http://aspalliance.com/ Recent articles on AspAlliance.com. The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern is becoming more popular and some software developers are still confused by what it is and how it benefits them. In this article, Brendan explains those two things using language which should be easy for people to understand. http://aspalliance.com/1764_Understanding_the_What_and_Why_of_the_MVC_Pattern Brendan Enrick Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT In this article, Debjani discusses how to manipulate LDAP directories such as adding, updating and deleting entries and some other advanced topics related to LDAP. In addition to this, she also examines how to add and delete attributes to an entry. Towards the end of the article she also examines how to manage LDAP Security with special reference to Application Security. http://aspalliance.com/1771_Advanced_LDAP Debjani Mallick Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Anand has been constantly searching for products to get reviewed and he found a popular web based billing and support solution. He immediately put it to test and records his observations with the help of relevant screen shots. He also provides a few suggestions for improving the quality of the product. http://aspalliance.com/1770_Product_Review_WHMCS Anand Narayanaswamy Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT In this article, Steven demonstrates the steps required to configure forms authentication in SharePoint using SQL Server as a database engine. He begins explaining the idea behind the article and then examines the configuration of SQL Server including the creation of the database, establishment of the connection, adding users, and the configuration of the new database with users. Towards the end of the article he provides the procedure to be followed to create a site using SharePoint in a step-by-step manner. Steven illustrates the concepts covered in this article with the help of relevant screen shots for better understanding. http://aspalliance.com/1767_Configuring_SharePoint_Forms_Authentication_using_SQL_Server Steven Barden Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT The intent of the Chain of Responsibility pattern is to avoid coupling the sender of a request to its receiver by giving more than one object a chance to handle the request and further, chain the receiving objects and pass the request along the chain until an object handles it. In this article, Xianzhong shows the typical utilization of another popular design pattern, the Chain of Responsibility pattern, by developing a simple application service explorer example with the help of relevant screen shots and source code. He begins with a detailed analysis of the various requirements for developing the sample application followed by an overview of the design. He further provides comprehensive coverage of the template method pattern and the various aspects of the sample application including some improvements which need to be done to the design. http://aspalliance.com/1762_Practicing_the_Chain_of_Responsibility_Pattern Xianzhong Zhu Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Developers, especially beginners, require quality resources to master the essentials of any programming technology. In this review, Anand deeply examines the contents of Anne Boehm's latest book from the house of Murach Publishing and also points out a few suggestions for improvement. Is this a book worth purchasing? Read on and find out. http://aspalliance.com/1761_Murachs_ASPNET_35_Web_Programming_with_VB_2008 Anand Narayanaswamy Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT In this article, Abdulla examines the creation of a new custom GridView control from scratch, which allows the developer to include a checkbox column to the GridView control automatically with embedded JavaScript code to check/uncheck the checkbox column without the need to write any bit of code. He begins with comprehensive coverage of the steps involved in customization of the GridView class and implementation of template classes. Towards the end of the article, Abdulla examines the usage of the control with Visual Studio 2005. The article also covers how to embed a JavaScript file with a custom control and how to use it later on with the help of detailed analysis, relevant source code, and screenshots. http://aspalliance.com/1768_Creating_Custom_GridView_Control Abdulla Hussein AbdelHaq Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT In this article, Scott provides an update to the recently released Silverlight 2. He provides a detailed analysis of some of the websites which are currently using Silverlight 2 with the help of screenshots. He also provides a sneak preview of the features which will be shipped with the upcoming Silverlight 3 which is slated for release in early 2009. http://aspalliance.com/1777_Update_on_Silverlight_2__and_a_glimpse_of_Silverlight_3 Scott Guthrie Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT In this second part of the series, Brian demonstrates how to add AJAX features for an application that already has been built using the server-based approach of posting back and processing data on the server. This article shifts the application to doing more work on the client. After providing a detailed overview of the topic, he examines the steps required to implement AJAX features with the help of a sample application which renders news content using the ListView control with the help of relevant source code. http://aspalliance.com/1763_Building_Web_Sites_with_ASPNET__Part_2 Brian Mains Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT The Factory Method pattern is one of the most used design patterns. In this article, Xianzhong demonstrates the basic idea of the popular Factory Method pattern, and then gets further into the utilization of this pattern in .NET by unveiling the design secret of the WebRequest class with the help of relevant screenshots and source code. http://aspalliance.com/1751_Exemplifying_the_Factory_Method_Pattern_inside_the_NET_Framework Xianzhong Zhu Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT