Encrypt connectionStrings section of web.config

Web.Config
<configuration>
    <connectionStrings>
        <add name="ConnString" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS; 
AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|MyDatabase.mdf;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True" />
    </connectionStrings>
</configuration>

The easiest way to encrypt the <connectionStrings> section is to use the aspnet_regiis command-line tool.
This tool is located in the following folder:

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\

Executing the following command encrypts the <connectionStrings> section of a Web.Config file
located in a folder with the path c:\Websites\MyWebsite:
   
    aspnet_regiis -pef connectionStrings "c:\Websites\MyWebsite"

The -pef option (Protect Encrypt Filepath) encrypts a particular configuration section located at a particular path.

You can decrypt a section with the -pdf option like this:

    aspnet_regiis -pdf connectionStrings "c:\Websites\MyWebsite"

ASP.NET page can read the value of the connection string by using the <%$ ConnectionStrings:ConnString %> expression

Detecting Refresh or Post back in ASP.NET

The problem
There are situations where we would like to detect if the post back is from a form interaction (i.e. submit or button clicks) or is it by hitting the browser F5 refresh button. 

Many of them will jump saying how about checking 'Ispostback' value. 'IsPostback' will always have the value which was set previously. So for instance if the page was posted back before refresh, then the value will be true and if the page is not posted back before refresh, then the value will be false.

This article will first explain the fundamentals of how to solve the above problem and later this article will go in depth of how the source code looks like.

The fundamental

• Step 1 :-We have created a javascript which will generate unique fresh GUID in submit button click. This GUID will be stored in the HttpContext object.
• Step 2( User presses submit click ) :- If user presses submit button it will call the necessary javascript function to create the new fresh GUID again. 
• Step 3 :-In 'HttpHandler' or 'HttpModule' the new GUID value is checked with the old GUID value. If the values are not equal then it means this was not called from a submit click and it's a refresh event. Accordingly the HttpContext session value is set.
• Step 4 :-In the page load we can then check if this was a refresh or post back using the session variables.

3 important parts of the code

There are 3 important part of the code to be understood :-

• Javascript which generates the unique

Send Email Using Gmail in ASP.NET

If you want to send email using your Gmail account or using Gmail's smtp server in ASP.NET application or if you don't have a working smtp server to send mails using your ASP.NET application or aspx page than sending e-mail using Gmail is best option.

you need to write code like this

First of all add below mentioned namespace in code behind of aspx page from which you want to send the mail.

using System.Net.Mail;

Now write this code in click event of button 

C# code

protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();
  mail.To.Add("xyz@gmail.com");
  mail.To.Add("abc@yahoo.com");
  mail.From = new MailAddress("YourUserName@gmail.com");
  mail.Subject = "Email using Gmail";
  string Body = "Hi, this mail is to test sending mail"+
                "using Gmail in ASP.NET";
  mail.Body = Body;
  mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
  SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient();
  smtp.Host = "smtp.gmail.com"; //Or Your SMTP Server Address
  smtp.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential
       ("YourUserName@gmail.com","YourGmailPassword"); //Or your Smtp Email ID and Password
  smtp.EnableSsl = true;
  smtp.Send(mail);
}

VB.NET code 

Imports System.Net.Mail

Protected  Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

The C# Programming Language Version 4.0

Visual Studio 2010 and the ..NET Framework 4.0 will soon be in beta and there are some excellent new features that we can all get excited about with this new release. Along with Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0 we will see version 4.0 of the C# programming language. In this blog post I thought I'd look back over where we have been with the C# programming language and look to where Anders Hejlsberg and the C# team are taking us next.

In 1998 the C# project began with the goal of creating a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language for what has since become known as the ..NET platform. Microsoft launched the .NET platform and the C# programming language in the summer of 2000 and since then C# has become one of the most popular programming languages in use today.

With version 2.0 the language evolved to provide support for generics, anonymous methods, iterators, partial types, and nullable types.

When designing version 3.0 of the language the emphasis was to enable LINQ (Language Integrated Query) which required the addiiton of:

• Implictly Typed Local Variables.
• Extension Methods.
• Lambda Expressions.
• Object and Collection Initializers.
• Annonymous types.
• Implicitly Typed Arrays.
• Query Expressions and Expression Trees.

If you're in need of learning about, or distilling knowledge of, any of these language features that I have mentioned

C# .NET 2.0 Test Driven Development

Overview

There are many benefits of test driven development including better end product with well defined supporting unit tests and having a programming paradigm that is a bit more flexible in regards to scope changes.  Having unit tests available will make our code more maintainable over the long run is invaluable because we can modify our code without fear such as when we are adding/modifying functionality or refactoring.  It could even be considered crucial when we have projects where the scope is likely to change throughout the development lifecycle like in the case where the functional specifications are not clearly defined before we begin producing code.

Test driven development can be a huge shift in the development approach for many of us.  The test driven approach basically chips away at the solution like a sculptor would at a marble block instead of trying to define and create a monolithic application in one shot.

As a first step, we'll define the interfaces out software will adhere to.  The interface should clearly define how our class is to interact with other classes and what information it will expose.  This is a crucial step in any software design process because we really have to know where we are going and the interface serves as a map that will help us get there.

After we have an interface, we'll begin with the test-driven development cycle. 

1. Add a test
2. Run all tests and watch the new one fail (and the

Creating Windows Services with Visual Studio 2008

A Windows services is a application that runs in the background.  There is documentation on the Web for creating a Service with Visual Studio 2003, but is is changed for VS 2005, and 2008.

I will walk thru a sample Service in Visual Studio 2008.  This should also work with VS 2005.

Create the Service.

From Visual Studio Start Page, choose create project…   Select Windows Service and give it a name of NewService.

First thing we will do is add a timer to the Service.  DO NOT USE THE TIMER IN THE TOOLBOX.  The Timer for Windows Forms does not work for Services.  We will have to find the System.Timers.Timer component by right clicking on the Toolbox, and Choose Items.

Find the one that matches below:

Click OK.  This will put the Timer into the Printing section of the Toolbar for some reason.

From The Service1 designer.  Click on Timer1, and set the interval to 10000 (10 Seconds).  Then Double-click to open Code View for Timer1_Elapsed.

Add the Following Code to the Timer1_Elapsed:

Dim MyLog As New EventLog() 
‘ create a new event log 
‘ Check if the the Event Log Exists
If Not MyLog.SourceExists(“NewService”) Then 
MyLog.CreateEventSource(“NewService”, “NewService_Log”) ‘ Create Log
End If 

MyLog.Source = “NewService” ‘ Write to the Log 
MyLog.WriteEntry(“NewService_Log”, “Service is Running” _ , EventLogEntryType.Information)

End Sub

And For OnStart():

Protected Overrides