Technical Blog

Change UPPER CASE to Title Case / Proper Case - supports all punctuation

2010-07-29T15:03:00.000Z

create function ProperCase(@Text as varchar(8000))
returns varchar(8000)
as
begin
declare @Reset bit;
declare @Ret varchar(8000);
declare @i int;
declare @c char(1);

select @Reset = 1, @i=1, @Ret = '';

while (@i <= len(@Text))
select @c= substring(@Text,@i,1),
@Ret = @Ret + case when @Reset=1 then UPPER(@c) else LOWER(@c) end,
@Reset = case when @c like '[a-zA-Z]' then 0 else 1 end,
@i = @i +1
return @Ret
end

select dbo.ProperCase('this,my friends, is a test.wHat DO you think?i like shaquile o''neal')

Post from email Really?

2009-03-29T00:27:00.004Z

This is apparently how you post from email…

How to convert Access DB to SQL 2005 DB

2009-03-29T00:22:00.001Z

You need to use: SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access (SSMA for Access)

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/en/us/migration-access.aspx

Asp.net development server stopped working

2009-03-11T03:04:00.002Z

Asp.net development server stopped working
just like on 10/03/09 ? Yeah thank MicroSoft for that they released an update on Windows Defender that defends you from working.

Stupid thing changes hosts file to some apparently IPv6 shite but messes up ur developmet server

Here is what to do:

1. Locate the hosts file with notepad "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"
2. Find line that says "::1 localhost"
3. Replace it with "127.0.0.1 localhost"
4. Save
5. Windows defender is gonna notify you that you might got hijacked!
6. Tell it to go fuck itself

Job Done - you can work again!

How to change CurrentCulture CultureInfo in vb.net

2009-03-08T00:49:00.001Z

Had a problem with ASP.NET site with the LIVE webhosting site beeing in the US and it was not formating my dates the way I wanted them by default.

Add this code to change CurrentCulture to whatever you want:

Dim ci As New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("EN-GB")
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = ci
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = ci

Terminal Services License Crack

2009-02-10T15:34:00.003Z

ON SERVER:

Go to %WINDIR%\system32\lserverNotice the file TSLIC.edb. Rename it to tslic.old

ON CLIENT:

In every client computer, remove the CAL TS registry keys, located
at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing

Restart your server.

ALTERNATIVELY:

On SERVER

1. UnInstall the Terminal Server Licensing
2. Install the Terminal Server Licensing again
3. Restart server

On CLIENT

1. Delete the whole key called : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSLicensing

Sony Ericsson P1i won't play video from m.youtube.com

2009-02-04T08:33:00.004Z

PROBLEM:

When you are connected using WIFI to your own network and you can browse the web ok with the P1i but you go to http://m.youtube.com/ (mobile youtube that has videos in 3gp format for mobile devices) and you click Watch Video - the phone would buffer it to 100% but then say could not connect to the specified location.

RESOLUTION:

Problem is with your router blocking the ports that are needed by the P1i to stream the video.

1. Assign a static IP to the phone (example 192.168.1.192) (this is for security so that you don't open the ports to all devices on your network)
2. On your router under Open ports setup to that IP (192.168.1.192)

3. Setup the port redirection table as per the picture below

Sony Ericsson P1i won't connect to 802.11g network 54g - Could not locate remote server

2009-02-04T08:30:00.001Z

Had a problem with my Sony P1i - it would connect to a 802.11b networks ok but when it was connected to a 802.11g network it would connect ok but on browsing th web the message:

Could not locate remote server

Would always come up.

RESOLUTION:
Updating the phone's software using the Sony Software that came with the phone fixes this issue

How to change password for sa login in management studio

2008-12-21T20:55:00.002Z

How to change password for sa login in management studio

1. Security/Logins/sa - right click Properties / General TAB

more info:

http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2007/12/29/sql-server-change-password-of-sa-login-using-management-studio/

connected usb drive has no volume

2008-10-05T15:52:00.001Z

Sometimes USB drives won't show up because there's a drive letter conflict. Before you try formatting, right-click on My Computer, choose Manage, double-click Storage, and double-click Disk Management. Scroll to see if your USB drive is there and then change the drive letter.

Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server: "Cannot create a file that already exists. The system cannot find the file specified"

2008-07-30T23:19:00.000Z

FIX: Error message when you run the "tf get" command together with the "/force" option in Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server: "Cannot create a file that already exists. The system cannot find the file specified"

SYMPTOMS
loadTOCNode(1, 'symptoms');
When you run the tf get command together with the /force option in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server, you receive the following error message:
Cannot create a file that already exists. The system cannot find the file specified.The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
•
You use the Open from Source Control command in Visual Studio 2005 to open a large solution that contains many ASP.NET projects that have interrelated references.
•
You open another instance of Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server and then use the Open from Source Control command to open another large solution.
•
You open a third instance of Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server and then use the Open from Source Control command to open a third large solution.
Back to the top
RESOLUTION
loadTOCNode(1, 'resolution');
Hotfix information
loadTOCNode(2, 'resolution');
A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

DOWNLOAD HERE:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB935274/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=800

SSRS Cannot create a connection to data source 'dataSource1' Report builder

2008-07-01T14:33:00.007Z

Symptoms:

In report builder getting Error message when trying to run a report :

Solution:

This error is caused by the executing user account (in the SSRS) not having permissions to run the report.

The datasource1 is an internal datasource so don't bother looking for it.

To sort out the problem:

1. Open Report Manager (http:\\localhost\reports)
2. Navigate to Home > Data Sources
3. Make sure Connection string is using Integrated Security=True
4. Select Credentials stored securely in the report server
5. Fill in the Username and password with an admin account on the machine that hosts SSRS
6. Tick Use as Windows credentials when connecting to the data source (to keep your user accounts setup like user folder premisions) working OR just Select credentials are not required

Make sure you unselect Windows integrated security if you are using a windows account that is not an administrator to connect to SSRS server

7. Click apply

Setting up new user in SSRS so that they can see their own folder

2008-07-01T12:00:00.001Z

Setting up new user in SSRS so that they can see their own folder

First you need to setup user account access to SSRS in two places:

Edit Role Assignment

1. Properties
2. click edit next to user
3. Add Report builder role

Site Wide Security

1. site settings
2. configure site wide security
3. new role assignment
4. fill in username and check System User role
5. ok

Second you have to Create a folder specific for this user

open it / properties / security / add the user account to it

Now each user have their own account that only them and the Admin account can see

SSRS report print date in Report builder

2008-07-01T10:31:00.003Z

To create a Print date field on a report in SSRS report builder:

1. right click the report Insert\textbox
2. double click it to select its contents
3. set its text to =now.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss")
4. run the report

TFS appdata\local\temp\TFSTemp

2008-06-29T11:17:00.000Z

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935274/en-us

Extract year from date SQL

2008-06-26T08:55:00.001Z

YEAR(datefield)

ajax AutoCompleteExtender cuts leading zeros

2008-06-02T11:15:00.001Z

It is a known issue. " ' " needs to be added around it because of JavaScript converting this to int while passing it.

Items.Add("'" & drPart("sItemID") & "'")

See here

microsoft office word has stopped working everytime after closing word down

2008-05-28T19:01:00.001Z

SOLUTION

Close Word

Navigate to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word

Find the "Data" folder and rename it to "Old-Data"

Restart Word

SUPPRESS BLANK REPORT - surppressing blank report Crystal - suppress subreport if there are no records

2008-05-15T14:43:00.002Z

RIGHT click on the subreport,
then choose FORMAT OBJECT
In the SUBREPORT tab, check the box next to SUPPRESS BLANK REPORT.

SSRS ReportBuilder won't run - Unauthorized

2008-05-08T10:25:00.001Z

SSRS report builder doesn't run

I was having problem when logging on to SSRS from another PC outside of the domain that the SSRS server is on.

Error msg

http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application did not succeed.
+ The remote server returned an error: (401) Unauthorized.

To sort this problem out follow these steps:

If the ReportBuilder application won’t run then run IIS on the reports server:

Navigate to:

Default Website\ReportServer\ReportBuilder

Right click ReportBuilder.application file
File Security / Authentication and Access Control / Edit
Tick Enable anonymous access

PLATFORM VERSION INFO
Windows : 5.0.2195.262144 (Win32NT)
Common Language Runtime : 2.0.50727.42
System.Deployment.dll : 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
mscorwks.dll : 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
dfdll.dll : 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
dfshim.dll : 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

SOURCES
Deployment url : http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application

ERROR SUMMARY
Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
* Activation of http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
+ Downloading http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application did not succeed.
+ The remote server returned an error: (401) Unauthorized.

COMPONENT STORE TRANSACTION FAILURE SUMMARY
No transaction error was detected.

WARNINGS
There were no warnings during this operation.

OPERATION PROGRESS STATUS
* [08/05/2008 09:33:39] : Activation of http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application has started.

ERROR DETAILS
Following errors were detected during this operation.
* [08/05/2008 09:33:46] System.Deployment.Application.DeploymentDownloadException (Unknown subtype)
- Downloading http://192.168.1.2/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application did not succeed.
- Source: System.Deployment
- Stack trace:
at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadSingleFile(DownloadQueueItem next)
at System.Deployment.Application.SystemNetDownloader.DownloadAllFiles()
at System.Deployment.Application.FileDownloader.Download(SubscriptionState subState)
at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadManifestAsRawFile(Uri& sourceUri, String targetPath, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options, ServerInformation& serverInformation)
at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestDirectBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri& sourceUri, TempFile& tempFile, SubscriptionState& subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options, ServerInformation& serverInformation)
at System.Deployment.Application.DownloadManager.DownloadDeploymentManifestBypass(SubscriptionStore subStore, Uri& sourceUri, TempFile& tempFile, SubscriptionState& subState, IDownloadNotification notification, DownloadOptions options)
at System.Deployment.Application.ApplicationActivator.PerformDeploymentActivation(Uri activationUri, Boolean isShortcut)

CR.NET remove unwanted decimal places .00

2008-04-23T14:14:00.001Z

totext({vwSubOTOverdueAcceptance.LOOAcceptanceDaysWarning} ,0,"")

Create totals row in Report Builder SSRS

2008-04-10T14:26:00.001Z

Totals row on Report builder SSRS

Select the field you want totals to be displayed on

On the Edit menu, click Show Subtotal

Records need to be in relation for this to work.

SSRS - setting up user areas so that one user can't see other users reports

2008-04-10T14:23:00.001Z

Setup different user accounts on the Domain

Setup user accounts in SSRS as Report builder, My Reports roles

Each user has his own My Reports area where files saved are only visible to the user who saved them there

Restart SQL Server

How to delete TFS 2008 project Team Foundation Server project delete

2008-04-10T08:44:00.001Z

Run this:

cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common\IDETfsDeleteProject /server:SERVERNAME PROJECTNAME

SERVERNAME - Server Name
PROJECTNAME - Project Name

TFS Workgroup Edition user access

2008-04-07T19:44:00.001Z

How to: Add Users for Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition
You can get Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition with Team System client products that are licensed with MSDN Premium Subscriptions. The functionality of the Workgroup Edition is identical to that of Team Foundation Server, Standard Edition except that the number of users is limited to five.

Special Group Membership for Workgroup Edition

After you install Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition, you must add users to Team Foundation Licensed Users security group in order for them to connect to the server.

This security group is a server-level group specific to the Workgroup Edition. This group is created during installation of the Workgroup Edition, but not the Trial Edition or the Standard Edition. The user account used during installation is added to the group by default. You can add up to four additional users to this group manually.

This group controls connection to the server only. It does not control access to creating projects or working within projects. Additional security groups control access to the server's functionality.

To add users to the Team Foundation Licensed Users group
Log on as a Team Foundation Administrator, open Team Explorer, and connect to the Team Foundation Serverfor which you are adding a user.
From the Team menu, click Team Foundation Server Settings, and then click Group Membership.
In the Global Groups dialog box, click Team Foundation Licensed Users and then click Properties.
In the Team Foundation Server Group properties dialog box, click Windows User or Group, and then click Add.
In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, type the user accounts you want to add, and then click Add. Note You can add individual user accounts but not a group account.
Click Close.
Other Team Foundation Server Roles and Membership

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Team Foundation Administrators security group.

All Team Foundation Server editions require users to be members of a Team Foundation Server group at the project level or server level. The level and group depend on the functionality you want to enable for the user. For example, if you want to allow a user to create a Team Project, the user must be a member of the Team Foundation Server Administrators security group, must be assigned to the role of Content Manager in SQL Server Reporting Services, and must be assigned to the role of Administrator for Windows SharePoint Services. However, the user does not need to be a member of the local administrator group on the computer. For more information about users and roles, see the topic “Team Foundation Server Permissions” in the Team Foundation Server Administrator’s Guide.

Setting up user to see Report Builder in SSRS - can't see Report Builder in SSRS

2008-04-04T07:33:00.001Z

Setting up new user in SSRS to be able to see the Report Builder link

Need to setup in two places:

Edit Role Assignment

1. Properties
2. click edit next to user
3. Add Report builder role

Site Wide Security

1. site settings
2. configure site wide security
3. new role assignment
4. fill in username and check System User role
5. ok

Setting up new user for SSRS

2008-04-03T13:22:00.006Z

To setup new user in SSRS:

1. setup new domain account
2. login to SSRS (http://localhost/Reports$mssql2005) using domain admin account
3. click properties --> New Role Assignment --> New Role
4. fill in Name, Decs and tick required Task boxes --> OK
5. click home --> Properties --> New Role Assignment
6. enter domain username
7. tick the box in front of NewTestRole
8. click OK
9. navigate to properties and check user is assigned to the role
10. log out
11. log in as new domain account

SSRS - SQL Server Reporting Services tutorials

2008-03-19T16:15:00.000Z

Creating Module
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms167048.aspx

Overall Tutorial:
http://www.accelebrate.com/sql_training/ssrs_tutorial.htm

Calculating Total on specific conditions CR.NET Crystal Reports

2008-03-19T08:29:00.001Z

Creating Running Totals

The best method available to you to learn how to do this is to look over our Running Total Whitepaper. It gives lots of examples and explains in full detail the methods that you will need to use to create the running totals in your report. To get our running total whitepaper, please download it from our website at the following link:

http://support.crystaldecisions.com/library/

Once there, please do a search and download the following documents:
scr_variablescopes.pdf
scr_running_total.zip

With Crystal Reports you cannot create a summary field base on a formula with a summary field. What you will need to do is use-running totals. There are three formulas you are to create. One is to reset the variable you are going to create to contain the total of your running total. One is to do the actual calculation and the last one is to display the running total.

The Reset Formula:

The following formula is to be place in your group header so it will reset the variable on the change of each new group. X is the name of the variable
Whileprintingrecords;
Numbervar X := 0

The Calculation Formula:

Place this formula in the detail section.
Whileprintingrecords;

Numbervar X:=X +{fieldnametoaddup}

***For duplicate records the formula would look like this***
Whileprintingrecords;

If onfirstrecord or previous({fieldname})<>{fieldname} then
Numbervar X:= X + 1

***For Conditionally Suppressed Records***

You will have to include the suppression condition in the formula for example:
Lets say you have record #51 suppressed then the formula should look like this:

If {fieldname} <> 51 then numbervar X:=X+1

This means the running total will only add one for every record as long as it is not 51.

The Display Formula

Place this formula in the group footer to display the result

Whileprintingrecords;
Numbervar X;

Original Article at : http://www.crystalconsulting.ca/faq.html#running

Select Case in CR.NET Crystal Reports

2008-03-18T15:20:00.000Z

Numbervar numUnAllocatedAmount;

select {vwRptClaimPrint.ClaimStatus}

case 'PartAllocated':(numUnAllocatedAmount:={vwRptClaimPrint.TotalVouchedClaimAmount}- {vwRptClaimPrint.TotalAllocatedClaimAmount})

default: (numUnAllocatedAmount:= {vwRptClaimPrint.TotalVouchedClaimAmount} -{vwRptClaimPrint.TotalAllocatedClaimAmount})

If statement in CR.Net Crystal Reports

2008-03-18T15:19:00.000Z

You are allowed to assign values to two variables in one formula, simply by separating the assignments with semicolons. This gets a little more confusing when you are within nested If-Then logic. The formula below shows you how to do four assignments if the condition is TRUE and a different four assignments if the condition is FALSE. This formula will increment each of the 4 variables with one amount if the order is under $1,000. The increment will be 10 times that amount if the order is over $1,000.
Three things to notice: 1) The set of assignments after THEN or ELSE are contained inside a pair parentheses. 2) Within each pair of parentheses the assignments are separated by semicolons. 3) The If - Then - Else steps themselves are NOT separated by semicolons.
The last line is not necessary, but it allows the formula to display the contents of all four variables at once on the report. Without this last line the formula would simply show the value of the last assignment. Remove the two comment marks (leaving the semicolon) for this line to activate.
Whileprintingrecords;
Numbervar one;
Numbervar two;
Numbervar three;
Numbervar four;
if {Orders.Order Amount} < 1000
then (one := one + 1;
two := two + 2;
three:= three+ 3;
four := four + 4 )
else (one := one + 10;
two := two + 20;
three:= three+ 30;
four := four + 40 )
// ; Totext(one,0,'') + '-' + Totext(two,0,'') + '-' + Totext(three,0,'')+ '-' + Totext(four,0,'')

CR.NET Format field as percentage

2008-03-05T12:57:00.000Z

To format a number as a percentage in CR.NET:

Right-click on the numeric field and select Format.

Go to the Number tab and click Customize.

Click the Currency Symbol tab.
Click Enable Currency Symbol.
Change the Currency Symbol to '%'
Change Position combobox to '-123%'
Click OK, OK to exit and save.

CR.NET Calculate Percentage

2008-03-05T12:51:00.001Z

Create New Unboundfiled

Number

Formula:

( {Field} / Sum ({Field}) ) * 100

CR.NET Landscape paper orientation

2008-03-04T15:17:00.000Z

Design tip of the sporadic time interval:
If you need to change the size or orientation of a Crystal Report, you can do this in the VS IDE by right-clicking your report and navigating Designer >> Printer Setup. On the first tab, you can choose the paper size and orientation. Hit OK to return to the IDE, and the report canvas will automatically resize to what you just specified.

add datarow to dataset ASP.NET 2.0

2007-09-24T22:45:00.000Z

Dim dsBasket As DataSet = Context.Session("dsBasket")
Dim newRow As DataRow = dsBasket.Tables(0).NewRow
newRow.Item(0) = intMealID
newRow.Item(2) = strMealDesc
newRow.Item(3) = decMealPrice
dsBasket.Tables(0).Rows.Add(newRow)

Morocco in june

2007-09-23T21:20:00.000Z

Morocco Just got some tickets to fly to Malaga next year in June so I am happy about that will be going to Morocco. Booked accomodation there with www.morocco-holiday-rentals.com and I hope it will work out well. Will let you know.

Combo search automatic

2007-08-21T14:01:00.000Z

Combo search automatic useful for vs 2003

http://www.knowdotnet.com/articles/searchablecombo.html

Javascript to move cursor to the end of a textbox

2007-04-18T08:41:00.000Z

function setCursorAtEnd(sTextboxID) { var oTextbox = document.all.item(sTextboxID); if (oTextbox .createTextRange) { var r = (oTextbox.createTextRange()); r.moveStart('character', (oTextbox.value.length)); r.collapse(); r.select(); }}

Search in dataset

2007-04-03T13:22:00.000Z

dtState.PrimaryKey = New DataColumn() {dtState.Columns("State")}

Dim drStateCode As DataRow
Dim sCode as String
drStateCode = dtState.Rows.Find("Nebraska")
sCode = drStateCode("code").toString
'sCode is now "NE"

Broken Home Phone

2007-02-22T09:10:00.000Z

VISTA Microphone booster

2007-02-16T10:01:00.001Z

Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Sound -> Recording -> Microphone -> Properties -> Custom -> Microphone +20dB Boost

"What U Hear" can also be found in the recording tab.

User Account Control status warning message Remove Disable

2007-02-10T19:36:00.000Z

Disabling the User Account Control status warning message

To disable the User Account Control status warning message:

Use a registry editing tool to navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center

Add the following value:
Data Type:
DWORD

Value Name:
UACDisableNotify

Value:
1

Restart the Security Center service for the change to take effect.

broken chair

2007-02-01T18:21:00.000Z

SQL codes for date conversion

2007-01-23T17:50:00.000Z

SQL codes for format date

Style ID	Style Type
0 or 100	mon dd yyyy hh:miAM (or PM)
101	mm/dd/yy
102	yy.mm.dd
103	dd/mm/yy
104	dd.mm.yy
105	dd-mm-yy
106	dd mon yy
107	Mon dd, yy
108	hh:mm:ss
9 or 109	mon dd yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM (or PM)
110	mm-dd-yy
111	yy/mm/dd
112	yymmdd
13 or 113	dd mon yyyy hh:mm:ss:mmm(24h)
114	hh:mi:ss:mmm(24h)
20 or 120	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss(24h)
21 or 121	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss.mmm(24h)
126	yyyy-mm-dd Thh:mm:ss.mmm(no spaces)
130	dd mon yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM
131	dd/mm/yy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM

Get Date From DateTime In SQL

2007-01-17T02:55:00.000Z

select convert(varchar,DateColumn,101)

101 - MM/dd/yyyy

File Upload form in ASP.NET

2006-09-12T09:12:00.000Z

In the HTML:

[form Method="post" EncType="multipart/form-data" RunAt="Server" ID="Form1"]
[%-- The File upload Html control --%]
Select File To Process
[BR]
[Input ID="MyFile" Type="file" RunAt="Server" NAME="MyFile" style="WIDTH: 376px; HEIGHT: 22px"
size="43"]
[BR]
[%-- A button - when clicked the form is submitted and the
Upload_Click event handler is fired... --%]
[asp:Label id="lblResult" style="Z-INDEX: 103; LEFT: 16px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 120px"
runat="server" Width="312px" Height="80px"][/asp:Label]
[Input Type="submit" Value="Go" OnServerClick="Upload_Click" RunAt="Server" ID="Submit1"
NAME="Submit1"]
[/form]

In the code :

public void Upload_Click(object Sender, EventArgs e)
{
string strPath;
// get the path into variable
strPath = MyFile.Value;
}

Javascript focus and functions with textBox

2006-09-04T09:29:00.000Z

Set Focus function on server side code (just pass in the string of the control name)

protected void setFocus( String ctrl )
{
string s = "[SCRIPT language='javascript']document.Form1.Editor1_" + ctrl + ".focus();[/SCRIPT]";
Page.RegisterStartupScript( "focus", s );
}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Function on server side code to assign javascript event to a particular ASP.NET control (Change the details passed to JavaScript function for each call)

txtStartDateDay.Attributes.Add("onkeyup", "SetFocusX('Editor1_txtStartDateDay','Editor1_txtStartDateMonth')");

In the HTML JavaScript function (checks the lenght of the field if two sets focus to the next)

function SetFocusX(oField, oField2)
{
var strText = document.getElementById(oField).value;
if(strText.length == 2)
{
document.getElementById(oField2).focus();
}
}

DataBinder.Eval On the fly data binding

2006-08-29T14:59:00.000Z

[asp:TemplateColumn]
[ItemTemplate]
[asp:HyperLink Target=_blank NavigateUrl='<%# "http://www.openquals.org.uk/openquals/qualificationDetails.aspx?QualificationID=" + DataBinder.Eval(Container, "DataItem.QualificationID") %>' Runat=server]More[/asp:HyperLink]
[/ItemTemplate]
[/asp:TemplateColumn]

Using a Literal control

2006-08-28T10:36:00.000Z

litLinks is a LITERAL CONTROL declaration:

protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.Literal litLinks;

// declare string
string strLinks;

// Put HTML into the string
strLinks = "[a href ='TPPMain.aspx?requestId=" + strRequestId + "&view=qual']Qualification[/a]&nbsp[a href ='TPPMain.aspx?requestId=" + strRequestId + "&view=unit']Units[/a]";

// add the string to the literal control
litLinks.Text = strLinks;

How to get Internet radio working in MCE at a click of a button

2006-08-28T08:32:00.000Z

Hi all,

Yesterday I have added some cool features to my MCE.

I have added an internet radios to it that can be accessed from the main menu. I live in UK and I like to listen to Czech radios that broadcast over the internet. I was looking to find an easy was of doing this from the MCE that sits in the living room.

I have faced a few problems and I thought it might be good to share it with the world.

First off you need an MCE Add-in to allow you to do this I have used this one called Web Media:

http://www.mcesoft.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=122

You have to register with them to be able to use it (just want your email that has to be valid)
It is a Media Release Candidate 1.3 but I tested it and it works quite well.

So once you download this and install it all you need to do is add the link to the live stream that is a *. Asx file

Now this might seem easy done but it isn’t. Usually any radio that uses windows media player that plays in a small popup window that is just an IE window or in some sort of player of its own. But once it opens you have no idea even about the URL of the page and especially not about the URL of the stream.

What you need now is a browser that supports Tabbed browsing (I have used Netscape 8 to do this)

You need to go to the site of the radio and then click on the link to LISTEN LIVE. What happens in Netscape is that the new window will open in a tab rather than in a pop up window. So now you see the URL of the page that plays the live stream but this still isn’t the URL of the stream itself.

You need to do view / Page source and look into the HTML code used to generate this language and if the page is using windows media player web control you can look at the code and locate this node:

PARAM NAME="URL" VALUE="http://www.live.cz/radio/evropa2-64.asx">

Or just search the file for .asx and you will get the URL of the stream itself.

You can now use this as the URL of the internet radio station and add it to the Web Media in your MCE and there you go you can now listen to the internet radio from your MCE at a click of a (remote control) button.

http://www.onev.com/mcc/store.htm
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2171/media_center_communicator

How to script SQL Server 2005 Stored Procedures and all other objects

2006-08-25T11:20:00.000Z

This functionality is no longer available in the Management Studio there is a 3rd party tool here:

http://www.sqlteam.com/publish/scriptio/
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/billg/archive/2005/11/22/8414.aspx

Page content from a file ASP.NET

2006-08-23T08:07:00.000Z

First create a textfile with HTML code in it (or just plain Text)

Create a class to read the stuff from files

public class LearningProvider
{

string templatedirectory=System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/NAALearningProvider/Controls/_Templates/Content/");
public LearningProvider()
{
//
// TODO: Add constructor logic here
//
}
public string ReadTemplate(string templateFile)
{
StreamReader streamReader=new StreamReader(templatedirectory+templateFile+".txt");
return Regex.Replace(streamReader.ReadToEnd(),"\r\n","
");
}
}

Now use this code to use class from the ASPX page

LearningProvider lp=new LearningProvider();
lblContent.Text = lp.ReadTemplate("LPUpdateDetailsConfirm");

T-Mobile Provider and Customer Services HELL

2006-08-22T12:19:00.000Z

Just wanted to let everyone know about T-Mobile and what a shitty company they are. I have canceled my contract with O2 that I was satisfied with but got a better new customer contract with cashback and all with T-Mobile. I have also transfered my number to them which was the biggest mistake ever.
First few weeks I was not making many phone calls but when I wanted to make one I would ussualy get NETWORK BUSY message or I would go straight to the voicemail of the person I was calling and it would never ring his phone.
The signal with T-Mobile in Northern Ireland is just terrible there is no other word for it sometimes you get one bar sometimes two max i ever got was 4 and scale of my phone has about 8 bars.
A part from not having any signal and network busy, sometimes when I have the luck of making a call it always gets cut after up to 3 minutes and I can hear the three sounds beep-beeep-beeeep and that's the end of the call.
So I have tried to complain and I told them that I want them to give me my PAK code so I can port my number and leave. They said there is a 200 GBP disconnection fee!!! I said to them that they are not delivering the service. The girl would not do anything for me at all would not even put me thru to her supervisor however I have insisted on this 3 times. She gave me an address for complaints so I have written there.
After about 2 weeks I got a phone call from them saying that if it happens again I have to ring them and report it so that they can trace it. And they have lured me into a one month free line rental. Obviously it keeps on happening and I rang them and have two occasions of this logged on to my account. Noone contacted me since so I have written them another letter. Stating that I require them cancel the contract and give me my number as they have failed to deliver the service I am paying for.
After this they took the position of a dead bug - No response from them at all.
Now I have changed jobs and at this new place where I work in Antrim, Northern Ireland there is no signal whatsoever with T-Mobile. However O2 Orange and Vodafone do have at least 4 bars...
So I have written my dearest provider a third letter stating this and how they did not respond to my two letters in a proper way. Now I have only send it this morning so I would have to wait and see.
I am really frustrated the mobile is no use to me I cant use it at all for at least 8 hours every working day that I am at work 9AM - 5PM and they wont let me leave cos I am in a 12 month contract.
Did anyone faced something similar? What should I do with them? any suggestions anyone?

Datagrid with CheckBoxes in C# example

2006-08-22T09:45:00.000Z

First create a datagrid with checkboxes in it:

asp:TemplateColumn
ItemTemplate
asp:CheckBox Runat="server" ID="chkReq" Text="Request"
/asp:CheckBox
/ItemTemplate
/asp:TemplateColumn

Second the code:

private void btnConfirm_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
// check if there is not two selected in the whole grid
if (!CheckSelectionError() == true)
{
// Display Error Message
lblMessage.Text = "Error some row has both checkboxes selected";
return;
}
else
{
lblMessage.Text="All checks fine";
}
// if no process all rows row by row
SaveSelection();
}

Now the loop trhu all items in the grid and do stuff with them:

// function to save the selection to the DB
public bool SaveSelection()
{
// declare instance of LAR
NAA.DAL.LAR.Reader objLar = new NAA.DAL.LAR.Reader();
// declare variables
string strULN;
int intQualID;
string strQualDate;
string strCentreName;
string strEndorsement;
CheckBox chk = new CheckBox();
// check each datagrid item
foreach (DataGridItem i in dgQualifications.Items)
{
// find chkDec
chk = (CheckBox) i.FindControl ("chkDec");
// check if it is selected
if (chk.Checked == true)
{
// Decline this row
}
// find chkReq
chk = (CheckBox) i.FindControl ("chkReq");
// check if it is selected
if (chk.Checked == true)
{
// get the details
strULN = dgQualifications.Items[i].Cells[0].Text;
intQualID = dgQualifications.Items[I].Cells[2].Text;
strQualDate = dgQualifications.Items[1].Cells[3].Text;
strCentreName = dgQualifications.Items[1].Cells[4].Text;
strEndorsement= dgQualifications.Items[1].Cells[5].Text;
// Request this row
objLar.SavePossibleQualificationClaim(strULN, intQualID, strQualDate, strCentreName, strEndorsement);
//objLar.FlagPossibleClaimAsProcessed();
}
}
// if it got here all ok
return true;
}

Method to check if not two checkboxes on one row are selected:

// function to find out in not both checkboxes were checked
public bool CheckSelectionError()
{
CheckBox chk = new CheckBox();
int intNoOfChecked;
// check each datagrid item
foreach (DataGridItem i in dgQualifications.Items)
{
intNoOfChecked = 0;
// find chkDec
chk = (CheckBox) i.FindControl ("chkDec");
// check if it is selected
if (chk.Checked == true)
{
intNoOfChecked += 1;
}
// find chkReq
chk = (CheckBox) i.FindControl ("chkReq");
// check if it is selected
if (chk.Checked == true)
{
intNoOfChecked += 1;
}
// make a decision
if (intNoOfChecked == 2)
{
return false;
}
}
// if it got here all ok
return true;
}

Optionaly this could be done using two option boxes but there will be a need of Javascript to uncheck the other one when one is checked

Clearing memory used by a process

2006-07-25T10:01:00.000Z

Firstly declare this somewhere in the code

#Region "Stuff for Closing the Processes"
'# to close all the resources
Private Declare Auto Function SetProcessWorkingSetSize Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal procHandle As IntPtr, ByVal min As Int32, ByVal max As Int32) As Boolean

Public Sub SetProcessWorkingSetSize()
Try
Dim Mem As Process
Mem = Process.GetCurrentProcess()
SetProcessWorkingSetSize(Mem.Handle, -1, -1)
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.ToString)
End Try
End Sub
#End Region

Then call it like this from where you need to in the code

If (Environment.OSVersion.Platform = PlatformID.Win32NT) Then
SetProcessWorkingSetSize(Process.GetCurrentProcess().Handle, -1, -1)
End If

Creating KEY row in SQL to compare two tables

2006-07-19T08:52:00.000Z

-- Insert the Details into tblClientProducts

SELECT A.CLIENT_ID, A.CREDITPRODUCTID, cast(A.TERM as nvarchar),
cast(A.OFFERMONTHS as nvarchar),
cast(A.HOLIDAYMONTHS as nvarchar),
cast(A.PPCODE as nvarchar),
cast(A.APR as nvarchar), cast(A.COMMISSION as nvarchar)
FROM viewstgclientproducts A WHERE
A.CLIENTCODE + '*' + A.CREDITPRODUCTCODE + cast(A.TERM as varchar) + '*' + cast(A.OFFERMONTHS as varchar) + '*' + cast(A.HOLIDAYMONTHS as varchar)
NOT IN
(select c.client_code + '*' + d.creditcode + cast(b.term as varchar) + '*' + cast(b.specialoffer as varchar) + '*' + cast(b.paymentholiday as varchar) from tblclientproducts b
INNER join tblipf_clients con b.clientid = c.client_id
INNER join tblipfcreditcodes d on b.creditproductid = d.creditproductid)

SQL NOT IN statement syntax

2006-07-19T08:47:00.000Z

-- Insert statement with a NOT IN Select statement

Insert Into tblONE (CreditCode, CreditDescription) (SELECT DISTINCT A.CREDITPRODUCTCODE, A.CREDITPRODUCTNAME FROM tblTWO A WHERE A.CREDITPRODUCTCODE NOT IN (SELECT B.CREDITCODE FROM tblONE B))

How to cancel O2 contract in UK postal address

2006-07-13T11:22:00.000Z

Hi all,

well I have decided to end my contract with O2 and obviously it is difficult. I have had to call them several times, but finally the bottom line is if you want to cancel your contract you need to give them 30 day notice in writing stating the phone number and your name and you need to write to this address:

O2 UK Ltd
PO Box 242
Houghton Regis
DUNSTABLE
LU5 5WA

DTS Package run from stored procedure sp

2006-07-10T08:43:00.000Z

To run DTS from stored procedureyou need to use the following code:

EXEC master..xp_cmdshell 'DTSRun /S "(local)" /U "sa" /P "password" /N "IPF Client Package Upload" /G "{8A50D656-0BA7-4687-AA24-71DA4FD35039}" /W "0"'

To get the DTSRun command line generated use the dtsrunui utility

for more info on dtsrunui utility :

http://www.sqldts.com/default.aspx?301

loft pictures

2006-06-30T20:01:00.000Z

Salt Hashed Passwords

2006-06-27T08:14:00.000Z

There are several options. The simplest might leave you with cleartext passwords. The following example is XML, but you could easily use a database table:

After implementing something like this, you'll likely feel rather uncomfortable that all those passwords are sitting there in one file, in the clear. If you don't feel uncomfortable, you should! This makes it way too easy for an attacker who compromises your system to walk away with user passwords without even breaking a sweat. And, if this happens, it's not just your site that could feel the repercussions—most people use the same password for multiple sites. A stolen password is a privacy violation for the user, and frankly, if you didn't do anything to protect those passwords, you're to blame.

The first approach you might take to protect these passwords is to encrypt them. That's better than nothing, but it's not the best solution either. In order to validate a user's password, you need the encryption key, which means it needs to be available on the machine where the passwords are processed. While this does raise the bar a bit because the attacker must find the key, there's a better solution that doesn't require any key at all: a one-way function.

A cryptographic hash algorithm like SHA-1 or MD5 is a sophisticated one-way function that takes some input and produces a hash value as output, like a checksum, but more resistant to collisions. This means that it's incredibly unlikely that you'd find two messages that hash to the same value. In any case, because a hash is a one-way function, it can't be reversed. There is no key that you need to bury. So let's imagine you hash the password before storing it in the database:

Now when you receive the cleartext password and need to verify it, you don't decrypt the stored password for comparison. Instead, you hash the password provided by the user and compare the result with your stored hash. If an attacker manages to steal your password database, he won't immediately be able to use the passwords, as they can't be reversed back into cleartext. But look closely at Bob and Fred's hashed passwords. If the attacker happened to be Fred, he now knows that Bob uses the same password he does. What luck! Even without this sort of luck, a bad guy can perform a dictionary attack against the hashed passwords to find matches.

The usual way a dictionary attack is performed is to get a list of commonly used passwords, like the lists you'll find at ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/dict/wordlists, and calculate the hash for each. Now the attacker can compare the hash values of his dictionary with those in the password database. Once he finds a match, he looks up the corresponding password.

To slow down the attack, use salt. Salt is a way to season the passwords before hashing them, making the attacker's precomputed dictionary useless. Here's how it's done. Whenever you add an entry to the database, you calculate a random string of digits to be used as salt. When you want to calculate the hash of Alice's password, you look up the salt value for Alice's account, prepend it to the password, and hash them together. The resulting database looks like this:

Note that now there is no way to tell that Bob and Fred are using the same password. Note that the salt itself isn't a secret. The important thing is that it's different for each user account, so generating a random string of digits based on output from RNGCryptoServiceProvider would work fine.

Figure 1 summarizes the levels of security. Once you decide to store hashed passwords, you'll realize there's no way to e-mail the user their password if they forget what it is. This is a good thing! It's pretty silly to e-mail passwords. Take a lesson from paypal.com. They store a set of questions and answers, like "What is your pet's name?" and "What city were you born in?" To change your password, you must provide answers to these types of questions.

Figure 1 Levels of SecurityWith a salted password database, the attacker can't use a prehashed dictionary. But he can still perform a dictionary attack using the salt for each account to rehash his dictionary. He can also try to find short passwords with brute-force by calculating the hash of, say, every possible four-character password. You can slow this attack by requiring a certain level of complexity for passwords, including a minimum length. You can also require that users use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, and punctuation. Of course, if passwords are too hard to remember, users may write them down. It's a difficult balancing act.

Salt isn't a silver bullet. You should react immediately if your password database has been compromised, even if it uses salted hashes. But salt buys you a wee bit of extra time. It just might give you enough time to discover the attack and disable the affected accounts until the users can change their passwords.

To make it easy for you to get started with this technique, Figure 2 provides a class in C# that will verify passwords using salted hashes. It will also create the salt and calculate the hash for new passwords as new accounts are added to your database. You just need to provide storage for the salt and the password hash, which are both strings. Here's an example of usage:

string password = Console.ReadLine();
SaltedHash sh = SaltedHash.Create(password);

// imagine storing the salt and hash in a database
string salt = sh.Salt;
string hash = sh.Hash;

Console.WriteLine("Salt: {0}", salt);
Console.WriteLine("Hash: {0}", hash);

// after looking up salt and hash, verify a password
SaltedHash ver = SaltedHash.Create(salt, hash);
bool isValid = ver.Verify(password);

Link to the original article

Path Problems with ASP.NET Production and Development

2006-06-26T14:10:00.000Z

When you need to create a project that would be in the IIS Root Directory. With Win XP only one root Directory is allowed. However if you want to create your website in another path than Inetpub/wwwroot when creating a new project go to:

New Project / New Project in Existing Folder:

Then list to the folder:

Required registry access is not allowed in Web Service PRODUCTION SOLUTION

2006-04-25T10:35:00.000Z

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329291#kb1http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329291#kb1

Required registry access is not allowed in Web Service PRODUCTION SOLUTION

2006-04-24T09:10:00.000Z

Error :

Required registry access is not allowed

Right click the website / Directory Security / Edit / Tick only anonymous access / Edit / Put in Machine administrator user account

If using IIS 5.0

In IIS
Right click the site / Properties / Home Directory / Application protection – Set to HIGH (isolated)

The site will then appear in Component Services as a COM+ Component

In Component Services

Right click the website / Properties / Identity / Set to the Machine or Domain administrator account depending on configuration

New Silent Cooling for my MCE

2006-03-31T09:42:00.000Z

I have recently upgraded the cooling system in my MCE as the old one was just so noisy that I couldn't even watch TV

Here are some pictures of the new CPU Heatsink that is actually 140x120x60mm that you can't really tell from the picture. It produces 12-24 Db of noise depends on how do you setup the fan speed controller. I have it setup to max that is 24 db then

I have a Socket 478 Pentium 4 CPU but this Heatsink will fit any CPU in any socket as it comes with all different accessories for all available CPUs including :
any Socket 370, 462, 478, 754, 775 and 939

Here are some pics:

Ok and for the Case Cooling I have added two 60 mm fans that are rated 8db so that is 16 more db to my total of 16 + 24 = 40 db that is virtually Silence

Without needing an expansive watercooling installed... (that needs a lots of maintenance like cooling liquid changes etc... not talking about water pouring to your machine)

Here is a pic of the 8 db 60mm fan:

So If you are looking to get some of this cool stuff email me and I will get you some. You can also check the manufacturers page www.silenx.com there are links to resellers too but they are expensive I can tell you this whole package of CPU cooler + 2x 60mm Coolers + Delivery cost me nearly 80 GBP

Cookies problem in ASP.NET

2006-03-31T09:28:00.000Z

ASP.NET 1.1 only supports 20 user cookies

If you try to use more than that it overwrites the earlier ones with the latest ones.

so if you have:

Response.Cookies("Cookie1").Value = String
Response.Cookies("Cookie2").Value = String
..
..
Response.Cookies("Cookie20").Value = String
Response.Cookies("Cookie21").Value = String
At this stage the Cookie21 will overwrite the Cookie1

To avoid this use Cookie Keys:

Response.Cookies("Key1)("Cookie1") = String

you can do as many cookies as you like using this technique like this:

Response.Cookies("Key1)("SubKey1")("SubSubKey1")("Cookie1") = String

Programming a Windows Service

2006-03-28T09:07:00.000Z

Private oTimer As System.Threading.Timer
Dim running As Boolean = False

#Region "Protected Overrides Sub OnStart(ByVal args() As String)"
Protected Overrides Sub OnStart(ByVal args() As String)
' Add code here to start your service. This method should set things
' in motion so your service can do its work.

'# run the OnTick every 28 seconds

Try

Dim oCallback As New TimerCallback(AddressOf OnTick)
Dim lPeriod As Long = 28000
oTimer = New System.Threading.Timer(oCallback, Nothing, 0, lPeriod)

Catch e As Exception

System.Diagnostics.EventLog.WriteEntry("Service", "there has been an error in Service Start ")

End Try
End Sub
#End Region

#Region "Public Sub OnTick(ByVal state As Object)"
Public Sub OnTick(ByVal state As Object)
'# check if the service isnt tunning
If running = True Then Exit Sub

'# set the service as running
running = True

Try

'# CODE GOES HERE
'########################################################

'########################################################
'# CODE ENDS HERE

Catch ex As Exception
System.Diagnostics.EventLog.WriteEntry("KillConnService", "there has been an error in OnTick " & ex.Message)
Finally
running = False
End Try

End Sub
#End Region

How to create a Setup project for a Windows Service in Visual Basic .NET or in Visual Basic 2005

2006-03-22T13:05:00.000Z

How to create a Setup project for a Windows Service in Visual Basic .NET or in Visual Basic 2005

To uninstall the service

C:\!Development\ConnectionsService\ConnKillService\bin

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\installutil /u servicename.exe

MCE Live TV - No signal when copying files

2006-03-14T10:12:00.000Z

Well After proving that the LIVE TV in Win XP MCE 2005 goes to no TV Signal when I try to copy files on to my MCE while using WiFi B class connection. Yesterday I have managed to connect my MCE using a Cat5e cable and copied about 5 gb of movies on to it while watching Live TV no cutting or skipping or no signal occurred...

This makes me think that the Wifi could for some reason interfere with the Freeview signal I am receiving for my TV as I live in the UK.

Microsoft Alexandria

2006-03-11T21:00:00.000Z

http://hanworks.blogspot.com/2006/03/microsoft-alexandria.html

Well Microsoft has introduced this new advert. There are lots of opinions on the secret Alexandria project...

But clearly having watched the advert it clearly means that Alexandria is not some type of Hardware but it is Software (because people are looking at it on different devices including the ORIGAMI)

Ok but what could this be? Its definitely not a new Media Player as the WMP 10 has just been released. I think it is some sort of downloading movies / tv shows over the net but it would definitely has to be a paid for one....

Microsofr Origami UMPC Ultra Mobile PC

2006-03-11T15:42:00.000Z

Look at this amazing new video of UMPC

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW

MCE TV skipping finally RESOLVED

2006-03-11T15:11:00.000Z

Hi all,

I have had some serious problems with my MCE Live TV has been skipping and it was partly because I have had low signal but I have got a booster and it got better but the skipping still occurs.

I thought it was intermittent but only until today when I have tried to copy some mp3s onto my MCE while watching Live TV from another computer over the network.

My MCE is connected to the network via a USB wifi B class dongle to a Linksys B class router and I was copying files from my Laptop that has a Wifi B class adapter build in.

The Live TV comes up with No TV Signal message.

I only have one HDD in the MCE so I was copying to the same that MCE uses to cash the Live TV but anyway I know now that MCE is not capable of doing this.
But as I investigated further I found out that the WIFI card is the BOTTLE NECK of my system as if I am accessing internet while watching live TV the TV skips and it also skips itself without me even doing anything else than watching Live TV.

BUT when I disconnect the WIFI dongle and therefore there is no network connection to my MCE skipping immediately stops and all works fine.

Therefore I ask:

Is there a Microsoft Approved WIFI adapter that will work with MCE?
Why is copying files over the Network to MCE gives No TV signal message?

Thanks
--
Intel P4 3.2 ghz Hyper Threading
GIGABYTE GA-8IG1000MK intel 865PE
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon 9250SE 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (AGP)Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1300 Media Centre Edition Freeview TV Tuner

How to get Internet radio working in MCE at a click of a button

2006-03-08T10:35:00.000Z

Hi all,

Yesterday I have added some cool features to my MCE.

I have added an internet radios to it that can be accessed from the main menu. I live in UK and I like to listen to Czech radios that broadcast over the internet. I was looking to find an easy was of doing this from the MCE that sits in the living room.

I have faced a few problems and I thought it might be good to share it with the world.

First off you need an MCE Add-in to allow you to do this I have used this one called Web Media:

http://www.mcesoft.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=122

You have to register with them to be able to use it (just want your email that has to be valid)
It is a Media Release Candidate 1.3 but I tested it and it works quite well.

So once you download this and install it all you need to do is add the link to the live stream that is a *. Asx file

Now this might seem easy done but it isn’t. Usually any radio that uses windows media player that plays in a small popup window that is just an IE window or in some sort of player of its own. But once it opens you have no idea even about the URL of the page and especially not about the URL of the stream.

What you need now is a browser that supports Tabbed browsing (I have used Netscape 8 to do this)

You need to go to the site of the radio and then click on the link to LISTEN LIVE. What happens in Netscape is that the new window will open in a tab rather than in a pop up window. So now you see the URL of the page that plays the live stream but this still isn’t the URL of the stream itself.

You need to do view / Page source and look into the HTML code used to generate this language and if the page is using windows media player web control you can look at the code and locate this node:

Or just search the file for .asx and you will get the URL of the stream itself.

You can now use this as the URL of the internet radio station and add it to the Web Media in your MCE and there you go you can now listen to the internet radio from your MCE at a click of a (remote control) button.

How to Avoid Memory Leaking in VB.NET

2006-02-27T09:23:00.000Z

IN CODE after all code

GC.Collect()
If (Environment.OSVersion.Platform = PlatformID.Win32NT) Then
SetProcessWorkingSetSize(Process.GetCurrentProcess().Handle, -1, -1)
End If

FUNCTIONS that needs to be declared

#Region "Stuff for Closing the Processes"
'# to close all the resources
Private Declare Auto Function SetProcessWorkingSetSize Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal procHandle As IntPtr, ByVal min As Int32, ByVal max As Int32) As Boolean

Public Sub SetProcessWorkingSetSize()
Try
Dim Mem As Process
Mem = Process.GetCurrentProcess()
SetProcessWorkingSetSize(Mem.Handle, -1, -1)
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.ToString)
End Try
End Sub
#End Region

MCE Updates site

2006-02-26T01:16:00.000Z

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/mediacenter.mspx

Using XBOX 360 as MCE Extender very usefull and good step by step guide

2006-02-26T00:18:00.000Z

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mce/expert/bowman_extenders.mspx

Create XML object and post it ovet HTTP to a URL

2006-02-23T15:07:00.000Z

Dim oxmldoc As New XmlDocument
oxmldoc.Load("c:\BarclaysXML\CCBarcl.xml")

Dim xmlHttp As Object
Dim strXMLResponse As String
xmlHttp = Server.CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP")
xmlHttp.Open("POST", https://www.motounlock.net, False)
xmlHttp.send(oxmldoc.OuterXml)
strXMLResponse = xmlHttp.responseText

Running Procedure Asynchronously

2006-02-17T10:10:00.000Z

Sub ShowSearchForm()
Dim x As New frmSearching
x.ShowDialog()
End Sub

MAIN FORM

Dim t As System.Threading.Thread
t = New System.Threading.Thread(AddressOf [ShowSearchForm])
t.Start()

ASUS P4S800-MX MotherBoard

2006-02-14T09:37:00.000Z

Hi all,

I have a ASUS P4S800-MX and I am using it in a windows media center PC. I was having lots of trouble with getting it installed in fact i wasnt sucessfull at all. I keep getting errors like after start before booting it says no HDD present however the HDD is there and if i turn it off and leave it for cca 1 min and start again it works perfect.

Another thing is that the USB ports at the back of the board stopped working but in a very strange way.

If i plug my USB mouse into them or USB IR reciever for the MCE they act like they dont work. Nothing appears in windows as a new HW nothing works. However if i stick my USB Wifi dongle into them that works fine... its the same for a USB memory key

Also the machine sometimes freezes completely. I have checked all the other HW and i cant see anything else beeing wrong

This behaviour only started when i changed PCI cards in it around and the mouse works perfectly in other PC so does the IR reciever.

All this leads me to a conclusion that there is something wrong with the motherboard itself so I have updated the BIOS to the latest version that is 1011 but it still didnt help.

Are there any known issues with this Motherboard or are there any chipset drivers I should install to windows?

It has a SIS chipset do I need to install anything else to windows?

Anyone has a similar issue?

thanks for any help

IIS 404 error when viewing ASPX pages

2006-02-13T17:08:00.000Z

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;315122

CAUSE
By default, when IIS is installed on any version of the Windows Server 2003 family, IIS only serves static content (HTML).
RESOLUTION
To permit IIS to serve dynamic content, the administrator must unlock this content in the Web service extensions node in IIS Manager. To do this, the administrator must either enable a pre-existing Web service extension or add a new Web service extension. Enable a Pre-existing Web Service Extension in IIS 6.0 To permit IIS to serve content that requires a specific ISAPI or CGI extension that is already listed in the Web service extensions list, follow these steps:
1.
Open IIS Manager, expand the master server node (that is, the Servername node), and then select the Web service extensions node.
2.
In the right pane of IIS Manager, right-click the extension that you want to enable. In this example, this is Active Server Pages.
3.
Click to select the Allow check box.
Add a New Web Service Extension to IIS 6.0To permit IIS to serve content that requires a specific ISAPI or CGI extension that is not already listed in the Web service extensions list, follow these steps:
1.
Open IIS Manager, expand the master server node, and then select the Web service extensions node.
2.
In the right pane of the IIS Manager, click Add a new Web service extension under Tasks.
3.
In the Extension name box, type a friendly name for the extension that you want to add (for example, FrontPage Server Extensions).
4.
In the Required files box, click Add, and then select the path and the name of the file that will handle requests for the specific extension. After you select the path and the file name, click OK.
5.
If the extension must be enabled immediately, click to select the Set extension status to allowed check box.
6.
Click OK to save your changes.
Additional steps for Common Gateway Interface (CGI) applicationsFor CGI applications, you must also follow these steps:
1.
Right-click Default Web Site or the Web site that you want, and then click Properties.
2.
On the Home Directory tab, click Scripts and Executables in the Execute Permissions list.
3.
Make sure that the Everyone group has the following NTFS file system permissions on the C:\InetPub\wwwroot folder or on the folder that has the Web content for the site that you want:
•
Read & Execute
•
List Folder Contents
•
Read
4.
Right-click Default Web Site or the Web site that you want, and then click Properties.
5.
On the Home Directory tab, make sure that DefaultAppPool is selecting in the Application pool box. If another application pool is selected, follow these steps in IIS Manager:
a.
Expand Application Pools, right-click the application pool that you want, and then click Properties.
b.
On the Identity tab, make sure that one of the following conditions is true:
•
The Network Service account is selected.
•
The account that is selected is a member of the IIS_WPG group.
STATUS
This behavior is by design.
REFERENCES
For more information about Web service extensions, search for "Enabling and Disabling Dynamic Content" in the IIS 6.0 Help documentation.For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
332124 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/332124/) ASP.NET is not automatically installed on Windows Server 2003

Uninstalling Windows Service

2006-02-13T17:07:00.000Z

To uninstall the service

Go to its BIN folder example:

C:\!Development\ConnectionsService\ConnKillService\bin

Then RUN

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\installutil /u servicename.exe

Requested Registry Access is not allowed

2006-02-13T17:06:00.000Z

SOLUTION IS AS FOLLOW (THIS SOLUTION IS FOR DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT ONLY):

1. Give the ASPNET user permission to read the Security eventlog registry entry.Run regedt32 Navigate to the following key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Security Right click on this entry and select Permissions Add the ASPNET user Give it Read permission

2. Change settings in machine.config fileRun ExplorerNavigate to WINDOWS or WINNT folderOpen Microsoft.NET folderOpen Framework folderOpen v1.1.4322 folder (folder name may be different, depending on what dotnet version is installed)Open CONFIG folderOpen machine.config file using notepad (make a backup of this file first)Locate processmodel tag (approx. at line 441)Locate userName="machine" (approx. at line 452)Change it to userName="SYSTEM"Save and close the fileClose Explorer

3. Restart IIS Run IISReset

Production Solution

Go to the application pool and select IDENTITY leave it Network Service

Go to the registry it is accessing and select the permission
Add the NETWORK SERVICE user to it

THAT’S IT!

Debugging VB Script

2006-02-13T17:02:00.000Z

Create the script in text editor
Save it to c:\script.vbs
Run: cscript.exe //x "c:\script.vbs"

SQL Server CASE statement

2006-02-13T17:01:00.000Z

SELECT DISTINCT
case when CQ.AccountNo is NULL then IMP.AccountNo
Else
CQ.AccountNo
end as AccountNo

, CQ.Staff_ID, CQ.DateOfEntry,IMP.BalanceDue, IMP.BrokerRef, IMP.Note FROM tblCancelationQueue AS CQ RIGHT JOINtblimportcan AS IMP ON CQ.AccountNo = IMP.AccountNoWHERE IMP.processed = 0ORDER BY CQ.dateofentry DESC

SQL Server US / UK Date HELL !

2006-02-13T16:46:00.000Z

If you using VB and a SA login to connect to SQL server and want to write date to it using VB function like TODAY or NOW you need to execute this statement before doing that:

System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US")

It makes all the regiona stuff US so if you are sending something to a field like MONEY it would come as USD

Another way of doing this is to create a SQL server Login (Server/Security/Logins) and setup a new login set its language to British

use it for any connections and pass in normal date