Did you know that Microsoft released the Interop Forms Toolkit 2.0. This toolkit allows developers to create Activex controls that can be hosted in VB as well as forms that can be called from VB. But this toolkit is not limited to VB alone. It can easily be used to create Forms and controls for use in VFP
To download the kit, please visit: Microsoft Interop Forms Toolkit 2.0
For a walkthrough of using Interop 2.0 with VFP9, please visit: Using the Interop Forms Toolkit 2.0 in VFP9 - A Walkthrough
Submitted by Kashif Pervaiz
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Extension Methods in VS 2008 (C#)
Extension methods allow adding new methods to the public contract of an existing CLR type, without having to sub-class it or recompiling the original type. VB also supports extension methods.
A simple example would be to check for valid email address. We would probably create a static function and pass the input string
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
namespace Master
{
public class GenericFunctions
{
public static boolean IsValidEmail(string strIn)
{
return Regex.IsMatch(strIn, "^([\w-\.]+)@((\[[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.)|(([\w-]+\.)+))([a-zA-Z]{2,4}|[0-9]{1,3})(\]?)$");
}
}
}
//Add the reference
using Master.GenericFunctions;
...
string strEmail = Request.QueryString[“email”];
if (!GenericFunctions.IsValidEmail(strEmail))
MessageBox.Show(“Invalid Email Address”)
Now with the help of extension methods, we can do this…
string strEmail = Request.QueryString[“email”];
if (strEmail.IsValidEmail())
MessageBox.Show(“Invalid Email Address”)
By make the following changes in the GenericFunctions class
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
public static class GenericFunctions
{
public static boolean IsValidEmail(this string strIn)
{
return Regex.IsMatch(strIn, "^([\w-\.]+)@((\[[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.)|(([\w-]+\.)+))([a-zA-Z]{2,4}|[0-9]{1,3})(\]?)$");
}
}
The static method has a "this" keyword before the first parameter argument of type string. This tells the compiler that this particular Extension Method should be added to objects of type "string". Within the IsValidEmail () method, we can access all of the public properties/methods/events of the actual string instance that the method is being called on, and return true/false depending on whether it is a valid email or not. Next time we would explore extension methods provided within the System.Linq namespace. Happy journey!
Submitted by Kashif Pervaiz
A simple example would be to check for valid email address. We would probably create a static function and pass the input string
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
namespace Master
{
public class GenericFunctions
{
public static boolean IsValidEmail(string strIn)
{
return Regex.IsMatch(strIn, "^([\w-\.]+)@((\[[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.)|(([\w-]+\.)+))([a-zA-Z]{2,4}|[0-9]{1,3})(\]?)$");
}
}
}
//Add the reference
using Master.GenericFunctions;
...
string strEmail = Request.QueryString[“email”];
if (!GenericFunctions.IsValidEmail(strEmail))
MessageBox.Show(“Invalid Email Address”)
Now with the help of extension methods, we can do this…
string strEmail = Request.QueryString[“email”];
if (strEmail.IsValidEmail())
MessageBox.Show(“Invalid Email Address”)
By make the following changes in the GenericFunctions class
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
public static class GenericFunctions
{
public static boolean IsValidEmail(this string strIn)
{
return Regex.IsMatch(strIn, "^([\w-\.]+)@((\[[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.)|(([\w-]+\.)+))([a-zA-Z]{2,4}|[0-9]{1,3})(\]?)$");
}
}
The static method has a "this" keyword before the first parameter argument of type string. This tells the compiler that this particular Extension Method should be added to objects of type "string". Within the IsValidEmail () method, we can access all of the public properties/methods/events of the actual string instance that the method is being called on, and return true/false depending on whether it is a valid email or not. Next time we would explore extension methods provided within the System.Linq namespace. Happy journey!
Submitted by Kashif Pervaiz
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Meet Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
"A new and elegant look for the applications."
Formerly known as Avalon, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the new graphical subsystem in Windows Vista that provides a holistic means for combining user interface, 2D and 3D graphics, documents, and digital media. Built on the .NET Framework, WPF provides a managed environment for development with the Windows operating system. This takes advantage of the existing investment made by Microsoft in the .NET Framework, and allows developers familiar with .NET technologies to rapidly begin developing applications that leverage WPF.
WPF introduces a new XML-based language to represent UI and user interaction, known as XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language—pronounced “zammel”). Similar to Macromedia’s MXML specification, within XAML elements from the UI are represented as XML tags. Thus, XAML allows applications to dynamically parse and manipulate UI elements at either compile-time or runtime, providing a flexible model for UI composition.
WPF applications can be deployed as standalone applications or as web-based applications hosted in Internet Explorer. As with smart client applications, web-based WPF applications operate in a partial trust sandbox, which protects the client computer against applications with malicious purpose.
Furthermore, WPF applications hosted in Internet Explorer can exploit the capabilities of local client hardware, providing a rich web experience with 3D, digital media, and more, which is the best argument for web-based applications available today.
Submitted by Mohammed Atif
Formerly known as Avalon, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the new graphical subsystem in Windows Vista that provides a holistic means for combining user interface, 2D and 3D graphics, documents, and digital media. Built on the .NET Framework, WPF provides a managed environment for development with the Windows operating system. This takes advantage of the existing investment made by Microsoft in the .NET Framework, and allows developers familiar with .NET technologies to rapidly begin developing applications that leverage WPF.
WPF introduces a new XML-based language to represent UI and user interaction, known as XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language—pronounced “zammel”). Similar to Macromedia’s MXML specification, within XAML elements from the UI are represented as XML tags. Thus, XAML allows applications to dynamically parse and manipulate UI elements at either compile-time or runtime, providing a flexible model for UI composition.
WPF applications can be deployed as standalone applications or as web-based applications hosted in Internet Explorer. As with smart client applications, web-based WPF applications operate in a partial trust sandbox, which protects the client computer against applications with malicious purpose.
Furthermore, WPF applications hosted in Internet Explorer can exploit the capabilities of local client hardware, providing a rich web experience with 3D, digital media, and more, which is the best argument for web-based applications available today.
Submitted by Mohammed Atif
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Have you heard about 'NHibernate'?
NHibernate is an Object-relational mapping (ORM) solution for the Microsoft .NET platform: it provides an easy to use framework for mapping an object-oriented domain model to a traditional relational database. Its purpose is to relieve the developer from a significant amount of relational data persistence-related programming tasks.
NHibernate's primary feature is mapping from .NET classes to database tables (and from CLR data types to SQL data types). NHibernate also provides data query and retrieval facilities. NHibernate generates the SQL commands and relieves the developer from manual data set handling and object conversion, keeping the application portable to most SQL databases, with database portability delivered at very little performance overhead.
NHibernate provides transparent persistence for Plain Old CLR Objects (POCOs). The only strict requirement for a persistent class is a no-argument constructor, which does not have to be public. (Proper behavior in some applications also requires special attention to the Equals() and GetHashCode() methods.)
NHibernate is free as open source software that is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
NHibernate's primary feature is mapping from .NET classes to database tables (and from CLR data types to SQL data types). NHibernate also provides data query and retrieval facilities. NHibernate generates the SQL commands and relieves the developer from manual data set handling and object conversion, keeping the application portable to most SQL databases, with database portability delivered at very little performance overhead.
NHibernate provides transparent persistence for Plain Old CLR Objects (POCOs). The only strict requirement for a persistent class is a no-argument constructor, which does not have to be public. (Proper behavior in some applications also requires special attention to the Equals() and GetHashCode() methods.)
NHibernate is free as open source software that is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
What's new in Sql Server 2008 (A string of articles by Irfan AQ)
Table Value Parameters
Another exciting feature of Sql Server 2008 is passing a parameter of table type to a stored procedure or function. Note that it’s parameter of table type, which means that first you have to create the table type and then pass it to the Sproc or function.
Below is a simple example which will create a table type for dventureWorks.HumanResources.Department, and we will create a Sproc which accepts only one parameter of table type and then execute it by passing a variable of new table type:
/* Creating reusable table type */
CREATE TYPE DepartmentType AS TABLE
(
Name VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL,
GroupName VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL
)
GO
/* Creating s Sproc to accept table valued parameter. This will print all the data in the parameter table, but many other operations can also be performed. However, do note that the parameter table cannot be modified */
CREATE PROCEDURE usp_TestTableType
@TableType DepartmentType READONLY
AS
BEGIN
SELECT * FROM @TableType;
END
GO
/* Creating a table variable and inserting four records in it */
DECLARE @TableVariable AS DepartmentType
INSERT INTO @TableVariable (Name, GroupName)
VALUES
('Dept1', 'Group ABC'),
('Dept2', 'Group ABC'),
('Dept3', 'Group XYZ'),
('Dept4', 'Group ABC')
/* Executing stored procedure */
EXEC usp_TestTableType @TableVariable
/* Droping the newly created objects */
DROP PROC usp_TestTableType
DROP TYPE departmenttype
Note that in this Sproc, there are some limitations; first we cannot modify the data in the parameter table henceforth it has to be created as READONLY every time. Secondly, table valued parameters cannot be of output type. Also, these table valued parameters are destroyed as soon as the flow goes out of current scope, therefore, all the insertion or updates on table-valued parameters have to be made in a single batch before passing it to the stored procedure or function.
A good thing is that these table types parameters are not handled in memory. Rather, these are created (materialized) in TEMPDB. This enables us to pass large amount of data as table valued parameters.
Another exciting feature of Sql Server 2008 is passing a parameter of table type to a stored procedure or function. Note that it’s parameter of table type, which means that first you have to create the table type and then pass it to the Sproc or function.
Below is a simple example which will create a table type for dventureWorks.HumanResources.Department, and we will create a Sproc which accepts only one parameter of table type and then execute it by passing a variable of new table type:
/* Creating reusable table type */
CREATE TYPE DepartmentType AS TABLE
(
Name VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL,
GroupName VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL
)
GO
/* Creating s Sproc to accept table valued parameter. This will print all the data in the parameter table, but many other operations can also be performed. However, do note that the parameter table cannot be modified */
CREATE PROCEDURE usp_TestTableType
@TableType DepartmentType READONLY
AS
BEGIN
SELECT * FROM @TableType;
END
GO
/* Creating a table variable and inserting four records in it */
DECLARE @TableVariable AS DepartmentType
INSERT INTO @TableVariable (Name, GroupName)
VALUES
('Dept1', 'Group ABC'),
('Dept2', 'Group ABC'),
('Dept3', 'Group XYZ'),
('Dept4', 'Group ABC')
/* Executing stored procedure */
EXEC usp_TestTableType @TableVariable
/* Droping the newly created objects */
DROP PROC usp_TestTableType
DROP TYPE departmenttype
Note that in this Sproc, there are some limitations; first we cannot modify the data in the parameter table henceforth it has to be created as READONLY every time. Secondly, table valued parameters cannot be of output type. Also, these table valued parameters are destroyed as soon as the flow goes out of current scope, therefore, all the insertion or updates on table-valued parameters have to be made in a single batch before passing it to the stored procedure or function.
A good thing is that these table types parameters are not handled in memory. Rather, these are created (materialized) in TEMPDB. This enables us to pass large amount of data as table valued parameters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
