I Love Numbers, Especially Random Ones

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/738629/math-random-versus-random-nextintint

TextView and NewLine in Java

One way to save on the number of nodes in your UI is to use the '\n' newline in TextView as show in this page.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2840608/how-do-i-add-a-newline-to-a-textview-in-android

Here is a nice Visual Guide to Android 2.0 UI Widgets. An IBM hosted page about working with XML in Android.

Here are some partially answered questions about SQLite database paths. Regarding SQLite database paths and Android, here is a very widely read page about Using your own SQLite database in Android applications.

I really like the Intent and Intent Filters system in Android 2.0

Some applications people are creating are crazy impressive and amazingly complex. LIke OSMDroid! Before you publish, you have to Sign Your Android Applications and you had better Test your Application on an Android Device before you put it on the Market! Whatever you publish, don't publish NotePadv2.

I tried to use Android Google Map View but my experience with the v2 and v3 JavaScript Google Map API has poisoned me. I struggle.

Getting Eclipse to ignore your SVN folders (you are using SVN I hope) is a good idea and is critical to do before you try to publish to the Market. How Do I get Eclipse to Ignore my .SVN Folders?

TableLayouts are fun, but they are even more fun when you can add rows to them! Adding Dynamic Rows to an Android TableLayout. Oh man, Icon Design scares me. I can load Bitmaps with the best of them, but I can't make them to save my life. I guess my applications will always sport that "I hate my users" stock icon look from the Google Android Free Icon Basics and Icon Packs.

Android Run-Down, Tuesday August 17th

I have been building the Google Android applications using Eclipse, ADT and my HTC Sprint EVO phone. Started by installing the Android SDK Starter Package.

While working on a number of application projects, I have created a few public domain sample projects, like AndroidDemoViewTrain, which is hosted on CodePlex and contains a number of coded, commented and clarified (I hope!) Google samples.

Once I was done with basic TextView and Button demos, I moved onto more complex tasks -- the so called Common Tasks in Android list. You can tell from Google that Android is pretty new -- a lot of unanswered questions on the boards -- maybe just a reflection of the community or whatever, but the information on solving Android issues and error messages is scant compared to C# or Apache. Also, I found a lot of bad information out there as well -- lots of posts full of bad assumptions or incorrect statements, so take what you read back to the Google documentation and test laboratories.

One of the first things that I needed to do was include two database tables in a single Android application database. I will blog about that later, it was harder to find the real-deal info than you might imagine. Got it done though.

Next thing I needed to do was populate a Spinner with an SQLite database query. If you have two tables in your database, one of those tables is probably a "Type" table and you need drop downs to select types.

Populating an Android Spinner Control from Database is pretty similar to populating an Android Spinner Control from XML. This dcPages story has a good write up of the database process here at Android Tutorial: Populating Spinners - Populate Spinner using Database Query

Then I discovered that you have to be very careful trying to feed Int or Long java primitives to the Android API because it assumes that they're keys for special resource collections. Instead of passing in TextView.setText(i) you need to use TextView.setText(Integer.toString(int i))

Now, all that was well and good -- I was populating Spinner controls and using setText() on integers to put database state onto the screen. Then I realized that Spinner controls were no good for me if I could not figure out what had been selected and then I was off again -- reading about Retrieving Selected Spinner Values on Android -- an important question if you are going to spend time populating them from the database. I blogged about that part earlier here, at How to Know What is Selected in Android Spinner.

Once I started calling lots of additional Android Activities and exploring the advanced features of the Android Application Manifest file, I became aware of a strong need to reach a full understanding of Intents and Intent Filters. To that end, I read a series of lectures by Victor Matos (PPT of Google Docs, basically) here at CSUOhio.edu: http://grail.cba.csuohio.edu/~matos/notes/cis-493/lecture-notes/Android-Chapter12-Intents-1.pdf

Also, another good page on Using Intents to Transfer Data between Android 2.0 Activities. Very similar information to this page about Passing Bundles Around Activities but still good reading.

Soon after that I needed to create Dialog Boxes in Android and therefore, I went back to Google for more searching and ended up playing with Scrollable CellMaps instead. SurfaceHolder is a hell of a class, my friends! Then I started back on Displaying Alert Dialog in Android. Any type of alerting is bound to contain concerns about modality so here is Modal Dialogs in Android for your reading pleasure.

After getting the advanced use of system events (Intents, Activities and Intent Filters) I moved onto the Handling of UI Events in Android. A critical topic for any serious developer, Android events are managed very differently than the three-type event engine (jQuery, WCF and BI) I am familiar with.

Event Listeners
An event listener is an interface in the View class that contains a single callback method. These methods will be called by the Android framework when the View to which the listener has been registered is triggered by user interaction with the item in the UI.

Event Handlers
If you're building a custom component from View, then you'll be able to define several callback methods used as default event handlers. In the document on Building Custom Components, you'll learn see some of the common callbacks used for event handling.


After that I started adding some visual styles of my applications and read the Icon Design Guidelines for Android 2.0 which, I admit, did put the fear into me. I'm looking for a graphic artist now. However, that somewhat daunting trip down pixel lane did clear up a number of pressing concerns I had with my application's resources and the file structure in Eclipse.

First was -- "In Android Eclipse, what are all these mdpi and hdpi folders for? Which one do I use and what does it mean?" Well the answer can be found here where Google outlines The Android 2.0 UI Guide's Best Practices for Supported Screens. Here are the physical examples of the device screens and how they sort out by Density and diagonal: Range of Android Screens Supported by the OS.

Still too complicated? Yah, I know. How about this link? What Size Do I Make My Icons and What Folder Do I Use in Android 2.0 with Eclipse? Another one is How do I make Android Icon Packs and get Free Android Icons? I hope you have mad Photoshop CS3 skills that I don't posses if you are thinking about creating Icons.

Then, soon after that, I discovered TableLayouts. A few days later, I read this guy's blog post Android Nuts and Bolts IV where he also discovered TableLayouts. He might like them a little too much, but the blog is good.

Once you have tables, you will need Menus! http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/menus.html

This guy's question claims that he has a bug with TextView, but when I read it saw how his "bug" is actually exactly how it needs to work and what valuable feature "Hint" is: Android 2.0 TextView Automatically Adjusts Width when Configured.

I started using a SeekBar. Nice UI: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/SeekBar.OnSeekBarChangeListener.html

Once I had the SeekBar in place I started looking at the rest of the controls and reading a few Android 2.0 GUI Examples blogs helped me get a visual idea of what they all look like. Another Android 2.0 GUI Example Blog with TextView and TableLayout. Did I mention TableLayout is really very valuable? Android has a great TableLayout control, once you learn how to make it work. It is not CALS-Model SGML / XHTML tables, but it works on your phone.

I started looking at Android 2.0 UI Themes but only found this incomplete Android 101 blog entry about defining XML themes.

READ THE ANDROID DEVELOPER BLOG
Was that aggressive enough? Reading the blog taught me a lot -- and today I learned about Back Button, Hard Keys and Long Press in Android 2.0 UI.

Rotating Bitmap with Bitmap.createBitmap and Matrix objects -- you will find the details in someone's code on this page: http://www.anddev.org/resize_and_rotate_image_-_example-t621.html

How do I center text horizontally and vertical in a TextView in Android?

Very soon after that I was adding additional tables to my DbAdapter class and once you have 4 or five tables, you need to have JOIN! SQLite Join Syntax

Another Good Blog About Android Views and ViewGrous

http://mobiforge.com/designing/story/understanding-user-interface-android-part-1-layouts

After I have made about 50 Android Views and used all the ViewGroups, I figured it was time to go read about what the heck I have been up to and see if I could make sense of the hacking I had been using.

Found a number of good blogs and went back over the Google documentation. I am still struggling to do things that are immediate and easy for me in XHTML and CSS. Maybe what I am missing is the CSS? I guess it is another X-format to memorize and learn. At least there is only one "browser" the Android API Level 8 for me.

Passing Around Serializable Objects

http://lyle.smu.edu/~coyle/cse7392mobile/handouts/Intent.DataPassing.ZomDroid.pdf

Seems very well written, but I hate giving up method calls like that. Public? I hate it ... but I want my Androids to be very fast ... bummer? Or just life on the edge?

Knowing What is Selected In Android Spinner

You have getSelectedXXX methods from the AdapterView class from which the Spinner derives:

getSelectedItem()

getSelectedItemPosition()

getSelectedItemId()

These are really good methods.  You get the row_id back!!!

Visual Guide to Android Widets

http://www.droiddraw.org/widgetguide.html

This is a nice visual guide to Android widgets.

The page is very straightforward -- a basic table containing screenshots of the widget plus the XML and Java to put one in your application.

Android Activity Lifecycle

The Android mobile operating system has a well-defined life cycle for Activities and application components running in the OS.

Lifecycle events can happen even if the current component is not handing off control to another Activity explicitly -- the mobile OS is a very busy place and things happen constantly that you, as the developer a single application, cannot control.

For example, perhaps a call comes in to the handset. If this happens, and your Activity is running, it will be swapped out while the call Activity takes over.  What is an Alarm goes off?  What if the task killer elects to eliminate your package?

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html#lcycles

Blog About Android

I was doing random searching today about Android View implementations -- which is, I assume, how a lot custom graphic UI are being built in Android.

While this blog The Android Competency Center did not help me with my question, I do feel much more competent with Android after having read the archives.

http://www.androidcompetencycenter.com/

Good Luck with Your Projects!

Understanding Android Applications -- Start with the Manifest

One of the most important files in an Android Application is the application manifest.

Understanding the application manifest's format is critical for any application developer.

Read more about the Android Application Manifest File Format Here:

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html

MapView Google Development Tutorial Context Bugs

There are some bugs in the code that Google supplies to demonstrate the Google Maps API.

The original Google Tutorial is here:
http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/views/hello-mapview.html

There is a useful Google Groups post regarding the major bug / confusion with this tutorial:
http://groups.google.com/group/android-beginners/browse_thread/thread/9d175c71b8b6825d

The differences are shown below

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.map);
MapView mapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.mapview);
mapView.setBuiltInZoomControls(true);

List mapOverlays = mapView.getOverlays();
Drawable drawable = this.getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.dot_bar);
DefaultItemizedOverlay itemizedoverlay = new DefaultItemizedOverlay(drawable,this);

GeoPoint point = new GeoPoint(19240000,-99120000);
OverlayItem overlayitem = new OverlayItem(point, "Hola, Mundo!", "I'm in Mexico City!");

itemizedoverlay.addOverlay(overlayitem);
itemizedoverlay.ReadyOverlay();
mapOverlays.add(itemizedoverlay);


}
}

Changing the code in onCreate to supply 'this' as a Context for the ItemizedOverLay is critical, otherwise you will get a NullReferenceException on the mContext field when onTap(int) attempts to create a Alert Dialog.

Google Android Development "Hello, Views" and Tips for API 7

final CheckBox checkbox = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkbox);
checkbox.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
// Perform action on clicks, depending on whether it's now
// checked
if (((CheckBox) v).isChecked()) {
Toast.makeText(HelloFormStuff.this, "Selected",
Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
} else {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Not selected",
Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
});


The text in Green Worked for me, the text in Red did not work for me.

Google Android Development "Hello, Views" and New Eclipse Project Template

I have been working on the Google Android Development samples located here:

http://developer.android.com/resources/tutorials/views/index.html

This is the "Android Views" tutorials/example code and I have been reading and trying out the examples and various modifications.

One thing that I have noticed is that the Tutorials all refer to "res/drawable" as if it was a single folder. Does that mean that the tutorials were created before Android 1.5 allowed drawable to be a three part folder structure?

Does anyone have a clear best practice (I did Google) for where to put your icons and if you want to make different copies or just included them all in ldpi?

HTC Evo Android Tips, Tricks and Setup Guide Links

I am a new owner of an Android Phone (a Sprint phone, the HTC Evo, to be exact) and as a new Android user I have been reading tons of how-to and setup documents.

Here is a great post on a popular forum that some people have done major work to collect, edit and post.

The Good

D. When your phone is ringing, if you flip it over, it will silence the ringer.

C. If you want to change the default action that occurs when you select a contact from the Favorites widget: (Thanks Companyman)
1. Go into the People application and select your contact
2. Click on the Menu button near the bottom of your phone
3. Select the "More" option
4. Click on the "Set widget action"
5. Select whatever action you want.

The Bad

This one does not bother me but it seems like a miss... But I like the robot!

Q. Does anyone know how to turn off/change the "green Android Robot" picture that pops up when you're trying to make a phone call?
A. The way to change the Android pic is to assigned the person your calling a picture in your contacts. If the number is not from a contact then I am afraid you are stuck with the little green monster unless you root and someone builds a rom without him.

The Ugly

I hate this problem, and I'm sad to see that it is a universal one...

Q. When sending text messages, is there a way to send the text from the message window without having to hit the button to make the keyboard disappear and then hit the send button?
A. The send button should be to the right of the text window even if the keyboard is up, at least in Portrait mode. In Landscape you either have to hit menu and send or just minimize the keyboard.

This is also pretty unfortunate...

Q. Is it possible to have a different wallpaper on the lockscreen from your home screen?
A. Seems that is not available in this build of 2.1. In others I have used you could. If you or anyone else finds this to not be true let me know. As of right now it seems the same wallpaper for the home screen works for the lock screen as well.

For more details, read the full article here: http://androidforums.com/tips-tricks-evo-4g/90404-tip-how-do-i-settings-android.html

I Love C# Debuggers

Fun Information about C# Debuggers I read today:

• http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/archive/2004/02/13/72617.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlcat/archive/2010/05/11/resolving-dtc-related-waits-and-tuning-scalability-of-dtc.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/stevejs/archive/2004/02/16/73936.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/jmstall/archive/2005/03/23/400794.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/jmstall/archive/2005/11/15/funceval-rules.aspx
• http://www.west-wind.com/Weblog/posts/6931.aspx

Perhaps an insight into my link following practices.  Take note, robots.

Using (and Abusing) The var C# 3.5 Keyword

The quote from this MSDN article (Implicitly Typed Local Variables) below (emphasis mine) spells out how I feel about the var keyword, which is defined in the var (C# Reference,) also on MSDN.

"Overuse of var can make source code less readable for others. It is recommended to use var only when it is necessary, that is, when the variable will be used to store an anonymous type or a collection of anonymous types."

I use var as Microsoft's C# design team intended -- in cases where I need it and nothing else will work.  There is no reason to go crazy and look at "var" as a shortcut or simplification of the language.

I have reviewed (and rejected) code from var happy C#s (CodePlex) ... it just isn't worth it down the road.  If the compiler has to infer the type, so does the maintainer.

Furthermore, overuse of the var keyword has some nasty side effects, which have been blogged about:

• Implicit Typing Can Make TDD Harder

• Can the C# 'var' Keyword be Misused?

• Unclear Use of C# var Keyword

• Var Keyword in C# [Somewhat Positive, Read the Comments]
  

  
  

No process is associated with this object.

This Error, "No process is associated with this object."

you forgot to set the .File property.  Nothing to execute!

RadUpload, ASP.net AJAX Upload -- Telerik Controls Are Obsolete and Low Quality!

ASP.Net AJAX: Upload is rapidly becoming obsolete.

I have stopped recommending this product to clients and for our own internal projects.

Unless there are plans (real serious plans) to add Web Farm and Load Balancing support to ASP.Net AJAX: Upload by enabling a database or shared file system location for buffering and progress management, I will be abandoning ASP.Net AJAX: Upload.

I have spoken to a number of other users who are in the same boat.  The long-term problem we face is what to do with our Telerik subscriptions after we have stopped using the primary components. 

Replacing things like drop-downs with Open Source and paying for a one-component (but high quality) Upload widget seems like a better option.

Thoughts?  Does Telerik have enough resources to produce high quality individual control feature sets?  Or is the goal many pretty components with so-so features?

LINQ to SQL In Action Story

http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/101721/sql_server_101721.html

Good Stuff from SQL Server Magazine, LINQ to SQL in Action: Joining and Grouping

Cory Trese
ph#:     937-609-9644
e-m:    cory.trese@gmail.com
www:  http://www.corytrese.com/

---

California Wedding Photography
http://www.corytrese.com/wedding.html

jQuery Goodness -- 137 Amazing jQuery Examples and Downloads

No, this is not an update on my quest to write 137 sweet jQuery plugins (although I have made it to 3, up from 2!)

http://www.noupe.com/jquery/50-amazing-jquery-examples-part1.html

http://www.noupe.com/ajax/37-more-shocking-jquery-plugins.html

http://www.developersnippets.com/2009/01/15/bookmark-50-stunning-jquery-applications/

Sweetness jQuery demos.  Go MVC!

---

California Wedding Photography
http://www.corytrese.com/wedding.html

Subversion, WebDAV, Windows and Microsoft Office

Let me start by saying that I love Subversion and find Tortoise-SVN and SVN.exe very, very easy to use and if you read this entire article, I can help you make it really easy for your business users to love Subversion as much as your developers.

I have used CVS on Windows entirely in the CLI for years and have never felt the overpowering need to have a more graphical client.

However the interface that you offer your users has an incredible impact on there love, or lack of love, for a particular tool.

Subversion, with a programmer-friendly CLI and excellent Windows Explorer (and Visual Studio via Anhk 2.0!) integration usually makes a big splash with developers and engineers.  Easy, simple and it just works right.

The question, "How do my users interface with Subversion and is it effective for them?" does have an easy answer for developers writing source code. 

The advantage is that these users have is that they are comfortable with SVN because they are comfortable with revision control systems in general.  They have used SVN, CVS, PVCS, ClearCase, Vault or BitKeeper at some point in their careers and they are comfortable with concepts like "Commits" and "Working Copies."  Sure, some of the SVN-specific features (interactive merges, properties and versionable renames) may take some getting used.  Their really are not that many core (from the client) differences between the actual functionality provided by these different systems.

However these same features, familiar advantages for developers, are foreign and frustrating for many "normal" business users.  They are familiar with Groove, UNC fileshares and Windows Explorer's basic features.  They will be baffled by working copies, SVN adds, commits, updates and history logs.  Documents won't get checked in.  Files will not be added.  Bad things will happen when people do updates and get conflicts.  Your wonderful Subversion server will be a problem, not a solution.  Revolt is just around the corner.  What can we do?

And then, the solution appears, bright and clear -- WebDAV!  WebDAV is great, right?  WebDAV uses the HTTP protocol so no firewall trouble.  It supported by Apache2 hosting on both UNIX and Windows.  Wikipedia even says that Windows XP and Windows 2000 have a built in WebDAV client!  Sounds like it will be really easy, no?

Here are the problems:

• Windows WebDAV Client Does Not Work for Non-IIS Hosts
• Windows WebDAV Client not supported on 64bit machines
• WebDAV Client does not fully support HTTPS
• Windows WebDAV Clients Are Incompatable with most applications
• Microsoft Office Mostly Works -- Word Opens Everything Read-Only
  
• Notepad.exe and Paint.exe don't

So the WebDAV solution looks less perfect, but still very promising.  Using the following Apache2 configuration, we can enable NT DOMAIN backed authentication, WebDAV and require users to authenticate on both read and write operations.

<Location /svn/office>
      DAV svn
1)    SVNPath D:/Subversion/office_repo
2)    SVNAutoversioning on
3)    ModMimeUsePathInfo on
      AuthType SSPI
      SSPIAuth On
      SSPIAuthoritative On
      SSPIDomain MY_DOMAIN
4)    Require valid-user
</Location>

1. SVNPath ties this Apache2 location to a SVN Repository you created on the server.
2. SVNAutoversioning configures this repository to support WebDAV clients who create new versions with MKCOL
3. ModMimeUsePathInfo configures this repository to automatically guess at MIME type based on the extension.  This setting greatly improves Subversion's ability to recognize binary files on the server
4. This require valid-user ensures that all WebDAV writes come with a valid NT DOMAIN (or if not using SSPI other) authenticated token

Apache2 is configured.  WebDAV is working great from your UNIX clients.  Everything seems good and now all we have to do is find a Windows WebDAV Client that works with Subversion without creating too much trouble for our SVN repository and users of other SVN clients.  For example, if we get a lock-happy WebDAV client then we won't have happy Tortoise SVN users.

So lets round up the Usual Suspects from the WebDAV mafia and see how they perform.

• Data Freeway
• SolutionBox NetDrive
• Novell NetDrive
• AnyClient WebDAV
• RedDrive WebDAV Client
  

We don't have any extra money (who does) so price is going to be a major factor on selecting our WebDAV client.

Data Freeway
This application seems very nice.  Currently supports SSH (SSH1 and SSH2), WebDAV, common FTP and secure SFTP protocols.  From using it and reading the site, I can tell that it was not designed with a Subversion user in mind, but it does work and seems to work very well.  Microsoft Office documents open without trouble but when saving them in Windows XP on 32bit machines, I get a SEGFAULT every single time.  Everything was great with this until I ran into that defect it was a show stopper.  I put in a request with the maintainer of the application but could not wait.

SolutionBox NetDrive
This application is a clone (with defects fixed and a new theme) of Novell's NetDrive product.  This product works very well with WebDAV Subversion repositories and allows Microsoft Office AND non WebDAV compatible applications to work.  Free for home use -- too bad it is so expensive for a corporate customer.

Novell NetDrive
This application is an old UNIX interop platform component that Novell sold as part of the Netware stack.  It is no longer supported or distributed by Novell but you can use it if you download it from somewhere else.  There are open issues with it and there are constant questions and misinformation (from Novell and others) about the legality of using it.

AnyClient WebDAV
This application is billed "Free No-Install FTP, FTPS, SFTP and WebDAV Client" and it is all of those things.  It works like an FTP client and does not really give you the WebDAV-mounted-as-a-UNC-share magic that the other tools give you.  However, I owe AnyClient WebDAV a great deal of credit for finding it's more-function, highly stable predecessor RedDrive.

RedDrive WebDAV Client
This is our solution.  Discontinued, undocumented but my god it really works.  I mean, it really really works.
http://www.jscape.com/reddrive/

• Supports WebDAV
• Supports Integrated Authentication
• Sends authentication tokens with MKCOL (Security Requirement)
• No Licensing Cost, No Commercial Use Restrictions 
• Mounts WebDAV over HTTPS into "My Computer"
• All Windows Applications Work (everything we've tested)
  

Cory Trese
ph#:     937-609-9644
e-m:    cory.trese@gmail.com
www:  http://www.corytrese.com/

---

California Wedding Photography
http://www.corytrese.com/wedding.html

Subversion (SVN) WebDAV and Microsoft Windows XP

Subversion, a wonderful open-source revision control technology can revolutionize the way your organization stores files.

Developers, especially those who have used CVS or SourceSafe before tend to pick up and love Subversion.

Things that recommend Subversion for Windows-based Developers

• Command Line Interface (svn.exe) that works like CVS
• Windows Explorer Integrated Shell Extension, Tortoise SVN
• Visual Studio 2008 Integration, Ankh SVN
• Support In Other Tools -- Nant, MSBuild, CruiseControl.Net, CodeDemon
• Hosted in Apache or Standalone Server
• Read-Only HTTP Interface (with Apache)

BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and BizTalk Server 2009

I have spent time week and last working on doing bottom-up evaluations of BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and BizTalk Server 2009.

BizTalk Server 2006 R2

• Easily Installs on XP without a VPC
• Installation Procedures on 2003 Server are same as R1
• Compiles, Deploys & Runs "SMW BizTalk" and "Order Master" without new errors
• Provides some minor bug fixes in the UI
• Minor Changes in Admin and Config Tools
• Existing XML formats work for binding
• MSBuild (SDC) Extensions Function Perfectly for R2
• Faster
• WCF Adapters Integrated
• BAM Interceptors Allow WCF and WF services OUTSIDE of BizTalk to participate in BAM
• New Enterprise SSO Services (4.0)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb743854.aspx

BizTalk Server 2009 BETA

• Installs and Runs in 2003 Advanced Server VPC
• Allows for an In-place upgrade WITH deployed applications (SMW BizTalk)
• Deployed Applications are upgraded
• The production version will (they say) have cluster-upgrade-without-stoppage support
• Integrates with Visual Studio 2008 SP1
• Supports Source Control Features in Visual Studio (SVN/Ankh)
• Some improved UI in development (faster, less bugs)
• Administrator Tools are Improved by not radically different
• Build System does not work right (yet)
• Probably due to missing MSBuild / SDC Support for VS 2008 as the BTS compiler
• Compiles, Deploys & Runs "SMW BizTalk" and "Order Master" without new errors

Cory Trese
ph#:     937-609-9644
e-m:    cory.trese@gmail.com
www:  http://www.corytrese.com/

---

California Wedding Photography
http://www.corytrese.com/wedding.html

BizTalk Server 2006 BTSTask An invalid value for property "DestinationFolder".

I was fighting with a BizTalk Server 2006 error with bindings imports. 

 These binding files were being generated by an XML preprocessing system and then loaded into BizTalk 2006 Server using BTSTask.exe

This error is mentioned in a Microsoft BizTalk KB / Hot Fix, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923733, but that only applies (and only installs) if you have installed a LOB Adapter pack, but we did not have the LOB Adapter pack on this server. 

The error is the exact same, however.  The exception we got during binding import (both in the UI and in the CLI) is:

===================================

 

Failed to update binding information. (mscorlib)

 

===================================

 

Could not validate configuration of Primary Transport of Send Port 'portname' with SSO server.
An invalid value for property "DestinationFolder". (Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM)

 

------------------------------
For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=47400&ProdName=Microsoft+BizTalk+Server+2006&ProdVer=3.5.1602.0&EvtSrc=Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.Resources&EvtID=IDS_ERR_TRANSPORTINFO_INVALID_TRANSPORT_DATA

 

===================================

 

An invalid value for property "DestinationFolder".

 

------------------------------
Program Location:

 

   at Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.IPersistPropertyBag.Load(IPropertyBag propertyBag, Int32 errorLog)
   at Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.Helper.ValidateTransportProps(String transportTypeData, String transportAddress, String publicAddress, IProtocolType transportType, Boolean IsTransmit)
   at Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.TransportInfo.Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.IBaseObject.ValidateObjectData()

The solution for us was to make changes to the content of our bindings file by removing all whilespace and line breaks from the contents of the <Address /> and <PhysicalAddress /> elements.  These line breaks were being added to some bindings files by our XML preprocessor and could not, for some reason, be imported to BizTalk.

The "with SSO Server" junk is actually some type of mask for the real error, which I found out by disassembly BizTalk assemblies and checking out some of the error handling around a bit of unmanaged code that was getting invoked.

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Cory Trese
e-m:    cory.trese@gmail.com
www:  http://www.corytrese.com/
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California Wedding Photography
http://www.corytrese.com/wedding.html