DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by darthobiwan

Html Agility Pack 1.4.0 Released

Sat, 08 May 2010 00:06:41 GMT

After many years Html Agility Pack has a new release. It now includes better support for LINQ queries and has received many bug fixes since 1.3.0.

Fixing Silverlight in Safari

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:52:20 GMT

Safari prohibits Silverlight from doing popup windows/navigation but there is a workaround. This article explains a more automatic way to implement this workaround by dynamically creating HTML elements on the page.

Localize ASP.NET MVC 2 DataAnnotations validation messages

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:30:01 GMT

Living in a country where there are there are three languages being used, almost every application you work on requires some form of localization. In an earlier blog post, I already mentioned ASP.NET MVC 2's DataAnnotations support for doing model validation. Ever since, I was wondering if it would be possible to use resource files or something to do localization of error messages. Here's how!

Dangers of Named Parameters in C# 4.0

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:35:52 GMT

Named Parameters are a convenient new feature introduced to C# allowing for clearer self-documenting code. But there is a danger after use you need to consider.

Testing Record Existence in LINQ to SQL

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:05:22 GMT

A comparison of the different ways you can test to see if a record exists using LINQ to SQL. Very interesting to see the SQL generated for each.

The case for Partial properties

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:13:14 GMT

With the recent advent of "Buddy Classes" are we taking one step forward, two steps back? Why Partial Properties could save you time coding, generate less bloat and simplify complexity.

Dynamically Compiled Lambdas vs. Pure Reflection

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:16:45 GMT

Detailing the performance differences between compiling lambda's and straight reflection. It turns out to not be cut and dry on which way is faster

LINQ to SQL changes in .NET 4.0

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:15:00 GMT

What's fixed and breaking changes for LINQ to SQL in .NET 4.0

Getting Started with VS2010 Extensions

Sun, 24 May 2009 01:50:32 GMT

A quick tutorial on getting a VS2010 Extension project started. Getting around the VS SDK Installation bug and configuring your vsixmanifest file.

Visual Studio Tips and Tricks - II

Sun, 24 May 2009 18:05:01 GMT

Learn how to format your code better in Visual Studio

Learning the Observer Pattern w/ Callbacks

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:06:09 GMT

Taking another look at how we can use the Observer Pattern in our application, but this time we will implement the pattern using call backs and events. The Observer pattern allows you to define a one-to-many relationship inside your application where the parent object (the one) has the ability to notify the child objects (the many) of any state change. You can utilize this pattern to make sure that a set of objects are keep in order when there behavior needs to change based on the state of your application.

WPF Shader Effects for Silverlight

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:14:00 GMT

Silverlight 3 comes with only 2 built in shaders. This article shows and provides nearly all the WPF Shader Pixel Library shaders for Silverlight 3.

Adobe Flex reaches out to .NET developers

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:01:19 GMT

An Adobe partner have today announced a free plug-in to allow .NET developers to write Flex front-ends to their applications entirely within Visual Studio, with full debugging and editing support.

Suspicious DNK Accounts

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:31:29 GMT

Conclusion There is an incentive for publishers that use DNK to setup phony accounts that will help get stories from certain domains on the front page. So guess what happens ... it would appear that a certain number of people are doing this.

C# 4.0 New Features Part 2.1 - default parameter intrigue

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:46:02 GMT

Do default parameters work the way you think they do? Probably Not!

WPF Futures - Silverlight Features for the Desktop

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:34:29 GMT

Some of Silverlights controls and features are bleeding out into WPF. WPF DataGrid, DatePicker/Calendar, VisualStateManager (VSM) and more.

Clipboard History Plug-in for VS 2008

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:31:05 GMT

Take Office's Clipboard History, add in a syntax highlighting history browser and one killer feature. "Paste as {Language}". It will take the C# you copied and Paste it as VB

Silverlight Toolkit Released on CodePlex!

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:46:07 GMT

The Silverlight Toolkit is a collection of Silverlight controls, components and utilities made available outside the normal Silverlight release cycle. It adds new functionality quickly for designers and developers, and provides the community an efficient way to help shape product development by contributing ideas and bug reports. This first release includes full source code, unit tests, samples and documentation for 12 new controls covering charting, styling, layout, and user input.

CLR 4.0 includes the DLR with some limitations

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:27:02 GMT

CLR 4.0 Will help IronPython and IronRuby first class citizens. C# 4.0 will have better interoperability but don't expect LINQ to work.

SubSonic MVC Scaffold Addin

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:46:06 GMT

Scaffold your tables using SubSonic in asp.net mvc

How NOT To Optimize LINQ Statements

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:46:03 GMT

About a month ago I was experimenting with different ways to optimize my LINQ queries against the IdeaPipe database, in order to improve the read times. I wanted to improve the read times because our new Facebook Application was being launched and I anticipated an increase in our traffic to the server, which is used to host IdeaPipe and the Facebook Application component. I quickly realized how now to optimize LINQ statements though.

Building Firefox Plugins using Visual Studio

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:01:01 GMT

If you use Visual studio as a development environment and want to develop plugins for Firefox here are a few points to help you get started.

Google Chrome updated to run Silverlight

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:46:03 GMT

Chrome latest build was released under the Developer chain, an alternative release cycle which let you update to interim builds of Google's Internet Browser, for testing purposes. On this post you will find an early review of the update which truly is an improvement to the beta release, check it out and get yourself switched to the Dev chain.

Developing PHP On Your Visual Studio 2008/2005

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:16:03 GMT

check out this great add on for visual studio which will allow you to develop PHP websites.

Performance gains from Refactoring LINQ

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:32:03 GMT

Creating new objects in a LINQ query represents a powerful paradigm shift for declarative program. It is still a good idea to keep up those good programming practice. This article investigates the effect on performance when refactoring LINQ expressions.