Nannette Thacker ShiningStar.net

Programmatic Menus: Optimize Your Menus in Code-behind

nannette — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:10:00 GMT

In this article, I want to show how you can setup your menus in code-behind and avoid redundancy. I recently inherited a web application with the menu system setup in the code-in-front. Each menu shared identical values, other than the visibility. Notice...(read more)

Storing and Retrieving Objects from View State - The Serializable Attribute

nannette — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:22:00 GMT

View State allows you to retain page property values, such as string and numeric types, between postbacks. You may also store class objects in View State, but you must first add the Serializable attribute. If you do not add the Serializable attribute...(read more)

Filtering Parameters in a SQL 2008 Stored Procedure

nannette — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Ash explains the concept of Filtering Parameters in a Stored Procedure in this blog post. This method is safer and more beneficial than dynamically creating and passing a sql query from the code layer and using sp_executesql, as it helps to avoid sql...(read more)

Using Icons in Web Design

nannette — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:25:00 GMT

Nathan Barry posted a new article on How To Use Icons To Support Content In Web Design . Besides his design insights, he also provides images that depict actual live website examples and links to those sites. His tips include How to Use Icons, Purpose...(read more)

Kudos to Telerik Support!

nannette — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:33:00 GMT

I have been using Telerik controls for about a year now. First, on a client site project, and then I licensed it for my own development needs as a consultant. I have to say I am tickled with the Telerik support. 1) Telerik forums are great. Ask a question...(read more)

VB.NET to C# Conversion Hints, Tips and Gotchas

nannette — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:36:00 GMT

If you're a VB.NET developer learning C# or converting your VB code to C#, here are a few hints, tips and gotchas. But first, let me share a few important links with you: VB.NET and C# Comparison - This is one of the most accurate and complete charts...(read more)

SQL Server 2008 Web Edition and Express Edition Errors Resolved

nannette — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:03:00 GMT

Since I had purchased the SQL Server 2008 Web Edition for my database server, I decided to also install it on my development box. But when I tried to install the Management Tools, it errored with: "Previous release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008." I...(read more)

Attributes.Add: Adding Javascript Click Events Programmatically in Code-Behind

nannette — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:01:00 GMT

I'm going to demonstrate how to add javascript events programmatically in codebehind using the Attributes.Add method. You may want to add your javascript attributes programmatically so that you can populate the values from a database. For demonstration...(read more)

Employers Should Promote Fitness Because Fit Programmers Program Better

nannette — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Employers should encourage programmers to exercise and be fit, as a recent study found that those who are fit have four times less brain shrinkage than those who aren't. And seriously, that can only help you be a better programmer, right? A recent Reader...(read more)

ASP.NET Web Application Development Consulting

nannette — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:20:00 GMT

Perhaps there are times when you just need a short-term ASP.NET developer for a 3-6 month project and don't wish to invest in a full-time employee. I am available for 1099 or W-2 consulting. No contract is required. Check out the details and my current...(read more)

Where's the Integrity?

nannette — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:10:00 GMT

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "Where is the integrity?"

In "Report Sees Cloud Trend for OSS Developers," Herb Torrens reported "Interestingly, more than 51 percent [of developers surveyed] also admitted to us that they spend time on nonwork-related open source projects while at work."

In "May We Have Your Attention, Please?" Businessweek reports "The average knowledge worker has the attention span of a sparrow. Roughly once every three minutes, typical cubicle dwellers set aside whatever they're doing and start something else—anything else. It could be answering the phone, checking e-mail, responding to an instant message, clicking over to YouTube (GOOG), or posting something amusing on Facebook. Constant interruptions are the Achilles' heel of the information economy in the U.S. These distractions consume as much as 28% of the average U.S. worker's day, including recovery time, and sap productivity to the tune of $650 billion a year, according to Basex, a business research company in New York City."

Whether for a contract or permanent position, when I'm getting paid, that time is my client's. Not my own. As I've said before, would you work as a sales clerk at Wal-mart and take $50 out of the cash register for yourself to keep? That's what you're doing to your employer when you spend personal time on non-work related things. No wonder the cost of developing a website is so much when half of the employees are goofing off.

May dishonesty keep you awake at night and integrity grant you blissful sleep, and when it does....

May your dreams be in ASP.NET!

Nannette Thacker

Image Text using GDI+: Creating an Image from Text or Adding Text to an Existing Image

nannette — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:33:00 GMT

There are some nice tutorials on how to display text as an image. Some examples of when you might wish to use something like this is perhaps if you wish to display your email address on a web page, but don't want it to be harvested by spammers; a CAPTCHA for authenticating a real person on log in, or adding a URL to existing images on your site to keep them from being "swiped" by others.

I'm going to demonstrate the last scenario, a simple method that will print text to the bottom left of an image. You could easily alter it to pass in the x and y coordinates of where you wish to add the text, if desired.

Please download the ImageEdit.zip which contains code for both this example and an example of Resizing ASP.NET Images Using GDI+ Dynamically.

Here is what our final image will look like:

In my code-in-front, I have this:

<asp:Image ID="Image1" runat="server" /> 
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" />

In the code-behind I make sure to import:

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Imaging

You may add this to your Page_Load or a button click event or some method you call:

Dim fileNameFrom As String = Server.MapPath("~/Images/PiperAtComputer.jpg")
Dim fileNameTo As String = Server.MapPath("~/Images/test2.jpg")
TextOnImage("Programming Is Fun!", fileNameFrom, fileNameTo)
Image1.ImageUrl = "~/Images/test2.jpg"

From the above, you see that to call our TextOnImage method, pass in a path from your root directory.

Protected Sub TextOnImage(ByVal textString As String, _
ByVal fileNameFrom As String, _
ByVal fileNameTo As String)

Dim Bmp As Drawing.Bitmap = Drawing.Bitmap.FromFile(fileNameFrom)

Using graphicsImage As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(Bmp)
Dim typeFont As New Font("Arial", 8, FontStyle.Bold)' get height of current image
Dim height As Integer = Bmp.Height
' start string in 2 pixels from left and 15 pixels up from the bottom of the image
Dim leftMargin As Integer = 2
Dim bottomMargin As Integer = height - 15

graphicsImage.DrawString(textString, typeFont, Brushes.WhiteSmoke, leftMargin, bottomMargin)
Bmp.Save(fileNameTo, ImageFormat.Jpeg)

End Using
Bmp.Dispose()

End Sub

Other examples show how to create a new image from text.

Dynamic ASP.NET Text Image (C#) - This shows how to take text and display it as an image. Within this article, a reader posts a message how to do this with a transparent background (VB) which he altered after viewing this code (C#). Another readers shows how to display an image in an image control.

Programmatically add text to an image (C#)

May your dreams be in ASP.NET!

P.S. Some other imaging urls of interest:

Displaying Dynamically Generated Images (C#) - I downloaded this zip project and it works with 3.5 framework. The demo zooms and enlarges an image of a pineapple.

Graphics in VB.NET - Articles, Resources, Downloads, Blogs, Book Chapters, Tutorial, Source code

GDI+ & Graphics in C# - Articles, Resources, Downloads, Blogs, Book Chapters, Tutorial and Source code

Getting Started with GDI+ in C# Applications

GDI+ in VB.NET Tutorial for Beginners

Opening and viewing Images and Text files

Image Conversion Utility in C#

Resizing ASP.NET Images Using GDI+ Dynamically

nannette — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:38:00 GMT

In ASP.NET, you may easily resize images without using a third-party control. Whether reducing or enlarging, or creating a thumbnail image, ASP.NET is your oyster.

I'd like to review a solution by Alex Hildyard and demonstrate his custom ImageResize class in action. I'll provide a zip file for you to download with both my UI layer and Alex's ImageResize class project.

Go Picture Crazy: Resize Images Using GDI+ (C#) provides a tutorial and zip file and shows how to avoid using the GetThumbnailImage method to manipulate the size of an image and instead use the ImageResize class created by author, Alex Hildyard, who explains:

"The problem is, certain kinds of image formats (for example, JPEG) may already include embedded thumbnails, and under these circumstances GetThumbnailImage() just extracts the image's existing thumbnail and scales it to the proportions you specify, rather than generating a new bitmap by resampling the original image. In fact, many digital cameras will generate and embed a thumbnail automatically whenever you take a picture, so that you can quickly browse through any pictures you've taken on the camera itself."

In my example of using his class (VB.NET), we are going to create a proportionate resized image by pixels and save it to a file, and also create a proportionate resized image by percent and save it to an output stream to be used in the "src" tag of an image. Below is an example of our resuts:

To use the zip, within your original web project, simply go to File / Add Existing Project, and select the ImageResize.csproj. Using Alex's original zip, I right-clicked the project, selected Properties, and from the Application tab, changed the Target Framework to 3.5. Then in your web project, be sure to add this project to your references.

In my web form aspx page within my web application, I added this to the code-in-front:

<asp:Image ID="Image2" runat="server" /> 
50 pixels high, saved to a file. 
<asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server" Text=""></asp:Label>
 
 
<asp:Image ID="Image3" runat="server" /> 
10 percent high, saved to an output stream. 
<asp:Label ID="Label3" runat="server" Text=""></asp:Label>

In the code-behind, I added this:

Imports ImageHelper
Imports System.Drawing.Imaging
Imports System.Drawing

Partial Class _Default
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
LoadImage()
End If

End Sub

Private Sub LoadImage() Dim filepathFrom As String = Server.MapPath("~/Images/DSCF0015.JPG")
Dim filepathTo As String = Server.MapPath("~/Images/test1.JPG")

Dim o As New ImageResize()
o.File = filepathFrom
o.Height = 50
o.UsePercentages = False
o.GetThumbnail().Save(filepathTo, ImageFormat.Jpeg)
Image2.ImageUrl = "~/images/test1.jpg"
Label1.Text = GetImageValues(filepathFrom)
Label2.Text = GetImageValues(filepathTo)
Image3.ImageUrl = "ImageResizer.aspx?filepath=" & filepathFrom & "&height=10&usepercent=true"
Label3.Text = "Width: 283 Height: 212"

End Sub

Protected Function GetImageValues(ByVal fileName As String) As String

Dim Bmp As Drawing.Bitmap = Drawing.Bitmap.FromFile(fileName)
Dim labelString As String = String.Empty
Dim height As Integer = Bmp.Height
Dim width As Integer = Bmp.Width
Bmp.Dispose()
labelString = "Width: " & width.ToString & " Height: " & height.ToString
Return labelString End Function

End Class

In the LoadImages method, put your path to the existing file and path to the new file. If you set UsePercentages to True, 50 will equal 50% of the image height, and if False, 50 will be 50 pixels high.

Notice Image2 is loaded on the page within the codebehind. If you want to embed the resizer within your src url, as done with Image3, simply create another web form, in my example I named it "ImageResizer." Add nothing to the code-in-front, and in the code behind, add this:

Imports ImageHelper
Imports System.Drawing.Imaging

Partial Class ImageResizer
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
LoadImage()
End Sub

Private Sub LoadImage() Dim filepath As String = Request.QueryString("filepath")
Dim height As String = Request.QueryString("height")
Dim usePercent As String = Request.QueryString("usepercent")

If usePercent = String.Empty Then
usePercent = "false"
End If

If filepath <> String.Empty Then

Dim o As New ImageResize()
o.File = filepath
o.Height = CInt(height)
o.UsePercentages = CBool(usePercent)
o.GetThumbnail().Save(Response.OutputStream, ImageFormat.Jpeg)

End If
End Sub End Class

Notice how the dynamic values are added to the query string in the original Image3.ImageURL and retreived in the ImageResizer LoadImage() method:

Image3.ImageUrl = "ImageResizer.aspx?filepath=" & filepathFrom & "&height=10&usepercent=true"

You may download the complete zip file: ImageEdit.zip

The ImageEdit.zip file also contains the source code for Image Text using GDI+: Creating an Image from Text or Adding Text to an Existing Image.

May your dreams be in ASP.NET and your images resized for the web!

Nannette Thacker

Enabling ASP Classic error messages in IIS7 and Windows Web Server 2008

nannette — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT

I recently moved my asp classic code from my windows 2000 web server to my windows 2008 web server. But alas, error messages are turned off by default. I got a whole lot of blank pages with grinding hour glasses.

To turn back on the error messages, I found two invaluable posts on the web:

The first post covered about everything I needed:

ASP Detailed Error Messages. From this post, these are the three things that are required for turning on error messages. Most developers will likely already have the first step done.

"Turn off HTTP Friendly Errors in your web browser.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294807

To revert back to IIS6- behavior, simply run the following command:
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config -section:asp -scriptErrorSentToBrowser:true

You also have to configure IIS custom-error to allow detailed errors to be sent to remote clients.
%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpErrors -errorMode:Detailed (default is DetailedLocalOnly)."

I wanted to see if there was a GUI method of doing the above two commands, and found a screenshot for scriptErrorSentToBrowser in this second post.

I couldn't find a GUI method of doing the errorMode, and you'll notice that AnilR recommends "Note that you would never want to do the last step on a production server." If anyone knows where this can be setup via the GUI, please let us know.

The second post lists Tips for Classic ASP Developers. Scroll down to the section on "Script errors no longer shown in browser by default." There you'll see screenshots of how to set the "scriptErrorSentToBrowser" setting via the GUI. This second post doesn't mention the "errorMode" but I found that doing the first command without the errorMode command was useless. I had to have the second command before messages were sent to the screen.

You may also wish to look at the next section on preventing errors due to the "Parents paths disabled by default" setting.

I also should mention that you may need to run your commands as Administrator, from this post on "Classic ASP: Security is Painful" we read these steps on running as administrator:

"1) Start an elevated command prompt. Right-click the command shell item in the Start-Accessories menu and select "Run as Administrator".

2) Run the following command: %windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd set config -section:asp -scriptErrorSentToBrowser:true"

May your dreams be in ASP.NET and your classic applications magically converted to .NET while you sleep,

Nannette Thacker

Setting Maximum Failures: Windows 2008 and IIS7 Application Pool Stopped

nannette — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:50:00 GMT

In IIS7, when your application pool errors so many times, it will automatically stop the application pool, thus taking your web application off line.

Service Unavailable

HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable.

In your system events log, you will also have an error:

'A process serving application pool 'Pool Name' terminated unexpectedly...'

To restart it, go to the application pool in IIS7 and select the stopped pool and restart it.

This can be a real nuisance when you're debugging code and getting a lot of errors. To change the number of allowed failures, go to the application pool for the website you are working on in IIS7. Select it in the application pool list. Select "Advanced Settings" from the Actions panel on the right. Scroll down to Maximum Failures and change the number to a larger number. Mine was 5 by default and below I changed it to 50.

Then when you're done debugging/developing, change it back to a lower number as desired.

This is great because you can create a pool for different applications and only increase this setting on the application that you're working on that is causing the failures. So be sure to assign your "buggy" application to its own pool, rather than having it share a pool with your "behaved" applications.

May your dreams be in ASP.NET!

Nannette Thacker