Knockout (or any javascript) Intellisense not working if move script file locations

I found while playing around with Knockout.js, that my Visual Studio Intellisense wasn’t working. This turned out to be because I had formatted my Scripts folder, and moved standard Javascript libraries into another folder.

This meant that Visual Studio couldn’t find my _references.js file.

At first I added the following to the @Scripts Section in my .vbhtml file;

   1: @Code 

   2:  

   3:        If (False) Then

   4:  

   5:            @<script src="/Scripts/lib/knockout-2.2.1.debug.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

   6:                

   7:        End If

   8:              

   9: End Code

Where the If (False) code forces the compiler to ignore the file when publishing.

But this would end up being silly if I had lots of files. So, I had a quick look around and found a couple of useful answers on Stack Overflow;

http://stackoverflow.com/a/12016530/1305169 and
http://stackoverflow.com/a/12628049/1305169

Where, basically, you need to add a reference to your new _references.js file to the Intellisense list options in Visual Studio;

• In Visual Studio, go to Tools > Options > Text Editor > Javascript > Intellisense > References
  
• In the “Add a reference to current group”, type in the relative path to your _references.js file (for me this was “~/Scripts/lib/_references.js”

Hey presto, you should now have working intellisense!

Slow WPF DataGrid when Grouping Styles Added

I found while working a project recently, that when I added the styling for Grouping, even if I wasn’t actually using it, that the load time for my data was massively affected.

Evidently, the reason or this slow down is due to the fact that, unbeknown to me, when grouping is enabled in WPF, then Virtualisation is disabled by default.

Virtualisation allows WPF to not physically render items which don’t appear directly in the UI, thus it doesn’t need to perform all the complicated UI math related to showing UI elements. This vastly improves performance, in my case, when dealing with Data Sources which have rows exceeding a few hundred.

Thankfully, WPF and .Net 4.5 has enabled a way for Virtualisation to be re-enabled when grouping. Simply adding the following to the Datagrid re-enabled Virtualisation.

   1: VirtualizingStackPanel.IsVirtualizing="True”

Installing IE10 offline

Today I came up against a problem where an application I was working on required IE10 to be installed. This all well and good, however this pc didn’t have access to an internet connection.

As such, I needed to download the IE10 install package, and copy it across to the machine.

However, when I came to install IE10, it simply told me that it needed to download “An Update” before it could be installed.

After a little searching around I found the following forum which lists the updates IE10 requires prior to being installed;

http://www.askvg.com/direct-download-link-full-standalone-offline-installers-of-microsoft-internet-explorer-10-ie10/

Basically, you need to download the following files, some of which require you to validate your copy of windows;

1. KB2729094 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30521 (Requires Validation)
2. KB2731771 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34863 (Requires Validation)
3. KB2533623 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=26767 (Requires Validation)
4. KB2670838 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36805
5. KB2786081 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=36326 (Requires Validation)

Download and install all of the above, there’s no need to restart between each update, but you must restart afterwards.

Once you’ve completed that, download the IE10 install package from;

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/internet-explorer-10-details.aspx

Your install should then work smoothly!

Note: there are two different versions for x86 and x64 platforms.

SGEN: Mixed mode assembly is built against version 'v2.0.50727'…

I found while building an VB application in Visual Studio 2012, in release mode for the first time, that I was confronted with cryptic build error;

SGEN: Mixed mode assembly is built against version 'v2.0.50727' of the runtime and cannot be loaded in the 4.0 runtime without additional configuration information.

After trawling through some Google results, I found the following post by Microsoft;

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/clr/thread/2a5bf31e-df96-4bf1-a846-699da46b62fb

And also a couple of forums;

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3749368/team-build-sgen-mixed-mode-assembly
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/clr/thread/2a5bf31e-df96-4bf1-a846-699da46b62fb

Which suggests adding (or creating if it it doesn’t exist already) the following XML to the sgen.exe.config file;

<?xml version ="1.0"?>

<configuration>

    <startup useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy="true">

                <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" />

    </startup>   

</configuration>

For .Net 4.0 Projects, the sgen.exe.config file can be found at;

c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools  (for x86 systems) 

c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools (for x64 systems)

For .Net 4.5 Projects, the sgen.exe.config file can be found at;

c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools (for x86 systems) 

c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools (for x64 systems)

Edit - 03-06-14:

For .Net 4.5.1 Projects, the sgen.exe.config file can be found at;

c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\NETFX 4.5.1 Tools (for x86 systems) 

c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\bin\NETFX 4.5.1 Tools (for x64 systems)

Once I’d added the xml, the application built just fine.

The other alternative was to disable the option to Generate Serialization Assemblies in the offending project;

• Project Settings for the offending Project
• Compile Tab
• Advance Compile Options Button
• Set “Generate Serialization Assemblies” from “Auto” to “Off”

However, I recommend that you go with the XML option as suggested by Microsoft.

WPF Binding Integer Validation with Null Values

I found a small hole in an application I am developing where a null value in a textbox bound to an integer value wouldn’t get validated.

It was slightly more complicated than that however. The xaml was as follows;

<TextBox Text="{Binding MyTextBoxText, UpdateSourceTrigger=LostFocus, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True, NotifyOnValidationError=True, Mode=TwoWay}"/>

Where my Validation was set for when the control lost focus.

When I added a new record, the value of the binding was set to null, this enforced by validation correctly. Same when I edited the text and left the control. However, if I edited the control when it had a value, say changing the value from a 2 to nothing, then the validation wouldn’t occur.

This was because the binding didn’t have a value for a null entry. Adding a TargetNullValue parameter to the binding and thus changing the binding to the following fixed the issue nicely;

<TextBox Text="{Binding TaskOrder, UpdateSourceTrigger=LostFocus, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True, NotifyOnValidationError=True, Mode=TwoWay, TargetNullValue=''}"/>

More information on the TargetNullValue Property can be found here;

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.bindingbase.targetnullvalue.aspx

Adding EF POCO Classes to TFS Source Control

I have various projects which included Entity Framework POCO (Plain Old CLR Object) Classes. By default, these are not automatically included in TFS Source Control.

To add these classes in VS2012;

1. Open the Team Explorer Window using View>Team Explorer
2. You will see a list of shortcuts... My Work, Pending Changes and so on;
3. Under "Pending Changes" is a link to "Source Control Explorer"
4. Click this link, to open the Source Control Explorer Window
5. Navigate through your solution to the Project containing your edmx file
6. Above the "Source Location" will be a toolbar
7. The fourth icon from the left is "Add Items To Folder"
8. Clicking this icon will bring up the "Add to Source Control" Dialog, showing all the files in this project which aren't currently under Source Control.
9. Select all the files you wish to now include under Source Control
10. Press Next, then Finish

Now Check In your Solution again, and your POCO's should now be included.

Visual Studio – Solutions not configured for Integrated Source Control

I recently ran into an issue where, when I opened up one of my Solutions which were under TFS Source Control, I was presented with a message box which showed;

The solution you have opened is under source control but not currently configured for integrated source control in Visual Studio. Would you like to bind this solution to source control now?

Turns out that this is Visual Studio’s way of telling me that parts or all of my solution isn’t bound correctly to the source control provider.

To rectify this issue I needed to;

1. Open the Project directly using Visual Studio, rather than with the Source Control Explorer
2. Goto File ->Source Control –>Advanced –> Change Source Control

This will open up the “Change Source Control” dialog, which shows which items in your solution are bound and which aren’t.

From here you simply need to select which Items need to rebound and hit the “Bind” button.

Visual Studio will then checkout the unbound items, and you then need to check them back in, and your done.