You Can't Beat the Price - Axosoft OnTime 5 Users 5 Bucks

What a great deal. I have tried the eval before. It is real well done.

Thanks to Rob Zelt for the link.

http://www.axosoft.com/Products/ontime.aspx?cn=otm_stepromo

Deal ends February 24, 2006

ASP.NET 2.0 Chapter 13 - Working with XML

This chapter gives a basic overview on what XML is all about. It shows how to work with all aspects of XML. It is just pure coincidence that Scott Hanselman has put out a Hanselminutes episode this week on XML. As usual, he provides a lot more insight into using XML, including some very good tools to use.

What was that shortcut key

I prefer using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible in the Visual Studio IDE. There have been several keyboard shortcuts that have changed in 2005. I got frustrated going to Tools - Options just to find a keyboard shortcut, so I wrote a macro that brings up an input box to allow me to type in some text that is equivalent to a command.

But go figure, after implementing this macro and coding on my own, I found a very similar example here.

http://www.mobydisk.com/softdev/techinfo/dotnetkeyboard.html

Data Management in ADO.Net - Chapter 12

Wow!!!! What a lot of new features:

SQLBulkCopy
MARS
Asynchronous Connections and Commands

And my favorite, The DataTable is now serializable, woohooo!!!!

There is great detail in this chapter about the above areas. This should really enhance the way data retrieval and updates are currently done.

Chapter 11 - Databinding

The new datasource object, can it really be that simple. At least when it comes to direct access to the database from the UI tier.

I wish that business object binding would have been covered a little more in depth, however, there are some great tips on how to do it.

Even though this is much simpler than the old way to bind data, I still am a little disheartened about such a direct connectivity to the datasource. I wonder what Rocky Lothka did with his CSLA archtecture to utilize these datasource components?

DNRTV

DotNetRocks podcasts To DNRTV, Carl Franklin has outdone himself again. These shows are top notch.

Kudos go to Mark Miller, the DXCore show was absolutely amazing. I now am going to spend a lot of time looking at the object browser to understand more of what I can do with this FREE (Did I Say Free) developer add-in to extend visual studio in ways I never even thought of before. Thanks Mark.

Chapter 10 - The curveball in the book

A chapter describing collections and lists (in an ASP.NET book????)

I am not complaining however. This is probably the best reference that I have ever seen on the hows and whys of ArrayLists, Collections, and etc, etc, etc....

Phenomenal guys...This could have been a small ebook all by itself....

Chapter 9 - Themes and Skins

This chapter tells how to use thems from the App_themes folder to styles, css, and images in the theme. I didn't go too into depth into this chapter, however, doing some more reading on theming and skins won't hurt. I currently build my own skins for DotNetNuke, so I am very familiar with CSS and styles.

Chapter 8 - Working with Master pages

Visual Master Pages - How Nice!!!!

The best thing about this chapter was how the authors delved in to work with Master Pages for different situations, showing how to work with Master page properties and controls, and configuation options in the web.config file specifically geared to Master Pages.

Of course.... Visually view master pages is the best...

Chapter 7 - Validation, Validation, Validation

In depth coverage of the validation controls are found in this chapter. What a concept, using images as the validation error. I had no idea. These are the best examples of the CompareValidator that I have seen.

And how about the best...."Validator Groups"

It doesn't get any better than this

Chapter 6 - The New Server Controls

Gone are the days of slicing images and placing them in a table to create an image map ("Hotspots"). This chapter delves into some of the best new Web Server Controls that are included in ASP.NET 2.0. I am really happy to see:

• A bulleted List Control
• The new file upload control rocks!!!! There is a lot of detail in this chapter about using the file upload control. It is fabulous.
• Wizard and Multi-View Controls (hmmm) I will have to see how customizable these are. I wonder, can the multi-view be set up as tabs?????

All these and more. Microsoft has really helped the developer with these new controls.

ASP.NET Web Server Controls

I thought this chapter had some very good insights on how some of the standard web server controls (ASP.Net 1.0, 1.1) have changed. Key changes that caught my eye:

• Hot key functionality (accelerator keys). This should provide for better navigation.
• Mode attribute in the literal control - This should really help with code examples.
• A great reference to the autocomplete attribute is in this chapter. Great for those of us who don't like to type.
• Postback URL Attribute on buttons...Awesome...

Also there are several great examples of coding controls such as checkbox lists, calendars, and the table server control. I am especially going to look at the new OnClientClick attribute for buttons.

Enjoy

Chapter 4 - Server Controls and Client-Side Scripts

This chapter was a pretty high level overview of server controls and how to use them in development. Some good information was given regarding CSS. I really like the example that was given with the HTMLGenericControl, and it was interesting to see the new server controls that are now available in 2.0.

A fantastic job was done, explaining how to use javascript with the server controls. There were pretty detailed examples of how the different ClientScript.Register methods are used.

Implementing a Client-Side Callback in javascript was something that I had never done. This section was very well written and I plan on using this functionality later down the line.

Great Chapter!!!! This is the kind of information developers need.

ASP.NET 2.0 - chapter 3 (Now for the content)

Where Chapters 1 and 2 were pretty much just an overview, chapter 3 introduces the user to some pretty good information. This chapter titled Application and Page Frameworks, covers many great things.

• Directives and attributes tables: these are a fantastic reference
• Cross-page postbacks - I can't wait to use this functionality. This should save developers an immense amount of work in capturing workflow and confirmation pages.
• An Explanation of the new App_ folders. Great information here.
• Compilation of the website by just typing in the URL + precompile.axd. It also covers how to precompile from the command line. No more hitting every page to bring the site up to speed.

This was real good information. I am looking forward to the next chapter.

Professional ASP.Net 2.0 - Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1 - Introduction

This chapter gives a very very quick overview of what is new in ASP.Net 2.0.

What I benefited from:
I gained a new appreciation as to the intent of the change to 2.0. I believe that there has been a great focus shift to better equip the developer with the best tools and resources.

Chapter 2 - Visual Studio 2005

A broad overview was given on how the Visual Studio 2005 IDE is organized.

What I benefited from:
It is good to see some of the vast improvements in the IDE were hit on in this chapter. The tip on right clicking the tabs to get the new list of options for opening containing folder and closing all documents was the best nugget for me.

Professional ASP.Net 2.0 (User Group Book Reviews)

I am looking forward to reviewing the Professional ASP.Net 2.0 Book by Wrox for my local .Net User Group. It is a pretty cool idea to get members from the user group to review some books by the top developers in the world and let other members know what we think.

There were several books to review, but I chose Professional ASP.Net 2.0 because of my respect for the authors of the book. I have my work cut out for me though. It is over 1000 pages of content.