Thom Robbins: XML Tips and Tricks

Windows Mobile Developer Day

Thu, 22 Jul 2004 21:25:54 GMT

Windows Mobile Developer Day is fast approaching. Please make sure that you register and attend! We have some great speakers lined up around some awesome content.

Hope to see you there!

Windows Mobile Developer Day

Date: August 18, 2004

Time: 8:30-4:15

Event Description:

Is your code going mobile? Have you wanted to learn how to develop and implement mobile solutions within your applications? Using nothing but the code these sessions will help you learn how you can develop and implement these types of solutions. Come and join us for a one day Developer’s solution workshop. These sessions are designed to provide a complete overview of the Compact Framework from the ground up and how it can be used within your application environment.

Agenda:

8:30 – 9:00 – Registration

9:00 – 10:30 - .NET Compact Framework Overview.

10:30 – 10:45 – Break

10:45 – 12:00 – Occasionally-Connected Application Development.

12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 – Data Storage Best Practices

2:30 – 2:45 – Break

2:45 – 4:00 - .NET CF Tips and Tricks

4:00 – 4:15 – Wrap Up/

Code Camp II: The Return!

Thu, 22 Jul 2004 15:20:34 GMT

*********CALL FOR SPEAKERS*********

Developer Code Camp II: The Return!

October 16/17, 2004

October 16 – 8:30 AM – 9PM

October 17 – 8:30 AM – 4PM

Microsoft Waltham

Schedule: http://radio.weblogs.com/0131777/CodeCamp2/code2.htm

General Call for Speakers

Code Camp II is looking for speakers and session leaders.

Code Camp II: The Return is looking to be even bigger and better than anything we have done before. The secret is you! This is a New England developer community based event that requires both speakers and attendees. The continuing goal of the Code Camps series is to provide an intensive developer to developer learning experience that is fun and technically stimulating. The primary focus is on delivering programming information and sample code that can be used immediately. The event is free and all slides, manuals and demo code are provided free!

This two day camp is hosted in our Waltham facility. As a community based event this is a general call for speakers and session leaders to help make this event a success. Based on your feedback, Code Camp II will now feature two types of 1.5 hour sessions and three defined tracks

Do you have something to say?

Requested Session Types:

Code focused presentation – These are presentations that include both power points and code demos. Given the audience that is attending it is important that a large amount of the presentation is focused on code and coding related techniques. Sample topics include How To and Best Practice Sessions.

Chalk Talks – These are new to the Code Camp. These sessions are designed as a facilitated discussion around a specific topic. No pre-canned demos, or pre-prepared code samples allowed! They are presented as a free form facilitated discussion that leverages the expertise of the presenter and the combined knowledge of the group to explore a specific topic.

Additionally, based on feedback we are sponsoring the following three tracks. All presentations must fall into these tracks to be considered. One of the strongest pieces of feedback from the last Code Camp was to provide a better organized set of tracks:

Code Camp Tracks:

Smart Client – This track is designed for presentations or chalk talks on topics related to Smart Client related development topics. This includes Windows Forms applications, Microsoft Office or mobile devices.

Web Track – This track is designed for presentations or chalk talks about Web based development that includes ASP.NET and Web Services.

Data Track – This track is designed for presentation and chalk talks about data storage technologies that includes SQL Server and XML.

********Submit Your Sessions********

Please complete the following and return it to trobbins@microsoft.com by September 15.

Once your session abstract is received we will review and provide scheduling for the selected sessions by October 1. All slides and code samples for the presentation must be delivered by October 14. If we are unable to fill all the time slots for the two days, the code camp will be shortened. It is the community that makes this event a success!

Name:
Company:
Email:
Phone:
Session Type:	Chalk Talk/Presentation (Select one)
Track:	Web/Smart Client/Data (Select one)
Level	200/300/400
Session Name:
Session Description:

Accessing the Structure with XML

Wed, 07 Jul 2004 22:42:50 GMT

For this who read the .NET Developers Journal they have just published an article that I co-wrote this article with Raheel Retiwalla on SQL Server 2005 and ADO 2.0.

Or you can pick it up at the local newstands.

Accessing the Structure with XML

We were listening to a CIO explain how two years ago his company had instituted a mandatory XML policy for the IT staff. Senior management had decided that XML offered too great a competitive advantage for them to pass up using it. The use of XML, he explained, allowed them to quickly change and share their core business structures. The development staff had easily found ways to use XML within their applications.

Creating Custom Site Definitions

Sun, 27 Jun 2004 03:27:53 GMT

Each front end Web Server in a Windows SharePoint Server solution contains at least one Webtemp.xml file that is by default located in the c: Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft Sharedweb server extensions60TEMPLATE1033XML folder. This file is used to store the site definitions that are available within the Template Selection page used for site creation as shown below in Figure 1. In this example I will create a new Site Definition for the Engineering team that is based on the existing Team Site definition. More…

What is XML? And Why Should I Care?

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 15:30:43 GMT

As promised I wanted to post the information from my talk last night at the VB Learn User Group:

What is XML? And why should I care?

You've heard the hype but have you heard the facts? XML is clearly one of the most important standards within the technology industry. In this presentation Microsoft's Thom Robbins covers the structure and design of XML and how it should be used by developers. This presentation also covers the various companion technologies and standards that have been developed with XML (XSD and XSLT). These are important technologies for developers to understand not only for their own application development but as a cornerstone of the .NET Framework. Thom explains how these can be tied together and used within the .NET Framework for application development.

The samples and slides are available for download from here

Extending XSD Schemas

Sun, 20 Jun 2004 02:22:00 GMT

XSD has become a core part of many of the customers that I work with. Within these customers they are using XSD as a standard way of representing various enterprise objects. By defining a standard way to describe these objects using XSD they are able to manage and guarantee the various data formats. I was working with a customer the other day and they were interested in how they could create an extensible schema. They wanted to create a standard representation of their employees, but provide the way for each of their subsidiaries to extend (not change) the underlying structure. I am going to present three examples that show this. For ease of clarity I will use InfoPath. Of course, these same concepts can be extended to anything XSD compliant.

By default, anything like an InfoPath form created using an XSD is considered locked. This means that form designers or developers are unable to add new elements or attributes to the data structure. This by design makes sense when you consider the fact that the purpose of XSD is to guarantee a specific format to the data structure. Of course, the flexibility of the XSD design allows for extensible elements to be added as we will see in later example.

Example 1: The Locked Schema

Starting with the XSD defined below that describes an employee

<?xml version="1.0"?>

</sequence>

</complexType>

</element>

</schema>

Using this XSD to create an InfoPath form creates a locked form as shown below. The data source window within InfoPath actually adds a locked icon to the entire data source for visual display.

Even if a form designer attempts to right click and add a new element or attribute the “add” menu is grayed out as shown below.

Example 2: Extending Elements

If we change the XSD schema to include the “any” element attribute as shown below. This allows additional elements to be added to the XSD data structure.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

<xsd:element name="prefix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="firstname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="lastname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="suffix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="email" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="employeeid" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="costcenter" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="employeeinfo">

<xsd:complexType>

<xsd:sequence>

<xsd:element ref="prefix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="firstname"/>

<xsd:element ref="lastname"/>

<xsd:element ref="suffix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="email"/>

<xsd:element ref="employeeid"/>

<xsd:element ref="costcenter"/>

<xsd:any namespace="##other" processContents="lax" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>

</xsd:sequence>

</xsd:complexType>

</xsd:element>

</xsd:schema>

Using the above XSD to create an InfoPath form creates a slightly different data source. The appearance of the lock icons appears at the field level.

I am now allowed to add additional elements to the data source.

Example 3: Extending Attributes

If we change the XSD slightly and add in the “any” attribute.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

<xsd:element name="prefix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="firstname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="lastname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="suffix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="email" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="employeeid" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="costcenter" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="employeeinfo">

<xsd:complexType>

<xsd:sequence>

<xsd:element ref="prefix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="firstname"/>

<xsd:element ref="lastname"/>

<xsd:element ref="suffix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="email"/>

<xsd:element ref="employeeid"/>

<xsd:element ref="costcenter"/>

</xsd:sequence>

<xsd:anyAttribute/>

</xsd:complexType>

</xsd:element>

</xsd:schema>

Once again creating an InfoPath form the locks appear the same.

However, right clicking and selecting “add” to the data source allows only field level attributes to be added as shown below.

This was meant to show only some of the features available within XSD. The XSD standard defines a very robust and well defined set of tags.

Back To Basics Content

Fri, 23 Apr 2004 17:04:08 GMT

The Back to Basics seminars that occurred in Waltham and Farmington this week seemed to be a bit hit. We had a combined total of about 280 developers that attended these events. For those that attended or those that are interested I have posted the decks and sample code.

.NET Developer Impact 1 (Slides)

.NET Developer Impact 2 (Slides)

.NET Developer Impact (Demo)

Base Class Libraries 1 (Slides)

Base Class Libraries 2 (Slides)

Base Class Libraries (Demo)

Developer Best Practices

Developer best Practices 1

Developer Best Practices 2

Converting InfoPath Images

Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:11:08 GMT

Recently, I was working with an InfoPath solutions prototype. The idea behind the solution was that a user would be taking a digital photo (JPEG). As they downloaded the pictures to their local machines, they would be able to include these camera shots into an InfoPath form that contained additional descriptive fields. By default, InfoPath takes these types of binaries and converts them into a Base 64 format. Once converted this data is then saved to an XML file. One requirement of the solution was to convert this data back to its original JPEG format once it was saved to the server, so that it could be displayed or saved.

For an example application, I created a simple data source based on a picture box. The data source contained the following data source.

Using the following code that utilizes the System.Drawing.Bitmap namespace, I was able to take the Base 64 converted XML and turn it back into a JPEG.

Private Sub BtnConvert_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BtnConvert.Click

Dim retnbit As Bitmap

Dim rdr As New XmlTextReader("saved.xml")

rdr.WhitespaceHandling = WhitespaceHandling.None

' Read the file. Stop at the Base64 element.

While rdr.Read()

If "my:field1" = rdr.Name Then

Dim base64txt = rdr.ReadElementString()

retnbit = BitmapFromBase64(base64txt)

Exit While

End If

End While

PicImage.Image = retnbit

End Sub

Public Function BitmapFromBase64(ByVal base64 As String) As System.Drawing.Bitmap

Dim oBitmap As System.Drawing.Bitmap

Dim memory As New System.IO.MemoryStream(Convert.FromBase64String(base64))

oBitmap = New System.Drawing.Bitmap(memory)

memory.Close()

memory = Nothing

Return oBitmap

End Function

For those that may want to take a look at the solution, I have posted it for download.

XSD 101

Wed, 31 Mar 2004 03:19:35 GMT

Extensible Schema Definitions (XSD) are used to define the legal building blocks of an XML document. XSD is actually an XML based meta-language used to:

Define the elements that can appear in an XML Document
Define attributes that can appear in an XML Document
Define the child elements and their relationships within an XML Document

All XSD schemas contain a single top level element. Underneath this element is the schema element that contains either simple or complex type elements. Simple elements contain text only information. Complex elements are a grouping element that acts as a container for other elements and attributes. There are four types of complex elements – empty elements, elements that contain other elements, elements that contain only text and elements that contain both other elements and text.

Here is an example of an XSD that defines a schema structure that represents a customer record.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

<xsd:element name="prefix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="firstname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="lastname" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="suffix" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="email" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="mail1" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="mail2" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="mailstate" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="mailzip" type="xsd:string"/>

<xsd:element name="entereddate" type="xsd:date"/>

<xsd:element name="customerinfo">

<xsd:complexType>

<xsd:sequence>

<xsd:element ref="prefix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="firstname"/>

<xsd:element ref="lastname"/>

<xsd:element ref="suffix" minOccurs="0"/>

<xsd:element ref="email"/>

<xsd:element ref="mail1"/>

<xsd:element ref="mail2"/>

<xsd:element ref="mailstate"/>

<xsd:element ref="mailzip"/>

<xsd:element ref="entereddate"/>

</xsd:sequence>

</xsd:complexType>

</xsd:element>

</xsd:schema>

XPath and .NET

Thu, 25 Mar 2004 14:13:36 GMT

Interested in getting the basics of XPath and .NET? Check out the latest article.

http://radio.weblogs.com/0131777/stories/2004/03/25/xpathAndnet.html

XML Tips and Tricks Category added

Thu, 25 Mar 2004 14:03:23 GMT

Based on some feedback that I have gotten I added a new category on XML Tips and Tricks. The link is:

http://radio.weblogs.com/0131777/categories/XMLTipsAndTricks/

The rss feed is

http://radio.weblogs.com/0131777/categories/XMLTipsAndTricks/rss.xml