Office 2010 breaks Visual Studio 2008

After installing Office 2010 Beta I encountred issues with visual studio, the designer and split view freezes visual studio and caused the application to crash.
on this site I found the solution.

If you get this problem then there is a simple solution, well, one that worked for me. You need to run a repair on the “Microsoft Visual Studio Web Authoring Component” that is part of Office 2007.

You can find the setup in the following locations:

Windows 64bit

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\microsoft shared\OFFICE12\Office Setup Controller\Setup.exe

Windows 32bit

C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\OFFICE12\Office Setup Controller\Setup.exe

MOSS 2007 Certified developer

Last friday I passed the  Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 – Application Development (70-542) course with 960 points.

The exam wasn’t tough but it’s always good to have it on your resume.

HOWTO remove diacritics in a string

When comparing strings you sometimes need to ignore diacritics (accents) like é, ö etc.
The following method removes the diacritics:

With the following extension method you can compare two strings for equality: 

static string RemoveDiacritics(string stIn)
{
    string stFormD = stIn.Normalize(NormalizationForm.FormD);
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    for (int ich = 0; ich < stFormD.Length; ich++)
    {
        UnicodeCategory uc = CharUnicodeInfo.GetUnicodeCategory(stFormD[ich]);
        if (uc != UnicodeCategory.NonSpacingMark)
        {

            sb.Append(stFormD[ich]);
        }
    }
    return (sb.ToString().Normalize(NormalizationForm.FormC));
}

public static bool Equals2(this string source, string toCheck)

{

    return RemoveDiacritics(source).ToLower().Trim() == RemoveDiacritics(toCheck).ToLower().Trim();

}

The following code gives as result ‘True’.

string x = "Azië";

bool equal = x.Equals2("azie");

Padding is invalid and cannot be removed

After deploying my asp.net site to a webhosting company I suddenly was faced with error’s when requesting WebResource.axd.

The following error occured:
Padding is invalid and cannot be removed.

Stacktrace:    at System.Security.Cryptography.RijndaelManagedTransform.DecryptData(Byte[] inputBuffer, Int32 inputOffset, Int32 inputCount, Byte[]& outputBuffer, Int32 outputOffset, PaddingMode paddingMode, Boolean fLast)

   at System.Security.Cryptography.RijndaelManagedTransform.TransformFinalBlock(Byte[] inputBuffer, Int32 inputOffset, Int32 inputCount)

   at System.Security.Cryptography.CryptoStream.FlushFinalBlock()

   at System.Web.Configuration.MachineKeySection.EncryptOrDecryptData(Boolean fEncrypt, Byte[] buf, Byte[] modifier, Int32 start, Int32 length, IVType ivType, Boolean useValidationSymAlgo)

   at System.Web.UI.Page.DecryptStringWithIV(String s, IVType ivType)

   at System.Web.UI.Page.DecryptString(String s)

   at System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler.DecryptParameter(NameValueCollection queryString)

The solution for this problem for me was to set a fixed machine key in the web.config file.

For this you can use a machineKey generator or generate your own if you know how to do it (random chars will not work).

<system.web>

  <machineKey    validationKey=’A06BDCF2F6CF.A.VERY.LONG.44F13E76184945A7C477601′

      decryptionKey=’99079B21C2F3644.A.BIT.SHORTER.BB81C7E9D58378′

      validation=’SHA1′/>

</system.web>

For more detailed information you can read the blog post from José Antonio

Using Fiddler with Visual Studio build in Webserver

Today I needed to inspect the webtraffic to my WCF webservices, Fiddler was not able to see my webtraffic to localhost.

To use fiddler with localhost these steps needs to be done:

1. Disable IPv6 in Fiddler configuration.

Fiddler settings

2. Add <computername> to your hosts file and set it to 127.0.0.1.
127.0.0.1                       <computername>

3. request your webserver with http://<machinename>:<portnumber>.

Fiddler Traffic

Microsoft Techday’s

Next week André and I attend the Microsoft TechDays in Antwerp.
We are especially interested in the pre-conference day.

This is a hole day of SharePoint sessions!
LINQ and SharePoint
WCF webservices and SharePoint
Workflow and SharePoint

At the conference I will blog about the sessions.

Creating MSDN like documentation of your C# project

Sandcastle Logo

Today I needed to document my C# project for a customer, for creating the documentation automatacly I used the Sandcastle tool.

I used a Blog post from Jan Schreuder where he describes how to build your own documentation.

http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/jschreuder/archive/2007/03/20/using-sandcastle-is-increasingly-mature.aspx

The description didn’t work for my directly I needed to install Microsoft HTML Help

Sharepoint Technical pre-sales course

Last month I succesfully finished the course:

Understanding and Positioning the New Features of Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for Technical Pre-Sales Professionals.

The course was about the features WSS3.0 and MOSS2007, this course is good to get up-to-speed with sharepoint the course covers all aspects of the system and how features can help company’s to solve their problems.

WSS 3.0 Certification

Today I passed the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Application Development (70-541) exam! Now I can move on and prepare for the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 – Application Development (70-542) course.

Sharepoint development course

Last week Dirk Straathof en I followed the Sharepoint 2007 development course at u2u in Brussels.

The course we followed was: http://www.u2u.be/CoursePage.aspx?CODE=UO12W.

During this course we learned all about WSS3.0 and MOSS 2007.

The Topics we discussed were:

Module 01 – Introducing SharePoint 2007 Development

• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 versus Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
  
• What is SharePoint development all about? What are the skills needed? Your development environment?
  
• A look at the WSS 3.0 architecture.
  
• Extending an IIS Web Application.
  

Module 02 – WSS 3.0 Architecture

• Farms and IIS Web Applications
  
• Extending an IIS Web Application
  
• LAB – Extending an IIS Web Application
  

Module 03 – Site Collections, Sites, Lists and Document

• Site Collections and Sites
  
• Site Templates and Site Definitions
  
• Lists and Document Libraries
  
• LAB – Site Collections, Sites, Lists and Document Libraries
  

Module 04 – Introducing the WSS 3.0 Object Model

• Introducing the WSS 3.0 Object Model
  
• SPSite and SPWeb
  
• SPList and SPListItem
  
• SPDocumentLibrary and SPFile
  
• The Lists Web Service
  
• LAB – Working with the WSS 3.0 Object Model
  

Module 05 – WSS 3.0 Features Framework

• Introducing Features
  
• Building a Feature Project
  
• Light-Up SharePoint with Custom Actions
  
• Installing, Activating, Deactivating and Uninstalling Features
  
• Feature Receivers
  
• LAB – Light-Up SharePoint with Features
  

Module 06 – SharePoint Solutions

• Introducing SharePoint Solutions
  
• Creating a SharePoint Solution
  
• Adding and Deploying SharePoint Solutions
  
• Installing, Activating, Deactivating and Uninstalling Features
  
• Retracting SharePoint Solutions
  
• LAB – Creating a SharePoint Solution
  

Module 07 – Application Pages and Site Pages

• Application Pages
  
• Site Pages
  
• Web Part Pages
  
• LAB – Application Pages and Site Pages
  

Module 08 – Branding WSS 3.0 Sites

• Master Pages
  
• Styling a SharePoint Site
  
• Building Custom Themes
  

Module 09 – Managing Content in WSS 3.0

• Document Management Features
  
• User Administration
  
• Introduction to the Building of Custom Field Types
  
• Executing CAML Queries
  
• Site Columns and Content Types
  
• Event Handlers
  

Module 10 – More Programming with Lists and Document Libraries

• Introduction in the Building of Custom Field Types
  
• Executing CAML Queries
  
• Introducing Event Handlers
  
• LAB – More Programming with Lists and Libraries
  

Module 11 – Building Web Parts

• Essential Steps of Building and Deploying a Web Part
  
• Exposing Web Part Properties
  
• Code-Access Security and Web Parts
  
• Connectable Web Parts
  
• User Controls and Web Parts
  
• LAB – Building Web Parts
  

Module 12 – Introducing the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

• Overview of MOSS 2007
  
• Shared Services Providers
  
• Collaboration and Publishing Portals
  

Module 13 – Configuring and Branding Portals

• Configuration of available Site Templates
  
• Master Pages
  
• Styling of Portals
  
• Site Variations
  
• LAB – Configuring and Branding Portals
  

Module 14 – Authoring and Publishing Pages

• Page Model in a Portal
  
• Creating Custom Page Layouts
  
• Configuring the Publishing Cycle
  
• Working with the Content Query Web Part
  
• LAB – Authoring and Publishing Pages
  

Module 15 – Building InfoPath Solutions

• Introducing InfoPath 2007
  
• Designing InfoPath 2007 Templates
  
• Deploying InfoPath Templates
  
• Integration
  
• LAB – Building InfoPath Solutions
  

Module 16 – Building Workflow Solutions

• Introducing Workflows and the Windows Workflow Foundation
  
• Workflow Terminology and the OOB Experience
  
• Building a Simple Workflow with Visual Studio
  
• LAB _ Building Workflows Solutions/li>
  

Module 17 – The Business Data Catalog

• Why the Business Data Catalog?
  
• Business Data Catalog Architecture
  
• Preparing the Business Data Catalog
  
• Working with the Business Data Web Parts
  
• Business Data in Other Places
  
• BDC Programming Model
  
• LAB – The Business Data Catalog
  

Module 18 – MOSS 2007 Search

• Search Topology and Architecture
  
• Search Administration 101 for Developers
  
• Customizing the Search Center
  
• Programmatically Executing Search Queries
  
• LAB – MOSS 2007 Search
  

Module 19 – Excel Services and Reporting

• Excel Services
  
• Reports
  
• Dashboards
  

Module 20 – Information Management Policies and Records Management

• Working with Information Management Policies
  
• Creation and Deployment of Custom Policies
  
• Configuring a Records Center
  
• Submitting Records to the Records Center