Drawing with Direct3D, Part 1: Getting Started   29 Nov 2007 03:39 GMT
Learn how to produce amazing, high-performance, three-dimensional pictures in Visual Basic or C# by using Direct3D.
Source: DevX

Accessing and Updating Data in ASP.NET 2.0: Handling Database NULL Values   28 Nov 2007 00:00 GMT

In the last two installments of this article series - Updating Basics and Customizing the Editing Interface - we saw how to configure the SqlDataSource control to issue UPDATE statements to a database and how to then configure the GridView control to work in tandem with the SqlDataSource control to provide a web-based editing interface. By default, the GridView's editing interface renders a TextBox for each editable column in the grid. However, in certain scenarios we may want to customize the editing interface by including validation controls or by using an alternative Web control to collect the user's input. In particular, we customized the editing interface so that when editing a product from the Northwind database, a user could select the product's category through a DropDownList control rather than having to enter the actual CategoryID value into a TextBox.

While the Customizing the Editing Interface article provided a complete, working example of creating a customized editing interface, it had one potentially criticial shortcoming - the approach did not work with products that had a NULL database value for their CategoryID. For starters, the SELECT query used to populate the GridView used an INNER JOIN, which only returned those products with a matching category record. But even if we update the query to use a LEFT JOIN, the DropDownList in the customized editing interface did not include a list item representing the NULL value, so a user would be unable to edit a product and change the category from an existing value to NULL.

In this article we will look at how to customize the DropDownList in the editing interface such that it can correctly handle database NULL values. Read on to learn more!
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Source: 4GuysFromRolla

Viewing Contents in the Background Form   27 Nov 2007 02:17 GMT
Suppose you're working on multiple forms and you've got a visual dependency on data in one or more forms (something like the Aero effect in Vista). In such cases, use the form's Opacity property.
Source: DevX

Catching the (Silver) Light   27 Nov 2007 02:04 GMT
Find out how easy it is to add Silverlight 1.0 to your web pages with this step-by-step walkthrough.
Source: DevX

An Overview of ASP.NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008   21 Nov 2007 00:00 GMT

On November 19, 2007, Microsoft officially released the ASP.NET version 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008. Like with the progression from ASP.NET 2.0 to 3.0, the features in ASP.NET 3.5 are additive, meaning that the core assemblies installed from the .NET Framework version 2.0 are still used by the 3.0 and 3.5 versions. The In short, ASP.NET 3.5 doesn't change or take away or break any functionality, concepts, or code present in 2.0 - it simply adds new types and features and capabilities to the framework.

Visual Studio 2008 is the recommended tool for developing ASP.NET applications. Unlike previous versions of Visual Studio, which were targeted to a specific framework version (i.e., Visual Studio .NET 2003 targeted ASP.NET 1.1 and Visual Studio 2005 targeted ASP.NET 2.0), Visual Studio 2008 is multi-targeted, meaning that you choose from a drop-down list whether to have Visual Studio 2008 build applications against the ASP.NET 2.0, 3.0, or 3.5 frameworks. Visual Studio 2008 also includes an improved Designer experience, JavaScript debugging and IntelliSense features, and the ability to view and even step into the core .NET Framework code during debugging.

This article provides an overview of the new features in ASP.NET 3.5 and the new web/ASP.NET-related features in Visual Studio 2008. Read on to learn more!
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Source: 4GuysFromRolla

Ask the Doc Detective   20 Nov 2007 05:33 GMT
Finding what you need in the Microsoft® Visual Studio 2005 documentation, which has over 200,000 topics, can be a daunting task. The Doc Detective is here to help, utilizing his investigative skills to probe the depths of the documentation.
Source: DevX

Major MFC Update, Plus TR1 Support, Added to Visual C++ 2008   19 Nov 2007 16:59 GMT
The Visual C++ team has announced that a significant update to the MFC library, as well as new TR1 support, will be added to Visual Studio 2008.  The MFC library will enable developers to build modern user interfaces with support for the Office 2007 Ribbon Bar, Office-style menus, Visual Studio-style docking toolbars, tabbed documents and much more.   TR1 includes a number of important features such as smart pointers, regular expression parsing, and new containers classes.
Source: MSDN

MFC Update Powered By BCGSoft   19 Nov 2007 16:59 GMT
When the Visual C++ team decided to reinvest in MFC, we looked hard at all the alternatives. After a thorough evaluation we turned to BCGSoft for assistance.  BCGSoft, a leader in professional user interface components for MFC and .NET, had the features, performance and quality the team was looking for. Check out more on why we chose to work with BCGSoft.
Source: MSDN

MSDN Subscribers: Get Visual Studio 2008 RTM Now   19 Nov 2007 14:55 GMT
Get it here first! With Visual Studio 2008, you can develop connected, compelling applications for Windows Vista, the 2007 Office system, mobile devices, and the Web.
Source: MSDN

Visual C# 2008 Express Edition Now Available   19 Nov 2007 14:55 GMT
The Visual C# 2008 Express Edition provides developers with powerful tools and language support to build rich, connected applications on the .NET Framework.
Source: MSDN