June 2004 - Posts - Stuart Gunter
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Stuart Gunter

There's too much!

June 2004 - Posts

  • MSDN Product Feedback site

    It seems that us in sunny South Africa are not the only one's being asked for our opinions on MS products. The general trend has historically been one of “build it and ship it” without involving customers & developers in any form of feedback / functionality requests (unless it's just been a closed form of getting feedback from users). But now it seems Microsoft is on a big drive to see what developers want out of their products. We've had events where developers have been asked their opinions on all MS products (although emphasis is being placed on the developer tools) and now there's a site specifically for this! You can check it out here and register to give feedback on any MS product.

    At least now users of MS products can feel a part of the process of refining the products to be what they want!

    Posted Jun 30 2004, 02:58 PM by stuartg with no comments
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  • Starting a Windows Service from ASP.NET

    I've had a little problem lately that I'm hoping someone will be able to help me out with...

    I've got an ASP.NET application that must start a Windows Service (running on the same Web Server) with certain startup arguments. The problem is that the ASP.NET Worker Process is a least privilege account and is not allowed to control windows services. I have set up a new least privilege account and have configured a fixed impersonation identity in the web.config file, but it still doesn't work because I haven't been able to assign permissions on the Windows Service. Has anyone tried this?

    I found this post on another blog, which is very very similar to what I had done, but I think it is untested (or the web app is running as a local admin) because neither my way nor his way works without some configuration effort. Now here's the tricky part... you can't just right-click on a Windows Service and assign permissions, so what's the best way to do it? One option is to open MMC and add the Security Templates snap-in and set permissions there, but which template must I modify and how can I apply it without affecting other existing security settings?

    If anyone's tried this, please give me a pointer! Once I've got it working, I'll post back here... it's bound to be of some use to someone in the future!

  • New VS.NET IDE Team Blog

    I know this has been a bit of a focus lately in South Africa, so I thought you guys may be keen to check out this new blog by the VS.NET IDE Team!

    MS has been on a drive to find out what the developer community likes / dislikes about their dev products, and events such as the Tenpin Bowling and Unplugged Sessions Dinner were indicative of this. It seems that the VS.NET IDE Team in Redmond have now started their own blog, so it'll be good to see what people have to say there. Also make use of it to post your own suggestions / requests!

  • Accessing an IBM Mainframe from .NET

    For the current project I’m working on, we’ve needed to connect from a .NET application to a CA-Datacom database running on an IBM S/390 Mainframe. This has been an absolute pain in the neck for no apparent reason! Having now reached the end of tether (and finally seeing the light of day), I’ve been able to set up a custom synchronization service that updates the CA-Datacom database on the Mainframe with data retrieved from a MS SQL Server 2000 database (and replicate changes from CA-Datacom back into SQL). We’ve had endless pains in getting this to work, but in the end it is all working brilliantly!

    Our first problem was getting to CA-Datacom at all. We managed to get the CA-Datacom Server ODBC driver and configure it as needed, but running basic SQL queries through it gave hassles (not recognizing table names or authid’s). Since then, we managed to run a variety of patches and fixes and got hold of the latest version (apparently we were supplied with an old version of the driver – version 3.0). When the new driver (version 5.0) was installed… the queries that were giving hassles ran without error! Then it was just a matter of getting the app to work. Luckily I used the fantastic Microsoft Exception Management Application Block to log errors in the Event Log and email me too. So debugging the service has been an absolute pleasure!

    Now I’m just working around some hassles with non-null fields and then she’s working!!! Hallelujah!

    So if anyone ever needs to use CA-Datacom via .NET (or from any Windows app for that matter), I could probably help you out if you need it! I do love a good challenge, so this has been fun. It’s just a pity, beacuse it could’ve been a lot more fun if there were less non-technical constraints!

  • Patterns & Practices tomorrow

    Tomorrow should be a really good day! I'm going to the Microsoft event on Patterns & Practices up in JHB. Really looking forward to it! Ayal (from DevDays 2004) will be leading the sessions and he is apparently quite an expert when it comes to P&P...

    Looking forward to a good session on P&P. I've read almost all the development-related documents from the site and now it's time to see it put into practise by an expert!

    Posted Jun 25 2004, 07:23 AM by stuartg with 2 comment(s)
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  • RSS Aggregator

    That's it! I'm officially sick of the useless UI of SharpReader! I've decided to get something a little more commercial. I can't figure out why there aren't any decent free RSS aggregators out there! If anyone's keen to get onto a mini side-project of creating something like this, please let me know! I'm keen to make a decent, free, open-source, RSS aggregator that can be made available to anyone that wants it. Any takers???

    In the meantime, I'm using NewsGator! It's flipping good from what I've seen so far of my 14-day trial! The only issue is the price. Being in South Africa, $30 for an RSS aggregator is far more than I want to spend. It may not be too much for the average American / European, but us in Sunny SA can't afford to spend R200 (at the current exchange rate of R6.50 = $1) for a simple RSS aggregator.

    So like I said... if anyone's keen to get involved on a mini project of making one... gimme a shout via my blog. I can't dedicate huge amounts of time to this (work always comes first), but it'll happen - eventually.

    The thing I like most about NewsGator is the integration with MS Outlook. I probably use Outlook more than I use anything else, so it's a real blessing not to have a different app open just for RSS.

  • Microsoft Unplugged Sessions last night

    Seems like this month (and more specifically this week) has been a week FULL of MS events and SADev socials, and has generally been a really good time! In the last month we've had DevDays 2004, MSDN Whiteboard WalkIn Sessions, Microsoft m{ Tenpin Bowling, Microsoft m{ Unplugged Sessions... and the SADev meeting in Durbs will be held on 1 July (please diarise)!

    Last night we had the Microsoft Unplugged Sessions dinner at Primi Piatti (which seems to be the restaurant of choice in all the cities). It went really well and we got to meet a lot of other Durban developers and see what they were up to. There was a lot of really constructive feedback on all things Microsoft, so we should be seeing some changes in the near future. For the first time, a lot of the guys got to chat to Microsoft directly about areas where they're unhappy as far as events, products, support, community, etc. goes.

    It was an excellent networking opportunity as well, and it looks like a lot of cool stuff will be happening with SADev over the next few months (and beyond).

    Thanks to Kaylash (and Microsoft) for hosting the event! It was a really good idea and I think we should try organise these more often (maybe once every 8 months) or establish a means of communication via SADev to get feedback like this on a slightly more regular basis.

    Posted Jun 24 2004, 08:02 AM by stuartg with no comments
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  • Tenpin Bowling last night...

    Last night was our tenpin bowling evening with the Microsoft guys. I didn't do fantastically well, raking in a mere 195 for both games (combined). The overall winner was Shane from Maritzburg with a nice score of 250 (155 on his second game)! Yeah right, you've never played before!

    Some cool prizes were handed out too, and we managed to get some extra goodies for our first Durban SADeveloper meeting (so for those who can attend... be prepared to see some AWESOME prizes!). It was really good to meet some of the other guys from Durbs, and we'll be seeing them all tomorrow night for dinner at Primi Piatti in the Gateway. I'll report back tomorrow morning and expect some feedback!

    Posted Jun 23 2004, 07:42 AM by stuartg with 5 comment(s)
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  • Aggregated site for .NET Bloggers

    I came across this site that serves as an aggregated blog site for .NET bloggers. Guys... go put your site up here! I'm sure you'll get to see a lot of good content from other .NET bloggers around the world!

    Check it out here

    Posted Jun 16 2004, 03:33 PM by stuartg with no comments
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  • SADeveloper Event in Durban...

    I mentioned a little while ago that we're having our first SADeveloper event in Durban soon, and here are the details:

    Date: Thursday, 1 July 2004
    Time: 18h30 for 19h00
    Venue: Spar Training Academy, 22 Chancery Lane, Pinetown (see SADeveloper
    news item for map)
    Speaker: Ernst Kuschke
    Topic: .NET 2.0 Trailer
    SubTitle: Generics, Partial Types, and plenty more...

    I hope to see lots of the Durban members there! This promises to be an excellent not-to-miss event!!!

    Thanks to Spar for allowing us to use their Training Academy for the meeting. These events will be happening on a monthly basis, so keep your eyes open for future announcements!

    We'll see you all at the Tenpin Evening on Tuesday, 22 June. Please be there!!!

    Posted Jun 15 2004, 02:55 PM by stuartg with no comments
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  • Going to TechEd 2004!!!

    Today brings very good news!! Microsoft has given away free tickets to TechEd Africa 2004 to the guys that have been very involved in getting SADeveloper going.

    Firstly, a very big thank you to Kaylash and all the guys at Microsoft for organising this! It's really awesome, and we're all looking forward to it!!!

    Secondly, to all the other SADeveloper members... please make a HUUUUGE effort to be at TechEd! It's really an excellent event where you're guaranteed to learn a lot and meet other people in the industry. Be there!

    To see a list of people that are going, courtesy of Microsoft, check out this news item on SADeveloper...

    Posted Jun 10 2004, 05:05 PM by stuartg with no comments
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  • Durban SADeveloper Meeting - COMING SOON!

    Well... I can proudly announce that SADeveloper will be hosting its first meeting in Durban in early July! Ernst and I have been planning this for a little while, and it seems like now is the right time to get the ball rolling. Things are really starting to happen in Durbs, and we can see this going a really long way!

    Durban guys... make an effort to be there! It's a definite not-to-miss event! We'll be posting up on SADeveloper soon with details, so keep your eyes peeled! We're aiming to have it on 1 July, and will confirm all the details soon!

    WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

    Posted Jun 10 2004, 08:02 AM by stuartg with no comments
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  • Some more on WSE 2.0

    This is a bit of a follow-on from my previous post about the WSE 2.0. Every time I hear about this, I'm more and more impressed! Fellow SADeveloper members (in Durban)... you can expect a meeting on this topic soon! I'll play around and get some examples together! Keep checking up on me if you're keen for this and I'll speed up the process.

    I found another blog mostly on Web Services and it's really really good! Check out Mike Taulty's blog here for more info... and be prepared to see some AWESOME new features available with WSE 2.0!!!

    One of my favourite features is the Tracing!

  • Follow up on XmlSerializer post...

    Related to my previous post on the XmlSerializer...

    Having had numerous problems with the XmlSerializer (and being advised by many people not to use it) I've finally found an article on MSDN that deals with the XmlSerializer and how to diagnose problems with it. It's a really good article and does a brief explanation of how the XmlSerializer works.

    If you're using (or have used) the XmlSerializer, I strongly recommend you read this article to make sure you're comfortable with what you're doing.

    Check it out on MSDN: Troubleshooting Common Problems with the XmlSerializer

  • Yves Reynhout's comments on WSE 2.0

    Very useful getting all sorts of opinions on new software before diving head first into using them in production!

    I'll be checking out the tools on this site too (really awesome)!

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