Silverlight 3 Released!

Check out the blog post from ScottGu:

Silverlight 3 Released
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/07/10/silverlight-3-released.aspx

" is not a valid Win32 application. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700C1)"

When working with IIS7 and Server 2008, and received this message: " is not a valid Win32 application. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700C1)"

The problem seems to be that the assemblies used to compile the website are 32 bit assemblies, and need to be "enabled" in the application pool.

Steps:
1. Open Internet Information Services IIS Manager
2. Select "Application Pools"
2. Locate the application pool for your web site
3. Choose "Advanced Settings..." for the application pool
4. Under the "(General)" section, set "Enable 32-Bit Applications" to True.

Problem fixed!

Firebug for Firefox

Recently I've started using Firebug for development, and it's fast become one of my best tools as a web developer.

Firebug is a Firefox plug in what allows you to view, edit, and watch CSS, html and JavaScript on any page.

Resources:
http://getfirebug.com/

View Report Data window in Visual Studio 2008 / SRS 2008

Recently when working with Visual Studio 2008 / Sql Reporting Services 2008, the enviroment crashed. When reopened, the "Report Data" window was missing.

To make the window display again, it's easy to find, but in a slighty different place than the usual (not under the "Other Windows" section). It is located on the View menu itself, in my case, the last option on the menu (see image below).

MSDN Southern Fried Roadshow - March 2009 Edition

The MSDN Southern Fried Roadshow - March 2009 Edition has been announced and is open for registration.

From Glen Gordon on Pla.NET Southeast blog:
The MSDN Southern Fried Roadshow is a free developer event with a southern flair, where you will learn about some of the latest developments in Microsoft technologies. For March, 2009 the Roadshow will be presented by Architect Evangelist Chad Brooks and Developer Evangelists Glen Gordon and Brian Hitney. Chad, Glen & Brian will be loading up a minivan with lots of goodies, and trying to hit 4 cities in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia in 4 days.

We're still working on nailing down the topics, check back in late January for the list.

We will also feature local speakers from each of our stops delivering short talks at the beginning of the Roadshow. These Homegrown Nuggets will sure be tasty!

Every attendee will receive a free MS Press book (while supplies last) as well as pointers to tons of resources for further learning.

Resources:
Registration: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032403861&Culture=en-US

From Glen Gordon / Pla.NET Southeast blog

Atlanta Code Camp 2009 -- Save the date!

Everyone-

If your interested, the 2009 Atlanta code camp is Saturday March 14th at the Georgia Gwinnet College located in Lawrenceville.

Interested in being a speaker at the event? You can sign up here. http://atlantacodecamp.com/calling-all-speakers/

Resources:
http://atlantacodecamp.com/

Business Intelligence

This is a great primer presentation on Business Intelligence, and helps to dispel some of the common misconceptions about the area.

Lessons Learned in BI. View this recorded presentation by Aaron Erickson.

Resources:
Lessons Learned in BI
Magenic

Method not found: 'System.Object System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke

When working with Microsoft Server 2008, and deploying an application, and after trying to run the first page:
"Method not found: 'System.Object System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(System.Delegate, System.Object[])'."

The solution is simple: The server did not have Microsoft .Net Framework 3.1 SP 1 installed. After installing the package from here: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, everything was fixed.

Resources:
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1

Other:
Here is the complete exception message from .net, in case anyone is searching for this fix using it
Method not found: 'System.Object System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(System.Delegate, System.Object[])'.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: 'System.Object System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(System.Delegate, System.Object[])'.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:
[MissingMethodException: Method not found: 'System.Object System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(System.Delegate, System.Object[])'.]

Linq : Distinct and Case-Insensitive (StringComparer in action)

Recently, working on a project, and ran into a simple problem. Wanted to get distinct entries from a List (but this solution will work with any class that uses IEnumerable)

Basically, the requirement needed to make the distinct collection of strings be not case sensitive, so : FileName1 was equal to filename1 or Filename1

Looking at the great Distinct extension method for link, it exposes an overload to specify IEqualityComparer comparer.

Rather than looking around, or thinking about writing something, check out the StringComparer class.

You can specify a StringComparer:
StringComparer CurrentCulture { get; }
StringComparer CurrentCultureIgnoreCase { get; }
StringComparer InvariantCulture { get; }
StringComparer InvariantCultureIgnoreCase { get; }
StringComparer Ordinal { get; }
StringComparer OrdinalIgnoreCase { get; }

Here is the result:
var results= fileList.Distinct(StringComparer.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);

So simple, and easy to use!

Resources:
nested linq queries, how to get distinct values?

MSDTC partner transaction manager disabled

"The partner transaction manager has disabled its support for remote/network transactions. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8004D025)"

This message appears when MS DTC is not enabled for remote/network transactions. It would occur when trying to initiate a DTC controlled transaction involving more than one machine.

While DTC has been configured properly on the requesting machine, one of the remote respondant has not been configured to accept remote or network requests.

If you working with Vista, you can view my article on how to enable DTC on a Vista machine:Vista: MSDTC (DTC) and COM+ Configuration

Resources:
Vista: MSDTC (DTC) and COM+ Configuration