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Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is out and has a slick new UI.  Also, this Beta has most of the features that would ship with the final version compared to the earlier Beta.  Note that while new features might be added, there are chances that some of the features demonstrated here may also not be a part of the final release.  But, for now, lets examine the current Beta 2.  The first thing you would notice and probably like, is the UI enhancements.  Herebelow, is the launch screen. Also, the start page has been modified to accommodate more useful things.  The good thing is that you can completely customize the Start Page since it is a XAML based UI.  You can find the start page itself as a Project at C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio 10.0Common7IDEStartPages once you install the Beta.  You can change it to reflect your organization specific templates, document repositories etc.,  Optionally you can even turn it off permanently, or, upon opening a project, using the checkbox options in the bottom left

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Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 – a first look at the UI and Web Development

Earlier, I had written this post on how you can accomplish using FileUpload control in UpdatePanel since by default it wasn’t supported.  The post seems to have helped many and keeps being the most visited one.  However, with the new release of Ajax Control Toolkit (v 3.0.30930) released specifically for .NET 3.5 SP1 (with Visual Studio 2008 SP1), there are couple of new controls.  One of them is the AsyncFileUpload control.

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FileUpload in UpdatePanel, ASP.NET, like Gmail

In the previous post we had examined on getting access to SQL Azure, creating your first database, accessing it with SQL Server Management Studio and then migrating the Northwind database schema to SQL Azure using the SQL Azure Migration Wizard Beta. As explained earlier, the SQL Azure Migration Wizard migrates the schema of your database after tuning it for working with SQL Azure.  However, we would still need to migrate the Data to our SQL Azure Server.  At the moment, the step I took was to open the instnwnd.sql script in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMO) and copy the Insert statements alone to execute.  Note that, you cannot run all the scripts directly onto the SQL Azure portal like I explained earlier due to the limitations / formats supported currently in SQL Azure.  To begin with, open “C:SQL Server 2000 Sample Databases” folder (the default location where Northwind and pubs sample database gets installed) and double click on the instnwnd.sql script.  It opens up in SSMO.   Examine the scripts and navigate to the portion where the INSERT statements begin.  I took the portion and put it up as a single insert script.  You can download the script  from the link below:-   Running the scripts from SQL Server Management Studio As explained in my previous post, open SSMO and cancel the initial login prompt.  Click on “New Query” and specify the server name as the fully qualified Azure Server name i.e. .ctp.database.windows.net, specify the user name, password.  Click on “Options” and specify “Northwind” at “Connect to database” option.  Click “Connect”.  It should be able to connect provided you have specified the path, username, password etc., correctly and created the “Northwind” database as per the previous post.  There will be a small error prompt that comes before opening the Query window, as below.  You can ignore that and click “ok”     Once you are in the SqlQuery1.sql screen you can check if the database is created and the tables are there by running  a bunch of few queries as below:- SELECT * FROM Products SELECT * FROM Orders etc., You will get blank result sets since we haven’t migrated the data yet

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Taking your Northwind Database to SQL Azure and binding it to an ASP.NET Grid View – Part II

SQL Azure is the latest buzz around Cloud Computing and the ability to take relational database to the cloud as is, is something most would welcome compared to the earlier model of ACE (Authority, Container, Entity) that was there when SQL Azure was SSDS.   Well, like others, I also got interested and wanted to explore the SQL Azure.  SQL Azure is currently in CTP and offers token based access.  I would briefly outline the steps here on getting the SQL Azure Token, although Jim O’Neil has a nice post on this Visit SQL Azure Registration at Microsoft Connect Sign in with your Live ID (Passport, Hotmail, MSN, Live) Fill in the details and submit the form You should receive the invitation code in an email from an alias “SQL Azure Talk” or something similar (note this may take from a day to a week until the CTP is available) Visit https://sql.azure.com Fill in the Invitation Code received in the email You will be directed a page similar to below Click on the “Manage” link in the right. It will take you to a page as below:- This page is where you can create / delete databases as well as get the connection string etc., In the top of this page you will also see “Connection Strings” , “Reset Password” icons and also the Server Name, User Name that you chose, and the location where the database is hosted

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Taking your Northwind Database to SQL Azure and binding it to an ASP.NET Grid View – Part I

Recently I upgraded to Windows 7 RTM and started setting up my machine.   The usual set of tools I install are Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, Expression etc.,  Also, for .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 I would require to install the respective SP1 releases as well since they are mandatory and contain tons of new features as well. I had done this in the past in Windows Vista, Windows 7 RC etc., and while I was trying to install .NET 3.5 SP1 on the new Windows 7 RTM, it surprisingly, popped up a message as below:- I then realized that .NET 3.5 SP1 is now available in Windows Features under “Control Panel – Programs – Turn Windows Features on or off”.  All I had to do, was enable it.

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.NET 3.5 SP1 now available as a Windows Feature in Windows 7 RTM

You must have heard the buzz around the WebsiteSpark program that we are launching today.  It is a great program that covers a lot of concerns start-ups have – where is the money for me to buy all the software.   Earlier, we had launched programs such as BizPark for the start up eco-system, DreamSpark for students which has helped millions of people world wide.  Today, we are launching WebsiteSpark program targeted specifically at small web companies who develop and design websites. You can read more about the terms, what you get for free etc., from this great post by Scott Guthrie I think this is the best time to be an entrepreneur and if we could help you in a little way, we are happy to do that

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WebsiteSpark – Helping your small web development companies

IE is by far the largest used browser.   However, one of the common myths around IE is the security, performance and that it doesn’t support latest web standards.  Many of the other browsers have openly mentioned in the past that using IE6 is so 2006 days, download blah blah etc., advertising for their browser and thereby conveniently hiding the subsequent IE releases.   It strange how people still compare IE6 after which there are 2 releases with all the modern browsers of today. The reality of the fact is that after IE6 there have been 2 releases on IE.  The IE 7 and now the latest IE8.  IE 8 is by far the best browser in terms of standards and compliance.  Many web developers out there don’t realize that IE provides great help for web development and enhances the web experience to a great extent. One of the common patterns, we see is that people use Windows XP and have IE6 that came along with it.  Post that the other browsers such as Firefox started picking up momentum and people started using that.  In that process, they didn’t actually realize that IE also released IE 7 for Windows XP (which shipped as the default IE version with Windows Vista) and now IE 8 that can be installed on XP, Vista and Windows 7

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Download IE8 for Windows XP and get clarified on common myths

Yes, few know that Zune software is free for download, can play music/videos from your system with super clarity all with or without you owning a Zune !!! Its just amazing experience for me, as to the clarity when I play the same song using Zune as against any other software (which includes windows media player, real player etc.,)  Clearly Zune is ahead of its times in terms of the clarity, mixing et all. While having a Zune can help you take this music with you wherever you go, its super cool even just to have this software installed on your system, just as a music player. As Microsoft employees, we don’t get Zune for free as many would imagine.  I bought a Zune for my wife long back and she has been very happy with it so far.  Its tough to convince people over things that they make up their mind with.  But with Zune, it was simpler for me.  Also, I am waiting for Zune HD to come out.  It is something I would look forward to buy as soon as it is available.

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Install Zune 4.0, its free, great for playing music, videos (best you dont need to own a Zune for this)

The ViewModel/MVVM pattern continues to gain popularity, with a blog post showing up every so often, and with tweets and retweets popping up even more often . At the same time, there are some interesting topics beyond the core pattern that continue to fuel experimentation. A big one amongst those is how should applications use dialogs when using the view model pattern

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Dialogs and ViewModel – Using Tasks as a Pattern

We’ve all seen design patterns and heard about best practices in PHP development, but there’s a darker, more sinister side to the “practices” examples that is usually just the stuff of folklore and legend. Many a PHP developer brushes off their existence with a quick “oh, I’d never do that…” or “I’ve seen other people’s code like that…” What am I talking about? Why, only the very things that threaten to tear apart the language and the community as a whole! That’s right – PHP Worst Practices – and they’ll sneak into your development as quick as you can bat an eye.

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PHP Worst Practices – blog.phpdeveloper.org » PHP

When I wrote the first post in this series, there was tremendous amount of interest generated and also a lot of feedback requesting to post some of the advanced features.  Like I said earlier, ASP.NET 4.0 has lots of new features some of them as simple as Page.Title whereas so as big as caching improvements.  This post covers one such feature which is Routing in Webforms.  Although Routing was available even in .NET 3.5 SP1, (check this excellent post by Phil Haack on implementing Routing in ASP.NET 3.5 with .NET 3.5 SP1), it was kind of less known.  Also the plumbing work was too much for getting it implemented. However, this has been much simplified in ASP.NET 4.0.  To give a background, System.Web.Routing is the namespace that provides the all important RouteTable & PageRouteHandler class.  Initially System.Web.Routing was an integral part of ASP.NET MVC.  However, the team must have anticipated that Routing is more important even for Webforms and hence they moved this DLL outside the scope of just MVC and made it available to Webforms as well.  Importance of Routing :  Getting friendlier URLs which help in better search engine optimization and indexing.  Cleaner URLs that can be bookmarked than the unfriendly querystring based approach.  As more and more URLs are available, the chances of improvement in search engine ranking becomes higher.  These are some of the general advantages of Routing and friendly URLs.  Ok, now that the context is established, lets start with our sample.  To begin with, I am using Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 ( download link ) and Northwind Sample Database ( download link ) I created a “File – New Project – ASP.NET Web Application” leaving the default .NET 4.0 as the framework option

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What’s new in ASP.NET 4.0 – Part II – Routing in Webforms

Much as people love hearing on  the new features of ASP.NET, one of the frequent requests that I receive is around performance counters, high transactional sites using ASP.NET and real world applications that do very well on ASP.NET.  While there are thousands of sites out there running on ASP.NET, many of them being mission critical, our own Windows Update is a great example of high performance. Windows Update is something all of us use, whether we like it or not.  It helps maintain your system up to date with critical patches, recommended downloads as well as optional add-ins.  Windows Update also periodically provides major updates such as Service Pack for Windows Vista, Office etc., and it is an essential part of your Windows usage

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ASP.NET Performance – Windows Update – a great example for setting performance standards

Watch Bill Gates Live in the 5th anniversary celebration of Microsoft Research, India.  Also, present would be the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Shri Kapil Sibal – HRD Ministry of India, Hon’ble Shri Prithviraj Chauhan – Minister of State for Science and Technology, India, Mr.N.R.Narayana Murthy – Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies, Prof.Ashok Jhunjhunwala – IIT Madras, Dr.P.Anandan – MD, Microsoft Research India. When is this event : Friday, 24th July 2009 10:30 AM IST Where do I watch this : Right out of your browser http://specials.msn.co.in/sp09/billgates/   What do I need : Simple, an Internet Connection & Silverlight ( Install from here ) Cheers !!!  

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Bill Gates Live at Microsoft Research India, powered by Silverlight

With Twitter becoming more and more popular, I have always wanted to explore its developer wiki and find out ways to post to Twitter programmatically.  While there are a tons of third party tools such as TweetDeck etc., that allow you to tweet right from your desktop, I was looking for a resource that allows me to update my Twitter status from ASP.NET.  I stumbled upon this video http://www.pluralsight.com/main/screencasts/screencast.aspx?id=httpclient-consuming-twitter-in-under-3-minutes for read/write to Twitter using the WCF REST Starter Kit Preview 2. I just wanted to take the same experience to post it from ASP.NET Webform, so the credit for the REST logic goes to the above post/video. However, for the purpose of this post, I am explaining the pre-requisites.  You would need to install the WCF REST Starter Kit Preview 2 from http://aspnet.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=24644

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Posting Twitter Tweets from ASP.NET using the WCF REST Starter Kit Preview 2

If you have played with the ADO.NET Data Service, you can experience how quickly you can build RESTful Services using the Entity Model and then consume them as you would do it with WCF Services.  The ADO.NET Data Services offer more flexibility in terms of granular data URIs compared to REST enabling your WCF Service.  To begin with, if you are REST enabling your WCF Service using the WCF REST Starter Kit, you can enable your service to basic level of REST features.  However, if you want to make this service as a drill down data URI mechanism to ensure each and every data item has a URI, you need to do a lot of plumbing work.  With ADO.NET Data Services, there is very little work that you would need to do, to create a truly RESTful Service. To begin with, lets start creating an ADO.NET Data Service.   For this you would need Visual Studio 2008 SP1 ( Download link ) or the free Visual Web Developer Express Edition SP1 (you can download the same from http://www.microsoft.com/express/ ).  Also, for the purpose of this demo, I am using the Northwind sample database that can be downloaded from here Building the Service Layer 1

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Binding ADO.NET Data Service to WPF Client – Building a Master Detail Tree View

PollDaddy joined the Automattic team last year, and we have been working on adding some of our great features directly into the WordPress platform ever since. Ratings The PollDaddy rating feature that was enabled on WordPress.com last week has really started to see some use