Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day

Monday, September 03, 2007

XSLT and XSL-FO Task Based Reference Site

www.dpawson.co.uk - FO Questions, & XSLT Questions and Answers

I'll likely be using XSLT and possibly XSL-FO in my Blogger backup utility, so this caught my eye (since I have little practical experience using XSLT and none with XSL-FO).

What I like about this site is that it's not just a link site but a reference site.

David Pawson (author of XSL-FO Making XML Look Good in Print) has put together this nice reference site, based on tasked based questions and answers.

For example, here is a couple entries from the XSLT - HTML page;

"1. How to use HTML as input documents?
2. Embedding HTML in XML documents using HTML dtd
3. HTML to XML conversion
...
5. How to embed HTML in XML
6. Including BR in an XSL template
...
10. HTML in XML
...
13. Parsing HTML as XML

..."

That's just a tiny bit of the information available...

(Joteke's Blog - Handy XSLT Reference Site focused on specific tasks)

Sunday, September 02, 2007

[Humor] It's not a Bug but an Undocumented ...

This photo gave me a good chuckle...

(via Virtual Earth / Live Map - Only 1 in 5 Program Managers can place the Capital of North Korea)

Image Resizer PowerToy for XP and Vista - Easy Resizing of Images, Pictures, Digital Photos, etc via Windows Explorer

Cum Grano Salis - Image Resizer Download Page

"(Note: When reinstalling, you may need to log off and on after the installation to have everything work properly)
1.0.831.0 - Fixed issues with setting defaults.
1.0.801.0 - Added submenu for resizing quickly.
1.0.0.0 - See initial blog post for more info." [Post leached in full]

Cum Grano Salis - Image Resizer for Vista (and XP) - Just a right click away from Explorer

"I don't know about you, but I am sorely missing the XP toy for image resizing. Windows XP had its power-toys, but Vista does not. And while some functionality has been baked into the shell, explorer right-click has not. On top of that, a feature I have been wanting for a while was also missing from the Power Toys (Copy Picture to clipboard).
Because of that, I created an Image Resizer app that is tailored to what I need.. For the purpose of this post, I shall use my daughter in the capacity of a lolcat
..."

My daughter was just asking me about resizing for emailing some of her photos. Right-clicking in Windows Explorer is just about at her comfort level...

(via The Road to Know Where - Microsoft Updates "Image Resizer" PowerToy)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Did You Know WinImage Can Convert VMDK's to VHD's (and back)?

Dugie’s Pensieve - WinImage VHD and VMDK interchange

"This popped up in conversation, so I thought it was worth mentioning again.

The mighty fine tool WinImage converts VHDs to VMDK and visa versa (VMDK to VHD)
WinImage will also let you do a file level restore from your CompletePC (VHD) backup in Vista. ..."

Nice! WinImage rocks. And I have some VMDK's that need converting too... :)

Also it looks like it can also create a Virtual HD from a Physical HD (I need to queue up playing with this)

(via A Continuous Learner's Weblog - Links (8/30/2007))

Related Past Post XRef:
WinImage (Beta) Supports VPC VHD's

"Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus" - Excellent Introduction Series to New VB9 Features

B# .NET Blog - Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Introduction

"It seems a little weird for a C# MVP to start a series on VB 9.0 Language Enhancements, isn't it? However, I have a strong passion of the CL in CLR and CLS: Common Language. Therefore, I'll focus in this blog series on various language enhancements that ship with VB 9.0 as part of the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 release wave. If you're more of a CSharpish guy or girl, check out my C# 3.0 posts.

..."

For the last couple weeks Bart De Smet has been delivering a number of very cool posts on features coming in VB9. Each post is well written and provides a nice overview and introduction to the given feature.

If you're trying to wrap your head around all the new stuff coming in VB9, his posts are a good place to start...

Here's the list so far...

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - The If Ternary Operator

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Nullable types

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Partial Methods

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Expression Trees

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Lambda Expressions

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Anonymous types

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Object Initializers

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Extension Methods

Visual Basic 9.0 Feature Focus - Implicitly Typed Local Variables

For the the future posts (and the other coolness he blogs about) make sure you click on through...

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Creating a Dynamic, Runtime, User Driven Query Builder with LINQ

The Visual Basic Team - Implementing Dynamic Searching Using LINQ

"A common requirement in forms-over-data applications is that users be able to search by any combination of fields to construct a dynamic query at run time. For example, the search feature in this application allows the user to find all records that meet criteria defined on multiple columns:

This is easy at compile-time, but what if we want to check the date the order was entered instead of the date it was shipped? In this case we’d have to write a separate query using order.OrderDate. Doing this dynamically at runtime isn’t all that difficult if you’re just building up a SQL string, but how would we do this with LINQ? Doesn’t LINQ require me to specify the criteria at compile time in order to construct the query? Fortunately the answer’s no, LINQ supports constructing dynamic queries at runtime through the Expression Tree API and the Expression Compiler.

..."

This is a wheel that we seem to reinvent all the time, isn't it? A user driver query builder...

This post provides an interesting solution and uses many of the new cool VB9 features like expression trees, lambda expressions, LINQ, etc.

I'm going to queue this for a closer look when VS2008 RTM's.

Krypton Toolkit 2.6 Released

Krypton Toolkit

"Use the following link to download
http://www.componentfactory.com/downloads/KryptonToolkit260.zip

Toolkit Change Highlights
KryptonCheckBox control added
KryptonRadioButton control added
KryptonDataGridView control added
ToolTips added for button specs
..."

The cool free Krypton Toolkit continues to grow and improve...

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Play Lord of the Rings Online Free for the Next 7 Days...

LOTRO Warcry - Play The Lord of the Rings Online for Free!

"Turbine Launches 7-day Free Trial Program for the Hottest MMO of the Year

WESTWOOD, MA - August 29, 2007 - Turbine, Inc. has launched the official 7-day free trial of The Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM) (LOTRO). Beginning today, fans in North America, Australia, and New Zealand can play the best online game for free by visiting http://trial.lotro.com.
...
Eligible fans can participate in The Lord of the Rings Online trial program and play the game for 7 days, free of charge. At the end of the trial, players will have the option to continue to play LOTRO, and keep the characters created during their 7-day free trial time, by purchasing the game either online or at retail. To participate in the 7-day free trial or to find out where to buy LOTRO, visit http://trial.lotro.com.
..."

You're just a 4GB download away from playing my current addition.

One of the coolest thing about LOTRO (and all Turbine MMO's to date) are the free updates. LOTRO has had two major free content/new features/additional stuff to do/etc releases since its release already. And the next one (aka Book 11) will include player and kinship housing (I miss not having my AC1 house... ;)

Note for Windows Live Writer Plugin Writers - The Paths Are Changing...

Writer DevZone - Changes That Affect Plug-in Developers

"In an upcoming release of Windows Live Writer, we are changing the location that Windows Live Writer’s program files are installed into as well as the location of our registry settings. These changes could have an impact upon plug-in authors, though we have done our best to maintain backward compatibility. The following describes the changes in more detail and specifically discusses the impact that this will have upon existing plug-ins.

Installation Directory

In an upcoming release of Windows Live Writer, the location where Writer’s program files are installed will change. In previous betas, Writer the files would be installed to

<program files>\Windows Live Writer\

Starting in the next release, they will be installed to

<program files>\Windows Live\Writer\

...

Registry Key Paths

In addition, the registry path where plug-ins should register themselves will also be updated from

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Windows Live Writer\PluginAssemblies
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Windows Live Writer\PluginAssemblies

to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Windows Live\Writer\PluginAssemblies
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Windows Live\Writer\PluginAssemblies

..."

About time to revisit our Plugin Setup's. I needed to tweak my setups anyway so it's no real biggie from my seat...

The good news is that it looks like a new WLW version is coming in the near future?

(via Writer Zone - Upcoming Changes May Affect Plug-in Developers)

Monday, August 27, 2007

MS Paint Development Video (Humor)

Full of I.T. - The Development of MS Paint

"This is hilarious. It looks like one of the videos Microsoft creates internally as tongue-in-cheek fun ..."

This had me laughing way to hard for a Monday...

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Learn to Master your Inner Robot - Introductory Courseware for Microsoft Robotics Studio

Microsoft Downloads - Introductory Courseware for Microsoft Robotics Studio (1.5) CTP Sep 2007

"...

The robotics introductory courseware is a set of labs that can be completed individually or as part of an introductory course on robotics. The labs take you through common robotics concepts such as reading sensors, controlling actuators, designing simple behaviors, and having a robot interacting with its environment using Microsoft Robotics Studio.

Going through the labs you will learn how to write services for Microsoft Robotics Studio using a combination of Microsoft Visual Programming Language (VPL) and C#. While the labs are introductory, they do require basic knowledge of Microsoft .Net and C# to complete.

Many of the labs can be completed either using Microsoft Robotics Studio Simulation or actual hardware in the form of an iRobot Create. In Lab Tutorial 7 (C#) - Multirobot Coordination you will need two iRobot Creates or use Microsoft Robotics Studio Simulation to simulate the robots. In addition, some of the labs such as Lab Tutorial 5 - Using Vision to Estimate the Distance to an Object use additional sensors including cameras, microphones, and speakers that need to be plugged into your PC.

..."

I've not have a chance to check this out yet (my son has monopolized the machine with MSRS on it... stupid WoW... ;) but I thought it sounded pretty cool. I'll want to check this out when I get a chance (time to think up some chores or something... )

Creating a Reflector Addin? Check Out this Cool Walk Through from Jason Haley

JasonHaley.com - Ways to use .Net Reflector #2.1: Creating your own add-ins

"In this entry I walk through creating a Reflector add-in that exposes its own UI using a user control and works with the Reflector code model on a simple level. This add-in will expose itself on the context menu of the assembly browser (enabled only in certain conditions) when clicked it will show the user control that uses the Reflector code model of the currently selected type to provide functionality to the user.

...
The final look of the control and context menu item is to be something like this:

...
Summary
In this entry I’ve walked through how to create a Reflector add-in that provides its own UI via a UserControl and how to tie it into the context menu of the assembly browser. I’ve also walked through the more interesting parts of the logic that listens to a user’s selection in the assembly browser and some of how to determine what the current type selected is and its properties. We also looked at the field declarations on a type and touched on expressions with the field’s Initializer property. ..."

Jason has written up a great walk through for creating a Reflector addin. Besides the C# source for this simple but useful plugin he's also provided a nine page DocX version of walk though (making it easier to view it offline, print it, etc).

If you're interesting in creating a Reflector addin, you should check his post out. He put a good deal of work into this write up and it shows...

Friday, August 24, 2007

Genghis 0.8 Released

theADOguy - Genghis v0.8 Released

"URL: http://www.codeplex.com/genghis

I've been helping Chris Sells and the Genghis Group for a couple of years. I am proud to announce the newest build of Genghis (version 0.8) that includes all the features of version 0.5 ported to .NET 2.0. ..."

Genghis is a project I've been following for about a thousand years or so now (well since 9/2003 anyway).

New in 0.8 is

"...

CustomStateTreeView
FileSearchEngine
FindReplaceDialog
HeaderGroupBox
HtmlLinklLabel
ImageIndexEditor
InitialInstanceActivator
ListViewSorter
MappedDrives
MultiSdiApplicationContext
PathResolver
ScreenSaver
ScrollablePictureBox
SpashScreen
StatusBarExtender
SystemShares
TraceEx
UserResizablePanel
WebCommandLineHelper
XPThemedControls

..."

If you're doing WinForm 2.0 development then you should check out this project...

The license is very reasonable;

"...This license based on the open source zlib/libpng license. The idea was to keep the license as simple as possible to encourage use of Genghis in free and commercial applications and libraries, but to keep the source code together and to give credit to the Genghis contributors for their efforts..."

Looking for XAML Clip Art? Then make sure you look for SVG files as well...

Daniel Cazzulino's Blog - How to get a gazillion XAML clipart for free

"You surely know XAML subsumes pretty much all of SVG, right?

SVG has been around for quite more time than XAML, and even if hasn't taken off as fast as many expected, at least I could find a huge collection of freely available clipart.
Now all I needed was a way to convert all that stuff that you can get in a single gigantic download if you want to XAML.
I wish it was always this simple: go download ViewerSvg :).
Not only does the tool work great, it also comes with a library you can use too :). So instead of using the UI, I used the library to create a very simple console application (Svg2Xaml project) that will convert one or more files (or every file it finds recursively in one or more folders) to XAML.
..."

I don't know nearly enough about XAML (i.e. I know next to nothing) so I found it pretty cool to see that it looks to be pretty simple to convert SVG into XAML...

Given my artistic skills, or lack there of, clip art is a must for me. ;)

Related Past Post XRef:
Open Clip Art Library

It's that time... Scott's Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for 2007

Scott Hanselman's ComputerZen.com - Scott Hanselman's 2007 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

"Everyone collects utilities, and most folks have a list of a few that they feel are indispensable. Here's mine. Each has a distinct purpose, and I probably touch each at least a few times a week. For me, util means utilitarian and it means don't clutter my tray. If it saves me time, and seamlessly integrates with my life, it's the bomb. Many/most are free some aren't. Those that aren't free are very likely worth your 30-day trial, and perhaps your money.

...

This is the Updated for 2007 Version of my Original List and 2005 and 2006 List, and currently subsumes all my other lists. Link to http://www.hanselman.com/tools when referencing the latest Hanselman Ultimate Tools List. Feel free to get involved here in the comments, post corrections, or suggestions for future submissions in the HanselForums. I very likely made mistakes, and probably forgot a few utilities that I use often.

New Entries to the 2007 Ultimate Tools are in Red. There are dozens of additions and many updated and corrected entries and fixed links.

..."

Click through to http://www.hanselman.com/tools to see his outstanding and must read list...

Also this year we can all help him fight diabetes with a tax deductible donation to the American Diabetes Association via his Welcome to My Step Out to Fight Diabetes Web Page!

Scott's blog and this list has been on the top of my reading list for many years... He asked, I gave...

Paint.Net 3.1 Released

Paint.NET - Paint.NET v3.10 – Final release is now available!

"Well, it’s finally here! You can get it from the website, http://www.getpaint.net/ , or via Paint.NET’s built-in updater (Help -> Check for Updates). This release adds two new effects originally written by David Issel (”BoltBait”), support for the DDS file type originally written by Dean Ashton, as well as numerous small bug fixes and some visual fit and finish.

..."

A couple new features, some improvements and lots o' fixes...

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Marshall Fixed Length TCHAR Strings between Managed and Unmanaged Code

Neil Cowburn - HOWTO: Marshal fixed-length strings

"On Monday I got an internal question about marshaling fixed-length strings between managed and native code. The scenario is you have a native struct with a member defined something like this:
typedef struct SOME_STRUCT {
    DWORD size;
    TCHAR entryName[20];
}
How can you marshal the TCHAR string in managed code? You marshal it as a UnmanagedType.ByValTStr and specify the size like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct SomeStruct
{
    public int Size;
    [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 20)]
    public string EntryName;
}
...
On the other hand, if the native struct is defined like this:
typedef struct SOME_STRUCT {
    DWORD size;
    TCHAR *entryName;
}
You would marshal the TCHAR pointer as a UnmanagedType.LPTStr like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct SomeStruct
{
    public int Size;
    [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)]
    public string EntryName;
}" [Leached about 98% of the post, just in case and so I can find it again in the future... ]

I so needed this a few years ago. Had some unmanaged DLL's with struct's/TCHAR's that I needed to call with managed code. Caching here because I just KNOW I'll need this again sometime...

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Moving TempDB on SQL Server 2005

Gregg Stark on SQL Server - Move TempDB Sql Server 2005

"I recently needed to move the TempDB on my Sql Server so I looked in Books Online and my initial thought based on what it said was that there is no way that will work. Basically it says to find where the files are, and then move them to the new location followed by an alter statement to point the database at the new location. Well of course this didn't work because the tempdb files are in use. After thinking about it I just decided to try to alter the master database and point it at where I wanted the tempdb files to be and then just restart since Sql Server creates the tempdb again when you restart it. Sure enough it worked. Here are the steps I took.

..."

I seem to remember I had this issue/question, where I needed to move the SQL2k5 TempDB. I can't remember now if I ended up doing it this way, another way or gave up... Linking it here for future reference.

Monday, August 20, 2007

WinXP IE6 and WinXP IE7 VPC Images Refreshed

Microsoft Downloads - Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image

"...

A VPC hard disk image containing a pre-activated Windows XP SP2, and either IE6 or IE7 and the IE7 Readiness Toolkit.
This VPC image will expire on December 7, 2007.

..."

Two VPC/VHD's, one with IE6 and the other with IE7

Sunday, August 19, 2007

URL File Downloader Project - Download Files, including HTML, Asynchronously

Scott Dorman - URL File Downloader for .NET Updates

"It's been a while since I wrote the first version of my FileDownloader article and class. Since that time, there have been a lot of positive comments about the article and a handful of feature requests. I finally made the time to update the classes and the article and resubmit it to The Code Project. This update has the following new methods and properties:

...

DownloadHtml
Gets or sets a value indicating if HTML pages should be allowed to be downloaded.

...

DownloadAsync
Begin downloading the file at the specified URL, and save it to the current folder.

..."

The Code Project - An easy-to-use URL file downloader class for .NET

"For one of my projects at work, I needed the ability to download a file from a given URL. Unfortunately, the methods provided by the WebClient class don't do anything more than download the data. I needed something that gave the ability to provide progress feedback and that was resumable.

As I started my searches on the web for any existing code, I came across two articles on CodeProject that helped get me very close to what I needed. The first article was by John Batte, while the second article by Phil Crosby was a derivation of his work. Using both of these articles as a starting point, I was able to make another derivation that accomplished my goals.
..."

This is a cool project that I am looking at using in my Blogger Backup utility... Both for the image backup feature and the "As it looks like on the blog" HTML backup option.