Visual Studio 2008 and .Net Framework 3.5 release...

Microsoft releases its much awaited.... Visual Studio 2008 and .Net Framework 3.5

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9820007-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Browse CRM entities through CRM browser...

This was one is simple... did you know that you can find out what CRM entities exists on CRM box through IE!
It should be something like - http:///sdk/lists.aspx
…/SDK/lists.aspx
(where … is the root address to your crm web app)

Cheers - Dipesh

Microsoft Commits to November Release Date for Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5

Microsoft Commits to November Release Date for Visual Studio 2008 -

Today, during the keynote address at Microsoft TechEd Developers 2007, S. “Soma” Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp., announced that Microsoft will release Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 by the end of November 2007.... more
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-05TechEdDevelopersPR.mspx

Cheers - Dipesh

Source code for .net framework 3.5 libraries and debugging into it using VS 2008

Now you can download and browse the source code of the .NET Framework libraries (3.5), and easily debug them as well using VS 2008.

Source code (with source file comments included) for the .NET Base Class Libraries include as of now -System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text.... etc.
ASP.NET (System.Web), Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms), ADO.NET (System.Data), XML (System.Xml), and WPF (System.Windows). more will be added in coming months by Microsoft.

You'll be able to download the .NET Framework source libraries via a standalone install (allowing you to use any text editor to browse it locally).

To learn more about our source release plans and how the above debugger integration works, please check out this Podcast that Scott Hanselman and Shawn Burke recently recorded. Shawn (who drove the source project on my team) is also going to be publishing a cool Channel9 video later this week that shows using the VS 2008 integrated debugging support with it.
More on Scott gu's blog .... Cheers - Dipesh

Google adds on Presentation on to web!

Google adds on Presentation on to web! http://docs.google.com/

CRM import export tool for Roles...

If you are looking for CRM import export tool for Roles for CRM 3.0 here it is -

https://www.gotdotnet.com/Community/UserSamples/Details.aspx?SampleGuid=E55885A7-85A3-48C7-ABEE-B78F0E3D75AA

Credits to Mitch Fuller for bringing this to attention.
Cheers - DJ

Crm code 0x80040217 "The specified object was not found"

I have been faced lot many times by this generic .net error from CRM web service. Everytime it let me spend some time in figuring what this error was about ... and i learnt that this type of errors usually occur because of the mismatch/change of CRM metadata or data (GUID) for that record not matching. This can happen anytime when you are trying to do Insert, Update or Delete against CRM.

Easy Solution - Try catching Soap Exception instead of Generic .net Exception and see InnerXML message and it shows CRM code: 0x80040217 with description like: "Missing field/attribute" or it just says plain "Platform".

1. If you are doing an insert check that all fields that you are using in the query/fetchXML are not misspelled.
2. If you are doing an Update or delete check the above and ensure GUID you are using does exist in CRM database.

That should be the catch! Write to me if that does not solve your problem. Thanks - Dipesh

Yahoo mashup

Yahoo mashup at developer yahoo.com -
http://developer.yahoo.com/maps/applications.html

Learn simple "how to use" Yahoo mashups in .net - http://developer.yahoo.com/dotnet/

HOWTO Articles -
Get comfortable using .NET with Yahoo! Web Services
HOWTO: Make Yahoo! Web Service REST calls with C# and VB.NET
HOWTO: Using Returned XML with C# and VB.NET
HOWTO: Cache API Calls Using C# and VB.NET
HOWTO: Access Yahoo! Web Services Using XAML (my favourite)
HOWTO: Browser-Based Authentication Using C# and VB.NET

Regards - Dipesh Joshi

Zimbra and its AJAX-based collaboration suite...

Yahoo picks up Zimbra and its AJAX-based collaboration suite to compete with Google, Microsoft and IBM: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2184226,00.asp?kc=EWKNLNAV09182007STR3) – it’s a pretty interesting messaging & collaboration environment (heavy use of AJAX).

Zimbra offers an AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) client that bundles e-mail, contacts, shared calendar, search and VOIP (voice over IP) that can be used both on and offline, will help it expand its presence in universities, businesses and through ISPs. http://www.zimbra.com/demos/zimbra_overview.html

Regards - Dipesh

Reflector that allows you to disassemble entire Silverlight sites...

Check this Reflector plug-in that lets you disassemble entire Silverlight sites with ease. Check out those cool Silverlight sites http://www.tafiti.com/ and diagnoize it!

http://www.codeplex.com/reflectoraddins/Wiki/View.aspx?title=SilverlightBrowser&referringTitle=Home

Happy learning and copying! :) Cheers - Dipesh

Download Silverlight 1.1 here...

Download Silverlight 1.0 here -
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/silverlight/bb187452.aspx
Install this to enhance browsers on Windows and Macintosh (for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari).

Download Silverlight 1.1 Alpha here -
Silverlight 1.1 Alpha September Refresh
Install this developer-only version to enhance browsers on Windows and Macintosh (for Firefox and Internet Explorer).

Download more here on MSDN

Thanks - Dipesh

Hanselmean wicked code links - NGenerics

NGenerics - "A class library providing generic data structures and algorithms not implemented in the standard .NET framework." This is cool code because it's not only adding new data structures, but also extending existing ones. They've added an IVisitor interface to add the Visitor pattern to create the VisitableHashTable amongst others.

More ... [1] - http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheWeeklySourceCode5.aspx
Cheers - Dipesh

Tafiti

Check the implementation of cool Silverlight application here - http://www.tafiti.com/
Cheers - Dipesh

Scott Hanselman's 2007 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

Scott Hanselman has compiled a great list of .net tools a Developer must have...

It includes few of the ASP.NET Must Haves and Visual Studio add in's like -
UrlRewriting.NET - An open source URL rewriter, implemented as an HttpModule.
Web Development Helper - that allows ASP.NET 2.0 built into a Browser Toolbar.
Blinq - A tool for generating ASP.NET websites for displaying, creating, and manipulating data based on database schema.....and many more Visual studio add in's.

Check for details at his site at: http://www.hanselman.com/tools

Happy programming!

Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 and Silverlight RC1...this Friday!

Microsoft announced the availability today of the second beta version of its upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools and the last version of its Silverlight rich media software code before the final version ships.

The second version of VS 2008, which is still scheduled to ship before the end of the year, includes a Silverlight add-in that allows developers to start building Silverlight rich Internet applications in VS 2008 and work with designer colleagues using the new Expression Web design tool, Microsoft said. With this beta release, VS 2008 is 99% complete, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.

Scott Guthrie, general manager of Microsoft's developer division, noted in a blog post yesterday that one of the biggest features Web developers will discover in this beta version of VS 2008 is a "dramatically improved HTML designer" and rich Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support. VS 2008 now uses the same Web designer that ships with Microsoft's new Expression Web design tool, he added.

"In addition to providing lots of new functionality, you'll also find that this Web designer is much faster than the VS 2005 version (which was based on a much older code base)," he wrote.

VS 2008 adds "split view" editing so that developers can see both the HTML source and design view at the same time and have changes made in one view be updated in the other, he added. The version also includes a new tool window that shows the CSS and the corresponding rules for the page a developer is editing. It can be used from within the design view or source view of a page.

Microsoft also announced the second beta version of the .Net Framework 3.5, which now includes full project template and tools support for many of the .Net Framework 3.0 compatibilities previously provided.

More...

Cheers - Dipesh Joshi

Acropolis July CTP now available for download...

Acropolis July CTP now available for download

The July CTP of Acropolis includes work to improve transition animations, better design time support, simpler support for custom themes, and various bug fixes. Start working with the CTP today.

Check some interesting videos here - http://windowsclient.net/learn/videos.aspx

Learn more - http://windowsclient.net/
Cheers - Dipesh Joshi

Scrum

Over this weekend I came across one more agile development technique called as "Scrum". I watched a video on microsoft site talking about scrum...which was very boring :) However reading wikipedia was fun. I was not aware that scrum is also kind of a group formation in rugby game (because of my lack of knowledge in this game, this term should be used in cricket too :)

However, i am just writing this offtopic because it was fresh in my mind and what i observe in my project. This is more of an agile kind of management but i don't think this seems to be effective for long duration complex projects. My 2 cents! :)

However, it was good to know ... learn more on wiki by typing scrum. Cheerio - Dj

How do you bring web site down so that users cannot access any page for new patch release or upgradation of release?

How do you bring web site down so that users cannot access any page for new patch release or upgradation of release? There are ofcourse numerous ways to do that but one of the easiest way in .net 2.0 is copying Application offline (app_offline.htm) htm file into the root directory of the web site. Users will not get 404 or other HTML error pages but user friendly HTML (app_offline.htm) page.

Here's quick video which shows the demonstration...


HTH - Dipesh

What is MDM ? Master Data Management

So with the news that Microsoft has acquired MDM expert provider company Stratature there is a whole new thrill in the software and particularly in the SOA market to know how MDM fits into the bigger picture.

Update from Microsoft - www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/microsoft_bi_goes_mdm.html

So what is MDM ? here's what you find a definition when you search on Wiki -
"Master Data Management (MDM), also known as Reference Data Management, is a sub-discipline of Data architecture within Information Technology (IT) that focuses on the management of reference or master data that is shared by several disparate IT systems and groups. MDM is required to enable consistent computing between diverse system architectures and business functions.

Large companies often have IT systems that are used by diverse business functions (e.g., finance, sales, R&D, etc.) and span across multiple countries. These diverse systems usually need to share key data that is relevant to the parent company (e.g., products, customers, and suppliers). It is critical for the company to consistently use these shared data elements through various IT systems.

Most enterprises have implemented their own special blends of ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence, Financial Reporting, Planning, and other operational systems in order to accommodate unique business requirements. Each of these systems requires the same dimensional information to operate, yet they manage this information independently, which directly affects dimensional synchronization and reconciliation across systems. Master data management software aims to integrate dimensional and master data across BI, data warehouse, financial and operational systems, providing for accurate, consistent and compliant enterprise reporting.

Master data management can go beyond data integration. MDM generally has a data governance component. Data governance means having to define clear data owners and users, having clear business policies regarding what is good master data and what is not. Master data management is also about providing continuous reports and alerts to master data owners and the stewards regarding the health of the master data."



Check more on MDM at Wikipedia site - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Data_Management

More details in MS article - http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb190163.aspx

MDM doesn't seem to be like a new concept but it's getting more visibility now! Let's see how far this can succeed and fit the SOA bill! Cheers - Dipesh

Useful Tools (Reflector and addins)

Do you need a -
Tool to analyze .net assembly and show design quality metrics ?
Tool to quickly create class diagram ?
Tool to generate code to write unit tests, stubs and wrappers ?
Tool to draw sequence diagrams ?

Find all addins here at codeplex -
http://www.codeplex.com/reflectoraddins

Download .net reflector here

Mozilla releases Firefox 3 Alpha 6 (code name - Gran Paradiso)

Mozilla releases Firefox 3 Alpha 6 - low key launch... but according to the Alpha 6 release notes this version includes:

Updated SQLite engine to version 3.3.17;
Support for site-specific preferences--text size;
A new Quit dialog box that resolves termination errors;
Added permanent 'Restart Firefox' button to Add-Ons Manager;
Miscellaneous fixes to download manager including correctly displaying large file sizes; various Places fixes;
and miscellaneous Gecko 1.9 bug fixes.

Source: http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9740050-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 June 2007 Community Technology Preview (CTP) release...

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 June 2007 Community Technology Preview (CTP) is here...
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E6FD8663-8B77-4649-8D36-3830E18528FA&displaylang=en

.NET Framework 3.5 builds incrementally on the new features added in .NET Framework 3.0, for example, Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows CardSpace. In addition, .NET Framework 3.5 contains a number of new features in several technology areas. These new features have been added as new assemblies to avoid breaking changes. They include the following:

Deep integration of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) and data awareness. This new feature will let you write code written in LINQ-enabled languages to filter, enumerate, and create projections of several types of SQL data, collections, XML, and DataSets by using the same syntax.

ASP.NET AJAX lets you create more efficient, more interactive, and highly-personalized Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers.

New Web protocol support for building WCF services including AJAX, JSON, REST, POX, RSS, ATOM, and several new WS-* standards.

Full tooling support for WF, WCF, and WPF, including the new workflow-enabled services technology.

New classes in .NET Framework 3.5 base class library (BCL) address the most common customer requests.
Time is ticking :) Cheers - Dipesh

Release plan MS CRM 3.0 Update Rollup 2.0

Microsoft CRM Sustained Engineering plans to release Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Update Rollup 2 Monday, June 25th. Update Rollup 2 is a well tested, cumulative set of updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0, including performance enhancements, which are packaged together for easy deployment.

Comprehensive information about this release will be available via the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 927751, which will be simultaneously published with the Rollup packages on the Microsoft Download Center. When published, the Update Rollup 2 packages will be available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=81674DA5-FFEF-492A-A7B1-7E1F1951B05F

This update rollup includes packages for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server and Microsoft Dynamics CRM client for Outlook 3.0 to maintain parity between the client and server components of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.

Credits - Matt HTH - DJ

How to convert a structure/object/string into XML in .net and reverse?

How to convert a structure/object/string into XML in .net and reverse?

Check this -
http://www.dotnetjohn.com/articles.aspx?articleid=173

HTH - Dipesh

How to get name value from a CRM lookup - Primary Field/ Primary value diff?!

How to get name value from a lookup in CRM table?

if you have a lookup (foreign key) in your CRM table you can easily access its GUID but what if you want to get its name associated?

You may probably think that you may have to goto the parent table and pull name column value. Well, thats true but the easier way is to just append the name to the attribute in the referential table.

Example -
Guest (Primary table), has columns (GuestID, Name)
Reservations (Referential/child table), has columns (ResID, ResDate, .... GuestID(fkey/lookup type)

When you access Resrevations you can directly get GuestID (GUID) AND Guest Name (appending name) through the entity exposed by the CRM web service.

Check this -



More background on why this is or how this is check the Understanding CRM Metadata: PrimaryKey and PrimaryField article by MSCRM. Thanks - Dipesh