manuel's blog

Start VS2012 .sln and .proj files always as Administrator on Windows 8

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:49:27 +0200

Problem description

I'm using windows 8 and visual studio 2012, and i had some strange problems related to permission.

If visual studio runs under non-administrator rights, it cannot do some compile tasks like "Register for COM interop"

Step by step solution

Start a VisualStudio command prompt

Start a VisualStudio command prompt and navigate it to the place where devenv.exe is located. On my System this is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE

Create a manifes file from devenv.exe

Execute the following command:

mt -inputresource:"devenv.exe" -out:devenv.exe.manifest

This will create the file devenv.exe.manifest

Edit the content of devenv.exe.manifest

Change the level value of requestedExecutionLevel from asInvoker to requireAdministrator

Write the manifest back into the devenv.exe

Execute the following command in the visual studio command prompt:

mt -outputresource:devenv.exe -manifest devenv.exe.manifest

Check whether visual studio 2012 starts as administrator

Just double click any .sln or .proj file, and check whether visual studio starts as administrator or not.

My first windows 8 app (MySmug for windows 8)

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 23:20:21 +0200

I've created my first windows 8 app.

It's a simple image viewer for a smugmug gallery.

MySmug for windows 8 status quo

Authentication

The preferred method to authenticate to SmugMug is OAuth V2.0.

OAuth in windows 8 can be achieved straight forward with the WebAuthenticationBroker. It will do most of the work for you. The only problem is that you cant style this control properly.

At the moment the authentication site from SmugMug doesn't fit into the WebAuthentication-Broker control. But it seems Im not alone with this problem.

Albums list

After a successful authentication, a list of albums is shown.

Image list

After selecting an album from the albums list, all images from this album are shown.

Image detail

After selecting an image, it is shown full screen with some information. In this view it is possible to swipe through all images.

Settings

The good

Here Im showing a list of things which are cool when creating a windows 8 app.

Overall concept

I like the metro concepts. I like the colors, style, tiles, contracts, responsive behavior and so on. In my opinion it is the right direction even if windows 8 is not finished yet.

Cool controls

There are a lot of cool controls like the FlipView or the WebAuthenticationBroker which hide a lot of complexity.

Good templates

There are some good metro style templates like the items page or the item detail page. They im-plement a lot of cool functionality and are quite easy to use.

Visual Studio 2012

I love VS. Just give VS2012 some more colors and don't use upper case in menu text.

And Im missing a stable resharper for VS2012.

The bad

A list of things which suck(At the moment at least) when creating a windows 8 app.

Change from Consumer Preview to Release Preview

I've started development with the consumer preview of windows 8, and this was a mistake.

After upgrading to the release preview of windows and to VS2012, my solution didn't work any-more.

They've change the whole LayoutAwarePage on which most of my sites were based.

Windows/VS2012 crashes

While developing, i had about 10 crashes where i had to do a hard reboot. Two times i even lost source code.

Missing concepts

I miss some concepts/basic functionality in metro apps.

Navigation concept/Application state

Settings dialog.

Others i can't remember...

Unfinished and missing controls

I tried to use the ScrollViewer in order to zoom images. After a hack with the HorizontalScroll-BarVisibility it worked, but not as smooth as it should.

Why is there no control which i can pan/zoom and which is super-smooth and behaves as it should?

There are people which say you have to implement this all by yourself, but i don't agree.

Why is there no settings control/concept? I've used callisto from tim heure, but this is a control which must be part of the core.

Why is it no possible to change the size/style of a WebAuthenticationBroker?

Image share contract

I've implemented an image share contract. Why for gods sake did the mail client and the build in image viewer not implement the opposite of this contract?

At the moment it's useless (I can share images only with puzzle-touch^^)

Next steps

I'll try to implement a video player in order to show movies, and i'm going to cleanup the existing code.

I also hope to get the surface tablet anytime soon... :)

cheers

manuel

Howto set MinWidth or MinHeight of a WinRT ScrollViewer

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:07:28 +0200

I use the ScrollViewer control in a windows 8 metro app in order to zoom in/out an image.

The problem now is, that it is possible to zoom in the image untill you almost can't zoom out again(because the image gets so small).

I've tried MinWidth and MinHeigt on the ScrollViewer and on the image, but it didn't work.

After some time i found the MinZoomFactor of the ScrollViewer, and this now works.

It was just not obvious to me...

Exception: That assembly does not allow partially trusted callers

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:41:53 +0100

I have .net 3.5 program where i load some assemblies from a network share via reflection. Now i've got the following exception: "That assembly does not allow partially trusted callers''(Detailed message below).

The calling assembly(.exe) is local. This .exe loads the assembly from network via reflection. The assembly from the network share then has a reference on a third assembly which is located beneath the .exe. (Hard to explain, image will do better...)

The reason for this failure is the .net security. It doesn't allow the MyLib.dll to be loaded, because the calling assembly is located on a network share and is signed with a strong name.

Solution 1, caspol.exe

Allow all code to be executed.

This might be dangerous, but if you're desperate it could be a solution.

 "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CasPol.exe" -machine -chggroup All_Code FullTrust

Solution 2, no signing

If you remove the signature from MyLib2.dll, everything works.

Solution 3, set attribute AllowPartiallyTrustedCallers

If you set the AllowPartiallyTrustedCallers in the AssemblyInfo.cs of the signed assembly, everything works.

using System.Security;

[assembly: AllowPartiallyTrustedCallers()]

Usefull links

Continue reading "Exception: That assembly does not allow partially trusted callers"

MySmug version 1.2 available

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:04:00 +0100

MySmug version 1.2 went again smooth through the submission processs, and now is available at the marketplace.

New features are:

Save single pictures to the phone
Upload pictures from phone to smugmug
Change the image orientation based on the phone orientation.
Performance optimization(Album data caching)

Uploading large files to IIS7(asp.net or mvc)

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:03:43 +0100

You can upload files with a size of up to 2GB, but it requires some modifications in your web.config.

...

...

What to do if OnOrientationChanged is not fired on windows phone 7 emulator?

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:27:41 +0100

If you debug your windows phone application, and the OnOrientationChanged event is not fired, just press Page Up or Page Down. Those keys are used to activate/deactivate the phone keyboard. If the phone keyboard is active, the following code will be executed. Strange thing...

protected override void OnOrientationChanged(OrientationChangedEventArgs e)
{ 
   base.OnOrientationChanged(e);
}

Found(after some time) on the microsoft forum.

Todo for the next version of MySmug

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:38:00 +0100

This is the list of issues/features i have in mind. I'm not sure whether i will solve all of those, or even when. It's just to keep them in mind. Write me a comment if you have anything in mind which should be changed/fixed.

Save single pictures to the phone
Save album to the phone
Upload pictures from phone
Better panning/zooming
Change the image orientation based on the phone orientation.
Bing Map integration based on the GPS data .
Performance optimization(Album data caching)

Feature list Version 1.1. In submission process

This was just a little bugfix release. Submission sent 06.01.2012

Bug fix: Album list was loaded more than once after some time.

Feature list Version 1.0. Release date: 06.01.2012

Authentication via oAuth
Album browsing
Pictures browsing
Picture details

MySmug available on the marketplace

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:15:14 +0100

MySmug went smooth through the submission processs, and now is available at the marketplace.

MySmug version 1.0 submitted

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:59:00 +0100

I just submitted the very first version of MySmug to the windows phone app hub.

I just hope it will be accepted... :)

Authenticate to smugmug with oAuth and c#

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:31:04 +0100

Some weeks ago, i tried to create a windows phone 7 smugmug app(photo browser).

I had some problems with oAuth at the beginning,

First, I tried the google oAuth implementation in c# with the result that the first request(AcquireRequestToken) worked, but the second request(AcquireAccessToken) failed with an invalid signature. Then i tried to implement it myself with the same result.

Even with the smugmug oAuth documentation, i found it quite hard to get it done. Some parts like the authorize parameters(public/full/read/modify) i had to figure out myself.

After some time, i found an c# oAuth class written for twitter access for cropperplugins.codeplex. With this code, i was at least able to get a proper AccessToken for smugmug.

I've written a little demo application if someone else has the same problems.

To get this sample working, you only have to set you apiKey and secret. This sample will do:

1. Get a request token and a request token secret

2. Authorize the request token

3. With the request token secret, acquire a access token

4. This access token and access token secret are used for all further authentication, and should not expire until the user revokes them.

        private void AuthenticateSmugmug()
        {
            const string apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";//apikey from your smugmug account
            const string secret = "YOUR_SECRET";//secret from your smugmug account

            Console.WriteLine("Create new instance of OAuth Manager");
            Manager manager = new Manager(apiKey, secret);

            Console.WriteLine("Aquire a request token from smugmug");
            OAuthResponse requestToken = manager.AcquireRequestToken("http://api.smugmug.com/services/oauth/getRequestToken.mg", "GET");

            string oauthToken = requestToken["oauth_token"];
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("oauthToken: {0}", oauthToken));
            string oauthTokenSecret = requestToken["oauth_token_secret"];
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("oauthTokenSecret: {0}", oauthTokenSecret));

            //Opens your default browser and authorize your request token
            //Parameters: Access=[Public|Full], Permissions=[Read|Add|Modify]
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(string.Format("http://api.smugmug.com/services/oauth/authorize.mg?oauth_token={0}&Access=Full&Permissions=Modify", oauthToken));

            Console.WriteLine("Please enter you credentials into the browser before continuing");
            Console.WriteLine("Press any key to continue...");
            Console.ReadLine();
            
            OAuthResponse accessToken = manager.AcquireAccessToken("http://api.smugmug.com/services/oauth/getAccessToken.mg", "GET", oauthTokenSecret);

            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("accessToken: {0}", accessToken["oauth_token"]));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("accessTokenSecret: {0}", accessToken["oauth_token_secret"]));
            Console.WriteLine("Press any key to quit the application");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

This is the complete source code for the oAuth sample. It's c# written in Visual Studio 10:

To get this sample working, just enter your Api Key and Secret.

SmugmugOAuthSample.zip

Powershell script to upgrade several subversion repository

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:24:12 +0200

This line of powershell script will upgrade all subversion repositories which are located under the same root folder.

dir  | Where-Object { $_.PSIsContainer } | ForEach-Object { svnadmin upgrade $_.FullName  }

.

Get the current directory from a c# application

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:25:40 +0200

Sometimes i have to read/write files from the root directory of my application.

Usually i did this with Environment.CurrentDirectory.

Unfortunately, this only works if the application is a standalone application(.exe). In case the application is a windows service or a asp.net website, the path from Environment.CurrentDirectory is wrong.

There are several ways to get the root directory of an application, but so far i found only one which works in all scenarios.

The only one which always works is:

//works...
IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(new System.Uri(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath)

Here is a (incomplete) list of ways to get the root path of a c# application:

1. Windows service

Environment.CurrentDirectory:
//C:\Windows\system32
System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(new System.Uri(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath)

//D:\project\WindowsServiceTest\WindowsServiceTest\bin\Debug
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory:
//D:\project\WindowsServiceTest\WindowsServiceTest\bin\Debug\
Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.Substring(0, Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.LastIndexOf("\\")):
//D:\project\WindowsServiceTest\WindowsServiceTest\bin\Debug

2. Console application

Environment.CurrentDirectory:
//D:\project\ConsoleApplication3\ConsoleApplication3\bin\Debug
System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(new System.Uri(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath):
//D:\project\ConsoleApplication3\ConsoleApplication3\bin\Debug
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory:
//D:\project\ConsoleApplication3\ConsoleApplication3\bin\Debug\
Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.Substring(0, Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.LastIndexOf("\\")):
//D:\project\ConsoleApplication3\ConsoleApplication3\bin\Debug

3. asp.net mvc3 website vs2010 integrated webserver (Debug mode)

Environment.CurrentDirectory:
//C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DevServer\10.0
System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(new System.Uri(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath):
//D:\project\MvcApplication1\MvcApplication1\bin
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory:
//D:\project\MvcApplication1\MvcApplication1\
Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.Substring(0, Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.LastIndexOf("\\")):
//C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DevServer\10.0

4. asp.net mvc3 website IIS (Release mode)

Environment.CurrentDirectory: 
//c:\windows\system32\inetsrv 
System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(new System.Uri(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase).LocalPath): 
//d:\project\MvcApplication1\MvcApplication1\bin 
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory: 
//d:\project\MvcApplication1\MvcApplication1\ 
Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.Substring(0, Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName.LastIndexOf("\\")): 
//c:\windows\system32\inetsrv

Too many kindle devices

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:22:28 +0200

I was just looking for a good java script book on amazon, and wanted to send me a sample to my kindle.

Just then, i saw this...

I guess this means i own too many kindle devices...

btw. Do you know a really good java script book to start with? If yes, let me know...

edit: Proud not to have any ISomething in this list... ^^

c# and vb.net sample to remove eventhandler with reflection

nospam@example.com (suntsu) — Tue, 10 May 2011 08:15:54 +0200

This is a sample how to remove a (non-public) eventhandler in c# and vb.net.

//c# sample
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication5
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            Form2 form2 = new Form2();
            //remove eventhandler with reflection
            EventInfo ei = form2.GetType().GetEvent("Load");
            Delegate d = Delegate.CreateDelegate(typeof(EventHandler), form2, "Form2_Load", false);
            ei.RemoveEventHandler(form2, d);

            //messagebox is not shown, since the eventhandler for load was removed
            form2.ShowDialog();
        }
    }
}

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication5
{
    public partial class Form2 : Form
    {
        public Form2()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.Load += new EventHandler(Form2_Load);
        }

        void Form2_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Hello World");
        }
    }
}

'vb.net sample
Imports System.Reflection

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        Dim myForm As New Form2
        Dim type As Type = GetType(Form2)

        'remove eventhandler with reflection
        Dim eventInfo As EventInfo
        eventInfo = type.GetEvent("Load")
        Dim loadHandler As System.Delegate
        loadHandler = System.Delegate.CreateDelegate(GetType(EventHandler), myForm, "Form2_Load", False)
        eventInfo.RemoveEventHandler(myForm, loadHandler)

        'messagebox is not shown, since the eventhandler for load was removed
        myForm.ShowDialog()

    End Sub
End Class

Public Class Form2
    Private Sub Form2_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        MessageBox.Show("hello world")
    End Sub
End Class

RemoveEventHanlderWithReflection.zip