You can easily generate Xml from a DataTable by using the .WriteXml() method.

But you can also bypass this and retrieve the Xml directly SQL Server 2005 by running the following command:

USE Northwind;

SELECT    EmployeeID,
        LastName,
        FirstName
FROM    dbo.Employees
FOR XML AUTO;

 

This will return an Xml representation of the data that looks like this:

<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="1" LastName="Davolio" FirstName="Nancy" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="2" LastName="Fuller" FirstName="Andrew" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="3" LastName="Leverling" FirstName="Janet" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="4" LastName="Peacock" FirstName="Margaret" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="5" LastName="Buchanan" FirstName="Steven" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="6" LastName="Suyama" FirstName="Michael" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="7" LastName="King" FirstName="Robert" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="8" LastName="Callahan" FirstName="Laura" />
<dbo.Employees EmployeeID="9" LastName="Dodsworth" FirstName="Anne" />

For more information on FOR XML and its modes, click here.

Most developers dont know about the virtual trace output page available in ASP.NET. This page allows you to see the Trace Output provided by ASP.NET. You can view many statistics about the pages that have been executed on the system.

The virtual page trace.axd is enabled by enabling tracing in your application by enabling tracing in the web.config file like this:

<trace enabled="true" />

You can now compile and run your web page. Hit refresh a few times to get some info into the trace cache.

Visit the trace.axd file by typing it manually into your browser address bar.

For Example: http://localhost:1234/TraceExample/trace.axd

When yo view this page, you should see something similar to this:



Click on the "View Details" links and you'll see the trace out put listed for that request. (Note: I have cut off the image because there is too much data listed to list in this post. Download the example and try it out yourself to see all the details.)




How To Write Info To The Trace
You can write information to the trace by using the Trace.Write method.

Trace.Write("We're writing to the trace output.");

In the downloadable example below, I override the OnPreRender event and write info to the trace. By doing this:

protected override void OnPreRender(EventArgs e)
{
Trace.Write("We're inside of the OnPreRender Event.");
base.OnPreRender(e);
}

This will write info to the trace, which can be viewed on the trace output page:

*Note: The trace.axd can only be viewed when executed on the local machine where the pages are being executed from.

Download Example

TraceExample.zip (1.77 KB)

For those of you who use Simian, please be aware, they upgraded the product and the old "-recurse" option no longer works. Read below on how to fix it.

The Issue

I downloaded it last night to test it with my teams current continuous integration environment through Cruise Control .NET (CCNET).  I looked at some examples on the CCNET website on how to run this as a NAnt task and found that it should be fairly easy. I just needed to recurse through the directories and have it run on all C# files (*.cs). Unfortunately I was getting a "Invalid Option" each time I ran this code:

simian-2.2.13.exe -recurse=*.cs -formatter=xml:simian.xml

 

The Issue, Part 2

I finally figured out that the docutmentation on the CCNET site was incorrect. The new product removed the -recurse option and replaced it with -includes and -excludes options to resemble the file globbing method of retrieving files.

I then ran the command as they recommended on the site:

simian-2.2.13.exe -includes=**/*.cs -formatter=xml:simian.xml

I then got this error: "Error: Illegal characters in path."

 

The battle continues

I continue to battle this until I finally give up I try wrapping paths in quotes, executing using different syntax, passing in different wild cards. I combed the documentation with a fine tooth comb, only to find, NOTHING.

 

Resolution

I resorted to emailing support to ask for help.

To my amazement, I had a reply within 2 hours stating that I found a bug in the new release. They said they would fix it and upload a new version ASAP. 5 Hours later, the new version was live on the site.

I downloaded the new version, version 2.2.14, and ran the command

simian-2.2.14.exe -includes=**/*.cs -formatter=xml:simian.xml

I ran the command and the system placed my results into my requested XML File. I was now able to integrate it into my continuous integration system.

With it in place, I can now see my similiarity results.

Cruise Control .NET Website support link

 Sometimes we have websites that are strictly HTTPS. No files whatsoever are served up through HTTP. We want our users to only access the HTTPS portion of our website but we dont want them to remember "https://" blah blah blah. Honestly, who really wants to type all of that anyway? No one. We want our users to type www.example.com and then we want the site to redirect to the local https site. I've found a few sites out there that have some very robust SSL transition handlers, this one especially , but it was just way too much for what I needed to do. I needed something simple. So I started thinking...

There are a couple ways to do this.

Force SSL through IIS.


But this wouldnt be the desired method because if the user typed in http://www.example.com/ they would be presented with a page that states this site requires SSL. We want it to redirect. Also, this means that if I move my site to another server I have to update configuration on the IIS site as well as any settings in my web.config. Mo-hassles, mo-problems, yuck.

Redirect Page
We could also leave one page not requiring SSL and execute the following code in Page_Load

// Redirect to HTTPS Site
Response.Redirect("https://www.example.com");

That works, but what if a user has a bookmark to a special part of the site such as: http://www.example.com/examplefolder/example.aspx  ??
This method would get bypassed and the user could easily access the page without SSL Encryption.

Http Module
This is the method I decided to go with.

The code implements the IHttpModule interface. Inside of the Init method we attach to the Application.BeginRequest event and then we let the handler decide what to do with the page. If the page is using a secure connection then we dont do anything with the request. If they are not using a secure connection, the code replaces the Uri scheme with "https" and then performs a redirect.

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

/// <summary>
/// Redirects a request to the HTTPS site.
/// </summary>
public class RedirectToHttpsModule : IHttpModule
{
#region Constants

private const string HTTPS = "https";

#endregion

#region IHttpModule Members

public void IHttpModule.Dispose()
{
// Nothing to dispose.
}

public void IHttpModule.Init(HttpApplication context)
{
context.BeginRequest += new EventHandler(context_BeginRequest);
}

void context_BeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
HttpApplication application = sender as HttpApplication;
if (!application.Request.IsSecureConnection)
{
// Grabs the current scheme, http, and replaces with https and redirects.
application.Response.Redirect(application.Request.Url.ToString().Replace(application.Request.Url.Scheme, HTTPS));
}
}

#endregion
}

Implementation
Download the RedirectToHttpsModule.cs file below and place it into the App_Code directory located in the root of your website.
Then add the following to your system.web configuration section of your web.config file.

<httpModules>
<add type="RedirectToHttpsModule" name="RedirectToHttpsModule" />
</httpModules>

Now, each request made to your site will be pushed to https.


RedirectToHttpsModule.zip (.57 KB)

One thing that should be burned into the heads of many developers is that Prototype/Proof of Concept (PoC) code is NOT production code. Proof of Concept code is not production code.

Prototype code is, more or less, proof of concept. When you create a prototype or PoC, it’s something that can be shown to the client to create a common understanding of what is to be delivered. Now, some people will disagree with this, but … after the client agrees to this prototype/PoC this code should only be saved for reference. It should only be referenced to ensure the client is getting what they received. It should be compared to the final app to make sure it works in the same order.

When creating Prototype/PoC the goal is to save money. It helps set its viability, expose any technical issues and express any concern over any direction of the system. Feedback can be implemented quite easily at this point. This allows the developer and business analyst to quickly identify the noted issues without incurring a high overhead of development costs.

Once the Prototype/PoC is agreed upon, the development on the prototype ceases and the design phase of the new system should begin. Under NO circumstance should the prototype be taken and converted into the actual production site. Will you take snippets of code here and there? Yes, will you grab a piece of JavaScript from the client code you created for the prototype? Yes. Will you use the entire project as your production code? No.

The reason for this is simple; prototype code is ugly, messy, and nasty. It’s a conglomerate of blog posts, mixed with MSDN How-To articles, mixed with hacks and riddled with bugs. The code in these types of projects contain code that is far from anything pretty. The code would take longer to clean up than it would to take to write it from a fresh slate.