Code Worker

Moving this blog

2010-05-03T10:57:00.005Z

I am slowly moving all my blogs, etc. and hosting them on my domains. Mainly because it gives me more control and to some extent I find BlogSpot a bit constricting.

This blog has now moved to codeface.tebco.com

A list of technologies I think I need to learn

2010-05-03T09:28:00.008Z

I am struggling under the load of new and updated technologies that I want to learn. For work I need to understand, Administer and be able to develop using .NET, C#, LINQ, Java 1.4, Visual Basic 6, InstallShield (MSI & InstallScript), Nant, Ant, CVS, SVN, Gemini, Team City and the rest.

However I also want to become proficient in areas I have not spent a lot of time working namely .NET Web Development. To this end I have decided I need to learn the following as part of a couple of private projects I am undertaking.

Visal Studio 2010
C# 4
.NET 4.0
ASP.NET MVC 2.0
Enterprise Library 5.0
LINQ
Entity Framework
NUnit
Moq

Wish me luck...

Learning something new every day

2010-04-28T18:02:00.004Z

I learned something new today, I learned that stealing someone elses idea is far less satisfying than I had hoped.

What Mark Learned Today

Boxing and Unboxing Variables

2009-07-01T14:15:00.000Z

When using variables in C# you need to be aware of and careful with boxing and unboxing. For example the following code;

int discount = 20;
object discPerc = discount;
discount = 15;

intdiscPercent = (int)discPerc;

In this instance the value of discount is 15 but the value of the implicitly converted discPerc and the explicitly cast discPercent are still 20.

This is because when converting from a value type to a reference type a copy of the value is taken not a reference to the value.

Given that the move from the Value type to the Reference type was implicit you could wind up with an ugly little bug.

Generic Classes

2009-06-09T09:21:00.013Z

You can declare a class with a generic type so that you can later instantiate it specifying the type at that point.


public abstract class genericListClass<t>
{
  protected virtual add(T value)
  {
    ...
  }
}

You can then instantiate a GenericListClass for different type as follows;


 genericListClass<int> integerList = new genericListClass<int>()
 genericListClass<long> LongList = new genericListClass<long>()
 genericListClass<string> stringList = new genericListClass<string>()

You can also accept different generic types as parameters to methods in a generic class


public abstract class genericClass<t>
{
 protected virtual CheckBoxOption[] WrapCheckBoxOptions<u>(string id, IEnumerable<checkboxoption> options)
 {
   ...
 }
}

The use of the <u> is to ensure it is taken as different from the type reperesented by <t>. <u> is a new different type.
In addition to this you can constrain the type of the class to a specific interface or behaviour;


public abstract class genericListClass<t>
{
 protected virtual CheckBoxOption[] WrapCheckBoxOptions<u>(string id, IEnumerable<checkboxoption> options) where U : new()
 {
 }
}

This allows you to constrain the type <U> to a specific type or more usefully, Interface. You can also use it, as in this case,


where U : new()

to constrain the type to one that can be instantiated with a default constructor. In other words it does not require parameters to be passed to the constructor. So


 U newInstance = new U();

will not raise an error.

Extension Methods

2009-05-04T08:54:00.004Z

By using the this keyword you can add to (extend) any class, even sealed classes. So

public static string ToTitleCase(this string value)
{
...
}

allows you to do the following;

string state = "south west australia";
Console.WriteLine(state.ToTitleCase());

You can extend even interfaces so if you create;

public static IEnumerable WhereEven(this IEnumerable values)
{
...
}

You will find the WhereEven method is available on List, Collection, int[ ] and anything else that implements IEnumerable.

Java now...

2009-04-27T10:22:00.005Z

I had another project added to my list, now I need to try and get my head around an authoring system in Java, Perl and JavaScript using the Tomcat server. I may have even less time to try and keep this thing up to date...

I'll still tag this as Learn but will try to use appropriate tags for the subject (Java, etc.)

Auto-Implemented Properties

2008-11-14T15:13:00.010Z

Previously to add a property to a class would involve creating a private variable to store the value as well as the get and set property accessors to expose it.

private string headingFontName;
public string headingFontName
{
get{return headingFontName;}
set{headingFontName = value;}
}

Auto-implemented properties allow you to replace the above with:

public string headingFontName { get; set; }

And if you want a read or write only property make one of the accessors pivate. So a read only property would be:

public string headingFontName { get; private set; }

You can access the value from within the class by using the property.

headingFontName = "Arial";

Getting up to speed in C# and .NET

2008-11-14T14:48:00.009Z

I have played with C# and .NET since version 1.0 was in beta but the nature of my job meant that I never got to use it beyond the occasional utility for some process. The majority of my time recently has been spent in VB6 with other smaller projects using JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, etc. I also develop most of the installers used in the office using InstallShield and have been working with that since version 3, now at 2009 for both InstallScript and MSI installers.

The .NET toolset has now been adopted at work and I need to get up to speed. I expect this to be a steep climb so I am going to attempt to blog the process, mostly for myself to refer back to but, with any luck, it might help someone else facing a similar mountain.

The technology stack in use at work at this point is Visual Studio 2008, .NET 3.5, ASP.NET 3.5, SQL Server 2005, Javascript and the Backbase control library. Additionally I am building a website for a relative using the ASP.NET MVC framework.

I also need to learn Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Microsoft Enterprise Library (3.1 & 4.0), Wix and to better understand Design Patterns. I expect that this list will need to grow but that is it for now at least.

Articles in this putative series will be tagged according to the technology involved but will all be tagged as Learn to try and tie them together in some fashion.

I imagine that after a first enthusiastic burst that new posts will slow. ;-))

Motorcycle Hand Signals to other riders

2007-04-30T12:00:00.002Z

AMADirectlink -- Group Riding/Common hand signals

Group Riding
Common hand signals

Britains Seed Bank collects Billionth Seed

2007-04-26T12:34:00.001Z

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Plant vault passes billion mark

Britain's "Noah's Ark" for plants has just collected its billionth seed.

Third work found in the Archimedes Palimpsest

2007-04-26T12:31:00.001Z

BBC NEWS | Technology | Text reveals more ancient secrets

Experts are "lost for words" to have found that a medieval prayer book has yielded yet another key ancient text buried within its parchment.

Works by mathematician Archimedes and the politician Hyperides had already been found buried within the book, known as the Archimedes Palimpsest.

How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

2007-04-04T12:18:00.003Z

How to Interpret Windows Installer Logs

If you have a problem with the Windows Installer or an MSI package you're installing, it's a sure bet that you will be told by some smart person to "enable logging".

That's great advice, except ... what do you do with the log once you get it? A common technique is to open it in Notepad and scroll up and down aimlessly, hoping to spot the "cause of your problem" section. While this is a very popular approach, it rarely yields good results. In this post, I'll walk you through the contents of a typical log so that next time you have an Installer problem you'll be in a better position to troubleshoot it yourself.

How to import saved Firefox passwords into KeePass

2007-04-03T13:09:00.001Z

How to import saved Firefox passwords into KeePass

f you want to export your Firefox passwords to KeePass, you can do so - with a few plugins, a script, a little Java and some XML elbow grease. Still with me? This process isn't quick and easy (today's theme! user-hostile data transfer!) but it IS possible. Here's how to get it done.

Setting up Netvibes

2007-04-03T13:06:00.001Z

A nice article on setting up NetVibes

Trick out your Netvibes

Turn off Sticky & Filter keys in Windows XP/Vista

2007-04-02T15:06:00.001Z

One less annoying thing in windows...

Turn off Filter Keys in Windows XP and Vista

Filter Keys is an annoying Windows feature that can be turned off permanently in one simple step. Filter Keys ignores keyboard input unless the key is held down for a significant period of time, and is triggered when you hold down a key, such as shift, for 8 seconds. Tech/engineering blog //engtech explains how to disable Filter Keys permanently:

Evolution (Outlook replacement) ported to Windows.

2007-04-02T15:04:00.001Z

Evolution on Win32

The open source software that's been called Outlook for Linux has been
ported to Windows XP and an easy-peasy installer is now available as a
free download.

2007-04-02T13:23:00.001Z

Handy little snippet. Using For...In to process multiple files in the command window.

Daily Cup of Tech » Quickly Perform a Function on Several Files

for /R %z in (*.zip) do unzip "%z"

Intel Next-Gen CPU Has Memory Controller and GPU

2007-03-29T13:25:00.001Z

Slashdot | Intel Next-Gen CPU Has Memory Controller and GPU

Many readers wrote in with news of Intel's revelations yesterday about its upcoming Penryn and Nehalem cores. Information has been trickling out about Penryn, but the big news concerns Nehalem — the "tock" to Penryn's "tick." Nehalem will be a scalable architecture with some products having on-board memory controller, "on-package" GPU, and up to 16 threads per chip. From Ars Technica's coverage:
"...Intel's Pat Gelsinger also made a number of high-level disclosures about the successor to Penryn, the 45nm Nehalem core. Unlike Penryn, which is a shrink/derivative of Core 2 Duo (Merom), Nehalem is architected from the ground up for 45nm. This is a major new design, and Gelsinger revealed some truly tantalizing details about it. Nehalem has its roots in the four-issue Core 2 Duo architecture, but the direction that it will take Intel is apparent in Gelsinger's insistence that, 'we view Nehalem as the first true dynamically scalable microarchitecture.' What Gelsinger means by this is that Nehalem is not only designed to take Intel up to eight cores on a single die, but those cores are meant to be mixed and matched with varied amounts of cache and different features in order to produce processors that are tailored to specific market segments."
More details, including Intel's slideware, appear at PC Perspectives and HotHardware.

Dinasaur extinction had little or no effect on mammals

2007-03-29T13:05:00.001Z

Study Re-evaluates Evolution of Mammals - New York Times

The mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and other life 65 million years ago apparently did not, contrary to conventional wisdom, immediately clear the way for the rise of today’s mammals.

Good Site Design Site

2007-03-28T15:03:00.001Z

Nice Web Design Site.

Top 10 Sites for Web Designers

Free Javascript Ajax Library

2007-03-28T14:54:00.001Z

Nice JavaScript library for AJAX with an effects engine, AutoComplete, Drag 'n Shop, etc.
script.aculo.us - web 2.0 javascript

Yet another doomed blog

2007-03-28T14:16:00.002Z

Setting up this blog as a place to put stuff that interests me or any other articles on programming, tech or anything else I feel like. Doubtless it will fall into silence after a couple of weeks.

Using ScribeFire to blog directly from within the FireFox Browser.

ScribeFire - Fire up your Blogging