Is my code Fluent?

http://www.smelser.net/blog/post/2009/11/12/Is-my-code-Fluent.aspx

"The specified metadata path is not valid." error in using Windows Service and Entity Framework

I have project (Windows Service) that use Entity Framework model as external DLL.
I cannot use a metadada as embedded resource and must define connection string in config file of Windows Service. In the Debug mode I got right result, I created setup project and installed service in directory but a immediately I saw the next error:

 The specified metadata path is not valid. A valid path must be either an existing directory, an existing file with extension '.csdl', '.ssdl', or '.msl', or a URI that identifies an embedded resource.

I'll not tell you what I not tried  and a solution was found after deep research in order to understand where is run Windows Service. Bad news! Windows Service not run in installed directory therefore all path's to files in config file must be define as physical path otherwise application cannot find it. Windows service use relative path different to installation directory.

Where you use Entity Framework you must to define row as this one:

...metadata=.\ServiceModel.csdl|.\ServiceModel.ssdl|.\ServiceModel.msl...

In order to not change path to physical path just add next row in event OnStart in Windows Service:

System.IO.Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory);

This is a way to define relative path of Service as installed directory.

Enjoy!

What is Authentication and Authorization?

Simple video which explain who is who:

Generate random string

Current code is generate string in defined length and include chars, numbers and symbols.

public static string GetRandomString(int size)
{
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    Random random = new Random();
    int[] symbol = new[] { 33, 36, 38, 64, 94 };
    int[] digits = new[] { 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 };
    int symbolsAmount = size / 3;
    int digitAmount = size / 3;
    for(int i = 0; i < size; i++)
    {

        int switcher = random.Next(3);
        char ch;
        if(switcher == 0 && symbolsAmount > 0)
        {
            int id = random.Next(symbol.Length);
            ch = Convert.ToChar(symbol[id]);
            symbolsAmount--;
        }
        else if(switcher == 1 && digitAmount > 0)
        {
            int id = random.Next(digits.Length);
            ch = Convert.ToChar(digits[id]);
            digitAmount--;
        }
        else
        {
            bool isLower = random.Next(2) == 0 ? false : true;
            ch = Convert.ToChar(
                 Convert.ToInt32(
                 Math.Floor(26 * random.NextDouble() + ((isLower) ? 65 : 97))
                     )
                 );

        }
        builder.Append(ch);
    }

    return builder.ToString();
}

Combinatorics Utilities

Beautiful solution to combinatorics algorithm. Click here to read article.

Twice calling Render in ASP.NET page

I have web page, which use HtmlTextWriter for creating HTML in client. List<T> get data from DB and start in loop to add HTML tags, attributes and more.  I hoped to create page with div’s, images and text, but in the debug phase i saw the Render() method called twice. After long tests and researches was found out what is a problem. In creating image <img>, a attribute “src” get value from DB and in one images “accidently” a value was …null. You can say “so what?” A problem exist not in HTML page, a problem concealing in IIS. If page has attribute <…src=”” …/> or<… src=”#” …> that makes IIS load the page twice. Good luck!

C# And Accepting Parameters

Have you ever written a function that looked similar to the following – Passing in an array of a value? To interesting solution click here.

 

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Singletons vs. Static Classes

To read article click HERE

The regular expression generator

Click Here

Singleton Factory in C#

    // this is the class for which
   // I want to maintain a single instance
    public class MyClass
    {
        private MyClass()
        {
            /* private constructor ensures that
              callers cannot instantiate an
               object using new() */
         }
    }

    // Singleton factory implementation
    public static class Singleton<T> where T : class
    {
        // static constructor, 
        //runtime ensures thread safety
        static Singleton()
        {
            // create the single instance 
  	   //	of the type T using reflection
            Instance = (T)Activator.CreateInstance(
            typeof(T),true);
        }

        // serve the single instance to callers
        public static T Instance { private set; get; }
    }

    class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            // test
            Console.WriteLine(
               Object.ReferenceEquals(
                Singleton<MyClass>.Instance, 
                Singleton<MyClass>.Instance));
        }
    }

via Cognitive Coding

Patterns and Practices: Complete Catalog

Full catalog by index of the patterns & practices:

Link 1 or Link 2

Static Extension Methods

DateTime d = DateTime.Yesterday();
//...
public static DateTime Yesterday<this DateTime>()
{
    return DateTime.Today.AddDays(-1);
}

Via Mabstrerama

Security Tutorials by Microsoft

A series of tutorials about ASP.NET Security, that include 3 articles:

• Security Basics and ASP.NET Support
• An Overview of Forms Authentication
• Forms Authentication Configuration and Advanced Topics

A tutorial series is showing in C# and VB.

101 Design Patterns & Tips for Developers

Full guide for developer how to create your application in the using   a "design patterns", that include next parts:

• Creational Patterns
• Structural Patterns
• Behavioral Patterns
• Composing Methods of Refactoring
• Moving Features Between Objects
• Organizing Data
• Simplifying Conditional Expressions
• Making Method Calls Simpler
• Dealing with Generalization
• Big Refactorings

Click here to read.

What is the difference between URL and URI?

A URL is the address of some resource on the web, which means that normally you type the address into a browser and you get something back. There are other type of resources than web pages, but that's the easiest conceptually. The browser goes out somewhere on the internet and accesses something.

A URI is just a unique string that uniquely identifies something, commonly a namespace. Sometimes they look like a URL that you could type into the address bar of your web browser, but it doesn't have to point to any physical resource on the web.

URI is the more generic term, and a URL is a particular type of URI in that a URL has to uniquely identify some resource on the web.

Via .Net Tip of The Day

Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit

The Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2008 features and a variety of framework technologies including: LINQ, C# 3.0, Visual Basic 9, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX, VSTO, CardSpace, SilverLight, Mobile and Application Lifecycle Management.

Download Page

Add automatic updates to your application

This article explain  step-by-step how to add automatic update capabilities to application quickly and easily.

Click here

Template Method Design Pattern vs. Functional Programming

Simple and obvious example how to realize Design Patterns. A example based on Hot Drinks and presented design of the application with explanations.

Click here

Strategy Pattern in C# 2.0

Strategy pattern can very handy when a system designer or architect wants to separate algorithms from the system implementation. Also with strategy pattern approach it is very easy to select between different algorithms on the fly. With the introduction of generics in .NET 2.0 implementing strategy pattern is even more easy.

Click Here

 

 

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43 Exceptionally Useful AJAX Applications

43 extremely useful AJAX applications for use on any website.

Click here

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