Block scoping is used mostly as by-product of using the standard blocks like try-catch, if-then, do-while etc. However you can explicitly use blocks by unqualified { } braces. I've started using this feature to contain the variables within a function...

Just picked this up from Scott on Writing . Ctrl +- allows you to navigate through the stack of cursor positions in your VS session. Invaluable when going through multiple F12 (go to definition) in a multilayred application or any comlex debugging session...

I don't normally work with a huge number of tables and do a lot of SQL work. But when I do start one of the most painful experiences is generating test data. Painful and un-rewarding. This is the data generation that is purely schema driven and does not...

The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a simple tool that installs Microsoft's entire Web Platform, including IIS7, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework. Using the Web Platform Installer’s user...

He was just like all the other developers when the project started. His eyes gleamed at the thought of starting off on a new code base - the thrill of the first include statement. He knew excatly where the code would be located - D volume (obviously ...

Its out and its... well much much nicer than the current PIE. Can you have it ? - No - it will not be made available as a seperate download for your exisitng WM devices. (Personally i dont think this is such a bad move if its not going to perform well...

Its been a while since I got a chance to post. I've been knee deep in developer mode - fun fun. A lot of work has been around Ado.Net Sync Services v2. One of the issues I face during debugging Sync issues is analysis of the SQL Server CE database state...

This is because under default settings, "static content" is not installed with IIS. To enable this on a Windows Server 2008 machine do the following 1. Fire up Server Manager 2. Select Web Server under Roles - notice that Static Content is not installed...

CF 3.5 introduces support for WCF. Consuming using a WCF client To create a CF WCF client you will need to generate it using the NetCFSvcUtil tool which is available as a part of the Power Toys download Use this tool as you would for the desktop to generate...

If you are running your Windows Server 2008 over Hyper-V, we must first make the extra space available through the Hyper-V Manager Making space available 1. Open Hyper-V Manager on physical machine 2. Stop the target VM 3. Right-click target VM and select...

Microsoft Sync Service Framework includes Sync Services for ADO.Net that allows you to "synchronize data from different sources over two-tier, N-tier, and service-based architectures. The Synchronization Services API provides a set of components to synchronize...

Here's the scenario - You have a form (StartForm) which has a sub-form (subForm) that contains a WebBrowser control. When the sub-form is disposed (not just dismissed), your startform also shuts down. This is a bug ! This occurs because the Web browser...

Ran into a funny problem with Visual Studio, where it got confused and started rendering my Windows Mobile form as a Windows Desktop instead of The problem occurs, in my case, due to a combination of two factors 1. This form is inherited 2. Both the forms...

.Net CF 3.5 introduces the SystemSettings . Platform property in Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms namespace which provides you the platform of the device the code is executing on. The property is of type WinCEPlatform enumeration which contains the members ...

Although you can technically change the locale of the device to anything you desire by using the SetUserDefaultLCID , you should only allow it to be set to one of the available locales. Even though your application maybe able to handle the change, this...

Localization in compact framework 2.0 is a rather poor cousin of its counterpart in the full framwork 2.0. One of the most annoying (but understandable once the reasons are understood ) issue is that CurrentThread.CurrentCulture does not exist on the...

In my last couple of projects, one of the issues I consistently ran into was packaging and deployment. Although there are several resources distributed all over MSDN on this topic, none of them covered the task as a whole. So, here is my take and consolidation...

Over the last couple of months i have been working heavily on the brand new offering from MS - SCMDM 2008 . It was interesting to install and get up and running the server side installations of SC MDM in our local lab environment and trouble shooting...

Handset loss is quickly becoming a huge consumer concern with roughly 1.2 million handsets lost or stolen every month in India. The issues of Data loss / theft and handset loss/theft have to be dealt with separately. Data protection technologies in PDA...

about me : i work with MGSI (Hyderabad, India ) in the mobility group. this blog will for the most part focus on my struggles and experimentations with mobility in general and Windows Mobile / Compact Framework in detail. disclaimer : if you do decide...