Ashish Sheth's Blog

.Net Guidance Map

ashish sheth — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:35:00 +0300

I thought these would be very helpful to those who are learning .Net. J. D. Meier has put up Development Guidance Map for various .Net technologies. This material includes links to technical articles, videos, how-tos, blogs, tutorials, trainings, code samples on various .Net technologies and about everything you might need to know about .net.

Happy Learning.

Use Properties to Encapsulate the Hidden Fields or ViewState in Asp.Net

ashish sheth — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:46:00 +0300

In asp.net you might be using lot of hidden variables and ViewState to maintain state between page postbacks. This can make your code look cluttered. You can use properties to encapsulate the hidden fields or ViewState.

If you are writing lot of code like this:

if(myHidden.Value == string.Empty)
{
	myHidden.Value = "someValue"; 	
}

someVariable = myHidden.Value

You can use properties to encapsulate the access to myHidden field. For example:

public string MyHiddenFieldValue
{
	get
	{
		if(myHidden.Value == string.Empty)
		{
			myHidden.Value = "someValue"; 	
		}
		return myHidden.Value
	}
	set
	{
		myHidden.Value = value;
	}
}

Then you can access the myHidden field just by the property

someVariable = MyHiddenFieldValue;

Similarly if you are storing some custom values in the ViewState of the page the you can create property for the ViewState also.

public string MyCustomViewState
{
	get
	{
		if(ViewState["MyViewState"] == null)
		{
			ViewState["MyViewState"] = "someValue"; 	
		}
		return ViewState["MyViewState"].ToString();
	}
	set
	{
		ViewState["MyViewState"] = value;
	}
}

VisualStudio ReflectedSchemas folder in ApplicationData

ashish sheth — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:53:00 +0300

Just now I found out that C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0\ReflectedSchemas

folder takes lots of space. VS 2008 stores schema files which are dynamically generated when you compile a webcontrol.

To release the space on your drive you can delete the files safely and VisualStudio will re-generate these files whenever needed.

For more information see below:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mikhailarkhipov/archive/2004/05/14/131949.aspx

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/878345/reflectedschemas-folder-in-the-users-appdata-folder-visual-studio

http://forums.asp.net/t/1264942.aspx

http://www.ureader.com/msg/15364998.aspx

Violating Single Resposibility Principle using VisualStudio Region

ashish sheth — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 05:00:00 +0300

Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)says that "THERE SHOULD NEVER BE MORE THAN ONE REASON FOR A CLASS TO CHANGE.". Although this article mentions only about class, I think the SRP also applies to methods within the class: there should never be more than one reason for a method to change.
Visual Studio provides a good way to mark off section of file in the form of "region"so they can be collapsible and the code can be organized. Many people use region in a big method to organize the code. For example:

public void CreeateOrder(/*some parameters*/)
{
	#region Validate the parameters
	//code goes here
	#endregion

	#region create the order
	//insert the order data in the database
	#endregion

	#region create the order item
	//insert the item data in the database
	#endregion
}

Note that not all people use regions like this. Many people use comments instead of regions in this kind of methods.
As you can see this is a clear violation of the single responsibility principle. The method does more than one thing: it validates the order data, create a top level order and create order items. This can certainly be put into separate method.

private bool ValidateOrderData(/*some parameters*/)
{
	#region Validate the parameters
	//code goes here
	#endregion
}

private bool InsertOrder(/*order related parameter*/)
{
	#region create the order
	//insert the order data in the database
	#endregion
}

private bool InsertOrderItem(/*order item related parameter*/)
{
	#region create the order item
	//insert the item data in the database
	#endregion
}

public  void CreateOrder(/*Some parameter*/)
{
	If(ValidateOrder(/*parameter list*/))
	{
		if(InsertOrder(/*order parameter*/))
		{
			InsertOrderItem(/*order item parameter*/);
		}	
	}
}

As you can see, wherever you are using "region" in your method to demarcate the code, you can very well put that code in a separate method.

Business and Technology

ashish sheth — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:56:00 +0300

First there was business

then came technology

then business adapted the technology

then technology changed to adapt to business needs

then business adapted the technology

then again technology changed to adapt to business needs

then business adapted the technology

then new technology came

then business adapted the new technology for a part of the business and continue with old technology for other part of business

then new technology changed to adapt to business needs

then business adapted the new technology for the full business then the old technology became outdated

then some new technology came

and so on...

Find-n-Replace using Regular Expression in Visual Studio 2008

ashish sheth — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:52:00 +0300

Here is a tip how you can convert a multiline text to single line(ie., how to remove newline characters) using regular expression.

Select "Use Regular Expression" in the find-n-replace dialog box. Enter "\n" in the "Find What:" field. Don't provide anything in the "Replace With:" and click the Replace or Replace All button. And voila.. All your contents are in a single lines now.

Here are more resources I found on the net on Find-n-Replace using regular expression:

http://www.aaronlerch.com/blog/2007/03/28/visual-studio-find-and-replace-regular-expressions/
http://msmvps.com/blogs/paulomorgado/pages/visual-studio-find-and-replace-regular-expression-patterns.aspx
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000633.html
http://weblogs.asp.net/joelvarty/archive/2008/03/25/find-replace-in-visual-studio-with-regular-expressions-and-variables.aspx
http://developers.de/blogs/scott_munro/archive/2006/07/14/_2700_Find-and-Replace_2700_-with-regular-expressions-in-Visual-Studio.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/vseditor/archive/2004/06/18/159515.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2k3te2cs%28VS.80%29.aspx

Invoke Google from withing VS 2008

ashish sheth — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:55:00 +0300

As programmers we need to search for many tasks that we want to accomplish. And the F1 key in visual studio does not help because it always launches the local MSDN search, even if MSDN is not installed on the local computer.

Brian Schmitt has provided the code to write a macro to search variouse sites. Here I am describing steps to how you can configure your Visual studio 2008 to invoke google search from within the IDE based on his post.

In the VS 2008 IDE, click Alt + F8 to launch the Macro explorer. It should show you a tree like below at the right hand side of the IDE.

Right Click on theMyMacros project and create a new module named Search. (Alternately, you can goto Tools menu-> Macros -> New Macro command). This will launch the macro editor.
Copy and paste the below code in the macro editor. (Code taken from Brian Schmitt's article on Better Visual Studio F1)

Imports EnvDTE
Imports System.Web

Public Module Search

#Region "Search Internet Sites"
  Public Const GOOGLE_FORMAT As String = "www.google.com/search?q={0}"
  Public Const STACKOVERFLOW_FORMAT As String = "http://www.stackoverflow.com/search?q={0}"
  Public Const SEARCHDOTNET_FORMAT As String = "http://searchdotnet.com/results.aspx?cx=002213837942349435108:jki1okx03jq&q={0}&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9#1144"
  Public Const MSDN_FORMAT As String = "http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US/?query={0}&ac=8"
   
  Public Sub SearchStackOverflowForSelectedText()
      SearchWebPage(STACKOVERFLOW_FORMAT)
  End Sub
  Public Sub SearchGoogleForSelectedText()
      SearchWebPage(GOOGLE_FORMAT)
  End Sub
  Public Sub SearchSearchDotNetForSelectedText()
      SearchWebPage(SEARCHDOTNET_FORMAT)
  End Sub
      Public Sub SearchMSDNForSelectedText()
      SearchWebPage(MSDN_FORMAT)
  End Sub
  Private Sub SearchWebPage(ByVal SearchURLFormat As String)
      Dim sel As EnvDTE.TextSelection = DTE.ActiveWindow.Selection
      Dim srchTxt As String = sel.Text.Trim
      If srchTxt.Length > 0 Then
          DTE.ItemOperations.Navigate(String.Format(SearchURLFormat, HttpUtility.UrlEncode(srchTxt)))
      End If
  End Sub
#End Region

End Module

Now the macro is ready (there are four macros created one each for google, stackoverflow, searchdotnet and MSDN). Now we will assign short cut for all the four macros.
Go to Tools -> Options -> keyboard. In the “Show command containing” type macro. Or simply scroll through the list box to find the macro we just created.

In the “Press shortcut key” type in the short cut you want (for e.g. Alt + F1, Alt + Shift + F1). Note that if you press just F1, it will replace the existing binding for the F1 key to the MSDN help.
In the similar way type in the short cut for other macros.

How to become an Architect

ashish sheth — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:24:00 +0300

Here I have gathered some good links about Software Architecture, Role of architecture and how to become and architect.

First, stackoverflow.com has many good questions/answers on this topic. Some of these questions are listed below:

How to become an Architect?

How to evaluate a Software Architect?

On Artima Developer site: A very good discussion between Luke Hohmann and Bill Venners

What does it take to become an architect?

FlipKart.com - Online Bookstore

ashish sheth — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:39:00 +0300

India has not many online bookstore. I just came across this one: FlipKart.com. Seems good.

Using CultureInfo for Globalization/Localization of an Asp.Net Applictation

ashish sheth — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:52:00 +0300

Globalization is the process of making the application able to handle different culture and regions, while localization is the process of customization of the application for a specific culture and region.

You use resource files (.resx) to localize the resources in your application. You use classes in System.Globalization namespace to make your application culture aware.

The main class in Systme.Globalization namespace is the CultureInfo class. It contains many methods and properties to identify different cultures and configure your application to use a specific culture.

You use System.Threading.Thread.CurrentCulture and System.Threading.Thread.CurrentUICulture to configure your application to use a specific culture setting.

So how do you set which culture to use with your application?

The System.Threading.Thread.CurrentCulture property is used to set a specific culture for the application. This property mainly defines how the application will format the datetime string and currency. So if you are manipulating datetime and currency in your application and want you application to correctly format them based on the use's culture then you need to set the System.Threading.Thread.CurrentCulture property.

The System.Threading.Thread.CurrentUICulture property is used to set a neutral culture for the application. This property mainly defines what resource files to use for your application. Say for example, for English user you want display content in your site in English and for French users you want to display your sites in French. So you create different resource files for different languages and set this property and your application will automatically select correct resource file to used based on the culture setting.

There are three types of Culture your application can use. One is InvariantCulture, second is NeutralCulture and the last one is SpecificCulture.

InvariantCulture actually means culture agnostic. You use InvariantCulture when you want to compare strings, display or compare dates in culture agnostic way. By default it uses the en-US culture.

NeutralCulture is actually a language specific culture without regard to the country specific datetime and currency formats. You use this culture to determine which language specific resource file your application will use. You can specify NeutralCulture with two lower case characters identifying the language. For example, 'en' for English, 'fr' for French, 'es' for Spanish.

SpecificCulture is the language and country specific culture which determines the language to use with your application and also the datetime and currency format to use with your application. You specify the specific culture with two lower case characters identifying the language and two upper case characters identifying the country separated by hyphen. For example, 'en-US' for English (US), 'en-GB' for English (UK), 'fr-FR' for French(France) etc.

So while setting the culture to use with you application, you set the CurrentCulture property to a SpecificCulture and the CurrentUICulture property to a NeutralCulture.

Let's see an example to set the culture for an application.

CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US);
CultureInfo ciUI = new CultureInfo("en");
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentCulture = ci;
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentUICulture = ciUI;

In the above two lines, you are telling your application to use English as the culture. As said before, CurrentCulture property will determines which format to use for displaying datetimes and currency while the CurrentUICulture will determine which resource files to use while displaying strings in your application. You can see that the CurrentCulture property is set to "en-US" which a specific culture for English for United Status, while the CurrentUICulture property is set to "en" which is a neutral culture.