Category Archives: Platform

Configuring NLog for WCF Services

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

NLog didn’t cooperate for my WCF services (server side). I finally did manage to get it working, with a few extra steps; this post outlines how to configure NLog to work with WCF services. Continue reading →

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SQL Server Indexed Views and View Performance

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

SQL Server allows you to index views, which caches the results; what’s more, indexed views may automatically be included in queries at SQL Server’s discretion — no application changes required. Wow! Continue reading →

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Visual Studio Automatic Version Numbering

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

Visual Studio (2010+) allows you to specify that it should generate (incremental) build versions for your projects. The syntax is quite simple (for AssemblyInfo.cs), but there are a few caveats to know. Continue reading →

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Finding Circular Dependencies in SQL Server

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

SQL Server doesn’t allow a cycle of foreign keys, nor two or more paths to cascadingly delete rows from a table. Thankfully, there’s a script you can use to detect at least table reference cycles. Continue reading →

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Rails-Style Test Database Creation in ASP.NET MVC

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

How can you get ASP.NET MVC to create your database on the fly for tests? Well, you can, if you use migrations for your application to build the tables, drop and recreate all the tables prior to running any tests. Continue reading →

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Testing Rendered HTML in ASP.NET MVC3

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

HtmlUnit and IKVM together give you the power to test your ASP.NET MVC3 application. Submit forms, and even verify the resulting HTML! All with a little help from Java, and Steve Anderson. Continue reading →

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Integrating NUnit with CruiseControl.NET

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

Interested in using CruiseControl.NET to execute NUnit tasks and integrate the results in the dashboard, without using the nunit task type? You can do it through exec, if you merge the results. This article outlines how. Continue reading →

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Fetching Connection Strings from App.Config in a Library via ConfigurationManager

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager doesn’t (easily) allow you to read connection strings from an App.Config file inside a library. You need to add a few extra steps to pull this off, like using KeyValueConfigurationElement. Continue reading →

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Using NInject For Compile-Time AOP

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

An update to my aspect-oriented design pattern for compile-time checking: you can implement aspects as interfaces with singular implementations, and use Ninject to inject the interface implementations. Smooth, easy, and it works! Continue reading →

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Creating Background Applications in C#

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Ashiq Alibhai, PMP

How can you create a .NET application that runs in the background, without a console or any forms? Just create a Windows Application type application, and make sure no windows appear. That’s it! Continue reading →

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