If you’ve done any work with Azure Blob storage, you already know that Blob storage is case sensitive.  If you’ve hooked the Azure CDN to blob storage, it is also case sensitive.

You are probably reading this article because you’ve already run into this problem.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Azure CDN Blob Storage Case Sensitive Issue

OK.  This one is just plain annoying!

For some reason that I’ve yet to be able to track down, Response.End() seems to have no impact at all under DotNetNuke.

I tried various hacks.  Including the one you’ve probably seen already about executing Response.End() twice.  No good.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke Response.End() Doesn’t End

The main project I’m working on these days is moving several web sites to Azure.  It is something I’ve wanted to be able to try for a while.  I’m working with several other agencies on this project and some Microsoft consultants so there is some good guidance along the way.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DataSets, TableAdapters, and Transient Retry Logic For SqlAzure

Yeah, I know.  It has been a LONG  time since I posted anything.  I’ve been busy.

One of my recent projects brought up something I think you may be interested in so I thought I’d post about it.

Recently, I created a Facebook tab for Labels For Education using DotNetNuke 6.1, which just added an API for retrieving information from Facebook.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Facebook App using DotNetNuke

Most ASP.NET programmers are aware that the environment allows programmers to write code in multiple languages.  This is what allows a programmer who prefers CSharp to write modules for DotNetNuke in CSharp even though the core code is written in VB.NET.  (Until version 6.0, anyhow, where the core will finally be written in CSharp.)

What many don’t realize is that you can’t have CSharp code reference VB.NET and also have VB.NET code reference the CSharp code within the same application.  At least, you can’t do it directly.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Cross Language References in ASP.NET

Last week, I had a client ask me how to implement sharing from an email. On the face of it, sharing isn’t that hard for any specific service.  Facebook has their way.  Twitter has its way.  But we’ve been using the AddThis.com service.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you could provide a way to implement sharing from within an email for any service AddThis.com provided?  And what if you could also add the “Share” button so that even if you didn’t put the service in the email that they wanted to use, they still were able to share using the share button?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at AddThis.com From E-Mail

Every once in a while, something happens in life that makes you say, “enough!”

That happened a couple of weeks ago to me and a couple other programmers working on the same project that I’m working on.

The issue was that we had made some significant changes to a project, we had communicated to the project manager that the changes required that the entire project needed to be retested, but the testing never happened.  So of course we spent the next several days doing the “testing” and fixing.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Programmers’ Revolt

I got the following question yesterday:

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Using COM Objects from aSP.NET

If you have as much trouble as I do coming up with suggestions for what people could get for you, this list might help.

I don’t tend to need a lot of stuff, but there are some cool toys that would be nice to have, so I thought I’d list them here.  You might find them useful for your own list.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at All I Want For Christmas

I wrote the following article a long time ago on my main domain, but recently I had a reader send in a question that this article addresses.  So I’m putting this article here so that it is easier for readers to find in the future….… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Which Language VB or CSharp?

I have over 100 websites now and the danger exists that one of them might get hacked.

This wouldn’t be a big problem if I knew about it.  I have backups in place.

But how do you keep track of 100 web sites so that you know if one or more have been hacked so you can do something about it?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Free Website Monitor

Over the weekend I got a question about how to prevent postbacks on buttons from within jQuery tabs.  But the question really isn’t specific to jQuery.  There are other times when you might not want a button to post back.  So how do you do this?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Prevent Postback on Buttons

This video will discuss the differences and advantages of using a distributed version control system, like Git, compared to a server based version control system, like SubVersion or SourceSafe.

This video was originally produced for my clients who tend to be small organizations, but the video discusses large project implementations as well.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Distributed VS Server Based Version Control Systems

I’ve been working with a client to implement the Google Appliance on one of their sites that has forms authentication enabled.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Google provides a box that you can install to index your own site using essentially the same logic that Google uses to index the Internet.  The advantage is that you have a lot more control over what gets indexed and when it gets indexed than if you just use what Google provides from its public index of the Internet.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Google Appliance and Forms Authentication

I recently had the need to implement transaction tracking between two separate databases on two separate servers.

Unfortunately, I could not be sure that DTC was implemented on either server, so using transaction tracking with the TransactionScope wasn’t an option.

I also wanted to be able to wire this in easily to the existing 3-tiered framework we are currently using so that what I ended up with could easily be implemented by other developers in a similar situation.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Transaction Tracking Typed Datasets Using SqlTransaction

jQuery simplifies building rich, interactive web frontends. Getting started with this JavaScript library is easy, but it can take years to fully realize its breadth and depth; this cookbook shortens the learning curve considerably. With these recipes, you’ll learn patterns and practices from 19 leading developers who use jQuery for everything from integrating simple components into websites and applications to developing complex, high-performance user interfaces.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery Cookbook

This morning, my email had the following question:

“I am having a problem with datalist. Is it possible to do paging on datalist? If yes, what is the solution? I am using VB.NET on Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. Any recommend extension or solution?”

While I’m pretty sure I’ve addressed this in a previous article, I couldn’t find it doing a quick search, so I’ll review this issue again this morning.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Paging on a Datalist

Yesterday I was talking with a friend of mine about a project we have been working on that was written by some other company.  We were speculating why the code was written as it is when we started discussing design theory.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Principles of Programming Architecture

A few days ago I asked the question on Twitter and Facebook.  I got some pretty interesting comments along the way.

I asked the question because I recently “won” a watch at a chamber of commerce event I was at.  It is a ladies watch.  I can’t find any women who want it because none of them wear watches.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Do You Wear a Watch? (results)

Has this happened to you?

You make a change to a codebehind file or a web.config file and you rerun the application to see the effect and there is no change from the previous time  you looked at the file?

I see this over and over again.  But not on my own code.  Typically it is because someone has asked me how to fix something.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Why ASP.NET Changes Don’t Change Anything

Several weeks ago I was approached by Packt Publishing to review the latest DotNetNuke book, Building Websites with DotNetNuke 5 by Michael Washington and Ian Lackey, which I agreed to do.

What I intend to do in this review is to give you an idea of what is inside this book, compare what I read to what the outside cover of the book says you will get, and finally end with a few comments of my own that are completely opinion based.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Building Websites with DotNetNuke 5 (a review)

Last week I showed you how to install GitExtensions to access Gitosis and promised that I’d show you how to get this all working when Gitosis is running SSH on an alternate port.

There are several reasons why you might want to run SSH on an alternate port.  In my case it is because my ISP blocks incoming traffic on the lower ports and I want to be able to access my computers using SSH’s tunneling feature when I’m on the road.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at GitExtension, Putty, Alternate Port

I was recently sold on the idea of replacing SubVersion as my version control of choice and moving to GIT, or at least installing GIT and seeing for myself if it is that much better than SubVersion.  The first step was to install GIT on my computers so that I could play with it.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Git, Gitosis, Putty and Windows

I received the following question a few days ago but I’ve been so busy with billable work that I just haven’t had a chance to answer it until now.  Actually, I’m still busy, but I hate letting these questions go for too long.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Multi-Step Processing in ASP.NET

I received the following question a few days ago:

“I am trying to use three tables from the same dataset in one form that I am creating in vs.net winforms my problem I guess is the setup of it as I can get them all on the form but cant get them to all post to the separate tables when I click save I am using a mysql database with the Mysql connector not the obdc can this even be done?”

Frustrating, isn’t it?  .NET makes some things SO easy, and then when it isn’t you figure you must have done something wrong.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at One Form with Multiple Tables

Jeff Atwood of Coding Horror writes:

“I find it difficult to believe, but the reports keep pouring in via Twitter and email: many candidates who show up for programming job interviews can’t program. At all.”

Jeff, you must not have visited a college campus recently.  The reason most that most “programmers” can’t program is because their instructors led them to believe they could program.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Why Programmers Can’t Program

I thought about calling this  Session Object Madness, but it really isn’t that crazy once you think through what’s happening.

Here’s the issue.  I have a client who does work for another client who is hosting their sites at IBM.

I’m told that IBM will not enable any session servers so none of the sites can include session objects.  And that’s where the fun begins.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at When Session Objects Get Created With No Session Variables

Got this question this morning from the “Ask A Question” form.

“How do I make a change in an existing DotNetNuke module?  I want to add new fields to the feedback form.”

I’m assuming the question is about making changes to the module without touching the source code.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Changing an Existing DNN Module

I ran into an interesting “problem” last week that wasn’t all that hard to figure out once I broke out the debugger.  But I thought it would be useful to share the results to save others the time.

The situation was that I had an Object Data Source in a FormView that I wanted to share with both a DataGrid in the FormView and a DataRepeater outside of the FormView.  Since it was in the FormView, the DataRepeater couldn’t see it.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Sharing ObjectDataSource From Codebehind

I’ve stumbled across this problem twice in the last couple of months so I figure it is about time I blogged about it.

The situation is that you have  a page on your web site that sets a session variable and then redirects to another page that is expecting the variable to be there, only it isn’t there.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Session Variables Not Sticking

1) Pro ASP.NET MVC Framework

The ASP.NET MVC Framework is the latest evolution of Microsoft’s ASP.NET web platform. It introduces a radically new high–productivity programming model that promotes cleaner code architecture, test–driven development, and powerful extensibility, combined with all the benefits of ASP.NET 3.5.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Top Ten ASP.NET Books

Do you live in Connecticut?

Do you know something about Search Engine Marketing?

Do you feel like you are the only one in Connecticut doing Search Engine marketing?

Have you had limited success but you’d like to achieve more?

I have an idea I think you’re going to like.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Forming CT SEM Think Tank

Just in case you missed it, jQuery 1.4 was released with significant speed improvements, bug fixes and of course some API changes that you need to be aware of.

One of the more interesting changes that I’ll note here is the decreased use of polling within the framework.  I’ve used polling myself to detect when elements are available, but jQuery now uses the readystatechange event instead of polling when possible.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery 1.4 Released

This one has been bothering me for several weeks, so I decided to research the problem and finally fix it.

The problem started when I downloaded a project from the web to start working on it.  This same project worked previously, the zip was just an update.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Project Location is not Trusted

I’ve been busy over the last couple of weeks working on an administrative application that uses a ton of AJAXy stuff.

The application is interactive in the sense that every time a field is updated in the administrative screen, another part of the screen updates to show the user what the final result will look like when it is published.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery and ASP.NET UpdatePanel

While not exactly a web design book, this book is required reading for anyone involved in designing the GUI for a web site.

Colors have meaning and the better you understand this, the more optimal your site design can become for the users you intend to visit your site.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Art of Color

My friend Bill posted a link to “A Day In The Internet” that started a discussion about the signal to noise ratio on the Internet.

I commented briefly, but realized that my comment was turning into more of a post of its own.  So here’s a more complete comment on Bill’s post.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Filtering the Internet Noise

One of the things to keep in mind when using jQuery is that nothing is a blocking call.  Sure, there is a certain sequence to when things operate.  But, to be safe, you should always assume that step two will happen during step one.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery, Each() and Async Gets

Yesterday I mentioned a new tool called Cufon that allows you to easily embed fonts in your web site.

One quirk about this tool is that your HTML has to be rendered prior to applying, or refreshing, the font. If you are using any kind of AJAXy stuff in your site, you’ll need to re-apply the font change.  The trick is knowing when to do this.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at JQuery, Cufon, and Dynamic Content

I have long argued that 99% if the things people think they need to use Adobe’s Flash for could be done just as well using JavaScript.

Now that jQuery is available, I am even more convinced that this is the case.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Flash to jQuery

I just picked one of these up last Monday.  It’s pretty nice.

It is actually a bit of overkill for what I need but I was looking for the least expensive computer that would run a 64bit OS and run Exchange 2007.  This meant it had to have at least 2Gig of memory.  This has 3gig or memory.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Acer Aspire AS5532-5535

I got this interesting question the other day.

“I am interested in pursuing a career in Computer Programming and have a question. Which would be better: to get my degree through an online college, or to teach myself. If self teaching is better how and where should I start?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Learn To Program – Online College or Self Taught?

I admit it, for the first time in years, I find myself under committed.  That is, I have less work than I have time.  So if you need someone who provides one of the several programming and web-related services below, I may be able to help you.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Do you Need My Help?

Google recently introduced the SPDY initiative where they are working toward making the web twice as fast.

If you have a public facing web site that is commercial in nature, speed has always been a factor that will drive sales, sign-ups, etc.  But we very rarely pay any attention to this, even though the solutions are relatively simple.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Google SPDY Tweaks

One of the controls that was added to ASP.NET 3.5 in the SP1 release was the Dynamic Validator control.

I completely missed it.

What it does is pretty cool.  But it doesn’t really do what you’d think it might.  Or at least not what I thought it would.  “Dynamic” implies to me some kind of hook up to the database.  But the Dynamic Validator control doesn’t hook to the database.  At least not directly.  What it does, however, is a lot more flexible.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Dynamic Validator

The Model-View-Controller pattern—universally known as MVC—provides a stable, testable approach to web application development by separating the major functions—or concerns—of an application into independently defined roles.

ASP.NET MVC in Action is a comprehensive guide to MVC-based development using this powerful framework.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET MVC in Action

I’m not the first to write on this topic and probably won’t be the last.  But I do have something to say on the matter that I think is helpful.

In fact, there has been quite a bit written about interviewing for ASP.NET, but relatively little written about how to interview, and what to look for, in a student who just recently graduated from college.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Interview Questions For New College Graduates

Not to be confused with cross page posting, cross domain submission allows us to post the contents of an ASP.NET form to a completely different domain.

To achieve this we will need to use a bit of javascript and you’ll need to resort to using regular HTML controls.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Cross Domain Form Submission

I got this question a couple of weeks ago but just never had the time to put into answering fully.  But today I have some extra time due to the fact that I’m under-booked with projects.

The question went something like this:

“I want to be able to upload a file from a desktop application to a web site that has a form that accepts the file as a post.  How do I do that?”

And while I’ve done some things in the past that come close, I’ve never had to do this exact task.  But it does look interesting.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Upload a File via WebRequest Using CSharp

In our series about ASP.NET authentication so far we’ve covered all the rather normal cases where you’d want to have the ability to log into different domains attached to the same application.  There are a few additional hurdles you’ll need to overcome to make this work correctly.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Authentication – Multiple Domains w/ Same Application

“Programmers are craftspeople trained to use a certain set of tools (editors, object managers, version trackers) to generate a certain kind of product (programs) that will operate in some environment (operating systems on hardware assemblies). Like any other craft, computer programming has spawned a body of wisdom, most of which isn’t taught at universities or in certification classes.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

Several of the projects I’m involved with use the Google Search Appliance for their search engine.  For each of these projects, we’ve wanted to integrate the results on an ASPX page so that the results look like they are part of the site rather than taking them to another site to display the results.  This is achieved by using the XML Control, the Google XSLT file, and some good old-fashioned search and replace.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Embedding Google Search Appliance Results in ASP.NET

A couple of days ago I mentioned a project that I’ve been working on that is a bit out of the ordinary as far as GridViews go.  One of the issues I’ve had is that the edit template doesn’t map to the view template very well.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at GridView and Updating A Row Manually

I recently changed my theme to one that has a dark background with light content areas and discovered that Windows Live Writer, the blog editor I use to compose my blogs, doesn’t pick up the style for the content area when it decides what to display in the editor window.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Where Does Live Writer Store Themes

Databound controls are at once very easy and very frustrating.  If you just need to do some simple databinding that gets a list of items on the screen and you need the ability to edit those items, you are all set.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Access a control by ID From Within a Databound Control

Essential Silverlight 3 is the definitive reference and insider’s guide. It not only covers all the key features of the Silverlight 3 runtime and how to use them but, in Under the Hood sections, explains why each feature was developed and how each one works.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Essential Silverlight 3

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the move to DotNetNuke 5 has brought about a few changes.  Some of them are design decisions that are just frustrating, like not being able to see that a module is viewable by the administrators only.  Others are bugs, like not being able to press the ENTER key while searching for a user, like we discussed a couple of days ago.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke 5.x Can’t Move Module On A Page

The agile “Task Board,” also known as a “Scrum Board” has become a staple of the agile programming world.

“Getting Things Done” (GTD) is a process for managing task in the business world.

I mostly like what GTD does, but the classic implementation doesn’t fit how I work.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Agile/Scrum Task Board for “Real Life”

I recently upgraded a DotNetNuke installation and found several issues that are either different from the 4.x series or are now broken.

Most annoying is that there is now no longer any visual indication that a module is viewable by the administrator only.  Seems there should at least be a CSS class added to the module so that we can control the visual representation ourselves if we want.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke 5.14 Search User Enter Key Issue

Now that we’ve assigned roles to our users, we need to assign permissions to the roles.

The easiest way to do this is through the web.config file, which will allow us to control which pages the roles can access.

But how do we control items beyond pages?  For that we’ll need to do a bit of “role your own” coding.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Authentication – Assigning Permissions to Roles

What?!  A chair on a programming blog?

Hey, we all need one, and if you don’t have a good chair, your programming WILL suffer!

High Back Ergonomic Office Chair Extremely Well Padded Seat and Back Grey and Black Mesh Upholstery Height Adjustable Back Height Adjustable Arms Polyurethane Padded Arm Rests Multi-Function 3-Paddle Control Mechanism Pneumatic Seat Height Adjustment Back Angle Adjustment Seat Tilt Adjustment Tilt Tension Control Heavy Duty Black Nylon Base Dual Wheel Carpet Casters

Dimensions:

• Overall: 27"(W) x 23 3/4"(D) x 43 1/4"-49"(H)
• Seat Size: 21 1/2"(W) x 19"(D)
• Back Size: 21"(W) x 25 1/2"-27 1/4"(H)
• Arm Height: 6 3/4"-9 1/2"(H) From Seat; 25 3/4"-32 3/4"(H) From Floor Seat
• Height: 19 1/2"-22 1/2"(H)
• Finish: Grey and Black Upholstery

Get more information here… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Ergonomic Office Chair

Tucked away on the toolbar is a little-used and often overlooked control.  Not using this control could be costing you in performance.

The control I’m referring to is the Substitution control.  The only time you’d use it would be if you had implemented page caching.  You are using page caching, right?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Substitution Control

Yesterday I was asked a question that I thought was one thing and ended up being another.  But the question I thought it was is one worth answering here because it takes so darn long to find the answer.

How do you get DotNetNuke to collect user profile information while a user is self-registering for access to your portal?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke – Collecting Profile at Registration

I’ve had to do this a couple of times and I just realized I haven’t written about it anywhere.

If you need to SELECT a field from a row that returns different content based on the content of the field, you’d think, based on previous programming experience, that your code would look something like this.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at SQL SELECT CASE Instead of IIF

Another function that is not supplied by one of the existing controls in ASP.NET is the ability to assign a user to a role.  For this, we will need to resort to using the APIs.

Since we can assign roles to users using the ASP.NET configuration tool, we can assume there is an API available that will do this work for us.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at ASP.NET Assigning a Role to a User

Video calls have always offered the promise of connection to your distant friends and family. But for many of us, getting the hardware and third-party software to work has been a challenge. Isn’t it about time for an all-in-one webcam and software solution designed to make video calling easy for everyone?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Logitech Webcam Pro 9000

I’ve spent a good chunk of the last two days working on an interesting project for one of my clients that I think the rest of the jQuery community could benefit from.

The task started when my client came to me with an existing script that was being used in a DotNetNuke system to expand and collapse content under head tags that was produced by an article editing system similar to the Text/HTML module.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery Expand/Collapse Using Head Tags

Yesterday I was setting up DotNetNuke for a designer on a computer at a corporate location so that he could start working on CSS for some of our custom modules.  He had an earlier version of DNN installed, so you’d think that it would “just work” but there seems to be a new module or something going on that caused the AspnetHostingPermission exception to get thrown so that we couldn’t even run the web site.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke SecurityException AspnetHostingPermission

There are several controls that allow you to display content based on the role a user is in, including:

- LoginView
- LoginStatus

And the web.config file allows us to control which pages can be viewed based on which role a user is in.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Determine The Role of a User in ASP.NET

Since .NET first became available, passing data around during a request has become a lot easier.  The ability to set a property has made that so.  Still, there are times when setting a property just won’t do the trick.

One such time is getting data from the middle tier back up to the view separate from a DataBinding operation.  That is, you databind a control to the middle tier and that method needs to set a value that will be used elsewhere in the view, not in the item that is being bound.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at HttpContext.Items[] vs Session[]

Averaging more than 8 hours of battery life, the Acer Aspire Timeline notebook PC series makes "all-day computing" a reality. You’ll be able to remain productive as you work remotely from 9 to 5 without ever stopping to plug in and recharge, or keep yourself entertained throughout an entire coast-to-coast flight without worrying whether you’ll make it to the end of your movie.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Acer Aspire Timeline Laptop

Yesterday was a very bad day for me.  No sooner had I posted yesterday’s article then my computer became impossible to use.

Even though I have anti-virus software installed on my computer, every indication was that I had picked up some virus, not just on the tower I use every day, but on the 2003 server I have my exchange server on.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at CmdAgent.exe utilizing 100% CPU

This may be obvious to everyone else on the Internet.  Heck, it’s been obvious to me for several years.  But I can’t find anyone else writing about this and it makes so much sense that I’m kicking myself for not trying it earlier.  So…

The Problem

We’ve all been there.  We are coding away and need a session variable.  So we create one using code that looks something like:

Session["myVar"] = "hold this for the future";

And then, on some other page in our system, we need to retrieve it:

string localVar = (string)(Session["myVar"]);

There are two problems with this:

1. If I don’t retrieve the variable with exactly the same string, the data will never be there giving me a null pointer in localVar, and
2. I have to cast to a string because Session[indexer] always returns an object type.
… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Type Safe Session Variables

I’ve had several occasions in the past where I’ve needed to do my own authentication or I’ve needed to add some additional methods to the authentication process.

As easy as Microsoft has made the authentication process, you might think that in order to  manually authenticate you’d need to write all of your authentication code manually.  But nothing could be farther from the truth.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Forms Authentication – Manual Authentication

With Programming ASP.NET 3.5, you’ll quickly learn to create state-of-the-art applications using Microsoft’s popular web development technology and Visual Studio 2008. This updated bestseller provides comprehensive and easy-to-understand information to help you use several .NET 3.5 technologies for faster development and better web application performance-including ASP.NET AJAX for interactive user interfaces, LINQ for data access, and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) for web services.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Programming ASP.NET 3.5

From a very early age we have been conditioned to fail.

I know that probably seems harsh, and probably seems like an over generalization, but it is true.

Here are some things you can start doing today to start succeeding.  Even if you consider yourself successful, these tips will send you to the next level.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at How to Excel as a Programmer (or anything else)

The folks over at BlueStack asked me to take a look at their new Form Enhancer product. Which I will provide.

The basic gist of this module is that by using jQuery and some images we can style the form elements on a page.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Blue Stack Form Enhancer Review

I recently received a question from another programmer I know who’s been using PHP prior to ASP.NET that made me think harder about a problem we’ve all had in ASP.NET.  The basic problem is this:

How do you dynamically change the class of a hyperlink based on the page name so that the hyperlink that represents the current page is styled differently than all of the other hyperlinks on our screen?  If you want you can substitute any other HTML element you want, but the problem remains the same.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Dynamically Change class Attribute From ASP.NET

While there are a lot of controls available in ASP.NET that allow you to manage forms authentication, one control that doesn’t exist is something that will allow you to manage your user list.

Most of the time you don’t need this, but when you do, there is an obvious hole.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Forms Authentication – Managing Users

Modern web application user interface design requires rapid development and proven results. jQuery UI, a trusted plugin for the jQuery JavaScript library, gives you a trusted platform on which to build rich and engaging interfaces with maximum compatibility and stability and a minimum of time and effort.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at jQuery UI 1.6: The User Interface Library for jQuery

See this picture?

That’s what could happen to your application if you decide to build your ASP.NET web site using the File System location instead of the HTTP location.

To illustrate, let me relate a situation that came up when I first started using ASP.NET back with Beta 2 of 1.0.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The Case Against Location: File System

When I was a younger programmer (I refuse to  call myself an “old” programmer quite yet) I made a lot of mistakes.  Chief among them was focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time.

Now that I’m older (and wiser?) I’ve created a short priority list that I find helpful as I write a new routine or system.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Coding Priorities

One of the most frustrating events that can happen in any system is forgetting your password and not being able to retrieve it.  DotNetNuke has a retrieval system built in, but you have to make sure your system can send mail in order to make use of it.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at DotNetNuke – Retrieving Host Access

Last week we installed the tables into our database and set up the database connection so that we could implement forms based authentication.

This week, we need to put into place a way of creating users for our system.  The easiest way to do that is to create a form that allows our user to sign up.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Forms Authentication – Creating Users

Already know how to code C# 2008 desktop applications? Then, you’re ready to master web programming with the 3.5 edition of this best-selling ASP.NET book from Murach Books.

It covers the 3.5 features that provide new functionality…like the ListView and DataPager data controls, LINQ data sources, new CSS-related tools, and ASP.NET AJAX…while it teaches you how to develop web applications from scratch.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Murach’s ASP.NET 3.5 Web Programming with C# 2008

PDF Tables in iTextSharp work enough like HTML tables that the slight differences between the two make programming tables for a PDF a bit confusing the first time you try.

I hope to describe some of those differences here so that your experience might be a bit smoother than mine was as you start to use tables in your PDF code.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at iTextSharp Tables

One of the greatest programming books of all time is Code Complete by Steve McConnell.  I often recommend this book to new programmers and when I was running the IT department of the Dot Com I was working for, I made it required reading.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at The case against i, j, and k

We all do it.  I’m sure of it.  It’s too easy. I need code that looks almost like something else I wrote so I just copy and paste it over to the new code.  Done.

But at what cost?

Is it really that much like the other code?  Did you forget to change something?  What happens when you need every instance of this change to be changed?  Are you going to remember all the places where you made this change?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Copy And Paste And Bugs

I was recently asked if I would cover some topics related to Forms Based Authentication.  The person who requested this information has some specific issues that he wants covered that I won’t be covering for a while because I think there are some other issues that need to be covered first.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Setting Up Your Forms Based Authentication Database

Actually, I used this technique to automate submitting information to a set of web sites, but you could use this same technique to script any web site, including one you are currently developing, so that you can verify that the site actually does what it is supposed to do.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Automated Web Testing with the WebBrowserControl

I’m experiencing hosting “issues” with the post I want to put up this morning (this isn’t the first time I’ve had this “issue”).  So I’m going to move to one of my other hosting companies that knows how to deal with Apache servers correctly and hopefully resume posting tomorrow.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Hosting Issues.

Several weeks ago I mentioned that I store the images that the user uploads to the system into the database.

Some of you have expressed an interest in how I do that.  So I plan to cover that today.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume that you’ve already got the image uploaded and scaled and that all that is left is getting it into the database.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Storing An Image To a Database in .NET

I find it amazing that .NET 3.5 has been out for over a year and people still don’t understand the “var” keyword.

Just last week I got a comment on one of my videos asking why I used “var” so much.  Isn’t that only supposed to be used when you don’t know what the return type is going to be?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at CSharp VAR Misconceptions

Ajax is no longer an experimental approach to website development, but the key to building browser-based applications that form the cornerstone of Web 2.0. Head First Ajax gives you an up-to-date perspective that lets you see exactly what you can do — and has been done — with Ajax.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Head First Ajax – Book

I posted a statement on Twitter about how I am convinced that programmers are cheapskates and was met with a response that stated he “won’t click ads…”  which is exactly what prompted my tweet in the first place.

So I asked, Why?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Why You Should Click on the Ad If It Interests You

Last week I talked about a situation where the previous programmer had placed the body tag inside the ContentPlaceholder in order to allow for a different body tag on the page.

Since this is a project that I am actively involved in, I’ve been thinking about the easiest way to “fix” the code so that we can use it.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Unique BODY tags per page

My post yesterday about an easy way of implementing templated e-mail was met by a comment suggesting that using XSLT would allow for more flexibility.  Which is true.  Once it was suggested, I started asking myself, “but is it the BEST method of implementing templated e-mail?”

I think, as programmers, we tend to think that having more options, having more flexibility, using the latest and greatest technology, is always best.  But is it?… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at How to evaluate technology choices

One thing I’m pretty consistent about is letting the computer do most of my work for me.  As a “programmer” I really don’t like to program.  I prefer to solve problems.

You’ve already seen the effects of this in how I program PDF files where I use form fields and fill them at runtime rather than building up the entire PDF at runtime.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Templated E-Mail using .NET

Is Ajax a new technology, or the same old stuff web developers have been using for years? Both, actually.

This book demonstrates not only how tried-and-true web standards make Ajax possible, but how these older technologies allow you to give sites a decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Ajax: The Definitive Guide

One of the companies I work for recently took over a project from another vendor.  As we started to maintain the site, we noticed that we could not drag and drop controls onto the page and get any more than a stub of  the control.… Read the rest

This post was originally found at .NET Answers the original article can be found at Unrecognized Tag Prefix or Device Filter ‘asp’