While Power Automate is incredibly powerful, using it for the wrong scenarios can lead to performance issues, complex maintenance, and limitations that are difficult to overcome.

In a recent solution involving Power Pages, document generation, and backend processing, I had to make several decisions about when to use Power Automate and when to offload logic to Azure Functions. This article shares a practical framework based on those real-world decisions.

The Core Problem

Power Platform provides multiple ways to implement logic:

• Power Automate (low-code orchestration)
• Azure Functions (custom code execution)

The challenge is not choosing one over the other, but it’s knowing where each one fits best.

Using the wrong tool in the wrong place often results in:

• Overly complex flows
• Performance bottlenecks
• Difficult debugging and monitoring
• Limited flexibility for future enhancements

High-Level Comparison

Real-World Example

In my PDF generation solution:

Power Automate was used for:

• Receiving requests from Power Pages
• Selecting the correct template
• Orchestrating the flow between components
• Handling configuration and environment differences

Azure Functions was used for:

• OpenXML document manipulation
• Accessibility fixes
• Word-to-PDF conversion using a third-party library

Why this split worked

• Power Automate handled the process flow and integration
• Azure Functions handled processing and transformation

Trying to do everything in Power Automate would have resulted in:

• Complex expressions
• Limited control over document structure
• Poor performance

Decision Framework

When designing a solution, I typically evaluate the following:

1. Complexity of Logic

• If logic is simple → Power Automate
• If logic involves loops, transformations, or structured processing → Azure Functions

2. Performance Requirements

• If execution time is not critical → Power Automate
• If speed and efficiency matter → Azure Functions

3. Maintainability

• If the solution needs to be maintained by non-developers → Power Automate
• If it requires structured code and versioning → Azure Functions

4. Scalability

• Small, event-driven workflows → Power Automate
• High-volume or compute-heavy workloads → Azure Functions

5. Control and Flexibility

• Limited customization needed → Power Automate
• Full control over behaviour and output → Azure Functions

Common Mistakes

1. Overusing Power Automate

Trying to implement everything in flows often leads to:

• Nested conditions and loops
• Hard-to-read expressions
• Difficult troubleshooting

2. Putting Business Logic in the Wrong Layer

Flows should orchestrate—not replace application logic.

Heavy logic in flows can:

• Reduce clarity
• Increase maintenance overhead
• Limit reuse

3. Ignoring Hybrid Approaches

The best solutions often combine both:

• Power Automate for orchestration
• Azure Functions for processing

This separation creates cleaner, more maintainable systems.

Recommended Architecture Pattern

A practical pattern that works well:

1. Power Pages (or another client) triggers a Power Automate flow
2. Power Automate handles validation and orchestration
3. Complex processing is delegated to Azure Functions
4. Results are returned and handled by the flow

This pattern keeps responsibilities clear and avoids overloading any single component.

When to Use Power Automate

Use Power Automate when:

• You are building workflows and integrations
• Logic is relatively simple
• Business users may need to understand or modify the flow
• You want quick implementation with minimal code

When to Use Azure Functions

Use Azure Functions when:

• You need full control over logic
• Processing involves files, documents, or complex transformations
• Performance is important
• You need reusable, testable components

Final Thoughts

Choosing between Power Automate and Azure Functions is not about picking a winner it’s about understanding their roles.

Power Automate excels at connecting systems and orchestrating workflows.
Azure Functions excel at executing complex, high-performance logic.

The most effective solutions use both in the layer where they provide the most value.

Getting this balance right can significantly improve performance, maintainability, and scalability in Power Platform solutions.

The post When to Use Power Automate vs Azure Functions in Power Platform Solutions first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

In my previous implementation of an end-to-end PDF generation pipeline using Power Pages, Power Automate, and Azure Functions, one of the biggest challenges was ensuring that the final PDF output was accessible and compliant with WCAG standards.

This article focuses specifically on the accessibility challenges encountered during Word-to-PDF conversion and how they were addressed using OpenXML and post-processing techniques.

The Problem

Using Power Automate’s standard approach:

• Populate Word Template
• Convert Word Document to PDF

…produces visually correct documents, but accessibility is often compromised.

Common Issues Observed

• Lists rendered as plain paragraphs instead of structured lists
• Checkboxes appearing as static symbols with no semantic meaning
• Screen readers failing to interpret grouped content correctly
• Loss of tagging and logical reading order in the final PDF

For users relying on assistive technologies, these issues make the document difficult—or even impossible—to navigate.

Why This Happens

Power Automate’s document generation process focuses primarily on visual rendering, not semantic structure.

Key Limitations

• Word templates populated via Power Automate do not always preserve semantic elements
• The built-in PDF conversion process does not guarantee proper tagging
• Complex controls (like repeating sections) are flattened into static content
• Accessibility metadata is either lost or never created

In short:
The output looks right, but it isn’t structured correctly.

The Approach

To solve this, I introduced a post-processing step using an Azure Function.

Updated Flow

1. Power Automate generates the Word document
2. The document is sent to an Azure Function
3. OpenXML is used to modify the document structure
4. The updated document is converted to PDF using a library that supports accessibility
5. The final PDF is returned to the client

This approach shifts control from “template-only” to full document manipulation.

Key Fixes Implemented

1. Converting Plain Text to Structured Lists

Problem
Bullet points generated via templates were interpreted as plain text by screen readers.

Solution
Using OpenXML:

• Identify sections representing lists
• Replace text-based bullets with proper list elements
• Ensure correct numbering or bullet hierarchy

Result
Screen readers can now:

• Recognize lists
• Navigate between items
• Announce the structure properly

2. Improving Checkbox Representation

Problem
Checkboxes were rendered as symbols (e.g., or ☐), with no semantic meaning.

Solution

• Detect checkbox placeholders in the document
• Replace them with structured representations
• Ensure consistent labelling and context

Result
Users relying on assistive technologies can understand:

• Whether an option is selected
• What the option represents

3. Restoring Document Structure

Problem
Sections like grouped answers or repeated data lost their logical hierarchy.

Solution

• Reorganize document elements using OpenXML
• Apply consistent heading and grouping patterns
• Maintain a logical reading order

Result

• Improved navigation for screen readers
• Better alignment with accessibility standards

4. Ensuring Proper PDF Conversion

Problem
Even with a well-structured Word document, conversion tools can break accessibility.

Solution

• Use a PDF conversion library that supports accessible output
• Ensure tagging and structure are preserved during conversion

Result

• Final PDF retains semantic structure
• Compatible with screen readers and accessibility tools

Key Lessons Learned

1. Accessibility Is Not Automatic

Even if your source document looks structured, it doesn’t mean accessibility is preserved.

You must explicitly:

• Define structure
• Validate output
• Test with assistive tools

2. Word Templates Have Limits

They are useful for:

• Layout
• Simple data binding

But not for:

• Complex structure
• Accessibility-critical elements

3. Post-Processing Is Essential

OpenXML provides the flexibility needed to:

• Modify document structure
• Enforce consistency
• Apply accessibility rules programmatically

4. Testing Is Critical

Accessibility should be validated using:

• Screen readers
• Keyboard navigation
• Accessibility checkers

Relying only on visual inspection is not enough.

When to Use This Approach

This method is especially useful when:

• Accessibility compliance is required (e.g., WCAG)
• Documents contain structured content (lists, forms, checkboxes)
• Output must be consumed by a wide range of users
• Standard Power Automate capabilities are insufficient

Final Thoughts

Accessibility is often treated as an afterthought in document generation—but it shouldn’t be.

By introducing a post-processing step with OpenXML and using the right PDF conversion tools, it’s possible to transform a basic document pipeline into an accessible, enterprise-grade solution.

If you’re working with Power Automate and generating documents for real users, investing in accessibility early will save significant effort and deliver a much better experience.

The post Fixing Accessibility Issues in Word-to-PDF Conversion (Power Automate + OpenXML) first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

In a recent project, I implemented a complete PDF generation pipeline triggered from Power Pages, orchestrated through Power Automate, and finalized using an Azure Function for advanced document processing.

This article walks through the architecture, key decisions, and lessons learned from building this solution.

The Problem

The requirement seemed straightforward at first:

• Generate a PDF from a submission in Power Pages
• Support multiple submission types and languages
• Ensure accessibility compliance
• Allow triggering from both Power Pages and Dynamics 365

However, standard approaches quickly showed limitations, especially around formatting and accessibility.

Why the Standard Approach Falls Short

Using Power Automate alone (Word templates + Convert to PDF action) introduces several issues:

• Flattened content (checkboxes and structured elements become plain text)
• Limited support for repeating sections (especially nested data)
• Accessibility issues (screen readers interpret content incorrectly)
• Loss of semantic structure in the final PDF

For basic documents, this works. For enterprise-grade and accessibility-compliant outputs, it doesn’t.

Solution Overview

To address these limitations, I designed a hybrid architecture combining Power Platform with Azure Functions.

High-Level Flow

1. Power Pages triggers a Power Automate flow via JavaScript
2. The flow receives parameters (RecordId, Language)
3. A core subflow determines the correct Word template
4. The template is populated dynamically
5. The document is sent to an Azure Function
6. Azure Function applies OpenXML fixes and converts to PDF
7. Base64 PDF is returned and downloaded by the client

Architecture Breakdown

1. Power Pages (Frontend Trigger)

A JavaScript call triggers the flow using an HTTP endpoint:

• Passes parameters like RecordId and Language
• Supports multilingual document generation
• Also reusable from Dynamics 365 via a ribbon button
• The request first goes through built-in Power Pages security checks before invoking the backend flow

This keeps the frontend lightweight and delegates processing to backend services.

2. Power Automate (Orchestration Layer)

Two flows are used:

• Portal Flow (entry point)
• Core Flow (processing logic)

Responsibilities include:

• Selecting the correct Word template based on submission type and language
• Populating the template using dynamic data
• Handling environment-specific configuration
• Calling the Azure Function using Entra ID and OAuth for secure authentication
• Ensuring that requests coming from Power Pages are validated through the portal flow before reaching the core processing logic

Templates are stored in a service account OneDrive, ensuring consistency across environments.

3. Word Template Strategy

Templates were designed using:

• Plain text content controls
• Repeating section controls for tabular data
• Placeholder tokens for calculated values (e.g., totals)

However, due to Power Automate limitations:

• Complex nested structures were avoided
• Some formatting was deferred to post-processing

4. Azure Function (The Critical Piece)

This is where the real transformation happens.

The Azure Function:

• Receives the generated Word document
• Uses OpenXML to:
  • Fix bullet lists (convert plain text into structured lists)
  • Improve checkbox representation
  • Restore semantic structure for accessibility
• Converts the document to PDF using a third-party library (e.g., Aspose)
• Returns the PDF as Base64

This step ensures the final output is:

• Structurally correct
• Accessible
• Visually consistent

5. Response Handling

The flow returns a Base64-encoded PDF to the frontend.

On the client side:

• JavaScript immediately triggers a download
• No intermediate storage required

This results in a seamless user experience.

Key Design Decisions

Separation of Concerns

• Power Automate handles orchestration
• Azure Function handles transformation and conversion

This keeps each component focused and maintainable.

Accessibility First

Instead of fixing accessibility after generation, the solution embeds it into the pipeline:

• Structured lists instead of plain text
• Proper handling of semantic elements
• Screen-reader-friendly output

Reusability Across Channels

The same backend logic supports:

• Power Pages (external users)
• Dynamics 365 (internal users)

This avoids duplication and ensures consistency.

Lessons Learned

1. Power Automate Is Not Enough for Complex Documents

It’s great for orchestration, but limited for document fidelity and accessibility.

2. Post-Processing Is Essential

Using OpenXML after template population gives full control over structure.

3. Accessibility Requires Intentional Design

You can’t rely on default tools to produce accessible PDFs. You need to actively shape the output.

4. Environment Configuration Matters

Things like:

• Template storage (OneDrive paths)
• Azure Function endpoints
• Authentication setup

…must be carefully managed across Dev, QA, UAT, and Prod.

When to Use This Approach

This architecture is ideal when:

• Documents must be accessible (WCAG compliant)
• Output structure matters (lists, tables, checkboxes)
• Templates vary by language or type
• The solution must scale across multiple environments

Final Thoughts

What started as a simple “generate PDF” requirement quickly evolved into a full document processing pipeline.

By combining Power Platform with Azure Functions, it’s possible to go beyond basic automation and deliver enterprise-grade, accessible, and maintainable document solutions.

If you’re working with Power Pages or Dynamics 365 and need reliable document generation, this approach is worth considering.

The post End-to-End PDF Generation in Power Pages Using Power Automate and Azure Functions first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Once, I noticed we were nearly consuming all available Power Apps Premium licenses, even though we had many licenses. Upon closer look and research, I discovered that their licenses are not automatically freed when we deactivate or delete users (soft delete).

I wanted to quickly see all deactivated/soft-deleted users who still have licenses assigned to them, but I couldn’t find that option in the Power Platform Admin Center. My next step was to leverage PowerShell for Power Platform and create the following PowerShell script, which produces a CSV file containing Deactivated/Deleted users who still have licenses assigned to them. Here’s the script:

# Install Microsoft Graph module (if not already installed)
Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser

# Connect to Microsoft Graph with the necessary permissions
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.Read.All", "Directory.Read.All"

# Function to check licenses for deactivated users
function Get-DeactivatedUserLicenses {
    # Create an array to store the results
    $results = @()

    # Fetch all deactivated users (accountEnabled is false)
    $DeactivatedUsers = Get-MgUser -Filter "accountEnabled eq false" -All

    if ($DeactivatedUsers.Count -eq 0) {
        Write-Host "No deactivated users found."
    } else {
        Write-Host "Deactivated Users and their licenses:"
        foreach ($user in $DeactivatedUsers) {
            # Get assigned licenses for each deactivated user
            $licenses = Get-MgUserLicenseDetail -UserId $user.Id
            if ($licenses.SkuId) {
                foreach ($license in $licenses.SkuId) {
                    $licenseDetail = Get-MgSubscribedSku | Where-Object { $_.SkuId -eq $license }
                    # Add user and license details to the results array
                    $results += [PSCustomObject]@{
                        UserPrincipalName = $user.UserPrincipalName
                        License = $licenseDetail.SkuPartNumber
                        Status = "Deactivated"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    # Return results
    return $results
}

# Function to check licenses for deleted (soft-deleted) users
function Get-DeletedUserLicenses {
    # Create an array to store the results
    $results = @()

    # Fetch all users and filter for deleted users in PowerShell
    $AllUsers = Get-MgUser -All
    $DeletedUsers = $AllUsers | Where-Object { $_.DeletedDateTime -ne $null }

    if ($DeletedUsers.Count -eq 0) {
        Write-Host "No deleted users found."
    } else {
        Write-Host "Deleted Users and their licenses:"
        foreach ($user in $DeletedUsers) {
            # Get assigned licenses for each deleted user
            $licenses = Get-MgUserLicenseDetail -UserId $user.Id
            if ($licenses.SkuId) {
                foreach ($license in $licenses.SkuId) {
                    $licenseDetail = Get-MgSubscribedSku | Where-Object { $_.SkuId -eq $license }
                    # Add user and license details to the results array
                    $results += [PSCustomObject]@{
                        UserPrincipalName = $user.UserPrincipalName
                        License = $licenseDetail.SkuPartNumber
                        Status = "Deleted"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    # Return results
    return $results
}

# Execute both functions and combine results
$deactivatedResults = Get-DeactivatedUserLicenses
$deletedResults = Get-DeletedUserLicenses
$allResults = $deactivatedResults + $deletedResults

# Filter out users with no licenses assigned
$filteredResults = $allResults | Where-Object { $_.License -ne $null }

# Export filtered results to CSV
$csvPath = "C:\OldUsersLicenses.csv"
$filteredResults | Export-Csv -Path $csvPath -NoTypeInformation

Write-Host "Results saved to $csvPath"

I got in touch with the Admins, and we were able to free up a lot of licenses. The cool thing is that they had automation to take care of this, but they need to update some criteria in their process to take care of this.

The post Power Platform Licenses Recovery for Deactivated Users with PowerShell first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

vs2015.2.exe /repair

Then the repair starts:

vs2015 update 2

To get to the command line quickly and make it point to the correct location of your file you can use SHIFT + Right Click then choose Open Command window here:

Open Command Here

I like Windows 10 shortcuts

The post Continue interrupted Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 installation first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

I created a new repository in Visual Studio Online (I love it ) and went back to Visual Studio 2015 to create my project. While creating a new project you can connect to the source control right away and you can configure Application Insights for your project automatically.

After hitting the OK button the project started connecting to the source and then trying to configure the Application Insights when I got the error message: Could not add Application insights to project. The NuGet package install failed to add the Applicationinsights.config file.

Maybe this is a bug since this whole thing is still in Preview and I will try to get in touch with the team behind this.

The simple fix was to check out the whole project, add the resource manually, update the NuGet packages of the project to the latest version and then right-click on your project -> Configure Application Insights.

I will make a post later about the experience of making a Universal Windows 10 app, Integrating with Microsoft Azure and submitting to the Store

The post Application Insights problem with a team project first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

The Crystal Reports version I’m using is 13, so if you were holding up and afraid to upgrade don’t worry and go ahead

The post Crystal Reports works on Windows 10 first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

The .NET DateTimePicker doesn’t accept blank or NULL value. I’ve seen many posts online that extend the controller to accept NULL value like this one or some other posts to change the formatting to custom and switching back again.

So if you don’t feel like adding a new custom control to your project just handle the underlying data source.

Since I had many of the DateTimePicker controls, I made one function that handles the Leave event of each one like so:

[vb]
Private Sub DateTimePicker_Leave(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Inv_OriginalDateTimePicker.Leave
‘Handle the DateTimePicker so when it is unchecked it saves Null value
Dim dt As DateTimePicker = sender

If Not dt.Checked Then
‘Get the current record
Dim row = DirectCast(Me.PO_JobsBindingSource.Current, DataRowView)

row(dt.DataBindings.Item("Value").BindingMemberInfo.BindingField.ToString) = DBNull.Value

End If
End Sub
[/vb]

The post Set DateTimePicker control value to Null first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

If you need to move items between bound Listboxes you cannot just use the Listbox.Add or Listbox.Remove methods. Instead you should add and remove rows to the Tables which they’re bound to.

This is the code I used:

[vb]
Private Sub AvailableTagListBox_DoubleClick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles AvailableTagListBox.DoubleClick
If Not IsNothing(AvailableTagListBox.SelectedItem) Then
‘We are making a new row to be added to the table which then will appear in the listbox
Dim Customer_News_Tags_Row As DataRow = MyDataSet.Customer_News_Tags.NewRow
‘Since I have a Parent and Child relation I’m taking the current parent ID
Dim NewsRow = DirectCast(Me.Customer_NewsBindingSource.Current, DataRowView)
‘Parent ID
Customer_News_Tags_Row("News_ID") = NewsRow("ID")
‘Fill the listbox item display field which I have it bound to
Customer_News_Tags_Row("Tag") = AvailableTagListBox.Text

‘Adding new item to the other listbox by adding new row to its table
MyDataSet.Customer_News_Tags.AddCustomer_News_TagsRow(Customer_News_Tags_Row)
‘Delete the listbox item by deleting the row in its table
MyDataSet.News_Tags.Select("ID=" & AvailableTagListBox.SelectedValue)(0).Delete()

End If

End Sub

Private Sub AssignedTagListBox_DoubleClick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles AssignedTagListBox.DoubleClick
If Not IsNothing(AssignedTagListBox.SelectedItem) Then

Dim News_Tags_Row As DataRow = MyDataSet.News_Tags.NewRow
‘I’m using a field called Tag
News_Tags_Row("Tag") = AssignedTagListBox.Text

MyDataSet.News_Tags.AddNews_TagsRow(News_Tags_Row)
‘Here I’m matching with a field I have called Tag to delete from Assigned listbox items
MyDataSet.Customer_News_Tags.Select("Tag=’" & AssignedTagListBox.SelectedValue & "’")(0).Delete()

End If
End Sub
[/vb]

Hope this helps, and if you need any clarifications let me know

The post Moving items between bound Listboxes first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Assuming you already have the source on your computer, just select them to be added. Also It will ask you to map a new work space for this new source:

Hit finish and then you are ready to check in the files.

I’ve been using Visual Studio Online for few months now since it was in beta when it was called Team Foundation Service and I totally love it!

The service gives you the ability to collaborate for free for up to 5 members and then you need to license users. I used it to collaborate with a friend and it gave us great help and it was very easy to use. Even though it is great for collaboration but I think you can use it also on your own for good maintenance.

The post Move project to another Visual Studio Online account first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Note that I have pointed the Windows SDk to 8.1 since I’ve got Windows 8.1.

The post GameMaker Studio with Visual Studio 2013 settings first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

I made sure that I’ve loaded and filled the table sources I tried launching my report but kept on getting the error “Unknown Database Connector Error”.

After a little bit of debugging what I suspected was true. You have to make sure that the tables or the tables’ links are executed in a correct order that doesn’t break the relations.
Basically it is best to load the father tables and then children tables.

To do that open the Database Expert which comes with Crystal Reports -> Links -> Order Links

It worked for me without checking the “Link ordering is enforced”.

Hope this helps

The post Crystal Reports Unknown Database Connector Error first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

The trick is to make the ComboBox column without a DataSource and then you load the items by code. Also you have to handle a couple of stuff such as the EditingControlShowing event to convert the ComboBox style to be DropDown instead of DropDownList, and some other handling to commit the ComboBox change.

I will leave you with the code:
[vb]Private Sub MyForm_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

    ‘Get ComboBox items
    Me.ComboBoxTableAdapter.Fill(Me.MyDataSet.ComboBoxTable)

    ‘Fill the ComboBox
    Dim row As DataRow
    For Each row In Me.MyDataSet.ComboBoxTable
        ‘Generic list used as a trick to have the ComboBox Items added with Value
        MyComboBox.Items.Add(New GenericListItem(Of String)(row.Item("ColName"), row.Item("ColValue")))

    Next

    Me.GridTableAdapter.Fill(Me.MyDataSet.GridTable)

    ‘Adding Grid handler to detect change in run time
    AddHandler MyDataGridView.CurrentCellDirtyStateChanged, AddressOf MyDataGridView_CurrentCellDirtyStateChanged

End Sub

‘Change ComboBox style to DropDown
  Private MyDataGridView_EditingControlShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As MyDataGridViewEditingControlShowingEventArgs) Handles MyDataGridView.EditingControlShowing
        If TypeOf e.Control Is ComboBox Then
Dim cb As ComboBox = TryCast(e.Control, ComboBox)

            cb.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDown
        End If

‘When an item is selected from the ComboBox update the cell value
        If MyDataGridView.Columns(MyDataGridView.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex).Name = "MyComboBox" Then
Dim selectedComboBox As ComboBox = DirectCast(e.Control, ComboBox)
            RemoveHandler selectedComboBox.SelectionChangeCommitted, AddressOf selectedComboBox_SelectionChangeCommitted
            AddHandler selectedComboBox.SelectionChangeCommitted, AddressOf selectedComboBox_SelectionChangeCommitted

        End If

    End Sub

Private Sub selectedComboBox_SelectionChangeCommitted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Try

        Dim selectedCombobox As ComboBox = DirectCast(sender, ComboBox)
        If selectedCombobox.SelectedItem IsNot Nothing Then

            ‘Use the List we created earlier so we could retrieve the Value instead of the diplayed text
            Dim oItem As GenericListItem(Of String) = CType(selectedCombobox.SelectedItem, GenericListItem(Of String))

            Me.MyDataGridView.Item("ColumnName", MyDataGridView.CurrentCell.RowIndex).Value = oItem.Value()

        End If

    Catch ex As Exception
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)

    End Try
End Sub

Private Sub MyDataGridView_CurrentCellDirtyStateChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles MyDataGridView.CurrentCellDirtyStateChanged
    ‘Commit the change which was in run time so the Value changed event happens and then allow one check box
    If MyDataGridView.IsCurrentCellDirty Then
        MyDataGridView.CommitEdit(MyDataGridViewDataErrorContexts.Commit)
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub MyDataGridView_CellValidating(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MyDataGridViewCellValidatingEventArgs) Handles MyDataGridView.CellValidating

    ‘Allow user to enter new values for all MyDataGridViewComboBox controls in the MyDataGridView
    If (TypeOf CType(sender, MyDataGridView).EditingControl Is MyDataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl) Then
        Dim cmb As MyDataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl = CType(CType(sender, MyDataGridView).EditingControl, MyDataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl)
        If Not cmb Is Nothing Then
            Dim grid As MyDataGridView = cmb.EditingControlMyDataGridView
            Dim value As Object = cmb.Text
            ‘// Add value to list if not there
            If cmb.Items.IndexOf(value) = -1 Then
                ‘// Must add to both the current combobox as well as the template, to avoid duplicate entries…
                cmb.Items.Add(value)
                Dim cmbCol As MyDataGridViewComboBoxColumn = CType(grid.Columns(grid.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex), MyDataGridViewComboBoxColumn)
                If Not cmbCol Is Nothing Then
                    cmbCol.Items.Add(value)
                End If
            End If
            grid.CurrentCell.Value = value
        End If
    End If

    ”Following Works for a specific combobox ///////////

    ‘If e.ColumnIndex = MyMyDataGridView.Columns("MyDataGridViewComboBoxColSize").Index Then ‘CType(sender, MyDataGridView).CurrentCell.ColumnIndex

    ‘ ‘Dim cmb As ComboBox = CType(e.Control, ComboBox)

    ‘ Dim cmb As MyDataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl = CType(CType(sender, MyDataGridView).EditingControl, MyDataGridViewComboBoxEditingControl)

    ‘ If Not cmb Is Nothing Then

    ‘ Dim grid As MyDataGridView = cmb.EditingControlMyDataGridView

    ‘ Dim value As Object = cmb.Text

    ‘ ‘// Add value to list if not there

    ‘ If cmb.Items.IndexOf(value) = -1 Then

    ‘ ‘// Must add to both the current combobox as well as the template, to avoid duplicate entries…

    ‘ cmb.Items.Add(value)

    ‘ Dim cmbCol As MyDataGridViewComboBoxColumn = CType(grid.Columns(grid.CurrentCell.ColumnIndex), MyDataGridViewComboBoxColumn)

    ‘ If Not cmbCol Is Nothing Then

    ‘ cmbCol.Items.Add(value)

    ‘ End If

    ‘ grid.CurrentCell.Value = value

    ‘ End If

    ‘ End If

    ‘End If
End Sub

Public Class GenericListItem(Of T)
    Private mText As String
    Private mValue As T

    Public Sub New(ByVal pText As String, ByVal pValue As T)
        mText = pText
        mValue = pValue
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property Text() As String
        Get
            Return mText
        End Get
    End Property

    Public ReadOnly Property Value() As T
        Get
            Return mValue
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
        Return mText
    End Function
End Class[/vb]

I hope this helps, and if you have any question let me know.

Happy coding

The post Editable bound DataGridView ComboBox first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

You could actually learn without installing a thing! Yes. Microsoft offers a great service called MSDN Virtual Labs. Using these Virtual Labs you can test and try almost every Microsoft technology and product. And of course SharePoint Virtual Labs is one of them. In the Lab courses you get to learn and have hands-on experience. They even include software which you would need like SharePoint Designer. Really helpful.

So go on and have fun

The post Learn SharePoint 2010 without installations or top hardware first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

After sometime of trial and error I found out that Avast Antivirus(I have Avast Internet Security) was blocking some essential ports which Avast uses.

Basically what needs to be done are two things:

1. Enable the Internet Sharing mode in the Firewall settings

   

2. Enable some Firewall packet rules for the application ConnectifyNetServices.exe

   

That’s set, your ready go ahead and try it.

The post Make Connectify work with Avast first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Hadoop open source project which is if I may say for cloud and distributed computing came to the picture as I  remember when Yahoo announced that they will be using it to store their data. That was long time ago. Later I also learned that other companies which need to manage their big volume of data like Google actually uses it too.

The good thing is that according to Microsoft’s statement is that existing Microsoft Business Intelligence tools will be compatible with Hadoop implementation.

Microsoft’s Hadoop’s efforts already showing results like a Hadoop to SQL Server connector for importing and exporting and an ODBC driver for Hive for real time querying from business intelligence tools into Hadoop.

Microsoft promised that they will contribute back whatever changes or additions they make and will commit to make it compatible with the open source project.

I love SQL Server and I’m glad to see this move from Microsoft. Hopefully this will help better manage big data requirements.

The post Microsoft and Hadoop first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

So far we got two Mobile providers in Syria which are almost identical. SyriaTel and MTN.

SMS

It is not just in Syria, but in a lot of countries Mobile companies still charges a lot for SMS despite how simple it is.

Lately I noticed that MTN and SyriaTel are offering good bundles to reduce the SMS cost.

So I advice all the people who uses SMS to pick one of the offers below. It will even reduce your mobile bill while using SMS instead of calling I think the 100 SMS is sweet.

SyriaTel

Send SMS with the code to number 1220:

MTN

To subscribe call *111# and choose package number:

GPRS

While I still think that the GPRS cost is very high, the bundles are still a way to save some money if you need to use GPRS.

SyriaTel

Send SMS with the code to number 1221:

MTN

To subscribe call *111# and choose package number:

Well that’s set for now, hope you like it

The post How to save on Mobile bills in Syria first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

My favorite is Windows Live Photo Gallery. Nice way of organizing and sharing your photos. Most favorite feature is facial recognition, which let you find photos by faces.

After adding photos it starts recognizing faces and ask you to tag the persons in the photos. After tagging people the application starts guessing the persons in the photos and asks if the guess was correct or not. And it gets better at it very fast.

So in the future, whenever you add new photos it will automatically tag people. I started adding really old photos, and I was surprised by its ability to guess that it’s me in a very old photo when I was about 3 years old! So smart!

Other great feature is how easy it is to share photos and videos. Out of the box you can submit your files to SkyDrive (Awesome free 25GB space from Microsoft), Flickr, Youtube and others. But I couldn’t find an option for Twitter!

That’s why I started making a Twitter plugin for Windows Live Photo Gallery. And I made it open source since I couldn’t find any open source plugin for the Windows Live Photo Gallery.

I used CodePlex to host the project and TortoiseHg for distributed revision control system.

Please note that this project is not complete yet. What is left for now is the integration with Windows Live Gallery.

What I’ve finished and is working now is uploading a photo to TwitPic and then post it to Twitter along with a message. What’s left is only using the Windows Live Gallery SDK to communicate with this little application.

The project is hosted here: http://twitter4wlpg.codeplex.com/

You are welcome if you would like to give a hand

The post Twitter Plugin for Windows Live Photo Gallery first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

I opened the fridge and decided to use whatever I find.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Kilo of skinless boneless Chicken breast
• 2 Lemons
• 3 spoons Olive oil
• Pepper and Salt
• 1 tea spoon of smashed garlic
• Fresh Thyme
• Flour (Decided not to use it)

Instructions:

I though it would taste good if I soak the Chicken with Lemon, so I squeezed a Lemon and a half into a plastic bag to soak the Chicken in it. Before that I splashed the Chicken breast with some salt and pepper. After that I placed the Chicken in the bag with some fresh Thyme leafs.

And I left it in the fridge for about an hour.

When it was cooking time I spilled the olive oil on the pan and was heating it up on low fire, because I know olive oil gets hot quickly. Now it is garlic time. I love garlic, actually I love eating it but not getting it ready to be eaten. Thankfully my dear wife has already smashed some garlic and was stored in the fridge. Phew!

I tossed the garlic in the pan and moved them around till they started getting brown. Then I took the Chicken out of the plastic bag and started cooking it. I also spilled the Lemon which was left in the bag into the pan. Kept on flipping the Chicken until the Lemon and olive oil almost completely dried and the Chicken was brown. Yum! The smell was awesome! Oh writing this now made drool

After the grilling was done I sprayed around some more fresh not cooked Thyme and squeezed the left half of Lemon over the Chicken. That’s set! It is now ready. To add more to the dish I just fried some french fries and I’m done.

I never did a big meal before, no bigger than a Burger with french fries, but I was happy about the results and my wife approve too

The post Grilled Chicken breast with Lemon and Thyme first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Above is what I’m drinking. Home grown Thyme! Yup. It’s awesome for when having a flu and to refresh the respiratory system.

So this new WordPress iPhone app might actually get me blogging more.

The post Thyme first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

Google has a nice video here to give you an insight of how important the mobile devices are becoming.

Mobile devices comes in many different shapes and styles, but I think what is more important than the hardware is its operating system.

Symbian

Dead! I have used Symbian ever since I got my first mobile. They were the best back then and until just recently. But Nokia had to make a change and now they are tied with Windows Phone 7.

Android

Pretty much a copy cat! Maybe this is a bit harsh, but this what I really think. Of course I mean copying iOS. Same grid of icons style and many other things. The only cool thing I see about Android is how easy it is to customize everything. Heck, I can even replace the SMS app! Which personally never thought of it before. At the end I feel it is clunky and more geek oriented. Not very much for the normal user. Many analysis companies predicting its dominance in the future. In my opinion that is because it is free. Free for the hardware companies to install it on their devices. Which make them able of shipping many kinds of hardware with Android system. Still, I don’t like the user experience with it.

As for developing for Android you use sort of Java. Probably will use Eclipse or what ever IDE you like.

Coming from .NET development, I didn’t like it! The IDE compared to Visual Studio is just lame.

Windows Phone 7

I was so excited when I heard Microsoft are working on a new version of their mobile system which will be done from scratch. And I think they delivered. They came out with a unique design and user experience. They didn’t just imitate other operating systems! You really feel that they had researchers who worked to study each aspect of it. For example, you can see here how they had a team to research the best way to make a virtual on screen keyboard.

Windows Phone 7 now is still a version 1 which means it still lacks some stuff and behind more mature operating systems such as Android and iOS. Also seems to have restrictions on developers more than what iOS had when it was out.

As Microsoft promised in Mix 11 event, all of these issues will be address with Mango update which is probably coming out on September 2011.

As for developing for Windows Phone 7, Microsoft got the best tools for it, and they are free!

Microsoft is mainly a software company, so I think they got the best developing tools.

Windows Phone 7 has a bright future in my opinion.

iOS

Smooth, currently best user experience, mature. That’s it!

I think Apple are truly innovators. They ask for premium prices, but in exchange they give you delicious hardware and great user experience.

The post Thoughts about smart phones operating systems first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

• Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (UAE)
• France Telecom (France)
• Qatar Telecom QSC (Qatar)
• Saudi Telecom company (KSA)
• Turkcell (Turkey)

After being qualified,  the companies will start submitting their proposals on the 12th of December.

Third mobile operator, we are waiting for you

UPDATE: UAE Etisalat quit the bidding, they’re uncool with the regulations. Source.

The post Qualified companies competing for the third mobile operator in Syria announced first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

I didn’t want these services to hog the computer for normal usage, so I created a simple batch file to close these unnecessary service.

To create a batch file just create a new empty text file and rename it to have the extension .bat.

In my batch file I’m shutting down MS SQL Server services and VMWare services:

net stop VMAuthdService
net stop VMnetDHCP
net stop “VMware NAT Service”
net stop “VMUSBArbService”
net stop SQLWriter
net stop SQLBrowser
net stop SQLAgent$MSSQLSERVER2008
net stop MSSQLFDLauncher$MSSQLSERVER2008
net stop MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS
net stop MSSQL$MSSQLSERVER2008
net stop MSOLAP$MSSQLSERVER2008
net stop MsDtsServer100
net stop ReportServer$MSSQLSERVER2008

Note that the SQL Services’ names are probably different on your machine. It depends on what did you call your Database’s instance name.

Here is a list of SQL Server services names.

To start the services again, just create another batch file and use “net start” instead of “net stop”.

The post Closing unnecessary Windows Services for more RAM first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

It had an MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R motherboard, 512MB DDR RAM, GeForce Fx 5200 128MB and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor.

I got it in the 2004 and it was top of the line. Now we are in the 2010 and it’s been almost 7 years.

My hope was to make it able to run Windows 7 and let me do my Development job smoothly and let my dear wife enjoy some games on it (The Sims 3 ).

Windows 7 min RAM requirements is around 1 GB. RAM Upgrade is a must. I wasn’t sure what type of RAM I should get, so I was glad to get help from Crucial System Scanner Tool to detect my motherboard model and suggest the correct memory upgrade. So I went ahead and got extra 2 GB RAM to have a total of 2.5 GB of RAM (Yummy!). Costed around $75.

I know my graphics card is probably old for Windows 7, but I wanted to try and see if it could work.

I inserted Windows 7 installation DVD and restarted the computer to boot from the DVD and do the installation. It gave me an error message saying “CDBOOT: Cannot boot from CD – Code: 5“. WHAT! WHY? I’ve just installed a fresh 2GB RAM for you man, don’t fail me! After researching online about this issue it was clear that Windows 7 installation DVD had an issue to boot with my old MSI motherboard. Lucky me I found a workaround this issue by patching the installation DVD using the instructions found here which worked like a charm

The installation was a breeze. The system rebooted and everything was working. Sound, Graphics..etc. Yuppie! Wait a minute, the graphics doesn’t look clear and my external Wifi USB is not working too. Ugh. Windows 7 Aero effect isn’t working. Went to nVidia web site and downloaded the driver, also visited Linksys site to download the driver for the external WiFi USB WUSBF54g. I found a good advice on the net that I could just use WiFi driver files instead of installing Linksys application which wasn’t compatible with Windows 7.

After installing the drivers my WLAN was working and also Windows 7 Aero effect worked! Everything is working.

I installed the new Visual Studio 2010 and then the Windows Phone 7 development tools to see how things are working. The application was launched quickly, actually any application launches quickly, but moving the windows around is so annoying, slow and jumpy. So my RAM wasn’t enough? I checked the RAM and %20 only was used. It is now obvious that this is because of my graphic card.

My graphic card should be put to rest. Its fan was noisy anyway.

The hunt for a new graphic card started, and with it I remembered the exciting feeling I used to have looking for a good kind of RAM, graphic cards and other computer components.

The max my motherboard can handle is AGP 8x, so after researching I chose my new graphic card MSI NX6200AX 256MB DDR2 which can also run The Sims 3 . Costed me around $37.

So now for around $100 I have revived my old machine and made it work pretty well

The post Upgrading an old PC first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.

It was a campaign for having a cleaner street focusing on the habit of throwing trash out of the car’s window! Which is something I totally despise!

The campaign package consists of two things, the brochure which talks about how it is very hard to collect all the trash thrown out of the car’s window and how it needs an army of cleaners to collect that trash, because of course there are a lot of cars and a lot of people who are not aware of this issue. The second thing is a paper bag which you can stick on the car’s interior and put your trash in. Nice idea!

It is really nice to see people getting more aware and more civilized about this issue!

Thanks for the organizers and sponsors of this campaign:

Execution and planning:

– Scouts Syria
– UNHCR Damascus
– Twenty-fourth Division

Sponsors:

– DigitalNet
– Zad ISP
– Al Waten

The post Cleaner streets campaign first appeared on Hasan Bazerbashi's Web Site.