Archives
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How to create and run Compact Framework unit tests with VS2008 and TestDriven.NET
Unlike VS2005, where you didn't have a unit testing framework for the .NET Compact Framework (and that's the reason why we had to create one for the Mobile Client Software Factory), VS2008 (Team System Test or Suite editions) comes with the same test framework you probably use for desktop applications.
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PDC Essentials @ Buenos Aires
On Tuesday 18th, Victor and I will be presenting A Lap Around VS2010. Check which other talks are available and register here.
This is the event information:
- Horario: martes, 18 de noviembre de 2008 16:00 - 22:00 p.m.
- Lugar: ITTC. Sarmiento 1113 Piso 5. Buenos Aires Argentina.
- Registración
- Descripción:
Durante los dÃas del 27 al 30 de Octubre se lleva a cabo la Professional Developer Conference en Los Angeles, Estados Unidos. Durante este evento Microsoft realiza grandes anuncios sobre novedades en la plataforma de desarrollo, presentando su visión de Cloud Computing, construyendo aplicaciones que desdibujan las barreras entre la PC, la Web y los dispositivos móviles, lo nuevo en VS 2010, .net Framework 4, distintos avances sobre Windows 7, la siguiente mayor versión de la plataforma cliente Windows y mucho más. En este evento, estaremos presentando algunas de las novedades develadas durante el evento, contando con disertantes asistentes al mismo....
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XmlSerializerFactory caching issues and leaks
You'd think that after the serious leaks people was hitting with the XmlSerializer, the "new" (in .NET 2.0!!! but which many seem to forget about, just like AVOID doing new XmlTextReader in a PDC *keynote*) XmlSerializerFactory would do away with those.
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Weird procedure to activate Windows 2008 from MSDN subscription
I kept getting a "Activation Error: Code 0x8007232b DNS Name does not exist" error whenever I tried to activate Windows 2008 Standard (which has been running great on my X61 laptop so far as the host OS!).
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How to use Windows 2008 on your laptop
- Follow all the tips from Windows 2008 Workstation site. Microsoft has a KB article also that is useful.
- Get Windows Live Messenger bare MSI from Softpedia (it's a MS-signed installer, worked just fine for me)
- How to get Windows Live Writer on Windows 2008: this was a bit trickier, and involves importing a few registry keys (just copy the registry keys to a .reg file and import it).
- First you need a machine with WLW installed. Copy the entire folder to the new machine. I copied it to %ProgramFiles%\Windows Live\Writer, which is where it'd go if I could run the proper installer....
- First you need a machine with WLW installed. Copy the entire folder to the new machine. I copied it to %ProgramFiles%\Windows Live\Writer, which is where it'd go if I could run the proper installer....
Automocking container with Moq
Where was the stubbing part in Moq?
In my very recent previous post I said "mocking and stubbing easier than ever", but actually forgot to mention the stubbing part :S.
Mocking and stubbing easier than ever with Moq 2.6
I've just released a new version of Moq which contains a few bug fixes but two extremely useful features: recursive mocks and mocked default values.
What is all the fuzz about the new common IServiceLocator
There's been some excitement lately about the introduction of a common IServiceLocator that all major DI containers apparently will provide.
Developing orientation and resolution aware Windows Mobile applications just got a TON easier
Quite some time ago I posted about how we (Clarius Consulting with Microsoft Patterns & Practices) solved the multiple resolution/orientation problem for Windows Mobile developers by introducing the Orientation Aware Control (OAC) as part of the Mobile Client Software Factory. As any 6-month project, there were a number of features that had to be left out because of time constraints. Also, being two years old also shows: that version does not support smartphone project types, neither Windows Mobile 6, nor VS2008, etc. A few bugs were also discovered after being released....
How to get ASP.NET MVC Preview 4 to run with .NET SP1
As you probably know by now (i.e. from Phill's blog), however both Routing and Abstractions are. MVC Preview 4, however, has its own version of both assemblies.
How to diagnose Linq to SQL easily and production-ready
Here's what we're currently doing: we add an InitializeContext method to all DataContext-derived classes, which is called from all ctors:
Does CUIL search engine really work?
Query: "how to replace ipod touch boot screen"
Cuil: 1 result, completely unrelated to what I'm looking for
Google: 140k results, including the one I was looking for in the first 10
MS Live: 423k results, the actual answer nowhere to be found in the first 40 results (so, for practical purposes I guess it's the same as Cuil useless result too :))
The need for nullable reference types to advertise optional constructor dependencies
In "traditional" OOP, you advertise your class required dependencies via constructor arguments:
Do you really care about Stub vs Mock?
I've argued in the past that this theoretical discussion is utterly useless. In my experience you need slightly different things from your test doubles at different times and depending on the scenarios and what you care about testing in a particular test.
Mocking protected members with Moq
If you're familiar with Moq, you know that it relies on lambda expressions heavily. This is very good as you get full support from intellisense and refactoring features in Visual Studio. However, it also means you're for the most part restricted to setting expectations on things that your code has access too (public or internal members).
Moq 2.5 shipped: lots of good news!
Today we shipped Moq v2.5. It's been a while since RC1 (a month or so feels so long for an open source agile project!) and we god very good feedback and suggestions for the final release. I'm pretty happy with the current drop and felt it was time for a new stable release.
Cool ajax loader image generator
Just found (via Brian) about this cool site to generate ajax-like loading donnuts like this one:
June 18-2008 can be a great day for the Web
And you can be part of it. The latest and greatest browser ever can make history and you can help!
VS2008 SP1 Beta: DON'T install without first backing up your settings!
I lost them all in the process :((((
Mesh synchronization of KML files through FeedSync
We've been working for the past few days on a mesh4x adapter that can synchronize a potentially big KML file at a very granular level (styles, placemarks, folders, etc.) so that you can collaboratively edit these large files without having to resolve spurious "conflicts".
A practical example on how to mock static classes without TypeMock
WCF is the second biggest framework after ASP.NET that sooner or later forces you to use a static "context" property to do anything beyond the trivial stuff. ASP.NET has the HttpContext.Current, whereas WCF has the WebOperationContext.Current for example.
Live Mesh FeedSync: an overview of the protocol under the hood
Live Mesh Everywhere: open source and cross-platform
You have probably read or listened all the (maybe a bit vague) information about the Mesh Operating Environment (MOE): a platform that will allow multiple applications and devices to participate in the Live Mesh.
Improving MoQ to allow arrange-act-assert testing style
MoQ now uses xUnit for its unit tests
After talking to a few guys during the MVP summit and the proceedings of the ALT.NET conference, I decided to give xUnit a serious try.
Locating the active item in the solution explorer
Say you are working with a code file. At some point, you "Go To Definition" of another type, and now you have its code file opened. Or maybe you just run the solution to debug a weird issue that's happening, turn on "break when exception is thrown" option, and just when the exception is thrown, Visual Studio gets activated, and you get the relevant code file opened at the appropriate location.
For those that think Microsoft Connect is useless
A while back I reported both through my weblog and Microsoft Connect what I thought was a serious flaw in the WPF validation infrastructure for ValidationRule and Binding. The issue, in short was:
Is Adobe AIR really a v1 product?
Expression tree usage in ASP.NET MVC Preview 2 rocks!
The latest MVC release adds some pretty cool usage of LINQ expression trees. It's another example of how cool (and WAY beyond querying) LINQ is.
Installing Windows Live Writer on Windows 2008
How long can it take to update a crappy installer and remove a hard-coded platform check?? Whatever...
How to install MySQL on Windows 2008
When you finish the setup, the configuration wizard may not start, and upon starting it manually, you might get:
Why do we need yet another .NET mocking framework?
I got this question a couple times in the past MIX08 at Las Vegas. And this is a very valid question indeed, given that there's already Rhino, EasyMock, TypeMock and NMock (to name a few). So why did we give you Moq?
HP MediaSmart Server does NOT support 64-bit clients???
How to get rid of the auto-generated #region for implemented interfaces
I HATE this default so much. Every stupid interface gets its own #region in my code file. I wonder who thought regions were so cool...
How to hide System.Object members from your interfaces
Sometimes, System.Object methods (Equals, GetHashCode, GetType and ToString) only contribute clutter to VS intellisense. Everyone knows those members are always there, yet they are seldom used explicitly. This is especially important (and annoying) for fluent APIs that define the flow of invocations in terms of interfaces and usually have few members at each "step" of the statement.
Silverlight + Seadragon = amazing Hard Rock memorabilia
Just go and see it at the Memorabilia Hard Rock site.
PowerCommands for VS2008
From Pablo's announcement:
Integrating SMS-based data entry with geographical visualization: a TED demo
New Moq features for mock verification and creation
I wrote before about What's wrong with the Record/Reply/Verify model for mocking frameworks, and in that context, why Moq didn't provide a mock verification functionality.
Beware of typeparamref XML documentation tag
Most projects use "Warnings as Errors" project-level setting together with the "XML documentation file" so that you can spot early on which areas of your public APIs are not documented or have broken links etc. in it. I've come to rely on it, especially in the face of refactoring, which even in VS2008 still doesn't refactor code documentation references.
Pipelines Using Iterators, Lambda Expressions and Extension Methods in C# 3.0
foreach to from..select (I)