Rachit's Blog (Moved)
Moved to http://weblogs.asp.net/rachit

Future blogging...

I'll be blogging here in the future. This blog will be available in the future because of the old material. I can't thank enough GWB for their support...

Microsoft Silverlight using Google Analytics

I was surfing the official Microsoft Silverlight site and found that the site is using Urchin software. There is a JavaScript file (http://silverlight.net/__utm.js) when you "View Source" on the homepage.

Well, nothing wrong with it but Urchin is now Google Analytics, so... :) 

Strange or expected ??!!

Book Review: Introduction to Microsoft ASP.NET Ajax

I have started reading the "Introduction to Microsoft ASP.Net Ajax" book (Dino Esposito) since yesterday. I must admit that it's very well written and organized book. A lot of confusions that I had about the UpdatePanel in particular are now resolved. I'm almost more than half way and I'm enjoying each and every bit of it. Thank you Dino for your excellent work! A must read for ASP.Net MS AJAX developers.

Comparison of TFS and ClearCase

SRLTeam (MS Israel) has shown the basic difference between the ClearCase and the Team Foundation Server. I think it's interesting!

SQL 2005 Studio Error: CryptUnprotectedData

Has anybody seen this error? How to fix it? This happens when I click on the one of the server name under the Registered Servers in the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. I can't seem to find the problem. I tried to google but found nothing.

 

Basics of Form Authentication and related

This and this are very good articles to learn how to share session/authentication in the web farm scenario. It also describes mostly everything about the Form Authentication. A must read!

Best Windows Installer Cleanup Utility Ever

We all know that there are always some kind of problems with software (especially Microsoft's) installation. In my experience, the most frustrating problem is not being able to uninstall a software that you installed yourself without any problem.

I have been using Visual Studio Team Suite for a quite a long time and it's working great especially after SP1. What I found the other day that I'm unable to create a New Personal Starter Kit Web Site anymore. It's just not showing up as a template when I do Create New Web Site. So, I reinstalled the Kit but nothing worked. Trying to fix this problem, somehow I screwed up the Visual Studio (still don't know how reinstalling would end up like this). So, I decided to uninstall the whole Visual Studio 2005. Add/Remove program --> Uninstall. NOPE! won't work... The error is "Can't find the proper order of installation". WTF!

When I almost gave up, I recalled this utility. I installed that and one by one removed all the parts of Visual Studio 2005. It works great now. I tell you this Windows Installer Cleaner is the best piece of software Microsoft ever created. It just works (for me at least, always).

Happy uninstalling!

How to deploy-activate WSS-Sharepoint Templates

I had a hard time installing application templates on WSS 3.0. Everytime I tried, I would get some kind of error. So, I decided to create a bat file that I can always use to install them. To comply with the width of the blog, I've change the font size of the text.

Steps:

  • You must be an admin on the WSS/Sharepoint server.
  • Get the templates from here.
  • Extract them in C:\Temp.
  • Create a "New Text Document" and call it TemplateInstaller.BAT. Save the file in the same folder (e.g C:\Temp) as above.
  • Copy/paste the following text within ==== lines.
  • Double click on TemplateInstaller.BAT (you may get some error, if the template file (.stp or .wsp) is missing.
  • To make sure if they are fine, follow this

Enjoy!

=========

call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\STSADM.EXE" -o deploysolution -local -name ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp -allowgacdeployment
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "AbsenceVacationSchedule.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "AbsenceVacationSchedule.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "BugDatabase.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "BugDatabase.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "CallCenter.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "CallCenter.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ChangeRequest.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ChangeRequest.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ComplianceProcessSupport.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ComplianceProcessSupport.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ContactsManagement.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ContactsManagement.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "DocumentLibraryReview.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "DocumentLibraryReview.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "EventPlanning.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "EventPlanning.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ExpenseReimbursementApproval.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ExpenseReimbursementApproval.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "HelpDesk.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "HelpDesk.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "InventoryTracking.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "InventoryTracking.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ITTeamWorkspace.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ITTeamWorkspace.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "JobRequisition.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "JobRequisition.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "KnowledgeBase.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "KnowledgeBase.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "LendingLibrary.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "LendingLibrary.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "RoomEquipmentReservations.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "RoomEquipmentReservations.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o addsolution  -filename "SalesLeadPipeline.wsp" 
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o deploysolution -name "SalesLeadPipeline.wsp" -allowgacdeployment -immediate -force
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o copyappbincontent
call "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\stsadm.exe" -o execadmsvcjobs

call IISReset /restart

=========

Off Topic: Flying Giraffe...

My wife took my daughter (almost 2 now) to the Bronx Zoo today. After coming back from work, I asked my daughter which animals she saw and what she did.

 

Well, She said something funny in my mother tongue Gujarati which can be translated as this.

"I saw a Giraffe flying on the water."


 

How to: Download file from ASP.Net 2.0 Page

I just wrote an article explaining how to make your aspx page help downloading files.

Read it here!

Let me know your thoughts.