David Adamson's Blog

C# Online .Net

The C# Online.Net site looks like it will become another good C# Resource. Bookmark it now!

[via GotDotNet Resource Centre]

C# Online.NET is a wiki-based C# and .NET resource featuring articles, code snippets, tutorials, and forums.

[via C# Online.Net]
C# Online.NET! (CSharp-Online.NET) lets you learn the C# language, research an API, or find a helpful code snippet. There is something here for C# programmers of all experience levels.

WSUS Content file download failed on SBS 2003

After installing WSUS on SBS 2003 I was unable to get any updates to download. The application event log showed the following error:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Windows Server Update Services
Event Category: Synchronization
Event ID: 364
Description:
Content file download failed. Reason: Access is denied. Source File: /msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/windowsinstaller-kb893803-v2-x86_830994754ba721add8a13bd0266d2e092f21cab0.exe Destination File: d:\WSUS\WsusContent\B0\830994754BA721ADD8A13BD0266D2E092F21CAB0.exe.

After checking the Network Service account had the appropriate permission on the destination folder, it was time to Google. Turns out that the Network Service account also needs at least Read permission on the root of the drive the content is stored on.

Thanks to the WSUS Wiki for helping me out on this one.

Enterprise Library for .Net Framework 2.0 released

[via Chuck]

I know a few people have been waiting for this one. Download Enterprise Library for .Net Framework 2.0 here.

note. Hands on Labs available March 2006.

MCMS integration into Sharepoint in Office 12

Andrew Connell points to an excellent post on the Sharepoint team blog here about how they decided to integrate the MCMS 2002 features and functionality onto the Sharepoint platform, giving birth to what's now called Web Content Management in Office 12.

If you currently work with MCMS 2002 now, you'll find some answers about migration and support for existing APIs in the new version.

Check it out here

WCF and WF Beta 2 with Go Live License

Chuck blogged about it here, and Chris blogged about it here.
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) have now made Beta 2 with a Go Live License.
Check out http://www.windowsworkflow.net and http://windowscommunication.net for all the info.
Download the WinFX runtime components here, the WinFX SDK here,
and the Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WWF here.

I'm looking forward to playing with this kit to see how it can help my user's have a more seamless experience with technology.

Check out what the gurus Angus Logan and Mick Badran did here and here with VSTO and WF when they got together at the BPI+WF conference last year. This is just the tip of the iceberg!

WSS and Sharepoint Server Service Pack 2 - What's supported in each

MS have released a white paper describing what .Net Framework scenarios and enhanced features are supported for Service Pack 2 of both Windows Sharepoint Services and Sharepoint Portal Server.
In brief,

	Windows SharePoint Services with SP2	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 with SP2
Ability to run on Microsoft Windows Server™ 64-bit versions	Yes	Yes
Use of Microsoft SQL Server 2005	Yes	Yes
Improved extranet deployment options	Yes	Yes
Support for the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Common Language Runtime (CLR) and ASP.NET 2.0	Yes	No

Check it out Here

SQL Server 2000 error 7391 on Windows Server 2003 SP1

Server: Msg 7391, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
The operation could not be performed because the OLE DB provider 'SQLOLEDB' was unable to begin a distributed transaction. OLE/DB provider returned message: New transaction cannot enlist in the specified transaction coordinator.

The default MS DTC configuration under Windows Server 2003 is to have network access disabled. This stops the ability to run transactions across linked servers from MS SQL Server 2000.

Microsoft refers to this error in KB329332 and has a procedure to enable MS DTC network access for Windows Server 2003, however it seems that the dialog box referred to has changed in Service Pack 1.

Another article, KB899191 explains the new functionality in the Distributed Transaction Coordinator fo Windows 2003 SP1 and Windows XP SP2. You now have the ability to enable both inbound and outbound network access as well as the authentication level. If the linked servers you are trying to access are not Windows 2003 SP1 also, the only authentication level that will work is the "No Authentication Required" option.

In summary, the steps to enable MS DTC network access in Windows 2003 are:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Component Services.
In the Component Services Wizard, expand Component Services, and then double-click Computers.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
Click the MS DTC tab, and then click Security Configuration.
In the Security Configuration dialog box, click to select the Network DTC Access check box.
(Windows 2003 only) Under Network DTC Access, click Network Transactions.
(Windows 2003 SP1 only) Under Network DTC Access, select Allow Inbound and/or Allow Outbound depending on whether the server is initiating or receiving the request. Select No Authentication Required if the linked servers are not also running Windows 2003 SP1.
Make sure that DTC Logon Account is set to NT Authority\NetworkService.
Click OK.
In the message box, click Yes to continue.
In the DTC Console Message dialog box, click OK.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.
Reboot the computer for these changes to take effect.

MCMS 2002 SP2 Upgrade Guide

Stefan Goßner has posted the availability of Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 SP2 with support for .Net Framework 2.0.

It looks like there are some very specific steps that need to be taken to do perform this upgrade, especially on a developer's machine and for SQL 2005.
Stefan has since posted some follow up links to guide you through the process here:

Knowledge Base articles for MCMS 2002 SP2

906142 - How to obtain the latest Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 service pack
906145 - Content Management Server 2002 Service Pack 2 installation information
894691 - A list of the bugs that are fixed in Content Management Server 2002 Service Pack 2

Glitches with MCMS 2002 Service Pack 2

IE Developer Toolbar Beta Refresh

The awesome Internet Explorer Developer toolbar has had a refresh (October 31, 2005) with a few bugs ironed out. Thanks Renaud for pointing out the update.

(via Microsoft Downloads)

Overview

The Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar provides several features for exploring and understanding Web pages. These features enable you to:

-- Explore and modify the document object model (DOM) of a Web page.
-- Locate and select specific elements on a Web page through a variety of techniques.
-- Selectively disable Internet Explorer settings.
-- View HTML object class names, ID's, and details such as link paths, tab index values, and access keys.
-- Outline tables, table cells, images, or selected tags.
-- Validate HTML, CSS, WAI, and RSS Web feed links.
-- Display image dimensions, file sizes, path information, and alternate (ALT) text.
-- Immediately resize the browser window to a new resolution.
-- Selectively clear the browser cache and saved cookies. Choose from all objects or those associated with a given domain.
-- Choose direct links to W3C specification references, the Internet Explorer team weblog (blog), and other resources.
-- Display a fully featured design ruler to help accurately align objects on your pages.

The Developer Toolbar can be pinned to the Internet Explorer browser window or floated separately.

This version of the Developer Toolbar is an updated version of Beta 1; it was updated on October 31, 2005. Several issues are resolved and some feedback has been incorporated.

-- Element bounding box calculations are more accurate.
-- Outlining of elements is now significantly faster.
-- The image report no longer crashes.
-- Installation no longer requires a reboot. (Beta 1 users will still be prompted to reboot because the current installer invokes the original uninstaller).
-- The minimize and maximize buttons now refresh after the "Resize" command.
-- The "Select element by click" bounding box is now more visible on pages with blue backgrounds.
-- The attributes editor (middle pane) now has variable width fields (for example, you can type beyond the width of the box).
-- Fixes for some pages that do not trigger OnDocumentComplete events.
-- Fixed the continuity of using "element" rather than "tag" in the menus.
-- The ruler is easier to use and to scroll.
-- Enabling/disabling images no longer restarts Internet Explorer.
-- The Resize menu now contains more resolutions.
-- Editing a property is now much less likely to let keystrokes "leak" back to IE and navigate without the user expecting it.
-- Trying to use the ruler while IE is in "folder mode" should no longer crash the browser.

New features and functionality have also been added.

-- Default styles (in the third pane) now appear in gray, separating them from explicit styles.
-- The ruler dialog is always populated with the ruler information if there is just one ruler.
-- The ruler dialog now describes advanced features.
-- "Undo all" reverts the page to the initial state.
-- You can now remove all outlines.

Now Available to MSDN Subscribers: Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005

Its here at last!!!!!!

(via MSDN)

Now Available to MSDN Subscribers: Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005
The final versions of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are now at manufacturing; MSDN subscribers can download these products immediately. Redistributable packages, including the .NET Framework, are also now publicly available.

del.icio.us - share your bookmarks online

From playing with Flock I've discovered del.icio.us, a cool service that lets you post, tag, aggregate and filter all your web favorites online!

Now I can share my bookmarks between my home and work PC and the rest of the world (and they're RSS enabled). It even tells you how popular a link is by how many other people have linked to the same URL. Apparently the service is pre-Alpha and there's a lot of cool stuff in the works for these guys, so check them out.

My del.icio.us links

Flock - New Mozilla based browser

Thought I'd check out a new Mozilla based browser under development. Flock looks to be doing some quite interesting things i.e. building a lot of the new ideas gaining popularity on the web into the browser, including del.icio.us online bookmarks, flickr images, RSS feed discovery and caching as well as history searching, blogging, and of course, tabbed browsing.

Download the Flock Developer Preview binaries or source for Windows, Mac OSX or Linux here

Darwin posts our MSFT SQL Support Case

Darwin, a Microsoft Developer Support Engineer from Sydney, Australia has started a blog here: Darwin's Idle Times and posted the resolution to our PSS Support case here: Kerberos Delegation to SQL Server.
SQL Server and Kerberos authentication seems to be a tricky issue when things go wrong. With the problem Darwin describes, we had 2 SQL/Developer consultants, a first-level MS Support Engineer as well as ourselves unable to find the fault.

Well done Darwin for sorting this out for us, and for taking the next step and blogging about it!

As Darwin describes, the following MS White paper is the ultimate guide to troubleshooting kerberos delegation: Troubleshooting Kerberos delegation in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, and the way to find the offending SPN in our case was to use the following LDIFDE tool query: ldifde -f ldif.txt -j c:\ -d -l serviceprincipalname -r (serviceprincipalname=MSSQL*)

Free MCMS eBook Downloads

(via Jawad Khan)

Here are few useful online free books listed on MSDN that will get you started with Microsoft Content Management Server before you do your own investment and buy a MCMS 2002 Book or take an official MOC Training.

Note these books are not meant for beginners though. For beginners I will still Recommend the Book Building Websites with Microsoft Content Management Server as per my post here earlier.You can get good deal on this book from Amazon and other online book sellers.

(1) Building, Deploying, and Maintaining Intranet Sites for the Enterprise

           Chapter 1. Setup
           Chapter 2. Examining OTGWeb's Network Architecture
           Chapter 3. Day-to-Day Operations
           Chapter 4. Building OTGWeb with Best Practices
           Chapter 5. Final Thoughts

This book discusses how a small team within the Operations and Technology Group (OTG) at Microsoft uses Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) 2002 to build, deploy, and maintain OTGWeb, an internal Microsoft site. OTG uses OTGWeb to provide information and tools to keep Microsoft employees informed and productive. OTGWeb is, as far as we know, the largest intranet site running MCMS today.

(2) Integration Techniques and Strategies for Internet Business

Using the MCMS .NET-based managed APIs
Using the MCMS COM-based Site Deployment API
Creating user controls and dialog boxes within the Web Author
Creating custom placeholder controls in Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET
Creating components that communicate with each external system

In Integration Techniques and Strategies for Internet Business, we'll examine a variety of integration options available to you when designing your Web sites. The methodology we present is simple, secure, and extendable. We take the WoodgroveNet sample site which shipped as a sample with MCMS 2002 and build integration components to show integration with search engines, workflow engines, authentication systems, and other software.

(3) Performance Planning and Deployment with Content Management Server 2002

Explains performance planning for MCMS 2002
Demonstrates capacity planning with transaction cost analysis for MCMS 2002
Provides detailed instructions and best practices for installing a sample MCMS 2002 deployment that can be scaled out to meet your needs.
Provides troubleshooting information and answers to frequently asked questions for getting the best from your MCMS 2002 site.

This Book shows you how to plan your MCMS 2002 deployment to maximize performance, how to estimate site capacity with transaction cost analysis, and provides best practices and instructions for installing an MCMS 2002, 13-computer, 3-tier, sample, secure deployment that can easily be scaled out to meet the needs of your enterprise. Additionally, it provides troubleshooting tips and answers frequently asked questions about installing and using MCMS 2002

Sauce Reader v2.0.2, a non-expiring version has been released.

If you currently use Sauce Reader, the 2.0.1 Beta version will expire today (30/09/2005). Synop has closed for business and put the Product and Source Code up for sale.

Fortunately, a non expiring version has just been made available. Download it here . Thanks Synop! :)

Hopefully somebody picks this product up and continues development. It's certainly the best RSS reader I've used.