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Category: Software Development

  • Favor DateTime.Add over new DateTime

    February 29, 2012

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    Hooray, it’s that magical day that only comes every four years! And guess what, a bunch of date-dependent code just broke because someone didn’t account for this special day. In a project that I’m working on, there’s some validation code that goes like this: This code is used to validate birthdate and whether we have to treat the user as a child. You should already see the problem: 13 years ago, there was no 2/29. Instead, you sh…
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  • HTML to PDF HttpHandler

    February 17, 2012

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    Recently, we were looking for lightweight reporting tools for integration into one of our Asp.Net projects, that would make things easy to pull html and pdf versions of the report. There is no shortage of enterprise reporting frameworks each with their own daunting learning curve, custom integration points, installation processes, and export features. Of course, the word enterprise immediately throws us off track, and if we needed an earth mover…
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  • Creating Custom WordPress Menus

    January 25, 2012

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    Custom Navigation Menus were added back in version 3.0 and have made it much easier for clients to manage their own menus with ease. With this feature they can easily create menus, add menu items , create drop downs and much more. This tool also offers drag-and-drop functionality which makes moving menu items around a breeze. Many of the default WordPress themes, including Twenty Eleven, offer this feature by default but they also require the user to ed…
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  • In Extension Method for C#

    January 18, 2012

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    Sometimes, you end up with code that looks like this: Obviously, this works, but it’s not very obvious, and it can get pretty unwieldy (imagine if those characters were all enums…).  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a straightforward way to say “if the value is in this set of values…”, like you do with the SQL keyword IN? Well, now you have one. Stick this handy extension method in a static class in your project, and the…
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  • The Importance of a Rollback Plan

    January 17, 2012

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    At Mapleton Hill Media we do a lot of iterative development, which means we push code to production on a regular basis. This is an exciting time, seeing our hard work become a reality is very rewarding for both our clients and our team. However, as most of you know, the production push doesn’t always go smoothly. For one reason or another, problems occur with the application or website and in these moments a rollback plan is crucial. Implementing a r…
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  • HTML Email Formatting

    December 12, 2011

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    If it sounds like a dirty word, you’ve probably got a little experience with the nightmare of trying to maintain cross-browser/cross-email-provider/cross-client-application consistency in your emails. I found one very nice article worth reading to get started: http://www.reachcustomersonline.com/2010/01/23/09.27.00/ After struggling with some auto-generated marketing emails for a client, this is my takeaway in a nutsh…
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