Hello, I'm   Jason

.NET Valley would like to introduce our Pennsylvania Microsoft Developer Evangelist, Geoff Snowman. To sign-up for this event, please go to http://www.dotnetvalley.com/Events/183.aspx and click Additional Information. This should be a very interesting and informative afternoon!

I thought I’d post and ask if anyone remembers those old ERwin diagrams. These days, there are numerous tools to perform data modeling. However, 5 years ago, there were only a few. I found a CD the other day with old ERwin documents that I needed restored. With the help of Computer Associates (ca.com), I was able to open my old ERwin 2.29 files in ERwin 3.52, a special download available by contacting CA support. They have to be contacted to obtain the proper key. Then I could download the new 4.14 version and update those docs. Now I’ve got my docs. So, if anyone has some old docs they need converted, hopefully CA can help!

This past week, I had an issue where I needed to randomize the data coming from SQL to use in a SqlDataReader in an ASP.NET page. I posted an issue on the ASP.NET forums and soon received help from Scott Mitchell. He pointed out that in the stored procedure I can use the code:

I just wanted to let individuals in the Philly area know of an event tonight. It’s called the Philly FUNNFest. The event includes many non-profit organizations in the area. At the Northeast Pennsylvania FUNNFest this year, my UG was introduced. So, there may be some good information at the event. The cost is $30 and a free Philadelphia Phillies ticket is given to each attendee. The main website for FUNN is http://www.funn.org. As you may already know, I do some of the web work for all the FUNN organizations.

I’m not sure who saw the post before, but Julie Lerman posted awhile back about a VB.NET Whidbey Demo Video. If you didn’t know already, VSLive! in Orlando was this past week. During VSLive!, there were some hints about Whidbey. You can read about them here. Sounds kind of interesting.

Surprisingly, week 1 is already here and gone. Overall it has been a very simple week. The ClassKnowledge app is starting to take some shape and the class will be able to fully access it by this coming Monday’s class. The app is similar to a Linux-based class management software called Moodle. I hope to clean it up and release beta 1 by Christmas.

Today I released my personal website in beta format. After the final compilation last night, it is version 0.7.4.0. I’ve included my ASP.NET Blog, my SQL Junkies Blog, my ASPAlliance Articles, and my college courses. I also listed some key partner sites that have provided me with the help or information necessary for the information. Various non-profits that I participate in are also listed there as well. If you have any insight or sites that you think I should link to, let me know.

After creating a few controls in C#, I will admit that C# does come more fluent. However, I found something in C# that I completely despise. For VB programmers that didn’t already know, C# likes everything in lowercase. There is no String, it is string. If you declare a variable as type String, you can get an error. But, there is one catch. The most used routine in all of web programming, Page_Load, is not spelled page_load. In fact, if you use page_load, the page loads, but without anything that was in your page_load. When creating a custom control then adding it to the page in code behind, it was very difficult to pick out what the issue was. I must have “combed” my code a thousand times making sure I added all child controls to the parent and then added the parent to the uc, etc. Finally it hit me. :-)

Today I was creating a custom template for a DataGrid (something I don’t do too often). I created one template and it worked just fine. On my second template I received an error:

Last night at our user group meeting, Steve Smith presented custom controls and caching. Though the group was the second smallest ever (very, very small), Steve did an excellent job of presenting and formulating his speeches around the members that were present. In my opinion, each individual that attended last night walked away with some additional knowledge. Our group looks foward to having Steve back in the future.

Also, there are a few user group updates that I have. First of all, our meetings will be switched from the last Tuesday of each month to the last Wednesday with our next meeting being on Wednesday, September 24th at 6pm. Secondly, our site has been fully switched over to our new ISP. Also, sometime in the next week or two, I am going to convert the site from the old beta version of the StarterKit to the most recent version.