Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day: 01/25/2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Getting your Fix it Fix – The Fix it for me blog

“Have you ever come across a Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article or been presented with a Windows Error Reporting (WER) solution and asked yourself, why can't Microsoft just fix this for me? Today KB articles and WER solutions provide you with a list of steps that can be followed to resolve your issue. However, tomorrow looks much different and we hope it helps you resolve any issues you have with our products faster and easier.

Our team's purpose is to automate the steps in Microsoft KB articles and Windows Error Reporting (WER) solutions so you can click a button and have the issue resolved.

…”

This looks to be a great source for keeping up with the “Fix it for me” releases.

Doing TFS SDK/API related Projects (or thinking about it)? Then you should get the “Visual Studio 2008 Project Template for TFS Utilities”

Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) Blog - by Neno Loje - Download: Visual Studio 2008 Project Template for TFS Utilities

“If you develop small utilities for Team Foundation Server a lot you might want to save some time and use a project template (see bottom for file attachment) that already comes equipped with the correct references to the Team Foundation Object Model (Microsoft.TeamFoundation.*.dlls) as well as the most important using statements and a few lines of code to get started.

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I saw this post when it came out, meant to blog about it but forgot all about it. And I really could have used this last night… sigh

(via Martin Woodward - Visual Studio 2008 Project Template for TFS Utilities)

WPF Toolkit January 2009 Release is out – DataGrid, DatePicker/Calendar v1’s released and Visual State Manager previewed

CodePlex - WPF Toolkit - January 2009 Release

“…

WPFToolkit_Binaries
application, 673K

WPFToolkit_BinariesAndSource
source code, 725K

…

The WPF Toolkit is a collection of WPF features and components that are being made available outside of the normal .NET Framework ship cycle. The WPF Toolkit not only allows users to get new functionality more quickly, but allows an efficient means for giving feedback to the product team. Many of the features will be released with full source code as well. Over time, some of these features may be moved into the .NET Framework, based on readiness and customer feedback.

This is the January 2009 Release of the WPF Toolkit. The WPF Toolkit January 2009 Release includes:

Fix for the VSM/DatePicker Memory Leak (see archived Known Issue page for more info)

The same components as the October 2008 release, including:

V1 of the WPF DataGrid

V1 of the DatePicker/Calendar

Preview of VisualStateManager (VSM)

You may also be interested in the following resources:
…”

CodePlex - Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Toolkit and Futures Portal

“This project is the portal for accessing the WPF Toolkit and the WPF Futures releases.

Check out the WPF Platform Updates to learn about the new features in the latest Platform release.

New documentation relating to the WPF Toolkit and Futures now available on WindowsClient.net!

The WPF Toolkit is a collection of WPF features and components that are being made available outside of the normal .NET Framework ship cycle. The WPF Toolkit not only allows users to get new functionality more quickly, but allows an efficient means for giving feedback to the product team. Many of the features will be released with full source code as well. The Toolkit Roadmap outlines some of the upcoming features we have planned.

New! January 2009 Release includes fix for DatePicker/VSM Memory Leak

V1 of the DataGrid is now available!

Check out the new DatePicker/Calendar control!

Preview of VisualStateManager (VSM) for WPF included in WPF Toolkit!

WPF Futures includes sample controls and features, many of which are being considered for the Toolkit. Check out the Futures Roadmap to see some of the features we have planned.

Check out the new Client Profile Configuration Designer!

Try the new Southridge sample application and Hands-on-Lab!

WPF Ribbon Preview available on the Office UI Licensing Site!

The Tips & Tricks section contains resources to help you with your WPF application, including:

DataGrid How To's, Samples, and Known Issues

A link to the TestApi library of test and utility APIs” [Project Description Leached in Full]

Last night I finally started my first semi-real WPF project (which also happens to be my first TFS client/SDK project too… in for a penny and all that ;) and so will have a heighten focus on WPF related topics.

On a related note, boy do I feel behind the times. I’m feeling pretty humbled right now, trying to get up to speed on WPF. I mean, wow, I feel even more like lamer than usual… lol.

The good news is that my app runs at least. The bad news it that it is beyond fugly and not WPF’ee at all. Pretty much what you’d expect from a long time WinForm designer (and VB’er since v1 ;). Now to crack the books & blogs and INSERT INTO Greg.Brain SELECT * FROM World.WPF

Friday, January 30, 2009

Getting hit by a Peanut Butter… um… Recall – Seeing the product relationship data via NetMap (NodeXL) and PowerShell

Development in a Blink - PowerShell, Visualize the Peanut Butter Recall Data

“

Over on The Crabby Office Lady site is a post on Excel viewer aids peanut butter recall awareness. The FDA published the Peanut Butter Recall information in Excel.

I downloaded it, saved it as a CSV and used the PowerShell code from Social Networks and Pork Barrel Spending? that wrapped the NetMap (now called NodeXL) visualization control from Microsoft Research.

…”

I thought this was a really cool usage of data visualization, NetMap (now called NodeXL I see) and PowerShell

The quick, simple and easy way to start Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool – Start/Run MRT

less than dot - IT Professionals - Cool Way To Launch The Malicious Software Removal Tool

“There is a cool way to launch the Malicious Software Removal Tool by Microsoft. I was listening to the Security Now 180: Listener Feedback 58 podcast and Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson described a cool way to launch the Malicious Software Removal Tool

Here are both ways
1) Click on Start-->Run enter MRT and hit enter

2) …”

I have SO needed this tip! Every so often I feel the need to scan my different PC’s. I know that the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MRT) runs monthly, still there are times when I want to run it on demand and I always forget how to launch it.

So I end up searching MS Downloads, getting the latest version, downloading and running it. Yeah, I’m a lamer…

Well hopefully with the above info, I can apply a buff to my Lamer attribute, Lamer–1 ;)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Blast from the past – Pictures of a great friend and I when we were in the Army and stationed in South Korea

A great friend and Army buddy, Steve Burleson, whom I’d lost contact with recently hunted me down. We were stationed together in Korea, shared a room in the barracks and hung out way too much…

Here’s some pictures of us he found and posted on his blog (which I’m stealing ;). Now I’m really going to have to hunt down my box of pictures I have from that timeframe.

Damn, we were so young. (You know I think I still have that shirt… :0 )

And yes, kids, those are “records.” You used to have to put them on a “turn table” and put a “needle” on them to get them to play…

LOL. We were just TOO cool for words.

These beards, sent to us by Mom, got us a number of free drinks that night. ;)

Update #1 9/18/2009:

STEVE B 1.tif

New Year’s Eve, 1987…

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Play with IE8 RC1 the safe and easy way – via the Internet Explorer Compatibility Images (VPC VHD)

Microsoft Downloads - Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image

“VPC Hard Disk Image for testing websites with different IE versions on Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista

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Overview

This download page contains four separate VPC images, depending on what you want to test.

IE6-XPSP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE6 VHD file

IE7-XPSP2.exe contains a Windows XP SP2 with IE7 VHD file

IE8RC1-XPSP3.exe contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE8 RC1 VHD file

IE7-VIS1.exe+IE7-VIS2.rar+IE7-VIS3.rar contain a Vista Image with IE7 VHD file.

Note: For The Vista image, you will need all three files, downloaded and in the same directory, then simply run IE7-VIS1.exe.
This VPC image will expire in April 2009.

…”

The easy and safe way to test and pay with IE8 RC1… (and IE6, 7 on XP and 7 on Vista).

I love these images. They have saved me a good bit of time over the years… (of course in a perfect world we’d be able to have IE6,7,8 all installed side-by-side… but let’s not go there today… Though it would be nice if these were available via App-V and App-V were baked into the OS… but let’s not go there either today… ;)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Xceed Free WPF DataGrid Updated (v3.1) – Now with support for XML data sources, Excel export, and data virtualization

via Email;

“Good news! Xceed has just released the most significant upgrade yet to the free Xceed DataGrid for WPF Express Edition. Version 3.1, with new features and enhanced performance, strengthens its position as the most mature and feature-rich datagrid control, second only to Xceed’s own Professional Edition. Compare it with the competition to find out why it is the most adopted WPF control available.

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What’s new in v3.1 Express Edition:

Faster scrolling and ability to handle very large datasets

Column / horizontal scrolling virtualization to handle large numbers of columns

Column auto sizing, last column fill, starrable widths

IDataErrorInfo support

Support for XML data sources

Clipboard / copy support

Support for XML data sources

Fixed columns, programmatically

Alternating row styles

Delete selected rows

The Professional Edition has also been updated to v3.1,…”

Xceed - Xceed Adds Data Virtualization to DataGrid for WPF

“MONTREAL, QC - January 26, 2009 — Xceed today launched version 3.1 of Xceed DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition. New features including asynchronous data virtualization and Excel export have been added to this grid control, designed specifically for Windows Presentation Foundation. A fully functional trial version is available now for download from Xceed’s website.

Version 3.1 of Xceed DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition marks the debut of five features that users of Xceed’s WPF grid control have most requested.

Asynchronous data virtualization has been implemented, which can greatly improve performance and reduce memory usage, particularly when working with large data sources. Furthermore, because the data virtualization is asynchronous, the UI is decoupled from the data source, which ensures that the application remains responsive as data is being retrieved from the data source. Programmers have complete control over the number of records in memory and the size of data blocks through the API.

Excel export lets the datagrid export its content using either the XMLSS or the CSV format. Groups, detail content, and statistical functions (formulas and values) can all be exported using this new feature.

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Xceed - DataGrid for WPF Professional Edition (You can get the Express, the free one, from this page too)

“…

The Express Edition features performance increases, column virtualization, programmatic fixed columns, column auto sizing, IDataErrorInfo support, XML data source support, the ability to insert records into non-IBindingList sources.

Other features have been added to both the Professional Edition and the Express Edition. First, clipboard copy support allows content from the grid to be copied to any other supported application, such as Excel, Word, or Notepad. Content can be sent to the clipboard as HTML or CSV. Second, each theme now provides an alternating row style that can be activated through the TableView class. Third, a delete selected rows command has been added, which can remove rows in master grid, in details, or both. Various other minor fixes have also been applied to both editions.

…”

Always a good day when we get a free WPF DataGrid update… ;)

This post title made me laugh, “I've Left Query Analyzer Hell For LINQPad Heaven”

Aney Adventures Online - I've Left Query Analyzer Hell For LINQPad Heaven

“So now that LINQPad has enabled intellisense SQL Server Management Studio, Query Analyzer, and even Joseph Albahari's (LINQPad creator) own QueryEx have all been zapped from my memory. I'll no longer flounder in antiquated ANSI SQL, but instead flourish in fully typed C#/LINQ code.
That was just my humble plug for LINQPad. I'm sure almost everyone by now is using this incredible tool. Do Joseph and yourself a favor and donate to his cause by purchasing an Autocompletion license. It's like having the lights turned on in a pitch black room. Of course LINQPad gets even more productive when you start adding your own helpers via extension methods and referenced libraries. This was evident in my previous posts about batch updating and deleting (see the Quick Link articles). I'm going to explain a few more helpful extension methods to add to your toolbox to make LINQPad your most used and most productive software tool you use.
…”

Terry’s post title made me laugh, and laughter on a Monday is very welcome. That combined with the great LINQ/LINQPad stuff he’s written, makes my first Cool Thing blog post of the week easy… ;)

While you’re there make sure you also check out Terry’s other LINQ/LINQPad related articles,LINQPad: Preview DELETE and UPDATE SQL before it executes, Batch Updates and Deletes with LINQ to SQL and LINQ to SQL Batch Updates/Deletes: Fix for 'Could not translate expression'

Sunday, January 25, 2009

BITS PowerShell Cmdlets coming in Windows 7 – Making BITS file transfers just a Add-FileTransfer away

Windows Management Infrastructure Blog - Introducing BITS PowerShell Cmdlets!

“The BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) team is happy to announce the release of BITS PowerShell cmdlets in the Windows 7 beta! BITS PowerShell cmdlets combine the richness and usability of PowerShell scripting with the network-awareness and persistence of BITS file transfers. We believe that the addition of BITS cmdlets will make it easier for admins to manage and automate file transfer tasks by providing the following benefits.

For PowerShell admins considering BITS:

Politeness: File transfers can be conducted in the background to preserve the responsiveness of other network apps

Fire-and-forget persistence: BITS automatically tries to resume transfers that have been interrupted by temporary hiccups such as network disconnections or system reboots

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Meet Your Pit Crew

Add-FileTransfer
Adds one or more files to a BITS job.

Get-FileTransfer
Retrieves a list of BITS jobs for the current user. …

Set-FileTransfer

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Suspend-FileTransfer

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Resume-FileTransfer

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Complete-FileTransfer

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Clear-FileTransfer

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Wow, these will make using BITS almost too easy… :)

LINQPad and the Entity Framework

Living in the Tech Avalanche Generation - LinqPad for the Entity Framework.

“I recently purchased the auto completion addon which is a neat tool for LinqPad. Its pretty cheap and certainly aided in my using LINQ Pad as a scratch pad ala Query Analyzer. For example when dealing with my own Repository and Specification libraries for Entity Framework, I can write and fine tune using scratch pad code along with my libraries directly in LINQ Pad. The benefit is I can verify my queries without any debugging in VS.Net. To use my own libraries that contain the Entity Framework code I can reference those libraries as per below:

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I absolutely love the fact that I have a tactile query analyzer(ish) IDE to test my Entity Framework queries prior to writing them in VS.Net and further to that I don’t miss out on using my custom libraries that contain classes such as the Specification<T> or EntitiesRepository<E, C> as demonstrated below.

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If your a LinqPad user you might want to consider buying the LINQPAD auto completion add-on which I get great value out of. I would however love Joseph to make LINQPAD more Entity Framework friendly and provide us the SQL output created by the Entity Framework Provider as it does for LINQ To SQL.

Thanks to Stefan for demonstrating how to use LINQPAD with the Entity Framework in the first instance. Give it a try.”

SCIP.BE - .NET - ADO.NET Entity Framework & LINQ to Entities - deel 2 – LINQPad

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In previous articles I already stated that I really like the free LINQPad tool from Joseph Albahari.

LINQ to SQL - Part 2 (LINQPad)

Execute queries on Office data with LINQPad

LINQPad is a fantastic LINQ expressions testing tool. Originally it was designed to execute LINQ to Objects and LINQ to SQL queries, but it can also be used to execute LINQ to Entities queries.

Just perform the following steps :

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The Entity Framework is on my list of things I need to learn more about. Being able to play with it in LINQPad is officially cool… ;)

(via Shawn Wildermuth - Using LinqPad and Entity Framework Models)

WiX (as seen in VS2010) Documentation CTP – What is WiX, how to use it, and how to extend it.

Microsoft Downloads - Documentation for WiX in Microsoft Visual Studio Team System code name "Rosario" November CTP

“This download contains documentation with information on how to use WiX to create Microsoft Windows Installer-based deployment packages.

File Name: Wix.chm

Version: 1.0

Date Published: 11/27/2007

Language: English

Download Size: 351 KB

This documentation contains information about the version of WiX distributed with Visual Studio Team System code name "Rosario" November CTP. It contains information about:

• What WiX is
• Using WiX on the command line
• Using WiX in Visual Studio
• WiX Schema Reference
• Advanced WiX Usage such as patch building, custom actions, and extensions
• Additional help links and resources

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