Interface Blogs

I've been working on the new Powershell course to be offerred here at Interface Technical Training.  Holy Cow, it's going to be FUN!!!
I'm so impressed with this language.

To me PowerShell is the Black Flag of anything that touches .NET.  It's so unassumingly powerful that you almost feel like you've been in a gang fight and won after you get the hang of it.  It's very addicting.  You can solve so many problems, so simply and quickly, it's almost like your writing in Perl and C# and Python and PHP all at the same time.  You almost begin to feel like your playing with the .NET framework like a cat's toy.  This is not in any way to minimize the .NET Framework which will go down in history as the code achievement of our age (in my opinion), it's simply to point out the Power of Powershell.
 
I love the name Powershell it's perfect, I also love the name Silverlight as well, man someone is doing their job in naming these technologies.  Just think of something like SharePoint.  Perfect name for a huge beautiful monster of a technology that is changing the world! 

I'll keep you posted on when the course goes live but it will be a fantastic dive into the world of Powershell.

Desert Code Camp 2007 was a resounding success!  Congratulations to Lauren and Scott and everyone who helped to make this such a wonderful event!

I would like to thank everyone who attended my presentation and as promised, here are my powerpoint slides and code files.

You should simply be able to open the folder codecamp2007 as a website.  The default.aspx page is the one with the master page attached.  You will have to go into the web.config and remove the entry which says: <pages styleSheetTheme="codecamp" /> if you want the theme disabled, then go ahead and re enter it in the same spot when you want to enable the theme.

This page has not been tested in FireFox yet so there might be some display things that come up, but it should be minor.

The text file is what I use to keep a running html if statement, it's not part of the web application, I just find it to be a useful way of doing it.

Many people have asked me about a book which I would reccomend and the absolute best book to be published as far as really helping you to learn is this one from Wrox:

Beginning CSS: Cascading Style Sheets for Web Design, 2nd Edition
by Richard York 

  The format is amazing with full color which really shows off some of the examples with astute clarity not available in a black and white book.  I especially like the sections on psuedo classes and selectors and he does a stellar job of pointing out which features of CSS are supported by which browsers.  He even has a section about referring to expressions right from within your CSS.  The book is noted as beginning, and i understand why since it starts at the beginning, however I must say that if you are a CSS expert you will also LOVE this book so it might just as well have been called beginning through advanced.  If you work through this book you will know CSS cold.  I highly reccomend this book.

Well that's it for now.  So many great sessions, Dan Wahlin's Silverlight, Mike Palermo's Code to not write code...my brain was hurting but in a good way.  I also attended an e commerce security session which made me want to get a job unloading trucks, but only for a couple of hours until I got to do some more code!

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages
by Jacob J. Sanford

This book even includes a very helpful guide to Photoshop which can definitley get you started.  The book provides in depth explanations of setting up layouts and design using CSS for Master Pages and Themes.  The info in this book is awesome and I would reccomend it as a staple in any ASP.NET 2.0 and up's developer library.  If it seems like I'm super pro Wrox books, it's because  I am.  They rule.

Enjoy! 

It's that time again and holy semi colons this is going to be a big one.  The annual Desert Code Camp over at the University of Advancing Technology in Phoenix is 2 code packed days.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to present at this prestigious event.  I am scheduled for Saturday at 4:45 in rooms 234/235, you can click here to sign up.  My presentation will pretty much follow along the same topic content as the article I wrote for ASP.NET Pro magazine and will cover some easy steps to create Master Page Layouts using CSS as oppossed to tables. 

It's a great thing to see the advancement of Web Standards throughout the internet as we are moving into a greater variety of devices on which to display our xhtml.  Interface Technical Training has several presenters including:

• Integrating Silverlight with ASP.NET AJAX and Web Services (Dan Wahlin)
• Writing Code to Avoid Code in ASP.NET 2.0 (Michael Palermo)
• SQL Server 2005 CLR - Dev vs DBA - The Showdown (Jennifer Campion and Jeff Jones)

I must say that sadly missing from this year's big event is a presentation by our very own Simon Allardice.  If you have not gotten the chance to see his code camp presentations, they are legendary. It's one of the only times when you will see the entire room stand up and scream and break into a long applause at the end, his presentations really are spectacular. He had to go out of town on a trip so we will miss him. 

Here is a screen shot of the schedule:

All things considered I have to say that this blog wins blog of the month hands down in my book:

http://blogs.interfacett.com/michael-palermo/tonight-will-be-fun.html

Awesome job Mike!

I would like to say THANK YOU to Gordon Bennett and everyone over at the Tucson .NET users group for coming out to the presentation!

I had a fantastic time and you had some awesome questions!  As promised here is a copy of the project folder,.  You should be able to just uncompress it and open it via Visual Studio or Visual Web Devveloper Express as a website, make sure to open the folder Tucson that will be nested within the folder Tucson if that's how your file uncompressor ('technical term') works.

Here is a copy of my power point presentation.  It was created with the magnificent Office 2007!

Here is a link to the N-Layer application video on Dan Wahlin's blog i was talking about.  Like I said, I've gone through it no less than 12 times and if you were to ask me if I'd rather go have dinner with Pamela Anderson or go through this video for the 13th time, I can tell you that Pamela will just have to wait.  It's that good to me.

Here is a link to find out more about 'LINQ'  that we spent a little time chatting about, it would have been very easy to make the entire session about LINQ!

And of course I want to point to the  ASP.NET Pro Magazine  article we spoke about today.  You have to get a membership or subscription but I can tell you that this magazine is worth it!  (With or without this article)

Remember to use stylesheettheme not just theme and here is a version of the html if statement in case you need it:

<!--[if IE 5]>
<style>

</style>
<![endif]-->

<!--[if IE 6]>
<style>

</style>
<![endif]-->

Put your styles between the <style> and </style> tags.

Thanks Again for a great time!

Spike

I have developed many sites locally in SQL Express edition and when it comes time to deploy to my hosting provider I run into difficulties.  I found this blog by Scott Guthrie which explains the whole process and provides a tool to use for deployment which solved everything for me.

You still have to work on an account having permissions to perform the tasks on the database which your application requires but if you get the NT Authority Service blah blah blah error that's what it's talking about.

Click here for a link to Scott's blog post.

Holy Cow!  I am in!  I am hooked!  I am committed!

I love PowerShell.

Simple as that.  This is the first in a series of blogs which will explore the amazing technology PowerShell.  This 'command' language works with the .NET framework to allow for just about anything a .NET programmer can think of.  I am going to start at the very beginning since that is where I am at right now!  If you don't have any .NET programming experience you will still be able to follow along with these examples but as I progress in my understanding of the language and these blogs get more advanced you will be in the dark on a lot of the power in PowerShell.  It's not too late, the .NET framework is only getting better, release by release!  The best way I know of to learn the .NET framework and how to use it is via Instructor Led Training, you may as well go to the best school in the country (in my and several others opinion). 
Once you get a class or two under your belt I suggest involvement with a local user group.  I was so lucky to begin here in Phoenix where we have the AZGroups run by Scott Cate and Lorin Thwaits it's free and fun and EXTREMELEY informative!

Last but definitely not least you can take FREE online Training via Microsoft Learning.  It's an unbelievable resource and it's free.  If you come from a php or Java background you can learn ASP.NET very quickly with the above mentioned steps.

Check out the Microsoft Learning Site Here!!  In this case there is a such thing as a free lunch and you should definitely get it while it hot!!!

Well here goes.

Lesson 1:  Creating A File and Writing Text To It.

Step 1: Create a folder on your C drive named PowerShellTesting.

Step 2: Open up PowerShell.  (you can download it here).

Start > All Programs > Windows PowerShell 1.0 > Windows PowerShell

Step 3: In the Command Window, Change Directory to the PowerShellTesting Folder (from the C drive) with the following command: cd PowerShellTesting

Step 4: Use the write-output command to write 'Hello World!' out to a file which will be created with this command called foo.txt:

  Type in this command: write-output Hello World! > foo.txt

Step 5: Open up the folder PowerShellTesting and verify that a file 'foo.txt' now exists.

Step 6: Open up the foo.txt file and look inside!

That's it!

It's that easy.

We are just getting started, check back soon or subscribe I will be posting at least bi-weekly.  There will be a lot of PowerShell related suprises here over the next few years!

I have a friend with whom I attended several courses at Interface Technical Training  and he recently inquired about pseudo-class and child selectors. He is amazing at XSLT and although I haven't been through a  course with him in several years I suspect he's amazing at C# by now as well. In any case he is so good at XSLT that his version of a tshirt with a moniker Keeping It Real would more likely say: Keeping It CDATA!

His question was regarding the correct format for directing styles to links nested in specific tables with a class of mytable.
To be honest I always have to check on where to put the period, is it mytable.a, or a.mytable etc.. in any case I went ahead and put together a page to point out one way of doing it which works well for me.  I have commented the code as well and included a couple of screen shots of the rendered page to illustrate the true power of pseudo classes and child elements.

Figure 1 - illustrates the differences in the link properties.



Figure 2 - illustrates the difference in the hover properties.

Here's The Code:

Click Here to go to the W3C spec on selectors.

Microsoft Across America Launch Event I.T. Pro Track:

<Attention: I just read this incredible related piece of news on Brian McCann's Blog click this link and see what you miss if you miss this event!- Holy Shnikees!>
The only thing bigger and more important in the world of I.T. than these launches would be if Aliens landed and told us that we were not alone, and asked if we could show them how to install Vista!  If you have anything to do with a computer you will want to be there.  I will try to help put this into perspective:

• If you love NASCAR this is the equivalent to a day in a car on the track! 
• If you love Aerosmith, this is as if the band sent you back stage VIP passes at their biggest show.
• If you love football this is the equivalent of being asked to be the quarterback, with the assurance that no one will tackle you , unless you specifically asked to be tackled! 
• If you love boxing this is like getting a chance to spar with the champ and knock him out!
• If you love painting, this is like a chance to try some painting with Picasso!
• If you love I.T. this is a free invitation to the most important launch event of the last 10 years!

Don't Miss Out! This is going to be awesome!

• Phoenix Main Launch event (Developer and IT Professionals): Jan 17 - register here
• Las Vegas Developer: Jan 30 - register here
• Las Vegas IT Professional: Jan 30 - register here
• Albuquerque Developer: Feb 13 - register here
• Albuquerque IT Professional: Feb 13 - register here
• Denver Developer: Feb 15 - register here
• Denver IT Professional: Feb 15 - register here

Yet another blockbuster video code warmup.  This one is on XML.  Most of us find ourselves working with XML.  Whoever thought it up was a genius.  It's very easy to work with using the .NET framework.  In this video we simply create a stream using the XmlWriter class and write XML directly out to the console.  After you watch just a little bit of the video you will get the idea of how easy it is.  Of course  should you need to work with DOM properties you will have to use the XML Document class but the XmlWriter Class works fast as heck for getting the job done!

You can view the video by clicking Here.

This is a screen shot of what the console looks like when you are done (I have my console background white and font color navy):

Here is the code:

We are not running classes for 2 weeks at Interface Technical Training but over the break I will be working on an advanced CSS course which I hope to have done.  The course will focus on ASP.NET 2.0 using Master Pages and Thems and it will be very intense and a very deep dive.  All of the advanced CSS techniques used today are applicable to ASP.NET 2.0 but there is a whole world available as it relates to server side controls which will be covered in the class.  Specifically an entire section on CSS control adapters as well as skins.

I'll post more over the next few weeks as it becomes available, hopefully a preliminary outline and we'll be sure to let you know when you can sign up.  Expect to be working hands on with screen readers, MacIntosh Computers, every browser you can probably name, and more!!!

The New ASP.NET 2.0 Advanced Course 6100 is running this week at Interface Technical Training!

This course is very advanced and not for the 'light of code' but if you are ready it will take you just about as deep as you can go without writing straight out MSIL or machine code.  I am hoping to attend the course but I want to get some areas a bit stronger so I can get the most out of the course.  It's was written and is being taught by Mike Palermo and if you've ever had the pleasure of taking a course from him you know that he is an expert at pushing your skill level to the next phase while at the same time delivering an entertaining and fun class.

Good Luck to Mike and all the students lucky enough to get in this class.  It runs again February 26th so if you want to really take your skills to the next level, start prepping now and sign up!

I just might see you there.

Here is the outline for the course:

Advanced ASP.Net 2.0 Development
5 Days
COURSE NUMBER: 6100

Five days of intense advanced ASP.NET 2.0 development with Visual Studio 2005. Accelerated learning with hands-on workshop that demonstrates how to take web development to the next level. This is for serious ASP.NET developers only.

Audience This course is ideal for individuals already doing web development with ASP.NET version 2.0. Attendee may also have taken the 5092 course to meet the prerequisites (see note box above). This course is not intended for attendees who have little experience with .NET or web development. Deliverables

Attendees receive the following items when taking this course:

• Workshop materials for accelerated training
• Code samples beyond courseware derived from real production environments
• Video excerpts to reinforce concepts learned in class

Topics Covered
After completing this course, attendees will be able to:

• Implement custom configurations in web site
  • Custom sections
  • Encrypt sections
  • Read and write to sections from code
• Understand ASP.NET Compilation
  • Create dynamic code with custom build provider
• Create declarative code with custom expression builders
• Enforce requirements by implementing custom parser filters
• Create or extend built-in ASP.NET Providers
  • Custom Profile Provider
  • Custom Membership Provider
• Troubleshoot difficult problems in enterprise level sites
• Provide custom error management
• Create custom URL manager for URL Rewriting
• Leverage the event model (at control, page, and application levels)
• Exploit the HttpPipeline
  • Create HttpModules
  • Create HttpHandlers
• Use tips on how to fully utilize MasterPages.
• Use asynchronous techniques
  • Script callbacks
  • Async pages
  • Using a windows service
• Create dynamic images
• Configure web site for localization and globalization
• Leverage advanced caching techniques
• Create powerful server controls
  • Dynamic, data-bound user controls
  • Custom, templated server controls

Recently at Interface we began doing a lot of video blogs.  These are short instructional movies to help with particular topics of interest.  I have done 2 so far.  This is a link to one in a series I'm calling "Code Warm Ups".  I use these exercises before starting a project to help 'get in the zone' and also to remind myself of certain syntax etc..  It has helped me out a lot.  I have found that coding is like playing guitar, until you get to a certain level it's great to 'woodshed' (the practice of musicians locking themselves in a wood shed for hours at a time to  practice) to keep the knowledge you have gained sharp and ready for use.  Well enjoy the video, of course there is a little humor thrown in here and there to spice it up. Click Here to view video.

Here is the final code when the code warm up is done:

Enjoy!

Let's face it.  When it comes to the actual layout of a website, almost every thing has been done.  2 column, 2 column header and footer, 3 colum header only etc.. and this is not a bad thing.  Imagine if there was a drastic difference in  how grocery stores were laid out.  Normally you can go to a dairy section, a meat section, a spices section etc...although they will contain different products and different display techniques and ideas, the layout is generally very similar. Once you get the basics of CSS layout down you pretty much have it down. 

Every once in a while I am reminded of the differences in the browsers.  It's often little things that just don't make too much sense.  I think that IE6 got a bad rap for the box model thing, but check this out:

I recently put a site together and build a body, then a wrapper div then inside the wrapper div I put a header div.  Inside the header div I had an h1.

I put a margin-top on the header div to push it off of the border of the wrapper  div.

Here is the result in firefox and in ie6:

FireFox:

IE6:

In the CSS file here is the culprit:

To remedy this situation I simply changed the margin-top:15px; to margin-top:0px; and substituted a padding-top:15px declaration which works fine in both browsers.

Here is a shot of the change:

And finally here it is in FireFox and IE6 with the changed CSS:

Firefox

IE6 After:

Here is the ASP - XHTML and CSS:

Default.aspx:

I got my hands on the new ASP.NET AJAX training DVD from Interface yesterday afternoon and it ROCKS!  This is the second best way to learn apart from instructor led training in my book.  I love computer books but this is so cool.  I just put the DVD on one monitor and then followed along on my other monitor.  WOW!  I learned so much in a couple of hours.  This DVD will be given to each attendee of the Seminar tomorrow over at Microsoft so Kudos to everyone who was lucky enough to get a seat!