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  • Ubuntu server loses exactly 5 minutes once in a while

    - by Harold Smith
    I noticed that my server, an Ubuntu server 12.04, was losing time. I figured the hardware clock was off or maybe dying due to a faulty CMOS battery. I installed NTP to ensure the drift would be corrected, but to no avail. During a day it would lose 20 minutes or so. To debug, I created a small cron job to check against a remote servers time, which I knew to be correct. The script calculates the difference in seconds between local and remote time. The result was interesting. It seems to be losing exactly 5 minutes several times during the day. Look at this log (difference from remote server noted in seconds): Tue Oct 23 03:30:02 CEST 2012: 284 Tue Oct 23 03:35:02 CEST 2012: 284 Tue Oct 23 03:40:01 CEST 2012: 285 Tue Oct 23 03:45:02 CEST 2012: 285 Tue Oct 23 03:50:02 CEST 2012: 285 Tue Oct 23 03:55:02 CEST 2012: 284 Tue Oct 23 04:00:02 CEST 2012: 284 Tue Oct 23 04:05:01 CEST 2012: 285 Tue Oct 23 04:10:01 CEST 2012: 285 Tue Oct 23 04:15:02 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 04:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 04:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 04:30:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 04:35:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 04:40:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 04:45:02 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 04:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 04:55:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:00:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:05:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 05:10:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 05:15:02 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 05:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:30:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:35:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 05:40:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 05:45:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 05:55:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:00:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:05:03 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:10:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:15:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 06:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:30:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:35:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:40:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:45:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 06:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 06:55:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 07:00:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:05:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:10:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:15:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:30:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 07:35:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:40:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:45:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 07:55:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:00:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 08:05:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:10:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:15:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:30:01 CEST 2012: 585 Tue Oct 23 08:35:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:40:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:45:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 08:55:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:00:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:05:03 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:10:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:15:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:20:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:25:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:30:01 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:35:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:40:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:45:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:50:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 09:55:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 10:00:01 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 10:05:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 10:10:07 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 10:15:02 CEST 2012: 584 Tue Oct 23 10:20:02 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:25:02 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:30:02 CEST 2012: 883 Tue Oct 23 10:35:01 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:40:02 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:45:02 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:50:02 CEST 2012: 884 Tue Oct 23 10:55:02 CEST 2012: 1184 Tue Oct 23 11:00:02 CEST 2012: 1183 Tue Oct 23 11:05:01 CEST 2012: 1184 Tue Oct 23 11:10:02 CEST 2012: 1184 Tue Oct 23 11:15:02 CEST 2012: 1184 Tue Oct 23 11:20:02 CEST 2012: 1184 This does not seem to be faulty CMOS battery in my opinion. But what do you think?

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  • Router 2wire, Slackware desktop in DMZ mode, iptables policy aginst ping, but still pingable

    - by user135501
    I'm in DMZ mode, so I'm firewalling myself, stealthy all ok, but I get faulty test results from Shields Up that there are pings. Yesterday I couldn't make a connection to game servers work, because ping block was enabled (on the router). I disabled it, but this persists even due to my firewall. What is the connection between me and my router in DMZ mode (for my machine, there is bunch of others too behind router firewall)? When it allows router affecting if I'm pingable or not and if router has setting not blocking ping, rules in my iptables for this scenario do not work. Please ignore commented rules, I do uncomment them as I want. These two should do the job right? iptables -A INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j DROP echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all Here are my iptables: #!/bin/sh # Begin /bin/firewall-start # Insert connection-tracking modules (not needed if built into the kernel). #modprobe ip_tables #modprobe iptable_filter #modprobe ip_conntrack #modprobe ip_conntrack_ftp #modprobe ipt_state #modprobe ipt_LOG # allow local-only connections iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT # free output on any interface to any ip for any service # (equal to -P ACCEPT) iptables -A OUTPUT -j ACCEPT # permit answers on already established connections # and permit new connections related to established ones (eg active-ftp) iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT #Gamespy&NWN #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp -m multiport --ports 5120:5129 -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 6667 --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 28910 --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 29900 --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 29901 --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 29920 --tcp-flags SYN,RST,ACK SYN -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp -m multiport --ports 5120:5129 -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 6500 -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 27900 -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 27901 -j ACCEPT #iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 29910 -j ACCEPT # Log everything else: What's Windows' latest exploitable vulnerability? iptables -A INPUT -j LOG --log-prefix "FIREWALL:INPUT" # set a sane policy: everything not accepted > /dev/null iptables -P INPUT DROP iptables -P FORWARD DROP iptables -P OUTPUT DROP iptables -A INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j DROP # be verbose on dynamic ip-addresses (not needed in case of static IP) echo 2 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_dynaddr # disable ExplicitCongestionNotification - too many routers are still # ignorant echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_ecn #ping death echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all # If you are frequently accessing ftp-servers or enjoy chatting you might # notice certain delays because some implementations of these daemons have # the feature of querying an identd on your box for your username for # logging. Although there's really no harm in this, having an identd # running is not recommended because some implementations are known to be # vulnerable. # To avoid these delays you could reject the requests with a 'tcp-reset': #iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 113 -j REJECT --reject-with tcp-reset #iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --sport 113 -m state --state RELATED -j ACCEPT # To log and drop invalid packets, mostly harmless packets that came in # after netfilter's timeout, sometimes scans: #iptables -I INPUT 1 -p tcp -m state --state INVALID -j LOG --log-prefix \ "FIREWALL:INVALID" #iptables -I INPUT 2 -p tcp -m state --state INVALID -j DROP # End /bin/firewall-start

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  • Postfix not sending/allowing receiving of messages after server (hardware) changed

    - by 537mfb
    We had na old notebook runing Ubuntu 12.04 working as a web/ftp/mail server and it worked but since the notebook was a notebook and pretty old and unreliable, a desktop was bought to replace it before it stopped working all together. Due to issues with the new desktop's vídeo card, we couldn't use Ubuntu 12.04 so we installed Ubuntu 13.10 and wen't about configuring it. Since we removed the notebook from the network, we kept the same Computer Name and local IP address to make things as close to the old server as possible configuration-wise. However, something has gone wrong since Postfix is throwing error 451 4.3.0 lookup faillure on every attempt to send a mail, and no email can be received either. Our main.cf file is a copy of the one we were using (and working) on the old server (notice we use EHCP) # See /usr/share/postfix/main.cf.dist for a commented, more complete version # Debian specific: Specifying a file name will cause the first # line of that file to be used as the name. The Debian default # is /etc/mailname. #myorigin = /etc/mailname smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name powered by Easy Hosting Control Panel (ehcp) on Ubuntu, www.ehcp.net biff = no # appending .domain is the MUA's job. append_dot_mydomain = no # Uncomment the next line to generate "delayed mail" warnings #delay_warning_time = 4h readme_directory = no myhostname = m21-traducoes.com.pt relayhost = mydestination = localhost, 89.152.248.139 mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8, 192.168.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/16, 10.0.0.0/8, 89.152.248.0/24 virtual_alias_domains = virtual_alias_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_forwardings.cf, proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_email2email.cf transport_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_transports.cf virtual_mailbox_domains = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_domains.cf virtual_mailbox_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_mailboxes.cf virtual_mailbox_base = /home/vmail virtual_uid_maps = static:5000 virtual_gid_maps = static:5000 smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes smtpd_sasl_security_options = noanonymous broken_sasl_auth_clients = yes smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_mynetworks,permit_sasl_authenticated,check_client_access hash:/var/lib/pop-before-smtp/hosts,reject_unauth_destination smtp_use_tls = yes smtpd_use_tls = yes smtpd_tls_auth_only = no smtpd_tls_CAfile = /etc/postfix/cacert.pem smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.cert smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/postfix/smtpd.key smtpd_tls_loglevel = 1 smtpd_tls_received_header = yes smtpd_tls_session_cache_timeout = 3600s tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom virtual_create_maildirsize = yes virtual_mailbox_extended = yes virtual_mailbox_limit_maps = proxy:mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual_mailbox_limit_maps.cf virtual_mailbox_limit_override = yes virtual_maildir_limit_message = "The user you are trying to reach is over quota." virtual_overquota_bounce = yes debug_peer_list = sender_canonical_maps = debug_peer_level = 1 proxy_read_maps = $local_recipient_maps $mydestination $virtual_alias_maps $virtual_alias_domains $virtual_mailbox_maps $virtual_mailbox_domains $relay_recipient_maps $canonical_maps $sender_canonical_maps $recipient_canonical_maps $relocated_maps $mynetworks $virtual_mailbox_limit_maps $transport_maps alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases smtpd_relay_restrictions = permit_mynetworks, permit_sasl_authenticated,check_client_access hash:/var/lib/pop-before-smtp/hosts,reject_unauth_destination smtpd_destination_concurrency_limit = 2 smtpd_destination_rate_delay = 1s smtpd_extra_recipient_limit = 10 disable_vrfy_command = yes smtpd_delay_reject = yes smtpd_helo_required = yes smtpd_error_sleep_time = 1s smtpd_soft_error_limit = 10 smtpd_hard_error_limit = 20 This configuration was working before but now everytime i try to send a mail in squirrelmail it reports: Message not sent. Server replied: Requested action aborted: error in processing 451 4.3.0 <[email protected]>: Temporary lookup failure And i can't send mail to it from outsider either. Any ideas? EDIT: Here are some issues MXToolBox reports to my domain, answering hopefully to @Teun Vink: BlackList Mail Server Web Server DNS Error 4 0 2 0 Warnings 0 0 0 3 Passed 0 6 3 12 So the domain is on some blacklist, but that doesn't explain the error at all No mail server issues found (except it's not working) Those two web server errors it's because i don't have HTTPS workin (No SSL Certificate) so the test fails Those 3 DNS warnings we're already there when it was working with the other machine and are related to stuff i can't control: SOA Refresh Value is outside of the recommended range SOA Expire Value out of recommended range SOA NXDOMAIN Value too high I've searched and as far as i can tell only the guys who sold the retail can change those values and they won't. Edit2: I half solved the issue.on the new machine postfix was installed but postfix-mysql waasn't so he couldn't connect to the database (rookie mistake). After fixing that, i can now send mails to the outsider without any issues, however i am still not able to receive mails from utside. The sender doesn't get any message warning about the non-delivery but the message doesn't fall in the inbox and the log shows: Nov 13 15:11:57 m21-traducoes postfix/smtpd[5872]: NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from re lay4.ptmail.sapo.pt[212.55.154.24]: 451 4.3.5 <relay4.ptmail.sapo.pt[212.55.154. 24]>: Client host rejected: Server configuration error; from=<[email protected]> to=<[email protected]> proto=SMTP helo=<sapo.pt> Nov 13 15:11:57 m21-traducoes postfix/smtpd[5872]: disconnect from relay4.ptmail .sapo.pt[212.55.154.24]

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  • File server share access intermittent/slow/machine unstable: win2k8r2

    - by Jack B.
    I have a file server running Win2k8R2 on an older HP DL380G4. It has nothing set up on it other than file sharing. All drivers/firmware/updates installed. The file server is used as a dump for a bunch of test machines - so essentially a lot of small files are being written to it. It was working fine until it started showing the following symptoms: Shares became either very slow/intermittent or could not access them at all. Logging in the the server, you could use it like normal but windows would start freezing and eventually you had to hard reboot it because nothing was responsive. After rebooting, it would work fine for 20min-2hours and then degrade into this broken state again. Some info after investigation: HP Raid Config utility shows the Raid array as functioning properly (RAID5 btw). Event log shows a bunch of DoS attacks from the test machines, saying it has disconnected the connection a. AFAIK (not part of my job) the test machines haven't changed the way they log information to this server or the amount of them hasn't increased. b. Nothing is infected, this server was scanned fully, and the test machines are re-imaged almost daily. Nothing in performance monitor shows as anything being pegged at maximum (CPU/HD/Network/RAM) I installed MS Network Monitor and it is showing a lot of traffic The server was using one gigabit Ethernet connection, I connected the second one as well with the same results. Forgot to add - one of the commonly written to dirs on the share has over 16k subdirs in it, with a crapton of small files within those dirs. Some of the OS instability was slow access to the drive which has this directory - perfmon doesn't show much activity on the HD though so I'm not sure if this crowded dir is the cause. Here is one important fact: I ran into this issue 2-3 months ago, couldn't figure it out, but I had a spare identical machine so I swapped them out (thought it was related to the machine), and now I have the same issue. Also, the computer will be stable if I turn off file sharing. So is the server just getting DoS'd by the test machines? I've never dealt with such an issue. Is instability in the server's OS common when getting DoS'd? Is there anything I can do to confirm this before telling the owners of the test machines to optimize their traffic? (I'm not sure what they'll be able to do). Is there something within Win2k8R2 that can balance the traffic across the two NICs? Any help would be appreciated. Update: Another thought - the drive with the share is RAID5 across 6 SCSI320 300GB HDs. They are near full capacity about 100GB from 1TB left. Could the amount of tiny files could be causing some weirdness with the parity in this array? I think I've read something about this in the past but I'm no expert on RAID.

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  • Lustre - issues with simple setup

    - by ethrbunny
    Issue: I'm trying to assess the (possible) use of Lustre for our group. To this end I've been trying to create a simple system to explore the nuances. I can't seem to get past the 'llmount.sh' test with any degree of success. What I've done: Each system (throwaway PCs with 70Gb HD, 2Gb RAM) is formatted with CentOS 6.2. I then update everything and install the Lustre kernel from downloads.whamcloud.com and add on the various (appropriate) lustre and e2fs RPM files. Systems are rebooted and tested with 'llmount.sh' (and then cleared with 'llmountcleanup.sh'). All is well to this point. First I create an MDS/MDT system via: /usr/sbin/mkfs.lustre --mgs --mdt --fsname=lustre --device-size=200000 --param sys.timeout=20 --mountfsoptions=errors=remount-ro,user_xattr,acl --param lov.stripesize=1048576 --param lov.stripecount=0 --param mdt.identity_upcall=/usr/sbin/l_getidentity --backfstype ldiskfs --reformat /tmp/lustre-mdt1 and then mkdir -p /mnt/mds1 mount -t lustre -o loop,user_xattr,acl /tmp/lustre-mdt1 /mnt/mds1 Next I take 3 systems and create a 2Gb loop mount via: /usr/sbin/mkfs.lustre --ost --fsname=lustre --device-size=200000 --param sys.timeout=20 --mgsnode=lustre_MDS0@tcp --backfstype ldiskfs --reformat /tmp/lustre-ost1 mkdir -p /mnt/ost1 mount -t lustre -o loop /tmp/lustre-ost1 /mnt/ost1 The logs on the MDT box show the OSS boxes connecting up. All appears ok. Last I create a client and attach to the MDT box: mkdir -p /mnt/lustre mount -t lustre -o user_xattr,acl,flock luster_MDS0@tcp:/lustre /mnt/lustre Again, the log on the MDT box shows the client connection. Appears to be successful. Here's where the issues (appear to) start. If I do a 'df -h' on the client it hangs after showing the system drives. If I attempt to create files (via 'dd') on the lustre mount the session hangs and the job can't be killed. Rebooting the client is the only solution. If I do a 'lctl dl' from the client it shows that only 2/3 OST boxes are found and 'UP'. [root@lfsclient0 etc]# lctl dl 0 UP mgc MGC10.127.24.42@tcp 282d249f-fcb2-b90f-8c4e-2f1415485410 5 1 UP lov lustre-clilov-ffff880037e4d400 00fc176e-3156-0490-44e1-da911be9f9df 4 2 UP lmv lustre-clilmv-ffff880037e4d400 00fc176e-3156-0490-44e1-da911be9f9df 4 3 UP mdc lustre-MDT0000-mdc-ffff880037e4d400 00fc176e-3156-0490-44e1-da911be9f9df 5 4 UP osc lustre-OST0000-osc-ffff880037e4d400 00fc176e-3156-0490-44e1-da911be9f9df 5 5 UP osc lustre-OST0003-osc-ffff880037e4d400 00fc176e-3156-0490-44e1-da911be9f9df 5 Doing a 'lfs df' from the client shows: [root@lfsclient0 etc]# lfs df UUID 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on lustre-MDT0000_UUID 149944 16900 123044 12% /mnt/lustre[MDT:0] OST0000 : inactive device OST0001 : Resource temporarily unavailable OST0002 : Resource temporarily unavailable lustre-OST0003_UUID 187464 24764 152636 14% /mnt/lustre[OST:3] filesystem summary: 187464 24764 152636 14% /mnt/lustre Given that each OSS box has a 2Gb (loop) mount I would expect to see this reflected in available size. There are no errors on the MDS/MDT box to indicate that multiple OSS/OST boxes have been lost. EDIT: each system has all other systems defined in /etc/hosts and entries in iptables to provide access. SO: I'm clearly making several mistakes. Any pointers as to where to start correcting them?

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  • Why don't mails show up in the recipient's mailspool?

    - by Jason
    I have postfix dovecot running with local email system on thunderbird. I have two users on by ubuntu, mailuser 1 and mailuser 2 whom i added to thunderbird. Everything went fine, except the users dont have anything on their inbox on thunderbird and sent mails dont get through. Im using maildir as well. Checking /var/log/mail.log reveals this This what is happining: Restarting postfix and dovecot and then sending mail from one user to another user... I believe this line is the problem May 30 18:31:55 postfix/smtpd[12804]: disconnect from localhost[127.0.0.1] Why is it not connecting ? What could be wrong ? /var/log/mail.log May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: imap: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=1 uid=0 code=kill) May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: master: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=1 uid=0 code=kill) May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: imap: Server shutting down. in=467 out=475 May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: config: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=1 uid=0 code=kill) May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: log: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=1 uid=0 code=kill) May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: anvil: Warning: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=1 uid=0 code=kill) May 30 18:30:21 dovecot: master: Dovecot v2.2.9 starting up (core dumps disabled) May 30 18:30:54 dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<mailuser2>, method=PLAIN, rip=::1, lip=::1, mpid=12638, TLS, session=<xUfQkaD66gAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB> May 30 18:31:04 postfix/master[12245]: terminating on signal 15 May 30 18:31:04 postfix/master[12795]: daemon started -- version 2.11.0, configuration /etc/postfix May 30 18:31:55 postfix/postscreen[12803]: CONNECT from [127.0.0.1]:33668 to [127.0.0.1]:25 May 30 18:31:55 postfix/postscreen[12803]: WHITELISTED [127.0.0.1]:33668 May 30 18:31:55 postfix/smtpd[12804]: connect from localhost[127.0.0.1] May 30 18:31:55 postfix/smtpd[12804]: 1ED7120EB9: client=localhost[127.0.0.1] May 30 18:31:55 postfix/cleanup[12809]: 1ED7120EB9: message-id=<[email protected]> May 30 18:31:55 postfix/qmgr[12799]: 1ED7120EB9: from=<[email protected]>, size=546, nrcpt=1 (queue active) May 30 18:31:55 postfix/local[12810]: 1ED7120EB9: to=<mailuser2@mysitecom>, relay=local, delay=0.03, delays=0.02/0.01/0/0, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (delivered to maildir) May 30 18:31:55 postfix/qmgr[12799]: 1ED7120EB9: removed May 30 18:31:55 postfix/smtpd[12804]: disconnect from localhost[127.0.0.1] May 30 18:31:55 dovecot: imap-login: Login: user=<mailuser1>, method=PLAIN, rip=127.0.0.1, lip=127.0.0.1, mpid=12814, TLS, session=<sD9plaD6PgB/AAAB> This is my postfix main.cf See /usr/share/postfix/main.cf.dist for a commented, more complete version # Debian specific: Specifying a file name will cause the first # line of that file to be used as the name. The Debian default # is /etc/mailname. #myorigin = /etc/mailname smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Ubuntu) biff = no # appending .domain is the MUA's job. append_dot_mydomain = no # Uncomment the next line to generate "delayed mail" warnings #delay_warning_time = 4h readme_directory = no # TLS parameters smtpd_tls_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem smtpd_tls_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key smtpd_use_tls=yes smtpd_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtpd_scache smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtp_scache # See /usr/share/doc/postfix/TLS_README.gz in the postfix-doc package for # information on enabling SSL in the smtp client. smtpd_relay_restrictions = permit_mynetworks permit_sasl_authenticated defer_unauth_destination myhostname = server mydomain = mysite.com alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases myorigin = $mydomain mydestination = mysite.com #relayhost = smtp.192.168.10.1.com mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128 192.168.10.0/24 mailbox_size_limit = 0 recipient_delimiter = + inet_interfaces = all home_mailbox = Maildir / mailbox_command= All ports are listening tcp 0 0 *:imaps *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *:submission *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *:imap2 *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 s148134.s148134.:domain *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 192.168.56.101:domain *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 10.0.2.15:domain *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 localhost:domain *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *:ssh *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 *:smtp *:* LISTEN tcp 0 0 localhost:953 *:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:imaps [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:submission [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:imap2 [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:domain [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:ssh [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 [::]:smtp [::]:* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 localhost:953 [::]:* LISTEN

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  • Parallel processing slower than sequential?

    - by zebediah49
    EDIT: For anyone who stumbles upon this in the future: Imagemagick uses a MP library. It's faster to use available cores if they're around, but if you have parallel jobs, it's unhelpful. Do one of the following: do your jobs serially (with Imagemagick in parallel mode) set MAGICK_THREAD_LIMIT=1 for your invocation of the imagemagick binary in question. By making Imagemagick use only one thread, it slows down by 20-30% in my test cases, but meant I could run one job per core without issues, for a significant net increase in performance. Original question: While converting some images using ImageMagick, I noticed a somewhat strange effect. Using xargs was significantly slower than a standard for loop. Since xargs limited to a single process should act like a for loop, I tested that, and found it to be about the same. Thus, we have this demonstration. Quad core (AMD Athalon X4, 2.6GHz) Working entirely on a tempfs (16g ram total; no swap) No other major loads Results: /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 1 convert -auto-level real 0m3.784s user 0m2.240s sys 0m0.230s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 2 convert -auto-level real 0m9.097s user 0m28.020s sys 0m0.910s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 10 convert -auto-level real 0m9.844s user 0m33.200s sys 0m1.270s Can anyone think of a reason why running two instances of this program takes more than twice as long in real time, and more than ten times as long in processor time to complete the same task? After that initial hit, more processes do not seem to have as significant of an effect. I thought it might have to do with disk seeking, so I did that test entirely in ram. Could it have something to do with how Convert works, and having more than one copy at once means it cannot use processor cache as efficiently or something? EDIT: When done with 1000x 769KB files, performance is as expected. Interesting. /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 1 convert -auto-level real 3m37.679s user 5m6.980s sys 0m6.340s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 1 convert -auto-level real 3m37.152s user 5m6.140s sys 0m6.530s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 2 convert -auto-level real 2m7.578s user 5m35.410s sys 0m6.050s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 4 convert -auto-level real 1m36.959s user 5m48.900s sys 0m6.350s /media/ramdisk/img$ time for f in *.bmp; do echo $f ${f%bmp}png; done | xargs -n 2 -P 10 convert -auto-level real 1m36.392s user 5m54.840s sys 0m5.650s

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  • What's going on with my server? High load, lots of idle CPU time, low disk utilization

    - by Jonathan
    I run a web site and send a legitimate opt-in, daily email newsletter to subscribers. Both the web hosting and email sending are done by the same machine. I have about 100,000 subscribers who have opted in to my daily email newsletter. My PHP script did a pretty good job sending mail to all of them until fairly recently, but as the list has grown I can't keep up. When I run top, I have very high load--usually at least 6 or 7, sometimes as high as 15--even though I only have two CPUs. However, when I run sar, my CPU is idle an average of about 30% of the time. So, it seems I'm not CPU bound. When I run iostat, it seems as though I'm not disk bound because my %util for each device is very low (no more than 5%). Given that I don't seem to be CPU bound or disk bound, why is top reporting such high load? Additionally, since I don't seem to be CPU bound or disk bound, why is my email sending script not able to keep up? Here's what I see when running top: top - 11:33:28 up 74 days, 18:49, 2 users, load average: 7.65, 8.79, 8.28 Tasks: 168 total, 5 running, 162 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie Cpu(s): 38.9%us, 58.6%sy, 0.8%ni, 0.0%id, 0.7%wa, 0.2%hi, 0.8%si, 0.0%st Mem: 3083012k total, 2144436k used, 938576k free, 281136k buffers Swap: 2048248k total, 39164k used, 2009084k free, 1470412k cached Here's what I see when running iostat -mx: avg-cpu: %user %nice %system %iowait %steal %idle 34.80 1.20 55.24 0.37 0.00 8.38 Device: rrqm/s wrqm/s r/s w/s rMB/s wMB/s avgrq-sz avgqu-sz await svctm %util sda 0.19 71.70 1.59 29.45 0.02 0.07 5.90 0.55 17.82 1.16 3.59 sda1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.10 0.00 13.80 13.72 0.00 sda2 0.05 50.45 1.13 24.57 0.01 0.29 24.25 0.35 13.43 1.15 2.97 sda3 0.05 10.17 0.20 2.33 0.01 0.05 43.75 0.05 20.96 2.45 0.62 sda4 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 70.50 70.50 0.00 sda5 0.07 0.22 0.03 0.07 0.00 0.00 32.84 0.08 856.19 8.03 0.08 sda6 0.02 5.45 0.03 0.72 0.00 0.02 67.55 0.02 26.72 5.26 0.39 sda7 0.00 1.56 0.00 0.42 0.00 0.01 38.04 0.00 8.88 5.84 0.24 sda8 0.01 3.84 0.20 1.35 0.00 0.02 28.55 0.05 31.90 4.08 0.63 Here's what I see when running sar: 09:40:02 AM CPU %user %nice %system %iowait %steal %idle 09:50:01 AM all 30.59 1.01 49.80 0.23 0.00 18.37 10:00:08 AM all 31.73 0.92 51.66 0.13 0.00 15.55 10:10:06 AM all 30.43 0.99 48.94 0.26 0.00 19.38 10:20:01 AM all 29.58 1.00 47.76 0.25 0.00 21.42 10:30:01 AM all 29.37 1.02 47.30 0.18 0.00 22.13 10:40:06 AM all 32.50 1.01 52.94 0.16 0.00 13.39 10:50:01 AM all 30.49 1.00 49.59 0.15 0.00 18.77 11:00:01 AM all 29.43 0.99 47.71 0.17 0.00 21.71 11:10:07 AM all 30.26 0.93 49.48 0.83 0.00 18.50 11:20:02 AM all 29.83 0.81 48.51 1.32 0.00 19.52 11:30:06 AM all 31.18 0.88 51.33 1.15 0.00 15.47 Average: all 26.21 1.15 42.62 0.48 0.00 29.54 Here are the top handful of processes listed at the particular time I happened to run top -c: PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 8180 mysql 16 0 57448 19m 2948 S 26.6 0.7 4702:26 /usr/sbin/mysqld --basedir=/ --datadir=/var/lib/mysql --user=mysql --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql/bristno.pid --skip-external-locking 26956 brristno 17 0 0 0 0 Z 8.0 0.0 0:00.24 [php] <defunct> 26958 brristno 17 0 94408 43m 37m R 5.0 1.4 0:00.15 /usr/bin/php /home/brristno/public_html/dbv.php 22852 nobody 16 0 9628 2900 1524 S 0.7 0.1 0:00.17 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start -DSSL 8591 brristno 34 19 96896 13m 6652 S 0.3 0.4 0:29.82 /usr/local/bin/php /home/brristno/bin/mailer.php 1qwqyb6 i0gbor 24469 nobody 16 0 9628 2880 1508 S 0.3 0.1 0:00.08 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start -DSSL 25495 nobody 15 0 9628 2876 1500 S 0.3 0.1 0:00.06 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start -DSSL 26149 nobody 15 0 9628 2864 1504 S 0.3 0.1 0:00.04 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -k start -DSSL

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  • File server share access intermittent/slow/machine unstable: win2k8r2

    - by Jack B.
    I have a file server running Win2k8R2 on an older HP DL380G4. It has nothing set up on it other than file sharing. All drivers/firmware/updates installed. The file server is used as a dump for a bunch of test machines - so essentially a lot of small files are being written to it. It was working fine until it started showing the following symptoms: Shares became either very slow/intermittent or could not access them at all. Logging in the the server, you could use it like normal but windows would start freezing and eventually you had to hard reboot it because nothing was responsive. After rebooting, it would work fine for 20min-2hours and then degrade into this broken state again. Some info after investigation: HP Raid Config utility shows the Raid array as functioning properly (RAID5 btw). Event log shows a bunch of DoS attacks from the test machines, saying it has disconnected the connection a. AFAIK (not part of my job) the test machines haven't changed the way they log information to this server or the amount of them hasn't increased. b. Nothing is infected, this server was scanned fully, and the test machines are re-imaged almost daily. Nothing in performance monitor shows as anything being pegged at maximum (CPU/HD/Network/RAM) I installed MS Network Monitor and it is showing a lot of traffic The server was using one gigabit Ethernet connection, I connected the second one as well with the same results. Forgot to add - one of the commonly written to dirs on the share has over 16k subdirs in it, with a crapton of small files within those dirs. Some of the OS instability was slow access to the drive which has this directory - perfmon doesn't show much activity on the HD though so I'm not sure if this crowded dir is the cause. Here is one important fact: I ran into this issue 2-3 months ago, couldn't figure it out, but I had a spare identical machine so I swapped them out (thought it was related to the machine), and now I have the same issue. Also, the computer will be stable if I turn off file sharing. So is the server just getting DoS'd by the test machines? I've never dealt with such an issue. Is instability in the server's OS common when getting DoS'd? Is there anything I can do to confirm this before telling the owners of the test machines to optimize their traffic? (I'm not sure what they'll be able to do). Is there something within Win2k8R2 that can balance the traffic across the two NICs? Any help would be appreciated. Update: Another thought - the drive with the share is RAID5 across 6 SCSI320 300GB HDs. They are near full capacity about 100GB from 1TB left. Could the amount of tiny files could be causing some weirdness with the parity in this array? I think I've read something about this in the past but I'm no expert on RAID.

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  • File server share access intermittent/slow/machine unstable: win2kr2

    - by Jack B.
    I have a file server running Win2k8R2 on an older HP DL380G4. It has nothing set up on it other than file sharing. All drivers/firmware/updates installed. The file server is used as a dump for a bunch of test machines - so essentially a lot of small files are being written to it. It was working fine until it started showing the following symptoms: Shares became either very slow/intermittent or could not access them at all. Logging in the the server, you could use it like normal but windows would start freezing and eventually you had to hard reboot it because nothing was responsive. After rebooting, it would work fine for 20min-2hours and then degrade into this broken state again. Some info after investigation: HP Raid Config utility shows the Raid array as functioning properly (RAID5 btw). Event log shows a bunch of DoS attacks from the test machines, saying it has disconnected the connection a. AFAIK (not part of my job) the test machines haven't changed the way they log information to this server or the amount of them hasn't increased. b. Nothing is infected, this server was scanned fully, and the test machines are re-imaged almost daily. Nothing in performance monitor shows as anything being pegged at maximum (CPU/HD/Network/RAM) I installed MS Network Monitor and it is showing a lot of traffic The server was using one gigabit Ethernet connection, I connected the second one as well with the same results. Forgot to add - one of the commonly written to dirs on the share has over 16k subdirs in it, with a crapton of small files within those dirs. Some of the OS instability was slow access to the drive which has this directory - perfmon doesn't show much activity on the HD though so I'm not sure if this crowded dir is the cause. Here is one important fact: I ran into this issue 2-3 months ago, couldn't figure it out, but I had a spare identical machine so I swapped them out (thought it was related to the machine), and now I have the same issue. Also, the computer will be stable if I turn off file sharing. So is the server just getting DoS'd by the test machines? I've never dealt with such an issue. Is instability in the server's OS common when getting DoS'd? Is there anything I can do to confirm this before telling the owners of the test machines to optimize their traffic? (I'm not sure what they'll be able to do). Is there something within Win2k8R2 that can balance the traffic across the two NICs? Any help would be appreciated. Update: Another thought - the drive with the share is RAID5 across 6 SCSI320 300GB HDs. They are near full capacity about 100GB from 1TB left. Could the amount of tiny files could be causing some weirdness with the parity in this array? I think I've read something about this in the past but I'm no expert on RAID.

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  • SQL Server Log File Won't Shrink due cause "log are pending replication" on non replicated DB?

    - by user796466
    I have a non Mission Critial DB 9am-5pm SQL Server database that I have set up to do nightly full backups and log backups every 30 minutes during business hours. The database is in full recovery and normally I have no reason to truncate/shrink logs unless I do some heavy maintenance. Log backups manage the size with no issue. However I have not been at this client for several weeks and upon inspection I noticed that the log had grown to about 10 times the size of the .mdf file. I poked around backups had been running and I had not gotten any severity error alerts (SQL mail). I attempted to put DB in simple recovery and shrink the log, this was no good. I precede to try a log backup and I got: The log was not truncated because records at the beginning of the log are pending replication or Change Data Capture. Ensure the Log Reader Agent or capture job is running or use sp_repldone to mark transactions as distributed or captured. Restart SQL Server rinse repeat same thing ... I said ??? Replication is not nor ever has been set up on this DB or database /server ??? So the log backups have not been flushing the .ldf. So I did a couple hours of research and I found: http://www.sqlmonster.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/sql-server/5445/Log-file-is-not-truncated-inspite-of-regular-log-backup http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/30708322/the-log-was-not-truncated-because-records-at-the-beginning-of-the-log-are-pending-replication.aspx seems to be some kind of poorly documented bug ?? The solution seems to have been to run exec sp_repldone, more precisley EXEC sp_repldone @xactid = NULL, @xact_segno = NULL, @numtrans = 0, @time= 0, @reset = 1 This procedure can be used in emergency situations to allow truncation of the transaction log when transactions pending replication are present. Using this procedure prevents Microsoft SQL Server 2000 from replicating the database until the database is unpublished and republished. ~ MSDN When I do that I get the following Msg 18757, Level 16, State 1, Procedure sp_repldone, Line 1 Unable to execute procedure. The database is not published. Execute the procedure in a database that is published for replication. Which makes sense Because the DB has never been published for replication. I have several questions: A) First and foremost is, WTF is going on ? What is causeing this, I am interested in knowing the why here ? Is this genuinley a bug or is there some aspect of the backup that is not functioning properly that cause's the DB to mimick a replicated state ? Someone please edify me on this. B) Second ... Do I really have to publish / replicate this DB to exec this SP to fix this ??? Sounds crazy or is there some T-SQL that I can put it in a published state exec the proc and be on my way ... C) Third, if I do indeed have to publish this database to exec the SP to release this unneeded mis replicated/intended log , to get my .ldf file and backup back on track. How do I publish the database without an online host that it is asking for ??? I don't generally do this kind of database administration and need some guidance. Sorry if this is too verbose but just voicing the question helps me clarify it ... Thank you in advance for your help

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  • How To Start Your Own Professional Blog with WordPress

    - by Matthew Guay
    Would you like to start your own blog or website?  With a free WordPress  account, it’s free and easy to get started creating your own professional quality blog site. This is the first part in a series on how to create your own professional quality blog site. No, we’re not talking about some cheapo looking blog from Blogger or something on Facebook, but creating a quality blog you can be proud of and present to millions of readers online. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, powering hundreds of high-profile websites and blogs around the world.  It’s both powerful and easy to use, which makes it great whether you’re just starting out or are a blogging pro.  To start out with your blogging project WordPress is completely free, and you can use the online interface or install the WordPress software on your own server and blog from there. Getting Started You can start a blog in just a few minutes.  Head over to WordPress.com and click Sign up now on the right-hand side of the main page. Enter a username and password, check that you agree with the legal terms, select the “Gimme a blog” bullet, and click Next. WordPress may inform you that your username is already taken, simply choose a new one and try again. Next, choose a domain for your blog.  This will be the address for your site, and cannot be changed, so be sure to choose exactly what you want.  If you’d prefer your address to be yourname.com instead of yourname.wordpress.com, you can add your own domain for a fee after your blog is setup…but we’ll cover that later. Once you click signup, you will be sent a confirmation email.  While you wait for the email to arrive you can go ahead and enter in your name and a short bio about yourself. When you receive your confirmation email, click the link.  Congratulations; you now have your own blog! You can view your new blog immediately, though the default theme isn’t very interesting without your content and pictures. Back on the page you opened from the email, click Login to access your blog’s administration page and to start adding stuff to your blog.  You can also access your blog’s admin page anytime by from yourname.wordpress.com/admin, substituting your own blog name for yourname. Enter your username and password, then click Log in to get started. Adding Content to your WordPress.com Blog When you sign in to your WordPress blog, you’ll first see the WordPress Admin page.  Here you can see recent posts and comments, and you can see stats of how many people have visited your site.  You can also access all of your blog tools and settings right from this page. To add a new post to your blog, click the Posts link on the left, then click “Add New” either on the left menu or on the top of the Edit Posts page.  Or, if you want to edit the default first post, hover over it and select Edit. Or click the New Posts button on the top of the page.  This menu bar is always visible whenever you’re logged in, so it’s an easy way to add a post. The editor lets you easily write anything you want in a Microsoft Word-style editor.  You can format your text, add lists, links, quotes, and more.  When you’re ready to share your content with the world, click Publish on the right side. To add pictures or other files, click the picture icon beside “Upload/Insert”.  Your free blog account can store up to 3Gb of pictures and documents which will definitely give you a good start. Click Select Files, and then choose the pictures or documents you want to add to your post. When the pictures have uploaded, you can add a caption and choose how to position the picture.  When you’re finished, select “Insert into Post”.   Or, if you want to add a video, click the video button.  You have to add a paid upgrade to upload videos directly, but you can add YouTube and other online videos for free. Click the “From URL” tab, and then paste the link to the YouTube video and click Insert into post. If you’re a code geek, click the HTML tab in the editor and edit the HTML of your blog post the geeky way. Once you’ve added all your content and edited it the way you want, click the Publish button on the right of the editor.  Or, you can click Preview to make sure it looks right, and then click Publish. Here’s our blog with the new blog post containing a picture and video.  While you’re getting to know you’re way around the controls in WordPress, the Preview feature will be your best friend while you try to organize the content to your liking.   Conclusion It only takes a couple minutes to get started blogging at WordPress.com. Whether you want to write about your daily life, share pictures of your children, or review the latest books and gadgets, WordPress.com is a great place to get started for free.  But we’ve only covered a small portion of the WordPress features…but this should get you started. Check back for more WordPress and blogging coverage coming up soon! Links Signup for a free WordPress.com account Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Add Social Bookmarking (Digg This!) Links to your Wordpress BlogHow-To Geek SoftwareProtecting Your WordPress Admin Panel From Hackers With .htaccessMake a Backup Copy of your Production Wordpress Blog on UbuntuLinux QuickTip: Downloading and Un-tarring in One Step TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Awe inspiring, inter-galactic theme (Win 7) Case Study – How to Optimize Popular Wordpress Sites Restore Hidden Updates in Windows 7 & Vista Iceland an Insurance Job? Find Downloads and Add-ins for Outlook Recycle !

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  • What is New in ASP.NET 4.0 Code Access Security

    - by Xiaohong
    ASP.NET Code Access Security (CAS) is a feature that helps protect server applications on hosting multiple Web sites, ASP.NET lets you assign a configurable trust level that corresponds to a predefined set of permissions. ASP.NET has predefined ASP.NET Trust Levels and Policy Files that you can assign to applications, you also can assign custom trust level and policy files. Most web hosting companies run ASP.NET applications in Medium Trust to prevent that one website affect or harm another site etc. As .NET Framework's Code Access Security model has evolved, ASP.NET 4.0 Code Access Security also has introduced several changes and improvements. The main change in ASP.NET 4.0 CAS In ASP.NET v4.0 partial trust applications, application domain can have a default partial trust permission set as opposed to being full-trust, the permission set name is defined in the <trust /> new attribute permissionSetName that is used to initialize the application domain . By default, the PermissionSetName attribute value is "ASP.Net" which is the name of the permission set you can find in all predefined partial trust configuration files. <trust level="Something" permissionSetName="ASP.Net" /> This is ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model. For compatibility ASP.NET 4.0 also support legacy CAS model where application domain still has full trust permission set. You can specify new legacyCasModel attribute on the <trust /> element to indicate whether the legacy CAS model is enabled. By default legacyCasModel is false which means that new 4.0 CAS model is the default. <trust level="Something" legacyCasModel="true|false" /> In .Net FX 4.0 Config directory, there are two set of predefined partial trust config files for each new CAS model and legacy CAS model, trust config files with name legacy.XYZ.config are for legacy CAS model: New CAS model: Legacy CAS model: web_hightrust.config legacy.web_hightrust.config web_mediumtrust.config legacy.web_mediumtrust.config web_lowtrust.config legacy.web_lowtrust.config web_minimaltrust.config legacy.web_minimaltrust.config   The figure below shows in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model what permission set to grant to code for partial trust application using predefined partial trust levels and policy files:    There also some benefits that comes with the new CAS model: You can lock down a machine by making all managed code no-execute by default (e.g. setting the MyComputer zone to have no managed execution code permissions), it should still be possible to configure ASP.NET web applications to run as either full-trust or partial trust. UNC share doesn’t require full trust with CASPOL at machine-level CAS policy. Side effect that comes with the new CAS model: processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is deprecated  in new CAS model since application domain always has partial trust permission set in new CAS model.   In ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model or ASP.NET 2.0 CAS model, even though you assign partial trust level to a application but the application domain still has full trust permission set. The figure below shows in ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model (or ASP.NET 2.0 CAS model) what permission set to grant to code for partial trust application using predefined partial trust levels and policy files:     What $AppDirUrl$, $CodeGen$, $Gac$ represents: $AppDirUrl$ The application's virtual root directory. This allows permissions to be applied to code that is located in the application's bin directory. For example, if a virtual directory is mapped to C:\YourWebApp, then $AppDirUrl$ would equate to C:\YourWebApp. $CodeGen$ The directory that contains dynamically generated assemblies (for example, the result of .aspx page compiles). This can be configured on a per application basis and defaults to %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\{version}\Temporary ASP.NET Files. $CodeGen$ allows permissions to be applied to dynamically generated assemblies. $Gac$ Any assembly that is installed in the computer's global assembly cache (GAC). This allows permissions to be granted to strong named assemblies loaded from the GAC by the Web application.   The new customization of CAS Policy in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model 1. Define which named permission set in partial trust configuration files By default the permission set that will be assigned at application domain initialization time is the named "ASP.Net" permission set found in all predefined partial trust configuration files. However ASP.NET 4.0 allows you set PermissionSetName attribute to define which named permission set in a partial trust configuration file should be the one used to initialize an application domain. Example: add "ASP.Net_2" named permission set in partial trust configuration file: <PermissionSet class="NamedPermissionSet" version="1" Name="ASP.Net_2"> <IPermission class="FileIOPermission" version="1" Read="$AppDir$" PathDiscovery="$AppDir$" /> <IPermission class="ReflectionPermission" version="1" Flags ="RestrictedMemberAccess" /> <IPermission class="SecurityPermission " version="1" Flags ="Execution, ControlThread, ControlPrincipal, RemotingConfiguration" /></PermissionSet> Then you can use "ASP.Net_2" named permission set for the application domain permission set: <trust level="Something" legacyCasModel="false" permissionSetName="ASP.Net_2" /> 2. Define a custom set of Full Trust Assemblies for an application By using the new fullTrustAssemblies element to configure a set of Full Trust Assemblies for an application, you can modify set of partial trust assemblies to full trust at the machine, site or application level. The configuration definition is shown below: <fullTrustAssemblies> <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" version="1.1.2.3" publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" /></fullTrustAssemblies> 3. Define <CodeGroup /> policy in partial trust configuration files ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model will retain the ability for developers to optionally define <CodeGroup />with membership conditions and assigned permission sets. The specific restriction in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model though will be that the results of evaluating custom policies can only result in one of two outcomes: either an assembly is granted full trust, or an assembly is granted the partial trust permission set currently associated with the running application domain. It will not be possible to use custom policies to create additional custom partial trust permission sets. When parsing the partial trust configuration file: Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with "PermissionSet='FullTrust'" will run at full trust. Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with "PermissionSet='Nothing'" will result in a PolicyError being thrown from the CLR. This is acceptable since it provides administrators with a way to do a blanket-deny of managed code followed by selectively defining policy in a <CodeGroup /> that re-adds assemblies that would be allowed to run. Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with other permissions sets will be interpreted to mean the assembly should run at the permission set of the appdomain. This means that even though syntactically a developer could define additional "flavors" of partial trust in an ASP.NET partial trust configuration file, those "flavors" will always be ignored. Example: defines full trust in <CodeGroup /> for my strong named assemblies in partial trust config files: <CodeGroup class="FirstMatchCodeGroup" version="1" PermissionSetName="Nothing"> <IMembershipCondition    class="AllMembershipCondition"    version="1" /> <CodeGroup    class="UnionCodeGroup"    version="1"    PermissionSetName="FullTrust"    Name="My_Strong_Name"    Description="This code group grants code signed full trust. "> <IMembershipCondition      class="StrongNameMembershipCondition" version="1"       PublicKeyBlob="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" /> </CodeGroup> <CodeGroup   class="UnionCodeGroup" version="1" PermissionSetName="ASP.Net">   <IMembershipCondition class="UrlMembershipCondition" version="1" Url="$AppDirUrl$/*" /> </CodeGroup> <CodeGroup class="UnionCodeGroup" version="1" PermissionSetName="ASP.Net">   <IMembershipCondition class="UrlMembershipCondition" version="1" Url="$CodeGen$/*"   /> </CodeGroup></CodeGroup>   4. Customize CAS policy at runtime in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model allows to customize CAS policy at runtime by using custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver that overrides the ASP.NET code access security policy. Example: use custom host security policy resolver to resolve partial trust web application bin folder MyTrustedAssembly.dll to full trust at runtime: You can create a custom host security policy resolver and compile it to assembly MyCustomResolver.dll with strong name enabled and deploy in GAC: public class MyCustomResolver : HostSecurityPolicyResolver{ public override HostSecurityPolicyResults ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence) { IEnumerator hostEvidence = evidence.GetHostEnumerator(); while (hostEvidence.MoveNext()) { object hostEvidenceObject = hostEvidence.Current; if (hostEvidenceObject is System.Security.Policy.Url) { string assemblyName = hostEvidenceObject.ToString(); if (assemblyName.Contains(“MyTrustedAssembly.dll”) return HostSecurityPolicyResult.FullTrust; } } //default fall-through return HostSecurityPolicyResult.DefaultPolicy; }} Because ASP.NET accesses the custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver during application domain initialization, and a custom policy resolver requires full trust, you also can add a custom policy resolver in <fullTrustAssemblies /> , or deploy in the GAC. You also need configure a custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver instance by adding the HostSecurityPolicyResolverType attribute in the <trust /> element: <trust level="Something" legacyCasModel="false" hostSecurityPolicyResolverType="MyCustomResolver, MyCustomResolver" permissionSetName="ASP.Net" />   Note: If an assembly policy define in <CodeGroup/> and also in hostSecurityPolicyResolverType, hostSecurityPolicyResolverType will win. If an assembly added in <fullTrustAssemblies/> then the assembly has full trust no matter what policy in <CodeGroup/> or in hostSecurityPolicyResolverType.   Other changes in ASP.NET 4.0 CAS Use the new transparency model introduced in .Net Framework 4.0 Change in dynamically compiled code generated assemblies by ASP.NET: In new CAS model they will be marked as security transparent level2 to use Framework 4.0 security transparent rule that means partial trust code is treated as completely Transparent and it is more strict enforcement. In legacy CAS model they will be marked as security transparent level1 to use Framework 2.0 security transparent rule for compatibility. Most of ASP.NET products runtime assemblies are also changed to be marked as security transparent level2 to switch to SecurityTransparent code by default unless SecurityCritical or SecuritySafeCritical attribute specified. You also can look at Security Changes in the .NET Framework 4 for more information about these security attributes. Support conditional APTCA If an assembly is marked with the Conditional APTCA attribute to allow partially trusted callers, and if you want to make the assembly both visible and accessible to partial-trust code in your web application, you must add a reference to the assembly in the partialTrustVisibleAssemblies section: <partialTrustVisibleAssemblies> <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />/partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>   Most of ASP.NET products runtime assemblies are also changed to be marked as conditional APTCA to prevent use of ASP.NET APIs in partial trust environments such as Winforms or WPF UI controls hosted in Internet Explorer.   Differences between ASP.NET new CAS model and legacy CAS model: Here list some differences between ASP.NET new CAS model and legacy CAS model ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model  : Asp.net partial trust appdomains have full trust permission Multiple different permission sets in a single appdomain are allowed in ASP.NET partial trust configuration files Code groups Machine CAS policy is honored processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is still honored    New configuration setting for legacy model: <trust level="Something" legacyCASModel="true" ></trust><partialTrustVisibleAssemblies> <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" /></partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>   ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model: ASP.NET will now run in homogeneous application domains. Only full trust or the app-domain's partial trust grant set, are allowable permission sets. It is no longer possible to define arbitrary permission sets that get assigned to different assemblies. If an application currently depends on fine-tuning the partial trust permission set using the ASP.NET partial trust configuration file, this will no longer be possible. processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is deprecated Dynamically compiled assemblies output by ASP.NET build providers will be updated to explicitly mark assemblies as transparent. ASP.NET partial trust grant sets will be independent from any enterprise, machine, or user CAS policy levels. A simplified model for locking down web servers that only allows trusted managed web applications to run. Machine policy used to always grant full-trust to managed code (based on membership conditions) can instead be configured using the new ASP.NET 4.0 full-trust assembly configuration section. The full-trust assembly configuration section requires explicitly listing each assembly as opposed to using membership conditions. Alternatively, the membership condition(s) used in machine policy can instead be re-defined in a <CodeGroup /> within ASP.NET's partial trust configuration file to grant full-trust.   New configuration setting for new model: <trust level="Something" legacyCASModel="false" permissionSetName="ASP.Net" hostSecurityPolicyResolverType=".NET type string" ></trust><fullTrustAssemblies> <add assemblyName=”MyAssembly” version=”1.0.0.0” publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" /></fullTrustAssemblies><partialTrustVisibleAssemblies> <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" /></partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>     Hope this post is helpful to better understand the ASP.Net 4.0 CAS. Xiaohong Tang ASP.NET QA Team

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  • Making WCF Output a single WSDL file for interop purposes.

    By default, when WCF emits a WSDL definition for your services, it can often contain many links to others related schemas that need to be imported. For the most part, this is fine. WCF clients understand this type of schema without issue, and it conforms to the requisite standards as far as WSDL definitions go. However, some non Microsoft stacks will only work with a single WSDL file and require that all definitions for the service(s) (port types, messages, operation etc) are contained within that single file. In other words, no external imports are supported. Some Java clients (to my working knowledge) have this limitation. This obviously presents a problem when trying to create services exposed for consumption and interop by these clients. Note: You can download the full source code for this sample from here To illustrate this point, lets say we have a simple service that looks like: Service Contract public interface IService1 { [OperationContract] [FaultContract(typeof(DataFault))] string GetData(DataModel1 model); [OperationContract] [FaultContract(typeof(DataFault))] string GetMoreData(DataModel2 model); } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Service Implementation/Behaviour public class Service1 : IService1 { public string GetData(DataModel1 model) { return string.Format("Some Field was: {0} and another field was {1}", model.SomeField,model.AnotherField); } public string GetMoreData(DataModel2 model) { return string.Format("Name: {0}, age: {1}", model.Name, model.Age); } } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Configuration File <system.serviceModel> <services> <service name="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1" behaviorConfiguration="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1Behavior"> <!-- ...std/default data omitted for brevity..... --> <endpoint address ="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="SingleWSDL_WcfService.IService1" > ....... </services> <behaviors> <serviceBehaviors> <behavior name="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1Behavior"> ........ </behavior> </serviceBehaviors> </behaviors> </system.serviceModel> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } When WCF is asked to produce a WSDL for this service, it will produce a file that looks something like this (note: some sections omitted for brevity): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> - <wsdl:definitions name="Service1" targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/" xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/" ...... namespace definitions omitted for brevity + <wsp:Policy wsu:Id="WSHttpBinding_IService1_policy"> ... multiple policy items omitted for brevity </wsp:Policy> - <wsdl:types> - <xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/Imports"> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd0" namespace="http://tempuri.org/" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd3" namespace="Http://SingleWSDL/Fault" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd1" namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd2" namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Model1" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd4" namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Model2" /> </xsd:schema> </wsdl:types> + <wsdl:message name="IService1_GetData_InputMessage"> .... </wsdl:message> - <wsdl:operation name="GetData"> ..... </wsdl:operation> - <wsdl:service name="Service1"> ....... </wsdl:service> </wsdl:definitions> The above snippet from the WSDL shows the external links and references that are generated by WCF for a relatively simple service. Note the xsd:import statements that reference external XSD definitions which are also generated by WCF. In order to get WCF to produce a single WSDL file, we first need to follow some good practices when it comes to WCF service definitions. Step 1: Define a namespace for your service contract. [ServiceContract(Namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1")] public interface IService1 { ...... } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Normally you would not use a literal string and may instead define a constant to use in your own application for the namespace. When this is applied and we generate the WSDL, we get the following statement inserted into the document: <wsdl:import namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1" location="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?wsdl=wsdl0" /> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } All the previous imports have gone. If we follow this link, we will see that the XSD imports are now in this external WSDL file. Not really any benefit for our purposes. Step 2: Define a namespace for your service behaviour [ServiceBehavior(Namespace = "http://SingleWSDL/Service1")] public class Service1 : IService1 { ...... } As you can see, the namespace of the service behaviour should be the same as the service contract interface to which it implements. Failure to do these tasks will cause WCF to emit its default http://tempuri.org namespace all over the place and cause WCF to still generate import statements. This is also true if the namespace of the contract and behaviour differ. If you define one and not the other, defaults kick in, and youll find extra imports generated. While each of the previous 2 steps wont cause any less import statements to be generated, you will notice that namespace definitions within the WSDL have identical, well defined names. Step 3: Define a binding namespace In the configuration file, modify the endpoint configuration line item to iunclude a bindingNamespace attribute which is the same as that defined on the service behaviour and service contract <endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="SingleWSDL_WcfService.IService1" bindingNamespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1"> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } However, this does not completely solve the issue. What this will do is remove the WSDL import statements like this one: <wsdl:import namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1" location="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?wsdl" /> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } from the generated WSDL. Finally. the magic. Step 4: Use a custom endpoint behaviour to read in external imports and include in the main WSDL output. In order to force WCF to output a single WSDL with all the required definitions, we need to define a custom WSDL Export extension that can be applied to any endpoints. This requires implementing the IWsdlExportExtension and IEndpointBehavior interfaces and then reading in any imported schemas, and adding that output to the main, flattened WSDL to be output. Sounds like fun right..? Hmmm well maybe not. This step sounds a little hairy, but its actually quite easy thanks to some kind individuals who have already done this for us. As far as I know, there are 2 available implementations that we can easily use to perform the import and WSDL flattening.  WCFExtras which is on codeplex and FlatWsdl by Thinktecture. Both implementations actually do exactly the same thing with the imports and provide an endpoint behaviour, however FlatWsdl does a little more work for us by providing a ServiceHostFactory that we can use which automatically attaches the requisite behaviour to our endpoints for us. To use this in an IIS hosted service, we can modify the .SVC file to specify this ne factory to use like so: <%@ ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" Service="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1" Factory="Thinktecture.ServiceModel.Extensions.Description.FlatWsdlServiceHostFactory" %> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Within a service application or another form of executable such as a console app, we can simply create an instance of the custom service host and open it as we normally would as shown here: FlatWsdlServiceHost host = new FlatWsdlServiceHost(typeof(Service1)); host.Open(); And we are done. WCF will now generate one single WSDL file that contains all he WSDL imports and data/XSD imports. You can download the full source code for this sample from here Hope this has helped you. Note: Please note that I have not extensively tested this in a number of different scenarios so no guarantees there.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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  • Making WCF Output a single WSDL file for interop purposes.

    - by Glav
    By default, when WCF emits a WSDL definition for your services, it can often contain many links to others related schemas that need to be imported. For the most part, this is fine. WCF clients understand this type of schema without issue, and it conforms to the requisite standards as far as WSDL definitions go. However, some non Microsoft stacks will only work with a single WSDL file and require that all definitions for the service(s) (port types, messages, operation etc…) are contained within that single file. In other words, no external imports are supported. Some Java clients (to my working knowledge) have this limitation. This obviously presents a problem when trying to create services exposed for consumption and interop by these clients. Note: You can download the full source code for this sample from here To illustrate this point, lets say we have a simple service that looks like: Service Contract public interface IService1 { [OperationContract] [FaultContract(typeof(DataFault))] string GetData(DataModel1 model); [OperationContract] [FaultContract(typeof(DataFault))] string GetMoreData(DataModel2 model); } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Service Implementation/Behaviour public class Service1 : IService1 { public string GetData(DataModel1 model) { return string.Format("Some Field was: {0} and another field was {1}", model.SomeField,model.AnotherField); } public string GetMoreData(DataModel2 model) { return string.Format("Name: {0}, age: {1}", model.Name, model.Age); } } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Configuration File <system.serviceModel> <services> <service name="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1" behaviorConfiguration="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1Behavior"> <!-- ...std/default data omitted for brevity..... --> <endpoint address ="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="SingleWSDL_WcfService.IService1" > ....... </services> <behaviors> <serviceBehaviors> <behavior name="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1Behavior"> ........ </behavior> </serviceBehaviors> </behaviors> </system.serviceModel> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } When WCF is asked to produce a WSDL for this service, it will produce a file that looks something like this (note: some sections omitted for brevity): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> - <wsdl:definitions name="Service1" targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/" xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/" ...... namespace definitions omitted for brevity + &lt;wsp:Policy wsu:Id="WSHttpBinding_IService1_policy"> ... multiple policy items omitted for brevity </wsp:Policy> - <wsdl:types> - <xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://tempuri.org/Imports"> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd0" namespace="http://tempuri.org/" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd3" namespace="Http://SingleWSDL/Fault" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd1" namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd2" namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Model1" /> <xsd:import schemaLocation="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?xsd=xsd4" namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Model2" /> </xsd:schema> </wsdl:types> + <wsdl:message name="IService1_GetData_InputMessage"> .... </wsdl:message> - <wsdl:operation name="GetData"> ..... </wsdl:operation> - <wsdl:service name="Service1"> ....... </wsdl:service> </wsdl:definitions> The above snippet from the WSDL shows the external links and references that are generated by WCF for a relatively simple service. Note the xsd:import statements that reference external XSD definitions which are also generated by WCF. In order to get WCF to produce a single WSDL file, we first need to follow some good practices when it comes to WCF service definitions. Step 1: Define a namespace for your service contract. [ServiceContract(Namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1")] public interface IService1 { ...... } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Normally you would not use a literal string and may instead define a constant to use in your own application for the namespace. When this is applied and we generate the WSDL, we get the following statement inserted into the document: <wsdl:import namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1" location="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?wsdl=wsdl0" /> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } All the previous imports have gone. If we follow this link, we will see that the XSD imports are now in this external WSDL file. Not really any benefit for our purposes. Step 2: Define a namespace for your service behaviour [ServiceBehavior(Namespace = "http://SingleWSDL/Service1")] public class Service1 : IService1 { ...... } As you can see, the namespace of the service behaviour should be the same as the service contract interface to which it implements. Failure to do these tasks will cause WCF to emit its default http://tempuri.org namespace all over the place and cause WCF to still generate import statements. This is also true if the namespace of the contract and behaviour differ. If you define one and not the other, defaults kick in, and you’ll find extra imports generated. While each of the previous 2 steps wont cause any less import statements to be generated, you will notice that namespace definitions within the WSDL have identical, well defined names. Step 3: Define a binding namespace In the configuration file, modify the endpoint configuration line item to iunclude a bindingNamespace attribute which is the same as that defined on the service behaviour and service contract <endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="SingleWSDL_WcfService.IService1" bindingNamespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1"> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } However, this does not completely solve the issue. What this will do is remove the WSDL import statements like this one: <wsdl:import namespace="http://SingleWSDL/Service1" location="http://localhost:2370/HostingSite/Service-default.svc?wsdl" /> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } from the generated WSDL. Finally…. the magic…. Step 4: Use a custom endpoint behaviour to read in external imports and include in the main WSDL output. In order to force WCF to output a single WSDL with all the required definitions, we need to define a custom WSDL Export extension that can be applied to any endpoints. This requires implementing the IWsdlExportExtension and IEndpointBehavior interfaces and then reading in any imported schemas, and adding that output to the main, flattened WSDL to be output. Sounds like fun right…..? Hmmm well maybe not. This step sounds a little hairy, but its actually quite easy thanks to some kind individuals who have already done this for us. As far as I know, there are 2 available implementations that we can easily use to perform the import and “WSDL flattening”.  WCFExtras which is on codeplex and FlatWsdl by Thinktecture. Both implementations actually do exactly the same thing with the imports and provide an endpoint behaviour, however FlatWsdl does a little more work for us by providing a ServiceHostFactory that we can use which automatically attaches the requisite behaviour to our endpoints for us. To use this in an IIS hosted service, we can modify the .SVC file to specify this ne factory to use like so: <%@ ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" Service="SingleWSDL_WcfService.Service1" Factory="Thinktecture.ServiceModel.Extensions.Description.FlatWsdlServiceHostFactory" %> .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Within a service application or another form of executable such as a console app, we can simply create an instance of the custom service host and open it as we normally would as shown here: FlatWsdlServiceHost host = new FlatWsdlServiceHost(typeof(Service1)); host.Open(); And we are done. WCF will now generate one single WSDL file that contains all he WSDL imports and data/XSD imports. You can download the full source code for this sample from here Hope this has helped you. Note: Please note that I have not extensively tested this in a number of different scenarios so no guarantees there.

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  • C#: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentQueue vs. Queue

    - by James Michael Hare
    I love new toys, so of course when .NET 4.0 came out I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store!  Now, some people get all excited about the IDE and it’s new features or about changes to WPF and Silver Light and yes, those are all very fine and grand.  But me, I get all excited about things that tend to affect my life on the backside of development.  That’s why when I heard there were going to be concurrent container implementations in the latest version of .NET I was salivating like Pavlov’s dog at the dinner bell. They seem so simple, really, that one could easily overlook them.  Essentially they are implementations of containers (many that mirror the generic collections, others are new) that have either been optimized with very efficient, limited, or no locking but are still completely thread safe -- and I just had to see what kind of an improvement that would translate into. Since part of my job as a solutions architect here where I work is to help design, develop, and maintain the systems that process tons of requests each second, the thought of extremely efficient thread-safe containers was extremely appealing.  Of course, they also rolled out a whole parallel development framework which I won’t get into in this post but will cover bits and pieces of as time goes by. This time, I was mainly curious as to how well these new concurrent containers would perform compared to areas in our code where we manually synchronize them using lock or some other mechanism.  So I set about to run a processing test with a series of producers and consumers that would be either processing a traditional System.Collections.Generic.Queue or a System.Collection.Concurrent.ConcurrentQueue. Now, I wanted to keep the code as common as possible to make sure that the only variance was the container, so I created a test Producer and a test Consumer.  The test Producer takes an Action<string> delegate which is responsible for taking a string and placing it on whichever queue we’re testing in a thread-safe manner: 1: internal class Producer 2: { 3: public int Iterations { get; set; } 4: public Action<string> ProduceDelegate { get; set; } 5: 6: public void Produce() 7: { 8: for (int i = 0; i < Iterations; i++) 9: { 10: ProduceDelegate(“Hello”); 11: } 12: } 13: } Then likewise, I created a consumer that took a Func<string> that would read from whichever queue we’re testing and return either the string if data exists or null if not.  Then, if the item doesn’t exist, it will do a 10 ms wait before testing again.  Once all the producers are done and join the main thread, a flag will be set in each of the consumers to tell them once the queue is empty they can shut down since no other data is coming: 1: internal class Consumer 2: { 3: public Func<string> ConsumeDelegate { get; set; } 4: public bool HaltWhenEmpty { get; set; } 5: 6: public void Consume() 7: { 8: bool processing = true; 9: 10: while (processing) 11: { 12: string result = ConsumeDelegate(); 13: 14: if(result == null) 15: { 16: if (HaltWhenEmpty) 17: { 18: processing = false; 19: } 20: else 21: { 22: Thread.Sleep(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10)); 23: } 24: } 25: else 26: { 27: DoWork(); // do something non-trivial so consumers lag behind a bit 28: } 29: } 30: } 31: } Okay, now that we’ve done that, we can launch threads of varying numbers using lambdas for each different method of production/consumption.  First let's look at the lambdas for a typical System.Collections.Generics.Queue with locking: 1: // lambda for putting to typical Queue with locking... 2: var productionDelegate = s => 3: { 4: lock (_mutex) 5: { 6: _mutexQueue.Enqueue(s); 7: } 8: }; 9:  10: // and lambda for typical getting from Queue with locking... 11: var consumptionDelegate = () => 12: { 13: lock (_mutex) 14: { 15: if (_mutexQueue.Count > 0) 16: { 17: return _mutexQueue.Dequeue(); 18: } 19: } 20: return null; 21: }; Nothing new or interesting here.  Just typical locks on an internal object instance.  Now let's look at using a ConcurrentQueue from the System.Collections.Concurrent library: 1: // lambda for putting to a ConcurrentQueue, notice it needs no locking! 2: var productionDelegate = s => 3: { 4: _concurrentQueue.Enqueue(s); 5: }; 6:  7: // lambda for getting from a ConcurrentQueue, once again, no locking required. 8: var consumptionDelegate = () => 9: { 10: string s; 11: return _concurrentQueue.TryDequeue(out s) ? s : null; 12: }; So I pass each of these lambdas and the number of producer and consumers threads to launch and take a look at the timing results.  Basically I’m timing from the time all threads start and begin producing/consuming to the time that all threads rejoin.  I won't bore you with the test code, basically it just launches code that creates the producers and consumers and launches them in their own threads, then waits for them all to rejoin.  The following are the timings from the start of all threads to the Join() on all threads completing.  The producers create 10,000,000 items evenly between themselves and then when all producers are done they trigger the consumers to stop once the queue is empty. These are the results in milliseconds from the ordinary Queue with locking: 1: Consumers Producers 1 2 3 Time (ms) 2: ---------- ---------- ------ ------ ------ --------- 3: 1 1 4284 5153 4226 4554.33 4: 10 10 4044 3831 5010 4295.00 5: 100 100 5497 5378 5612 5495.67 6: 1000 1000 24234 25409 27160 25601.00 And the following are the results in milliseconds from the ConcurrentQueue with no locking necessary: 1: Consumers Producers 1 2 3 Time (ms) 2: ---------- ---------- ------ ------ ------ --------- 3: 1 1 3647 3643 3718 3669.33 4: 10 10 2311 2136 2142 2196.33 5: 100 100 2480 2416 2190 2362.00 6: 1000 1000 7289 6897 7061 7082.33 Note that even though obviously 2000 threads is quite extreme, the concurrent queue actually scales really well, whereas the traditional queue with simple locking scales much more poorly. I love the new concurrent collections, they look so much simpler without littering your code with the locking logic, and they perform much better.  All in all, a great new toy to add to your arsenal of multi-threaded processing!

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  • SharePoint - Summing Calculated Columns By Groups (DVWP)

    - by Mark Rackley
    I had a problem… okay.. okay.. so I have many problems… but let’s focus on one in particular or this blog post would never end… okay? Thank you…. So, I had an electronic timesheet where users entered hours for each day of the week. It also had a “Week Total” column which was a calculated column of the sum. The calculated column looked like this: Pretty easy.. nothing spectacular. So, what’s the problem? WELL……………….. There is a row in the timesheet for each task a person worked on in a given week. So, if you worked on 4 tasks, you would have 4 rows of data, and 4 week totals for that week: This is all fine and dandy, but I want to know what the total was for the entire week. Yes.. I realize the answer is 24 from my example… I mean, I know how to add! I just want SharePoint to display it for me for the executives (we all know, they have math problems).  You may be thinking, hey genius (in a sarcastic tone of course), why don’t you just go to the view and total on the “Week Total” field. What a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that… let’s go to the view and do just that…. Ohhhhhh… you can’t total on a Calculated Column.. it’s not even an option…  Yeah… I had the same moment. So, what do you do? Well… what do you think I did? 1) Googled “SharePoint total calculated column” 2) Said it couldn’t be done 3) Took a nap 4) Asked the question on twitter? The correct answer of course is number 4… followed by number 3… although I may have told my boss number 2 so that I look more brilliant than I am? It’s safe to say I did NOT try to find the solution on my own doing step 1… that would be just WAY to easy… So, anyway, I posted the question on Twitter and it turns out several people had suggestions from using jQuery to using DVWPs. I tend to be a big fan of the DVWP except for the disgusting process of deploying them to another farm.. ugh… just shoot me…. so, that is the solution I went with. Laura Rogers (@WonderLaura) has a super duper easy to follow video on the subject over at EndUserSharePoint.com: SharePoint: Displaying Calculated Column SUMS in a View (Screencast) Laura’s video was very easy to follow and was ALMOST exactly what I needed. She does a great job walking you through every step of summing up a calculated field which was PART of my problem. The other part was my list is grouped by date! So, I wanted to see for a given week, the summed “Week Total” of hours. Laura got me on the right track with her video and I dug a little deeper into the DVWP to accomplish my task. So, here are the steps you follow: 1. Click on the "chevron” (I didn’t know it was actually called that until I heard Laura say it).. I always call it the “little-button-in-the-top-right-corner-with-the-greater-than-sign”.. but “chevron” is much shorter. So, click on the chevron, click on “Sort and Group”. The Add the field you want to group by, in my example it is the “Monday Date” of the timesheet entry. Make sure to check the check boxes for “Show Group Header” AND “Show Group Footer”. Click “OK”. The view now shows the count of each grouped set of data: Interesting, this looks very similar to Laura’s video… right? So, let’s take a look at the code for the Count: Count : <xsl:value-of select="count($nodeset)" /> Wow, also very similar… except in Laura’s video it looks like: Count : <xsl:value-of select="count($Rows)" /> So.. the only difference is that instead of $Rows we have $nodeset. It turns out the $nodeset will go through each Row in the group just like $Rows goes through each row in the entire view. So, using the exact same logic as in Laura’s blog except replacing $Rows with $nodeset we get the functionality of being able to sum up the values for a group. So, I want to replace “Count: #” with the total hours, this is done using the following changes to the above code: Week Total : <xsl:value-of select="sum($nodeset/@Monday)+sum($nodeset/@Tuesday) +sum($nodeset/@Wednesday)+sum($nodeset/@Thursday)+sum($nodeset/@Friday) +sum($nodeset/@Saturday)+sum($nodeset/@Sunday)" /> Our final output has the summed hours for each group! So… long story short… follow Laura’s blog, then group your list, then replace “$Rows” with “$nodeset”. One caveat, this will not work if you group by a person field. For some reason the person field does not go through each row in the group. I haven’t dug into this much yet. Maybe if I find some time… whatever that is… Anyway, Laura did all the work, I just took it one small step forward… as always, feel free to leave any additional insights you may have. We’re all learning here!

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  • SQL SERVER – Securing TRUNCATE Permissions in SQL Server

    - by pinaldave
    Download the Script of this article from here. On December 11, 2010, Vinod Kumar, a Databases & BI technology evangelist from Microsoft Corporation, graced Ahmedabad by spending some time with the Community during the Community Tech Days (CTD) event. As he was running through a few demos, Vinod asked the audience one of the most fundamental and common interview questions – “What is the difference between a DELETE and TRUNCATE?“ Ahmedabad SQL Server User Group Expert Nakul Vachhrajani has come up with excellent solutions of the same. I must congratulate Nakul for this excellent solution and as a encouragement to User Group member, I am publishing the same article over here. Nakul Vachhrajani is a Software Specialist and systems development professional with Patni Computer Systems Limited. He has functional experience spanning legacy code deprecation, system design, documentation, development, implementation, testing, maintenance and support of complex systems, providing business intelligence solutions, database administration, performance tuning, optimization, product management, release engineering, process definition and implementation. He has comprehensive grasp on Database Administration, Development and Implementation with MS SQL Server and C, C++, Visual C++/C#. He has about 6 years of total experience in information technology. Nakul is an member of the Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar SQL Server User Groups, and actively contributes to the community by actively participating in multiple forums and websites like SQLAuthority.com, BeyondRelational.com, SQLServerCentral.com and many others. Please note: The opinions expressed herein are Nakul own personal opinions and do not represent his employer’s view in anyway. All data from everywhere here on Earth go through a series of  four distinct operations, identified by the words: CREATE, READ, UPDATE and DELETE, or simply, CRUD. Putting in Microsoft SQL Server terms, is the process goes like this: INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE and DELETE/TRUNCATE. Quite a few interesting responses were received and evaluated live during the session. To summarize them, the most important similarity that came out was that both DELETE and TRUNCATE participate in transactions. The major differences (not all) that came out of the exercise were: DELETE: DELETE supports a WHERE clause DELETE removes rows from a table, row-by-row Because DELETE moves row-by-row, it acquires a row-level lock Depending upon the recovery model of the database, DELETE is a fully-logged operation. Because DELETE moves row-by-row, it can fire off triggers TRUNCATE: TRUNCATE does not support a WHERE clause TRUNCATE works by directly removing the individual data pages of a table TRUNCATE directly occupies a table-level lock. (Because a lock is acquired, and because TRUNCATE can also participate in a transaction, it has to be a logged operation) TRUNCATE is, therefore, a minimally-logged operation; again, this depends upon the recovery model of the database Triggers are not fired when TRUNCATE is used (because individual row deletions are not logged) Finally, Vinod popped the big homework question that must be critically analyzed: “We know that we can restrict a DELETE operation to a particular user, but how can we restrict the TRUNCATE operation to a particular user?” After returning home and having a nice cup of coffee, I noticed that my gray cells immediately started to work. Below was the result of my research. As what is always said, the devil is in the details. Upon looking at the Permissions section for the TRUNCATE statement in Books On Line, the following jumps right out: “The minimum permission required is ALTER on table_name. TRUNCATE TABLE permissions default to the table owner, members of the sysadmin fixed server role, and the db_owner and db_ddladmin fixed database roles, and are not transferable. However, you can incorporate the TRUNCATE TABLE statement within a module, such as a stored procedure, and grant appropriate permissions to the module using the EXECUTE AS clause.“ Now, what does this mean? Unlike DELETE, one cannot directly assign permissions to a user/set of users allowing or revoking TRUNCATE rights. However, there is a way to circumvent this. It is important to recall that in Microsoft SQL Server, database engine security surrounds the concept of a “securable”, which is any object like a table, stored procedure, trigger, etc. Rights are assigned to a principal on a securable. Refer to the image below (taken from the SQL Server Books On Line). urable”, which is any object like a table, stored procedure, trigger, etc. Rights are assigned to a principal on a securable. Refer to the image below (taken from the SQL Server Books On Line). SETTING UP THE ENVIRONMENT – (01A_Truncate Table Permissions.sql) Script Provided at the end of the article. By the end of this demo, one will be able to do all the CRUD operations, except the TRUNCATE, and the other will only be able to execute the TRUNCATE. All you will need for this test is any edition of SQL Server 2008. (With minor changes, these scripts can be made to work with SQL 2005.) We begin by creating the following: 1.       A test database 2.        Two database roles: associated logins and users 3.       Switch over to the test database and create a test table. Then, add some data into it. I am using row constructors, which is new to SQL 2008. Creating the modules that will be used to enforce permissions 1.       We have already created one of the modules that we will be assigning permissions to. That module is the table: TruncatePermissionsTest 2.       We will now create two stored procedures; one is for the DELETE operation and the other for the TRUNCATE operation. Please note that for all practical purposes, the end result is the same – all data from the table TruncatePermissionsTest is removed Assigning the permissions Now comes the most important part of the demonstration – assigning permissions. A permissions matrix can be worked out as under: To apply the security rights, we use the GRANT and DENY clauses, as under: That’s it! We are now ready for our big test! THE TEST (01B_Truncate Table Test Queries.sql) Script Provided at the end of the article. I will now need two separate SSMS connections, one with the login AllowedTruncate and the other with the login RestrictedTruncate. Running the test is simple; all that’s required is to run through the script – 01B_Truncate Table Test Queries.sql. What I will demonstrate here via screen-shots is the behavior of SQL Server when logged in as the AllowedTruncate user. There are a few other combinations than what are highlighted here. I will leave the reader the right to explore the behavior of the RestrictedTruncate user and these additional scenarios, as a form of self-study. 1.       Testing SELECT permissions 2.       Testing TRUNCATE permissions (Remember, “deny by default”?) 3.       Trying to circumvent security by trying to TRUNCATE the table using the stored procedure Hence, we have now proved that a user can indeed be assigned permissions to specifically assign TRUNCATE permissions. I also hope that the above has sparked curiosity towards putting some security around the probably “destructive” operations of DELETE and TRUNCATE. I would like to wish each and every one of the readers a very happy and secure time with Microsoft SQL Server. (Please find the scripts – 01A_Truncate Table Permissions.sql and 01B_Truncate Table Test Queries.sql that have been used in this demonstration. Please note that these scripts contain purely test-level code only. These scripts must not, at any cost, be used in the reader’s production environments). 01A_Truncate Table Permissions.sql /* ***************************************************************************************************************** Developed By          : Nakul Vachhrajani Functionality         : This demo is focused on how to allow only TRUNCATE permissions to a particular user How to Use            : 1. Run through, step-by-step through the sequence till Step 08 to create a test database 2. Switch over to the "Truncate Table Test Queries.sql" and execute it step-by-step in two different SSMS windows, one where you have logged in as 'RestrictedTruncate', and the other as 'AllowedTruncate' 3. Come back to "Truncate Table Permissions.sql" 4. Execute Step 10 to cleanup! Modifications         : December 13, 2010 - NAV - Updated to add a security matrix and improve code readability when applying security December 12, 2010 - NAV - Created ***************************************************************************************************************** */ -- Step 01: Create a new test database CREATE DATABASE TruncateTestDB GO USE TruncateTestDB GO -- Step 02: Add roles and users to demonstrate the security of the Truncate operation -- 2a. Create the new roles CREATE ROLE AllowedTruncateRole; GO CREATE ROLE RestrictedTruncateRole; GO -- 2b. Create new logins CREATE LOGIN AllowedTruncate WITH PASSWORD = 'truncate@2010', CHECK_POLICY = ON GO CREATE LOGIN RestrictedTruncate WITH PASSWORD = 'truncate@2010', CHECK_POLICY = ON GO -- 2c. Create new Users using the roles and logins created aboave CREATE USER TruncateUser FOR LOGIN AllowedTruncate WITH DEFAULT_SCHEMA = dbo GO CREATE USER NoTruncateUser FOR LOGIN RestrictedTruncate WITH DEFAULT_SCHEMA = dbo GO -- 2d. Add the newly created login to the newly created role sp_addrolemember 'AllowedTruncateRole','TruncateUser' GO sp_addrolemember 'RestrictedTruncateRole','NoTruncateUser' GO -- Step 03: Change over to the test database USE TruncateTestDB GO -- Step 04: Create a test table within the test databse CREATE TABLE TruncatePermissionsTest (Id INT IDENTITY(1,1), Name NVARCHAR(50)) GO -- Step 05: Populate the required data INSERT INTO TruncatePermissionsTest VALUES (N'Delhi'), (N'Mumbai'), (N'Ahmedabad') GO -- Step 06: Encapsulate the DELETE within another module CREATE PROCEDURE proc_DeleteMyTable WITH EXECUTE AS SELF AS DELETE FROM TruncateTestDB..TruncatePermissionsTest GO -- Step 07: Encapsulate the TRUNCATE within another module CREATE PROCEDURE proc_TruncateMyTable WITH EXECUTE AS SELF AS TRUNCATE TABLE TruncateTestDB..TruncatePermissionsTest GO -- Step 08: Apply Security /* *****************************SECURITY MATRIX*************************************** =================================================================================== Object                   | Permissions |                 Login |             | AllowedTruncate   |   RestrictedTruncate |             |User:NoTruncateUser|   User:TruncateUser =================================================================================== TruncatePermissionsTest  | SELECT,     |      GRANT        |      (Default) | INSERT,     |                   | | UPDATE,     |                   | | DELETE      |                   | -------------------------+-------------+-------------------+----------------------- TruncatePermissionsTest  | ALTER       |      DENY         |      (Default) -------------------------+-------------+----*/----------------+----------------------- proc_DeleteMyTable | EXECUTE | GRANT | DENY -------------------------+-------------+-------------------+----------------------- proc_TruncateMyTable | EXECUTE | DENY | GRANT -------------------------+-------------+-------------------+----------------------- *****************************SECURITY MATRIX*************************************** */ /* Table: TruncatePermissionsTest*/ GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON TruncateTestDB..TruncatePermissionsTest TO NoTruncateUser GO DENY ALTER ON TruncateTestDB..TruncatePermissionsTest TO NoTruncateUser GO /* Procedure: proc_DeleteMyTable*/ GRANT EXECUTE ON TruncateTestDB..proc_DeleteMyTable TO NoTruncateUser GO DENY EXECUTE ON TruncateTestDB..proc_DeleteMyTable TO TruncateUser GO /* Procedure: proc_TruncateMyTable*/ DENY EXECUTE ON TruncateTestDB..proc_TruncateMyTable TO NoTruncateUser GO GRANT EXECUTE ON TruncateTestDB..proc_TruncateMyTable TO TruncateUser GO -- Step 09: Test --Switch over to the "Truncate Table Test Queries.sql" and execute it step-by-step in two different SSMS windows: --    1. one where you have logged in as 'RestrictedTruncate', and --    2. the other as 'AllowedTruncate' -- Step 10: Cleanup sp_droprolemember 'AllowedTruncateRole','TruncateUser' GO sp_droprolemember 'RestrictedTruncateRole','NoTruncateUser' GO DROP USER TruncateUser GO DROP USER NoTruncateUser GO DROP LOGIN AllowedTruncate GO DROP LOGIN RestrictedTruncate GO DROP ROLE AllowedTruncateRole GO DROP ROLE RestrictedTruncateRole GO USE MASTER GO DROP DATABASE TruncateTestDB GO 01B_Truncate Table Test Queries.sql /* ***************************************************************************************************************** Developed By          : Nakul Vachhrajani Functionality         : This demo is focused on how to allow only TRUNCATE permissions to a particular user How to Use            : 1. Switch over to this from "Truncate Table Permissions.sql", Step #09 2. Execute this step-by-step in two different SSMS windows a. One where you have logged in as 'RestrictedTruncate', and b. The other as 'AllowedTruncate' 3. Return back to "Truncate Table Permissions.sql" 4. Execute Step 10 to cleanup! Modifications         : December 12, 2010 - NAV - Created ***************************************************************************************************************** */ -- Step 09A: Switch to the test database USE TruncateTestDB GO -- Step 09B: Ensure that we have valid data SELECT * FROM TruncatePermissionsTest GO -- (Expected: Following error will occur if logged in as "AllowedTruncate") -- Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Line 1 -- The SELECT permission was denied on the object 'TruncatePermissionsTest', database 'TruncateTestDB', schema 'dbo'. --Step 09C: Attempt to Truncate Data from the table without using the stored procedure TRUNCATE TABLE TruncatePermissionsTest GO -- (Expected: Following error will occur) --  Msg 1088, Level 16, State 7, Line 2 --  Cannot find the object "TruncatePermissionsTest" because it does not exist or you do not have permissions. -- Step 09D:Regenerate Test Data INSERT INTO TruncatePermissionsTest VALUES (N'London'), (N'Paris'), (N'Berlin') GO -- (Expected: Following error will occur if logged in as "AllowedTruncate") -- Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Line 1 -- The INSERT permission was denied on the object 'TruncatePermissionsTest', database 'TruncateTestDB', schema 'dbo'. --Step 09E: Attempt to Truncate Data from the table using the stored procedure EXEC proc_TruncateMyTable GO -- (Expected: Will execute successfully with 'AllowedTruncate' user, will error out as under with 'RestrictedTruncate') -- Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Procedure proc_TruncateMyTable, Line 1 -- The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'proc_TruncateMyTable', database 'TruncateTestDB', schema 'dbo'. -- Step 09F:Regenerate Test Data INSERT INTO TruncatePermissionsTest VALUES (N'Madrid'), (N'Rome'), (N'Athens') GO --Step 09G: Attempt to Delete Data from the table without using the stored procedure DELETE FROM TruncatePermissionsTest GO -- (Expected: Following error will occur if logged in as "AllowedTruncate") -- Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Line 2 -- The DELETE permission was denied on the object 'TruncatePermissionsTest', database 'TruncateTestDB', schema 'dbo'. -- Step 09H:Regenerate Test Data INSERT INTO TruncatePermissionsTest VALUES (N'Spain'), (N'Italy'), (N'Greece') GO --Step 09I: Attempt to Delete Data from the table using the stored procedure EXEC proc_DeleteMyTable GO -- (Expected: Following error will occur if logged in as "AllowedTruncate") -- Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Procedure proc_DeleteMyTable, Line 1 -- The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'proc_DeleteMyTable', database 'TruncateTestDB', schema 'dbo'. --Step 09J: Close this SSMS window and return back to "Truncate Table Permissions.sql" Thank you Nakul to take up the challenge and prove that Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar SQL Server User Group has talent to solve difficult problems. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Pinal Dave, Readers Contribution, Readers Question, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Security, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • What’s new in ASP.NET 4.0: Core Features

    - by Rick Strahl
    Microsoft released the .NET Runtime 4.0 and with it comes a brand spanking new version of ASP.NET – version 4.0 – which provides an incremental set of improvements to an already powerful platform. .NET 4.0 is a full release of the .NET Framework, unlike version 3.5, which was merely a set of library updates on top of the .NET Framework version 2.0. Because of this full framework revision, there has been a welcome bit of consolidation of assemblies and configuration settings. The full runtime version change to 4.0 also means that you have to explicitly pick version 4.0 of the runtime when you create a new Application Pool in IIS, unlike .NET 3.5, which actually requires version 2.0 of the runtime. In this first of two parts I'll take a look at some of the changes in the core ASP.NET runtime. In the next edition I'll go over improvements in Web Forms and Visual Studio. Core Engine Features Most of the high profile improvements in ASP.NET have to do with Web Forms, but there are a few gems in the core runtime that should make life easier for ASP.NET developers. The following list describes some of the things I've found useful among the new features. Clean web.config Files Are Back! If you've been using ASP.NET 3.5, you probably have noticed that the web.config file has turned into quite a mess of configuration settings between all the custom handler and module mappings for the various web server versions. Part of the reason for this mess is that .NET 3.5 is a collection of add-on components running on top of the .NET Runtime 2.0 and so almost all of the new features of .NET 3.5 where essentially introduced as custom modules and handlers that had to be explicitly configured in the config file. Because the core runtime didn't rev with 3.5, all those configuration options couldn't be moved up to other configuration files in the system chain. With version 4.0 a consolidation was possible, and the result is a much simpler web.config file by default. A default empty ASP.NET 4.0 Web Forms project looks like this: <?xml version="1.0"?> <configuration> <system.web> <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0" /> </system.web> </configuration> Need I say more? Configuration Transformation Files to Manage Configurations and Application Packaging ASP.NET 4.0 introduces the ability to create multi-target configuration files. This means it's possible to create a single configuration file that can be transformed based on relatively simple replacement rules using a Visual Studio and WebDeploy provided XSLT syntax. The idea is that you can create a 'master' configuration file and then create customized versions of this master configuration file by applying some relatively simplistic search and replace, add or remove logic to specific elements and attributes in the original file. To give you an idea, here's the example code that Visual Studio creates for a default web.Release.config file, which replaces a connection string, removes the debug attribute and replaces the CustomErrors section: <?xml version="1.0"?> <configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform"> <connectionStrings> <add name="MyDB" connectionString="Data Source=ReleaseSQLServer;Initial Catalog=MyReleaseDB;Integrated Security=True" xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/> </connectionStrings> <system.web> <compilation xdt:Transform="RemoveAttributes(debug)" /> <customErrors defaultRedirect="GenericError.htm" mode="RemoteOnly" xdt:Transform="Replace"> <error statusCode="500" redirect="InternalError.htm"/> </customErrors> </system.web> </configuration> You can see the XSL transform syntax that drives this functionality. Basically, only the elements listed in the override file are matched and updated – all the rest of the original web.config file stays intact. Visual Studio 2010 supports this functionality directly in the project system so it's easy to create and maintain these customized configurations in the project tree. Once you're ready to publish your application, you can then use the Publish <yourWebApplication> option on the Build menu which allows publishing to disk, via FTP or to a Web Server using Web Deploy. You can also create a deployment package as a .zip file which can be used by the WebDeploy tool to configure and install the application. You can manually run the Web Deploy tool or use the IIS Manager to install the package on the server or other machine. You can find out more about WebDeploy and Packaging here: http://tinyurl.com/2anxcje. Improved Routing Routing provides a relatively simple way to create clean URLs with ASP.NET by associating a template URL path and routing it to a specific ASP.NET HttpHandler. Microsoft first introduced routing with ASP.NET MVC and then they integrated routing with a basic implementation in the core ASP.NET engine via a separate ASP.NET routing assembly. In ASP.NET 4.0, the process of using routing functionality gets a bit easier. First, routing is now rolled directly into System.Web, so no extra assembly reference is required in your projects to use routing. The RouteCollection class now includes a MapPageRoute() method that makes it easy to route to any ASP.NET Page requests without first having to implement an IRouteHandler implementation. It would have been nice if this could have been extended to serve *any* handler implementation, but unfortunately for anything but a Page derived handlers you still will have to implement a custom IRouteHandler implementation. ASP.NET Pages now include a RouteData collection that will contain route information. Retrieving route data is now a lot easier by simply using this.RouteData.Values["routeKey"] where the routeKey is the value specified in the route template (i.e., "users/{userId}" would use Values["userId"]). The Page class also has a GetRouteUrl() method that you can use to create URLs with route data values rather than hardcoding the URL: <%= this.GetRouteUrl("users",new { userId="ricks" }) %> You can also use the new Expression syntax using <%$RouteUrl %> to accomplish something similar, which can be easier to embed into Page or MVC View code: <a runat="server" href='<%$RouteUrl:RouteName=user, id=ricks %>'>Visit User</a> Finally, the Response object also includes a new RedirectToRoute() method to build a route url for redirection without hardcoding the URL. Response.RedirectToRoute("users", new { userId = "ricks" }); All of these routines are helpers that have been integrated into the core ASP.NET engine to make it easier to create routes and retrieve route data, which hopefully will result in more people taking advantage of routing in ASP.NET. To find out more about the routing improvements you can check out Dan Maharry's blog which has a couple of nice blog entries on this subject: http://tinyurl.com/37trutj and http://tinyurl.com/39tt5w5. Session State Improvements Session state is an often used and abused feature in ASP.NET and version 4.0 introduces a few enhancements geared towards making session state more efficient and to minimize at least some of the ill effects of overuse. The first improvement affects out of process session state, which is typically used in web farm environments or for sites that store application sensitive data that must survive AppDomain restarts (which in my opinion is just about any application). When using OutOfProc session state, ASP.NET serializes all the data in the session statebag into a blob that gets carried over the network and stored either in the State server or SQL Server via the Session provider. Version 4.0 provides some improvement in this serialization of the session data by offering an enableCompression option on the web.Config <Session> section, which forces the serialized session state to be compressed. Depending on the type of data that is being serialized, this compression can reduce the size of the data travelling over the wire by as much as a third. It works best on string data, but can also reduce the size of binary data. In addition, ASP.NET 4.0 now offers a way to programmatically turn session state on or off as part of the request processing queue. In prior versions, the only way to specify whether session state is available is by implementing a marker interface on the HTTP handler implementation. In ASP.NET 4.0, you can now turn session state on and off programmatically via HttpContext.Current.SetSessionStateBehavior() as part of the ASP.NET module pipeline processing as long as it occurs before the AquireRequestState pipeline event. Output Cache Provider Output caching in ASP.NET has been a very useful but potentially memory intensive feature. The default OutputCache mechanism works through in-memory storage that persists generated output based on various lifetime related parameters. While this works well enough for many intended scenarios, it also can quickly cause runaway memory consumption as the cache fills up and serves many variations of pages on your site. ASP.NET 4.0 introduces a provider model for the OutputCache module so it becomes possible to plug-in custom storage strategies for cached pages. One of the goals also appears to be to consolidate some of the different cache storage mechanisms used in .NET in general to a generic Windows AppFabric framework in the future, so various different mechanisms like OutputCache, the non-Page specific ASP.NET cache and possibly even session state eventually can use the same caching engine for storage of persisted data both in memory and out of process scenarios. For developers, the OutputCache provider feature means that you can now extend caching on your own by implementing a custom Cache provider based on the System.Web.Caching.OutputCacheProvider class. You can find more info on creating an Output Cache provider in Gunnar Peipman's blog at: http://tinyurl.com/2vt6g7l. Response.RedirectPermanent ASP.NET 4.0 includes features to issue a permanent redirect that issues as an HTTP 301 Moved Permanently response rather than the standard 302 Redirect respond. In pre-4.0 versions you had to manually create your permanent redirect by setting the Status and Status code properties – Response.RedirectPermanent() makes this operation more obvious and discoverable. There's also a Response.RedirectToRoutePermanent() which provides permanent redirection of route Urls. Preloading of Applications ASP.NET 4.0 provides a new feature to preload ASP.NET applications on startup, which is meant to provide a more consistent startup experience. If your application has a lengthy startup cycle it can appear very slow to serve data to clients while the application is warming up and loading initial resources. So rather than serve these startup requests slowly in ASP.NET 4.0, you can force the application to initialize itself first before even accepting requests for processing. This feature works only on IIS 7.5 (Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2) and works in combination with IIS. You can set up a worker process in IIS 7.5 to always be running, which starts the Application Pool worker process immediately. ASP.NET 4.0 then allows you to specify site-specific settings by setting the serverAutoStartEnabled on a particular site along with an optional serviceAutoStartProvider class that can be used to receive "startup events" when the application starts up. This event in turn can be used to configure the application and optionally pre-load cache data and other information required by the app on startup.  The configuration settings need to be made in applicationhost.config: <sites> <site name="WebApplication2" id="1"> <application path="/" serviceAutoStartEnabled="true" serviceAutoStartProvider="PreWarmup" /> </site> </sites> <serviceAutoStartProviders> <add name="PreWarmup" type="PreWarmupProvider,MyAssembly" /> </serviceAutoStartProviders> Hooking up a warm up provider is optional so you can omit the provider definition and reference. If you do define it here's what it looks like: public class PreWarmupProvider System.Web.Hosting.IProcessHostPreloadClient { public void Preload(string[] parameters) { // initialization for app } } This code fires and while it's running, ASP.NET/IIS will hold requests from hitting the pipeline. So until this code completes the application will not start taking requests. The idea is that you can perform any pre-loading of resources and cache values so that the first request will be ready to perform at optimal performance level without lag. Runtime Performance Improvements According to Microsoft, there have also been a number of invisible performance improvements in the internals of the ASP.NET runtime that should make ASP.NET 4.0 applications run more efficiently and use less resources. These features come without any change requirements in applications and are virtually transparent, except that you get the benefits by updating to ASP.NET 4.0. Summary The core feature set changes are minimal which continues a tradition of small incremental changes to the ASP.NET runtime. ASP.NET has been proven as a solid platform and I'm actually rather happy to see that most of the effort in this release went into stability, performance and usability improvements rather than a massive amount of new features. The new functionality added in 4.0 is minimal but very useful. A lot of people are still running pure .NET 2.0 applications these days and have stayed off of .NET 3.5 for some time now. I think that version 4.0 with its full .NET runtime rev and assembly and configuration consolidation will make an attractive platform for developers to update to. If you're a Web Forms developer in particular, ASP.NET 4.0 includes a host of new features in the Web Forms engine that are significant enough to warrant a quick move to .NET 4.0. I'll cover those changes in my next column. Until then, I suggest you give ASP.NET 4.0 a spin and see for yourself how the new features can help you out. © Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2010Posted in ASP.NET  

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  • Conversation as User Assistance

    - by ultan o'broin
    Applications User Experience members (Erika Web, 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. Anne Gentle (left) with Applications User Experience Senior Director Laurie Pattison 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 reach 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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  • Security Trimmed Cross Site Collection Navigation

    - by Sahil Malik
    Ad:: SharePoint 2007 Training in .NET 3.5 technologies (more information). This article will serve as documentation of a fully functional codeplex project that I just created. This project will give you a WebPart that will give you security trimmed navigation across site collections. The first question is, why create such a project? In every single SharePoint project you will do, one question you will always be faced with is, what should the boundaries of sites be, and what should the boundaries of site collections be? There is no good or bad answer to this, because it really really depends on your needs. There are some factors in play here. Site Collections will allow you to scale, as a Site collection is the smallest entity you can put inside a content database Site collections will allow you to offer different levels of SLAs, because you put a site collection on a separate content database, and put that database on a separate server. Site collections are a security boundary – and they can be moved around at will without affecting other site collections. Site collections are also a branding boundary. They are also a feature deployment boundary, so you can have two site collections on the same web application with completely different nature of services. But site collections break navigation, i.e. a site collection at “/”, and a site collection at “/sites/mySiteCollection”, are completely independent of each other. If you have access to both, the navigation of / won’t show you a link to /sites/mySiteCollection. Some people refer to this as a huge issue in SharePoint. Luckily, some workarounds exist. A long time ago, I had blogged about “Implementing Consistent Navigation across Site Collections”. That approach was a no-code solution, it worked – it gave you a consistent navigation across site collections. But, it didn’t work in a security trimmed fashion! i.e., if I don’t have access to Site Collection ‘X’, it would still show me a link to ‘X’. Well this project gets around that issue. Simply deploy this project, and it’ll give you a WebPart. You can use that WebPart as either a webpart or as a server control dropped via SharePoint designer, and it will give you Security Trimmed Cross Site Collection Navigation. The code has been written for SP2010, but it will work in SP2007 with the help of http://spwcfsupport.codeplex.com . What do I need to do to make it work? I’m glad you asked! Simple! Deploy the .wsp (which you can download here). This will give you a site collection feature called “Winsmarts Cross Site Collection Navigation” as shown below. Go ahead and activate it, and this will give you a WebPart called “Winsmarts Navigation Web Part” as shown below: Just drop this WebPart on your page, and it will show you all site collections that the currently logged in user has access to. Really it’s that easy! This is shown as below - In the above example, I have two site collections that I created at /sites/SiteCollection1 and /sites/SiteCollection2. The navigation shows the titles. You see some extraneous crap as well, you might want to clean that – I’ll talk about that in a minute. What? You’re running into problems? If the problem you’re running into is that you are prompted to login three times, and then it shows a blank webpart that says “Loading your applications ..” and then craps out!, then most probably you’re using a different authentication scheme. Behind the scenes I use a custom WCF service to perform this job. OOTB, I’ve set it to work with NTLM, but if you need to make it work alternate authentications such as forms based auth, or client side certs, you will need to edit the %14%\ISAPI\Winsmarts.CrossSCNav\web.config file, specifically, this section - 1: <bindings> 2: <webHttpBinding> 3: <binding name="customWebHttpBinding"> 4: <security mode="TransportCredentialOnly"> 5: <transport clientCredentialType="Ntlm"/> 6: </security> 7: </binding> 8: </webHttpBinding> 9: </bindings> For Kerberos, change the “clientCredentialType” to “Windows” For Forms auth, remove that transport line For client certs – well that’s a bit more involved, but it’s just web.config changes – hit a good book on WCF or hire me for a billion trillion $. But fair warning, I might be too busy to help immediately. If you’re running into a different problem, please leave a comment below, but the code is pretty rock solid, so .. hmm .. check what you’re doing! BTW, I don’t  make any guarantee/warranty on this – if this code makes you sterile, unpopular, bad hairstyle, anything else, that is your problem! But, there are some known issues - I wrote this as a concept – you can easily extend it to be more flexible. Example, hierarchical nav, or, horizontal nav, jazzy effects with jquery or silverlight– all those are possible very very easily. This webpart is not smart enough to co-exist with another instance of itself on the same page. I can easily extend it to do so, which I will do in my spare(!?) time! Okay good! But that’s not all! As you can see, just dropping the WebPart may show you many extraneous site collections, or maybe you want to restrict which site collections are shown, or exclude a certain site collection to be shown from the navigation. To support that, I created a property on the WebPart called “UrlMatchPattern”, which is a regex expression you specify to trim the results :). So, just edit the WebPart, and specify a string property of “http://sp2010/sites/” as shown below. Note that you can put in whatever regex expression you want! So go crazy, I don’t care! And this gives you a cleaner look.   w00t! Enjoy! Comment on the article ....

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  • GZip/Deflate Compression in ASP.NET MVC

    - by Rick Strahl
    A long while back I wrote about GZip compression in ASP.NET. In that article I describe two generic helper methods that I've used in all sorts of ASP.NET application from WebForms apps to HttpModules and HttpHandlers that require gzip or deflate compression. The same static methods also work in ASP.NET MVC. Here are the two routines:/// <summary> /// Determines if GZip is supported /// </summary> /// <returns></returns> public static bool IsGZipSupported() { string AcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(AcceptEncoding) && (AcceptEncoding.Contains("gzip") || AcceptEncoding.Contains("deflate"))) return true; return false; } /// <summary> /// Sets up the current page or handler to use GZip through a Response.Filter /// IMPORTANT: /// You have to call this method before any output is generated! /// </summary> public static void GZipEncodePage() { HttpResponse Response = HttpContext.Current.Response; if (IsGZipSupported()) { string AcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if (AcceptEncoding.Contains("gzip")) { Response.Filter = new System.IO.Compression.GZipStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.Headers.Remove("Content-Encoding"); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "gzip"); } else { Response.Filter = new System.IO.Compression.DeflateStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.Headers.Remove("Content-Encoding"); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "deflate"); } } // Allow proxy servers to cache encoded and unencoded versions separately Response.AppendHeader("Vary", "Content-Encoding"); } The first method checks whether the client sending the request includes the accept-encoding for either gzip or deflate, and if if it does it returns true. The second function uses IsGzipSupported() to decide whether it should encode content and uses an Response Filter to do its job. Basically response filters look at the Response output stream as it's written and convert the data flowing through it. Filters are a bit tricky to work with but the two .NET filter streams for GZip and Deflate Compression make this a snap to implement. In my old code and even now in MVC I can always do:public ActionResult List(string keyword=null, int category=0) { WebUtils.GZipEncodePage(); …} to encode my content. And that works just fine. The proper way: Create an ActionFilterAttribute However in MVC this sort of thing is typically better handled by an ActionFilter which can be applied with an attribute. So to be all prim and proper I created an CompressContentAttribute ActionFilter that incorporates those two helper methods and which looks like this:/// <summary> /// Attribute that can be added to controller methods to force content /// to be GZip encoded if the client supports it /// </summary> public class CompressContentAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute { /// <summary> /// Override to compress the content that is generated by /// an action method. /// </summary> /// <param name="filterContext"></param> public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext) { GZipEncodePage(); } /// <summary> /// Determines if GZip is supported /// </summary> /// <returns></returns> public static bool IsGZipSupported() { string AcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(AcceptEncoding) && (AcceptEncoding.Contains("gzip") || AcceptEncoding.Contains("deflate"))) return true; return false; } /// <summary> /// Sets up the current page or handler to use GZip through a Response.Filter /// IMPORTANT: /// You have to call this method before any output is generated! /// </summary> public static void GZipEncodePage() { HttpResponse Response = HttpContext.Current.Response; if (IsGZipSupported()) { string AcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if (AcceptEncoding.Contains("gzip")) { Response.Filter = new System.IO.Compression.GZipStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.Headers.Remove("Content-Encoding"); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "gzip"); } else { Response.Filter = new System.IO.Compression.DeflateStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.Headers.Remove("Content-Encoding"); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "deflate"); } } // Allow proxy servers to cache encoded and unencoded versions separately Response.AppendHeader("Vary", "Content-Encoding"); } } It's basically the same code wrapped into an ActionFilter attribute, which intercepts requests MVC requests to Controller methods and lets you hook up logic before and after the methods have executed. Here I want to override OnActionExecuting() which fires before the Controller action is fired. With the CompressContentAttribute created, it can now be applied to either the controller as a whole:[CompressContent] public class ClassifiedsController : ClassifiedsBaseController { … } or to one of the Action methods:[CompressContent] public ActionResult List(string keyword=null, int category=0) { … } The former applies compression to every action method, while the latter is selective and only applies it to the individual action method. Is the attribute better than the static utility function? Not really, but it is the standard MVC way to hook up 'filter' content and that's where others are likely to expect to set options like this. In fact,  you have a bit more control with the utility function because you can conditionally apply it in code, but this is actually much less likely in MVC applications than old WebForms apps since controller methods tend to be more focused. Compression Caveats Http compression is very cool and pretty easy to implement in ASP.NET but you have to be careful with it - especially if your content might get transformed or redirected inside of ASP.NET. A good example, is if an error occurs and a compression filter is applied. ASP.NET errors don't clear the filter, but clear the Response headers which results in some nasty garbage because the compressed content now no longer matches the headers. Another issue is Caching, which has to account for all possible ways of compression and non-compression that the content is served. Basically compressed content and caching don't mix well. I wrote about several of these issues in an old blog post and I recommend you take a quick peek before diving into making every bit of output Gzip encoded. None of these are show stoppers, but you have to be aware of the issues. Related Posts GZip Compression with ASP.NET Content ASP.NET GZip Encoding Caveats© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in ASP.NET  MVC   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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  • SQL SERVER – Developer Training Resources and Summary Roundup

    - by pinaldave
    It is always pleasure for any author when other renowned authors in the industry write about you. Earlier I wrote a five part blog series on Developer Training and I have received a phenomenal response to the series. I have received plenty of comments, questions and feedback. I thought it would be nice to sum up the whole series as well answer a few of the questions received. Quick Recap Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 In this part we discussed the importance of training in the real world. The most important and valuable resource any company is its employee. Employees who have been well-trained will be better at their jobs and produce a better product.  An employee who is well trained obviously knows more about their job and all the technical aspects. I have a very high opinion about training employees and it is the most important task. Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 In this part we discussed the most crucial components of training. Often employees are expecting the company to pay for their training and the company expresses no interest in training the employee. Quite often training expenses are the real issue for both the employee and employer. There are companies that pay for 100% of the expenses and there are employees who opt for training on their own expense during their personal time. Training is often looked at as vacation by employee and employers and we need to change this mind-set. One of the ways is to report back the learning to your manager and implement newly learned knowledge in day-to-day work. Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 This part was the most difficult to write as I tried to address a few difficult questions and answers. Training is such a sensitive issue that many developers when not receiving chance for training think about leaving the organization. The manager often feels pressure to accommodate every single employee for training even though his training budget is limited. It is indeed the responsibility of the developer to get maximum advantage from the training. Training immediately helps organizations but stays as a part of an employee’s knowledge forever. Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 In this part I tried to explore a few methods and options for training. The generic feedback I received on this blog post was short and I should have explored each of the subject of the training in details. I believe there are two big buckets of training 1) Instructor Lead Training and 2) Self Lead Training. The common element between both the methods is “learning material”. Learning material can be of any format – videos, books, paper notes or just a plain black board. Instructor-led training is a very effective mode but not possible every single time. During the course of the developer’s career, one has to learn lots of new technology and it is almost impossible to have a quality trainer available on that subject at that time. Books are most effective and proven methods, however, it always helps if someone explains the concepts of the book with a demonstration. In recent times I have started to believe in online trainings which leads to a hybrid experience. Online trainings take the best part of the books and the best part of the instructor-led training and gives effective training in a matter of hours. Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 In this part, I shared what I was continuously thinking about developer training. There is no better teacher than oneself. There is no better motivation than a personal desire to learn new technology. Honestly there is nothing more personal learning. That “change is the only constant” and “adapt & overcome” are the essential lessons of life. One cannot stop the learning and resist the change. In the IT industry “ego of knowing all” and the “resistance to change” are the most challenging issues. Once someone overcomes them, life is much easier. I believe that proper and appropriate high quality training can help to address the burning issues. Opinion of Friends I invited a few of my friends to express their opinion about developer training and here are their opinions. I am listing them here in the order of the blog post publishing date. Nakul Vachhrajani - Developer Trainings-Importance, Benefits, Tips and follow-up Nakul’s sums of many of the concepts which are complementary to my blog posts. Nakul addresses the burning question of developer training with different angles. I am personally very impressed by his following statement - “Being skilled does not mean having just a stack of certifications, but it also means having an understanding about the internals of the products that you are working on – and using that knowledge to improve the efficiency & productivity at the workplace in turn resulting in better products, better consulting abilities and a happier self.” Nakul also suggests the online training options of Pluralsight. Vinod Kumar - Training–a necessity or bonus Vinod Kumar comes up with excellent follow up on developer training. Vinod is known for his inspirational writing about SQL Server. Vinod starts with a story of a student who is extremely eager to learn the wisdom of life from a monk but the monk does not accept him as a disciple for a long time. The conversation between student and monk is indeed an essence of all learning. We all want to learn quickly and be successful but the most important thing in life is to have the right attitude towards learning and more so towards life. The blog post end with a very important thought about how to avoid the famous excuse – “I don’t have enough time.” Ritesh Shah - Training – useful or useless? Ritesh brings up very important concept related to training. Ritesh in his meticulous style explains why training is an important and lifelong process. Training must not stop at any age but should continue forever. The moment training stops, progress stops along with. Paras Doshi - Professional Development Resource Paras is known for his to–the-point writing, and has summarized the five part series very precisely. He read the five part series and created a digest summary of the blog post. If you are in a rush and have no time to read my five series – I suggest you read his blog post. Training Resources I am often asked what the best resources for learning new technology are. This is the most difficult question EVER. There are plenty of good training resources available. When it is about training our needs are different, our preference of learning is different and we all have an opinion. Additionally, we all are located in different geographic locations worldwide and there is no way one solution will fit all. However, let me list a few of the training resources which I have built so far and you can consume them if you find it relevant to your need. SQL Server Books SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers SQL Wait Stats SQL Programming Joes 2 Pros SQL Server Video Tutorials SQL Server Questions and Answers SQL Server Performance: Indexing Basics SQL Server Performance: Introduction to Query Tuning SQL in Sixty Seconds Series of Sixty Seconds Learning Video on YouTube Trust me worldwide web is very big and there are plenty of high quality learning materials available worldwide – trainer-led as well online. I suggest you explore various options and make the best choice for yourself. Remember, training is your personal journey and it should never stop. Are you ready? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Developer Training, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • An easy way to create Side by Side registrationless COM Manifests with Visual Studio

    - by Rick Strahl
    Here's something I didn't find out until today: You can use Visual Studio to easily create registrationless COM manifest files for you with just a couple of small steps. Registrationless COM lets you use COM component without them being registered in the registry. This means it's possible to deploy COM components along with another application using plain xcopy semantics. To be sure it's rarely quite that easy - you need to watch out for dependencies - but if you know you have COM components that are light weight and have no or known dependencies it's easy to get everything into a single folder and off you go. Registrationless COM works via manifest files which carry the same name as the executable plus a .manifest extension (ie. yourapp.exe.manifest) I'm going to use a Visual FoxPro COM object as an example and create a simple Windows Forms app that calls the component - without that component being registered. Let's take a walk down memory lane… Create a COM Component I start by creating a FoxPro COM component because that's what I know and am working with here in my legacy environment. You can use VB classic or C++ ATL object if that's more to your liking. Here's a real simple Fox one: DEFINE CLASS SimpleServer as Session OLEPUBLIC FUNCTION HelloWorld(lcName) RETURN "Hello " + lcName ENDDEFINE Compile it into a DLL COM component with: BUILD MTDLL simpleserver FROM simpleserver RECOMPILE And to make sure it works test it quickly from Visual FoxPro: server = CREATEOBJECT("simpleServer.simpleserver") MESSAGEBOX( server.HelloWorld("Rick") ) Using Visual Studio to create a Manifest File for a COM Component Next open Visual Studio and create a new executable project - a Console App or WinForms or WPF application will all do. Go to the References Node Select Add Reference Use the Browse tab and find your compiled DLL to import  Next you'll see your assembly in the project. Right click on the reference and select Properties Click on the Isolated DropDown and select True Compile and that's all there's to it. Visual Studio will create a App.exe.manifest file right alongside your application's EXE. The manifest file created looks like this: xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"? assembly xsi:schemaLocation="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1 assembly.adaptive.xsd" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:co.v1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:clickonce.v1" xmlns:co.v2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:clickonce.v2" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" assemblyIdentity name="App.exe" version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86" type="win32" / file name="simpleserver.DLL" asmv2:size="27293" hash xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" dsig:Transforms dsig:Transform Algorithm="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:HashTransforms.Identity" / dsig:Transforms dsig:DigestMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#sha1" / dsig:DigestValuepuq+ua20bbidGOWhPOxfquztBCU=dsig:DigestValue hash typelib tlbid="{f10346e2-c9d9-47f7-81d1-74059cc15c3c}" version="1.0" helpdir="" resourceid="0" flags="HASDISKIMAGE" / comClass clsid="{af2c2811-0657-4264-a1f5-06d033a969ff}" threadingModel="Apartment" tlbid="{f10346e2-c9d9-47f7-81d1-74059cc15c3c}" progid="simpleserver.SimpleServer" description="simpleserver.SimpleServer" / file assembly Now let's finish our super complex console app to test with: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; namespace ConsoleApplication1 {     class Program     {         static voidMain(string[] args)         { Type type = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("simpleserver.simpleserver",true); dynamic server = Activator.CreateInstance(type); Console.WriteLine(server.HelloWorld("rick")); Console.ReadLine(); } } } Now run the Console Application… As expected that should work. And why not? The COM component is still registered, right? :-) Nothing tricky about that. Let's unregister the COM component and then re-run and see what happens. Go to the Command Prompt Change to the folder where the DLL is installed Unregister with: RegSvr32 -u simpleserver.dll      To be sure that the COM component no longer works, check it out with the same test you used earlier (ie. o = CREATEOBJECT("SimpleServer.SimpleServer") in your development environment or VBScript etc.). Make sure you run the EXE and you don't re-compile the application or else Visual Studio will complain that it can't find the COM component in the registry while compiling. In fact now that we have our .manifest file you can remove the COM object from the project. When you run run the EXE from Windows Explorer or a command prompt to avoid the recompile. Watch out for embedded Manifest Files Now recompile your .NET project and run it… and it will most likely fail! The problem is that .NET applications by default embeds a manifest file into the compiled EXE application which results in the externally created manifest file being completely ignored. Only one manifest can be applied at a time and the compiled manifest takes precedency. Uh, thanks Visual Studio - not very helpful… Note that if you use another development tool like Visual FoxPro to create your EXE this won't be an issue as long as the tool doesn't automatically add a manifest file. Creating a Visual FoxPro EXE for example will work immediately with the generated manifest file as is. If you are using .NET and Visual Studio you have a couple of options of getting around this: Remove the embedded manifest file Copy the contents of the generated manifest file into a project manifest file and compile that in To remove an embedded manifest in a Visual Studio project: Open the Project Properties (Alt-Enter on project node) Go down to Resources | Manifest and select | Create Application without a Manifest   You can now add use the external manifest file and it will actually be respected when the app runs. The other option is to let Visual Studio create the manifest file on disk and then explicitly add the manifest file into the project. Notice on the dialog above I did this for app.exe.manifest and the manifest actually shows up in the list. If I select this file it will be compiled into the EXE and be used in lieu of any external files and that works as well. Remove the simpleserver.dll reference so you can compile your code and run the application. Now it should work without COM registration of the component. Personally I prefer external manifests because they can be modified after the fact - compiled manifests are evil in my mind because they are immutable - once they are there they can't be overriden or changed. So I prefer an external manifest. However, if you are absolutely sure nothing needs to change and you don't want anybody messing with your manifest, you can also embed it. The option to either is there. Watch for Manifest Caching While working trying to get this to work I ran into some problems at first. Specifically when it wasn't working at first (due to the embedded schema) I played with various different manifest layouts in different files etc.. There are a number of different ways to actually represent manifest files including offloading to separate folder (more on that later). A few times I made deliberate errors in the schema file and I found that regardless of what I did once the app failed or worked no amount of changing of the manifest file would make it behave differently. It appears that Windows is caching the manifest data for a given EXE or DLL. It takes a restart or a recompile of either the EXE or the DLL to clear the caching. Recompile your servers in order to see manifest changes unless there's an outright failure of an invalid manifest file. If the app starts the manifest is being read and caches immediately. This can be very confusing especially if you don't know that it's happening. I found myself always recompiling the exe after each run and before making any changes to the manifest file. Don't forget about Runtimes of COM Objects In the example I used above I used a Visual FoxPro COM component. Visual FoxPro is a runtime based environment so if I'm going to distribute an application that uses a FoxPro COM object the runtimes need to be distributed as well. The same is true of classic Visual Basic applications. Assuming that you don't know whether the runtimes are installed on the target machines make sure to install all the additional files in the EXE's directory alongside the COM DLL. In the case of Visual FoxPro the target folder should contain: The EXE  App.exe The Manifest file (unless it's compiled in) App.exe.manifest The COM object DLL (simpleserver.dll) Visual FoxPro Runtimes: VFP9t.dll (or VFP9r.dll for non-multithreaded dlls), vfp9rENU.dll, msvcr71.dll All these files should be in the same folder. Debugging Manifest load Errors If you for some reason get your manifest loading wrong there are a couple of useful tools available - SxSTrace and SxSParse. These two tools can be a huge help in debugging manifest loading errors. Put the following into a batch file (SxS_Trace.bat for example): sxstrace Trace -logfile:sxs.bin sxstrace Parse -logfile:sxs.bin -outfile:sxs.txt Then start the batch file before running your EXE. Make sure there's no caching happening as described in the previous section. For example, if I go into the manifest file and explicitly break the CLSID and/or ProgID I get a detailed report on where the EXE is looking for the manifest and what it's reading. Eventually the trace gives me an error like this: INFO: Parsing Manifest File C:\wwapps\Conf\SideBySide\Code\app.EXE.     INFO: Manifest Definition Identity is App.exe,processorArchitecture="x86",type="win32",version="1.0.0.0".     ERROR: Line 13: The value {AAaf2c2811-0657-4264-a1f5-06d033a969ff} of attribute clsid in element comClass is invalid. ERROR: Activation Context generation failed. End Activation Context Generation. pinpointing nicely where the error lies. Pay special attention to the various attributes - they have to match exactly in the different sections of the manifest file(s). Multiple COM Objects The manifest file that Visual Studio creates is actually quite more complex than is required for basic registrationless COM object invokation. The manifest file can be simplified a lot actually by stripping off various namespaces and removing the type library references altogether. Here's an example of a simplified manifest file that actually includes references to 2 COM servers: xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"? assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" assemblyIdentity name="App.exe" version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86" type="win32" / file name="simpleserver.DLL" comClass clsid="{af2c2811-0657-4264-a1f5-06d033a969ff}" threadingModel="Apartment" progid="simpleserver.SimpleServer" description="simpleserver.SimpleServer" / file file name = "sidebysidedeploy.dll" comClass clsid="{EF82B819-7963-4C36-9443-3978CD94F57C}" progid="sidebysidedeploy.SidebysidedeployServer" description="SidebySideDeploy Server" threadingModel="apartment" / file assembly Simple enough right? Routing to separate Manifest Files and Folders In the examples above all files ended up in the application's root folder - all the DLLs, support files and runtimes. Sometimes that's not so desirable and you can actually create separate manifest files. The easiest way to do this is to create a manifest file that 'routes' to another manifest file in a separate folder. Basically you create a new 'assembly identity' via a named id. You can then create a folder and another manifest with the id plus .manifest that points at the actual file. In this example I create: App.exe.manifest A folder called App.deploy A manifest file in App.deploy All DLLs and runtimes in App.deploy Let's start with that master manifest file. This file only holds a reference to another manifest file: App.exe.manifest xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"? assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" assemblyIdentity name="App.exe" version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86" type="win32" / dependency dependentAssembly assemblyIdentity name="App.deploy" version="1.0.0.0" type="win32" / dependentAssembly dependency assembly   Note this file only contains a dependency to App.deploy which is another manifest id. I can then create App.deploy.manifest in the current folder or in an App.deploy folder. In this case I'll create App.deploy and in it copy the DLLs and support runtimes. I then create App.deploy.manifest. App.deploy.manifest xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"? assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" assemblyIdentity name="App.deploy" type="win32" version="1.0.0.0" / file name="simpleserver.DLL" comClass clsid="{af2c2811-0657-4264-a1f5-06d033a969ff}" threadingModel="Apartment" progid="simpleserver.SimpleServer" description="simpleserver.SimpleServer" / file file name="sidebysidedeploy.dll" comClass clsid="{EF82B819-7963-4C36-9443-3978CD94F57C}" threadingModel="Apartment" progid="sidebysidedeploy.SidebysidedeployServer" description="SidebySideDeploy Server" / file assembly   In this manifest file I then host my COM DLLs and any support runtimes. This is quite useful if you have lots of DLLs you are referencing or if you need to have separate configuration and application files that are associated with the COM object. This way the operation of your main application and the COM objects it interacts with is somewhat separated. You can see the two folders here:   Routing Manifests to different Folders In theory registrationless COM should be pretty easy in painless - you've seen the configuration manifest files and it certainly doesn't look very complicated, right? But the devil's in the details. The ActivationContext API (SxS - side by side activation) is very intolerant of small errors in the XML or formatting of the keys, so be really careful when setting up components, especially if you are manually editing these files. If you do run into trouble SxsTrace/SxsParse are a huge help to track down the problems. And remember that if you do have problems that you'll need to recompile your EXEs or DLLs for the SxS APIs to refresh themselves properly. All of this gets even more fun if you want to do registrationless COM inside of IIS :-) But I'll leave that for another blog post…© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2011Posted in COM  .NET  FoxPro   Tweet (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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  • Silverlight Recruiting Application Part 6 - Adding an Interview Scheduling Module/View

    Between the last post and this one I went ahead and carried the ideas for the Jobs module and view into the Applicants module and view- they're both doing more or less the same thing, except with different objects being at their core.  Made for an easy cut-and-paste operation with a few items being switched from one to another.  Now that we have the ability to add postings and applicants, wouldn't it be nice if we could schedule an interview?  Of course it would! Scheduling Module I think you get the drift from previous posts that these project structures start looking somewhat similar.  The interview scheduling module is no different than the rest- it gets a SchedulingModule.cs file at the root that inherits from IModule, and there is a single SchedulerView.xsml and SchedulerViewModel.cs setup for our V+VM.  We have one unique concern as we enter into this- RadScheduler deals with AppointmentsSource, not ItemsSource, so there are some special considerations to take into account when planning this module. First, I need something which inherits from AppointmentBase.  This is the core of the RadScheduler appointment, and if you are planning to do any form of custom appointment, you'll want it to inherit from this.  Then you can add-on functionality as needed.  Here is my addition to the mix, the InterviewAppointment: 01.public class InterviewAppointment : AppointmentBase 02.{ 03.    private int _applicantID; 04.    public int ApplicantID 05.    { 06.        get { return this._applicantID; } 07.        set 08.        { 09.            if (_applicantID != value) 10.            { 11.                _applicantID = value; 12.                OnPropertyChanged("ApplicantID"); 13.            } 14.        } 15.    } 16.   17.    private int _postingID; 18.    public int PostingID 19.    { 20.        get { return _postingID; } 21.        set 22.        { 23.            if (_postingID != value) 24.            { 25.                _postingID = value; 26.                OnPropertyChanged("PostingID"); 27.            } 28.        } 29.    } 30.   31.    private string _body; 32.    public string Body 33.    { 34.        get { return _body; } 35.        set 36.        { 37.            if (_body != value) 38.            { 39.                _body = value; 40.                OnPropertyChanged("Body"); 41.            } 42.        } 43.    } 44.   45.    private int _interviewID; 46.    public int InterviewID 47.    { 48.        get { return _interviewID; } 49.        set 50.        { 51.            if (_interviewID != value) 52.            { 53.                _interviewID = value; 54.                OnPropertyChanged("InterviewID"); 55.            } 56.        } 57.    } 58.   59.    public override IAppointment Copy() 60.    { 61.        IAppointment appointment = new InterviewAppointment(); 62.        appointment.CopyFrom(this);             63.        return appointment; 64.    } 65.   66.    public override void CopyFrom(IAppointment other) 67.    {             68.        base.CopyFrom(other); 69.        var appointment = other as InterviewAppointment; 70.        if (appointment != null) 71.        { 72.            ApplicantID = appointment.ApplicantID; 73.            PostingID = appointment.PostingID; 74.            Body = appointment.Body; 75.            InterviewID = appointment.InterviewID; 76.        } 77.    } 78.} Nothing too exciting going on here, we just make sure that our custom fields are persisted (specifically set in CopyFrom at the bottom) and notifications are fired- otherwise this ends up exactly like the standard appointment as far as interactions, etc.  But if we've got custom appointment items... that also means we need to customize what our appointment dialog window will look like. Customizing the Edit Appointment Dialog This initially sounds a lot more intimidating than it really is.  The first step here depends on what you're dealing with for theming, but for ease of everything I went ahead and extracted my templates in Blend for RadScheduler so I could modify it as I pleased.  For the faint of heart, the RadScheduler template is a few thousand lines of goodness since there are some very complex things going on in that control.  I've gone ahead and trimmed down the template parts I don't need as much as possible, so what is left is all that is relevant to the Edit Appointment Dialog.  Here's the resulting Xaml, with line numbers, so I can explain further: 001.<UserControl.Resources> 002.    <!-- begin Necessary Windows 7 Theme Resources for EditAppointmentTemplate --> 003.    <helpers:DataContextProxy x:Key="DataContextProxy" /> 004.       005.    <telerik:Windows7Theme x:Key="Theme" /> 006.    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="DialogWindowBackground" 007.                     Color="White" /> 008.    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="CategorySelectorBorderBrush" 009.                     Color="#FFB1B1B1" /> 010.    <LinearGradientBrush x:Key="RadToolBar_InnerBackground" 011.                         EndPoint="0.5,1" 012.                         StartPoint="0.5,0"> 013.        <GradientStop Color="#FFFDFEFF" 014.                      Offset="0" /> 015.        <GradientStop Color="#FFDDE9F7" 016.                      Offset="1" /> 017.        <GradientStop Color="#FFE6F0FA" 018.                      Offset="0.5" /> 019.        <GradientStop Color="#FFDCE6F4" 020.                      Offset="0.5" /> 021.    </LinearGradientBrush> 022.    <Style x:Key="FormElementTextBlockStyle" 023.           TargetType="TextBlock"> 024.        <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" 025.                Value="Right" /> 026.        <Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" 027.                Value="Top" /> 028.        <Setter Property="Margin" 029.                Value="15, 15, 0, 2" /> 030.    </Style> 031.    <Style x:Key="FormElementStyle" 032.           TargetType="FrameworkElement"> 033.        <Setter Property="Margin" 034.                Value="10, 10, 0, 2" /> 035.    </Style> 036.    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="GenericShallowBorderBrush" 037.                     Color="#FF979994" /> 038.    <telerik:BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key="BooleanToVisibilityConverter" /> 039.    <telerikScheduler:ImportanceToBooleanConverter x:Key="ImportanceToBooleanConverter" /> 040.    <telerikScheduler:NullToVisibilityConverter x:Key="NullToVisibilityConverter" /> 041.    <telerikScheduler:InvertedNullToVisibilityConverter x:Key="InvertedNullToVisibilityConverter" /> 042.    <scheduler:ResourcesSeparatorConverter x:Key="ResourcesSeparatorConverter" /> 043.    <DataTemplate x:Key="IconDataEditTemplate"> 044.        <Image Source="/Telerik.Windows.Controls.Scheduler;component/Themes/Office/Images/cal.png" 045.               Margin="3,3,0,0" 046.               Width="16" 047.               Height="16" /> 048.    </DataTemplate> 049.    <DataTemplate x:Key="SingleSelectionTemplate"> 050.        <Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" 051.              HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"> 052.            <Grid.RowDefinitions> 053.                <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 054.            </Grid.RowDefinitions> 055.            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 056.                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 057.                                  MinWidth="84" /> 058.                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 059.                                  MinWidth="200" /> 060.            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 061.            <TextBlock x:Name="SelectionNameLabel" 062.                       Margin="0,13,4,2" 063.                       Text="{Binding ResourceType.DisplayName}" 064.                       Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" 065.                       Grid.Column="0" /> 066.            <telerikInput:RadComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding ResourceItems}" 067.                                      Width="185" 068.                                      Margin="5,10,20,2" 069.                                      HorizontalAlignment="Left" 070.                                      Grid.Column="1" 071.                                      ClearSelectionButtonVisibility="Visible" 072.                                      ClearSelectionButtonContent="Clear All" 073.                                      DisplayMemberPath="Resource.DisplayName" 074.                                      telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 075.                                      SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedItem, Mode=TwoWay}" /> 076.        </Grid> 077.    </DataTemplate> 078.    <DataTemplate x:Key="MultipleSelectionTemplate"> 079.        <Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" 080.              HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"> 081.            <Grid.RowDefinitions> 082.                <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 083.            </Grid.RowDefinitions> 084.            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 085.                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 086.                                  MinWidth="84" /> 087.                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 088.                                  MinWidth="200" /> 089.            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 090.            <TextBlock x:Name="SelectionNameLabel" 091.                       Grid.Column="0" 092.                       Text="{Binding ResourceType.DisplayName}" 093.                       Margin="0,13,4,2" 094.                       Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 095.            <telerikInput:RadComboBox Grid.Column="1" 096.                                      Width="185" 097.                                      HorizontalAlignment="Left" 098.                                      Margin="5,10,20,2" 099.                                      ItemsSource="{Binding ResourceItems}" 100.                                      SelectedIndex="{Binding SelectedIndex, Mode=TwoWay}" 101.                                      ClearSelectionButtonVisibility="Visible" 102.                                      ClearSelectionButtonContent="Clear All" 103.                                      telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}"> 104.                <telerikInput:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate> 105.                    <DataTemplate> 106.                        <Grid HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" 107.                              VerticalAlignment="Stretch"> 108.                            <CheckBox VerticalAlignment="Center" 109.                                      HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch" 110.                                      VerticalContentAlignment="Center" 111.                                      IsChecked="{Binding IsChecked, Mode=TwoWay}" 112.                                      Content="{Binding Resource.DisplayName}"> 113.                                <CheckBox.ContentTemplate> 114.                                    <DataTemplate> 115.                                        <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" 116.                                                   VerticalAlignment="Stretch" 117.                                                   Text="{Binding Content, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" /> 118.                                    </DataTemplate> 119.                                </CheckBox.ContentTemplate> 120.                            </CheckBox> 121.                        </Grid> 122.                    </DataTemplate> 123.                </telerikInput:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate> 124.            </telerikInput:RadComboBox> 125.        </Grid> 126.    </DataTemplate> 127.    <scheduler:ResourceTypeTemplateSelector x:Key="ItemTemplateSelector" 128.                                            MultipleSelectionTemplate="{StaticResource MultipleSelectionTemplate}" 129.                                            SingleSelectionTemplate="{StaticResource SingleSelectionTemplate}" /> 130.    <!-- end Necessary Windows 7 Theme Resources for EditAppointmentTemplate -->  131.       132.    <ControlTemplate x:Key="EditAppointmentTemplate" 133.                     TargetType="telerikScheduler:AppointmentDialogWindow"> 134.        <StackPanel Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" 135.                    UseLayoutRounding="True"> 136.            <StackPanel Grid.Row="0" 137.                        Orientation="Horizontal" 138.                        Background="{StaticResource RadToolBar_InnerBackground}" 139.                        Grid.ColumnSpan="2" 140.                        Height="0"> 141.                <!-- Recurrence buttons --> 142.                <Border Margin="1,1,0,0" 143.                        Background="#50000000" 144.                        HorizontalAlignment="Left" 145.                        VerticalAlignment="Center" 146.                        Width="2" 147.                        Height="16"> 148.                    <Border Margin="0,0,1,1" 149.                            Background="#80FFFFFF" 150.                            HorizontalAlignment="Left" 151.                            Width="1" /> 152.                </Border> 153.                <Border Margin="1,1,0,0" 154.                        Background="#50000000" 155.                        HorizontalAlignment="Left" 156.                        VerticalAlignment="Center" 157.                        Width="2" 158.                        Height="16"> 159.                    <Border Margin="0,0,1,1" 160.                            Background="#80FFFFFF" 161.                            HorizontalAlignment="Left" 162.                            Width="1" /> 163.                </Border> 164.                <TextBlock telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="ShowAs" 165.                           VerticalAlignment="Center" 166.                           Margin="5,0,0,0" /> 167.                <telerikInput:RadComboBox ItemsSource="{TemplateBinding TimeMarkers}" 168.                                          Width="100" 169.                                          Height="20" 170.                                          VerticalAlignment="Center" 171.                                          Margin="5,0,0,0" 172.                                          ClearSelectionButtonVisibility="Visible" 173.                                          ClearSelectionButtonContent="Clear" 174.                                          SelectedItem="{Binding TimeMarker,RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent},Mode=TwoWay}" 175.                                          telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}"> 176.                    <telerikInput:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate> 177.                        <DataTemplate> 178.                            <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal"> 179.                                <Rectangle Fill="{Binding TimeMarkerBrush}" 180.                                           Margin="2" 181.                                           Width="12" 182.                                           Height="12" /> 183.                                <TextBlock Text="{Binding TimeMarkerName}" 184.                                           Margin="2" /> 185.                            </StackPanel> 186.                        </DataTemplate> 187.                    </telerikInput:RadComboBox.ItemTemplate> 188.                </telerikInput:RadComboBox> 189.                <telerik:RadToggleButton x:Name="High" 190.                                         BorderThickness="0" 191.                                         Background="{StaticResource RadToolBar_InnerBackground}" 192.                                         DataContext="{TemplateBinding EditedAppointment}" 193.                                         telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 194.                                         IsChecked="{Binding Importance,Mode=TwoWay, Converter={StaticResource ImportanceToBooleanConverter},ConverterParameter=High}" 195.                                         Margin="2,2,0,2" 196.                                         Width="23" 197.                                         Height="23" 198.                                         HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" 199.                                         ToolTipService.ToolTip="High importance" 200.                                         CommandParameter="High" 201.                                         Command="telerikScheduler:RadSchedulerCommands.SetAppointmentImportance"> 202.                    <StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center"> 203.                        <Path Stretch="Fill" 204.                              Height="10" 205.                              HorizontalAlignment="Center" 206.                              VerticalAlignment="Top" 207.                              Width="5.451" 208.                              Data="M200.39647,58.840393 C200.39337,58.336426 201.14566,57.683922 202.56244,57.684292 C204.06589,57.684685 204.73764,58.357765 204.72783,58.992363 C205.04649,61.795574 203.04713,64.181099 202.47388,66.133446 C201.93753,64.154961 199.9471,61.560352 200.39647,58.840393 z"> 209.                            <Path.Fill> 210.                                <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="1.059,0.375" 211.                                                     StartPoint="-0.457,0.519"> 212.                                    <GradientStop Color="#FFFF0606" 213.                                                  Offset="0.609" /> 214.                                    <GradientStop Color="#FFBF0303" 215.                                                  Offset="0.927" /> 216.                                </LinearGradientBrush> 217.                            </Path.Fill> 218.                        </Path> 219.                        <Ellipse Height="3" 220.                                 HorizontalAlignment="Center" 221.                                 Margin="0,-1,0,0" 222.                                 VerticalAlignment="Top" 223.                                 Width="3"> 224.                            <Ellipse.Fill> 225.                                <RadialGradientBrush> 226.                                    <GradientStop Color="#FFFF0606" 227.                                                  Offset="0" /> 228.                                    <GradientStop Color="#FFBF0303" 229.                                                  Offset="1" /> 230.                                </RadialGradientBrush> 231.                            </Ellipse.Fill> 232.                        </Ellipse> 233.                    </StackPanel> 234.                </telerik:RadToggleButton> 235.                <telerik:RadToggleButton x:Name="Low" 236.                                         HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" 237.                                         BorderThickness="0" 238.                                         Background="{StaticResource RadToolBar_InnerBackground}" 239.                                         DataContext="{TemplateBinding EditedAppointment}" 240.                                         IsChecked="{Binding Importance,Mode=TwoWay, Converter={StaticResource ImportanceToBooleanConverter},ConverterParameter=Low}" 241.                                         Margin="0,2,0,2" 242.                                         Width="23" 243.                                         Height="23" 244.                                         ToolTipService.ToolTip="Low importance" 245.                                         CommandParameter="Low" 246.                                         telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 247.                                         Command="telerikScheduler:RadSchedulerCommands.SetAppointmentImportance"> 248.                    <Path Stretch="Fill" 249.                          Height="12" 250.                          HorizontalAlignment="Center" 251.                          VerticalAlignment="Top" 252.                          Width="9" 253.                          Data="M222.40353,60.139881 L226.65768,60.139843 L226.63687,67.240196 L229.15347,67.240196 L224.37816,71.394943 L219.65274,67.240196 L222.37572,67.219345 z" 254.                          Stroke="#FF0365A7"> 255.                        <Path.Fill> 256.                            <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="1.059,0.375" 257.                                                 StartPoint="-0.457,0.519"> 258.                                <GradientStop Color="#FFBBE4FF" /> 259.                                <GradientStop Color="#FF024572" 260.                                              Offset="0.836" /> 261.                                <GradientStop Color="#FF43ADF4" 262.                                              Offset="0.466" /> 263.                            </LinearGradientBrush> 264.                        </Path.Fill> 265.                    </Path> 266.                </telerik:RadToggleButton> 267.            </StackPanel > 268.            <Border DataContext="{TemplateBinding EditedAppointment}" 269.                    Background="{Binding Category.CategoryBrush}" 270.                    Visibility="{Binding Category,Converter={StaticResource NullToVisibilityConverter}}" 271.                    CornerRadius="3" 272.                    Height="20" 273.                    Margin="5,10,5,0"> 274.                <TextBlock Text="{Binding Category.DisplayName}" 275.                           VerticalAlignment="Center" 276.                           Margin="5,0,0,0" /> 277.            </Border> 278.            <Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" 279.                  HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" 280.                  DataContext="{TemplateBinding EditedAppointment}" 281.                  Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"> 282.                <Grid.RowDefinitions> 283.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 284.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 285.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 286.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 287.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 288.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 289.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 290.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 291.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 292.                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 293.                </Grid.RowDefinitions> 294.                <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 295.                    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 296.                                      MinWidth="100" /> 297.                    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 298.                                      MinWidth="200" /> 299.                </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 300.                <!-- Subject --> 301.                <TextBlock x:Name="SubjectLabel" 302.                           Grid.Row="0" 303.                           Grid.Column="0" 304.                           Margin="0,15,0,2" 305.                           telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Subject" 306.                           Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 307.                <TextBox x:Name="Subject" 308.                         Grid.Row="0" 309.                         Grid.Column="1" 310.                         MinHeight="22" 311.                         Padding="4 2" 312.                         Width="340" 313.                         HorizontalAlignment="Left" 314.                         Text="{Binding Subject, Mode=TwoWay}" 315.                         MaxLength="255" 316.                         telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 317.                         Margin="10,12,20,2" /> 318.                <!-- Description --> 319.                <TextBlock x:Name="DescriptionLabel" 320.                           Grid.Row="1" 321.                           Grid.Column="0" 322.                           Margin="0,13,0,2" 323.                           telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Body" 324.                           Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 325.                <TextBox x:Name="Body" 326.                         VerticalAlignment="top" 327.                         Grid.Row="1" 328.                         Grid.Column="1" 329.                         Height="Auto" 330.                         MaxHeight="82" 331.                         Width="340" 332.                         HorizontalAlignment="Left" 333.                         MinHeight="22" 334.                         Padding="4 2" 335.                         TextWrapping="Wrap" 336.                         telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 337.                         Text="{Binding Body, Mode=TwoWay}" 338.                         AcceptsReturn="true" 339.                         Margin="10,10,20,2" 340.                         HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" 341.                         VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" /> 342.                <!-- Start/End date --> 343.                <TextBlock x:Name="StartDateLabel" 344.                           Grid.Row="2" 345.                           Grid.Column="0" 346.                           Margin="0,13,0,2" 347.                           telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="StartTime" 348.                           Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 349.                <telerikScheduler:DateTimePicker x:Name="StartDateTime" 350.                                                 Height="22" 351.                                                 Grid.Row="2" 352.                                                 Grid.Column="1" 353.                                                 HorizontalAlignment="Left" 354.                                                 Margin="10,10,20,2" 355.                                                 Style="{StaticResource FormElementStyle}" 356.                                                 SelectedDateTime="{Binding Start, Mode=TwoWay}" 357.                                                 telerikScheduler:StartEndDatePicker.EndPicker="{Binding ElementName=EndDateTime}" 358.                                                 IsTabStop="False" 359.                                                 IsEnabled="False" /> 360.                <TextBlock x:Name="EndDateLabel" 361.                           Grid.Row="3" 362.                           Grid.Column="0" 363.                           Margin="0,13,0,2" 364.                           telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="EndTime" 365.                           Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 366.                <telerikScheduler:DateTimePicker x:Name="EndDateTime" 367.                                                 Height="22" 368.                                                 Grid.Row="3" 369.                                                 Grid.Column="1" 370.                                                 HorizontalAlignment="Left" 371.                                                 Margin="10,10,20,2" 372.                                                 Style="{StaticResource FormElementStyle}" 373.                                                 IsTabStop="False" 374.                                                 IsEnabled="False" 375.                                                 SelectedDateTime="{Binding End, Mode=TwoWay}" /> 376.                <!-- Is-all-day selector --> 377.                <CheckBox x:Name="AllDayEventCheckbox" 378.                          IsChecked="{Binding IsAllDayEvent, Mode=TwoWay}" 379.                          Grid.Row="4" 380.                          Grid.Column="1" 381.                          Margin="10,10,20,2" 382.                          HorizontalAlignment="Left" 383.                          telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 384.                          telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="AllDayEvent"> 385.                    <telerik:CommandManager.InputBindings> 386.                        <telerik:InputBindingCollection> 387.                            <telerik:MouseBinding Command="telerikScheduler:RadSchedulerCommands.ChangeTimePickersVisibility" 388.                                                  Gesture="LeftClick" /> 389.                        </telerik:InputBindingCollection> 390.                    </telerik:CommandManager.InputBindings> 391.                </CheckBox> 392.                <Grid Grid.Row="5" 393.                      Grid.ColumnSpan="2"> 394.                    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 395.                        <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 396.                                          MinWidth="100" /> 397.                        <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" 398.                                          MinWidth="200" /> 399.                    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> 400.                    <Grid.RowDefinitions> 401.                        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 402.                        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> 403.                    </Grid.RowDefinitions> 404.                    <TextBlock Text="Applicant" 405.                               Margin="0,13,0,2" 406.                               Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 407.                    <telerikInput:RadComboBox IsEditable="False" 408.                                              Grid.Column="1" 409.                                              Height="24" 410.                                              VerticalAlignment="Center" 411.                                              ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource DataContextProxy}, Path=DataSource.ApplicantList}" 412.                                              SelectedValue="{Binding ApplicantID, Mode=TwoWay}" 413.                                              SelectedValuePath="ApplicantID" 414.                                              DisplayMemberPath="FirstName" /> 415.                       416.                    <TextBlock Text="Job" 417.                               Margin="0,13,0,2" 418.                               Grid.Row="1" 419.                               Style="{StaticResource FormElementTextBlockStyle}" /> 420.                    <telerikInput:RadComboBox IsEditable="False" 421.                                              Grid.Column="1" 422.                                              Grid.Row="1" 423.                                              Height="24" 424.                                              VerticalAlignment="Center" 425.                                              ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource DataContextProxy}, Path=DataSource.JobsList}" 426.                                              SelectedValue="{Binding PostingID, Mode=TwoWay}" 427.                                              SelectedValuePath="PostingID" 428.                                              DisplayMemberPath="JobTitle"/> 429.                </Grid> 430.                    <!-- Resources --> 431.                <Grid x:Name="ResourcesLayout" 432.                      Grid.Row="7" 433.                      Grid.Column="0" 434.                      Grid.ColumnSpan="2" 435.                      MaxHeight="130" 436.                      Margin="20,5,20,0"> 437.                    <Border Margin="0" 438.                            BorderThickness="1" 439.                            BorderBrush="{StaticResource GenericShallowBorderBrush}" 440.                            Visibility="{Binding ElementName=ResourcesScrollViewer, Path=ComputedVerticalScrollBarVisibility}"></Border> 441.                    <ScrollViewer x:Name="ResourcesScrollViewer" 442.                                  IsTabStop="false" 443.                                  Grid.Row="6" 444.                                  Grid.Column="0" 445.                                  Grid.ColumnSpan="2" 446.                                  Margin="1" 447.                                  telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 448.                                  VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"> 449.                        <scheduler:ResourcesItemsControl x:Name="PART_Resources" 450.                                                         HorizontalAlignment="Left" 451.                                                         Padding="0,2,0,5" 452.                                                         IsTabStop="false" 453.                                                         ItemsSource="{TemplateBinding ResourceTypeModels}" 454.                                                         ItemTemplateSelector="{StaticResource ItemTemplateSelector}" /> 455.                    </ScrollViewer> 456.                </Grid> 457.                <StackPanel x:Name="FooterControls" 458.                            Margin="5 10 10 10" 459.                            Grid.Row="8" 460.                            Grid.Column="1" 461.                            HorizontalAlignment="Left" 462.                            Orientation="Horizontal"> 463.                    <telerik:RadButton x:Name="OKButton" 464.                                       Margin="5" 465.                                       Padding="10 0" 466.                                       MinWidth="80" 467.                                       Command="telerikScheduler:RadSchedulerCommands.SaveAppointment" 468.                                       telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 469.                                       telerikNavigation:RadWindow.ResponseButton="Accept" 470.                                       telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="SaveAndCloseCommandText"> 471.                    </telerik:RadButton> 472.                    <telerik:RadButton x:Name="CancelButton" 473.                                       Margin="5" 474.                                       Padding="10 0" 475.                                       MinWidth="80" 476.                                       telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Cancel" 477.                                       telerik:StyleManager.Theme="{StaticResource Theme}" 478.                                       telerikNavigation:RadWindow.ResponseButton="Cancel" 479.                                       Command="telerik:WindowCommands.Close"> 480.                    </telerik:RadButton> 481.                </StackPanel> 482.            </Grid> 483.            <vsm:VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups> 484.                <vsm:VisualStateGroup x:Name="RecurrenceRuleState"> 485.                    <vsm:VisualState x:Name="RecurrenceRuleIsNull"> 486.                        <Storyboard> 487.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="StartDateTime" 488.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 489.                                                           Duration="0"> 490.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 491.                                                        Value="True" /> 492.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 493.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="EndDateTime" 494.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 495.                                                           Duration="0"> 496.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 497.                                                        Value="True" /> 498.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 499.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="AllDayEventCheckbox" 500.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 501.                                                           Duration="0"> 502.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 503.                                                        Value="True" /> 504.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 505.                        </Storyboard> 506.                    </vsm:VisualState> 507.                    <vsm:VisualState x:Name="RecurrenceRuleIsNotNull"> 508.                        <Storyboard> 509.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="StartDateTime" 510.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 511.                                                           Duration="0"> 512.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 513.                                                        Value="False" /> 514.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 515.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="EndDateTime" 516.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 517.                                                           Duration="0"> 518.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 519.                                                        Value="False" /> 520.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 521.                            <ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="AllDayEventCheckbox" 522.                                                           Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsEnabled" 523.                                                           Duration="0"> 524.                                <DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0" 525.                                                        Value="False" /> 526.                            </ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames> 527.                        </Storyboard> 528.                    </vsm:VisualState> 529.                </vsm:VisualStateGroup> 530.            </vsm:VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups> 531.        </StackPanel> 532.    </ControlTemplate> 533.    <DataTemplate x:Key="AppointmentDialogWindowHeaderDataTemplate"> 534.        <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" 535.                    MaxWidth="400"> 536.            <TextBlock telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Event" 537.                       Visibility="{Binding Appointment.IsAllDayEvent, Converter={StaticResource BooleanToVisibilityConverter}}" /> 538.            <TextBlock telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Appointment" 539.                       Visibility="{Binding Appointment.IsAllDayEvent, Converter={StaticResource InvertedBooleanToVisibilityConverter}}" /> 540.            <TextBlock Text=" - " /> 541.            <TextBlock x:Name="SubjectTextBlock" 542.                       Visibility="{Binding Appointment.Subject, Converter={StaticResource NullToVisibilityConverter}}" 543.                       Text="{Binding Appointment.Subject}" /> 544.            <TextBlock telerik:LocalizationManager.ResourceKey="Untitled" 545.                       Visibility="{Binding Appointment.Subject, Converter={StaticResource InvertedNullToVisibilityConverter}}" /> 546.        </StackPanel> 547.    </DataTemplate> 548.    <Style x:Key="EditAppointmentStyle" 549.           TargetType="telerikScheduler:AppointmentDialogWindow"> 550.        <Setter Property="IconTemplate" 551.                Value="{StaticResource IconDataEditTemplate}" /> 552.        <Setter Property="HeaderTemplate" 553.                Value="{StaticResource AppointmentDialogWindowHeaderDataTemplate}" /> 554.        <Setter Property="Background" 555.                Value="{StaticResource DialogWindowBackground}" /> 556.        <Setter Property="Template" 557.                Value="{StaticResource EditAppointmentTemplate}" /> 558.    </Style> 559.</UserControl.Resources> The first line there is the DataContextProxy I mentioned previously- we use that again to work a bit of magic in this template. Where we start getting into the dialog in question is line 132, but line 407 is where things start getting interesting.  The ItemsSource is pointing at a list that exists in my ViewModel (or code-behind, if it is used as a DataContext), the SelectedValue is the item I am actually binding from the applicant (note the TwoWay binding), and SelectedValuePath and DisplayMemberPath ensure the proper applicant is being displayed from the collection.  You will also see similar starting on line 420 where I do the same for the Jobs we'll be displaying. Just to wrap-up the Xaml, here's the RadScheduler declaraction that ties this all together and will be the main focus of our view: 01.<telerikScheduler:RadScheduler x:Name="xJobsScheduler" 02.                  Grid.Row="1" 03.                  Grid.Column="1" 04.                  Width="800" 05.                  MinWidth="600" 06.                  Height="500" 07.                  MinHeight="300" 08.                  AppointmentsSource="{Binding Interviews}" 09.                  EditAppointmentStyle="{StaticResource EditAppointmentStyle}" 10.                  command:AppointmentAddedEventClass.Command="{Binding AddAppointmentCommand}" 11.                  command:ApptCreatedEventClass.Command="{Binding ApptCreatingCommand}" 12.                  command:ApptEditedEventClass.Command="{Binding ApptEditedCommand}" 13.                  command:ApptDeletedEventClass.Command="{Binding ApptDeletedCommand}"> 14.</telerikScheduler:RadScheduler> Now, we get to the ViewModel and what it takes to get that rigged up.  And for those of you who remember the jobs post, those command:s in the Xaml are pointing to attached behavior commands that reproduce the respective events.  This becomes very handy when we're setting up the code-behind version. ;) ViewModel I've been liking this approach so far, so I'm going to put the entire ViewModel here and then go into the lines of interest.  Of course, feel free to ask me questions about anything that isn't clear (by line number, ideally) so I can help out if I have missed anything important: 001.public class SchedulerViewModel : ViewModelBase 002.{ 003.    private readonly IEventAggregator eventAggregator; 004.    private readonly IRegionManager regionManager; 005.   006.    public RecruitingContext context; 007.   008.    private ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment> _interviews = new ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment>(); 009.    public ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment> Interviews 010.    { 011.        get { return _interviews; } 012.        set 013.        { 014.            if (_interviews != value) 015.            { 016.                _interviews = value; 017.                NotifyChanged("Interviews"); 018.            } 019.        } 020.    } 021.   022.    private QueryableCollectionView _jobsList; 023.    public QueryableCollectionView JobsList 024.    { 025.        get { return this._jobsList; } 026.        set 027.        { 028.            if (this._jobsList != value) 029.            { 030.                this._jobsList = value; 031.                this.NotifyChanged("JobsList"); 032.            } 033.        } 034.    } 035.   036.    private QueryableCollectionView _applicantList; 037.    public QueryableCollectionView ApplicantList 038.    { 039.        get { return _applicantList; } 040.        set 041.        { 042.            if (_applicantList != value) 043.            { 044.                _applicantList = value; 045.                NotifyChanged("ApplicantList"); 046.            } 047.        } 048.    } 049.   050.    public DelegateCommand<object> AddAppointmentCommand { get; set; } 051.    public DelegateCommand<object> ApptCreatingCommand { get; set; } 052.    public DelegateCommand<object> ApptEditedCommand { get; set; } 053.    public DelegateCommand<object> ApptDeletedCommand { get; set; } 054.   055.    public SchedulerViewModel(IEventAggregator eventAgg, IRegionManager regionmanager) 056.    { 057.        // set Unity items 058.        this.eventAggregator = eventAgg; 059.        this.regionManager = regionmanager; 060.   061.        // load our context 062.        context = new RecruitingContext(); 063.        LoadOperation<Interview> loadOp = context.Load(context.GetInterviewsQuery()); 064.        loadOp.Completed += new EventHandler(loadOp_Completed); 065.   066.        this._jobsList = new QueryableCollectionView(context.JobPostings); 067.        context.Load(context.GetJobPostingsQuery()); 068.   069.        this._applicantList = new QueryableCollectionView(context.Applicants); 070.        context.Load(context.GetApplicantsQuery()); 071.   072.        AddAppointmentCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(this.AddAppt); 073.        ApptCreatingCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(this.ApptCreating); 074.        ApptEditedCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(this.ApptEdited); 075.        ApptDeletedCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(this.ApptDeleted); 076.   077.    } 078.   079.    void loadOp_Completed(object sender, EventArgs e) 080.    { 081.        LoadOperation loadop = sender as LoadOperation; 082.   083.        foreach (var ent in loadop.Entities) 084.        { 085.            _interviews.Add(EntityToAppointment(ent as Interview)); 086.        } 087.    } 088.   089.    #region Appointment Adding 090.   091.    public void AddAppt(object obj) 092.    { 093.        // now we have a new InterviewAppointment to add to our QCV :) 094.        InterviewAppointment newInterview = obj as InterviewAppointment; 095.   096.        this.context.Interviews.Add(AppointmentToEntity(newInterview)); 097.        this.context.SubmitChanges((s) => 098.        { 099.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 100.            myAction.InterviewID = newInterview.InterviewID; 101.            myAction.PostingID = newInterview.PostingID; 102.            myAction.ApplicantID = newInterview.ApplicantID; 103.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been created by {1}", newInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 104.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 105.            eventAggregator.GetEvent<AddActionEvent>().Publish(myAction); 106.        } 107.            , null); 108.    } 109.   110.    public void ApptCreating(object obj) 111.    { 112.        // handled in the behavior, just a placeholder to ensure it runs :) 113.    } 114.   115.    #endregion 116.   117.    #region Appointment Editing 118.   119.    public void ApptEdited(object obj) 120.    { 121.        Interview editedInterview = (from x in context.Interviews 122.                            where x.InterviewID == (obj as InterviewAppointment).InterviewID 123.                            select x).SingleOrDefault(); 124.   125.        CopyAppointmentEdit(editedInterview, obj as InterviewAppointment); 126.   127.        context.SubmitChanges((s) => { 128.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 129.            myAction.InterviewID = editedInterview.InterviewID; 130.            myAction.PostingID = editedInterview.PostingID; 131.            myAction.ApplicantID = editedInterview.ApplicantID; 132.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been modified by {1}", editedInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 133.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 134.            eventAggregator.GetEvent<AddActionEvent>().Publish(myAction); } 135.            , null); 136.    } 137.   138.    #endregion 139.   140.    #region Appointment Deleting 141.   142.    public void ApptDeleted(object obj) 143.    { 144.        Interview deletedInterview = (from x in context.Interviews 145.                                      where x.InterviewID == (obj as InterviewAppointment).InterviewID 146.                                      select x).SingleOrDefault(); 147.   148.        context.Interviews.Remove(deletedInterview); 149.        context.SubmitChanges((s) => 150.        { 151.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 152.            myAction.InterviewID = deletedInterview.InterviewID; 153.            myAction.PostingID = deletedInterview.PostingID; 154.            myAction.ApplicantID = deletedInterview.ApplicantID; 155.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been deleted by {1}", deletedInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 156.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 157.            eventAggregator.GetEvent<AddActionEvent>().Publish(myAction); 158.        } 159.            , null); 160.    } 161.   162.    #endregion 163.   164.    #region Appointment Helpers :) 165.   166.    public Interview AppointmentToEntity(InterviewAppointment ia) 167.    { 168.        Interview newInterview = new Interview(); 169.        newInterview.Subject = ia.Subject; 170.        newInterview.Body = ia.Body; 171.        newInterview.Start = ia.Start; 172.        newInterview.End = ia.End; 173.        newInterview.ApplicantID = ia.ApplicantID; 174.        newInterview.PostingID = ia.PostingID; 175.        newInterview.InterviewID = ia.InterviewID; 176.   177.        return newInterview; 178.    } 179.   180.    public InterviewAppointment EntityToAppointment(Interview ia) 181.    { 182.        InterviewAppointment newInterview = new InterviewAppointment(); 183.        newInterview.Subject = ia.Subject; 184.        newInterview.Body = ia.Body; 185.        newInterview.Start = ia.Start; 186.        newInterview.End = ia.End; 187.        newInterview.ApplicantID = ia.ApplicantID; 188.        newInterview.PostingID = ia.PostingID; 189.        newInterview.InterviewID = ia.InterviewID; 190.   191.        return newInterview; 192.    } 193.   194.    public void CopyAppointmentEdit(Interview entityInterview, InterviewAppointment appointmentInterview) 195.    { 196.        entityInterview.Subject = appointmentInterview.Subject; 197.        entityInterview.Body = appointmentInterview.Body; 198.        entityInterview.Start = appointmentInterview.Start; 199.        entityInterview.End = appointmentInterview.End; 200.        entityInterview.ApplicantID = appointmentInterview.ApplicantID; 201.        entityInterview.PostingID = appointmentInterview.PostingID; 202.    } 203.   204.    #endregion 205.} One thing we're doing here which you won't see in any of the other ViewModels is creating a duplicate collection.  I know this is something which will be fixed down the line for using RadScheduler, simplifying this process, but with WCF RIA changing as it does I wanted to ensure functionality would remain consistent as I continued development on this application.  So, I do a little bit of duplication, but for the greater good.  This all takes place starting on line 79, so for every entity that comes back we add it to the collection that is bound to RadScheduler.  Otherwise, the DelegateCommands that you see correspond directly to the events they are named after.  In each case, rather than sending over the full event arguments, I just send in the appointment in question (coming through as the object obj in all cases) so I can add (line 91), edit (line 119), and delete appointments (line 142) like normal.  This just ensures they get updated back to my database.  Also, the one bit of code you won't see is for the Appointment Creating (line 110) event- that is because in the command I've created I simply make the replacement I need to: 1.void element_AppointmentCreating(object sender, AppointmentCreatingEventArgs e) 2.{ 3.    e.NewAppointment = new InterviewAppointment(); 4.    base.ExecuteCommand(); 5.} And the ViewModel is none the wiser, the appointments just work as far as it is concerned since as they are created they become InterviewAppointments.  End result?  I've customized my EditAppointmentDialog as follows: And adding, editing, and deleting appointments works like a charm.  I can even 'edit' by moving appointments around RadScheduler, so as they are dropped into a timeslot they perform their full edit routine and things get updated. And then, the Code-Behind Version Perhaps the thing I like the most about doing one then the other is I get to steal 90% or more of the code from the MVVM version.  For example, the only real changes to the Code-Behind Xaml file exist in the control declaration, in which I use events instead of attached-behavior-event-commands: 01.<telerikScheduler:RadScheduler x:Name="xJobsScheduler" 02.                  Grid.Row="1" 03.                  Grid.Column="1" 04.                  Width="800" 05.                  MinWidth="600" 06.                  Height="500" 07.                  MinHeight="300" 08.                  EditAppointmentStyle="{StaticResource EditAppointmentStyle}" 09.                  AppointmentAdded="xJobsScheduler_AppointmentAdded" 10.                  AppointmentCreating="xJobsScheduler_AppointmentCreating" 11.                  AppointmentEdited="xJobsScheduler_AppointmentEdited" 12.                  AppointmentDeleted="xJobsScheduler_AppointmentDeleted"> 13.</telerikScheduler:RadScheduler> Easy, right?  Otherwise, all the same styling in UserControl.Resources was re-used, right down to the DataContextProxy that lets us bind to a collection from our viewmodel (in this case, our code-behind) to use within the DataTemplate.  The code conversion gets even easier, as I could literally copy and paste almost everything from the ViewModel to my Code-Behind, just a matter of pasting the right section into the right event.  Here's the code-behind as proof: 001.public partial class SchedulingView : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged 002.{ 003.    public RecruitingContext context; 004.   005.    private QueryableCollectionView _jobsList; 006.    public QueryableCollectionView JobsList 007.    { 008.        get { return this._jobsList; } 009.        set 010.        { 011.            if (this._jobsList != value) 012.            { 013.                this._jobsList = value; 014.                this.NotifyChanged("JobsList"); 015.            } 016.        } 017.    } 018.   019.    private QueryableCollectionView _applicantList; 020.    public QueryableCollectionView ApplicantList 021.    { 022.        get { return _applicantList; } 023.        set 024.        { 025.            if (_applicantList != value) 026.            { 027.                _applicantList = value; 028.                NotifyChanged("ApplicantList"); 029.            } 030.        } 031.    } 032.   033.    private ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment> _interviews = new ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment>(); 034.    public ObservableItemCollection<InterviewAppointment> Interviews 035.    { 036.        get { return _interviews; } 037.        set 038.        { 039.            if (_interviews != value) 040.            { 041.                _interviews = value; 042.                NotifyChanged("Interviews"); 043.            } 044.        } 045.    } 046.   047.    public SchedulingView() 048.    { 049.        InitializeComponent(); 050.   051.        this.DataContext = this; 052.   053.        this.Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(SchedulingView_Loaded); 054.    } 055.   056.    void SchedulingView_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) 057.    { 058.        this.xJobsScheduler.AppointmentsSource = Interviews; 059.   060.        context = new RecruitingContext(); 061.           062.        LoadOperation loadop = context.Load(context.GetInterviewsQuery()); 063.        loadop.Completed += new EventHandler(loadop_Completed); 064.   065.        this._applicantList = new QueryableCollectionView(context.Applicants); 066.        context.Load(context.GetApplicantsQuery()); 067.   068.        this._jobsList = new QueryableCollectionView(context.JobPostings); 069.        context.Load(context.GetJobPostingsQuery()); 070.    } 071.   072.    void loadop_Completed(object sender, EventArgs e) 073.    { 074.        LoadOperation loadop = sender as LoadOperation; 075.   076.        _interviews.Clear(); 077.   078.        foreach (var ent in loadop.Entities) 079.        { 080.            _interviews.Add(EntityToAppointment(ent as Interview)); 081.        } 082.    } 083.   084.    private void xJobsScheduler_AppointmentAdded(object sender, Telerik.Windows.Controls.AppointmentAddedEventArgs e) 085.    { 086.        // now we have a new InterviewAppointment to add to our QCV :) 087.        InterviewAppointment newInterview = e.Appointment as InterviewAppointment; 088.   089.        this.context.Interviews.Add(AppointmentToEntity(newInterview)); 090.        this.context.SubmitChanges((s) => 091.        { 092.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 093.            myAction.InterviewID = newInterview.InterviewID; 094.            myAction.PostingID = newInterview.PostingID; 095.            myAction.ApplicantID = newInterview.ApplicantID; 096.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been created by {1}", newInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 097.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 098.            context.ActionHistories.Add(myAction); 099.            context.SubmitChanges(); 100.        } 101.            , null); 102.    } 103.   104.    private void xJobsScheduler_AppointmentCreating(object sender, Telerik.Windows.Controls.AppointmentCreatingEventArgs e) 105.    { 106.        e.NewAppointment = new InterviewAppointment(); 107.    } 108.   109.    private void xJobsScheduler_AppointmentEdited(object sender, Telerik.Windows.Controls.AppointmentEditedEventArgs e) 110.    { 111.        Interview editedInterview = (from x in context.Interviews 112.                                     where x.InterviewID == (e.Appointment as InterviewAppointment).InterviewID 113.                                     select x).SingleOrDefault(); 114.   115.        CopyAppointmentEdit(editedInterview, e.Appointment as InterviewAppointment); 116.   117.        context.SubmitChanges((s) => 118.        { 119.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 120.            myAction.InterviewID = editedInterview.InterviewID; 121.            myAction.PostingID = editedInterview.PostingID; 122.            myAction.ApplicantID = editedInterview.ApplicantID; 123.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been modified by {1}", editedInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 124.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 125.            context.ActionHistories.Add(myAction); 126.            context.SubmitChanges(); 127.        } 128.            , null); 129.    } 130.   131.    private void xJobsScheduler_AppointmentDeleted(object sender, Telerik.Windows.Controls.AppointmentDeletedEventArgs e) 132.    { 133.        Interview deletedInterview = (from x in context.Interviews 134.                                      where x.InterviewID == (e.Appointment as InterviewAppointment).InterviewID 135.                                      select x).SingleOrDefault(); 136.   137.        context.Interviews.Remove(deletedInterview); 138.        context.SubmitChanges((s) => 139.        { 140.            ActionHistory myAction = new ActionHistory(); 141.            myAction.InterviewID = deletedInterview.InterviewID; 142.            myAction.PostingID = deletedInterview.PostingID; 143.            myAction.ApplicantID = deletedInterview.ApplicantID; 144.            myAction.Description = String.Format("Interview with {0} has been deleted by {1}", deletedInterview.ApplicantID.ToString(), "default user"); 145.            myAction.TimeStamp = DateTime.Now; 146.            context.ActionHistories.Add(myAction); 147.            context.SubmitChanges(); 148.        } 149.            , null); 150.    } 151.   152.    #region Appointment Helpers :) 153.   154.    public Interview AppointmentToEntity(InterviewAppointment ia) 155.    { 156.        Interview newInterview = new Interview(); 157.        newInterview.Subject = ia.Subject; 158.        newInterview.Body = ia.Body; 159.        newInterview.Start = ia.Start; 160.        newInterview.End = ia.End; 161.        newInterview.ApplicantID = ia.ApplicantID; 162.        newInterview.PostingID = ia.PostingID; 163.        newInterview.InterviewID = ia.InterviewID; 164.   165.        return newInterview; 166.    } 167.   168.    public InterviewAppointment EntityToAppointment(Interview ia) 169.    { 170.        InterviewAppointment newInterview = new InterviewAppointment(); 171.        newInterview.Subject = ia.Subject; 172.        newInterview.Body = ia.Body; 173.        newInterview.Start = ia.Start; 174.        newInterview.End = ia.End; 175.        newInterview.ApplicantID = ia.ApplicantID; 176.        newInterview.PostingID = ia.PostingID; 177.        newInterview.InterviewID = ia.InterviewID; 178.   179.        return newInterview; 180.    } 181.   182.    public void CopyAppointmentEdit(Interview entityInterview, InterviewAppointment appointmentInterview) 183.    { 184.        entityInterview.Subject = appointmentInterview.Subject; 185.        entityInterview.Body = appointmentInterview.Body; 186.        entityInterview.Start = appointmentInterview.Start; 187.        entityInterview.End = appointmentInterview.End; 188.        entityInterview.ApplicantID = appointmentInterview.ApplicantID; 189.        entityInterview.PostingID = appointmentInterview.PostingID; 190.    } 191.   192.    #endregion 193.   194.    #region INotifyPropertyChanged Members 195.   196.    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged; 197.   198.    public void NotifyChanged(string propertyName) 199.    { 200.        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyName)) 201.            throw new ArgumentException("propertyName"); 202.   203.        PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName)); 204.    } 205.   206.    #endregion 207.} Nice... right? :) One really important thing to note as well.  See on line 51 where I set the DataContext before the Loaded event?  This is super important, as if you don't have this set before the usercontrol is loaded, the DataContextProxy has no context to use and your EditAppointmentDialog Job/Applicant dropdowns will be blank and empty.  Trust me on this, took a little bit of debugging to figure out that by setting the DataContext post-loaded would only lead to disaster and frustration.  Otherwise, the only other real difference is that instead of sending an ActionHistory item through an event to get added to the database and saved, I do those right in the callback from submitting.  The Result Again, I only have to post one picture because these bad boys used nearly identical code for both the MVVM and the code-behind views, so our end result is... So what have we learned here today?  One, for the most part this MVVM thing is somewhat easy.  Yeah, you sometimes have to write a bunch of extra code, but with the help of a few useful snippits you can turn the process into a pretty streamlined little workflow.  Heck, this story gets even easier as you can see in this blog post by Michael Washington- specifically run a find on 'InvokeCommandAction' and you'll see the section regarding the command on TreeView in Blend 4.  Brilliant!  MVVM never looked so sweet! Otherwise, it is business as usual with RadScheduler for Silverlight whichever path you're choosing for your development.  Between now and the next post, I'll be cleaning up styles a bit (those RadComboBoxes are a little too close to my labels!) and adding some to the RowDetailsViews for Applicants and Jobs, so you can see all the info for an appointment in the dropdown tab view.  Otherwise, we're about ready to call a wrap on this oneDid 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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