Share Your Experience

Find GEO location through IP address

2009-06-30T07:14:00.001-07:00

Geo IP Tool is a free service that helps you find geographical location via IP. I was trying to find out some service through which I can found the GEO information of customers via IP address. Below is a small helper code that can query Geo IP Tool against an IP. All you need is to place following helper class some where in your website. As you can see helper class only contains a single method GetLocationByIp of return type string. In fact it returns HTML containing returned information from Geo Ip Tool. Once you get the Geo information against an IP, all you need is to put it some literal control to be rendered.

Here is the GeoIPTool class, you can place it in your App_Code folder of ASP.NET website. Once you are done with this change then you can use user control code posted in next code portion for demo purpose.

using System;
using System.Data;  

using System.Configuration;  

using System.Web;  

using System.Web.Security;  

using System.Web.UI;  

using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;  

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;  

using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;  

using System.Net;  

using System.IO;     public static class GeoIPTool
{  
    public static string GetLocationByIP(string ipAddress) 
    {
        string geoiptoolurl = "http://www.geoiptool.com/?IP={0}";
        string gflag = "http://www.geoiptool.com/flags/";
        string p1 = "<"+"table width=\"300\" height=\"300\"";
        string p2 = " border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"4\"";
        string p3 = " cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tbl_style\">";
        geoiptoolurl = string.Format(geoiptoolurl, ipAddress);
        HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(geoiptoolurl);

        using (HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)(request.GetResponse()))  
        {
            using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
            {
                string htmlResult = reader.ReadToEnd();
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(htmlResult))
                {
                    int sindex = htmlResult.IndexOf(p1+p2+p3);
                    htmlResult = htmlResult.Remove(0, sindex);
                    sindex = 0;
                    int eindex = htmlResult.IndexOf("");
                    string geoLocationTable = htmlResult.Substring(sindex, eindex + 8);
                    if (geoLocationTable.Contains("/flags/"))
                        geoLocationTable = geoLocationTable.Replace("/flags/",gflag);
                    return geoLocationTable;
                }
            }
        }
        return string.Empty;
    }
  }

Following is the demo user control, in order to use this code first you need to create a new user control file with name Sample.ascx in your website and then replace all its contents with following code. Finally replace Your IP Here text in GetLocationByIP call to your desired IP address.

<%@ Control Language="C#" ClassName="Sample" %>

<script runat="server">

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string geoLocation = GeoIPTool.GetLocationByIP("YOUR IP HERE");
        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(geoLocation))
            GeoLocationHolder.Controls.Add(new LiteralControl(geoLocation));
    }
<asp:PlaceHolder ID="GeoLocationHolder" runat="server">asp:PlaceHolder>

Please feel free provide your feedback!

Jump to validation summary on large page

2009-06-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Validation summary is an awesome ASP.NET control that can list validation messages in a collective way. Some time if you have validation summary at bottom of a large page, in this case if some validation error occurs the user has to scroll down towards the bottom to view the pages.

You can enhance user experience with Validation Summary control by automatically jumping to the error messages area when some error occurred. I am just explaining the steps to accomplish this.

In ASP.NET there is a client side variable Page_IsValid that indicates whether the page is currently valid or not. The validation scripts keep this up to date at all times. So all you need is to wrap your validation summary within some div and place some anchor upon that. Finally write a small piece of javascript that checks Page_IsValid and if its set to false simply jump to that named anchor. You can found a very helpful topic about ASP.NET Validation available here

How to calculate column value as summation of all previouse values

2009-06-30T04:31:00.000-07:00

This is the demonstration of how to calculate a column value that depends upon sum of all previous values in that column. For example check following two tables
Actual Data:

ProductId	Name	Quantity
1	Product A	10
2	Product B	10
3	Product C	10

Required Output:

ProductId	Name	Cal Quantity
1	Product A	10
2	Product B	20
3	Product C	30

SQL Server Query:

SELECT P.ProductId, P.Name, SUM(PC.Quantity) AS Cal Quantity
FROM Products AS P LEFT OUTER JOIN Products AS PC
ON PC.ProductId <= P.ProductId
GROUP BY P.ProductId, P.Name

Free Java MIDlet Manager for Windows Mobile Phones

2009-03-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some java applications need Java MIDlet Manger to run on your windows mobile devices. For example if you want to install and use Opera Mini, Gmail Client for windows mobiles then you need to have Java MIDlet Manager installed on your device. You can download a free MIDlet Manager avialable here.

Free JVM for Windows Mobile Phones

2009-03-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

I was in need to run some java applications on my I-Mate JAM and was having a hard time locating a free or open source JVM for it. After a lot of searching and striking my head against walls finally I found an open source JVM and that is Mysaifu JVM. Its an open source JVM available for free. It doesn't contain any MIDlet Manager means you can not run some applications that require MIDlet Manger for example Opera Mini and Gmail client for mobile phones. But still it could be very helpfull running other java applications on your PDA.

1. How to install

Copy the CAB file to \My Documents.
Tap the CAB file.
Program is installed under \Program Files\Mysaifu JVM folder.

2. How to uninstall

Select "Mysaifu JVM" in "Settings - Remove Programs".

How to build Bluetooth Remote Control for desktop machine

2009-03-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I was searching for some .NET(CE) stuff and read about the concept of an application that could allow to turn your mobile into a remote control for your desktop machine. I was very impressed by the concept and tried to wrote something similar that could help me control Windows Media Player, PowerPoint slide show and some general windows operations like Logoff User, Shutdown and Restart, Volume Control etc. I am planing to post it with complete source code but currently it needs some finishing steps like removing some unused code and some miner UI improvements. Hopefully I will get some time in near future to get things done.

I developed it for my I-Mate JAM running .NET CE(2.0). Currently .NET does not have any explicit support for bluetooth like java where there is a seperate API (Java Bluetooth API). Microsoft recommends use of sockets for this purpose, using sockets would be really time consuming task because that is relativly a low level programming task so I searched for some open source Bluetooth API that targets microsoft .NET and finally descided to use 32feet.net API. Its an open source API for personal networking.

Hardware Requirements

Develoment Machine capable of running Visual Studio 2005
I-Mate JAM or equvalent PDA device that support Microsoft Bluetooth stack.
Bluetooth dongle for desktop machine, make sure that dongle supports Microsoft Bluetooth stack.
Data cable for PDA

Softwares Requirements

Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
.NET CE(2.0) on your PDA (You can install .NET(CE) on I-Mate JAM from here)
Microsoft ActiveSync (You can get it from here)
32feet.net(InTheHand) API (You can get it from here)

Setting up development environment

Install Visual Studio 2005 on development machine
Install 32feet.net on development machine. If your hardware is not working with API then you can try following workarund.
Now install Microsoft ActiveSync on development machine as well.
Finally connect you PDA and machine with datacable and test the connection.

How to control Media Player remotly via Bluetooth

First create a Windows form applicaton that will work as server on desktop machine. This applicaton will work as a Bluetooth listner. In 32feet.net samples there is a Remote sample you can use it as guide line.
Next you need to find out command messages for Windows Media Player, You can use spy++ for this purpose. For example what is the command message sent against volume up command.
Next you need to use import some win32 functions in your C# application for locating the running instance of Winodws Media Player and pass it the command message to performs that action.
Finally map some keys that listner recieves via bluetooth and then raises apperoperiate command message for Windows Media Player.
Now create Device Application 2.0 for your PDA or you can use the client part of remote sample available with 32feet.net.
Once client applicaton is setup properly all you need is to send those keys to desktop machine for wich you define mapping on server component. Once server module will reieve a mapped key for example you have mapped 9 to volume up then it will raise volume up command message for Winodws Media Player and hence will stepup the volume.

How Technology changed us

2008-07-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Media Feeds for Piclens Plugin using .NET 2.0

2008-07-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

About this post
This post is about the "MediaRSS" standard and how you can use it for your own website. If you have never heard of it - never mind. But maybe you have heard of a really cool Firefox Plugin called "PicLens".

"PicLens"?
"PicLens" is a incredible surface for some internet services, like YouTube, Google picture search, Flickr, Amazon, Deviant Art. Now you can have your favorite sites in Full-screen. 3D.

Media RSS
The Piclens guys have implemented the "MediaRSS" standard - that means: Each site with an MediaRSS can be viewed in Piclens.
If you are a webmaster, you should take a look at this site.

Bellow is the Media Feeds Example for ASP.NET 2.0 C# you can create a file with name
MediaRss.ashx on the root of your site and following line of code in the Head section of your pages.
Put a Link tag with href="MediaRss.ashx" type="application/rss+xml" id="gallery" and that's all

Bellow is the code of the MediaRss.ashx


<%@ WebHandler Language="C#" Class="MediaRss" %>
using System;
using System.Xml;
using System.IO;
using System.Web;

[System.Web.Services.WebService(Namespace = "http://tempuri.org/")]
[System.Web.Services.WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo = System.Web.Services.WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)]
public class MediaRss : IHttpHandler {

string media = "http://search.yahoo.com/mrss";
string atom = "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom";

public void ProcessRequest (HttpContext context)
{
 XmlDocument xmlDocument = new XmlDocument();
 XmlDeclaration xmlDeclaration = xmlDocument.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", "UTF-8", "yes");
 xmlDocument.AppendChild(xmlDeclaration);

 XmlElement rssElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("rss");
 rssElement.SetAttribute("version", "2.0");
 rssElement.SetAttribute("xmlns:media",media);
 rssElement.SetAttribute("xmlns:atom", atom);
 xmlDocument.AppendChild(rssElement);

 XmlElement channelElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("channel");
 rssElement.AppendChild(channelElement);

 GenerateItems(channelElement, xmlDocument, context);

 context.Response.ContentType = "text/xml";
 xmlDocument.Save(context.Response.Output);
 context.Response.End();
}

public void GenerateItems(XmlElement channelElement,XmlDocument xmlDocument,HttpContext context)
{
 string[] imageFiles = Directory.GetFiles(context.Server.MapPath("~/Images/"));
 
 foreach(string imageFile in imageFiles)
 {
     FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(imageFile);

     XmlElement itemElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("item");

     XmlElement titleElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("title");
     titleElement.InnerText = fileInfo.Name;

     XmlElement linkElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("link");
     string link = "http://localhost/myapp/Images/" + fileInfo.Name;
     linkElement.InnerText = link;
 
     XmlElement thumbnailElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("media","thumbnail",media);
     thumbnailElement.SetAttribute("url", link);
     XmlElement mediaElement = xmlDocument.CreateElement("media","content",media);
     mediaElement.SetAttribute("url", link);
     itemElement.AppendChild(titleElement);
     itemElement.AppendChild(linkElement);
     itemElement.AppendChild(thumbnailElement);
     itemElement.AppendChild(mediaElement);

     channelElement.AppendChild(itemElement);
 }
}

public static string Utf8BytesToString(byte[] InBytes)
{
 System.Text.UTF8Encoding utf8encoder = new System.Text.UTF8Encoding(false, true);
 return utf8encoder.GetString(InBytes, 0, InBytes.Length);
}

public bool IsReusable {
 get {
     return false;
 }
}
}

Free iPhone applications

2008-07-11T00:54:00.001-07:00

Apple iTunes Remote
With Apple's new iTunes Remote app, you can control the music on your computer or Apple TV from your iPod touch or iPhone. Play, pause, skip, shuffle. See your songs, playlists and album art on your iPod touch or iPhone as if you were right in front of your computer.

Remote works with your Wi-Fi network, so you can control playback from anywhere in and around your home.

Features include:
- Control the music on iTunes or Apple lV
- See the album artwork on your Remote
- Search your whole iTunes library
- Control your AirTunes speakers

AIM

Mobile AIM lets you stay in touch with your friends and family right from your iPhone or iPod Touch. The app lets you communicate whenever you want, wherever you are, in whatever way that suits you best. Connect with friends and family and keep track track of status and presence updates in real time.

Features include:
-Send and receive messages over WiF, EDGE, or 3G networks.
-Connect to anyone on the AIM network worldwide, whether they're on AOL. AIM, ICQ, .Mac or MobileMe.
-Manage your Buddy List feature, choose Favorites, or add a new buddy anytime.
-Your changes are automatically synced with iChat and or Windows or Mac.
-View expressions and update status
-See who's available before you contact them
-Send IMs and SMS text messages -- even from an iPod Touch
-Take pictures with the built-in camera to use as your buddy icon

You can get started by signing in using your existing AOL, AIM, .Mac or MobileMe name, or register for a free screen name right from your device.

Facebook

Facebook for iPhooe makes it easy to stay connected and share information with friends. Use your iPhone to start a conversation with Face book Chat, check your friends' latest photo, and status updates, look up a phone number, or upload your own mobile photos to Facebook while on the go.

Facebook promises even more features will be updated in the weeks and months ahead.

Google Mobile App

Google Mobile App for the iPhone or iPod Touch aims to make it fast and easy to search the Web.

Find web pages, business listings, phone contacts and more with Iess typing than ever before via Google's intelligent query completion and handy search shortcuts which appear as you type. You'll get suggestions to help you complete your query, and can see the results on a map in a single click.

MySpace Mobile

If you spend large chunks of your life hanging out on MySpace, you're "going to love Myspace Mobile for iPhone" and the iPod touch.

Features include:

- Send and receive messages
- Browse your network of friends and see their current status
- Upload and share photos from your iPhone
- Post comments on friends' profiles and photos
- Stay up-to-date with bulletins
- Search to find new friends

How to Troubleshoot web pages in IE

2008-07-10T03:07:00.001-07:00

Most of the Web Developers are using FireFox when developing their Web applications because their are number of plugins that can help them troubleshoot their pages. A good example for such plugin is FireBug.
Personally as a web developer i can't work without FireBug because i can debug and fix my problems very easily with FireBug.

As a cross browser developer i found many times my self in a situation where i need a FireBug like functionality for IE. After some surfing i found IEDevloper Toolbar, a good utility for this purpose made by Microsoft.

IEDevloper Toolbar is not that strong and powerful as FireBug but still provide developer a good support for debugging.

The Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar provides several features for exploring and understanding Web pages. These features enable you to:

Explore and modify the document object model (DOM) of a Web page.
Locate and select specific elements on a Web page through a variety of techniques.
Selectively disable Internet Explorer settings.
View HTML object class names, ID's, and details such as link paths, tab index values, and access keys.
Outline tables, table cells, images, or selected tags.
Validate HTML, CSS, WAI, and RSS web feed links.
Display image dimensions, file sizes, path information, and alternate (ALT) text.
Immediately resize the browser window to a new resolution.
Selectively clear the browser cache and saved cookies. Choose from all objects or those associated with a given domain.
Display a fully featured design ruler to help accurately align and measure objects on your pages.
Find the style rules used to set specific style values on an element.
View the formatted and syntax colored source of HTML and CSS

Download Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar

Usefull plugins for FireFox 3

2008-07-09T05:33:00.001-07:00

I mainly used FireFox for web development because of many cool plug ins that provide a boost to the development for example the FireBug, WebDeveloper etc. Recently i have installed and using FireFox 3. I found some very cool plugins and want to share them with you. Please check the following plugins.

ScribeFire Blog Editor 2.2.9

ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog.

FireFTP 0.99.2

FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

Codetch 0.4.1rc1

Get the feel of Dreamweaver in a Firefox extension. Edit your documents right next to your web pages as you surf.

Test web site for different versions of IE

2008-07-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Most of the time web developers come into a situation facing problems with the different versions of Internet Explorer. Where their site works fine for a specific version of IE but have some problems with other version. I my self faced this situation several times when my site just works fine for IE 7 but has many issues when i test it in IE6.
As we can only have a single version of Internet Explorer on our development machine and this issue creates a lot of panics for me. I have to configure different version of IE on different machines and then to test my code on these different machines for different IE versions.

Thanks GOD at last i found a good tool that help me get rid of this problem. This is the IETester WebBrowser.

IETester is a free WebBrowser that allows you to have the rendering and javascript engines of IE8 beta 1, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Vista and XP, as well as the installed IE in the same process.

Thanks to the www.my-debugbar.com
for creating such a cool WebBrowser and making it free for developers community. There is many more cool stuff available at www.my-debugbar.com
You can download latest version of IETester from here