In the RADE tabular reports we have the ability to format the output of a column using a standard String.Format syntax. This is used often in the reports to convert string data containing URLs to clickable links when the page is rendered:
1: "<a href=”{0}” target=”_blank”>{0}</a>"
This format string of course when applied to the source data would result in a hyperlink being created with the URL in both the href property of the link as well as the visible link text. Lance called and asked if it would be possible to change the report so that it showed simply the word “View” instead of the url. We already had a remote control session running so I opened up his RADE and changed the format string to:
1: "<a href=”{0}” target=”_blank”>View</a>"
He saw this small change and I heard him slap his forehead, and he asked “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner, I’ve wanted to do this forever!”. To this I responded “You never asked…”
So the moral of this story is directed to managers, sales types, or any other person who works with software developers. We’re incredibly smart, and there is far too much good stuff inside our heads for us to just “tell you everything”. If we were to try, you would either fall asleep or your head would pop. So please, rather than expect us to tell you what you want to know – just ask. =)
In preparation for our vacation to Costa Rica I was reviewing the Canadian government’s list of items that should/should not be packed in your carry-on or checked luggage. I was shocked to find out that catapults are not allowed in either your carry on or checked luggage! Catapults are so bad, they’ve made the list twice!
Other honorable mentions include:
- Hand Grenades
- Molotov Cocktails
- Nitroglycerin (this is OK when in medication format)
If you’re planning some air travel in the near future – leave your catapult at home! Maple Syrup and spread is completely OK though!
Did you think you’d see Google on this? Scroll down…
Using keyboard shortcuts will speed up your development big time once you get used to them. Microsoft released handy keyboard shortcut charts for VB, C#, F# and C++ 2010. They print OK on 8.5×11 (not great). Sucks that Microsoft put scary stock imagery on the sheets though. These shortcuts are only partially accurate if you’re using ReSharper, here is a key map for ReSharper 5 – and look, no scary stock imagery in this one.
I was trying to get some images off my iPhone this morning, but the thing wouldn’t show up in Windows explorer. ITunes was doing the backup and sync no problem – but the phone would not mount as a usb device. Usually the phone shows up in explorer under the Computer section as “Apple iPhone”. Unplugging and reconnecting the thing would just cause a re-sync.
After much mucking around the best solution I could find was to disconnect the iPhone from the usb cable, start the windows Device Manager and un-install the Apple iPhone driver from the Portable Devices section of the devices. Make sure you check the delete driver checkbox. Finally, re-connect your iPhone and the driver should re-install allowing you to see your device in Windows Explorer again.
No images on device
So now I can see my phone in Vista – but when I browse to the device the internal storage folders are empty. There are tons of images in the “Camera Roll” when looking at the phone. After much more muckery – I found one image that was saved from the interwebs rather than taken with the phones’ camera. Once I deleted this image, and reconnected the phone all the images showed up no problem.
This week I jumped on the .NET 4 bandwagon. I had a proof of concept project that I wanted to bring up to the “real product” level. This new product consists of a console application, a windows service, and some business logic and data access assemblies. During the development of my proof I created a small deployment project to build a quick and dirty installer.
I’ve upgraded the solution to 2010. I’ve done all the refactoring and finished my work. Everything tests out great in both unit tests and “developers computer” tests. Just need to get the installer updated and get the pesky “other peoples computers” thing out of the way.
I’ve updated the pre-requisites on my installer to include .NET 4.0 – rebuilt the installer and boom.
Error 1001. Exception occurred while initializing the installation. System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly ‘file:///C:\Program Files\Landor\ … \RADE.Connect.Service.exe’ or one of its dependencies. This assembly is built by a runtime newer than the currently loaded runtime and cannot be loaded.
After much mucking around I found the hidden property that I needed to change. I needed to change the .NET version of the .NET Launch Condition. To find this gem right click on the deployment project in the solution explorer and choose View\Launch Conditions. Next right click on the “.NET Framework” under “Launch Conditions” and choose “properties”. In the properties dialog change the Version to be “.NET Framework 4”.
Update 4/20/2010
Don’t forget to edit the .NET version for both Release and Debug configurations.
MSDN has been updated with the full releases of VS 2010 and .NET 4.0. Getting some decent download speeds too..
http://msdn.microsoft.com
wooo!
I may be weird, but I actually went to bed excited last night. VS 2010, .NET 4.0, AND Resharper 5.0 are supposed to be released today. For the first time in probably months I got out of bed at 7am - It’s now 7:30 Redmond time – but MSDN has not yet been updated! Apparently we have to wait until 8:30 Redmond time. Adobe is all over their release of CS5 today, and they didn’t make their users wait until 8:30 Redmond time! =)
In the meantime, The Register has a good write up on some of the new goodies coming in an hour or so. That will learn me for getting up early. Oh well, time for another cap!
When deploying an early build of an up and coming product on a customers machine I came across the following error:
System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast object of type ‘Oracle.DataAccess.Client.OracleConnection’ to type ‘System.Data.Common.DbConnection’
This was one of those awesome “doesn’t happen on any of my machine” errors. After some mucking around we determined that the client machine was using the Oracle 10g R1 client. The machines and VMs here we used for testing were all running either 11g, or 10g R2. Doh!
The simple resolution to this was to modify the NHhibernate config and add the following property:
1: <property name="hbm2ddl.keywords">none</property>
Depending on your underlying databases and mappings this could cause problems with your code project. Hopefully you’re not using reserved words, or bad Oracle syntax =).
Under the hood, the problem seems to be that the Oracle10gDialect does not provide an implementation of IDataBaseSchema for 10gR1. Fabio Maulo has provided some sample code and the steps on how to create the appropriate metadata for your database and submit it to the NHibernate project for inclusion.
Stating there was a man walking around in a white suit carrying a machine gun.
