In this blog post, I’m going to describe how LightSwitch developers can programmatically access the security data contained in a LightSwitch application.  Having access to this data is useful for any number of reasons.  For example, you can use this API to programmatically add new users to...

In the LightSwitch apps that I create, I have a common pattern where I display a “Loading” message in the title bar of a screen while it is loading and then set it to its actual screen name once it’s finished.  In particular, this is useful for screens whose title is dependent on the data that is...

When configuring a Visual Studio LightSwitch application to use Forms authentication, the application user is prompted with the following login UI when they open the application: Many LightSwitch customers have asked about creating their own custom UI in place of this default login experience. ...

Think you’ve got what it takes to be a LightSwitch star?  Check out the new LightSwitch application contest at http://www.codeproject.com/Competitions/524/LightSwitch-Star-Contest.aspx .

Today is an exciting day. After years of hard work, Visual Studio LightSwitch V1 has been released. This is my first shipped product while working in the Server & Tools Division at Microsoft and I couldn’t be happier (my previous shipped products were in the Business Division). Feedback from...

One of the features available in Visual Studio LightSwitch is to model queries that can be reused in other queries that you model.  This allows developers to write a potentially complex query once and be able to define other queries which reuse that logic.  In V1 of LightSwitch, this query...

In Visual Studio LightSwitch, there are a set of security entities defined by the runtime such as UserRegistration, Role, and Permission. Numerous people have asked how they can create relationships to these entities. These entities can’t be referenced within a developer’s application model...

In many applications, you need to filter data that is only relevant to the particular user that is logged in. For example, a personal information manager application may only want users to view their own tasks and not the tasks of other users. Here’s a walkthrough of how you can setup this kind...

Securing your Visual Studio LightSwitch application begins with defining permissions. In the first version of LightSwitch, developers are responsible for defining and consuming their own permissions. Once permissions have been defined, you can write the business logic to consume them where appropriate...

Visual Studio LightSwitch provides screen templates for defining a details screen or a new data screen for an entity. But you may want to use the same screen for doing both tasks. This allows you to have a consistent experience no matter whether you are creating an entity or simply editing an existing...

Today is the day where everyone can now download Beta 1 of Visual Studio LightSwitch.  Check it out!

LightSwitch lets you configure your applications to use authentication. This allows you to control who is able to access the application and lets your business logic know who the current user is. Configuring the type of authentication to use LightSwitch developers can choose what type of authentication...

Visual Studio LightSwitch is all about creating LOB applications.  And, of course, managing who can access the data in those applications is highly important.  LightSwitch aims to make the task of managing security simple for both the developer and the application administrator. Here are the...

I’m back.  And this time for good.  I promise. During the past couple of years, I’ve been working on a cool new developer tool product called Visual Studio LightSwitch.  If you haven’t heard of it, Jason Zander has a good blog post about it which you should read.  Basically, it’s...