New Stuff

Resources for Your Developer Toolbox

Theresa W. Carey

Contents

Capture Print Streams for Publishing
Managing Change
Debug XSLT/XML Apps On the Fly
Compare and Synchronize SQL Server Databases
Analyze Your Web Site Usage
Track Down Variables, Functions, and Classes in Your Projects
Capture Screens, Video, and Text
Replace the Textbox Control
Create Backups in Real Time
The Bookshelf

Capture Print Streams for Publishing

Informative Graphics Corporation released Net-It Now 3.0 publishing software, which offers users a content-secure alternative for file publishing with visual access via a reader. Net-It Now publishes files by capturing high resolution vector- and raster-based print streams from most Windows®-based applications, including Microsoft® Word, Visio®, Microsoft Project, WordPerfect, and image layout programs such as Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and even Windows-based CAD applications.

Net-It Now honors existing hyperlinks and favorites and allows the resolution of embedded images to be downsampled to reduce file sizes. Files are published into the company's content sealed format (CSF) with Visual Rights protection.

Visual Rights is Informative Graphics' persistent security control that can be applied to CSF files when they're published. Users can create CSF files from drawings, documents, and images, and add controls such as password protection, hard or relative viewing expiration dates, and allow or disallow printing, copying, and measurement. CSF files are compressed and AES 256 bit-encrypted.

https://www.net-it.com

Managing Change

Merant has unveiled Merant Dimensions for Microsoft .NET, an enterprise change management solution that features native integration with Visual Studio® .NET 2003, which can simplify and automate the process of managing change throughout the development lifecycle.

The Merant Dimensions framework delivers process control, versioning, baseline management, issue management, release management, next-generation build management, and workflow management. Organizations can track, manage, and coordinate disparate projects and teams in real time, without requiring developers to leave the Visual Studio .NET environment.

In addition to Windows Server™ 2003 support and planned support for the next version of Visual Studio, code-named "Whidbey," Merant Dimensions for the .NET Framework also supports SQL Server™ 2000. This allows enterprise customers to securely store and manage all enterprise assets and metadata across all platforms, including Windows, Unix, Linux, OS/390 and z/OS, within a single SQL Server 2000 repository.

https://www.merant.com

Debug XSLT/XML Apps On the Fly

ActiveState recently announced Visual XSLT 2.0, which ships with ActiveState's just-in-time (JIT) debugger, enabling you to test XSLT code embedded in other applications or libraries built with the .NET Framework. You can quickly pull XML out of a database and debug the transformation without needing the source code. Also new is the Visual Schema Mapper, which allows you to build transformations of XML files in a drag and drop interface without writing additional code or employing XML schemas.

ActiveState Visual XSLT extends the Visual Studio .NET 2003 IDE with XSLT-specific debugging and editing features, and offers an interactive tool for building and testing XPath expressions. Another new feature, the enhanced Project Manager, allows you to add folders and hierarchies to projects. Visual XSLT is slated to support the next major version of Visual Studio .NET.

https://www.ActiveState.com/VisualXSLT

Compare and Synchronize SQL Server Databases

Red Gate Software has released SQL Comparison and Synchronization Toolkit 3.0, which allows developers to create automated programs for comparing and synchronizing SQL Server databases at selected times without human intervention. The toolkit has been rewritten for the .NET Framework and gives developers and database administrators access to the APIs in Red Gate's new SQL Compare 3.1 and Data Compare 3.3 tools.

Red Gate SQL comparison and synchronization software engines are used to install and maintain programs for customers, replicate databases and verify replications without redesigning databases, and automate database migration within the development environment.

Red Gate has also revamped the toolkit's design, approach, and technology. Version 3.0 simplifies the development process and provides help files with a full object model, sample applications, code samples, and an explanation of how the program can be used.

https://www.red-gate.com

Analyze Your Web Site Usage

uplinkearth recently released Urchin 5, a Web analysis software product that reads log files and produces usage reports on a schedule set by the administrator. Urchin adds a client-side data collection component that transparently sends additional data back to the server and into the log.

The folks at uplinkearth believe that log-only systems tell half the Web traffic story while ASP solutions tell the other half. Urchin combines the two. The program includes browser-based administration and reporting, and step-by-step configuration wizards. If you sell products over the Web, Urchin can analyze your shopping cart usage along with your other Web traffic. For additional reporting, you can copy and paste any Urchin graph into Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft Word, and so on. Supported platforms include Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT®, Mac OS X, Unix/Linux, and Cobalt. Urchin provides reports in multiple languages, including double-byte languages.

https://uplinkearth.com/uleWebtrax

Track Down Variables, Functions, and Classes in Your Projects

Adienta has released Browsio 1.0, an add-in for Visual Studio .NET that gives you a picture of where and how a variable, function, or class is used. This makes it possible to get an overview of the impact any code changes will have.

The Browsio Tree lists all of the locations where an identifier is used in a currently open C/C++ project. Clicking in the tree brings the Visual Studio .NET Editor to that location. If you look up a name that is used in more than one context, these contexts are shown in different branches.

For functions you get hierarchies of calls and call-bys and for classes there are hierarchies of derived and base classes. Browsio can be used with any new or existing project, and appears in a dockable window just like the Solution and Class Trees in Visual Studio.

https://www.browsio.com

Capture Screens, Video, and Text

TechSmith Corporation has announced the availability of SnagIt 7, screen capture software that includes text, video, printer, and Web-capture functionality and supports Microsoft Office 2003. New features include profile management, paint tools, image editing effects, and OneClick capture capability.

The Profile Management features allow users to create and manage personalized configuration profiles so they have access to their most commonly used features.

The paint tools embedded in the capture-preview window, and in the SnagIt Editor, allow users to add lines, shapes, annotations, and other elements to screenshots. Image editing effects enable users to add creative and artistic enhancements, such as perspective, spotlight, and magnification to screenshots. OneClick can be implemented to access capture profiles directly from the desktop.

Among the most common uses for SnagIt are documentation, employee and customer training, technical support, classroom teaching and distance learning, Web development, research and investigation, publishing, software design, and the creation of sales and marketing materials.

SnagIt 7 runs on Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

https://www.techsmith.com

Replace the Textbox Control

Dart Communications recently announced The PowerWEB TextBox for ASP.NET, which enables ASP.NET developers to replace the standard TextArea elements of their Web application with support for HTML content and traditional word processing capabilities without requiring any client-side components or controls.

PowerWEB TextBox for ASP.NET is handy for developers who are creating ASP.NET content-management applications, Web mail products, Web forums, or word processor-style applications. With this product, the developer has control over the appearance of all the items on the screen, and can create custom buttons, toolbar items, and dialogs that encapsulate customized code.

For the user, all standard HTML capability is available, including table editing, image manipulation, color pickers, and text formatting. Most aspects of the product can be customized using built-in editors that support the capabilities of Visual Studio .NET 2003.

For advanced users, the rich object model allows complete customization in codebehind or through direct tag manipulation in the ASPX file. All objects in the control can be manipulated to meet the developer's business requirements, including customization of the toolbars, dialogs, progress bar, tab strip, and text. The control supports skins and configuration persistence. In addition, the base classes can be customized to create unique dialogs and buttons.

https://dart.com

Create Backups in Real Time

FSoft s.r.l. has released RTMirror 1.0, a real-time folder-mirroring application. With RTMirror, you specify one or more folders on your local hard disk, and as soon as you modify files in those folders, RTMirror will immediately copy them to a different folder (either on another hard disk or on another networked computer).

RTMirror has been designed to add a security layer to your backup strategy and works in real time: as soon as a file is created or modified, it is automatically copied within a minute. In case of a failure of your primary hard disk, you will be able to restore all of your important files from the backup copies that are created by RTMirror.

RTMirror is not an application that sometimes wakes up and copies all modified files, and it is not a device driver; it is an application that waits for notifications. Every time you modify a file, Windows will notify RTMirror, and RTMirror will copy it to another folder. RTMirror requires Windows 2000, Windows XP, or later.

https://www.fsoft.it/rtmirror

The Bookshelf

Morgan Kaufmann Publishers recently published How to Build A Business Rules Engine: Extending Application Functionality through Metadata Engineering by Malcolm Chisholm. The book provides a detailed roadmap and examples for building a business rules engine.

Business rules engines make organizations more efficient by allowing them to manage diverse sets of operating rules. One example of diverse rules are the different contracts for goods and services an organization has with different clients.

Rules engines can speed software implementation and ensure engineering compliance. The book describes not only the components that a rules engine must have, but also the organizational issues that may determine its success after it has been built and implemented.

https://www.bizrulesengine.com

Que/Sams recently published Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003 Kick Start by Kate Gregory. This book focuses on practical examples and the benefits of moving to Visual C++® .NET. It explains how Visual C++ code interacts with the .NET Framework, code interoperability in Visual C++ compared to Visual Basic® .NET and C#, how to use Windows Forms, and how to migrate from Visual Studio 6.0 and COM.

Another new title by Que/Sams is Programming in Objective-C, by Stephen Kochan—a tutorial on the basics of Objective-C and object-oriented programming. The book makes no assumption about prior experience with object-oriented programming languages, or with the C language. It is written to help you learn the fundamentals of Objective-C quickly and effectively.

https://www.samspublishing.com

Dan Tow, author of SQL Tuning (published by O'Reilly), details a diagram-based method for tuning SQL statements. The method is not iterative and random; it's deterministic. You follow a well-defined process once, and at the end of that process you will know the optimal execution plan for the statement in question. The method involved not only leads you to a plan quickly and in one pass, but also assures you that it is, indeed, the optimal plan. This last point is important because you'll know when to stop spending time trying to improve the execution of a SQL statement and seek improvement through other means, such as changes to indexes, the database design, or the application using the SQL.

Also published by O'Reilly is Learning XSLT by Michael Fitzgerald. This book offers a hands-on introduction to help you get up to speed with XSLT, a powerful language for transforming XML documents into an HTML document, another XML document, a PDF file, an SVG file, a VRML file, Java code, or any number of other things.

First, you write an XSLT stylesheet that defines the rules for transforming the XML document, then the XSLT processor does the work. As useful as XSLT is, its peculiar characteristics make it a difficult language to learn.

Learning XSLT moves from the simple to complex, illustrating various aspects of XSLT 1.0 through step-by-step examples. The book also covers XSLT's template-based syntax, how XSLT templates work with each other, and XSLT variables.

https://www.oreilly.com

Send your New Stuff to Theresa at  newstuff@microsoft.com.

Theresa W. Carey is a freelance writer who lives in California. Her byline has appeared in Barron's and PC World.