Microsoft Press

Reader review: Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Devon Musgrave — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:53:00 GMT

Greetings. Over at InfoWorld Neil McAllister has written a review titled “Why Microsoft developers need a style guide” that describes how the Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition is a great tool for software developers.

His review begins like this:

“I usually get some flak from readers whenever I suggest that software developers can learn lessons from Microsoft. Not everyone thinks Microsoft is a role model. Nonetheless, I maintain you'd be hard-pressed to find another company outside Redmond that thinks more seriously and deeply about the practices and processes of software development.

Case in point: the new fourth edition of the Microsoft Manual of Style, which crossed my desk last week. The Microsoft Manual of Style is a style guide for writers. Its goal is to maintain consistency in published writing by settling various niggling points of style and usage. For example, is it ‘e-mail’ or ‘email’? Do you capitalize ‘Web’? Is a CD-ROM a ‘disc’ or a ‘disk’? And so on.

Lots of publishers maintain internal style guides. Most magazines have one. InfoWorld has one. What makes Microsoft's style guide interesting, however, is that it applies to all kinds of official communications. Its intended audience includes not just the authors of manuals, articles, and advertising, but the designers and developers who create Microsoft software.

Why do software developers need a style guide? As it turns out, for more reasons than you might think. The manual covers all the typical editorial suggestions, such as using consistent terminology and style, favoring active over passive voice, and avoiding sexist language and excessive jargon. But it also includes a wealth of tips that are unique to the modern discipline of software design.”

And he closes his review with the following:

“More often than not, however, the Microsoft Manual of Style offers sound advice that can be beneficial to any software development organization, large or small. Its advice covers not just user-facing text but also source code comments and SDK and API documentation. And consider this: Independent developers who master Microsoft's linguistic advice gain one more hedge against competition from offshore outsourcing.

The book's greatest value, however, is simply that it can get programmers thinking about language in the context of software development. That's something the industry could use more of. After all, in an information economy, how you communicate information is at least as important as how you process it.”

And in-between he makes lots of interesting points about the importance of language standards for those creating software.

Quick news: New coupon for Microsoft Press book at Amazon.com

KimSpilker — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:55:00 GMT

Want another $6 off your purchase of Microsoft Excel 2010 Formulas
and Functions Inside Out? Just clip this coupon to get your discount at checkout.

Act fast, this coupon expires soon.

We’ve also updated our videos on the Microsoft Press page at Amazon.com - www.amazon.com/mspress. You’ll find helpful videos on Windows 7 by author Mike Halsey.

Christophe Nasarre: Reviewing Windows Internals 6E and excerpt #1

Devon Musgrave — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:53:00 GMT

Hello! Christophe Nasarre here. I’m the Technical Reviewer of the upcoming sixth edition of Windows Internals (which is being released in two parts, the first part in March 2012). and I’ve read all previous editions of the book, going back to when it was titled Inside Windows NT. Microsoft Press asked me to comment on the experience of reviewing the book and, in this and future posts, to share book excerpts containing information I found particularly enlightening.

Opening such a book is like base jumping: you start with a high, level, panoramic view and you juuuummmp deep down, very close to all the little details that help you really understand how everything works. It’s just incredible how much can be found in this book:

The high-level view of all the features included in all editions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is given to you, in addition to the tools you can use to modify or check their status. All the mandatory notions around system mechanism, process, threads, memory, security, and much more are explained in detail.

Win32 developers are able to find out how their APIs are related to internal data structures and kernel functions. It’s like understanding that you used to walk on an iceberg without any notion of what was underneath your feet.

Kernel-mode developers get a wide view of all the APIs but, more important, all the rules that apply within each part of the system.

How about reviewing this book? Well, first, I’ve learned a lot, but I also learned more about what I thought I already knew! And I’ve used my Win32 view of the Windows API and behaviors to help fill the gaps with all the kernel sides of the story.

Another side of providing the technical review is frustration because it is difficult either to find a valuable technical comment to add for pages or, sometimes, to understand portions of the book’s explanation. (“Am I missing something?” appeared fairly often in my comments in the manuscript.) However, when a tiny detail did not fit in the picture for my mere mortal mind, after a round of questions and answers with the authors, we were able to create an expanded explanation that ended up in the book for all readers. This wipes out all frustration!

So, moving on to my first excerpt. Chapter 1, “Concepts and Tools,” discusses how to use the tools provided by Microsoft to be able to see the details of major kernel/user mode structures. Don’t be afraid! There is no need to be a living god of Cdb or WinDbg. Thanks to LiveKd and the explanations provided by the book, you’ll navigate easily among these structures. But more important, you’ll be able to use these tools and techniques to continue the journey on your own.

Kernel Debugging

Kernel debugging means examining internal kernel data structures and/or stepping through functions
in the kernel. It is a useful way to investigate Windows internals because you can display internal
system information not available through any other tools and get a clearer idea of code flows within
the kernel.

Before describing the various ways you can debug the kernel, let’s examine a set of files that you’ll
need in order to perform any type of kernel debugging.

Symbols for Kernel Debugging

Symbol files contain the names of functions and variables and the layout and format of data
structures. They are generated by the linker and used by debuggers to reference and display these
names during a debug session. This information is not usually stored in the binary image because it is
not needed to execute the code. This means that binaries are smaller and faster. However, this means
that when debugging, you must make sure that the debugger can access the symbol files that are
associated with the images you are referencing during a debugging session.

To use any of the kernel debugging tools to examine internal Windows kernel data structures (such
as the process list, thread blocks, loaded driver list, memory usage information, and so on), you must
have the correct symbol files for at least the kernel image, Ntoskrnl.exe. (The section “Architecture
Overview” in Chapter 2 explains more about this file.) Symbol table files must match the version of
the image they were taken from. For example, if you install a Windows Service Pack or hot fix that
updates the kernel, you must obtain the matching, updated symbol files.

While it is possible to download and install symbols for various versions of Windows, updated
symbols for hot fixes are not always available. The easiest solution to obtain the correct version of
symbols for debugging is to use the Microsoft on-demand symbol server by using a special syntax for
the symbol path that you specify in the debugger. For example, the following symbol path causes the
debugging tools to load required symbols from the Internet symbol server and keep a local copy in
the c:\symbols folder:

srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

For detailed instructions on how to use the symbol server, see the debugging tools help file or the
Web page http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg462988.aspx.

Debugging Tools for Windows

The Debugging Tools for Windows package contains advanced debugging tools used in this book
to explore Windows internals. The latest version is included as part of the Windows Software
Development Kit (SDK). These tools can be used to debug user-mode processes as well as the kernel.
(See the following sidebar.)

Note The Debugging Tools for Windows are updated frequently and released
independently of Windows operating system versions, so check often for new versions.

Sidebar: User-Mode Debugging

The debugging tools can also be used to attach to a user-mode process and examine and/or
change process memory. There are two options when attaching to a process:

Invasive Unless specified otherwise, when you attach to a running process, the
DebugActiveProcess Windows function is used to establish a connection between the
debugger and the debugee. This permits examining and/or changing process memory,
setting breakpoints, and performing other debugging functions. Windows allows you to
stop debugging without killing the target process, as long as the debugger is detached,
not killed.

Noninvasive With this option, the debugger simply opens the process with the
OpenProcess function. It does not attach to the process as a debugger. This allows you to
examine and/or change memory in the target process, but you cannot set breakpoints.

You can also open user-mode process dump files with the debugging tools. User-mode
dump files are explained in Chapter 3 in the section on exception dispatching.

There are two debuggers that can be used for kernel debugging: a command-line version (Kd.exe)
and a graphical user interface (GUI) version (Windbg.exe). Both provide the same set of commands,
so which one you choose is a matter of personal preference. You can perform three types of kernel
debugging with these tools:

Open a crash dump file created as a result of a Windows system crash. (See Chapter 7, “Crash
Dump Analysis,” in Part 2 for more information on kernel crash dumps.)
Connect to a live, running system and examine the system state (or set breakpoints if you’re
debugging device driver code). This operation requires two computers—a target and a host.
The target is the system being debugged, and the host is the system running the debugger.
The target system can be connected to the host via a null modem cable, an IEEE 1394 cable,
or a USB 2.0 debugging cable. The target system must be booted in debugging mode (either
by pressing F8 during the boot process and selecting Debugging Mode or by configuring
the system to boot in debugging mode using Bcdedit or Msconfig.exe). You can also connect
through a named pipe, which is useful when debugging through a virtual machine product
such as Hyper-V, Virtual PC, or VMWare, by exposing the guest operating system’s serial port
as a named pipe device.
Windows systems also allow you to connect to the local system and examine the system state.
This is called local kernel debugging. To initiate local kernel debugging with WinDbg, open the
File menu, choose Kernel Debug, click on the Local tab, and then click OK. The target system
must be booted in debugging mode. An example output screen is shown in Figure 1-6. Some
kernel debugger commands do not work when used in local kernel debugging mode (such as
creating a memory dump with the .dump command—however, this can be done with LiveKd,
described later in this section).

Once connected in kernel debugging mode, you can use one of the many debugger extension
commands (commands that begin with “!”) to display the contents of internal data structures such
as threads, processes, I/O request packets, and memory management information. Throughout this
book, the relevant kernel debugger commands and output are included as they apply to each topic
being discussed. An excellent companion reference is the Debugger.chm help file, contained in the
WinDbg installation folder, which documents all the kernel debugger functionality and extensions. In
addition, the dt (display type) command can format over 1000 kernel structures because the kernel
symbol files for Windows contain type information that the debugger can use to format structures.

EXPERIMENT: Displaying Type Information for Kernel Structures

To display the list of kernel structures whose type information is included in the kernel symbols,
type dt nt!_* in the kernel debugger. A sample partial output is shown here:

lkd> dt nt!_*
          nt!_LIST_ENTRY
          nt!_LIST_ENTRY
          nt!_IMAGE_NT_HEADERS
          nt!_IMAGE_FILE_HEADER
          nt!_IMAGE_OPTIONAL_HEADER
          nt!_IMAGE_NT_HEADERS
          nt!_LARGE_INTEGER

You can also use the dt command to search for specific structures by using its wildcard
lookup capability. For example, if you were looking for the structure name for an interrupt
object, type dt nt!_*interrupt*:

lkd> dt nt!_*interrupt*
          nt!_KINTERRUPT
          nt!_KINTERRUPT_MODE
          nt!_KINTERRUPT_POLARITY
          nt!_UNEXPECTED_INTERRUPT

Then you can use dt to format a specific structure as shown next:

lkd> dt nt!_kinterrupt
nt!_KINTERRUPT
   +0x000 Type             : Int2B
   +0x002 Size             : Int2B
   +0x008 InterruptListEntry : _LIST_ENTRY
   +0x018 ServiceRoutine   : Ptr64     unsigned char
   +0x020 MessageServiceRoutine : Ptr64     unsigned char
   +0x028 MessageIndex     : Uint4B
   +0x030 ServiceContext   : Ptr64 Void
   +0x038 SpinLock         : Uint8B
   +0x040 TickCount        : Uint4B
   +0x048 ActualLock       : Ptr64 Uint8B
   +0x050 DispatchAddress : Ptr64     void
   +0x058 Vector           : Uint4B
   +0x05c Irql             : UChar
   +0x05d SynchronizeIrql : UChar
   +0x05e FloatingSave     : UChar
   +0x05f Connected        : UChar
   +0x060 Number           : Uint4B
   +0x064 ShareVector      : UChar
   +0x065 Pad              : [3] Char
   +0x068 Mode             : _KINTERRUPT_MODE
   +0x06c Polarity         : _KINTERRUPT_POLARITY
   +0x070 ServiceCount     : Uint4B
   +0x074 DispatchCount    : Uint4B
   +0x078 Rsvd1            : Uint8B
   +0x080 TrapFrame        : Ptr64 _KTRAP_FRAME
   +0x088 Reserved         : Ptr64 Void
   +0x090 DispatchCode     : [4] Uint4B

Note that dt does not show substructures (structures within structures) by default. To recurse
through substructures, use the –r switch. For example, using this switch to display the kernel
interrupt object shows the format of the _LIST_ENTRY structure stored at the InterruptListEntry
field:

lkd> dt nt!_kinterrupt -r
nt!_KINTERRUPT
   +0x000 Type             : Int2B
   +0x002 Size             : Int2B
   +0x008 InterruptListEntry : _LIST_ENTRY
      +0x000 Flink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY
         +0x000 Flink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY
         +0x008 Blink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY
      +0x008 Blink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY
         +0x000 Flink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY
         +0x008 Blink            : Ptr64 _LIST_ENTRY

The Debugging Tools for Windows help file also explains how to set up and use the kernel
debuggers. Additional details on using the kernel debuggers that are aimed primarily at device driver
writers can be found in the Windows Driver Kit documentation.

LiveKd Tool

LiveKd is a free tool from Sysinternals that allows you to use the standard Microsoft kernel debuggers
just described to examine the running system without booting the system in debugging mode. This
approach might be useful when kernel-level troubleshooting is required on a machine that wasn’t
booted in debugging mode—certain issues might be hard to reproduce reliably, so a reboot with the
debug option enabled might not readily exhibit the error.

You run LiveKd just as you would WinDbg or Kd. LiveKd passes any command-line options you
specify to the debugger you select. By default, LiveKd runs the command-line kernel debugger (Kd).
To have it run WinDbg, specify the –w switch. To see the help files for LiveKd switches, specify the –?
switch.

LiveKd presents a simulated crash dump file to the debugger, so you can perform any operations
in LiveKd that are supported on a crash dump. Because LiveKd is relying on physical memory to back
the simulated dump, the kernel debugger might run into situations in which data structures are in the
middle of being changed by the system and are inconsistent. Each time the debugger is launched,
it starts with a fresh view of the system state. If you want to refresh the snapshot, quit the debugger
(with the q command), and LiveKd will ask you whether you want to start it again. If the debugger
enters a loop in printing output, press Ctrl+C to interrupt the output and quit. If it hangs, press
Ctrl+Break, which will terminate the debugger process. LiveKd will then ask you whether you want to
run the debugger again.

Quick news: The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available February 29th

Devon Musgrave — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:54:52 GMT

‘Nuff said! (OK, there’s a little more to say: watch for much more information about the Consumer Preview at the end of the month.)

Quick news: Private Cloud Jump Start Fully Booked! New April Date Added! Register Now!

KimSpilker — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:58:00 GMT

Course: “Creating and Managing a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Jump Start”
Date/Time: April 3-4, 2012 from 9:00am – 5:00pm PST | NEWLY ADDED
IMPORTANT: The Feb. 21-22, 2012 class is fully booked and closed to new registrations
Where: Live virtual classroom (online from wherever you are)
Cost: FREE!
Target audience: IT Professionals (IT Implementers, managers, decision makers)

REGISTER NOW

New book: MCPD 70-519 Exam Ref: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

KimSpilker — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:31:00 GMT

With all the Microsoft Press books published before the new year, we forgot to post a “New book” announcement for MCPD 70-519 Exam Ref: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft® .NET Framework 4 (ISBN 9780735657267; 304 pages) by Tony Northrup. We apologize for the oversight, but better late than never.

Tony’s book is the first in the new Microsoft Press Exam Ref series, and one of three Exam Refs currently available, with more on the way in 2012. The book is a great way to prepare for the MCPD 70-519 exam, the Pro-level exam required for the MCPD: Web Developer 4 certification

To give you a look inside, here’s the book’s Table of Contents, and an excerpt from the section on 70-519 exam objective 4.2 (Design an authentication and authorization model):

Contents

Chapter 1: Designing the Application Architecture

· Objective 1.1: Plan the Division of Application Logic

· Objective 1.2: Analyze Requirements and Recommend a System Topology

· Objective 1.3: Choose Appropriate Client-Side Technologies

· Objective 1.4: Choose Appropriate Server-Side Technologies

· Objective 1.5: Design State Management

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Chapter 2: Designing the User Experience

· Objective 2.1: Design the Site Structure

· Objective 2.2: Plan for Cross-Browser and/or Form Factors

· Objective 2.3: Plan for Globalization

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Chapter 3: Designing Data Strategies and Structures

· Objective 3.1: Design Data Access

· Objective 3.2: Design Data Presentation and Interaction

· Objective 3.3: Plan for Data Validation

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Chapter 4: Designing Security Architecture and Implementation

· Objective 4.1: Plan for Operational Security

· Objective 4.2: Design an Authentication and Authorization Model

· Objective 4.3: Plan for Minimizing Attack Surfaces

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Chapter 5: Preparing for and Investigating Application Issues

· Objective 5.1: Choose a Testing Methodology

· Objective 5.2: Design an Exception Handling Strategy

· Objective 5.3: Recommend an Approach to Debugging

· Objective 5.4: Recommend an Approach to Performance Issues

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Chapter 6: Designing a Deployment Strategy

· Objective 6.1: Design a Deployment Process

· Objective 6.2: Design Configuration Management

· Objective 6.3: Plan for Scalability and Reliability

· Objective 6.4: Design a Health Monitoring Strategy

· Chapter Summary

· Answers

Answers

Quick news: Microsoft Manual of Style ebook bundle on sale today

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:39:14 GMT

Greetings! Today only our ebook bundle (EPUB, MOBI, PDF) for Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition , is on sale for 50% off. You get the ebook bundle, and all updates to that bundle over time, for only $11.99. Click here to make your purchase . Enjoy...(read more)

Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (second DRAFT preview)

Devon Musgrave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:01:00 GMT

Everybody interested in learning about what’s new in SQL Server 2012, today’s a good day because we’re releasing our second DRAFT preview of Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 , by Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner. (Please remember that...(read more)

Quick news: Free Step by Step videos

KimSpilker — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:42:00 GMT

We’ve mentioned these in previous blog posts, but thought they deserved a reminder. Microsoft Excel 2010 Step by Step, Microsoft Word 2010 Step by Step and Windows 7 Step by Step are all available in video format free of charge. Each lesson is based...(read more)

Quick news: Press release for Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:16:00 GMT

For information about the book, where to send press queries, and how to request a review copy, see our press release page for Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition . Here’s an excerpt: "However, change occurs rapidly in the world of technology...(read more)

New book: Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Valerie Woolley — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Editors, writers, and content creators: get in line to purchase the newest edition of the Microsoft Manual of Style ! Now in its fourth edition, the Microsoft Manual of Style provides essential style and usage guidance for everyone who writes about computer...(read more)

Quick news: This week we’re three years old

Devon Musgrave — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:12:00 GMT

Hello. We launched the Microsoft Press blog three years ago, so we’re no longer a baby blog. And we’re far beyond pulling ourselves up by the couch—we jump up and down on it—which means we’re not exactly toddlers. Plus, our...(read more)

New book: XAML Developer Reference

KimSpilker — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:09:00 GMT

We’re pleased to announce that the new Microsoft Press book XAML Developer Reference (ISBN 978-0-7356-5896-7, 340 pages) is now available for purchase! This book covers XAML from the ground up for both Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight...(read more)

Release schedule for our free Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 ebook

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:46:00 GMT

Everybody interested in learning about what’s new in SQL Server 2012, we hope you saw our first release of our Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 ebook in October . That was just a draft, two-chapter quick release to help celebrate PASS Summit...(read more)

Author news: Russinovich and Margosis signing books at TechReady

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:01:00 GMT

For those attending TechReady: Mark Russinovich and Aaron Margosis , authors of Windows Sysinternals Administrator’s Reference (Microsoft Press, 2012; ISBN: 9780735656727), will be signing the book in the bookstore on Friday, February 3, from 12...(read more)

Quick news: A history of threat modeling

Devon Musgrave — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:44:00 GMT

Today we’d like to quickly point you to an article written by Dana Epp called “ The Evolution of Elevation: Threat Modeling in a Microsoft World ,” which begins like this: “I’ve been asked to give a history of threat modeling from the perspective of an...(read more)

Jump Start class: Creating and managing a private cloud with System Center 2012

Devon Musgrave — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:17:00 GMT

Greetings. We’d like to make sure you know about some upcoming free training. Here are the details: Course: “Creating and Managing a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Jump Start” Date/Time: February 21-22, 2012 from 9:00am...(read more)

Author news: Scott Helmers & others provide free videos on Visio 2010

KimSpilker — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:52:00 GMT

Post from Kenyon Brown, editor, Microsoft Press Three Microsoft Visio MVPs and authors, including Microsoft Press author, Scott Helmers , who wrote Microsoft Visio 2010 Step by Step , have recorded two dozen 5-8 minute videos on key topics in Visio...(read more)

Microsoft Press and the Trustworthy Computing initiative

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:14:00 GMT

Greetings. Perhaps you’ve heard that as of this week Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing (TwC) initiative is ten years young: “At 10-Year Milestone, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Initiative More Important than Ever.” ...(read more)

New book: Software Change Management: Case Studies and Practical Advice

Valerie Woolley — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Good news! Software Change Management: Case Studies and Practical Advice , by Donald J. Reifer, is now available for purchase. Donald J. Reifer is one of the leading figures in the field of systems/software engineering and management, with over 40...(read more)

Honors for Microsoft Press

KimSpilker — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:27:00 GMT

Post from Kimberly Kim, group content publishing manager Six of six titles entered in chapter-level competition win awards, four move on to the international competition Excellence Excellence Distinguished Distinguished Microsoft Press is pleased...(read more)

RTM’d today: Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Valerie Woolley — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:42:00 GMT

We are very happy to announce that the Microsoft Manual of Style, Fourth Edition (464 pages, ISBN 9780735648715), has shipped to the printer. The Microsoft Manual of Style provides essential guidance to content creators, journalists, technical writers...(read more)

Webcasts: Upcoming sessions in January and February

KimSpilker — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:36:00 GMT

Jan 12, 2012 Diagnosing and Repairing Difficult Problems in Windows 7 Mike Halsey Cost: Free It can be difficult enough finding out what's gone wrong with windows 7 or a program, but some problems can be a nightmare to diagnose. In this webcast...(read more)

Author news: Karl Wiegers on peer review for authors

Devon Musgrave — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:45:03 GMT

Back in October we shared that Karl Wiegers—author of Software Requirements, Second Edition (Microsoft Press, 2003), Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools (Microsoft Press, 2007), and More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical...(read more)

Reader review: SQL Server 2008 Internals

KimSpilker — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:09:00 GMT

A really in-depth, interesting reader review came by my desk today. It was such a helpful review, that I wanted to share it with all of you. Click Here: Book Review: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals A big Microsoft Press thank you to Jes Schultz...(read more)