Web Services Developer Center: Web Service Basics: XML Web Services Basics

Web Services Developer Center: Web Service Basics: XML Web Services Basics: "What Is an XML Web Service?
XML Web services are the fundamental building blocks in the move to distributed computing on the Internet. Open standards and the focus on communication and collaboration among people and applications have created an environment where XML Web services are becoming the platform for application integration. Applications are constructed using multiple XML Web services from various sources that work together regardless of where they reside or how they were implemented.
There are probably as many definitions of XML Web Service as there are companies building them, but almost all definitions have these things in common:
XML Web Services expose useful functionality to Web users through a standard Web protocol. In most cases, the protocol used is SOAP.
XML Web services provide a way to describe their interfaces in enough detail to allow a user to build a client application to talk to them. This description is usually provided in an XML document called a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document.
XML Web services are registered so that potential users can find them easily. This is done with Universal Discovery Description and Integration (UDDI). "

Web Services Interoperability and Integration - New home for the Topic at MSDN

Web Services Developer Center: Web Services Interoperability and Integration: "Web Services Interoperability and Integration
Welcome to the Web Services Interoperability and Integration page on MSDN. This page is dedicated to providing you information for ensuring your Web services applications will work across different platforms and toolsets. "

Hey guys, check out this page at MSDN, a new one for the Webservices interoperability and related issues.

Web Services Developer Center: Web Services Protocol Workshops .. check out the page for latest in ur area

Web Services Developer Center: Web Services Protocol Workshops: "Web Services Protocol Workshops
Web Services Protocol Workshops (Workshops) are events that you can attend to learn about and give feedback on advanced Web Services protocol specifications (WS-* specs).
There are two types of Workshops: Feedback and Interop. In Feedback Workshops, the authors of a specification discuss the content of the specification and solicit feedback from attendees. In Interop Workshops, companies with implementations of a particular Web Service specification come together to test the interoperability of their implementations with others.
Although all companies (end users and vendors alike) are welcome to attend any Workshop, Interop Workshops are hands-on events primarily aimed at developers who are implementing specifications."

Web Services Developer Center: Management Specifications Index Page

Web Services Developer Center: Management Specifications Index Page: "Management Specifications Index Page
Brief
A key distributed application area is the management of systems and devices. Web services offer a strong foundation for building robust and interoperable systems management solutions"

This specification describes a general SOAP-based protocol for managing systems such as PCs, servers, devices, Web services and other applications, and other manageable entities.

Must read for every Developer in Dotnet...

Cutting Edge: Binary Serialization of DataSets -- MSDN Magazine, October 2004

Cutting Edge: Binary Serialization of DataSets -- MSDN Magazine, October 2004: "The ADO.NET DataSet object plays an essential role in most of today's distributed, multitiered applications. Instances of the DataSet class are used to move data across the tiers and to exchange data with external services. The DataSet has most of the features needed to represent real-world business entities.
First, the DataSet is a disconnected object�you can use it without a physical connection to the data source. In addition, the DataSet provides a rich programming interface. It supports multiple tables of data, accepts relations defined between pairs of tables, and allows you to enumerate its contents. Last but not least, the DataSet is a fully serializable object. It can be serialized in three different ways�to a standard .NET formatter, to an XML writer, and through the XML serializer."

SQL Server Developer Center: Using an ADO.NET DataSet as a Reporting Services Data Source

SQL Server Developer Center: Using an ADO.NET DataSet as a Reporting Services Data Source: "Reporting Services provides access to SQL Server, Oracle, ODBC, and OLE DB data sources as part of its standard features. For many reporting scenarios, connecting to a database and running a query is all that is needed to get all the information you need to report upon. But what happens if you want to use a DataSet as your data source? For example, maybe you already have a middle tier that processes your data to conform to your business logic and produces a DataSet as a result. Or maybe you don't, but you nonetheless want to manipulate your raw data prior to reporting in ways that are a better fit for a Microsoft Visual Basic or C# implementation than a SQL implementation, and a DataSet would be the logical end result of such processing. Well, fortunately, it is possible to do this. It is even relatively easy, once you work out what parts of the data processing extension interfaces really have to be implemented to wrap up a DataSet in a way that Reporting Services can use. "

Visual Basic Developer Center: Database Developer Corner: Calling

Visual Basic Developer Center: Database Developer Corner: Calling: "As most of you realize, converting your VB6 apps to the .NET platform isn't as simple as recompiling. Partly because of this, 'legacy' VB6 apps are likely to be with us for some time. Still, there's no impenetrable wall separating COM-based VB6 and .NET technology. COM Interop provides you backward compatibility, but you also have forward compatibility as well. In this month's column, Carl Ganz discusses two ways to take advantage of the power of .NET while still continuing to maintain your legacy VB6 apps.
Suppose you've created a class in a .NET assembly that retrieves data from a table and runs a series of complex calculations to produce, say, a salesperson's commission. This commission calculation class can service the .NET application it was designed for as well as your legacy application. Or, perhaps you needed to rewrite the legacy commission class and decided to do it in .NET. In the following example, we'll examine something much simpler than a commission calculation algorithm. Our sample class has two properties, First and Second, and one method, AddTogether (see Listing 1). "

Client-side ASP scripting with HTML Scripting Pages

Client-side ASP scripting with HTML Scripting Pages
I was wondering how to make HTML pages dynamic, on the line of www.experts-exchange.com and finally decided to do a search on net for the same.

I found this excellent article on www.aspfree.com, which gives a detailed insight. I am now learning this and would post some more urls soon here, after leanring them.

Here is a sample text from the article:
One of the major drawbacks to using embedded web browser controls is that they can only display static content. That is, until now. HTML Scripting Pages, or HSP for short, is the first and only product to actually run ASP pages on the Windows client machine in a plug-in DLL. No longer are webpages doomed to only display static webpages. With HSP, webpages can be seamlessly generated on the fly within either the Internet Explorer webbrowser or embedded IEX webbrowser controls. You can actually run "browser applications" (analogous to a web application) right inside Internet Explorer entirely on the Windows machine with no Internet connection. This ability has tremendous implications for Windows programmers. Suddenly, an entire new programming/display methodology is opened up.

If anyone knows more details, please do let me know.

Thanks
Kiran

SQL Server Developer Center: Test Run: Automate Testing of Your Stored Procs

SQL Server Developer Center: Test Run: Automate Testing of Your Stored Procs: "
Automate Testing of Your Stored Procs



James McCaffrey


Download the code for this article: TestRun0409.exe (124KB)


Many Windows�-based applications have a SQL Server� back-end component that contains stored procedures. Although techniques to automatically test functions in the front-end code are well known, the techniques to write test automation for stored procedures are not. SQL Server 2005 will provide greatly enhanced integration with the Microsoft� .NET Framework including the ability to write stored procedures in C# and other .NET-targeted languages. This will certainly increase the use of stored procedures and the importance of testing them thoroughly.
In this column I'll walk you through the creation of a simple but representative SQL stored procedure and will then show you how to quickly write powerful test automation that verifies its functionality so that you'll be ready when you start using SQL Server 2005. I will also explain some key principles of writing test automation for SQL stored procedures."

SQL Server Developer Center: Reporting Services: Reporting: Deliver User-Friendly Reports from Your Application with SQL Server Reporting Services

SQL Server Developer Center: Reporting Services: Reporting: Deliver User-Friendly Reports from Your Application with SQL Server Reporting Services: "Reporting Services is a server-based reporting platform that is built on the .NET Framework and integrated with SQL Server 2000, so you can integrate rich reporting features into your apps using an extensive Web services-based API. Although the report server uses SQL Server as the repository for reports, any data source with an OLE DB, ODBC, or ADO.NET provider can be used to supply data to the reports, making Reporting Services a great choice for reporting in diverse enterprise environments.
Reporting Services is licensed as part of SQL Server 2000, so if you already have a licensed copy of SQL Server, you can run Reporting Services on the same server for no additional license fee. If you decide to run Reporting Services on a separate machine that is not yet licensed for SQL Server, such as a Web server, you will need to purchase an additional SQL Server license."

SQL Server Developer Center: Using an ADO.NET DataSet as a Reporting Services Data Source

SQL Server Developer Center: Using an ADO.NET DataSet as a Reporting Services Data Source: "Introduction
Reporting Services provides access to SQL Server, Oracle, ODBC, and OLE DB data sources as part of its standard features. For many reporting scenarios, connecting to a database and running a query is all that is needed to get all the information you need to report upon. But what happens if you want to use a DataSet as your data source? For example, maybe you already have a middle tier that processes your data to conform to your business logic and produces a DataSet as a result. Or maybe you don't, but you nonetheless want to manipulate your raw data prior to reporting in ways that are a better fit for a Microsoft Visual Basic or C# implementation than a SQL implementation, and a DataSet would be the logical end result of such processing. Well, fortunately, it is possible to do this. It is even relatively easy, once you work out what parts of the data processing extension interfaces really have to be implemented to wrap up a DataSet in a way that Reporting Services can use. "

MSDN India - Chat Transcript: Exploring XML in SQL Server 2005

MSDN India - Chat Transcript: "SQL Server 2000 XML Features
Host: Srinivas Sampath (MVP) & Vinod Kumar (MSDN India Community Star)"

MSDN India - Chat Transcript: Exploring XML in SQL Server 2005

MSDN India - Chat Transcript: "SQL Server 2000 XML Features
Host: Srinivas Sampath (MVP) & Vinod Kumar (MSDN India Community Star)"

MSDN India - Chat Transcript: Exploring XML in SQL Server 2005

MSDN India - Chat Transcript:
An Informative chat on Exploring XML in SQL Server 2005.

Basic Instincts: Thread Synchronization -- MSDN Magazine, September 2004

Basic Instincts: Thread Synchronization -- MSDN Magazine, September 2004: "The Dangers of Concurrency

Some programming problems do not surface until you begin to execute the code associated with a class or object on multiple threads at once. For example, when multiple threads are executing methods concurrently on a single object, it opens up the possibility of one thread seeing data that's been left in an inconsistent or corrupt state by another thread. This is possible because of the way in which threads are scheduled by the underlying operating system.
The way the operating system's thread scheduler preempts one thread and begins to execute another thread is nondeterministic, meaning that a thread may be preempted while in the middle of a set of related update operations. This makes it possible for a second thread to gain control of the processor and to see the first thread's partially completed work."

Web Services Developer Center: Web Services Enhancements (WSE): WS-Security Drilldown in Web Services Enhancements 2.0

Web Services Developer Center: Web Services Enhancements (WSE): WS-Security Drilldown in Web Services Enhancements 2.0: "WS-Security Drilldown in Web Services Enhancements 2.0
Don Smith
Microsoft Corporation
Updated August 2004
Applies to:
SOAP Messaging
Microsoft� .NET Framework
WS-Security Specification
WS-SecurityPolicy Specification
WS-SecureConversation Specification
Web Services Enhancements 2.0 (WSE 2.0) for Microsoft .NET
Download the WSE2SecurityDrilldownSample.exe source code from the Microsoft Download Center.
Summary: How to use Web Services Enhancements 2.0 to implement security, trust, and secure conversations in Web services architecture. Also covers the security-related changes from Web Services Enhancements 1.0. "

ASP.NET Home: ASP.NET: Web Applications: Working with Client-Side Script

ASP.NET Home: ASP.NET: Web Applications: Working with Client-Side Script: "Working with Client-Side Script
Scott Mitchell
4GuysFromRolla.com
August 2004
Summary: While ASP.NET performs most of its processing on the server, some actions are better served by client-side processing. Scott Mitchell shows how your ASP.NET pages and controls can add client-side code. "

SQL Server Developer Center: Securing Your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Server

SQL Server Developer Center: Securing Your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Server: "Securing Your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Server
William Vaughn
Beta V Corporation
Applies to:
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Beta 2
Security

Summary: Get introduced to SQL Server Express, learn how to install and configure it in a secure manner, plus get information on the basics of SQL Server security"

.NET Architecture Center: Overview: Data on the Outside vs. Data on the Inside

.NET Architecture Center: Overview: Data on the Outside vs. Data on the Inside: "Data on the Outside vs. Data on the Inside
An Examination of the Impact of Service Oriented Architectures on Data
By Pat Helland
Microsoft Corporation
Summary: Pat Helland explores Service Oriented Architecture, and the differences between data inside and data outside the service boundary. Additionally, he examines the strengths and weaknesses of objects, SQL, and XML as different representations of data, and compares and contrasts these models. "

The .NET Show: Smart Clients

The .NET Show now has its own Blog. Check it out to learn about upcoming shows, discuss current shows, or just chat with the hosts.
Smart Clients
Posted: September 3, 2004
Show Length: 1 hour, 53 minutes
For many years the primary focus of solution developers has been in deploying Web-based applications. However, there are certain situations when the limitations of a Web-based application can prevent you from really providing your customers with the best possible experience. In those times you really need a 'Smart Client' application. Today's model for building Smart Client applications provides us with both local processing and access capabilities of a traditional application, as well as the ease of deployment and update that is the hallmark of a Web-based application.

Vulnerabilities found in WinZip

Vulnerabilities found in WinZip: "An attacker could potentially exploit unspecified buffer overflow vulnerabilities in WinZip to execute arbitrary code or gain access to systems, SecurityTracker said in an advisory.
The Silver Spring, Md.-based vulnerability watchdog said the flaws affect 9.0 and prior versions of WinZip, a file-compressing utility for Windows. The advisory said they could be exploited to execute arbitrary code and gain user access via a local system or network.
'When you're able to execute arbitrary code, you can do anything,' said Michael Haisley, a handler for the Bethesda, Md.-based Internet Storm Center, a service of the SANS Institute. 'In the past, zip files were considered safe. That has proven not to be the case.' "

2 Gmail Invitations available...

Hi guys,

Some days back, I was asking for Gmail Invitation and one generous person gave it to me. Now that I have some with me, I thought of passing them on to those who wanna use them.

Please let me know if there is anyone who wants a Gmail Account, so that I can send them an invitation. Please mail me at kmayee@gmail.com to get the same.

I am not going to ask you anything in return as a facour, its just passing on the help that I received.

Kiran

DBAzine - An Irregular Sorting Requirement by Craig Mullins

DBAzine - An Irregular Sorting Requirement by Craig Mullins:
"An Irregular Sorting Requirement
by Craig S. Mullins

Sometimes the requirements of a particular application dictate that data needs to be sorted using some irregular collating sequence. These odd needs sometimes cause developers to sit and scratch their heads for hours, searching for ways to make DB2 do something that seems “unnatural.” But often you can create an answer just by understanding the problem and applying some creative SQL.

At this point, some of you might be asking “What the heck is he talking about?” Fair enough. Let’s look at an example to clarify the issue.

Assume that you have a table containing transactions, or some other type of interesting facts. The table has a CHAR(3) column containing the name of the day on which the transaction happened; let’s call this column DAY_NAME.

Now, let’s further assume that we want to write queries against this table that orders the results by DAY_NAME. We’d want Sunday first, followed by Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on. How can this be done?

"

Accessing Secured Web Services from Windows SharePoint Services Applications

In a service-oriented environment, managing the security credentials for an application that is accessing a Web service is a critical issue. This article describes how you can use the Kerberos version 5 authentication protocol and impersonation to secure a Web service accessed by a SharePoint application to ensure that only properly authenticated and authorized users have access to the Web service in Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2000 environments

A Developer's Introduction to Web Parts

Learn what Web Parts are and how to create them. Developers can build Web Parts as ASP.NET custom controls. Administrators can install Web Parts on any site based on Windows SharePoint Services. Users can add Web Parts to pages by dragging and dropping in a browser, and they can personalize them by setting properties. Web Parts can connect to other Web Parts using standard interfaces. (43 printed pages)

A sample Visual Studio .NET solution that contains two custom Web Parts written in C# accompanies this article. With the first Web Part, users can select a customer and view configurable information about the customer. With the second Web Part, users can view the orders for a single customer. A user can add these Web Parts to a Web Part Page and connect them to each other, so that the second Web Part displays orders for the customer selected in the first Web Part.

Adding a Custom View Style to Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services

Enhance the experience of users in Windows SharePoint Services by creating and deploying a custom view style for lists or document libraries. You can create a view style that goes beyond the default styles to provide users a specific kind of interaction with lists and libraries. A view style can be deployed so that it becomes available for use in all lists and libraries or only in ones you specify

Best Practices for Developing Web Parts for SharePoint Products and Technologies

Using the programming model behind Windows SharePoint Services, you can create your own Web Parts that provide new functionality to enhance your Web Part Pages. Learn best practices to improve performance and usability of Web Parts, and ways to create Web Parts that integrate well with other components of a Web Part Page.

ASP.NET.4GuysFromRolla.com: Highlighting Search Keywords in a DataGrid Web Control

ASP.NET.4GuysFromRolla.com: Highlighting Search Keywords in a DataGrid Web Control: "This article will examine how to provide such functionality in ASP.NET when using a DataGrid Web control. A DataGrid is an excellent Web control to list search results. Essentially you provide a TextBox Web control into which a user can enter a search query. When the user submits the form, it's posted back and the database is queried for matching records. These returned results can then be databound to the DataGrid, which will show one result per HTML table row. For more information on the DataGrid Web control be sure to read Scott Mitchell's A Thorough Examination of the DataGrid Web Control article series"

Wired News: Homemade Sat Radio Software Bump

Wired News: Homemade Sat Radio Software Bump: "35-year-old computer programmer from Ottawa, Ontario, wrote a piece of software that let him record the show directly onto his PC hard drive while he snoozed. The software, TimeTrax, also neatly arranged the individual songs from the concert, complete with artist name and song title information, into MP3 files.
Then MacLean started selling the software, putting him in the thick of a potential legal battle pitting technically savvy fans against a company protecting its alliance -- and licensing agreements -- with the music industry. "

Dragging and Dropping DataGrid Columns

Dragging and Dropping DataGrid ColumnsLearn how to utilize basic GDI functionality to achieve visual effects with the DataGrid control. By making calls across managed boundaries, you can leverage native GDI functionality to perform screen captures, and eventually drag-and-drop experience.


That is what the article says and infact tells about the ways in which we can manipulate the base classes using unmanaged mehods. A nice one for those who are intrested in experimenting as well as those whoa re keen to learn.

Wanted a GMAIL Invitation...

Hey, can anyone of you send me a GMAIL Invitation?

I am desperately trying to get one for quite some time and unsuccessfull.

Please, anyone who comes across this post and has an invitation, can u please send it at my id here on my profile or to kiranmayee77@hotmail.com

Thanks in Advance

Kiran

The Code Project - Custom Tab Controls%2C Tabbed Frame and Tabbed MDI - WTL

I was searching for Tabbed controls, to see how the design behind it and create one on my own.

As I was doing search, I came across this article from Code Project, which gave a detailed explanation as well as provided the source code.

This is a must for those who are intrested in creating Custom Tabbed Controls. Using the source code provided, we can enhance the control further or customize it to suit our needs.

I give 5/5 for this piece of code :) Thanks Daniel Bowen

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Tech Availability-Flash Back to a Better Time

Tech Availability-Flash Back to a Better Time:
"TECHNOLOGY: Availability

Flash Back to a Better Time
By Arup Nanda

Restore a table or an entire database to a point in the past, using a simple SQL statement.

It's New Year's Eve. John, the DBA at Acme Bank, is reveling with his friends, counting down the arrival of the new year. Just when the clock strikes midnight and the crowd roars, his pager goes off. At the bank's data center, during the end-of-the-year bookkeeping process in the interest accumulation batch run, something has gone wrong and all the interest calculations are incorrect. The good news is that the development team has identified the bug and developed an emergency fix, but the fix can't undo the damage already done. The operations manager asks John if he can somehow turn back the hands of time and place the database back to its state before the batch process started, which was around 11:00 p.m.

Does that sound familiar to you DBAs? What are John's options?

Prior to Oracle Database 10g, John could have done a point-in-time recovery to reinstate the database to the desired point. Unfortunately, the bank's regular daily backup starts around that time, meaning he would have to apply almost 24 hours' worth of archived logs to the restored database.

Another option available in Oracle9i Database is to use the flashback query feature to reconstruct the table rows as of 11:00 p.m. and create a different set of tables manually. This approach, although possible, becomes impractical if the number of tables is high.

Fortunately, John's current database is Oracle Database 10g, so he has more options.

"

Tech PL/SQL- Self-Managing PL/SQL

"TECHNOLOGY: PL/SQL

Self-Managing PL/SQL
By Steven Feuerstein

Follow self-managing databases with self-managing PL/SQL.

Oracle has introduced significant management automation features in its flagship database product and has described the new Oracle Database 10g release as "the self-managing database." Given that achievement and direction, I thought it would make sense to talk about how to write one's PL/SQL application so that it is also self-managing.

What, you might ask, would it mean for an application to be self-managing? Let's dream for a moment: I have built an application composed of 50 tables and 200 programs. It is running in production, but the users have a request for an enhancement. This enhancement requires a new column in table A and changes in 6 of the 200 programs. Yet 55 of the 200 programs reference table A.

When I add the column to table A, all 55 programs are marked INVALID, marking, in turn, another 72 programs INVALID. I make the necessary changes to those 6 programs, testing them thoroughly. I then recompile any invalid programs, at which time they automatically adapt to the changes in my data structures and compile cleanly. My application is ready once again for production.

Doesn't that sound very pleasant? Unfortunately, most of us would not be able to enjoy such an experience. Rather, we write our code so that the slightest change in data structures wreaks havoc in our source, not only marking excessive numbers of programs INVALID but also requiring extensive and ultimately unnecessary modifications before the application is running again.

"

Cover Feature%3A Scoring with Web Services

Cover Feature%3A Scoring with Web Services: "Scoring with Web Services%0D%0ABy Kelli Wiseth %0D%0AWeb services are becoming integral to IT%97and to business. %0D%0AAsk Whit Andrews about Web services%2C and he%27ll tell you a story about plastic. At some point%2C explains the Gartner research director%2C %22plastic became integral to a variety of other products and established a new baseline%97consider the dosage cup that%27s packaged with cough medicine these days%97it%27s integral to the product itself%22 in a way that was never imagined when plastic first emerged from the polymer industry. %0D%0AAs with plastic%2C suggests Andrews%2C the uses to which Web services technology is being put today may be vastly different than the uses to which it will be applied in the future. Yet at some point%2C Web services technology %22will no longer provide competitive advantage%97the technology will become a baseline%2C a competitive necessity.%22 As an example%2C Andrews notes how tracking package delivery by phone was at one time a big deal and then that ability became a commodity. At a later point%2C tracking packages %22using the company%27s Web site was news%97and then it became a commodity%2C%22 says Andrews. "

Beta Testing

Before a company releases a computer program to the public, it has to go through testing. Both alpha and beta testing are key phases of the product's development, helping make sure it works properly.
How did the names originate? In the 1960s, IBM decided to call their tests "alpha" (the first letter of the Greek alphabet) and "beta" (the second letter). The alpha test was done on the unit's parts, and the subsequent beta test was done on the unit's operating system.

The names have stuck, but their meanings have changed. Today, an alpha test refers to the first test on the initial version of a product, often done by company employees. The product is usually unstable, but it gives developers a preview of the finished version.

The next test, the beta test, is done by a limited number of outsiders. The software is much more functional, but still contains plenty of errors that developers fix with the testers' feedback. After debugging and polishing, the product is finally ready to be released to the public.

Some beta tests are distributed on the Web to give the program some "real-world" exposure. If you want in on the action, check out Beta News for articles and downloads. The programs may be a little buggy, but, hey, at least you get them first.

Beta Testing

Before a company releases a computer program to the public, it has to go through testing. Both alpha and beta testing are key phases of the product's development, helping make sure it works properly.
How did the names originate? In the 1960s, IBM decided to call their tests "alpha" (the first letter of the Greek alphabet) and "beta" (the second letter). The alpha test was done on the unit's parts, and the subsequent beta test was done on the unit's operating system.

The names have stuck, but their meanings have changed. Today, an alpha test refers to the first test on the initial version of a product, often done by company employees. The product is usually unstable, but it gives developers a preview of the finished version.

The next test, the beta test, is done by a limited number of outsiders. The software is much more functional, but still contains plenty of errors that developers fix with the testers' feedback. After debugging and polishing, the product is finally ready to be released to the public.

Some beta tests are distributed on the Web to give the program some "real-world" exposure. If you want in on the action, check out Beta News for articles and downloads. The programs may be a little buggy, but, hey, at least you get them first.

Visual C# Developer Center: An Overview of Web Browser Express

Visual C# Developer Center: An Overview of Web Browser Express: "One Web browser feature that is growing in popularity is the ability to open different tabs, or sub-pages, within the same browser window. Using tabs to separate multiple pages keeps the desktop tidy, while browsing multiple sites. Several third party Web browsers offer this facility on Windows and other platforms, and if you're like me, you'll find it an addictive way to surf. Many browsers, either by default or through plug-ins, also provide a quick way to perform Web searches without having to go directly to a search engine. Wouldn't it be great to be able to write your own browser that could do all this, and also be able to fine-tune it and adjust it to exactly suit your needs"

As had been my habbit in recent days, I blogged using the text available at the url. But, then, there is a small change. After reading the article and working on it, I feel that this can be further enhanced, in visual style. Some of the expansion ideas given by the author are...

"
Expansion Suggestions
If you have tried the Web Browser Express and have an itch to add your own features, then I did a good job with this article. To keep you busy, here are some ideas for improvements that you can make relatively quickly.

History: Keep track of all the Web sites you've visited, and make it easy to revisit them.
Auto-completion: The method that checks for the Return key could also check for previously entered URLs and complete them automatically. You could change the way this happens compared to Internet Explorer and only auto-complete when the Tab key is pressed for example.
Favorites: The ComboBox comes populated with six Web sites, which you can easily change from the Properties explorer. However, what about adding a new button to the MenuStrip that takes the current Web site being displayed and adds that to the ComboBox list? That way the user can build up a list of their favorite sites. You'll need some way of saving and reloading the list when the program is quit and restarted.
Integrated RSS reader: Keep one step ahead of the competition and try to build in an RSS reader into your Web browser.
"

You can reach the blog of the author of the above article at http://blogs.msdn.com/johnkenn.

Happy Blogging.....

Asking a Hike

One day an employee sends a letter to his boss to increase his salary!!!

Dear Bo$$
In thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately. I think you $hould be under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much $upport including $weat and $ervice to your company.
I am $ure you will gue$$what I mean and re$pond $oon.
Your$ $incerely,
Norman $oh

Guess what was the response!!!!!

The next day, the employee received this letter of reply:

Dear NOrman,
I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed. You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet.
NOw the newspaper are saying the world`s leading ecoNOmists are NOt sure if the United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential elections things may turn bad.
I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean.
Yours truly,
Manager .

Visual Basic Developer Center: Defining and Using Generics in Visual Basic 2005

Visual Basic Developer Center: Defining and Using Generics in Visual Basic 2005: "Generics allow you to provide better compile-time validation when defining and using the types and methods required to handle unrelated types. Examples of such types and methods include the collection type that is required to store data of any kind, and the sort method that is required to sort arrays of various different data types. Generics also help improve performance in some scenarios. Visual Basic 2005 supports both the creation and consumption of generics. "

Integrating Portable XML Data with Portable C/C++ Code

Integrating Portable XML Data with Portable C/C++ Code: "Integrating Portable XML Data with Portable C/C++ Code
by Zhaoqing Wang & Harry H. Cheng
An embeddable C/C++ interpreter may be the answer for overcoming the limitations presented by writing XML-based applications with nonportable C/C++ code.
XML is changing the world of information sharing and exchange. The XML standard allows users to clearly define their own data and documents in an open, platform-, vendor-, and language-neutral manner for tasks such as electronic data interchange, data management, and publishing. Its self-describable flexible tags that mark the start and end of a related data block construct a hierarchy of related data objects called elements�which may be a database, pieces of a Web page (links, numbers, metadata, text and images), or contents of a spreadsheet. This structure makes data reusable, easy derivable, and reconfigurable because XML separates content and presentation with context encapsulation.
Because XML is a well-formed markup language, a programming technology is required in order to perform processing-related tasks such as parsing, generating, manipulating, and validating XML data. For that reason, C and C++ are commonly used for writing XML-based applications. However, either of those languages presents challenges�although C/C++ code is theoretically portable, the associated compilation and linking processes are not. Hence, most C/C++ code needs to be compiled and linked by different means on different platforms. C/C++ code that is truly portable is not generated and executed dynamically; therefore, in those situations Java and a Java Virtual Machine are commonly used for processing XML data."

PLSQL: The Beauty Is in the Details

Tech PLSQL: The Beauty Is in the Details:

"TECHNOLOGY: PL/SQL The Beauty Is in the Details
By Steven Feuerstein
Pay attention to the details in conditions, loops, and declarations, and create better code.
Some of my past articles in Oracle Magazine have offered a variety of 'big picture' best practices to help you write code properly. This article takes a different approach. It invites you to pay attention to seemingly minor details in the way you write IF statements, loops, and declarations.
I have found it best to think of a program as a kind of fractal construct, at least when it comes to code quality. A definition of fractal is 'a geometric pattern that is repeated at ever smaller scales...' according to www.dictionary.com.
An application has an overall shape: its architecture, database design, and major subsystems. Every program within an application has an overall shape: its main algorithm, the high-level requirements it is supposed to meet, and so on. And when you open up that program, you find smaller shapes: the declaration section, the executable section, and so on. And then within those sections, you can find even smaller shapes: IF statements, loops, and assignments.
If you want to write high-quality software, you need to pay attention to the quality of every level or shape within your applications. And if the lowest-level constructs are written poorly and are hard to understand, that deficiency propagates itself to the highest levels and shapes of logic in a system. "

TechNet Scripts: Listing Properties and Methods of Win32 Classes

TechNet Scripts: Listing Properties and Methods of Win32 Classes: "Listing the Properties and Methods of the Win32 Classes

Description
Returns the properties and methods for all the WMI Win32 classes (for example, Win32_Service, Win32_Process, Win32_NTEventLog, etc.).
Script Code
strComputer = '.'
Set objWMIService = GetObject('winmgmts:\\' & strComputer & '\root\cimv2')
For Each objclass in objWMIService.SubclassesOf()
intCounter=0
If Left(objClass.Path_.Class,5) = 'Win32' Then
For Each Qualifier in objClass.Qualifiers_
If UCase(Trim(Qualifier.Name)) = 'ASSOCIATION'
Then
intCounter = 1
End If
Next
If x = 0 Then
strComputer = '.'
Set objWMIService = GetObject _
('winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\' & _
strComputer & '\root\cimv2')
Set strClass = objWMIService.Get(objClass.Path_.Class)
Wscript.Echo 'PROPERTIES:'
For each strItem in strClass.properties_
Wscript.Echo objClass.Path_.Class & vbTab & strItem.name
Next
Wscript.Echo 'METHODS:'
For Each strItem in strClass.methods_
Wscript.Echo objClass.Path_.Class & vbTab & strItem.name
Next
End If
End If
Next"

TechNet Scripts: Determining Local Time on a Computer

TechNet Scripts: Determining Local Time on a Computer: "Determining Local Time on a Computer

Description
Reports the local time on a computer.
For more information about the Win32_LocalTime class used in this script, click here.
Supported Platforms
Windows XPYes
Windows Server 2003Yes
Windows 2000No
Windows NT 4.0No
Windows 98No

Script Code
strComputer = '.'
Set objWMIService = GetObject('winmgmts:\\' & strComputer & '\root\cimv2')
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery('Select * from Win32_LocalTime')
For Each objItem in colItems
Wscript.Echo 'Day: ' & objItem.Day
Wscript.Echo 'Day Of the Week: ' & objItem.DayOfWeek
Wscript.Echo 'Hour: ' & objItem.Hour
Wscript.Echo 'Milliseconds: ' & objItem.Milliseconds
Wscript.Echo 'Minute: ' & objItem.Minute
Wscript.Echo 'Month: ' & objItem.Month
Wscript.Echo 'Quarter: ' & objItem.Quarter
Wscript.Echo 'Second: ' & objItem.Second
Wscript.Echo 'Week In the Month: ' & objItem.WeekInMonth
Wscript.Echo 'Year: ' & objItem.Year
Next"

TechNet Scripts: Schedule a Task

TechNet Scripts: Schedule a Task: "Schedule a Task

Description
Schedules Notepad to run at 12:30 PM every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Script Code
strComputer = '.'
Set objWMIService = GetObject('winmgmts:' _
& '{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\' & strComputer & '\root\cimv2')
Set objNewJob = objWMIService.Get('Win32_ScheduledJob')
errJobCreated = objNewJob.Create _
('Notepad.exe', '********123000.000000-420', _
True , 1 OR 4 OR 16, , , JobID)
Wscript.Echo errJobCreated"

TechNet Scripts: Check Registry Key Access Rights

TechNet Scripts: Check Registry Key Access Rights: "Check Registry Key Access Rights

Description
Uses WMI to check access rights for the logged on user to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet.
Script Code
const KEY_QUERY_VALUE = &H0001
const KEY_SET_VALUE = &H0002
const KEY_CREATE_SUB_KEY = &H0004
const DELETE = &H00010000
const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
strComputer = '.'
Set StdOut = WScript.StdOut
Set oReg=GetObject('winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\' &_
strComputer & '\root\default:StdRegProv')
strKeyPath = 'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet'
oReg.CheckAccess HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, KEY_QUERY_VALUE, bHasAccessRight
If bHasAccessRight = True Then
StdOut.WriteLine 'Have Query Value Access Rights on Key'
Else
StdOut.WriteLine 'Do Not Have Query Value Access Rights on Key'
End If
oReg.CheckAccess HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, KEY_SET_VALUE, bHasAccessRight
If bHasAccessRight = True Then
StdOut.WriteLine 'Have Set Value Access Rights on Key'
Else
StdOut.WriteLine 'Do Not Have Set Value Access Rights on Key'
End If
oReg.CheckAccess HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, KEY_CREATE_SUB_KEY, bHasAccessRight
If bHasAccessRight = True Then
StdOut.WriteLine 'Have Create SubKey Access Rights on Key'
Else
StdOut.WriteLine 'Do Not Have Create SubKey Access Rights on Key'
End If
oReg.CheckAccess HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, DELETE, bHasAccessRight
If bHasAccessRight = True Then
StdOut.WriteLine 'Have Delete Access Rights on Key'
Else
StdOut.WriteLine 'Do Not Have Delete Access Rights on Key'
End If"

TechNet Scripts: Add a Support URL to an Event Log Entry

TechNet Scripts: Add a Support URL to an Event Log Entry: "Add a Support URL to an Event Log Entry

Description
Writes an event to the Application event log that includes a support URL. Requires Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.
Script Code
Const EVENT_FAILED = 1
Set objShell = Wscript.CreateObject('Wscript.Shell')
objShell.LogEvent EVENT_FAILED, _
'Payroll application could not be installed.' _
& 'Additional information is available from http://www.fabrikam.com.'"

Adding a Buffer Around a MapPoint Web Service Map

When a user requests a map containing a certain set of points, you can use one of four classes to return a map view: ViewByBoundingLocations, ViewByHeightWidth, ViewByScale, or ViewByBoundingRectangle. Only one of these classes, ViewByBoundingLocations, provides a buffer. This buffer is meant to prevent the icon images from being truncated and from appearing on the edges of the map. The default buffer, which is fixed, can usually prevent icons from being truncated. However, in certain situations, the default buffer may not work.

This article describes how to use the ViewByBoundingRectangle class to add a buffer around MapPoint Web Service maps, ensuring that all map icons are shown in their entirety.

Longhorn Developer Center Home: Understanding WinFS by Exploring the WinFS Type System

Longhorn Developer Center Home: Understanding WinFS by Exploring the WinFS Type System: "WinFS is a storage platform capable of multi-master synchronization, designed to run on hundreds of millions of computers, to be accessible, and to support international users. If this were not enough, WinFS bridges the worlds of file, relational, and XML data. This is about as far from a plain 'Hello World!' program as you can get.
One way to begin to understand a storage environment of this level of sophistication is to deconstruct the software architecture and explore its essential parts. One of the most fundamental parts of a storage system is its underlying data model. A data model is a complete system for describing how data can be represented and how it should be stored.
Programmers primarily interact with the WinFS data model by using the WinFS type system, rather than interacting directly with the data model. A type system, especially a type system like the .NET Common Type System (CTS), is essentially a model that defines the rules the runtime follows when creating, using, and managing types. The good news is that the WinFS data model and the WinFS type system have a lot in common�so much in common, in fact, that you can safely assume that they largely mirror each other.
This column explores the type system used when programming the WinFS platform. Programmers who program in .NET are already familiar with type systems; after all, the common language specification defines the CTS. It is impossible to write even a 'Hello World!' program in .NET without using at least one type. However, even in simple code, type systems are important. Moving beyond the world of developers, type systems are important to users who understand their data using types that developers do not normally work with, such as Word documents, PowerPoint slides, and e-mail. WinFS introduces a type system that allows the developer to model more complex data while hiding that complexity from the end user."

.NET Architecture Center: Microsoft Patterns: Describing the Enterprise Architectural Space

.NET Architecture Center: Microsoft Patterns: Describing the Enterprise Architectural Space: "This document presents an organizing table that describes the enterprise architectural space, shows relationships among artifacts in the space, and demonstrates how different roles in your enterprise view enterprise architecture. This document also demonstrates how pattern authors can use the organizing table to organize existing patterns and to identify areas where patterns are not currently documented."

Data Access in ASP.NET 2.0

ASP.NET 2.0 reduces the amount of code required to perform common data access tasks by adding a number of data-enabled controls. This article shows these new controls, and how you can use them in your applications.

Data access has always been a crucial aspect of Web application development. Data-driven Web pages are essential for almost every business application. Because data access is so prevalent, it makes little sense for developers to spend time continually re-generating complex code for simple database tasks. Developers need to be able to rapidly access data from a variety of sources in a variety of formats. Fortunately, ADO.NET 2.0 and the new data access controls in ASP.NET 2.0 help solve this problem.

For traditional ASP and ASP.NET 1.1 applications, the developer had to create code to access and update a database, as well as to format the retrieved data as browser-friendly HTML. Although Visual Studio .NET had a wizard to help with this task, advanced features such as paging and sorting still required intricate synchronization between the back-end code and the front-end display. Quite often, this code was difficult to maintain and synchronize, especially if the database changed or additional data had to be displayed on the page. In addition, the proliferation of XML as a data store required extensive lines of plumbing code intermixed with data access logic.

To increase developer productivity and the performance of Web applications, ASP.NET 2.0 reduces the code needed to access and display data, by encapsulating functionality in new data controls that give you more control and flexibility with your data. These controls can be linked to a wide variety of data sources, ranging from traditional databases to XML data stores. All of the data sources are treated in a similar fashion, greatly reducing the complexity of developing data-driven applications. The ASP.NET 2.0 internal support for these features required extensive architectural enhancements. The new data source objects incorporate a number of industry accepted best practices to augment a very robust foundation. The data access tools available in ASP.NET 2.0 can now be leveraged by the most complex applications. Binding and caching issues that limited ASP.NET 1.x implementations have been resolved in ASP.NET 2.0, both architecturally and mechanically.

Split the Name field into First and Last name - Cold Fusion, Allaire

Ever want to take the name field in your table and turn it into first_name , last_name fields? Read on... This script alters a database table to add two new fields, First name and Last name, it then takes the "Name" field's data and rips out the first name and last name to insert into the database.

Inside Encrypting File System, Part 1

Securing a computer system entails employing measures that protect the computer's data from viewing or manipulation by unauthorized users. Security measures at the network interface prevent intruders from gaining entry to the computer, and file-system security prevents the computer's authorized users from accessing data they're not supposed to access. However, a computer that is isolated from the Internet behind a firewall and that has stringent file-system security policies in place remains unsecured if no strategy exists to guard the computer's physical security. If unauthorized users have physical access to a computer, they can remove the computer's hard disks and perform offline analysis of the disks' data. When users can view a hard disk's contents on a different computer, file-system security (e.g., the kind NTFS ACLs provide on Windows NT or Windows 2000— Win2K—systems) is of no value. This problem is especially acute for laptop computers because two NTFS file-system drivers that ignore NTFS security—NTFSDOS and an NTFS driver for Linux—let even casual thieves easily view NTFS files.

One way to address the physical security problem is to keep computers in locked rooms, but this solution is obviously not practical for laptop computers, whose main purpose is portability. Thus, to prevent access to file data in situations in which bypassing file-system security is a possibility, data encryption is necessary. Before Win2K, NT users have had to turn to third-party vendors for encryption solutions, but in Win2K a built-in encryption facility for NTFS files exists in the form of Encrypting File System (EFS). By building encryption into the OS, Microsoft can make the encryption and decryption process transparent to both applications and users.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has produced little documentation describing how EFS works. Because many people will undoubtedly rely on EFS to secure their sensitive data, having a solid understanding of what goes on under the hood is important. In this two-part series about EFS, I'll take you beneath the surface and let you know exactly how EFS works with NTFS and Win2K cryptography facilities to help you keep your data safe from prying eyes. This month, I provide an overview of EFS and begin walking you through the process by which EFS encrypts files. Next month, I'll finish the encryption walk-through, describe the decryption process, and introduce the data recovery mechanism EFS has built into the decryption process.

(.NET - VB.NET) How Do I...Read XML from a file in VB.NET

This sample illustrates how to read XML from a file using the XmlTextReader class. This class provides direct parsing and tokenizing of XML, and implements the W3C Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 and the Namespaces in XML specifications.

XmlReader class is the API that provides XML parsing, the XmlTextReader is the implementation designed to handle byte streams.

Typically, you use the XmlTextReader if you need to access the XML as raw data without the overhead of a DOM. Not having to access the DOM results in a faster way to reading XML. For example, an XML document could have a header section used for routing the document for processing elsewhere. The XmlTextReader has different constructors to specify the location of the XML data. This sample loads XML from the books.xml file, as shown in the following code.

Dim reader As XmlTextReader = New XmlTextReader ("books.xml")

Once loaded, the XmlTextReader moves across the XML data by using the Read method sequentially retrieving the next record from the document. The Read method returns false if there are no more records.

........

Download details: Lookout V1.2

Lookout
Steve Makofsky noticed that Lookout is available from the Microsoft Download Center. If you're an Outlook user, run, don't walk to get this thing. It has saved me at least an hour a day since I started using it. Here's some info and a link:
Lookout
Lookout is lightning-fast search for your email, files, and desktop integrated with Microsoft Outlook. Built on top of a powerful search engine, Lookout is the only personal search engine that can search all of your email from directly within Outlook - in seconds...

posted @ 7/23/2004 2:55 AM by Brian Johnson

Lookout download on Microsoft.com
Microsoft's acquisition of Lookout caused a bit of a stir in the community - in particular, because they pulled the product download off of the web site with no real explanation of the product's future or whether it would ever resurface (while allowing existing users to continue using the product).

Guess what just showed up on the Microsoft Download site. You guessed it.

Now, Microsoft has a history of posting stuff on the download site and then quickly removing it. So who can say how long it will stick around. But it's there for the moment.

People have also sleuthed out the (unadvertised) download URL on the Lookout site - presumably there for the Lookout auto-upgrade process. It's appearance on the Microsoft site, however, it potentially far more interesting.





posted @ 7/22/2004 6:33 PM by Kevin Dente

Macromedia - Developer Center : Caching Queries to Disk or to Memory with ColdFusion

As most ColdFusion developers know, Macromedia ColdFusion provides a built-in mechanism for caching queries. Adding a simple cachedWithin attribute to any cfquery tag in ColdFusion lets you cache a query in memory for a specified time.

If you have ever cached a query using this simple built-in functionality, you are certainly familiar with the challenges and limitations that result from implementing query caching with this method. This type of query caching uses a ColdFusion Administrator setting that limits the maximum number of queries that can exist in the cache at any given time. Additionally, clearing cached queries with this method is a much more difficult task than you would expect. In this article, I explain a custom tag approach for caching queries to memory or to disk, providing more flexibility than built-in ColdFusion methods.

Before continuing any further, note that that there is no substitute for solid database design when it comes to query performance. Often times, you can improve query performance through simple revisions to your SQL statement or taking advantage of the power of your RDBMS by adding database enhancements such as indexes to queried columns. Additionally, the alternative method of caching queries to disk described in this article should not be considered a “best practice,” not to mention the fact that you can add memory cheaply to servers based on current RAM prices.

Consider my method of caching queries to disk (one of the options with my custom tag) as a workaround for certain scenarios you might be facing as a developer. I originally developed the custom tag in this article for a client of mine where, at the time, I did not have the option of altering the database design to improve query performance. Additionally, many of the queries where I applied this custom tag involved complex SQL logic including aggregate functions and a high number of nested inner/left joins across a number of tables. While the resulting final record sets were small to medium size, the query execution was unbearably slow and only got worse with heavier server load. In these cases, I was able to apply this custom tag and drastically improve upon the original execution time of the query. In other cases, however, I found that this custom tag actually executed slower than the original query because the WDDX packets written to disk were so large—as a result of very large record sets or even queries with many large columns. As a developer, always evaluate query performance on a case-by-case basis before and after applying this caching solution.

Macromedia - Developer Center: Video Tutorial Series: Building Your First Database Application with ColdFusion

In this six-part series, you'll learn how to build a database application with ColdFusion and Dreamweaver. To watch the tutorials before following along with the steps, download Macromedia Flash Player (in the Requirements section below). Otherwise, download and install all the software in the Requirements section so that you can watch and follow the steps within the tutorials.

Macromedia - ColdFusion MX : Feature Tour

This is a feature tour of Macromedia CF MX 6.1, a multimedia tour. It explains the different new features of the product clearly.

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification

Abstract
This specification defines the Document Object Model Core Level 3, a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. The Document Object Model Core Level 3 builds on the Document Object Model Core Level 2 [DOM Level 2 Core].

This version enhances DOM Level 2 Core by completing the mapping between DOM and the XML Information Set [XML Information Set], including the support for XML Base [XML Base], adding the ability to attach user information to DOM Nodes or to bootstrap a DOM implementation, providing mechanisms to resolve namespace prefixes or to manipulate "ID" attributes, giving to type information, etc.

Status of this document
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This document contains the Document Object Model Level 3 Core specification and is a W3C Recommendation. It has been produced as part of the W3C DOM Activity. The authors of this document are the DOM Working Group participants. For more information about DOM, readers can also refer to DOM FAQ and DOM Conformance Test Suites.

It is based on the feedback received during the Proposed Recommendation period. Changes since the Proposed Recommendation version and an implementation report are available. Please refer to the errata for this document, which may include some normative corrections.

Comments on this document should be sent to the public mailing list www-dom@w3.org (public archive).

This is a stable document and has been endorsed by the W3C Membership and the participants of the DOM working group. The English version of this specification is the only normative version. See also translations.

Patent disclosures relevant to this specification may be found on the Working Group's patent disclosure page. This document has been produced under the 24 January 2002 CPP as amended by the W3C Patent Policy Transition Procedure. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) with respect to this specification should disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

Latest from W3.ORg on XML DOM

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification

This is a url for the official Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification at w3.org.

This is for the release in 1998.

Going Virtual II: Remote Debugging

Learn how to set up remote debugging when you are running the Windows XP Embedded image inside Virtual PC.

Last month we took a look at booting and running Windows XP Embedded in Microsoft Virtual PC. There are a number of advantages to booting and running Windows XP Embedded in the Virtual PC environment. First, you don't need additional hardware. Second, you can build and test your Windows XP Embedded image on your development PC without needing to dual-boot your development PC. The other really neat thing about running the Windows XP Embedded image inside Virtual PC is the ability to remote debug applications on your development PC, which is going to be the focus for this month's article.

Why would you need to debug an application running on Windows XP Embedded? Since XPE is a componentized version of Windows XP Professional there should be binary compatibility for the applications you are already running on the desktop, right? The answer is "yes," your applications 'should' run, unmodified, on Windows XP Embedded. This assumes that you have included all the required operating system components, and have added all the support files your application needs (DLLs, fonts, bitmaps, audio files, movie files, data files, etc.).

For this month's article we're going to write a fully featured Win32 application (a typical Hello World application) and build and deploy this application to a Windows XP Embedded operating system image, then debug the application.

The steps outlined in this article are of course applicable to a Windows XP Embedded image running on "real" hardware. Time to buckle up, let's get cracking with writing and debugging an application.

(Visual Basic) Data Encryption and Decryption

as a part of working on our applciation, I am searching for some encryption tools and in the process I landed here at MSDN< again, the inbuilt Crpytography Feature.

Excerpt:

Data Encryption and Decryption

Encryption is the process of translating plain text data (plaintext) into something that appears to be random and meaningless (ciphertext). Decryption is the process of converting ciphertext back to plaintext.


To encrypt more than a small amount of data, symmetric encryption is used. The symmetric key or session key is used during both the encryption and decryption processes. To decrypt a particular piece of ciphertext, the key that was used to encrypt the data must be used. Essentially, a session key consists of a random number, from 40 to 2,000 bits in length. The longer the key, the more difficult it is to decrypt a piece of ciphertext without possessing the key.

The goal of every encryption algorithm is to make it as difficult as possible to decrypt the generated ciphertext without using the key. If a really good encryption algorithm is used, there is no technique significantly better than methodically trying every possible key. Even a key size of just 40 bits works out to just over one trillion possible keys.

It is difficult to determine the quality of an encryption algorithm. Algorithms that look promising sometimes turn out to be very easy to break, given the proper attack. When selecting an encryption algorithm, it is often a good idea to choose one that has been around for a while, and has successfully resisted all attacks.

For more information, see Data Encryption/Decryption Functions.

(.NET - XML) An Introduction to the XML Tools in Visual Studio 2005

This article is an introduction to the XML Editor and the XSLT Debugger in Visual Studio 2005 (formerly known by the codename "Whidbey").

Introduction
With wider adoption of XML, XSLT, XSD Schemas, and other applications, XML is being touched by developers at various places of the application. This mainstreaming of XML requires that developers be supported with better development tools. Visual Studio 2005 significantly improves the XML editing and XSLT Debugging experiences.

The XML editor includes the following functionality:

Design time well-formedness and validation errors.
Validation support for Schema, DTD, and XDR.
Inferring an XSD Schema from an XML instance.
Converting a DTD or XDR to XSD Schema.
Context-sensitive Intellisense.
XSLT editing, viewing the results of the transform.
Standard Visual Studio code-editing, such as outlining and commenting or un-commenting.
The XSLT debugger comprises the following functionality:

Invoking the debugger from the XML Editor.
The ability to set and remove breakpoints.
Standard Visual Studio debugger function key and menu bindings (F9 for setting/removing breakpoints, F11 for "Step In," and so on).
Viewing the output of the transform as it is being generated.
Locals, Watch, and Call stack windows.
Stepping into the XSLT from a C# (or any other CLR language) program.
The remainder of this article will explain the above listed features in more detail, and will also be a mini-tutorial for the XML Editor and the XSLT Debugger.

(.NET - VB.NET) A Sneak Preview of Visual Basic 2005

Provides on overview of the new features in Visual Basic 2005 including, My Visual Basic, IntelliSense, Edit and Continue, AutoCorrect, Just My Code, Windows Forms enhancements, and more. (30 printed pages)

Introduction
The next release of Microsoft Visual Studio has been significantly improved for Visual Basic developers by adding innovative language constructs, new compiler features, dramatically enhanced productivity and an improved debugging experience. Visual Studio 2005 includes several productivity enhancements including IntelliSense code snippets, Windows Forms designer updates, IntelliSense filtering, debugger data tips, Exception Assistant, and more. In language innovations, the 2005 release of Visual Basic includes generics, unsigned types, operator overloading, and many other additions. This document samples some of the new capabilities available in the 2005 version of Visual Basic.

Productivity Enhancements
Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Basic 2005 add many features and tools that make your development experience more productive. The following sections outline just a few.

My
Imagine being able to find the functionality you need within the huge set of classes available as part of the .NET Framework immediately. Imagine using a single reference to accomplish goals that would otherwise require many lines of code. Imagine being more productive than you could ever have been programming in previous versions of Visual Basic or Visual Basic 6. These goals, and more, have been met with the addition of the My to Visual Basic 2005.

(.NET - XML) The XML Diff and Patch GUI Tool .NET FRamework 1.1

This article shows how to use the XmlDiff class to compare two XML files and show these differences as an HTML document in a .NET Framework 1.1 application. The article also shows how to build a WinForms application for comparing XML files.

Introduction
There is no good command line tool that can be used to compare two XML files and view the differences. There is an online tool called XML Diff and Patch that's available on the GotDotNet website under the XML Tools section. For those who have not, you can find it at Microsoft XML Diff and Patch 1.0. It is a very convenient tool for those who want to compare the difference between two XML files. Comparing XML files is different from comparing regular text files because one wants to compare logical differences in the XML nodes not just differences in text. For example one may want to compare XML documents and ignore white space between elements, comments or processing instructions. The XML Diff and Patch tool allows one to perform such comparisons but it is primarily available as an online web application. We cannot take this tool and use it from command line.

This article focuses on developing a command-line tool by reusing code from the XML Diff and Patch installation and samples. The tool works very similar to the WinDiff utility; it presents the differences in a separate window and highlights them.

The XML Diff and Patch tool contains a library that contains an XmlDiff class, which can be used to compare two XML documents. The Compare method on this class takes two files and either returns true, if the files are equal, or generates an output file called an XML diffgram containing a list of differences between the files. The XmlDiff class can be supplied an options class XmlDiffOptions that can be used to set the various options for comparing files.

Longhorn Developer Center Home: Longhorn Developer Center Home: The Avalon Control Content Model

Jeff Bogdan explores Avalon's control content model, a concept that can be nearly missed by the developer on first encounter, but one that provides extreme flexibility when meeting the demands of richer scenarios.

There's an obvious property that UI developers expect to find on the controls they're using: Text. Win32 gave WM_GETTEXT and WM_SETTEXT messages for HWNDs, and most frameworks built on top of HWNDs exposed this functionality. Yet in Avalon, we intentionally left Text out of the Control API. This has raised enough questions to warrant an explanation into our motivations behind this design. Obviously, it goes much deeper than one property. In Avalon, we've used two principles to shape our control content model:


The developer should experience a smooth progression when moving from simpler to richer content.
Data is a first class citizen for control content.

(COM+) .NET Enterprise Services Performance

.NET Enterprise Services Performance
Richard Turner, Program Manager, XML Enterprise Services
Larry Buerk, Program Manager, XML Enterprise Services
Dave Driver, Software Design Engineer, XML Enterprise Services

Microsoft Corporation

March 2004

Applies to:
COM+ components
Microsoft .NET Enterprise Services

Summary: See the performance of native COM+ and .NET Enterprise Services components when applied to different activation and calling patterns. Get guidelines to make .NET Enterprise Services components execute just as quickly as C++ COM+ components, and get key recommendations to help you create high-performance .NET Enterprise Service components.

Introduction
Developers who consider moving their COM+ code from "native" Visual C++® or Visual Basic® 6 to managed .NET Enterprise Services components sometimes raise concerns such as:

Why should I switch to managed code?
How much change will be required to my code?
How will my Enterprise Services components perform?
What is the future roadmap for COM+ and .NET Enterprise Services?
This paper discusses the points above, and particularly focuses on the performance question. Resources listed in Appendix 4: Further Reading discuss these subjects in more detail.

This document is targeted at developers and architects who have developed COM+ components and are considering migrating their code to .NET Enterprise Services.

Web Development - About Element Behaviors

Element behaviors are one of the most significant new capabilities in Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.5. They provide the capability to define custom elements, which can be used in the same way as normal HTML elements in a Web page. An element behavior can be written in script using an HTML Component (HTC) file, or it can be implemented with a binary Dynamic HTML (DHTML) behavior. Element behaviors are encapsulated components, so they can add new and interesting functionality to a Web page while improving the organization of content, functionality, and style.

DHTML behaviors were introduced in Internet Explorer 5 and made it possible to modify the behavior of standard HTML elements by setting the behavior attribute of a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) entry or by using the addBehavior method in script. DHTML behaviors, in the form introduced in Internet Explorer 5, are now referred to as attached behaviors, to distinguish them from element behaviors—which use a different binding mechanism and have other unique characteristics.

Element behaviors can be used to implement anything from a simple rollover effect to a complex interactive component. A special processing instruction is used to import an element behavior into a Web page, where it is synchronously bound to a custom element. Once an element behavior has been downloaded and parsed, it exists as a first-class element in the document hierarchy and remains permanently bound to the custom element. Element behaviors differ significantly from attached behaviors in this respect. An attached behavior binds asynchronously to an element and modifies its behavior, and it can be attached or removed programmatically.

Element behaviors bring several enhancements to the Behavior Component Model in Internet Explorer 5.5. They provide new features that complement the existing capabilities of attached behaviors and provide additional robustness and reliability. However, attached behaviors are not superceded by element behaviors and remain useful in many scenarios.

A special feature of element behaviors, called viewlink, enables a document tree to be encapsulated in an HTC file, separate from the content of the main Web page. This opens up another realm of possibilities that are covered separately in the ViewLink Overview.

An element behavior can be implemented with an HTC file or a binary DHTML behavior, and the techniques used in each approach are quite different. This article is focused on writing element behaviors with HTC files.

Web Development - About Client Capabilities

Web developers are constantly searching for ways to design and implement sites that deliver the best user experience possible. One way to enhance user experience is to customize content based on capabilities that the client browser supports. For example, when a client-side script detects a low-bandwidth modem connection to the server, it may choose to request low-resolution images from the server to minimize bandwidth consumption.

Client capabilities consists of information about the browsing environment, such as screen resolution, screen dimensions, color depth, CPU, or connection speed. Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 exposed client capabilities as properties through the Dynamic HTML (DHTML) Object Model. Internet Explorer 5 enhanced this further to include a means to install browser components on demand. Beginning with Internet Explorer 5, all this information was encapsulated into DHTML behaviors and made available as one of the browser's default behaviors.

By making this information available on the client, pages can be cached, server roundtrips minimized, server resources freed up as content generation shifts back to the client, and overall performance improved.

This article outlines the benefits introduced by a client-side solution and discusses the details involved in obtaining client capabilities information from the client. Realizing that a client-side solution is not suited for every Web site or Web application, a solution for server-side developers is also provided.

(.NET - ASP.NET) 317515 - HOW TO: Dynamically Create Controls in ASP.NET with Visual Basic .NET

Creation of controls dynamically is one of the main features in ASP.NET. This is a QB from Microsoft Support that explains the process of creating the controls in ASp.NET at run time, using VB.NET

(.NET - ADO.NET) Asynchronous Command Execution in ADO.NET 2.0

Get an overview of the new asynchronous execution functionality in ADO.NET 2.0, the scenarios it was developed to enable, plus some of the issues to keep in mind when using this feature.

In the 2.0 release of ADO.NET, we not only wanted to make existing scenarios easier, but also enable new scenarios that either were just not possible before, or were far from ideal.

Asynchronous command execution is a good example of that. In releases of ADO.NET before 2.0, it wasn't possible to execute a command and not wait for it to complete before continuing execution. The addition of an asynchronous API enables scenarios where it is important for the application to continue execution without waiting for the database to complete the operation.

In this article, I'll cover the basics of the asynchronous database API and a couple of scenarios where this API is useful. Although we designed the API to work with any data access provider, SqlClient—the .NET data access provider for SQL Server—is the only one of the four providers included with .NET that actually supports it. Because of that, I'll use SqlClient throughout the rest of the article in the samples and descriptions of methods and classes. Bear in mind that third-party provider writers can implement this asynchronous API as well, so we may see more databases that can be accessed asynchronously. Simply change the class and method names accordingly to use these samples with other databases.

(.NET - ADO.NET) ADO.NET 2.0 Feature Matrix

ADO.NET 2.0 includes a new base-class provider model, features for all providers, and changes to System.Data.SqlClient. Get an overview of these new features, examples of their use, and a chart of which features are provider-neutral and SqlClient-specific.

ADO.NET 2.0 comes with a plethora of new features. This includes a new base-class–based provider model and features that all providers can take advantage of, as well as changes that are specific to System.Data.SqlClient. Because the .NET Framework 2.0 is being released in conjunction with SQL Server 2005, some of these features require SQL Server 2005 to be usable. This article is meant to serve as an overview and roadmap of the new features, give examples of their use, and includes a chart of which features are provider-neutral and which are SqlClient-specific. In future articles in this series, I'll be going over some of the features in greater detail. In addition, there are many new features of the DataSet and friends; these will be covered in future articles.

(.NET - ASP.NET) Personalization with ASP.NET 2.0

Create personalized applications faster and build entirely new classes of applications with the new personalization features in ASP.NET 2.0.

The variety of business solutions that can now be serviced by Web based applications is continually increasing. With added functionality and faster network connectivity, the infrastructure of the Internet now supports increasing numbers and types of users. These users access the Internet for varying reasons through many different devices, making the traditional 'anonymous' single user Web architecture insufficient.

To keep pace with the new demands for more flexible, user-oriented Web applications, Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 includes an extensive personalization framework. The ASP.NET 2.0 personalization features include new mechanisms for identifying and registering users, tailoring a Website to a specific user, and storing user information automatically and transparently. Web Parts empower the user to include the information they deem most valuable. Through layout control and inclusion of relevant tools, users can create a site that streamlines their experience. These customizations can be persisted and made available to those users on subsequent visits to the site.

This white paper provides a technical overview of new features, including Web Parts, authentication controls, and personalization providers. If you are a beginning or mid-level developer, or just interested in the new personalization features of ASP.NET 2.0, you will benefit from the code examples and feature descriptions in this white paper.

(.NET - ASP.NET) More and Less: How ASP.NET 2.0 Features Compare Against the Starter Kit Reference Applications

The ASP.NET Starter Kits are five sample ASP.NET applications that provide code to accomplish common Web development tasks. This article looks at how the new features in ASP.NET 2.0 could be used to simplify the Starter Kits

The ASP.NET Starter Kits are a collection of five sample applications that show Web developers how to take advantage of ASP.NET 1.x features. The Starter Kits include reference implementations for important features such as interactive HTML reports; skinning and themes; authentication and authorization; mobile Web browser support; and much more. An hour spent exploring the source code from a starter kit can save many hours of programming and debugging.

In ASP.NET 2.0, Microsoft has introduced a significant number of enhancements and new features to greatly improve developer productivity and dramatically reduce the lines of code that a Web developer must generate. A number of ASP.NET 2.0 features actually make several key features of the starter kits trivial to implement. This article introduces some of the most prominent new features in ASP.NET 2.0, and contrasts the simplicity of using the ASP.NET 2.0 features against the amount of code required to implement similar features in the ASP.NET Starter Kits.

(.NET - ASP.NET) Improved Caching in ASP.NET 2.0

Stephen Walther looks at the new caching features included in ASP.NET 2.0, and how you can use them to improve the performance and scalability of your ASP.NET applications.

The most dramatic way to improve the performance of a database driven Web application is through caching. Retrieving data from a database is one of the slowest operations that you can perform in a Web site. If, however, you can cache the database data in memory, then you can avoid accessing the database with every page request, and dramatically increase the performance of your application.

The one and only drawback to caching is the problem of stale data. If you cache the contents of a database table in memory, and the records in the underlying database table change, then your Web application will display old, inaccurate data. For certain types of data you might not care if the data being displayed is slightly out of date, but for other types of data—such as stock prices and auction bids—displaying data that is even slightly stale is unacceptable.

The initial release of the Microsoft ASP.NET framework did not provide a good solution to this problem. When using the ASP.NET 1.0 framework, you just had to live with this tradeoff between performance and stale data. Fortunately, the Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 framework includes a new feature called SQL Cache Invalidation that solves this very problem.

In this article, you'll learn about many of the new caching enhancements in the ASP.NET 2.0 framework. First, you'll learn how caching support has been integrated into the new DataSource controls. Next, you'll learn how to configure and take advantage of SQL Cache Invalidation. Finally, we'll take a look at a new control introduced with the ASP.NET 2.0 framework, which enables you to inject dynamic content into a cached page: the Substitution control.

(.NET - ASP.NET) Changes to the Validation Controls in ASP.NET 2.0

While ASP.NET 1.x supported validating user input, ASP.NET 2.0 increases the flexibility of the validation through the addition of validation groups. This article looks at this new feature, and shows you how you can use it in a number of common scenarios.

ASP.NET 2.0 includes a new feature which enables you to group form controls into distinct validation groups. This article discusses how you can take advantage of validation groups in complex form validation scenarios.

Two common validation scenarios are discussed in this article. First, you learn how to take advantage of validation groups when adding a search box to a Web page. Next, we'll discuss methods for using validation groups with databinding controls such as the GridView control.

(.NET - ASP.NET) New Security Features in ASP.NET 2.0

ASP.NET 2.0 builds on ASP.NET 1.x to enable you to more easily create and manage users, and to password-protect pages in a Web application. The new framework includes new features for working with authentication and authorization, which were designed to appeal to both Web site administrators and developers.

Web site administrators can take advantage of the new Web Site Administration Tool to create new users and roles, and to control access to pages in a Web application. The Web Site Administration Tool is a set of prewritten ASP.NET pages that can be used by individuals with no programming skills to configure a Web application.

Developers can take advantage of the new Login controls in order to quickly build security related pages in a Web application. For example, a developer can create a login page simply by dragging a Login control onto an .aspx page. By taking advantage of the Login controls, a developer can build a login page, a registration page, or a password recovery page without writing any code.

Finally, the ASP.NET 2.0 framework contains new security related features which will appeal to advanced developers. The new Membership API is a set of classes that contains methods for creating and retrieving information about application users. In addition, the new framework contains classes that make it easier to work with custom user roles.

(.NET - ASP.NET) Introducing the ASP.NET 2.0 GridView and DetailsView Controls

The ASP.NET 2.0 framework introduces two new controls for working with database data: the GridView control and the DetailsView control. You use the GridView control when working with a set of database records. The DetailsView control is used when working with individual records.

The GridView control is the successor to the DataGrid control. While Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 still includes the DetailsGrid control, you are encouraged to take advantage of the new features of the GridView control.

The GridView control enables you to perform many of the same tasks as you would previously perform with the DetailsGrid control. The advantage of the GridView control is that, in many cases, you can perform these tasks without writing any code. The GridView control enables you to:

Display a set of database records.
Sort a set of database records.
Page through a set of database records.
Edit a set of database records.
In addition, unlike the DetailsGrid control, the GridView control enables you to sort and page through database records without requiring a postback to the server. The GridView control, optionally, uses client-side script to enable you to sort and page database records without performing a form post.

The DetailsView control is an entirely new control introduced with ASP.NET 2.0 that enables you to work with individual database records. You can use the DetailsView control on its own, to display or edit a single database record. When used in conjunction with the GridView control, you can use the DetailsView control to quickly build master/detail forms.

(Tidbits) Quality in Life

My wife works for a CMM level5 organization.We woke up at 6 AM this morning and things got off to a pretty rough start right away. She asked me "What time is it dear?". I told her it was 5 AM on 5/05/ 2005 - to which she looked terribly worried.

"Why?? What is wrong?"

"You see, yesterday we decided to wake up at 5.30 AM and it is only 5 AM now!!"

"So what?" I asked very innocently.

"What kind of an organization do you work for? Quality is in my blood. People working in a CMM level 5 organization will tell you what implications this can have on our day and our life!!. We need to do a CAUSAL ANALYSIS for this blunder right away".

I tried to take the 'knowledge-free common-sense approach' and told her "The reason is very obvious. Power supply went off by 6 AM and the mosquitoes and the Chennai heat / moisture woke us up.. hee.. hee"

"Shut up" she said. "You people are always looking for an excuse, putting the blame on others. Why don't you take some OWNERSHIP and do something about it? OK. The power went off. Did you at least call the electricity board?"

Before I could ask what she had done about it, she shot off to the kitchen to make coffee. I went in to the kitchen with a request "Dear, I know we had decided that today was my turn to cook, but my bike has not been washed for the last 2 weeks as I was busy entertaining guests for the marriage.

Can you please cook today as I get my bike cleaned?". She gave a very considerate _expression and said "No probs! Just raise a CHANGE REQUEST in the IHMS and carry on".

"IHMS?? What IHMS ?" I asked. "Oh! You do not know this stuff. I have to teach you everything ... People working in our organization use an 'Integrated Home Management System' to organize our personal lives. You can see it in the PC in the living room. It is pretty straight forward. Even YOU can use it?

BTW, it is even web enabled and you can do this work from your office too".

I had had enough. I simply did what she said without uttering a word. As I sat to have breakfast, she brought some Idly with all the love in the world. I was pleased. "My marriage will not break after all" I thought to myself as I tasted it ... and.. it tasted terrible. I almost broke my teeth trying to take a bite... and asked her "You call this Idly?"

She put this 'I know it all' look and said "I know you people raise such issues. That is why I have a DOCUMENTED PROCEDURE to make idlys. Look .. it has even been reviewed and approved by YOUR Mom... and I have once again documented everything I did this morning... even the quantity of salt I added.. can you find anything wrong with this?" she asked... showing off all her documentation.

"I certainly cannot find anything wrong with your documentation, but can find a lot wrongs in the Idly you have made" I thought to myself and headed for work.

Hardly had I switched on my machine at work when I had to pick up the phone. "I am your wife calling and I have some big news for you". 'Not again' I thought.

"CMM people have come up with a new level. It is called level 6. Our company is planning to be level 6 certified by 06/06/2006. How great .....right??"

"Look my dear wife!" I told her. "I have news for you too. RMG has allocated me to an undisclosed project in an undisclosed location for .....err... indefinite duration..!"

"What??..."

"The only information I could gather was that I have to travel ALONE.."

(.NET - VB.NET) Visual Basic Developer Center: Introducing the Visual Basic .NET Power Pack

Visual Basic Developer Center: Introducing the Visual Basic .NET Power Pack

This article discusses the Visual Basic Power Pack, a collection of custom controls that provides enhanced user interface elements to client based applications.

The Visual Basic Power Pack provides a collection of custom controls that you can use to add an extra element of visual appeal to your client-based applications. The controls are designed to be fairly simple to use, both at design-time and runtime. And since the controls ship with the source code, you can extend or change the behavior of the controls as you see fit.

(.NET) .NET Tools: Ten Must-Have Tools Every Developer Should Download Now -- MSDN Magazine, July 2004

.NET Tools: Ten Must-Have Tools Every Developer Should Download Now -- MSDN Magazine, July 2004

This article provides a view on some the tools avaialble fr integration with Dotnet and also the urls from where they are available.

(.NET - ASP.NET) GridView: Move Over DataGrid, There's a New Grid in Town! -- MSDN Magazine, August 2004

An article from MSDN Magazine, it explains the different views that are available in ASP.NET, the difference between Datagrid and GRid View, the programming interfaces of these controls and other details.

Despite the richness and versatility of its programming interface, the ASP.NET 1.x DataGrid control requires you to write a lot of custom code to handle common operations such as paging, sorting, editing, and deleting data. For example, while the DataGrid control can raise events when the user clicks to save or cancel changes, it doesn't offer much more than that. If you want to store changes to a persistent medium, such as a database, you have to handle the UpdateCommand event yourself, retrieve changed values, prepare a SQL command, and then proceed from there to commit the update.
The reason the DataGrid control limits the raising of events for common data operations is that it's a data source-agnostic control that can be bound to any data object that is enumerable. Implementing data operations such as update or delete would require a direct link with one particular data source. In ASP.NET 1.x, you work around this limitation by writing ADO.NET code that is specific to your application.
ASP.NET 2.0 enhances the data-binding architecture, introducing a new family of components—the data source objects—which act as a bridge between data-bound controls and ADO.NET objects. These source objects promote a slightly different programming model and provide for new features and members. For data reporting purposes, your ASP.NET 2.0 applications should use the newest grid control® the GridView. The familiar DataGrid control is still supported, but it doesn't take full advantage of the specific capabilities of data source components.
The GridView control is the successor to the DataGrid and extends it in a number of ways. First, it fully supports data source components and can automatically handle data operations, such as paging, sorting, and editing, provided its bound data source object supports these capabilities. In addition, the GridView control offers some functional improvements over the DataGrid. In particular, it supports multiple primary key fields and exposes some user interface enhancements and a new model for handling and canceling events.
The GridView comes with a pair of complementary view controls: DetailsView and FormView. By combining these controls, you can easily set up master/detail views using very little code and sometimes no code at all.