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  • Russian Hydrodynamic Modeling, Prediction, and Visualization in Java

    - by Geertjan
    JSC "SamaraNIPIoil", located in Samara, Russia, provides the following applications for internal use. SimTools. Used to create & manage reservoir history schedule files for hydrodynamic models. The main features are that it lets you create/manage schedule files for models and create/manage well trajectory files to use with schedule files. DpSolver. Used to estimate permeability cubes using pore cube and results of well testing. Additionally, the user visualizes maps of vapor deposition polymerization or permeability, which can be visualized layer by layer. The base opportunities of the application are that it enables calculation of reservoir vertical heterogeneity and vertical sweep efficiency; automatic history matching of sweep efficiency; and calculations using Quantile-Quantile transformation and vizualization of permeability cube and other reservoir data. Clearly, the two applications above are NetBeans Platform applications.

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  • Model value not being set on return from View to Controller

    - by sagesky36
    I have a boolean model variable who's value is supposed to be set to TRUE in order to perform a process on return back into the Controller. It works absolutely fine on my local machine, but not on the remote web server. Can somebody PLEASE inform me what I am missing? Below is the "proof of the pudding": The boolean value in quesion is "ShouldGeneratePdf"; MODEL: namespace PDFConverterModel.ViewModels { public partial class ViewModelTemplate_Guarantors { public ViewModelTemplate_Guarantors() { Templates = new List<PDFTemplate>(); Guarantors = new List<tGuarantor>(); } public int SelectedTemplateId { get; set; } public List<PDFTemplate> Templates { get; set; } public int SelectedGuarantorId { get; set; } public List<tGuarantor> Guarantors { get; set; } public string LoanId { get; set; } public string DepartmentId { get; set; } public bool isRepeat { get; set; } public string ddlDept { get; set; } public string SelectedDeptText { get; set; } public string LoanTypeId { get; set; } public string LoanType { get; set; } public string Error { get; set; } public string ErrorT { get; set; } public string ErrorG { get; set; } public bool ShowGeneratePDFBtn { get; set; } public bool ShouldGeneratePdf { get; set; } } } MasterPage: <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>@ViewBag.Title</title> <link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/Site.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/kendo/2012.2.913/kendo.common.min.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/kendo/2012.2.913/kendo.dataviz.min.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/kendo/2012.2.913/kendo.blueopal.min.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.7.1.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.unobtrusive-ajax.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/modernizr-2.5.3.js")" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/kendo/2012.2.913/kendo.all.min.js")"></script> <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/kendo/2012.2.913/kendo.aspnetmvc.min.js")"></script> </head> <body> <div class="page"> <header> <div id="title"> <h1>BHG :: PDF Service Generator</h1> </div> </header> <section id="main"> @RenderBody() </section> <footer> </footer> </div> </body> </html> View: @model PDFConverterModel.ViewModels.ViewModelTemplate_Guarantors @using (Html.BeginForm("ProcessForm", "Home", new AjaxOptions { HttpMethod = "POST" })) { <table style="width: 1000px"> @Html.HiddenFor(x => x.ShouldGeneratePdf) <tr> <td> <img alt="BHG Logo" src="~/Images/logo.gif" /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> @(Html.Kendo().IntegerTextBox() .Placeholder("Enter Loan Id") .Name("LoanId") .Format("{0:#######}") .Value(Convert.ToInt32(Model.LoanId)) ) </td> </tr> <tr> <td>@Html.Label("Loan Type: ") @Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.LoanType) </td> <td> <label for="ddlDept">Department:</label> @(Html.Kendo().DropDownListFor(model => Model.ddlDept) .Name("ddlDept") .DataTextField("DepartmentName") .DataValueField("DepartmentID") .Events(e => e.Change("Refresh")) .DataSource(source => { source.Read(read => { read.Action("GetDepartments", "Home"); }); }) .Value(Model.ddlDept.ToString()) ) </td> </tr> @if (Model.ShowGeneratePDFBtn == true) { if (Model.ErrorT == string.Empty) { <tr> <td> <u><b>@Html.Label("Templates:")</b></u> </td> </tr> <tr> @for (int i = 0; i < Model.Templates.Count; i++) { <td> @Html.CheckBoxFor(model => Model.Templates[i].IsChecked) @Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.Templates[i].TemplateId) </td> } </tr> } else { <tr> <td> <b>@Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.ErrorT)</b> </td> </tr> } if (Model.ErrorG == string.Empty) { <tr> <td> <u><b>@Html.Label("Guarantors:")</b></u> </td> </tr> <tr> @for (int i = 0; i < Model.Guarantors.Count; i++) { <td> @Html.CheckBoxFor(model => Model.Guarantors[i].isChecked) @Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.Guarantors[i].GuarantorFirstName)&nbsp;@Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.Guarantors[i].GuarantorLastName) </td> } </tr> } else { <tr> <td> <b>@Html.DisplayFor(model => Model.ErrorG)</b> </td> </tr> } } <tr> <td> <input type="submit" name="submitbutton" id="btnRefresh" value='Refresh' /> </td> @if (Model.ShowGeneratePDFBtn == true) { <td> <input type="submit" name="submitbutton" id="btnGeneratePDF" value='Generate PDF' /> </td> } </tr> <tr> <td style="color: red; font: bold"> @Model.Error </td> </tr> </table> } <script type="text/javascript"> $('#btnRefresh').click(function () { Refresh(); }); function Refresh() { var LoanID = $("#LoanID").val(); if (parseInt(LoanID) != 0) { $('#ShouldGeneratePdf').val(false) document.forms[0].submit(); } else { alert("Please enter a LoanId"); } } //$(function () { // //DOM loaded // $('#btnGeneratePDF').click(function () { // DisableGeneratePDF(); // $('#ShouldGeneratePdf').val(true) // }); //}); //function DisableGeneratePDF() { // $('#btnGeneratePDF').attr("disabled", true); // $('#btnRefresh').attr("disabled", true); //} $('#btnGeneratePDF').click(function () { alert("inside click function"); DisableGeneratePDF(); $('#ShouldGeneratePdf').val(true) tof = $('#ShouldGeneratePdf').val(); alert("ShouldGeneratePdf set to " + tof); }); function DisableGeneratePDF() { alert("begin DisableGeneratePDF function"); $('#btnGeneratePDF').attr("disabled", true); $('#btnRefresh').attr("disabled", true); alert("end DisableGeneratePDF function"); } </script> Controller: [HttpPost] public ActionResult ProcessForm(string submitbutton, ViewModelTemplate_Guarantors model, FormCollection collection) if ((submitbutton == "Refresh") || (submitbutton == null) && (model.ShouldGeneratePdf == false)) { } else if ((submitbutton == "Generate PDF") || (model.ShouldGeneratePdf == true)) { } The "Alerts" in the script above come out to exactly what they should be on the remote server. The last alert shows that the value of the bool variable is "true". However, when I do page source views of the hidden variable, below is the result. The values of the hidden variable when the page loads and when the last alert button finishes are as follows: My local machine: The remote machine: As you can see, the value on my machine is set to true when the process executes. However, on the remote machine, it is set to false where it then doesn't excute. Why isn't the value in the model being returned as TRUE on the remote machine?

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  • Ops Center and Oracle Solaris 11

    - by user12609425
    There have been a few questions about Ops Center and S11 recently. People have been trying to discover and update S11 from Enterprise Controllers installed on S10 or Linux, and running into problems, and wondering what the solution is. Well, the solution is that, if you want to be able to discover, monitor, and update S11 OSes, you need to install your Enterprise Controller and at least one Proxy Controller on S11 systems. The Oracle Solaris and Linux install guides both note this in the chapters that cover preparing your environment. Technically, if you have an S11 Proxy Controller you can at least discover, manage, and monitor S11 systems. However, features like the automated installer and the image packaging system (for OS updates) can only be used through Ops Center if your Enterprise Controller is installed on S11 as well.

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  • NullReferenceException at Microsoft.Silverlight.Build.Tasks.CompileXaml.LoadAssemblies(ITaskItem[] R

    - by Eugene Larchick
    Hi, I updated my Visual Studio 2010 to the version 10.0.30319.1 RTM Rel and start getting the following exception during the build: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at Microsoft.Silverlight.Build.Tasks.CompileXaml.LoadAssemblies(ITaskItem[] ReferenceAssemblies) at Microsoft.Silverlight.Build.Tasks.CompileXaml.get_GetXamlSchemaContext() at Microsoft.Silverlight.Build.Tasks.CompileXaml.GenerateCode(ITaskItem item, Boolean isApplication) at Microsoft.Silverlight.Build.Tasks.CompileXaml.Execute() at Bohr.Silverlight.BuildTasks.BohrCompileXaml.Execute() The code of BohrCompileXaml.Execute is the following: public override bool Execute() { List<TaskItem> pages = new List<TaskItem>(); foreach (ITaskItem item in SilverlightPages) { string newFileName = getGeneratedName(item.ItemSpec); String content = File.ReadAllText(item.ItemSpec); String parentClassName = getParentClassName(content); if (null != parentClassName) { content = content.Replace("<UserControl", "<" + parentClassName); content = content.Replace("</UserControl>", "</" + parentClassName + ">"); content = content.Replace("bohr:ParentClass=\"" + parentClassName + "\"", ""); } File.WriteAllText(newFileName, content); pages.Add(new TaskItem(newFileName)); } if (null != SilverlightApplications) { foreach (ITaskItem item in SilverlightApplications) { Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "Application: " + item.ToString()); } } foreach (ITaskItem item in pages) { Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.High, "newPage: " + item.ToString()); } CompileXaml xamlCompiler = new CompileXaml(); xamlCompiler.AssemblyName = AssemblyName; xamlCompiler.Language = Language; xamlCompiler.LanguageSourceExtension = LanguageSourceExtension; xamlCompiler.OutputPath = OutputPath; xamlCompiler.ProjectPath = ProjectPath; xamlCompiler.RootNamespace = RootNamespace; xamlCompiler.SilverlightApplications = SilverlightApplications; xamlCompiler.SilverlightPages = pages.ToArray(); xamlCompiler.TargetFrameworkDirectory = TargetFrameworkDirectory; xamlCompiler.TargetFrameworkSDKDirectory = TargetFrameworkSDKDirectory; xamlCompiler.BuildEngine = BuildEngine; bool result = xamlCompiler.Execute(); // HERE we got the error! And the definition of the task: <BohrCompileXaml LanguageSourceExtension="$(DefaultLanguageSourceExtension)" Language="$(Language)" SilverlightPages="@(Page)" SilverlightApplications="@(ApplicationDefinition)" ProjectPath="$(MSBuildProjectFullPath)" RootNamespace="$(RootNamespace)" AssemblyName="$(AssemblyName)" OutputPath="$(IntermediateOutputPath)" TargetFrameworkDirectory="$(TargetFrameworkDirectory)" TargetFrameworkSDKDirectory="$(TargetFrameworkSDKDirectory)" > <Output ItemName="Compile" TaskParameter="GeneratedCodeFiles" /> <!-- Add to the list list of files written. It is used in Microsoft.Common.Targets to clean up for a next clean build --> <Output ItemName="FileWrites" TaskParameter="WrittenFiles" /> <Output ItemName="_GeneratedCodeFiles" TaskParameter="GeneratedCodeFiles" /> </BohrCompileXaml> What can be the reason? And how can I get more info what's happening inside CompileXaml class?

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  • Pooling (Singleton) Objects Against Connection Pools

    - by kolossus
    Given the following scenario A canned enterprise application that maintains its own connection pool A homegrown client application to the enterprise app. This app is built using Spring framework, with the DAO pattern While I may have a simplistic view of this, I think the following line of thinking is sound: Having a fixed pool of DAO objects, holding on to connection objects from the pool. Clearly, the pool should be capable of scaling up (or down depending on need) and the connection objects must outnumber the DAOs by a healthy margin. Good Instantiating brand new DAOs for every request to access the enterprise app; each DAO will attempt to grab a connection from the pool and release it when it's done. Bad Since these are service objects, there will be no (mutable) state held by the objects (reduced risk of concurrency issues) I also think that with #1, there should be little to no resource contention, while in #2, there'll almost always be a DAO waiting to be serviced. Is my thinking correct and what could go wrong?

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  • Partner Webcast – Oracle Weblogic 12c for New Projects - 07 Nov 2013

    - by Roxana Babiciu
    Fast-growing organizations need to stay agile in the face of changing customer, business or market requirements.Oracle WebLogic Server 12c is the industry's best application server platform that allows you to quickly develop and deploy reliable, secure, scalable and manageable enterprise Java EE applications. WebLogic Server Java EE applications are based on standardized, modular components. WebLogic Server provides a complete set of services for those modules and handles many details of application behavior automatically, without requiring programming.New project applications are created by Java programmers, Web designers, and application assemblers. Programmers and designers create modules that implement the business and presentation logic for the application. Application assemblers assemble the modules into applications that are ready to deploy on WebLogic Server. Build and run high-performance enterprise applications and services with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c, available in three editions to meet the needs of traditional and cloud IT environments. Join us, in this webcast, as we will show you how WebLogic Server 12c helps you building and deploying enterprise Java EE applications with support for new features for lowering cost of operations, improving performance, enhancing scalability. Read more here

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  • FACEBOOK LINTER ERROR: value for property 'og:image:url' could not be parsed as type 'url'

    - by Martin Devarda
    I've read all threads in stack overflow about this issue, but my problem persists. THE PROBLEM IS ON THIS PAGE: http://www.organirama.it/minisite-demo/001.html THE PAGE CONTAINS THIS TAGS <meta property="og:title" content="A wonderful page" /> <meta property="og:type" content="video.movie" /> <meta property="og:url" content="http://www.organirama.com/minisite-demo/001.html" /> <meta property="og:image" content="http:/www.organirama.com/minisite-demo/photos-small/001.png" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Organirama"/> <meta property="fb:admins" content="1468447924"/> LINTER ERROR Object at URL 'http://www.organirama.com/minisite-demo/001.html' of type 'video.movie' is invalid because the given value 'http:/www.organirama.com/minisite-demo/photos-small/001.png' for property 'og:image:url' could not be parsed as type 'url'. WHAT I DISCOVERED The problem seems somehow related to the domain. Infact, if I make og:image point to another image on another domain, everything works.

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  • What are the parameters that let businesses choose .NET or Java over other languages/frameworks? [on hold]

    - by Othman
    Some of the biggest enterprise applications such as HR software, Sales and ERP, are written in .NET or Java. Also, Governments online solutions such as paying parking fines, and universities courses registration systems are all in .NET or Java. On the other hand, Facebook, Google and Wikipedia, are not using .NET or Java so much (Google uses at least both Java and Python). Twitter also was using Ruby for a long time, as well as Python. These websites work on much more data and at larger scales in terms of users and performance than any enterprise applications, yet still these companies have chosen a different path. What are the parameters driving such decisions? Note This question is not about why do you prefer x over y! or why those people are using this. The question is primarily asking about the parameters that makes Java Or .NET becomes better suite in enterprise applications based on Performance, Reliability, Scalability etc.

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  • .htaccess redirect question

    - by russp
    I have a slight problem with .htaccess redirect. I have a dynamic site with 2 levels of variables - content="type -(alpha)" and ID="number" but this is very not seo friendly what I really would like to create is a rewrite rule that generates a "friendly" url for serach engines & users alike. Very much like WordPress does. Each ID is already unique (obviously) and on creation is creating a unique "permalink" field so for example ID=1 has a "permalink field" as "2009/10/27/page title" and ID=100 would be "2010/10/27 page title". I would like folder/wall.php?content=type&ID=number to redirect to folder/permalink.php/html/htm (don't mind a non dynamic extension) Any clues? - this is not right (I know) but it also "breaks" my css file RewriteEngine On RewriteRule wall/content/(.*)/ID/(.*)/ wall.php?content=$1&ID=$2 RewriteRule wall/content/(.*)/ID/(.*) wall.php?content=$1&ID=$2

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  • Programmatically scroll to an Anchor Tag

    - by Anders
    Consider the following code: <a href="#label2">GoTo Label2</a> ... [content here] ... <a name="label0"></a>More content <a name="label1"></a>More content <a name="label2"></a>More content <a name="label3"></a>More content <a name="label4"></a>More content Is there a way to emulate clicking on the "GoTo Label2" link to scroll to the appropriate region on the page through code? EDIT: An acceptable alternative would be to scroll to an element with a unique-id, which already exists on my page. I would be adding the anchor tags if this is a viable solution.

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  • Why use of session name and session id in the get variables does not work?

    - by Roman
    I have the following code: $location .= 'red=no&'.session_name() . "=". session_id(); $content = file_get_contents($location); echo $content; If I run it, noting is displayed in my browser. However, if I modify it in the following way: $location .= 'red=no'; $content = file_get_contents($location); echo $content; everything works fine (I see the content in my browser). What is also strange, if I display the value of the $location variable from the first example (url) and manually paste it in the address line of my browser, I do see the content. So, my browser is able to use this URL and file_get_contents not. Does anybody know how it can be explained?

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  • Javascript syntax error

    - by Mel
    Hello, I'm wondering if anyone can help me with a syntax error in line 14 of this code: The debugger says expected ')' after argument list on var json = eval('(' + content ')'); I tried adding a bracket, but it doesn't seem to be working. // Tooltips for index.cfm $(document).ready(function() { $('#catalog a[href]').each(function() { $(this).qtip( { content: { url: 'components/viewgames.cfc?method=fGameDetails', data: { gameID: $(this).attr('href').match(/gameID=([0-9]+)$/)[1] }, method: 'get' }, api: { beforeContentUpdate: function(content) { var json = eval('(' + content ')'); content = $('<div />').append( $('<h1 />', { html: json.TNAME })); return content; } }, }); }); });

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  • ?????????????????~BI/DWH????????(2)

    - by Yusuke.Yamamoto
    Oracle Database ???BI???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????! ??????????(04:19)????????????? Enterprise Manager ?????????????????????????? ???????????????????? Enterprise Manager ??SQL????????????????????I/O?????????? ??????????????Oracle GRID Center ??????????????? ????????????????????????? ????????DWH????????????????·???????? ???? ???????/???????!! ???????????? ~????·???????????????~ ????????: Advanced Compression|??????????? Oracle Enterprise Manager|??????????? DWH(?????????)??·??

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  • Android Actionbar Tabs + Fragments + Service

    - by Vladimir
    So, I have 3 problems with my code: 1) I want that each tab saves its state. So that a TextView shows changed text if it was changed. 2) if I go to Tab2 then to Tab1 I can't see the content of the fragments. Only if I touch on the already selected tab, it shows me the content 3) I can't correctly connect/bind and unbind service to Fragment Text must be changed from Service. Please help, I don't know how I realize my intent. MyActivity.java package com.example.tabs; import android.app.ActionBar; import android.app.ActionBar.Tab; import android.app.Activity; import android.app.ActivityManager; import android.app.ActivityManager.RunningServiceInfo; import android.app.Fragment; import android.app.FragmentTransaction; import android.content.ComponentName; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.content.ServiceConnection; import android.content.SharedPreferences; import android.os.Bundle; import android.os.Handler; import android.os.IBinder; import android.os.Message; public class MyActivity extends Activity { private static String ACTION_BAR_INDEX = "ACTION_BAR_INDEX"; private Tab tTab1; private Tab tTab2; private static MyService.MyBinder myBinder; private static Intent myServiceIntent; private static MyService myService; private TabListener<Tab1> tab1Listener; private TabListener<Tab2> tab2Listener; private static ServiceConnection myConnection = new ServiceConnection() { public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName name, IBinder binder) { myBinder = (MyService.MyBinder) binder; myService = myBinder.getService(); myBinder.setCallbackHandler(myServiceHandler); } public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName name) { myService = null; myBinder = null; } }; /** Callbackhandler. */ private static Handler myServiceHandler = new Handler() { public void handleMessage(Message message) { super.handleMessage(message); Bundle bundle = message.getData(); if (bundle != null) { String text = bundle.getString("Text1", ""); if (!text.equals("")) { } } } }; protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.main); myServiceIntent = new Intent(this, MyService.class); bindService(myServiceIntent, myConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE); if (!isServiceRunning()) { startService(myServiceIntent); } final ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar(); actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS); actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false); tTab1 = actionBar.newTab(); tab1Listener = new TabListener<Tab1>(this, R.id.fl_main, Tab1.class); tTab1.setTag("Tab_1"); tTab1.setText("Tab_1"); tTab1.setTabListener(tab1Listener); tTab2 = actionBar.newTab(); tab2Listener = new TabListener<Tab2>(this, R.id.fl_main, Tab2.class); tTab2.setTag("Tab_2"); tTab2.setText("Tab_2"); tTab2.setTabListener(tab2Listener); actionBar.addTab(tTab1, 0); actionBar.addTab(tTab2, 1); } @Override public void onResume() { super.onResume(); SharedPreferences sp = getPreferences(Activity.MODE_PRIVATE); int actionBarIndex = sp.getInt(ACTION_BAR_INDEX, 0); getActionBar().setSelectedNavigationItem(actionBarIndex); } protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) { // Save the current Action Bar tab selection int actionBarIndex = getActionBar().getSelectedTab().getPosition(); SharedPreferences.Editor editor = getPreferences(Activity.MODE_PRIVATE).edit(); editor.putInt(ACTION_BAR_INDEX, actionBarIndex); editor.apply(); // Detach each of the Fragments FragmentTransaction ft = getFragmentManager().beginTransaction(); if (tab2Listener.fragment != null) { ft.detach(tab2Listener.fragment); } if (tab1Listener.fragment != null) { ft.detach(tab1Listener.fragment); } ft.commit(); super.onSaveInstanceState(outState); } protected void onRestoreInstanceState(Bundle savedInstanceState) { // Find the recreated Fragments and assign them to their associated Tab // Listeners. tab1Listener.fragment = getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag(Tab1.class.getName()); tab2Listener.fragment = getFragmentManager().findFragmentByTag(Tab2.class.getName()); // Restore the previous Action Bar tab selection. SharedPreferences sp = getPreferences(Activity.MODE_PRIVATE); int actionBarIndex = sp.getInt(ACTION_BAR_INDEX, 0); getActionBar().setSelectedNavigationItem(actionBarIndex); super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState); } public boolean isServiceRunning() { ActivityManager manager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(Context.ACTIVITY_SERVICE); for (RunningServiceInfo service : manager.getRunningServices(Integer.MAX_VALUE)) { if (MyService.class.getName().equals(service.service.getClassName())) { return true; } } return false; } @Override protected void onDestroy() { super.onDestroy(); unbindService(myConnection); stopService(myServiceIntent); } public static class TabListener<T extends Fragment> implements ActionBar.TabListener { private Fragment fragment; private Activity activity; private Class<T> fragmentClass; private int fragmentContainer; public TabListener(Activity activity, int fragmentContainer, Class<T> fragmentClass) { this.activity = activity; this.fragmentContainer = fragmentContainer; this.fragmentClass = fragmentClass; } public void onTabReselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) { if (fragment != null) { ft.attach(fragment); } } public void onTabSelected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) { if (fragment == null) { String fragmentName = fragmentClass.getName(); fragment = Fragment.instantiate(activity, fragmentName); ft.add(fragmentContainer, fragment, fragmentName); } else { ft.detach(fragment); } } public void onTabUnselected(Tab tab, FragmentTransaction ft) { if (fragment != null) { ft.detach(fragment); } } } } MyService.java package com.example.tabs; import android.app.Service; import android.content.Intent; import android.os.Binder; import android.os.Bundle; import android.os.Handler; import android.os.IBinder; import android.os.Message; public class MyService extends Service { private final IBinder myBinder = new MyBinder(); private static Handler myServiceHandler; public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) { return myBinder; } public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) { super.onStartCommand(intent, flags, startId); return START_STICKY; } public void sendMessage(String sText, int id) { Bundle bundle = new Bundle(); bundle.putString("Text" + id, sText); Message bundleMessage = new Message(); bundleMessage.setData(bundle); myServiceHandler.sendMessage(bundleMessage); } public class MyBinder extends Binder { public MyService getService() { return MyService.this; } public void setCallbackHandler(Handler myActivityHandler) { myServiceHandler = myActivityHandler; } public void removeCallbackHandler() { myServiceHandler = null; } } } Tab1.java package com.example.tabs; import android.app.Activity; import android.app.Fragment; import android.content.ComponentName; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.content.ServiceConnection; import android.os.Bundle; import android.os.Handler; import android.os.IBinder; import android.os.Message; import android.view.LayoutInflater; import android.view.View; import android.view.View.OnClickListener; import android.view.ViewGroup; import android.widget.Button; import android.widget.EditText; import android.widget.TextView; public class Tab1 extends Fragment { public static String TAG = Tab1.class.getClass().getSimpleName(); private static TextView tvText; private EditText editText; private static MyService.MyBinder myBinder; private static Intent myServiceIntent; private static MyService myService; private static ServiceConnection myConnection = new ServiceConnection() { public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName name, IBinder binder) { myBinder = (MyService.MyBinder) binder; myService = myBinder.getService(); myBinder.setCallbackHandler(myServiceHandler); } public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName name) { myService = null; myBinder = null; } }; /** Callbackhandler. */ private static Handler myServiceHandler = new Handler() { public void handleMessage(Message message) { super.handleMessage(message); Bundle bundle = message.getData(); if (bundle != null) { String text = bundle.getString("Text1", ""); if (!text.equals("")) { tvText.setText(text); } } } }; public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) { View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.tab1, container, false); tvText = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.tv_tab1); editText = (EditText) view.findViewById(R.id.editText1); Button btn1 = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.btn_change_text_1); btn1.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() { public void onClick(View v) { myService.sendMessage(String.valueOf(editText.getText()), 1); } }); return view; } @Override public void onAttach(Activity activity) { super.onAttach(activity); myServiceIntent = new Intent(activity, MyService.class); activity.bindService(myServiceIntent, myConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE); } @Override public void onDetach() { super.onDetach(); getActivity().unbindService(myConnection); } } Tab2.java package com.example.tabs; import android.app.Activity; import android.app.Fragment; import android.content.ComponentName; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.content.ServiceConnection; import android.os.Bundle; import android.os.Handler; import android.os.IBinder; import android.os.Message; import android.util.Log; import android.view.LayoutInflater; import android.view.View; import android.view.View.OnClickListener; import android.view.ViewGroup; import android.widget.Button; import android.widget.EditText; import android.widget.TextView; public class Tab2 extends Fragment { public static String TAG = Tab2.class.getClass().getSimpleName(); private static TextView tvText; private EditText editText; private static MyService.MyBinder myBinder; private static Intent myServiceIntent; private static MyService myService; private static ServiceConnection myConnection = new ServiceConnection() { public void onServiceConnected(ComponentName name, IBinder binder) { myBinder = (MyService.MyBinder) binder; myService = myBinder.getService(); myBinder.setCallbackHandler(myServiceHandler); } public void onServiceDisconnected(ComponentName name) { myService = null; myBinder = null; } }; /** Callbackhandler. */ private static Handler myServiceHandler = new Handler() { public void handleMessage(Message message) { super.handleMessage(message); Bundle bundle = message.getData(); if (bundle != null) { String text = bundle.getString("Text1", ""); if (!text.equals("")) { tvText.setText(text); } } } }; public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) { View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.tab2, container, false); tvText = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.tv_tab2); editText = (EditText) view.findViewById(R.id.editText2); Button btn2 = (Button) view.findViewById(R.id.btn_change_text_2); btn2.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() { public void onClick(View v) { myService.sendMessage(String.valueOf(editText.getText()), 2); } }); return view; } @Override public void onAttach(Activity activity) { super.onAttach(activity); myServiceIntent = new Intent(activity, MyService.class); activity.bindService(myServiceIntent, myConnection, Context.BIND_AUTO_CREATE); } @Override public void onDetach() { super.onDetach(); getActivity().unbindService(myConnection); } } main.xml <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:id="@+id/main" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:background="@android:color/black" android:orientation="vertical" > </LinearLayout> tab1.xml <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_gravity="center" android:gravity="center" android:orientation="vertical" > <EditText android:id="@+id/editText1" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="10dp" android:ems="10" android:inputType="text" > <requestFocus /> </EditText> <Button android:id="@+id/btn_change_text_1" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="10dp" android:text="Change text" /> <TextView android:id="@+id/tv_tab1" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="TAB1\nTAB1\nTAB1" /> </LinearLayout> tab2.xml <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_gravity="center" android:gravity="center" android:orientation="vertical" > <EditText android:id="@+id/editText2" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="10dp" android:ems="10" android:inputType="text" > <requestFocus /> </EditText> <Button android:id="@+id/btn_change_text_2" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="10dp" android:text="Change text" /> <TextView android:id="@+id/tv_tab2" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginBottom="10dp" android:text="TAB2\nTAB2\nTAB2" /> </LinearLayout> AndroidManifest.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.example.tabs" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" > <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="15" android:targetSdkVersion="17" /> <application android:allowBackup="true" android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="TabsPlusService" android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Holo" > <activity android:name="com.example.tabs.MyActivity" android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|screenSize" android:label="TabsPlusService" android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Holo" > <intent-filter> <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" /> <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" /> </intent-filter> </activity> <service android:name=".MyService" android:enabled="true" > </service> </application> </manifest>

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  • e-interview: SunSpace to WebCenter migration

    - by me
    I had the pleasure to do an e-interview with Ana Neves around the SunSpace to WebCenter migration project.  Below is the english version of the interview.  Enjoy   Peter, you joined Oracle in 2009 through the acquisition of Sun. Becoming a part of Oracle meant many changes. The internal collaboration platform was one of them, as per a post you wrote back in 2011. Sun had SunSpace. How would you describe SunSpace? SunSpace was the internal Community and Social Collaboration platform for the Sun's Global Sales and Services Organization. SunSpace served around 600 communities with a main focus around technology, products and services. SunSpace was a big success. Within 3 months of its launch SunSpace had over 20,000 users and it won the Atlassian "Not just another wiki" Award for the best use of Confluence (https://blogs.oracle.com/peterreiser/entry/goodbye_sunspace_hello_webcenter). What made SunSpace so special? 1. People centric versus  Web centric The main concept of SunSpace put the person in the middle of everything. All relevant information, resources  etc. where dynamically pushed to a person's  myProfile ( Facebook like interface) based on the person's interest and  needs.  2. Ease to use  SunSpace was really easy to use. We spent a lot of time on social interaction design to optimize the user experience.  Also we integrated some sophisticated technology to hide complexity from the user. As example - when a user added a document to SunSpace - we analyzed the content of the document and suggested related metadata and tags to the user based on a sophisticated algorithm which was integrated with the corporate taxonomy. Based on this metadata the document was automatically shared with the relevant communities.  3. Easy to find One of the main use cases for SunSpace was that  a user could quickly find the content and information they needed for their job.  The search implementation was based on:  optimized search engine algorithm using social value based ranking enhancements community facilitated search optimization  faceted search which recommended highly relevant  content like products, communities and experts 4. Social Adoption  - How to build vibrant communities You can deploy the coolest social technology but what if the users are not using it?   To drive user adoption we implemented two  complementary models: 4.1 Community Methodology  We developed a set of best practices on how to create, run and sustain communities including: community structure and types (e.g. Community of Practice, Community of Interest etc.) & tips and tricks on how to build a "vibrant " communities, Community Health check etc.  These best practices where constantly tuned and updated by the community of community drivers. 4.2. Social Value System To drive user adoption there is ONE key  question you  have to answer for each individual user: What's In It For Me (WIIFM) We developed a Social Value System called Community Equity which measures the social value flow between People, Content and Metadata. Based on this technology we added "Gamfication" techniques (although at that time this term did not exist ) to SunSpace to honor people for the active contribution and participation.  As example: All  social credentials a user earned trough active community participation where dynamically displayed on her/his myProfile. How would you describe WebCenter? Oracle WebCenter (@oraclewebcenter) is the Oracle's  user engagement platform for social business. It helps people work together more efficiently through contextual collaboration tools that optimize connections between people, information, and applications and ensures users have access to the right information in the context of the business process in which they are engaged. Oracle WebCenter can help your organization deliver contextual and targeted Web experiences to users and enable employees to access information and applications through intuitive portals, composite applications, and mash-ups. How does it compare to SunSpace in terms of functionality? Before I answer this question, I would like to point out some limitation we started to see with the current SunSpace implementation. Due to the massive growth of the user population (>20,000 users), we experienced  performance and scalability challenges with the current technology. Also at the time - Sun Internal Communications and SunIT planned to replace the entire Sun Intranet with SunSpace. We  kicked-off a project to evaluate the enterprise level technology which eventually would replace the good old static Intranet.  And then Oracle acquired Sun. We already had defined the functional requirements for the Intranet replacement with a Social Enterprise Stack and we just needed to evaluate the functional requirements against WebCenter   Below are the summary of this evaluation  MyProfile SunSpace WebCenter How WebCenter Works Home MyProfile: to access, click on your name at the top of any WebCenter page Your name, title, and reporting line are displayed.  Sub-tabs show your activity stream (Activities); people in your network (Connections); files you have uploaded (Documents); your contact information (Organization); and any personal information you wish to share (About).   Files MyFiles Allows you to upload, download and store documents or wiki pages within folders and subfolders.  The WebDav interface allows you to download / upload files / folders with a simple drag and drop to / from your local machine.  Tagging is supported and recommended. Network HomeMyConnections Home: displays the activity stream of individuals in your network.MyConnections: shows individuals in your network.  Click on a person's name to see their contact info and link to their profile. Status Updates MyProfle > Activties Add and displays  your recent activties and status updates. Watches Preferences > Subscriptions > Current Subscriptions Receive email notifications when  pages / spaces you watch are modified. Drafts N/A WebCenter does not support Drafts Settings Preferences: to access, click on 'Preferences' at the top of any WebCenter page Set your general preferences, as well as your WebCenter messaging, search and mail settings. MyCommunities MySpaces: to access, click on 'Spaces' at the top of any WebCenter page Displays MySpaces (communities you are a member of); and Recent Spaces (communities you have recently visited). Community SunSpace Webcenter How Webcenter Works Home Home Displays a community introduction and activity stream.  Members can add messages, links or documents via the Community Message Board. No Top Contributors widget. People Members Lists members of the community. The Mail All Members feature allows moderators and participants to send a message to all members of the community. Membership Management can be found under > Manage > Members News News Members can post and access latest community news and they can subscribe to news using an RSS reader Documents Documents Allows community members to upload, download and store documents or wiki pages within folders and subfolders.  The WebDav interface allows participants to download / upload files / folders with a simple drag and drop to / from your local machine.  Tagging is supported and recommended. Wiki Wiki Allows community members to create and update web pages with a WYSIWYG editor.  Note: WebCenter does not support macros or portlet embedding. Forum Forum Post community forum topics. Contribute to community forum conversations.  N/A Calendar Update and/or view the Community Calendar. N/A Analytics Displays detailed analytics data (views,downloads, unique users etc.) for Pages, Wiki, Documents, and Forum in a given community space. What is the adoption of WebCenter at Oracle? The entire Intranet serving around 100,000 users  is running on WebCenter Content.  For professional communities we use WebCenter Portal and Spaces. Currently we have around 6,000 community spaces with  around 40,000 members.  Does Oracle have any metrics to assess usage and impact of WebCenter? Can you give us some examples? Sure -  we have a lot of metrics   For the Intranet we use traditional metrics like pageviews, monthly unique visitors and unique visits.  For Communities we use the WebCenter Portal/Spaces analytics service which gives as a wealth of data. The key metrics we track are: Space traffic (PageViews, Unique Users) Wiki,Documents (views, downloads etc.) Forum (users, views, posts etc.) Registered members over time  Depending on the community we can filter/segment the metrics by User Properties e.g. Country, Organization, Job Role etc. What are you doing to improve usage and impact? 1. We  integrating the WebCenter social services/fabric into all  main business applications. As example The Fusion CRM deployment is seamless integrated with Oracle Social Network (OSN) and all conversation around an opportunity or customer engagement is  done in OSN (see youtube video). 2. We drive Social Best Practice trough a program called "Social Networking & Business Collaboration (SNBC) program" You worked both with WebCenter and SunSpace. Knowing what you know today, if you had the chance to choose between the two, which one would you choose? Why? That's a tricky question   In the early days of  the Social Enterprise implementation (we started SunSpace in 2006), we needed an agile and easy to deploy technology to keep up with the users requirements. Sometimes we pushed two releases per day  and we were in a permanent perpetual beta mode - SunSpace was perfect for that.  After the social implementation matured over time - community generated content became business critical and we saw a change in the  requirements from agile to stability, scalability and reliability  of the infrastructure.  WebCenter is the right choice for such an enterprise-level deployment.  You are a WebCenter Evangelist at Oracle. What do you do as part of that role? Our  role is to help position Oracle as one of the key thought leaders and solutions provider for Social Business. In addition we drive social innovation trough our Oracle Appslab  team. Is that a full time role? Yes  How many other Evangelists are there in Oracle? We are currently 5 people in the WebCenter evangelist team (@webcentervoices): Christian Finn (@cfinn) leads the team - Christian came from the Microsoft Sharepoint product management team and is a recognized expert in Social Business and Enterprise Collaboration. Noël Jaffré  (@noeljaffre) is our Web Experience Management (WEM) guru and came to Oracle via FatWire acquisition (now WebCenter Sites). Jake Kuramoto (@theapplab) is part of the Oracle AppsLab innovation  team - Jake is well known as  the driving force behind  http://theappslab.com  a blog around social and innovation.  Noel Portugal (@noelportugal) is a developer in the Oracle AppsLab innovation team - he is the inventor of OraTweet - Oracle's internal tweeting platform  Peter Reiser (@peterreiser) is  a Social Business guru and the inventor of SunSpace and Community Equity.  What area of the business do you and the rest of the Evangelists sit in? What area of the organisation is responsible for WebCenter? We are part of the WebCenter product management  organization.  Is WebCenter part of the Knowledge Management strategy? Oracle WebCenter is the Oracle's user engagement platform for social business. It brings together the most complete portfolio of portal, web experience management, content, social and collaboration technologies into a single product suite and is the product foundation of the Oracle Knowledge Management strategy.  I am aware Oracle also uses Beehive internally. How would you describe Beehive? Oracle Beehive provides an integrated set of communication and collaboration services built on a single scalable, secure, enterprise-class platform Beehive is  internally used for enterprise wide mail, calendar and real collaboration (Web conferencing) services.  Are Beehive and WebCenter connected? Historically Beehive and WebCenter Portal & Content had some overlap in functionally. (Hey - if  a company has an acquisition strategy to strengthen its product offering and accelerate  innovation, it's pretty normal that functional overlap exists  :- )) A key objective of the WebCenter strategy is  to combine all social and collaboration offerings under the WebCenter product family. That means that certain Beehive components  will be integrated into the overall WebCenter product offering.  Are there any other internal collaboration tools at Oracle? Which ones There here are two other main social tools which are widely used at Oracle  Oracle Connect was the first social tool the Oracle AppsLab team created in 2007 - see (Jake's blog post for details). It is still extensively used. ... and as a former Sun guy I like this quote from the blog post:  "Traffic to Connect peaked right after the Sun merger in 2010, when it served several hundred thousand pageviews each month; since then, traffic has subsided, but still averages tens of thousands of pageviews to several thousand users each month." Oratweet - Oracle internal microblogging platform has been used since June 2008 and it is still growing.  It's entirely written in Oracle Application Express (APEX) which is a rapid web application development tool for the Oracle database. Wanna try it out? Here you can download the code.  What is Oracle's strategy regarding (all these) collaboration tools? Pretty straight forward. The strategy is to seamless  integrate the WebCenter social & collaboration services into all Business Applications to help customers to socialize their enterprise

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  • IE7 doesn't render part of page until the window resizes or switch between tabs

    - by BlackMael
    I have a problem with IE7. I have a fixed layout for keeping the header and a sidepanel fixed on a page leaving only the "main content" area switch can happily scroll it's content. This layout works perfectly fine for IE6 and IE8, but sometimes one page may start "hiding" the content that should be showing in the "main content" area. The page finishes loading just fine. For a split second IE7 will render the main content just fine and then it will immediately hide it from view.. somewhere.. It would also seem that it only experiences this problem when there is enough content to force the "main content" area to scroll. By resizing the window or switching to another open tab and back again will cause IE7 to show the page as it was intended. Note the same problem does occur with IE8 in compatibility mode, but the page is rendered correctly in IE8 mode. If need be I can attach the basic CSS styling I use, but I first want to see if this is a known issue with IE7. Does IE7 have issues with positioned layout and overflow scrolling that is sometimes likes to forgot to finish rendering the page correctly until some window redraw event forces to finish rendering? Please remember, this exact same layout is used across multiple pages in the site as it is set up in a master page. It is just (in this case) one page that is experiencing this problem. Other pages with the exact same layout do render correctly. Even if the main content is full enough to also scroll. UPDATE: A related question which doesn't have an answer at this point. LATE UPDATE: Adding example masterpage and css Please note this same layout is the same for all the pages in the application. My problem with IE7 only occurs on one such page. All other pages have happily render correctly in IE7. Just one page, using the exact same layout, has issues where it sometimes hides the content in the "work-space" div. The master page <%@ Master Language="VB" CodeFile="MasterPage.master.vb" Inherits="shared_templates_MasterPage" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head runat="server"> <title></title> <link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="~/common/yui/2.7.0/build/reset-fonts/reset-fonts.css" runat="server" /> <link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="~/shared/css/layout.css" runat="server" /> <asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="head" runat="server" /> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" /> <div id="app-header"> </div> <div id="side-panel"> </div> <div id="work-space"> <asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="WorkSpaceContentPlaceHolder" runat="server" /> </div> <div id="status-bar"> <asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="StatusBarContentPlaceHolder" runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html> The layout.css html { overflow: hidden; } body { overflow: hidden; padding: 0; margin: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; background-color: white; } body, table, td, th, select, textarea, input { font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif; font-size: 9pt; } p { padding-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; } #app-header { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 80px; background-color: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 4px #000; } #side-panel { position: absolute; top: 84px; left: 0px; bottom: 0px; overflow: auto; padding: 0; margin: 0; width: 227px; background-color: #AABCCA; border-right: solid 1px black; background-repeat: repeat-x; padding-top: 5px; } #work-space { position: absolute; top: 84px; left: 232px; right: 0px; padding: 0; margin: 0; bottom: 22px; overflow: auto; background-color: White; } #status-bar { position: absolute; height: 20px; left: 228px; right: 0px; padding: 0; margin: 0; bottom: 0px; border-top: solid 1px #c0c0c0; background-color: #f0f0f0; } The Default.aspx <%@ Page Title="Test" Language="VB" MasterPageFile="~/shared/templates/MasterPage.master" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="_Default" %> <asp:Content ID="WorkspaceContent" ContentPlaceHolderID="WorkSpaceContentPlaceHolder" Runat="Server"> Workspace <asp:ListView ID="DemoListView" runat="server" DataSourceID="DemoObjectDataSource" ItemPlaceholderID="DemoPlaceHolder"> <LayoutTemplate> <table style="border: 1px solid #a0a0a0; width: 600px"> <colgroup> <col width="80" /> <col /> <col width="80" /> <col width="120" /> </colgroup> <tbody> <asp:PlaceHolder ID="DemoPlaceHolder" runat="server" /> </tbody> </table> </LayoutTemplate> <ItemTemplate> <tr> <th><%#Eval("ID")%></th> <td><%#Eval("Name")%></td> <td><%#Eval("Size")%></td> <td><%#Eval("CreatedOn", "{0:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss}")%></td> </tr> </ItemTemplate> </asp:ListView> <asp:ObjectDataSource ID="DemoObjectDataSource" runat="server" OldValuesParameterFormatString="original_{0}" SelectMethod="GetData" TypeName="DemoLogic"> <SelectParameters> <asp:Parameter Name="path" Type="String" /> </SelectParameters> </asp:ObjectDataSource> </asp:Content> <asp:Content ID="StatusContent" ContentPlaceHolderID="StatusBarContentPlaceHolder" Runat="Server"> Ready OK. </asp:Content>

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  • Where does ASP.NET Web API Fit?

    - by Rick Strahl
    With the pending release of ASP.NET MVC 4 and the new ASP.NET Web API, there has been a lot of discussion of where the new Web API technology fits in the ASP.NET Web stack. There are a lot of choices to build HTTP based applications available now on the stack - we've come a long way from when WebForms and Http Handlers/Modules where the only real options. Today we have WebForms, MVC, ASP.NET Web Pages, ASP.NET AJAX, WCF REST and now Web API as well as the core ASP.NET runtime to choose to build HTTP content with. Web API definitely squarely addresses the 'API' aspect - building consumable services - rather than HTML content, but even to that end there are a lot of choices you have today. So where does Web API fit, and when doesn't it? But before we get into that discussion, let's talk about what a Web API is and why we should care. What's a Web API? HTTP 'APIs' (Microsoft's new terminology for a service I guess)  are becoming increasingly more important with the rise of the many devices in use today. Most mobile devices like phones and tablets run Apps that are using data retrieved from the Web over HTTP. Desktop applications are also moving in this direction with more and more online content and synching moving into even traditional desktop applications. The pending Windows 8 release promises an app like platform for both the desktop and other devices, that also emphasizes consuming data from the Cloud. Likewise many Web browser hosted applications these days are relying on rich client functionality to create and manipulate the browser user interface, using AJAX rather than server generated HTML data to load up the user interface with data. These mobile or rich Web applications use their HTTP connection to return data rather than HTML markup in the form of JSON or XML typically. But an API can also serve other kinds of data, like images or other binary files, or even text data and HTML (although that's less common). A Web API is what feeds rich applications with data. ASP.NET Web API aims to service this particular segment of Web development by providing easy semantics to route and handle incoming requests and an easy to use platform to serve HTTP data in just about any content format you choose to create and serve from the server. But .NET already has various HTTP Platforms The .NET stack already includes a number of technologies that provide the ability to create HTTP service back ends, and it has done so since the very beginnings of the .NET platform. From raw HTTP Handlers and Modules in the core ASP.NET runtime, to high level platforms like ASP.NET MVC, Web Forms, ASP.NET AJAX and the WCF REST engine (which technically is not ASP.NET, but can integrate with it), you've always been able to handle just about any kind of HTTP request and response with ASP.NET. The beauty of the raw ASP.NET platform is that it provides you everything you need to build just about any type of HTTP application you can dream up from low level APIs/custom engines to high level HTML generation engine. ASP.NET as a core platform clearly has stood the test of time 10+ years later and all other frameworks like Web API are built on top of this ASP.NET core. However, although it's possible to create Web APIs / Services using any of the existing out of box .NET technologies, none of them have been a really nice fit for building arbitrary HTTP based APIs. Sure, you can use an HttpHandler to create just about anything, but you have to build a lot of plumbing to build something more complex like a comprehensive API that serves a variety of requests, handles multiple output formats and can easily pass data up to the server in a variety of ways. Likewise you can use ASP.NET MVC to handle routing and creating content in various formats fairly easily, but it doesn't provide a great way to automatically negotiate content types and serve various content formats directly (it's possible to do with some plumbing code of your own but not built in). Prior to Web API, Microsoft's main push for HTTP services has been WCF REST, which was always an awkward technology that had a severe personality conflict, not being clear on whether it wanted to be part of WCF or purely a separate technology. In the end it didn't do either WCF compatibility or WCF agnostic pure HTTP operation very well, which made for a very developer-unfriendly environment. Personally I didn't like any of the implementations at the time, so much so that I ended up building my own HTTP service engine (as part of the West Wind Web Toolkit), as have a few other third party tools that provided much better integration and ease of use. With the release of Web API for the first time I feel that I can finally use the tools in the box and not have to worry about creating and maintaining my own toolkit as Web API addresses just about all the features I implemented on my own and much more. ASP.NET Web API provides a better HTTP Experience ASP.NET Web API differentiates itself from the previous Microsoft in-box HTTP service solutions in that it was built from the ground up around the HTTP protocol and its messaging semantics. Unlike WCF REST or ASP.NET AJAX with ASMX, it’s a brand new platform rather than bolted on technology that is supposed to work in the context of an existing framework. The strength of the new ASP.NET Web API is that it combines the best features of the platforms that came before it, to provide a comprehensive and very usable HTTP platform. Because it's based on ASP.NET and borrows a lot of concepts from ASP.NET MVC, Web API should be immediately familiar and comfortable to most ASP.NET developers. Here are some of the features that Web API provides that I like: Strong Support for URL Routing to produce clean URLs using familiar MVC style routing semantics Content Negotiation based on Accept headers for request and response serialization Support for a host of supported output formats including JSON, XML, ATOM Strong default support for REST semantics but they are optional Easily extensible Formatter support to add new input/output types Deep support for more advanced HTTP features via HttpResponseMessage and HttpRequestMessage classes and strongly typed Enums to describe many HTTP operations Convention based design that drives you into doing the right thing for HTTP Services Very extensible, based on MVC like extensibility model of Formatters and Filters Self-hostable in non-Web applications  Testable using testing concepts similar to MVC Web API is meant to handle any kind of HTTP input and produce output and status codes using the full spectrum of HTTP functionality available in a straight forward and flexible manner. Looking at the list above you can see that a lot of functionality is very similar to ASP.NET MVC, so many ASP.NET developers should feel quite comfortable with the concepts of Web API. The Routing and core infrastructure of Web API are very similar to how MVC works providing many of the benefits of MVC, but with focus on HTTP access and manipulation in Controller methods rather than HTML generation in MVC. There’s much improved support for content negotiation based on HTTP Accept headers with the framework capable of detecting automatically what content the client is sending and requesting and serving the appropriate data format in return. This seems like such a little and obvious thing, but it's really important. Today's service backends often are used by multiple clients/applications and being able to choose the right data format for what fits best for the client is very important. While previous solutions were able to accomplish this using a variety of mixed features of WCF and ASP.NET, Web API combines all this functionality into a single robust server side HTTP framework that intrinsically understands the HTTP semantics and subtly drives you in the right direction for most operations. And when you need to customize or do something that is not built in, there are lots of hooks and overrides for most behaviors, and even many low level hook points that allow you to plug in custom functionality with relatively little effort. No Brainers for Web API There are a few scenarios that are a slam dunk for Web API. If your primary focus of an application or even a part of an application is some sort of API then Web API makes great sense. HTTP ServicesIf you're building a comprehensive HTTP API that is to be consumed over the Web, Web API is a perfect fit. You can isolate the logic in Web API and build your application as a service breaking out the logic into controllers as needed. Because the primary interface is the service there's no confusion of what should go where (MVC or API). Perfect fit. Primary AJAX BackendsIf you're building rich client Web applications that are relying heavily on AJAX callbacks to serve its data, Web API is also a slam dunk. Again because much if not most of the business logic will probably end up in your Web API service logic, there's no confusion over where logic should go and there's no duplication. In Single Page Applications (SPA), typically there's very little HTML based logic served other than bringing up a shell UI and then filling the data from the server with AJAX which means the business logic required for data retrieval and data acceptance and validation too lives in the Web API. Perfect fit. Generic HTTP EndpointsAnother good fit are generic HTTP endpoints that to serve data or handle 'utility' type functionality in typical Web applications. If you need to implement an image server, or an upload handler in the past I'd implement that as an HTTP handler. With Web API you now have a well defined place where you can implement these types of generic 'services' in a location that can easily add endpoints (via Controller methods) or separated out as more full featured APIs. Granted this could be done with MVC as well, but Web API seems a clearer and more well defined place to store generic application services. This is one thing I used to do a lot of in my own libraries and Web API addresses this nicely. Great fit. Mixed HTML and AJAX Applications: Not a clear Choice  For all the commonality that Web API and MVC share they are fundamentally different platforms that are independent of each other. A lot of people have asked when does it make sense to use MVC vs. Web API when you're dealing with typical Web application that creates HTML and also uses AJAX functionality for rich functionality. While it's easy to say that all 'service'/AJAX logic should go into a Web API and all HTML related generation into MVC, that can often result in a lot of code duplication. Also MVC supports JSON and XML result data fairly easily as well so there's some confusion where that 'trigger point' is of when you should switch to Web API vs. just implementing functionality as part of MVC controllers. Ultimately there's a tradeoff between isolation of functionality and duplication. A good rule of thumb I think works is that if a large chunk of the application's functionality serves data Web API is a good choice, but if you have a couple of small AJAX requests to serve data to a grid or autocomplete box it'd be overkill to separate out that logic into a separate Web API controller. Web API does add overhead to your application (it's yet another framework that sits on top of core ASP.NET) so it should be worth it .Keep in mind that MVC can generate HTML and JSON/XML and just about any other content easily and that functionality is not going away, so just because you Web API is there it doesn't mean you have to use it. Web API is not a full replacement for MVC obviously either since there's not the same level of support to feed HTML from Web API controllers (although you can host a RazorEngine easily enough if you really want to go that route) so if you're HTML is part of your API or application in general MVC is still a better choice either alone or in combination with Web API. I suspect (and hope) that in the future Web API's functionality will merge even closer with MVC so that you might even be able to mix functionality of both into single Controllers so that you don't have to make any trade offs, but at the moment that's not the case. Some Issues To think about Web API is similar to MVC but not the Same Although Web API looks a lot like MVC it's not the same and some common functionality of MVC behaves differently in Web API. For example, the way single POST variables are handled is different than MVC and doesn't lend itself particularly well to some AJAX scenarios with POST data. Code Duplication I already touched on this in the Mixed HTML and Web API section, but if you build an MVC application that also exposes a Web API it's quite likely that you end up duplicating a bunch of code and - potentially - infrastructure. You may have to create authentication logic both for an HTML application and for the Web API which might need something different altogether. More often than not though the same logic is used, and there's no easy way to share. If you implement an MVC ActionFilter and you want that same functionality in your Web API you'll end up creating the filter twice. AJAX Data or AJAX HTML On a recent post's comments, David made some really good points regarding the commonality of MVC and Web API's and its place. One comment that caught my eye was a little more generic, regarding data services vs. HTML services. David says: I see a lot of merit in the combination of Knockout.js, client side templates and view models, calling Web API for a responsive UI, but sometimes late at night that still leaves me wondering why I would no longer be using some of the nice tooling and features that have evolved in MVC ;-) You know what - I can totally relate to that. On the last Web based mobile app I worked on, we decided to serve HTML partials to the client via AJAX for many (but not all!) things, rather than sending down raw data to inject into the DOM on the client via templating or direct manipulation. While there are definitely more bytes on the wire, with this, the overhead ended up being actually fairly small if you keep the 'data' requests small and atomic. Performance was often made up by the lack of client side rendering of HTML. Server rendered HTML for AJAX templating gives so much better infrastructure support without having to screw around with 20 mismatched client libraries. Especially with MVC and partials it's pretty easy to break out your HTML logic into very small, atomic chunks, so it's actually easy to create small rendering islands that can be used via composition on the server, or via AJAX calls to small, tight partials that return HTML to the client. Although this is often frowned upon as to 'heavy', it worked really well in terms of developer effort as well as providing surprisingly good performance on devices. There's still plenty of jQuery and AJAX logic happening on the client but it's more manageable in small doses rather than trying to do the entire UI composition with JavaScript and/or 'not-quite-there-yet' template engines that are very difficult to debug. This is not an issue directly related to Web API of course, but something to think about especially for AJAX or SPA style applications. Summary Web API is a great new addition to the ASP.NET platform and it addresses a serious need for consolidation of a lot of half-baked HTTP service API technologies that came before it. Web API feels 'right', and hits the right combination of usability and flexibility at least for me and it's a good fit for true API scenarios. However, just because a new platform is available it doesn't meant that other tools or tech that came before it should be discarded or even upgraded to the new platform. There's nothing wrong with continuing to use MVC controller methods to handle API tasks if that's what your app is running now - there's very little to be gained by upgrading to Web API just because. But going forward Web API clearly is the way to go, when building HTTP data interfaces and it's good to see that Microsoft got this one right - it was sorely needed! Resources ASP.NET Web API AspConf Ask the Experts Session (first 5 minutes) © Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in Web Api   Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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  • ASP.NET Podcast Show #148 - ASP.NET WebForms to build a Mobile Web Application

    - by Wallym
    Check the podcast site for the original url. This is the video and source code for an ASP.NET WebForms app that I wrote that is optimized for the iPhone and mobile environments.  Subscribe to everything. Subscribe to WMV. Subscribe to M4V for iPhone/iPad. Subscribe to MP3. Download WMV. Download M4V for iPhone/iPad. Download MP3. Link to iWebKit. Source Code: <%@ Page Title="MapSplore" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="iPhoneMaster.master" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="AT_iPhone_Default" %> <asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" Runat="Server"></asp:Content><asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="Content" Runat="Server" ClientIDMode="Static">    <asp:ScriptManager ID="sm" runat="server"         EnablePartialRendering="true" EnableHistory="false" EnableCdn="true" />    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=true"></script>    <script  language="javascript"  type="text/javascript">    <!--    Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_endRequest(endRequestHandle);    function endRequestHandle(sender, Args) {        setupMapDiv();        setupPlaceIveBeen();    }    function setupPlaceIveBeen() {        var mapPlaceIveBeen = document.getElementById('divPlaceIveBeen');        if (mapPlaceIveBeen != null) {            var PlaceLat = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceIveBeenLatitude.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceLon = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceIveBeenLongitude.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceTitle = document.getElementById('<%=lblPlaceIveBeenName.ClientID %>').innerHTML;            var latlng = new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon);            var myOptions = {                zoom: 14,                center: latlng,                mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP            };            var map = new google.maps.Map(mapPlaceIveBeen, myOptions);            var marker = new google.maps.Marker({                position: new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon),                map: map,                title: PlaceTitle,                clickable: false            });        }    }    function setupMapDiv() {        var mapdiv = document.getElementById('divImHere');        if (mapdiv != null) {            var PlaceLat = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceLat.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceLon = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceLon.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceTitle = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceTitle.ClientID %>').value;            var latlng = new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon);            var myOptions = {                zoom: 14,                center: latlng,                mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP            };            var map = new google.maps.Map(mapdiv, myOptions);            var marker = new google.maps.Marker({                position: new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon),                map: map,                title: PlaceTitle,                clickable: false            });        }     }    -->    </script>    <asp:HiddenField ID="Latitude" runat="server" />    <asp:HiddenField ID="Longitude" runat="server" />    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js%22%3E%3C/script>    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">        $(document).ready(function () {            GetLocation();            setupMapDiv();            setupPlaceIveBeen();        });        function GetLocation() {            if (navigator.geolocation != null) {                navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(getData);            }            else {                var mess = document.getElementById('<%=Message.ClientID %>');                mess.innerHTML = "Sorry, your browser does not support geolocation. " +                    "Try the latest version of Safari on the iPhone, Android browser, or the latest version of FireFox.";            }        }        function UpdateLocation_Click() {            GetLocation();        }        function getData(position) {            var latitude = position.coords.latitude;            var longitude = position.coords.longitude;            var hdLat = document.getElementById('<%=Latitude.ClientID %>');            var hdLon = document.getElementById('<%=Longitude.ClientID %>');            hdLat.value = latitude;            hdLon.value = longitude;        }    </script>    <asp:Label ID="Message" runat="server" />    <asp:UpdatePanel ID="upl" runat="server">        <ContentTemplate>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlStart" runat="server" Visible="true">    <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">MapSplore</div>    </div>    <div id="content">        <ul class="pageitem">            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbLocalDeals" runat="server" onclick="lbLocalDeals_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imLocalDeals" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/ArtFavor_Money_Bag_Icon.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Local Deals.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbLocalPlaces" runat="server" onclick="lbLocalPlaces_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imLocalPlaces" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/Andy_Houses_on_the_horizon_-_Starburst_remix.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Local Places.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbWhereIveBeen" runat="server" onclick="lbWhereIveBeen_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imImHere" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/ryanlerch_flagpole.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">I've been here.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbMyStats" runat="server">                <asp:Image ID="imMyStats" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/Anonymous_Spreadsheet.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">My Stats.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbAddAPlace" runat="server" onclick="lbAddAPlace_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imAddAPlace" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/jean_victor_balin_add.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Add a Place.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="button">                <input type="button" value="Update Your Current Location" onclick="UpdateLocation_Click()">                </li>        </ul>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <div>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlCoupons" runat="server" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">MapSplore</div>        <div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Return"                 ID="ReturnFromDeals" OnClick="ReturnFromDeals_Click" /></div></div>    <div class="content">    <asp:ListView ID="lvCoupons" runat="server">        <LayoutTemplate>            <ul class="pageitem" runat="server">                <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />            </ul>        </LayoutTemplate>        <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbBusiness" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Place.Name") %>' OnClick="lbBusiness_Click">                    <span class="comment">                    <asp:Label ID="lblAddress" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Place.Address1") %>' />                    <asp:Label ID="lblDis" runat="server" Text='<%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Place.Distance"))) + " meters" %>' CssClass="smallText" />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdGeoPromotionId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("GeoPromotionId") %>' />                    </span>                    <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton></li></ItemTemplate></asp:ListView><asp:GridView ID="gvCoupons" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false">            <HeaderStyle BackColor="Silver" />            <AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="Wheat" />            <Columns>                <asp:TemplateField AccessibleHeaderText="Business" HeaderText="Business">                    <ItemTemplate>                        <asp:Image ID="imPlaceType" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Type") %>' ImageUrl='<%#Eval("Image") %>' />                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lbBusiness" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Name") %>' OnClick="lbBusiness_Click" />                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lblAddress" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Address1") %>' CssClass="smallText" />                        <asp:Label ID="lblDis" runat="server" Text='<%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Distance"))) + " meters" %>' CssClass="smallText" />                        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdGeoPromotionId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("GeoPromotionId") %>' />                        <asp:Label ID="lblInfo" runat="server" Visible="false" />                    </ItemTemplate>                </asp:TemplateField>            </Columns>        </asp:GridView>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlPlaces" runat="server" Visible="false">    <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Return"                 ID="ReturnFromPlaces" OnClick="ReturnFromPlaces_Click" /></div></div>        <div id="content">        <asp:ListView ID="lvPlaces" runat="server">            <LayoutTemplate>                <ul id="ulPlaces" class="pageitem" runat="server">                    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />                    <li class="menu">                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lbNotListed" runat="server" CssClass="name"                            OnClick="lbNotListed_Click">                            Place not listed                            <span class="arrow"></span>                            </asp:LinkButton>                    </li>                </ul>            </LayoutTemplate>            <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbImHere" runat="server" CssClass="name"                     OnClick="lbImHere_Click">                <%#DisplayName(Eval("Name")) %>&nbsp;                <%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Distance"))) + " meters" %>                <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton></li></ItemTemplate></asp:ListView>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlImHereNow" runat="server" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Places"                 ID="lbImHereNowReturn" OnClick="lbImHereNowReturn_Click" /></div></div>            <div id="rightbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Beginning"                ID="lbBackToBeginning" OnClick="lbBackToBeginning_Click" />            </div>        <div id="content">        <ul class="pageitem">        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceLat" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceLon" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceTitle" runat="server" />        <asp:Button ID="btnImHereNow" runat="server"             Text="I'm here" OnClick="btnImHereNow_Click" />             <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceTitle" runat="server" /><br />        <asp:TextBox ID="txtWhatsHappening" runat="server" TextMode="MultiLine" Rows="2" style="width:300px" /><br />        <div id="divImHere" style="width:300px; height:300px"></div>        </div>        </ul>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel runat="server" ID="pnlIveBeenHere" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            Where I've been</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbIveBeenHereBack" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbIveBeenHereBack_Click" /></div></div>        <div id="content">        <asp:ListView ID="lvWhereIveBeen" runat="server">            <LayoutTemplate>                <ul id="ulWhereIveBeen" class="pageitem" runat="server">                    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />                </ul>            </LayoutTemplate>            <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu" runat="server">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeen" runat="server" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeen_Click" CssClass="name">                    <asp:Label ID="lblPlace" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("PlaceName") %>' /> at                    <asp:Label ID="lblTime" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("ATTime") %>' CssClass="content" />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdATID" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("ATID") %>' />                    <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>            </li>            </ItemTemplate>        </asp:ListView>        </div>        </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel runat="server" ID="pnlPlaceIveBeen" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            I've been here        </div>        <div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeenBack" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeenBack_Click" />        </div>        <div id="rightbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning" runat="server" Text="Beginning" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning_Click" />        </div>        </div>        <div id="content">            <ul class="pageitem">            <li>            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenPlaceId" runat="server" />            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenLatitude" runat="server" />            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenLongitude" runat="server" />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenName" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenAddress" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenCity" runat="server" />,             <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenState" runat="server" />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenZipCode" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenCountry" runat="server" /><br />            <div id="divPlaceIveBeen" style="width:300px; height:300px"></div>            </li>            </ul>        </div>                </asp:Panel>         <asp:Panel ID="pnlAddPlace" runat="server" Visible="false">                <div id="topbar"><div id="title">MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton"><asp:LinkButton ID="lbAddPlaceReturn" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbAddPlaceReturn_Click" /></div><div id="rightnav"></div></div><div id="content">    <ul class="pageitem">        <li id="liPlaceAddMessage" runat="server" visible="false">        <asp:Label ID="PlaceAddMessage" runat="server" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtPlaceName" runat="server" placeholder="Name of Establishment" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtAddress1" runat="server" placeholder="Address 1" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtCity" runat="server" placeholder="City" />        </li>        <li class="select">        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlProvince" runat="server" placeholder="Select State" />          <span class="arrow"></span>              </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtZipCode" runat="server" placeholder="Zip Code" />        </li>        <li class="select">        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlCountry" runat="server"             onselectedindexchanged="ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged" />        <span class="arrow"></span>        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtPhoneNumber" runat="server" placeholder="Phone Number" />        </li>        <li class="checkbox">            <span class="name">You Here Now:</span> <asp:CheckBox ID="cbYouHereNow" runat="server" Checked="true" />        </li>        <li class="button">        <asp:Button ID="btnAdd" runat="server" Text="Add Place"             onclick="btnAdd_Click" />        </li>    </ul></div>        </asp:Panel>        <asp:Panel ID="pnlImHere" runat="server" Visible="false">            <asp:TextBox ID="txtImHere" runat="server"                 TextMode="MultiLine" Rows="3" Columns="40" /><br />            <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlPlace" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Button ID="btnHere" runat="server" Text="Tell Everyone I'm Here"                 onclick="btnHere_Click" /><br />        </asp:Panel>     </div>    </ContentTemplate>    </asp:UpdatePanel> </asp:Content> Code Behind .cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web;using System.Web.Security;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls;using LocationDataModel; public partial class AT_iPhone_Default : ViewStatePage{    private iPhoneDevice ipd;     protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        LocationDataEntities lde = new LocationDataEntities();        if (!Page.IsPostBack)        {            var Countries = from c in lde.Countries select c;            foreach (Country co in Countries)            {                ddlCountry.Items.Add(new ListItem(co.Name, co.CountryId.ToString()));            }            ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged(ddlCountry, null);            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPad;            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPhone())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPhone;            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPodTouch())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPodTouch;        }    }    protected void btnPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {    }    protected void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        bool blImHere = cbYouHereNow.Checked;        string Place = txtPlaceName.Text,            Address1 = txtAddress1.Text,            City = txtCity.Text,            ZipCode = txtZipCode.Text,            PhoneNumber = txtPhoneNumber.Text,            ProvinceId = ddlProvince.SelectedItem.Value,            CountryId = ddlCountry.SelectedItem.Value;        int iProvinceId, iCountryId;        double dLatitude, dLongitude;        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        if ((!String.IsNullOrEmpty(ProvinceId)) &&            (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(CountryId)))        {            iProvinceId = Convert.ToInt32(ProvinceId);            iCountryId = Convert.ToInt32(CountryId);            if (blImHere)            {                dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);                dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);                da.StorePlace(Place, Address1, String.Empty, City,                    iProvinceId, ZipCode, iCountryId, PhoneNumber,                    dLatitude, dLongitude);            }            else            {                da.StorePlace(Place, Address1, String.Empty, City,                    iProvinceId, ZipCode, iCountryId, PhoneNumber);            }            liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = true;            PlaceAddMessage.Text = "Awesome, your place has been added. Add Another!";            txtPlaceName.Text = String.Empty;            txtAddress1.Text = String.Empty;            txtCity.Text = String.Empty;            ddlProvince.SelectedIndex = -1;            txtZipCode.Text = String.Empty;            txtPhoneNumber.Text = String.Empty;        }        else        {            liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = true;            PlaceAddMessage.Text = "Please select a State and a Country.";        }    }    protected void ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string CountryId = ddlCountry.SelectedItem.Value;        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(CountryId))        {            int iCountryId = Convert.ToInt32(CountryId);            LocationDataModel.LocationDataEntities lde = new LocationDataModel.LocationDataEntities();            var prov = from p in lde.Provinces where p.CountryId == iCountryId                        orderby p.ProvinceName select p;                        ddlProvince.Items.Add(String.Empty);            foreach (Province pr in prov)            {                ddlProvince.Items.Add(new ListItem(pr.ProvinceName, pr.ProvinceId.ToString()));            }        }        else        {            ddlProvince.Items.Clear();        }    }    protected void btnImHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        int i = 0;        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        double Lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value),            Lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        List<Place> lp = da.NearByLocations(Lat, Lon);        foreach (Place p in lp)        {            ListItem li = new ListItem(p.Name, p.PlaceId.ToString());            if (i == 0)            {                li.Selected = true;            }            ddlPlace.Items.Add(li);            i++;        }        pnlAddPlace.Visible = false;        pnlImHere.Visible = true;    }    protected void lbImHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        ListViewItem lvi = (ListViewItem)(((LinkButton)sender).Parent);        HiddenField hd = (HiddenField)lvi.FindControl("hdPlaceId");        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(hd.Value);        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        Place pl = da.GetPlace(PlaceId);        pnlImHereNow.Visible = true;        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;        hdPlaceId.Value = PlaceId.ToString();        hdPlaceLat.Value = pl.Latitude.ToString();        hdPlaceLon.Value = pl.Longitude.ToString();        hdPlaceTitle.Value = pl.Name;        lblPlaceTitle.Text = pl.Name;    }    protected void btnHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        string WhatsH = txtImHere.Text;        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(ddlPlace.SelectedValue);        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        da.StoreUserAT(UserName, PlaceId, WhatsH,            dLatitude, dLongitude);    }    protected void btnLocalCoupons_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();     }    protected void lbBusiness_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        GridViewRow gvr = (GridViewRow)(((LinkButton)sender).Parent.Parent);        HiddenField hd = (HiddenField)gvr.FindControl("hdPlaceId");        string sPlaceId = hd.Value;        Int64 PlaceId;        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(sPlaceId))        {            PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(sPlaceId);        }    }    protected void lbLocalDeals_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        pnlCoupons.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;        List<GeoPromotion> lgp = da.NearByDeals(dLatitude, dLongitude);        lvCoupons.DataSource = lgp;        lvCoupons.DataBind();    }    protected void lbLocalPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        double Lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double Lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        List<LocationDataModel.Place> places = da.NearByLocations(Lat, Lon);        lvPlaces.DataSource = places;        lvPlaces.SelectedIndex = -1;        lvPlaces.DataBind();        pnlPlaces.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;    }    protected void ReturnFromPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected void ReturnFromDeals_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlCoupons.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected void btnImHereNow_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt32(hdPlaceId.Value);        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        string WhatsHappening = txtWhatsHappening.Text;        double UserLat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double UserLon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        da.StoreUserAT(UserName, PlaceId, WhatsHappening,             UserLat, UserLon);    }    protected void lbImHereNowReturn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlImHereNow.Visible = false;        pnlPlaces.Visible = true;    }    protected void lbBackToBeginning_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlStart.Visible = true;        pnlImHereNow.Visible = false;    }    protected void lbWhereIveBeen_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        pnlStart.Visible = false;        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lblPlaceIveBeenName.Text = plac.Name;        lblPlaceIveBeenAddress.Text = plac.Address1;        lblPlaceIveBeenCity.Text = plac.City;        lblPlaceIveBeenState.Text = plac.Province.ProvinceName;        lblPlaceIveBeenZipCode.Text = plac.ZipCode;        lblPlaceIveBeenCountry.Text = plac.Country.Name;    }     protected void lbNotListed_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        SetupAddPoint();        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;    }     protected void lbAddAPlace_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        SetupAddPoint();    }     private void SetupAddPoint()    {        double lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        var zip = da.WhereAmIAt(lat, lon);        if (zip.Count > 0)        {            var z0 = zip[0];            txtCity.Text = z0.City;            txtZipCode.Text = z0.ZipCode;            ddlProvince.ClearSelection();            if (z0.ProvinceId.HasValue == true)            {                foreach (ListItem li in ddlProvince.Items)                {                    if (li.Value == z0.ProvinceId.Value.ToString())                    {                        li.Selected = true;                        break;                    }                }            }        }        pnlAddPlace.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;    }    protected void lbAddPlaceReturn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlAddPlace.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;        liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = false;        PlaceAddMessage.Text = String.Empty;    }    protected void lbPlaceIveBeenBack_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlIveBeenHere.Visible = true;        pnlPlaceIveBeen.Visible = false;            }    protected void lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlPlaceIveBeen.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected string DisplayName(object val)    {        string strVal = Convert.ToString(val);         if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPad;        }        if (AppleIPhone.IsIPhone())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPhone;        }        if (AppleIPhone.IsIPodTouch())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPodTouch;        }        return (iPhoneHelper.DisplayContentOnMenu(strVal, ipd));    }} iPhoneHelper.cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web; public enum iPhoneDevice{    iPhone, iPodTouch, iPad}/// <summary>/// Summary description for iPhoneHelper/// </summary>/// public class iPhoneHelper{ public iPhoneHelper() {  //  // TODO: Add constructor logic here  // } // This code is stupid in retrospect. Use css to solve this problem      public static string DisplayContentOnMenu(string val, iPhoneDevice ipd)    {        string Return = val;        string Elipsis = "...";        int iPadMaxLength = 30;        int iPhoneMaxLength = 15;        if (ipd == iPhoneDevice.iPad)        {            if (Return.Length > iPadMaxLength)            {                Return = Return.Substring(0, iPadMaxLength - Elipsis.Length) + Elipsis;            }        }        else        {            if (Return.Length > iPhoneMaxLength)            {                Return = Return.Substring(0, iPhoneMaxLength - Elipsis.Length) + Elipsis;            }        }        return (Return);    }}  Source code for the ViewStatePage: using System;using System.Data;using System.Data.SqlClient;using System.Configuration;using System.Web;using System.Web.Security;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.WebControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls; /// <summary>/// Summary description for BasePage/// </summary>#region Base class for a page.public class ViewStatePage : System.Web.UI.Page{     PageStatePersisterToDatabase myPageStatePersister;        public ViewStatePage()        : base()    {        myPageStatePersister = new PageStatePersisterToDatabase(this);    }     protected override PageStatePersister PageStatePersister    {        get        {            return myPageStatePersister;        }    } }#endregion #region This class will override the page persistence to store page state in a database.public class PageStatePersisterToDatabase : PageStatePersister{    private string ViewStateKeyField = "__VIEWSTATE_KEY";    private string _exNoConnectionStringFound = "No Database Configuration information is in the web.config.";     public PageStatePersisterToDatabase(Page page)        : base(page)    {    }     public override void Load()    {         // Get the cache key from the web form data        System.Int64 key = Convert.ToInt64(Page.Request.Params[ViewStateKeyField]);         Pair state = this.LoadState(key);         // Abort if cache object is not of type Pair        if (state == null)            throw new ApplicationException("Missing valid " + ViewStateKeyField);         // Set view state and control state        ViewState = state.First;        ControlState = state.Second;    }     public override void Save()    {         // No processing needed if no states available        if (ViewState == null && ControlState != null)            return;         System.Int64 key;        IStateFormatter formatter = this.StateFormatter;        Pair statePair = new Pair(ViewState, ControlState);         // Serialize the statePair object to a string.        string serializedState = formatter.Serialize(statePair);         // Save the ViewState and get a unique identifier back.        key = SaveState(serializedState);         // Register hidden field to store cache key in        // Page.ClientScript does not work properly with Atlas.        //Page.ClientScript.RegisterHiddenField(ViewStateKeyField, key.ToString());        ScriptManager.RegisterHiddenField(this.Page, ViewStateKeyField, key.ToString());    }     private System.Int64 SaveState(string PageState)    {        System.Int64 i64Key = 0;        string strConn = String.Empty,            strProvider = String.Empty;         string strSql = "insert into tblPageState ( SerializedState ) values ( '" + SqlEscape(PageState) + "');select scope_identity();";        SqlConnection sqlCn;        SqlCommand sqlCm;        try        {            GetDBConnectionString(ref strConn, ref strProvider);            sqlCn = new SqlConnection(strConn);            sqlCm = new SqlCommand(strSql, sqlCn);            sqlCn.Open();            i64Key = Convert.ToInt64(sqlCm.ExecuteScalar());            if (sqlCn.State != ConnectionState.Closed)            {                sqlCn.Close();            }            sqlCn.Dispose();            sqlCm.Dispose();        }        finally        {            sqlCn = null;            sqlCm = null;        }        return i64Key;    }     private Pair LoadState(System.Int64 iKey)    {        string strConn = String.Empty,            strProvider = String.Empty,            SerializedState = String.Empty,            strMinutesInPast = GetMinutesInPastToDelete();        Pair PageState;        string strSql = "select SerializedState from tblPageState where tblPageStateID=" + iKey.ToString() + ";" +            "delete from tblPageState where DateUpdated<DateAdd(mi, " + strMinutesInPast + ", getdate());";        SqlConnection sqlCn;        SqlCommand sqlCm;        try        {            GetDBConnectionString(ref strConn, ref strProvider);            sqlCn = new SqlConnection(strConn);            sqlCm = new SqlCommand(strSql, sqlCn);             sqlCn.Open();            SerializedState = Convert.ToString(sqlCm.ExecuteScalar());            IStateFormatter formatter = this.StateFormatter;             if ((null == SerializedState) ||                (String.Empty == SerializedState))            {                throw (new ApplicationException("No ViewState records were returned."));            }             // Deserilize returns the Pair object that is serialized in            // the Save method.            PageState = (Pair)formatter.Deserialize(SerializedState);             if (sqlCn.State != ConnectionState.Closed)            {                sqlCn.Close();            }            sqlCn.Dispose();            sqlCm.Dispose();        }        finally        {            sqlCn = null;            sqlCm = null;        }        return PageState;    }     private string SqlEscape(string Val)    {        string ReturnVal = String.Empty;        if (null != Val)        {            ReturnVal = Val.Replace("'", "''");        }        return (ReturnVal);    }    private void GetDBConnectionString(ref string ConnectionStringValue, ref string ProviderNameValue)    {        if (System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings.Count > 0)        {            ConnectionStringValue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ApplicationServices"].ConnectionString;            ProviderNameValue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ApplicationServices"].ProviderName;        }        else        {            throw new ConfigurationErrorsException(_exNoConnectionStringFound);        }    }    private string GetMinutesInPastToDelete()    {        string strReturn = "-60";        if (null != System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MinutesInPastToDeletePageState"])        {            strReturn = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MinutesInPastToDeletePageState"].ToString();        }        return (strReturn);    }}#endregion AppleiPhone.cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web; /// <summary>/// Summary description for AppleIPhone/// </summary>public class AppleIPhone{ public AppleIPhone() {  //  // TODO: Add constructor logic here  // }     static public bool IsIPhoneOS()    {        return (IsIPad() || IsIPhone() || IsIPodTouch());    }     static public bool IsIPhone()    {        return IsTest("iPhone");    }     static public bool IsIPodTouch()    {        return IsTest("iPod");    }     static public bool IsIPad()    {        return IsTest("iPad");    }     static private bool IsTest(string Agent)    {        bool bl = false;        string ua = HttpContext.Current.Request.UserAgent.ToLower();        try        {            bl = ua.Contains(Agent.ToLower());        }        catch { }        return (bl);        }} Master page .cs: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls; public partial class MasterPages_iPhoneMaster : System.Web.UI.MasterPage{    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)    {            HtmlHead head = Page.Header;            HtmlMeta meta = new HtmlMeta();            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad() == true)            {                meta.Content = "width=400,user-scalable=no";                head.Controls.Add(meta);             }            else            {                meta.Content = "width=device-width, user-scalable=no";                meta.Attributes.Add("name", "viewport");            }            meta.Attributes.Add("name", "viewport");            head.Controls.Add(meta);            HtmlLink cssLink = new HtmlLink();            HtmlGenericControl script = new HtmlGenericControl("script");            script.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");            script.Attributes.Add("src", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/iWebKit/javascript/functions.js"));            head.Controls.Add(script);            cssLink.Attributes.Add("rel", "stylesheet");            cssLink.Attributes.Add("href", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/iWebKit/css/style.css") );            cssLink.Attributes.Add("type", "text/css");            head.Controls.Add(cssLink);            HtmlGenericControl jsLink = new HtmlGenericControl("script");            //jsLink.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");            //jsLink.Attributes.Add("src", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/jquery-1.4.1.min.js") );            //head.Controls.Add(jsLink);            HtmlLink appleIcon = new HtmlLink();            appleIcon.Attributes.Add("rel", "apple-touch-icon");            appleIcon.Attributes.Add("href", ResolveUrl("~/apple-touch-icon.png"));            HtmlMeta appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle = new HtmlMeta();            appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle.Attributes.Add("name", "apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style");            appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle.Attributes.Add("content", "black");            head.Controls.Add(appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle);    }     internal string FindPath(string Location)    {        string Url = Server.MapPath(Location);        return (Url);    }}

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  • Resolve a URL from a Partial View (ASP.NET MVC)

    Working on an ASP.NET MVC application and needed the ability to resolve a URL from a partial view. For example, I have an image I want to display, but I need to resolve the virtual path (say, ~/Content/Images/New.png) into a relative path that the browser can use, such as ../../Content/Images/New.png or /MyAppName/Content/Images/New.png. Astandard view derives from the System.Web.UI.Page class, meaning you have access to the ResolveUrl and ResolveClientUrl methods. Consequently, you can write markup/code like the following:' /The problem is that the above code does not work as expected in a partial view. What's a little confusing is that while the above code compiles and the page, when visited through a browser, renders, the call to Page.ResolveClientUrl returns precisely what you pass in, ~/Content/Images/New.png, in this instance. The browser doesn't know what to do with ~, it presumes it's part of the URL, so it sends the request to the server for the image with the ~ in the URL, which results in a broken image.I did a bit of searching online and found this handy tip from Stephen Walther - Using ResolveUrl in an HTML Helper. In a nutshell, Stephen shows how to create an extension method for the HtmlHelper class that uses the UrlHelper class to resolve a URL. Specifically, Stephen shows how to add an Image extension method to HtmlHelper. I incorporated Stephen's code into my codebase and also created a more generic extension method, which I named ResolveUrl.public static MvcHtmlString ResolveUrl(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string url) { var urlHelper = new UrlHelper(htmlHelper.ViewContext.RequestContext); return MvcHtmlString.Create(urlHelper.Content(url)); }With this method in place you can resolve a URL in a partial view like so:' /Or you could use Stephen's Html.Image extension method (althoughmy more generic Html.ResolveUrl method could be used in non-image related scenarios where you needed to get a relative URL from a virtual one in a partial view). Thanks for the helpful tip, Stephen!Happy Programming!Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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  • Resolve a URL from a Partial View (ASP.NET MVC)

    Working on an ASP.NET MVC application and needed the ability to resolve a URL from a partial view. For example, I have an image I want to display, but I need to resolve the virtual path (say, ~/Content/Images/New.png) into a relative path that the browser can use, such as ../../Content/Images/New.png or /MyAppName/Content/Images/New.png. Astandard view derives from the System.Web.UI.Page class, meaning you have access to the ResolveUrl and ResolveClientUrl methods. Consequently, you can write markup/code like the following:' /The problem is that the above code does not work as expected in a partial view. What's a little confusing is that while the above code compiles and the page, when visited through a browser, renders, the call to Page.ResolveClientUrl returns precisely what you pass in, ~/Content/Images/New.png, in this instance. The browser doesn't know what to do with ~, it presumes it's part of the URL, so it sends the request to the server for the image with the ~ in the URL, which results in a broken image.I did a bit of searching online and found this handy tip from Stephen Walther - Using ResolveUrl in an HTML Helper. In a nutshell, Stephen shows how to create an extension method for the HtmlHelper class that uses the UrlHelper class to resolve a URL. Specifically, Stephen shows how to add an Image extension method to HtmlHelper. I incorporated Stephen's code into my codebase and also created a more generic extension method, which I named ResolveUrl.public static MvcHtmlString ResolveUrl(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper, string url) { var urlHelper = new UrlHelper(htmlHelper.ViewContext.RequestContext); return MvcHtmlString.Create(urlHelper.Content(url)); }With this method in place you can resolve a URL in a partial view like so:' /Or you could use Stephen's Html.Image extension method (althoughmy more generic Html.ResolveUrl method could be used in non-image related scenarios where you needed to get a relative URL from a virtual one in a partial view). Thanks for the helpful tip, Stephen!Happy Programming!Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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  • How did my email end up in spam? Spam only filters this specific email, other email contents work

    - by mugetsu
    My website has users buy our products and when the purchase completes, it sends the user an email. However, this email always ends up in spam! When the user first registers, the site also sends an email, this email however is not filtered and goes into the normal inbox. I'm not quite sure why this is so, gmail vaguely tells me that " It's similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters." So I'm thinking that I need to reword the following email better. Can I get some tips? Or could something else be causing this? thanks! here's the unformatted email: Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: by 10.112.32.98 with SMTP id h2csp61953lbi; Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:09:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.180.79.72 with SMTP id h8mr22836827wix.1.1332302953175; Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:09:13 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: <[email protected]> Received: from mail26.elasticemail.org (mail26.elasticemail.org. [178.32.180.26]) by mx.google.com with SMTP id 6si518487wiz.41.2012.03.20.21.09.12; Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:09:12 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of [email protected] designates 178.32.180.26 as permitted sender) client-ip=178.32.180.26; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of [email protected] designates 178.32.180.26 as permitted sender) [email protected]; dkim=pass [email protected] DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; bh=qjc8jxQuGy9pLN1YV9TR2PHQYKg=; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=website.com; s=api; h=DomainKey-Signature:MIME-Version:From:To:List-Unsubscribe:Subject:Date:Reply-To:Message-ID:Content-Type; b=Odt+nYhjntXPl7JPVHeJWjkStemt6so+FPVYY6oMKziMFzmW8YiLhN8WwSLY0faMcn/rirKsO2dOm/kvcHlqUJC7ldhaydE6bPekkBDa9kBovlGwPNm6xy9QWPP9I1fXDLDCwqqeAXv8kN0daXbh3pVyqWNUOk5cgQ35OgpQpKI= DomainKey-Signature: q=dns; a=rsa-sha1; c=simple; d=website.com; s=api; h=MIME-Version:X-Mailer:From:To:X-Priority:List-Unsubscribe:Subject:Date:Reply-To:Message-ID:Content-Type; b=F7NNZIEyEV+64uYD8pVpe91WLP19Tw2Whk4OKpkLeAfkmrNIA7AjP0XYU1JWTlEyibHQJjjbhR62I3MvVJBSGp75eWfOuwb2AqYWZ/jAlMWznnfQLVv7OlYJsErGxYP6GUNNcuJaqlTPFDanJwtaEvR+tqXZRB7xrUisMd8lq2I= MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: email.website.com From: "Website Contact" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] X-Priority: 3 (Normal) List-Unsubscribe: <http://email.website.com/tracking/unsubscribe?msgid=su6g-8kfd0s0g>, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> Subject: Website Tickets: event Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:09:17 +0000 Reply-To: "Website Contact" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_3F77_7A0DF805.A8C886C0" ------=_NextPart_000_3F77_7A0DF805.A8C886C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 SGVsbG8hIAoKIEhlcmUgYXJlIHlvdXIgdGlja2V0KHMpIGZvciBDVEFTIGVDc1RBU3kgMjAxMjog CgpodHRwczovL2NhbXB1c2FtcC5jb20vP3RpY2tldHMvNy95aGloZ3Znd3Z3cWR3cXhtdnQKClNp bXBseSBicmluZyBpdCB3aXRoIHlvdSBvbiB5b3VyIHNtYXJ0cGhvbmUsIG9yIHByaW50IHRoZSB0 aWNrZXQgb3V0IHRvIGJlIHNjYW5uZWQgYXQgdGhlIGV2ZW50LiBFbmpveSwgYW5kIHdlIGFwcHJl Y2lhdGUgeW91ciBwdXJjaGFzZS4KClNpbmNlcmVseSwKVGhlIENhbXB1c0FtcCBUZWFt ------=_NextPart_000_3F77_7A0DF805.A8C886C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 SGVsbG8hIDxici8+PGJyLz4gSGVyZSBhcmUgeW91ciB0aWNrZXQocykgZm9yIENUQVMgZUNzVEFT eSAyMDEyOjxici8+PGEgaHJlZj0iaHR0cDovL2VtYWlsLmNhbXB1c2FtcC5jb20vdHJhY2tpbmcv Y2xpY2s/bXNnaWQ9c3U2Zy04a2ZkMHMwZyZ0YXJnZXQ9aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZjYW1wdXNhbXAu Y29tJTJmJTNmdGlja2V0cyUyZjclMmZ5aGloZ3Znd3Z3cWR3cXhtdnQiPiBodHRwczovL2NhbXB1 c2FtcC5jb20vP3RpY2tldHMvNy95aGloZ3Znd3Z3cWR3cXhtdnQgIDwvYT4gPGJyLz48YnIvPlNp bXBseSBicmluZyBpdCB3aXRoIHlvdSBvbiB5b3VyIHNtYXJ0cGhvbmUsIG9yIHByaW50IHRoZSB0 aWNrZXQgb3V0IHRvIGJlIHNjYW5uZWQgYXQgdGhlIGV2ZW50LiBFbmpveSwgYW5kIHdlIGFwcHJl Y2lhdGUgeW91ciBwdXJjaGFzZS48YnIvPjxici8+U2luY2VyZWx5LDxici8+VGhlIENhbXB1c0Ft cCBUZWFtPGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9lbWFpbC5jYW1wdXNhbXAuY29tL3RyYWNraW5nL29wZW4/ bXNnaWQ9c3U2Zy04a2ZkMHMwZyIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOjFweDtoZWlnaHQ6MXB4IiBhbHQ9IiIg Lz4= ------=_NextPart_000_3F77_7A0DF805.A8C886C0--

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  • Validating a linked item&rsquo;s data template in Sitecore

    - by Kyle Burns
    I’ve been doing quite a bit of work in Sitecore recently and last week I encountered a situation that it appears many others have hit.  I was working with a field that had been configured originally as a grouped droplink, but now needed to be updated to support additional levels of hierarchy in the folder structure.  If you’ve done any work in Sitecore that statement makes sense, but if not it may seem a bit cryptic.  Sitecore offers a number of different field types and a subset of these field types focus on providing links either to other items on the content tree or to content that is not stored in Sitecore.  In the case of the grouped droplink, the field is configured with a “root” folder and each direct descendant of this folder is considered to be a header for a grouping of other items and displayed in a dropdown.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so consider the following piece of a content tree: If I configure a grouped droplink field to use the “Current” folder as its datasource, the control that gets to my content author looks like this: This presents a nicely organized display and limits the user to selecting only the direct grandchildren of the folder root.  It also presents the limitation that struck as we were thinking through the content architecture and how it would hold up over time – the authors cannot further organize content under the root folder because of the structure required for the dropdown to work.  Over time, not allowing the hierarchy to go any deeper would prevent out authors from being able to organize their content in a way that it would be found when needed, so the grouped droplink data type was not going to fit the bill. I needed to look for an alternative data type that allowed for selection of a single item and limited my choices to descendants of a specific node on the content tree.  After looking at the options available for links in Sitecore and considering them against each other, one option stood out as nearly perfect – the droptree.  This field type stores its data identically to the droplink and allows for the selection of zero or one items under a specific node in the content tree.  By changing my data template to use droptree instead of grouped droplink, the author is now presented with the following when selecting a linked item: Sounds great, but a did say almost perfect – there’s still one flaw.  The code intended to display the linked item is expecting the selection to use a specific data template (or more precisely it makes certain assumptions about the fields that will be present), but the droptree does nothing to prevent the author from selecting a folder (since folders are items too) instead of one of the items contained within a folder.  I looked to see if anyone had already solved this problem.  I found many people discussing the problem, but the closest that I found to a solution was the statement “the best thing would probably be to create a custom validator” with no further discussion in regards to what this validator might look like.  I needed to create my own validator to ensure that the user had not selected a folder.  Since so many people had the same issue, I decided to make the validator as reusable as possible and share it here. The validator that I created inherits from StandardValidator.  In order to make the validator more intuitive to developers that are familiar with the TreeList controls in Sitecore, I chose to implement the following parameters: ExcludeTemplatesForSelection – serves as a “deny list”.  If the data template of the selected item is in this list it will not validate IncludeTemplatesForSelection – this can either be empty to indicate that any template not contained in the exclusion list is acceptable or it can contain the list of acceptable templates Now that I’ve explained the parameters and the purpose of the validator, I’ll let the code do the rest of the talking: 1: /// <summary> 2: /// Validates that a link field value meets template requirements 3: /// specified using the following parameters: 4: /// - ExcludeTemplatesForSelection: If present, the item being 5: /// based on an excluded template will cause validation to fail. 6: /// - IncludeTemplatesForSelection: If present, the item not being 7: /// based on an included template will cause validation to fail 8: /// 9: /// ExcludeTemplatesForSelection trumps IncludeTemplatesForSelection 10: /// if the same value appears in both lists. Lists are comma seperated 11: /// </summary> 12: [Serializable] 13: public class LinkItemTemplateValidator : StandardValidator 14: { 15: public LinkItemTemplateValidator() 16: { 17: } 18:   19: /// <summary> 20: /// Serialization constructor is required by the runtime 21: /// </summary> 22: /// <param name="info"></param> 23: /// <param name="context"></param> 24: public LinkItemTemplateValidator(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context) : base(info, context) { } 25:   26: /// <summary> 27: /// Returns whether the linked item meets the template 28: /// constraints specified in the parameters 29: /// </summary> 30: /// <returns> 31: /// The result of the evaluation. 32: /// </returns> 33: protected override ValidatorResult Evaluate() 34: { 35: if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ControlValidationValue)) 36: { 37: return ValidatorResult.Valid; // let "required" validation handle 38: } 39:   40: var excludeString = Parameters["ExcludeTemplatesForSelection"]; 41: var includeString = Parameters["IncludeTemplatesForSelection"]; 42: if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(excludeString) && string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(includeString)) 43: { 44: return ValidatorResult.Valid; // "allow anything" if no params 45: } 46:   47: Guid linkedItemGuid; 48: if (!Guid.TryParse(ControlValidationValue, out linkedItemGuid)) 49: { 50: return ValidatorResult.Valid; // probably put validator on wrong field 51: } 52:   53: var item = GetItem(); 54: var linkedItem = item.Database.GetItem(new ID(linkedItemGuid)); 55:   56: if (linkedItem == null) 57: { 58: return ValidatorResult.Valid; // this validator isn't for broken links 59: } 60:   61: var exclusionList = (excludeString ?? string.Empty).Split(','); 62: var inclusionList = (includeString ?? string.Empty).Split(','); 63:   64: if ((inclusionList.Length == 0 || inclusionList.Contains(linkedItem.TemplateName)) 65: && !exclusionList.Contains(linkedItem.TemplateName)) 66: { 67: return ValidatorResult.Valid; 68: } 69:   70: Text = GetText("The field \"{0}\" specifies an item which is based on template \"{1}\". This template is not valid for selection", GetFieldDisplayName(), linkedItem.TemplateName); 71:   72: return GetFailedResult(ValidatorResult.FatalError); 73: } 74:   75: protected override ValidatorResult GetMaxValidatorResult() 76: { 77: return ValidatorResult.FatalError; 78: } 79:   80: public override string Name 81: { 82: get { return @"LinkItemTemplateValidator"; } 83: } 84: }   In this blog entry, I have shared some code that I found useful in solving a problem that seemed fairly common.  Hopefully the next person that is looking for this answer finds it useful as well.

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  • New <%: %> Syntax for HTML Encoding Output in ASP.NET 4 (and ASP.NET MVC 2)

    - by ScottGu
    [In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu] This is the nineteenth in a series of blog posts I’m doing on the upcoming VS 2010 and .NET 4 release. Today’s post covers a small, but very useful, new syntax feature being introduced with ASP.NET 4 – which is the ability to automatically HTML encode output within code nuggets.  This helps protect your applications and sites against cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML injection attacks, and enables you to do so using a nice concise syntax. HTML Encoding Cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML encoding attacks are two of the most common security issues that plague web-sites and applications.  They occur when hackers find a way to inject client-side script or HTML markup into web-pages that are then viewed by other visitors to a site.  This can be used to both vandalize a site, as well as enable hackers to run client-script code that steals cookie data and/or exploits a user’s identity on a site to do bad things. One way to help mitigate against cross-site scripting attacks is to make sure that rendered output is HTML encoded within a page.  This helps ensures that any content that might have been input/modified by an end-user cannot be output back onto a page containing tags like <script> or <img> elements.  ASP.NET applications (especially those using ASP.NET MVC) often rely on using <%= %> code-nugget expressions to render output.  Developers today often use the Server.HtmlEncode() or HttpUtility.Encode() helper methods within these expressions to HTML encode the output before it is rendered.  This can be done using code like below: While this works fine, there are two downsides of it: It is a little verbose Developers often forget to call the HtmlEncode method New <%: %> Code Nugget Syntax With ASP.NET 4 we are introducing a new code expression syntax (<%:  %>) that renders output like <%= %> blocks do – but which also automatically HTML encodes it before doing so.  This eliminates the need to explicitly HTML encode content like we did in the example above.  Instead you can just write the more concise code below to accomplish the same thing: We chose the <%: %> syntax so that it would be easy to quickly replace existing instances of <%= %> code blocks.  It also enables you to easily search your code-base for <%= %> elements to find and verify any cases where you are not using HTML encoding within your application to ensure that you have the correct behavior. Avoiding Double Encoding While HTML encoding content is often a good best practice, there are times when the content you are outputting is meant to be HTML or is already encoded – in which case you don’t want to HTML encode it again.  ASP.NET 4 introduces a new IHtmlString interface (along with a concrete implementation: HtmlString) that you can implement on types to indicate that its value is already properly encoded (or otherwise examined) for displaying as HTML, and that therefore the value should not be HTML-encoded again.  The <%: %> code-nugget syntax checks for the presence of the IHtmlString interface and will not HTML encode the output of the code expression if its value implements this interface.  This allows developers to avoid having to decide on a per-case basis whether to use <%= %> or <%: %> code-nuggets.  Instead you can always use <%: %> code nuggets, and then have any properties or data-types that are already HTML encoded implement the IHtmlString interface. Using ASP.NET MVC HTML Helper Methods with <%: %> For a practical example of where this HTML encoding escape mechanism is useful, consider scenarios where you use HTML helper methods with ASP.NET MVC.  These helper methods typically return HTML.  For example: the Html.TextBox() helper method returns markup like <input type=”text”/>.  With ASP.NET MVC 2 these helper methods now by default return HtmlString types – which indicates that the returned string content is safe for rendering and should not be encoded by <%: %> nuggets.  This allows you to use these methods within both <%= %> code nugget blocks: As well as within <%: %> code nugget blocks: In both cases above the HTML content returned from the helper method will be rendered to the client as HTML – and the <%: %> code nugget will avoid double-encoding it. This enables you to default to always using <%: %> code nuggets instead of <%= %> code blocks within your applications.  If you want to be really hardcore you can even create a build rule that searches your application looking for <%= %> usages and flags any cases it finds as an error to enforce that HTML encoding always takes place. Scaffolding ASP.NET MVC 2 Views When you use VS 2010 (or the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express) you’ll find that the views that are scaffolded using the “Add View” dialog now by default always use <%: %> blocks when outputting any content.  For example, below I’ve scaffolded a simple “Edit” view for an article object.  Note the three usages of <%: %> code nuggets for the label, textbox, and validation message (all output with HTML helper methods): Summary The new <%: %> syntax provides a concise way to automatically HTML encode content and then render it as output.  It allows you to make your code a little less verbose, and to easily check/verify that you are always HTML encoding content throughout your site.  This can help protect your applications against cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML injection attacks.  Hope this helps, Scott

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  • Community Conversation

    - by ultan o'broin
    Applications User Experience members (Erika Webb, Laurie Pattison, and I) attended the User Assistance Europe Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. We were impressed with the thought leadership and practical application of ideas in Anne Gentle's keynote address "Social Web Strategies for Documentation". After the conference, we spoke with Anne to explore the ideas further. Applications User Experience Senior Director Laurie Pattison (left) with Anne Gentle at the User Assistance Europe Conference In Anne's book called Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation, she explains how user assistance is undergoing a seismic shift. The direction is away from the old print manuals and online help concept towards a web-based, user community-driven solution using social media tools. User experience professionals now have a vast range of such tools to start and nurture this "conversation": blogs, wikis, forums, social networking sites, microblogging systems, image and video sharing sites, virtual worlds, podcasts, instant messaging, mashups, and so on. That user communities are a rich source of user assistance is not a surprise, but the extent of available assistance is. For example, we know from the Consortium for Service Innovation that there has been an 'explosion' of user-generated content on the web. User-initiated community conversations provide as much as 30 times the number of official help desk solutions for consortium members! The growing reliance on user community solutions is clearly a user experience issue. Anne says that user assistance as conversation "means getting closer to users and helping them perform well. User-centered design has been touted as one of the most important ideas developed in the last 20 years of workplace writing. Now writers can take the idea of user-centered design a step further by starting conversations with users and enabling user assistance in interactions." Some of Anne's favorite examples of this paradigm shift from the world of traditional documentation to community conversation include: * Writer Bob Bringhurst's blog about Adobe InDesign and InCopy products and Adobe's community help * The Microsoft Development Network Community Center * ·The former Sun (now Oracle) OpenDS wiki, NetBeans Ruby and other community approaches to engage diverse audiences using screencasts, wikis, and blogs. * Cisco's customer support wiki, EMC's community, as well as Symantec and Intuit's approaches * The efforts of Ubuntu, Mozilla, and the FLOSS community generally Adobe Writer Bob Bringhurst's Blog Oracle is not without a user community conversation too. Besides the community discussions and blogs around documentation offerings, we have the My Oracle Support Community forums, Oracle Technology Network (OTN) communities, wiki, blogs, and so on. We have the great work done by our user groups and customer councils. Employees like David Haimes are reaching out, and enthusiastic non-employee gurus like Chet Justice (OracleNerd), Floyd Teter and Eddie Awad provide great "how-to" information too. But what does this paradigm shift mean for existing technical writers as users turn away from the traditional printable PDF manual deliverables? We asked Anne after the conference. The writer role becomes one of conversation initiator or enabler. The role evolves, along with the process, as the users define their concept of user assistance and terms of engagement with the product instead of having it pre-determined. It is largely a case now of "inventing the job while you're doing it, instead of being hired for it" Anne said. There is less emphasis on formal titles. Anne mentions that her own title "Content Stacker" at OpenStack; others use titles such as "Content Curator" or "Community Lead". However, the role remains one essentially about communications, "but of a new type--interacting with users, moderating, curating content, instead of sitting down to write a manual from start to finish." Clearly then, this role is open to more than professional technical writers. Product managers who write blogs, developers who moderate forums, support professionals who update wikis, rock star programmers with a penchant for YouTube are ideal. Anyone with the product knowledge, empathy for the user, and flair for relationships on the social web can join in. Some even perform these roles already but do not realize it. Anne feels the technical communicator space will move from hiring new community conversation professionals (who are already active in the space through blogging, tweets, wikis, and so on) to retraining some existing writers over time. Our own research reveals that the established proponents of community user assistance even set employee performance objectives for internal content curators about the amount of community content delivered by people outside the organization! To take advantage of the conversations on the web as user assistance, enterprises must first establish where on the spectrum their community lies. "What is the line between community willingness to contribute and the enterprise objectives?" Anne asked. "The relationship with users must be managed and also measured." Anne believes that the process can start with a "just do it" approach. Begin by reaching out to existing user groups, individual bloggers and tweeters, forum posters, early adopter program participants, conference attendees, customer advisory board members, and so on. Use analytical tools to measure the level of conversation about your products and services to show a return on investment (ROI), winning management support. Anne emphasized that success with the community model is dependent on lowering the technical and motivational barriers so that users can readily contribute to the conversation. Simple tools must be provided, and guidelines, if any, must be straightforward but not mandatory. The conversational approach is one where traditional style and branding guides do not necessarily apply. Tools and infrastructure help users to create content easily, to search and find the information online, read it, rate it, translate it, and participate further in the content's evolution. Recognizing contributors by using ratings on forums, giving out Twitter kudos, conference invitations, visits to headquarters, free products, preview releases, and so on, also encourages the adoption of the conversation model. The move to conversation as user assistance is not free, but there is a business ROI. The conversational model means that customer service is enhanced, as user experience moves from a functional to a valued, emotional level. Studies show a positive correlation between loyalty and financial performance (Consortium for Service Innovation, 2010), and as customer experience and loyalty become key differentiators, user experience professionals cannot explore the model's possibilities. The digital universe (measured at 1.2 million petabytes in 2010) is doubling every 12 to 18 months, and 70 percent of that universe consists of user-generated content (IDC, 2010). Conversation as user assistance cannot be ignored but must be embraced. It is a time to manage for abundance, not scarcity. Besides, the conversation approach certainly sounds more interesting, rewarding, and fun than the traditional model! I would like to thank Anne for her time and thoughts, and recommend that all user assistance professionals read her book. You can follow Anne on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/annegentle. Oracle's Acrolinx IQ deployment was used to author this article.

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  • Book Reviews: Art of Community and Eyetracking Web Usability

    - by ultan o'broin
    Holidays time offers a chance to catch up on some user experience and user assistance related material. So, two short book reviews (which I considered using my new Tumblr blog for. More about that another time) coming up. The Art of Community by Jono Bacon Excellent starting point for anyone wanting to get going in the community software (FLOSS, for example) space or understand how to set up, manage, and leverage the collective intelligence of communities for whatever ends. The book is a little too long in my opinion, and of course, usage of what Jono is recommending needs to be nuanced and adapted for enterprise applications space (hardly surprising there is a lot about Ubuntu, Lug Radio, and so on given Jono's interests). Shame there wasn't more information on international, non-English community considerations too. Still, some great ideas and insight into setting up and managing communities that I will leverage (watch out for the results on this blog, later in 2011). One section, on collaborative writing really jumped out. It reinforced the whole idea that to successful community initiatives are based on instigators knowing what makes the community tick in the first place. How about this for insight into user profiles for people who write community user assistance (OK then, "doc") and what tools they might use (in this case, we're talking about Jokosher): "Most people who write documentation for open source software projects would fall into the category of power user. They are technology enthusiasts who are not interested in the super-technical avenues of programming, but want to help out. Many of these people have good writing skills and a good knowledge of using the software, so the documentation fit is natural. With Jokosher we wanted to acknowledge this profile of user. As such, instead of focussing on complex text processing tools, we encouraged our documentation contributors to use a wiki." The book is available for free here, and well as being available from usual sources. Eyetracking Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen and Kara Prentice Another fine book by established experts. I have some field experience of eyetracking studies myself --in the user assistance for enterprise applications space--though Jakob and Kara concentrate on websites for their research here. I would caution how much about websites transfers easily to the applications space, especially enterprise applications, as claimed in the book too. However, Jakob and Kara do make the case very well that understanding design goals (for example, productivity improvement in the case of applications) and the context of the software use is critical. Executing a study using eyetracking technology requires that you know what you want to test, can set up realistic tasks for testing by representative testers, and then analyze the results. Be precise, as lots of data will be generated (I think the authors underplay the effort in analyzing data too). What I found disappointing was the lack of emphasis on eyetracking as only part of the usability solution. It's really for fine-tuning designs in my opinion, and should be used after other design reviews. I also wasn't that crazy about the level of disengagement between the qualitative and quantitative side of this kind of testing that the book indicated. I think it is useful to have testers verbalize their thoughts and for test engineers to prompt, intervene, or guide as necessary. More on cultural or international aspects to usability testing might have been included too (websites are available to everyone). To conclude, I enjoyed the book, took on board some key takeaways about methodologies and found the recommendations sensible and easy to follow (for example about Forms layouts). Applying enterprise applications requirements such as those relating to user profiles, design goals, and overall context of use in conjunction with what's in this book would be the way to go here. It also made me think of how interesting it would be to compare eyetracking findings between website and enterprise applications usage.

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