Microsoft has released Volta

About a week ago Microsoft released Volta from the labs.


What is Volta :

Volta is a developer toolset for building multi-tier web applications using existing and familiar tools, techniques and patterns, It allows to make the decisions until the very last passible moment.

It also enables new end-to-end profiling and testing.

It makes that you can build your application as a .NET client application and then assign parts of your application to the client side or the server side. The compiler automatically creates cross-browser JavaScript, web services and all required code for the tiers to communicate.


Volta has the following advantages :
In the architectural dimension :
Language-independence. Write Volta code in any language that compiles into MSIL. For example, C#, VB, IronPython, etc.
Leverage the entire .NET toolchain. Use libraries; the IDE, Intellisense, auto-complete, snippets; FxCop; profiler; class browser; ILDASM; and so on.
Low entry barrier. Reduce your learning burden; use “only the languages in the room.”
Brown-field applicability. Volta-enable existing applications for the cloud.
Beyond 2 tiers. Refactor to as many tiers as you need using exactly the same mechanisms recursively applied.

In the execution-platform dimension :
Deep embedding of CLR semantics. Preserve exact CLR semantics across platforms.
Cross-browser support. Use one programming model across browsers.
Complete orthogonality with refactoring. Mix and match refactoring and retargeting.
Ajax-ready. Write Ajax patterns and idioms in familiar .NET languages.
Debugging transparency. Debug code with a specific browser.
Leverage browser-specific features. Where needed, access features unique to each browser.
Visual-Studio integration. Enjoy seamless integration with the IDE.


In the next post we will make our first Volta application.
Can't wait?
Download volta here : http://labs.live.com/volta/download/

My Lolcat

Following the hype,

here's our own lolcat (Gyzmo (aka Barbaque the cat))






more at IcanhasCheezburger

Outlook files

Today I received the outlook error :

Outlook exited without properly closing your outlook datafile

it also indicated that it was the ost file that was damaged
after that outlook closed, retrying gave the same problem. 

Lucky for us Outlook user Microsoft has added a well hidden recovery program :
Scanpst.exe
(when installed with the default settings this will be in : C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12  for office 2007 (a guess would be office11 for 2003 ) )

Just run this,
Select the file indicated in the error message (C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook, select the pst or ost file accordingly)
Scan it and repair it : voila problems gone!

PS : I found out there's a scanost.exe and a scanpst.exe, I used scanpst.exe for my ost file and it worked.

LoadTest troubles

After installing a loadtest Controller and an agent using the Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2

the controller indicated that the agent remained disconnected, 
after searching i found out that the user did not belong to the TeamTestAgentService user group on the controller, after adding this user the agent become ready.

another usefull utility is the AgentConfigUtil.exe tool.

You can also check the log files  for errors :   \LoadTest\agentConfigUtilSetup*.log file for errors.

Another possible error sis : “Rig failed to restart for controller . The following error was reported Cannot open VSTTController service on computer .”

This error occurs when the when the user tries to restart the rig from the Administer Test Controller dialog box, but the user doesn't belong to the Power User or Administrator group.

More info for loadtests :
Ed Glas's blog

It's finally here. Opera 9.5

It's finally here.

Opera 9.5 Alpha has arrived, and of course i had to install it. 

Just for safety I installed it separate from my 9.23 installation.

 
 When I started it I was pleasantly surprised, it is even faster than 9.23,

And this for an alpha build, this promises for the release build :)

 

Some new items are :

• Performance
  
• Full history search (quite usefull)
  
• Improved site compatibility
  
• Access for everyone
  
• Improved platform integration
  
• Preview of bookmark and Speed Dial synchronization (very nice )
  
• Magic Windows build number (very important of course ;-) )

For some statistics that it is indeed fast :

http://nontroppo.org/timer/kestrel_tests/ 
 

If you want to play with a new browser , or read about the new features:
http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/next/

 

Beware, it is an alpha build !

I have one problem and it crashes when I want to save a webpage to an mht file,

Otherwise I have no probems found yet, I will post if I find more.

Pricey Vista Boxes

Amazon is selling empty vista boxes, and although the design is nice,
the price is a bit much :)

Image.FromFile locks the file

When you use the picturebox to display pictures and fill it by using

Picturebox1.Image = Image.FromFile("somefile"),

You will find that it locks the image file.

There are 2 solutions,

The first is to dispose of the image :

Picturebox1.Image.Dispose()

Wich is ok when you are going to put another picture in the picturebox but can lead to surprising results in other cases.

The second (and advised way) is to use a file stream :

Dim fs As System.IO.FileStream

fs = New System.IO.FileStream("somefile", IO.FileMode.Open, IO.FileAccess.Read)

PictureBox1.Image = System.Drawing.Image.FromStream(fs)

fs.Close()