Friday, May 07, 2004

I'm becoming obsessive.....

Windows XP SP2 for Developers. ... Join Product Manager Tony Goodhew on Monday, May 10th at 1:00 PM (PST) for this webcast designed [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

Perhaps Tony will tell us when the XP SP2 SDK will be available.... according to his weblog he's the Developer Division Product Manager for Windows XP Service Pack 2 - tragically his contact form doesn't work.

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Longhorn SDK, but no XP SP2 SDK - oh great!

Longhorn Build 4074 SDK Now Available. Ask, and you shall receive. The build 4074 SDK is now on the MSDN Universal Site. Thanks Chris and Dave. [via DonXML Demsak’s All Things Techie Blog.]

Well there we go, I've asked 4 times about the XP SP2 SDK; no one no where can provide an answer of when this will be available and yet the code is only a few months, if that, from gold. Ask once for a Longhorn SDK and they fall over themselves to get it out the door.

Nuts.

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Xul Challege - Zeepe Calculator Sample

Here is a Zeepe implementation of a calculator for the Xul Coding Challenge:

As with the Counter sample, implementation is mostly an excercise in DHTML design and coding - this sample is based on code available from http://simplythebest.net/info/dhtml_scripts.html with script additions to provide a keyboard based interface. The menu is provided by the use of the rebar and menubar elements from the zeepe namespace provided by the Zeepe host, their use is as with any other html elements. Note that these elements are not implemented as htcs, they are binary behaviours using the native windows implementation of rebars and commandbars - the calculator will look 'right' on each version of Windows.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Challenge 2004 - Calculator</TITLE>
<zeepe:window>
 <window>
  <ui ctxmenu="false" />
  <widgets min="false" max="false" resize="false" />
  <position width="350" height="650" halign="middle" valign="middle" />
 </window>
</zeepe:window>
<style type="text/css">
body {
 overflow: hidden;
 border: none;
 padding: 0;
 margin: 0;
 filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(
    GradientType=0, StartColorStr='#9FBAD0', EndColorStr='#eeeeee');
}
.num {
 width: 50px;
}
.op {
 width: 30px;
}
.output {
 text-align: right; 
}
</style>
<script language="javascript" src="zeepe-calc.js"></script>
</HEAD>
<BODY onload="calcInit()" onkeydown="onKeyPressed()" onselectstart="return false">
<form name="Keypad" onsubmit="Operation('='); return false;">
<zeepe:rebar id="mainbar">
 <zeepe:menubar>
    <menu id="Edit" text="&amp;Edit" >
       <menuitem id="EditCopy" text="&amp;Copy"
         shortcut="Ctrl+C" oncommand="EditCopy()" />
       <menuitem id="EditPaste" text="&amp;Paste"
          shortcut="Ctrl+V" oncommand="EditPaste()" />
       <separator />
       <menuitem id="EditExit" text="E&amp;xit" shortcut="Alt+F4" oncommand="zpmObject.close()" />
    </menu>
    <menu id="Help" text="&amp;Help" >
       <menuitem id="About" text="&amp;About..."  oncommand="About()" />
    </menu>
 </zeepe:menubar>
</zeepe:rebar>
<table id="layout" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 2px">
<tr> 
 <td colspan="3" align="middle"> 
  <input class="output" onfocus="document.body.focus();" 
     name="ReadOut" type="Text" size="24" value="0" width="100%" >
 </td>
 <td><button onClick="Clear()" class="op">C</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="ClearEntry()" class="op">CE</button></td>
</tr>
<tr> 
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(7)" class="num">7</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(8)" class="num">8</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(9)" class="num">9</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Neg()" class="op">+/-</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Percent()" class="op">%</button></td>
</tr>
<tr> 
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(4)" class="num">4</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(5)" class="num">5</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(6)" class="num">6</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Operation('+')" class="op">+</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Operation('-')" class="op">-</button></td>
</tr>
<tr> 
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(1)" class="num">1</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(2)" class="num">2</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(3)" class="num">3</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Operation('*')" class="op">*</button></td> 
 <td><button onClick="Operation('/')" class="op">/</button></td>
</tr>
<tr> 
 <td><button onClick="NumPressed(0)" class="num">0</button></td>
 <td colspan="3"><button onClick="Decimal()" class="num">.</button></td>
 <td><button onClick="Operation('=')" class="op">=</button></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Zeepe Framework

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ClickOnce and allowing things to run

ClickOnce was dreadful first time round (and second) and I've found the docs for next time round a bit inpenetrable. But, here's a bit'o'text that makes it absolutely clear that in .NET 2 they might have got it right.

ClickOnce security and download on demand. ... If you’re asking for more than you would normally get, then the user will receive a security escalation prompt warning them that this app could cause damage to their PC. If you ask for unlimited file IO and you’re downloaded from http://someshadyurl.com then a user has to take an overt act to let your app go to town. [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

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Thursday, May 06, 2004

What am I on about?

Some may wonder what the previous entry was about - it would appear that the comments on Scoble's weblog have been clipped to somewhere just prior to the relevant posting - presumably a power failure or somesuch nuked the database.

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What are the 'technical, legal, and business issues' inherent in supporting a spec like CSS 2.1?

Jerry asked "Just out of interest, what are the 'technical, legal, and business issues' inherent in supporting a spec like CSS 2.1?" [via Scoble comments]

Others have commented this is a good question. Leaving aside the fact it was mine <g>, it is a good question since Scoble raised it as a reason for there being no developments in IE. More specifically, he attributes the observation to the IE team and has hence dumped the IE team right in it (and to be fair, is actually describing the problems ahead for the IE team, so they are hoping to deal with the issues).

The blame must lie elsewhere, and one can only assume the .NET/XAML team are the 'busines issue' at real root cause of the problem here. Other MS bloggers have described the rivalry between different MS teams, perhaps the last thing the XAML team wants is a high performance IE that all developers are happy with, they fear that WinForms(ClickOnce Edition) and XAML will get left out on the (metaphorical) shelf.

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Xul Challenge - Zeepe Counter sample

Here is a Zeepe implementation of Counter for the Xul Coding Challenge. (Other entries are here).

Yes, Zeepe is DHTML with some namespaced elements to provide required functionality. As a shorthand, the namespace doesn't need to be declared; it is done automatically.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Challenge 2004 - Counter</TITLE>
<zeepe:window>
<window>
		<widgets dialog="true" />
		<position width="300" height="150" halign="middle" valign="middle" />
	</window>
</zeepe:window>
<style type="text/css">
body {
	overflow: hidden;
	border: none;
	padding: 0;
	background-color: buttonface;
	filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=0, 
		StartColorStr='#ffffff', 
		EndColorStr='#eeeeee');
}
button { width: 80; }
#counter {
	background-color: black;
	color: white;
	border: 1px inset;
	padding: 2px;
	margin: 4px;
	font-weight: bold;
}
</style>
<script language="javascript">
// some trivial script...
</script>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<fieldset>
	<legend>Counter</legend>
	<div id="counter" align="center">0</div>
	<div align="center"><button onclick="dec()">Dec(-)</button><button onclick="doclear()">Clear</button><button onclick="inc()">Inc(+)</button></div>

</fieldset>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Comments [0] |

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

They can't be serious, can they?

CSS Sprites. One of the most exciting techniques to emerge from the CSS community in recent months involves using a single large background images as a container for several smaller images, then using the CSS background position properties to show different parts of the larger image in differe... [via SitePoint's DHTML & CSS Blog: Stylish Scripting]

Would someone like to tell them they've been doing this (or a variation of) for years?

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Tuesday, May 04, 2004

VB String Functions In Javascript Nbsp

VB String Functions in Javascript.
You know VBScript, and miss some of its functionality in JavaScript? You know JavaScript, but think that it’s string handling leaves something to be desired? Check out VB String Functions in Javascript, a handy library of string functions (e.g., trim, lcase, format, etc).
[via The JavaScript Weblog]

Some useful stuff in there.

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Sunday, May 02, 2004

MeadCo's ScriptX in Zeepe

Not a lot of people seem to know this, but MeadCo's ScriptX printing component is also included within the Zeepe framework, along with MaxiPT.

Why is this interesting?

If you are already using ScriptX then you are quite probably providing some sort of Web application to your users (wanting good control of the print process from within IE is probably not high on the list of a general information web page) and you have already taken the decision to ship some additional code to users to work with Internet Explorer (the ScriptX ActiveX control).

Yes, so, why is Zeepe interesting?

Because IE is a fairly lousy host for Web applications - there is all that noise of address bars, back and forward buttons and dialogs that can't post back and doing simple things like menus and tool bars is a ton of markup and script; and that is before you've got to doing the application functionality.

Zeepe gives you an 'Internet Explorer' host without the noise and simple things like menus and toolbars without a ton of markup and dialogs that post back; it works well with ASP.NET as can be seen with this demo app - very much work in progress but it shows what can be done.

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