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The picture below shows the phases to RTM of VS.NET 2005
It tells us among other things that:
- The official release will take 6 months from beta 2
- The Microsoft Ascend Program's duration is from Beta 1 to Beta 2.
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During my current project I was amazed that it's possible to call .NET code while transforming xml with xslt.
Because of this feature we were able to call custom written functions that made the translation much more elegant.
This can be done by adding an ExtensionObject to the XsltArgumentList.
Just like the same way it's possible to add a Parameter to the XsltArgumentList:
xsltArgumentList.AddExtensionObject("urn:xpathfunctions", xpathExtension);
xslTransform.Transform(xPathDoc, xsltArgumentList, writer, null)
The urn must be defined in the xsl file like (in bold)
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
xmlns:xsl=http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform
xmlns:xs=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema
xmlns:fn=http://www.w3.org/2004/07/xpath-functions
xmlns:xdt=http://www.w3.org/2004/07/xpath-datatypes
xmlns:csc-fn="urn:xpathfunctions" >
xpathExtension is the custom written class where all functions to call from xsl are available, for example:
string replace(string pattern, string oldValue, string newValue)
{
return pattern.Replace(oldValue, newValue);
}
To call the replace method from xsl, define a variable to hold the value:
<xsl:template match="root">
<xsl:variable select="/customer/address/postal_code" name="postalcode">
The next step is to use the prefix you defined above and call the method with the variable.
<xsl:attribute name="mailCode">
<xsl:value-of select="csc-fn:replace($postalcode, ' ', '')"></xsl:value-of>
</xsl:attribute>
This of course is a very simple example, but you can surely imagine the power of it.
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Allright. This was where i was waiting for. Beta 2.
So downloaded it last night and this morning it was waiting for me to be installed.
I always install my beta software on a second partition with a dual boot installation. (not on a Virtual PC because i want to use all my resources)
So i putted back the Ghost Image with a clean installation of Win XP and some common stuff.
Deamon Tools was already installed on this Image, so selected the ISO (from the Suite). And run a Full Installation (via custom installation and selected everything). There it goes......
DAMN. A blue screen. What !?!
Well that can't be true. I've never had a problem with previous CTP's of VS.NET 2005.
After a Reboot i try to install it again. This time i get an errormessage:
[04/17/05,12:09:16] Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite Edition Beta 2-English: [2] ERROR:Error 1335.The cabinet file '_17073_RTL_x86_enu_VSD_VC_STD.cab' required for this installation is corrupt and cannot be used. This could indicate a network error, an error reading
OK. I could imagine it was because of the use of Demaon Tools. So unpacked the ISO to a directory and run the setup again.
This resulted in a blue screen again.
OK. Probably it was not because of deamon tools, so maiby it's one of the components of the Full installation that fails. So i selected the Default installation.
Phew...... this seems to work. I went away from my computer to come back in 20 minutes.
Hey why do i see my login screen ? Oh no, something went wrong after all.
After running the setup it asked me to Uninstall or Change the current installation.
Allright ! It was installed. I hit the Change current installation to check this.
Let's see. It installed everything i asked for except SQL Server Express April CTP.
I' ve tried to install it several times but it failed every time( by checking it and run install)
Now i just installed it from the temporary directory it creates on my Harddisk. It works after an errormessage that told me to move away files in the Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Template Data directory.
Ok, this was the hardest time i've had with installing a VS.NET 2005 version on my PC. But it works now !
Update:
More people experience problems with the installation. SQL Server Express is the problem indeed.
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When you would like to build a UI like Windows Media Player or a transparant splash screen like Grouper or Adobe Acrobat has, or want to have some rounded corners on your buttons it's ofcourse possible with Windows Forms in .NET.
The article Shaped Windows Forms and Controls in Visual Studio .NET on MSDN was the cause of a whole series of articles and codesamples on CodeProject, DevX etc. about this topic.
When you want to have a good start you can use the controls of Mike Harsh. On WindowsForms.NET you download a very good looking set of controls with designer support and source code. He called it the RegionMaster controls. When you want a demo of how to use it, take a look at this MSDN TV.
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This week .NET Rocks was among other things about Grouper.
'Grouper is a new Windows based application that allows users to share their personal media within private groups. Grouper uses P2P technology connecting you directly to your friends hard drives where you can share large files in a safe, encrypted environment.'
The program is developed in .NET ! Only the incredible nice looking user interface is worth enough to have a look at it.
Would be really nice when Grouper supported the Jabber protocol.