June 2008 - Posts

• Open XML SDK Released

  The release version of the Open XML SDK is now out. The download page mentions April CTP under the Description, however, this is the June 08 version. The download details will show that it was published on 6/10/2008. So go ahead and start playing with it, if you have not done so in the past. Will see if I can write a few articles on using this soon. Posted Jun 11 2008, 09:24 AM by amar with no comments Filed under: OpenXML

• Analyse your Source Code

  I recently gave Microsoft Source Analysis a try. It was released sometime ago, and act's as an add-in in Visual Studio to check the source code with some coding rules. This is different from FxCop which checks assemblies. This checks your source code before it is compiled right in Visual Studio editor.I did like the tool. Quite handy, but will need a little bit getting used to. Some companies may need to change some rules to match their coding standards. For people who don't have a particularly though out coding standard in place, and are using something from the ASP / VB / C days, it may be worth changing over the standard based on the Source Analysis rules, as it has been in use for quite a while at some parts of Microsoft, and from an overall look, it does look quite a decent one. There are a few irritations, but you can turn rules on and off. The most irritating part is that it throws up tons of errors in the Visual Studio generated code. Also, another irritation is that the default rules need a header on every page. However, it is not a bad thing. Either you can toggle the rule off, or write a header. Doh... Most of you like me will go, how do I write a header which Source Analysis will understand? Well, worry not, help is at hand.You can use the following header for your code files: //----------------------------------------------------------------------- // <copyright file="Program.cs" company="Your Company Name"> // Copyright (c) Your Company Name. All rights reserved. // </copyright> // <author>Your Name</author> //----------------------------------------------------------------------- What about the Visual Studio auto-generated files? You don't need to worry about Source formatting and coding practices in those files. So how do we exclude them from being checked? Well, there is a simple enough way.Just add the following header in all files you don't want checked by Source Analysis. // <auto-generated /> For more details about headers, you can check out the rules documentation on the Source Analysis Blog. Lastly, now, you are sort of morally forced to document every method. I know it's a bit of an effort for all lazy developers like me. So GhostDoc come here to rescue us from our plight. For those of you, who don't know about Ghost Doc, shame on you. Just kidding ;) It is a cool VS Add-In by Roland Weigelt, which auto generates method descriptions by guessing it from the description. It is not perfect, but definitely a big leap from the Visual Studio way. Download it and I can assure you that you will seriously get addicted to it. Combine together Ghost Doc and Source Analysis, make coding much clearer, better documented and developer friendly. Posted Jun 06 2008, 06:51 AM by amar with no comments Filed under: dotNet

• Blogging again

  Some of my old readers would have noticed that I've stopped blogging for quite a while now. Thing in my personal life, kept me busy and off blogging. However, I am very much here, and dying to start blogging again. While I was in hibernation, the world has moved ahead leaps and bounds. MOSS is getting more and more popularity, and I am seeing people get excited about SharePoint more than I have ever seen before. I have been working with MOSS for a little while now, and it is HUGE. So while I begin another journey to learn, hack and understand the nitty gritty's of MOSS, I will try my best to keep discussing my findings with you. Had been busy with an architecture project in MOSS and currently working with a MOSS OpenXML based project. Have learnt a lot of things, but MOSS does amaze me daily. For this so called first post, I will just list out some interesting pieces from fellow bloggers which I have been reading lately. Andrew Connell posted a nice article on getting Silverlight working in SharePoint. Spencer Harbar has posted a nice article on Internet Sites Licensing with SharePoint. The Microsoft SharePoint Team has a nice article discussing the architecture for Building a News Workbench. Paul Andrew has a short and effective task list on getting started with SharePoint development. Very practical advice here. Doug Mahugh has some fantastic resources for those interested in getting started with Open XML. One of the best compilations I have seen. And last but not least, Todd Baginski has a nice article on programmatically customising Site Navigation in WSS and MOSS. Posted Jun 02 2008, 09:09 AM by amar with no comments Filed under: Sharepoint