Neudesic Blogs

if (System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationDeployment.IsNetworkDeployed)

System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationDeployment applicationDeployment = System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment;

Version version = applicationDeployment.CurrentVersion;

LABEL.Text = string.Format("Published Version: v{0}.{1}.{2}.{3}", version.Major, version.Minor, version.Build, version.Revision);

Visual Studio Database Professional (VSDBP)- Data Generation.

Our DBA came by the other day to let us know our database was complete.  We were pleased to begin coding against it only to find that it had no data.  Although we neglected to add data we did not neglect to turn on referential integrity, which means it's a pain in the *** to populate.  The dilemma we now faced was how to generate data so we can begin working.  Enter VSDBP and it's data generation capability.  You can see in the image below what the generated data looks like (bottom left). The column "CollegeName" uses a regular expression to limit the generated data so that we do not generate a 'Y' with a tilda above it (look at LastUpdatedBy).  I just wanted to say that VSDBP isn't released yet but its already shown it's worth to me and my team.

Visual Studio Database Professionals is currently in CTP1 which basically means it will crash on you...constantly. All that aside however it's going to be a sweet tool whether you're a DB or not you'll have to learn it. (yes I know it's a preposition)

Pete Orologas

Download VSDBP

If you are running into a weird integrated security authentication behavior... this is your fix.

This will fix your HTTP 401.1 - Unauthorized: Logon Failed issue for Reporting Services or CRM.

This issue occurs if you install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1).Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1 include a loopback check security feature that is designed to help prevent reflection attacks on your computer. Therefore, authentication fails if the FQDN or the custom host header that you use does not match the local computer name.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;896861

As Always Give a shout out if this helped you fiix your issue.

Pete Orologas

I apologize for the formatting... we're in the process of upgrading our blog server

The Issue:

   The webpartmanager is looking for SQL Express 2005 which, by default, is the personalization provider.  We can work around this but if you are really eager to see your page displayed you can set the Personalization-Enabled="false" in the webpartmanager.  This will render your page but it will also defeat any purpose of using webparts.  For the real solution read on.

The Solution: (3 simple steps)

1) Open your visual studio command prompt located in "Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft Visual Studio 2005\Visual Studio Tools\Visual Stuido 2005 Command Prompt" and type in aspnet_regsql.exe.  This will launch a wizard so that you can either create a DB or add tables to an existing database for storing personalization infromation. Click Next, Next, then enter in your DBServer Name. Lets leave the DB as "default" for now, click next, next, finish.  By leaving the db as default the tool will create a database named aspnetdb

2) Now we have a database so we will need a connection string to access it from our  Personalization Provider in Step 3.  The connection string will go into your web.config and it will be similar to the one show below:

<connectionStrings>

  <remove name="LocalSqlServer" />

 <add name="DBConn" connectionString="Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=aspnetdb;Data Source=DBServer" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

Note: The "remove" tag is used to inform Visual Studio that we will not be using SQL Express

3) The final step is to add our own personalization provider in the <system.web> section of the webConfig.  The personalization provider will point to the store we created by using the connection string we provide (Dbconn).

<webParts>

    <personalization  defaultProvider="AspNetSqlPersonalizationProvider">

        <providers>

             <remove name="AspNetSqlPersonalizationProvider" />

             <add name="AspNetSqlPersonalizationProvider"

             type="System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts.SqlPersonalizationProvider"

             connectionStringName="DBConn"

             applicationName="/" />

        </providers>

    </personalization>

</webParts>

ALL DONE !!!  Congrats you should be up and running.

Give me shout-out if this helped you !!

Pete Orologas

$ expressions are simple code sequences that can be added to any aspx page as long as they are within a control tag.  The expressions are evaluated by an expression builder and then returned to the control for display.  The builder translates the expression to a string and returns it to the page when it is rendered.  You will find that asp.net includes some built-in expression builders but you can also extend the ExpressionBuilder class to create your own custom expression builders.  Below you will find an example of both Built-In and Custom Expression Builders.

Built-In

 Three built-in expression builders are the AppSettingsExpressionBuilder, ResourceExpressionBuilder and the ConnectionStringExpressionBuilder. 

 AppSettingsExpressionBuilder:

   Reads from appSettings in web.config

      <asp:Literal runat="server" text="<%$ AppSettings:Key %>" > -- (returns "Neudesic")

      --------------- web config -------------------

      <appSettings>

               <add key="Key" value="Neudesic"/>

      </appSettings>

     -----------------------------------------------

ConnectionStringExpressionBuilder:

   Reads from connectionStrings section of web.config.

     <asp:Literal runat="server" text="<%$ ConnectionStrings:DbConn%>" > -- (Returns ConnectionString shown below):

--------------- web config -------------------

<connectionStrings>

            <add name="DbConn" connectionString="DataSource=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;InitialCatalog=Northwind;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

-----------------------------------------------

ResourceExpressionBuilder 

Pete.Orologas@Neudesic.com