Project description

CarTrackr is a sample application for the ASP.NET MVC framework using the repository pattern and dependency injection using the Unity application block. It was written for various demos in presentations done by Maarten Balliauw.

CarTrackr is an online software application designed to help you understand and track your fuel usage and kilometers driven.

You will have a record on when you filled up on fuel, how many kilometers you got in a given tank, how much you spent and how much liters of fuel you are using per 100 kilometer.

CarTrackr will enable you to improve your fuel economy and save money as well as conserve fuel. Fuel economy and conservation is becoming an important way to control your finances with the current high price.

Source code

Latest version: CarTrackr (ASP.NET MVC 1.0 version)

Author blog feed

Maarten Balliauw {blog} News Feed

Localize ASP.NET MVC 2 DataAnnotations validation messages

Thursday, November 05, 2009 | From Maarten Balliauw {blog}

Living in a country where there are there are three languages being used, almost every application you work on requires some form of localization. In an earlier blog post, I already mentioned ASP.NET MVC 2’s DataAnnotations support for doing model validation. Ever since, I was wondering if it would be possible to use resource files or something to do localization of error messages, since every example that could be found on the Internet looks something like this:

[MetadataType(typeof(PersonBuddy))]
public class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
}

public class PersonBuddy
{
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Name is required.")]
public string Name { get; set; }

[Required(ErrorMessage = "E-mail is required.")
public string Email { get; set; }
}

Yes, those are hardcoded error messages. And yes, only in one language. Let’s see how localization of these would work.

1. Create a resource file

Add a resource file to your ASP.NET MVC 2 application. Not in App_GlobalResources or App_LocalResources, just a resource file in a regular namespace. Next, enter all error messages that should be localized in a key/value manner. Before you leave this file, make sure that the Access Modifier property is set to Public.

2. Update your “buddy classes”

Update your “buddy classes” (or metadata classes or whatever you call them) to use the ErrorMessageResourceType and ErrorMessageResourceName parameters instead of the ErrorMessage parameter that you normally pass. Here’s the example from above:

[MetadataType(typeof(PersonBuddy))]
public class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
}

public class PersonBuddy
{
[Required(ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Resources.ModelValidation), ErrorMessageResourceName = "NameRequired")]
public string Name { get; set; }

[Required(ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Resources.ModelValidation), ErrorMessageResourceName = "EmailRequired")]
public string Email { get; set; }
}

3. See it work!

After creating a resource file and updating the buddy classes, you can go back to work and use model binders, ValidationMessage and ValidationSummary. ASP.NET will make sure that the correct language is used based on the thread culture info.

Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse for PHP developers

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | From Maarten Balliauw {blog}

Pfew! Finally I can spread the word on this! While working on the Windows Azure SDK for PHP, I had the opportunity to test-drive the development builds of the WIndows Azure Tools for Eclipse. Today, the project has been released officially at www.windowsazure4e.org. Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse provides a series of wizards and utilities that allow developers to write, debug, and configure for and deploy PHP applications to Windows Azure.

The plug-in also bundles the existing Windows Azure SDK for PHP, which was introduced a few months ago. This SDK provides a simple API for PHP developers who use the Windows Azure storage component, making it very easy to use the blob, queue and table data storage features. Just visit the project site at http://phpazure.codeplex.com/.

Some labs are available to help you get started with PHP on the WIndows Azure platform: http://www.windowsazure4e.org/learn/

Maarten Balliauw {blog} News Feed

Last edited Oct 15 2008 at 8:15 AM by maartenba, version 4

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