Blog: Posts from June, 2013

Blog

Posts from June, 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013Print Subscribe

How to Configure DotNetNuke Factory Project with DNN7

You can integrate line-of-business web applications with the popular web content management system DotNetNuke, the leading web content system for ASP.NET by using Code On Time’s DotNetNuke Factory.

Why DotNetNuke?

If you have experience with creating database web applications, then you’ve probably considered using a dynamic portal to increase the flexibility of your web application.

One can easily picture a whole world built around a few business data enabled pages. Users register using a portal, with the latest release notes and instructions posted for their convenience. Add a quick online survey and a few blog posts to your web application, without a fuss.

If you try building such a portal on your own, you will soon find that the task is not that simple. While you may be the leading expert in web application design with a database to prove it, web content delivery is another topic altogether.

Content management systems such as DotNetNuke and Microsoft SharePoint are widely adopted by organizations and businesses of all sizes as repositories of knowledge and web assets.

DotNetNuke is a proven portal software built with ASP.NET, boasting countless installations and a large dedicated user base. The easily available Community Edition of this product makes it especially attractive for developers who need portal-style functionality in their application at a low cost.

Integrating DotNetNuke With Your Line-of-Business Application

DotNetNuke is exceptionally easy to install and maintain – done entirely in a web browser.

DotNetNuke has impressive extensibility. One popular method of extending DotNetNuke is module development. A “module” represents an area on a portal page that is rendered by a custom application. For example, a calendar of events or a survey can be implemented as a module and placed on any portal page.j

You can also create a database application with complex data management features and have it incorporated in a DotNetNuke module.

The development process is somewhat complicated. Here is where Code On Time’s DotNetNuke Factory comes to the rescue. DotNetNuke Factory will aid you in building a dedicated application packaged as a DotNetNuke module. This module can be deployed to the portal in seconds.

WebMatrix and DotNetNuke

Many popular software titles, including DotNetNuke, were developed for Microsoft ASP.NET Web Platform. Microsoft has created WebMatrix, a vehicle to allow simple download and installation of many popular open source web applications. WebMatrix includes a lightweight version of Microsoft Internet Information Services called IIS Express. This web server makes it possible to run web applications on virtually any type of operating system from Microsoft.

You will have to download WebMatrix at http://webmatrix.com to proceed with this tutorial.

Configuring Database

Start SQL Server Management Studio. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on Databases node and press New Database.

Assign a name and press OK to save the database.

Configuring DotNetNuke Web Site

Start Microsoft WebMatrix. Select New | App Gallery.

Select .DotNetNuke Community Edition, assign a name, and press Next.

Accept the EULA, and wait for the download to finish.

Press OK, and the web site install wizard will launch in the default browser.

Assign a password to the host account. Under Database Information, select Custom. Enter the connection string properties for the previously created database. Make sure to specify an Object Qualifier of “DNN_”.

When database installation is complete, press Visit Website to see the result in action.

Creating a DotNetNuke Factory Project

Start the web app generator, and click Create new web application. Select DotNetNuke Factory.

Enter a name for the project, select your preferred language, and press Create.

On the next page, specify the path to the DotNetNuke installation folder, and press Next.

Click on the “…” button next to Connection String field. In the Sample Tables dropdown, select “Northwind” and press Install.

When complete, click OK. Press Next until you reach the Reporting page. Enable reporting by activating the checkbox.

Hold down Shift key, and press Next to skip to the Summary page. Press Generate, and wait for the web app to open in the test site.

Installing the Module in DNN7

Switch back to the app generator. Click on the project name, and press Publish. The generator will automatically copy files into the DNN instance specified when the project was created.

Switch back to the running DNN site. Mouse over the Host tab at the top of the page and click on Extensions.

On the Extensions page, switch to Available Extensions tab. Scroll down to Modules section, and press Install next to the DotNetNuke Factory application module.

Press Next twice, accept the license, and press Next again to install the module.

When installation is complete, press Return to reload the web app.

Creating a Page and Adding the Module

At the top of the page, mouse over Pages and press Add New Page.

Assign the following values:

Property	Value
Page Name	Customers
Page Title	Customers
Insert Page	After: Home

Switch to the Permissions tab, and check the box under View Page next to All Users. Press Add Page.

The browser will navigate to the new page. Mouse over Edit Page, and press Edit this Page.

Mouse over Modules, and press Add New Module. Drop the module named after your namespace into the contentPane area.

The module will be instantiated. Next, the logical application page must be selected. Mouse over the gear icon in the top right corner of the module and press Settings.

Select Customers, and press Update.

Customers will now be displayed in the module on the page.

Labels: Application Builder, DotNetNuke, Web Application Generator

Friday, June 28, 2013Print Subscribe

“Data-” Attributes, Chart, and Import Processor Enhancements

Code On Time release 7.0.10.0 includes the following features and enhancements:

Legacy attributes with the namespace "factory:*" previously used in the page markup were replaced with "data-" attributes to ensure compatibility with the upcoming Mobile Client Library, Cloud On Time, and SaaS Integration feature in Unlimited edition.
Chart views will retain the height after the first rendering.
Chart views will render with the correct width and height in FireFox.
Import processor allows overriding error reporting and handling.
Fixed the issue with the Login page title not being assigned correctly.
Fixed closed "placeholder" spans in Main.master.
Fixed the bug in lookups with the style “Auto Complete” that was freezing actions in data views.

Mobile Client Library and 2nd Generation Datasheet View are planned for the next release.

Mobile feature will be based on the latest jQuery Mobile 1.3.

Next release is also expected to include SaaS Integration feature to enable integration of Web Site Factory, Web App Factory, and Azure Factory apps with any hosting platforms without the need to create native apps. This will dramatically increase ability to create a “cloud” solution from any existing web app created with Code On Time.

Labels: Application Builder, Charts, Release Notes, Web Application Generator

Thursday, June 27, 2013Print Subscribe

Import Processor Error Handling

Code On Time web apps come with a native CSV Import processor that will parse comma separated files and create new records. However, this native processor does not display any errors that may have occurred due to malformed CSV. Let’s override methods in the processor in order to handle and report these errors.

Start the app generator. Click on the project name, and press Develop to open the project in Visual Studio. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on ~/App_Code folder and press Add | Class.

Assign a name to the item and press OK to save. Replace the code base with the following:

C#:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using MyCompany.Data;
using System.Net.Mail;

namespace MyCompany.Data
{
    public partial class CsvImportProcessor
    {
        protected override bool HandleError(ActionResult r, ActionArgs args)
        {

            string dir = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
            using (StreamWriter file = new StreamWriter(dir + "\\ImportErrorLog.txt", true))
            {
                foreach (string s in r.Errors)
                    file.WriteLine(String.Format("{0:s}: {1}",DateTime.Now, s));
            }
            return true;
        }

        protected override void ReportErrors(string controller, string recipients, string logFileName)
        {
            string[] recipientsList = recipients.Split(',');
            SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient();
            foreach (string s in recipientsList)
            {
                string address = s.Trim();
                if (!(String.IsNullOrEmpty(address)))
                {
                    MailMessage message = new MailMessage();
                    try
                    {
                        message.To.Add(new MailAddress(address));
                        message.Subject = String.Format("Import of {0} has been completed", controller);
                        message.Body = File.ReadAllText(logFileName);
                        client.Send(message);
                    }
                    catch (Exception)
                    {
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Visual Basic:

Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
Imports System.IO
Imports MyCompany.Data
Imports System.Net.Mail

Namespace MyCompany.Data
    Partial Public Class CsvImportProcessor
        Protected Overrides Function HandleError(r As ActionResult, args As ActionArgs) As Boolean
            Dim dir As String = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory
            Using file As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(dir + "\\ImportErrorLog.txt", True)
                For Each s As String In r.Errors
                    file.WriteLine(String.Format("{0:s}: {1}", DateTime.Now, s))
                Next
                Return True
            End Using
        End Function

        Protected Overrides Sub ReportErrors(controller As String, recipients As String, logFileName As String)
            Dim recipientsList() As String = recipients.Split(Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ChrW(44))
            Dim client As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient()
            For Each s As String In recipientsList
                Dim address As String = s.Trim()
                If Not (String.IsNullOrEmpty(address)) Then
                    Dim message As MailMessage = New MailMessage()
                    Try
                        message.To.Add(New MailAddress(address))
                        message.Subject = String.Format("Import of {0} has been completed", controller)
                        message.Body = File.ReadAllText(logFileName)
                        client.Send(message)
                    Catch __exception As Exception
                    End Try
                End If
            Next
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

The first method above will create a file “ImportErrorLog.txt” in the application folder and write every error that occurred. It returns true in order to cancel the default handling. The second method overrides the default error reporting and sends an email to the specified recipient. This requires web app SMTP configuration. If a malformed CSV file was imported, the ImportErrorLog.txt file will look like the picture below.

Labels: Application Builder, Email, Web Application Generator