An ASP.NET control that allows users to enter only numbers

Did you know that MSDN has an Agile Related dev center? well, not really dev center, but its part of the architecture center (for some reason).

I only learned that on the MSDN related session at ALT.NET. Freaky.

Everyone is always saying Microsoft is evil, right?

I think I can prove that they are conclusively, depending on your political opinions.

To start, remember how I pointed out that Even every version of XP Home is fully internationalized....?

Well, to that bit of knowledge add the [reported in Language Log] issue that multilingualism is evil (according to some).

Thus as Microsoft strives with each version to be more fully supportive of all languages, it becomes more and more evil.

In fact, in my position as the software developer who made the initial checkin of the new setup manifests that install all language support by default in Vista, one might even call me as sort of בעל זבוב (Beelzebub) of this enduring campaign of evil.

I wonder if I can trade in the blue T-shirt with bull's horns they gave me for doing all setup those manifests in Longhorn M6 for one that says "I helped ensure Microsoft would be considered enduringly evil, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!"

Though I would settle for a "Bad to the ⻣" T-shirt. Or at least recognition of being a Vista anti-hero? :-)

 

This post brought to you by 𒁁 and ⻣ (U+12041 and U+2ee3, a.k.a. CUNEIFORM SIGN BAD and CJK RADICAL BONE)

Some observations about SharePoint and MOSS after working to master it for 2 1/2 weeks. By the way, I have as yet, not mastered it.

1. Find the blogs and forums for SharePoint and MOSS.
• You will get more information quicker here than any other method.
2. Consider yourself a network administrator, not just an ASP.Net developer.
• A lot of your previous experience will come through but there is a lot of pointing and clicking to configure and review bits and pieces of the application.
• Further on this point, I have found more TechNet articles that actually helped me than MSDN articles.
3. Be selective in the books you purchase
• I was recommended by a colleague to look into the admin side first, not the programming side.
• Another colleague recommended the SharePoint 2007 Administrators Companion for that purpose and this is going well but slowly.
4. Slow and steady wins the race
• This technology is huge. According to the book, there are 27 separate technologies wrapped in this package so expect that you'll only learn a few of them at the outset.
• Along this same line, don't expect to even understand exactly how all these technologies play nice together for a while. The changes in terminology between the 2003 and 2007 products have not been applied across the board.
• For instance, there is still a lot of info out there about "Virtual Servers" in SharePoint. It took me days to realize that a these are the same thing as "Applications" in 2007.
5. Consider using real-world examples to learn.
• These are far more helpful than walking the tutorials since they involve a bit more thought than the typical hello world style versions. You'll find some good example problems in the forums.
6. MSDN failed MOSS
• I'm a fan of SandCastle and documentation in general and I believe that developers are responsible for it usually. So why are there so many MSDN items in the SharePoint object model that have only the inheritance tree and data types? I don't understand why there would be so little real documentation about this flagship product online. Even Google comes up short more often than not.
• If you really want to see where MSDN comes up short, try looking up the web services in MSDN. According to the 'page not found' message, they are available in Brazil, Japan and Spain but not here. Right.
• Keep in mind that I've only been on this path for 2.5 weeks so it could also be that I'm not asking the right questions...

Wish me luck, I'm going back in...

My Jaiku landing page is http://palermo4.jaiku.com/

For rss feeds, use http://palermo4.jaiku.com/feed/rss

.NET community channel is http://jaiku.com/channel/DotNetCommunity

Register now for ASP.NET Connections and Visual Studio & .NET Connections on November 5 - 8 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Learn all about the new features in Visual Studio 2008 from Microsoft and industry experts.

An AJAX calendar extender control that implements a highly customizable UI and a WYSIWYG designer preview

I contributed some material to the session about Database and data layer testing techniques at ALT.NET.

The slides and code I used at ALT.NET are the same ones I used at DevTeach, so you can download them here.

On .NET Rocks next week, Oct 16 to chat with Richard and Carl about AJAX architectures and Silverlight. And why ... Silverlight 1.0 is currently similar to a declarative and programmable platform to build ... smarter animated GIFs.

Quite often, vendors pass images or PDFs to customers using the binary contents of the file. To make it more secure, they convert the binary contents to a Base64 string. A full explanation about Base64 encoding can be found at Wikipedia here. Anyway, when you receive the string, you cannot simply write it to a file or to the browser. First, you must convert the data into a Byte array. The sample code below demonstrates this:

Dim str As String = "Insert Your Base64 String Here"
Dim Base64Byte() As Byte = Convert.FromBase64String(str)

Then, you can decide which output method you'd prefer. If you'd like to write the content to the file system, you can write it as:

Dim obj As FileStream = File.Create("C:\test.pdf")
obj.Write(Base64Byte, 0, Base64Byte.Length)
obj.Close()

If you'd prefer to write the content to the browser, you'd most likely add this to your page:

Response.ContentType = "application/pdf"
Response.BinaryWrite(Base64Byte)
Response.End()

I'd highly recommend setting the content-disposition header attribute if you write the file to the browser. I've explained more about using this header at http://weblogs.asp.net/jgaylord/archive/2004/12/08/278309.aspx.

I'll be presenting a webcast in November (November 14th at noon PST to be exact) via the MSDN geekSpeak group. Here's the blurb about what geekSpeak is from their site:

geekSpeak is a new kind of webcast series, hosted by Jacob Cynamon and Glen Gordon (from the MSDN Events team). Dispensing with slide decks and scripted demos, geekSpeak webcasts bring you industry experts in a sort of "talk-radio" format. These experts share their knowledge and experience around a particular developer technology. You'll hear about industry trends, new technology, real-world experiences and more. During the webcasts you will be able to have your questions answered realtime, hear lively discussion and debate, and add your comments to the fray. Who knows, you might even see a whiteboard sketch or an off-the-cuff demo. It's another way for you - the developer - to engage with Microsoft in an interesting and effective way!

So tune in and hear me blather on for an hour or so about Tricks of the WPF Programming Gurus. We'll play around with WPF, look at what we can (and can't) do with it, build some cool apps, talk about Mort (kidding!), and generally nerd out.

I'm looking for a lot of the content to be driven by the listeners as that seems to be the geekSpeak way and hey, when in Rome...

You can register for the event here.

Calgary APLN is a local chapter of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN). The APLN is a non-profit organization that looks to enable and cultivate great project leaders. I've worked with Janice before and Mike is a well known person in the Agile community and an awesome presenter so check this event out.

Description:  The Calgary chapter of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) invites you to the APLN 2007/2008 Season Kick-Off Meeting.
Guest Speakers: Janice Aston and Mike Griffiths
Date: Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Fifth Avenue Place Conference Room, Suite 202, 420 - 2 St. S.W.
 
Come and experience Agile planning in action at the Calgary APLN season kick-off meeting. If you are interested in how to run effective agile projects here is your opportunity to help choose the presentation topics for this season's talks and workshops.

Agenda

• Welcome and overview of Calgary APLN group
• Report on new initiatives from the APLN
• Brainstorming of topics for 2007/2008 season
• Affinity grouping and ranking of topics
• Top 5 list identified

About the Speakers

Janice Aston has over 16 years of project management experience with an emphasis on delivering business value. She is passionate about building high performing teams focused on continuous improvement. Janice has a proven track record delivering on project commitments with a heart for leadership and people. She has recently founded Agile Perspective Inc. specializing in creative collaboration.

Mike Griffiths is an independent project manager and trainer with over 20 years of IT experience. He is active in both the agile and traditional project management communities and serves on the board of the APLN & Agile Alliance, and teaches courses for the PMI. Mike founded the Calgary chapter of the APLN in 2006 and maintains the Agile Leadership site www.LeadingAnswers.com .
 
Please visit www.CalgaryAPLN.org for more details and to sign up for this event.

If you are still using HTML <table> elements to create page layouts, Chris Pels shows you why you should start using Cascading Style Sheets and <div> elements. We then learn how to create a custom membership provider and a custom profile provider for your ASP.NET application.

This simple library provides implementation of almost all aspects of multithreaded programming