patterns & practices – Enterprise Library

NEW POST: Message Resources?

fsimonazzi — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:12:17 GMT

Hi Peter,

The resource types and names are keys for the standard .NET resource lookup; there is no invocation through reflection, even if the resource name is a property in the resource type.

If you're willing to modify the source code, you can change the implementation for the GetMessageTemplate() method in ValidatorData and BaseValidatorAttribute so they invoke your resource manager.

Fernando

xdzgor wrote:
Hi, I have just started to use the Validation Application Block (with ASP.NET), and was wondering how to configure the messages which are written in the event of validation failure.

In our web-application we have some backend classes which take care of all sorts of localisation tasks - like finding texts in different languages. Is it possible in the VAB to configure a custom class/method which should be used to deliver a message text to display in the event of validation failure?

I have seen the configuration items "messageTemplateResourceName" and "messageTemplateResourceType" - can these be used to identify a class and method which delivers the error text?

Thanks,
Peter

NEW POST: Exceptions - write to database. Not happening.

MagickDK — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:07:43 GMT

OK found the problem.

The EntLib config tool wasnt writing the connection string to the web.config file.

I deleted the DAAB and re-entered it and its working now.

NEW POST: Exceptions - write to database. Not happening.

MagickDK — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:50:35 GMT

MagickDK wrote:
Greetings people

I am trying to get the Exception Handling App Block to log the exception to the database (using the DAAB and LAB). I have got the LAB and EHAP writing to a flat file, the Event Viewer and sending Email - but I cannot get it to log to DB.

I do have the tables and stored procs set up. And I have checked the connection string is correct.
I also have references to:

Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.Database
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.ExceptionHandling
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging.Database
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data;
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Sql;

I am not getting any errors.

What could I possibly be doing wrong?

Thanks for any help.

OK I think I may have found the problem. I was first using SQL Server Express, and I was getting the following error:

Failed to generate a user instance of SQL Server due to a failure in starting the process for the user instance

Then I tried with SQL Server and now I get this error:
An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Shared Memory Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)

Has anyone managed to get Exception logging working with either MySQL or preferably Postgresql?

NEW POST: Message Resources?

xdzgor — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:38:28 GMT

Hi, I have just started to use the Validation Application Block (with ASP.NET), and was wondering how to configure the messages which are written in the event of validation failure.

In our web-application we have some backend classes which take care of all sorts of localisation tasks - like finding texts in different languages. Is it possible in the VAB to configure a custom class/method which should be used to deliver a message text to display in the event of validation failure?

I have seen the configuration items "messageTemplateResourceName" and "messageTemplateResourceType" - can these be used to identify a class and method which delivers the error text?

Thanks,
Peter

NEW POST: Vs.net 2008, Ent Lib 3.1, Logging : The configuration section for logging

vansree — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:43:18 GMT

Hi,

As per your advice, I tried to hook with the debugger ... let me explain one more time

In page, I use <MyProj:rblSex ID="rblSex" runat="server" RepeatDirection="Horizontal" />

In the Control Library .... [Below I trimmed the spaces to more readibility]

using

System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.ComponentModel; using System.Text; using System.Web; using System.Web.UI; using System.Web.UI.WebControls; using System.Data; using MyProjUtils = MyProj.DataLayer.Utils;
namespace MyProj.Engine.Tags {

[

ToolboxData("<{0}:Sex runat=server></{0}:Sex>")]
public class rblSex : RadioButtonList {
    protected override void OnInit(EventArgs e) {    base.OnInit(e);   this.DataBind();     }
    public override void DataBind() {   PopulateData(); base.DataBind(); }
    protected override void CreateChildControls() { base.CreateChildControls(); }
    protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter output) { base.Render(output); }
    public override string DataTextField { get { return "sex_desc"; }  set {  /* Dont set anthing, as the control gets always from db */   } }
    public override string DataValueField{ get { return "sex_id"; }      set {  /* Dont set anthing, as the control gets always from db */   } }

private

void PopulateData() {
           if (this.DataSource == null) {
                     DataTable dt = MyProjUtils.Common.Sex;
                     this.DataSource = dt;
           }
    }
}
}

In the design mode after attaching the debugger, below is the stack trace ...

  MyProj.datalayer.dll!MyProj.DataLayer.Utils.Common.Sex.get() Line 73 + 0x17 bytes C#
MyProj.Engine.DLL!MyProj.Engine.Tags.rblSex.PopulateData() Line 36 + 0x5 bytes C#
MyProj.Engine.DLL!MyProj.Engine.Tags.rblSex.DataBind() Line 28 + 0x7 bytes C#
MyProj.Engine.DLL!MyProj.Engine.Tags.rblSex.OnInit(System.EventArgs e = {System.EventArgs}) Line 22 + 0xa bytes C#

Question:
         1) Is my code correct? Also, how to avoid it hitting the db in the design mode?
         2) Interestingly, the Logger. write is failing because the whole code base is in c# project and the configuration for the database connections and logging ... all those are in web project.
                 I look it as design flaw for my app.
                 Web project has Entlib.config and web.config, where the connection strings and logging configuration is available.
                 But the controls are in other project, which in design mode, not sure whether they search for web.config / Entlib.config / or app.config (which is not there)

Thanks

NEW POST: Config files

itakkeda — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:34:50 GMT

Guys,

How to merge all app.config files from different projects created by smart client software factory into one? Is there any way we can do this with the help of Enterprise Library Manager(Configuration application block). Please help

NEW POST: Configuration block for multiple config files

fsimonazzi — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:45:07 GMT

Hi,

EntLib's configuration support will not help you here. Would an application deployment technology like ClickOnce, or SMS on a larger scale, work for you? These tools would push configuration to the clients for you...

Fernando

BryanBurgess wrote:
what I mean is I want to have a client side config file that can retrieve information from a configuraiton file sitting on the application server. I have several information that will sit on application server side that the client side application will need to run. For instance the url endpoints in the serverice layer of app. However I do not want to put those on the client side because if the information changes then I have to push out new configuration file to all client machines.

NEW POST: First call's time

fsimonazzi — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:20:11 GMT

Weird. Please report your findings if this happens again.

Regarding the variable, you would still use the GenericDatabase for MS Access.

Fernando

NEW POST: Configuration block for multiple config files

BryanBurgess — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:47:43 GMT

what I mean is I want to have a client side config file that can retrieve information from a configuraiton file sitting on the application server. I have several information that will sit on application server side that the client side application will need to run. For instance the url endpoints in the serverice layer of app. However I do not want to put those on the client side because if the information changes then I have to push out new configuration file to all client machines.

NEW POST: Exceptions - write to database. Not happening.

MagickDK — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:14:45 GMT

Greetings people

I am trying to get the Exception Handling App Block to log the exception to the database (using the DAAB and LAB). I have got the LAB and EHAP writing to both the Event Viewer and sending Email - but I cannot get it to log to DB.

I do have the tables and stored procs set up.

I am not getting any errors.

What could I possibly be doing wrong?

Thanks for any help.

NEW POST: VAB WCF ValidationBehaviour on methods

nachojammers — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:00:25 GMT

Hi,

I recently needed to apply the ValidationBehavior attribute to operation contract's so that I could use different rulesets for different operations. I couldn't figure out a way to do it with VAB/WCF, so I modified the source (ValidationBehavior.cs, ValidationBehaviorAttribute.cs) so that it could be used on operations.

I basically added AttributeTargets.Method to the AttributeUsage attribute, and amended the class to implement IOperationBehavior in ValidationBehaviorAttribute.cs. The implementation of the methods required by IOperationBehavior all seemed pretty logical.

In ValidationBehavior.cs, I also amended the class to also implement IOperationBehavior, again the implementation of the IOperationBehavior methods seemed to make sense referring to the IContractBehavior methods.

Just wanted to know a couple of things, does this approach make sense and have I missed anything massive?

I'd be happy to submit the stuff I've done, or post it if anyone needs to see it!

Cheers

NEW POST: First call's time

RaYWoLF — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:16:02 GMT

I don't know why, now I haven't the slowdown (without change any code of the class).

Anyway I'll try what you said if it happens again. Now I understand what you meant (use an abstract Database variable, not 2 "strong type") and it has the same advantages for me that the GenericDatabase. I only have a problem, for SQL Server you use SqlDatabase constructor but what database should I use for Microsoft Access?

Thanks again for your time.

NEW POST: Array Length validation?

SlackJaw — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:13:55 GMT

I ended up creating my own custom validator "ArraySizeValidator" that is based largely on the existing RangeValidator. I would suggest that anyone wanting to do the same should start there as it already contains the boundry validation code. All you have to write the is the NameValueCollection reader and the actual DoValidate function.

Hopefully upcoming versions of Enterprise Library will include this validator as it certainly is what I would consider to be a "base" type validator.

Ben

NEW POST: Purge for Rolling Flat File Trace Listener please

luthermiller — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:28:59 GMT

Is this a good place to present feature requests?

I am very pleased to see the the rolling flat file trace listener, but the thought of installing an application at a client site and having files get created "forever" is frightening. It would be nice to be able to auto-purge files older than a certain date or files once total log space has exceeded a certain amount... e.g. keep only the most recent 1MB of logs...

Something like this could be useful in the database logger, too, although I guess this could be implemented the proc used for logging.

NEW POST: Using VAB with Linq to Sql or Entities

karlz — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:22:16 GMT

I have a similar question. It seems the direction LINQ to SQL is going is to perform the validations in partial classes in the "On[COLUMNNAME]Changing" (example: OnOrderDateChanging) method.
The alternative to use dynamic data and the use of defining the MetaData class in order to decorate a LINQ class with attributes for validation seems quite tedious.
Either approach really fuses the data tier and the business tier quite tightly (same dll) together.
I've ususally had the business tier in a different dll (and well unit tested) from the data tier (virutally always auto-generated).
Does the use of LINQ mean that your data tier and business tier are basically one tier? (one dll)
I'm just starting to use the VAB and liked it.

NEW POST: Validating Checkboxes

fsimonazzi — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:20:42 GMT

Hi,

Checkboxes cannot be validated with ASP.NET's control validators, including EntLib's PropertyProxyValidator; the CheckBox class lacks the ValidationProperty attribute required for these validators to work.

Fernando

KidSteele wrote:
Hello,

it is possible to validate a checkbox for checking using the proxyvalidator and the microsoft enterprise application validation block? Because on the one hand there is no bool validator or something similar which fit to a checkbox and on the other hand the proxyvalidator raises an error saying that the control cannot be validated.

regards
Tom (negPoint;CSD)

NEW POST: Array Length validation?

fsimonazzi — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:26:42 GMT

Hi,

There is no built-in array length validator in the Validation Block. A self-validation message may work in your case, otherwise you'll need a custom validator.

To create a custom validator, you can inherit from ValueValidator and you'll be forced to implement the required methods. You need to provide a constructor that takes a NameValueCollection as its only parameter, so you can specify it in the configuration console, and you will probably want to define a matching attribute inheriting from ValueValidatorAttribute so you can use it declaratively without configuration.

Fernando

NEW POST: Configuration block for multiple config files

fsimonazzi — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:17:06 GMT

Hi,

What do you mean by "communicating between two config files"? Unless you need to target different sources of configuration, you may want to consider the Application Settings functionallity from the .NET framework; these already handle per-user settings, something the config support from EntLib doesn't handle, and the design time tools generate classes to make it easier to deal with them.

Hope this helps,
Fernando

BryanBurgess wrote:
We are building a desktop application in .Net 3.5 and wanted to use EntLib for managing the configuration information. We will have two configurations - one that will sit on the app server side containing information applicable to all users. Other config will have user specific information such as current application settings. How can you use the configuration block within Enterprise Library for communicating between two config files and also managing/updating the client specific information within the desktop .config file? A sample would be great if you can provide.

NEW POST: How to perform validation within editable WinForm DataGridView

fsimonazzi — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:11:13 GMT

Hi,

The supplied ValidationProvider does not support validating DataGridView cells. There are several reasons for this:

Validating standalone controls and validating cells require entirely different implementations (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.control.validating.aspx and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.datagridview.cellvalidating.aspx).
The IExtenderProvider approach that allows for setting validation metadata, the property that maps to a control being the most important, does not work at the column definition level.

Implementing a new DataGridView based validation provider is not very hard, assuming the column names match the source properties' names. This provider would work as an IExtenderProvider like the existing ValidationProvider but only for DataGridView instances. It would attach a handler for the CellValidating event, and it would invoke the ValidationIntegrationHelper to hook in the validation infrastructure. The event handler would look like this (from a throwaway implementation I just coded):

void OnCellValidating(object source, DataGridViewCellValidatingEventArgs e)

{

if (PerformValidation)

{

if (control.Rows[e.RowIndex].IsNewRow) { return; }

control.Rows[e.RowIndex].ErrorText =

"";

ValidatedCellIntegrationProxy validationProxy

new ValidatedCellIntegrationProxy(

this.control.Columns[e.ColumnIndex].DataPropertyName,

e.FormattedValue,

validationProvider);

ValidationIntegrationHelper helper = null;

try

{

helper =

new ValidationIntegrationHelper(validationProxy);

}

catch (InvalidOperationException)

{

// ignore missing property

return;

}

Validator validator = helper.GetValidator();

ValidationResults validationResults = validator.Validate(validationProxy);

if (!validationResults.IsValid)

{

StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

foreach (ValidationResult result in validationResults)

{

builder.AppendLine(result.Message);

}

e.Cancel =

true;

control.Rows[e.RowIndex].ErrorText = builder.ToString();

}

I'll make this implementation available through entlib contrib.

Fernando

NEW POST: File Logging stops ...

spinodal — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:38:45 GMT

I think we have same problem. We found out that if impersonate is true for asp.net the first user calling any of the methods (having log statements) of the asp.net service becomes the owner of the log file. And when the last user (before rolling happens) call any of the methods that user cannot rename the file created by the first user (because of the windows 2003 default privileges). We could not find any hints to solve this problem.

If you find anything please share...