March 2008 - Posts

• AjaxToolkit - problems rendering in VS2008 - eg. TabContainer

  Never fear, if you like me are having a few problems with the AjaxControl toolkit after installing the VS2008 hotfix, then you can still get VS2005 express editions @ http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/aa975050.aspx Link provides downloads for complete express range and required SP1 where required Posted Mar 27 2008, 11:35 by Stuart Manning with no comments Filed under: ASP.NET, ASP.NET AJAX, VS 2005, VS 2008

• LINQ RSS Writer

  LINQ makes everyday tasks a joy and not a chore. This simple code example was implemented and deployed on http://www.causewaydesign.co.uk/ in 15 mins. using System; using System.Collections; using System.Configuration; using System.Data; using System.Linq; using System.Web; using System.Web.Security; using System.Web.UI; using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls; using System.Web.UI.WebControls; using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts; using System.Xml.Linq; using System.ServiceModel.Syndication; using System.Xml; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Collections.ObjectModel; public partial class rss : System.Web.UI.Page { protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { DataClassesDataContext dataContext = new DataClassesDataContext(); // Select data var itemsQuery = from post in dataContext.tbl_causeway_news orderby post.news_date descending select new { post.news_id, post.news_title, post.news_text, post.news_date, }; // Prepare response Response.Buffer = false; Response.Clear(); Response.ContentType = "application/xml"; // Create an XmlWriter to write the feed into it using (XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create(Response.OutputStream)) { // Set the feed properties SyndicationFeed feed = new SyndicationFeed ("Stuart Manning", "Causeway Design - Web Development, Belfast, Northern Ireland", new Uri("http://www.causewaydesign.co.uk")); // Add authors feed.Authors.Add(new SyndicationPerson ("info@causewaydesign.co.uk", "Stuart Manning", "http://www.causewaydesign.co.uk")); // Set copyright feed.Copyright = new TextSyndicationContent ("© Copyright 2005-"+DateTime.Now.Year.ToString()+" Causeway Design"); // Set generator feed.Generator = "Causeway Design RSS Generator"; // Set language feed.Language = "en-GB"; // Add post items List items = new List(); foreach (var Post in itemsQuery) { SyndicationItem item = new SyndicationItem(); item.Id = Post.news_id.ToString(); item.Title = TextSyndicationContent.CreatePlaintextContent(Post.news_title); item.Content = SyndicationContent.CreateXhtmlContent(Post.news_text); item.PublishDate = Post.news_date.Value.ToUniversalTime(); //item.Categories.Add(new SyndicationCategory(Post.Category)); items.Add(item); } feed.Items = items; // Write the feed to output Rss20FeedFormatter rssFormatter = new Rss20FeedFormatter(feed); rssFormatter.WriteTo(writer); writer.Flush(); } Response.End(); } } Posted Mar 26 2008, 02:19 by Stuart Manning with no comments Filed under: ASP.NET, LINQ, RSS, RSS Writer

• Spam Catch without Captcha - Comment on article by Nannette Thacker

  Nannette Thacker post an article on "Spam Catch without Captcha". http://weblogs.asp.net/nannettethacker/archive/2008/03/16/spam-catch-without-captcha.aspx His idea is to use a hidden field that is irresistible to spam bots. This is a similar trick that I also use to eliminate spam, where by i place a textbox with a label inside the form. If your doing this, add a little accessibility to the solution.   ASP.NET <div style="position: absolute; left: -1000px">       <asp:Label ID="lbl_spam" runat="server" Text="Required, assuming that only an automated bot will see this. Elsewise, please ignore"></asp:Label>       <asp:TextBox ID="txt_spam" TextMode="MultiLine" runat="server"></asp:TextBox> </div> For everyone else:- <div style="position: absolute; left: -1000px">                 <span id=" lbl_spam">Required, assuming that only an automated bot will see this. Elsewise, please ignore                 <textarea name=" txt_spam" rows="2" cols="20" id="ctl00_cph_main_txt_spam"></textarea></span> </div> So if your handling the response:                  txt_spam has content = spam Unlike Nannette approach, I prefer to mark the mail and forward it to a dedicated spam account, just in case. Posted Mar 19 2008, 05:53 by Stuart Manning with no comments Filed under: email

• IE8, Web Standards and Compatibility

  Leeanne Lowe picked up on an article posted by on JoelonSoftware entitled Martian Headsets. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/03/17.html Read over this light hearted article that addresses web standards. It's both fact and fun. Also watch Dean Hachamovitch presentation and commentary on IE8 @ sessions.visitmix.com - keynote (approx timeline - 27min 40sec). Leeanne is the creative force behind the Belfast based Creative Online Media. Links:- Leeanne Lowe @ http://creative.leeannelowe.com/ JoelonSoftware @ http://www.joelonsoftware.com article Matian Headset @ http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/03/17.html Creative Online Media @ http://www.creativeonlinemedia.com/ Posted Mar 19 2008, 05:44 by Stuart Manning with no comments Filed under: ie8, mix08, web standards

• Windows Live Writer

  This was a quick message posted into stuartmanning.com using Windows Live Writer  Update:- Was impressed by the simplicity of Windows Live Writer. Tried and tested with blogger and community server. Was impressed to set my search tag on the main windows. Handy spell checker and controlled mark-up, even community server can be a bit screwy some days. Ideally, I would love to see Live Writer store my details in the cloud, so I can use one tool to manage everything and anywhere. I'm sure there is more to come. http://get.live.com/writer/overview Posted Mar 19 2008, 12:30 by Stuart Manning with no comments Filed under: Window Live Writer, Blogging