DotNetIdeas

ComponentOne 2.x upgrade issues

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:53:00 +0000

We have been using ComponentOne 1.x for quite some time. We used C1PrintDocument to merge some RTF templates and generate PDF document. Recently we planed to upgrade our server to 64-bit machine. When we tested out the ComponentOne PDF generation code, we kept getting "Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt" error. After upgrade to ComponentOne 2.x, that issue is gone. However, we ran into several other issues. When I re-compile the code after the upgrade, a lot of syntax do not work anymore. Some of them are easy to fix, but some of the deprecated functions are not that easy to replace since they no longer exist in the package. There are the changes I want to document here:

1. "Page [@@PageNo@@] of [@@PageCount@@]"

If you have used the code above, you have to add the following code now in order to use them:

c1PrintDocument1.TagOpenParen = "[@@";
c1PrintDocument1.TagCloseParen = "@@]";

2. Table border style

from:

RenderTable headerTable = new RenderTable(c1PrintDocument1);
headerTable.Style.Borders.AllEmpty = true;
headerTable.StyleTableCell.BorderTableHorz.Empty = true;
headerTable.StyleTableCell.BorderTableVert.Empty = true;

to:

RenderTable headerTable = new RenderTable(c1PrintDocument1);
headerTable.Style.Borders.All = LineDef.Empty;
headerTable.Style.GridLines.All = LineDef.Empty;

3. Page Header/Footer

from:

c1PrintDocument1.PageHeader.RenderObject = headerTable;

to:

c1PrintDocument1.PageLayouts.Default.PageHeader = headerTable;

4. Check remaining space

from:

RenderRichText obj = new RenderRichText(c1PrintDocument1);
obj = ...;
if (c1PrintDocument1.AvailableBlockFlowHeight < c1PrintDocument1.MeasureBlock(obj).Height) 
    c1PrintDocument1.NewPage();

to:

RenderRichText obj = new RenderRichText(c1PrintDocument1);
SizeD objSize = obj.CalcSize("2in", "auto");
if (c1PrintDocument1.AvailableBlockFlowHeight < objSize.Height) 
    c1PrintDocument1.NewPage();

HTTP Error 401.1 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:23:00 +0000

We just experienced a problem with web services authentication. Two of our production servers suddenly failed to authenticate users. We kept getting the 401.1 error. We are using "digest authentication". We had this issue before when we setup a new server. Rebooting the server fixed it. However, this time the trick didn't work. Finally, our administrator decided to remove the server from the domain and re-join it. That fixed the issue.

Learning Silverlight – Miscellaneous Tips

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:55:00 +0000

How to use OpenFileDialog?

OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
ofd.Multiselect = false;
ofd.Filter = "xml files (*.xml)|*.xml";
if (ofd.ShowDialog()==true)
{
    string fileContent = ofd.File.OpenText().ReadToEnd();
    // do some thing
}

How to use SaveFileDialog?

SaveFileDialog sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
sfd.Filter = "xml files (*.xml)|*.xml";
if (sfd.ShowDialog() == true)
{
    byte[] fileBytes = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(fileString); // fileString would be something you want to save to the file

    using (Stream fs = (Stream)sfd.OpenFile())
    {
        fs.Write(fileBytes, 0, fileBytes.Length);
        fs.Close();
    }
}

How to parse XML?

To parse a XML file like this:

<List type="DotNetIdeas.CF.RecipeBox.RecipeBox">
    <category name="Breakfast" order="0">
       <item name="pan cake"/>
       <item name="milk"/>
    <category name="Desert" order="1">
</List>

You can do something like this:

XDocument xd = XDocument.Parse(xml);

XElement node = xd.Root;

var categories = (from category in xd.Descendants("category")
                  select new Category()
                  {
                      Name = category.Attribute("name").Value,
                      Order = Convert.ToInt32(category.Attribute("order").Value),
                      Items = FromXml(category.Elements("item"))
                  }).ToList();

If you happened to be like me, migrating the code from some old programs, don’t forget to add “using System.Linq” which is in System.Core.dll. Otherwise you will get a compiler error.

How to use TreeView?

To create a TreeView like this one, you will need to use HierarchicalDataTemplate. It is in System.Windows.Controls. So add the following namespace first:

xmlns:control="clr-namespace:System.Windows;assembly=System.Windows.Controls"

<controls:TreeView x:Name="ingredientList" Height="330" Width="248" Canvas.Left="17" Canvas.Top="18">
    <controls:TreeView.ItemTemplate>
        <control:HierarchicalDataTemplate ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
            <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
                <CheckBox x:Name="itemCheckbox" IsChecked="{Binding ItemChecked, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
                <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
            </StackPanel>
        </control:HierarchicalDataTemplate>

    </controls:TreeView.ItemTemplate>
</controls:TreeView>

How to force data binding in TextChanged event?

When a text box has data binding, it will not update the source until it lost the focus. Sometimes we want the source to change as soon as we type something. Here is how to do it:

private void ingredientName_TextChanged(object sender, System.Windows.Controls.TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
    BindingExpression bExp = ingredientName.GetBindingExpression(TextBox.TextProperty);
    if (bExp != null)
    {
        bExp.UpdateSource();
    }
}

Learning Silverlight – How to programmatically add animation?

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:25:00 +0000

Recently I created a little Silverlight application called “LittleMath”. It is a simple number addition game. It randomly generate two numbers between 0 and 9. The user clicks on the number pad to give the answer and check it by clicking on “Check Answer”. This is my first Silverlight application. I found it very interesting. With the help of Expression Blend, you can build nice looking application with animation fairly quickly. However, sometimes you may need to animation programmatically. In my demo, when you check “Show Beads”, it will show the red beads one by one according to the randomly generated numbers. Here is how to do it.

First we create a story board and animation duration for each bead:

private double beadDuration = 0.5;
private Storyboard showBeadsStoryBoard = new Storyboard();

Then add the story board to resources with a name

LayoutRoot.Resources.Add("showBeads", showBeadsStoryBoard);

Before showing the beads, we need to clear the existing beads. Then set the story board duration based on the total numbers. For each bead, we create a DoubleAnimation so the bead will gradually appear on the screen. Because we want the bead to show up one by one, we will need to set the BeginTime. The rest is pretty straight forward.

private void ShowBeads()
{
    ClearBeads();
    int num1 = Convert.ToInt32(number1.Text);
    int num2 = Convert.ToInt32(number2.Text);
    Duration storyBoardduration = new Duration(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(beadDuration * (num1 + num2)+1));
    showBeadsStoryBoard.Duration = storyBoardduration;
    Duration duration = new Duration(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(beadDuration));
    
    for (int i = 0; i < num1; i++)
    {
        AddBead(beadsPanel1, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(beadDuration * i + 1), duration);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < num2; i++)
    {
        AddBead(beadsPanel2, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(beadDuration * (num1 + i) + 1), duration);
    }

    // Begin the animation.
    showBeadsStoryBoard.Begin();
}

private void AddBead(StackPanel beadsPanel, TimeSpan beginTime, Duration duration)
{
    // Add bead
    Ellipse bead = new Ellipse();
    bead.Width = 20;
    bead.Height = 20;
    bead.Margin = new Thickness(0);
    bead.Fill = beadBrush;
    bead.Opacity = 0;
    beadsPanel.Children.Add(bead);
               
    // Add animation
    DoubleAnimation beadDoubleAnimation = new DoubleAnimation();
    beadDoubleAnimation.Duration = duration;
    beadDoubleAnimation.BeginTime = beginTime;
    showBeadsStoryBoard.Children.Add(beadDoubleAnimation);
    Storyboard.SetTarget(beadDoubleAnimation, bead);
    Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(beadDoubleAnimation, new PropertyPath("(UIElement.Opacity)"));
    beadDoubleAnimation.To = 1;
}

private void ClearBeads()
{
    showBeadsStoryBoard.Stop();
    beadsPanel1.Children.Clear();
    beadsPanel2.Children.Clear();
}

It is really neat.

How to make an icon’s background transparent using Visual Studio Icon Editor?

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:30:00 +0000

To make an icon’s background transparent, you open the icon file using Visual Studio Icon Editor, choose the “Fill Tool”. Then choose the “Transparent” color from “Colors” on the left. Click on the areas you want to make transparent. That’s it.

Microsoft Bing on SmartPhone

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:12:00 +0000

To download “Bing”, type m.bing.com in your web browser. Click “Download interactive maps” for Windows Mobile. Then following the on-screen instruction.

After the installation, you will see the “Bing” icon in Programs.

Tap on “Bing” icon to run it. Below is the dashboard of Bing. The Map is very similar to Google Map. It also use cellular phone tower to decide your location, so it is not very accurate.

The two features I really like is the “Traffic” and “Movies”. The “Traffic” map seems accurate and it automatically update every 2 minutes. The “Movies” is easy to navigate. You can quickly find the theater a movie is playing in or check the show time of any particular theater around your area.

The “Gas Princes” searches the lowest gas price around your area. But I think they could add more sorting capabilities.

“Categories” allow you search local business by category. It is like a yellow page and I think it is very handy.

“Collections” has some predefined search criteria. I found the “Upcoming event” is kind of strange. It is not sorted by date/time. It even listed classes at some hospitals.

“Bing” crashed a couple times when the memory on my cell phone running low. With all the maps and automatic updates, you could imagine that it requires a lot of resources. But overall, I think “Bing” is a really nice application.

Display HTML code in HTML web page

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:56:00 +0000

To display HTML code in a HTML page, you need first to replace "<" and ">" with "<" and ">", then add <pre></pre> around them. Here is an example:

To display the following in a HTML page

<h2>Header</h2>

You actually have the following text in your HTML page

<pre><h2>Header</h2>

Using OLE web browser control in PowerBuilder?

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Using OLE web browser control in PowerBuilder is easy. You choose "Create OLE control" from control list. Click on "Insert Control" tab and choose "Microsoft Web Browser". You may use it for web browsing or display PDF files. When I worked on a project in 2001, I had an issue with OLE Adobe Reader control in PowerBuilder. It had memory leak. After opening a handful PDF files, it would crash. Finally I found the solution to work around this issue. That was using "Microsoft Web Browser" control.

Here is how to use it and some of the features I used:

1. How to navigate?

ole_browser.object.navigate("http://www.google.com")

2. How to go back and forward?

ole_browser.object.GoBack()

ole_browser.object.GoForward()

If you have the "Back" and "Forward" button, you will want to enable them only when there are pages you can go back and forward. Then you need to have the following code in the "commandstatechange" event of the OLE control.

CHOOSE CASE command
    CASE 1 //CSC_NAVIGATEFORWARD
        cb_forrward.enabled = enable
    CASE 2 //CSC_NAVIGATEBACK
        cb_back.enabled = enable
END CHOOSE

3. How to get the url and name

In "navigatecomplete2" event you can use the following properties

ole_browser.Object.LocationUrl

ole_browser.Object.LocationName

4. How to do some common actions?

You may use ExecWB( cmdID As OLECMDID, cmdexecopt As OLECMDEXECOPT, [pvaIn As Variant,] [pvaOut As Variant]) to perform some common actions in Web Browser Control. For example, ole_browser.object.ExecWB(12, 2) is to copy the highlighted text. Below is the list of command arguments:

typedef enum  
{ 
     OLECMDID_OPEN                   = 1, 
     OLECMDID_NEW                    = 2, 
     OLECMDID_SAVE                   = 3, 
     OLECMDID_SAVEAS                 = 4, 
     OLECMDID_SAVECOPYAS             = 5, 
     OLECMDID_PRINT                  = 6, 
     OLECMDID_PRINTPREVIEW           = 7, 
     OLECMDID_PAGESETUP              = 8, 
     OLECMDID_SPELL                  = 9, 
     OLECMDID_PROPERTIES             = 10, 
     OLECMDID_CUT                    = 11, 
     OLECMDID_COPY                   = 12, 
     OLECMDID_PASTE                  = 13, 
     OLECMDID_PASTESPECIAL           = 14, 
     OLECMDID_UNDO                   = 15, 
     OLECMDID_REDO                   = 16, 
     OLECMDID_SELECTALL              = 17, 
     OLECMDID_CLEARSELECTION         = 18, 
     OLECMDID_ZOOM                   = 19, 
     OLECMDID_GETZOOMRANGE           = 20, 
     OLECMDID_UPDATECOMMANDS         = 21, 
     OLECMDID_REFRESH                = 22, 
     OLECMDID_STOP                   = 23, 
     OLECMDID_HIDETOOLBARS           = 24, 
     OLECMDID_SETPROGRESSMAX         = 25, 
     OLECMDID_SETPROGRESSPOS         = 26, 
     OLECMDID_SETPROGRESSTEXT        = 27, 
     OLECMDID_SETTITLE               = 28, 
     OLECMDID_SETDOWNLOADSTATE       = 29, 
     OLECMDID_STOPDOWNLOAD           = 30, 
     OLECMDID_ONTOOLBARACTIVATED     = 31, 
     OLECMDID_FIND                   = 32, 
     OLECMDID_DELETE                 = 33, 
     OLECMDID_HTTPEQUIV              = 34, 
     OLECMDID_HTTPEQUIV_DONE         = 35, 
     OLECMDID_ENABLE_INTERACTION     = 36, 
     OLECMDID_ONUNLOAD               = 37, 
     OLECMDID_PROPERTYBAG2           = 38, 
     OLECMDID_PREREFRESH             = 39, 
     OLECMDID_SHOWSCRIPTERROR        = 40, 
     OLECMDID_SHOWMESSAGE            = 41, 
     OLECMDID_SHOWFIND               = 42, 
     OLECMDID_SHOWPAGESETUP          = 43, 
     OLECMDID_SHOWPRINT              = 44, 
     OLECMDID_CLOSE                  = 45, 
     OLECMDID_ALLOWUILESSSAVEAS      = 46, 
     OLECMDID_DONTDOWNLOADCSS        = 47, 
     OLECMDID_UPDATEPAGESTATUS       = 48, 
     OLECMDID_PRINT2                 = 49, 
     OLECMDID_PRINTPREVIEW2          = 50, 
     OLECMDID_SETPRINTTEMPLATE       = 51, 
     OLECMDID_GETPRINTTEMPLATE       = 52, 
     OLECMDID_PAGEACTIONBLOCKED      = 55,
     OLECMDID_PAGEACTIONUIQUERY      = 56,
     OLECMDID_FOCUSVIEWCONTROLS      = 57,
     OLECMDID_FOCUSVIEWCONTROLSQUERY = 58,
     OLECMDID_SHOWPAGEACTIONMENU     = 59,
     OLECMDID_ADDTRAVELENTRY         = 60,
     OLECMDID_UPDATETRAVELENTRY      = 61,
     OLECMDID_UPDATEBACKFORWARDSTATE = 62,
     OLECMDID_OPTICAL_ZOOM           = 63,
     OLECMDID_OPTICAL_GETZOOMRANGE   = 64,
     OLECMDID_WINDOWSTATECHANGED     = 65,
     OLECMDID_ACTIVEXINSTALLSCOPE    = 66
} OLECMDID;

typedef enum  
{ 
    OLECMDEXECOPT_DODEFAULT        = 0, 
    OLECMDEXECOPT_PROMPTUSER       = 1, 
    OLECMDEXECOPT_DONTPROMPTUSER    = 2, 
    OLECMDEXECOPT_SHOWHELP         = 3 
} OLECMDEXECOPT;

Although it says OLECMDEXECOPT_DONTPROMPTUSER = 2 doesn't show the dialog, but when you run execwb(6,2) to print a web page, it will always show the dialog. That is be design. Check Microsoft KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/247671 for more info.

How to use PowerBuilder to create PDF file?

noreply@blogger.com (DotNetIdeas) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:50:00 +0000

When work on a project several years ago, I was asked to create PDF files using PowerBuilder and the process would be triggered by a web service written in C#.

The first issue I ran into was how to communicate between PowerBuilder and .NET web services. I wrote about this in detail in another blog , so I am not going to repeat it here.

Since PowerBuilder doesn’t have intellisense, it is hard to write code with a lot of business entities. So I put all the business logic on the .NET side. PowerBuilder was only used to take the data passed in, build the datawindow and save the datawindow to PDF file.

Here are the steps for saving a datawindow into PDF file:

Install GhostScript. I have GhostScript 7.06 installed. You can download this from the Internet for free.
Create a new folder under GhostScript directory c:\gs\PdfPrinterSetupFiles and copy the following files to this location. I don’t remember where I downloaded those files, but you should be able to find them on the Internet.

ADIST5.INF

ADIST5.PPD

ADIST5CS.PPD

ADIST5CT.PPD

ADIST5J.PPD

ADIST5K.PPD

PSCRIPT.DLL

PSCRIPT.DRV

PSCRIPT.HLP

PSCRPTUI.DLL

Setup a “Sybase DataWindow PS” printer on your machine.

a) Open “Add Printer”

b)Hit Next in that dialog.

c) Select "Local Printer" and hit Next.

d)For "Use the following port", select "File:" and hit Next.

e)Hit "Have Disk"

f) Browse to the directory we created above (in item 6) and select the ADIST5.INF file, then hit Open.

g)Hit OK to close the Install from Disk dialog.

h)   Select "Acrobat Distiller" and hit Next.

i)   It may prompt you to keep existing driver, your choice, hit Next.

j)  For Printer Name, enter "Sybase DataWindow PS".  Or you can enter something else, and then add that printer name to the DataWindow print specs.  Hit Next.

k) On printer sharing, hit Next.

l)   Decide whether or not you want a test page, and then hit Next.

m)    Hit Finish.

Create a datawindow in the PowerBuilder application. Set the properties of the datawindow to the following

dw_1.Object.DataWindow.Export.PDF.Method = Distill! 
dw_1.Object.DataWindow.Printer = "Sybase DataWindow PS" 
dw_1.Object.DataWindow.Export.PDF.Distill.CustomPostScript="Yes"

The rest was easy. Just call SaveAs function and you are done.

dw_1.SaveAs(filename, PDF!, FALSE)