Singularity

DataGrid limitation

2010-01-08T15:36:00.003+08:00

This week I hit a limitation in the Silverlight DataGrid control. I'm hoping it's just something I've not learned yet with bindings but it does appear that the simplest solution is to display the data in a different manner.

Problem: The data I'm trying to display is essentially a collection of collections of some object. So the rows can be any number, normal for a datagrid, and the columns are also any number. That's not so normal for a datagrid. Usually you have a set number of columns and your rows vary.

Solution: I tried adding columns to the datagrid dynamically, and while this worked just fine (adding them in codebehind) the real issue I hit was how to bind to the underlaying objects. The data is being built dynamically and I tried a couple of formats. I tried a collection of Arrays, and also an ObservableCollection of ObservableCollections. I could bind to the objects but as Bindings in Silverlight have to bind to properties I couldn't come up with a solution presenting the data this way.

My solution as a result has been to display the data in a more traditional manner, with a lists and a datagrid. When you select an item in the list it repopulates the data in the datagrid to show the objects.

If anyone comes across a way to bind a datagrid cell to a collection of collections please let me know.

Silverlight Xmas meetup

2009-12-18T16:42:00.003+08:00

This month, I was toying with not actually having a meeting due to how close to Christmas the normal date falls.

My laptop has failed and I've been flat out with work. However, the room has been booked and I thought it would still be cool to meet up and chat about the newly launched Silverlight 4 beta, and have some Christmas drinks.

TOPIC: Christmas Drinks plus Silverlight 4 beta cheer
DATE: Wednesday, December 23rd, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

Be great to catch up.

Failed laptop

2009-12-18T16:34:00.002+08:00

Ouch. My Dell m1730 which has served me fairly faithfully for the last 18+ months has died. The graphics card has always run really hot and it killed the battery some time ago. I replaced the battery (not knowing it was most likely the exessive heat) a few months ago.

My machine hung a few times and so I logged a call with Dell. they came and replaced the motherboard which is when the technician noticed the heat of the graphics card. 6 weeks later they replaced the graphics card. That was yesterday.. The technician left and one reboot later the machine would not boot. It would sit at 80% on the BIOS screen. I couldnt even get into the BIOS. So I called Dell and asked for my old graphics card back and the answer was no. ow!

The replacement graphics card is due in February which is probably another 6 week wait. I use this thing for work so that's not good for me. The option given to me by Dell was to replace the whole machine. I have a mate who had 7 faults in 9 months with this machine and they gave him an Alienware M17x of equal specs so that would be an excellent alternative for me.

Would be nice if I could add a few extras to it but I suspect they will choose the specs (equal or greater specs I was told). Thanks Dell!
My thought on Dell's is they are pretty good, but always get as much warranty as you can because faults can become very expensive. Lifetime of a laptop is 2 years for me so more than that is a bonus. I always get 3 years of cover.

Will let you know what I end up with.

EnqueueConditional never passing

2009-12-02T13:09:00.003+08:00

I came across a unit test that seemed to hang. Problem was with the EnqueConditional() method which essentially never became true. A quick search turned up this blog post which has a solution.

Making sure asynchronous donesn't cause a deadlock

EnqueueConditional(() =>
{
// SP: Added timeout on checking the IsBusy
Assert.IsTrue((DateTime.Now - startTime) < TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30), "Timeout on condition 'StudImpVM.IsBusy == false;'");
return StudImpVM.IsBusy == false;
});

Adding this Assert into the conditional check causes it to fail the unit test rather than sit waiting for something that may never happen.

Perth SDDN Silverlight meeting for November

2009-11-23T09:58:00.002+08:00

TOPIC: Ola Karlsson – Smooth Streaming
DATE: Wednesday, November 25th, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

This month Ola will be showing off how Silverlight handles Smooth Streaming.

Smooth Streaming is a feature of Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services, an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform.

Also there will be a license for Silverlight Spy to give away, as we forgot to give it away last month. oops!

Hope you can make it along.

Adobe PDF preview handler 64-bit fix

2009-10-21T09:11:00.001+08:00

I came across this issue on my machine today and wasn’t sure if it was a first time thing or if it had always been there. I don’t normally preview PDF’s so much so possibly the later.

Anyway, the reg file did as advertised on this blog post. Thanks so much Adobe.

Adobe PDF preview handler 64-bit fix

Basically:

Open RegEdit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{DC6EFB56-9CFA-464D-8880-44885D7DC193}

There should be an existing AppID value, incorrectly set to {6d2b5079-2f0b-48dd-ab7f-97cec514d30b}

Change the AppID value to {534A1E02-D58F-44f0-B58B-36CBED287C7C}

SDDN Meeting October

2009-10-20T09:43:00.001+08:00

TOPIC: Stephen Price – SketchFlow
DATE: Wednesday, October 28th, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

This month I’ll be doing a quick walkthrough of Sketchflow, a great tool for prototyping the flow of your Silverlight or WPF applications.

Look forward to seeing you there, and don't forget, bring a Designer with you!

I also have a license to Silverlight Spy to give away, it’s a great tool for finding out what’s going on in your Silverlight app.

September SDDN Meeting: Case study - Building a portal application using Silverlight, Prism and .Net Ria Services

2009-09-16T08:15:00.001+08:00

TOPIC: Young Oh – Case study: Building a portal application using Silverlight, Prism and .Net Ria Services
DATE: Wednesday, September 23rd, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

What can we do with Silverlight? How can it be done? Silverlight can be used to build some serious real world business applications. Combined with Prism and .Net Ria Services it is possible to build what we used to build with WinForm, WPF, and Asp.Net. Silverlight can be used to deliver complex, flexible, intuitive, and powerful application development platforms. In this presentation the experience of building a composite portal application will be discussed. This portal application is not a webpage portal but an application portal. Instead of being restricted to using web parts or portlets full independent applications can be integrated into a portal framework. This can lead to creating a genuine enterprise level portal application framework comprised of relevant real world applications. This presentation will discuss about its concept and architecture and showcase an early stage experimental project which is designed to be integrated with upcoming SharePoint 2010 engine.

Also this month, we have two license give aways. A license for LinqPad, thanks to Joseph Albahari and a license of the newly comercial Silverlight Spy (a MUST if you are doing Silverlight development) thanks to Koen Zwikstra of FirstFloor software.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Back from TechEd - Gold Coast, Australia

2009-09-13T19:56:00.003+08:00

We'll I've just gotten back from TechEd, Australia 2009, and I've pretty much recovered. It was a full on week with loads of sessions, and loads of socialising/Networking.

It was my first TechEd, and I'll definitely doing it again. It's gone on my list of must attends. The cool thing was how many people I already knew, some who I've met at other events and others I hadn't met before other than online.

Now to catch up on some work...

August Perth SDDN Meeting - Silverlight 101

2009-08-23T10:43:00.001+08:00

This month, it's back to basics with Silverlight 101.

TOPIC: Stephen Price – Silverlight 101
DATE: Wednesday, August 26th, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

Now that Silverlight 3 has been released, I'll be walking through some basic Silverlight concepts. I plan to create a simple Silverlight website and then open the floor to a Q&A session.

Stephen has been working with Silverlight for around 18 months now and likes to combine his graphic skills with programming skills to create Rich Internet Applications.

Look forward to seeing you there, and don't forget, bring a Designer with you! You never know when you will need one. :)

Scott Barnes Aussie tour

2009-07-01T23:20:00.002+08:00

The date is locked in, and so is the presenter! Yes, Scott Barnes, our Aussie Silverlight product manager at Microsoft, is doing an Aussie tour.

http://blogs.msdn.com/msmossyblog/archive/2009/06/30/silverlight-expression-3-australian-tour.aspx

So here are the Perth SDDN meeting details:

TOPIC: Scott Barnes – What Just Happened to Silverlight & Expression!
DATE: Wednesday, July 22nd, 6:00pm
VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth
COST: Free. All welcome

Silverlight & Expression 3 launch is an important moment in Microsoft's timeline, as this is our V3 moment!. In light of this point in time, Scott has vowed to ensure all within his beloved home, Australia, get a deep insight into what just happened in both Silverlight and Expression 3. Not only will Scott cover off some of the new stuff, but will highlight some of the existing brilliance within these products through examples and commentary of how the old and new features came to be (as well as hints to both product's future).

In this session you not only will hear all of this, but this is also a perfect opportunity to lobby for what you want to see in Silverlight & Expression 4! - Yes, not only did we just finish work on 3, but we're keen to get started on the next version - given Scott's team is on the planning team, this is a great opportunity for you to influence the future of Microsoft's UX Platform

Last month Jarrad Sargent won himself a license for TypeMock Isolator, and we have another one to give away this month.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Was it good for you too Honey? UX getting it wrong.

2009-06-07T20:26:00.003+08:00

TOPIC: User Experience Design

DATE: Wednesday, June 24th, 6:00pm

VENUE: 43Below. 43 Barrack Street, Perth

COST: Free. All welcome

Join us at the Perth Silverlight Designer and Developer Network, Wednesday June 24th to hear Gary Barber, Freelance User Experience Designer, present "Was it good for you too Honey - UX getting it wrong"

Gary is passionate for the design and creation process, and is a big believer in standards balanced with realism. He presents with a style I've not seen before, which not only leaves you knowing more, but also entertained. Not to be missed!

Also, this month, there will be a door prize of a personal license for TypeMock Isolator (courtesy of TypeMock at www.typemock.com). You can also test Silverlight code using SilverUnit, built on top of TypeMock Isolator, as you would any other code.

So bring along a designer, this user group is not just for developers! If they win the license they might give it to you.

SilverUnit

2009-05-24T11:40:00.001+08:00

Over the last couple of days I’ve been playing a litte bit with SilverUnit. Initially I had a few problems as it seemed that SilverUnit was referencing an older version of TypeMock (still using my Trial).

I emailed Roy Osherove and he put up a new version of SilverUnit which fixed my problem with running my tests. This morning he emailed me back with a link to a blog post. here. He’s released a template to help set up a SilverUnit test. Much quicker and easier.

I made up my own Item template for creating a new test class once you’ve got your SilverUnit project. (I sent it to Roy so hopefully he’ll add that to his installer).

So far I’m liking SilverUnit. It feels more like conventional unit testing and does not use the Silverlight run time (or in a browser). This should mean that you could put this stuff on a build server and automate it. (I’ve not tested that). It also runs nicely with Resharper’s unit test features, and TestDriven.Net.

The small downside is that it does rely on TypeMock (which you need to buy a license for) but if you come along to the next Perth Silverlight Design and Developer Network meeting, I’ll be announcing that I have been promised a couple of TypeMock Isolater (ASP.Net bundle) licenses to give away at the meetings. I think I’ll make one a raffle, and the other can be as a reward for doing a Silverlight presentation at one of our meetings.

Which reminds me, don’t forget the next SDDN meeting in Perth is this week! Wednesday the 27th May, check http://www.sddn.org.au or http://groups.to/sddn (the Facebook group)

SilverUnit

2009-05-20T23:54:00.003+08:00

Unit Testing ASP.NET? ASP.NET unit testing has never been this easy.
Typemock is launching a new product for ASP.NET developers – the ASP.NET Bundle - and for the launch will be giving out FREE licenses to bloggers and their readers.
The ASP.NET Bundle is the ultimate ASP.NET unit testing solution, and offers both Typemock Isolator, a unit test tool and Ivonna, the Isolator add-on for ASP.NET unit testing, for a bargain price.
Typemock Isolator is a leading .NET unit testing tool (C# and VB.NET) for many ‘hard to test’ technologies such as SharePoint, ASP.NET, MVC, WCF, WPF, Silverlight and more. Note that for unit testing Silverlight there is an open source Isolator add-on called SilverUnit.
The first 60 bloggers who will blog this text in their blog and tell us about it, will get a Free Isolator ASP.NET Bundle license (Typemock Isolator + Ivonna). If you post this in an ASP.NET dedicated blog, you'll get a license automatically (even if more than 60 submit) during the first week of this announcement.
Also 8 bloggers will get an additional 2 licenses (each) to give away to their readers / friends.
Go ahead, click the following link for more information on how to get your free license.

I've been doing some Silverlight unit testing, and have tried Rhinomocks for Silverlight. I did run into some issues (not had a chance to get back and have another look at it) but would love the opportunity to check out Typemock's Silverlight unit testing.

Stay in the light...

Silverlight Designer and Developer Network Perth

2009-04-02T11:41:00.002+08:00

The date has been set. The venue chosen. (And its a Pub too!)

When: Wednesday 22nd April, 6pm til 7.30pm (can stay later if we want).

Where: 43Below, 43 Barrack Street, Perth. (used to be called Bar on Barracks). (Map)

For our first Perth meeting, we’ll firstly be feeling our way with setting up the new user group. I plan on doing a demo on Silverlight 3 but may also have a special guest presenter (To be confirmed).

This meeting is open to Designers and Developers, as the name would suggest. It’s not just for Developers, although code will be covered. I think this is important, as there are already plenty of user group events happening in Perth for developers. I’d like to create something that gets Designers and Developers in the same room, talking. :)

Spread the word, and stay in the light. Look forward to seeing you there!

TeamCity build error

2009-03-15T09:02:00.002+09:00

I’ve recently installed TeamCity so far have been impressed. Quick and easy to set up.
I did however have a couple of build errors that I’ve just resolved so I thought I’d blog about them as I found a hard to find anything on this error.
Firstly, as my project being built is a Silverlight project I was getting the error below
Default.aspx.designer.cs(50, 41): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'SilverlightControls' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Web.UI' (are you missing an assembly reference?)

The problem was that the TeamCity build server didn’t have the dependencies needed to do the build, namely the Silverlight SDK. I installed the SDK (the standalone version, not the toolkit for VS which also includes the SDK) and that error disappeared.
The other error I was getting was this one:
"D:\TeamCity\buildAgent\work\28a2267b1fea9d4e\appname\SubsetFontSilverlight.targets" was not found. Confirm that the path in the <Import> declaration is correct, and that the file exists on disk.

This seemed to be being caused by a line in the project file which gets added by Expression Blend when you embed a font (I had accidently embedded a font then removed the font references so perhaps this error would not occur if the font was still available in the project?)
Removing the line below solved my problem, and the build now builds successfully.
<Import Project=”SubsetFontSilverlight.targets”>
Hope that helps someone in the future.

Silverlight on HTML

2008-04-22T08:03:00.001+08:00

Ola blogged on something I was looking for, the ability to render my Silverlight over the top of a HTML page. He's done a great tutorial so check it out.

http://weblogs.asp.net/olakarlsson/archive/2008/04/16/silverlight-on-top-of-html.aspx

I'd like to do Silverlight over the top of this blog so let's see how that goes.

It's all in the Design

2008-04-08T08:00:00.000+08:00

I've had the name Lythix Designs as a trading name for a number of years now. I guess I always had it in my head that I was a Developer AND a Designer.

So after nine months contracting as a User Interface Developer, and soon to start a new contract doing Silverlight I decided to register my domain name. I never really thought about it, but I'm glad it was still available. I plan to create myself a web site that shows off my work, maybe a portfolio area with some examples, a Silverlight web site mixed in there, and some blog posts that cover things I'd like to share with a focus on Development, Design, WPF and Silverlight.

I'll leave my other web site (www.littlevoices.com) for the place to post my cartoons.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you get something from reading my blog.

Stephen

Little Voices goes blog

2007-11-05T23:21:00.000+09:00

Ok, after a fantastic weekend at the Stanleys , I've decided to change the format of Little Voices to a blog. I've seen other cartoonists use them quite successfully and my current setup has been frustrating.
Lack of drive space provided by my web host and CS isn't really feeling like a good fit for what I'm using it for.

I'm going to back date some cartoons based on their creation date and if it all looks nice I'll point my domain at it. See how we go.