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Showing posts from August, 2006

Difference between XHTML and DHTML

Q: What is the difference between XHTML and DHTML? A: XHTML is a more structured version of HTML, which sits nicely with the XML structure. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is used to identify the data contents (i.e. name, address, phone, etc.) XML can then be used with XSLT to render the contents in different ways. Couple XML with HTML and you have a XHTML. DHTML (Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language) is a Microsoft derived term. It is a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It all works via the DOM (Document Object Model). This is a method of referencing objects within a document so that you can manipulate them through JavaScript.

Manipulating Event Log

A few people have asked about error logging in .Net. Listed below is an article on logging errors and events to the system event log. In addition, another article is listed to help automate parsiong the event log file when needed. Error and Event Logging in VB.NET This article describes an approach to writing to a custom error log and to writing events into the system event log.VB.NET; Windows, .NET (.NET 2.0); Win32, VS (VS2005) Parsing event log(*.evt) file An article on parsing/opening event log files(*.evt) using C# 2.0; Windows (Win2K, WinXP, Win2003), .NET (.NET 2.0); Win32, VS (VS2005)

Recovering data from a crashed hard drive

Q: I have an external USB hard drive that is no longer showing up as an active volume. What can I do to recover the data from the drive? A: There are several tools on the market to assist with recovering data from a crashed drive. Listed below are a few of these tools. Spinrite from www.grc.com Ontrack's tools from www.ontrack.com PC Inspector has also received high remarks. This freeware tool is available at http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

Microsoft IE7 RC1

Microsoft is gearing up to ship Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) for Windows XP by offering a late beta release of the Web browser, known as Release Candidate 1. Expected to ship during the last quarter of this year, well ahead of Windows Vista, IE7 is the first real upgrade of the browser since the summer of 2004. And it is the first version of Internet Explorer in this decade to offer actual new features. IE7 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is available for download from Microsoft. For more information about Internet Explorer 7's new features, visit Microsoft's IE site . To read the full story, go to http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9002698&source=NLT_PM&nlid=8 To help customers become more secure and up-to-date, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 soon after the final version of the browser is released (planned for fourth quarter 2...

Ajax Examples

I recently found a few helpful articles on CodeProject.com, discussing various ways of using Ajax. Using Ajax.NET Pro in a SharePoint Web Part The article describes how to configure Ajax.NET Pro with SharePoint so that it can be used in Web Parts. Introduction to Anthem.NET How to do AJAX without writing any JavaScript. Magic AJAX: Applying AJAX to your existing Web Pages How to apply AJAX technologies to your web pages without replacing ASP.NET controls and/or writing JavaScript code. An Introduction to AJAX Techniques and Frameworks for ASP.NET This article introduces AJAX to ASP.NET developers implementing an example web page in different ways using ASP.NET Atlas, ASP.NET callbacks, Ajax.Net, Anthem.Net and MagicAjax.Net. Simple AJAX implementation for ASP.NET Web applications The article describes a simple approach of implementing AJAX functionality in ASP.NET web applications.

Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1

Microsoft recently released Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2003 containing many fixes to problems published on KB (Knowledge Base). For a complete list of all the bug fixes, go to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;918007&sd=rss&spid=3040 . To download the service pack, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=69d2219f-ce82-46a5-8aec-072bd4bb955e&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft Patches Contain Memory Bugs

Earlier this month, Microsoft released 12 patches for fixing 23 vulnerabilities. Of those 12 patches, MS06-040 and MS06-042 were discovered to have memory bugs causing programs to crash. MS06-040 affects programs that use very large chunks of memory on some versions of Windows. According to Microsoft, programs such as Microsoft Navision 3.7, which require allocations of more than 1GB of memory, can crash after the update is installed. Most Windows systems do not experience the bug, but Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and the 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional Edition are affected. Microsoft's hotfix for this problem can be downloaded from their site . More troublesome has been the MS06-042 update for Internet Explorer, which has caused browser crashes while using Web-based applications such as PeopleSoft, Siebel and Unicenter. Microsoft issued a hotfix for this update earlier in the week and is promising to reissue the buggy update next Tuesday. For more information on thi...

What is "Atlas"?

Q: What is "Atlas"? A: "Atlas" is the code name for a set of ASP.Net technologies used to add Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) support to ASP.NET. It consists of a client-side script framework, server controls, and more. In other words, Atlas is Microsoft's implementation of Ajax. This new Web development technology from Microsoft integrates client script libraries with the ASP.NET 2.0 server-based development framework. In addition, "Atlas" offers you the same type of development platform for client-based Web pages that ASP.NET offers for server-based pages. And because "Atlas" is an extension of ASP.NET, it is fully integrated with server-based services. "Atlas" makes it possible to easily take advantage of AJAX techniques on the Web and enables you to create ASP.NET pages with a rich, responsive UI and server communication. However, "Atlas" isn’t just for ASP.NET. You can take advantage of the rich client framew...

Using SPUserUtil to synchronize SharePoint user Display Names, E-mail addresses with Active Directory

I found an article on keith Ritchie's blog detailing how to use SPUserUtil to synchronize SharePoint user Display Names and Email addresses with the information in Active Directory SPUserUtil will mean either WSSUserUtil or SPSUserUtil respectively (WSSUserUtil is used to administer Windows SharePoint Sites on a standalone WSS Farm/Virtual server OR Windows SharePoint sites in the same virtual server of a SharePoint Portal Server 2003 site.) SPSUserUtil is a superset of WSSUserUtil, designed for working on SharePoint Portal Server Areas. To view the article, go to http://blogs.msdn.com/krichie/archive/2006/02/18/534767.aspx

What is AJAX and how do you use it?

Q: What is AJAX and how do you use it? A: AJAX is short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. For more information and an example on how to create an AJAX site, go to http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9002170

Detecting Mobile Browsers

As discussed in our last meeting, web applications can be built to handle both PC browsers and mobile browsers. To do so, the application needs to detect if the browser is a mobile device and redirect the application to a page designed to display UI adequate for the smaller mobile browser. Detecting the browser is done using the following code sample, and it's typically placed in the Page_Load() of the login.aspx or default.aspx Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load Try If Not IsPostBack Then If Request.Browser.IsMobileDevice = True Then Response.Redirect("mobile/login.aspx") End If End If Catch ex As Exception ProcessEx(ex) End Try End Sub

Determining if an address is within a radius of a zip code

Q: I need to take a list of vendors and be able to extract those vendors within a mileage of a zip code. For example, list all vendors within 40 miles of 44131. Is there a utility that will facilitate this? A: The USPS offers several free web services that perform these functions. Go to http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp and click on "web tools" in the lower left corner.