CTPs and a New Certification Scheme Discussed at VSLive!   01 Feb 2006 04:08 GMT
As .NET enters a new stage of maturity, Microsoft asks developers to turn their attention to new productivity features of Team System, announces an imminent release candidate for the Foundation Server, and rolls out some big changes to the professional certification program.
Source: DevX

Press Release: Introducing HelpStudio Lite Help Authoring Tool   01 Feb 2006 01:20 GMT
The Visual Studio 2005 SDK ships with a free tool for authoring Help content and integrating it with Visual Studio 2005. HelpStudio Lite, built by Innovasys, Ltd., is a lightweight version of HelpStudio, optimized for Visual Studio Industry Partners.
Source: MSDN

What’s New in Visual C++ 2005 IntelliSense   01 Feb 2006 01:20 GMT
Learn how Visual C++ 2005 makes significant improvements to IntelliSense support, including the elimination of prebuilt NCB files, dynamic parsing, macro-based parsing, template specialization support, C++/CLI language support, and much more.
Source: MSDN

Developing Custom Draw Controls in Visual C++   01 Feb 2006 01:03 GMT
One of the ways to create a unique and memorable user interface is by designing and developing custom controls for your application. In this article, Microsoft Program Manager Tom Archer illustrates how to augment standard Windows controls via Custom Draw to enable you to further distinguish your application from those of your competitors
Source: MSDN

C++: Hello, C++/CLI   01 Feb 2006 01:03 GMT
C++/CLI is a self-contained, component-based dynamic programming language that is derived from C++, and the Visual C++ team at Microsoft has worked hard to integrate C++/CLI into ISO-C++. Stan Lippman explains.
Source: MSDN

CodeSnip: Working with FileUpload Control   01 Feb 2006 00:00 GMT
This article demonstrates the working of FileUpload control using ASP.NET 2.0 and C#.
Source: AspAlliance

Examining ASP.NET 2.0's Site Navigation - Part 4   01 Feb 2006 00:00 GMT

Part 1 - shows how to create a simple site map using the default XML-based site map provider and how to display a TreeView and SiteMapPath (breadcrumb) based on the site map data.

Part 2 - explores programmatically accessing site map data through the SiteMap class; includes a thorough discussion of the SiteMapPath (breadcrumb) control.

Part 3 - examines how to use base the site map's contents on the currently logged in user and the authorization rules defined for the pages in the site map.

Part 4 - delves into creating a custom site map provider, specifically one that bases the site map on the website's physical, file system structure.

(Subscribe to this Article Series! )

A Multipart Series on ASP.NET 2.0's Site Navigation
This article is one in a series of articles on ASP.NET 2.0's site navigation functionality.

The goal of ASP.NET's site navigation feature is to allow a developer to specify a site map that describes his website's logical structure. A site map is constructed of an arbitrary number of hierarchically-related site map nodes, which typical contain a name and URL. The site navigation API, which is available in the .NET Framework via the SiteMap class, has properties for accessing the root node in the site map as well as the "current" node (where the "current" node is the node whose URL matches the URL the visitor is currently on). As discussed in Part 2 of this article series, the data from the site map can be accessed programmatically or through the navigation Web controls (the SiteMapPath, TreeView, and Menu controls).

The site navigation features are implemented using the provider model, which provides a standard API (the SiteMap class) but allows developers to plug in their own implementation of the API at runtime. ASP.NET 2.0 ships with a single default implementation, XmlSiteMapProvider, with which the developer can define the site map through an XML file (Web.sitemap); Part 1 of this article series looked at defining this XML file. However, our site's structure might already be specified by existing database data, or perhaps by the folders and files that makeup our website. Rather than having to mirror the database or file system structure in a Web.sitemap file, we can create a custom provider that exposes the database or file system information as a site map.

Thanks to the provider model we can provide a custom implementation of the site navigation subsystem, but one that still is accessible through the SiteMap class. In essence, with a custom provider the SiteMap class and navigation Web controls will work exactly as they did with the XmlSiteMapProvider. The only difference will be that the site map information will be culled from our own custom logic, be it from a database, a Web service, the file system, or from whatever data store our application may require. In this article we'll look at how to create a custom site navigation provider and build a file system-based custom provider from the ground-up. Read on to learn more!
Read More >

Source: 4GuysFromRolla

Building Report-enabled Applications with the New ReportViewer Controls (Part 1 of 2)   31 Jan 2006 21:51 GMT
Reporting is an integral part of every complete application. The Report Viewer controls greatly reduce the development effort required to report-enable .NET applications. Part one of this two-part article shows you how you can leverage the Windows Forms ReportViewer to integrate your Windows Forms .NET applications with Reporting Services 2005.
Source: DevX

Visual Studio Servicing Site Launches   31 Jan 2006 19:13 GMT
Your central source for the latest information about upcoming and released Visual Studio and .NET Framework software updates. Meet the team responsible for servicing, learn how they build software updates, and tell them what you think.
Source: MSDN

Determining Who Has Opened a Shared Folder   31 Jan 2006 01:53 GMT
Ever forgot to un-share a folder that you shared with a colleague or friend? Ever forgotten the path of a folder that you shared? Want to know who has opened your shared folder? There is a command to help you in such situations.
Source: DevX