Tia Williams Asks "How do you dynamically sort a record set displayed in a HTML table structure on a classic ASP page?"

It depends on the size of the data. If it is small, you could move the data back and forth and sort from memory.

If it's large, I usually just requery the database with the appropriate ORDER BY clause.

If you want to sort it strictly on the client side (good for small to medium amounts of data) there are a number of javascript solutions which will take care of the problem for you.

For instance:
http://kryogenix.org/code/browser/sorttable/
http://www.workingwith.me.uk/articles/scripting/standardista_table_sorting
http://www.codeproject.com/jscript/sorttable.asp

Scott Leonard asks: I am trying to transfer some binary data (byte array) through the clipboard in VS2005 C# without any success. Essentially what I want to do is take a binary file (e.g. dll, exe, jpg, etc.) as a byte array and put it on the clipboard. Then I want to go into a programmer's editor (VSlick, Ultra, VC6, HexEdit etc.), paste the clipboard into an empty doc and save it. I have tried
SetText and SetData and scoured MSDN and the web to no avail. I am not trying to create a custom clipboard type to pass into another app I am writing, I just want to pass binary data and paste it into a standard editor. I found a little tool called CFList from www.ciansoft.com which will show you what format the data in your clipboard is in, and I was trying to see how VSlick and VC6 did it, but it doesn't give very detailed info. MSDN mentions using a memorystream if you want to pass data around unaltered, but I had no success with that either. Here is a simple example of a couple things I tried:

//byte[] byTag = new byte[5] { 0x05, 0x03, 0x09, 0x00, 0x01 }; //doesn't
matter where we get this...
// MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(byTag);
// Clipboard.SetData(/*DataFormats.GetFormat(*/"BinaryData"/*)*/,
byTag/*ms*/);

---

William Answers:

There are two rules for moving data onto the clipboard.

1. It must be done from the primary thread of a windows form (the thread that created the form), and
   
2. You typically need to Clear the clipboard before sending data to it.
   

Obviously when getting data from the clipboard you don't need to clear it first, but it still needs to occur on a form thread.

To get the function to invoke on the thread which created the form, you'll need to encapsulate your code in a function which checks to see if an Invoke is needed, and if it is, to invoke itself.

Here's a form that I tested out that demonstrates the technique:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Threading;

namespace WindowsApplication1
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Thread T = new Thread(new ThreadStart(SetTest));
            T.Start();
        }

        public void SetTest()
        {
            byte[] byTag = new byte[5] { 0x05, 0x03, 0x09, 0x00, 0x01 };
            SetClipboard(this, byTag);
        }

        public delegate void d_SetClipboard(Form Parent, byte[] Data);
        public void SetClipboard(Form Target, byte[] Data)
        {
            if (Target.InvokeRequired)
                Target.Invoke(new d_SetClipboard(SetClipboard), new object[] { Target, Data });
            else
            {
                Clipboard.Clear();
                Clipboard.SetDataObject(System.Text.ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(Data), true);
            }
        }

        public delegate byte[] d_GetClipboard(Form Parent);
        public byte[] GetClipboard(Form Target)
        {
            if (Target.InvokeRequired)
                return (byte[])Target.Invoke(new d_GetClipboard(GetClipboard), new object[] { Target });
            else
            {
                IDataObject ido = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
                string data = (string) ido.GetData(typeof(string));
                return ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(data);
            }
        }

        private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Thread T = new Thread(new ThreadStart(GetTest));
            T.Start();
        }

        public void GetTest()
        {
            if (this.InvokeRequired)
                Invoke(new MethodInvoker(GetTest));
            else
            {
                byte[] x = GetClipboard(this);
                textBox1.Text = x.Length.ToString();
            }
        }
    }
}

Click button1 to set the clipboard to the contents of the array, then click button 2. The text box will be set to 5, which is the length of the byte array on the clipboard. Notice I translated the byte array into/from a string to make it easy to paste into other applications. It may not be necessary to do this if you want the content as an actual byte array instead of as an ASCII string.

What are some cool, new things for Visual Studio 2005 ?

Recently I gave a (lukewarm) presentation on some new and cool things for Visual Studio 2005. I presented a number of free and/or open source tools that have made the last few months of coding somewhat easier.

They include:

• Download details: Consolas Font Pack

The Microsoft Consolas Font Family is a set of highly legible fonts designed for ClearType. It is intended for use in programming environments and other circumstances where a monospaced font is specified. This installation package will set the default font for Visual Studio to Consolas.

• C#CommDog

A utility to make building XML Comments and keeping them up to date very easy. Load your project and C#CommDog will automatically walk through your project and insert XML comment placeholders with a "C#CD: " in each area you haven't already written a comment. Then you go through, file by file, and find each "C#CD: " string and replace it with actual documentation. C#CommDog keeps track of how many items there are left to write with an easy to follow red/yellow/green system for each file. So if there are 5 strings left to write in a file, it will show a yellow light. When you've written those 5 lines and save the file, C#CommDog updates the entry with a green arrow. This simple appoach to XML Comments makes going from no comments to completely commented code a snap.
This one is shareware for 30 days, but is fully functional. A brief pause on start up after 30 days until you register is the only downsite. $69 to register, and worth every penny.

• Sandcastle - September 2006 Community Technology Preview (CTP)

Enabling managed class library developers throughout the world to easily create accurate, informative documentation with a common look and feel.

• Sandcastle Help File Builder - The Code Project - .NET

A GUI for creating projects to build help files with Sandcastle and a console mode tool to build them as well. Between this NDoc-like program, C#CommDog and Sandcastle (above), you can create MSDN quality documentation from even a very large DLL in only a few days. Building a compiled help file from XML comments for free !

• SubSonic - The Zero Code DAL
  

Connects to SQL Server or MySql (or Enterprise data block) and generates ActiveRecord pattern style objects for each table and stored procedure found. No code to write. Just add some XML and your connection string to your Web.config, add a .abp file (a new file) with just a * in it and a reference to SubSonic and each time you build custom objects are made available that directly model your database. This one is not only free but open source, allowing developers to take the code generator and do with it as they see fit.

• SQL Server Hosting Toolkit

Allows you to quickly script a SQL Server 2005 database to a series of DROP CREATE and INSERT statements that recreate not only the structure but the actual data in a database. This is a free command line utility from Microsoft.

• Snipp Doggy Dogg: Home

Editing code snippet XML files can be cumbersome. Shipp Doggy Dogg makes the process much (MUCH) easier with a gui that allows you to forget about the details of the XML and just write the snippets you're looking for. This one is a free utility. You may also want to check out the Code Snippet Editor for Visual Basic 2005 from Microsoft (which works with C# snippets as well, but you have to add the folders to its GUI yourself).

• XML Notepad 2006

XML Notepad 2006 provides a simple intuitive user interface for browsing and editing XML documents. This one is a new utility from Microsoft and allows you to not only edit XML and XSL documents, but also validate and test xsl render as well. This is no XMLSpy, but it's not bad for being free.

• PowerToys for the Visual Studio 2005 Class Designer and Distributed System Designers: Workspace Home

This add-in for Visual Studio further extends the class designer with some very useful features including the ability to export the image to a web page (with hover over areas for methods and properties), simplified zoom and pan, additional interface and class connection options, and more (see the read me). This is a free utility from Microsoft.


In my presentation, I failed to mention a web site I found called DotNetSlackers: ASP.NET News For Lazy Developers which I thought was interesting.

Tia Williams asks William:
"What do you recommend for a Content Management System (CMS) for ASP.Net?"
"What do you think about DotNetNuke for a Content Management System?"

The short answer is either Sharepoint 2007 or DotNetNuke. Sharepoint if you want a CMS for internal use and have some money and resources to throw at it. DotNetNuke if you want a low cost of entry and to make the CMS available to the internet.

The longer answer depends on what the CMS will be used for.

Microsoft Sharepoint 2007 is the CMS of the future... for business. It integrates very tightly with Internet Exploer, Windows, and probably most importantly with MS Office (both 2003 and the upcoming 2007). This is good for business, not so much for over the web user who may or may not have Internet Explorer, Windows or the latest versions of MS Office.

Sharepoint has some excellent integrated security and a document versioning system that is first rate. However, it requires a significant server to run it and isn't even close to free, it also requires an administrator to set it up and keep it going as well as to hand out user rights and deal with the occational problems that will come up.

Sharepoint 2007 is highly customizable and will be integrated with Windows Vista and .NET 3.0. However, customizing Sharepoint in the past has been extremely difficult, 2007 will likely be much easier and have workflow integration (a huge selling point once business latches onto workflow enabled applications). Sharepoint is highly scalable both vertically and horizontally.

Sharepoint is mostly about document management and informing people when new versions of documents have changed. So while it is a CMS it can really be thought of as more of a document management system. I do not want to paint Sharepoint as difficult to use, as I have had nothing but a pleasant user experience with it. It is easy to navigate and offers document searching which I think is first rate.


DotNetNuke is open source and free. It has had several books written on it. Hundreds of add on modules and skins (both open source, free, and pay with support) are available for download. It has a very simple interface for editing and appears to be solid. It's been around for years and has many a loyal fan. All in all a well written solution. Documentation is liberal and well though out designed with both the content manager, IT professional, and developer in mind. They are currently up to version 4.3 which shows a level of commitment and quality that is admirable.

That said, direct code support is going to be up to you and getting support will often entail more personal time than perhaps the Microsoft solution would. Direct support comes from other users in the form of forums and their "DNN Support" network. It can also be daunting to navigate the actual DotNetNuke site as there is so much to look through to answer even some relatively simple questions like "which databases are supported" (it's safe to say SQL Server 2005 and Express 2005 are supported, but what about something else like MySQL ?). If you're not fond of .NET, then consider phpNuke.


So basically, if you're a medium+ sized business using Microsoft technologies and have the time, money, and resources to invest, then Sharepoint is probably the right choice. If you're looking for a system for internet use or you don't have much money to throw at a CMS, DotNetNuke (or it's cousin PhpNuke) would be a great choice.