Darrell Norton's Blog [MVP]

April 2004 - Posts

• Took the 70-340 Beta exam

  I finally took the 70-340 beta exam. Overall I thought it was appropriately challenging. Like others have mentioned, there is a good bit on cryptography. I hope this is more geared toward an MCSD, since there were both winform and webform questions, whereas an MCAD can choose to concentrate on one or the other. So how did I prepare? First, I had previously read Writing Secure Code, 2nd Ed. Second, I had already read Building Secure ASP.NET Applications and Improving Web Application Security: Threats and Countermeasures. So to review for the test, I watched the DevDays 2004 DVD presentations for both the web security and smart client tracks. Although the OpenHack source code (a more recent version is available on the DevDays DVD) is a great security implementation reference, don’t spend too much time studying it. Posted Apr 30 2004, 01:47 PM by darrell with 3 comment(s)

• I'm off to Devscovery too!

  Like Grant said, I’m getting ready to go to the Devscovery conference in Washington, DC. There will be a total of eight (8) WeProgram.NET user group members attending, including our two free conference pass winners! If you want to meet up with Grant or me, just look for a WeProgram.NET polo shirt! Mine will be forest green with “WeProgram.NET Build Better Software” embroidered on the front. Grant probably has a burgundy version of the same thing. There is also a pretty horrible picture of me here. Or, just look for all the .NET groupies (haha). Posted Apr 26 2004, 11:18 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• SourceSafe Binding Remover tool updated

  I’ve updated my SourceSafe Binding Remover tool. Thanks to Dave Bettin, it now removes the binding information from the solution and project files too! With that change, the only real difference between Dave’s NukeSourceSafe tool and my own is that his is a console application and mine is a Windows Forms app. Vive la difference! Posted Apr 26 2004, 05:46 AM by darrell with no comments

• Send me your TDD blog

  Have a blog focused on Test Driven Development?  Or do you have a TDD category?  Leave a comment below and I'll add them to the .NET Test Driven Development overview.  [I have a new Test Driven Development category. If you noticed a bunch of old posts in your RSS reader, sorry!] Posted Apr 25 2004, 05:20 PM by darrell with no comments

• Test Driven Development comes to Richmond!

  On Thursday, May 13, at 6:30 PM the WeProgram.NET - Richmond user group will offer: Test Driven Development: Building .NET Muscle! Steve Metsker and Darrell Norton will present this hands-on introduction to TDD, at the CapTech lab. The lab is located at 1118 West Main Street, Richmond, VA 23220.  TDD has you develop automated tests before you write the code to make the tests pass. This helps to create light, simple solutions and guarantees that a testing framework accompanies your code. This style feels different from classical coding techniques, and this tutorial will let you try it yourself! Please bring a laptop with a development environment ready to go, if you can. We’ll provide starting examples in both C# and VB.NET. If you don’t have a laptop, we’ll pair you with someone who does. In addition to the presentation, WeProgram.NET will provide refreshments and give away a number of prizes, including Kent Beck's Test Driven Development book and Jim Newkirk's Test Driven Development in .NET book. Please plan to attend! Presenter bios: Steve Metsker is the author of three books, including the soon-to-be-released Design Patterns in C#, and speaks frequently on programming and agile techniques. Steve’s Test-Driven Development tutorial was one of the highest-rated tutorials at OOPSLA 2003, and he will present this again at OOPSLA 2004. Steve is a Senior Architect at CapTech Ventures. Darrell Norton, co-founder of the WeProgram.NET user group, has worked with Microsoft .NET since its beginning as part of the early adopter program. Darrell has been doing Test-Driven Development for over 2 years and is a Consultant with CapTech Ventures. Thanks to our sponsors:       It's important to thank our web hosting sponsor, OptimizeIT.net, for hosting the WeProgram.Net website. OptimizeIT also buys refreshments and provides speakers. CapTech Ventures, a regional IT consulting firm, sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing speakers, giveaways, our Richmond meeting facility, and refreshments. Wintellect is a premier training, consulting, and debugging firm. Wintellect sponsors WeProgram.Net in a variety of ways, including Wintellectual speakers, book giveaways, and more. INETA is a non-profit, independent organization, that supports all user groups interested in the Microsoft .Net platform. INETA helps WeProgram.Net stay connected with the broader .Net community and offers specials to WeProgram.Net members. ESI (Electronic Systems) provides our Newport News meeting facility.  O'Reilly sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing book donations and review copies of new O'Reilly titles, access to authors, and 20% discounts on conferences and products from O'Reilly. SAMS sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing book donations and review copies of new SAMS titles. Addison-Wesley sponsors WeProgram.Net by donating books for us to review and give away. Posted Apr 23 2004, 05:55 AM by darrell with 7 comment(s)

• Review of BizTalk Unleashed by Susie Adams, et al

  BizTalk Server is a complicated product, so it is natural that several authors would get together to write BizTalk Unleashed. In fact, thirteen authors contributed to the book. All the subjects are covered, but unfortunately I had to port all the VB6 code samples to .NET. This is not the book’s fault, but it made the early struggle with learning BizTalk more difficult. And some of the chapters, like the RosettaNet and HIPAA chapters, were just recaps of the Microsoft tutorials that are included with the products On the other hand, the coverage of BizTalk messaging and orchestration was very good. And chapter 16 on integrating orchestration and messaging had several complete examples that brought the two subjects together very well. As one of the two books on BizTalk Server 2002, it provides valuable information for the practicing BizTalk professional. I hope that there will be more information accessible for BizTalk Server 2004. Check out more book reviews at the WeProgram.NET Book Review page or my Book Review category. Posted Apr 22 2004, 10:11 AM by darrell with 5 comment(s)

• Get Visual Studio syntax highlighting for alternate file extensions

  Question: How do I configure things so that I can get proper code highlighting when I have a file that is a standard format (XML, or SQL) but has an alternate extension (.DNN, .SqlDataProvider)? Answer: Edit the registry (Warning: This is dangerous!  Backup the registry first!  I take no responsibility for any damage this may cause).  Also, you need to change 7.1 if you are not using Visual Studio 2003: Under this subkey:  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\7.1\Languages\File Extensions], add a new key for whatever file extension you want to add syntax highlighting for (ie, .DNN or .SqlDataProvider).  It should show up as a little folder icon. For the default REG_SZ, change the value to equal the GUID for the file extension you want to copy (ie, for .SqlDataProvider use the same GUID as for .sql).  Copy any other DWords, values, etc. (just copy everything from the key of the extension you want to copy). Posted Apr 21 2004, 08:46 AM by darrell with 7 comment(s)

• BizTalk Server KnowledgeBase articles

  BizTalk Server KB articles by KBAlertz. Posted Apr 21 2004, 06:18 AM by darrell with 1 comment(s)

• Michael Platt posts SOA overview

  Check out Michael Platt’s SOA taxonomy and information. Includes vision, business and technology sections, development and operations process links, examples, and blogs! Posted Apr 20 2004, 08:14 AM by darrell with no comments

• Active Directory Application Mode technical reference doc

  The Active Directory® Application Mode (ADAM) Technical Reference has just been released on Microsoft Downloads.  I'm a big fan of using directory services for authentication and authorization rather than recreating the same information in a database.  So I've looked over it already, and it is an excellent document.  For example, it answers the big question, what are the technical differences between a directory and a database? Directory Database Optimized for search and read operations. Optimized for write operations. Object-oriented, hierarchical data design. Data objects in the directory represent entities such as users, computer, and shared resources. These data objects can be organized hierarchically in containers. Relational data design. Data is organized in tables of rows and columns. Data from one table can be linked to data in another table. Uses standardized, extensible schemas. Does not use schemas. Designed for replication and distributed management. Designed for central storage and administration of data. Granular security, down to the object and attribute level. Less granular security, only down to the row and column level. Loose data consistency between replication partners. Transactional: guaranteed data consistency. Referential integrity across relational tables and concurrency control with file and record locking. Posted Apr 20 2004, 07:21 AM by darrell with no comments

• More BizTalk Server webcasts!

  MSDN Webcast: Migrating from BizTalk Server 2002 to 2004 May 03, 2004 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time Erik Leaseburg, Consultant, Microsoft Corporation With proper planning and execution, migrating a business application from Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002 to BizTalk Server 2004 can be carried out efficiently and effectively. Solutions that are migrated to BizTalk Server 2004 can then take advantage of its many new features and improved performance. The purpose of this webcast is to provide guidance on how to plan and execute the migration of an existing BizTalk Server 2002 solution to 2004. The BizTalk Server 2004 migration wizard for migrating messaging artifacts will be demonstrated along with best practices for migrating orchestrations. MSDN Webcast: Building BizTalk Server 2004 Adapters for the Visual Studio .NET Developer May 07, 2004 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Pacific Time Ram Nagasubramani, Lead Product Manager, Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2004 includes a completely revamped adapter framework with support for tightly integrated UI, streaming runtime, large files and many more features. Learn how to build adapters with the new framework by being on hand for the demonstrations in this webcast. MSDN Webcast: Advanced Orchestration Concepts in BizTalk Server 2004 May 21, 2004 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Pacific Time Erik Leaseburg, Consultant, Microsoft Corporation The performance and capabilities of orchestration in BizTalk® Server 2004 have been greatly enhanced over previous versions. After growing comfortable building simple orchestrations, you May be wondering how to take those orchestrations to the next level. The purpose of this webcast is to demonstrate several advanced features of orchestration in BizTalk Server 2004 including Correlation, Convoys, Composition, Transactions and Error Handling. MSDN Webcast: Extending Mainframe Applications using BizTalk Server 2004 and Host Integration 2004 May 24, 2004 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Pacific Time Paul Larsen, GROUP PROGRAM MANAGER, Microsoft This webcast demonstrates how to integrate your existing IBM mainframe assets with new enterprise solutions based on BizTalk® Server using Host Integration Server 2004. HIS provides the key enabling technologies you need to extend your IBM network, security, messaging, data and application systems running on these IBM host computers. [via Scott Woodgate] Posted Apr 19 2004, 06:34 PM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• New Service-Oriented Architecture book

  This book looks interesting: Service-Oriented Architecture: A Field Guide to Integrating XML and Web Services Covers crucial second-generation (WS-*) Web services standards: BPEL4WS, WS-Security, WS-Coordination, WS-Transaction, WS-Policy, WS-ReliableMessaging, and WS-Attachments Includes hundreds of individual integration strategies and more than 60 best practices for both XML and Web services technologies Includes a complete tutorial on service-oriented design principles for business and technical modeling Explores design issues related to a wide variety of service-oriented integration architectures that integrate XML and Web services into legacy and EAI environments Provides a clear roadmap for planning a long-term migration toward a standardized service-oriented enterprise Posted Apr 16 2004, 01:44 PM by darrell with 1 comment(s)

• IIS 6 Resource Kit Guide available for download

  The IIS 6 Resource Kit Guide is out. This is a guide to using and deploying IIS 6, versus tools to help troubleshoot problems that are in the IIS 6 Resource Kit Tools download. It’s big too, 43 MB for a Guide! The overview: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 and IIS 6.0 provide the services to support a secure, available, and scalable Web server on which to run your Web sites and applications. Whether you manage a single Web server or many, Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit will help you effectively plan, deploy, operate, and troubleshoot your IIS 6.0 solution. This comprehensive technical resource delivers an in-depth description of the new IIS 6.0 architecture, as well as reference information about IIS 6.0 features and services. It also includes practical information and tools to help you accomplish everyday administrative tasks. Deployment scenarios in part one of this book include installing a new Web server, upgrading an existing Web server from an earlier version of IIS, and migrating existing Apache or IIS Web sites and applications to a newly installed Web server. Part two of this book includes information about running IIS 6.0 as a platform for Web applications, managing a secure IIS 6.0 solution, administering servers programmatically, and capitalizing on built-in scalability features to manage large-scale deployments. In addition, part two includes a thorough discussion of IIS 6.0 troubleshooting concepts, tools, and procedures. Posted Apr 15 2004, 11:32 AM by darrell with 1 comment(s)

• SourceSafe Binding Remover tool

  I created a new little tool.  It removes all SourceSafe bindings from a selected folder, including subfolders.  It displays the file names, and won't delete unless the checkbox is checked so you can see if any important files would be deleted.  There is no option to selectively remove files from the list to be deleted. SourceSafe bindings are plain text files ending in scc, either .scc or .vssscc, but the pattern matches any file with an extension ending in *scc. You can change the pattern match in the application config file (need to include the * for wildcard matches). Download the SourceSafe Binding Remover from GotDotNet Workspaces. Posted Apr 15 2004, 09:03 AM by darrell with 12 comment(s)

• Two undocumented BizTalk Server 2004 tricks

  Two undocumented tricks for BizTalk Server 2004 were posted today: Jan Tielens shows how to process a positional flat file with early termination. The Arch Hacker shows how we should expose orchestrations as web services to avoid problems. Posted Apr 15 2004, 05:49 AM by darrell with no comments