ASP.NET

NIMTUG - The Best of the PDC

2008-11-26T15:45:00Z

The next NIMTUG event has been annouced.. registration for the event can be found using the link below.

http://nimtug.org/events/61/default.aspx

Summary
Didn’t make it to the PDC in Los Angeles this year? Feeling overwhelmed by all the developments and announcements that went on that week? You’re not alone! Come join NIMTUG for rePDC, and you’ll learn all about the best of the best including Azure, Windows 7, Oslo the modelling platform, the new Silverlight Toolkit, Windows Live Framework announcements, OpenID support, VS2010 and .NET 4.0 and much more. We’ll have a look at what’s available now from the new platforms and where and how to get started.

Details
Monday, 01 Dec 2008, 19:30 to 21:30
Cost: Free
Contact: admin@nimtug.org
Note: There will be a reception after the event

Location
Wellington Park Hotel

http://www.wellingtonparkhotel.com

21 Malone Road
Belfast
BT9 6RU

Uploading Large Files - IIS 7

2008-11-14T09:42:00Z

Haveing a problem with large file uploads on IIS7. Are you finding that regardless of what you do the <httpRuntime> setting are being ignored? Well I did and here's the anser - thanks to a Telerik article.

Note that this does not require the "RadUpload" component to work - as featured in the original article.
http://www.telerik.com/help/aspnet-ajax/upload_uploadinglargefiles.html

[Web.config] Web.config settings for 100MB and 1 hour
<configuration>
...
<system. web>
<httpRuntime maxRequestLength="102400" executionTimeout= "3600" />
...
</system .web>
</configuration>

Settings for IIS7

Add these lines in the web.config file:

[Web.config] maxAllowedContentLength attribute for IIS7
<system.webServer>
...
   <security >
     <requestFiltering>
       <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="1024000000" />
     </requestFiltering>
   </security>
</system.webServer>

Open the file C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config and find the line:

Set the overrideModeDefault property to Allow.
<section name="requestFiltering" overrideModeDefault="Allow" />

Google GeoCoder for ASP.NET C# - Latitude, Longitude, Address & Reverse GeoCode

2008-11-07T02:30:00Z

Google GeoCoder for ASP.NET C# is a sample code example for look up an address and return the latitude and longitude.

Reverse look-up can be achieved by clicking on the map.

Demo [using MicrosoftAjax.js]

Demo [using JQuery]

Download Source @ CodePlex http://www.codeplex.com/GoogleGeoCoder

Convert html image to cid - Embedding email images on the fly.

2008-07-21T22:55:00Z

Ever needed to convert html image link on your site to cid to embed on email

public ArrayList arr_image_path = new ArrayList();//image array (for embedding images)
public string _html, _plain;
public string RootDirectory = HttpRuntime.AppDomainAppPath.ToString();



public void covert_image_to_embedded_cid()
    {
        int cid = 0;


        string Pattern = @"url\(['|\""]+.*['|\""]\)|src=[""|'][^""']+[""|']";


        MatchCollection match_vars = Regex.Matches(_html, Pattern,
                                        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);


        string img_path;


        foreach (Match match in match_vars)
        {


            _html = _html.Replace(match.Value, "src=\"cid:EmbedRes_" + cid + "\"");


            //get path;
            img_path = Regex.Replace(match.Value, @"url\(['|\""]", "");
            img_path = Regex.Replace(img_path, @"src=['|\""]", "");
            img_path = Regex.Replace(img_path, @"['|\""]\)", "").Replace("\"", "");



            arr_image_path.Add(img_path);
            cid++;
        }


    }


public bool sendmail(string strTo, string strSubject)
    {


        bool success = false;


        StringBuilder sb_plain = new StringBuilder();
        StringBuilder sb_html = new StringBuilder();


        //create the mail message
        MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();


        //set the addresses
        mail.From = new MailAddress(Mail_From);


        mail.To.Add(strTo);


        //set the content
        mail.Subject = strSubject;


        //Plain Text
        AlternateView plainView = AlternateView.CreateAlternateViewFromString(_plain, null, "text/plain");


        //Html part
        AlternateView htmlView = AlternateView.CreateAlternateViewFromString(_html, null, "text/html");
        mail.AlternateViews.Add(plainView);
        mail.AlternateViews.Add(htmlView);


        //add images
        if (arr_image_path.Count > 0)
        {
            for(int i=0; i<arr_image_path.Count; i++)
            {
                string img = arr_image_path[i].ToString();


                if (!img.ToLower().StartsWith("http"))
                {
                    img = RootDirectory + img;
                }
                LinkedResource logo = new LinkedResource(img);
                logo.ContentId = "EmbedRes_"+i;
                htmlView.LinkedResources.Add(logo);
            }
        }


 



        //send the message
        SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient(MailServer); //specify the mail server address


        //check if server creditial required


        if (credentialsRequired)
        {
            smtp.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(Mail_Username, Mail_Password);


        }


        //try
        {


            smtp.Send(mail);
        }
        //catch
        {


        }


 


        return success;
    }

Call asp:updatepanel from Javascript

2008-07-20T22:44:00Z

Javascript

__doPostBack ('UpdatePanel1', '');

If your using UserControls the ClientId can be harder to find.

Inline .aspx Javascript

__doPostBack('<%= UpdatePanel1.ClientID =%>', '');

var panel = '<%= UpdatePanel1.ClientID =%>'

__doPostBack(panel, '');

A super article can be found at

http://encosia.com/2007/07/13/easily-refresh-an-updatepanel-using-javascript

Large File upload. SwfUpload & C#

2008-07-19T22:31:00Z

Follow up to SwfUpload - ASP.NET Flash uploader

SwfUpload works by placing a simple 1x1px flash application onto the page, which is highly degradable. The C# example on the main site only works with single uploads at the time of writing. So below is a quick adaption of to get the multiple large file uploader working.

www.swfupload.com

http://swfupload.org/project/asp_net

Because we use a JavaScript detection routine to select

Default.aspx - JavaScript

<script src="jquery-1.2.3.pack.js" type="text/javascript"></script>


<link href="/swfupload/css/custom.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="/swfupload/swfupload.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/swfupload/js/swfupload.graceful_degradation.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/swfupload/js/swfupload.queue.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/swfupload/js/fileprogress.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/swfupload/js/handlers.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var upload1


window.onload = function() {
upload1 = new SWFUpload({
// Backend Settings
upload_url: "../../upload.aspx",// Relative to the SWF file
                post_params : {
                    "ASPSESSID" : "<%=Session.SessionID %>"
                },


// File Upload Settings
file_size_limit : "102400",// 100MB
file_types : "*.*",
file_types_description : "All Files",
file_upload_limit : "0",
file_queue_limit : "0",


// Event Handler Settings (all my handlers are in the Handler.js file)
file_dialog_start_handler : fileDialogStart,
file_queued_handler : fileQueued,
file_queue_error_handler : fileQueueError,
file_dialog_complete_handler : fileDialogComplete,
upload_start_handler : uploadStart,
upload_progress_handler : uploadProgress,
upload_error_handler : uploadError,
upload_success_handler : uploadSuccess,
upload_complete_handler : uploadComplete,


// Flash Settings
flash_url : "/assets/swfupload/swfupload_f8.swf",// Relative to this file (or you can use absolute paths)


swfupload_element_id : "flashUI1",// Setting from graceful degradation plugin
degraded_element_id : "degradedUI1",// Setting from graceful degradation plugin


custom_settings : {
progressTarget : "fsUploadProgress1",
cancelButtonId : "btnCancel1"
},


// Debug Settings
debug: false
});



     }
</script>

Default.aspx - body

<div id="uploader" style="display:none">
    <div id="flashUI1" style="display: none;">
     <fieldset class="flash" id="fsUploadProgress1">
     <legend>File Upload</legend>
     </fieldset>
     <div>
      <input type="button" value="Upload file (Max 100 MB)" onclick="upload1.selectFiles()" style="font-size: 8pt;" />
      <input id="btnCancel1" type="button" value="Cancel Uploads" onclick="cancelQueue(upload1);" disabled="disabled" style="font-size: 8pt;" />
      <br />
     </div>
    </div>
    <div id="degradedUI1">
     Flash 8 or greater is required.
Note: can place standard asp:FileUploader here.
    </div>
</div>

Uploader.aspx

                         
public HttpPostedFile posted_file;


    private static string RootDirectory = HttpRuntime.AppDomainAppPath.ToString();


    public string folder = "/images/";


    public string filename;


    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {


        try
        {
            posted_file = Request.Files["Filedata"];
            string destination_folder = RootDirectory + folder;


            posted_file.SaveAs(destination_folder + unique_filename(posted_file.FileName, destination_folder));


            Response.StatusCode = 200;


        }
        catch
        {
            // If any kind of error occurs return a 500 Internal Server error
            Response.StatusCode = 500;
            Response.Write("An error occured");
            Response.End();
        }
        finally
        {
            // Clean up


        }
    }


//Unique filename GetRandomFileName function


    public string unique_filename(string filename, string folder)
    {


        filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Path.GetRandomFileName()) +
        Path.GetExtension(orginal_file_name).ToLower();


        Boolean exists = true;


        //check if exists
        if (File.Exists(folder + filename))
        {
            while (exists)
            {
                if (File.Exists(folder + filename))
                {
                    exists = false;
                }
                else
                {
                    filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Path.GetRandomFileName()) +
                    Path.GetExtension(orginal_file_name).ToLower();
                }
            }
        }


        return filename;


    }

Uploader will return custom 500 message if required straight back to the main page.

ASP.NET: Restrict Dimensions While Uploading Images With The FileUpload Control

2008-07-18T22:27:00Z

Nice article on how to restrict image width & height when uploading
http://dotnetdiscussion.net/2007/11/27/aspnet-restrict-dimensions-while-uploading-images-with-the-fileupload-control

Linq to XML

2008-07-18T22:26:00Z

Linq to XML in 3 easy steps

http://www.dev102.com/2008/04/25/linq-to-xml-in-3-easy-steps

Linq to XML - Adding, Updating and Deleting Data

http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/maordavid/archive/2007/10/13/linq-to-xml-adding-updating-and-deleting-data.aspx

Accessing a Hyperlink (or other server control) inside a usercontrol - Custom Server Control Example for JavaScript reference

2008-07-17T23:22:00Z

Need to shorten a server control ClientId to be accessible from JavaScript. This example creates a custom hyperlink control with shorted ClientID sans control id.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Security.Permissions;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;


/// <summary>
/// Summary description for hyperlink
/// </summary>
/// 
namespace Gasta.CustomControl
{


    public class href : HyperLink
    {


        public override string ClientID
        {
            get
            {
                return this.ID;
            }
        }
    }
}

Web.config <- add

ASPX
<custom:href runat="server" id="li_nav_web" href="/Default.aspx" mce_href="/Default.aspx">Web</custom:href></h1>

Reference

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yhzc935f.aspx
http://blog.danbartels.com/archive/2005/11/11/1110.aspx

Programmatically creating an IIS7 site

2008-07-17T23:13:00Z

 using Microsoft.Web.Administration;


string url = "mysite.com";
string sitename = "mysite";
string ip_address = "128.0.1.100";
string folder = "c";


protected void create_iis_instance()
    {
        
            string app_site = sitename.Replace("\\","_");
            app_site = sitename.Replace("/", "_");
            ServerManager serverMgr = new ServerManager();
            Site mySite = serverMgr.Sites.Add(sitename, folder, 80);
            mySite.Bindings.Clear();


            string bind = ip_address + ":" + 80 + ":" + url


            Binding binding = mySite.Bindings.CreateElement();


            binding.Protocol = "http";


            binding.BindingInformation = bind;


            mySite.Bindings.Add(binding);           


            serverMgr.ApplicationPools.Add(app_site);
            mySite.ApplicationDefaults.ApplicationPoolName = app_site;
            /*mySite.TraceFailedRequestsLogging.Enabled = true;
            mySite.TraceFailedRequestsLogging.Directory = "C:\\inetpub\\customfolder\\site";*/
            serverMgr.CommitChanges();
    }

Loading UserControl Dynamically in UpdatePanel

2008-07-17T23:03:00Z

Good article on the above

http://geekswithblogs.net/rashid/archive/2007/08/11/Loading-UserControl-Dynamically-in-UpdatePanel.aspx

Regular Expression Generator

2008-07-17T22:23:00Z

Life just got easier. Try http://www.txt2re.com a superb regular expression generator. Generates code in C#, as well as VB, C++, ruby and more.

Quick Example.

Client Side problem with maximum characters for multiline asp:textbox

2008-04-09T10:01:00Z

I was asked recently as to how best handle client side cut & pastes using asp:textbox. The main problem was when the TextMode is set to multiline the MaxLenght parameter is ignored.

Client side: JavaScript solution

function textCounter(field, countfield, maxlimit) 
{
  var thisfield = $get(field);
  var counter = $get(countfield);
  
   if (thisfield.value.length > maxlimit)
        thisfield.value = thisfield.value.substring(0, maxlimit);
    else
        counter.innerHTML = maxlimit - thisfield.value.length;
}

Notice $get. This is the dom equivelent to document.getElementById courtsey of the asp.net ajax javascript client library. http://asp.net/AJAX/Documentation/Live/ClientReference/Global/GetShortCutMethod.aspx

$get is interchangable with document.getElementById.

Client side: ASP.NET

</asp:TextBox ID="txt_headline" runat="server" MaxLength="50" TextMode="MultiLine" ToolTip="Please enter only 50 chars" Width="300px">


<span id="count_headline" style="font-weight: bold">50</span> characters

To get this code working we need to bind the form attributes onKeyDown, onKeyUp, onChange

Importantly, we use onChange to catch our paste function

Server Side C#

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) 


{


      textcounter(); //call to bind attributes


}


private void textcounter()


    {


        //validation


        txt_headline.Attributes.Add("onKeyDown", "j a v a s c r i p t:textCounter('" + txt_headline.ClientID + "', 'count_headline', 50);");


        txt_headline.Attributes.Add("onKeyUp", "j a v a s c r i p t:textCounter('" + txt_headline.ClientID + "', 'count_headline', 50);");


        txt_headline.Attributes.Add("onChange", "j a v a s c r i p t:textCounter('" + txt_headline.ClientID + "', 'count_headline', 50);");      


    }

Please replace j a v a s c r i p t with javascript in above example

Now, when we run our colution we will have a text counter & we will also capture paste events to lock out string longer than we require. We are capturing the changes after KeyDown, KeyUp and importantly OnChange (cut & paste)

Futher enchancements

By default, when I create a simple form I would expressively as validation

</b>


</asp:TextBox ID="txt_headline" runat="server" MaxLength="50" TextMode="MultiLine" ToolTip="Please enter only 50 chars"


                            Width="300px">


                        <span id="count_headline" style="font-weight: bold">50</span> characters</asp:RequiredFieldValidator


                            ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txt_headline"


                            Display="Dynamic" ErrorMessage="<br />Headline Required!">


                        </asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RegularExpressionValidator3" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txt_headline"


                            Display="Dynamic" ErrorMessage="<br />Headline cannot contain < or >" ValidationExpression="[^<>]*">

To enrich this solution for simple form why not use ValidatorCallOutExtender as documented

http://www.asp.net/AJAX/AjaxControlToolkit/Samples/ValidatorCallout/ValidatorCallout.aspx

</asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RegularExpressionValidator1" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txt_headline"  Display="Dynamic" ErrorMessage="<br />Headline cannot contain < or >" ValidationExpression="[^<>]*">


</cc1:ValidatorCalloutExtender ID="txt_headline " runat="server" TargetControlID="RequiredFieldValidator1">

This requires the use of the AjaxControlKit to be added to you project, and brings much of the rich form interaction we have come to expect.

This article, however does not exclude the idea of good server side validation. Never expect that your user relies on JavaScript to validate. Personally I add universal validation to my entity class saving the labourous task of repeatitly importing/writing validation routines. But that is for another blog.

Windows Server 2008 & IIS7 - Live Project

2008-04-01T15:17:00Z

Just a quick note that I have started on pilot of Windows Server 2008 & IIS. Installation in test server was extremely easy and by default old IIS projects where migrated on launch. Installation was < 30 mins.

Addition of .NET 3.0 and IIS from user environment was a breeze, and IIS immediately imported my test site from previous test server with no questions asked.

AjaxToolkit - problems rendering in VS2008 - eg. TabContainer

2008-03-27T11:35:00Z

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