The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for the ‘C#’ Category

Attach attach a debugger to a WebService (via: Stack Overflow)

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/12/10

Some things you have done for ages, are already phrased so nicely, the only thing you can do is quote.

Thanks Dave Coulter:

You can attach the Visual Studio debugger to a process by:

Debug > Attach to Process > Attach Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, .NET 1.x, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, C#, C# 1.0, C# 2.0, C# 3.0, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, Development, Software Development, Visual Studio 11, Visual Studio 2002, Visual Studio 2003, Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio and tools | Leave a Comment »

.NET/C#: Some links on validation/guarding/checking

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/12/05

From my link archive:

–jeroen

Posted in .NET, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, C#, C# 3.0, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Development tools should become more version control friendly, and version control tools more whitespace tolerant

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/28

There are a few more messages in the “Missed Schedule” backlog, and I really hope that WordPress is going to address this really annoying bug soon as I have to recheck my blog multiple times a day now.

Back on topic:

Development tools should become more version control friendly, and version control tools more whitespace tolerant

I’m taking Delphi and Bitbucket here as an example, but this holds for many more development tools and version control tools.

Ultimately, you want changes to be as simple as this one: only the relevant changed lines show up as an actual change.

But often changes include convoluted non-relevant information.

A few things development tools should not do: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, C#, Delphi, Development, DVCS - Distributed Version Control, Software Development, Source Code Management, Visual Studio and tools | 2 Comments »

.NET Framework 1.1 and Visual Studio .NET 2003 support ended 20131008 (via: Microsoft Support Lifecycle)

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/27

WorPress did it again to me:

2013/10/08; Missed schedule

Anyway:

If you still have a coded base in the .NET Framework 1.1 / Visual Studio 2003, then you should note that after 20131008, the extended support has ended.

Though the introduction of both feels like yesterday to lots of us, they have been supported for more than 10 years. An era has ended. Time to move on to newer versions has passed long ago.

The next important date is about 2.5 years from now: 2016-04-12, when the support for the .NET Framework 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 ends.

From the Microsoft Support Lifecycle: .NET Framework 1.1 and Microsoft Support Lifecycle: Visual Studio .NET 2003 pages (I formatted the dates into YYYY-MM-DD): Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, .NET 1.x, C#, C# 1.0, Development, Missed Schedule, SocialMedia, Software Development, Visual Studio 2003, Visual Studio and tools, WordPress | Leave a Comment »

Two ways of adding a classic .asmx WebService in .net 4+ using Visual Studio 2010 SP1 and up (via: Stack Overflow)

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/27

As of Visual Studio 2010 SP1 (I think it was there in the original non-SP1 version of VS2010), Microsoft has hidden the addition of classic ASCX webservices as they favour WCF over ASPX (there are quite a few differences).

It is easy to workaround though as Stack Overflow users User Cyberherbalist and User Alejandro Martin have shown, with a little bit post-editing from me: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, ASP.NET, C#, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, Development, SOAP/WebServices, Software Development, Visual Studio 11, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio and tools | Leave a Comment »

.NET/C#: Getting volume free space from UNC path requires PInvoke of GetDiskFreeSpaceEx in Kernel32.dll

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/26

For some remote monitoring, I needed to get information on UNC paths.

Though suggested, you cannot do this using the System.IO.DriveInfo class (not through the constructor, nor through the VB.NET FileSystem way) as that is about drives, not UNC paths. The System.IO.DriveInfo constructor clearly indicates it doesn’t work with UNC paths. And if you still try, this is the error you will get:

System.ArgumentException was unhandled
HResult=-2147024809
Message=Object must be a root directory ("C:\") or a drive letter ("C").
Source=mscorlib
StackTrace:
at System.IO.DriveInfo..ctor(String driveName
)

Same for WMI: that only works when the UNC path has already been mapped to a drive letter.

You could do with adding a temporary drive letter but since there is nothing as permanent as a temporary

P/Invoke

The actual solution is based on calling Windows API functions using P/Invoke. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, C#, C# 2.0, C# 3.0, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, CSV, Development, Missed Schedule, SocialMedia, Software Development, WordPress | Leave a Comment »

.net/C#: you can pass anoymous types to a generic method, but not return them as a method result

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/12

You can pass anonymous types to a method, if that method has a generic parameter type. I regularly use this to Resolving a parameter name at runtime using the Generic Type Cache technique described by Rinat Abdullin.

The other way around however is impossible, as return types cannot, as Alexander M. Batishchev writes in his StackOverflow answer:

You can’t.

You can only return object, or container of objects, e.g. IEnumerable

Jared Par does a bit more elaboration:

You cannot type any method in C# to be the explicit type of an anonymous types. They cannot be “named” so to speak and hence cannot appear in metadata signatures.

If you really want to return a value which is an anonymous type there are 2 options

  • Have the return type of the method be System.Object. You can then do evil casting hacks to get a typed value in another method. This is very fragile and I don’t recommend it.
  • Use a generic method and a type inference trick to get the return type correct. This would require a very interesting signature definition for your approach.

Anonymous types were not really meant to be passed around in this fashion. At the point you need to pass them around between your functions in this manner, you’re better off explicitly defining a type.

Bummer (:

–jeroen

via:

Posted in .NET, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, C#, C# 2.0, C# 3.0, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Cyber-Dojo: practice unit-tested programming in pairs/groups using Katas

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/07

Wow, I’ve been living under a stone (:

Just discovered the online Cyber-Dojo by Jon Jagger. It is an online manifestation of a Coding Dojo. Both have been there for years, and I think both are brilliant.

They take the concept of a Dojo as being a place to practice sports like martial arts in a pair or group setting with a series of Katas or practices.

Katas in a Dojo are a means for performing deliberate practice in order to learn new things. For instance, acquire new movement techniques, learn about your balance, gain strength, all in both a physical and mental way.

The aim of both is do more deliberate practice.

When performing Coding and Cyber Dojo, you should use Test Driven Development using pair programming and BabySteps. Those help you to slow down, as one of the Dojo Principles is for Katas to slow down. It reminds me of the “if you are in a hurry, sit down” mantra and is a key part of the Coding/Cyber Dojo Principles too.

The aim is to learn, and part of that is to first un-learn and open you to new thoughts. That’s why it is so cool that the Cyber-Dojo provides you with:

  • a bunch of pre configured programming languages*,
  • preformulated practices** (including a few cyber-dojo refactorings),
  • a small boilter plate to get started.

You’d think they speed you up, but that is not their aim. Like a regular Dojo it gives you an pre-set environment and gives you piece of mind to get started.

The Cyber Dojo does without a Sensei, whose purpose in a Coding Dojo is to ask questions in order to guide the participants.

That’s why it is good to use the Cyber Dojo as part of a Coding Dojo: basically the Cyber Dojo provides a standardizes set of tools to quickly setup a Coding Dojo.

Cyber Dojo languages

(a prime number, so the table is a bit distorted)

C Go PHP
C# Haskell Perl
C++ Java-Approval Python
Clojure Java-Cucumber Ruby
CoffeeScript Java-JUnit Ruby-Rspec
Erlang Javascript

Cyber Dojo practices

Many of the practices come from rosettacode.org.

100 doors Harry Potter Print Diamond
Anagrams LCD Digits Recently Used List
Bowling Game Leap Years Reversi
Calc Stats Mine Field Roman Numerals
Count Coins Monty Hall Tennis
Diversion Number Names Unsplice
Fizz Buzz Phone Numbers Verbal
Game of Life Poker Hands Yahtzee
Gray Code Prime Factors Zeckendorf Number

–jeroen

via:

Posted in .NET, Agile, C, C#, C++, Development, Java, JavaScript/ECMAScript, Perl, PHP, Scripting, Software Development, Unit Testing | 3 Comments »

.NET/C#: Fingerprinting a machine

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/11/05

For my link archive, thanks Alek Davis:

Just keep in mind that ID of the CPU is not always available.

By the way, what are you trying to accomplish? If you want to generate a unique key for a computer instance, check the Generating Unique Key (Finger Print) for a Computer for Licensing Purposes post by Sowkot Osman at Codeproject; it can give you some hints (also read comments).

–jeroen

via: .net – APIs in C# for grabbing CPU IDs and drive/volume serial – Stack Overflow.

Posted in .NET, .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, .NET 4.5, C#, C# 2.0, C# 3.0, C# 4.0, C# 5.0, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Interesting SO question: What are the experiences with using unicode in identifiers?

Posted by jpluimers on 2013/10/29

Toon Krijthe posted an interesting question to SO.

Though 5 years old, I think it stilll is very valid one:

At my work, we have decided to stay with the ANSI characters for identifiers. Is there anybody out there using unicode identifiers and what are the experiences?

For all projects I work on (in various Languages like  English, German, Dutch or other), I stick to ASCII characters (not even ANSI) for:

  • file names
  • identifiers

I also try to abstract the non-ASCII strings into places where I am sure that the encoding is preserved (for text files, I prefer UTF-8), or where these characters are properly escaped.

What is your take on this?

–jeroen

via: uniqueidentifier – What are the experiences with using unicode in identifiers – Stack Overflow.

Posted in .NET, Agile, AS/400 / iSeries / System i, C, C#, C++, COBOL, Continuous Integration, Delphi, Development, F#, Prism, Scripting, Software Development, VB.NET, Visual Studio and tools | 4 Comments »