Using the ASP.NET Chart Control

Microsoft released a chart control that provides the ability to generate charts in a .NET environment. In this article, Brian shows how to setup this control....Full Article.

Introduction to XAML Browser Applications (XBAP)

This article gives an introduction to XBAPs and provides information about the differences between WPF Standalone applications, Silverlight, and XBAPs. Nihar explains the steps used to create a sample XBAP application and how to deploy and run it....Full Article.

Implementing Dynamic Web Interfaces Using XSLT

Web applications are dynamic; many requiring unique content and interfaces for each user. There are a myriad of ways to take user content out of a database and present it in a browser. This article focuses on the different ways we can perform this with ASP.NET and why Gil chose XSLT for his own web product....Full Article.

Load Testing Crystal Reports Caching Features

In this article, Eric tests the out of the box caching capability of Crystal Reports. Using the testing component of Visual Studio, Eric shows load test results from a Crystal Reports test suite....Full Article.

An Extensive Examination of LINQ: Lambda Expressions and Anonymous Types

The previous installment in this article series, Extension Methods, Implicitly Typed Variables, and Object Initializers, examined three new features to the C# 3.0 and Visual Basic 9 languages that allow for developers to use LINQ's standard query operators and providers to write SQL-like query syntax to work with common data stores. But extension methods, implicitly typed variables, and object initializers are only pa...Full Article.

Syndicating and Consuming RSS 1.0 (RDF) Feeds in ASP.NET 3.5

Websites that produce new content on a regular basis should include a syndication feed, which is a specially formatted XML file that includes a summary of the most recently published items. Virtually all blogs, news sites, and social media sites have a syndication feed, and 4Guys is no exception. The 4GuysFromRolla.com syndication feed contains the most recent articles. Syndication feeds are meant to be consumed by comp...Full Article.

An Extensive Examination of LINQ: The Ins and Outs of Query Operators

As discussed in An Introduction to LINQ, LINQ is composed of three main components:

• Language Extensions,
• Standard Query Operators, and
• LINQ Providers.

The previous two installments - Extension Methods, Implicitly Typed Variables, and Object Initializers and browser/scripting wish list and the references to need for core layout primitives).

The Silverlight platform provides a set of out-of-the-box layouts like Grid, so you don't have to simulate them with low-level absolute positioning, and float/clear css attributes. However, ...Full Article.

TemplatePanel (aka MasterPage) for Silverlight

In my last post, I introduced the current set of layout panels provided by Silverlight.FX. All of those panels positioned their children by computing the size and position based on desired and available sizes, i.e. by overriding the measurement and arrangement API, as expected of Panel-based elements.

This post is about a control named TemplatePanel. TemplatePanel is similar t...Full Article.

Silverlight Makes Version 3 at MIX '09

Silverlight Version 3 takes center-stage at MIX '09, and shapes up to be a great platform for RIA and LOB apps. More coming by way of .NET RIA Services...
[Full post continued here...]...Full Article.

.NET RIA Services MIX '09 Talk - Slides + Code

.NET RIA Services (formerly code-named Alexandria and what I have been working on for the most part during the past year) is now public. It has even been termed as the real premiere of Silverlight, which is nice to read as you might imagine :-). I had a similar blog post yesterday about the progression of Silverlight from its early v1 ro...Full Article.

.NET RIA Services: From Vision to Architecture

.NET RIA Services is now public. And folks at MIX generally loved what we're doing in this space, which is a promising start. We don't yet have a great landing page for the technology but here is what the download page currently has to say:

Microsoft .NET RIA Services simplifies the traditional n-tier application pattern by bringing together the ASP.NET and Silverlight platforms. RIA Services provides a p...Full Article.

8 New IIS for Developers Videos

IIS 7 is a Web Developers Treasure Trove, rife with features to enhance your application's performance, security, and functionality. Join Microsoft's Joe Stagner in this 8 episode video series on IIS from a developers perspective. ...Full Article.

Preview 2 of the WCF REST Starter Kit

Preview 2 of the WCF REST Starter Kit is now available for download! The WCF REST Starter Kit is a set of .Net Framework classes and Visual Studio features and templates that enable users to create and access REST-style Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services....Full Article.

Commerce Server 2009 Announced at MIX09

CS2009 offers developers a new unified programming model enabling true cross channel development, and integration with SharePoint to build sites rapidly out of the box. Find out more about the power of Commerce Server 2009....Full Article.

Building a BabyCam

My wife and I are in the midst of 'sleep training' our daughter, trying our best to get her accustomed to taking adequate naps during the day. This usually involves going through the daytime nap routine, moving her to her crib, and then leaving the room. This is usually immediately followed by crying for a period of time, which we pick up on our baby monitor, but then there is silen...Full Article.

New T-SQL 2008 Syntax

If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 there are some cool new additions to the T-SQL syntax that can help save you a few keystrokes. For example, with T-SQL 2008 you can now (finally) assign a value to a variable when it is declared, like so:

DECLARE @ThisIsLikeSo int = 1984

Rather than having to put the declaration and assignment on two separate lines.

T-SQL 2008 now i...Full Article.

The DefaultButton Property - News To Me!

Back in January I created and shared a custom server control called RedirectButton that was designed to be used in scenarios where the user is taken to a different page when a Button is clicked. It's a common scenario that virtually every ASP.NET developer has implemented at one time or another. The typical pattern for implementing such behavior is to add a Button to the page and create a ClickFull Article.

Accessing the DropDownList Control's SelectedIndex or SelectedValue Properties Selects the First ListItem

I was recently helping a colleague squash a bug that had popped up on a page that involved a DropDownList. Specifically, an HttpException was being thrown with the error message Cannot have multiple items selected in a DropDownList. This exception is raised, as the message notes, if a DropDownList contains multiple ListItems whose Selected properties are set to true.

The page in question had a DropDownList whose ...Full Article.

Keyboard Thoughts

Jeff Atwood recently replaced his keyboard, a Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, with... a new Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000.

I mentioned my beloved Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, which is pretty much the holy grail of keyboards...Full Article.

Blogs are the Most Important Innovation of the 21st Century

A case could be made that blogs and blog hosting websites like WordPress and Blogger are, so far, the most important innovation of this century, technological or otherwise. Prior to the advent of blogs, publishing online was a task reserved for the computer savvy. Sure, sites like Geocities and Tripod lowered the barrier, but still required a good deal of work and at least a passing familiarity with HTML. It wasn't until blogs that the average person - my mom, my grandfather, etc. - could, wi...Full Article.

What's the Best Way to Format a Title for a Blog Post, Article, or Tutorial?

If you are writing an article, blog post, or tutorial about a feature of ASP.NET or the .NET Framework, how do you format the title? For example, say that you are writing a blog entry about grouping data using ASP.NET's ListView control. Which of these titles is most appropriate?

1. Grouping Data Couldn't Be Easier!
2. Group Data Using the ListView Control
3. ASP.NET's ListView Control Makes Groupnig Data Easy
4. Learn How to Group Data Using the ListView Cont...Full Article.

Creating and Consuming Syndication Feeds in ASP.NET 3.5

Do you run a website that routinely publishes new content? If so, does your site offer a syndication feed? A syndication feed is an XML file that summarizes the most recently published content and is commonly used in blogs, news sites, sports sites, social networking sites, and other content producing websites to provide a machine-readable format of the latest content. For the longest time the .NET Framework did not include built-in support for syndication feeds, meaning that if you ...Full Article.

March's Toolbox Column Now Online

My Toolbox column in the March 2009 issue of MSDN Magazine is available online. The March issue of MSDN Magazine has a focus on the Web and my reviews in Toolbox  follow suit and include:

• The Ajax Data Controls Project - The Ajax Da...Full Article.

What Johannes Kepler Can Teach Us About Debugging

Debugging code is a lot like the scientific method. Most importantly, both involve careful measurements and analysis of the resulting data. Be wary of the developer who is quick to announce the cause of an error. When an error occurs, a developer's first thought should be, "What data to I need to collect to better understand and analyze this error?" A less experienced developer is one whose first thought is, "Maybe the cause of the problem is (the database query|session timeo...Full Article.

Leo Tolstoy for Developers

All successful software projects resemble one another; each failed project fails in its own way....Full Article.

Five-Dollar Words For Programmers, Part Four: Boustrophedonic

Here's an almost useles...Full Article.

Every Problem Looks Like A Nail

I wish all the questions I got were this straightforward:

"I need to compare two strings for non-culture-sensitive equality. I notice that there are methods String.Equals and String.Compare which can both do that. What is the guideline on which one I should use?"

I'll answer your question, but first, a funny story (*).

Note: C# code in this article applies to RC version of Web Deployment Tool available here:
- Web Deployment Tool 1.0 RC x86
- Web Deployment Tool 1.0 RC x64
or through WebPI tool:
- Web Platform Installer

To migrate an application or whole server from IIS6 to IIS7 you need t...Full Article.