Recently we had the need to transform System.Drawing.ContentAlignment property to System.Drawing. Stringformat alignment property for creating a Graphic object with text drawn on it inside a given rectangle. Assuming that you want the text printed from left to right, you can use the ContentAlignment Enum values to obtain the desired StringAlignment Enum value. For example:
[…]
Using SQLite in a Windows Mobile Application provides a simple way to add pre-populated data for consumption by the application. There are a couple of configuration considerations when adding the database to the project.
1. Adding reference to SQLite.dll. After installing SQLite there will be a Compact Framework folder in the following path :C:\ProgramFiles\SQLite.NET\bin. This folder […]
Let’s say you’re writing unit tests for code which uses COM objects. You want some initialization and some cleanup to be done. So you set up your test:
private static MyStore store;
[ClassInitialize()] public static void MyClassInitialize(TestContext testContext) { store = new MyStore("some value"); }
[ClassCleanup] public static void MyClassCleanup() { store.DoWork(someArgument); }
However, as your ‘store’ instance uses a COM object, you will get a test run error, saying: “System.Runtime.InteropServices.InvalidComObjectException: COM object that has been separated from its underlying RCW cannot be used..”.
The way to solve this issue is to open up your testrunconfig file using the XML editor and adding the highlighted element to it:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <TestRunConfiguration name="Local Test Run" id="fbbfe81f-97fa-4e33-bde1-00b3827b933e" xmlns="http://microsoft.com/schemas/VisualStudio/TeamTest/2006"> <ExecutionThread apartmentState="MTA" /> <Description>This is a default test run configuration for a local test run.</Description> <TestTypeSpecific /> </TestRunConfiguration>
The ExecutionThread element will instruct the test to use the MTA threading model. This way, the static instance of “store” can be shared across tests.
A couple of new resources have become available in the past few days that will likely be of interest to you.
Azure
The Developer and Platform Evangelism team has just released a new version of the Azure training kit (Dec 23 2008). It’s a great way to learn about Azure. If you’ve not gotten a feel for what’s coming, check out the videos. It’s an easily digestible set of videos that go through the various pieces that make up the Windows Azure platform. Remember folks, this is not science fiction far future stuff, this goes live on Jan 1 2010 (this Friday!), and becomes chargeable on Feb 1.
The training kit includes a series of:
You can get it at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=130354
BizTalk
There’s a new issue of the always-informative BizTalk Hotrod available, featuring some really cool articles on how to augment the return on your investment in BizTalk, extending its reach, and benefiting from capabilities you may not have known you had.
Among others, this issue includes articles on:
Lots of good stuff in there, I’d encourage you to check it out, and if you’ve not seen them, browse through the back issues also.
You can get it as a PDF at http://biztalkhotrod.com/Documents/Issue8_Q4_2009.pdf
Yesterday the new issue of BizTalk HotRod Magazine was published. Besides other nice content it contains an article on our PowerShell Provider for BizTalk.
Tagged: BizTalk, PowerShell
I recently had a client at work interested in populating contracts out of the information stored in their task tracking tool. Today this is a manual process where the user opens up a Microsoft Word template and retypes the data points stored in their primary application.
I first looked at a few commercial options, and then […]
I’m working on a side-project right now that is using Gravatars and found the wonderful article by Ryan Lanciaux on creating an HtmlHelper extension. His extension was good, but did not use integrate with the FluentHtml model of MvcContrib, so I refactored his original into the following class, which does the same thing, but allows for fluent building of all the options. Someone will undoubtedly point out that this could have used a couple of Enumerations, and their right, but I decided the API was static enough that I’d just create the methods. Anyway, I hope someone else gets some use out of this.
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;
using MvcContrib.FluentHtml.Elements;
using System;
using System.Web;
public class Gravatar : Element
{
private string _email;
private string _default;
private string _rating;
private int _size;
private string _alt;
public Gravatar(string email) : base("img")
{
_email = email;
}
public Gravatar DefaultToUrl(string url)
{
_default = url;
return this;
}
public Gravatar DefaultToIdenticon()
{
_default = "identicon";
return this;
}
public Gravatar DefaultToMonsterId()
{
_default = "monsterid";
return this;
}
public Gravatar DefaultToWavatar()
{
_default = "wavatar";
return this;
}
public Gravatar DefaultTo404()
{
_default = "404";
return this;
}
public Gravatar Size(int size)
{
if (size < 1 || size > 512) throw new ArgumentException("Gravatars can only be between 1 and 512 in size.", "size");
_size = size;
return this;
}
public Gravatar GRated()
{
_rating = "g";
return this;
}
public Gravatar PGRated()
{
_rating = "pg";
return this;
}
public Gravatar RRated()
{
_rating = "r";
return this;
}
public Gravatar XRated()
{
_rating = "x";
return this;
}
public Gravatar AlternateText(string alt)
{
_alt = alt;
return this;
}
protected override TagRenderMode TagRenderMode
{
get
{
return TagRenderMode.SelfClosing;
}
}
public override string ToString()
{
var src = string.Format("http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/{0}?", EncryptMD5(_email));
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(_rating)) src += string.Format("r={0}&", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(_rating));
if (_size != 0) src += string.Format("s={0}&", _size);
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(_default)) src += string.Format("d={0}&", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(_default));
base.builder.MergeAttribute("src", src);
base.Attr("alt", _alt ?? "Gravatar");
return base.ToString();
}
private static string EncryptMD5(string Value)
{
using(var md5 = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider())
{
byte[] valueArray = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(Value);
valueArray = md5.ComputeHash(valueArray);
string encrypted = "";
for (int i = 0; i < valueArray.Length; i++)
encrypted += valueArray[i].ToString("x2").ToLower();
return encrypted;
}
}
}
public static class GravatarHtmlHelper
{
public static Gravatar Gravatar(this HtmlHelper html, string email)
{
return new Gravatar(email);
}
}
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The Windows Azure platform AppFabric December release is live as of December 18th 2009. This release includes improvements in stability, scale, and performance. Please refer to the release notes for a complete list of the breaking changes in this release. You are encouraged to visit the AppFabric portal to retrieve the latest copy of the SDK.