Keith Smith's Blog : ASP.NET

Free ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 Clinic from Microsoft Learning

keiths — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:57:31 GMT

I am excited to announce the launch of a new, free, 2-hour "Developing Enhanced Web Experiences with Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Extensions" clinic created by Microsoft E-Learning. The delivery of this clinic helps us reach a major milestone in our content & training roadmap for ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 following its release back in January. The clinic was created by professional instructors from around the world with contributions and input from members of the Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX product team.

From the course description:

In this 2-hour clinic you will learn about the rich functionality that ASP.NET AJAX Extensions provides for building highly responsive and enhanced web applications. In addition to learning about the different server and client components of ASP.NET AJAX, you will also learn how to build new ASP.NET AJAX applications and how to upgrade existing ASP.NET applications to take advantage of ASP.NET AJAX.

This clinic is appropriate for experienced .NET Web Developers and Software Architects who are looking to incorporate ASP.NET AJAX within their existing and future solutions.

Here is a list of the modules and lessons covered in this clinic:

Clinic Overview
- Module Introduction
- Navigation Overview
Overview of ASP.NET AJAX
- Module Introduction
- Introduction to AJAX and ASP.NET AJAX
- Introduction to the Architecture of ASP.NET AJAX
- Module Summary
Programming with ASP.NET AJAX
- Module Introduction
- Building a Simple ASP.NET AJAX Application
- Using the AJAX Library to Enhance Web User Interfaces
- Calling Web Services and Web Methods from the Client
- Module Summary
Additional Information
- Module Introduction
- Glossary
- Next Steps

Please help me spread the word about this free training for AJAX development using the Microsoft platform. Also, send me any feedback you have. I would also like to get your feedback on follow-up lessons and content you would like to see.

Refactor! for ASP.NET 2.0

keiths — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 03:43:05 GMT

Want to save some serious time developing your ASP.NET 2.0 Web sites using Visual Studio 2005?
Tired of mundane copy & paste or tedious global search-and-replace as your primary tools for cleaning up your code?
Do you want to make your ASP.NET 2.0 solutions easier to maintain in the future?
Do you like having access to useful, whizbang (and very cool) utilities that actually help you get real work done?
What if those utilities were free?

Well, if you answered yes to any of the above questions, you should be ecstatic and astounded to know Developer Express has released Refactor! for ASP.NET for immediate and free download.

One cautionary note to existing users of Refactor! Pro:

Refactor! for ASP.NET is incompatible with existing Refactor! Pro installations. Do not install Refactor! for ASP.NET alongside Refactor! Pro. Instead, those Refactor! Pro customers still within their free one-year maintenance update period can download a free update to Refactor! Pro that includes these new ASP.NET refactorings.

Also, since Refactor! is a VS add-on, it does not work with Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition. You must have Visual Studio 2005 Standard or above.

So, how cool is Refactor! for ASP.NET? Watch this 12-minute video overview to see for yourself.

The v2.1.3 release includes 25 refactorings, with 9 dedicated to ASP.NET development:

Add Validator
Extract ContentPlaceHolder
Extract ContentPlaceHolder (and create master page)
Extract Style (Class)
Extract Style (id)
Move to Code-behind
Move Style Attributes to CSS
Rename Style
Surround with Update Panel

(the "Extract to User Control" refactoring will arrive in a future drop)

Also included are 16 standard refactorings that work inside both C# and VB code-behind files (most also work on code placed inside inline <script> tags):

Extract Method
Extract Property
Flatten Conditional
Inline Temp
Introduce Constant
Introduce Local
Move Declaration near Reference
Move Initialization to Declaration
Reorder Parameters
Rename
Replace Temp with Query
Reverse Conditional
Safe Rename
Simplify Expression
Split Initialization from Declaration
Split Temporary Variable

If you get stuck or need support (note: it is currently in Beta) you have a couple options:

Contact support@devexpress.com, or
Subscribe to the devexpress.public.refactor.asp newsgroup at news.devexpress.com

I am sure after a few uses, Refactor! will become a staple in your development process just like Reflector if it has not already.

Hats off to Developer Express for continuing to enhance the Web development capabilities of Visual Studio 2005 in some very clever and unique ways. The next time you come across a fellow ASP.NET developer let them know about this time-saving solution.

ASP.NET CSS Friendly Control Adapters 1.0 Released!

keiths — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:15:05 GMT

ASP.NET CSS Friendly Control Adapters 1.0 has been released and is now available to help you build XHTML 1.1 compliant markup quickly & easily using built-in ASP.NET 2.0 UI controls.

Since the kits debut it has received tons of praise and generated lots of excitement throughout the community. Since the first Beta release, Russ and his team have made several enhancements and fixes and continued to solicit feedback for ways to make the kit even better.

This final version 1.0 release includes added functionality for the following popular ASP.NET controls:

An example of new functionality provided in this release includes the TreeView control that supports cascading checkboxes, populate-on-demand, and postback events.

To get started:

If you are running a Beta or earlier version of the kit, now is the time to upgrade!

Here is a list of major changes since Beta 3:

Changes @Page Title attribute on all pages due to kit rename (this is important if upgrading)
Added ASP.NET AJAX UpdatePanel support
Fixed IE7 "ghost" menus issue
GridView adapter updated to support more styling abilities
DetailsView and FormView adapted to support TableRow.Visible

Let us know what you think via the CSS Adapters forum.