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VS 2008 throws a COM Exception when loading a web application project. This happens when the project was made in VS 2005 and upgraded using the Upgrade Wizard. It loads web application projects made natively without a problem. There is a work around if this happens to you.

Via http://www.codeattest.com/blogs/martin/2008/01/comexception-loading-solution.html

"In order to load the Web Application Project you must make sure that the URL that the project is using, is valid and can be resolved. This can happen pretty often since when you download a project from source control for the first time, it is highly unlikely that you will have the web site already set up."

If this happens to you, the project will not load and will be grayed out in the solution explorer. Right click and edit the project, (or edit the .csproj file in notepad) look for the WebProjectProperties element. Check if the IISUrl child element points to a valid location. The server should exists, and the virtual directory should point to the same location as the web application project.

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Many web applications have a back end "admin" pages to manage tables in the database.  These pages exist solely to perform CRUD operations against a single table. Sometimes with a bit of validation.

It is tedious work if you have to create and write the same code  for each table and to maintain them. To make this task somewhat easier, there are solutions that look at the database structure, and generate the data access code and the asp.net pages.

The latest and greatest of them is ASP .Net Dynamic data. This uses LINQ to SQL for data access. Its quite easy to get a site up and running using this.

Mono Rail has an ActiveRecord scaffold.  This uses Castle ActiveRecord and Nhibernate to generate the scaffold. However, this doesn't generate the database to object model mapping automatically.  Classes that inherent from an ActiveRecord base have to be created first. Fields and relationships have to be defined in code. When this is done its all a breeze. Its a good way to get to grips with MonoRail.

Subsonic which I'm using on a project now, has two methods of operation. It has a set of scaffold controls which you can use on any asp.net pages to get CRUD functionality, and it also has the option to generate the asp.net pages and the data classes. The data classes generated by subsonic use the active record pattern too. The code generated by subsonic can be modified if you need to do so. After the code is generated these are normal asp.net pages to which you can add validation, combine with master pages etc..

Subsonic and Asp.Net dynamic data offer the quickest way to get up and running.  Subsonic and MonoRail offer the possibility to extend the application when things get more complex. The data classes generated can be reused when the application grows beyond a simple prototype or admin section.

First tried installing Office SP1 through Windows Update a few times but didn't work. The update fails for no apparent reason. The event log shows this;

Product: Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 -- Error 1935.

An error occurred during the installation of assembly component {04E73476-518E-4B6A-8E10-021A00078847}. HRESULT: 0x80131047. assembly interface: IAssemblyCacheItem, function: Commit, assembly name: Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint,fileVersion="12.0.6211.1000",

version="12.0.0.0000000",culture="neutral",publicKeyToken="71E9BCE111E9429C"

Googling for this error, gives me this KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926804, which recommends repairing the .Net framework  2.0 installation. I can't find the .Net 2.0 repair option in the control panel on Vista Ultimate, because this is part of the OS.

I'm thinking the SP needs only .Net 2.0 to install, so I'm uninstalling .Net 3.5  so that there is only 2.0.

Update : This doesn't work either. Hoping MS sees the error reports and posts a fix for this.

Vista SP1 RC also fails to install through Windows Update. The service pack downloads, and the laptop reboots. The installation takes 3 stages, and about 75% into the 3rd stage, the installation fails and starts rolling back. There are no adverse effects because a restore point is created. I'll wait for the final release and attempt it again. The update takes a very long time though, so be prepared to spend about 2 to 3 hours on this.

http://www.amazon.com/Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics

Read the reviews, seriously :)

In the midst of fiddling with the Xbox, I took the second part of the MCSD to MCPD uprade exams. I got a  voucher to do the first part (70-553) at the Visual Studio 2005 launch event. I got around to doing the second part (70-554) yesterday. I passed with a comfortable 820. This is the last of the certifications till the .net 3.5 series comes out.

My new Xbox 360 came in last week, and I have been spending a lot of time fiddling with it.This is my first game console because I don't have a powerful desktop to play games anymore. My laptop is my primary computer. Adding the xBox has got me thinking about a proper home network. I want to be able to play all the media on my laptop on the HD TV, through the Xbox.  I'm looking at power line networkingand the cheaper option of adding a second wireless router with WDS.

I'm connecting the console through my laptop using ICS temporarily, which involves taking my laptop downstairs every time I need to get on Xbox Live. I set up the Xbox as an extender to Windows Media Center (WMC) on the laptop. 

Windows Media player will play divx videos and HD videos in mkv files after installing the correct codecs . However, WMC will not play these by default. A registry hack will fix this.

The xbox doesn't  have the codecs to play the above formats even though it is streamed from WMC. The video should be transcoded to a format that can be played on the xbox usually wmv. Good if there was a way to download codecs from the Xbox live market place.

This is where a nice little tool called Transcode360 helps. Transcode360 adds an extra menu item on WMC to convert the video. This shows up on the Xbox media center too.

Clicking on this starts the transcoding process on the computer running WMC. Give it a few minutes ( more for larger files) and the video is ready to watch on the Xbox it all its 720 high def glory.

I'm a big fan of flight sims, and I'm looking forward to playing Ace Combat 6 when it's out next week. The demo is pretty cool. Wish there was Flight Simulator on the Xbox. I've got Forza Motor Sport 2 and Ghost Recon 2 to start me off.

DevConnections - The ASP.NET MVC Framework

ASP .Net MVC != Web Forms 4.0

"One important point I kept stressing in the talk was that this is designed to be compatible with the ASP.NET subsystems you already use. That means Session, Cache, Personalization, Roles, Membership, etc, still work and are there to be used and abused. This framework, in the namespace System.Web.Mvc, is an alternate architecture, but not "an entirely new parallel ASP.NET," no more than any of the other home-grown or open source MVC/MVP frameworks that are out there"

I bought a HTC Touch pocket PC a month back. It's quite a nice and compact phone with Windows Mobile 6. It's not a great touch phone,the WM6 interface is not touch very touch friendly. The stylus is needed most of the time.

I got the phone mostly to have an organizer, access the Internet at times and to try my hand at writing some code for the Pocket PC. The phone came with a Motorola S9 Bluetooth headset (for free !!), and now the phone is my default music player. I connect the phone through ActiveSync to my work desktop, and use  media player on the phone to play streaming music.  I can now code and walk around the office with no wires to mess about with :).

A major downside to the phone is that typing text messages requires the use of the stylus. There are rumors that HTC will release a full screen soft key board that is touch friendly. I found a soft keyboard last night, called  TouchPal . It is a nice interface but takes some getting used to. Typing with two fingers  blackberry style does not work well. One fingered typing works ok so far.

The stereo earphones that come with the phone are not great for listening to music, but fine for phone calls. On the other hand the S9 headset is great for cutting out external  noise and playing music but when on calls the audio sounds muted.

The phone does not come with Windows Live Messenger installed, but a download can be found using Google.