All posts tagged 'vb'

vb.net is cooler than you think

by Dave Sun 10 February 2008 @ 23:07

I just came across a great post from Paul Vick (the guy in charge of Visual Basic development at Microsoft) about the popularity of VB. Linkage

Categorised : Programming, Reading
Tagged with : vb, surfing

lpc and wlw

by Dave Sun 6 January 2008 @ 02:18

OK, so I'm making some small changes to how this site handles posts from external sources. Specifically how I handle text that comes in from Windows Live Writer, now that it supports proper XHTML. Now that I look at it, there are actually a bunch of fuckups in this code, and I'll re-write it soon enough. It doesn't have to be scalable though, and it is one of those pieces of code that is completely one-use only. If there were any other parameters thrown in to the mix, such as other users, or indeed anything other than THIS blog, then I couldn't do it like this. As I get more done, and this is admittedly a long term project as I have a bunch of other stuff to do beforehand (like find a job!), I will post the new code here too. So, without further ado, I present my concoction of the Metaweblog API in VP.Net

   1: <%@ WebHandler Language="VB" Class="MetaWeblogAPI" %>

2:

   3: Imports System.IO

   4: Imports System.Data

   5: Imports CookComputing.XmlRpc

   6: Imports System.Data.SqlClient

   7: Public Class MetaWeblogAPI

   8:   Inherits XmlRpcService : Implements IHttpHandler

9:

  10:   Private Shared Sub Authenticate(ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String)

  11:     ' Check the login and password in the database.

  12:     Dim iResult As Integer

  13:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

  14:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

  15:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

  16:     Dim objCommand As SqlCommand

  17:     Dim objParam As SqlParameter

  18:     Try

  19:       objConn.Open()

  20:       objCommand = New SqlCommand("DBAuthenticate", objConn)

  21:       objCommand.CommandType = Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure

  22:       objParam = objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("RETURN_VALUE", 8)

  23:       objParam.Direction = Data.ParameterDirection.ReturnValue

  24:       objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@username", username)

  25:       objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@password", password)

  26:       objCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

  27:       iResult = objCommand.Parameters("RETURN_VALUE").Value

  28:       ' The return value is going to be either -2 for an incorrect password,

  29:       ' -1 for an incorrect username or the UserID if it validates.

  30:       If (iResult < 0) Then

  31:         If (iResult = -1) Then

  32:           Throw New System.Security.Authentication.InvalidCredentialException("Incorrect UserName, please try again.")

  33:         Else

  34:           Throw New System.Security.Authentication.InvalidCredentialException("Incorrect Password, please try again.")

  35:         End If

  36:       End If

  37:     Catch ex As Exception

  38:       Throw New System.Security.Authentication.AuthenticationException("Authentication Error : " & ex.Message)

  39:     Finally

  40:       objConn.Close()

  41:     End Try

  42:   End Sub

43:

  44:   <XmlRpcMethod("blogger.getUsersBlogs")> _

  45:    Public Function getUsersBlogs(ByVal appKey As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String) As XmlRpcStruct()

  46:     ' This is hardcoded to return only the ID of LPC.  As its the only blog on this server,

  47:     ' it makes sense to do it this way instead of accessing the database.

  48:     Authenticate(username, password)

  49:     Dim rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct = New XmlRpcStruct

  50:     rpcstruct.Add("blogid", "2")

  51:     rpcstruct.Add("blogName", "LPC")

  52:     rpcstruct.Add("url", "http://davewhite.net")

  53:     Dim datarpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct() = New XmlRpcStruct() {rpcstruct}

  54:     Return datarpcstruct

  55:   End Function

56:

  57:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.setTemplate")> _

  58:   Public Function setTemplate(ByVal appKey As String, ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal template As String, ByVal templateType As String) As Boolean

  59:     ' Unused - there's only one template

  60:     Authenticate(username, password)

  61:     Throw New System.NotImplementedException("SetTemplate is not implemented")

  62:   End Function

63:

64:

  65:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.getCategories")> _

  66:   Public Function getCategories(ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String) As XmlRpcStruct()

  67:     ' This returns a list of categories.  Although you don't see them on the front page, they are

  68:     ' actually there.  They're fairly limited and I don't have any real use for them, but I may one day

  69:     ' expand their use.  In looking through this I just found a huge error caused by writing this and then

  70:     ' re-using some of it without re-writing.  Bad Dave, BAD.  To be fixed.

  71:     Authenticate(username, password)

  72:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

  73:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

  74:     Dim objConnection As SqlConnection

  75:     Dim objRecords As SqlDataReader

  76:     Dim strSQL2 As String = "select count(iID) from Categories"

  77:     objConnection = New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

  78:     objConnection.Open()

  79:     Dim strSQL As String = "select * from Categories"

  80:     Dim i As Integer = 0

  81:     Dim iRecCount As Integer

  82:     Dim objcommand2 As New SqlCommand(strSQL2, objConnection)

  83:     iRecCount = objcommand2.ExecuteScalar

  84:     Dim categories(iRecCount - 1) As XmlRpcStruct

  85:     Dim objCommand As SqlCommand

  86:     objCommand = New SqlCommand(strSQL, objConnection)

  87:     objRecords = objCommand.ExecuteReader()

  88:     Try

  89:       If Not objRecords.HasRows Then

  90:         Throw New Exception("Oh oh... no categories!")

  91:         Exit Try

  92:       End If

  93:       While objRecords.HasRows AndAlso i < iRecCount

  94:         objRecords.Read()

  95:         Dim rpcstruct As New XmlRpcStruct

  96:         rpcstruct.Add("categoryid", objRecords("iID"))

  97:         rpcstruct.Add("title", objRecords("strCategory"))

  98:         rpcstruct.Add("description", objRecords("strDescription"))

  99:         categories(i) = rpcstruct

 100:         System.Math.Min(System.Threading.Interlocked.Increment(i), i - 1)

 101:       End While

 102:     Catch ex As Exception

 103:       If Not ex.Message = "Invalid attempt to read when no data is present." Then

 104:         Throw New Exception("Error : " & ex.Message)

 105:       End If

 106:     Finally

 107:       objRecords.Close()

 108:       objConnection.Close()

 109:     End Try

 110:     Return categories

 111:   End Function

 112:

 113:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.getRecentPosts")> _

 114:   Public Function getRecentPosts(ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal numberOfPosts As Integer) As XmlRpcStruct()

 115:     ' This is the routine that is called when WLW opens the Recent Posts from the blog.  Firstly we need

 116:     ' to authenticate that the username and password are indeed authorised...

 117:     Authenticate(username, password)

 118:     ' Then open the database and get the last numberOfPosts entries from the table.

 119:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

 120:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

 121:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

 122:     objConn.Open()

 123:     Dim objRecords As SqlDataReader

 124:     ' Here we need posts of type 0 and 1, which are Drafts and Published Posts.  There's a type 2 which

 125:     ' is deleted posts, but you never get to see that.

 126:     Dim objCommand As New SqlCommand("select top " & numberOfPosts & " * from Blog where PostType in (0,1) order by ID desc")

 127:     objCommand.Connection = objConn

 128:     objRecords = objCommand.ExecuteReader()

 129:     Dim posts(numberOfPosts - 1) As XmlRpcStruct

 130:     Dim i As Integer = 0

 131:     Try

 132:       While objRecords.Read AndAlso i < numberOfPosts

 133:         ' Loop and build out the XML structure

 134:         Dim rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct = New XmlRpcStruct

 135:         rpcstruct.Add("title", objRecords("Title"))

 136:         rpcstruct.Add("link", "http://davewhite.net/default.aspx?id=" & objRecords("ID"))

 137:         rpcstruct.Add("description", LPC.Functions.TextFromDBToLiveWriter(objRecords("Text")))

 138:         rpcstruct.Add("dateCreated", LPC.Functions.GetDateTimeforBlogs(objRecords("DateAdded")))

 139:         If objRecords("Guid") Is DBNull.Value Then

 140:           rpcstruct.Add("guid", Guid.NewGuid.ToString)

 141:         Else

 142:           rpcstruct.Add("guid", objRecords("Guid").ToString)

 143:         End If

 144:         rpcstruct.Add("postid", objRecords("ID"))

 145:         rpcstruct.Add("author", "Dave White")

 146:         posts(i) = rpcstruct

 147:         System.Math.Min(System.Threading.Interlocked.Increment(i), i - 1)

 148:       End While

 149:     Catch ex As Exception

 150:       Throw New Exception("oh oh..." & ex.Message)

 151:     Finally

 152:       objRecords.Close()

 153:       objConn.Close()

 154:     End Try

 155:     Return posts

 156:   End Function

 157:

 158:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.getTemplate")> _

 159:   Public Function getTemplate(ByVal appKey As String, ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal templateType As String) As String

 160:     ' Returns the template to whatever needs it.  You know, I actually have no idea what purpose this

 161:     ' routine server for a WLW implementation.  I have to check that.

 162:     Authenticate(username, password)

 163:     Dim template As String = "<HTML>" & Microsoft.VisualBasic.Chr(13) & "" & Microsoft.Visual... and lots more...

 164:     Return template

 165:   End Function

 166:

 167:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newPost")> _

 168:   Public Function newPost(ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct, ByVal publish As Boolean) As String

 169:     ' Publishing a new post with this one, and I've found something else I need to improve.  I think

 170:     ' that I'm going to re-write this entire class after I post this entry.

 171:     Authenticate(username, password)

 172:     Dim iResult As Integer

 173:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

 174:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

 175:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

 176:     Dim objCommand As SqlCommand

 177:     Dim objParam As SqlParameter

 178:     Try

 179:       objConn.Open()

 180:       objCommand = New SqlCommand("AddEntryFromService", objConn)

 181:       objCommand.CommandType = Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure

 182:       objCommand.Parameters.Add("@Title", SqlDbType.NVarChar)

 183:       objCommand.Parameters.Add("@Guid", SqlDbType.UniqueIdentifier)

 184:       objCommand.Parameters.Add("@Text", SqlDbType.NText)

 185:       objCommand.Parameters.Add("@PostType", SqlDbType.Int)

 186:       objCommand.Parameters.Add("@PostTime", SqlDbType.SmallDateTime)

 187:       ' Values

 188:       objCommand.Parameters("@Title").Value = rpcstruct("title").ToString

 189:       objCommand.Parameters("@Guid").Value = System.Guid.NewGuid

 190:       ' The line below used to munch through the post text and format it in such a way that it worked

 191:       ' properly in the blog, and was also valid HTML / XHTML.  The new version of WLW actually posts

 192:       ' valid XHTML now, so it just isn't needed anymore.

 193:       'objCommand.Parameters("@Text").Value = LPC.Functions.TextToDBFromLiveWriter(rpcstruct("description"))

 194:       objCommand.Parameters("@Text").Value = rpcstruct("description")

 195:       ' Check if this is a draft, or a post for publishing.

 196:       If publish = True Then

 197:         objCommand.Parameters("@PostType").Value = 1

 198:       Else

 199:         objCommand.Parameters("@PostType").Value = 0

 200:       End If

 201:       ' Check if the date has been specified.  If not then set to UTC.

 202:       If Not rpcstruct("dateCreated") Is Nothing Then

 203:         objCommand.Parameters("@PostTime").Value = rpcstruct("dateCreated")

 204:       Else

 205:         objCommand.Parameters("@PostTime").Value = Now.ToUniversalTime

 206:       End If

 207:       objParam = objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("RETURN_VALUE", 8)

 208:       objParam.Direction = Data.ParameterDirection.ReturnValue

 209:       objCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

 210:       iResult = objCommand.Parameters("RETURN_VALUE").Value

 211:     Catch ex As Exception

 212:       Throw New System.Security.Authentication.InvalidCredentialException("Error adding post : " & ex.Message)

 213:     Finally

 214:       objConn.Close()

 215:     End Try

 216:     Return iResult

 217:   End Function

 218:

 219:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.editPost")> _

 220:   Public Function editPost(ByVal postid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct, ByVal publish As Boolean) As Boolean

 221:     ' This is the same as posting a new blog, except it takes the blog ID as a parameter.

 222:     Authenticate(username, password)

 223:     Dim Title, Blog As String

 224:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

 225:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

 226:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

 227:     objConn.Open()

 228:     Dim objCommand As New SqlCommand("Update Blog set Title=@Title, Text=@Text, PostType=@PostType where ID=@iID", objConn)

 229:     Title = LPC.Functions.TextToDBFromLiveWriter(rpcstruct("title"))

 230:     Blog = LPC.Functions.TextToDBFromLiveWriter(rpcstruct("description"))

 231:     objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Title", Title)

 232:     objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Text", Blog)

 233:     objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@iID", postid)

 234:     objCommand.Parameters.Add("@PostType", SqlDbType.Int)

 235:     If publish = True Then

 236:       objCommand.Parameters("@PostType").Value = 1

 237:     Else

 238:       objCommand.Parameters("@PostType").Value = 0

 239:     End If

 240:     Try

 241:       objCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

 242:       Return True

 243:     Catch ex As Exception

 244:       Throw New Exception("There was a problem editing your post. (PostID : " & postid & ") Message (" & ex.Message & ")")

 245:       Return ex.Message

 246:     Finally

 247:       objConn.Close()

 248:     End Try

 249:     Return True

 250:   End Function

 251:

 252:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.getPost")> _

 253:   Public Function getPost(ByVal postid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String) As XmlRpcStruct

 254:     ' Reads a specific post from the database.

 255:     Authenticate(username, password)

 256:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

 257:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

 258:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

 259:     objConn.Open()

 260:     Dim objRecords As SqlDataReader

 261:     Dim objCommand As New SqlCommand("select * from Blog where ID=@ID", objConn)

 262:     objCommand.Parameters.Add("@ID", SqlDbType.Int)

 263:     objCommand.Parameters("@ID").Value = CInt(postid)

 264:     Dim rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct = New XmlRpcStruct

 265:     Try

 266:       objRecords = objCommand.ExecuteReader()

 267:       objRecords.Read()

 268:       rpcstruct.Add("title", objRecords("Title"))

 269:       rpcstruct.Add("link", "http://davewhite.net/default.aspx?id=" & objRecords("ID"))

 270:       rpcstruct.Add("description", LPC.Functions.TextFromDBToLiveWriter(objRecords("Text")))

 271:       rpcstruct.Add("dateCreated", LPC.Functions.GetDateTimeforBlogs(objRecords("DateAdded")))

 272:       If objRecords("Guid") Is DBNull.Value Then

 273:         rpcstruct.Add("guid", Guid.NewGuid.ToString)

 274:       Else

 275:         rpcstruct.Add("guid", objRecords("Guid").ToString)

 276:       End If

 277:       rpcstruct.Add("postid", objRecords("ID"))

 278:       rpcstruct.Add("author", "Dave White")

 279:       objRecords.Close()

 280:     Catch ex As Exception

 281:       Throw New Exception("What happened?")

 282:     Finally

 283:       objConn.Close()

 284:     End Try

 285:     Return rpcstruct

 286:   End Function

 287:

 288:   <XmlRpcMethod("blogger.deletePost")> _

 289:   Public Function deletePost(ByVal appKey As String, ByVal postid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal publish As Boolean) As Boolean

 290:     ' Kills a post

 291:     Authenticate(username, password)

 292:     Dim sqlConn As ConnectionStringSettings

 293:     sqlConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("SQLServer")

 294:     Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(sqlConn.ConnectionString)

 295:     objConn.Open()

 296:     Dim objCommand As New SqlCommand("update Blog set PostType=2 where ID=@iID", objConn)

 297:     objCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@iID", postid)

 298:     Try

 299:       objCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

 300:     Catch ex As Exception

 301:       Throw New Exception("There was a problem deleting your post. (PostID : " & postid & ") Message (" & ex.Message & ")")

 302:       objConn.Close()

 303:       Return False

 304:     Finally

 305:       objConn.Close()

 306:     End Try

 307:     Return True

 308:   End Function

 309:

 310:   <XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newMediaObject")> _

 311:   Public Function newMediaObject(ByVal blogid As String, ByVal username As String, ByVal password As String, ByVal rpcstruct As XmlRpcStruct) As XmlRpcStruct

 312:     Authenticate(username, password)

 313:     ' Some programs specify a directory AND filename.  We don't want that - all we want is the filename, so that we control where it goes.

 314:     ' This truncates that down and checks for redundancy.  If a file is there already, we'll use a GUID for the name instead.

 315:     Dim name As String = rpcstruct("name").ToString

 316:     Dim type As String = rpcstruct("type").ToString

 317:     Dim media As Byte() = CType(rpcstruct("bits"), Byte())

 318:     Dim index As Integer = name.LastIndexOf("/") + 1

 319:     Dim strFileName As String = name.Substring(index)

 320:     ' Check for the file existing.

 321:     If File.Exists(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/photos/posted/") & strFileName) Then

 322:       ' File Exists, so lets use a GUID as the filename.

 323:       Dim strFileNameOnServer As String = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/photos/posted") & strFileName

 324:       Dim iIndex As Integer = strFileNameOnServer.LastIndexOf(".")

 325:       Dim sExt As String = strFileNameOnServer.Substring(iIndex)

 326:       strFileName = Guid.NewGuid.ToString & sExt

 327:     End If

 328:     ' Write the file and return the URL.

 329:     Dim stream As FileStream = File.Create(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/photos/posted/") & strFileName)

 330:     stream.Write(media, 0, media.Length)

 331:     stream.Flush()

 332:     stream.Close()

 333:     stream.Dispose()

 334:     Dim rstruct As XmlRpcStruct = New XmlRpcStruct

 335:     rstruct.Add("url", "http://davewhite.net/photos/posted/" & strFileName)

 336:     Return rstruct

 337:   End Function

 338:

 339: End Class

Categorised : Programming
Tagged with : coding, vb, .net

building...

by Dave Mon 10 September 2007 @ 02:14

------ Build started: Project: http://davewhite.net/, Configuration: Debug .NET ------
Validating Web Site
Building directory '/davewhite.net/errorpages/'.
Building directory '/davewhite.net/eve/'.
Building directory '/davewhite.net/mobile/'.
Building directory '/davewhite.net/'. Validation Complete
========== Build: 1 succeeded or up-to-date, 0 failed, 0 skipped ==========

Categorised : Programming
Tagged with : vb, .net, davewhite.net

external influences

by Dave Tue 29 May 2007 @ 23:58

So, in nine years of having a blog, with one exception I've never used another tool to edit my posts with the exception for the back end pages of the blog itself. The exception is a little application that I wrote on my PDA about four or five years ago that allows me to post and edit entries. Now, my PDA is a pain in the arse to get information into, but it can be done, albeit slowly. The problem for me has always been that I needed to be live to make a posting to this system, or I would save it in a text document somewhere and post it later.
Recently, Microsoft brought out a program called Windows Live Writer (WLW) which is basically a WYSIWYG editor for creating posts on a blog system. It was supposedly compliant with all sorts of standards, and it actually looked like a very interesting product. So I downloaded it, and it didn't work of course. My blog system is proprietary, a so-called "Roll Your Own" blog. So yesterday I set about writing an entry point page for WLW to access my blog. It worked, kinda, and there's still some to go. The previous post and this one were created in WLW though, and I'm getting a hold on how it all comes together too. I use an interface schema called the MetaWabLog API to give it access to my system, and it seems to be pretty basic and work up to a point. The point in case being that the documentation on it all is horribly sketchy. For example, the date "Sun, 1 Jan 2007 11:23 AM" should be a legitimate date as far as this program is concerned, but it doesn't seem to work properly. There are a bunch of little niggly things like that that I have yet to sort out.
So the point is, I had to create a non-standard interface to handle it all. It was going to parse the expected input from WLW, using everything I knew to expect from the MetaWebLog API, and give me full control from any external app that uses this interface. Shame it doesn't seem to work. Some bits of it are good, but some are just a pain in the arse. So, I have to have functions that clean up the code and change it so that it fits with my way of doing this. This is nasty, and not the way that things are supposed to be done. Case in point if the function below.

Public Shared Function TextToDBFromLiveWriter(ByVal strText As String)
'strText = ParseWLWImageToXHTML(strText)
strText = Replace(strText, "href="" mce_href=""", "href="" mce_href=""")
strText = Replace(strText, "/imageviewer.aspx?ImageID=", "/imageviewer.aspx?ImageID=")
strText = Replace(strText, "/imageviewer.aspx?ImageID=", "/imageviewer.aspx?ImageID=")
strText = Replace(strText, "&", "&amp;")
strText = Replace(strText, " ".ToLower, " ")
strText = Replace(strText, "".ToLower, "")
strText = Replace(strText, "".ToLower, " ")
strText = Replace(strText, "&amp;nbsp; ", "&nbsp; ")
Return strText
End Function
For some reason there's a disparity between code I enter on the page, and code that comes from an application. I'm going to have to fix that...

Now, I don't know about you, but that's not how I think things should be done. And if you go with that logic, then one of two things needs to change. Either the whole world has to change and do it my way, or I'm going to have to change some very basic functionality on this site.

Categorised : Programming
Tagged with : davewhite.net, wlw, vb

and now for something completely different

by Dave Sun 22 October 2006 @ 22:47

OK, so I've made the switch ASP.Net 1.1 to ASP.Net 2.0 and from Readyhosting to DiscountASP.Net. They seem like a really cool hosting provider, and they're slightly faster than I was getting at the old company. I've also updated the design of LPC to something slimmer and faster and more compliant. It is based on a design called Mollio, which is an open source template for the FarCry CMS. So far so good, though there are going to be lots of broken links around for a while.
Still ToDo : XML Feeds, Eve-Online Stuff, XML-RPC pings for new posts, editing and deleting posts, Code Stuff to be changed to the new 2.0 code and I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff too. I've been sitting on this for a month, figuring I'd do it tomorrow. However, I thought this morning that if I didn't change it now then I'd still be sitting on it in six months.
So here it is. Let me know what you think, let me know what's broken (unless you get an error page, in which case I'll know anyway).

Categorised : Building, Programming
Tagged with : davewhite.net, dasp, hosting, design, asp.net, vb

.net is strange

by Dave Sat 12 February 2005 @ 23:30

I can't figure out how the hell I made the login page on this site respond to pressing the enter key. It isn't a default, and the work required to do that in .Net is apparently considerable. So how the hell did I do it?

Categorised : Building
Tagged with : .net, vb

the blog who came in from the cold

by Dave Fri 21 January 2005 @ 05:25

Here's one unexpected benefit of this app I wrote for the PocketPC. I can write my blog from outside the house. Today this is of benefit because I've locked myself out. Anna is still in university, but my wireless LAN reaches outside the house. So I can post this data from here. Yay.

Categorised : Programming, Technologising
Tagged with : vb, davewhite.net, pda

VB.Net

by Dave Wed 19 January 2005 @ 06:51

Today I started my new course in VB.Net. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting it to be as completely absorbing as it actually was. gone of the concepts I had understood intelectually but never actually put into practice. One of the core pieces that I picked up was about PocketPC, and namely that development of "Smart Device" programs was not actually rocket science. So, I came home and wrote a program to publish my blog from my PocketPC. This post was written with it!

Categorised : Programming
Tagged with : pda, vb

source code

by Dave Tue 9 November 2004 @ 05:38

There doesn't seem to be an easy to use blogging system out there in VB.Net yet. There are some that can be used, but they're cumbersome, or don't do exactly what I need them to do. That's why I stopped using Scott Watermasysk's .Text application, which almost did it for me. However, I couldn't find an easy way to put my skin on it, and I didn't want to learn C# at that point in time. So I fucked around with this application until I got to the stage where it is at now. I'm going to place Code snippits on a new page for you to use, and ultimately the entire source code for this application.

Categorised : Building, Programming
Tagged with : davewhite.net, c#, vb