Coverage Tool for C#

26. October 2006 08:18 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
I recently checkout NCover  http://www.ncover.org/
NCover is a code coverage analysis tool for .NET applications that gives line-by-line code coverage statistics.

This is an open source tool. It generetes a nice graphical output about the functions used and not used. You can see data like: * how many times a function is called and * start and end line numbers of the functions * unused properties of assembly You can find the beginner level tutorial at, http://blog.dotnetwiki.org/archive/2004/07/15/594.aspx

VB.NET to C# Comparison

25. October 2006 04:04 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

    Usually in .NET you end up writing code either in VB.NET or C# depending on your clients preferences.
   So you usually end up in a situation where you know how to do something in C# but do not remember the syntax in VB.NET or viceversa.
 Well I found the following article and I'm copying it here (I had some problems with the link so I decided to copy it).

I want to make clear that I DID NOT WROTE THIS because I do not want to take credit for other peoples work. and it was taken from http://www.harding.edu/USER/fmccown/WWW/vbnet_csharp_comparison.html

"This is a quick reference guide to highlight some key syntactical differences between VB.NET (version 2) and C#. Hope you find this useful!
Thank you to Tom Shelton, Fergus Cooney, Steven Swafford and others for your contributions. "




VB.NET Program Structure C#
Imports System

Namespace Hello
   Class HelloWorld
      Overloads Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
         Dim name As String = "VB.NET"

         'See if an argument was passed from the command line
          If args.Length = 1 Then name = args(0)

          Console.WriteLine("Hello, " & name & "!")
      End Sub
   End Class
End Namespace
using System;

namespace Hello {
   public class HelloWorld {
      public static void Main(string[] args) {
         string name = "C#";

         // See if an argument was passed from the command line
         if (args.Length == 1)
            name = args[0];

         Console.WriteLine("Hello, " + name + "!");
      }
   }
}
VB.NET Comments C#
' Single line only
Rem Single line only

// Single line
/* Multiple
    line  */
/// XML comments on single line
/** XML comments on multiple lines */

VB.NET Data Types C#

Value Types
Boolean
Byte
Char   (example: "A"c)
Short, Integer, Long
Single, Double
Decimal
Date

Reference Types
Object
String

Dim x As Integer
Console.WriteLine(x.GetType())          ' Prints System.Int32
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Integer))   ' Prints System.Int32
Console.WriteLine(TypeName(x))        ' Prints Integer

' Type conversion
Dim d As Single = 3.5
Dim i As Integer = CType(d, Integer)   ' set to 4 (Banker's rounding)
i = CInt(d)  ' same result as CType
i = Int(d)    ' set to 3 (Int function truncates the decimal)

Value Types
bool
byte, sbyte
char   (example: 'A')
short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong
float, double
decimal
DateTime   (not a built-in C# type)

Reference Types
object
string

int x;
Console.WriteLine(x.GetType());              // Prints System.Int32
Console.WriteLine(typeof(int));               // Prints System.Int32
Console.WriteLine(x.GetType().Name);   // prints Int32


// Type conversion

float d = 3.5f;
int i = (int)d;   // set to 3  (truncates decimal)

VB.NET Constants C#
Const MAX_STUDENTS AsInteger = 25

' Can set to a const or var; may be initialized in a constructor
ReadOnly MIN_DIAMETER As Single = 4.93

constint MAX_STUDENTS = 25;

// Can set to a const or var; may be initialized in a constructor
readonly float MIN_DIAMETER = 4.93f;

VB.NET Enumerations C#
Enum Action
  Start 
  [Stop]   ' Stop is a reserved word
  Rewind
  Forward
End Enum

Enum Status
  Flunk = 50
  Pass = 70
  Excel = 90
End Enum

Dim a As Action = Action.Stop
If a <> Action.Start Then _
   Console.WriteLine(a.ToString & " is " & a)     ' Prints "Stop is 1"

Console.WriteLine(Status.Pass)     ' Prints 70
Console.WriteLine(Status.Pass.ToString())     ' Prints Pass
enum Action {Start, Stop, Rewind, Forward};
enum Status {Flunk = 50, Pass = 70, Excel = 90};

Action a = Action.Stop;
if (a != Action.Start)
  Console.WriteLine(a + " is " + (int) a);    // Prints "Stop is 1"

Console.WriteLine((int) Status.Pass);    // Prints 70
Console.WriteLine(Status.Pass);      // Prints Pass
VB.NET Operators C#

Comparison
=  <  >  <=  >=  <>

Arithmetic
+  -  *  /
Mod
(integer division)
(raise to a power)

Assignment
=  +=  -=  *=  /=  \=  ^=  <<=  >>=  &=

Bitwise
And   Or   Not   <<   >>

Logical
AndAlso   OrElse   And   Or   Xor   Not

Note: AndAlso and OrElse perform short-circuit logical evaluations

String Concatenation
&   +

Comparison
==  <  >  <=  >=  !=

Arithmetic
+  -  *  /
(mod)
(integer division if both operands are ints)
Math.Pow(x, y)

Assignment
=  +=  -=  *=  /=   %=  &=  |=  ^=  <<=  >>=  ++  --

Bitwise
&   |   ^   ~   <<   >>

Logical
&&   ||   &   |   ^   !

Note: && and || perform short-circuit logical evaluations

String Concatenation
+

VB.NET Choices C#

greeting = IIf(age < 20, "What's up?", "Hello")

' One line doesn't require "End If"
If age < 20 Then greeting = "What's up?"
If age < 20 Then greeting = "What's up?" Else greeting = "Hello"

' Use : to put two commands on same line
If x <> 100 And y < 5 Then x *= 5 : y *= 2  

' Preferred
If x <> 100 And y < 5 Then
  x *= 5
  y *= 2
End If

' To break up any long single line use _
If whenYouHaveAReally < longLine And _
  itNeedsToBeBrokenInto2 > Lines Then _
  UseTheUnderscore(charToBreakItUp)

'If x > 5 Then
  x *= y
ElseIf x = 5 Then
  x += y
ElseIf x < 10 Then
  x -= y
Else
  x /= y
End If

Select Case color   ' Must be a primitive data type
  Case "pink", "red"
    r += 1
  Case "blue"
    b += 1
  Case "green"
    g += 1
  Case Else
    other += 1
End Select

greeting = age < 20 ? "What's up?" : "Hello";

if (age < 20)
  greeting = "What's up?";
else
  greeting = "Hello";

// Multiple statements must be enclosed in {}
if (x != 100 && y < 5) {   
  x *= 5;
  y *= 2;
}



No need for _ or : since ; is used to terminate each statement.





if
(x > 5)
  x *= y;
else if (x == 5)
  x += y;
else if (x < 10)
  x -= y;
else
  x /= y;



// Every case must end with break or goto case
switch (color) {                          // Must be integer or string
  case "pink":
  case "red":    r++;    break;
  case "blue":   b++;   break;
  case "green": g++;   break;
  default:    other++;   break;       // break necessary on default
}

VB.NET Loops C#
Pre-test Loops:
While c < 10
  c += 1
End While

Do Until c = 10 
  c += 1
Loop

Do While c < 10
  c += 1
Loop

For c = 2 To 10 Step 2
  Console.WriteLine(c)
Next


Post-test Loops:
Do 
  c += 1
Loop While c < 10
Do 
  c += 1
Loop Until c = 10

'  Array or collection looping
Dim names As String() = {"Fred", "Sue", "Barney"}
For Each s As String In names
  Console.WriteLine(s)
Next

' Breaking out of loops
Dim i As Integer = 0
While (True)
  If (i = 5) Then Exit While
  i += 1
End While


' Continue to next iteration
For i = 0 To 4
  If i < 4 Then Continue For
  Console.WriteLine(i)   ' Only prints 4
Next

Pre-test Loops: 

// no "until" keyword
while (c < 10)
  c++;

for (c = 2; c <= 10; c += 2)
  Console.WriteLine(c);



Post-test Loop:

do
  c++;
while (c < 10);



// Array or collection looping
string[] names = {"Fred", "Sue", "Barney"};
foreach (string s in names)
  Console.WriteLine(s);

// Breaking out of loops
int i = 0;
while (true) {
  if (i == 5)
    break;
  i++;
}

// Continue to next iteration
for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
  if (i < 4)
    continue;
  Console.WriteLine(i);   // Only prints 4
}

VB.NET Arrays C#

Dim nums() As Integer = {1, 2, 3} 
For i As Integer = 0 To nums.Length - 1
  Console.WriteLine(nums(i))
Next

' 4 is the index of the last element, so it holds 5 elements
Dim names(4) As String
names(0) = "David"
names(5) = "Bobby"  ' Throws System.IndexOutOfRangeException

' Resize the array, keeping the existing values (Preserve is optional)
ReDim Preserve names(6)



Dim twoD(rows-1, cols-1) As Single
twoD(2, 0) = 4.5

Dim jagged()() As Integer = { _
  New Integer(4) {}, New Integer(1) {}, New Integer(2) {} }
jagged(0)(4) = 5

int[] nums = {1, 2, 3};
for (int i = 0; i < nums.Length; i++)
  Console.WriteLine(nums[i]);


// 5 is the size of the array
string[] names = new string[5];
names[0] = "David";
names[5] = "Bobby";   // Throws System.IndexOutOfRangeException


// C# can't dynamically resize an array.  Just copy into new array.
string[] names2 = new string[7];
Array.Copy(names, names2, names.Length);   // or names.CopyTo(names2, 0); 

float[,] twoD = new float[rows, cols];
twoD[2,0] = 4.5f; 

int[][] jagged = new int[3][] {
  new int[5], new int[2], new int[3] };
jagged[0][4] = 5;

VB.NET Functions C#

' Pass by value (in, default), reference (in/out), and reference (out) 
Sub TestFunc(ByVal x As Integer, ByRef y As Integer, ByRef z As Integer)
  x += 1
  y += 1
  z = 5
End Sub

Dim a = 1, b = 1, c As Integer   ' c set to zero by default 
TestFunc(a, b, c)
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", a, b, c)   ' 1 2 5

' Accept variable number of arguments
Function Sum(ByVal ParamArray nums As Integer()) As Integer
  Sum = 0 
  For Each i As Integer In nums
    Sum += i
  Next
End Function   ' Or use Return statement like C#

Dim total As Integer = Sum(4, 3, 2, 1)   ' returns 10

' Optional parameters must be listed last and must have a default value
Sub SayHello(ByVal name As String, Optional ByVal prefix As String = "")
  Console.WriteLine("Greetings, " & prefix & " " & name)
End Sub

SayHello("Strangelove", "Dr.")
SayHello("Madonna")

// Pass by value (in, default), reference (in/out), and reference (out)
void TestFunc(int x, ref int y, out int z) {
  x++;  
  y++;
  z = 5;
}

int a = 1, b = 1, c;  // c doesn't need initializing
TestFunc(a, ref b, out c);
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", a, b, c);  // 1 2 5

// Accept variable number of arguments
int Sum(params int[] nums) {
  int sum = 0;
  foreach (int i in nums)
    sum += i;
  return sum;
}

int total = Sum(4, 3, 2, 1);   // returns 10

/* C# doesn't support optional arguments/parameters.  Just create two different versions of the same function. */ 
void SayHello(string name, string prefix) {
  Console.WriteLine("Greetings, " + prefix + " " + name);


void SayHello(string name) {
  SayHello(name, "");
}

VB.NET Strings C#

Special character constants
vbCrLf, vbCr, vbLf, vbNewLine
vbNullString
vbTab
vbBack
vbFormFeed
vbVerticalTab
""

' String concatenation (use & or +)
Dim school As String = "Harding" & vbTab
school = school & "University" ' school is "Harding (tab) University"

' Chars
Dim letter As Char = school.Chars(0)   ' letter is H
letter = Convert.ToChar(65)                ' letter is A
letter = Chr(65)                                 ' same thing
Dim word() As Char = school.ToCharArray() ' word holds Harding

' No string literal operator 
Dim msg As String = "File is c:\temp\x.dat" 



' String comparison
Dim mascot As String = "Bisons"
If (mascot = "Bisons") Then   ' true
If (mascot.Equals("Bisons")) Then   ' true
If (mascot.ToUpper().Equals("BISONS")) Then  ' true
If (mascot.CompareTo("Bisons") = 0) Then   ' true

Console.WriteLine(mascot.Substring(2, 3)) ' Prints "son"

' String matching
If ("John 3:16" Like "Jo[Hh]? #:*") Then   'true

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions   ' More powerful than Like
Dim r As New Regex("Jo[hH]. \d:*")
If (r.Match("John 3:16").Success) Then   'true

' My birthday: Oct 12, 1973
Dim dt As New DateTime(1973, 10, 12)
Dim s As String = "My birthday: " & dt.ToString("MMM dd, yyyy")

' Mutable string
Dim buffer As New System.Text.StringBuilder("two ")
buffer.Append("three ")
buffer.Insert(0, "one ")
buffer.Replace("two", "TWO")
Console.WriteLine(buffer)         ' Prints "one TWO three"

Escape sequences
\n, \r
\t
\\
\"




// String concatenation
string school = "Harding\t";
school = school + "University";   // school is "Harding (tab) University"

// Chars
char letter = school[0];            // letter is H
letter = Convert.ToChar(65);     // letter is A
letter = (char)65;                    // same thing
char[] word = school.ToCharArray();   // word holds Harding

// String literal
string msg = @"File is c:\temp\x.dat";
// same as
string msg = "File is c:\\temp\\x.dat";

// String comparison
string mascot = "Bisons";
if (mascot == "Bisons")    // true
if (mascot.Equals("Bisons"))   // true
if (mascot.ToUpper().Equals("BISONS"))   // true
if (mascot.CompareTo("Bisons") == 0)    // true

Console.WriteLine(mascot.Substring(2, 3));    // Prints "son"

// String matching
// No Like equivalent - use regular expressions


using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
Regex r = new Regex(@"Jo[hH]. \d:*");
if (r.Match("John 3:16").Success)   // true

// My birthday: Oct 12, 1973
DateTime dt = new DateTime(1973, 10, 12);
string s = "My birthday: " + dt.ToString("MMM dd, yyyy");

// Mutable string
System.Text.StringBuilder buffer = new System.Text.StringBuilder("two ");
buffer.Append("three ");
buffer.Insert(0, "one ");
buffer.Replace("two", "TWO");
Console.WriteLine(buffer);     // Prints "one TWO three"

VB.NET Exception Handling C#

' Throw an exception
Dim ex As New Exception("Something is really wrong.")
Throw  ex 

' Catch an exception
Try 
  y = 0
  x = 10 / y
Catch ex As Exception When y = 0 ' Argument and When is optional
  Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
Finally
  Beep()
End Try

' Deprecated unstructured error handling
On Error GoTo MyErrorHandler
...
MyErrorHandler: Console.WriteLine(Err.Description)

// Throw an exception
Exception up = new Exception("Something is really wrong.");
throw up;  // ha ha

// Catch an exception
try
  y = 0;
  x = 10 / y;
}
catch (Exception ex) {   // Argument is optional, no "When" keyword 
  Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
finally {
  // Requires reference to the Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
  // assembly (pre .NET Framework v2.0)

  Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction.Beep();
}

VB.NET Namespaces C#

Namespace Harding.Compsci.Graphics 
  ...
End Namespace

' or

Namespace Harding
  Namespace Compsci
    Namespace Graphics 
      ...
    End Namespace
  End Namespace
End Namespace

Imports Harding.Compsci.Graphics

namespace Harding.Compsci.Graphics {
  ...
}

// or

namespace Harding {
  namespace Compsci {
    namespace Graphics {
      ...
    }
  }
}

using Harding.Compsci.Graphics;

VB.NET Classes / Interfaces C#

Accessibility keywords
Public
Private
Friend                   
Protected
Protected Friend
Shared

' Inheritance
Class FootballGame
  Inherits Competition
  ...
End Class 

' Interface definition
Interface IAlarmClock 
  ...
End Interface

// Extending an interface 
Interface IAlarmClock
  Inherits IClock
  ...
End Interface

// Interface implementation
Class WristWatch 
  Implements IAlarmClock, ITimer 
   ...
End Class 

Accessibility keywords
public
private
internal
protected
protected internal
static

// Inheritance
class FootballGame : Competition {
  ...
}


// Interface definition

interface IAlarmClock {
  ...
}

// Extending an interface 
interface IAlarmClock : IClock {
  ...
}


// Interface implementation

class WristWatch : IAlarmClock, ITimer {
   ...
}

VB.NET Constructors / Destructors C#
Class SuperHero
  Private _powerLevel As Integer

  Public Sub New()
    _powerLevel = 0
  End Sub

  Public Sub New(ByVal powerLevel As Integer)
    Me._powerLevel = powerLevel
  End Sub

  Protected Overrides Sub Finalize() 
   ' Desctructor code to free unmanaged resources
    MyBase.Finalize()
  End Sub
End Class

class SuperHero {
  private int _powerLevel;

  public SuperHero() {
     _powerLevel = 0;
  }

  public SuperHero(int powerLevel) {
    this._powerLevel= powerLevel; 
  }

  ~SuperHero() {
    // Destructor code to free unmanaged resources.
    // Implicitly creates a Finalize method

  }
}

VB.NET Using Objects C#

Dim hero As SuperHero = New SuperHero
' or
Dim hero As New SuperHero

With hero
  .Name = "SpamMan"
  .PowerLevel = 3
End With

hero.Defend("Laura Jones")
hero.Rest()     ' Calling Shared method
' or
SuperHero.Rest()

Dim hero2 As SuperHero = hero  ' Both reference the same object
hero2.Name = "WormWoman"
Console.WriteLine(hero.Name)   ' Prints WormWoman

hero = Nothing    ' Free the object

If hero Is Nothing Then _
  hero = New SuperHero

Dim obj As Object = New SuperHero
If TypeOf obj Is SuperHero Then _
  Console.WriteLine("Is a SuperHero object.")

' Mark object for quick disposal
Using reader As StreamReader = File.OpenText("test.txt")
  Dim line As String = reader.ReadLine()
  While Not line Is Nothing
    Console.WriteLine(line)
    line = reader.ReadLine()
  End While
End Using

SuperHero hero = new SuperHero();



// No "With" construct
hero.Name = "SpamMan";
hero.PowerLevel = 3;


hero.Defend("Laura Jones");
SuperHero.Rest();   // Calling static method



SuperHero hero2 = hero;   // Both reference the same object
hero2.Name = "WormWoman";
Console.WriteLine(hero.Name);   // Prints WormWoman

hero = null ;   // Free the object

if (hero == null)
  hero = new SuperHero();

Object obj = new SuperHero(); 
if (obj is SuperHero)
  Console.WriteLine("Is a SuperHero object.");

// Mark object for quick disposal
using (StreamReader reader = File.OpenText("test.txt")) {
  string line;
  while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
    Console.WriteLine(line);
}
VB.NET Structs C#

Structure StudentRecord
  Public name As String
  Public gpa As Single

  Public Sub New(ByVal name As String, ByVal gpa As Single)
    Me.name = name
    Me.gpa = gpa
  End Sub
End Structure

Dim stu As StudentRecord = New StudentRecord("Bob", 3.5)
Dim stu2 As StudentRecord = stu  

stu2.name = "Sue"
Console.WriteLine(stu.name)    ' Prints Bob
Console.WriteLine(stu2.name)  ' Prints Sue

struct StudentRecord {
  public string name;
  public float gpa;

  public StudentRecord(string name, float gpa) {
    this.name = name;
    this.gpa = gpa;
  }
}

StudentRecord stu = new StudentRecord("Bob", 3.5f);
StudentRecord stu2 = stu;  

stu2.name = "Sue";
Console.WriteLine(stu.name);    // Prints Bob
Console.WriteLine(stu2.name);   // Prints Sue

VB.NET Properties C#

Private _size As Integer

Public Property Size() As Integer
  Get
    Return _size
  End Get
  Set (ByVal Value As Integer)
    If Value < 0 Then
      _size = 0
    Else
      _size = Value
    End If
  End Set
End Property

foo.Size += 1

private int _size;

public int Size {
  get {
    return _size;
  }
  set {
    if (value < 0)
      _size = 0;
    else
      _size = value;
  }
}


foo.Size++;

VB.NET Delegates / Events C#

Delegate Sub MsgArrivedEventHandler(ByVal message As String)

Event MsgArrivedEvent As MsgArrivedEventHandler

' or to define an event which declares a delegate implicitly
Event MsgArrivedEvent(ByVal message As String)

AddHandler MsgArrivedEvent, AddressOf My_MsgArrivedCallback
' Won't throw an exception if obj is Nothing
RaiseEvent MsgArrivedEvent("Test message")
RemoveHandler MsgArrivedEvent, AddressOf My_MsgArrivedCallback

Imports System.Windows.Forms

Dim WithEvents MyButton As Button   ' WithEvents can't be used on local variable
MyButton = New Button

Private Sub MyButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyButton.Click
  MessageBox.Show(Me, "Button was clicked", "Info", _
    MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
End Sub

delegate void MsgArrivedEventHandler(string message);

event MsgArrivedEventHandler MsgArrivedEvent;

// Delegates must be used with events in C#


MsgArrivedEvent += new MsgArrivedEventHandler(My_MsgArrivedEventCallback);
MsgArrivedEvent("Test message");    // Throws exception if obj is null
MsgArrivedEvent -= new MsgArrivedEventHandler(My_MsgArrivedEventCallback);



using System.Windows.Forms;

Button MyButton = new Button(); 
MyButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(MyButton_Click);

private void MyButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
  MessageBox.Show(this, "Button was clicked", "Info",
    MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
}

VB.NET Console I/O C#

Console.Write("What's your name? ")
Dim name As String = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("How old are you? ")
Dim age As Integer = Val(Console.ReadLine())
Console.WriteLine("{0} is {1} years old.", name, age) 
' or
Console.WriteLine(name & " is " & age & " years old.")

Dim c As Integer
c = Console.Read()    ' Read single char
Console.WriteLine(c)   ' Prints 65 if user enters "A"

Console.Write("What's your name? ");
string name = Console.ReadLine();
Console.Write("How old are you? ");
int age = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("{0} is {1} years old.", name, age);
// or
Console.WriteLine(name + " is " + age + " years old.");


int c = Console.Read();  // Read single char
Console.WriteLine(c);    // Prints 65 if user enters "A"

VB.NET File I/O C#

Imports System.IO

' Write out to text file
Dim writer As StreamWriter = File.CreateText("c:\myfile.txt")
writer.WriteLine("Out to file.")
writer.Close()

' Read all lines from text file
Dim reader As StreamReader = File.OpenText("c:\myfile.txt")
Dim line As String = reader.ReadLine()
While Not line Is Nothing
  Console.WriteLine(line)
  line = reader.ReadLine()
End While
reader.Close()

' Write out to binary file
Dim str As String = "Text data"
Dim num As Integer = 123
Dim binWriter As New BinaryWriter(File.OpenWrite("c:\myfile.dat")) 
binWriter.Write(str) 
binWriter.Write(num) 
binWriter.Close()

' Read from binary file
Dim binReader As New BinaryReader(File.OpenRead("c:\myfile.dat"))
str = binReader.ReadString()
num = binReader.ReadInt32()
binReader.Close()

using System.IO;

// Write out to text file
StreamWriter writer = File.CreateText("c:\\myfile.txt");
writer.WriteLine("Out to file.");
writer.Close();

// Read all lines from text file
StreamReader reader = File.OpenText("c:\\myfile.txt");
string line = reader.ReadLine();
while (line != null) {
  Console.WriteLine(line);
  line = reader.ReadLine();
}
reader.Close();

// Write out to binary file
string str = "Text data";
int num = 123;
BinaryWriter binWriter = new BinaryWriter(File.OpenWrite("c:\\myfile.dat"));
binWriter.Write(str);
binWriter.Write(num);
binWriter.Close();

// Read from binary file
BinaryReader binReader = new BinaryReader(File.OpenRead("c:\\myfile.dat"));
str = binReader.ReadString();
num = binReader.ReadInt32();
binReader.Close();

Win32 APIS to .NET

25. October 2006 03:47 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
 Migrating C++ code from Win32 to managed code can be quite complex, specially if you have a lot of Win32 code of GUI code.
I copying some links here that will be of help during this task

The following link gives an introduction to managed C++:

Introduction to Managed C++


From that article:
"

Here are some specific advantages of MC++:

  • The best performance of generated IL code because of both optimizations of the generated IL and less IL generated (as discussed in the previous section). This is specifically because MC++ is the only .NET compiler with a full optimizer back end, which is pretty much the same one that is used by the unmanaged compiler.
  • MC++ is your language of choice if you want full control of the .NET environment:
    • Allows one to use all seven levels of CTS member access. C# allows only six.
    • Allows direct access to interior gc pointers, useful in a whole class of system applications such as system and .NET utilities.
    • Offers explicit control of expensive operations like boxing.
    • Supports multiple indexed properties on a type, unlike C#.
  • MC++ is currently the only managed language that allows you to mix unmanaged and managed code, even in the same file. This leads to several other points:
    • Allows a developer to keep performance-critical portions of the code in native code.
    • Gives seamless access to all unmanaged libraries, such as DLLs, statically-linked libraries, COM objects, template libraries, and more.
    • Leverages existing investments in C++ programming skills and legacy C++ code.
    • Porting unmanaged code to .NET: MC++ allows you to take existing unmanaged code and compile it to managed code (with the /clr compiler switch and IJW).
    • Gives the ability to port code at one's own rate rather than re-write all at once.
    • Provides the easiest way to add .NET support to your existing native C++ Windows applications, by allowing you to bridge the gap between the two environments with as little work on your behalf as possible, and with the lowest performance penalty.
  • MC++ is currently the only language that allows some form of multi-paradigm design and development with full support for generic programming and templates. This can lead to more options and better designs and implementations.

Disadvantages of Managed C++

  • C++ is a more complex language than C# in both its syntax and areas where one could get into trouble. Since MC++ follows the C++ paradigm of "explicit is good", some MC++ constructs may seem really ugly. For simpler types of applications, and with certain types of developers, it may make more sense to use C#.
  • Managed C++ code is non-verifiable, since C++ can perform unsafe operations. The implication of this is that MC++ code may not run in restricted environments that will not run code that is non-verifiable.
  • Some minor features of the .NET platform are not supported yet, such as Jagged Arrays.
  • IDEsupport is currently lacking, compared to other managed languages, since there's little or no designer support (but Everett will change this).
  • "
#using mscorlib.dll;
// required for MC++
void main()
{
    System::Console::WriteLine(S"Managed C++ Rocks!!");
}


This other article explains how the different mixes you can make with managed and unmanaged code:
Intro to C++ Managed Code


And this article Microsoft Win32 to Microsoft .NET Framework API Map
Gives a map for your APIs that can be very helpful



Utility to Patch XML

24. October 2006 10:56 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
Recently I was in the need to PATCH an xml. I had a program that generated an XML that was input to other program.
My problem was that there were some particular changes I needed to do to my XML but they could need to be redone If i regenerated my XML, so how could I automate that. I could not find an easy tool to do that so I built one and here it is:
It uses the XML facilities in .NET and it is a quick and dirty implementation. It allows you to Comment tags, to remove them or to add tags and also attributes

Here is a sample input file


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<PatchesInfo xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">>

 <!-- Sample Patch -->

  <Patches>

    <Patch forAttribute="false">

      <Type>Apply</Type>

      <Content>

       <![CDATA[  <ADDEDTAG/>]]>

      </Content>

      <XPathLocation>//MyData[@name='Entry1']/MyAttribytes/Attribute[@name='Att58']/Annotations</XPathLocation>

   </Patch>

   <!-- Commenting -->

    <Patch forAttribute="false">

      <Type>Comment</Type>

      <Content>

        <![CDATA[** This part with be put on top of the comment entry ** ]]>

      </Content>

      <XPathLocation>//MyData[@name='Entry1']/MyAttribytes/Attribute[@name='Att59']/Annotations</XPathLocation>

    </Patch>

 
using System;

using System.IO;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Text;

using System.Xml;

using System.Xml.Serialization;

using System.Diagnostics;

 

namespace XMLPatcher

{

    // Set this 'Customer' class as the root node

    // of any XML file its serialized to.

    [XmlRootAttribute("PatchesInfo", Namespace = "", IsNullable = false)]

    public class Patches

    {

 

        /// <summary>

        /// Default constructor for this class

        /// (required for serialization).

        /// </summary>       

        public Patches()

        {

        }

 

        [XmlArray("Patches"),XmlArrayItem("Patch",typeof(Patch))]

        public System.Collections.ArrayList patches = new System.Collections.ArrayList();

       

    }

 

    public class Patch

    {

 

        // Set this 'bool' field

        // to be an attribute of the root node.

        [XmlAttributeAttribute]       

        public bool forAttribute = false;

 

        // By NOT specifing any custom

        // Metadata Attributes, fields will be created

        // as an element by default.

        [XmlElement]

        public string Type;

        [XmlElement]

        public string Content;

        [XmlElement]

        public string XPathLocation;

 

    }

 

    static class XmlPatcher

    {

        public static void Patch(string patchFilename,string inputFilename,string outputFilename)

        {

            Patches p = new Patches();

            XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Patches));

            TextReader reader = new StreamReader(patchFilename);

            p = (Patches)serializer.Deserialize(reader);

            reader.Close();

 

            XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();

            doc.Load(inputFilename);

            foreach (Patch patch in p.patches)

            {

                if (patch.forAttribute)

                {

                    if (patch.Type.Equals("Change"))

                    {

                        XmlAttribute node = doc.SelectSingleNode(patch.XPathLocation) as XmlAttribute;

                        node.Value = patch.Content;

                    }

                    else

                        if (patch.Type.Equals("Apply"))

                        {

                            XmlAttribute node = doc.SelectSingleNode(patch.XPathLocation) as XmlAttribute;

                            XmlDocument temp = new XmlDocument();

                            temp.LoadXml(patch.Content);

                            node.AppendChild(doc.ImportNode(temp.ChildNodes[0], true));

                            //doc.RemoveChild(node);

                        }

                        else

                            if (patch.Type.Equals("ApplyAllElements"))

                            {

                                XmlAttribute node = doc.SelectSingleNode(patch.XPathLocation) as XmlAttribute;

                                doc.RemoveChild(node);

                            }

                            else

                                Debug.Fail("Invalid path type for an attribute");

                }

                else

                {

                    //For elements

                    XmlNodeList elements = doc.SelectNodes(patch.XPathLocation);

                    foreach (XmlElement element in elements)

                    {

                        if (patch.Type.Equals("Apply"))

                        {

                            XmlDocument temp = new XmlDocument();

                            temp.LoadXml(patch.Content);

                            element.AppendChild(doc.ImportNode(temp.ChildNodes[0], true));

                        }

                        else if (patch.Type.Equals("Remove"))

                        {

                            element.ParentNode.RemoveChild(element);

                        }

                        else if (patch.Type.Equals("Comment"))

                        {

                            XmlComment comment = doc.CreateComment(patch.Content + "\r\n" + element.OuterXml + "\r\n ********");

                            element.ParentNode.ReplaceChild(comment, element);

                        }

 

                    }

                }

            }

            doc.Save(outputFilename);

            Console.WriteLine("File " + inputFilename + " has been patched. Results in " + outputFilename);

        }

 

    }

 

    class Program

    {

       

        /// <summary>

        /// Reads a Patches document. This document has the following form:

        /// <Patches>

        ///   <Patch xpath="...">

        ///     new xml

        ///   </Patch>

        /// </Patches>

        /// </summary>

        /// <param name="args"></param>

        public static void Main(string[] args)

        {

 

            XmlPatcher.Patch(args[0], args[1], args[2]);

            Console.WriteLine("File " + args[1] + " has been patched. Results in " + args[2]);

        }

    }

}

 

MSDN Pre-Configured Virtual Machine Images

24. October 2006 08:30 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

If you are a MSDN subscriber, you have access to Virtual Machine images that are preconfigured with most Microsoft’s products:

MSDN Subscribers have access to a series of Virtual Images containing a fully functional installation of Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite, and Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server. These Virtual Images are a benefit of your MSDN subscription and are available for download from the MSDN Subscriber download area.

I copied the paragraph above from Visual Studio’s Evaluation page. You do need to have an MSDN subscription to access these images. They are a great way to evaluate Microsoft’s products without commiting a physical machine to the evaluation, or having to spend time installing and configuring a server.

This is another great example of how virtualization is making our lives easier!

VHD Spec Available for Download

19. October 2006 12:24 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

The VHD format specification is now available for download. The specification contains all the technical details for reading/writing and modifying VHD images. This has a lot of potential, and can be used for things like backup, antivirus scans, image management, disk conversion, and others. The spec was released under Microsoft’s Open Specification Promise:

As of Tuesday, October 17th 2006, Microsoft is providing access to the VHD Image Format Specification Document as a part of the Open Specification Promise (OSP). The OSP provides broad use of Microsoft patented technology necessary to implement a list of covered specifications. The goal of the OSP is to provide our customers and partners with additional options for implementing interoperable solutions. Please reference the OSP Website for complete details.

Link to the Press Release: Microsoft Enhances Interoperability With Open Virtualization Format
Link to download page: Virtual Hard Disk Image Format Specification

Returning cursors in Oracle

17. October 2006 10:07 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

I recenlty had a hard time trying to return some cursos and used them in Excel.

The problem is that Excel does not understand ref cursors. There are a couple of links in Microsoft. In general you have to use a special ODBC query syntax and create a package ????

This is an example, I just copied from Microsoft


      DROP TABLE DATA1;

      CREATE TABLE DATA1
       (ssn     NUMBER(9) PRIMARY KEY,
        fname   VARCHAR2(15),
        lname   VARCHAR2(20));

      INSERT INTO DATA1 VALUES(555662222,'Sam','Goodwin');

      INSERT INTO DATA1 VALUES(555882222,'Kent','Clark');

      INSERT INTO DATA1 VALUES(666223333,'Sally','Burnett');

      COMMIT;
      /

      CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE packData1
      AS
          TYPE tssn is TABLE of  NUMBER(10)
          INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
          TYPE tfname is TABLE of VARCHAR2(15)
          INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;
          TYPE tlname is TABLE of VARCHAR2(20)
          INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

        PROCEDURE GetData
              (param1 IN      Date,
               ssn    OUT     tssn,
               fname  OUT     tfname,
               lname  OUT     tlname);
      END packData1;
      /


      CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY packData1
      AS

      PROCEDURE GetData
            (param1  IN    Date,
                   ssn     OUT   tssn,
                   fname   OUT   tfname,
                   lname   OUT   tlname)
      IS
        CURSOR data1_cur IS
                   SELECT ssn, fname, lname
                   FROM Data1
                   WHERE param1 < current_date;
           percount NUMBER DEFAULT 1;
       BEGIN
           FOR singledata IN data1_cur
           LOOP
                   ssn(percount) := singledata.ssn;
                   fname(percount) := singledata.fname;
                   lname(percount) := singledata.lname;
                   percount := percount + 1;
           END LOOP;
       END;
       END;
       / 
      
To call it you write in Excel something like {call packdata1.GetData('01-JAN-2005',{resultset 70000, ssn, fname, lname})}      

{call packdata1.GetData(?,{resultset 70000, ssn, fname, lname})}    to use parameters.

The microsoft links are:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q174679

http://www.support.microsoft.com/kb/174981

 

Using vhdmount.exe under Windows 2003 Server R2

15. October 2006 11:18 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

When you try to mount a VHD using the vhdmount tool, you may get this error message:

C:\VMs>vhdmount.exe /m DISK.vhd

The VHD file is successfully plugged in as a virtual disk device. However, VHD mount was unable to mount all volumes on the disk. Use Disk Manager to mount the volumes.

The issue is that the drivers are not signed for WHQL, so you need to follow the same steps as detailed in this blog post to make it work (as in Windows XP). Another option, however, is to set the WHQL signing option is to Ignore. This can be done through Control Panel->System->Hardware->Driver Signing:

VHDMOUNT

Once you do this, you’ll be able to mount VHD files without any further errors.

HP and Intel Developer Workshops - Atlanta

12. October 2006 12:44 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

There’s going to be a new HP and Intel Developer Workshop in Atlanta in a couple of weeks, on Oct. 24–26. As with the previous workshops, we will do the classes for the 64–bit Windows track.

This is the last workshop for this year. That means that is the last oportunity this year to get this hands-on traning AND an Itanium machine!!

Easy way to start developing webparts

12. October 2006 09:09 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
Recently someone I one told me he was working with WebParts and that he was not happy about it.
Developing WebParts is that hard but is even easier if you are familiar with simple web user controls.
Some people from Reflection IT created a WebPart that allows you to reuse your web user controls. So I think it will very useful for anyone that is just starting with this
Just look for SmartPart
Cheers!

Asp.net 2.0 compiler tool

12. October 2006 08:56 by Mquiros in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

If you are starting to develop Asp.net application with Visual Studio 2005 and learning about the thousands of new cool features of  asp.net 2.0 you will find that the compilation model is really different.

To me was very confusing in the beginning understand the new compilation model or features. Playing around -before reading documentaion first- I find that there some command line tools that  you can use to understand the different ways to do it, however it's difficult to understand if you don't read the new compilation model documentation.

I want to share about a tool I used since I found it, it's called West Wind Web ASP.NET 2.0 Compiler Utility, it's very simple to use and in my case, it helps me to understand better the compilation options I have with the asp.net 2.0 model.

So give it a try and I hope you like it.





Joining a Machine to a Windows Domain that won't Budge

12. October 2006 04:57 by Csaborio in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
During our VT labs, we are constantly messing around with domain controllers due to the fact that in order for Virtual Server's API and Carmine to work correctly, the hosts need to be on the same domain.

Everything has worked quite fine until a day in which we were trying to add a machine the domain we had.  I got the following message:

The system cannot log you on due to the following error:
The specified domain either does exist or could not be contacted.

Please try again or consult your system administrator.

Hmmm...well...trying again certainly did not work and we are our own sys admins ;)  I sent a desperate cry for help to our awesome Virtua team, and Jose hinted me on how to fix it.

All it takes is to change the Primary DNS of the machine that won't logon to the IP address of the domain controller.  Doing this fixed the issue.

As far as why this works, I really don't know and to a certain extent, I am not sure I want to. :D

Hope this helps someone in distress in the future!

MSDN Webcast on moving from VB6 to VB.NET

11. October 2006 10:44 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags: , ,   //   Comments (0)

My coworker Hendel Valverde will be presenting a webcast called Complete Methodology for Migrating Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Visual Basic .NET, tomorrow at 1:00 PM Pacific. It covers all the steps necessary to prepare and perform migrations from VB to VB.NET, from what to look for during the analysis and planning stages to the final testing of the migrated application.

Link: MSDN Webcast: Complete Methodology for Migrating Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Visual Basic .NET (Level 200)

And here’s the link to ArtinSoft’s press release: ArtinSoft and Microsoft Announce New Webcast on VB6 to .NET 2005 Migration Methodology.

 

Virtual PC 2007 Beta is out

11. October 2006 09:34 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)

Virtual PC 2007 Beta is now available for download from http://connect.microsoft.com. As with other beta software, you need to register for the beta first.

This is a long overdue upgrade that finally supports hardware virtualization. It includes:

  • Hardware-assisted virtualization (both AMD and Intel)
  • Support for Vista both as host and guest OS
  • Support for 64–bit Hosts
  • Bug Fixes and Performance Enhacements

Multicore lab Thread Checker mystery error... solved!!

9. October 2006 04:08 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags: ,   //   Comments (0)

Some of you may recall that on some events, we got an error message on Intel Thread Checker during the Multicore lab. No matter what we did, even if we solved all the concurrency issues related to our code, the Thread Checker would always log this message:

Write -> Read data-race Memory read at [PrimesInstrumented.exe, 0x2468] conflicts with a prior memory write at [PrimesInstrumented.exe, 0x16816] (flow dependence)

During the labs, we have said that we've been working out the solution with the Intel support people - and now we have an answer!!The thing is that you can work with Thread Checker in two ways:
  1. Use compiler based instrumentation. With this, you basically need to add the /Qtcheck flag to the compiler command line to instrument the binary. Once it is instrumented and you run it, it will create a file called "Threadchecker.thr", that you can then load in the VTune Thread Checker. To do this, you need to use the following command lines: (using the primes example from the lab)

    icl /c /Zi primes.cpp /Qopenmp /Qtcheck /Od
    link primes.obj /out:PrimesInstrumented.exe /fixed:no /DEBUG


  2. Use Thread Checker to intrument the application. In this scenario, you don't intrument the binary at compile time, but have Thread Checker intrument it when running the application. For this, you need to build the application with the following command lines:

    icl /c /Zi primes.cpp /Qopenmp /MD /Od
    link primes.obj /out:PrimesInstrumented.exe /fixed:no /DEBUG


    And then load it in Thread Checker.

The error we were doing on the lab is that we were using both compiler and "Thread Checker" instrumentation, and that caused Thread Checker to report conflicts that are outside of the program and in the runtime libraries. Now, using either option (BUT not both at the same time) the strange error is gone!

Thanks to Vasanth Tovinkere at Intel who really helped us out with this problem!!

BTW, this is repeating an old blog post I did for the 64–bit Advantage Blog. The post was deleted for some reason. Since I consider this information to be important, I am re-posting it here.

Demo Photo

5. October 2006 10:44 by Admin in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
The description of the picture

OpenMP on Visual Studio

5. October 2006 08:57 by Jaguilar in General  //  Tags: ,   //   Comments (0)

You can create C++ application in Visual Studio that use OpenMP. When you run an application created with OpenMP and VS.NET, however, you may get this annoying error message: “This application has failed to start because vcompd.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.”:

omp-error

When we tried this, we were puzzled by this error message, especially since it works with the Intel Compiler flawlessly. Well, it turns out that you need to include omp.h in your files ALWAYS when you use OpenMP from Visual Studio. This is not required on other compilers if you’re only using the OpenMP pragmas, but it is an issue with Visual Studio.

Thanks to Kang Su for pointing this out in his blog – I was going crazy trying to figure out what was wrong.

Also remember to enable OpenMP support in the C++ Project properties. This setting is in Configuration Properties->C/C++->Language->OpenMP Support.

Expading or Shrinking your disks

5. October 2006 06:52 by Mrojas in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
    If you have been using VMWare for a while you'll end up having space problems.
Either your virtual machine disks are TOO big or TOO small.
To handle that VMWare Workstation has a tool (Notice that VMWare Server does not have it)
Called vmware-vdiskmanager.exe (Virtual Disk Manager you can google it with "Virtual Disk Manager vmware")
you will find it in C:\Program Files\VmWare WorkStation\

to Expand a Disk you just do vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -x 40GB mydisk.vmdsk

To Shrink files there are more steps to take. You must remove all snapshots if you had any. Then start the virtual machine, and install the vmwareTools and once you have installed then you go to the control panel Click in Vmware Tools and use the Shrinking features.

Then you can use the vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -k command.

You can find more details intructions in the VMWare site! Good Luck

Use VTune to Catch Alignment Faults

5. October 2006 02:50 by Csaborio in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
So there is a quick hack method you can use to catch alignment exceptions on your code, but this approach - although effective, is not a very elegant solution. It turns out that VTune can help you find alignment faults very easily. I tested VTune using my MacBook running Windows XP and it had an event called: Misaligned Data Memory References By focusing on these events, you can find places in your code where alignment faults are happening. No more guessing, no more hacks, plain and simple. On some processors, this event counter might not be present. In cases like this, you would need to focus on the Split Stores Retired and Split Loads Retired events to find this information. We have added this extra information on our VTune labs as part of Artinsoft's continuing effort to support in-house customized 64-bit training .

Microsoft Support Lifecycle for VB6

4. October 2006 13:11 by Fzoufaly in General  //  Tags:   //   Comments (0)
Are you wondering what's Microsoft support policy for Visual Basic 6?  Here is the information:

Link to Microsoft Support Lifecycle

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