ASP.NET 2.0 to 3.5 Tricks And Tips

Sitecore Guild

2010-11-24T19:36:00.000-08:00

I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Sitecore Guild to the family.

You can access the Sitecore Guild at:

http://sitecoreguild.blogspot.com

You may also follow them on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/SitecoreGuild

Sitecore is an amazing CMS built on ASP.NET. It is flexible as it includes full source code but is also easy for an end user to edit and publish content. For those who have not checked it out yet you need to. You will be amazed.

The next user group meeting for Sitecore in Toronto is in February. Check out the Sitecore Guild often for information on the next user group and for tips on using Sitecore.

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you would like to share please email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Login and Registration Tips and Tricks

2010-05-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Although this is not specific to porting, this link provides tips and best practices for creating

user management pages for your sites. Since this blog is about asp.net I thought you might find it useful.

http://www.getelastic.com/registration-usability-tips-ecommerce/

Session keeps timing out when debugging iis7

2009-04-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

I found out why this is happening. In IIS7 on the Application Pool, there are ping settings that will kill a session if it gets not response. This is great for production as it keeps iis running slim but when debugging in Visual Studio and stopping on a breakpoint that is nasty.

I found an article that explains how to disable the ping or extend the timeout period.

Application Pool Ping setting in IIS
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725836.aspx

If you come across any tips, tricks or resource you think the group will find helpful please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Required permissions cannot be acquired

2009-03-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

If you get the following error message then this link provides you with the step by step to resolve it

http://marcoscavaleiro.blogspot.com/2006/11/failed-to-grant-minimum-permission.html

An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current
web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error
and where it originated in the code. Exception Details:
System.Security.Policy.PolicyException: Required permissions
cannot be acquired. Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during
the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and
location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace
below. Stack Trace: [PolicyException: Required permissions cannot be
acquired.]
System.Security.SecurityManager.ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence,
PermissionSet
reqdPset, PermissionSet optPset, PermissionSet denyPset,
PermissionSet&
denied, Boolean checkExecutionPermission) +2770052
System.Security.SecurityManager.ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence,
PermissionSet
reqdPset, PermissionSet optPset, PermissionSet denyPset,
PermissionSet&
denied, Int32& securitySpecialFlags, Boolean
checkExecutionPermission) +57
[FileLoadException: Could not load file or
assembly
'Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Configuration.Design,
Version=3.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its
dependencies. Failed to grant minimum permission requests. (Exception from
HRESULT: 0x80131417)] System.Reflection.Assembly._nLoad(AssemblyName
fileName,
String codeBase, Evidence assemblySecurity, Assembly locationHint,
StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean throwOnFileNotFound, Boolean
forIntrospection) +0

If you have any tips, tricks or resources that you think would assist the group please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Do NOT use Response.Close unless you really need to

2009-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

I found out the hard way with a bug I was getting. A JSON call was truncating on me and it turns out a Response.Close was intermittantly removing the last character.

Here is the article: http://forums.iis.net/t/1152058.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, resources you would like to share with the group, please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

component art menu control. Object reference not set to an instance of object at ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNodeProperties

2009-03-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

If you get the following error odds are the menu or submenu text fields is not filled in properly.
The odd thing is it only happens on postback.

The server can't fulfill your request. (Error loading client data:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an
object. at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNodeProperties(XmlNodeList
arXmlProperties, NavigationNode oNode) at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNode(XmlNodeList arClientNodes,
XmlNodeList arXmlMembers) at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNodes(XmlNodeList arClientNodes,
XmlNodeList arChildIndices, NavigationNodeCollection arNodes) at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNode(XmlNodeList arClientNodes,
XmlNodeList arXmlMembers) at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientXmlNodes(XmlNodeList arClientNodes,
Int32 iParentIndex, NavigationNodeCollection arNodes) at
ComponentArt.Web.UI.BaseNavigator.LoadClientData(String sData))Please contact
the server administrator.

The 'SelectedIndex' and 'SelectedValue' attributes are mutually exclusive

2008-10-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you get this error its because you are setting the selectedvalue and selected index of a control in the same event. The following article explains it further.

http://forums.asp.net/t/1189510.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, etc please email them to susan@clinchportal.com and I will post them here or if applicable on the c# guild or vb.net guild.

Telerik controls and IE 8 Beta

2008-10-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

I came across this thread in case you are seeing breaks in some telerik controls in IE 8 as well.

Some of the comments mention using a compatability meta tag and placing it as the first meta tag:

< meta equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=7">

For more info please check out the thread at:

http://www.telerik.com/community/forums/thread/b311D-bcgamd.aspx

If you have any more tips, tricks, etc please email them to susan@clinchportal.com

IIS 7 - Adjusting to the huge change.

2008-09-30T09:53:00.001-07:00

I was rudely awakened when we finally started using IIS 7 after using IIS 6 for so long.
I found I knew what I wanted to do but could not find where the option was. I came across this tutorial as a helper

Getting Started with IIS7 (Part 1)

http://www.dotnetbips.com/articles/df885319-19cc-47b8-8808-6ed462db1de5.aspx
http://www.dotnetbips.com/articles/8ae70f79-4df3-4592-bfa7-1b31643ab891.aspx

If you have any other tutorials or tips on how to configure IIS 7 please email them to Susan Fischer susan@clinchportal.com or post them as comments here and I will approve them.

Regular Expressions - Help!!!

2008-05-25T19:04:00.001-07:00

If you are like me you find dealing with regular expressions both powerful and frustrating.I found a couple links that may help you on your journey to build regular expressions.

Roy Osherove has a few tools here that will be useful. The first is the Regulator that allows you to build regular expression with intellisense included. The second tool is the regulazy that allows you to typein text select it and via right click create your regular expression:

http://tools.osherove.com/Default.aspx?tabid=165

The third is not really a tool but a library that helps you find regular expressions that others have created for you:

http://regexlib.com/

This posting is also available at: http://csharpguild.blogspot.com/2008/05/regular-expressions-help.html You can check out this blog for additional information related to c#

If you find any regular expression tools or other tools you find useful please email them to me at susan@clinchportal.com

Perpetual Beginner

2008-05-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

For those just learning some of the newer technologies such as subsonic, linq, mvc, etc this is going to be fast becoming the place to go. It is definitely a blog to keep an eye on. The perpetual beginner, Jesse Naiman, will soon be a name you will remember.

Here is the link to his blog: http://alt-net-guild.blogspot.com/

Free Source Control with Visual Studio Integration

2008-05-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Jesse Naiman sent me a recommendation for free source control for a project I am working on. I thought about writing a recommendation myself but he words it perfectly. Here is his recommendation:

This site is awesome http://www.assembla.com/
You can setup a free SVN repository (up to 500MB), and you get an amazing amount project management tools.
A couple helpful hints on SVN in case you haven’t used it.

Install tortoisesvn which will allow you to manage source control through windows explorer.
Install AnkhSVN to get svn integrated into visual studio.

escape \n in a mailto href

2008-04-22T10:26:00.001-07:00

Here is the sample code

location.href='mailto:?SUBJECT='+escape(document.title)
+'&BODY='+escape('[[[\n'
+document.getSelection()
+'\n]]]\n\n-- '
+document.title+'\n'
+location.href+'\n'
+new Date(document.lastModified).toUTCString())

Invalid Viewstate error or Padding is invalid and cannot be removed

2008-03-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

It seems that sometimes your application will work locally but when you put it
on a hosted server you get one of these errors. Here is an article on the issue:

http://community.discountasp.net/default.aspx?f=24&m=10014

The solution is to generate your own machinekey and put it in your web.config
Here is a tool to do it:

http://www.aspnetresources.com/tools/keycreator.aspx

Using WinMerge to compare in Team Foundation Server

2008-02-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

Some of you are probably frustrated with the compare tool in TFS well if you like WinMerge then here is a link to help you use it as an alternative:

http://neovolve.com/archive/2007/06/19/using-winmerge-with-tfs.aspx

Visual Studio goes off in limbo

2008-02-14T08:11:00.001-08:00

AutoRecover is a feature in VS 2005, which used for automatically saving work on a regular basis. This will be helpful when power failure or system crash. Anyway, we could turn off it in VS 2005 optionsEnviornmentAutoRecover http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa718517.aspx [AutoRecover in the IDE] If you go into Tools/Options and click on the environment tab you may see an option for AutoRecover.If not there is a checkbox at the bottom that says show all options then it will show up.When you click on AutoRecover you will notice that it tries to save your work every 5 minutes.

Trouble installing Visual Studio or .net Framework

2008-02-01T09:20:00.001-08:00

I was having trouble installing Visual Studio 2008 after installing earlier betas of it.
Unfortunately the uninstall in add/remove programs was broken. I came across this tool and used it to remove the older frameworks. I thought I would pass it on:

http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/04/08/406671.aspx

Setting User Control Properties in a Repeater

2008-01-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

The way microsoft parses this is kind of silly but you need to ensure that you use a single quote to wrap your property values. You CANNOT place any text between the ' and < % or it will fail.

'< % # String.Format( "xsl/nav/{0}_config.xml" , DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "MenuItem_Name" )) % >'

30 Simple Steps to Creating Sandbox Test Accounts.

2007-12-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

I struggled all day trying to use the sandbox for PayPal then I found this forum article.
Thanks to Rob McColl for posting this. I found it so helpful that I have posted it here so others could benefit from it. If you come across articles, tips, tricks let me know and I will post them as well. You can email them to me at susan@clinchportal.com or chris.williams@clinchportal.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.paypaldeveloper.com/pdn/board/message?board.id=sandbox&message.id=6035#M6035

After 6 hours of pain with PayPal support (or lack thereof) I present the following 30 step process to creating, confirming, and verifying test accounts through the broken Developer Central Sandbox.

I hope this helps other people, and that the years of life I've lost over the last several hours is worth it.

To Setup Sandbox and Get Test API Credentials:

Prerequisites:
* Create a user account to access the Developer Central Sandbox.
* Log in to the Sandbox account
* Create a Test Account of type 'seller'.
- This will throw an error message on saving, but it will still create the account. Click the Test Accounts tab to see the account it created.

Create Confirm the email address:
1. Create business test account (done in prerequisite above)
2. Log into PayPal Sandbox with test business account details created earlier.
3. Go to Profile Tab
4. Go to Email
5. Choose the email address and click 'Confirm'
6. Go back to the Sandbox Test Environment and click the Test Email tab
7. Open the email with subject line 'Activate Your PayPal Account'
8. From the email body, select the confirmation URL and paste into new browser window - it will load the PayPal site (in sandbox mode).
9. Log in with business account.
10. From the landing page, click the 'confirm email' link in the 'To Do List' box.
11. Click the 'click here if a link doesn't appear in the email' link.
12. Paste in the confirmation number from the email in step 8, and click confirm. A confirmation of success should be displayed.
13. Click Continue.

Create Bank Accounts For Test Business Account:
14. Click the Profile tab
15. Click Bank Accounts link
16. Create a fake bank account. Test Bank. Use BSB 242-200 for Australia. Any random integer for account number, so long as it's not already being used by another PayPal account. I ended up having to mash the keypad until I found an unused number.
17. Confirm the bank account by clicking the 'confirm' link after the step above.
18. Step 17 loads another page where you need to click 'Submit'.
19. Step 18 loads another page where you need to click 'I Agree'.
20. The account should now be verified.
21. Click the Profile Tab again.
22. Click API Setup
23. Click Request API Credentials
24. Select API Signature
25. Click I Agree, Click Submit.
26. Copy the details to a safe place for later reference.

Developer Central Sandbox
27. Go back to the Developer central sandbox and login with your account details created in the prerequisite section of this document (i.e., not your test business account, but your actual Developer Central Sandbox account).
28. The Test business account should now be verfied.
29. Click API Credentials tab.
30. The API credentials obtained in step 26 should appear.

Fiddler 2 plug-in for viewstate

2007-10-17T09:32:00.001-07:00

This is useful as it decodes the viewstate for you in fiddler when you click on the page. There is also a stand-alone tool. Both are available at:

http://www.binaryfortress.com/aspnet-viewstate-helper/

If you come across some useful tools email me at chris@clinchportal.com or susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them to the blog.

Debugging Flash

2007-10-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

I know this is not specifically ASP.NET but its something that I found a pain.
I have some flash components that interact with my ASP.NET pages. I found this tool called Flash Tracer that is a plug-in to firefox. Here is the link that describes where to get it and how to set it up:

http://hubflanger.com/flash-player-9-debug-tracer/

Enumerating SQL Servers from .NET 2.0

2007-09-20T05:41:00.001-07:00

I ran into a situation where I was not sure of the name of the SQL Server I would be using on a hosted site. I found this code that helped to find a list of them all.

http://dotnetslackers.com/SQL/re-20320_Enumerating_SQL_Servers_from_NET_2_0.aspx

Hope this helps you too.

String Formatting Reference

2007-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I keep going back here all the time looking up the how to write format string. For this reason, I thought I would pass on the link:

http://idunno.org/archive/2004/07/14/122.aspx

Hope you find this useful.

If you have any links, tips, tricks, etc that you think the group would find useful please pass them on to me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com or chrisw_88@hotmail.com

ASP.NET 2.0 Chat that uses Membership functionality

2007-07-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine Anthony Ng (http://www.funkylists.com/) sent this to me. It looks quite useful
so I thought I would pass it along.

AspxChat - generic MsAjax-based chatting control for ASP.Net 2

Uses standard ASP.Net 2.0 Membership functionality to manage users, which allows a seamless integration into existing applications that use Membership without a single line of code

Utilizes Microsoft AJAX Extensions to present a user interface in asynchronous fashion, that is: without continuous page refreshes

Provide a simple administrative interface for users in Administrator role

Provide a generic voting functionality with a Yes/Now poll

Uses implicit localization feature of ASP.Net 2.0 to present a user interface in different languages (English, Ukrainian and Russian localization included)

Uses ASP.Net 2.0 Themes feature to fine tune user interface

Provide a default page with a standard ASP.Net 2.0 Login control to enable using AspxChat as a stand-alone application

AspxChat is configurable with a standard web.config file (presently only 2 parameters can be customized: history depth and default name for non-authenticated users)

If you have any tips, tricks, coding samples or source code you think the group would find useful please email them to me at chris.williams@clinchportal.com or chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Issue Downloading Orcas

2007-06-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

I tried downloading Orcas from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d9c6b2d-439c-4ec2-8e24-b7d9ff6a2ab2&DisplayLang=en but part 5 seems to be corrupt.

I tried the Microsoft online Chat but was told to call tech support that told me to go to support.microsoft.com still no luck.

If anyone actually has a working version of this part or an alternate download for the alpha please email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com For now, I am trying out the express edition at:http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/future/default.aspx I am actually trying to play with SilverLight so I am hoping that the Web Developer version works with it. Please pass this on to all the C# developers you know. For more information or if you have any tips, tricks, events that you think other C# Guild members would benefit from, please email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

2-way databinding cascading lists within a FormView

2007-05-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked me for some sample code on how to do 2-way databinding.
I found this article and it has a couple code examples:

Demo for 2-way databinding cascading lists within a FormView

Please continue to email me your tips at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will be placing them on either of these blogs depending on their context.

C# Guild

2007-04-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

If you are working with C# you may want to check out the C# Guild. We are modelling it after the Fantasy World Guilds, where people meet to build and train each other, meet with like minded people and possibly help each other find opportunites and solve their problems.

Its all about comradery. You can check out the blog at: http://csharpguild.blogspot.com/

More will follow over the next few months. If you would like more information on the guild and/or would like to help out on its creation please email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

CSS Tips and Tricks Blog

2007-03-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that people are sending me a lot of CSS Tips and Tricks and although related
to .NET are more generic. I have created a new blog at:

http://clinch-css.blogspot.com/

Please continue to email me your tips at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will be placing them on either of these blogs depending on their context.

Url Encode vs HtmlEncode

2007-03-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Some newer developers are getting confused with URL Encoding and Html Encoding.
Below is a good article to explain the difference.

http://aspnetresources.com/blog/encoding_forms.aspx

Please continue to email me your tips at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will be placing them on either of these blogs depending on their context.

Sort Your Data with the DataView

2007-03-04T05:51:00.001-08:00

I have had questions on how to sort data in a dataview.
Here is a good article to explain the process:

http://www.knowdotnet.com/articles/dataviewsort.html

Please continue to email me your tips at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will be placing them on either of these blogs depending on their context.

Setting the DataList's SelectedIndex Programmatically

2007-03-04T05:17:00.001-08:00

There have been a number of emails asking how to set the selected index of a datalist programmatically. Here is a link to a good article on how to do it:

http://scottonwriting.net/sowblog/posts/363.aspx

Please continue to email me your tips at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will be placing them on either of these blogs depending on their context.

Slice.ca - Finally an ASP.NET 2.0 website done properly

2007-03-04T03:30:00.000-08:00

Finally a site that is implementing ASP.NET 2.0 the way it should be.
Be sure to check out http://www.slice.ca.

You have seen the ad campaigns they are everywhere. "

If I wanted to become more literate I would watch a book"
"I watch slice but don't tell anyone, this isn't going to be in an ad is it?"

This website is awesome, I am addicted to it already, be sure to check out the latest gossip, have a little fun playing games and doing quizzes, you can even check out some advice but my favorite are the videos.

Here is my favorite clip so far: Three Takes hosts and their vices I guess you could say my vice is slice.

But seriously, from a developer point of view, this website is using Ajax when necessary, not over kill like some sites. It balances flash when needed. Takes advantage of all cache levels. Implements master pages and uses themes, and had minimized the use of tables to a tight site.

This is definitely a development wonder. So be sure to check it out.

ASP.NET Training Videos

2007-02-28T05:29:00.000-08:00

The following are links to free ASP.NET Training Videos

http://www.asp.net/learn/videos/default.aspx?tabid=63#beginners

If you know of any more training videos for ASP.NET please send them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will add them to this blog.

Viewstate decoder

2007-02-22T10:02:00.001-08:00

Here are two viewstate helpers:

This one allows you to take the viewstate in your page and paste it into this online viewstate decoder. It will decode as string or as a tree. This is the one I use.
http://ignatu.co.uk/ViewStateDecoder.aspx

This ones is really good if you want it to scan a lot of pages at once. You open up your web browser and it will look at each link you go to:
http://www.binaryfortress.com/aspnet-viewstate-helper/

This one is a firefox plug-in:
http://ashishware.com/ViewStatePeeker.shtml

If you have any other links or tip, tricks you would like to share please email them to me at Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them.

The 'name' does not exist in this context

2007-02-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Visual Studio 2005 will hiccup and you will get the error:

"The 'name' does not exist in this context"

I fixed it by doing the following:

Exclude file from project

Build

Exit VS 2005

Open VS 2005

Add back to project and build again

This fixes it. The other alternative is to reference the control directly in the content placeholder.
You can check out the Microsoft Forums posting for it at:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=2&SiteID=1&PostID=200532
If you have any tips, tricks, fixes that you think would help others please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will post them here.

Good AJAX Websites

2007-02-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

Scott Gu's Ajax Blog
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/02/12/free-asp-net-ajax-1-0-how-do-i-videos-updated-for-final-release.aspx

Default button in ASP.NET 2.0

2007-02-08T12:25:00.001-08:00

Its easier to make the enter key run a button for controls in a block.
Here is a link to a sample:

http://dotavery.com/blog/archive/2006/02/08/7783.aspx

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Custom XML Schema Generator

2007-02-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

I found this it and thought it may be useful in getting around the ASP.NET Dataset issue where it ignores namespaces in the xml files. But unfortunately it ignores namespaces too. But possibly it can be modified to support it. If someone manages to modify it to support such things please let me know and I can post it here.

http://www.123aspx.com/redir.aspx?res=29483

If you have found any other generators or know of a workaround to the Dataset namespace ignoring issue let me know.

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

ClientScriptManager.RegisterForEventValidation !!!

2007-02-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

It seems in .NET 2.0 it is more picky on doing postbacks from controls. Here is an article that gives a sample on how to use ClientScriptManager.RegisterForEventValidation so you avoid this mess.

http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t115194-sample-usage-of-clientscriptmanagerregisterforeventvalidation.html

The other option is to add the following to the <@ page directive:

EnableEventValidation="false"

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Flash and Firefox popup blocker issue

2007-01-16T11:16:00.001-08:00

If you open a window on press its considered spyware but if you do it on release its ok.

Although not specifically ASP.NET 2.0 I figured this may help out some developers doing flash and .NET.

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

asp.net caching documentation

2006-11-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

Below is a really good link that describes the various caching methods in ASP.NET

http://www.codersource.net/asp_net_caching.aspx

If you have any tips, tricks, articles, sample code that you think will be helpful to other ASP.NET developers email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will post them.

iis redirect wildcards

2006-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

This link is a more comprehensive link showing the wildcards available

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/41c238b2-1188-488f-bf2d-464383b1bb08.mspx?mfr=true

If you know of any tips, tricks, sample code that you feel will help other ASP.NET developers please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com and I will post them.

asp.net 2.0 security

2006-10-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have had a few emails about securing ASP.NET 2.0 applications so I came across these two links. The first is a FAQ, the second is a step by step way of setting it up for the Microsoft Access provider. The steps are similar for SQL Server you just have to change the provider and create the tables in SQL Server.

ASP.NET Security FAQ

ASP.NET Security setup article

Addison-Wesley - ASP.NET 2.0 Security Article

Flash and ASP.NET 2.0 double click issue (Click to activate control)

2006-07-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

This issue only started once I upgraded my website from 1.1 to 2.0
It appears that Microsoft released a security fix and this caused it.

The following article will show you a workaround for this. Basically
you are writing the object tag to the page using document.write in a
javascript file. Then calling the script file from the page.

Flash and 2.0 double click issue Link
https://tgaw.wordpress.com/2006/05/02/ms06-013-click-to-activate-and-use-this-control/

There is a free javascript library called swfobject.js that is available on google code that assists in fixing this and other issues with ie and flash.

http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post
to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Flash in a form Fix - Using JavaScript

2006-07-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

The fix can be found by following this link but you have to scroll down or do a find for
"briandunnington said on May 9, 2006 at 4:56 PM : "

http://livedocs.macromedia.com/flash/8/main/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/wwhelp.htm?context=LiveDocs_Parts&file=00002200.html

Place the following script before the flash object reference and be sure to change ShockwaveFlash1 to your flash file name:

<script type="text/javascript">
function ExternalInterfaceManager()
{
this.registerMovie = function(movieName)
{
if(!window.fakeMovies) window.fakeMovies = new Array();
window.fakeMovies[window.fakeMovies.length] = movieName;
}

this.initialize = function()
{
if(document.all)
{
if(window.fakeMovies)
{
for(i=0;i {
window[window.fakeMovies[i]] = new Object();
}
window.onload = initializeExternalInterface;
}
}
}
}

function initializeExternalInterface()
{
for(i=0;i {
var movieName = window.fakeMovies[i];
var fakeMovie = window[movieName];
var realMovie = document.getElementById(movieName);

for(var method in fakeMovie)
{
realMovie[method] = function() {flashFunction = "<invoke name=\"" + method.toString() + "\" returntype=\"javascript\">" + __flash__argumentsToXML(arguments, 0) + "</invoke>";this.CallFunction(flashFunction);}
}

window[movieName] = realMovie;
}
}

</script>

<script type="">
var eim = new ExternalInterfaceManager();
eim.registerMovie("ShockwaveFlash1");
eim.registerMovie("ShockwaveFlash2");
eim.initialize();
</script>

If you have any tips you would like to share please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

.NET Mail Links, FAQ

2006-07-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

For people working with the .NET Mail classes, here are a couple links that may
help you diagnose issues.

.NET 2.0

http://www.systemnetmail.com/ (FAQ)
http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/EmailApplication.asp (A good example)

.NET 1.1

http://www.systemwebmail.com/faq/4.2.3.aspx (FAQ)

If you have any additional links you would like me to add, please email them to me at
chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Dropdowns over flash or other controls in IE

2006-07-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to some code that may be helpful to you.
Basically the issue is that select controls overlap other
controls and divs regardless of z-order. The solution is
to hide all of them on a page when this issue arises and then
reshow them after you are done with the div or flash.

Hide Select Menus JavaScript: http://www.shawnolson.net/a/1198/

If you have any tips you would like to share please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Flash Remoting Links

2006-07-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Below is a list of links related to Flash Remoting:

Introduction to Flash Remoting with .NET
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashremoting/articles/intro_flremoting_net.html
Flash and .NET with FlashRemoting
http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/FlashRemoting.asp
Integrating Macromedia Flash MX and Microsoft ASP.NET
http://www.dotnetjunkies.com/Tutorial/986D1568-2686-435A-855A-5A95F25FFC71.dcik
WebOrb - Competitors to Flash Remoting
http://www.themidnightcoders.com/weborb/
Flash Remoting forum on Actionscript.org
http://www.actionscript.org/forums/forumdisplay.php3?f=46
Flash Remoting and security
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flashcom/security.html
http://webforums.macromedia.com/flash/categories.cfm?catid=250
http://forums.asp.net/thread/454811.aspx
Security issue with flash remoting and a web service
http://www.flash-remoting.com/notablog/home.cfm?newsid=14
Flash Remoting and security (may not be valid since it is coming from the competition but something to ponder anyways.
http://webddj.sys-con.com/read/44905.htm
http://www.flash-remoting.com/notablog/home.cfm?newsid=14
http://www.markme.com/mesh/archives/000377.cfm
http://www.tomkitta.com/guides/flashMX2004.cfm#part17

If you have any more flash remoting links or other tips, tricks, code samples, etc that will help other ASP.NET developers please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Multiple pages accessing the same codebehind file in ASP.NET 2.0

2006-06-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

In ASP.NET 1.1 you may have had multiple pages access the same codebehind page, but in ASP.NET 2.0 you get the following ugly message when you try to publish

The type 'xxxx' exists in both '...\v2.0.50727\Temporary\....xxx.dll' and '...\v2.0.50727\Temporary\...yyy.dll'

Rick Strahl's solution to this problem is to do a page reference instead of pointing both to the same source file. Eg. <%@ Reference Page="~/UploadItemPicture.aspx" %>

You can check out the full solution at:

http://odetocode.com/Blogs/scott/archive/2005/09/12/2186.aspx or
http://west-wind.com/weblog/posts/3016.aspx

Please note that there are other causes of this error message, such as conflicting object names in the same namespace.

This error occurs, if you have declared a class twice in your application (in a referenced assembly, somewhere in your app_code directory, or anywhere else in your app).

In my case I had a prior
compiled version (a dll) of the web app itself in the bin directory, which is
not allowed any more. -> delete all compiled versions of all web applications
(the app itself and referenced web apps) from the bin directory !!If you have to
have the same
classname multiple times within your application (e.g a class
"DataAccess"
within each module subfolder in the app_code directory, you
could do the
following:1) Give each class a different namespace (e.g.
MODULENAME.DataAccess)2) Mark the classes as partial classes (!! this does not
work if the partial classes are spread accross different subfolders of the
app_code dir which are marked as codeSubDirectory in the web.config. The reason
is, that in this case, each subfolder results in a different assembly and
partial classes over multiple assemblies are not allowed. Also see my blog
entry
for creating multiple assemblies from the app_code directory
!!)
Check out the full posting at http://www.cubido.net/Blog/tabid/176/EntryID/49/Default.aspx

If you have any tips you would like to share please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail.

Creating Custom Web Controls (Server Controls)

2006-05-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

The following are links to examples on how to create a variety of custom web controls

DotNetJunkies/Web Control Authoring

Web Server Controls Templates

GoDotNet - Custom Web Server Control Examples

If you have any more custom web control links to share please email them to me at
chrisw_88@hotmail.com

How To Change Master Pages Dynamically at runtime

2006-05-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Changing MasterPages dynamically is a simple task, but there is a catch. MasterPage can be changed in PreInit page or earlier. At this stage control tree is not constructed yet. The question is: "How can we use postback event to change MasterPage?" Usual solution for this problem is to save selected MasterPage file name into session, reload page and in PreInit set MasterPage according to persisted value. This works but requires additional roundtrip. Another solution is to intercept postback events in PreInit and process it, so here it is:

ASPX:
@ Page MasterPageFile="~/MasterPage.master" Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default2.aspx.cs" Inherits="Default2" %>
<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderID="ContentPlaceHolder1" runat="server">
<div>
<asp:DropDownList ID="MasterSwitch" runat="server" AutoPostBack="true">
<asp:ListItem Text="Simple Layout" Value="MasterPage.master">asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem Text="Complex Style" Value="MasterPageComplex.master">asp:ListItem>
<asp<:DropDownList>
<div<>>
<asp<>:Content>

Codebeside:
using System.Web;
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 Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
protected void Page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
switchMaster();
}
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
Session["MasterSwitch"] = this.MasterSwitch.UniqueID;
}
}
private void switchMaster()
{
if (IsPostBack)
{
// Get control that fire postback event
string eventTarget = Request.Form["__EVENTTARGET"];
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(eventTarget))
return;
// At this stage we don't have control tree yet,
// so we'll use previosly saved control ID
string switchControlName = (string)Session["MasterSwitch"];
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(switchControlName))
return;
if (String.Compare(eventTarget, switchControlName, true) != 0)
return;
setMaster(Request.Form[eventTarget]);
}
}
private void setMaster(string masterName)
{
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(masterName))
return;
// In real implementation some logic to convert
// selected value into real MasterPage File Name should be here
if (String.Compare(this.MasterPageFile, masterName, true) != 0)
this.MasterPageFile = masterName;
}
}

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Multilingual characters in web.config

2006-03-29T12:52:00.000-08:00

This is a good article on placing Multilingual characters in web.config

http://blogs.imason.com/chris.chapman/archive/2005/10/05/1833.aspx

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Common Solution Links

2006-03-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

This article will contain a list of other sites to find solutions to common problems.

CodeProject

George Shepperd's ASP.NET FAQ

If you have any suggestions for links to place here please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

CTW ASP.NET Grid articles

2006-03-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

Below is a good article on the gridview control:

http://www.gridviewgirl.com/GridViewGirl/articles.aspx

If you have any additional tips, tricks etc that you would like me to post to my blog, please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

GridView Tips and Tricks

2006-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

This article will contain a list of tips and tricks related to the using the GridView.

Formatting data using DataFormatString

Formatting data using DataFormatString

EXAMPLE:

I was having an issue with it not applying my format. If it doesn’t work its one of the 3 key reasons below.For me I did not have HtmlEncode set to false.

The key properties are as follows:

o HtmlEncode = "False" ensures that the formatting is applied when displaying the date field. Without it, the formatting doesn't apply for some unknown reason.

o ApplyFormatInEditMode = "True" ensures that the DataFormatString is also applied when you change to the Edit mode. Without it, the formatting is ignored in Edit mode.

Introduction

2006-02-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the ASP.NET 2.0 Tips and Tricks page.

This blog is designed to contain various Tips and Tricks to help you with your ASP.NET 2.0
development. Since there are a lot of changes from ASP.NET 1.1 to 2.0 hopefully this will
help you with some of the pot-holes found during transition from 1.1 to 2.0 as well.

If you know any Tips or Tricks I can add to this blog please email them to me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com