From the April 2002 issue of MSDN Magazine
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| Resources for Your Developer Toolbox | |
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Plant Hooks, Version Stamps.gif){kind=small} Desaware Inc., a programming tool publisher, is shipping SpyWorks Professional 6.3 and VersionStamper 6.6. SpyWorks gives developers using Visual Studio® .NET the ability to subclass windows outside of their own process, plant any type of system hook on any thread in the system or on the system as a whole, and intercept keystrokes destined for any application or across the entire system. VersionStamper allows developers using the Microsoft® .NET Framework developers to perform run-time verification of the COM components used by their assemblies. VersionStamper's update and notification capabilities make it easy for .NET-based components and applications using COM components to repair themselves or provide diagnostic information to solve component distribution problems.E-commerce Tools for .NET AppsiisCART, publishers of a variety of ASP applications for e-commerce, has released three .NET tools that calculate shipping rates, perform currency exchange, and accept credit card transactions.netSHIP Rates & Tracking provides real-time rates from any combination of FedEx, UPS, DHL, and USPS at the same time. netSHIP also supports tracking, service sorting, algorithm-based rate backup, dimensions, adjustments, and integrates with any site or store. netCURRENCY Exchange performs currency exchange to and from more than 175 currencies and precious metals. It also performs real-time value lookups with local caching for near instant returns, and automatic rate updates at any interval. .gif){kind=small} netCHARGE CC Processing offers real-time credit card processing, supporting VeriSign, AuthorizeNet, iBill, LinkPoint, SkipJack, and more than 15 other gateways. It will integrate with any online store or a simple payment form. All transaction types are supported as are logging and AVS.Define Enterprise-wide Coding Standards.gif){kind=small} FMS Inc. is shipping Total Visual CodeTools for Access 2002, which now supports Office XP. Designed specifically for developers using Microsoft Access, Visual Basic®, or any Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) platform, Total Visual CodeTools is a collection of 12 professional code-centric tools and utilities that help ensure coding standards, reduce development time, and eliminate errors.Integrated directly into the Visual Basic or VBAIDE, Total Visual CodeTools includes Code Cleanup, Code Delivery, a variety of other coding tools, and enterprise application management capability. Code Cleanup standardizes existing code at the procedure, module, or project level so that inherited projects are easier to understand and handle errors better. Code Delivery prepares your code for distribution, allowing you to minimize the hassle of reproducing bugs or attempting to understand user bug reports. Code Builders help you to quickly write pieces of code that conform to your standards. Multiuser features support sharing of coding standards for the entire development team. Total Visual CodeTools allows you to define all aspects of your coding standards, including visual style, indentation, error handling, commenting, variable naming conventions, and more. Define your settings once, save them to a shared location, and your entire team can use your enterprise standards without even thinking about it. FTP from within .NET Apps.gif){kind=small} DevPower Solutions recently released FTP .NET, a .NET component that allows you to connect to FTP servers from within .NET applications. FTP .NET includes functionality for file transfers and deletion, directory creation and deletion, literal commands, renaming, local and remote directory listings, XML support, and more. Two versions of the component are available: the Limited Version is free and downloads and uploads files synchronously, while the Full Version includes background file transfers, full source code, and detailed documentation in the Visual Studio .NET style. Both versions come with example applications including source code written in C# for a command-line FTP client and a Windows® Forms-based FTP client. The component was written in C# and is available from the DevPower Solutions Web site.Toolkit for Windows CE.gif){kind=small} Entrek Software Inc. has rolled out Entrek TOOLBOX Windows CE Edition, which features professional software development tools for the Windows CE platform. The toolset features CODESNITCH, which is designed to analyze and track down memory and resource leaks, validate Windows API calls, and detect memory overwrites and underwrites. Using CODESNITCH requires no special build steps, emulators, debuggers, or hardware.Another tool available in the box is PROCMAN, which monitors system memory and CPU usage. It also allows you to browse and make modifications to system objects such as processes, threads, and windows. PROCMAN lets you view your entire system in one program, eliminating the need for individual diagnostic tools for each aspect of your system. Developers can see changes in the system as they occur, and identify resource-intensive processes and threads. Debug and Test COM Components.gif) SENS_Software has announced the availability of COMslicer 2.0, which improves the reliability of COM components and ActiveX® controls. It traces all run time calls to selected objects of in-process or out-of-process COM components. COMslicer displays values of input and output parameters for each method or property called by clients. It also provides detailed information about such events as the creation and destruction of COM objects. Debugging and testing of COM components with COMslicer facilitates the resolution of problems that cannot be traced in a static debugger environment.In a real-world run-time environment, COM components can be exploited in a way that is unexpected for developers. Observing the behavior of COM objects helps uncover sources of errors or potential problems. COMslicer can trace COM components written in Visual C++®, Visual Basic, or Visual J++®. COMslicer does not require the insertion of any additional code into the component's source, nor does it require a debug version of the COM component. COMslicer uses only type library information that is usually automatically included in the DLL or EXE containing the COM component. New features in version 2.0 include the ability to trace out-of-process COM components on Windows NT® or Windows 2000. COMslicer intercepts calls made by a client to proxies of local and remote objects and reports them in the same way as calls to ordinary in-process objects. COMslicer displays comprehensive information about events such as the creation and destruction of objects, invoked methods, and raised events. Add a Chat Room to Your Sitealcomp Development has released a new version of PINO 3-Server, a TCP/IP-based chat server for Windows. PINO 3-Server lets you define many aspects of the chat experience, including an unlimited number of system rooms. In order to manage the chat, you can appoint chat operators who can keep the chat free of disruptive users. Further security measures include IP-based access control. PINO 3-Server supports you in displaying your own images (such as banners for general information or advertisements) for your users. On the client side, your users can protect their screen names by registering them with the system, and they can create their own user rooms to have private conversations. Direct connections can also be established between users, in order to exchange files and data.The Bookshelf.gif) No Starch Press has just published The Book of VB.NET: .NET Insight for VB Developers by Matthew Macdonald. It's a comprehensive guide to .NET development, covering everything from XML to Web Services. In a series of tours and examples, readers learn how to create full-featured Web Services, Web applications, Windows-based programs, and setup utilities; master object-oriented programming with classes, interfaces, and inheritance; and work with XML, file streams, and relational databases. Other topics covered in the book include creating attractive interfaces with split windows, print previews, and Windows XP styles, and deciding when to migrate applications to .NET. Learn more about the book at https://www.nostarch.com/?vbdotnet..gif) O'Reilly has just published Programming Visual Basic .NET by Dave Grundgeiger, a complete guide to the new version of Visual Basic. At first glance, developers experienced with Visual Basic 6.0 will feel comfortable with the Visual Basic .NET code and will recognize most of its constructs. But Grundgeiger explains that with its release for the .NET platform, the Visual Basic language has undergone significant changes.The book begins with a discussion of the two basic building blocks of any .NET application built with Visual Basicâ€"the Visual Basic .NET programming language itself, and the .NET Framework. Grundgeiger covers the Visual Basic language elements, its object-oriented features, programming with attributes, the Common Language Runtime, and programmatically reading from and writing to the .NET configuration files. The remainder of the book focuses on the three major kinds of applications that can be developed using the .NET Framework: Windows Forms applications, ASP.NET applications, and Web Services. In each case, Programming Visual Basic .NET shows how to build an application using Visual Studio .NET as well as using a text editor and the Visual Basic command-line compiler. For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bio, and samples, see https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/progvbdotnet.
Send your New Stuff to Theresa at newstuff@microsoft. com. |
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| Theresa W. Carey is a freelance writer who lives in California. Her byline has appeared in Barron's and PC World. |