Mike Knowles

ASP.NET Ajax and jQuery Development Template

Mike — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 03:03:12 GMT

Using jQuery with ASP.NET Ajax greatly extends the range of the .NET front-end developer. The benefit of using jQuery is it allows you to perform client-side DOM operations and include jQuery plugins in your site to gain increased interactivity without having to become a JavaScript expert.

The code below provides a template for setting up an ASP.NET Ajax page with an UpdatePanel that makes use of jQuery. The template shows how to include the jQuery library from the Google CDN and to setup the core essentials of an Ajax page - a loading indicator (using the BlockUI plugin) and the display of an error message when an exception is thrown on the server during an asynchronous postback. The template also shows how to coordinate the ASP.NET Ajax and jQuery event models to insure your jQuery libraries and custom code work as expected across all 3 page load scenarios (HTTP Get, Post, and XML HTTP Request). Refer to this template any time you need to get a master or content page setup from scratch to make use of jQuery.

Live Demo

Download the source code and loading image

ASPX

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="UpdatePanelTemplate_Default" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.blockUI.js"></script>    
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">    
    <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" Runat="Server" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
        Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_pageLoaded(pageLoaded);
        Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_beginRequest(beginRequest);
        Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_endRequest(endRequest);

        function pageLoaded(sender, args) {
            // Code in pageLoaded executes on initial page load and after any
            // subsequent regular or asynchronous postbacks.
            //console.log("pageLoaded");

            $(document).ready(function () {
                // Initialize jquery libraries on each page load and async postback.
                //console.log("in document.ready");
                $(document).ajaxStart($.blockUI).ajaxStop($.unblockUI);
            });
        }
        
        function beginRequest(sender, args) {
            // Code inside of beginRequest runs at the start of each ASP.NET asynchronous
            // postback before any data has been sent to the server.
            //console.log("beginRequest");

            $('#Error').hide();

            $.blockUI({
                message: $('img#ajax-load'),
                css: { border: 'none',  background: 'none' }                 
            }); 
        }
        
        function endRequest(sender, args) {
            // Code inside of endRequest runs at the end of each ASP.NET asynchronous
            // postback after all data has been received from the server.
            //console.log("endRequest");

            // Display error message if async postback err'd out.
            if (args.get_error() != undefined) {
                $('#Error').show();
                args.set_errorHandled(true);
            }

            $.unblockUI();
        }
    </script>

    <div style="width:400px;margin:6px auto">
        <p>
            Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor 
            incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud 
            exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute 
            irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla 
            pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia
            deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.        
        </p>

        <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server">
            <ContentTemplate>
                <asp:Button runat="server" ID="SubmitButton" Text="Submit (Async Postback)" />
                &nbsp;&nbsp;
                <asp:Button runat="server" ID="ErrorDemoButton" Text="Submit (Async Error)" 
                    onclick="ErrorDemoButton_Click" />
                <p>
                    <asp:Label ID="TimeLabel" runat="server" />
                </p>
            </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:UpdatePanel>

        <div id="Error" runat="server" clientidmode="Static" style="display:none">
            We are sorry, but an unexpected error occurred on the server. Please try your request again.
        </div>

        <img id="ajax-load" src="ajax-loader.gif" alt="Loading..." style="display:none" />
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Code-Behind

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

public partial class UpdatePanelTemplate_Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // TODO: delete block below - its here only to pause the page load 
        // long enough for the loading indicator to be visible to the user.
        if (ScriptManager.GetCurrent(this.Page).IsInAsyncPostBack)
        {
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(4000);
            this.TimeLabel.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString();
        }
    }

    protected void ErrorDemoButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        throw new Exception("error demo");
    }
}

Implementing Three-State Image Buttons in ASP.NET Using Sprite Sheets and CSS

Mike — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:01:04 GMT

Many modern sites make use of two or three-state buttons to provide an added degree of interactivity when navigating across pages or submitting a form. It’s possible to create two and three state buttons using straight CSS or images. This article focuses on using a type of image file referred to as a sprite sheet in combination with CSS link styles to create ASP.NET HyperLink and LinkButton controls. Using the techniques in this article you can create buttons that look like the following and interact with them using standard ASP.NET controls:

Click here to see the ASP.NET Example Page

What is a Sprite Sheet?

The term sprite sheet refers to an image file composed of multiple images, usually with a transparent background and of type PNG or GIF. Sprite sheets were first used in games to load many images into memory simultaneously to allow for fast switching. Recently sprite sheets have come into usage on web pages due to the CSS background-image, background-position, and background-repeat properties. Using the background properties, we can load multiple images into 1 file and then use the background-position combined with CSS width and height attributes to index to a specific “sub-image” within the sprite sheet.

Why Use Sprite Sheets?

Using sprite sheets to style image buttons means you can get fast switching between states as the user mouses over and/or clicks the button without having to load the image from the server (possibly causing a flicker) or having to resort to the now-outdated technique of pre-loading images with JavaScript.

Step 1: Create the Sprite Sheet

Naturally the first step is to have some type of image to work with. You can either make the sprite sheet yourself, ask a designer to make one, or purchase pre-made images from GraphicRiver.net or similar image sites.

A common pattern used to create button sprite sheets is to build one PNG per button with each of the 3 states stacked on top of each other. If you are using PhotoShop and the images were designed in this way, then you can slice each button out into a transparent PNG. For this example I’ve created “Previous” and “Next” buttons using an image set I purchased from GraphicRiver.net. Each column in the table below shows the PNG file for the Previous button, and each column highlights a different “sub-image” to demonstrate how the 3 states for Normal, Hover, and Active are stacked on top of each other in the PNG sprite sheet.

The Normal, or “up” state sub-image in column 1 starts at position 0,0 and is 51 pixels high and 186 pixels wide. The Hover, or “mouse-over” state sub-image in column 2 starts at position 0,-66 and is also 51 pixels high and 186 pixels wide. The Active, or “clicked” state sub-image in column 3 starts at position 0, –132 and is 51 pixels high and 186 pixels wide.

Normal

Hover

Active>

Step 2: Create the Styles

Once you have the sprite sheet setup with the 3 images stacked we can define the CSS styles for the images. Since the only thing that varies is where each image starts, we can put most of the styles in the link element and then we only have to define the unique starting position for the hover and active states. Finally we can define a style for each unique image file that points to the sprite sheet and defines its unique width:

.spriteButton a {
    background-position: 0 0;
    background-repeat: no-repeat;    
    height: 51px; 
    display: inline-block;
    outline: none;
}

.spriteButton a:hover {     
    background-position: -0px -66px;
    background-repeat: no-repeat;    
}

.spriteButton a:active { 
    background-position: -0px -132px;
    background-repeat: no-repeat;     
}

.next a {     
    background-image: url('/images/next.png'); 
    width: 145px; 
}

.previous a {     
    background-image: url('/images/previous.png'); 
    width: 186px; 
}

Step 3: Write the ASP.NET Code

Having defined the styles, we can now use them as the class assignment for a span tag that surrounds link elements. The code below is for the ASP.NET example page which shows normal href links and ASP.NET HyperLink and LinkButton controls. Using a span instead of assigning the CSS class to the link or image works better with the CSS background properties and across browsers. If you want some padding above and below your image you could also use a div instead of a span.

ASPX

<form id="form1" runat="server">
    <h1>Simple Links</h1>
    <p>
            <span class="spriteButton previous"><a href=""></a></span>    
            <span class="spriteButton next"><a href=""></a></span>    
    </p>    
    
    <h1>ASP.NET HyperLink and LinkButton Controls</h1>
    <p>
        <span class="spriteButton previous">
            <asp:HyperLink NavigateUrl="" runat="server" />
        </span>                    
        <span class="spriteButton next">
            <asp:LinkButton OnClick="NextButtonClick" runat="server" />        
        </span>
    </p>
</form>

Code-Behind

    protected void NextButtonClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        // do something
    }

References & Tools

Hopefully this article will inspire you to take on creating sprite sheets the next time you need to use image buttons in a project. Really the hardest part is creating the image, after that the CSS is straightforward once you’ve gained an understanding of the CSS background attributes. There’s a lot more that can be done with sprite sheets then just simple buttons. Check out the tools and references listed below to learn more.

CSS Sprites Generator

The Mystery of CSS Sprites: Techniques, Tools And Tutorials [Smashing Magazine]

Sprite Sheet Builder 1.0

Pure CSS Image Rollovers

CSS Sprites: What They Are, Why They’re Cool, and How To Use Them

SharePoint Flash WebPart

Mike — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:59:32 GMT

Looking for an easier way to add a Flash file to a SharePoint content page? Download and install the Flash WebPart SharePoint Solution and you will be able to add Flash movies to your SharePoint web pages without having to edit any html code. Simply add the Flash WebPart to a page, configure it in the WebPart editor by setting the movie URL, width, and height, and you are good to go.

Download the Flash WebPart [MikeKnowles.FlashWebPart.zip]

SharePoint 2007 Installation

1. Unzip FlashWebPart.MikeKnowles.zip

2. Follow the instructions in Readme.txt to install the SharePoint solution to your SharePoint farm.

3. The installation will prompt you to optionally install the Flash WebPart feature to one or more Site Collections. It's highly recommended that you deploy to the Site Collections during the install process as its quicker then having to activate the feature in each site individually.

SharePoint 2010 Installation

Click here for SharePoint 2010 installation instructions.

Using the Flash WebPart

1. If necessary, activate the Feature in the target Site Collection. If you installed the Feature to the Site Collection when you ran the setup program above then you can skip this step.

2. Within the target Site Collection, open a SharePoint page which contains a WebPart Zone and select:
Site Actions > Edit Page

3. Click to Add a Web Part, and select the SharePoint Flash WebPart as shown below:

4. Click Edit > Modify Shared Part

5. Within the WebPart Editor, scroll down and click to open the Miscellaneous tab:

6. Enter the Flash URL, width, and height of your Flash Movie (SWF). Here are some test values to get you started:

Flash URL: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507/images/flashplayerversion1.swf
Flash Width: 280
Flash Height: 149

Configure Windows 7 to Wake-Up for Windows Backup

Mike — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:17:32 GMT

Recently after installing Windows 7 and configuring Windows Backup to run weekly I found that if system was not running due to a Power Management sleep that Windows does not automatically wake-up to run the scheduled backup. This meant when I would login the morning after the backup was scheduled to run that Windows would kick into action and start the backup. Although I couldn't find instructions for this on the tubes, it turns out to actually be quite easy to configure Windows 7 to wake-up automatically for a scheduled backup.

First you need to configure WindowsBackup to run on a schedule by following this Microsoft guide:
Back up your files

After you've configured your backup schedule, open the Task Scheduler by clicking:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Task Scheduler

Within Task Scheduler, click to:
Task Scheduler > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > WindowsBackup

In the top-center window pane you should see a task titled AutomaticBackup that corresponds to the backup schedule item you created. Right-click AutomaticBackup and select the Properties menu item.

In the Properties Window, click the Conditions tab and then check the box titled Wake the computer to run this task.

Click OK and it's a done deal.

Building a SharePoint Solution Setup.exe

Mike — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:00:00 GMT

This article describes how to develop a single EXE file for installation and deployment of a SharePoint solution to a Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Server farm. The single EXE file can also be used for installation repair and removal. Using the approach outlined in this article can simplify the distribution and installation of your SharePoint code – no more archives to extract, lengthy manual SharePoint admin screens to document and navigate or scripts to run – just a single EXE file to download and execute.

Note: Distribution of an application using the techniques described in this article requires the purchase of WinZip Pro and WinZip Self-Extractor. As of 10/25/09 these products retailed for $49.95 each on winzip.com.

Develop and Deploy Using SharePoint Solution Packages

The most important step and the one that takes the longest to master is to develop all code and assets to be deployed to SharePoint as one or more Features deployed as a SharePoint Solution Package (*.wsp). Much has been written online and in books on how to develop SharePoint Features and Solutions. If you are new to these topics or in need of a refresher, check out the oft-referenced Ted Pattison Office Space columns:

Features for SharePoint

Solution Deployment with SharePoint 2007

Download and Install the CodePlex SharePoint Solution Installer

The SharePoint Solution Installer is a free download from CodePlex licensed under the Microsoft Permissive License (Ms-PL) meaning you may use it to build and distribute commercial software without having to purchase a license or pay royalties (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, you should verify the applicability of the Ms-PL to your project by consulting a legal professional).

Download and Install WinZip Pro, Self-Extractor, and the Command Line Add-on

Many commercial software products make use of WinZip to deliver and install their software. Our approach is to use WinZip to package up the multiple files required to execute the CodePlex SharePoint Solution Installer. You may download and install the trial versions of WinZip Pro and Self-Extractor to complete the demo, however you will need to purchase licenses prior to deploying software with WinZip.

WinZip Pro Download

WinZip Self-Extractor Download

WinZip Command-Line Add-on Download

Create a Build Directory

The build directory is where we will package up all the files required to build the single installation EXE. This will include the SharePoint Solution Package, application icon, license agreement, the SharePoint Solution Installer Setup.exe and configuration file, and various text files for the WinZip installer. You can learn more about the SharePoint Solution Installer configuration file on the product download site. The WinZip installer options are detailed in the product help file under the topic Command Line Options. For a complete, working example download and extract http://mikeknowles.com/download/SharePointSingleFileSetup.zip and navigate to the Build folder:

Create a Build Script

Open the build.bat included in the example download. In line 4, the build script zips up the files required by the SharePoint Solution Installer. Line 6 packages several files for display in the WinZip-based installer and then directs WinZip to execute the SharePoint Solution Installer Setup.exe after extracting all the files. The end result will be an executable with the same name as the zip file (Demo.exe) which is then copied to the parent directory in line 7. The Demo.exe file now contains all files required for a professional-quality installation.

@echo off
del Demo.zip
del ..\Demo.exe
"c:\program files\winzip\wzzip" -o Demo.zip DemoSolution.wsp EULA.rtf Setup.exe Setup.exe.config application.ico
If ErrorLevel 1 Goto Exit
"C:\Program Files\WinZip Self-Extractor\WZIPSE32.EXE" -o Demo.zip -t WinZipMainDialog.txt -i application.ico -a AboutDialogExtra.txt -setup -c Setup.exe
move /Y Demo.exe ../
Goto Exit
:Exit
pause;

Run the Installation Program

The setup file (Demo.exe) must be run while logged into one of the SharePoint Farm servers as a user with Central Administration rights. A common approach is to maintain one account which all SharePoint processes run-as and then perform all SharePoint installations logged into the server as that user. If you try to run the setup program on a Windows XP or Vista computer or a server without SharePoint installed, the program will crash as the SharePoint Solution Installer is unable to initialize. After the program has been installed you can run the Demo.exe program again at which time after running through it’s status checks it will prompt you to repair or remove the installation.

Going Beyond the Basics

You may choose to include a short Readme.txt file in a zip file with the executable as the download for your customers. This provides users with a local file reference for the installation as well as any other useful information in the Readme.txt file such as your website and additional support links and contacts.

Resources for Finding a Domain Name

Mike — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Tried to register a domain name lately? It’s getting tough to come up with a reasonably short and usable name in the .com domain that’s not taken. This post details the most useful resources I came across when recently trying to come up with a new name.

Think About the Big Picture of Selecting a Domain Name

Most good names are taken. Where do you start trying to come up with a new name?

Read Dot-o-mator Choosing a Good Domain Name

Read posts on The Name Inspector

Scroll Down and find the listing of “Big Picture Posts” on the right navigation. Click to read each article.

Likewise, scroll to the Names section and read the review of each name.

Read Firewheel Design’s Four Concentric Circles of a Web 2.0 Name

Domain Selection Helper Sites

Back in the day when the 56k US Robotics modem was the gold standard for home internet connectivity, we would find domain names by going to the Network Solutions website and typing the name we wanted into a form, submit it, and then wait 5, 10, 15 seconds or more to see if it was available. Nowadays there are many sites that will help you generate word combinations and allow you to type in a name and give you instant feedback if that name is available. Googling on “domain name generator” will give you an idea of the range of tools out there – the list below is what I found most useful after trying out many others.

DomainTyper has the best Web 2.0 Domain Name Generator and the quickest response times for checking availability as you type. For my fellow SEO geeks, the site also has a similar instant feedback page for checking Page Rank on Google, Alexa, and others.

PCNames is similar to DomainTyper, the only feature it has DomainTyper does not is the Word Suggestion tool which is like a mini-thesaurus

Nameboy generates name candidates based on your keywords. There are a lot of sites that do this, I found Nameboy to be the most contextual, many of the other sites seem to just string random words together without any real context association.

So you found a Great Name? Sorry, you’re not done yet.

1. Do a Google Search

What you are doing here is a quick check to see if there are existing companies which might use your name in some way or if there are any negative or positive connotations associated with your name. Enter the name you found on Google – once as the name itself and once with the words separated. You want to avoid picking a name that might have negative connotations or images in the search results that you would not want associated with the image you are trying to portray. Would you want your potential customers seeing your name mixed in with these search results? Does another company obviously have rights to this name within your industry? How likely is it your site would show up in the first page of Google search results?

2. Do an Online Trademark Search

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

Next, do a US Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Search to see if any companies have a legal claim to your name or terms very similar to your name. Enter your name both with and without spaces. This will not tell if you would be able to trademark or copyright something, but it gives you a pretty good indication if something is already trademarked. There is no point in registering a domain name with an obviously trademarked or copyrighted name or term as you would probably get a Cease and Desist Order should your site gain any traffic. Keep in mind that a difference of one or two characters may or may not mean your name would be considered distinct – the only way you can find out for sure is by applying for a trademark. The general rule of thumb on trademarks is you can probably use a name if it’s trademarked by a company in an industry other then your own and it’s not in such widespread use that you would obviously be stealing their name (e.g. you can’t have a company called Coca-Cola Software). However you would still be competing against that company in Google Search Results, so if your name is the same or similar to something already trademarked then you will probably want to keep looking until you find something unique.

Again, I am not a lawyer, so you should consider everything I just said to be completely false and unreliable.

As an example of what a trademark search looks like, here’s what you get when checking the term “google”:

Final Words

No matter how great a name you think you’ve found, follow these steps before you buy it to save yourself from morning-after regret when you’ve purchased a name you don’t really like:

1. Say it out loud

2. Run it by family members or friends

3. Sleep on it - Wait until the next morning before you buy it

4. If you do register it, do so for one year only and don’t buy any extras until you are sure you are going to keep the name.

5. Wait a few days before you setup a hosting site or buy an SSL certificate to make sure you still like it before you spend any money.

Integrating SharePoint Windows Authentication and the ASP.NET SqlProfileProvider

Mike — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:10:00 GMT

ASP.NET Profile Properties provide a convenient way to store application and user-specific preferences and personalization choices without having to write a lot of code to manage the back-end data storage and retrieval. The ASP.NET Application Services Database SqlProfileProvider can be leveraged to store and retrieve the Profile settings in a SQL Express or SQL Server database. The SqlProfileProvider will manage the storage of user-specific settings by login name for both forms-based and Windows authentication applications (anonymous user data can be stored in cookies if enabled).

SharePoint 2007 provides an extensive personalization model with it’s own set of management user interfaces and APIs. If your SharePoint site is based on Windows Authentication then SharePoint User Profile Properties are available for storing user-specific data provided personalization has been enabled for the farm and the personalization items have been setup in SharePoint and/or Active Directory.

In certain circumstances functionality being developed for deployment to SharePoint may still need to make use of ASP.NET SQL Server profiles instead of SharePoint user profiles. Some examples of when this might occur:

SharePoint personalization has not yet been configured and enabled or an organization has decided not to enable the personalization system and only a few user-specific properties need to stored.
Common code will be developed that needs to store user-specific preferences in both ASP.NET and SharePoint web applications and the code needs to support both forms-based and Windows authentication.

Recently I found myself in situation #2 and planned on using the ASP.NET SqlProfileProvider to save user preferences within common code that would be deployed to multiple ASP.NET web applications, one of which runs within a SharePoint site collection. After settings things up in Web.config and multiple rounds of writing prototype code, googling, and debugging I was unable to get anything working. No matter what I did, the Profile object was not available and it seemed as if I had hit a dead end. However, thanks to this MSDN forum post I was able to track down why things were not working. By default, SharePoint removes the Profile module which is normally available to an ASP.NET web application and you have to manually add it back in to the Web.config to be able to get and set ASP.NET Profile properties.

Web.config Profile (add to system.web)

<profile enabled="true" automaticSaveEnabled="true" 
         defaultProvider="AspNetSqlProfileProvider">
    <providers>
        <clear/>
        <add name="AspNetSqlProfileProvider"
             connectionStringName="YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING_NAME"
             applicationName="YOUR_APPLICATION_NAME"
             type="System.Web.Profile.SqlProfileProvider, 
                 System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, 
                 Culture=neutral, 
                 PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" />
    </providers>
    <properties>
        <add name="Property1" type="System.String" />
        <add name="Property2" type="System.String" />
        <add name="Property3" type="System.String" />
    </properties>
</profile>

Web.config Module Include (add to httpModules)

<add name="Profile" type="System.Web.Profile.ProfileModule" />

Getting and Setting the Profile Properties in SharePoint Code

As explained in this post by Becky Bertram in SharePoint the Profile attributes defined in Web.config are not available at compile-time to SharePoint code. In order to get code to compile for deployment to SharePoint as a solution you have 2 choices:

1. Write a custom provider which maps to each attribute (Becky’s article provides an example of this for forms-based authentication which will also work for Windows authentication).

2. Make calls to Profile.GetPropertyValue and Profile.SetPropertyValue to get and set the profile values for the current user.

For example, given the above Web.config definitions, the code below would set values for the current user that would be saved to the ASP.NET SQL Profile database:

Profile.SetPropertyValue("Property1", "blue");
Profile.SetPropertyValue("Property2", System.DateTime.Now.ToString());

Prototype Code

I’ve found an effective way to work through “it should work but I better make sure before I design a system around it” issues like this in SharePoint is to write up prototype code that is simply deployed manually to the _layouts folder. Then I just open the ASPX/CS files in Visual Studio, make changes, and reload the page in the browser the same as if I was developing for ASP.NET. To help get you going with setting up the Profile database I’ve included my Windows authentication and ASP.NET Profile prototype code below which you can also download as a zip file (see the zip file readme for steps to deploy on your SharePoint development server). Here’s an example of the prototype code output followed by the code listings:

WindowsAuthenticationContext.aspx

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" 
    CodeFile="WindowsAuthenticationContext.aspx.cs" 
    Inherits="WindowsAuthenticationContext" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" 
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >
<head runat="server">
    <title>Windows Authentication Context</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            <pre><asp:Literal ID="IdentityInfoLiteral" runat="server" />
            </pre>
        </div>        
        <div>
            <asp:Literal ID="ExceptionLiteral" runat="server" />
            <asp:Literal ID="ExceptionStackTraceLiteral" runat="server" />
        </div>        
    </form>
</body>
</html>

WindowsAuthenticationContext.aspx.cs

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Collections;
using System.IO;
using System.Security;
using System.Security.Principal;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Profile;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls; 

public partial class WindowsAuthenticationContext : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            StringWriter writer = new StringWriter(); 

            writer.WriteLine("Context.User.Identity.AuthenticationType=" + 
                Context.User.Identity.AuthenticationType);
            writer.WriteLine("Context.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated=" + 
                Context.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated);
            writer.WriteLine("Context.User.Identity.Name=" + 
                Context.User.Identity.Name);
            writer.WriteLine(); 

            WindowsIdentity windowsIdentity = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
            writer.WriteLine("WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().AuthenticationType=" + 
                windowsIdentity.AuthenticationType);
            writer.WriteLine("WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().IsAuthenticated=" +
                windowsIdentity.IsAuthenticated);
            writer.WriteLine("WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().Name=" +
                windowsIdentity.Name);
            writer.WriteLine("WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent().User=" +
                windowsIdentity.User.ToString());

            if (Context.Profile != null)
            {
                writer.WriteLine();
                writer.WriteLine("Profile.IsAnonymous=" +
                    Profile.IsAnonymous);
                writer.WriteLine("Profile.UserName=" +
                    Profile.UserName);
                writer.WriteLine("Profile.LastActivityDate=" +
                    Profile.LastActivityDate.ToLongDateString());
                writer.WriteLine("Profile.LastUpdatedDate=" +
                    Profile.LastUpdatedDate.ToLongDateString());
                writer.WriteLine("Profile.GetType=" +
                    Profile.GetType());
                foreach (SettingsProperty property in 
                    ProfileBase.Properties)
                {
                    writer.WriteLine(">>Property name=" +
                        property.Name + " value=" +
                        Profile.GetPropertyValue(property.Name));
                }                

                writer.WriteLine();                
            }        
            IdentityInfoLiteral.Text = writer.ToString();           
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            ExceptionLiteral.Text = ex.ToString();
            ExceptionStackTraceLiteral.Text = ex.StackTrace.ToString();
        }
    }
}

Automate the Display of SharePoint Application Pool Process IDs with a Batch Script

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:59:00 GMT

Here’s a quick way to get a listing of the currently running SharePoint application pool process IDs. Save this script in the directory of your choice and name it with a .bat extension (e.g. GetAppPoolProcessIds.bat):

cscript.exe %systemroot%\system32\iisapp.vbs
pause

Double-click the script and it will display the list of processes. Click any key to close the window:

Add the script to the Windows Start Menu and click it each time you need to see the process list. This is what I do each time I run the Visual Studio Debugger to debug a DLL deployed to a SharePoint application.

Enable Google Analytics Page Tracking in a Single-Name Intranet Site

Mike — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Recently I’ve been asked how to get Google Analytics working in an intranet site with a single name in the URL, for example: http://intranet. The first time I added Google Analytics to a site it was a development site accessed by server-name:port-number. For days after correctly adding the tracking code there was still no data showing up in the Google Analytics dashboard reports.

Turns out the fix required adding one simple JavaScript call to a Google JavaScript API function. When adding Google Analytics tracking code to a site with a single name in the URL you need to call _setDomainName(“none”) prior to making the call to _trackPageView:

By default the Google Tracking Code snippet provided in the Google Analytics Profile Settings uses the “auto” domain name mode which expects to see a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) composed of the domain name, followed by a period, followed by the domain extension (.com, .net, .biz, etc.). Setting the domain name to “none” disables the FQDN requirement and will record your pages in Google Analytics the same as a site with a FQDN.

I have deployed this fix with success to both a SharePoint 2007 Team Site and Publishing Portal site available only by a single name URL and port number. In both cases the site data was not showing up in Analytics until I added the call to set the domain name to “none”. It’s critical that you call _setDomainName before calling _trackPageView for this change to have any effect.

As with all changes to JavaScript tracking code it can take up to 24 hours before you see data start showing up in the Google Analytics dashboard reports, and changes only apply going forward so there’s no way to recover clicks from before you deployed the code change.

Here’s an example of the tracking code with the domain name set to “none”. Replace YOUR_WEB_PROPERTY_ID with the value assigned to your site profile by Google Analytics:

<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + 
    "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("YOUR_WEB_PROPERTY_ID");
pageTracker._setDomainName("none");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script>

Populating the PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb in a Custom Site Collection Settings Page

Mike — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:02:00 GMT

This article provides a template for adding the breadcrumb to the top of your custom settings pages. If you are unfamiliar with the steps involved to create a custom settings page and have it show up in the links in the Site Collection Administrators section on the Site Settings page, first check out these posts:

Using the SPPropertyBag with Custom Admin Pages in SharePoint by Steve Gragert

Office Space: Custom Auditing In SharePoint by Ted Pattison

Using the techniques described in the above-mentioned articles I was able to setup a custom settings page and access it from the Site Settings page:

However once loaded I noticed there was no breadcrumb displayed above the new page title:

The reason the breadcrumb does not appear is because SharePoint does not have the custom settings page in it’s sitemap file which exists on disk “somewhere” in the 12 hive. Furthermore, SharePoint does not provide a programmatic means to add the page to the sitemap by updating a feature configuration or writing code that uses the object model. The only way to add your page to the sitemap is to physically update the sitemap file on every server in the farm. And as every good SharePoint student learns early on, we should not modify files on disk because they might change in future upgrades and it makes farm deployment across multiple servers more time-consuming and error prone due to the need to update every server manually.

After a couple of days working on this admin page it was quite aggravating not having the breadcrumb since that is what I always use to get back to the main Site Settings page. So here’s what I did: using Firebug I found the html generated by admin.master when it builds the breadcrumb and then added that to my page by overriding the content section populated in the master page. Since the custom settings page will always be deployed at the Site Collection level, the only item I had to populate dynamically was the Site Collection title. The custom settings page title can simply be added in the ASPX for the page:

Here’s the code template to add to your custom settings ASPX page. Substitute “SETTINGS PAGE TITLE” below with your custom settings page title:


  

  >   

  >  SETTINGS PAGE TITLE

Add the variable and text assignment for SiteRootLink to the code-behind for your custom settings page as shown below. The code snippet assumes the custom page inherits from Microsoft.SharePoint.WebControls.LayoutsPageBase:

protected HyperLink SiteRootLink;

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    this.SiteRootLink.Text = this.Site.RootWeb.Title;

Admittedly this is not the most robust of solutions because it’s possible Microsoft may change the style definitions or controls used to generate the PlaceholderTitleBreadcrumb. I do think it’s one step better then having to modify the sitemap file on all the servers in a farm due to the inconvenience and the equally likely chance a future upgrade might change the location or structure of the sitemap file. So it’s not ideal, but at least it’s something that can be packaged into a feature and deployed without the need for manual changes after feature deployment.