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• Silverlight Cream for January 30, 2011 - 2 -- #1038

  - by Dave Campbell

  In this Issue: Max Paulousky, Renuka Prasad, Ollie Riches, Jesse Liberty(-2-, -3-, -4-, -5-), Medusa M, John Papa, Beth Massi, and Joost van Schaik. Above the Fold: Silverlight: "Stop What You Are Doing And Learn About Reactive Programming" Jesse Liberty WP7: "Windows Phone Looping Selector for Digits " Max Paulousky Lightswitch: "How To Send HTML Email from a LightSwitch Application" Beth Massi Shoutouts: Shawn Wildermuch has niether GooNews for users of his cool WP7 app or or for the WP7 Marketplace in general: R.I.P. GooNews From SilverlightCream.com: Windows Phone Looping Selector for Digits Max Paulousky expanded on the Looping selector for some customization allowing him to display width/height metric measurement selectors... great job, Max! WP7 – How to Create a Simple Checked Listbox In Windows Phone 7 Renuka Prasad has the code for a nicely-working checked Listbox for WP7 on his blog... the post is the code... WP7Contrib: Network Connectivity Push Model Ollie Riches had a post last week that I'm just catching up to... about the 'push model' for network connectivity they produced in WP7 Contrib. Using the Camera in Windows Phone 7 Jesse Liberty has a bunch of posts up... I'm just going to bite the bullet and catch up! ... this 'From Scratch post 24 is all about the camera in your WP7 dev travails... and he makes it look so darned easy :) Linq and Fluent Programming Jesse Liberty's next post is 'From Scratch 25 and is all about Linq and Fluent Programming which started with a discussion at Codemash with Bill Wagner... wanna get a handle on fluent programming? ... check this out. Stop What You Are Doing And Learn About Reactive Programming Another item you might want to get your head around is Reactive Programming, or Rx... Jesse Liberty has a great post up discussing this, as his 'From Scratch post 26... good external links, and lots of commentary as well. Rx–Reactive Programming for Windows Phone Jesse Liberty's 'From Scratch 27 follows the previous on about Rx by taking the Rx show to the WP7 development arena. Want a solid Rx example... here ya go! Reactive Extensions–Observable Sequences are First Class Objects Finally catching up with Jesse Liberty (for now), I find this 'From Scratch number 28 which is again on Rx and WP7 dev, expanding on the example from the previous post by harnessing the power of Rx Localizing Silverlight applications Medusa M has a nice post up at dotnetslackers on localization in Silverlight. If you haven't had to do localization before, it can get to be a pain... understanding an article like this will get you part of the way to being pain-free. Silverlight TV 59: What Goes Into Baking Silverlight? Very cool presentation for those of you interested in the bits ... John Papa's Silverlight TV number 59 is up and he's chatting with Andy Rivas about the process followed getting the bits to us. How To Send HTML Email from a LightSwitch Application Beth Massi's latest Lightswitch post is on sending HTML Email via SMTP from Lightswitch, and then follows that up with sending Email via Outlook automation. ViewModel driven animations using the Visual State Manager, DataStateBehavior and Expression Blend After some good user feedback, Joost van Schaik decided to make some modifications to his WP7 app, and got involved in a Page Title collapse animation driven from the ViewModel. Check out the nice write-up, video, external links, and source... all good! Stay in the 'Light! Twitter SilverlightNews | Twitter WynApse | WynApse.com | Tagged Posts | SilverlightCream Join me @ SilverlightCream | Phoenix Silverlight User Group Technorati Tags: Silverlight    Silverlight 3    Silverlight 4    Windows Phone MIX10

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• Entity is currently read-only

  - by George Evjen

  Quick post on an issue that we were having today. This fix may just be a band-aid for another issue but this fix at least got us moving again today. Since I didn’t see anything concrete online for a solution I figured I would post this as a part one fix and then post a more detailed fix later. We were getting this error earlier today in one of our projects that uses EF and WCF Ria Services. This entity is currently read-only. One of the following conditions exist: a custom method has been invoked, a submit operation is in progress, or edit operations are not supported for the entity type. The work around that we used for this is to simply do a check to see if the property is read only. Each entity has that property on it. private void SelectedInstitution_PropertyChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)        {            if (!_personDetailContext.CurrentPerson.IsReadOnly)            {                _personDetailContext.CurrentPerson.LastUpdatedDate = DateTime.Now;            }        } We check to see if the CurrentPerson in this situation is readonly. If its not read only we go ahead and execute some other code. Again, this got us moving today, I am sure this is just step one in resolving this issue.

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• Using the ASP.NET Membership API with SQL Server / SQL Azure: The new &ldquo;System.Web.Providers&rdquo; namespace

  - by Harish Ranganathan

  The Membership API came in .NET 2.0 and was a huge enhancement in building web applications with users, managing roles, permissions etc.,  The Membership API by default uses SQL Express and until Visual Studio 2008, it was available only through the ASP.NET Configuration manager screen (Website – ASP.NET Configuration) or (Project – ASP.NET Configuration) and for every application, one has to manually visit this place to start using the Security and other settings.  Upon doing that the default SQL Express database aspnet.mdf is created to store all the user profiles. Starting Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0, the Default Website template includes the Membership API controls as a part of the page i.e. When you create a “File – New – ASP.NET Web Application” or an “ASP.NET MVC Application”, by default the Login/Register controls are enabled in the MasterPage and they are termed under “ApplicationServices” setting in the web.config file with connection string pointed to the SQL Express database. In fact, when you run the default website and click on “Logon” –> “Register”, and enter the details for registration and click “Register”, that is the time the aspnet.mdf file is created with the tables for Users, Roles, UsersInRoles, Profile etc., Now, this uses the default SQL Express database within the App_Data folder.  If you want to move your Membership information to some other database such as SQL Server, SQL CE or SQL Azure, you need to manually run the aspnet_regsql command and specify the destination database name. This would create all the Tables, Procedures and Views required to handle the Membership information.  Thereafter you can change the connection string for “ApplicationServices” to point to the database where you had run all the scripts. Now, enter “System.Web.Providers” Alpha. This is available as a part of the NuGet package library.  Scott Hanselman has a neat post describing the steps required to get it up and running as well as doing the basic changes  at http://www.hanselman.com/blog/IntroducingSystemWebProvidersASPNETUniversalProvidersForSessionMembershipRolesAndUserProfileOnSQLCompactAndSQLAzure.aspx Pretty much, it covers what the new System.Web.Providers do. One thing I wanted to clarify is that, the new “System.Web.Providers” add a lot of new settings which are also marked as the defaults, in the web.config.  Even now, they use SQL Express as the default database.  But, if you change the connection string for “DefaultConnection” under connectionStrings to point to your SQL Server or SQL Azure, Membership API would now be able to create all the tables, procedures and views at the destination specified (i.e. SQL Server or SQL Azure). In my case, I modified the DefaultConneciton to point to my SQL Azure database.  Next, I hit F5 to run the application.  The default view loads.  I clicked on “LogOn” and then “Register” since I knew there are no tables/users as of then.  One thing to note is that, I had put “NewDB” as the database name in the connection string that points to SQL Azure.  NewDB wasn’t existing and I would assume it would be created before the tables/views/procedures for Membership are created. Once I clicked on the “Register” to register my first username, it took a while and then registered as well as logged in me in.  Also, I went to the SQL Azure Management Portal and verified that there exists “NewDB” which has just been created I could also connect to the SQL Azure database “NewDB” from Management Studio and found that the tables now don’t have the aspnet_ prefix.  The tables were simply Users, Roles, UsersInRoles, Profiles etc., So, with a few clicks and configuration change, I could actually set up the user base for my application on SQL Azure and even make the SessionState, Roles, Profiles being stored in SQL Azure database. The new System.Web.Proivders also required MARS (MultipleActiveResultSets=true) setting since it uses Entity Framework for the DAL operations.  Also, the “Project – ASP.NET Configuration” screen can be used to further create/manage users/roles etc., although the data is stored on the remote database. With that, a long pending request from the community to have the ability to configure and use remote databases for Application users management without having to run the scripts from SQL Express is fulfilled. Cheers !!!

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• Merging Waterfall and Agile – Getting the Worst of Both Worlds

  - by Nick Harrison

  Many people have seen and appreciate the elegance and practicality of agile methodologies.   Sadly there is still not widespread adoption.   There is still push back from many directions and from many different sources.   Some people don't understand how it is supposed to work. Some people don't believe that it could possibly work. Some people mistakenly believe that it is just code for a lazy project team trying to wiggle out of structure Some people mistakenly believe that it can work only with a very small highly trained team Some people are afraid of the control that they feel they will be losing. I have seen some people try to merge agile and water fall hoping to achieve the best of both worlds.   Unfortunately, the reality is that you end up with the worst of both worlds.   And they both can get pretty bad. Another Sad Reality Some people in an effort to get buy in for following an Agile Methodology have attempted to merge these two practices.   Sometimes this may stem from trying to assuage individual fears that they are not losing relevance.   Sometimes it may be to meet contractual obligations or to fulfill regulatory requirements.   Sometimes may not know better. These two approaches to software development cannot coexist on the same project. Let's review the main tenants of the Agile Manifesto: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. Meanwhile the main tenants of the Waterfall Approach could be summarized as: Processes and procedures over individuals Comprehensive documentation proves that the software works Well defined contracts and negotiations protects the customer relationship If the plan is made right, there should be no change  Merging these two approaches will always end badly.

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• What makes a Software Craftsman?

  - by Liam McLennan

  At the end of my visit to 8th Light Justin Martin was kind enough to give me a ride to the train station; for my train back to O’Hare. Just before he left he asked me an interesting question which I then posted to twitter: Liam McLennan: . @JustinMartinM asked what I think is the most important attributes of craftsmen. I said, "desire to learn and humility". What's yours? 6:25 AM Apr 17th via TweetDeck several people replied with excellent contributions: Alex Hung: @liammclennan I think kaizen sums up craftmanship pretty well, which is almost same as yours Steve Bohlen: @alexhung @liammclennan those are both all about saying "knowing what you don't know and not being afraid to go learn it" (and I agree!) Matt Roman: @liammclennan @JustinMartinM a tempered compulsion for constant improvement, and an awareness of what needs improving. Justin Martin: @mattroman @liammclennan a faculty for asking challenging questions, and a persistence to battle through difficult obstacles barring growth I thought this was an interesting conversation, and I would love to see other people contribute their opinions. My observation is that Alex, Steve, Matt and I seem to have essentially the same answer in different words. It is also interesting to note (as Alex pointed out) that these definitions are very similar to Alt.NET and the lean concept of kaizen.

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• Dell XPS + Apple Mini-Display Adaptor + Projector = KABOOM

  - by D'Arcy Lussier

  Remember how I blogged about rolling with the punches? So today my buddy and Prairie Dev Con speaker James Chambers went to present on Microsoft MVC. He brought his fancy new Dell XPS laptop, which he had used to do presentations and stream internet video to a projector before. But today, the technology gods were not smiling… James tries to connect his laptop to the projector. Nothing. The projector just can’t recognize the connection. Realize that we’ve already had two sessions in that room already, so everything *should* work. The Dell XPS laptop James has doesn’t have a VGA port. Instead, it has HDMI and Mini-Display ports. James had one of the Apple mini-display to VGA adapters. If I connected my Mac Book Pro, I could connect no problem, so it wasn’t the adapter. He could connect his laptop to projectors before, so it wasn’t the laptop. And we’d already had sessions, so it wasn’t the projector. So what was it? Well, all three it turns out. Thanks to this post over at Irongeek.com we discovered that using Windows 7 on a Dell XPS with the Apple connector and a non-plug-in-play projector won’t work. So the fix was ditch the Apple connector, use the Star Tech model instead (listed in the Irongeek article). So James is good to go, he’s going to talk at the last session and we’ve moved the Windows 8 talk Jim Russell and I were going to do until tomorrow. Roll with the punches…

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• Inside Red Gate - Exercises in Leanness

  - by simonc

  There's a new movement rumbling around Red Gate Towers - the Lean Startup. At its core is the idea that you don't have to be in a company with single-digit employees to be an entrepreneur; you simply have to (being blunt) not know what you should be doing. Specifically, you accept that you don't know everything you need to know in order to create a useful, successful & profitable product. This is something that Red Gate has had problems with in the past; we've created products that weren't aimed at the correct market, or didn't solve the problem the user had (although they solved the problem we thought the users had, or the problem the users thought they had). As a result, these products weren't as successful as they could have been. The ideas at the core of the Lean Startup help to combat this tendency to build large, well-engineered products that solve the wrong problem. You need to actually test your hypotheses about what the users and the market needs, rather than just running a project based on those untested assumptions. Furthermore, these tests need to be done as fast as possible (on the order of a week) so that, if necessary, you can change the direction of the project without wasting effort going down a dead end. Over time, as more tests are done and more hypotheses are confirmed or refuted, the project moves towards something that solves users' actual problems. However, re-aligning the development teams that operate within Red Gate along these lines does itself have some issues; we've got very good at doing large, monolithic releases, with a feature set decided well in advance. Currently it takes about 2 weeks to do install & release testing before a release; this is clearly not practicable for a team doing weekly, or even daily releases. There's also many infrastructure issues to be solved; in our source control, build system, release mechanism, support pages & documentation, licensing system, update system, and download pages. All these need modifications to allow the fast releases necessary for each experiment. Not only do we have to change our infrastructure, we have to change our mindset. Doing daily releases means each release won't get nearly as much testing as 'standard' releases. As a team, we have to be prepared that there will be releases that have bugs and issues with them; not only do we have to be prepared to change direction with every experiment we do, but we have to be ready to fix any bugs that are reported very quickly as well. The SmartAssembly team is spearheading this move towards leanness within the company, using Feature Usage Reporting (FUR). We think this is a cracking feature that will really help developers learn how people use their products, but we need to confirm this hypothesis. So, over the next few weeks, we'll be running a variety of experiments on SmartAssembly to either confirm or refute our hypotheses concerning how people use SmartAssembly and apply FUR to their own products. In the rest of this series, I'll be documenting how the experiments we perform get on, and our experiences with applying the Lean Startup model to a mature product like SmartAssembly. Cross posted from Simple Talk.

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• Silverlight Death Trolls Dancing on XAML&rsquo;s Grave

  - by D'Arcy Lussier

  I’m starting to see a whole bunch of tweets and blog posts on how Silverlight/WPF is dead, or how the XAML team has been disbanded at Microsoft, or how someone predicted Silverlight would die, blah blah blah. They all have a similar ring to it though: “Told ya so!” “They were stupid ideas anyway!” “Serves Microsoft right, boy are they dumb!” Let me tell you something, all those that are gleefully raving about Silverlight/WPF’s demise are nothing more than death trolls. Let’s assume that everything out there is true. Microsoft is obviously moving towards HTML 5 in a huge way (TechCrunch pointed out that SkyDrive has replaced its Silverlight based version with an HTML 5 one), and not just on the web as we’ve seen with recent announcements about how HTML 5 apps will be natively supported on Windows 8. WPF never caught on in the marketplace, regardless of its superior technology offering to Winforms. And Silverlight…well, it gave Flash a good run for its money, but plug-in based web applications are becoming passé in light of HTML 5. (It’s interesting that at a developer conference I put on just a few weeks ago, only 1 out of 60+ sessions included Silverlight. 5 focussed on HTML 5.) So what does this *death* of Silverlight/WPF/XAML mean then in the grand scheme of things (again, assuming that they truly *are* dying/dead)? Well, nothing really…at least nothing bad. Silverlight has given us some fantastic applications and experiences (Vancouver Olympics anyone?), and WP7 couldn’t have launched without Silverlight as its development platform. And WPF, although it had putrid adoption, has had some great success stories. A Canadian company that I talked to recently showed me how they re-wrote their point-of-sale application entirely in WPF, and the product is a huge success providing features their competitors aren’t. Arguably (and I say that only because I know I’m going to get WTF comments for this), VS.NET 2010 is a great example of what a WPF app can provide over previous C++ based applications. Technologies evolve. In a decade we’ve had 5 versions of the .NET framework, seen languages like J# come and go, seen F# appear, see communications layers change with WCF, seen EF go through multiple evolutions and traditional ADO.NET Datasets go extinct (from actual use anyway), and ASP.NET Webforms be replaced with ASP.NET MVC as a preferred web platform. Is Silverlight and WPF done? Maybe…probably?…thing is, it doesn’t really affect me personally in any way, or you…so why would we care if its gets replaced with something better and more robust that we can build better solutions with? Just remember the golden rule: don’t feed the trolls.

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• You Might Be a SharePoint Professional If&hellip;

  - by Mark Rackley

  I really think no explanation is needed. Hope this makes you smile.. Thanks again for being an awesome SharePoint community! If you can only dream about working an 8 hour day, there’s a good chance you are a SharePoint professional. You might be a SharePoint professional if the last time you heard “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” you wondered “How many web front ends does it have?” If you consider Twitter the best form of support since the dawn of the Internet, you might be a SharePoint professional. If you are giddy-as-a-school-girl excited about going to Anaheim in October and it has NOTHING to do with Disneyland, you might be a SharePoint professional. You might be a SharePoint professional if you own more SharePoint shirts than you do pairs of underwear. If you’ve thought of giving up a career in the IT world for a job taking orders at a fast food chain, you might be a SharePoint professional. You might be a SharePoint professional if the only people who understand the words that come out of your mouth are other SharePoint people. If you put the word “Share” or “SP” in front of EVERYTHING (ShareFood, SPRunner, etc… etc…) then you might be a SharePoint professional. You are probably a SharePoint professional if you love SharePoint.. you hate SharePoint… you love SharePoint… you hate SharePoint… If the only thing you’d rather do more than SharePoint is SharePint, then you are definitely a SharePoint professional. You might be a SharePoint professional if your idea of name dropping is “Andrew Connell says…” or “According to Todd Klindt”… or even “Well, when I was stuck in a Turkish prison with Joel Oleson…”

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• Uploading and Importing CSV file to SQL Server in ASP.NET WebForms

  - by Vincent Maverick Durano

  Few weeks ago I was working with a small internal project  that involves importing CSV file to Sql Server database and thought I'd share the simple implementation that I did on the project. In this post I will demonstrate how to upload and import CSV file to SQL Server database. As some may have already know, importing CSV file to SQL Server is easy and simple but difficulties arise when the CSV file contains, many columns with different data types. Basically, the provider cannot differentiate data types between the columns or the rows, blindly it will consider them as a data type based on first few rows and leave all the data which does not match the data type. To overcome this problem, I used schema.ini file to define the data type of the CSV file and allow the provider to read that and recognize the exact data types of each column. Now what is schema.ini? Taken from the documentation: The Schema.ini is a information file, used to define the data structure and format of each column that contains data in the CSV file. If schema.ini file exists in the directory, Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB provider automatically reads it and recognizes the data type information of each column in the CSV file. Thus, the provider intelligently avoids the misinterpretation of data types before inserting the data into the database. For more information see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms709353%28VS.85%29.aspx Points to remember before creating schema.ini:   1. The schema information file, must always named as 'schema.ini'.   2. The schema.ini file must be kept in the same directory where the CSV file exists.   3. The schema.ini file must be created before reading the CSV file.   4. The first line of the schema.ini, must the name of the CSV file, followed by the properties of the CSV file, and then the properties of the each column in the CSV file. Here's an example of how the schema looked like: [Employee.csv] ColNameHeader=False Format=CSVDelimited DateTimeFormat=dd-MMM-yyyy Col1=EmployeeID Long Col2=EmployeeFirstName Text Width 100 Col3=EmployeeLastName Text Width 50 Col4=EmployeeEmailAddress Text Width 50 To get started lets's go a head and create a simple blank database. Just for the purpose of this demo I created a database called TestDB. After creating the database then lets go a head and fire up Visual Studio and then create a new WebApplication project. Under the root application create a folder called UploadedCSVFiles and then place the schema.ini on that folder. The uploaded CSV files will be stored in this folder after the user imports the file. Now add a WebForm in the project and set up the HTML mark up and add one (1) FileUpload control one(1)Button and three (3) Label controls. After that we can now proceed with the codes for uploading and importing the CSV file to SQL Server database. Here are the full code blocks below: 1: using System; 2: using System.Data; 3: using System.Data.SqlClient; 4: using System.Data.OleDb; 5: using System.IO; 6: using System.Text; 7:   8: namespace WebApplication1 9: { 10: public partial class CSVToSQLImporting : System.Web.UI.Page 11: { 12: private string GetConnectionString() 13: { 14: return System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["DBConnectionString"].ConnectionString; 15: } 16: private void CreateDatabaseTable(DataTable dt, string tableName) 17: { 18:   19: string sqlQuery = string.Empty; 20: string sqlDBType = string.Empty; 21: string dataType = string.Empty; 22: int maxLength = 0; 23: StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); 24:   25: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format("CREATE TABLE {0} (", tableName)); 26:   27: for (int i = 0; i < dt.Columns.Count; i++) 28: { 29: dataType = dt.Columns[i].DataType.ToString(); 30: if (dataType == "System.Int32") 31: { 32: sqlDBType = "INT"; 33: } 34: else if (dataType == "System.String") 35: { 36: sqlDBType = "NVARCHAR"; 37: maxLength = dt.Columns[i].MaxLength; 38: } 39:   40: if (maxLength > 0) 41: { 42: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format(" {0} {1} ({2}), ", dt.Columns[i].ColumnName, sqlDBType, maxLength)); 43: } 44: else 45: { 46: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format(" {0} {1}, ", dt.Columns[i].ColumnName, sqlDBType)); 47: } 48: } 49:   50: sqlQuery = sb.ToString(); 51: sqlQuery = sqlQuery.Trim().TrimEnd(','); 52: sqlQuery = sqlQuery + " )"; 53:   54: using (SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionString())) 55: { 56: sqlConn.Open(); 57: SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlQuery, sqlConn); 58: sqlCmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); 59: sqlConn.Close(); 60: } 61:   62: } 63: private void LoadDataToDatabase(string tableName, string fileFullPath, string delimeter) 64: { 65: string sqlQuery = string.Empty; 66: StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); 67:   68: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format("BULK INSERT {0} ", tableName)); 69: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format(" FROM '{0}'", fileFullPath)); 70: sb.AppendFormat(string.Format(" WITH ( FIELDTERMINATOR = '{0}' , ROWTERMINATOR = '\n' )", delimeter)); 71:   72: sqlQuery = sb.ToString(); 73:   74: using (SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionString())) 75: { 76: sqlConn.Open(); 77: SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlQuery, sqlConn); 78: sqlCmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); 79: sqlConn.Close(); 80: } 81: } 82: protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) 83: { 84:   85: } 86: protected void BTNImport_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) 87: { 88: if (FileUpload1.HasFile) 89: { 90: FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(FileUpload1.PostedFile.FileName); 91: if (fileInfo.Name.Contains(".csv")) 92: { 93:   94: string fileName = fileInfo.Name.Replace(".csv", "").ToString(); 95: string csvFilePath = Server.MapPath("UploadedCSVFiles") + "\\" + fileInfo.Name; 96:   97: //Save the CSV file in the Server inside 'MyCSVFolder' 98: FileUpload1.SaveAs(csvFilePath); 99:   100: //Fetch the location of CSV file 101: string filePath = Server.MapPath("UploadedCSVFiles") + "\\"; 102: string strSql = "SELECT * FROM [" + fileInfo.Name + "]"; 103: string strCSVConnString = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" + filePath + ";" + "Extended Properties='text;HDR=YES;'"; 104:   105: // load the data from CSV to DataTable 106:   107: OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(strSql, strCSVConnString); 108: DataTable dtCSV = new DataTable(); 109: DataTable dtSchema = new DataTable(); 110:   111: adapter.FillSchema(dtCSV, SchemaType.Mapped); 112: adapter.Fill(dtCSV); 113:   114: if (dtCSV.Rows.Count > 0) 115: { 116: CreateDatabaseTable(dtCSV, fileName); 117: Label2.Text = string.Format("The table ({0}) has been successfully created to the database.", fileName); 118:   119: string fileFullPath = filePath + fileInfo.Name; 120: LoadDataToDatabase(fileName, fileFullPath, ","); 121:   122: Label1.Text = string.Format("({0}) records has been loaded to the table {1}.", dtCSV.Rows.Count, fileName); 123: } 124: else 125: { 126: LBLError.Text = "File is empty."; 127: } 128: } 129: else 130: { 131: LBLError.Text = "Unable to recognize file."; 132: } 133:   134: } 135: } 136: } 137: } The code above consists of three (3) private methods which are the GetConnectionString(), CreateDatabaseTable() and LoadDataToDatabase(). The GetConnectionString() is a method that returns a string. This method basically gets the connection string that is configured in the web.config file. The CreateDatabaseTable() is method that accepts two (2) parameters which are the DataTable and the filename. As the method name already suggested, this method automatically create a Table to the database based on the source DataTable and the filename of the CSV file. The LoadDataToDatabase() is a method that accepts three (3) parameters which are the tableName, fileFullPath and delimeter value. This method is where the actual saving or importing of data from CSV to SQL server happend. The codes at BTNImport_Click event handles the uploading of CSV file to the specified location and at the same time this is where the CreateDatabaseTable() and LoadDataToDatabase() are being called. If you notice I also added some basic trappings and validations within that event. Now to test the importing utility then let's create a simple data in a CSV format. Just for the simplicity of this demo let's create a CSV file and name it as "Employee" and add some data on it. Here's an example below: 1,VMS,Durano,[email protected] 2,Jennifer,Cortes,[email protected] 3,Xhaiden,Durano,[email protected] 4,Angel,Santos,[email protected] 5,Kier,Binks,[email protected] 6,Erika,Bird,[email protected] 7,Vianne,Durano,[email protected] 8,Lilibeth,Tree,[email protected] 9,Bon,Bolger,[email protected] 10,Brian,Jones,[email protected] Now save the newly created CSV file in some location in your hard drive. Okay let's run the application and browse the CSV file that we have just created. Take a look at the sample screen shots below: After browsing the CSV file. After clicking the Import Button Now if we look at the database that we have created earlier you'll notice that the Employee table is created with the imported data on it. See below screen shot.   That's it! I hope someone find this post useful! Technorati Tags: ASP.NET,CSV,SQL,C#,ADO.NET

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• Silverlight Cream for April 25, 2010 -- #847

  - by Dave Campbell

  In this Issue: Michael Washington, David Poll, Andrea Boschin, Kunal Chowdhury(-2-), Lee, and Chad Campbell. Shoutout: Not at all Silverlight, but Kirupa has a great article up about Elastic Collisions From SilverlightCream.com: Easily decouple your MVVM ViewModel from your Model using RX Extensions Michael Washington continues with his Simplified MVVM and uses Rx to allow him to put web service methods in the model and call them from the ViewModel. A “refreshing” Authentication/Authorization experience with Silverlight 4 David Poll expands on his previous post and demonstrates returning the user to the page prior to the login, just the way you'd like it. Using a PollingDuplex service to handle long running activities Andrea Boschin is back discussing PollingDuplex again, this time is discussing getting updates from a long-running process. Introduction to Silverlight - Silverlight tutorials Chapter 1 Kunal Chowdhury has an intro to Silverlight Tutorial that looks good... if you're just getting started, here's a place to look. Introduction to Silverlight Application Development - Silverlight tutorial Chapter 2 In his 2nd introductory tutorial, Kunal Chowdhury gets into code and discusses User Controls. Drag and Drop grouping in Datagrid Lee has a post up where he's taken a DataGrid and produced some of the features of some of the 3rd-party controls, specifically dragging column headers to a place above the grid to sort the grid. Silverlight – HTTP request to [Url] was aborted. …local channel being closed while the request was still in progress Chad Campbell is addressing timeout problems you may hit with connecting up to your WCF service. Stay in the 'Light! Twitter SilverlightNews | Twitter WynApse | WynApse.com | Tagged Posts | SilverlightCream Join me @ SilverlightCream | Phoenix Silverlight User Group Technorati Tags: Silverlight    Silverlight 3    Silverlight 4    Windows Phone MIX10

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• 10 PowerShell One Liners

  - by BizTalk Visionary

  Here are a few one-liners that use NetCmdlets. Some of these I've blogged about before, some are new. Let me know if you have questions, which ones you find useful, or how you altered these to suit your own needs. Send email to a list of recipient addresses: import-csv users.csv | % { send-email -to $_.email -from [email protected] -subject "Important Email" –message "Hello World!" -server 10.0.1.1 } Show the access control list for a specific Exchange folder: get-imap -server $mymailserver -cred $mycred -folder INBOX.RESUMES –acl Add look and read permissions on an Exchange folder, for a list of accounts pulled from a CSV file: import-csv users.csv | % { set-imap -server -acluser $_.username $mymailserver -cred $mycred -folder INBOX.RESUMES –acl “lr”  } Sync system time with an Internet time server: get-time -server clock.psu.edu –set To remotely sync the time on a set of computers: import-csv computers.csv | % { Invoke-Command -computerName $_.computer -cred $mycred -scriptblock { get-time -server clock.psu.edu –set } } Delete all emails from an Exchange folder that match a certain criteria.  For example, delete all emails from [email protected]: get-imap -server $mailserver –cred $mycred | ? {$_.FromEmail -eq [email protected]} | %{ set-imap -server $mailserver –cred $mycred-message $_.Id -delete } Update Twitter status from PowerShell: get-http –url "http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml" –cred $mycred -variablename status -variablevalue "Tweeting with NetCmdlets!" A test-path that works over FTP, FTPS (SSL), and SFTP (SSH) connections: get-ftp -server $remoteserver –cred $mycred -path /remote/path/to/checkfor* Don't forget the *.  Also, to use SSL or SSH just add an –ssl or –ssh parameter. List disabled user accounts in Active Directory (or any other LDAP server): get-ldap -server $ad -cred $mycred -dn dc=yourdc -searchscope wholesubtree     -search "(&(objectclass=user)(objectclass=person)(company=*)(userAccountControl:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))" List Active Directory groups and their members: get-ldap -server testman -cred $mycred -dn dc=NS2 -searchscope wholesubtree -search "(&(objectclass=group)(cn=*admin*))" | select ResultDN, member Display the last initialization time (e.g. last reboot time) of all discoverable SNMP agents on a network: import-csv computers.csv | % { get-snmp -agent $_.computer -oid sysUpTime.0 | %{([datetime]::Now).AddSeconds(-($_.OIDValue/100))} } Not mentioned here:  data conversion (Yenc, QP, UUencoding, MD5, SHA1, base64, etc), DNS, News Groups (NNTP/UseNet), POP mail, RSS feeds, Amazon S3, Syslog, TFTP, TraceRoute, SNMP Traps, UDP, WebDAV, whois, Rexec/Rshell/Telnet, Zip files, sending IMs (Jabber/GoogleTalk/XMPP), sending text messages and pages, ping, and more. Original Source: Lance's Textbox

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• DDD Melbourne -lessons leant

  - by Michael Freidgeim

  I've attended DDD Melbourne and want to list the interesting points, that I've leant and want to follow. To read more: * Moles-Mocking Isolation framework for .NET. Documentation is here.   (See also Mocking frameworks comparison created October 4, 2009 ) * WebFormsMVP * PluralSight   http://www.pluralsight-training.net/offers/default.aspx?cc=trial   * ELMAH: Error Logging Modules and Handlers *Rhino.Mocks   * VS UI Test Recorder -see posts Visual Studio 2010 Coded UI Test User Guide. Note that Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) toolis a separate application, that can be started from Program files/VS 2010 menu.It is not a menu inside Visual Studio.   * CodeContract- seems great in Debug. Will be good if in production  will be possible runtime configuration, ability to log instead of throw exception. Current recommendation to customize Debug.Assert is not trivial The programmer is free to use the customization provided by Debug.Assert using assert listeners to obtain whatever runtime behavior they desire (e.g., ignoring the error, logging it, or throwing an exception).   // Clears the existing list of assert listener (the default pop-up box) System.Diagnostics.Debug.Listeners.Clear(); // Install your own listener System.Diagnostics.Debug.Listeners.Add(MyTraceListener); Note that you can't catch specific ContractException, but can catch generic Exception(see How come you cannot catch Code Contract exceptions?)   Books recommended "Working effectively with legacy code" by Michael Feathers (corresponding article)   Fowler, Martin Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, slides http://jaoo.dk/jaoo1999/schedule/MartinFowlerRefractoring.pdf

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• Mocking the Unmockable: Using Microsoft Moles with Gallio

  - by Thomas Weller

  Usual opensource mocking frameworks (like e.g. Moq or Rhino.Mocks) can mock only interfaces and virtual methods. In contrary to that, Microsoft’s Moles framework can ‘mock’ virtually anything, in that it uses runtime instrumentation to inject callbacks in the method MSIL bodies of the moled methods. Therefore, it is possible to detour any .NET method, including non-virtual/static methods in sealed types. This can be extremely helpful when dealing e.g. with code that calls into the .NET framework, some third-party or legacy stuff etc… Some useful collected resources (links to website, documentation material and some videos) can be found in my toolbox on Delicious under this link: http://delicious.com/thomasweller/toolbox+moles A Gallio extension for Moles Originally, Moles is a part of Microsoft’s Pex framework and thus integrates best with Visual Studio Unit Tests (MSTest). However, the Moles sample download contains some additional assemblies to also support other unit test frameworks. They provide a Moled attribute to ease the usage of mole types with the respective framework (there are extensions for NUnit, xUnit.net and MbUnit v2 included with the samples). As there is no such extension for the Gallio platform, I did the few required lines myself – the resulting Gallio.Moles.dll is included with the sample download. With this little assembly in place, it is possible to use Moles with Gallio like that: [Test, Moled] public void SomeTest() {     ... What you can do with it Moles can be very helpful, if you need to ‘mock’ something other than a virtual or interface-implementing method. This might be the case when dealing with some third-party component, legacy code, or if you want to ‘mock’ the .NET framework itself. Generally, you need to announce each moled type that you want to use in a test with the MoledType attribute on assembly level. For example: [assembly: MoledType(typeof(System.IO.File))] Below are some typical use cases for Moles. For a more detailed overview (incl. naming conventions and an instruction on how to create the required moles assemblies), please refer to the reference material above.  Detouring the .NET framework Imagine that you want to test a method similar to the one below, which internally calls some framework method:   public void ReadFileContent(string fileName) {     this.FileContent = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(fileName); } Using a mole, you would replace the call to the File.ReadAllText(string) method with a runtime delegate like so: [Test, Moled] [Description("This 'mocks' the System.IO.File class with a custom delegate.")] public void ReadFileContentWithMoles() {     // arrange ('mock' the FileSystem with a delegate)     System.IO.Moles.MFile.ReadAllTextString = (fname => fname == FileName ? FileContent : "WrongFileName");       // act     var testTarget = new TestTarget.TestTarget();     testTarget.ReadFileContent(FileName);       // assert     Assert.AreEqual(FileContent, testTarget.FileContent); } Detouring static methods and/or classes A static method like the below… public static string StaticMethod(int x, int y) {     return string.Format("{0}{1}", x, y); } … can be ‘mocked’ with the following: [Test, Moled] public void StaticMethodWithMoles() {     MStaticClass.StaticMethodInt32Int32 = ((x, y) => "uups");       var result = StaticClass.StaticMethod(1, 2);       Assert.AreEqual("uups", result); } Detouring constructors You can do this delegate thing even with a class’ constructor. The syntax for this is not all  too intuitive, because you have to setup the internal state of the mole, but generally it works like a charm. For example, to replace this c’tor… public class ClassWithCtor {     public int Value { get; private set; }       public ClassWithCtor(int someValue)     {         this.Value = someValue;     } } … you would do the following: [Test, Moled] public void ConstructorTestWithMoles() {     MClassWithCtor.ConstructorInt32 =            ((@class, @value) => new MClassWithCtor(@class) {ValueGet = () => 99});       var classWithCtor = new ClassWithCtor(3);       Assert.AreEqual(99, classWithCtor.Value); } Detouring abstract base classes You can also use this approach to ‘mock’ abstract base classes of a class that you call in your test. Assumed that you have something like that: public abstract class AbstractBaseClass {     public virtual string SaySomething()     {         return "Hello from base.";     } }      public class ChildClass : AbstractBaseClass {     public override string SaySomething()     {         return string.Format(             "Hello from child. Base says: '{0}'",             base.SaySomething());     } } Then you would set up the child’s underlying base class like this: [Test, Moled] public void AbstractBaseClassTestWithMoles() {     ChildClass child = new ChildClass();     new MAbstractBaseClass(child)         {                 SaySomething = () => "Leave me alone!"         }         .InstanceBehavior = MoleBehaviors.Fallthrough;       var hello = child.SaySomething();       Assert.AreEqual("Hello from child. Base says: 'Leave me alone!'", hello); } Setting the moles behavior to a value of  MoleBehaviors.Fallthrough causes the ‘original’ method to be called if a respective delegate is not provided explicitly – here it causes the ChildClass’ override of the SaySomething() method to be called. There are some more possible scenarios, where the Moles framework could be of much help (e.g. it’s also possible to detour interface implementations like IEnumerable<T> and such…). One other possibility that comes to my mind (because I’m currently dealing with that), is to replace calls from repository classes to the ADO.NET Entity Framework O/R mapper with delegates to isolate the repository classes from the underlying database, which otherwise would not be possible… Usage Since Moles relies on runtime instrumentation, mole types must be run under the Pex profiler. This only works from inside Visual Studio if you write your tests with MSTest (Visual Studio Unit Test). While other unit test frameworks generally can be used with Moles, they require the respective tests to be run via command line, executed through the moles.runner.exe tool. A typical test execution would be similar to this: moles.runner.exe <mytests.dll> /runner:<myframework.console.exe> /args:/<myargs> So, the moled test can be run through tools like NCover or a scripting tool like MSBuild (which makes them easy to run in a Continuous Integration environment), but they are somewhat unhandy to run in the usual TDD workflow (which I described in some detail here). To make this a bit more fluent, I wrote a ReSharper live template to generate the respective command line for the test (it is also included in the sample download – moled_cmd.xml). - This is just a quick-and-dirty ‘solution’. Maybe it makes sense to write an extra Gallio adapter plugin (similar to the many others that are already provided) and include it with the Gallio download package, if  there’s sufficient demand for it. As of now, the only way to run tests with the Moles framework from within Visual Studio is by using them with MSTest. From the command line, anything with a managed console runner can be used (provided that the appropriate extension is in place)… A typical Gallio/Moles command line (as generated by the mentioned R#-template) looks like that: "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Moles\bin\moles.runner.exe" /runner:"%ProgramFiles%\Gallio\bin\Gallio.Echo.exe" "Gallio.Moles.Demo.dll" /args:/r:IsolatedAppDomain /args:/filter:"ExactType:TestFixture and Member:ReadFileContentWithMoles" -- Note: When using the command line with Echo (Gallio’s console runner), be sure to always include the IsolatedAppDomain option, otherwise the tests won’t use the instrumentation callbacks! -- License issues As I already said, the free mocking frameworks can mock only interfaces and virtual methods. if you want to mock other things, you need the Typemock Isolator tool for that, which comes with license costs (Although these ‘costs’ are ridiculously low compared to the value that such a tool can bring to a software project, spending money often is a considerable gateway hurdle in real life...).  The Moles framework also is not totally free, but comes with the same license conditions as the (closely related) Pex framework: It is free for academic/non-commercial use only, to use it in a ‘real’ software project requires an MSDN Subscription (from VS2010pro on). The demo solution The sample solution (VS 2008) can be downloaded from here. It contains the Gallio.Moles.dll which provides the here described Moled attribute, the above mentioned R#-template (moled_cmd.xml) and a test fixture containing the above described use case scenarios. To run it, you need the Gallio framework (download) and Microsoft Moles (download) being installed in the default locations. Happy testing…

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• Professional Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Games using XNA Game Studio 4

  - by Chris Williams

  In 24 short days*, my (along with the awesome George W. Clingerman) first book will be released:   Professional Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Games using XNA Game Studio 4 (or as we like to call it, that damned 550 page monstrosity that nearly killed us) Weighing in at 552 pages and featuring a foreward by the legendary James Silva (Ska Studios, creator of The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, I MAED A GAME W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, and more...) this book gives thorough coverage of XNA 4.0 as it relates to Windows Phone 7. The book is written in a light, conversational tone, which means (unlike some books) you won't be compelled to gouge your eyes out with a rusty spork after reading the first few pages. At least, that’s the intent. If you do feel compelled to engage in some feats of eye-gouging sporkage, we (the authors of this book) would like to point out that we are not responsible and that seeking the help of a mental health professional might be advised. (We’re not qualified to dispense medical advice either.) The book is structured to introduce relevant material first, with code snippets and samples of how to use various phone features and XNA concepts, with helpful side notes along the way. After you've been exposed to a few chapters worth of concepts, you get the chance to bring them together by building a game that leverages those features. This book contains THREE (3!) complete games, including: Drive & Dodge (a racing game), Poker Dice (roll dice to make poker hand combinations) and Picture Puzzle (take a photo and turn it into a jigsaw puzzle.) Writing this book has been an incredible experience, and we hope reading it will be equally informative for all of you. We’re also happy to announce there will be a Kindle edition available, along with various other electronic media. Get your copy from Wiley.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and anywhere else awesome books are sold. *more or less… some sites list the publication date as early march, but the official street date is 2/21/2011

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• Highlight Row in GridView with Colored Columns

  - by Vincent Maverick Durano

  I wrote a blog post a while back before here that demonstrate how to highlight a GridView row on mouseover and as you can see its very easy to highlight rows in GridView. One of my colleague uses the same technique for implemeting gridview row highlighting but the problem is that if a Column has background color on it that cell will not be highlighted anymore. To make it more clear then let's build up a sample application. ASPX:   1: <asp:GridView runat="server" id="GridView1" onrowcreated="GridView1_RowCreated" 2: onrowdatabound="GridView1_RowDataBound"> 3: </asp:GridView>   CODE BEHIND:   1: private DataTable FillData() { 2:   3: DataTable dt = new DataTable(); 4: DataRow dr = null; 5:   6: //Create DataTable columns 7: dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("RowNumber", typeof(string))); 8: dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Col1", typeof(string))); 9: dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Col2", typeof(string))); 10: dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Col3", typeof(string))); 11:   12: //Create Row for each columns 13: dr = dt.NewRow(); 14: dr["RowNumber"] = 1; 15: dr["Col1"] = "A"; 16: dr["Col2"] = "B"; 17: dr["Col3"] = "C"; 18: dt.Rows.Add(dr); 19:   20: dr = dt.NewRow(); 21: dr["RowNumber"] = 2; 22: dr["Col1"] = "AA"; 23: dr["Col2"] = "BB"; 24: dr["Col3"] = "CC"; 25: dt.Rows.Add(dr); 26:   27: dr = dt.NewRow(); 28: dr["RowNumber"] = 3; 29: dr["Col1"] = "A"; 30: dr["Col2"] = "B"; 31: dr["Col3"] = "CC"; 32: dt.Rows.Add(dr); 33:   34: dr = dt.NewRow(); 35: dr["RowNumber"] = 4; 36: dr["Col1"] = "A"; 37: dr["Col2"] = "B"; 38: dr["Col3"] = "CC"; 39: dt.Rows.Add(dr); 40:   41: dr = dt.NewRow(); 42: dr["RowNumber"] = 5; 43: dr["Col1"] = "A"; 44: dr["Col2"] = "B"; 45: dr["Col3"] = "CC"; 46: dt.Rows.Add(dr); 47:   48: return dt; 49: } 50:   51: protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { 52: if (!IsPostBack) { 53: GridView1.DataSource = FillData(); 54: GridView1.DataBind(); 55: } 56: }   As you can see there's nothing fancy in the code above. It just contain a method that fills a DataTable with a dummy data on it. Now here's the code for row highlighting:   1: protected void GridView1_RowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e) { 2: //Set Background Color for Columns 1 and 3 3: e.Row.Cells[1].BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Beige; 4: e.Row.Cells[3].BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red; 5:   6: //Attach onmouseover and onmouseout for row highlighting 7: e.Row.Attributes.Add("onmouseover", "this.style.backgroundColor='Blue'"); 8: e.Row.Attributes.Add("onmouseout", "this.style.backgroundColor=''"); 9: }   Running the code above will show something like this in the browser: On initial load: On mouseover of GridView row:   Noticed that Col1 and Col3 are not highlighted. Why? the reason is that Col1 and Col3 cells has background color set on it and we only highlight the rows (TR) and not the columns (TD) that's why on mouseover only the rows will be highlighted. To fix the issue we will create a javascript method that would remove the background color of the columns when highlighting a row and on mouseout set back the original color that is set on Col1 and Col3. Here are the codes below: JavaScript   1: <script type="text/javascript"> 2: function HighLightRow(rowIndex, colIndex,colIndex2, flag) { 3: var gv = document.getElementById("<%= GridView1.ClientID %>"); 4: var selRow = gv.rows[rowIndex]; 5: if (rowIndex > 0) { 6: if (flag == "sel") { 7: gv.rows[rowIndex].style.backgroundColor = 'Blue'; 8: gv.rows[rowIndex].style.color = "White"; 9: gv.rows[rowIndex].cells[colIndex].style.backgroundColor = ''; 10: gv.rows[rowIndex].cells[colIndex2].style.backgroundColor = ''; 11: } 12: else { 13: gv.rows[rowIndex].style.backgroundColor = ''; 14: gv.rows[rowIndex].style.color = "Black"; 15: gv.rows[rowIndex].cells[colIndex].style.backgroundColor = 'Beige'; 16: gv.rows[rowIndex].cells[colIndex2].style.backgroundColor = 'Red'; 17: } 18: } 19: } 20: </script>   The HighLightRow method is a javascript function that accepts four (4) parameters which are the rowIndex,colIndex,colIndex2 and the flag. The rowIndex is the current row index of the selected row in GridView. The colIndex is the index of Col1 and colIndex2 is the index of col3. We are passing these index because these columns has background color on it and we need to toggle its backgroundcolor when highlighting the row in GridView. Finally the flag is something that would determine if its selected or not. Now here's the code for calling the JavaScript function above.     1: protected void GridView1_RowCreated(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e) { 2:   3: //Set Background Color for Columns 1 and 3 4: e.Row.Cells[1].BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Beige; 5: e.Row.Cells[3].BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red; 6:   7: //Attach onmouseover and onmouseout for row highlighting 8: //and call the HighLightRow method with the required parameters 9: int index = e.Row.RowIndex + 1; 10: e.Row.Attributes.Add("onmouseover", "HighLightRow(" + index + "," + 1 + "," + 3 + ",'sel')"); 11: e.Row.Attributes.Add("onmouseout", "HighLightRow(" + index + "," + 1 + "," + 3 + ",'dsel')"); 12: 13: }   Running the code above will display something like this: On initial load:   On mouseover of GridView row:   That's it! I hope someone find this post useful!

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• Silverlight Cream for December 28, 2010 -- #1017

  - by Dave Campbell

  In this Issue: Davide Zordan, Alex Golesh, Michael S. Scherotter, Andrej Tozon, Alex Knight, Jeff Blankenburg(-2-), Jeremy Likness, and Laurent Bugnion. Above the Fold: Silverlight: "My “What’s new in Silverlight 4 demo” app" Andrej Tozon WP7: "Taking a screenshot from within a Silverlight #WP7 application" Laurent Bugnion Expression Blend: "PathListBox: getting started" Alex Knight Shoutouts: If you haven't seen this SurfCube app demo on YouTube yet... check it out now: SurfCube V1.0 Windows Phone 7 Browser Want to get a free WP7 class from Shawn Wildermuth? Check this out: Webinar: Writing your first Windows Phone 7 Application Koen Zwikstra announed the next preview of his great tool: Silverlight Spy Preview 2 From SilverlightCream.com: Using the Multi-Touch Behavior in a Windows Phone 7 Multi-Page application Davide Zordan has a post up responding to questions he receives about multi-touch on WP7 in applications spanning more than one page. Silverlight for Windows Phone 7 Quick Tip: Fix missing icons while using DatePicker/TimePicker controls Alex Golesh discusses the use of the DatePicker control from the WP7 toolkit and found an unpleasant surprise associated with the Done/Cancel icons in the ApplicationBar, and has a solution for us. Updated SMF Thumbnail Scrubbing Sample Code Michael S. Scherotter has a post up about an update he's done to Silverlight 4 of code that allows thumbnail views of a video while 'scrubbing' ... don't know what that is? read the post :) My “What’s new in Silverlight 4 demo” app Andrej Tozon admits he's a little behind with this post, but as he points out, it might be a good time to review Silverlight 4 features, on the eve of 5. PathListBox: getting started One half the Knight team -- Alex Knight this time, has the first post of a series on the PathListBox up ... some real Expression Blend goodness. What I Learned in WP7 – Issue #9 Two more from Jeff Blankenburg today, in his number 9, he starts off demonstrating passing data between pages when navigating and fnishes up with some excellent info for submitting apps to the marketplace. What I Learned in WP7 – #Issue 10 Jeff Blankenburg's number 10 elaborates on the query string data he discussed in number 9. Using Sterling in Windows Phone 7 Applications Who better than the author?? Jeremy Likness has an end-to-end WP7/Sterling app up on his blog... begin with downloading Sterling, discuss what's needed to support Tombstoning, even custom serialization. Taking a screenshot from within a Silverlight #WP7 application Laurent Bugnion has a post up describing something people have been looking for: getting a screenshot of a WP7 application's page. Stay in the 'Light! Twitter SilverlightNews | Twitter WynApse | WynApse.com | Tagged Posts | SilverlightCream Join me @ SilverlightCream | Phoenix Silverlight User Group Technorati Tags: Silverlight    Silverlight 3    Silverlight 4    Windows Phone MIX10

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• My Upcoming Talk at South Florida&rsquo;s ITPalooza 2012 - NuGet for Open Source and Enterprise Environments

  - by Sam Abraham

  I am very excited to be speaking at IT Palooza next week. As this event’s audience will span professionals working in different facets of Information Technology, I chose to speak on NuGet, an essential tool for any Microsoft Stack developer, as the topic can be of value to managers, architects, IT personnel, as well as developers. For more information on ITPalooza, please visit: http://itpalooza.e2mktg.com/ To register please visit: http://www.fladotnet.com/Reg.aspx?EventID=627   Below are the abstract and speaker bio: Leveraging NuGet for Open Source and Enterprise Environments NuGet is an open source package management system for .NET and Visual Studio that makes it easy to add, update, or remove external libraries in a .Net Project. In this session, we will be covering how NuGet makes open source libraries easily discoverable and usable. We will then move to demonstrate "NuGet for the Enterprise" as we setup a local library repository and configure NuGet to ensure external library versioning is consistent among project developers. Speakers: Sam Abraham is a Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS ASP.Net 3.5, 4.0 and Silverlight 4) and Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) striving to leverage proven technology solutions to produce cost-effective, quality software that meets customer needs, timelines and budgets. He is currently a member of the Software Engineering Team at SISCO, the leader in maritime security solutions with customers including Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as well as the US Coast Guard. A strong believer in learning through sharing and the value of community fellowship, Sam has been actively involved in the local community as leader of the West Palm Beach Developers' Group, volunteer board member at the International Association for All IT Architects South Florida Chapter (IASA), and former volunteer at the South Florida Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

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• ASP.NET 4 Hosting :: How to Debug Your ASP.NET Applications

  - by mbridge

  Remote debugging of a process is a privilege, and like all privileges, it must be granted to a user or group of users before its operation is allowed. The Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET provide two mechanisms to enable remote debugging support: The Debugger Users group and the "Debug programs" user right. Debugger Users Group When you debug a remote .NET Framework-based application, the Debugger on your computer must communicate with the remote computer using DCOM. The remote server must grant the Debugger access, and it does this by granting access to all members of the Debugger Users group. Therefore, you must ensure that you are a member of the Debugger Users group on that computer. This is a local security group, meaning that it is visible to only the computer where it exists. To add yourself or a group to the Debugger Users group, follow these steps: 1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the Desktop and choose Manage from the context menu. 2. Browse to the Groups node, which is found under the Local Users and Groups node of System Tools. 3. In the right pane, double-click the Debugger Users group. 4. Add your user account or a group account of which you are a member. Debug Programs User Right To debug programs that run under an account that is different from your account, you must be granted the "Debug programs" user right on the computer where the program runs. By default, only the Administrators group is granted this user right. You can check this by opening Local Security Policy on the computer. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, Administrative Tools, and then Local Security Policy. 2. Browse to the User Rights Assignment node under the Local Policies node. 3. In the right pane, double-click the "Debug programs" user right. 4. Add your user account or a group account of which you are a member.

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• ISO Mount for Windown 7 and/or Server 2008

  - by Eric Johnson

  Apparently it's hard to locate a free ISO mapper these days.  Like most people I've use Microsoft's Virtual CD ROM to mount ISO images on XP and server 2003 machines.   This will not work in Windows 7 and Server 2008 machines.  Therefore, I recommend people try out magic ISO instead.   It's freeware and can be downloaded from the following URL. http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-history.htm

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• The last MVVM you'll ever need?

  - by Nuri Halperin

  As my MVC projects mature and grow, the need to have some omnipresent, ambient model properties quickly emerge. The application no longer has only one dynamic pieced of data on the page: A sidebar with a shopping cart, some news flash on the side – pretty common stuff. The rub is that a controller is invoked in context of a single intended request. The rest of the data, even though it could be just as dynamic, is expected to appear on it's own. There are many solutions to this scenario. MVVM prescribes creating elaborate objects which expose your new data as a property on some uber-object with more properties exposing the "side show" ambient data. The reason I don't love this approach is because it forces fairly acute awareness of the view, and soon enough you have many MVVM objects laying around, and views have to start doing null-checks in order to ensure you really supplied all the values before binding to them. Ick. Just as unattractive is the ViewData dictionary. It's not strongly typed, and in both this and the MVVM approach someone has to populate these properties – n'est pas? Where does that live? With MVC2, we get the formerly-futures  feature Html.RenderAction(). The feature allows you plant a line in a view, of the format: <% Html.RenderAction("SessionInterest", "Session"); %> While this syntax looks very clean, I can't help being bothered by it. MVC was touting a very strong separation of concerns, the Model taking on the role of the business logic, the controller handling route and performing minimal view-choosing operations and the views strictly focused on rendering out angled-bracket tags. The RenderAction() syntax has the view calling some controller and invoking it inline with it's runtime rendering. This – to my taste – embeds too much  knowledge of controllers into the view's code – which was allegedly forbidden.  The one way flow "Controller Receive Data –> Controller invoke Model –> Controller select view –> Controller Hand data to view" now gets a "View calls controller and gets it's own data" which is not so one-way anymore. Ick. I toyed with some other solutions a bit, including some base controllers, special view classes etc. My current favorite though is making use of the ExpandoObject and dynamic features with C# 4.0. If you follow Phil Haack or read a bit from David Heyden you can see the general picture emerging. The game changer is that using the new dynamic syntax, one can sprout properties on an object and make use of them in the view. Well that beats having a bunch of uni-purpose MVVM's any day! Rather than statically exposed properties, we'll just use the capability of adding members at runtime. Armed with new ideas and syntax, I went to work: First, I created a factory method to enrich the focuse object: public static class ModelExtension { public static dynamic Decorate(this Controller controller, object mainValue) { dynamic result = new ExpandoObject(); result.Value = mainValue; result.SessionInterest = CodeCampBL.SessoinInterest(); result.TagUsage = CodeCampBL.TagUsage(); return result; } } This gives me a nice fluent way to have the controller add the rest of the ambient "side show" items (SessionInterest, TagUsage in this demo) and expose them all as the Model: public ActionResult Index() { var data = SyndicationBL.Refresh(TWEET_SOURCE_URL); dynamic result = this.Decorate(data); return View(result); } So now what remains is that my view knows to expect a dynamic object (rather than statically typed) so that the ASP.NET page compiler won't barf: <%@ Page Language="C#" Title="Ambient Demo" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Ambient.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<dynamic>" %> Notice the generic ViewPage<dynamic>. It doesn't work otherwise. In the page itself, Model.Value property contains the main data returned from the controller. The nice thing about this, is that the master page (Ambient.Master) also inherits from the generic ViewMasterPage<dynamic>. So rather than the page worrying about all this ambient stuff, the side bars and panels for ambient data all reside in a master page, and can be rendered using the RenderPartial() syntax: <% Html.RenderPartial("TagCloud", Model.SessionInterest as Dictionary<string, int>); %> Note here that a cast is necessary. This is because although dynamic is magic, it can't figure out what type this property is, and wants you to give it a type so its binder can figure out the right property to bind to at runtime. I use as, you can cast if you like. So there we go – no violation of MVC, no explosion of MVVM models and voila – right? Well, I could not let this go without a tweak or two more. The first thing to improve, is that some views may not need all the properties. In that case, it would be a waste of resources to populate every property. The solution to this is simple: rather than exposing properties, I change d the factory method to expose lambdas - Func<T> really. So only if and when a view accesses a member of the dynamic object does it load the data. public static class ModelExtension { // take two.. lazy loading! public static dynamic LazyDecorate(this Controller c, object mainValue) { dynamic result = new ExpandoObject(); result.Value = mainValue; result.SessionInterest = new Func<Dictionary<string, int>>(() => CodeCampBL.SessoinInterest()); result.TagUsage = new Func<Dictionary<string, int>>(() => CodeCampBL.TagUsage()); return result; } } Now that lazy loading is in place, there's really no reason not to hook up all and any possible ambient property. Go nuts! Add them all in – they won't get invoked unless used. This now requires changing the signature of usage on the ambient properties methods –adding some parenthesis to the master view: <% Html.RenderPartial("TagCloud", Model.SessionInterest() as Dictionary<string, int>); %> And, of course, the controller needs to call LazyDecorate() rather than the old Decorate(). The final touch is to introduce a convenience method to the my Controller class , so that the tedium of calling Decorate() everywhere goes away. This is done quite simply by adding a bunch of methods, matching View(object), View(string,object) signatures of the Controller class: public ActionResult Index() { var data = SyndicationBL.Refresh(TWEET_SOURCE_URL); return AmbientView(data); } //these methods can reside in a base controller for the solution: public ViewResult AmbientView(dynamic data) { dynamic result = ModelExtension.LazyDecorate(this, data); return View(result); } public ViewResult AmbientView(string viewName, dynamic data) { dynamic result = ModelExtension.LazyDecorate(this, data); return View(viewName, result); } The call to AmbientView now replaces any call the View() that requires the ambient data. DRY sattisfied, lazy loading and no need to replace core pieces of the MVC pipeline. I call this a good MVC day. Enjoy!

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• Profile of Scott L Newman

  - by Ratman21

  To:       Whom It May Concern From: Scott L Newman Date:   4/23/2010 Re:      Profile Who is he, what can he do? Two very good questions. #1. I am a 20 + years experience Information Technology Professional (hold on don’t hit delete yet!). Who is not over the hill (I am on top of it) and still knows how to do (and can still do) that thing call work! #2. A can do attitude, that does not allow problems to sit unfixed. I have a broad range of skills, including: Certified CompTIA A+, Security+ and Network+ Technician §         2.5 years (NOC) Network experience on large Cisco based Wan – UK to Austria §         20 years experience MIS/DP – Yes I can do IBM mainframes and Tandem non-stops too §         18 years experience as technical Help Desk support – panicking users, no problem §         18 years experience with PC/Server based system, intranet and internet systems §         10+ years experienced on: Microsoft Office, Windows XP and Data Network Fundamentals (YES I do windows) §         Strong trouble shooting skills for software, hard ware and circuit issues (and I can tell you what kind of horrors I had to face on all of them). §         Very experienced on working with customers on problems – again panicking users, no problem §         Working experience with Remote Access (VPN/SecurID) – I didn’t just study them I worked on/with them §         Skilled in getting info for and creating documentation for Operation procedures (I do not just wait for them to give it to me I go out and get it. Waiting for info on working applications is, well dumb) Multiple software languages (Hey I have done some programming) And much more experiences in “IT” (Mortgage, stocks and financial information systems experience and have worked “IT” in a hospital) Can multitask, also have ability to adapt to change and learn quickly. (once was put in charge of a system that I had not worked with for over two years. Talk about having to relearn and adapt to changes fast. But I did it.)   The summarization is that I know what do, know keep things going and how to fix it when it breaks.   Scott L. Newman Confidential

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• Trabajando el redireccionamiento de usuarios/Working with user redirect methods

  - by Jason Ulloa

  La protección de las aplicaciones es un elemento que no se puede dejar por fuera cuando se elabora un sistema. Cada parte o elemento de código que protege nuetra aplicación debe ser cuidadosamente seleccionado y elaborado. Una de las cosas comunes con las que nos topamos en asp.net cuando deseamos trabajar con usuarios, es con la necesidad de poder redireccionarlos a los distintos elementos o páginas dependiendo del rol. Pues precisamente eso es lo que haremos, vamos a trabajar con el Web.config de nuestra aplicación y le añadiremos unas pequeñas líneas de código para lograr dar un poco mas de seguridad al sistema y sobre todo lograr el redireccionamiento. Así que veamos como logramos lo deseado: Como bien sabemos el web.config nos permite manejar muchos elementos dentro de asp.net, muchos de ellos relacionados con la seguridad, asi como tambien nos brinda la posibilidad de poder personalizar los elementos para poder adaptarlo a nuestras necesidades. Así que, basandonos en el principio de que podemos personalizar el web.config, entonces crearemos una sección personalizada, que será la que utilicemos para manejar el redireccionamiento: Nuestro primer paso será ir a nuestro web.config y buscamos las siguientes líneas: <configuration>     <configSections>  </sectionGroup>             </sectionGroup>         </sectionGroup> Y luego de ellas definiremos una nueva sección  <section name="loginRedirectByRole" type="crabit.LoginRedirectByRoleSection" allowLocation="true" allowDefinition="Everywhere" /> El section name corresponde al nombre de nuestra nueva sección Type corresponde al nombre de la clase (que pronto realizaremos) y que será la encargada del Redirect Como estamos trabajando dentro de la seccion de configuración una vez definidad nuestra sección personalizada debemos cerrar esta sección  </configSections> Por lo que nuestro web.config debería lucir de la siguiente forma <configuration>     <configSections>  </sectionGroup>             </sectionGroup>         </sectionGroup> <section name="loginRedirectByRole" type="crabit.LoginRedirectByRoleSection" allowLocation="true" allowDefinition="Everywhere" /> </configSections> Anteriormente definimos nuestra sección, pero esta sería totalmente inútil sin el Metodo que le da vida. En nuestro caso el metodo loginRedirectByRole, este metodo lo definiremos luego del </configSections> último que cerramos: <loginRedirectByRole>     <roleRedirects>       <add role="Administrador" url="~/Admin/Default.aspx" />       <add role="User" url="~/User/Default.aspx" />     </roleRedirects>   </loginRedirectByRole> Como vemos, dentro de nuestro metodo LoginRedirectByRole tenemos el elemento add role. Este elemento será el que posteriormente le indicará a la aplicación hacia donde irá el usuario cuando realice un login correcto. Así que, veamos un poco esta configuración: add role="Administrador" corresponde al nombre del Role que tenemos definidio, pueden existir tantos elementos add role como tengamos definidos en nuestra aplicación. El elemento URL indica la ruta o página a la que será dirigido un usuario una vez logueado y dentro de la aplicación. Como vemos estamos utilizando el ~ para indicar que es una ruta relativa. Con esto hemos terminado la configuración de nuestro web.config, ahora veamos a fondo el código que se encargará de leer estos elementos y de utilziarlos: Para nuestro ejemplo, crearemos una nueva clase denominada LoginRedirectByRoleSection, recordemos que esta clase es la que llamamos en el elemento TYPE definido en la sección de nuestro web.config. Una vez creada la clase, definiremos algunas propiedades, pero antes de ello le indicaremos a nuestra clase que debe heredar de configurationSection, esto para poder obtener los elementos del web.config.  Inherits ConfigurationSection Ahora nuestra primer propiedad   <ConfigurationProperty("roleRedirects")> _         Public Property RoleRedirects() As RoleRedirectCollection             Get                 Return DirectCast(Me("roleRedirects"), RoleRedirectCollection)             End Get             Set(ByVal value As RoleRedirectCollection)                 Me("roleRedirects") = value             End Set         End Property     End Class Esta propiedad será la encargada de obtener todos los roles que definimos en la metodo personalizado de nuestro web.config Nuestro segundo paso será crear una segunda clase (en la misma clase LoginRedirectByRoleSection) a esta clase la llamaremos RoleRedirectCollection y la heredaremos de ConfigurationElementCollection y definiremos lo siguiente Public Class RoleRedirectCollection         Inherits ConfigurationElementCollection         Default Public ReadOnly Property Item(ByVal index As Integer) As RoleRedirect             Get                 Return DirectCast(BaseGet(index), RoleRedirect)             End Get         End Property         Default Public ReadOnly Property Item(ByVal key As Object) As RoleRedirect             Get                 Return DirectCast(BaseGet(key), RoleRedirect)             End Get         End Property         Protected Overrides Function CreateNewElement() As ConfigurationElement             Return New RoleRedirect()         End Function         Protected Overrides Function GetElementKey(ByVal element As ConfigurationElement) As Object             Return DirectCast(element, RoleRedirect).Role         End Function     End Class Nuevamente crearemos otra clase esta vez llamada RoleRedirect y en este caso la heredaremos de ConfigurationElement. Nuestra nueva clase debería lucir así: Public Class RoleRedirect         Inherits ConfigurationElement         <ConfigurationProperty("role", IsRequired:=True)> _         Public Property Role() As String             Get                 Return DirectCast(Me("role"), String)             End Get             Set(ByVal value As String)                 Me("role") = value             End Set         End Property         <ConfigurationProperty("url", IsRequired:=True)> _         Public Property Url() As String             Get                 Return DirectCast(Me("url"), String)             End Get             Set(ByVal value As String)                 Me("url") = value             End Set         End Property     End Class Una vez que nuestra clase madre esta lista, lo unico que nos queda es un poc de codigo en la pagina de login de nuestro sistema (por supuesto, asumo que estan utilizando  los controles de login que por defecto tiene asp.net). Acá definiremos nuestros dos últimos metodos  Protected Sub ctllogin_LoggedIn(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ctllogin.LoggedIn         RedirectLogin(ctllogin.UserName)     End Sub El procedimiento loggeding es parte del control login de asp.net y se desencadena en el momento en que el usuario hace loguin correctametne en nuestra aplicación Este evento desencadenará el siguiente procedimiento para redireccionar.     Private Sub RedirectLogin(ByVal username As String)         Dim roleRedirectSection As crabit.LoginRedirectByRoleSection = DirectCast(ConfigurationManager.GetSection("loginRedirectByRole"), crabit.LoginRedirectByRoleSection)         For Each roleRedirect As crabit.RoleRedirect In roleRedirectSection.RoleRedirects             If Roles.IsUserInRole(username, roleRedirect.Role) Then                 Response.Redirect(roleRedirect.Url)             End If         Next     End Sub   Con esto, nuestra aplicación debería ser capaz de redireccionar sin problemas y manejar los roles.  Además, tambien recordar que nuestro ejemplo se basa en la utilización del esquema de bases de datos que por defecto nos proporcionada asp.net.

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• Fixing my SQL Directory NTFS ACLS

  - by Shawn Cicoria

  I run my development server by boot to VHD (Windows Server 2008 R2 x64).  In that instance, I also have an attached VHD (I attach via script at boot up time using Task Scheduler).  That VHD I have my SQL instances installed. So, the other day, acting hasty, I chmod my ACLS – wow, what a day after that. So, in order to fix it I created this set of BAT commands that resets it back to operational state – not 100% of all what you get, I also didn’t want to run a “repair” – but, all operational again. setlocal SET Inst100Path=H:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100 REM GOTO SQLE SET InstanceName=MSSQLSERVER SET InstIdPath=H:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.%InstanceName% SET Group=SQLServerMSSQLUser$SCICORIA-HV1$%InstanceName% SET AgentGroup=SQLServerSQLAgentUser$SCICORIA-HV1$%InstanceName% ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)FX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\backup" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\data" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\FTdata" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Jobs" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\binn" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Log" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%Inst100Path%" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%Inst100Path%\shared\Errordumps" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RXW ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\binn" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Log" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%Inst100Path%" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)RX REM THIS IS THE SQL EXPRESS INSTANCE :SQLE SET InstanceName=SQLEXPRESS SET InstIdPath=H:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.%InstanceName% SET Group=SQLServerMSSQLUser$SCICORIA-HV1$%InstanceName% SET AgentGroup=SQLServerSQLAgentUser$SCICORIA-HV1$%InstanceName% ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)FX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\backup" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\data" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\FTdata" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Jobs" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\binn" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Log" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%Inst100Path%" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%Inst100Path%\shared\Errordumps" /T /Q /grant "%Group%":(OI)(CI)RXW ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)RX ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\binn" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%InstIdPath%\MSSQL\Log" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)F ICACLS "%Inst100Path%" /T /Q /grant "%AgentGroup%":(OI)(CI)RX endlocal

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• HR According to Batman

  - by D'Arcy Lussier

  Any idea who that guy is running alongside the Caped Crusader? That’s Nightwing, but you may know him as Robin…well, the first Robin anyway. There were actually like 5 Robin’s according to Wikipedia: Dick Grayson, the original, who’s parents were circus performers killed by a gangster. Jason Todd, who was caught trying to steal tires off of the Batmobile. Tim Drake, who saw Dick’s parents die and figured out who Batman and Robin were. and a few others that get into recent time travel/altered reality storylines. What does this have to do with HR? Well, it somewhat ties in with an article by Alex Papadimoulis from 2008. In the article he talks about the “Cravath System”. The Craveth system was developed by a law firm called Cravath, Swaine & Moore back in the 19th century. In a nutshell, they believed in hiring the best and brightest straight out of school. These aspiring lawyers would then begin a fight for survival in the firm, with the strong surviving. In what’s termed the “Up and Out” rule, employees needed to be promoted within 3 years or leave the company. They should achieve partner within 7 – 8 years and no later than 10 after initially coming on board (read all about the system on Wikipedia here). Back to Alex’s article, he quotes from a book published in 1947 about the lawfirm: Under the “Cravath system” of taking a substantial number of men annually and keeping a current constantly moving up in the office, and its philosophy of tenure, men are constantly leaving… it is often difficult to keep the best men long enough to determine whether they shall be made partners, for Cravath-trained men are always in demand, usually at premium salaries. And so we see a pattern forming here: 1. Hire a whole whack of smart college graduates 2. Put them to work 3. The ones that stick around should move up the ladder. The ones that don’t stick around served the company well and left to expound the quality of the Cravath firm. Those that didn’t fall into either of those categories were just let go. There’s some interesting undercurrents to these ideas. If you stick around, you better keep your feet moving! I was at a Microsoft shindig a few months back, and was talking to a Microsoft employee. He shared that at MS you have 5 years to achieve a “senior” position within the company. Once you hit that mark, you can stay there for the rest of your career (he told about a guy who’s a “senior” developer and has been for the last 20+ years working on audio drivers for Windows), but you *must* hit that mark within the timeframe. What we see with Microsoft is Cravath’s system in action, whether intentional or not: bring in smart young people and see which ones stick. You need to give people something to work towards. Saying “You must reach this level or else!” is one way to look at it. The other way is to see achieving a higher rank in the organization as something for ambitious employees to reach towards. It’s important for an organization to always have the next generation of executives waiting in the wings, and unless you’re encouraging that early on you may find yourself in a position of needing to fill positions that nobody has been working towards. Now, you might suggest that this isn’t that big of a deal because you could just hire someone from outside the organization, but the Cravath system holds to the tenet of promoting internally; develop your own talent, since your business is the best place for the future leadership to learn teh business from. It’s OK for people to quit. Alex’s article really drives this point home, but its worth noting here also: its OK for your people to quit. In fact its inevitable…and more inevitable that it’ll be good people that leave. Some will stay and work towards the internal awards of promotion, but a number will get experience, serve the organization well, and then move on to something else. This should be expected and treated as a natural business occurrence. The idea of an alumni of an organization begins to come into play here: “That guy used to work for <insert company here>”. There’s a benefit in that: those best and brightest will be drawn to your organization and your reputation will permeate your market through former staff that are sought after because of how well you nurtured them. The Batman Hook All of this brings us back to Batman and his HR practice: when Dick decided he’d had enough of the Robin schtick, he quit and became his own…but he was always associated with Batman and people understood where his training had come from. To the Dark Knight’s credit, he continued training partners under the Robin brand. Luckily he didn’t have to worry about firing any of them (the ship sort of sails when you reveal a secret identity), although there was that unfortunate “quitting” of the second Robin when the Joker blew him up…but regardless, we see the Cravath system at work: bring in talent, expect great things, and be ok with whatever they decide for their careers. It’s an interesting way to approach HR, and luckily for us our business isn’t as dangerous or over-the-top as the caped crusader’s.

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