Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is available Now!
Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is now available on MSDN for download! With 2010 comes new SKU’s. Microsoft is trying to simplify the layout and features that you can get.
Wpf Scale Transform Behaviour
Although this post is called Scale Transform Behaviour you could use any transform / animation in its place. The purpose is to have a slider control in a menu be able to alter the scale of any number of controls within MVVM views.
Wpf Ninject Dojo: The Data Provider
You have probably heard me go on about Unity a couple of times: My.Unity.Resolve(Of Ninja) Unity and ASP.NET Creating a Data Access layer using Unity I have been using what is now unity since the good old days (sooo not true, WPF is the Windows Forms killer, and good riddance) of WindowsForms and CAB (Client Application Block), but now there is a lightweight alternative: Ninject .
Second blogger from my office
One of my colleagues is facing the maelstrom that is corporate blogjection and has become a geek with a blog . Have a heart as he is a poor under-paid support analyst who hits WAY above his pay grade.
Silverlight 3
Over the past week I have been reading the new book Silverlight 3 Programmer’s Reference from Wrox and I have found it one of the best books on Silverlight I have seen in a good while. It is concise without being boring and it provides a wealth of information on Silverlight 3.
Updating the Command Line Parser
I had previously created a Command Line Parser from Ray Hayes codeproject article Automatic Command Line Parsing in C# . I had adapted it to VB.NET and upgraded it to .NET 3.5 but I recently ran into the problem with wanting a single command prompt application to handle multiple processes and multiple parameters. This would allow you to group all of a particular tasks commands into a single application. With the advent of Power Shell this format is increasingly less relevant, but with the proliferation of Power Shell many people still prefer to use the good old command line.
Wpf Drag & Drop behaviour
A colleague of mine was having a bit of trouble getting drag and drop working in a way that fitted well with the MVVM pattern. This is really quite simple once you have a certain level of understanding of Patterns, but is a complete nightmare if you do not.
The long wait is over
Have you been waiting for a long time for Windows 7 ? Well I have.. I have been able to use Beta 1 and the RC for a good while now, and it surprised me that the Windows 7 Beta 1 was more stable, responsive and cleaner than Vista was after Service Pack 3.
Finding features: Calendar preview
Another nice feature of Outlook 2010 that I like is the Calendar preview: Very effective for seeing quickly wither you can attend :) Technorati Tags: Office
Creating a Data Access layer using Unity
I am always pulling out the Unity assemblies. Maybe it is just because I am lazy, but I really can’t be bothered rolling my own dependency injection and mapping framework!
A perfect match TFS and DLR
I have always been annoyed with the mechanics of the Team Foundation Server check-in policies. I understand the limitations, but having to have a specific policy installed on every developers computer before you can use it is slightly ridicules and practically unmanageable. Why is there not a way to have a single installation that allows you to select any policy you want and have it execute in the desired manor on every client, including web clients?
Log Elmah errors in Team Foundation Server
I am not sure if this is a good idea, but I was bored one day and decided to add a TFS Error Log provider for Elmah . There are 2 ways you can do this. You can create a new WorkItem type and log an error report for each of the errors or you can create one work item for each error type/title. To do this you can create a title that is the combination of error message and application name and then search TFS for an existing work item. If it exists then add the error to it, if it does not then create a work item for that instance. You can use any work item type, and the errors are added as Elmah xml log files.
List all files changed under an Iteration
I was asked by a colleague to provide a list of all files that were changed under a particular iteration. Rather than delving into the data, I made a couple of API calls to TFS to output a text file with the list.
Disable a timer at every level of your ASP.NET control hierarchy
Even though this sounds like a really simple thing, what if you do not know the name of the controls, and you do not want to have to add a bit of code that you, or another may developer may forget to every piece of code with a timer in it. The problem I have is that if you have a DropDownList on the same page as a update panel that updates based on a timer, you get a little interference.
Office 2010 gotcha 2: Visual Studio 2008 Locks
I am having a little problem with Visual Studio 2008 that only started after I had installed Office 2010. I found this interesting post on Visual Studio 2008 Locks or Freezes in ASPX from Rinat Abdullin that was a complete match to the problem I am having.
Office 2010 Install
Now I have uninstalled Office 2007 32bit I am ready to get this 2010 thing going… I am installing on Vista 64, I know, but I cant get Windows 7 in the office yet…
Office 2010 First run
I will need to be quick, I have a dentists appointment (arg!), but I could not leave without at least a peek at Office 2010, so Outlook being my weapon of necessity, that the choice:
Installing Office 2010 gotcha 1
I am installing office 2010, and I ran into my first gotcha! I have a 64 bit computer and I wanted to use the 64bit version of Office, but there is no upgrade option for this, you need to uninstall Office 2007 32bit (the only version there is) and put the 64bit on… Here is the message…
Finding features: Conversations
Hey, well the dentist was fun! And I have had time to install Office 2010 on my wife’s Windows 7 laptop. I will try to put together some of the interesting features…
Twitter with style
I have been using an excellent piece of software for twittering form my Windows Mobile. Twikini has all of the features you would expect, as well as working fantastically with the IPhone like features of Windows Mobile 6.5.
Project Natal available soon
I may be a little late to the game, but this rocks! The current rumours are that this will be available before Christmas and will cost in the region of £121! I for one will be pre-ordering one as soon as I can :)
Upgrading to TFS 2010 Beta 1 and SQL Collation
I have just finished installing TFS 2010 beta 1 and doing an upgrade of out TFS 2008 data. This did not go well… Due to a collation mismatch between my original SQL Server 2005 and my new SQL Server 2008 I received an error when upgrading…
Stuck with Vista?
If, like me, you are stuck with the old and decrepit version of Windows that is Vista SP1 at work then you may be interested in Service Pack 2 which became available on the MS Download site today.
Connecting VS2008 to any TFS2010 Project Collection
Easy peasy, all you need is the full URL from the project collection and you will be able to connect directly to it as if it was a different Team Server. This functionality was added with Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1, so if you don’t have SP1 installed yet you had better get it:
You May Be a Tech Whiz, but Are You Certifiable?
A little fun game from Microsoft to test your knowledge. Going to see if I get on the leader board, but I do not hold out much any hope…
Microsoft MyPhone service available to the public
Microsoft recently opened up there beta of the MyPhone service to the general public. The service syncs your Mobile phone with the web and allows access to your Contacts Calendar tasks, pictures and more.
Solution to connecting to TFS using HTTPS over the Internet from behind ISA
This problem it seams is to do with the way Visual Studio 2010 connects to your TFS server over HTTPS. The default value for “BypassProxyOnLocal” in Visual Studio 2008 was “False”, but it has been changed to “True” for Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1. It should be noted that this is currently a Beta 1 workaround and this behaviour may be updated for Beta 2 and RTM.
Why is the VS2010 iso so small?
The reason is simple, it has no MSDN documentation in it. I for one never install the MSDN documentation and just use the online version and have always found it a pain to have it inside the same installation, but may people find it useful.
Uninstalling Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1
You may think, why is he uninstalling VS2010? Well, apart from proving that it works…And that it plays well with VS2008 I need to remove the pre-beta beta that I have installed.
Unable to connect to TFS using HTTPS over the Internet from behind ISA
I have a number of CodePlex projects that I connect to from work and I have had a problem since 2008 that it does not always send my authentication to the proxy server (ISA). What this manifests as is that I get a popup telling me that “Proxy authentication is required”. The workaround was to connect in offline and then click the connect button and everything invariable works with no additional problems.
