first time, I am going to post a series of entries about my installation.

This post will focus on the folders and files contained on the 32-bit Developer Edition DVD of the SQL Server 2008 Feb CTP.   The first thing I did was download the ISO and burn it to DVD.  The DVD size is around 1.25 GB.

Root Folder

The root folder of the DVD is pretty simple.  There are only 2 folders and the autorun file.

 Server Folder

The Server folder contains the bits for the server install along with any of the prerequisites that need to be installed. The folder main components are the setup executable and the SQL chainer / configuration files.

 Servers\redist Folder

This folder contains the redistributable software packages that are prerequisites for SQL Server to be installed.  The folder contains no files just folders of each package.

 Servers\redist\DotNetFrameworks Folder

This folder contains the install packages for the .Net frameworks required. Note, that SQL Server needs the new 3.5 framework to run.

 Servers\redist\Powershell\x86 Folder

The powershell folder contains folders for each of the chip architectures.  We will focus on the x86 folder.

Servers\redist\Windows Installer Folder

This folder contains the folders for each of the chip architecture updates. It also has one update file.

 Servers\redist\Windows\x86 Installer Folder

This folder contains the x86 version of the Windows Installer updates.

Servers\Setup Folder

Where the Servers root folder holds the overall chainer and setup program, this folder holds the installs for each of the SQL server components.

That wraps it up from the Servers folder.  This constitutes the first CD or the server install.  My next post a will go into the Tools folder.  The Tools folder has similar items, so I will bring to attention the differences.

One of My Favorite Bloggers is Moving on

Joel Oleson is leaving the SharePoint Technical Product Management team at Microsoft.  Working on the SharePoint since its early begins 7 years ago, his blog is one of the most informative on the inner workings of SharePoint itself.  He also goes into the back history of SharePoint to give a rich picture of SharePoint. 

Looks like where he may land is still up in the air, but he will continue to be a SharePoint advocate and avid blogger.

I wish him well in his future endeavors and look forward to reading his future blog where ever it may be.