http://team.silverlight.net/announcement/the-future-of-silverlight

till yesterday i had never used T4 for a real problem solving. i knew what it is but i did not know how great and easy it is.

in my current scenario i have a database table which contains options available for each property of 30 available properties of items to be added to the system. the table has almost 500 records.  in the item registration page i had to create a structure like this for each property:

<div id="div1" runat="server" class="row">
<asp:Label ID="SmartLabel13" runat="server" AssociatedControlID="" Text="Title of the property"></asp:Label>
<asp:DropDown ID="SmartDropDown1" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem Selected="True" Text="-----------" Value="">
<asp:ListItem Selected="True" Text="option 1" Value="option 1 value">
<asp:ListItem Selected="True" Text="option 2" Value="option 2 value">
.
.
.
.
<asp:ListItem Selected="True" Text="option n" Value="option n value">
</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDown>
</div>

creating 50 of these snippet and adding almost 12 list item for each of them along with setting the control names and property title and also AssociatedControlID of each would have taken me at least a day. i thought i could benefit from T4(Text Template Transformation Toolkit which is used for code generation) to save myself some time. so i started creating a T4 file to do this and vala… 15 minutes later i had it done. i have to say that, it was the first time that i actually was using T4. i cannot believe how easy it is to use it. the following few lines of code saved me at least a day by generating around 1000 lines of code:

<#@ template language="C#" debug="True" #>
<#@ output extension="txt" #>
<#@ assembly name="System.Core" #>
<#@ assembly name="System.Data" #>
<#@ import namespace="System" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.IO" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.Diagnostics" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.Linq" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.Collections" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.Collections.Generic" #> 
<#@ import namespace="System.Data.SqlClient" #>
<#
string catName=string.Empty;
int i=50;
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection cn=new  System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection("data source=.\\sqlexpress;integrated security=true;database=Irizzle");
SqlCommand cmd=new SqlCommand("select * from IRZ.Lookupvalues order by Category",cn);
cn.Open();
SqlDataReader dr=cmd.ExecuteReader();
while(dr.Read())
{    
if(catName==dr["Category"].ToString())
{#>
<asp:ListItem Text="<#= dr["Name"].ToString()#>" Value="<#= dr["Code"].ToString()#>" />
<#}
else
{
if(catName!=string.Empty){#>
</Irizzle:SmartDropDown>
</div>
<#}#>
<div id="div<#= dr["Category"].ToString()#>" runat="server" class="row">
<label for="drp<#= dr["Category"].ToString()#>"><#= dr["Title"].ToString()#></label>
<Irizzle:SmartDropDown ID="drp<#= dr["Category"].ToString()#>" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem Selected="True" Text="-----------" Value=""/>
<asp:ListItem Text="<#= dr["Name"].ToString()#>" Value="<#= dr["Code"].ToString()#>" />
<#}
catName=dr["Category"].ToString();
#>        
<#    i++;}
dr.Close();
cn.Close();
#>
</Irizzle:SmartDropDown>
</div>

i am sure T4 can save you and your companies hell lot of time. what i am wondering about is why not so many people talk about this great feature.

If you are also involved in web development as part of your day to day job(sure most of us are), you know that dealing with css is inevitable. css is so important that everybody has to consider it; from the application architects to graphic designers.

Recently in the following blog post i read about .LESS library which was totally new but interesting for me. 

".LESS is a free, open-source port of Ruby's LESS library. LESS (and .LESS, by extension) is a parser that allows web developers to create style sheets using new and improved language features, including variables, operations, mixins, and nested rules. Behind the scenes, .LESS converts the enhanced CSS rules into standard CSS rules. This conversion can happen automatically and on-demand through the use of an HTTP Handler, or done manually as part of the build process. Moreover, .LESS can be configured to automatically minify the resulting CSS, saving bandwidth and making the end user's experience a snappier one. "  

If you want to know about .LESS for css, you can go through the same blog post which I went through:

http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/030310-1.aspx

i have found a perfect blog post from mr. tim heuer on new features in silverlight 4.0. it's definitely worth going through his post.

http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2009/11/18/whats-new-in-silverlight-4-complete-guide-new-features.aspx

i finally found the free software to resize i mean enlarze my C drive partition without reinstalling the os. This Free Partition Manager--EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition is a partition magic alternative and partition management freeware. With its help, you can resize/move, copy, create, delete, format, hide, explore hard disk drive partitions. To extend system partition, have better disk space management, settle low disk space problem! The most attractive feature is it can resize/move partition without destroying data. This free partition manager is an ALL-IN-ONE partition solution and disk management utility. It allows you to extend partition (especially for system drive), manage disk space easily, settle low disk space problem under Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 (Only for 32 bit). The most popular hard disk management functions are brought together with powerful data protection including: Partition Manager, Partition Recovery Wizard and Disk & Partition Copy Wizard.

you can get it from here and i think we should thank them to provide this as a free software.

http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

You have two choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs,

Why？

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life."

"But it's not always that easy,” I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life."

Several years later,

And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men.

While Jerry trying to open the safe box,

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.…

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

 "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.

"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die.
I chose to live."

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.

I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: “I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

"Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you – is your attitude.

• In the title text box give your web server a name (in this case I have called it webserver 1919).
• In the command text box enter your .net web server address (in my computer it is C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\WebDev.WebServer.EXE)
• In the Arguments text box enter /port:{port number} /path:$(ProjectDir) where {port number} is your desired static port number (in this case I have chosen port 1919 and the value is “/port:1919 /path:$(ProjectDir)”).
• Tick use output window check box
• Click on the Ok button

• Right click on your asp.net project file and click on the Property Pages menu.
• On the left side of the property window click on Start Options.
• In the Server section choose Use custom server
• In the base URL text box enter http://localhost:1919 where 1919 should be the port number you have chosen in step 2
• Click on the Ok button

• Click on the Tool menu. Now a new menu item having the name you have assigned to the customer web server in step 2 should be displayed in the tool menu.
• Click on the new menu item (in this case webserver 1919)

 اگر کريستوفر کلمب ازدواج کرده بود،شايد هرگز قاره امريکا را کشف نمي کرد، چون بجای برنامه ريزی و تمرکز در مورد چنين سفر ماجراجويانه ای، بايد وقتش را به پاسخ دادن به همسرش، درباره پرسشهای زير مي گذراند :

·         کجا داری ميری؟

·         با کی؟

·         واسه چی؟

·         چطوری دارين می رين؟

·         کشف چی؟

·         چرا فقط تو؟

·         تا تو برگردی من چيکار کنم؟!

·         می تونم منم باهات بيام؟!

·         کِی برمی گردی؟

·         برای شام خونه ای ديگه؟!

·         واسم چی مياری؟

·         تو عمدا اين برنامه رو بدون من ريختی،

·         اينطور نيست؟!

·         جواب منو بده؟

·         من می خوام برم خونه مامانم!

·         من می خوام تو منو اونجا برسونی!

·         ديگه هيچوقت به اين خونه برنمی گردم!

·         منظورت  چيه "اوکی"؟!

·         چرا  جلوم رو نمی گيری؟!

·         من اصلا نمی فهمم اين کشف درباره چی هست؟

·         تو هميشه اينجوری رفتار می کنی!

·         آخرين بار هم همين کار رو کردی!

·         می بينم اين روزها داری يه کارهايی می کنی!

·         من هنوز نمی فهمم، مگه چيز ديگه ايی هم برای کشف کردن مونده!

ظاهرا در مورد اين يک موضوع، تمام فرهنگها به طرز وحشتناکی با هم وجه مشترک دارند.

حالا فکر مي کنيد اون انقدر نابغه بود که مي تونست پاسخ اينهمه پرسشها رو بده و بدون برانگيختن سوظن بره آمريکا رو کشف کنه؟

تازه مي دونيم که اصلا قرار نبود بره آمريکا رو کشف کنه.. قرار بود بره هندوستان.. حالا فکر مي کنيد اگر از آمريکا بر مي گشت و ساری هندی برای زنش نمي اورد و مي گفت من به جای هندوستان رفتم آمريکا رو کشف کردم چه قشقرقي راه مي افتاد.. من که اون موقع اصلا دلم نمي خواست جای اون باشم!!!ا

(به نقل از ایمیل یکی از دوستان)