"Life After Death by PowerPoint 2010" or How to NOT do PowerPoint, presented by a standup comedian

Presentation Skills - Life after Death by Powerpoint

"You’ve probably heard the phrase “death by Powerpoint” used lots of times at work. There’s no great secret to how to achieve that. In fact we’ve probably all witnessed it many times in the past!

But why not look on the brighter side of life with Powerpoint?

Don McMillan is a great exponent of the funnier side of Powerpoint and his latest video (below) is absolute proof that there is definitely Life after Death By Powerpoint!

..."

Some funny stuff... and very valuable. Given the format, maybe your boss will even thank you for the laughs (and maybe you won't even have to "hint hint" too hard... ;)

WSSX 4 U... Visual Studio Project Template for creating *.wssx packages (Think "Windows Home Server 2011/SBS 2011 Essentials/Storage Server 2011 Add-in Packages")

Visual Studio Gallery - Windows Server Solutions Add-In Package

"Windows Server Solutions Add-In Package Project (*.wssx) for Visual Studio 2010

Adds support to Visual Studio 2010 for *.wssx cabinet files required to distribute Windows Server Solutions SDK Add-Ins for Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

• Complete Visual Studio 2010 project type that fully automates creating *.wssx files
• Full makecab automation
• Full MSBuild support and integration points
• Automatic packaging of project reference outputs and content items
• Post-package signing support
• Includes templates for required Add-In metadata files

Getting Started

..."

Haven't seen much on extending WHS/SBSE 2011 nor creating wssx files and so thought this interesting...

Tag, you're it! Visual Studio File Tagging Extension (Think alternate/supplemental way to organize your files)

Visual Studio Gallery - VsTagExplorer

"Don’t you just hate that you have to view the files in your solution the Visual Studio way? Now you can you start viewing your files in a much more
useful way! Start tagging your files in few easy steps!

Right click in your solution explorer, set the tags for each file, and then start navigating by tags from the Tag Explorer! (go to view -> other windows -> tag explorer)

..."

CodePlex - Visual Studio Tags

A Visual Studio extension for tagging your source code files, and then explore your files using the tags.

...

..."

I've thinking about writing this up in more detail on a future C4F Blog post, but there's stuff in front and thought this kind of cool, so in the mean time... :P

You had me at "SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1" (Environment variable to tell Device Manager to really show them all)

robmiles.com - Using the Proper Kinect USB Drivers

"I’ve been playing with the Microsoft Kinect SDK and I really like it. The speed with which it snaps on to people and tracks them is really impressive. However, I did have one bit of fun and games when I installed it. Like loads of other people I’ve been using other drivers with the hardware and although some of these have uninstall behaviours they don’t always get rid of the device drivers themselves. This can lead to problems when you try to install the “proper” drivers and the old ones load up and get in the way. So, to get rid of the Kinect drivers you can do this before you install the Microsoft Kinect SDK. First perform the uninstall on all the previous drivers. Now you need to get rid of anything left lying around:

Open up a new command prompt running in Admin mode. The best way to do this is to click the Start button, type CMD into the search box and then hold down CTRL+SHIFT and press Enter. If you get this right you will be rewarded with a User Account Control dialogue box warning you that you are about to do something vaguely dangerous. Click OK.

Now, in the command box give the command:

..." [GD: Click through for the rest... Didn't want to leach all his traffic, etc]

I've known about Device Manager's "Show hidden devices" for forever, but not that environment variable. On my Win7 x64 box that variable makes a huge difference in the devices shown...

Before (even with Show Hidden Enabled):

After:

See what I mean? Wow...

Inside baseball... well... inside MessageBox formatting, a story about a feature many/most/all WinDev's use...

The Old New Thing - Why doesn't my MessageBox wrap at the right location?

A customer reported that the MessageBox function was wrapping text "at the wrong location."

Our program displays a message with theMessageBox function, and we use the '\n' character to force line breaks at positions we choose. But we've found that starting in Windows Vista, the line breaks we placed are not working. The MessageBox function is inserting its own line breaks, which interferes with our custom text layout. It used to be that the width of the message box would expand to fit the longest line in the message.

The MessageBox function is one of those "leave the driving to us" type of functions. You give it a string to display, select which buttons you want, and sit back and relax while the MessageBox function does the work. The trade-off for the simplicity is that you also lose control over the experience. The MessageBox function decides where to place the dialog and how big to make it, which in turn determines where the line breaks go.

The algorithm used by MessageBox to determine the size of the message box has changed many times over the lifetime of Windows. ..."

I dig these kinds of "inside baseball" stories about Windows API/features we've all likely used, and been abused by, over the years.

A couple SQL Server ColumnStore references...

The new ColumnStore feature coming in SQL Server Denali looks very interesting and possibly officially awesome, but it's also something that's going to take long time SQL Server'ers a but to wrap our heads around. To get started on that, here's a couple related references. It's not much, but every journey begins with a first step...

SQLTune - What is a columnstore index?

"Upcoming SQL Product, introduces a new data warehouse query acceleration feature based on a new type of index called columnstore. Before we move any further exploring this new feature, I want to take time to explain the basics behind a columnstore index and how different is it from a traditional index (rowstore).

What is columnstore? And what is a rowstore?

To understand this, lets see a simple illustration below. Here I have a table with 4 columns (First name, Email, Phone, Street Address) . Below is a representation of how the index data will be stored and their associated pros and cons.

..."

TechNet Wiki - TechNet Articles - SQL Server Columnstore Index FAQ

The SQL Server columnstore index feature speeds up data warehouse query processing, in many cases by a factor of 10 to 100. We'll be posting answers to frequently asked questions here.

Overview
What is Project Apollo?

Apollo is the code name for new functionality that will be available in SQL Server code-named “Denali,” that will substantially accelerate common data warehouse queries. Apollo introduces two new features: a columnstore index and a new query execution mode that processes data in batches.

What is a column store?

...

What is a columnstore index?

...

What do I have to do to use Apollo?

...

Is Apollo in CTP 1? When can I try it?

No, Apollo is not available in CTP 1. Apollo will be available in CTP 3 and in the final released product."

A quick guide to SpecFlow, WatiN in a ASP.Net MVC world by Steven Smith

Steven Smith - Everything You Need to Get Started with SpecFlow and WatiN

I’m adding SpecFlow to an application I’m working on so that I can add some acceptance tests that actually exercise the user interface. I’ve only spent a couple of hours on it thus far, but I have it working with a single specification running through the tests via WatiN. I found the following resources helpful as I was going through this exercise:

• ...

I’m assuming that you’re just interested in getting up to speed with SpecFlow for acceptance testing and that you don’t want to waste any time on hidden gotchas or visiting all of the above URLs just to figure out what you actually need. Let me just give you the Stuff You Need To Know™.

Installing SpecFlow

...

Testing ASP.NET MVC with WATIN

...

Automation and Reporting

...

Summary

There’s not a whole lot to getting SpecFlow and WatiN working with your ASP.NET (MVC) application. There are a few hidden gotchas that I’ve tried to cover in this post. Hopefully this will provide all of the resources you need. If there’s something missing, please let me know and I will provide an update to address the issue. The nice thing about the final HTML report you get is that you can sit down with the customer or project stakeholder and create all of the major features and many of the known scenarios prior to an iteration or release cycle, and then provide regular updates showing progress being made on a feature-by-feature (and scenario-by-scenario) level. Assuming the documented executable specifications accurately reflect the customer’s needs, these acceptance tests provide a common definition of what “done” is for the project, reducing the frequency of the team delivering incomplete or incorrect features."

I've heard a bit about SpecFlow and like the idea behind it. I don't think I've seen a good soup-to-nuts getting started guide like this before...

Teachers, would you like to help Microsoft pilot a new XNA Game Development course (and get free stuff in the process)?

Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information from Alfred Thompson - Would You Like to Pilot a New Game Development Course?

"Would you like to pilot a new game development course (or two) in your school? With free curriculum and software? Microsoft is starting a new XNA online community group and curriculum pilot program that features:

• Free software
• Free teacher-created curriculum
• Two one semester courses

Here are the descriptions of the two courses.

Programming with C# and XNA 1: Advanced Applications in Game Development (1 semester)

...

Programming with C# and XNA 2: Windows Phone 7 and the Imagine Cup (1 semester)

..."

Free is always attractive and given many education budgets, even more so now...

"Build Secure Database Applications with Microsoft SQL Server" Series To Be - Post 0 of X

Data Otaku -Build Secure Database Applications with Microsoft SQL Server

"...

1. Databases are prime targets because they are foundational to many applications and are the principle stores of sensitive data.
2. Responsibility for the protection of our databases is distributed between multiple groups. While an optimist might see this as providing multiple layers of protection, I'm concerned that without one group or individual having overarching responsibility, there tend to be significant gaps in security policies and procedures.

With this in mind, I am speaking with folks about ways they can improve the security of their database applications built upon Microsoft SQL Server. My objectives are to:

1. Improve awareness of features and practices that can be used to make SQL Server databases tougher targets, and
2. Encourage folks to engage in dialogs within their organizations about database security to ensure gaps are identified and addressed.

In order to engage a broader audience, I am providing much of this information here as a series of blog posts organized around the high-level practices that should be employed. As entries are posted, I'll convert each of these practices into links to make accessing of this information a bit easier:

• Harden the database server
• Control network communications
• Limit access to database services
• Assign minimal permissions
• Encrypt your data
• Defend against common exploits
• Monitor and enforce policies

Before jumping into specific topics, it's important to note that Microsoft provides guidance on meeting specific security standards. Here are links to the ones of which I am aware. ..."

This looks like an interesting series to watch... In looking at the topic list, it seems like all we've heard or already "know," but the "know" is very different than the "do." If you use SQL Server, from any side of any fence, this looks to be an informative series (and call to action.)

[Zombie, Humor] - US Army Zombie Combat Command & FM 999-3 (Counter-Zombie Operations at the Fireteam Level)

Wired - Danger Room - Army Gets How-To Guide for Zombie Invasion

"One day in the not-too-distant future, a mindless horde of cannibalistic killing machines will come shambling through the streets of America. And when that day comes, the U.S. Army will be on it faster than you can scream “BRAAIIIINNSS!”

Lucky for us, the Army Zombie Combat Command has put together a nifty manual on how to identify, fight, and kill those murderous mobs of the undead. Soldiers can now add the FM 999-3 Counter-Zombie Operations at the Fireteam Level to their arsenal – “the primary doctrinal reference on conducting fire team sized infantry operations in a Zombie infested environment in the United States.”

And as far as we know, this is the only (non) arm of the service that “guarantees the survival of the United States in the event of any Zombie emergency.”

..."

Army Zombie Combat Command

Army Zombie Combat Command - Field Manuals

Here you will find publications made by the Army Zombie Combat Command. It is to be read by every soldier in the United States Army.

..."

Army Zombie Combat Command - PX

A FM for fighting zombies... awesome. And the 999 being 666 upside down? :P

NOTE: If you haven't guessed yet, this isn't really a US Army project, unit, site, etc, but I thought it cool/funny/interesting none the less...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Centers for Disease Control (US CDC) provides Zombie Apocalypse 101 Survival Tips (really...) - And Zombie badges too!
Zombie attacks catching you unaware and getting you down? “Record Zombie Attacks - Home CCTV DVR Solution”

Visio Template Bonanza

The Road to Know Where - Microsoft Releases 20 Free Visio 2010 Templates & Diagrams

"Microsoft has released twenty (20) free Visio 2010 Templates & Diagrams

...

..."

So I'm reading through Blake's list, "work... work... IT stuff... bla... bla... bla.. Comic... bla... bla... What was that? Comic Template?"

Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft Visio 2010: Office Comics Template

"This Visio 2010 template diagram includes the customized shapes and stencil the author uses to create new versions of the recurring comic.

...

The Office Offline Comic template was created by David Salaguinto, who is a writer and a cartoonist for Microsoft. This template diagram includes the customized shapes and stencil David uses to create new versions of the recurring comic. Also included is a sample cartoon page layout. This template is intended for anyone who has an interest in seeing how Visio can be used to create a cartoon or to use as a way to storyboard or graphically relay a story or dialog.Publisher- Microsoft

..."

Comic template for Visio.. Shiny!

Automated License Header Extension for Visual Studio (define the license once, let VS auto-magically add it to new files...)

Visual Studio Gallery - License Header Manager for Visual Studio

New files will automatically include the license headers defined in the current project.
License Header Manager allows you to:

• Define license headers per Visual Studio project and per file extension
• Share license headers between projects via "Add as Link"
• Add, remove and replace headers at any time for one or all files
• Put your license headers in #regions

...

..."

CodePlex - License Header Manager for Visual Studio - License Header Definitions

The actual license headers are defined in .licenseheader files. You can add such a file to you project by right-clicking on the project in the solution explorer and selecting Add New License Header Definition File To Project in the License Headers sub menu. You can also add an existing file which can be useful if you want to share your license header definitions between projects.

The structure of the file is quite simple:

It starts with the keyword extensions: followed by a list of file extensions (separated by whitespaces). Everything below this line until the next line starting with extensions: will be inserted into the files with the given extensions.

..."

I dig that;

a) Source is available

b) You can define the header project by project

c) The license header settings can be checked into source control and also easily shared

Mercurial Cheat Sheet

SADev (Robert MacLean) - Mercurial Cheat Sheet

"I am a fan of ALM (application lifecycle management) and an awesome source control tool is Mercurial. It has plugins for VS, Windows (Tortoise HG) and a command line. I use the command line a lot but can’t remember all the commands so below you can find an easy cheat sheet for all the Mercurial commands:

...

..."

I thought this an interesting cheat sheet layout...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Different POV's of DVCS

CodePlex expands source control options with distributed version control support (DVCS) via native Mercurial support

Getting Visual Studio to Get GIT
Get GIT – The “Getting Started with Git” DZone Refcardz

Paris Panorama Photosynth - Browsing the U.S. Military Aircraft Corral via Photosynth

Defense Tech - Paris Panorama: U.S. Military Aircraft Corral

“Check out this panorama I made of the U.S. military aircraft on display at this year’s Paris Air Show. From right to left you’ll clearly see a C-130J Super Hercules, an F-16C out of Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, an F-15E Strike Eagle, a new Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom and a C-5 Galaxy. And no, it’s not a U.S. bird but I had to capture Airbus’ A400M Grizzly airlfter (with the A380 behind it). …

…”

I thought it neat how Photosynth was used, just how transparent it was and how much it added to the viewing experience…

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Create cool as ICE panoramas with the updated Image Composite Editor – v1.3.3 includes x32/64 versions, multiple CPU support, Photosynth, gigapixel panoramas and more…
Photosynth now available for me and you – Not only can you get the app, but also 20GB free to host your synths too!

[Humor] Ultimate Kinect Hack

Kinect Self-Awareness Hack

In four letters, LMAO…

(via MAKE: - What Will Happen if You Use the Microsoft Kinect SDK)

“Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide” v3.6 released - 241 articles, 51 updates/additions, 253 pages, all free.

ALM and Beyond - Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide

“This version of the quick reference guide QRG is a PDF file with a total of 241 articles (51 of these are either new or updated from version 3.5) that are all meant to provide quick information about various aspects of performance testing with Visual Studio. Here is a list of categories that these articles pertain to:

…”

Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide -

“Welcome to the Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide Community Site! The purpose of this project is to build some insightful and practical guidance around Visual Studio Team Test.

What is in the package?

• How It Works
• Items new to VSTT 2010
• Configurations and Settings
• Networks, IP Spoofing, Test Startups
• Performance Counters and Data
• Performance Counter Considerations on Rigs with slow links
• Data and Results
• Errors and Known Issues
• Troubleshooting
• Extensibility
• Items not specific to the VSTS testing platform

…”

Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide - VS Performance Testing Quick Reference V3.6

Here’s the TOC (Yeah, I know, wow! New and Updated items in bold)

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR 10

HOW IT WORKS 11
How Web Tests Handle HTTP Headers 11
General Info (including order of execution) of load and web test plugins and rules 11
Client Code does not execute because Web Tests Work at the HTTP Layer 14
When is the "Run unit tests in application domain" needed? 14
How the "Test Iterations" Setting impacts the total number of tests executed 14
Test timeout setting for load test configuration does not affect web tests 15
How user pacing and "Think Time Between Test Iterations" work 15
Load test warmup and cool down behaviors 15
What is the difference between Unique, Sequential and Random Data Sources 16
Simulation of Browser Caching during load tests 17
Comparing new users to return users 18
How cache settings can affect your testing and app performance 20
Goal based user behavior after the test finishes the warmup period 22
Threading models in Unit tests under load 23
The difference between Load Test Errors and Error Details 24
How parameterization of HIDDEN Fields works in a webtest 25
Testing execution order in Unit Tests 27
How machines in the test rig communicate 29
How a Load Test Plugin is executed on a test rig 30
Sharing State across agents in a load test rig is not supported out of the box 31
--NEW--Order of execution of components in a webtest 32
--NEW--401 Access Denied responses and "Requests per second" measurements 44
--UPDATED-- File Downloads, Download Size and Storage of files during Web Tests 45
--NEW-- Info on how VS records and generates web tests. 46
--NEW--IE9 and other browser emulation in VS2010 46

ITEMS NEW TO VS 2010 48
"Find" feature now available in Webtest playback UI 48
"Go To Web Test" feature now available in Webtest playback UI 49
Recorder Log Available 50
Add extraction rule directly from the playback UI 51
New "Reporting Name" property for web requests 52
LoadTestResultsTables now differentiate between GET and POST requests 53
--UPDATED-- Virtual user visualization now available 54
New Excel reporting features built into load test results 60
New Load Test and Load Test Rig Licensing and configurations 61
New test mix: "Sequential Test Mix" 65
Query String and FORM POST URLs get parameterized 67
New options on Load Test Scenarios 68
Loops and Conditionals 69
Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide Page 5
--NEW--Load test distributions/Network emulation 71
--NEW--SilverLight recording info 71
--NEW--Unlimited agent licenses for certain MSDN subscribers 71

CONFIGURATIONS AND SETTINGS 72
How to Change the Location Where Agents Store Run Files 72
How to set a proxy server for web tests 72
How to configure Web Tests so Fiddler can capture playback info 72
Controlling the amount of memory that the SQL Server Results machine consumes 73
How to configure the timeouts for deployment of load tests to agents 73
How to set the number of Load Test Errors and Error Details saved 74
Multi-proc boxes used as agents should have .NET garbage collection set to server mode 75
Location of list of all agents available to a controller 75
--NEW--Setting the Agents to run in 64 bit mode 76
--NEW--Managing Test Controllers and Agents from VS *AND* from Lab Center 76

NETWORKS, IP SWITCHING, TEST STARTUPS 77
IP Address Switching anatomy (how it works) 77
Gotcha: IP Address Switching is ONLY for WEB TESTS 77
Gotcha: IP Addresses used for switching are not permanent 77
How to Setup IP Switching 78
Startup: Slowness Restarting a Test Rig with Agents Marked as "Offline" 81
Startup: Multiple Network Cards can cause tests in a rig to not start 81
Startup: Slow startup can be caused by _NT_SYMBOL_PATH environment variable 82
Startup: tests on a Rig with Agents on a Slow Link 82 --NEW-- Startup: tests on a Rig with several Agents 82
"Not Bound" Exception when using IP Switching is not really an error 82
How to configure the timeout for deployment of load tests to agents 84
Customizing and extending the available network emulation settings 85
--NEW--Socket Exception: "An operation on a socket could not be performed because…" 87
--NEW--Failed scenarios when client is in a non-trusted domain 87

PERFORMANCE COUNTERS AND DATA 90
Customizing the Available Microsoft System Monitor counter sets 90
Performance Counter Considerations on Rigs with slow links 92
Increase the performance counter sampling interval for longer tests 93
Changing the default counters shown in the graphs during testing 93
Possible method for fixing "missing perfmon counters" issues 93
How and where Performance data gets collected 94
--NEW-- How to remove Controller and Agent countersets 95
--NEW-- Controller and Agent countersets show up in test even after removing them 96

DATA AND RESULTS 98
Custom Data Binding in UNIT Tests 98
Verifying saved results when a test hangs in the "In Progress" state after the test has finished 98
The metrics during and after a test differ from the results seen. 99
How new users and return users affect caching numbers 100
Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide Page 6
data sources for data driven tests get read only once 101
Consider including Timing Details to collect percentile data 102
Consider enabling SQL Tracing through the Load Test instead of separately 103
How to collect SQL counters from a non-default SQL instance 103
How 90% and 95% response times are calculated 103
Transaction Avg. Response Time vs. Request Avg. Response Time 104
Considerations for the location of the Load Test Results Store 104
--UPDATED-- Set the recovery model for the database to simple 104
How to clean up results data from runs that did not complete 105
InstanceName field in results database are appended with (002), (003), etc. 105
Layout for VS Load Test Results Store 105
How to view Test Results from the GUI 106
SQL Server Reporting Services Reports available for download 106
How to move results data to another system 106
Load Test Results without SQL NOT stored 107
Unable to EXPORT from Load Test Repository 107
Web Test TRX file and the NAN (Not a Number) Page Time entry 108
Proper understanding of TRX files and Test Results directory 109
Understanding the Response Size reported in web test runs 110

ERRORS AND KNOWN ISSUES 111
--UPDATED-- CSV files created in VS will not work as data sources 111
Incorrect SQL field type can cause errors in web tests 112
Leading zeroes dropped from datasource values bound to a CSV file 112
--UPDATED-- Recorded Think Times and paused web test recordings 112
After opening a webtest with the VS XML Editor, it will not open in declarative mode. 113
Calls to HTTPS://Urs.Microsoft.Com show up in your script 113
Possible DESKTOP HEAP errors when driving command line unit tests 113
Goal based load tests in VS 2008 do not work after applying SP1 114
Using Named Transactions in a Goal-Based Load Profile can cause errors 114
Debugging Errors in Load Tests 115
Debugging OutOfMemory Exceptions in Load Tests 115
Memory leak on load test when using HTTPS 115
"Not Trusted" error when starting a load test 116
Detail Logging may cause "Out of disk space" error 117
Error details and stack traces no longer available in VS 2010 117
VS does not appear to be using more than one processor 117
Changes made to Web Test Plugins may not show up properly 117
--UPDATED-- Socket errors or "Service Unavailable" errors when running a load test 118
Error "Failed to load results from the load test results store" 119
Hidden Field extraction rules do not handle some fields 119
Test results iteration count may be higher than the max test iterations set 119
In flight test iterations may not get reported 120
Completion of Unit Test causes spawned CMD processes to terminate 120
Bug with LoadProfile.Copy() method when used in custom goal based load tests 121
Errors in dependent requests in a Load Test do not show up in the details test log 122
Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide Page 7
WCF service load test gets time-outs after 10 requests 124
Loadtestitemresults.dat size runs into GBs 124
Content-Length=0 Header not sent resulting in HTTP 411 Length Required Error 125
Error that test could not run because the network emulation is required 126
Error/Crash in "Open and Manage Load Test Results" dialog 126
Calls to CaptchaGenerator.aspx fail during playback 127
Request failure with improperly encoded query strings calling SharePoint 2010 127
Network Emulation does not work in any mode other than LAN 127
Error that Browser Extensions are disabled when recording a web test 128
Error: Request failed: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 129
MaxConnection value in App.Config is not honored when running a load test 129
--NEW-- Cannot change the "Content-Type" header value in a webtest 129
--NEW-- VS does not expose a method for removing specific cookies from requests. 130
--NEW-- File Upload" feature in VS does not allow you to use a stream to send file 130
--NEW--Unit tests that consume assemblies requiring MTA will fail with default test settings 130
--NEW--MSTest tests that consume assemblies requiring MTA will fail with default test settings 130
--NEW--Load Test Agent Error "Failed to open the Visual Studio v10.0 registry key" 131
--NEW--"Agent to use" property of a Load Test not acting as expected 131
--NEW--Fiddler 2 not seeing application traffic 132
--NEW--BUG: Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.WebStress.LoadTestResultsCollector 132
--NEW--ASP.NET Profiling sometimes does not report after a run. 133
--NEW--System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast COM object 133
--NEW-- Assembly could not be loaded and will be ignored. 134
--NEW--Issue with webtest login when getting 307 Temporary Redirect 134
--NEW--Data bound validation rule fails when set at the TEST level 135
--NEW--"Could not read result repository" 136
--NEW--Page response time counters disappear after test is completed 136
--NEW--WebTestContext.Clear() not clearing cookies 137
--NEW--SQL Tracing error "Could not stop SQL tracing" 137
--NEW--LoadTestCounterCategoryNotFoundException 138

IN DEPTH BLOG POSTS ON DEBUGGING AND TROUBLESHOOTING 140
Web Test Authoring and Debugging Techniques 140
Troubleshooting Network Emulation 159
Troubleshooting Guide for Visual Studio Test Controller and Agent 163
Best Practice: Understanding the ROI for test automation 176
Best Practice: Blog on various considerations for web tests running under load 176
User Account requirements and how to troubleshoot authentication 177

TROUBLESHOOTING 178
How to enable logging for test recording 178
--UPDATED-- Diagnosing and fixing Web Test recorder bar issues 178
How to enable Verbose Logging on an agent for troubleshooting 180
Troubleshooting invalid view state and failed event validation 180
Troubleshooting the VS Load Testing IP Switching Feature 182
--NEW--Performance Counters in .NET 4.0 help with analysis of Agent machines 183

HOW TO, GOTCHAS AND BEST PRACTICES 184
How to call one coded web test from another 184
How to use methods other than GET and POST in a web test 184
How to filter out certain dependent requests 184
How to handle ASP.NET Cookie-less Sessions 185
How to use Client-side certificates in web tests 185
How to remove the "If-Modified-Since" header from dependent requests 186
How to handle custom data binding in web tests 186
How to add a datasource value to a context parameter 186
How to test Web Services with Unit Tests 187
How to add random users to web tests 187
How to add think time to a Unit Test 187
How to add details of a validation rule to your web test 188
How to mask a 404 error on a dependent request 189
How to parameterize Web Service calls within Web Tests 190
How to pass Load Test Context Parameters to Unit Tests 190
How to create Global Variables in a Unit Test 190
How to use Unit Tests to Drive Load with Command Line Apps 191
How to add Console Output to the results store when running Unit tests under load 191
How to add parameters to Load Tests 192
How to Change the Standard Deviation for a NormalDistribution ThinkTime 192
How to programmatically access the number of users in Load Tests 193
How to create a webtest plugin that will only execute on a predefined interval 193
How to support Context Parameters in a plug-in property 194
How to stop a web test in the middle of execution 195
How To: Modify the ServicePointManager to force SSLv3 instead of TLS (Default) 195
How To: Stop a Test in the PreRequest event 196
How to make a validation rule force a redirection to a new page 196
How to add a Web Service reference in a test project - testing services in Unit Tests 200
How to remotely count connections to a process 202
How to hook into LoadTest database upon completion of a load test 202
How to deploy DLLs with MSTEST.EXE 203
How to authenticate with proxy before the test iteration begins 204
How to enumerate WebTextContext and Unit TestContext objects 205
How to manually move the data cursor 205
How to programmatically create a declarative web test 206
How to modify the string body programmatically in a declarative web test 207
How to Add Agents To A Test Rig 207
How to Change the Default Port for Agent-Controller Communication 207
How to create guaranteed unique user IDs for UNIT tests 208
How to create a sync point for starting load tests 210
How to set default extensions that the WebTest recorder will ignore 210
How to get the LoadTestRunId from a load test 210
--NEW--How To: Add comments to a web recording where IE is in KIOSK mode 211
--NEW--How to access a data source before it is bound to an object 212
--NEW--How to store and view transaction times for Unit and Coded UI tests 213
--UPDATED--HOW TO: Handle 404 errors in dependent requests so the main request does not fail. 214
--NEW--HOW TO: Minimize the amount of data a webtest retains for Response Bodies 215
--NEW--HOW TO: Schedule tests to execute 215
--NEW--HOW TO: NOT send an "accept-language" in webtests 216
--NEW--How to upload a file in a Web test 217
Gotcha: Check Your Validation Level in the Load Test Run Settings 223
Gotcha: Do not adjust goals too quickly in your code 223
Gotcha: Response body capture limit is set to 1.5 MB by default 224
Gotcha: Caching of dependent requests is disabled when playing back Web Tests 224
Gotcha: VS 2008 and out of memory 224
Gotcha: Timeout attribute in coded web test does not work during a load test 224
--NEW--Gotcha: Cannot programmatically set .counterset mappings at runtime 225
Best Practice: considerations when creating a dynamic goal based load test plugin: 225
Best Practice: Coded web tests and web test plug-ins should not block threads 225
Best Practice: Add an Analysis Comment 226

EXTENSIBILITY 226
New Inner-text and Select-tag rules published on Codeplex 226
How to Add Custom Tabs to the Playback UI 228
How to extend recorder functionality with plugins 235

ITEMS NOT SPECIFIC TO THE VS TESTING PLATFORM 243
Stand-Alone Network Emulation and CodePlex 243
Using the VS Application Profiler 244
VS 2008 Application Profiler New Features 244
Using System.NET Tracing to debug Network issues 244
Logparser tips and tricks 245
Logparser WEB Queries 245
LogParser Non-Web Queries 246
--NEW--Keyboard shortcut for adding "USING" statements automatically 247

OLDER ARTICLES 248
Content-Length header not available in Web Request Object 248
SharePoint file upload test may post the file twice 248
Some Hidden Fields are not parameterized within AJAX calls 248
(FIX) Unit Test threading models and changing them 248
Bug in VS 2008 SP1 causes think time for redirected requests to be ignored in a load test 249
New Load Test Plugin Enhancements in VS 2008 SP1 249
Four New Methods added to the WebTestPlugin Class for 2008 SP1 249

INDEX 250

‘nuff said?

Visual Studio ALM Rangers release both VS Lab Management and Build Customization Guidance (Doc’s, code, hands-on labs, videos and posters too)

Willy's Cave - We have shipped … Visual Studio Build Customization Guidance

“This morning, we published the RTM release of Rangers Build Customization Guide on Codeplex. Kudos to the team for one of our top strategic projects in FY11.

Please help us spread the news by actively blogging about this project. Use this email as a starting point or refer to the Rangers blog or the project table of content blog post.

Project Description

This Visual Studio ALM Ranger project has the primary goal of delivering scenario based and hands-on lab guidance for the customization and deployment of Team Foundation Build 2010 activities such as versioning, code signing, and branching.

What is in the downloads?

• Guidance contains scenario based practical guidance, frequently asked questions and quick reference posters
  - Selected PDF contains guidance and quick reference posters in PDF format only.
  - Complete contains guidance, quick reference posters and localization files in all available formats.
• Hands-on Labs (HOL) includes:
  - HOL documents that provide walkthroughs of the technology, based on the guidance
  - HOL Package contains a HOL environment setup package allowing you to setup the HOL environment in your own environment
  - BRDLite Build Process Reference Template walk-through.
• Samples contains sample build process templates used by the team as part of the guidance.
• Videos which showcase the guidance in quick 5-10min videos.

The Epics included in the guidance are:

• Practical guidance and tooling to simplify the customization of Team Foundation Build
• Practical guidance to use Team Foundation Build process templates to automate build and non-build scenarios in Microsoft environments
• Practical guidance to enable simple and flexible deployment of applications and their data stores
• Practical guidance for Activities to empower developers and build engineers
• Quality hands-on labs that complement the guidance and effectively guide the user through the features
• Visualization of the guidance using quick reference posters

…”

Willy's Cave - We have shipped … Visual Studio Lab Management Guidance

“It is finally there! This morning, we published the RTM release of Rangers Lab Management Guide on Codeplex. Kudos to the team for our largest FY11 project and one of our top strategic investments for this year.

Please help us spread the new by actively blogging about it. Use this email as a starting point or refer to the Rangers blog or the project table of content blog post.

Project Description

This Visual Studio ALM Ranger project has the primary goal of delivering scenario based and hands-on guidance for the planning, setup, configuration and usage of Visual Studio Lab Management, backed by custom VM Template automation for reference environments.

Bookmark the Visual Studio Lab Management Guidance TOC blog and monitor the Visual Studio ALM Rangers blog, using tag tfslm, for the latest information on this project.

The Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server 2010 VM Factory project is a companion solution, which is focused on the Virtual Machine (VM) Factory, used by and referred to by this guidance.

The following Epics summarize the scope of the guidance which is designed for professional deployment of Lab Management in production environments.

• Visualisation of the guidance using quick reference posters
• Advanced golden image management using the VM Factory for Lab Management
• Provide guidance on setting up Test environments with respect to pre-defined personas
• Provide Guidance to enable large and small teams to setup and configure both automated and manual tests
• Provide practical guidance for managing and maintaining a Lab Management environment
• Provide practical guidance to enable teams to quickly setup and configure their lab management environment

…”

You’ve all probably already seen this news, but since my blog is as much a personal full text searchable remote memory store as it’s a blog, I want to capture the details (i.e. so in six months I’ll be able to find it again… :)

(via The Morning Brew - The Morning Brew #876)

Many Office ribbon Favorites, one place. Add a Favorites tab, already populated with commonly used items, to all your Office 2010 app’s ribbons…

The Productivity Hub - Add popular commands to your Office 2010 ribbons

“The Office team has compiled customers' favorite commands across all Office 2010 applications, which you can download to add as a Favorites tab in Access, Excel, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, Visio, and Word.

For example, the Favorites tab in Word puts Save, Send, Properties, Spelling & Grammar, Quick Print, Word Options and other frequently used commands a single click away:

…”

Microsoft Office - Download free customized ribbons

Applies to: Microsoft Access 2010, Excel 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Publisher 2010, Word 2010

You can download free customized ribbons for Microsoft Office 2010 that can help you be more productive. These ribbons have a new, custom tab named Favorites. The Favorites tab was created by using customer feedback on the commands used most frequently in Microsoft Office programs. You can use these customized ribbons as is or as a starting point to personalize the ribbon the way that you want it.

If after trying these customized ribbons, you decide that you would rather not use them, you can easily go back to the default ribbon or hide the custom tab. For more information about doing this, see the “Reset the ribbon” or the “Hide a tab” section in the Customize the ribbon article.

You can also customize the tab by renaming the tab or groups or changing the order of the commands or groups. For more information about these options, see the Customize the ribbon article or watch the videos in the Video: Customize the ribbon article.

…

…”

I’ve seen the Favorites for a few of the Office 2010 Apps, but not all of them, not like this, that is until today. Downloading Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook now… :)

Windows Phone 7 Icons.. Before you search the web, check your hard drive

Benjamin Day Consulting, Inc.: The Blog - List of standard icons for Windows Phone 7 (WP7)

"Maybe I’m simply a total failure at The Google(s) and The Bing(s) but I went looking for the list of standard icons for Windows Phone 7 (WP7) and couldn’t find it anywhere.

After a ton of hunting, I found the icons in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.0\Icons. [GD: If you're running x86 Windows your path will slightly different]

..."

I find that funny in that I'd have never thought to look for WP7 icons on my hard drive, that my first step would be to search the web (and my related past posts). I mean icons on our local HD's, who'd have thought... LOL.

What's in the vector folder?

... an Adobe Illustrator file which imports just fine into Expression Design...

 

Related Past Post XRef:
A couple of my favorite things... Paint.Net and Windows Phone 7 (and using the one to create App and Tile icons for the other)
Sometimes a picture says… Photoshop Design Templates (and other design resources) for Windows Phone 7
Application Bar Icons for your Windows Phone 7 development
A Windows Phone 7 Development/Design Guidelines/Certification Requirements Cheat sheet/Checklist
The Noun Project, XAML’ified… or The Noun Project converted for you to XAML and PNG’s
“The Noun Project” + SVG + Free + Metro like look and feel + 500 = Happy Windows Phone 7 Developers