James' Sandbox

SubSonic 3 with MVC and jQuery - Example (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:26:00 +0000

In part 1 of SubSonic 3 with MVC and jQuery, I walked you through getting started and setup with MVC 1.0 and SubSonic. Here in part 2, I'll be showing more code on MVC Actions like Details, Create, Edit and Delete.

Picking up from the part 1 of the series where I was dissecting the "Index" view, let's go back to the ProductsController class in the "Controllers" folder.

ActionResult: Details
This is straight forward, but it's the first ActionResult where you are receiving a parameter like a normail method. In my code below, I'm establishing my repository with SubSonic using the SimpleRepository method. Next, it looks up the product based on the "id" being passed.

If it doesn't find it, then it redirects to the "NotFound" View. If it does find it, then it goes to the "Details" View and passes the product data class.

//
// GET: /Products/Details/5

public ActionResult Details(int id)
{
    // Get Product
    var _repo = new SimpleRepository();
    Product product = _repo.Single<Product>(id);

    if (product == null)
    {
        return View("NotFound");
    }
    else
    {
        return View("Details", product);
    }
}

Like before with the "Index" view, Right-Click on the "Details" that's next to the ActionResult and select "Add View". Be sure to select your "data class" for products and your "view content" for Details.

Again, by telling Visual Studio MVC what data class you are using and the view content that you want, it automatically builds the view for you by putting in the database fields that you have which is very cool and convenient. :)

ActionResult: Delete
The Delete is also simple in that you call it like you do the "Details" view (in the Get method type). The code within is virtually identical to the "Details" view, but just returning to the "Delete" view instead. Follow the same instructions fo the "Delete" view as you did for the "Details" View.

After you created the "Delete" view, add code like the following to the "MainContent" section of the "Delete" view (this is from the NerdDiner example, btw):

<h2>Delete Confirmation</h2>

<div>
    <p>Please confirm you want to delete the product titled: 
    <i> <%= Html.Encode(Model.ProductName) %>?</i></p>
</div>

<% using (Html.BeginForm())
   { %>
   
   <input name="confirmButton" type="submit" value="Delete" />
   
<% } %>

ActionResult: Delete (From a Post request)
Ok, now we are starting to build on the MVC framework a bit. The code below shows the Post request coming back from the "Delete" view saying "Delete this Product". Using the [AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)], we tell the method to be on the lookout for a Post coming from the "Delete" view with the parameters for the productID, and the string value of the confirmButton.

//
// HTTP POST: /Products/Delete/1

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Delete(int id, string confirmButton)
{
    // Get Product
    var _repo = new SimpleRepository();
    Product product = _repo.Single<Product>(id);

    if (product == null)
    {
        return View("NotFound");
    }
    else
    {
        _repo.Delete<Product>(id);
        return View("Deleted");
    }
}

ActionResult: Create
Like the other views, Right-Click on the "Create" to the right of the "ActionResult" to Add the "Create" View. Be sure to select your "Products" data class and the "Create" for view content. I won't bother you anymore with screen shots of adding the view since it's pretty redundant. The purpose of this simple "Create" view is merely to redirect you to the View itself.

jQuery Validation (I know, it's about time right)
The jQuery Validation is very cool stuff. It's a plugin for the jQuery framework, and makes client-side validation a breeze. Check out the code below on how to add it to your View for some quick validation.

First things first: update your using {Html.BeginForm()} tag like the following code (below). We need to give the form a name so jQuery knows how to talk to it.
```
<% using (Html.BeginForm("Create", "Products", FormMethod.Post, new { id = "Form1" }))
       {%>
```

Next, you need to reference both the jquery-1.3.2.js and jquery.validate.js classes, then add your jQuery code below it. In the code below, I'm doing validation on the ProductName field and the UnitsInStock field. You can obviously add more fields and changed them out.

<script src="../../Scripts/jquery-1.3.2.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="../../Scripts/jquery.validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> 
    $(document).ready(function(){
        $("#Form1").validate({
            rules: {
                ProductName: {
                    required: true,
                    minlength: 2
                },
                UnitsInStock: {
                    required: true
                }
            },
            messages: {
                ProductName: {
                    required: "* Required",
                    minlength: "* Minimum (2) Characters Required"
                },
                UnitsInStock: {
                    required: "* Required"
                }   
            }     
        });
    })
</script>

The jQuery doesn't require anymore then that code above. You don't have to touch your fields in the HTML code. It will automatically valid on the designated form's Post. Also, it means that you can leave your pre-built server-side validation in place that the MVC framework has built for you.

ActionResult: Create (From a Post response)
Now that we have our "Create" view setup, we need to handle it. If you view the code below, this is doing several things:

Sets up the database connection via SimpleRepository (SubSonic 3)
Sets up the entities via new Product()
Uses the "UpdateModel([entity class])" from the MVC framework to grab all of the Request.Form data (very cool)
If successful, it redirects them to the "Details" view along with the new productID of the product added.
If not successful, it puts them back to the originating view (in this case "Create" view), along with the Error Message which fires up the Validation Summary, highlights the fields in question along with their individual error messages.

//
// POST: /Products/Create

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Create(FormCollection collection)
{
    // Add Product
    var _repo = new SimpleRepository();
    Product item = new Product();

    try
    {
        UpdateModel(item);
        _repo.Add<Product>(item);

        return RedirectToAction("Details", new { id = item.ProductID });
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        ModelState.AddModelError("Error", ex.Message);
    }
    return View(item);
}

ActionResult: Edit
If you had a mashup between the "Details" and the "Create" view, you would have the "Edit" view. Same as before, get the data, load it into the Entity, and then pass it to the view model. Just like the "Create" view, you can add your jQuery Validation to this page the same way. Just cut and paste!

//
// GET: /Products/Edit/5

public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
    // Get Product
    var _repo = new SimpleRepository();
    Product item = _repo.Single<Product>((x => x.ProductID == id));

    if (item == null)
    {
        return View("NotFound");
    }
    else
    {
        return View("Edit", item);
    }
}

ActionResult: Edit (From a Post response)
This is just like intercepting the Post response from a "Create" View, but "Edit". Here you notice that we can reuse the "UpdateModel" courtesy of the MVC Framework. SubSonic 3 just has the "Update" in lieu of "Add".

//
// POST: /Products/Edit/5

[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Edit(int id, FormCollection collection)
{
    // Update Product
    var _repo = new SimpleRepository();
    Product item = _repo.Single<Product>((x => x.ProductID == id));

    try
    {                
        UpdateModel(item);
        _repo.Update<Product>(item);

       return RedirectToAction("Details", new { id=item.ProductID });
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        ModelState.AddModelError("Error", ex.Message);
    }
    return View(item);
}

I hope that with the SubSonic 3 with MVC and jQuery Example it helps you get started with MVC and SubSonic 3, this more complete example would have made it a bit easier for me learning it I know. :)

SubSonic 3 with MVC and jQuery - Example (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:30:00 +0000

SubSonic 3, MVC and jQuery, like it was planned. Well, for me at least, it is a beautiful thing. I have been a big follower of SubSonic for many years now, most notably the 2.xx releases. SubSonic 3 has been out for a bit this year, and I thought that I would take a look. Turns out, it's a total rewrite (which is good in this case) that allows it to be more powerful. No more writing batch files to get your DAL files. I'd also like to give a big thanks to Rob Conery for SubSonic. Also, the guys (including Rob) at Microsoft that created "Nerd Dinner" and wrote a nice walkthrough realy helped get started.

If you want to skip to Part 2, you are more than welcome. :)

If you would like to download my example project, click here (look in the lower right corner of the page for the download link). This includes the good old Northwind database running locally in SQL Express. I also have included some files in the project that are "turned off" that match some of the Nerd Dinner files if you are looking to expand this example for yourself. :)

Things you will need for this setup:

So, to get SubSonic setup in your solution:

Download SubSonic 3
Extract the zip file and place the SubSonic folder on your local drive.
Create a class library project and add a reference to SubSonic.Core.dll
Simply drop the T4 (aka "tt") templates in your class library.
Add an app.config and a database connection string configure the ".ttinclude" file to point to your database and connection string.
After that, right-click on each of the "tt" files, and then click "Run Custom Tool" in Visual Studio. Very easy.
Compile the project and you're good to go.

Here is what the database connection part of the "Settings.ttinclude" looks like:

const string Namespace = "SubSonic.MVC.DataAccess";
const string ConnectionStringName = "NorthwindConnectionString";

//This is the name of your database and is used in naming
//the repository. By default we set it to the connection string name
const string DatabaseName = "Northwnd";

It's worth noting that the "SubSonic.MVC.DataAccess" Namespace can be anything that you want. So, if you want to call your Namespace "MonkeyCode.Bananas.DAL" you are more than welcome to do so.

The best advice I have for this is to loosely follow along in the "Nerd Dinner" pdf on building your ASP.NET MVC app. There is really no point for me to recreate the wheel that they have built. :) Download the PDF. What I will do is show examples of using SubSonic 3, MVC and jQuery to List, Detail, Insert, Update and Delete from the Products table in the NorthWind database.

Start Here (Setup):

After you have downloaded SubSonic 3, installed MVC 1.0 and .NET 3.5, and setup your data access class library with SubSonic 3 (from above):
- Add a new project to the solution
- Go to Visual C# > Web > ASP.NET MVC Web Application
- For this example, name it WebApp and say OK
- This will add and build your MVC Web App and create a Unit Test project for you

Modify the Master Page:

In the WebApp, go to Views > Shared > Site.Master and open it

Look for the menu links in the code and modify it like the example (below):

<ul id="menu">              
    <li><%= Html.ActionLink("Home", "Index", "Home")%></li>
    <li><%= Html.ActionLink("About", "About", "Home")%></li>
    <li><%= Html.ActionLink("Products", "Index", "Products")%></li>
</ul>

Add the Product Controller class:

Right-Click the Controllers folder > Add New Controller
Type in ProductsController for the name and check the checkbox for "Add action methods for Create, Update, and Details scenarios"

Setup Your Index View:
This is the heart of your Controller -- the Index. This is the default view that will show when someone goes to [yourdomain]/Products. First, what we'll do is query the Products table via SubSonic and then pass the list to the view. See the code below:

// DB Setup used for some actions
NorthwndDB db = new NorthwndDB();

// SubSonic query
SqlQuery sQuery = db
    .Select
    .From("Products");

var products = sQuery.ExecuteTypedList<Product>();

// Pass the list (aka Model) to the view
return View("Index", products);

Create the Index View:
Ok, this is really easy, just Right-Click on the Index() next to the ActionResult like in the image below.

Next, make sure the view name is "Index" and check "Create a strongly-typed view". Select your [SubSonic Namespace].Product data class from the list and finally choose "List" under View Content (see image below).

What happens is that Visual Studio will automatically create the folder "Products" under the "Views" folder and then create "Index.aspx" (i.e. /Views/Products/index.aspx) which is your Index view. Also, because you specified the data class and "list" type of view, it automatically created your HTML with all the fields from your data class.

Things to Note:
If you look at the top of the page in the code, it will look like this:

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" 
MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" 
Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<IEnumerable<SubSonic.MVC.DataAccess.Product>>" %>

Notice that the "Inherits" property specifies the System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage Namespace and then breaks down further with IEnumerable and the actual data class from there.

Other things to note are:

The Model is inherited from the "product" class passed from the ProductsController. So, basically it's the same as saying "foreach (var product in products)."
```
<% foreach (var item in Model) { %>
```

Links to other Views while passing the id of the current record are done like so:

<a href="<%=Url.Action("Details", new { id = item.ProductID })%>">View Details</a>

Entity fields are displayed like this (reminds me of Classic ASP):
```
<%= Html.Encode(item.ProductID) %>
```
Stand-alone, all inclusive links can be done like this:
```
<%= Html.ActionLink("Create New", "Create") %>
```

At this point, you should be able to run your MVC web site and view the Products list (aka "Index") page.

View the Part 2 of the Series.

Sharepoint 2010 (#14) - Some goodies for us designers

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:33:00 +0000

SharePoint 2010 will not support Internet Explorer 6 (more info). So, what this means to us designers is that we won't have to bow down to the confines of IE6's lack of modern CSS layouts. We can use things like .myCSS TD:first-child which is only supported in IE7+ (for IE -- FireFox and others support this).

Another feature that we'll be sure to use and hack the styles of are the the Web-enabled Ribbon control. I'm sure that we'll be pushing the limits to make these ribbons do our bidding in our SP 2010 sites.

Cheers.

Designing for SharePoint (Indy Code Camp Presentation)

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:53:00 +0000

I was excited to see a great turnout this weekend for Indy Code Camp (and even more for my presentation :) ). In my presentation, "Designing for SharePoint", I talked about taking a Graphic Design and converting it into a Master Page, Page Layouts and Web Parts to get the vision of the company. Below are some notes and links to sites that should be useful for those looking to follow the same pattern.

Graphic Designs

If you're a designer, you probably already have a graphics program that you use for your designs, but if you are not, then you probably would like some guidance in this area. My preference is Adobe Fireworks which I have used for many years, back when the product was owned by Macromedia. Fireworks is geared for developing graphics for web sites, and can also be used for dealing with photo images, etc. Adobe Photoshop is another graphics program that is more powerful and more expensive than Fireworks. This program is more useful for photo editing and effects, than being geared for the web.

Master Pages

Master Pages: Love them, hate them -- either way they are an intregal part of SharePoint. You need to develop these bad boys so that the top Internet Browsers will show the SharePoint site the same way (for the most part). So, either start with the default.master (can be found by connecting to the SharePoint site via SharePoint Designer, then navigate to _catalogs/masterpages/ directory). WSS will just have the one master page "default.master" and MOSS will have multiple master pages.

Heather Solomon (SharePoint Design Guru) has created a minimal master page. You can download it to start out your new master page. Remember that you will want to keep a hold of all the Content Place Holders of the master page. If you are not going to use them, just put them in a hidden ASP:Panel.

Other parts of the master page that you will want to pay attention to are:

Welcome Bar (My Site / My Links / Site Actions button)

Main Navigation (this can be replaced with a Telerik RAD menu for instance)

Publishing Console (if using MOSS)

Quick Navigation Menu (used as the vertical navigation bar -- usually MOSS sites hide this)

Page Layouts

Page Layouts can also be found in the folder _catalogs/masterpages and are identified by the .ASPX file extension. Page Layouts inherit from a master page, and control structure of Web Part Zones AND are tied to a specific Content Type (Welcome, Article, etc., or a Custom Content Type). These are pretty straight forward as they are a mix of HTML and Sharepoint controls. You can create many page layouts for your SharePoint sites.

Modifying Out of the Box (OOTB) Web Parts

This is one of those things that gets debated by SharePoint developers as to the true use of OOTB Web Parts. Some purists believe that custom web parts should be left to only .NET web parts. Depending on the needs of the web part, .NET could be the way to do. However, if you are looking to extend a web part that can be mostly handled by modifying a DataFormWebPart in SharePoint Designer, this can cut way down on time and frustration from NOT having to develop a .NET web part.

Here is a quick list of how you create and modify an OOTB Web Part to do your bidding on SharePoint.

1) Open SharePoint Designer and connect to your SharePoint site

2) Click on File > New and create a new .ASPX page that inherits from your Master Page

3) In the new page, go into the code view and create a new <DIV> tag (for Table)

4) (In Design View) Click in the center of your new tag so the cursor is within your tag

5) Click on Insert > SharePoint > Web Part Zone (must be in Design View)

6) Click on DataFormWebPart > Insert to insert a new DataFormWebPart

... Follow the instructions on connecting to the datasource in SharePoint Designer

7) If you want to add columns, you can by right-clicking on any of the column headers you want, and choosing to insert a column to the right or left

8) At this point, before you do anything else, you should hop in the code and look for "ListID" and replace this with "ListName". Also, you will want to find the corresponding "ListID" "Guid" and replace this with the actual list name. Doing this will ensure that this web part can be deployed across different environment whereas a ListID and Guid would fail.

9) Click in the header of the web part so it's all highlighted

10) Click on File > Export > Save Web Part > To Site Gallery (this will import the current web part into the Site Gallery on your SharePoint server -- it puts it in the "Miscellaneous" category by the way)

That's it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

:)

Filter Current User for Document Library in a CAML Query

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:40:00 +0000

I had a situation where I needed to create a web part that searched all of the Document Libraries of a SharePoint site, and then gave the option to filter the list by the current user logged onto the site (similar to the "Relavent Documents" OOTB Web Part).

Anyways, the CAML Query is simplistic in nature, but was kind of a pain to reach this conclusion since most of what you will find on the Web is using the "AssignedTo" Field name to match against the current user. The key internal name field for a Document Library to use is "Editor".

Anyways, here is the "Where" clause I used to hit against the Document Libraries:

SPSiteDataQuery q = new SPSiteDataQuery();

q.ViewFields = "<FieldRef Name=\"FileRef\" /><FieldRef Name=\"ID\" /><FieldRef Name=\"Modified\" /><FieldRef Name=\"Modified_x0020_By\" />";
q.Query = "<Where><Eq><FieldRef Name=\"Editor\" /><Value Type=\"User\"><UserID/></Value></Eq></Where><OrderBy><FieldRef Name=\"Modified\" Ascending=\"False\" /></OrderBy>";           
q.RowLimit = 10;
q.Webs = "<Webs Scope=\"Recursive\" />";
q.Lists = "<Lists ServerTemplate=\"101\"/>";

SPWeb Collection: List Sites / Webs

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:31:00 +0000

I had an opportunity recently to make a web part that is like a site map to the entire site collection no matter where it was dropped on the SharePoint site. I also made an option (not shown in code) that allows the "default starting site/web" to be overridden so that you can start from any site/web node and then show recursive webs from there.

Enough talk, here's the code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using Microsoft.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages;
using Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities;
using System.Data;

namespace JamesCurtis.SharePoint.Examples
{
    public class SPWebCollectionExample : Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart
    {
        #region Constants

        #endregion

        #region Fields

        Label lblDisplay = new Label();
        Label lblError = new Label();
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

        #endregion

        #region Delagates

        protected override void CreateChildControls()
        {
            try
            {
                base.CreateChildControls();

                lblDisplay.Text = GetData(SPContext.Current.Site.Url);
                this.Controls.Add(lblDisplay);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                lblError.Text = ex.Message;
                this.Controls.Add(lblError);
            }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Private Methods

        protected string GetData(string site)
        {
            using (SPSite s = new SPSite(site))
            {
                SPWebCollection swc = s.AllWebs;
                for (int i = 0; i < swc.Count - 1; i++)
                {
                    sb.Append(SPEncode.HtmlEncode(swc[i].Url));
                    sb.Append("<br/>");                    
                }
            }
            return sb.ToString();
        }

        #endregion

    }
}

Happy Programming!

RAID Controller Not Initializing on boot after restart

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:46:00 +0000

I ran into an interesting issue with an older Dell server that I have. I tried to add some RAM to it, and one of the RAM sticks ended up being bad, but in the process of trying to boot up, it seems to have tried to load the BIOS information, but then failed when it hit the bad RAM.

So, what it did, was reset the BIOS! I didn't figure this out at first because I was getting nervous that the server would skip over the normal "Controller 0... Initializing..." part and then fail because it couldn't find a boot device.

The fix:

1) Start the Server

2) Go into SETUP

3) Go to INTEGRATED DEVICES

4) Look for the SCSI Setup (was on the top of the window in my screens)

5) Set the value to SCSI or RAID, depending on your setup

6) Exit and Save from the BIOS

Hopefully, if you situation is the same, this will fix it. :)

SQL Reporting Services - Service Unavailable

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:10:00 +0000

There you are, happy and excited that you are about to start using SQL Reporting Services, and then it happens... you navigate to your report server (typically http://localhost/Reports) and you get an ugly error "Service Unavailable".

The good news is that it's probably just a quarky .NET 2.0 install that is messing it up. If it is, here's how to easily reinstall .NET 2.0 to make IIS happy:

1) Go to C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ and copy the path in the "address bar" in Windows Explorer

2) Go to Start > Run and type in CMD

3) In the Command Window, type: cd (and then with your mouse, right-click on the window and then "Paste") -- the end result should be "cd C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727"

4) Type: aspnet_regiis -i and hit [enter]

These steps will reinstall .NET 2.0 and should fix the Service Unavailable error.

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Delete

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Continuing the series, SubSonic versus LinqToSQL, this example shows a simple delete using SubSonic and then the equivalent using LinqToSQL. It is worth to note that SubSonic has two ways to delete records, on just updates a bit field called "IsDeleted" and essentially turns the record "off" while the "Destroy" method actually deletes the record.

If you are looking for other posts in this series, here is the list:

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Select

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Insert

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Update

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Delete

Here is the simple delete using SubSonic:

using SubSonic;
using MyCustomDAL;

...

protected void DeleteProduct(int ProductID)
{
  Product p = new Product(ProductID)
  p.Destroy();
}

And here is the simple delete using LinqToSQL:

using System.Linq;

...

protected void DeleteProduct(int ProductID)
    {
        NorthwindDataContext db = new NorthwindDataContext();

        Product p = (from products in db.Products
                     where products.ProductID == ProductID
                     select products).FirstOrDefault();
        db.Products.DeleteOnSubmit(p);
        db.SubmitChanges();

    }

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Insert

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Continuing the series, here I demonstrate a simple insert using SubSonic and then the equivalent using LinqToSQL.

If you are looking for other posts in this series, here is the list:

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Select

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Insert

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Update

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Delete

Here is a Simple Insert using SubSonic:

using SubSonic;
using MyCustomDAL;

...

protected void InsertProduct()
{
  Product p = new Product();

  p.ProductName = txtProductName.Text;
  p.UnitPrice = decimal.Parse(txtUnitPrice.Text);
  p.UnitsInStock = short.Parse(txtUnitsInStock.Text);
  p.UnitsOnOrder = short.Parse(txtUnitsOnOrder.Text);
  p.QuantityPerUnit = txtQuantityPerUnit.Text;
  p.ReorderLevel = short.Parse(txtReorderLevel.Text);
  p.Discontinued = false; 

  p.Save();
}

And here is a Simple Insert using LinqToSQL:

using System.Linq;

...

protected void InsertProduct()
    {
        NorthwindDataContext db = new NorthwindDataContext();

        Product p = new Product();
        {
            p.ProductName = txtProductName.Text;
            p.UnitPrice = decimal.Parse(txtUnitPrice.Text);
            p.UnitsInStock = short.Parse(txtUnitsInStock.Text);
            p.UnitsOnOrder = short.Parse(txtUnitsOnOrder.Text);
            p.QuantityPerUnit = txtQuantityPerUnit.Text;
            p.ReorderLevel = short.Parse(txtReorderLevel.Text);
            p.Discontinued = false;            
        }
        db.SubmitChanges();

    }

It is worth to note that between instaniating the Northwind database ("db") in the LinqToSQL and the "db.SubmitChanges();", any inserting calls that you are doing are just submitted once to the database. So, if any of them fail, they all fail.

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Update

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Continuing with my series "SubSonic versus LinqToSQL", here I'm going to compare a simple update using the Northwind database.

If you are looking for other posts in this series, here is the list:

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Select

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Insert

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Update

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Delete

Here is a Simple Update while using SubSonic:

using SubSonic;
using MyCustomDAL;

...

protected void UpdateProduct(ProductID)
{
  Product p = new Product(int ProductID)
  p.ProductName = txtProductName.Text;
  p.UnitPrice = double.Parse(txtUnitPrice.Text);
  p.Save();
}

And here is a Simple Update while using LinqToSQL:

using System.Linq;

...

protected void UpdateProduct(int ProductID)
{
  NorthwindDataContext db = new NorthwindDataContext();

  Product p = (from products in db.Products 
               where products.ProductID == ProductID
               select products).FirstOrDefault();
  p.UnitPrice = 0;
  p.Discontinued = true;
  db.SubmitChanges();
}

As you can see there are some similarities as there are also differences. I encourage everyone to look into what those differences are to better prepare your programming toolset for jobs that lie ahead. :)

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Select

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:34:00 +0000

I have used SubSonic for years, and quite frankly was avoiding LinqToSQL because I didn't think that I would want to use it. After playing around with LinqToSQL a bit (forced by using ASP.NET Dynamic Data), it's not too bad. I thought that I would give a few quick comparisons for those who are also using SubSonic and have not drawn a correlation yet on how to achieve similar results while using LinqToSQL. Both are looking at the Northwind database, btw.

If you are looking for other posts in this series, here is the list:

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Select

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Insert

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Update

SubSonic versus LinqToSQL: Simple Delete

Here is a Simple Select command using SubSonic:

using SubSonic;
using MyCustomDAL;

...

protected void GetProduct(ProductID)
{
  Product p = new Product(int ProductID)
  txtProductName = p.ProductName;
  txtUnitPrice = p.UnitPrice;
}

And here is the LinqToSQL equivalent:

using System.Linq;

...

protected void GetProduct(int ProductID)
{
  NorthwindDataContext db = new NorthwindDataContext();

  var products = from p in db.Products
                 where p.ID == ProductID
                 select p;

  foreach (var product in products)
  {
    txtProductName = product.ProductName;
    txtUnitPrice = product.UnitPrice;
  }
}

As you can see, there are similarities between the two. I hope that this will encourage hardcore SubSonic users who have blown off LinqToSQL like I did to at least investigate LinqToSQL since I think it is not going away. I will still be using SubSonic where I can, but if I have a requirement of "All Microsoft" then I will be using LinqToSQL.

New Year, New Choices

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:29:00 +0000

After much deliberation, I have decided to remove Haloscan as the default comment management for this blog. While it had many high points, the fact of when I would get a new notification that a comment has been posted, Haloscan does not provide a link to which Blog post was commented.

As you can imagine, when trying to keep a dialog or help someone, it makes it difficult to do without this very simple piece of code missing. So, I apologize to all of the people's comments that were posted before today (Jan 14th, 2009), but I need to be able to respond to you guys. :)

Happy 2009, BTW! :)

Master Page Error (AJAX 1.0 / .NET 3.5)

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:03:00 +0000

If you have a .NET 2.0 site that is using AJAX 1.0 and you change the project to .NET 3.5, your web.config file gets modified. Then, when you try to look at any page that references the master page file, you will get this error:

Master Page error
The Master Page file '~/MasterPage.master' cannot be loaded.
Correct the problem in Code View

Basically, it rewrites the "sections" with the updated assemblies for AJAX in .NET 3.5. To fix this immediately, return your site to a .NET 2.0 site, and update your web.config file using this (just look for and replace the "sectionGroup" sections):


<sectionGroup name="system.web.extensions" type="System.Web.Configuration.SystemWebExtensionsSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35">
            <sectionGroup name="scripting" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35">
                <section name="scriptResourceHandler" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingScriptResourceHandlerSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication"/>
                <sectionGroup name="webServices" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingWebServicesSectionGroup, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35">
                    <section name="jsonSerialization" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingJsonSerializationSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="Everywhere" />
                    <section name="profileService" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingProfileServiceSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication" />
                    <section name="authenticationService" type="System.Web.Configuration.ScriptingAuthenticationServiceSection, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" requirePermission="false" allowDefinition="MachineToApplication" />
                </sectionGroup>
            </sectionGroup>
        </sectionGroup>

SQL Server - Cannot attach a database that was being restored

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:54:00 +0000

This was a fun error. We had an extremely large database (450 GB) that was in the process of restoring and got hung up in SQL Server 2005. Each time we would try to attach the database, it would fail because it kept thinking it was "being restored". So, after you take some aspirin, be assurred that there is a way to "trick" SQL Server.

Create a new database with the same name as the one you are trying to attach.
(optional) Detach the database, and then move the MDF and LDF files to the specific drives that you need.
(optional) Reattach the database from it's new location. You will have to update the paths to the LDF file when restoring.
Take the database Offline.
Copy your original MDF and LDF files and overwrite the newly created files.
Bring the database back Online.

Wah-la! It's back!

If this didn't work for you, you may have something more severe on your hands like a corrupt database file.

CodePlex: Google Maps Web Part (WSS/MOSS)

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Note: If you have never been on CodePlex.com, you might want to check it out if you are developing anything Microsoft related.

I ran across a new project that is running against the Google Maps API and allows simple moderation in a Web Toolbar to use Google Maps within SharePoint. I'll list the features from the project, but if you don't want to read it and want the project, then here's the link: http://www.codeplex.com/googlemapswebpart

[Copied from CodePlex]

Project Description

Using this web part you can display points and locations on a Google map and get directions to an from that point. You can either manually enter an individual point or select a list from your Sharepoint site that holds the information that is required - ie. a field for the Buidling Name, its Longitude and its Lattitude.

Features

Pick your zoom level - comes with handy real world scales
Choose any map type
Enter your own Google Maps API Key
Create a List using an inbuilt feature that is already set up for optimal performance with the web part
Or Pick a list from your MOSS site using the Site Picker pop up window (That thing you see when you're using the Content Query Web Part)
Match fields from your list that have the Longitude Lattitude
Name of Site
URL of an image
Or select a default image using the Asset Selector pop up window (That thing you see when creating hyperlinks in your text or inserting pictures)
Centre the map on any of your sites
Get directions
From one of your sites to another site
From one of your sites to an address
From an address to one of your sites
And you don't have to use a list! You can enter information for a single point Longitude Lattitude
Name of Site
URL of an image

[/Copied from CodePlex]

Enjoy!

TFS 2008 on Windows Server 2008 with MOSS 2007 and SQL 2008

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:27:00 +0000

Ok kids. This was a big headache for me, but I got it all worked out so that I can help you out. Basically what we had here was Windows Server 2008 with SQL 2008, MOSS 2007 SP1, and TFS 2008 SP1. I had another server running Active Directory (AD) that was also Windows Server 2008.

TFS 2008 would not allow me to install it using my MOSS 2007 server with my web application "http://quarry.limestone.local". So, I tried another one "http://stone/". Still no luck. Apparently, it doesn't like anything other than the server name. Here's the 2nd gotcha: you have to use another port than 80.

So, here's a screenshot of what did work:

I hope that helps you guys out and saves you the headache (if you found this post or one of my other posts on this topic on other sites).

Cheers.

Getting Stats from SQL Server via Query

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:12:00 +0000

For a long time now, I use references to the sysobjects table to get some stats on databases that are being catalogued for a database migration (or for just cataloguing in general). Anyways, I open up Query Analyzer (SQL 2000) or a new Query window (SQL 2005/2008) and use variations of the following code examples:

-- Counts all the tables in a database
SELECT [Count] = count(so.name)
FROM sysobjects so
WHERE so.xtype = 'U'

-- Counts all stored procedures in a database
SELECT [Count] = count(so.name)
FROM sysobjects so
WHERE so.xtype = 'P'

-- Returns the count of main database objects
SELECT [Tables] = count(so.name)FROM sysobjects so WHERE so.xtype = 'U' AND left(so.type,2) <> 'dt'
SELECT [StoredProcs] = count(so.name)FROM sysobjects so WHERE so.xtype = 'P' AND left(so.type,2) <> 'dt'
SELECT [Views] = count(so.name)FROM sysobjects so WHERE so.xtype = 'V' AND left(so.type,2) <> 'dt'
SELECT [Triggers] = count(so.name)FROM sysobjects so WHERE so.xtype = 'TR' AND left(so.type,2) <> 'dt'
SELECT [ExtendedStoredProcs] = count(so.name)FROM sysobjects so WHERE so.xtype = 'X' AND left(so.type,2) <> 'dt'

This is the list of all possible values for this column (xtype):

C = CHECK constraint
D = Default or DEFAULT constraint
F = FOREIGN KEY constraint
L = Log
P = Stored procedure
PK = PRIMARY KEY constraint (type is K)
RF = Replication filter stored procedure
S = System table
TR = Trigger
U = User table
UQ = UNIQUE constraint (type is K)
V = View
X = Extended stored procedure

MOSS 2007 - Anatomy of the Request Access Page

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:18:00 +0000

I have come across a scenario where I was thinking on adding to the "Access Denied" sets of pages, specifically the "Request Access" page. I had abandoned the idea for the project, but I thought that I would post the "If I did it scenario" (sad O.J. Simpson book reference attempt). :)

First off, if you have never seen this page in SharePoint, you will someday (below).

Anyways, I wanted to modify the page that shows up after this page if you click "Request access". The page that pulls up will have a textarea that you can fill in and then submit. This request goes to the site owner of the SharePoint site. Below, I had found the page that you can modify to change the form around to whatever you want. The only drawback here is that if you change it, it will affect all the Sharepoint sites in the server farm because they all reference this page.

Page Location: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\reqacc.aspx

I decided to add two extra form fields to it, FullName and Department.

This page also uses a resource file which is independent per web application. You can simply open up the “resx” resource file and edit the tag you want. You do not need to restart IIS after making a change to the resource file – just refresh the page.

Resource Location: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\\App_GlobalResources

File Name: wss.en-US.resx (differs by language used)

Tags to Change (if you desire):

Error: Access Denied
Current User
You are currently signed in as:
Sign in as a different user
Request access

I know that you’re probably like “James, that’s great, but how the heck do I control the email generation from the page?” Well, that’s another issue, but can be fixed. At the top of the reqacc.aspx page, there is the following:
<%@ Assembly Name="Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c"%><%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.RequestAccess" MasterPageFile="~/_layouts/simple.master" %><%@ Import Namespace="Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages" %>
So, if you want to see the default code that is used to make the “magic” happen for email generation, fire open Reflector (download Reflector) on the SharePoint server and open up the Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.dll.

Location: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\CONFIG\BIN\Microsoft.SharePoint.ApplicationPages.dll

Expand all the classes until you find RequestAccess. Then, Right-Click on RequestAccess and click Disassemble. Presto! There is the email generation code and how it’s getting the information to build the URL.

So, you now have access to the front end and the back end of this small part of SharePoint. You just have to create your own customized code behind (and perhaps a copy of the form for the front end so you don’t modify the OOTB page).

Enjoy!

Junction - Shortcuts for CMD and PowerShell File Paths

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Some of you may know of the Junction.exe program for Windows, but some of you may not. This is a little function that has been around for a little while now, and it's really useful if you are tired of trying to remember the full path you need to type in when trying to get to stsadm.exe (or similar) and don't have a shortcut.

Well, now you can "alias" the long path via junction.exe.

Example:

Turn this: C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc
Into this: C:\hosts

Code: junction.exe hosts C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc

Another Example:

Turn this: C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\12
Into this: C:\12hive

Code: junction.exe 12hive "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\12"

TechNet Article and Download Link for Junction

Enjoy!

PowerShell Download for XP / 2003 / Vista (RTM) plus Extensions

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:29:00 +0000

If you are not using Vista (non-RTM) or Windows Server 2008, and you require PowerShell to run scripts, etc., then you will have to download PowerShell. You can do a Google search as usual and find all the parts you need, or just bookmark this post. :)

Microsoft PowerShell (ver. 1):
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/powershell/download.mspx

Microsoft PowerShell (ver. 2 CTP):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7C8051C2-9BFC-4C81-859D-0864979FA403&displaylang=en

PowerShell Extensions (CodePlex):
http://www.codeplex.com/PowerShellCX

Microsoft PowerShell SDK:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa830112.aspx

Microsoft PowerShell Documentation:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B4720B00-9A66-430F-BD56-EC48BFCA154F&displaylang=en

Microsoft PowerShell Team Blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/powershell/

Microsoft Scripting with Windows PowerShell Site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/hubs/msh.mspx

MOSS 2007 - Simple Workflow Walkthrough

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:21:00 +0000

I decided to put together a simple Workflow in MOSS 2007 to help other get a quick introduction to them. Workflows are not some mythical creature in SharePoint, although sometimes they can seem a bit tricky. :) Below I have screenshots for the step by step of creating a simple workflow on a document library.

Here is what we want this workflow for:

Notify for new document
Collect feedback from a "Reviewer" on the new document

1) Go to your Document Library, and go to Settings > Document Library Settings

2) In the Settings page, choose Workflow Settings.

3) Click "Create a new Workflow"

4) For this walkthrough, I'm collecting feedback for all new documents.

5) For testing purposes, you can add yourself as the sole reviewer on the 2nd screen when setting up a workflow. This way, you will receive the email notifications.

6) After saving the new workflow, return to the document library, and create a new document.

7) When you first save your new document (i.e. in "Word"), you will be prompted about checking in the document. Don't worry, this is normal SharePoint behavior.

8) After you save the document and go to close it, you will be greeted with the following prompts notifiying you of "Offline Editing" and checking in your document again. Go ahead and click through these screens.

9) Once a new document is saved and checked in, you should receive an email similar to the image below (because you are a "Reviewer" in the workflow):

10) This is a screenshot of the workflow in progress. From here, you will want to "Edit" the task assigned to you. In this case, I'll add some feedback for the new document created.

11) The screenshot below shows the workflow as completed and all the tasks done.

Congratulations on making your first workflow. Hopefully this has helped get your gears turning!
Cheers.

SQL Server 2008 - Policy Based Management

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:41:00 +0000

If you are new to SQL Server 2008 or are looking into it. It's worth your time for 20 minutes to listen to Dan Jones from Microsoft talk about Policy Based Management which, in my opinion, is the most important feature in SQL Server 2008.

To check out the interview, go here: http://edge.technet.com/Media/SQL-Server-2008-Policy-Based-Management-Interview/

Quick Notes: Installing VS TFS 2008 with SQL Server 2008

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:44:00 +0000

If you are going to install VS TFS 2008 with SQL Server 2008 as your database server, you will need to download VS TFS 2008 and merge it with your /AT folder as one installation. Sounds like a pain, because it is a pain. :)

Download the Installation Guide specific to this situation.

Basically what you are doing is downloading VS TFS SP1 and merging it with the VS TFS Server install files so like it's installing it from the DVD as VS TFS with SP1 opposed to seperate installs which will not work in this case.

Good Times. :)

MOSS 2007 - Central Administration Walkthrough

noreply@blogger.com (James Curtis) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:11:00 +0000

This walkthrough is a follow up to Installing MOSS 2007 with SQL Server 2008 post. I did just a basic configuration that includes the following:

Main Site Web Application
My Site Web Application
Site Collection
Shared Services Provider (SSP)

If you have never tried to configure MOSS 2007, or if you have and didn't have any luck, you will find that it can be a bit confusing. Hopefully, this post will help things be a little less confusing for you.

Before we begin, go ahead and create a new user account specifically for SharePoint. The user account I created was svc_sharepoint. I created this account locally on my server which is win2008-001. So, if you have a domain, you would create the account there (especially if you have multiple servers involved and require SMTP service beyond the server that SharePoint is installed on). The purpose of this SharePoint account is that this will give you more control over what user authentication is processing some of the SharePoint services and is required by some of the SharePoint services.

1) Log into your SharePoint Central Administration section (Start Menu > All Programs > Microsoft Office Server > SharePoint Administration 3.0)

2) Go ahead and click on your server name (in the image above, it's represented as win2008-001)

3) Click on "Start" for the Windows SharePoint Services Search. Here I entered my SharePoint account I created and it's password. You should enter the username like this: win2008-001\svc_sharepoint (domain\username) even though the picture below doesn't reflect this (my bad :) ).

4) Just like the other service, click on the "Start" for Office SharePoint Search Service. Fill in the information and click the start button.

5) Optional, but if you plan to use Excel Services in MOSS 2007, then you need to "Start" the the Excel Calculation Service.

6) Go into Application Management and click Create or extend Web application.

7) Feel free to read the left column, but if you are in a rush, click Create a new Web application.

8) The name of my new web application is Sphinx. The host header for this is sphinx. The port I'm going to be using is 80. I'm creating a new Application pool here and using my SharePoint account, svc_sharepoint, for the authentication.

Note: this is very important to use a configurable authentication here for the Application pool if you are planning to have this web application use SharePoint Shared Services Provider (SSP).

9) If all things go well, you will get a confirmation screen like in the image below. From here, click on the Create Site Collection link at the end of the paragraph.

10) Select your new Web Application (it should already be selected). Give your new Site Collection a title (here I used "Sphinx"). Here the web address is just "/". This means that if you type in http://sphinx/ you will get the new SharePoint site.

Here you can also assign the Primary and secondary administrators. For the Walkthrough, I'm using the local Administrator account and the svc_sharepoint account. You can use any Windows user accounts you want.

11) If all goes well, you will see the screen image (below).

12) For this Walkthrough, I'm creating another Web Application: MySite. This will handle all of the personal "MySites" for your users.

13) If you go back to the Central Administration start page, there will be a link on the left side that says Shared Services Administration. Click this link and you should see a similar screen (below).

14) Click on New SSP. Give your new SSP a name. For the Walkthrough, I used "Sphinx - Shared Services". The Web Application should be your primary (here it's "Sphinx") and the My Site Location Web Application should be your secondary (here it's "MySite").

15) If all goes well, you should see a similar screen (below).

Optional: If you do not have access to a DNS server or are not running DNS on your server, then you can perform the following steps to resolve the new SharePoint site on the server (you can also perform this step on networked computers as well, just replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP address assigned to your SharePoint server)

15) Go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > NotePad (Right-Click on the shortcut and say "Run as Administrator" -- this is for Server 2008 / Vista Only)

16) Go to File > Open and navigate to the file of C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts (you will have to change it to "All Files" to show opposed to just "Text Files")

17) Once open, add the following lines (replace Sphinx with your SharePoint name):

127.0.0.1 sphinx

127.0.0.1 mysite

18) Finally, close all open Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers and open up Internet Explorer. Navigate to your SharePoint site (here it would be http://sphinx). I used the Portal Collaboration template for the Sphinx site. If you used the same template, then your screen should look like below. It will prompt you to login, just use your primary site administrator account to log in. Here I used win2008-001\administrator.

Enjoy!