ASP.Net

ASP.NET ViewState Helper

Chris Crowe — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:19:24 GMT

ASP.NET ViewState Helper is an application designed to help all web developers, but has specific features to aid ASP.NET developers track ViewState issues. In real-time you can see your web pages being analyzed while you browse to them using Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher. As you can see in this Screen Shot, ASP.NET ViewState Helper gives you very detailed information to help you optimize your web application’s performance. You can see page information like:

Page’s total size: This is the total size of the web page shown in the URL column
ViewState size: This is the size of the ViewState field
ViewState %: What percent of the total page size is being taken up by the ViewState?
Markup size: The size of html markup (non-visible text) on the page
Markup %: What percent of the page consists of non-visible HTML markup?

Double-clicking on any URL in the list will bring up the ViewState decoder window. If the page you double-clicked on contains a ViewState, it will be decoded into plain text, and also broken down into a tree-view for easy analysis.

Key Features:

Compatible with Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0
Compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Works in real-time to give you detailed page information
Analyzes all webpages, even pages inside frames
ViewState decoding works with ASP.NET v1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 applications
Only a 300k download with a quick and easy installer

Downloads

ASP.NET ViewState Helper v0.6 for x86 (310 KB) :: April 23, 2007
ASP.NET ViewState Helper v0.6 for x64 (310 KB) :: April 23, 2007

Replacing CRLF with BR in a Repeater or GridView

Chris Crowe — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:05:12 GMT

When you are delaing with a Repeater or GridView and you have a string which contains embedded Carriage Returns and Line Feeds (CRLF) and you want to display that data using the CRLF you must change them to <BR> tags.

This can be acheived by the simple line below.

Eval("FieldName").ToString().Replace("\r\n", "<BR>")

Normally when you embed data from a database you may use the following Bind But Eval allows you to evaluate a complete expression.

A small sample is shown below <asp:Repeater ID="repComments" runat="server">

<HeaderTemplate><table cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0' width='650px'></HeaderTemplate>

<ItemTemplate>
<tr>
<td>
      <asp:Label ID="lblName" CssClass="commentName" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("CreatedBy") %>'></asp:Label>
</td>
<td align="right">
     <asp:Label ID="Label1" CssClass="commentDate" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("CreatedDateTimeUTC") %>'></asp:Label>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td colspan="2"><br />
      <%# Eval("Comment").ToString().Replace("\r\n", "<BR>") %>
      <div style="padding-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-bottom: dashed thin;"></div>
   </td>
</tr>
</ItemTemplate>

<FooterTemplate></table></FooterTemplate>

</asp:Repeater>

Telerik Code Converter - convert C# to VB.NET and visa versa

Chris Crowe — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:12:37 GMT

Code Converter is a free and simple VB to C# and C# to VB code converter. While there are several other good code converters available, none are perfect. Some are buried in busy websites. Some are awkward to use. Some just don't convert accurately! Code Converter, while not yet perfect, aims to address these issues and provide the best free .NET converter available on the web.

Part of the mission of delivering the best code conversion service means that it needs to be available wherever and whenever you need it. For that reason, we will be building code conversion widgets for all of the major widget engines (such as Google Desktop, Windows Sidebar, and Yahoo! Widgets) so that you can easily convert your code snippet while minimizing the interruption to your work. The following code conversion widgets are already ready and available here:

Yahoo! Widgets Code Converter
Google Gadget Code Converter
Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget Code Converter
Google Desktop Gadget Code Converter (coming soon)
Visual Studio 2005 Add-in (being researched)

To try on line see http://converter.telerik.com/Default.aspx

Conversions by NRefactory

For the heavy lifting, we rely on the open source NRefactory library to perform code conversions. NRefactory is a powerful C# to VB and VB to C# conversion engine maintained by the developers at SharpDevelop. By default, NRefactory requires that all code be properly wrapped in a class and (as necessary) method before converting. We try to save you time by automagically wrapping your code snippets in "dummy wrappers" so it can be processed by NRefactory. If you're having trouble converting your code, try wrapping it in a class yourself to skip our "magic" wrapping process.

http://www.google.com/search?q=NRefactory&rls=com.microsoft:*&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Refactor!™ for ASP.NET free download from www.devexpress.com

Chris Crowe — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:01:00 GMT

For those that do not know Developer Express make some really great tools and controls for .NET. They have made their Refactor tool for ASP.NET available for free.

Refactor! is freely available to all ASP.NET 2.0 developers and offers a comprehensive suite of tools that enable you and your team to simplify and shape complex code and HTML markup - making your web applications easier to read and less costly to maintain.

Below is a simple example where you can refactor the source file the .APSX file into a code behind file.

If you want to watch a small 12 minute video about it see this:
http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/IDETools/RefactorASP/Presentation/Refactor_for_ASP_NET/

You can download it from:
http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/IDETools/RefactorASP/

They also have two other free Refactor products:

Refactor for Visual Basic
Refactor for C++

HTTP Pipeline in ASP.NET 2.0

Chris Crowe — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:01:00 GMT

Here is a quick reference for the steps in HTTP pipeline in ASP.NET 2.0. Some of the steps are internal (cannot be subscribed by HTTP modules or GLOBAL.ASAX):

Internal step to validate request. Protects against malicious attacks exploiting path canonicalization
Internal step to perform URL mapping (if the URL mapping feature is enabled)
Fire BeginRequest event
Fire AuthenticateRequest event
Fire DefaultAuthentication internal event
Fire PostAuthenticateRequest event
Fire AuthorizeRequest event
Fire PostAuthorizeRequest event
Fire ResolveRequestCache event
Fire PostResolveRequestCache event
Internal step to determine the IHttpHandler to process the current request (this is when the page compilation takes place)
Fire PostMapRequestHandler event
Fire AcquireRequestState event
Fire PostAcquireRequestState event
Fire PreRequestHandlerExecute event
Internal step to execute the IHttpHandler (call its ProcessRequest method) for the current request. The handler is determined at step #11
Fire PostRequestHandlerExecute event
Fire ReleaseRequestState event
Fire PostReleaseRequestState event
Internal step to perform response filtering (only if HttpResponse.Filter is installed)
Fire UpdateRequestCache event
Fire PostUpdateRequestCache event
Fire EndRequest event. This is the only event that is guaranteed to be fired for each request

I got this list from http://blogs.msdn.com/dmitryr/ - it was part of another topic, but I thought it had value by itself.

Free download: "Visual Studio 2005: A Guided Tour"

Chris Crowe — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:08:00 GMT

This 92-page issue contains the best MSDN Magazine Visual Studio 2005 coverage from the past two years, updated for the final release. Find out what's new in C#, C++, Visual Basic, Windows Forms, ASP.NET, Team System, security, and C++generic types -- download your copy now!

Mix 06 - All 52 sessions are online and free!

Chris Crowe — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 11:49:00 GMT

Back a few months ago Microsoft went to Las Vegas to put on a share called Mix06. If you do business on the Web today, it's likely that more than 90% of your customers reach you via Microsoft® Internet Explorer and/or Microsoft Windows®. Come to MIX and learn how the next versions of these products, due later this year, are going to dramatically improve your customers' experience. Explore a wide range of new Web technologies that Microsoft is delivering to help you unlock new revenue opportunities and lower development costs. Learn about the future of Internet Explorer and join us in a discussion about how we can build the ideal Web surfing platform to meet your needs and those of your customers.

Be the first to get the latest preview build of IE7
Work with the members of the Internet Explorer team in the Compatibility Lab to get your site ready for IE7
Test drive "Atlas," Microsoft's powerful new framework for building cross–browser, cross–platform AJAX applications
Explore Windows Live!, Microsoft's new consumer services strategy
Learn how to deliver revolutionary, media–rich Web content with the new Windows Presentation Foundation
Find out how to extend your content, media and services into the living room with Windows Media Center and Xbox 360™
More than 50 separate sessions and discussions for Web developers, designers and business professionals

All 52 sessions are now online and free

http://mix06.com/Default.aspx

Parser Error Message: Unrecognized configuration section 'connectionStrings'

Chris Crowe — Fri, 12 May 2006 17:09:00 GMT

If you receive the error below then it means that your web site or virtual directory is configured to run with the wrong version of the .NET Framework.

Server Error in '/MSDN' Application.

Configuration Error

Description: An error occurred during the processing of a configuration file required to service this request. Please review the specific error details below and modify your configuration file appropriately.

Parser Error Message: Unrecognized configuration section 'connectionStrings'

Source Error:

Line 12: 		<add key="ConnectionString" value="User ID=MSDN;Password=$MSDN$;Initial Catalog=MSDN;Data Source=nzc-ap-sql-01.ap.trimblecorp.net"/>
Line 13: 	</appSettings>
Line 14: 	<connectionStrings/>
Line 15: 	<system.web>
Line 16:     <pages theme="MSDN"></pages>

Source File: D:\Inetpub\websites\IS\MSDN\web.config Line: 14

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2300; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2300

Microsoft Atlas Control Extender - Focus

Chris Crowe — Tue, 09 May 2006 14:01:00 GMT

What it does

The Focus extender will allow you to set the input focus to a particular control on your web form. I know that with ASP.NET v2 you can use the DefaultFocus attribute of the

tag to set the focus but that does not work well with Master Pages.

How to use it.

In your ASP.NET source page you need to register a tag prefix to the DLL as shown below.

<%@ Register Assembly="Focus" Namespace="Focus" TagPrefix="trmb" %>

You then need to add the tags to the page to control the focus.

<trmb:FocusExtender ID="Focusextender1" runat="server">
    <trmb:FocusProperties TargetControlID="txtPN" />
</trmb:FocusExtender>

There is really only one property which you need to set which is the TargetControlID. You simply set this to the ID of the server control to set the focus to.

The source code

The source is made up of 4 primary files - the easiest way to generate source code for an Atlas Control Extender is to use the Add - New Project dialog and select the "Atlas" control project

Creating a project using the "Atlas" control project template will create 4 files for you:

[ProjectName]Behavior.js
[ProjectName]Designer.cs
[ProjectName]Extender.cs
[ProjectName]Properties.cs

Note: If you do not see the "Atlas" control project listed then you need to install the "Atlas Control Extender" templates.

Note that the "Atlas Control Extender" is for building extenders and controls, not web sites, and therefore does not work with
Visual Web Developer - it is for use with Visual C#, Visual Basic, or Visual Studio

In the folder where you installed the "Atlas" Control Toolkit package, you will find a folder called "AtlasControlExtender" with a file called "AtlasControlExtender.vsi" inside it - double-click AtlasControlExtender.vsi to install it
Choose which templates you would like to install (it is recommended to install all templates), then click "Next", then "Finish"
You have now installed the templates are ready to create your "Atlas" Extenders!

FocusBehavior.js

The changes made to this file have been to remove some features that we did not need to keep the file size smaller.

The code in bold is all that we have to implement to get the control to focus.

Type.registerNamespace('Focus');
Focus.FocusBehavior = function() {
    Focus.FocusBehavior.initializeBase(this);   
    
    this.initialize = function() {
        Focus.FocusBehavior.callBaseMethod(this, 'initialize');

var e = this.control.element;
if (e != null)
    e.focus();

   }
}
Focus.FocusBehavior.registerSealedClass('Focus.FocusBehavior', Microsoft.AtlasControlExtender.BehaviorBase);
Sys.TypeDescriptor.addType('focus', 'FocusBehavior', Focus.FocusBehavior);

FocusDesigner.cs

No changes were made to this file

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI;
using Microsoft.AtlasControlExtender;
using Microsoft.AtlasControlExtender.Design;
namespace Focus
{
    class FocusDesigner : ExtenderControlBaseDesigner
    {
    }
}

FocusExtender.cs

No changes were made to this file

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
using Microsoft.AtlasControlExtender;
#region Assembly Resource Attribute
[assembly: System.Web.UI.WebResource("Focus.FocusBehavior.js", "text/javascript")]
#endregion

namespace Focus
{
    [Designer(typeof(FocusDesigner))]
    [ClientScriptResource("Focus", "FocusBehavior", "Focus.FocusBehavior.js")]
    public class FocusExtender : ExtenderControlBase
    {
    }
}

FocusProperties.cs

The changes made to this file was to basically remove everything and leave it as below since we did not need any custom properties defined.

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.ComponentModel;
using Microsoft.AtlasControlExtender;
namespace Focus
{
    [DefaultProperty("TargetControlID")]
    public class FocusProperties : TargetControlPropertiesBase
    {
            
    }
}

COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80070005.

Chris Crowe — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:18:00 GMT

If you add a reference to Microsoft Excel and then try to use it within your ASP.NET application you may receive the following error.

Server Error in '/excel' Application.

Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80070005.

Example Application

The problem is that by default Microsoft Excel as a COM object can only activated by the following accounts:

Administrator
System
Interactive

When you are running your ASP.Net account on Windows XP your web application is running as the ASPNET account.

The way to resolve this issue is to edit the DCOM configuration settings for the Microsoft Excel Application object.

Configure DCOM

Go to the Start-Run menu item.
Type in "DCOMCNFG" and hit enter.
This should load the "Component Services" MMC (you can also load from Administrative Tools - Component Services"
Expand "Component Services"
Expand "Computers"
Expand "My Computer"
Select the "DCOM Config" item
Select the "Microsoft Excel Application" item.
Right click and select Properties
Select the Security Tab and you should see the following:
Under "Launch and Activation Permissions" select the "Customize" option.

Click the "Edit" button

Windows XP		Windows 2003 Server

Click the "Add" button to add a new account to the list.
On the dialog that is displayed click the Locations button

(this is because by default your domain will be selected and we need a local account)

In this dialog scroll the list to the top (sometimes the first item is not visible) but scroll to the top and select the first item which is your computer name. In the list below "CCROWE" is the name of my computer.
Click the OK button

On the dialog that is displayed enter "ASPNET" as the account name (make sure location is set to the name of the computer that IIS is on) on Windows XP or if you are running on Windows 2003 Server you must enter the account that the Application Pool is running as, by default "Network Service"

Windows XP

Windows 2003 Server

Note: A quicker way on Windows XP is to just enter the computer name and the account
so in my case that would be:

ccrowe\ASPNET

Click the OK button
Now make sure you select the following options for the "ASP.NET Machine Account" or the account that is the application pool identity ( by default Network Service)
- Local Launch : Allow
- Remote Launch : [blank]
- Local Activation : Allow
- Remote Activation : [blank]
These settings can be seen below:

Windows XP		Windows 2003 Server

Click the OK button and test your web application again and it should work fine.

Note: Remember if you are running on Windows 2003 Server you must use the application pool identity as the account and not the ASPNET account.