My Programming Tips

Associating Strings with enums in C#

2009-02-09T09:36:00.001-08:00

Associating Strings with enums in C#

January 17, 2008 14:50 by Luke

I have seen other great articles out lining the benefits of some pretty clever and useful helper classes for enums. Many of these methods almost exactly mirror methods I had written in my own EnumHelper class. (Isn't it crazy when you imagine how much code duplication there must be like this out there!)

One thing that I don't see emphasized much is trying to associated string values with enums. For example, what if you want to have a Drop Down list that you can choose from a list of values (which are backed by an enum)? Lets start with a test enum:

public enum States
{
    California,
    NewMexico,
    NewYork,
    SouthCarolina,
    Tennessee,
    Washington
}

So if you made a drop down list out of this enum, using the ToString() method, you would get a drop down that looks like this:

While most people will understand this, it should really be displayed like this:

"But enums can't have spaces in C#!" you say. Well, I like to use the System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute to add a more friendly description to the enum values. The example enum can be rewritten like this:

public enum States
{
    California,
    [Description("New Mexico")]
     NewMexico,
    [Description("New York")]
    NewYork,
    [Description("South Carolina")]
     SouthCarolina,
    Tennessee,
    Washington
}

Notice that I do not put descriptions on items where the ToString() version of that item displays just fine.

How Do We Get To the Description?

Good question! Well, using reflection of course! Here is what the code looks like:

public static string GetEnumDescription(Enum value)
 {
    FieldInfo fi = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString());

    DescriptionAttribute[] attributes =
        (DescriptionAttribute[])fi.GetCustomAttributes(
         typeof(DescriptionAttribute),
        false);

    if (attributes != null &&
         attributes.Length > 0)
        return attributes[0].Description;
    else
        return value.ToString();
}

This method first looks for the presence of a DescriptionAttribute and if it doesn't find one, it just returns the ToString() of the value passed in. So

GetEnumDescription(States.NewMexico);

returns the string "New Mexico".

A Free Bonus: How to Enumerate Enums

Ok, so now we know how to get the string value of an enum. But as a free bonus, I also have a helper method that allows you to enumerate all the values of a given enum. This will allow you to easily create a drop down list based on an enum. Here is the code for that method:

public static IEnumerable<T> EnumToList<T>()
{
     Type enumType = typeof(T);

    // Can't use generic type constraints on value types,
    // so have to do check like this
     if (enumType.BaseType != typeof(Enum))
        throw new ArgumentException("T must be of type System.Enum");
 
    Array enumValArray = Enum.GetValues(enumType);
    List<T> enumValList = new List<T>(enumValArray.Length);
 
    foreach (int val in enumValArray)
    {
        enumValList.Add((T)Enum.Parse(enumType, val.ToString()));
     }

    return enumValList;
}

As you can see, the code for either of these methods isn't too complicated. But used in conjunction, they can be really useful. Here is an example of how we would create the drop down list pictured above based on our enum:

DropDownList stateDropDown = new DropDownList();
foreach (States state in EnumToList<States>())
 {
    stateDropDown.Items.Add(GetEnumDescription(state));
}

Pretty simple huh? I hope you find this as useful as I do.

One More Example

There is one more scenario that I often find myself needing to associate string values with enums - when dealing with legacy constant string based system. Lets say you have a library that has the following method:

public void ExecuteAction(int value, string actionType)
{
    if (actionType == "DELETE")
         Delete();
    else if (actionType == "UPDATE")
        Update();
}

(I tried to make this look as legacy as I could for a contrived example). What happens if somebody passes in "MyEvilAction" as a value for actionType? Well, whenever I see hard coded strings, that is a code smell that could possibly point to the use of enums instead. But sometimes you don't have control over legacy code and you have to deal with it. So you could make an enum which looks like this:

public enum ActionType
{
    [Description("DELETE")]
     Delete,
    [Description("UPDATE")]
    Update
}

(I know, I know, this is a very contrived example) Then you could call the ExecuteAction Method like this:

 ExecuteAction(5, GetEnumDescription(ActionType.Delete));

This at least makes the code more readable and may also make it more consistent and secure.

Object Cloning c#.net

2008-11-17T22:13:00.001-08:00

public static object CloneObject(object obj)
        {
            using (System.IO.MemoryStream memStream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter binaryFormatter = new System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter(null,
                     new System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext(System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContextStates.Clone));
                binaryFormatter.Serialize(memStream, obj);
                memStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
                return binaryFormatter.Deserialize(memStream);
            }
        }

How to deliver multiple dlls and exe as a single file

2008-11-10T08:15:00.001-08:00

Scenario: You are developing a dotnet appliation, For that you are adding some external dlls ex:Office.dll. Normally we need to build the application and provide the directory containing dlls and exe for the customer. How to deliver all the files as a single pack. Is it possible if so how?
Solution: Download the ilmerge.exe from the below link and install it in your machine.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=22914587-B4AD-4EAE-87CF-B14AE6A939B0&displaylang=en

After Building your application go to the command prompt and give the below syntax.
"path<ilmerge.exe>" /out:"($TargetDir)ExpectedApplicationname.exe" "($TargetPath)" *.dll.....

example for the arguments:
"c:\programfiles\ilmerge\ilmerge.exe" /out:"c:\myApp\SingleFile.EXE" "c:\myApp\bin\debug\myApp.exe" "c:\myApp\bin\debug\office.exe"

(OR)

You can also provide this command in the postbuild command so the singlefile will created directly when you build the application.

BackgroundWorker Control

2008-11-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

The BackgroundWorker class allows you to run an operation on a separate, dedicated thread.
Time-consuming operations like downloads and database transactions can cause your user interface (UI) to seem as though it has stopped responding while they are running( i.e it seems like white faded screen ). In such a case this background worker will helpful so the fading are avoided bcoz it was running under seperate dedicated thread.

Three events available in backgroundworker.
1.DoWork: In which we need write the business logic
2.Runworkercompleted: This event automatically fired when the bgworker completes its process
3.Progresschanged: from which we can get the percentage of completed process.

To start the bgworker use the method RunWorkerAsync()

Consider the code snippet below create a win form and select 2 button as named BgworkerButton,NormalButton add a background worker as backgroundWorker1 and test it.
        string str = string.Empty;
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void BgworkerButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
        }

        private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {
            for (int i = 1; i <= 10000; i++)
                str = str + " bg" + i.ToString();
        }

        private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Completed");
        }

        private void NormalButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            for (int i = 1; i <= 10000; i++)
                str = str + " " + i.ToString();
            MessageBox.Show("Completed");
        }

Compare Generic.List vs Array

2008-11-06T09:36:00.001-08:00

Consider that you r in a situation to use some collection object. What type you will prefer Generic.list or Array

Advantage of generic is, it is easy to handle. use the add, remove and new extension methods in .net2008 but which is efficient.

                     (i) for( int i = 0; i < 5000000; i++ )
 			{
				for( int j = 0; j < Array.Length; j++ )
				{
					Array[j] = j;
				}
 			}

                     (ii)for( int i = 0; i < 5000000; i++ )
 			{
				for( int j = 0; j < List.Count; j++ )
				{
					List[j] = j;
				}
 			}

the time for the execution is The results where 2620 for the Array and 13200 for the List in terms of nanoseconds.
The reasons are
1. it has to do with the memory not necessarily being contiguous, and so the lookup is slightly more complex
2. List generic version is actually making function calls in the generated code this will understand if u saw the IL code for the above two cases but not in case of array.
3. The List<T> class uses an array internally, and will do effectively the same operation as Array.Resize(). The only real difference between the two is that List<T> always doubles the size of the storage, so that you need to resize fewer and fewer times as the data gets larger. Of course, you could always use that strategy when using Array.Resize() as well,

preserving Array elements using c#.net

2008-10-30T01:23:00.001-07:00

Consider the two arrays:
        string[] str = new string[1];
            str[0] = "str";
            string[] str1 = new string[2];
            str1[0] = "str1";
            str1[1] = "str2";

To append an two arraycollections:
str = str.Concat(str1).ToArray(); //the result was stored in the str array. this will work only in .net 2008

To add new element in the array:
        Array.Resize(ref str, newSize);
            str[newSize-1] = "newvalue";

Convert string to datatime format

2008-10-24T02:41:00.001-07:00

string str = "24/10/2008";
 DateTime dt = DateTime.ParseExact(str, "dd/MM/yyyy", 
                                   Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture);
 
2. 
DateTime date = System.DateTime.ParseExact(str, "dd/MM/yyyy", null);
 DateTime date = System.DateTime.ParseExact(str, "HH:mm:ss", null);

Effect of Double in .net

2008-10-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

Did u feel its a best way to use double in your application.

Test the following scenario:
double a=0.3;
double b=0.1+0.1+0.1;(or)0.2+0.1;
if(a==b)
MessageBox.Show(r u great?);
else
MessageBox.Show(u r great!);

if u put float u wont get the same output.

There is not only problem in using this format. but there are lot of issues and doubt while using double datatype. So consider twice before using double in your application
Solution: We cant say it as an error. in Java also the same thing will happen. its some double precision format.
Better using decimal is a good solution.

Linq for XML .net 2008

2008-10-23T11:21:00.001-07:00

Language integrated query for xml
Its very similar to .net 2005 xml processing. the feature added here in .net 2008 is linq.
We can query into the xml elements directly like sql queries.
Also we do the same task with easy and less line of codes(loc) using linq. We can also write events for nodes so any triger on the node are watchable.

For more and through ref search : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb308960.aspx

System.Windows.Forms.Timer vs. System.Threading.Timer vs. System.Timers.Timer

2008-10-06T10:31:00.001-07:00

Feature description	System.Timers.Timer	System.Threading.Timer	System.Windows.Forms.Timer
Support for adding and removing listeners after the timer is instantiated.	Yes	No	Yes
Supports call backs on the user-interface thread	Yes	No	Yes
Calls back from threads obtained from the thread pool	Yes	Yes	No
Supports drag-and-drop in the Windows Forms Designer	Yes	No	Yes
Suitable for running in a server multi-threaded environment	Yes	Yes	No
Includes support for passing arbitrary state from the timer initialization to the callback.	No	Yes	No
Implements IDisposable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Supports one-off callbacks as well as periodic repeating callbacks	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accessible across application domain boundaries	Yes	Yes	Yes
Supports IComponent – hostable in an IContainer	Yes	No	Yes

Using the System.Windows.Forms.Timer is a relatively obvious choice for user interface programming. Choosing between the other two options is less obvious and generally the choice between the two is insignificant. If hosting within an IContainer is necessary then obviously System.Timers.Timer is the right choice. However, if no specific System.Timers.Timer feature is required, then I suggest choosing System.Threading.Timer by default, simply because it is a slightly lighter weight implementation.

index -1 does not have a value in datagridview

2008-09-26T05:05:00.001-07:00

Error message: index -1 does not have a value in datagridview

scenario: The grid was bound to a simple object collection. The object contained
string and decimal properties, nothing to fancy. When an item was added to
the collection I would databind as follows (this happened on each item
"Add"):

If I added an item after I deleted all the items in
the grid (collection) and try to select it the grid would bomb out with the
following error: "Index -1 does not have a value".

myObject.CollectionProperty.Add(myBasicObject);

dgvGrid.DataSource = myObject.CollectionProperty;

This will cause the above error

solution:
set the simple object collection in to a binding source and set the resetbinding to false like below
Againg assign the binding source to the grid
bsBindingSource.ResetBindings(false);
bsBindingSource.DataSource = myObject.CollectionProperty;
dgvGrid.DataSource = bsBindingSource;

to the Add routine, just after the object is added to the collection.
Viola! Problem was fixed, and I no longer needed to bind the grid twice. I
was able to make the binding work now with just this:

Chanakya's Quotes - Worth reading a million times...

2008-09-25T01:57:00.001-07:00

***************************************************
"A person should not be too honest.
Straight trees are cut first
and Honest people are victimised first."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC 75 BC)
***************************************************
"Even if a snake is not poisonous,
it should pretend to be venomous."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)
***************************************************
"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)
***************************************************
"There is some self-interest behind every friendship.
There is no Friendship without self-interests.
This is a bitter truth."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)
***************************************************
"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply
and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)
***************************************************
"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)
***************************************************
"Once you start a working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and
don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
***************************************************
"The fragrance of flowers spreads
only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
***************************************************
"A man is great by deeds, not by birth."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
***************************************************
"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years.
For the next five years, scold them.
By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend.
Your grown up children are your best friends."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
***************************************************
"Books are as useful to a stupid person
as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
***************************************************
"Education is the best friend.
An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

Keyboard Shortcuts for .Net Programming

2008-09-24T04:40:00.001-07:00

File
1. New Project (Ctrl+Shift+N )
2. Open Project/Solution (Ctrl+Shift+O)
3. Open File (Ctrl+O)
4. Save (Ctrl+S)
5. Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S)
6. Print (Ctrl+P)

Edit
7. Undo (Ctrl+Z)
8. Redo (Ctrl+Y)

9. Cut (Ctrl+X)
10. Copy (Ctrl+C)
11. Paste (Ctrl+V)
12. Cycle Clipboard Ring (Ctrl+Shift+V)
13. Select All (Ctrl+A)
14. Quick Find (Ctrl+F)

15. Quick Replace (Ctrl+H)
16. Find in Files (Ctrl+Shift+F)
17. Replace in Files (Ctrl+Shift+H)
18. Find Symbol (Alt+F12)

19. Format Document (Ctrl+E,D)
20. Format Selection (Ctrl+E,F)
21. Make Uppercase (Ctrl+Shift+U)
22. Make Lowercase (Ctrl+U)
23. Delete Horizontal White Space (Ctrl+E, \)
24. View White Space (Ctrl+E,S)
25. Word Wrap (Ctrl+E,W)
26. Incremental Search (Ctrl+I)
27. Comment Selection (Ctrl+K,C)
28. Uncomment Selection (Ctrl+K,U)

29. Toggle Bookmark (Ctrl+K,K)
30. Enable Bookmark (Ctrl+B,E)
31. Previous Bookmark (Ctrl+K,P)
32. Next Bookmark (Ctrl+K, N)
33. Clear Bookmarks (Ctrl+K,K)
34. Add Task List Shortcut (Ctrl+E,T)

35. Hide Selection (Ctrl+M, Ctrl+H)
36. Toggle Outlining Expansion (Ctrl+M,M)
37. Toggle All Outlining (Ctrl+M,L)
38. Stop Outlining (Ctrl+M,P)
39. Stop Hiding Current (Ctrl+M, Ctrl+U)

40. Generate Method Stub (Ctrl+K,M)
41. List Members (Ctrl+K,L)
42. Parameter Info (Ctrl+K,P)
43. Complete Word (Ctrl+K,W)
44. Insert Snippet (Ctrl+K,X)
45. Surround With (Ctrl+K,S)

View
46. Code (F7)
47. Designer (Shift+F7)
48. Server Explorer (Ctrl+W,L)
49. Class View (Ctrl+W,C)
50. Code Definition Window (Ctrl+W,D)
51. Object Browser (Ctrl+W,J)
52. Error List (Ctrl+W,E)
53. Output (Ctrl+W,O)
54. Properties Window (Ctrl+W,P)
55. Task List (Ctrl+W,T)
56. Toolbox (Ctrl+W,X)

57. Find Symbol Results (Ctrl+W,Q)
58. Bookmark Window (Ctrl+W,B)
59. Command Window (Ctrl+W,A)
60. Document Outline (Ctrl+W,U)
61. Resource View (Ctrl+W,R)
62. Macro Explorer (Alt+F8)
63. Web Browser (Ctrl+W,W)

64. Full Screen (Shift+Alt+Enter)
65. Pending Checkins (Ctrl+W,G)
66. Navigate Backward (Ctrl+-)
67. Navigate Forward (Ctrl+Shift+-)
68. Property Pages (Shift+F4)

Refactor
69. Rename (F2)
70. Extract Method (Ctrl+R,M)
71. Encapsulate Field (Ctrl+R,E)
72. Promote Local Variable to Parameter (Ctrl+R,P)
73. Remove Parameters (Ctrl+R,V)
74. Reorder parameters (Ctrl+R,O)

Website
75. Add New Item (Ctrl+Shift+A)
76. Add Existing Item (Shift+Alt+A)

Build
77. Build Solution (F6)
78. Build Web Site (Shift+F6)

Debug
79. Breakpoints (Ctrl+D,B)
80. Immediate (Ctrl+D,I)

81. Start Debugging (F5)
82. Start without Debugging (Ctrl+F5)
83. Exceptions (Ctrl+D,E)
84. Step Into (F11)
85. Step Over (F10)
86. Break at Function (Ctrl+D,N)
87. Delete All Breakpoints (Ctrl+Shift+F9)

Tools
88. Attach to Process (Ctrl+Alt+P)
89. Code Snippets Manager (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+B)

90. Run TemporaryMacro (Ctrl+Shift+P)
91. Record TemporaryMacro (Ctrl+Shift+R)

92. Macro Explorer (Alt+F8)
93. Macros IDE (Alt+F11)

Help
94. How Do I (Ctrl+F1,H)
95. Search (Ctrl+F1,S)
96. Contents (Ctrl+F1,C)
97. Index (Ctrl+F1,I)
98. Help Favourites (Ctrl+F1,F)
99. Dynamic Help (Ctrl+F1,D)
100. Index Results (Ctrl+F1,T)

.net 2008 features

2008-09-15T05:21:00.001-07:00

1. LINQ Support

LINQ essentially is the composition of many standard query operators that allow you to work with data in a more intuitive way regardless.

The benefits of using LINQ are significant – Compile time checking C# language queries, and the ability to debug step by step through queries.

2. Expression Blend Support

Expression blend is XAML generator tool for silverlight applications. You can install Expression blend as an embedded plug-in to Visual Studio 2008. By this you can get extensive web designer and JavaScript tool.

3. Windows Presentation Foundation

WPF provides you an extensive graphic functionality you never seen these before. Visual Studio 2008 contains plenty of WPF Windows Presentation Foundation Library templates. By this a visual developer who is new to .NET, C# and VB.NET can easily develop the 2D and 3D graphic applications.

Visual Studio 2008 provides free game development library kits for games developers. currently this game development kits are available for C++ and also 2D/3D Dark Matter one image and sounds sets.

4. VS 2008 Multi-Targeting Support

Earlier you were not able to working with .NET 1.1 applications directly in visual studio 2005. Now in Visual studio 2008 you are able to create, run, debug the .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5 applications. You can also deploy .NET 2.0 applications in the machines which contains only .NET 2.0 not .NET 3.x.

5. AJAX support for ASP.NET

Previously developer has to install AJAX control library separately that does not come from VS, but now if you install Visual Studio 2008, you can built-in AJAX control library. This Ajax Library contains plenty of rich AJAX controls like Menu, TreeView, webparts and also these components support JSON and VS 2008 contains in built ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders.

6. JavaScript Debugging Support

Since starting of web development all the developers got frustration with solving javascript errors. Debugging the error in javascript is very difficult. Now Visual Studio 2008 makes it is simpler with javascript debugging. You can set break points and run the javaScript step by step and you can watch the local variables when you were debugging the javascript and solution explorer provides javascript document navigation support.

7. Nested Master Page Support

Already Visual Studio 2005 supports nested master pages concept with .NET 2.0, but the problem with this Visual Studio 2005 that pages based on nested masters can't be edited using WYSIWYG web designer. But now in VS 2008 you can even edit the nested master pages.

8. LINQ Intellisense and Javascript Intellisense support for silverlight applications

Most happy part for .NET developers is Visual Studio 2008 contains intellisense support for javascript. Javascript Intellisense makes developers life easy when writing client side validation, AJAX applications and also when writing Silverlight applications

Intellisense Support: When we are writing the LINQ Query VS provides LINQ query syntax as tool tips.

9. Organize Imports or Usings: We have Organize Imports feature already in Eclipse. SInce many days I have been waiting for this feature even in VS. Now VS contains Organize Imports feature which removes unnecessary namespaces which you have imported. You can select all the namespaces and right click on it, then you can get context menu with Organize imports options like "Remove Unused Usings", "Sort Usings", "Remove and Sort". Refactoring support for new .NET 3.x features like Anonymous types, Extension Methods, Lambda Expressions.

10. Intellisense Filtering: Earlier in VS 2005 when we were typing with intellisense box all the items were being displayed. For example If we type the letter 'K' then intellisense takes you to the items starts with 'K' but also all other items will be presented in intellisense box. Now in VS 2008 if you press 'K' only the items starts with 'K' will be filtered and displayed.

11. Intellisense Box display position

Earlier in some cases when you were typing the an object name and pressing . (period) then intellisense was being displayed in the position of the object which you have typed. Here the code which we type will go back to the dropdown, in this case sometimes programmer may disturb to what he was typing. Now in VS 2008 If you hold the Ctrl key while the intellisense is dropping down then intellisense box will become semi-transparent mode.

12. Visual Studio 2008 Split View

VS 205 has a feature show both design and source code in single window. but both the windows tiles horizontally. In VS 2008 we can configure this split view feature to vertically, this allows developers to use maximum screen on laptops and wide-screen monitors.

Here one of the good feature is if you select any HTML or ASP markup text in source window automatically corresponding item will be selected in design window.

13. HTML JavaScript warnings, not as errors: VS 2005 mixes HTML errors and C# and VB.NET errors and shows in one window. Now VS 2008 separates this and shows javascript and HTML errors as warnings. But this is configurable feature.

14. Debugging .NET Framework Library Source Code:

Now in VS 2008 you can debug the source code of .NET Framework Library methods. Lets say If you want to debug the DataBind() method of DataGrid control you can place a debugging point over there and continue with debug the source code of DataBind() method.

15. In built Silverlight Library

Earlier we used to install silverlight SDK separately, Now in VS 2008 it is inbuilt, with this you can create, debug and deploy the silverlight applications.

16. Visual Studio LINQ Designer

Already you know in VS 2005 we have inbuilt SQL Server IDE feature. by this you no need to use any other tools like SQL Server Query Analyzer and SQL Server Enterprise Manger. You have directly database explorer by this you can create connections to your database and you can view the tables and stored procedures in VS IDE itself. But now in VS 2008 it has View Designer window capability with LINQ-to-SQL.

17. Inbuilt C++ SDK

Earlier It was so difficult to download and configure the C++ SDK Libraries and tools for developing windows based applications. Now it is inbuilt with VS 2008 and configurable

18. Multilingual User Interface Architecture - MUI

MUI is an architecture contains packages from Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office libraries. This supports the user to change the text language display as he wish.

Visual Studio is now in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Japanese, and Korean. Over the next couple of months. Microsoft is reengineering the MUI which supports nine local languages then you can even view Visual studio in other 9 local languages.

19. Microsoft Popfly Support

Microsoft Popfly explorer is an add-on to VS 2008, by this directly you can deploy or hosting the Silverlight applications and Marshup objects

20. Free Tools and Resources

People may feel that I am a promoter to Visual Studio 2008 as a salesman, but we get plenty of free resources and free tools with Visual Studio 2008.

Visual Studio 2008 Trial

101 LINQ Samples

Free .NET 3.5 control libraries with free sample programs,

You can get plenty of free video training tutorials from Microsoft BDLC - Beginner Developer Learning Center,

C++ games development library,

Microsoft has provided lot of e-Books,

P2P library and

Microsoft is providing Coding4Fun sample program kit.

Visual Studio Registration Discounts: If you register the Visual Studio you get Free Control Libraries, Books, Images, and Discounts.

best practices for Good programming

2008-08-26T09:59:00.001-07:00

best practices for Good programming

2.1.1Avoid having too large files.

If a file has more than 300~400 lines of code, you must consider refactoring code into helper classes.

2.1.2Avoid writing very long methods.

A method should typically have 1~25 lines of code. If a method has more than 25 lines of code, you must consider re factoring into separate methods.

2.1.3White Space

Blank lines improve readability by setting off sections of code that are logically related.

Two blank lines should always be used between sections of a source file. That is, two blank lines should follow:

the opening comment
the package statement
the import statements
the class and interface declaration

One blank line should always be used in the following circumstances:

Between methods
Between the local variables in a method and its first statement
Before a block or single-line comment.
Between logical sections inside a method to improve readability.
Use common sense and don't be afraid to put blank lines!

2.1.4Blank Spaces

Blank spaces should be used in the following circumstances:

A blank space should appear after commas in argument lists.
All binary operators except. Should be separated from their operands by spaces. Blank spaces should never separate unary operators such as unary minus, increment ("++"), and decrement ("--") from their operands.
The expressions in a "for" statement should be separated by blank spaces.

example:

public void aMethod(int a, int b, int c, int d)

{

a += c + d;

a = (a + b) / (c * d);

printSize("size is " + foo);

for(expr1; expr2; expr3)

{

/* No Body */

}

2.1.5Parentheses

It is generally a good idea to use parentheses liberally in expressions involving mixed operators to avoid operator precedence problems

if(a == b && c == d) // AVOID!

if((a == b) && (c == d)) // RIGHT

2.1.6Naming Guidelines

A consistent naming pattern is one of the most important elements of predictability and discoverability in a managed class library.

2.1.6.1Capitalization Styles

Describes the Pascal case, camel case, and uppercase capitalization styles to use to name identifiers in class libraries.

Pascal case

The first letter in the identifier and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated word are capitalized. You can use Pascal case for identifiers of three or more characters.

Example:

BackColor

Camel case

The first letter of an identifier is lowercase and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated word is capitalized.

Example:

backColor

Uppercase

All letters in the identifier are capitalized. Use this convention only for identifiers that consist of two or fewer letters.

Example:

Sysetm.IO

System.Web.UI

The following table summarizes the capitalization rules and provides examples for the different types of identifiers:

Identifier	Case	Example
Class	Pascal	AppDomain
Enum type	Pascal	ErrorLevel
Enum values	Pascal	FatalError
Event	Pascal	ValueChange
Exception class	Pascal	WebException Note Always ends with the suffix Exception.
Read-only Static field	Pascal	RedValue
Interface	Pascal	IDisposable Note Always begins with the prefix I.
Method	Pascal	ToString
Namespace	Pascal	System.Drawing
Parameter	Camel	typeName
Property	Pascal	BackColor
Protected instance field	Camel	redValue Note Rarely used. A property is preferable to using a protected instance field.
Public instance field	Pascal	RedValue Note Rarely used. A property is preferable to using a public instance field.

2.1.6.2Case Sensitivity

Do not use names that require case sensitivity. Components must be fully usable from both case-sensitive and case-insensitive languages.

Case-insensitive languages cannot distinguish between two names within the same context that differ only by case. Therefore, you must avoid this situation in the components or classes that you create.

Do not create two namespaces with names that differ only by case. For example, a case insensitive language cannot distinguish between the following two namespace declarations.

namespace ee.cummings;

namespace Ee.Cummings;

Do not create a function with parameter names that differ only by case. The following example is incorrect.

void MyFunction(string a, string A)

Do not create a namespace with type names that differ only by case. In the following example, Point p and POINT p are inappropriate type names because they differ only by case.

System.Windows.Forms.Point p

System.Windows.Forms.POINT p

Do not create a type with property names that differ only by case. In the following example,

int Color and int COLOR are inappropriate property names because they differ only by case.

int Color

{

get, set

}

int COLOR

{

get, set

}

Do not create a type with method names that differ only by case. In the following example, calculate and Calculate are inappropriate method names because they differ only by case.

void calculate()

void Calculate()

2.1.6.3Abbreviations

To avoid confusion and guarantee cross-language interoperation, follow these rules regarding the use of abbreviations:

Do not use abbreviations or contractions as parts of identifier names.

Example:

Good:

GetWindow

Not Good:

GetWin

Do not use acronyms that are not generally accepted in the computing field.

Where appropriate, use well-known acronyms to replace lengthy phrase names. For example, use UI for User Interface and OLAP for On-line Analytical Processing.

When using acronyms, use Pascal case or camel case for acronyms more than two characters long. For example, use HtmlButton or htmlButton. However, you should capitalize acronyms that consist of only two characters, such as System.IO instead of System.Io.

Do not use abbreviations in identifiers or parameter names. If you must use abbreviations, use camel case for abbreviations that consist of more than two characters, even if this contradicts the standard abbreviation of the word.

2.1.6.4Namespace Naming Guidelines

You should use Pascal case for namespaces
T
CompanyName.TechnologyName[.Feature][.Design]

For example:

Microsoft.Media

Microsoft.Media.Design
he general rule for naming namespaces is to use the company name followed by the technology name and optionally the feature and design as follows.

2.1.6.5Class Naming Guidelines

Use a noun or noun phrase to name a class.

Use Pascal case.

Use abbreviations sparingly.

Do not use a type prefix, such as C for class, on a class name. For example, use the class name FileStream rather than CFileStream.

Do not use the underscore character (_).

Where appropriate, use a compound word to name a derived class. The second part of the derived class's name should be the name of the base class. Example : ApplicationException

public class FileStream

public class Button

public class String

Do not use the base word to access base class members unless you wish to resolve a conflict with subclasses member of the same name or when invoking base class constructors.

public class Dog

{

public Dog ( string name )

{ }

virtual public void Bark ( int howLong )

{}

}

public class GermanShepherd : Dog

{

public GermanShepherd( string name ) : base( name )

{}

override public void Bark( int howLong )

{

base.Bark( howLong )

}

2.1.6.6Interface Naming Guidelines

The following rules outline the naming guidelines for interfaces:

Name interfaces with nouns or noun phrases, or adjectives that describe behaviour.

Example:

IComponent // noun.

ICustomAttributeProvider //noun.

IPersistable //adjective.

Use Pascal case.

Use abbreviations sparingly.

Prefix interface names with the letter I, to indicate that the type is an interface.

Use similar names when you define a class/interface pair where the class is a standard implementation of the interface. The names should differ only by the letter I prefix on the interface name.

Do not use the underscore character (_).

Always user Interfaces.

Example:

The following are examples of correctly named interfaces.

public interface IServiceProvider

public interface IFormatable

The following code example illustrates how to define the interface IComponent and its standard implementation, the class Component.

public interface IComponent

{

// Implementation goes here.

}

public class Component: IComponent

{

// Implementation code goes here.

}

Classes and interfaces should have at least 2:1 ratio of methods to properties.

Avoid interfaces with one method.

No more than 20 members per interface.

Avoid event as interface members.

Avoid abstract methods, user interfaces instead.

2.1.6.7Attribute Naming Guidelines

You should always add the suffix Attribute to custom attribute classes.

Example:

public class ObsoleteAttribute{}

2.1.6.8Enumeration Type Naming Guidelines

The enumeration (Enum) value type inherits from the Enum Class.
- Use Pascal case for Enum types and value names.

Use abbreviations sparingly.

Do not use an Enum suffix on Enum type names.

Use a singular name for most Enum types, but use a plural name for Enum types that are bit fields.

Always add the FlagsAttribute to a bit field Enum type.

Example:

Good:

public enum Color

{

Red, Green, Blue

}

Not Good:

Public enum Color

{

Red = 1, Green = 2, Blue = 3

}

Specifying type for an enum

Not Good:

public enum Color : long

{

Red, Green, Blue

}

2.1.6.9Static Field Naming Guidelines

Naming guidelines for static fields:

Use nouns, noun phrases, or abbreviations of nouns to name static fields.

Use Pascal case.

Do not use a Hungarian notation prefix on static field names.

It is recommended that you use static properties instead of public static fields whenever possible.

Example:

public static int Global1 = 100;

public static int Global1 = 200;

2.1.6.10Parameter Naming Guidelines

It is important to carefully follow these parameter naming guidelines because visual design tools that provide context sensitive help and class browsing functionality display method parameter names to users in the designer.

Use camel case for parameter names.

Use descriptive parameter names. Parameter names should be descriptive enough that the name of the parameter and its type can be used to determine its meaning in most scenarios.

Use names that describe a parameter's meaning rather than names that describe a parameter's type. Development tools should provide meaningful information about a parameter's type. Therefore, a parameter's name can be put to better use by describing meaning. Use type-based parameter names sparingly and only where it is appropriate.

Do not use reserved parameters.

Do not prefix parameter names with Hungarian type notation.

Example: correctly named parameters

Type GetType(string typeName)

string Format(string format, object[] args)

2.1.6.11Method Naming Guidelines

The following rules outline the naming guidelines for methods:

Use verbs or verb phrases to name methods.

Use Pascal case

Examples: Correctly named methods.

RemoveAll()

GetCharArray()

Invoke()

2.1.6.12Property Naming Guidelines

The following rules outline the naming guidelines for properties:

Use a noun or noun phrase to name properties.

Use Pascal case.

Do not use Hungarian notation.

Consider creating a property with the same name as its underlying type.

Example:

Good:

1) public class smapleClass

{

public color BackColor

{

//Code for get and set assessors goes here.

}

2) Providing a property with the same name as a type.

public enum Color

{

// Insert code for Enum here.

}

public class Control

{

public Color Color

{

get {// Insert code here.}

set {// Insert code here.}

}

Not Good:

public enum Color

{

// Insert code for Enum here.

}

public class Control

{

public int Color

{

get {// Insert code here.}

set {// Insert code here.}

}

This is incorrect because the property Color is of type Integer.

2.1.6.13Event Naming Guidelines

The naming guidelines for events:

Use Pascal case.

Do not use Hungarian notation.

Use an EventHandler suffix on event handler names.

Specify two parameters named sender and e.

The sender parameter represents the object that raised the event. The sender parameter is always of type object.

The state associated with the event is encapsulated in an instance of an event class named e. Use an appropriate and specific event class for the e parameter type.

Name an event argument class with the EventArgs suffix.

Consider naming events with a verb. For example, correctly named event names include Clicked, Painting, and DroppedDown.

Do not use a prefix or suffix on the event declaration on the type. For example, use Close instead of OnClose.

Example: Illustrates an event handler with an appropriate name and parameters.

public delegate void MouseEventHandler(object sender, MouseEventArgs e);

Example: Illustrates a correctly named event argument class.

public class MouseEventArgs : EventArgs

{

int x;

int y;

public MouseEventArgs(int x, int y)

{

this.x = x; this.y = y;

}

public int X { get { return x; } }

public int Y { get { return y; } }

}

2.1.6.14Delegate Naming Guidelines

The naming guidelines for events:

Use Pascal case.

Do not use Hungarian notation.

Copy a delegate to local variable before publishing to avoid concurrency race condition.

Always check a delegate for null before invoking it.

Use delegate inference instead of explicit delegate instantiation

delegate void SomeDegate();

public void SomeMethod()

{

//Code goes here.

}

SomeDelegate someDelegate = SomeMethod;

2.1.7Use Early Binding for Better performance

Early Binding provides much better performance than late binding.

Always specify a data type for variables when they are declared. This provides strong typing of variables for best performance.

Good:

Early Binding

String[] address = null;

Not Good:

Late Binding

Object[] address = null;

2.1.8Returning Values

Try to make the structure of your program match the intent. Example:

if(booleanExpression)

{

return true;

}

else

{

return false;

}

should instead be written as

return booleanExpression;

Similarly,

if(condition)

{

return x;

}

return y;

should be written as

return ((condition) ? x : y);

2.1.9Statements

2.1.9.1Simple Statements

argv++; /* Correct */

argc--; /* Correct */

argv++; argc--; /* AVOID! */

2.1.9.2Compound Statements

Compound statements are statements that contain lists of statements enclosed in braces

"{ statements }".

The enclosed statements should be indented one more level than the enclosing braces.
The opening brace should be at the beginning of the line that precedes the compound statement; the closing brace should begin a line and be indented to the opening brace.
Braces are used around all statements, even single statements, when they are part of a control structure, such as an if-else or for statement. This makes it easier to add statements without accidentally introducing bugs due to forgetting to add braces.

2.1.9.3if, if-else, if else-if else Statements

The if-else class of statements should have the following form:

if(condition)

{

statements;

}

if(condition)

{

statements;

}

else

{

statements;

}

if(condition)

{

statements;

}

else if(condition)

{

statements;

}

else

{

statements;

}

Note: if statements always use braces {}. Avoid the following error-prone form:

if(condition) /* AVOID! THIS OMITS THE BRACES {}! */

statement;

2.1.9.4for Statements

A for statement should have the following form:

for(initialization; condition; update)

{

statements;

}

An empty for statement (one in which all the work is done in the initialization, condition, and update clauses) should have the following form:

for(initialization; condition; update)

{

/* No Body */

}

When using the comma operator in the initialization or update clause of a "for" statement, avoid the complexity of using more than three variables.

If needed, use separate statements before the "for" loop (for the initialization clause) or at the end of the loop (for the update clause).

2.1.9.5while Statements

A while statement should have the following form:

while(condition)

{

statements;

}

An empty while statement should have the following form:

while(condition)

{

/* No Body */

}

2.1.9.6do-while Statements

A do-while statement should have the following form:

{

statements;

}

while(condition);

2.1.9.7switch Statements

Never use goto unless in a switch statement fall through.

Always have a default case in a switch statement that asserts.

A switch statement should have the following form:

switch(condition)

{

case ABC:

statements;

/* falls through */

case DEF:

statements;

break;

case XYZ:

statements;

break;

default:

statements;

break;

}

2.1.9.8Using Statement

Works with any IDisposable object

Data access classes, streams, text readers and writers, network classes, etc.

Good:

using (Resource res = new Resource()) {

res.DoWork();

}

Not Good:

Resource res = new Resource(...);

try {

res.DoWork();

}

finally {

if (res != null) ((IDisposable)res).Dispose();

}

String Formats

2008-08-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

DATE TIME
How to format DateTime using String.Format method. All formatting can be done also using DateTime.ToString method.

Custom DateTime Formatting

There are following custom format specifiers y (year), M (month), d (day), h (hour 12), H (hour 24), m (minute), s (second), f (second fraction), F (second fraction, trailing zeroes are trimmed), t (P.M or A.M) and z (time zone).

Following examples demonstrate how are the format specifiers rewritten to the output.

// create date time 2008-03-09 16:05:07.123
DateTime dt = new DateTime(2008, 3, 9, 16, 5, 7, 123);

String.Format("{0:y yy yyy yyyy}", dt);  // "8 08 008 2008"   year
String.Format("{0:M MM MMM MMMM}", dt);  // "3 03 Mar March"  month
String.Format("{0:d dd ddd dddd}", dt);  // "9 09 Sun Sunday" day
String.Format("{0:h hh H HH}",     dt);  // "4 04 16 16"      hour 12/24
String.Format("{0:m mm}",          dt);  // "5 05"            minute
String.Format("{0:s ss}",          dt);  // "7 07"            second
String.Format("{0:f ff fff ffff}", dt);  // "1 12 123 1230"   sec.fraction
String.Format("{0:F FF FFF FFFF}", dt);  // "1 12 123 123"    without zeroes
String.Format("{0:t tt}",          dt);  // "P PM"            A.M. or P.M.
String.Format("{0:z zz zzz}",      dt);  // "-6 -06 -06:00"   time zone

You can use also date separator / (slash) and time sepatator : (colon). These characters will be rewritten to characters defined in the current DateTimeFormatInfo.DateSeparator and DateTimeFormatInfo.TimeSeparator.

// date separator in german culture is "." (so "/" changes to ".")
String.Format("{0:d/M/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt); // "9/3/2008 16:05:07" - english (en-US)
String.Format("{0:d/M/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt); // "9.3.2008 16:05:07" - german (de-DE)

Here are some examples of custom date and time formatting:

// month/day numbers without/with leading zeroes
String.Format("{0:M/d/yyyy}", dt);            // "3/9/2008"
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}", dt);          // "03/09/2008"

// day/month names
String.Format("{0:ddd, MMM d, yyyy}", dt);    // "Sun, Mar 9, 2008"
String.Format("{0:dddd, MMMM d, yyyy}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 9, 2008"

// two/four digit year
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yy}", dt);            // "03/09/08"
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}", dt);          // "03/09/2008"

Standard DateTime Formatting

In DateTimeFormatInfo there are defined standard patterns for the current culture. For example property ShortTimePattern is string that contains value h:mm tt for en-US culture and value HH:mm for de-DE culture.

Following table shows patterns defined in DateTimeFormatInfo and their values for en-US culture. First column contains format specifiers for the String.Format method.

Specifier	DateTimeFormatInfo property	Pattern value (for en-US culture)
`t`	ShortTimePattern	`h:mm tt`
`d`	ShortDatePattern	`M/d/yyyy`
`T`	LongTimePattern	`h:mm:ss tt`
`D`	LongDatePattern	`dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy`
`f`	(combination of `D` and `t`)	`dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm tt`
`F`	FullDateTimePattern	`dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss tt`
`g`	(combination of `d` and `t`)	`M/d/yyyy h:mm tt`
`G`	(combination of `d` and `T`)	`M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss tt`
`m`, `M`	MonthDayPattern	`MMMM dd`
`y`, `Y`	YearMonthPattern	`MMMM, yyyy`
`r`, `R`	RFC1123Pattern	`ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT'` ()*
`s`	SortableDateTimePattern	`yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss` ()*
`u`	UniversalSortableDateTimePattern	`yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z'` ()*
		() = culture independent*

Following examples show usage of standard format specifiers in String.Format method and the resulting output.

String.Format("{0:t}", dt);  // "4:05 PM"                         ShortTime
String.Format("{0:d}", dt);  // "3/9/2008"                        ShortDate
String.Format("{0:T}", dt);  // "4:05:07 PM"                      LongTime
String.Format("{0:D}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008"          LongDate
String.Format("{0:f}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:05 PM"  LongDate+ShortTime
String.Format("{0:F}", dt);  // "Sunday, March 09, 2008 4:05:07 PM" FullDateTime
String.Format("{0:g}", dt);  // "3/9/2008 4:05 PM"                ShortDate+ShortTime
String.Format("{0:G}", dt);  // "3/9/2008 4:05:07 PM"             ShortDate+LongTime
String.Format("{0:m}", dt);  // "March 09"                        MonthDay
String.Format("{0:y}", dt);  // "March, 2008"                     YearMonth
String.Format("{0:r}", dt);  // "Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:05:07 GMT"   RFC1123
String.Format("{0:s}", dt);  // "2008-03-09T16:05:07"             SortableDateTime
String.Format("{0:u}", dt);  // "2008-03-09 16:05:07Z"            UniversalSortableDateTime

INTEGER
Integer numbers can be formatted in .NET in many ways. You can use static
method String.Format or instance method int.ToString. Following examples shows how to align numbers (with
spaces or zeroes), how to format negative numbers or how to do custom formatting
like phone numbers.

Add zeroes before number

To add zeroes before a number, use colon separator „:“ and write as many zeroes as you want.

String.Format("{0:00000}", 15); // "00015" String.Format("{0:00000}", -15); // "-00015"

Align number to the right or left

To align number to the right, use comma „,“ followed by a number of characters. This alignment option must be before the colon separator.

String.Format("{0,5}", 15); // " 15" String.Format("{0,-5}", 15); // "15 " String.Format("{0,5:000}", 15); // " 015" String.Format("{0,-5:000}", 15); // "015 "

Different formatting for negative numbers and zero

You can have special format for negative numbers and zero. Use semicolon separator „;“ to separate formatting to two or three sections. The second section is format for negative numbers, the third section is for zero.

String.Format("{0:#;minus #}", 15); // "15" String.Format("{0:#;minus #}", -15); // "minus 15" String.Format("{0:#;minus #;zero}", 0); // "zero"

Custom number formatting (e.g. phone number)

Numbers can be formatted also to any custom format, e.g. like phone numbers or serial numbers.

String.Format("{0:+### ### ### ###}", 447900123456); // "+447 900 123 456" String.Format("{0:##-####-####}", 8958712551); // "89-5871-2551"


DOUBLE

The following examples show how to format float numbers to string in C#. You can use static method String.Format or instance methods double.ToString and float.ToString.

Digits after decimal point

This example formats double to string with fixed number of decimal places. For two decimal places use pattern „0.00“. If a float number has less decimal places, the rest digits on the right will be zeroes. If it has more decimal places, the number will be rounded.

// just two decimal places String.Format("{0:0.00}", 123.4567); // "123.46" String.Format("{0:0.00}", 123.4); // "123.40" String.Format("{0:0.00}", 123.0); // "123.00"

Next example formats double to string with floating number of decimal places. E.g. for maximal two decimal places use pattern „0.##“.

// max. two decimal places String.Format("{0:0.##}", 123.4567); // "123.46" String.Format("{0:0.##}", 123.4); // "123.4" String.Format("{0:0.##}", 123.0); // "123"

Digits before decimal point

If you want a float number to have any minimal number of digits before decimal point use N-times zero before decimal point. E.g. pattern „00.0“ formats a float number to string with at least two digits before decimal point and one digit after that.

// at least two digits before decimal point String.Format("{0:00.0}", 123.4567); // "123.5" String.Format("{0:00.0}", 23.4567); // "23.5" String.Format("{0:00.0}", 3.4567); // "03.5" String.Format("{0:00.0}", -3.4567); // "-03.5"

Thousands separator

To format double to string with use of thousands separator use zero and comma separator before an usual float formatting pattern, e.g. pattern „0,0.0“ formats the number to use thousands separators and to have one decimal place.

String.Format("{0:0,0.0}", 12345.67); // "12,345.7" String.Format("{0:0,0}", 12345.67); // "12,346"

Zero

Float numbers between zero and one can be formatted in two ways, with or without leading zero before decimal point. To format number without a leading zero use # before point. For example „#.0“ formats number to have one decimal place and zero to N digits before decimal point (e.g. „.5“ or „123.5“).

Following code shows how can be formatted a zero (of double type).

String.Format("{0:0.0}", 0.0); // "0.0" String.Format("{0:0.#}", 0.0); // "0" String.Format("{0:#.0}", 0.0); // ".0" String.Format("{0:#.#}", 0.0); // ""

Align numbers with spaces

To align float number to the right use comma „,“ option before the colon. Type comma followed by a number of spaces, e.g. „0,10:0.0“ (this can be used only in String.Format method, not in double.ToString method). To align numbers to the left use negative number of spaces.

String.Format("{0,10:0.0}", 123.4567); // " 123.5" String.Format("{0,-10:0.0}", 123.4567); // "123.5 " String.Format("{0,10:0.0}", -123.4567); // " -123.5" String.Format("{0,-10:0.0}", -123.4567); // "-123.5 "

Custom formatting for negative numbers and zero

If you need to use custom format for negative float numbers or zero, use semicolon separator „;“ to split pattern to three sections. The first section formats positive numbers, the second section formats negative numbers and the third section formats zero. If you omit the last section, zero will be formatted using the first section.

String.Format("{0:0.00;minus 0.00;zero}", 123.4567); // "123.46" String.Format("{0:0.00;minus 0.00;zero}", -123.4567); // "minus 123.46" String.Format("{0:0.00;minus 0.00;zero}", 0.0); // "zero"

Some funny examples

As you could notice in the previous example, you can put any text into formatting pattern, e.g. before an usual pattern „my text 0.0“. You can even put any text between the zeroes, e.g. „0aaa.bbb0“.

String.Format("{0:my number is 0.0}", 12.3); // "my number is 12.3" String.Format("{0:0aaa.bbb0}", 12.3); // "12aaa.bbb3"

Align String with Spaces [C#]

This example shows how to align strings with spaces. The example formats text to table and writes it to console output.

To align string to the right or to the left use static method String.Format. To align string to the left (spaces on the right) use formatting patern with comma (,) followed by a negative number of characters: String.Format(„{0,–10}“, text). To right alignment use a positive number: {0,10}.

Following example shows how to format text to the table. Values in the first and second column are aligned to the left and the third column is aligned to the right.

[C#]
Console.WriteLine("-------------------------------"); Console.WriteLine("First Name | Last Name | Age"); Console.WriteLine("-------------------------------"); Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0,-10} | {1,-10} | {2,5}", "Bill", "Gates", 51)); Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0,-10} | {1,-10} | {2,5}", "Edna", "Parker", 114)); Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0,-10} | {1,-10} | {2,5}", "Johnny", "Depp", 44)); Console.WriteLine("-------------------------------"); Output string:
------------------------------- First Name | Last Name | Age ------------------------------- Bill | Gates | 51 Edna | Parker | 114 Johnny | Depp | 44 -------------------------------

Indent String with Spaces [C#]

This example shows how to indent strings using method for padding in C#. To repeat spaces use method String.PadLeft. If you call „hello“.PadLeft(10) you will get the string aligned to the right: „ hello“. If you use empty string instead of the „hello“ string the result will be 10× repeated space character. This can be used to create simple Indent method.

The Indent method:

[C#]
public static string Indent(int count) { return "".PadLeft(count); }

Test code:

[C#]
Console.WriteLine(Indent(0) + "List"); Console.WriteLine(Indent(3) + "Item 1"); Console.WriteLine(Indent(6) + "Item 1.1"); Console.WriteLine(Indent(6) + "Item 1.2"); Console.WriteLine(Indent(3) + "Item 2"); Console.WriteLine(Indent(6) + "Item 2.1");

Output string:

List Item 1 Item 1.1 Item 1.2 Item 2 Item 2.1

How to prevent our .NET DLL from decompilation

2008-08-03T23:04:00.001-07:00

Scenario: By design, .NET embeds rich Meta data inside the executable code using MSIL. Any one can
easily decompile your DLL back using tools like ILDASM (owned by Microsoft) or Reflector for
.NET which is a third party.
Secondly, there are many third party tools, which make this
decompiling process int a single click. So any one can easily look in to your assemblies and reverse
engineer them back in to actual source code and understand some real good logic, which can
make it easy to crack your application.

Here the solution: You can stop this reverse engineering by using "obfuscation". It is a
technique, which will foil the decompilers. Many third parties (XenoCode, Demeanor for .NET)
provide .NET obfuscation solution. Microsoft includes one that is Dotfuscator Community
Edition with Visual Studio.NET.

Automatically adding namespace

2008-07-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

Scenario: Consider that u want to use a class but u don't know under which namespace the class belong.
Here the solution: keep the cursor on the class that u r using and press 'Alt+Shift+F10' a new popup menu will occur which will show the namespace just click on the popup menu the name space will automatically added in the starting of ur code.

Example:
using System;
Regex clsReg = new Regex(); here Regex is a class which comes under System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace but u didnt include it in ur code

now keep the cursor on Regex and press alt+shit+F10 a popup menu will occur like the below image.

then click the using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
now u go and see the starting page of ur code.

Note: This technique will workout for all the built in classes also for the classes which are added in the reference.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO USE INNER JOIN QUERY IN A DATASET

2008-07-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

Scenario: U have 2 tables in ur dataset with both the table contains a column name 'Samecolumn'
Table1: Samecolumn has the following 3 value
col1
col2
col3
Table2: Samecolumn has the following 2 value
col2
col3
Is it possible to query in the dataset to get the ouput of 2 rows i.e) col2, col3

Solution: No, There is no direct way to get the child rows
DataRelation and get joined rows, you will need to use the GetChildRows method of DataRow and pass the DataRelation object.
The following code example creates a DataRelation between the Customers
table and the Orders table of a DataSet and returns all the orders for each
customer.

Dim custOrderRel As DataRelation = custDataset.Relations.Add("CustOrders", _
custDS.Tables("Table1").Columns("Samecolumn"), _
custDS.Tables("Table2").Columns("Samecolumn"))

Dim custRow As DataRow
Dim orderRow As DataRow

For Each custRow in custDataset.Tables("Table1").Rows
Console.WriteLine(custRow("Samecolumn"))
For Each orderRow in custRow.GetChildRows(custOrderRel)
Console.WriteLine(orderRow("Samecolumn"))
Next
Next

Rare images

2008-07-30T02:00:00.002-07:00

Find rowindex in dataset based on datarow, Set primary key to dataset

2008-07-29T02:53:00.001-07:00

//To SETS THE DATASET PRIMARY KEY
DataCoulumn[] keys = new DataColumn[1];
keys[0] = DataSet.Tables["mytable"].Column["i_ID"];
DataSet.Tables["mytable"].PrimaryKey = keys;

// To Bind in THE DATAGRID VIEW
BindingManagerBase bm;
DataGridView1.DataSource = DataSet.Tables["mytable"].DefaultView;
bm = this.DataGridView1.BindingContext[this.DataGridView1.DataSource, this. DataGridView1.DataMember];

//You have a datarow and u need to find the rowindex of the row in dataset
DataRow findRow = DataSet.Tables["mytable"].Rows.Find(((DataRowView)bm.Current).Row[0]); // Row[0] is the collumn to seach in in this case ID column
int indexNumber = DataSet.Tables["mytable"].Rows.IndexOF(findRow);

Ping a machine using c#.net

2008-07-28T23:39:00.001-07:00

Name space: using System.Net.NetworkInformation;
try
{
Ping oping = new Ping();
PingReply oReply = oping.Send(machineipaddress);
if (oReply.Status.ToString().ToLower() != "success")
{
MessageBox.Show("Unable to ping the machine " + machineipaddress + "\n\n\t" + oReply.Status);
Environment.Exit(0);
}
}
catch (PingException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error while pinging the machine " + machineipaddress + "\n\n" + ex.Message);
Environment.Exit(0);
}

.net windows forms interview question

2008-07-28T02:36:00.001-07:00

Can you write a class without specifying namespace? Which namespace does it belong to by default??
Yes, you can, then the class belongs to global namespace which has no name. For commercial products, naturally, you wouldn't want global namespace.
You are designing a GUI application with a window and several widgets on it. The user then resizes the app window and sees a lot of grey space, while the widgets stay in place. What's the problem? One should use anchoring for correct resizing. Otherwise the default property of a widget on a form is top-left, so it stays at the same location when resized.
How can you save the desired properties of Windows Forms application? .config files in .NET are supported through the API to allow storing and retrieving information. They are nothing more than simple XML files, sort of like what .ini files were before for Win32 apps.
So how do you retrieve the customized properties of a .NET application from XML .config file? Initialize an instance of AppSettingsReader class. Call the GetValue method of AppSettingsReader class, passing in the name of the property and the type expected. Assign the result to the appropriate variable.
Can you automate this process? In Visual Studio yes, use Dynamic Properties for automatic .config creation, storage and retrieval.
My progress bar freezes up and dialog window shows blank, when an intensive background process takes over. Yes, you should've multi-threaded your GUI, with taskbar and main form being one thread, and the background process being the other.
What's the safest way to deploy a Windows Forms app? Web deployment: the user always downloads the latest version of the code; the program runs within security sandbox, properly written app will not require additional security privileges.
Why is it not a good idea to insert code into InitializeComponent method when working with Visual Studio? The designer will likely throw it away; most of the code inside InitializeComponent is auto-generated.
What's the difference between WindowsDefaultLocation and WindowsDefaultBounds? WindowsDefaultLocation tells the form to start up at a location selected by OS, but with internally specified size. WindowsDefaultBounds delegates both size and starting position choices to the OS.
What's the difference between Move and LocationChanged? Resize and SizeChanged? Both methods do the same, Move and Resize are the names adopted from VB to ease migration to C#.
How would you create a non-rectangular window, let's say an ellipse? Create a rectangular form, set the TransparencyKey property to the same value as BackColor, which will effectively make the background of the form transparent. Then set the FormBorderStyle to FormBorderStyle.None, which will remove the contour and contents of the form.
How do you create a separator in the Menu Designer? A hyphen '-' would do it. Also, an ampersand '&\' would underline the next letter.
How's anchoring different from docking? Anchoring treats the component as having the absolute size and adjusts its location relative to the parent form. Docking treats the component location as absolute and disregards the component size. So if a status bar must always be at the bottom no matter what, use docking. If a button should be on the top right, but change its position with the form being resized, use anchoring.

Asp.net interview Questions

2008-07-28T02:33:00.001-07:00

1. Describe the role of inetinfo.exe, aspnet_isapi.dll andaspnet_wp.exe in the page loading process. inetinfo.exe is theMicrosoft IIS server running, handling ASP.NET requests among other things.When an ASP.NET request is received (usually a file with .aspx extension),the ISAPI filter aspnet_isapi.dll takes care of it by passing the request tothe actual worker process aspnet_wp.exe.

2. What's the difference between Response.Write() andResponse.Output.Write()? The latter one allows you to write formattedoutput.

3. What methods are fired during the page load? Init() - when the pageis instantiated, Load() - when the page is loaded into server memory,PreRender() - the brief moment before the page is displayed to the user asHTML, Unload() - when page finishes loading.

4. Where does the Web page belong in the .NET Framework class hierarchy?System.Web.UI.Page

5. Where do you store the information about the user's locale? System.Web.UI.Page.Culture

6. What's the difference between Codebehind="MyCode.aspx.cs" andSrc="MyCode.aspx.cs"? CodeBehind is relevant to Visual Studio.NET only.

7. What's a bubbled event? When you have a complex control, like DataGrid, writing an event processing routine for each object (cell, button, row, etc.) is quite tedious. The controls can bubble up their eventhandlers, allowing the main DataGrid event handler to take care of its constituents.

8. Suppose you want a certain ASP.NET function executed on MouseOver overa certain button. Where do you add an event handler? It's the Attributesproperty, the Add function inside that property. So btnSubmit.Attributes.Add("onMouseOver","someClientCode();")

9. What data type does the RangeValidator control support? Integer,String and Date.

10. Explain the differences between Server-side and Client-side code? Server-side code runs on the server. Client-side code runs in the clients' browser.

11. What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class? Server-side code.

12. Should validation (did the user enter a real date) occur server-side or client-side? Why? Client-side. This reduces an additional request to the server to validate the users input.

13. What does the "EnableViewState" property do? Why would I want it on or off? It enables the viewstate on the page. It allows the page to save the users input on a form.

14. What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect? Why would I choose one over the other? Server.Transfer is used to post a form to another page. Response.Redirect is used to redirect the user to another page or site.

15. Can you explain the difference between an ADO.NET Dataset and an ADO Recordset?

· A DataSet can represent an entire relational database in memory, complete with tables, relations, and views.

· A DataSet is designed to work without any continuing connection to the original data source.

· Data in a DataSet is bulk-loaded, rather than being loaded on demand.

· There's no concept of cursor types in a DataSet.

· DataSets have no current record pointer You can use For Each loops to move through the data.

· You can store many edits in a DataSet, and write them to the original data source in a single operation.

· Though the DataSet is universal, other objects in ADO.NET come in different versions for different data sources.

16. Can you give an example of what might be best suited to place in the Application_Start and Session_Start subroutines? This is where you can set the specific variables for the Application and Session objects.

17. If I'm developing an application that must accommodate multiple security levels though secure login and my ASP.NET web application is spanned across three web-servers (using round-robin load balancing) what would be the best approach to maintain login-in state for the users? Maintain the login state security through a database.

18. Can you explain what inheritance is and an example of when you might use it? When you want to inherit (use the functionality of) another class. Base Class Employee. A Manager class could be derived from the Employee base class.

19. Whats an assembly? Assemblies are the building blocks of the .NET framework. Overview of assemblies from MSDN

20. Describe the difference between inline and code behind. Inline code written along side the html in a page. Code-behind is code written in a separate file and referenced by the .aspx page.

21. Explain what a diffgram is, and a good use for one? The DiffGram is one of the two XML formats that you can use to render DataSet object contents to XML. For reading database data to an XML file to be sent to a Web Service.

22. Whats MSIL, and why should my developers need an appreciation of it if at all? MSIL is the Microsoft Intermediate Language. All .NET compatible languages will get converted to MSIL.

23. Which method do you invoke on the DataAdapter control to load your generated dataset with data? The .Fill() method

24. Can you edit data in the Repeater control? No, it just reads the information from its data source

25. Which template must you provide, in order to display data in a Repeater control? ItemTemplate

26. How can you provide an alternating color scheme in a Repeater control? Use the AlternatingItemTemplate

27. What property must you set, and what method must you call in your code, in order to bind the data from some data source to the Repeater control? You must set the DataSource property and call the DataBind method.

28. What base class do all Web Forms inherit from? The Page class.

29. Name two properties common in every validation control? ControlToValidate property and Text property.

30. What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns manually? Set AutoGenerateColumns Property to false on the datagrid tag

31. What tag do you use to add a hyperlink column to the DataGrid? <asp:HyperLinkColumn>

32. What is the transport protocol you use to call a Web service? SOAP is the preferred protocol.

33. True or False: A Web service can only be written in .NET? False

34. What does WSDL stand for? (Web Services Description Language)

35. Where on the Internet would you look for Web services? (http://www.uddi.org)

36. Which property on a Combo Box do you set with a column name, prior to setting the DataSource, to display data in the combo box? DataTextField property

37. Which control would you use if you needed to make sure the values in two different controls matched? CompareValidator Control

38. True or False: To test a Web service you must create a windows application or Web application to consume this service? False, the webservice comes with a test page and it provides HTTP-GET method to test.

39. How many classes can a single .NET DLL contain? It can contain many classes.

C# interview Questions

2008-07-28T02:31:00.000-07:00

What's the implicit name of the parameter that gets passed into the class' set method? Value, and its datatype depends on whatever variable we're changing.
How do you inherit from a class in C#? Place a colon and then the name of the base class. Notice that it's double colon in C++.
Does C# support multiple inheritance? No, use interfaces instead.
When you inherit a protected class-level variable, who is it available to? Classes in the same namespace.
Are private class-level variables inherited? Yes, but they are not accessible, so looking at it you can honestly say that they are not inherited. But they are.
Describe the accessibility modifier protected internal. It's available to derived classes and classes within the same Assembly (and naturally from the base class it's declared in).
C# provides a default constructor for me. I write a constructor that takes a string as a parameter, but want to keep the no parameter one. How many constructors should I write? Two. Once you write at least one constructor, C# cancels the freebie constructor, and now you have to write one yourself, even if there's no implementation in it.
What's the top .NET class that everything is derived from? System.Object.
How's method overriding different from overloading? When overriding, you change the method behavior for a derived class. Overloading simply involves having a method with the same name within the class.
What does the keyword virtual mean in the method definition? The method can be over-ridden.
Can you declare the override method static while the original method is non-static? No, you can't, the signature of the virtual method must remain the same, only the keyword virtual is changed to keyword override.
Can you override private virtual methods? No, moreover, you cannot access private methods in inherited classes, have to be protected in the base class to allow any sort of access.
Can you prevent your class from being inherited and becoming a base class for some other classes? Yes, that's what keyword sealed in the class definition is for. The developer trying to derive from your class will get a message: cannot inherit from Sealed class WhateverBaseClassName. It's the same concept as final class in Java.
Can you allow class to be inherited, but prevent the method from being over-ridden? Yes, just leave the class public and make the method sealed.
What's an abstract class? A class that cannot be instantiated. A concept in C++ known as pure virtual method. A class that must be inherited and have the methods over-ridden. Essentially, it's a blueprint for a class without any implementation.
When do you absolutely have to declare a class as abstract (as opposed to free-willed educated choice or decision based on UML diagram)? When at least one of the methods in the class is abstract. When the class itself is inherited from an abstract class, but not all base abstract methods have been over-ridden.
What's an interface class? It's an abstract class with public abstract methods all of which must be implemented in the inherited classes.
Why can't you specify the accessibility modifier for methods inside the interface? They all must be public. Therefore, to prevent you from getting the false impression that you have any freedom of choice, you are not allowed to specify any accessibility, it's public by default.
Can you inherit multiple interfaces? Yes, why not.
And if they have conflicting method names? It's up to you to implement the method inside your own class, so implementation is left entirely up to you. This might cause a problem on a higher-level scale if similarly named methods from different interfaces expect different data, but as far as compiler cares you're okay.
What's the difference between an interface and abstract class? In the interface all methods must be abstract; in the abstract class some methods can be concrete. In the interface no accessibility modifiers are allowed, which is ok in abstract classes.
How can you overload a method? Different parameter data types, different number of parameters, different order of parameters.
If a base class has a bunch of overloaded constructors, and an inherited class has another bunch of overloaded constructors, can you enforce a call from an inherited constructor to an arbitrary base constructor? Yes, just place a colon, and then keyword base (parameter list to invoke the appropriate constructor) in the overloaded constructor definition inside the inherited class.
What's the difference between System.String and System.StringBuilder classes? System.String is immutable; System.StringBuilder was designed with the purpose of having a mutable string where a variety of operations can be performed.
What's the advantage of using System.Text.StringBuilder over System.String? StringBuilder is more efficient in the cases, where a lot of manipulation is done to the text. Strings are immutable, so each time it's being operated on, a new instance is created.
Can you store multiple data types in System.Array? No.
What's the difference between the System.Array.CopyTo() and System.Array.Clone()? The first one performs a deep copy of the array, the second one is shallow.
How can you sort the elements of the array in descending order? By calling Sort() and then Reverse() methods.
What's the .NET datatype that allows the retrieval of data by a unique key? HashTable.
What's class SortedList underneath? A sorted HashTable.
Will finally block get executed if the exception had not occurred? Yes.
What's the C# equivalent of C++ catch (…), which was a catch-all statement for any possible exception? A catch block that catches the exception of type System.Exception. You can also omit the parameter data type in this case and just write catch {}.
Can multiple catch blocks be executed? No, once the proper catch code fires off, the control is transferred to the finally block (if there are any), and then whatever follows the finally block.
Why is it a bad idea to throw your own exceptions? Well, if at that point you know that an error has occurred, then why not write the proper code to handle that error instead of passing a new Exception object to the catch block? Throwing your own exceptions signifies some design flaws in the project.
What's a delegate? A delegate object encapsulates a reference to a method. In C++ they were referred to as function pointers.
What's a multicast delegate? It's a delegate that points to and eventually fires off several methods.
How's the DLL Hell problem solved in .NET? Assembly versioning allows the application to specify not only the library it needs to run (which was available under Win32), but also the version of the assembly.
What are the ways to deploy an assembly? An MSI installer, a CAB archive, and XCOPY command.
What's a satellite assembly? When you write a multilingual or multi-cultural application in .NET, and want to distribute the core application separately from the localized modules, the localized assemblies that modify the core application are called satellite assemblies.
What namespaces are necessary to create a localized application? System.Globalization, System.Resources.
What's the difference between // comments, /* */ comments and /// comments? Single-line, multi-line and XML documentation comments.
How do you generate documentation from the C# file commented properly with a command-line compiler? Compile it with a /doc switch.
What's the difference between <c> and <code> XML documentation tag? Single line code example and multiple-line code example.
Is XML case-sensitive? Yes, so <Student> and <student> are different elements.
What debugging tools come with the .NET SDK? CorDBG – command-line debugger, and DbgCLR – graphic debugger. Visual Studio .NET uses the DbgCLR. To use CorDbg, you must compile the original C# file using the /debug switch.
What does the This window show in the debugger? It points to the object that's pointed to by this reference. Object's instance data is shown.
What does assert() do? In debug compilation, assert takes in a Boolean condition as a parameter, and shows the error dialog if the condition is false. The program proceeds without any interruption if the condition is true.
What's the difference between the Debug class and Trace class? Documentation looks the same. Use Debug class for debug builds, use Trace class for both debug and release builds.
Why are there five tracing levels in System.Diagnostics.TraceSwitcher? The tracing dumps can be quite verbose and for some applications that are constantly running you run the risk of overloading the machine and the hard drive there. Five levels range from None to Verbose, allowing to fine-tune the tracing activities.
Where is the output of TextWriterTraceListener redirected? To the Console or a text file depending on the parameter passed to the constructor.
How do you debug an ASP.NET Web application? Attach the aspnet_wp.exe process to the DbgClr debugger.
What are three test cases you should go through in unit testing? Positive test cases (correct data, correct output), negative test cases (broken or missing data, proper handling), exception test cases (exceptions are thrown and caught properly).
Can you change the value of a variable while debugging a C# application? Yes, if you are debugging via Visual Studio.NET, just go to Immediate window.
Explain the three services model (three-tier application). Presentation (UI), business (logic and underlying code) and data (from storage or other sources).
What are advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft-provided data provider classes in ADO.NET? SQLServer.NET data provider is high-speed and robust, but requires SQL Server license purchased from Microsoft. OLE-DB.NET is universal for accessing other sources, like Oracle, DB2, Microsoft Access and Informix, but it's a .NET layer on top of OLE layer, so not the fastest thing in the world. ODBC.NET is a deprecated layer provided for backward compatibility to ODBC engines.
What's the role of the DataReader class in ADO.NET connections? It returns a read-only dataset from the data source when the command is executed.
What is the wildcard character in SQL? Let's say you want to query database with LIKE for all employees whose name starts with La. The wildcard character is %, the proper query with LIKE would involve 'La%'.
Explain ACID rule of thumb for transactions. Transaction must be Atomic (it is one unit of work and does not dependent on previous and following transactions), Consistent (data is either committed or roll back, no "in-between" case where something has been updated and something hasn't), Isolated (no transaction sees the intermediate results of the current transaction), Durable (the values persist if the data had been committed even if the system crashes right after).
What connections does Microsoft SQL Server support? Windows Authentication (via Active Directory) and SQL Server authentication (via Microsoft SQL Server username and passwords).
Which one is trusted and which one is untrusted? Windows Authentication is trusted because the username and password are checked with the Active Directory, the SQL Server authentication is untrusted, since SQL Server is the only verifier participating in the transaction.
Why would you use untrusted verificaion? Web Services might use it, as well as non-Windows applications.
What does the parameter Initial Catalog define inside Connection String? The database name to connect to.
What's the data provider name to connect to Access database? Microsoft.Access.
What does Dispose method do with the connection object? Deletes it from the memory.
What is a pre-requisite for connection pooling? Multiple processes must agree that they will share the same connection, where every parameter is the same, including the security settings.

Useful C# for interview point II

2008-07-28T02:29:00.001-07:00

within a class:
main must be a static method
In a static class we cant able to declare non static methods
In a non static class we can able to declare static methods
From a static method we cant able to call non static method. if need use an object for that class
From a non static method we can able to call static method
Two Non static classes:
From a non static method we cant call a non static method. need to create object for the class
From a non static method we cant call a static method. only able by using class name and dot(.)
From a static method we cant call a static method. only able by using class name and dot(.)
From a static method we cant call a non static method. need to create object for the class
Two static classes:
Cant able to create object for classs
From a static method we can call a static method. only able by using class name and dot(.)

Cant able to override non virtual or static methods
Cant able to create instance for interface or abstact class
you can use a cast to create an instance for an interface in C#
Cant able to inherit abstract method but able abstract class
Cant able to derive a sealed class
interface has only method declaration bcoz all method in interface are public and abstaract, Abstract method does not have any body
Abstract class have both abstract and nonabstract methodes.so those abstract methods only have declaration and non ablstract method have body also.
All abstract methods must implemented while using the abstract class or interface
Non abstract class doesnot contain abstract method
Boxing:
Value type to object type-implicit-compiler will do
unboxing
object type to value type-explicit-using type cast
We can override the base class method from deri class, only if the the base class method is virtual or abstract

Unlike base classes, interfaces don't implement any of their members by providing the actual code for properties, methods, and so on. Interfaces are just specifications for those members, and if your class implements an interface, it must provide code for all the members of that interface.
Delegates let you pass methods as parameters. They provide you with another form of polymorphism, because you can assign methods to delegates at runtime, leaving the rest of your code unchanged but calling the methods you specify at runtime.
No special impact for the delegate on static methods
BufferedStream object, which will use its own internal buffer to maximize performance

we've simply read data from a file and waited for the read operation to finish before doing anything. As we start working with network I/O, where things can be a lot slower, it won't be as easy to wait for reading and writing operations to complete. For that reason, the .NET Framework supports asynchronous I/O through the BeginRead and BeginWrite methods of the Stream class. You can call BeginRead to read a bufferfull of data, or BeginWrite to write a bufferfull of data, and then go on to do other work

C# enables you to save an entire object, including all its data (called an object-graph) through a process called serialization. Serialization lets you write entire objects out to disk and read them back in later. Objects that pass between assembly boundaries (through a process called marshalling) are also serialized.

The common language runtime does not support static variables in methods.

You don't have to serialize all the members of an object; for example, if you have a huge array filled with sequential numbers that's easy to re-create, there's no benefit to taking up a great deal of disk space by storing that array to memory. To mark members that you don't want serialized, you use the [NonSerialized] attribute.
if you didn't want to serialize the data array in ch05_13.cs, you could mark it with [NonSerialized]; note that when you use this attribute, you should implement the IDeserializationCallback interface,

Isolated storage saves data for your application that you might have stored in the Registry before.To store data in isolated storage, you use the IsolatedStorageFileStream class;(used to store configuration data)

You can also create arrays of arrays, called jagged arrays because they need not be rectangular.Here's the syntax you use to create an array of arrays.

Answer: Web services are programmable business logic components that provide access to functionality through the Internet. Standard protocols like HTTP can be used to access them. Web services are based on the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which is an application of XML. Web services are given the .asmx extension..

out and ref are reference type diff is ref must initialize.but out does not must be initialized

Eval is used for unidirectional (readonly) data binding, while Bind is for bi-directional (editable) databinding.

The Eval method is a static (read-only) method that takes the value of a data field and returns it as a string. The Bind method supports read/write functionality with the ability to retrieve the values of data-bound controls and submit any changes made back to the database.

DataSet is just a collection of DataTable objects

DataSet is an in-memory representation of data, containing one or more DataTables. A DataTable is an in-memory representation of data, typically retrieved from a database or XML source.
A DataView is a view onto an in-memory representation of data held in a DataTable.

Useful C# for interview point

2008-07-28T02:27:00.001-07:00

Note that because static methods are not part of an object, you cannot use the this keyword
in such methods. It's important to know that static methods cannot directly access non-static
members (which means, for example, that you cannot call a non-static method from a static
method). Instead, they must instantiate an object and use the members of that object to
access non-static members .

Static constructors are called before any objects(constructor) are created from your class

what's the difference between new and override? You use new when you're replacing a
base class method with the same signature, and you use override when you're customizing it
in the current class.

Power of the DataView

2008-07-23T10:53:00.001-07:00

The Power of the DataView

Introduction

Its hard to imagine what the creators of ADO.NET were thinking as they were designing it. It has been challenge enough just understanding and mastering all of the many objects and their capabilities. Just think, to physically access a column of data you have to now maneuver through at least five objects instead of two in ADO.

As part of my effort to learn ADO.NET, I decided to first determine how to reproduce the basic functionality that I had in ADO, especially with the Recordset. That is where I discovered the new and many uses of the DataView class (although I prefer the term object to class).

Think about the following code snippet:

objRS.Sort = "CompanyName"
objRS.Filter = "Country = " & strCountry
If Not objRS.EOF Then
    Do Until objRS.EOF
        ...
        ObjRS.MoveNext
    Loop
End If
objRS.Filter = 0
 objRS.Sort = ""

If the Recordset was the order detail for a customer, the sort order was specified on OrderNumber followed by ProductName. Then we used the marvelous Filter method of the Recordset to create a view of only those records we wished to work with. After we were through, we removed both the sort and the filter to perform any other tasks that were necessary.

When I first started working with ADO.NET, I just couldnt seem to figure out how to easily reproduce this functionality. Sure, you can bind a DataSet to a grid with just two lines of code. But where were examples of how to perform tasks where I needed more than just databinding to a DataTable? Thats when I stumbled across the DataView class.

I like to use the following analogy. DataSets are very much like simple, stand-alone databases. They contain tables called DataTables with rows and columns. These tables can have relationships. They also contain views called DataViews. The DataView class is very similar to a database view that you would create in Oracle or SQL Server. You can use a DataView just about anywhere you can use a DataTable. Yet they contain some additional properties and methods that a DataTable does not.

Sorting, Finding and Filtering

Three of the most useful things that you can do with a DataView are sorting, finding specific rows and filtering unwanted records. If I could do these things with a view, then I could reproduce the code snippet above using ADO.NET:

Dim dv As DataView
dv = New DataView(DataSet1.Tables("Customers"))
dv.Sort = "CompanyName"
dv.RowFilter = "Country = " & strCountry

At this point you can either Bind the view to one of the ASP.NET server side controls or you can process each row individually:

Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To dv.count - 1
    ' perform your logic here
Next

In ADO.NET, there is no MoveFirst, MoveNext, MovePrior or MoveLast. Nor is there EOF or BOF. The data is all referenced as an array. To see if data is present, just check the Count property of the DataView (no more EOF runtime errors!). Remember that arrays begin at 0 and not 1.

If you want to filter rows with null values, you must first convert the null values to something such as a string:

dv.RowFilter = "Isnull(Col1,'Null') = 'Null'"

Only the Tip of the Iceberg

DataViews are also useful for other things than just the functions that we just discussed. Think about this: Every table has at least one DataView, which is a view of itself. This is called the DefaultView. That means that if you reference a table by its DefaultView, it can do anything a DataView can do as well:

DataSet1.Tables(0).DefaultView.Sort = "CompanyName"
DataSet1.Tables(0).DefaultView.RowFilter = "Country = " & strCountry
MyDataGrid.DataSource = DataSet1.Tables(0).DefaultView
MyDataGrid.DataBind()

Another great feature of DataViews is that you can create them with the RowFilter and Sort already specified:

Dim dv As New DataView(ds.Tables("Country"), _
    "Country = 'UK'", _
    "CompanyName", _
    DataRowViewState.CurrentRows)

DataView Differences

Of course, the DataView is not a DataTable. The most obvious difference is that DataViews are comprised of DataRowViews where as a table contains DataRows. DataRowViews do not contain a Columns collection, but an Item property to reference the underlying column. And editing data in a DataRowView is also different. But there is one trick that you can play on the DataRowView. Just like every table has a DefaultDataView property, the DataRowView has a Row property that is an actual reference to the underlying DataRow:

Dim drv As DataRowView
For Each drv In dv
    Response.Write(drv.Rows("CompanyName") & "<br>")
Next drv

Conclusion

As you can see, this is just one of the many areas where ADO.NET differs dramatically from ADO. Now that Ive discovered the DataView, Ive been able to reproduce the functionality that was in my old ASP application in my new ASP.NET applications. And with a little more practice, I hope to even overcome obstacles that were present with the Recordset.

Generics

2008-07-10T03:54:00.000-07:00

What Are Generics?

Generics allow you to realize type safety at compile time. They allow you to create a data structure without committing to a specific data type. When the data structure is used, however, the compiler makes sure that the types used with it are consistent for type safety. Generics provide type safety, but without any loss of performance or code bloat. While they are similar to templates in C++ in this regard, they are very different in their implementation.

Using Generics Collections

The System.Collections.Generics namespace contains the generics collections

Y Generics

ex:

List<int> aList = new List<int>();
aList.Add(3);
aList.Add(4);
aList.Add(5.0);
int total = 0;
foreach(int val in aList)
{
     total = total + val;
}
This will cause an compiler error bcoz not able to cast the double5.0 to integer
But the same was handled as error at runtime while using arraylist.

CLR Support for Generics


Generics is not a mere language-level feature. The .NET CLR recognizes generics. In
that regard, the use of generics is a first-class feature in .NET. For each type of parameter used for
a generic, a class is not rolled out in the Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL). In
other words, your assembly contains only one definition of your parameterized data
structure or class, irrespective of how many different types are used for that parameterized
type. For instance, if you define a generic type MyList, only one definition of that
type is present in MSIL. When the program executes, different classes are dynamically created,
one for each type for the parameterized type. If you use MyList and
MyList, then two classes are created on the fly when your program executes.



Writing a generic class 



//MyList.cs
#region Using directives

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

#endregion

namespace CLRSupportExample
{
     public class MyList
     {
             private static int objCount = 0;

             public MyList()
             {
                     objCount++;
             }

             public int Count
             {
                     get
                     {
                             return objCount;
                     }
             }
     }
}

//Program.cs
#region Using directives

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

#endregion

namespace CLRSupportExample
{
     class SampleClass {}

     class Program
     {
             static void Main(string[] args)
             {
                     MyList myIntList = new MyList();
                     MyList myIntList2 = new MyList();

                     MyList myDoubleList
                                     = new MyList();

                     MyList mySampleList
                                     = new MyList();
                                  
                     Console.WriteLine(myIntList.Count);
                     Console.WriteLine(myIntList2.Count);
                     Console.WriteLine(myDoubleList.Count);
                     Console.WriteLine(mySampleList.Count);
                     Console.WriteLine(
                             new MyList().Count);

                     Console.ReadLine();
             }
     }
}


I have created a generic class named MyList. To parameterize it, I simply inserted an angle
bracket. The T within <> represents the actual type that will be specified when the
class is used. Within the MyList class, I have a static field, objCount. I am incrementing this
within the constructor so I can find out how many objects of that type are created by the
user of my class. The Count property returns the number of instances of the same type as
the instance on which it is called.


In the Main() method, I am creating two instances of MyList, one instance of
MyList, and two instances of MyList, where
SampleClass is a
class I have defined. The question is: what will be the value of Count? That is, what is the
output from the above program? Go ahead and think on this and try to answer this
question before you read further.


Have you worked the above question? Did you get the following answer?



2
2
1
1
2

Generics Methods


In addition to having generic classes, you may also have generic methods. Generic methods
may be part of any class. Let's look at Example 4:


Example 4. A generic method



public class Program
{
     public static void Copy(List source, List destination)
     {
             foreach (T obj in source)
             {
                     destination.Add(obj);
             }
     }

     static void Main(string[] args)
     {
             List lst1 = new List();
             lst1.Add(2);
             lst1.Add(4);

             List lst2 = new List();
             Copy(lst1, lst2);
             Console.WriteLine(lst2.Count);
     }
}


The Copy() method is a generic method that works with the parameterized type T.
When Copy() is invoked in Main(), the compiler figures out the specific
type to use, based on the arguments presented to the Copy() method.


Unbounded Type Parameters


If you create generics data structures or classes, like MyList in Example 3, there are no
restrictions on what type the parametric type you may use for the parameteric type. This
leads to some limitations, however. For example, you are not allowed to use
==, !=, or < on instances of the parametric type: 



if (obj1 == obj2) …


The implementation of operators such as == and != are different for value types and
reference types. The behavior of the code may not be easier to understand if these were
allowed arbitrarily. Another restriction is the use of default constructor. For instance, if
you write new T(), you will get a compilation error, because not all classes have a
no-parameter constructor. What if you do want to create an object using new T(), or you
want to use operators such as == and !=? You can, but first you have to constraint the type
that can be used for the parameterized type. Let's look at how to do that.


Constraints and Their Benefits


A generic class allows you to write your class without committing to any type, yet allows
the user of your class, later on, to indicate the specific type to be used. While this
gives greater flexibility by placing some constraints on the types that may be used for
the parameterized type, you gain some control in writing your class. Let's look at an example:


Example 5. The need for constraints: code that will not compile



public static T Max(T op1, T op2)
{
     if (op1.CompareTo(op2) <>


The code in Example 5 will produce a compilation error:



Error 1 'T' does not contain a definition for 'CompareTo'


Assume I need the type to support the CompareTo() method. I can specify
this by using the constraint that the type specified for the parameterized type must implement the
IComparable interface. Example 6 has the code:


Example 6. Specifying a constraint



public static T Max(T op1, T op2) where T : IComparable
{
     if (op1.CompareTo(op2) <>


In Example 6, I have specified the constraint that the type used for
parameterized type must inherit from (implement) IComparable.
The following constraints may be used:



where T : struct          type must be a value type (a struct)
where T : class           type must be reference type (a class)
where T : new()           type must have a no-parameter constructor
where T : class_name      type may be either class_name or one of its
                       sub-classes (or is below class_name
                       in the inheritance hierarchy)
where T : interface_name  type must implement the specified interface


You may specify a combination of constraints, as in: where T : IComparable, new().
This says that the type for the parameterized type must implement the
IComparable interface and must have a no-parameter constructor.


Inheritance and Generics


A generic class that uses parameterized types, like MyClass1, is called
an open-constructed generic. A generic class that uses no parameterized types,
like MyClass1, is called a closed-constructed generic.


You may derive from a closed-constructed generic; that is, you may inherit a class
named MyClass2 from another class named MyClass1, as in:



public class MyClass2 : MyClass1


You may derive from an open-constructed generic, provided the type is parameterized.
For example: 



public class MyClass2 : MyClass2


is valid, but



public class MyClass2 : MyClass2


is not valid, where Y is a parameterized type. Non-generic classes may derive from closed-constructed
generic classes, but not from open-constructed generic classes. That is, 



public class MyClass : MyClass1


is valid, but



public class MyClass : MyClass1


is not.

Generics' Limitations

We have seen the power of generics so far in this article. Are there any limitations? There is one significant limitation, which I hope Microsoft addresses. In expressing constraints, we can specify that the parameter type must inherit from a class. How about specifying that the parameter must be a base class of some class? Why do we need that?

In Example 4, I showed you a Copy() method that copied contents of a source List to a destination list. I can use it as follows:

List appleList1 = new List(); List appleList2 = new List(); … Copy(appleList1, appleList2);

However, what if I want to copy apples from one list into a list of Fruits (where Apple inherits from Fruit). Most certainly, a list of Fruits can hold Apples. So I want to write:

List appleList1 = new List(); List fruitsList2 = new List(); … Copy(appleList1, fruitsList2);

This will not compile. You will get an error:

 Error 1 The type arguments for method  'TestApp.Program.Copy(System.Collections.Generic.List,  System.Collections.Generic.List)' cannot be inferred from the usage.

The compiler, based on the call arguments, is not able to decide what T should be. What I really want to say is that the Copy should accept a List of some type as the first parameter, and a ListList of its base type as the second parameter. of the same type or a

Even though there is no way to say that a type must be a base type of another, you can get around this limitation by still using the constraints. Here is how:

public static void Copy(List source, List destination) where T : E

Here I have specified that the type T must be the same type as, or a sub-type of, E. We got lucky with this. Why? Both T and E are being defined here. We were able to specify the constraint (though the C# specification discourages using E to define the constraint of T when E is being defined as well).

Consider the following example, however:

     public class MyList     {         public void CopyTo(MyList destination)         {             //…         }     }

I should be able to call CopyTo:

MyList appleList = new MyList(); MyList appleList2 = new MyList(); //… appleList.CopyTo(appleList2);

I must also be able to do this:

MyList appleList = new MyList(); MyList fruitList2 = new MyList(); //… appleList.CopyTo(fruitList2);

This, of course, will not work. How can we fix this? We need to say that the argument to CopyTo()MyList of some type or MyList of the base type of that type. However, the constraints do not allow us to specify the base type. How about the following? can be either

public void CopyTo(MyList destination) where T : E

Sorry, this does not work. It gives a compilation error that:

Error 1 'TestApp.MyList.CopyTo()' does not define type parameter 'T'

Of course, you may write the code to accept MyList of any arbitrary type and then within your code, you may verify that the type is one of acceptable type. However, this pushes the checking to runtime, losing the benefit of compile-time type safety.

Conclusion

Generics in .NET 2.0 are very powerful. They allow you to write code without committing to a particular type, yet your code can enjoy type safety. Generics are implemented in such a way as to provide good performance and avoid code bloat. While there is the drawback of constraints' inability to specify that a type must be a base type of another type, the constraints mechanism gives you the flexibility to write code with a greater degree of freedom than sticking with the least-common-denominator capability of all types.

VB6 - Disable mouse events

2008-07-04T05:23:00.001-07:00

How to Disable mouse events in vb6

Code:

Option Explicit

Private Declare Function SetCapture Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
 Private Declare Function ReleaseCapture Lib "user32" () As Long 

Private Sub Form_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
   If Not ((X > Text1.Left And X < Text1.Left + Text1.Width) And (Y > Text1.Top And Y < Text1.Top + Text1.Height)) Then _
     ReleaseCapture
End Sub 

Private Sub Text1_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
   SetCapture Me.hwnd
End Sub

Asp.net Questions(part2)

2008-07-04T05:20:00.001-07:00

What is an interface and what is an abstract class?
In an interface, all methods must be abstract (must not be defined). In an abstract class, some methods can be defined. In an interface, no accessibility modifiers are allowed, whereas it is allowed in abstract classes.
Session state vs. View state:
In some cases, using view state is not feasible. The alternative for view state is session state. Session state is employed under the following situations:
- Large amounts of data - View state tends to increase the size of both the HTML page sent to the browser and the size of form posted back. Hence session state is used.
- Secure data - Though the view state data is encoded and may be encrypted, it is better and secure if no sensitive data is sent to the client. Thus, session state is a more secure option.
- Problems in serializing of objects into view state - View state is efficient for a small set of data. Other types like DataSet are slower and can generate a very large view state.
Can two different programming languages be mixed in a single ASPX file?
ASP.NET's built-in parsers are used to remove code from ASPX files and create temporary files. Each parser understands only one language. Therefore mixing of languages in a single ASPX file is not possible.
Is it possible to see the code that ASP.NET generates from an ASPX file?
By enabling debugging using a <%@ Page Debug="true" %> directive in the ASPX file or a <compilation debug="true"> statement in Web.config, the generated code can be viewed. The code is stored in a CS or VB file (usually in the \%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.nnnn\Temporary ASP.NET Files).
Can a custom .NET data type be used in a Web form?
This can be achieved by placing the DLL containing the custom data type in the application root's bin directory and ASP.NET will automatically load the DLL when the type is referenced.
List the event handlers that can be included in Global.asax?
- Application start and end event handlers
- Session start and end event handlers
- Per-request event handlers
- Non-deterministic event handlers
Can the view state be protected from tampering?
This can be achieved by including an @ Page directive with an EnableViewStateMac="true" attribute in each ASPX file that has to be protected. Another way is to include the <pages enableViewStateMac="true" /> statement in the Web.config file.
Can the view state be encrypted?
The view state can be encrypted by setting EnableViewStateMac to true and either modifying the <machineKey> element in Machine.config to <machineKey validation="3DES" /> or by adding the above statement to Web.config.
When during the page processing cycle is ViewState available?
The view state is available after the Init() and before the Render() methods are called during Page load.
Do Web controls support Cascading Style Sheets?
All Web controls inherit a property named CssClass from the base class System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebControl which can be used to control the properties of the web control.
What namespaces are imported by default in ASPX files?
The following namespaces are imported by default. Other namespaces must be imported manually using @ Import directives.
- System
- System.Collections
- System.Collections.Specialized
- System.Configuration
- System.Text
- System.Text.RegularExpressions
- System.Web
- System.Web.Caching
- System.Web.Security
- System.Web.SessionState
- System.Web.UI
- System.Web.UI.HtmlControls
- System.Web.UI.WebControls
What classes are needed to send e-mail from an ASP.NET application?
The classes MailMessage and SmtpMail have to be used to send email from an ASP.NET application. MailMessage and SmtpMail are classes defined in the .NET Framework Class Library's System.Web.Mail namespace.
Why do some web service classes derive from System.Web.WebServices while others do not?
Those Web Service classes which employ objects like Application, Session, Context, Server, and User have to derive from System.Web.WebServices. If it does not use these objects, it is not necessary to be derived from it.
What are VSDISCO files?
VSDISCO files are DISCO files that enable dynamic discovery of Web Services. ASP.NET links the VSDISCO to a HTTP handler that scans the host directory and subdirectories for ASMX and DISCO files and returns a dynamically generated DISCO document. A client who requests a VSDISCO file gets back what appears to be a static DISCO document.
How can files be uploaded to Web pages in ASP.NET?
This can be done by using the HtmlInputFile class to declare an instance of an <input type="file" runat="server"/> tag. Then, a byte[] can be declared to read in the data from the input file. This can then be sent to the server.
How do I create an ASPX page that periodically refreshes itself?
The following META tag can be used as a trigger to automatically refresh the page every n seconds:
```
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="nn">
```
How do I initialize a TextBox whose TextMode is "password", with a password?
The TextBox's Text property cannot be used to assign a value to a password field. Instead, its Value field can be used for that purpose.
```
<asp:TextBox Value="imbatman" TextMode="Password" 
                      ID="Password" RunAt="server" />
```
Why does the control's PostedFile property always show null when using HtmlInputFile control to upload files to a Web server?
This occurs when an enctype="multipart/form-data" attribute is missing in the <form> tag.
How can the focus be set to a specific control when a Web form loads?
This can be achieved by using client-side script:
```
document.forms[0].TextBox1.focus ()
```
The above code will set the focus to a TextBox named TextBox1 when the page loads.
How does System.Web.UI.Page's IsPostBack property work?
IsPostBack checks to see whether the HTTP request is accompanied by postback data containing a __VIEWSTATE or __EVENTTARGET parameter. If there are none, then it is not a postback.
What is WSDL?
WSDL is an XML format for describing network services as a set of endpoints operating on messages containing either document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. The operations and messages are described abstractly, and then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format to define an endpoint. Related concrete endpoints are combined into abstract endpoints (services). (Source: www.w3.org)
What is UDDI?
UDDI stands for Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration. It is like an "Yellow Pages" for Web Services. It is maintained by Microsoft, IBM, and Ariba, and is designed to provide detailed information regarding registered Web Services for all vendors. The UDDI can be queried for specific Web Services.
Is it possible to generate the source code for an ASP.NET Web service from a WSDL?
The Wsdl.exe tool (.NET Framework SDK) can be used to generate source code for an ASP.NET web service with its WSDL link.

Example: wsdl /server http://api.google.com/GoogleSearch.wsdl.
Why do uploads fail while using an ASP.NET file upload control to upload large files?
ASP.NET limits the size of file uploads for security purposes. The default size is 4 MB. This can be changed by modifying the maxRequestLength attribute of Machine.config's <httpRuntime> element.
Describe the difference between inline and code behind.
Inline code is written along side the HTML in a page. Code-behind is code written in a separate file and referenced by the .aspx page.
Describe the role of inetinfo.exe, aspnet_isapi.dll andaspnet_wp.exe in the page loading process.
inetinfo.exe is theMicrosoft IIS server running, handling ASP.NET requests among other things.When an ASP.NET request is received (usually a file with .aspx extension), the ISAPI filter aspnet_isapi.dll takes care of it by passing the request tothe actual worker process aspnet_wp.exe.
Can you explain the difference between an ADO.NET Dataset and an ADO Recordset?
Valid answers are:
- A DataSet can represent an entire relational database in memory, complete with tables, relations, and views.
- A DataSet is designed to work without any continuing connection to the original data source.
- Data in a DataSet is bulk-loaded, rather than being loaded on demand.
- There's no concept of cursor types in a DataSet.
- DataSets have no current record pointer You can use For Each loops to move through the data.
- You can store many edits in a DataSet, and write them to the original data source in a single operation.
- Though the DataSet is universal, other objects in ADO.NET come in different versions for different data sources.
What's a bubbled event?
When you have a complex control, like DataGrid, writing an event processing routine for each object (cell, button, row, etc.) is quite tedious. The controls can bubble up their eventhandlers, allowing the main DataGrid event handler to take care of its constituents.
What data types do the RangeValidator control support?
Integer, String, and Date.
Explain what a diffgram is, and a good use for one?
The DiffGram is one of the two XML formats that you can use to render DataSet object contents to XML. A good use is reading database data to an XML file to be sent to a Web Service.
What is the transport protocol you use to call a Web service?
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is the preferred protocol.
What is ViewState?
ViewState allows the state of objects (serializable) to be stored in a hidden field on the page. ViewState is transported to the client and back to the server, and is not stored on the server or any other external source. ViewState is used the retain the state of server-side objects between postabacks.
What does the "EnableViewState" property do? Why would I want it on or off?
It allows the page to save the users input on a form across postbacks. It saves the server-side values for a given control into ViewState, which is stored as a hidden value on the page before sending the page to the clients browser. When the page is posted back to the server the server control is recreated with the state stored in viewstate.
What are the different types of Session state management options available with ASP.NET?
ASP.NET provides In-Process and Out-of-Process state management. In-Process stores the session in memory on the web server. This requires the a "sticky-server" (or no load-balancing) so that the user is always reconnected to the same web server. Out-of-Process Session state management stores data in an external data source. The external data source may be either a SQL Server or a State Server service. Out-of-Process state management requires that all objects stored in session are serializable.

Differences Between XML and HTML?

Anyone with a fundamental grasp of XML should be able describe some of the main differences outlined in the table below

XML	HTML
User definable tags	Defined set of tags designed for web display
Content driven	Format driven
End tags required for well formed documents	End tags not required
Quotes required around attributes values	Quotes not required
Slash required in empty tags	Slash not required

Give a few examples of types of applications that can benefit from using XML.
There are literally thousands of applications that can benefit from XML technologies. The point of this question is not to have the candidate rattle off a laundry list of projects that they have worked on, but, rather, to allow the candidate to explain the rationale for choosing XML by citing a few real world examples. For instance, one appropriate answer is that XML allows content management systems to store documents independently of their format, which thereby reduces data redundancy. Another answer relates to B2B exchanges or supply chain management systems. In these instances, XML provides a mechanism for multiple companies to exchange data according to an agreed upon set of rules. A third common response involves wireless applications that require WML to render data on hand held devices.
What is DOM and how does it relate to XML?
The Document Object Model (DOM) is an interface specification maintained by the W3C DOM Workgroup that defines an application independent mechanism to access, parse, or update XML data. In simple terms it is a hierarchical model that allows developers to manipulate XML documents easily Any developer that has worked extensively with XML should be able to discuss the concept and use of DOM objects freely. Additionally, it is not unreasonable to expect advanced candidates to thoroughly understand its internal workings and be able to explain how DOM differs from an event-based interface like SAX.
What is SOAP and how does it relate to XML?
The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) uses XML to define a protocol for the exchange of information in distributed computing environments. SOAP consists of three components: an envelope, a set of encoding rules, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls. Unless experience with SOAP is a direct requirement for the open position, knowing the specifics of the protocol, or how it can be used in conjunction with HTTP, is not as important as identifying it as a natural application of XML.
Can you walk us through the steps necessary to parse XML documents?
Superficially, this is a fairly basic question. However, the point is not to determine whether candidates understand the concept of a parser but rather have them walk through the process of parsing XML documents step-by-step. Determining whether a non-validating or validating parser is needed, choosing the appropriate parser, and handling errors are all important aspects to this process that should be included in the candidate's response.
What are possible implementations of distributed applications in .NET?
.NET Remoting and ASP.NET Web Services. If we talk about the Framework Class Library, noteworthy classes are in System.Runtime.Remoting and System.Web.Services.
What are the consideration in deciding to use .NET Remoting or ASP.NET Web Services?
Remoting is a more efficient communication exchange when you can control both ends of the application involved in the communication process. Web Services provide an open-protocol-based exchange of informaion. Web Services are best when you need to communicate with an external organization or another (non-.NET) technology.
What's a proxy of the server object in .NET Remoting?
It's a fake copy of the server object that resides on the client side and behaves as if it was the server. It handles the communication between real server object and the client object. This process is also known as marshaling.
What are remotable objects in .NET Remoting?
Remotable objects are the objects that can be marshaled across the application domains. You can marshal by value, where a deep copy of the object is created and then passed to the receiver. You can also marshal by reference, where just a reference to an existing object is passed.
What are channels in .NET Remoting?
Channels represent the objects that transfer the other serialized objects from one application domain to another and from one computer to another, as well as one process to another on the same box. A channel must exist before an object can be transferred.
What security measures exist for .NET Remoting in System.Runtime.Remoting?
None. Security should be taken care of at the application level. Cryptography and other security techniques can be applied at application or server level.
What is a formatter?
A formatter is an object that is responsible for encoding and serializing data into messages on one end, and deserializing and decoding messages into data on the other end.
Choosing between HTTP and TCP for protocols and Binary and SOAP for formatters, what are the trade-offs?
Binary over TCP is the most effiecient, SOAP over HTTP is the most interoperable.
What's SingleCall activation mode used for?
If the server object is instantiated for responding to just one single request, the request should be made in SingleCall mode.
What's Singleton activation mode?
A single object is instantiated regardless of the number of clients accessing it. Lifetime of this object is determined by lifetime lease.
How do you define the lease of the object?
By implementing ILease interface when writing the class code.
Can you configure a .NET Remoting object via XML file?
Yes, via machine.config and application level .config file (or web.config in ASP.NET). Application-level XML settings take precedence over machine.config.
How can you automatically generate interface for the remotable object in .NET with Microsoft tools?
Use the Soapsuds tool.