Microsoft .NET Support

ASP.NET Tutorial for Traditional ASP Developers

All too often, developers spend considerable time working with a single technology. They become deeply immersed in the nuances of building solutions with it, but unable to find time to keep up with other technologies. When they have a chance to look into an alternate technology, it may be well past the 1.0 release. This can make it very difficult to find relevant learning content that is both current and inclusive of previous versions. This course is designed to help ASP developers learn the nuances of building web applications with ASP.NET, without presuming existing knowledge of earlier versions of the technology. Syntax in ASP.NET is compared to its usage in ASP, to guide the developer through similar concepts in ASP.NET. Labs offer the developer a chance to work in hands-on scenarios with ASP.NET. This track should enable ASP developers to quickly learn the relevant core skills of ASP.NET, and provide foundational knowledge to get started down the path of building web applications with Visual Studio.

Level 1: Developing Web Applications – Tooling
In this module, we will discuss the development tools that will help you quickly get started building ASP.NET applications.

Level 2: ASP.NET Syntax for ASP Developers
In this module, we will compare ASP.NET syntax with ASP syntax, so that ASP developers can easily see how to do things in ASP.NET that they are familiar with from an ASP perspective.

Level 3: Programming WebForms
In this module, we’ll introduce the concept of Web Forms, and how you can use them to group controls as you build your web site.

Level 4: Web Configuration
Many web sites benefit from settings that span multiple pages within the site. This module will introduce web configuration files, which are a great way to store this type of information.

Level 5: Programming Web Events
Web events are a way to notify your application when some specific item of interest occurs in your web application. This topic will introduce how you can use web events to make your ASP.NET applications more responsive.

Level 6: State Management
As visitors move through your web application, it often makes sense to track data on the server, so the application can quickly access information to give the user a better experience. This module will discuss various aspects of state management, and optimal times to choose each technique. more

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MSDN Flash India - Virtual TechDays is Back!

As we begin a new fiscal year in Microsoft, I wanted to share with you the key activities that will provide us with an opportunity to interact with you. Every quarter, we will bring to you the 2-day Virtual TechDays readiness-focused event – the first one being planned for the second half of August. Tell us what you would like the Microsoft technology experts to talk about during this event by visiting; www.virtualtechdays.com TODAY.

We will also be launching the next version of Windows very soon – along with a host of other products like Silverlight 3 (July 10, 2009), Expression 3 and Visual Studio 2010, among others. While you can interact with us during the series of product launch focused events, I would urge you to START TRYING the beta versions of the software today and tell us what you think about these next generation of Microsoft technologies.
If you are in an organization which develops software products in the mobile, database and/or web domain, you may find that InnovateOn-India is the one place that offers you everything to help you bring your solution(s) to the market fast. For a free, online, community-based learning opportunity, we are pleased to offer to you the Ramp Up online training platform, where you can avail of extensive training courses across 11 technology tracks.

In addition, we will continue to share with you the latest product updates and technical articles through this fortnightly Newsletter. To ensure that this communiqué provides you with the right set of information, please do write to us on what you think is beneficial to you. We will continue to work with you on an ongoing basis to ensure that the MSDN Flash Newsletter is the single source that you can refer to for any of your Microsoft technology related development needs.

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Code Coverage is not enabled for this test run

Here are the steps to follow if you have problem in checking the "Code Coverage" Results.

Go to the test project in your application.

Open Test-> Edit Test Run Configuration

Go to Code Coverage, and select the dll that have to run for code coverage

This settings should solve the problem.

Code Coverage results are not displayed in “Debug” mode.

Change it to “Release” mode and run the test project. The Code Coverage results should be displayed.

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Culture Information in Sting.Compare for Globalisation

We all know that String.Compare can be used to compare two strings. One of the parameter for this Compare method allows us to compare two string in different culture. String.Compare("eg1", "eg1", true, new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("tr-TR")); Continue reading »

Difference between Build Solution and Rebuild Solution option in VS.Net

VisualStudio.Net provides us with two options for compiling and creating builds for our application. They are Build Solution and Rebuild Solution options which can be accessed from the Build menu. The differences between these two options are

1. The Build Solution option compiles only those project files and components that have changed since the last build. For example consider that you have two projects Proj1 and Proj2 in your solution MySolution. When you compile the solution using Build Solution option after making some changes to Proj1 only Proj1 will be compiled and built but Proj2 will not be compiled since there are no changes to it.

2. On the other hand the Rebuild Solution option builds all project files and components irrespective of the changes made to them. For example consider that you have two projects Proj1 and Proj2 in your solution MySolution. When you compile the solution using Rebuild Solution option after making some changes to Proj1, both Proj1 and Proj2 will be compiled and built even though there are no changes made to Proj2.

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Clean Solution option in Visual Studio to handle unexpected errors in C#.NET applications

When we encounter unexpected build errors for Post Build and Prebuild commands.

It is always advisable to do the following:

1. Remove..%temp% files

2. Use “Clean Solution”

3. Building the solution starting from the most independent project..to the most dependant project

4. Rebuild the entire solution

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Publish articles to Blog using Microsoft Word 2007

Yes this is true!!! Wondering how? I will walk you through this.

Open word –> File –> New –> Other Documents –> Select “New Blog Post” –> Select “Template”

Select the blog provider

Give the account details.

Here you go...Happy Blogging!

More details at

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Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta

This is a free tool available for download here

The Microsoft Web PI makes facilitates the Web platform for development and application hosting on Windows. It works with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The Web Platform Installer provides an easy way to quickly install and customize all the software you need to develop or deploy web sites and applications on a Windows machine. The tool automatically analyses what your system currently has installed, allows you to easily mark additional components to be added, and then automates installing them all at once when you click the install button.

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Translate text or webpage using YAHOO or GOOGLE

Here are two links that provide the facility to translate text or a given webpage to YAHOO or GOOGLE

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

http://translate.google.com/#

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Scroll to a row in Component One Flexgrid

Following code snippet scrolls to a row in flexgrid progamattically

Grid.ShowCell(Grid.RowSel,0) ;

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Command to delete files

Type the following to delete a file named “a.txt”

DELETE a.txt

To delete all files with extension “.txt”

DELETE *.txt /q

/q make sures that the files are silently deleted

To check if the file exists and delete

if exists *.txt delete *.txt /q

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Dot A 6.60 is released!!!!!

DotA 6.60 has been released and it is now available for free download.

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27 New Features of .NET Framework 4.0

Also Read
1. 22 New Features of Visual Studio 2008 for .NET Professionals
2. IIS 7.0 New features
3. Dead-end for Microsoft ?
4. Visual studio Team System vs Professional and All Versions Comparison

This post contains information about key features and improvements in the .NET Framework version 4 Beta 1. This topic does not provide comprehensive information about all new features and is subject to change.

The new features and improvements are described in the following sections:

Programming Languages
Common Language Runtime (CLR)
Base Class Libraries
Networking
Web
Client
Data
Communications
Workflow

Common Language Runtime (CLR)

The following sections describe new features in security, parallel computing, performance and diagnostics, dynamic language runtime, and other CLR-related technologies.

Security

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 provides simplifications, improvements, and expanded capabilities in the security model. For more information, see Security Changes in the .NET Framework 4.

Parallel Computing

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 introduces a new programming model for writing multithreaded and asynchronous code that greatly simplifies the work of application and library developers. The new model enables developers to write efficient, fine-grained, and scalable parallel code in a natural idiom without having to work directly with threads or the thread pool. The new Parallel and Task classes, and other related types, support this new model. Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), which is a parallel implementation of LINQ to Objects, enables similar functionality through declarative syntax. For more information, see Parallel Programming in the .NET Framework.

Performance and Diagnostics

In addition to the following features, the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 provides improvements in startup time, working set sizes, and faster performance for multithreaded applications.

ETW Events

You can now access the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) events for diagnostic purposes to improve performance. For more information, see the following topics:

Performance Monitor (Perfmon.exe) now enables you to disambiguate multiple applications that use the same name and multiple versions of the common language runtime loaded by a single process. This requires a simple registry modification. For more information, see Performance Counters and In-Process Side-By-Side Applications.

Code Contracts

Code contracts let you specify contractual information that is not represented by a method's or type's signature alone. The new System.Diagnostics.Contracts namespace contains classes that provide a language-neutral way to express coding assumptions in the form of pre-conditions, post-conditions, and object invariants. The contracts improve testing with run-time checking, enable static contract verification, and documentation generation.

The applicable scenarios include the following:

Perform static bug finding, which enables some bugs to be found without executing the code.
Create guidance for automated testing tools to enhance test coverage.
Create a standard notation for code behavior, which provides more information for documentation.

Lazy Initialiation

With lazy initialization, the memory for an object is not allocated until it is needed. Lazy initialization can improve performance by spreading object allocations evenly across the lifetime of a program. You can enable lazy initialization for any custom type by wrapping the type inside a System..::.Lazy<(Of <(T>)>) class.

Dynamic Language Runtime

The dynamic language runtime (DLR) is a new runtime environment that adds a set of services for dynamic languages to the CLR. The DLR makes it easier to develop dynamic languages to run on the .NET Framework and to add dynamic features to statically typed languages. To support the DLR, the new System.Dynamic namespace is added to the .NET Framework. In addition, several new classes that support the .NET Framework infrastructure are added to the System.Runtime.CompilerServices namespace. For more information, see Dynamic Language Runtime Overview.

In-Process Side-by-Side Execution

In-process side-by-side hosting enables an application to load and activate multiple versions of the common language runtime (CLR) in the same process. For example, you can run applications that are based on the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and applications that are based on .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 in the same process. Older components continue to use the same CLR version, and new components use the new CLR version. For more information, see Hosting Changes in the .NET Framework 4.

Interoperability

New interoperability features and improvements include the following:

You no longer have to use primary interop assemblies (PIAs). Compilers embed the parts of the interop assemblies that the add-ins actually use, and type safety is ensured by the common language runtime.
You can use the System.Runtime.InteropServices..::.ICustomQueryInterface interface to create a customized, managed code implementation of the IUnknown::QueryInterface method. Applications can use the customized implementation to return a specific interface (except IUnknown) for a particular interface ID.

Profiling

In the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1, you can attach profilers to a running process at any point, perform the requested profiling tasks, and then detach. For more information, see the [IClrProfiling::AttachProfiler]IClrProfiling Interface::AttachProfiler Method method.

Garbage Collection

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 provides background garbage collection; for more information, see the entry So, what’s new in the CLR 4.0 GC? in the CLR Garbage Collector blog.

Covariance and Contravariance

Several generic interfaces and delegates now support covariance and contravariance. For more information, see Covariance and Contravariance in the Common Language Runtime.

Base Class Libraries

The following sections describe new features in collections and data structures, exception handling, I/O, reflection, threading, and Windows registry.

Collections and Data Structures

Enhancements in this area include the new System.Numerics..::.BigInteger structure, the System.Collections.Generic..::.SortedSet<(Of <(T>)>) generic class, and tuples.

BigInteger

The new System.Numerics..::.BigInteger structure is an arbitrary-precision integer data type that supports all the standard integer operations, including bit manipulation. It can be used from any .NET Framework language. In addition, some of the new .NET Framework languages (such as F# and IronPython) have built-in support for this structure.

SortedSet Generic Class

The new System.Collections.Generic..::.SortedSet<(Of <(T>)>) class provides a self-balancing tree that maintains data in sorted order after insertions, deletions, and searches. This class implements the new System.Collections.Generic..::.ISet<(Of <(T>)>) interface.

The System.Collections.Generic..::.HashSet<(Of <(T>)>) class also implements the ISet<(Of <(T>)>) interface.

Tuples

A tuple is a simple generic data structure that holds an ordered set of items of heterogeneous types. Tuples are supported natively in languages such as F# and IronPython, but are also easy to use from any .NET Framework language such as C# and Visual Basic. The ..NET Framework 4 Beta 1 adds eight new generic tuple classes, and also a Tuple class that contains static factory methods for creating tuples.

Exceptions Handling

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 class library contains the new System.Runtime.ExceptionServices namespace, and adds the ability to handle corrupted state exceptions.

Corrupted State Exceptions

The CLR no longer delivers corrupted state exceptions that occur in the operating system to be handled by managed code, unless you apply the HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptionsAttribute attribute to the method that handles the corrupted state exception.

Alternatively, you can add the following setting to an application's configuration file:

legacyCorruptedStateExceptionsPolicy=true

I/O

The key new features in I/O are efficient file enumerations, memory-mapped files, and improvements in isolated storage and compression.

File System Enumeration Improvements

New enumeration methods in the Directory and DirectoryInfo classes return IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>) collections instead of arrays. These methods are more efficient than the array-based methods, because they do not have to allocate a (potentially large) array and you can access the first results immediately instead of waiting for the complete enumeration to occur.

There are also new methods in the static File class that read and write lines from files by using IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>) collections. These methods are useful in LINQ scenarios where you may want to quickly and efficiently query the contents of a text file and write out the results to a log file without allocating any arrays.

Memory-Mapped Files

The new System.IO.MemoryMappedFiles namespace provides memory mapping functionality, which is available in Windows. You can use memory-mapped files to edit very large files and to create shared memory for inter-process communication. The new System.IO..::.UnmanagedMemoryAccessor class enables random access to unmanaged memory, similar to how System.IO..::.UnmanagedMemoryStream enables sequential access to unmanaged memory.

Isolated Storage Improvements

Partial-trust applications, such as Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) browser applications (XBAPs) and ClickOnce partial-trust applications, now have the same capabilities in the .NET Framework as they do in Silverlight. The default quota size is doubled, and applications can prompt the user to approve or reject a request to increase the quota. The System.IO.IsolatedStorage..::.IsolatedStorageFile class contains new members to manage the quota and to make working with files and directories easier.

Compression Improvements

The compression algorithms for the System.IO.Compression..::.DeflateStream and System.IO.Compression..::.GZipStream classes have improved so that data that is already compressed is no longer inflated. This results in much better compression ratios. Also, the 4-gigabyte size restriction for compressing streams has been removed.

Reflection

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 provides the capability to monitor the performance of your application domains.

Application Domain Resource Monitoring

Until now, there has been no way to determine whether a particular application domain is affecting other application domains, because the operating system APIs and tools, such as the Windows Task Manager, were precise only to the process level. Starting with the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1, you can get processor usage and memory usage estimates per application domain.

Application domain resource monitoring is available through the managed AppDomain class, native hosting APIs, and event tracing for Windows (ETW). When this feature has been enabled, it collects statistics on all application domains in the process for the life of the process.

For more information, see the <appDomainResourceMonitoring> Element, and the following properties in the AppDomain class:

64-bit View and Other Registry Improvements

Windows registry improvements include the following:

Ability to specify a 32-bit or 64-bit view of the registry with the Microsoft.Win32..::.RegistryView enumeration when you open base keys.
the new Microsoft.Win32..::.RegistryOptions enumeration, which lets you specify a volatile registry key that does not persist after the computer restarts.

Threading

General threading improvements include the following:

The new Monitor..::.Enter(Object, Boolean%) method overload takes a Boolean reference and atomically sets it to true only if the monitor is successfully entered.
You can use the Thread..::.Yield method to have the calling thread yield execution to another thread that is ready to run on the current processor.

The following sections describe new threading features.

Unified Model for Cancellation

The .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 provides a new unified model for cancellation of asynchronous operations. The new System.Threading..::.CancellationTokenSource class is used to create a CancellationToken that may be passed to any number of operations on multiple threads. By calling Cancel()()() on the token source object, the IsCancellationRequested property on the token is set to true and the token’s wait handle is signaled, at which time any registered actions with the token are invoked. Any object that has a reference to that token can monitor the value of that property and respond as appropriate.

Thread-Safe Collection Classes

The new System.Collections.Concurrent namespace introduces several new thread-safe collection classes that provide lock-free access to items whenever useful, and fine-grained locking when locks are appropriate. The use of these classes in multi-threaded scenarios should improve performance over collection types such as ArrayList, and List<(Of <(T>)>).

Synchronization Primitives

New synchronization primitives in the System.Threading namespace enable fine-grained concurrency and faster performance by avoiding expensive locking mechanisms. The Barrier class enables multiple threads to work on an algorithm cooperatively by providing a point at which each task can signal its arrival and then block until the other participants in the barrier have arrived. The CountdownEvent class simplifies fork and join scenarios by providing an easy rendezvous mechanism. The ManualResetEventSlim class is a lock-free synchronization primitive similar to the ManualResetEvent class. ManualResetEventSlim is lighter weight but can only be used for intra-process communication. The SemaphoreSlim class is a lightweight synchronization primitive that limits the number of threads that can access a resource or a pool of resources at the same time; it can be used only for intra-process communication. The SpinLock class is a mutual exclusion lock primitive that causes the thread that is trying to acquire the lock to wait in a loop, or spin, until the lock becomes available. The SpinWait class is a small, lightweight type that will spin for a time and eventually put the thread into a wait state if the spin count is exceeded.

Networking

Enhancements have been made that affect how integrated Windows authentication is handled by the HttpWebRequest, HttpListener, SmtpClient, SslStream, NegotiateStream, and related classes in the System.Net and related namespaces. Support was added for extended protection to enhance security. The changes to support extended protection are available only for applications on Windows 7. The extended protection features are not available on earlier versions of Windows. For more information, seeIntegrated Windows Authentication with Extended Protection.

Web

The following sections describe new features in ASP.NET core services, Web Forms, Dynamic Data, and Visual Web Developer.

ASP.NET Core Services

ASP.NET introduces several features that improve core ASP.NET services, Web Forms, Dynamic Data, and Visual Web Developer. For more information, see What’s New in ASP.NET and Web Development.

ASP.NET Web Forms

Web Forms has been a core feature in ASP.NET since the release of ASP.NET 1.0. Many enhancements have been made in this area for ASP.NET 4, including the following:

The ability to set meta tags.
More control over view state.
Easier ways to work with browser capabilities.
Support for using ASP.NET routing with Web Forms.
More control over generated IDs.
The ability to persist selected rows in data controls.
More control over rendered HTML in the FormView and ListView controls.
Filtering support for data source controls.

Dynamic Data

For ASP.NET 4, Dynamic Data has been enhanced to give developers even more power for quickly building data-driven Web sites. This includes the following:

Automatic validation that is based on constraints defined in the data model.
The ability to easily change the markup that is generated for fields in the GridView and DetailsView controls by using field templates that are part of your Dynamic Data project.

Visual Web Developer Enhancements

The Web page designer in Visual Studio 2010 has been enhanced for better CSS compatibility, includes additional support for HTML and ASP.NET markup code examples, and features a redesigned version of IntelliSense for JScript. In addition, two new deployment features called Web packaging and One-Click Publish make deploying Web applications easier.

Client

The following sections describe new features in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF).

Windows Presentation Foundation

In the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) contains changes and improvements in many areas. This includes controls, graphics, and XAML.

For more information, see What's New in Windows Presentation Foundation Version 4.

Managed Extensibility Framework

The Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) is a new library in the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 that enables you to build extensible and composable applications. MEF enables application developers to specify points where an application can be extended, expose services to offer to other extensible applications, and create parts for consumption by extensible applications. It also enables easy discoverability of available parts based on metadata, without the need to load the assemblies for the parts.

For more information, see Managed Extensibility Framework. For a list of the MEF types, see the System.ComponentModel.Composition namespace.

Data

For more information, see What's New in ADO.NET.

Expression Trees

Expression trees are extended with new types that represent control flow, for example, LoopExpression and TryExpression. These new types are used by the dynamic language runtime (DLR) and not used by LINQ.

Communications

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) provides the new features and enhancements described in the following sections.

Support for WS-Discovery

The Service Discovery feature enables client applications to dynamically discover service addresses at run time in an interoperable way using WS-Discovery. The WS-Discovery specification outlines the message-exchange patterns (MEPs) required for performing lightweight discovery of services, both by multicast (ad hoc) and unicast (using a network resource).

Standard Endpoints

Standard endpoints are pre-defined endpoints that have one or more of their properties (address, binding, contract) fixed. For example, all metadata exchange endpoints specify IMetadataExchange as their contract, so there is no need for a developer to have to specify the contract. Therefore, the standard MEX endpoint has a fixed IMetadataExchange contract.

Workflow Services

With the introduction of a set of messaging activities, it is easier than ever to implement workflows that send and receive data. These messaging activities enable you to model complex message exchange patterns that go outside the traditional send/receive or RPC-style method invocation.

Workflow

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) in .NET Framework 4 Beta 1 changes several development paradigms from earlier versions. Workflows are now easier to create, execute, and maintain.

Workflow Activity Model

The activity is now the base unit of creating a workflow, instead of using the SequentialWorkflowActivity or StateMachineWorkflowActivity classes. The WorkflowElement class provides the base abstraction of workflow behavior. Activity authors implement WorkflowElement objects imperatively when they have to use the breadth of the runtime. The Activity class is a data-driven WorkflowElement object where activity authors express new behaviors declaratively in terms of other activity objects.

Richer Composite Activity Options

The Flowchart class is a powerful new control flow activity that enables authors to construct process flows more naturally. Procedural workflows benefit from new flow-control activities that model traditional flow-control structures, such as TryCatch and Switch.

Expanded Built-in Activity Library

New features of the activity library include the following:

Data access activities for interacting with ODBC data sources.
New flow control activities such as DoWhile, ForEach, and ParallelForEach.
Activities for interacting with PowerShell and SharePoint.

Enhanced Persistence and Unloading

Workflow state data can be explicitly persisted by using the Persist activity. A host can persist a WorkflowInstance without unloading it. A workflow can specify no-persist zones when working with data that cannot be persisted so that persistence is postponed until the no-persist zone exits.

Improved Ability to Extend WF Designer Experience

The new WF Designer is built on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and provides an easier model to use when rehosting the WF Designer outside Visual Studio. It also provides easier mechanisms for creating custom activity designers. For more information, see Extending the Workflow Designer.

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Visual studio Team System vs Professional and All Versions Comparison

Also Read
1. 22 New Features of Visual Studio 2008 for .NET Professionals
2. IIS 7.0 New features
3. Dead-end for Microsoft ?

	Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals with MSDN Premium Subscription	Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects with MSDN Premium Subscription	Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Developers with MSDN Premium Subscription	Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers with MSDN Premium Subscription	Visual Studio Team Suite with MSDN Premium Subscription
MULTI-LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPER
Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Developers
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers
Database project with source control integration of all database objects and support for offline representation of a database schema
Database Unit Testing, Data Generation, Database Refactoring, Schema Compare, Data Compare, Database Schema Deployment Tools
Advanced Database and T-SQL Tools
Unit Testing, Code Coverage
Dynamic Code Analyzer, Static Code Analyzer, Code Profiler
Application Designer, Logical Infrastructure Designer, Deployment Designer
Visio and UML Modeling (in MSDN Subscription)
Load Testing, Manual Testing, Test Case Management, and Web Testing
Visual Studio Professional (includes Class Designer)
Microsoft Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C#, Visual J#, Visual Web Developer, and Visual FoxPro
Reusable component creation, Server Development Tools, Advanced debugging tools including cross machine debugging
Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Windows CE Development; Web application precompilation
Visual Basic and Visual C# Stored Procedure Authoring and Deployment
Visual Database Tools; Oracle and DB2 database access; XSD Editor; XSLT Editor and Debugger
Visual Studio Tools for Office
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft InfoPath programmability
Integrated visual design surfaces for Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel
Action Pane and Smart Tag programmability
Microsoft Access 2003 Developer Extensions and Runtime License
Source code and version control for small team collaboration using Microsoft Visual SourceSafe
ENTERPRISE APPLICATION LIFE-CYCLE MANAGEMENT TOOLS and APPLICATIONS
Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (limited to 5 users)
Team Explorer (includes Team Foundation Server CAL)
Enterprise templates, policies, and guidance for sharing development best practices
Advanced software, database, and business process modeling tools

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Microsoft “Kumo” or “Bing” Search

Microsoft is ready to release a new internet search engine named “Kumo”

Visual Studio 2010 New features : Top 5 features

Microsoft announced the .NET Framework 4.0 on 29 September 2008.
The Public Beta was released on 20 May 2009.[3]

Web Development

    JavaScript IntelliSense® is supported in visual studio editor
    One Click Deployment
    Full fledged support for Silverlight to provider rich internet applications

Cloud Development

Windows Azure™ Tools in Visual Studio 2010 developers can build, debug and deploy services and applications for Microsoft's new cloud platform.

More Databases

In addition to SQL Server developers will be able to work with IBM DB2 and Oracle databases

Support for developers

Contextual support helps developers better understand existing code – and write new code more efficiently
Enable Office tools to make your solutions more flexible and productive for specific needs

    Call Hierarchy enables you to navigate through your code by displaying the following:
        All calls to and from a selected method, property, or constructor
        All implementations of an interface member
        All overrides of a virtual or abstract member
    This enables you to better understand how code flows and to evaluate the effects of changes to code.
    Highlighting References
        This enhancement enables you to highlight all instances of a particular symbol
        in a document by clicking that symbol.
        To navigate between references, you can use CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW or CTRL+SHIFT+UP ARROW.

Dynamic Support
Visual C# 2010 provides support for late binding to dynamic types by introducing a new type, dynamic.

Better USER Experience
    Clear UI Organization
    Reduced clutter and complexity
    Improved editor
    Better support for floating documents and windows
    Enhanced document targeting
    Focused animations for action feedback

Parallel Programming
Parallel programming is simplified, so both native- and managed-code developers can productively build innovative applications.
IDE support for parallel programming

Full support for IronPython, IronRuby, and F#.[32]

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Cloud Computing and sand: Google vs Microsoft

Robin Harris: An independent study finds that on-site Microsoft apps cost 20x in capital dollars and 5x-6x more on a three-year TCO basis than Google Apps. How can Microsoft compete? Google will, of course, blow their huge cost advantage.

Model assumptions

Daily volume of new email: 100 MB

Local copy of email: None

Archiving: None

Cost per hour of downtime: $500

Cost per GB of data loss: $5,000

Network outage: Lose email access

Office apps assumptions:

Daily volume of new documents: 50 MB

Local copies of documents: None

Cost per hour of downtime: $250

Cost per GB of data loss: $30,000

Network outage: No application access more

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MS Dos command to copy files from network location

XCOPY Source [Destination] /i

/i says that the destination is a folder.

ROBOCOPY Source [Destination]

Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocopy

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Setup project for Vista in C#.NET: put "Run as administrator" in the Shortcuts

“Run as Administrator” option is not provided by default in deployment wizard.

In order to provide this shortcut for user one has to modify the Property table of the MSI file and add case-sensitive DISABLEADVTSHORTCUTS with a value of 1.

This can be done manually opening the MSI file.

We can achieve the same by using Orca MSI package editor. This editor helps us to modify the settings of MSI file. Open the msi file you want to modify with Orca package and set the DISABLEADVTSHORTCUTS to value 1.

Download Orca from the Windows Installer SDK: http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/sdk/update/win98mexp/en-us/3790.0/msisdk-common.3.0.cab (open the CAB and rename the Orca-file to Orca.MSI to install it.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winformssetup/thread/fc52d8bf-118e-47e2-9d32-08fdf72861d5/

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Restore Sql database using sqlcmd and batch file

RESTORE DATABASE TESTDB FROM DISK = 'C:\TESTDB\TESTDB.BAK' WITH REPLACE

This command restores the database from the local drive to the sqlserver.

Put these lines in “RestoreDB.bat” file

@echo off
sqlcmd -E -S .\DA -i RestoreDB.sql -o RestoreDB.log
@echo off
pause

Place the following code in “RestoreDB.sql”

USE MASTER
RESTORE DATABASE TESTDB FROM DISK = 'C:\TESTDB\TESTDB.BAK' WITH REPLACE

Double click the RestoreDB.bat file to restores the dbs from local drive.

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Unable to view the templates while adding new file or projects in Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008. Empty template folders.

Solution:

1. Close Visual Studio. Open a new ‘Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt’ as an Administrator.

Once there type the following command at the prompt, press enter and wait…devenv /installvstemplates

2. Open the Options window in Visual Studio.
Select Projects and Solutions.
Change the Visual Studio user item template location to the folder where the standard templates are located ( C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplates).

Change the Visual Studio user project template location to the folder where the standard templates are located ( C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates).

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VS Tools-Options : Check-in items

If you have “Check out automatically” in “Checked-in items” settings in VS Tools-Options, please switch them to “Prompt for check out”/”Prompt for exclusive checkouts” (see images below). This is to prevent TFS/SCSF behavior of automatic solution file checkout.

Once you make the change, you will get dialog box (twice) asking to check out the solution file whenever you try to open a VS solution. Unless you actually need to change the solution file, click “Cancel” both times.

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Outlining Keyboard shortcuts for Visual Studio .NET.

CTRL+MM (that's two key presses!) - collapse/open the current parent region

CTRL+ML - Collapse/Open all regions in document recursively (meaning you might get only one line in the document - one big namespace region which is collapsed or you'll see the entire page code uncollapsed

CTRL+MO - Collapse all regions not recursively.

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Sorting a collection using IComparer

Place this code in the collection.

public class EmployeeList

{

       public void Sort()
       {
           base.InnerList.Sort(new DateComparer());
       }

}

Create “DateComparer” class which implements IComparer and provides methods to compare to objects. This Compare method compares the joining dates of the employees and sorts the list.

/// <summary>
    /// This is for Joiningdate comparision
    /// </summary>
    public class DateComparer : IComparer
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// This method compares Joiningdate
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>int</returns>
        public int Compare(object LobjEmployeeFirst, object LobjEmployeeSecond)
        {
return -((Employee)LobjEmployeeFirst).JoiningDate.CompareTo(((Employee)LobjEmployeeSecond).JoiningDate);

}
}

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CRYSTAL REPORTS 2008 WHAT’S NEW

# Crystal Report 2008 is for development ,Designing and Embedding of reports into applications Its a Named user License i.e one computer one license INR 26524+ Taxes per License

# Crystal Reports 2008 Developer Advantage is a runtime license for embedding Crystal Reports runtime engine in applications shared outside your organization, or in commercial applications. Give external users access to professional reporting at no incremental cost, and allow developers to gain flexibility with a royalty free license for deployment anywhere. Get comprehensive licensing and a single reporting solution for.NET or Java developments with Crystal Reports, the leader in reporting for developer applications. From access to virtually any data source, to support for major browsers and operating systems, rely on the technology that powers millions of applications around the world. Its available only in License format - No Media - INR 125000 for Unlimited Runtime License

# Crystal Report Server is For Production i.e Publishing & Deployment and management of Reports in Secure manner with scheduling & many other Enterprise features such as Viewing & Publishing of Multiple reports by end users coming from various locations on a singular , secured platform access - It is available in Concurrent Access format + Named user format & combination of both

Crystal Reports® is an intuitive reporting solution that helps you create flexible, feature-rich, and dependable reports – tightly integrating them into both thick and thin client applications.
CRYSTAL REPORTS 2008
Crystal Reports 2008 provides advanced functionality to help reduce report proliferation and maintenance – increasing visualization flexibility and saving time with highly productive design features.
The following is an overview of the new features in Crystal Reports 2008:
• Advanced information visualization capability
• Improved end user viewing experience
• Enhanced report designer productivity
• New flexible deployment options
• Flexible application integration
• A more streamlined and flexible report designer

Advanced Information Visualization with Flash, Flex and Xcelsius1
• Adobe Flash integration: A wide variety of flexible data presentation options are now available through Flash. Flash (SWF) files can be integrated into your report and report data can be shared with SWF via Flashvars for compelling, interactive, and information-rich reports. The SWF files can be embedded in the report or linked via a website.
1 Flash features are available for viewing in the .NET, Winform and Java DHTML viewers only
• Xcelsius integration: Import Xcelsius-generated SWF files into your report and benefit from improved design-time integration and stunning visualizations. Enhance your reports with what-if analysis models that enable users to make important decisions dynamically, without leaving the report file.
• Adobe Flex integration: Integrate your reports with operational workflows by embedding Adobe Flex (SWF) applications into your reports. Using Adobe Flex Builder you can create any business-user UI to access report data and integrate with external web services. Data in your report can be passed to the Flex application via Flashvars, making it easy to create a flexible UI even when you don’t have access to your data via web services. The Flex applications can do tasks like database write-back – invoking operational workflows directly within Crystal Reports.
Improved End-User Report Viewing Experience
• Interactive report viewing: On-report sorting, filtering, and report reformatting with the .NET Winform, Java DHTML, and .NET Webform viewers allows users to explore information interactively without re-querying the database. New optional parameters provide for complex user-driven filtering scenarios. Users can answer more business questions with fewer, more flexible reports – significantly reducing Developer and IT support dependency.
• Parameter panel: The report designer and the .NET Winform, Java DHTML, and .NET Webform viewers have a parameter panel so that parameter values can be set without refreshing data. Parameters used are displayed on the panel so that report consumers can easily see them, make changes, and have the new values applied directly to the saved data.
• Flexible pagination: Report designers can customize page size and easily control page breaking after N records/groups. A single report can combine portrait and landscape oriented pages and the white space at the end of groups can be removed by compressing the page footers. Online report consumption is improved because reports are easier to read.
Enhanced Report Designer productivity
• Powerful crosstabs: Summary, variance, and any other customer calculations can be inserted into a crosstab row or a column – especially useful for reports that benefit from a table structure such as financial reports. The crosstab table structure makes reports much faster to build and maintain. This feature also provides powerful benefits to crosstab-based charts since custom formulas in the crosstab can be visualized within the charts.
• Built-in barcode support: Generate barcodes with only a few clicks of the mouse by using the new “turn to barcode” function in the context menu. Easily convert fields to Code39 barcodes without any coding or extra steps. Additional barcode fonts are available from third-party vendors.
• Enhanced designer features: Report designer will be more productive with features like global formula search, duplicate formula, duplicate running total, auto complete field names, and the Find in Field Explorer feature.
• Hyperlinking wizard2: Report designers will save time by automatically creating the Crystal Reports formula required to invoke a BusinessObjects Enterprise OpenDocument hyperlink.
New Flexible Deployment Options
• Save reports directly to crystalreports.com: Expand your deployment options with on-demand reporting capabilities when you open and save reports directly to
2 Available only with a BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 3 server environment
crystalreports.com. This new integration allows you to manage and share your reports securely without dependency on IT.
• Improved XML exporting: Render reports in almost any format and enjoy faster and easier integration with your industry-specific business processes – without any custom coding. The XSLT transformations are embedded into the report file and will be triggered by users from within the viewer when exporting to XML. This provides a powerful, flexible hook for transforming Crystal Reports data and integrating it into other applications.
• Advanced report publishing2: Also known as report bursting, advanced report publishing is a platform for the mass distribution of personalized content. Multiple reports can be created based on different data sources, combined into one desired file format (such as PDF), loaded with personalized content, and then sent to a dynamic list of recipients – with a single action. The content can be archived, printed, or emailed in separate actions, or simultaneously. This makes scheduling much faster and easier, with the ability to conduct cost effective one-on-one marketing campaigns and other personalized high-volume reporting.
Improved Report Designer
• Single edition: Crystal Reports 2008 comes in a single edition that is the feature equivalent of the old Developer Edition. This single offering provides customers with quick access to the features they need to meet any application and user requirement. Report samples and developer documentation are now a free, optional download.
• Multilingual reporting: Choose the working language you prefer by simply selecting the language packs you wish to use during product installation. Then switch the report designer UI to use any of the installed language packs. The report content locale can also be explicitly set for each report file. This setting controls sorting, grouping and formatting that matches the local language customs and conventions.
• Reduced install footprint: The download size has been reduced to 250MB to provide fast access via the download site. The runtime files included in developer applications are also significantly smaller.
Flexible application integration
• Integrated salesforce.com driver: The salesforce.com driver included with Crystal Reports 2008 allows for easy access to complete customer data – turning it into actionable business information. Reports that use a salesforce.com driver will refresh when deployed to crystalreports.com.
• Enhanced web services data driver: Integration with various web services can be difficult and complex due to a wide variety of implementation types. The new data driver offers additional web access to web services by providing support for RPC encoding of SOAP messages, SSL-secured web servers, as well as a working compatibility with the WS-Security standard. It adapts to custom logon requirements such as email addresses or user/password.
• NET report modification SDK: The Report Application Server SDK is now available for users of CR.NET API without the use of a RAS server. Report modification such as changing / adding / removing database providers, adding / removing / creating report objects, parameters, formulas, and sections can be achieved by accessing the RAS SDK through the CR .NET SDK..
WHAT’S CHANGED
In an effort to improve the Crystal Reports experience, we’ve made some changes to certain components of Crystal Reports 2008:
• Reports samples and sample database: To reduce download time, report samples and the Xtreme sample database are now accessed through separate downloads on the Start Page of Crystal Reports 2008.
• .NET developer SDK documentation, merge modules, and MSI files: .NET developer documentation, merge modules, and MSI files are now accessed through separate downloads on the Start Page of Crystal Reports 2008.
• Report developer component (RDC): The RDC is unsupported in Crystal Reports 2008. Developers wishing to use Crystal Reports in a COM application should use Crystal Reports XI Release 2. The ActiveX viewer remains a fully supported component of Crystal Reports 2008.
• Advanced DHTML viewers: The Advanced DHTML viewers have been removed from Crystal Reports 2008. The improvements to the DHTML viewers make these additional viewers unnecessary.
• Java reporting component (JRC) availability and Java SDK documentation: Java developers now receive the JRC and Java SDK documentation through the free Crystal Reports for Eclipse download. This product will be updated on a separate schedule from Crystal Reports. Visit the start page in Crystal Reports 2008 for more information on updates to Crystal Reports for Eclipse.

For more information visit businessobjects.com

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Tech.Ed 2009 offers more value than ever in so many ways

Tech.Ed-India 2009 is all about getting yourself ready for the next wave of technology innovations and trends. In today’s economic scenario, more than ever before, it has become pertinent that we stay ahead of the curve so as to establish ourselves as the future trend- setters. Tech.Ed-India 2009 – with its offering of sub-events – offers you this opportunity to interact with some of the leading lights in the business and technology space globally, talk to Microsoft product development teams directly, and get in-depth hands-on-trainings and certifications in some of the most coveted and anticipated technologies of our time.

Attend Tech.Ed this year and avail free certification of your choice.

To know more about Tech.Ed India 2009 please visit: www.msteched.in or call: + 918025219657/+919663682120 or email: msteched@endtoend.in

Some key points on Tech.ed India 2009
1. First time in India Steve Ballmer (CEO, Microsoft) will deliver a keynote and a number of Industry luminaries to address the crowd on other two days.
2. 10 parallel focused tracks on Web Development, Cloud Services, SOA, RIA, BI, Tools development, App Development, UC, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows 7, Infrastructure Management, Database Administration and many more. More than 3 days of hardcore Technical Content which you might not get via Live search.
3. Tracks dedicated for Senior Architects separately and get exclusive time with the Patterns and Practices Teams.
4. Over 110+ in-depth technical sessions for Developers + IT Professional and many more chalk talks as side activities.
5. New to technology? Get access to HOLs on MS technologies through the day on all days of the conference.
6. Get a chance to meet all your local experts from MVPs, RDs, Company CEOs, Microsoft Technology Experts and your peers thorough-out the conference. Have on-spot Community Chalk talks from experts present at the Community booths.
7. Get Certified on ANY MS certification for free at our even right through the day and night.
8. Focused networking opportunities and after-hours fun events and day long interaction window with the Microsoft Product teams from India Development Center (MSIDC).
9. Expo hall with top MS partner vendor solutions and services.
10. Special prizes and giveaways, only for conference attendees. Attend, answer a question or be interactive and get more.
11. Get full-Demo ONLY session for an hour on each of the days.
12. Before Early bird registration ends - Register today and block your seat.

Microsoft Tech.Ed Response Team.

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Converting blob data into a word file C#.NET

Byte[] bytData =null;

//Change the ConnString as per your system.

string constring = @"Data Source=LOCAL;Initial Catalog=DA;Integrated Security=True;"; SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(@"SELECT BlobData FROM Lib.LibBlob WHERE BlobID='04F24251-AE4C-4FDA-BDB7-0689C9616462'"); command.CommandType = CommandType.Text;

SqlConnection myconn = new SqlConnection(constring);

command.Connection = myconn;

myconn.Open();

SqlDataReader dr = command.ExecuteReader();

while(dr.Read())

{

bytData = (byte[])dr["BlobData"];

}

if (bytData !=null)

{

/*If it is a file other than imagetype change the extension in the filepath accordingly. */ FileStream fs = new FileStream("C:\\Temp\\Test1.doc", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write);
      BinaryWriter br = new BinaryWriter(fs);
      br.Write(bytData);
      fs.Dispose();

}

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Converting blob data from sql server to image in C#.NET

Byte[] bytImage=null;

//Change the ConnString as per your system.

SqlConnection myconn = new SqlConnection(constring);

command.Connection = myconn;

myconn.Open();

SqlDataReader dr = command.ExecuteReader();

while(dr.Read())

{

bytImage = (byte[])dr["BlobData"];

}

if (bytImage !=null)

{

//saving this to bmp file

MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(bytImage);

System.Drawing.Bitmap BMP = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(ms);

BMP.Save("C:\\Temp\\Test.bmp");

//saving to jpg image

//System.Drawing.Image img = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(ms);

//img.Save("C:\\Temp\\Test1.jpeg", ImageFormat.Jpeg);

}

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Microsoft Live Writer Tutorial

Since Live Writer is currently the best way to manage blogs, Live Writer Guide. The guide shows you how to setup your blog, create, edit, and delete posts. It is easy to learn how to perform the basic tasks in Live Writer (except maybe for deleting posts). However, we will be updating the guide to help with some of the more complex tasks in the future.

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IT PRO Challenge

The Security Quiz is designed to build on your knowledge of security features available in the various operating systems offered by Microsoft. So, get set to put your knowledge to test, and in the process, win some EXCITING PRIZES.
The Winner of this Quiz will receive a Windows Mobile Phone. There are also 10 Consolation Prizes, the winners of which will receive a Microsoft Arc Mouse each.
Please refer to the Terms & Conditions for Contest Judging Criteria.

Contest closes 15th February, 2009

Here's another opportunity for you to sharpen your knowledge to identify security loopholes. Participate in the 'Microsoft Virtual TechDays' and have all your questions answered. Register today for this exclusive online event!

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20 New Features of .netCHARTING v5.3

	Rich ToolTip Support Complex tooltips are now supported with inline formatted image text, MicroCharts, InfoGrids and even full chart previews ideal for drilldown cases.

	MicroChart Data Feature Additions Significant additions have been made to make creating and populating MicroCharts effortless. New functionality includes sub value date grouping, simplified subvalue creation and enhanced calculation methods for sub values.

	Organizational Chart Zooming Advanced pan and scroll support has been added for organizational charts. Now you can easily view an org chart of any size and click to expand or contract nodes within the org hierarchy. As always, organizational charts support simple binding to your database data and advanced annotation formatting and shading to ensure your charts look exceptional.

	Organization Chart Drill Down A .netCHARTING first, org charts now support drill down in addition to expansion. This gives a unique view of charts contained to a single viewing pane with the ability to drill down into or back out of the hiearchy while maintaining a fixed view without scrolling. Level support further complements this feature by allowing more data to be displayed in one frame at a given time.

	Organizational Chart Indicators Unique visualizations are provided for nodes to indicate if they support expansion or contraction. In addition, you can easily customize the display with your own images for actions such as node addition, removal, or expansion / contraction operations.

	Dynamic Organization Chart Creation With .netCHARTING it is simple to create a web based form for dynamic org chart creation. Simply click on a org level to add a node below it or remove a given node all from a easy to use web interface. A sample for dynamic org chart creation is included with .netCHARTING.

	Organization Chart Expansion Expansion allows an organizational chart to grow as nodes are expanded. Here too, there is flexibility for display when using AJAX pan and scroll; the chart can maintain its size or, within a fixed window, elements can be sized smaller on expansion to fit within the specified window. .netCHARTING now provides one of the most advanced organization charting feature sets of any product. As always, these advanced add-ons are included with every .netCHARTING license with no additional cost.

	Object Chart Creation Now you can easily create small chart images from labels and annotations. These charts are particularly well suited for usage in previews, tooltips and dashboard implementations.

	Background Shading The chart background box now supports shading in addition to the chart area box. Two new shading effects specifically designed for use in backgrounds have been added in this release.

	Mapping Interactivity Enhancements .netCHARTING includes advanced mapping functionality with every license purchase; no add-on required! The latest version now supports rich tooltips on maps which can include images and text data along with hotspot interactivity.

	Map Shape Annotations All map shapes now support annotations. Now it is simple to click and view detailed information for a given map location within an annotation. You can also tune the visuals of the generated annotations to specifically match your applications requirements.

	MicroChart Feature Additions A new Image MicroChart including Image sizing and rotation allows for innovative use of MicroCharts as labels for chart elements. The possibilities are endless and options can be controlled programmatically based on your own database data.

	New MicroChart Scale Option A new bottom scale gives additional scale layout functionality for MicroCharts.

	MicroChart Interactivity Interactivity support has been added with the new tooltip and url support for MicroCharts. Using Image MicroChart with URL setting allows for creating clickable icons.

	Annotation Size Customization It is now possible to set annotation size directly as well as dynamically size contents in width or height while the other dimension is automatically sized based on the contents.

	Pie Annotation Orientation The pie chart type presents a unique visual challenge for annotations. A specifically tuned orientation enables annotations to ring the outside of the pie, preventing the pie itself from being obstructed.

	Sample Search The Asp.net sample browser now offers a search option. An API member or keyword can be used to instantly find all related samples and improve productivity.

	AJAX Zoomer Category Support Now you can zoom, pan and scroll category axis charts (such as names or text) in addition to numeric or date axis. You can also specify the zoom starting position and control the axis ticks which determines scale. Large charts have never been simpler to display regardless of if they are employee results by name, product sales by product or any other possibilities.

New Token Support The powerful .netCHARTING token system has continued to be expanded with token support for ID and ParentID for organizational charts along with new calculation based additions for PercentOfSeriesMax, PercentOfMax and PercentOfGroupMax. Now you can inline these values simply be using the template token and the chart will render with the calculated value specific to the object used.

New Visibility Options Simply control the visibility of a given subvalue or line with the new Visible properties added for these objects.

Continue reading »

Will Windows 7 be Microsoft's biggest business hit ever?

The Internet echo chamber assumes that any tech product is a failure if it doesn't achieve world domination in 30 days. But businesses move at much more deliberate speeds. When nearly half of IT pros plan a migration to Windows 7 within months of its release, that's profound indicator of the OS's potential for success.more Continue reading »

Service Pack 1 of Altova Software Version 2009 Now Available

In this post you will be reading about following items.
1) Service Pack 1 of Altova Software Version 2009 Now Available
2) Case Study - Altova XMLSpy and DiffDog: Music to Recordare’s Ears
3) Upcoming Events - Visit Altova at Microsoft Tech Ed and JavaOne 2009

Service Pack 1 of Altova Software Version 2009 Now Available
On March 31, we released Service Pack 1 (SP1) of our complete Version 2009 product line. SP1 contains helpful bug fixes and other useful enhancements.

It is a free update for all v2009 users.

Note: V2009 SP1 is a new product version (not a patch). Simply download and install your product(s) from the download page listed below to update.

Additionally, based on partner feedback, we have added a new feature to MapForce. Altova MapForce v2009 SP1 provides support for non-inlined user-defined functions. Now users can create recursive function calls, enabling them to map data dynamically by expressing operations in terms of themselves. Download v2009 SP1

2) Case Study - Altova XMLSpy and DiffDog: Music to Recordare’s Ears
Recordare® is a technology company focused on providing software and services to the musical community. Their flagship products, the Dolet® plugin family, are platform-independent plugins for popular music notation programs. Acting as a high quality translator between the MusicXML data format and other applications, Dolet enables users to work with these files on any conceivable system, including industry leading notation and musical composition applications Finale® and Sibelius®.

In creating the Dolet plugins, Recordare used Altova's XML editor, XMLSpy, and the diff/merge tool, DiffDog. The leading XML Schema editing capabilities in XMLSpy and the strong XML and directory differencing support in DiffDog enabled Recordare to write and polish the MusicXML schemas and perform regression testing on the Dolet plugins. The resulting high quality of the schemas and software has made MusicXML and the Dolet plugins a key element of the toolkit for composers, arrangers, publishers, copyists, and engravers throughout the industry wherever printed music is used.

Please visit to read this case study in its entirety, complete with screenshots.

To check out the functionality available in XMLSpy and DiffDog for yourself, download a free, 30-day trial of the Altova MissionKit® - the 2009 Jolt award winner for ‘Best Development Environment’- today!

3) Upcoming Events - Visit Altova at Microsoft Tech Ed and JavaOne 2009

We are packing up and heading out to California for Microsoft Tech Ed and JavaOne 2009! Come check out the latest product updates, get a demo of new XBRL functionality, or stop by to share your experience using Altova tools.

o Microsoft Tech Ed 2009 - Visit us at booth #355 from May 11-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in LA

o JavaOne 2009 - Check us out at JavaOne from June 2-5 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco

Aren’t using v2009 yet? Then download a free, fully functional, 30-day trial of the Altova MissionKit here:, and stop by to tell us what you think!

We look forward to seeing you on the show floor!

This message was sent because you expressed interest in Altova's MissionKit, XMLSpy, MapForce, StyleVision, UModel, DatabaseSpy, DiffDog, SchemaAgent, SemanticWorks, or Authentic products or Altova's XML, data management, UML, or Web services solutions or Altova's Online Training offering(s). In accordance with its Privacy Policy, Altova does not share its lists with other organizations. If you would prefer not to receive further notifications or email communications of this type, please visit the following Web page and update your Altova subscription(s) profile:

Alternatively, you can send us an email (with the word REMOVE in the subject line) to the return address listed in the header of this message and you will be removed from that subscription or contact Altova Consumer Affairs via postal mail to Altova GmbH, Rudolfsplatz 13a/9, A-1010 Wien, Austria/EU. Continue reading »

How to End Tasks All the iexplore.exe Processes at shot?

So you've looked in task manager, and there's a dozen iexplore.exe processes listed! Clicking the End Process button for each will take far too long… so how can we kill them all in one step?

he answer is to use a quick command line utility that kills all the processes by name, though we'll make it even easier for you and create a re-usable icon that will kill them in a single step. Of course, this same technique will work for any application that opens a dozen processes… like, for instance, Google Chrome. more Continue reading »

Five Windows tools to keep your digital life in sync

Here are the list of windows tools to keep your digital life in sync

Offline Files The single most useful Windows feature you’ve never heard of, it allows you to work with files on a network share even when you’re disconnected.

Windows Live Mesh Another Microsoft file-sharing technology, this one is ideal for keeping folders in sync on two or more PCs, with online backup as a bonus.

LastPass Create random, unique, impossible-to-guess passwords for websites and store them in a secure online vault that automatically keeps other PCs in sync.

FeedDemon 3.0 If you get your news from RSS feeds, you need this brand-new update to one of my all-time favorite Windows programs.

Xmarks How do you keep bookmarks organized between multiple browsers on multiple PCs? This cross-platform add-in (formerly Foxmarks) is just the ticket. Continue reading »

Cloning in C#.NET.

We all know that objects are reference types. When we assign objects they will point to same location and any changes made will effect both the objects. In order to change the default behaviour...meaning in order to maintain two different copies of the objects we have two options.

Option 1: Shallow or Deep copying an object using Cloning

Implement the entity class from ICloneable interface and implement the Clone method as outlined.

Shadow Cloning: This cloning allows to copy an object with all the required members. But if the entity internally has objects we need to go for deep cloning.

public object Clone()

{

return this.MemberwiseClone();

}

Deep Cloning: This cloning allows the entity to be copied along with all the entities it internally holds. Suppose we need to clone a TestList which is list of Test entity.

First we need to clone each "Test" memberwise and apply deep cloning for TestList entity.

#region ICloneable Members

public object Clone()

{

TestList LobjTestList = new TestList();

foreach (Test LobjTest in this.List)

{

Test LobjTestNow = new Test();

LobjTestNow =(Test) LobjTest.Clone();

LobjTestList.AddSignOff(LobjTestNow);

}

return LobjTestList;

}

#endregion

Option 2: Serializing

Mark all the classes that are involved in copying as [Serializable] and use the below code to clone any object.

Suppose if we need to clone TestList, mark it as [Serializable] and place the following method in TestList class. This method copies an object using memory streams.

public TestList CopyTestList()

{

MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();

MemoryStream BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter(null, new StreamingContext(StreamingContextStates.Clone));

bf.Serialize(ms, this);

ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

TestList LobjTestListClone; LobjTestListClone = (TestList)(bf.Deserialize(ms));

ms.Close();

return LobjTestListClone;

}

Continue reading »

Using custom collection. Looping using IEnumerator and IEnumerable in CollectionBase

Suppose we have a entity Test and have a list of Tests as TestList entity.

Inorder to loop through the TestList. Implement the TestList class from Collectionbase We have to create a TestEnumerator class that implements the IEnumerator and implement the method GetEnumerator() in IEnumerable and return TestEnumerator as outlined.

#region Nested type: TestEnumerator

    /// <summary>
    /// TestEnumerator
    /// </summary>
    internal class TestEnumerator : IEnumerator//, IDisposable
    {
        private TestList collection;
        private int nIndex;

/// <summary>
/// TestEnumerator

        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="coll">TestList </param>
        public TestEnumerator (TestList coll)
        {
            collection = coll;
            nIndex = -1;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Current
        /// </summary>
        /// <value>object</value>
        public object Current
        {
            get { return collection.List[nIndex]; }
        }

//#region IDisposable Members

        ///// <summary>
        ///// Dispose
        ///// </summary>
        //public void Dispose()
        //{
        //    collection = null;
        //}

//#endregion

#region IEnumerator Members

        /// <summary>
        /// Reset
        /// </summary>
        public void Reset()
        {
            nIndex = -1;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// MoveNext
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>bool</returns>
        public bool MoveNext()
        {
            nIndex++;
            return (nIndex < collection.List.Count);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// this property returns the current object
        /// </summary>
        object IEnumerator.Current
        {
            get { return (Current); }
        }

#endregion
}

#endregion

#region IEnumerable Members

/// <summary>
/// GetEnumerator
/// </summary>
/// <returns>TestEnumerator</returns>
public new IEnumerator GetEnumerator()
{
return new TestEnumerator(this);
}

#endregion

Continue reading »

The magic number in GZip header is not correct. Make sure you are passing in a GZip stream.

When a file is compressed and uncompressed in C#.net using GZip stream. Everything works fine. But if you try to uncompress a file which is compressed through Zip utility.

It will throw an error saying The magic number in GZip header is not correct. Make sure you are passing in a GZip stream.

This is due to basic algorithm used to generate the header information in zip file. This error can be solved using the command line utility of winzip.

Steps to do:

1. Create a "UnCompress.bat" file.

2. Place the following code in this bat file.

@echo off

wzunzip -d "C:\Test.zip" "C:\Test"

@echo off

pause

Note : wzunzip -d "C:\Test.zip" "C:\Test"

-d is for uncompressing using winzip utility

"C:\Test.zip" is the source file to be uncompressed

"C:\Test" is the destination location.

wzunzip is the exe that ships along with winzip providing uncompression

wzzip is the exe that ships along with winzip providing compression

Run the "bat" file from C#.Net code using this:

System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo info = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(); info.UseShellExecute = true;

info.FileName = @"C:\UnCompress.bat";

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(info);

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ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (IIS 6.0)

When multiple versions of the .NET Framework are executing side by side on a single computer, the ASP.NET ISAPI version that is scriptmapped to an ASP.NET application determines which version of the common language runtime is used for the application. The ASP.NET IIS Registration tool (Aspnet_regiis.exe) allows an administrator or installation program to easily update the scriptmaps for an ASP.NET application to point to the ASP.NET ISAPI version associated with the tool. The tool can also be used to display the status of all installed versions of ASP. NET, register the ASP.NET version coupled with the tool, create client-script directories, and perform other configuration operations.

Aspnet_regiis [options]

Examples

The following command installs the scriptmaps pointing to the ASP.NET version associated with Aspnet_regiis.exe to the SampleApp1 application and all its sub-applications.

Aspnet_regiis -s W3SVC/1/ROOT/SampleApp1

The following command only updates the scriptmaps for the SampleApp1 application, without affecting applications in subdirectories.

Aspnet_regiis -sn W3SVC/1/ROOT/SampleApp1

The following command installs the ASP.NET version associated with the tool and updates the scriptmaps of all existing ASP.NET applications. Note that only applications that are currently scriptmapped to an earlier version of ASP.NET are affected.

Aspnet_regiis -i

The following command installs the ASP.NET version associated with the tool, but does not update the scriptmaps of existing ASP.NET applications

Aspnet_regiis -ir

The following command displays the status and installation path of all versions of ASP.NET installed on the computer.

Aspnet_regiis -lv

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What is Conficker Worm

On October 23, 2008, Microsoft released a critical security update, MS08-067, to resolve a vulnerability in the Server service of Windows that, at the time of release, was facing targeted, limited attack. The vulnerability could allow an anonymous attacker to successfully take full control of a vulnerable system through a network-based attack, the sort of vectors typically associated with network "worms." Since the release of MS08-067, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC) has identified the following variants of Win32/Conficker:

Worm:Win32/Conficker.A: identified by the MMPC on November 21, 2008
Worm:Win32/Conficker.B: identified by the MMPC on December 29, 2008
Worm:Win32/Conficker.C: identified by the MMPC on February 20, 2009*
Worm:Win32/Conficker.D: identified by the MMPC on March 4, 2009**

*Also known as Conficker B++

**Also known as Conficker.C and Downadup.C

Also Read Microsoft Collaborates With Industry to Disrupt Conficker Worm

What Happens on April 1, 2009?

Systems infected with the latest version of Conficker will begin to use a new algorithm to determine what domains to contact. Microsoft has not identified any other actions scheduled to take place on April 1, 2009. It is possible that systems with the latest version of Conficker may be updated with a newer version of Conficker on April 1 by contacting domains on the new domain list. However, these systems could be updated on any date before or after April 1 as well using the "peer-to-peer" updating channel in the latest version of Conficker. more Continue reading »

Microsoft Helps Prepare Global Workforce With Skills to Promote Economic Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. — March 26, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today stepped up its commitment to prepare people of all ages with the technology skills and tools to succeed in today’s challenging economic climate at the Government Leaders Forum — Americas outside Washington, D.C. As part of this commitment, Microsoft announced the expansion of the successful Microsoft DreamSpark student program to include high school students worldwide. DreamSpark, originally available only to university students, makes professional-level developer and designer tools as well as training available to students at no charge to support and advance their learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science and engineering activities.

Expressed through its investments in a variety of initiatives, including DreamSpark, the Microsoft BizSpark program, Elevate America and Imagine Cup, Microsoft believes that giving people the right technology skills and the tools to translate their talent into business success is critical to stimulating the future growth of local and global economies. These programs are supported through the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program, the company’s commitment to help create sustained social and economic opportunity for communities worldwide. more

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15 New Features of Windows 7

Windows 7 , the next client release of Microsoft will be available in 32 & 64-bit versions.

You may also interested on reading following 3 popular articles:
22 New Features of Visual Studio 2008 for .NET Professionals
Why Internet Explorer 8 is my favorite browser? Top 10 Internet Explorer 8 features
50 New Features of SQL Server 2008

Here are some things that you asked for in your Desktop OS:

For end –users

1. Faster-Your system starts up, shuts down and resumes from standby faster, and your laptop’s battery lasts longer!

2. Touch- Multi touch, ink and gesture support along with handwriting recognition allow you to create exciting new input capabilities. Managing large number of windows is much easier, with intuitive touch gestures to view multiple windows at once and remove unwanted windows.

3. Faster Browsing- Build for the web with IE8, add rich media with Silver light and extend to rich client with WPF – using the same platform and tools

4. Explore and Share - With Windows 7 and Windows Live, you can easily manage your documents, pictures, movies and music, regardless of which PC they are stored on, and share them with your friends and family.

5. Search- Windows 7 includes all performance improvements from Windows Search 4.0, so search and indexing are much faster.

6. Less Crashes- A new feature in Windows 7, Fault Tolerant Heap, mitigates the most common causes of heap corruption, significantly reducing the number of crashes you will experience!

7. Power Saving - Windows 7 easily adapts to your activity. To save battery power, Windows 7 automatically reduces display brightness after a period of inactivity, much like mobile phones do today.

8. Watch complete DVD on battery- Windows 7 will use less power in playing a standard-definition DVD than all earlier versions of Windows, so you are more likely to watch a complete movie with a single battery charge.

Features for IT Pros

1.App Compatibility- Windows 7 will run most if not all applications that run on Windows Vista, making Windows Vista to Windows 7 deployment easier.

2. Powershell v2 - Customers will be able to keep their PCs running smoothly with PowerShell & Group Policy management.

3. Bitlocker To Go- In Windows 7, BitLocker To Go will protect data stored on portable media (e.g., USB Flash Drives, USB Portable Hard Drives) such that only authorized users can read the data, even if the media is lost, stolen, or misused.

4. Work from Anywhere - With the capabilities Windows 7 enables, users who have internet access will be automatically connected to their corporate network. A user who is sitting on a coffee shop can open his laptop, connect to the internet using the wireless access of the coffee shop and start working as if he is in the office. The user in this case will be able to not only use outlook, but also work with intranet sites, open corporate shares, use LOB applications, and basically have full access to corporate resources.

5. “Branch office caching”- The idea is to cache the corporate data downloaded by users locally in the branch office so it can be quickly accessed by others in the branch. With branch office caching, opening a document can take seconds instead of minutes.

6. “Enterprise Search Scopes” enables IT, using Group Policy, to deploy links to appear on the user’s Start menu or in Explorer.

7. AppLocker provides a flexible mechanism that allows administrators to specify exactly what is allowed to run on their systems and gives users the ability to run applications, installation programs, and scripts that administrators have explicitly granted permission to execute. For example, a rule could be written that says “allow all versions greater than 8.1 of the program Photoshop to run if it is signed by the software publisher Adobe.”

To get your infrastructure ready for Windows 7, the best step is to start deploying Windows Vista and MDOP today.Download Windows 7 Beta today and Watch Windows 7 Beta installation complete process

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Microsoft Collaborates With Industry to Disrupt Conficker Worm

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 12, 2009 — Today, Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership with technology industry leaders and academia to implement a coordinated, global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm. Together with security researchers, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker. Microsoft also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the Internet.

“As part of Microsoft’s ongoing security efforts, we constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools and develop methodologies to protect our customers,” said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of the Trustworthy Computing Group at Microsoft. “By combining our expertise with that of the broader community we can expand the boundaries of defense to better protect people worldwide.” More

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Internet Explorer 8 Quiz: Developer Challenge - Grab an Opportunity to mix Fun with Work

How well do you know Internet Explorer 8? As a technology creator, understanding the ins-and-outs of the latest browser solution from Microsoft is crucial to enabling the next generation browsing experience for your customers.

This Internet Explorer 8 Quiz is designed to build on your knowledge of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer family of offerings. So, get set to put your knowledge to test, and in the process, win some EXCITING PRIZES.

The Winner of the Quiz will be eligible to receive a WINDOWS MOBILE PHONE. There are also 10 Consolation Prizes, the winners of which will receive a Microsoft ARC MOUSE each. Please refer to the Terms & Conditions for Quiz Judging & Eligibility criteria.Register Today Continue reading »

Why Internet Explorer 8 is my favorite browser? Top 10 Internet Explorer 8 features

Internet Explorer 8 is the best browser for developers. First you can start reading Top 10 Internet Explorer 8 features. Standards compliant, IE8 shows Microsoft’s dedication to building a browser for you to invest in. Accelerators and Web Slices can be created with just a few lines of code, making it easy to build on. Plus, Internet Explorer 8 comes with a rich set of built-in developer tools that make it efficient and easy for you to develop and debug your site. See the tools in action by hitting F12 in your IE8 browser.

You want a web that moves as fast as you do: Highlight an address, click the blue "Accelerator" button ( ), and see all the things you can do instantly – like mapping, searching and translating. Check out Accelerators from Digg, Facebook, eBay, and others.

You want to know if it's raining outside: Visit live.com, search for “Seattle Weather” (or any major city), hover over the search result, and click the green "Web Slice" button ( ) to add a weather Web Slice to your Favorites Bar. As of this morning there are over 1,200 Web Slices, Accelerators, and add-ons available worldwide in the IE8 add-on gallery.

You like everyone to get along: And that includes wanting the web sites you visit to work well with your browser. IE8 is the only browser to include multiple rendering engines to address backwards compatibility— hit a site that doesn't seem right, hit the Compatibility View button, and you're on your way.

You're a visual learner: See pictures of what you’re looking for as you type in the Instant Search box – rich search results in action!

You want to find it again, fast: To quickly find sites you’ve visited before, simply use the new Smart Address Bar which searches your history, favorites, and feeds.

You like your privacy: Enjoy more control over your personal information and privacy on the Web with InPrivate.

You want an edge against the bad guys (aka security): Internet Explorer 8 offers unparalleled protection against malware – it's 10 times safer than Internet Explorer 7, 4 times safer than Chrome, 2.8 times safer than Safari, and 2.3 times safer than Firefox.

You hate interruptions: If one tab crashes, you can re-launch it without affecting your browsing experience – your other tabs keep right on working.

To see these features in action, check out a couple of quick videos that preview the IE8 experience here. And while you visit quick links to dive deep into this latest browser, do not miss the latest edition of Developer Challenge - your chance to win exciting prizes. Continue reading »

Security

Parallel Computing

Performance and Diagnostics

ETW Events

Code Contracts

Lazy Initialiation

Dynamic Language Runtime

In-Process Side-by-Side Execution

Interoperability

Profiling

Garbage Collection

Covariance and Contravariance

Collections and Data Structures

BigInteger

SortedSet Generic Class

Tuples

Exceptions Handling

Corrupted State Exceptions

I/O

File System Enumeration Improvements

Memory-Mapped Files

Isolated Storage Improvements

Compression Improvements

Reflection

Application Domain Resource Monitoring

64-bit View and Other Registry Improvements

Threading

Unified Model for Cancellation

Thread-Safe Collection Classes

Synchronization Primitives

ASP.NET Core Services

ASP.NET Web Forms

Dynamic Data

Visual Web Developer Enhancements

Windows Presentation Foundation

Managed Extensibility Framework

Expression Trees

Support for WS-Discovery

Standard Endpoints

Workflow Services

Workflow Activity Model

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Expanded Built-in Activity Library

Enhanced Persistence and Unloading

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What Happens on April 1, 2009?

For end –users

Features for IT Pros

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