Archives
Archives /
2005
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Sharing Master Pages Across IIS Applications
I'm working on an ASP.NET site that consists of many government departments each having their own IIS application off of the root of the server so that they can have complete control over their own web.config file, etc.. Each department site inherited an XML template framework I wrote for .NET version 1.1 (http://www.xmlforasp.net/codeSection.aspx?csID=102) to provide a consistent look and feel (header and footer) across all departments even though they each have their own IIS application created. The XML template solution worked great but wasn't as powerful as Master Pages by any means since it didn't support code-behind files and had no designer support (to name just 2 of its short-comings).
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Asynchronous Web Service Options in .NET V2
As more and more Web Services are made available additional flexibility is needed when calling them. Applications that call Web Services may need to do so in an asynchronous (parallel) manner especially when calling multiple services or services that may take a longer amount of time to complete.
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Work with RSS Feeds using the System.Xml Assembly
.NET version 2.0 adds many enhancements to the System.Xml namespace and its related classes. This sample code demonstrates how several of these enhancements can be used to consume RSS feeds for display on ASP.NET Websites in an efficient and scalable manner. Different techniques are shown including caching feeds, randomizing feeds, plus more using the XmlReader and XPathNavigator classes. Other alternatives such as the DataSet and XmlDataSource control are also shown.
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New XML Features in .NET Version 2
Version 1.1 of the .NET framework supports today’s mainstream XML technologies including DTDs, XML Schema, XSLT, XPath, SOAP 1.1, DOM Level 2, and XML namespaces. While version 2 of the framework continues to support these technologies (and newer versions where appropriate), it also adds significantly more perfomant XSLT transformations, enhanced XmlReader and XmlWriter APIs, plus a more powerful XPathNavigator class (to name a few of the enhancements). I've put together some code that shows how to leverage several of the new XML APIs found in .NET version 2. You'll find the code available at the following URL:
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DevConnections Conference Las Vegas
I just got back home from speaking at the DevConnections conference in Las Vegas and had a great time. For those that haven't been, it's a fun conference loaded with great material that is just the right size in my opinion. I believe they had around 3000 people there this time around. I spoke on migrating from Web Services to SOAs, new XML features in .NET V2, Synchronous and Asynchronous Web Services in .NET V2 and mastering RSS feeds using .NET V2 APIs.
I finally had a chance to meet Dino Esposito (.NET trainer and writer guru) as well as a few others that produce some great .NET related content. The next conference is in Orlando and I'd definitely encourage anyone who may have considered going to attend (no...I didn't get paid to say that...I just really enjoy the conference :-)). -
Atlas Video Tutorial
For those who may be new to Atlas (or AJAX techniques in general), I've put together a video tutorial that demonstrates some of the features available in the framework. The sample code shown is also available for download if you'd like to play around with some of the features:
http://www.xmlforasp.net/codeSection.aspx?csID=116 -
Free Webinar - Databinding in ASP.NET 1.1 and 2.0
I'll be presenting a free online Webinar for Global Knowledge on October 19th at 11 AM EST titled "Databinding in ASP.NET 1.1 and 2.0". I'll spend an hour talking about the "old" way of databinding and the "new" way of binding without writing as much code as in the past. I'll present several demos during the course of the talk that show how to use some of the new data source objects and expression statements in ASP.NET 2.0. Click the link below to register:
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ASP.NET Connections Coming Soon!
I'm going to be speaking at the Las Vegas ASP.NET Connections conference Nov. 7th - 10th so please stop by and say "hi" if you'll be attending. If you've never been it's a great conference with lots of good material, expert speakers and fun dinners, etc.
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Customer Viewer Atlas Demo
With the release of the Atlas technology preview developers have a new way to emulate AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) programming concepts while using familiar ASP.NET server control style programming. Atlas allows Web applications to make asynchronous calls to back-end systems from multiple browsers (Netscape, IE, Firefox, Safari, etc.) without postbacks. This provides an enhanced user interface for end users that is more friendly, more responsive and more efficient.
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Windows Workflow Foundation
There have been a lot of exciting technologies announced this week at PDC (Atlas, LINQ, etc.) but one of the coolest ones I've seen if you're involved much with work flow applications is the Windows Workflow Foundation. I'm happy to hear that we'll have a more unified workflow system built-into the OS (and useable on Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server):
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Free Web Seminars Presented by Dan Wahlin in June and July
Microsoft .NET MVP Dan Wahlin will be presenting several free Web Seminars covering a variety of topics from new .NET version 2 features to emulating master pages Website templates in .NET version 1.1. Sign-up for free using the links below: -
XML Namespace URIs
I came across an article discussing the need (or lack of) for XML namespace URIs on http://www.xml.com that was interesting especially if you’ve worked with a lot of different namespace URIs over the years. While I don’t necessarily agree with several of the statements made (read it yourself to form your own opinion though), there were some points that made sense especially when it comes to determining if you really need namespaces in a particular XML document.
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Indigo Video on MSDN
MSDN recently released a great introductory video on Indigo. Definitely worth the….watch….if you’re interested in seeing the future of messaging.
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Another Indigo Video
Robert Scoble added a comment to my initial Indigo video post and let me know of another one located on the Channel 9 site. Steve Millet gives a nice overview of Indigo (with demo) which I'd recommend even if you're not interested in learning more about Indigo and just want to know more about security as well as the contract first methodology for SOAs. You may get a little sea-sick with the camera moving around some during the code demo but it helped keep me more focused. :-)
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Nasa's World Wind Application - C# and Managed DirectX
Tonight I stumbled across one of the coolest C# applications I've seen to this point located at http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/ (I'm probably a little late to the party on this one but better late than never I guess). An extremely impressive use of managed DirectX, .NET, texturing, 3D imagery, plus a lot more. The program is fairly large to install (170+ meg) but a lot of fun to play around with especially given that you can zoom into any area of the world and get different views of the landscape, landmarks, cities plus more. It even lets you replay events such as earthquakes, storms, etc. and rotate around the world as it all happens. They put together a nice FAQ section on why they chose .NET, C# and DirectX at http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/forums/index.php?showtopic=8&st=0&p=17&#entry17.
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Web Services Enhancements 2 SP3 Released
WSE 2 SP3 has been released on MSDN. Here are the changes listed in the ReadMe file (see the official details here):
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Online Video - Using the XmlTextReader Class
The next video tutorial in the XML APIs video tutorial series is now available for viewing at the XML for ASP.NET Developers Website. It's titled "Using the XmlTextReader Class" and can be found at the following URL:
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Online Video - Using the XmlDocument Class
I spent a few hours yesterday putting together the first segment in a new online video series that will demonstrate how to use different XML parsing APIs built-into the .NET framework including the XmlDocument, XmlTextReader/XmlTextWriter, XPathNavigator and XmlSerializer classes. The first one titled "Using the XmlDocument Class" can be found here:
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ASP.NET Connections
There's still time to register for ASP.NET Connections. Lots of great .NET topics will be discussed in-depth and although I haven't been to the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress resort I hear it's fantastic. -
Enterprise Library for Application Blocks Released
If you're a fan of the MSDN Application Blocks (as I am) you'll be happy to know that the Microsoft Patterns and Practices team has released the "Enterprise Library" which packages together 7 application blocks:
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Speaking at ASP.NET Connections Orlando March 20 - 23
What better way to spend the last week of March than in sunny Orlando, Florida at the ASP.NET Connections conference! I'm excited to be speaking at the conference on several different topics ranging from extending the DataGrid to new XML features in .NET version 2. If you'll be attending stop by and say "hi". Here's an overview of the talks I'll be giving: -
Speaking at the Plano .NET User Group January 5th
I'll be speaking at the Plano, Texas .NET User Group meeting January 5th on the new XML features in .NET V2 (Whidbey). The talk will cover why you'd ever want to use XML, new XML classes, new performance enhancements, cool tricks you can do with XML, how to integrate XML easily into ASP.NET V2 Web Forms, plus more. Drop by and say "hi" if you're in the area.