Preparation Guide for 70-564 Exam. Designing and Developing ASP.NET Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Designing and Implementing Controls For 70-564 Exam (13 percent)

Choose appropriate controls based on business requirements.
May include but is not limited to: user controls, server controls, built-in controls, custom controls, third-party controls, Web parts
Design controls for reusability.
May include but is not limited to: user controls, server controls, inheritance for changing behavior
Manage states for controls.
May include but is not limited to: control state, view state, accessing form elements
Leverage data-bound controls.
May include but is not limited to: use gridviews, use sorting and paging callbacks when available, when to use custom sorting and paging, server-side pagination
Choose appropriate validation controls based on business requirements.
May include but is not limited to: server-side page validation (Page.IsValid), custom validator, validation groups, validation summary
Identify the appropriate usage of ASP.NET AJAX.
May include but is not limited to: implementing partial page updates with update panel, using ASP.NET AJAX controls, script services
Manage JavaScript dependencies with server controls.

Designing the Presentation and Layout of an Application For 70-564 Test (16 percent)

Design complex layout with Master Pages.
May include but is not limited to: strongly typed master pages, nested master pages
Plan for various user agents.
May include but is not limited to: markups for different browsers for mobile devices, screen readers, accessibility
Design a brandable user interface by using themes.
May include but is not limited to: shared themes across multiple applications, run time master page selection
Design site navigation.
May include but is not limited to: when to extend site map provider, treeview menu vs. site map path, programmatically manipulating site map nodes, overriding menu rendering by using control adapters, filtering site map nodes based on user roles
Plan Web sites to support globalization.
May include but is not limited to: custom resource provider vs. resource files, localize applications

Accessing Data and Services For 70-564 Test (18 percent)

Plan vendor-independent database interactions.
May include but is not limited to: IDBconnection, IDBcommand, IDBadapter, IdataReader, Datareader vs. dataset
Identify the appropriate usage of data source controls.
May include but is not limited to: SQLDataSource, ObjectDataSource, XMLDataSource
Leverage LINQ in data access design.
May include but is not limited to: LINQtoSQL, lambda expressions, LINQtoObjects, LINQtoXML
Identify opportunities to access and expose Web services.
May include but is not limited to: WCF, ASMX, REST

Establishing ASP.NET Solution Structure For 70-564 Test (13 percent)

Determine when to use the Web Site model vs. a Web Application Project.
May include but is not limited to: project file, references, namespace, user profile object, precompilation
Establish an error-handling strategy.
May include but is not limited to: Global.asax events, Web.config elements, TRY/CATCH blocks, error logging
Manipulate configuration files to change ASP.NET behavior.
May include but is not limited to: machine key, tracing, encrypting Web configuration data, custom configuration sections
Identify a deployment strategy.
May include but is not limited to: mangement application pools, Web deployment projects, pre-compilation, custom action classes

Leveraging and Extending ASP.NET Architecture For 70-564 Exam (17 percent)

Design a state management strategy.
May include but is not limited to: Cache, ViewState, Application object, Session object, cookies, cookieless session
Identify the events of the page life cycle.
May include but is not limited to: appending controls, PostBack model, accessing state, data binding
Write HttpModules and HttpHandlers.
May include but is not limited to: URL rewriting, SSO application, dynamically retrieve data
Debug ASP.NET Web applications.
May include but is not limited to: debug JavaScript, tracing, debug tools in IDE, examining HTTP headers
Plan for long-running processes by using asynchronous pages.
May include but is not limited to: AddonPreRenderCompleteAsync, RegisterAsyncTask

Applying security principles For 70-564 Exam (23 percent)

Identify appropriate security providers.
May include but is not limited to: membership, role, profile, extending custom providers
Decide which user-related information to store in a profile.
May include but is not limited to: create user profile properties, extend membership objects, custom types
Establish security settings in Web.config.
May include but is not limited to: identity/impersonation, authentication, authorization (location nodes in Web.config)
Identify vulnerable elements in applications.
May include but is not limited to: SQL injection, cross-site scripting, protecting against bots
Ensure that sensitive information in applications is protected.
May include but is not limited to: hash and salt passwords, encrypting information

Preparation Guide for Exam 70-562

Skills measured by Exam 70-562
Configuring and Deploying Web Applications (10 percent)
Configure providers. May include but is not limited to: personalization, membership, data sources, site map, resource, security
Configure authentication, authorization, and impersonation. May include but is not limited to: Forms Authentication, Windows Authentication
Configure projects, solutions, and reference assemblies. May include but is not limited to: local assemblies, shared assemblies (GAC), Web application projects, solutions
Configure session state by using Microsoft SQL Server, State Server, or InProc. May include but is not limited to: setting the timeout; cookieless sessions
Publish Web applications. May include but is not limited to: FTP File System or HTTP from Visual Studio
Configure application pools.
Compile an application by using Visual Studio or command-line tools. May include but is not limited to:  aspnet_compiler.exe Just-In-Time (JIT) compiling  aspnet_merge.exe
Consuming and Creating Server Controls (20 percent)
Implement data-bound controls. May include but is not limited to: DataGrid, DataList, Repeater, ListView, GridView, FormView, DetailsView, TreeView, DataPager
Load user controls dynamically.
Create and consume custom controls. May include but is not limited to: registering controls on a page, creating templated controls
Implement client-side validation and server-side validation. May include but is not limited to: RequiredFieldValidator, CompareValidator, RegularExpressionValidator, CustomValidator, RangeValidator
Consume standard controls. May include but is not limited to: Button, TextBox, DropDownList, RadioButton, CheckBox, HyperLink, Wizard, MultiView
Working with Data and Services (17 percent)
Read and write XML data. May include but is not limited to: XmlDocument, XPathNavigator, XPathNodeIterator, XPathDocument, XmlReader, XmlWriter, XmlDataDocument, XmlNamespaceManager
Manipulate data by using DataSet and DataReader objects.
Call a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service or a Web service from an ASP.NET Web page. May include but is not limited to: App_WebReferences; <system.serviceModel> configuration
Implement a DataSource control. May include but is not limited to: LinqDataSource, ObjectDataSource, XmlDataSource, SqlDataSource
Bind controls to data by using data binding syntax.
Troubleshooting and Debugging Web Applications (16 percent)
Configure debugging and custom errors. May include but is not limited to: <customErrors mode="Off|On|RemoteOnly" />, <compilation debug="true"/>
Set up an environment to perform remote debugging.
Debug unhandled exceptions when using ASP.NET AJAX. May include but is not limited to: client-side Sys.Debug methods; attaching a debugger to Windows Internet Explorer
Implement tracing of a Web application. May include but is not limited to: Trace.axd, Trace=True on @Page directive,<trace enabled="true"/>
Debug deployment issues. May include but is not limited to: aspnet_regiis.exe; creating an IIS Web application; setting the .NET Framework version
Monitor Web applications. May include but is not limited to: health monitoring by using WebEvent, performance counters
Working with ASP.NET AJAX and Client-Side Scripting (15 percent)
Implement Web Forms by using ASP.NET AJAX. May include but is not limited to: EnablePartialRendering, Triggers, ChildrenAsTriggers, Scripts, Services, UpdateProgress, Timer, ScriptManagerProxy
Interact with the ASP.NET AJAX client-side library. May include but is not limited to: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) objects; handling ASP.NET AJAX events
Consume services from client scripts.
Create and register client script. May include but is not limited to: inline, included .js file, embedded JavaScript resource, created from server code
Targeting Mobile Devices (5 percent)
Access device capabilities. May include but is not limited to: working with emulators
Control device-specific rendering. May include but is not limited to: DeviceSpecific control; device filters; control templates
Add mobile Web controls to a Web page. May include but is not limited to: StyleSheet controls; List controls; Container controls
Implement control adapters. May include but is not limited to: App_Browsers; rendering by using ChtmlTextWriter or XhtmlTextWriter
Programming Web Applications (17 percent)
Customize the layout and appearance of a Web page. May include but is not limited to: CSS, Themes and Skins, Master Pages, and Web Parts, App_Themes, StyleSheetTheme
Work with ASP.NET intrinsic objects. May include but is not limited to: Request, Server, Application, Session, Response, HttpContext
Implement globalization and accessibility. May include but is not limited to: resource files, culture settings, RegionInfo, App_GlobalResources, App_LocalResources, TabIndex, AlternateText , GenerateEmptyAlternateText, AccessKey, Label.AssociatedControlID
Implement business objects and utility classes. May include but is not limited to: App_Code , external assemblies
Implement session state, view state, control state, cookies, cache, or application state.
Handle events and control page flow. May include but is not limited to: page events, control events, application events, and session events, cross-page posting; Response.Redirect, Server.Transfer, IsPostBack, setting AutoEventWireup
Implement the Generic Handler.

Structs and Anonymous backing fields

I got this error today

Backing field for automatically implemented property must be fully assigned before control is returned to the caller.

I found a strange thing out today in connection with Structs and anonymous fields. I wanted something simple like

public struct Person
{
    public String FirstName { get; set; }
    public String LastName { get; set; }
    public Int16 Age { get; set; }

    public Person(String firstName, String lastName, Int16 age)
    {
        FirstName = firstName;
        LastName = lastName;
        Age = age;
    }
}

well that won’t compile as you will need to initialise all of the fields, so you have to do this – notice the call to the default constructor.

public struct Person
{
    public String FirstName { get; set; }
    public String LastName { get; set; }
    public Int16 Age { get; set; }

    public Person(String firstName, String lastName, Int16 age): this()
    {
        FirstName = firstName;
        LastName = lastName;
        Age = age;
    }
}

Maybe the compiler should not allow anonymous fields in structs?

UK Common regular expressions

I thought I would share my ideas on regular expressions. What I don’t like about the RegularExpressionValidator is that you have to repeat your regular expressions over and over again. It would be so much better if you could place them in a single place. So I thought I would write about a solution I came up with a few years ago. So the first part is the list of Regular Expressions. I like the idea of putting them in their own config file.

The section allows us to have our own class that represents regular expressions. The interesting parts of the regular expressions are

• The & is represented as a a escaped & as it is in XML
• We only have to define things like FirstName once and if the customer changes their mind, we change it in one place.
• The password is minimum of 6 in length and must have an upper case, a lower case and one digit.
• Most of the regular expressions allow for é and á and various other common accents
• The post code has gone through lots of testing with customers and is the best I have found.
• The phone numbers are UK

<regexSection>
  <regularExpressions>
    <regexConfig name="Password" value="^.*(?=.{6,})(?=.*\d)(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z]).*$" />
    <regexConfig name="FirstName" value="^[a-z A-Z \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,50}$" />
    <regexConfig name="LastName" value="^[a-z A-Z \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,50}$" />
    <regexConfig name="PhoneNumber" value="^(?=.{10,13}$)0([0-9] ?){8,9}[0-9]$" />
    <regexConfig name="MobilePhoneNumber" value="^(?=.{11,13}$)07([0-9] ?){8}[0-9]$" />
    <regexConfig name="Email" value="(?i)^[a-z0-9!#$%&amp;'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+(?:\.[a-z0-9!#$%&amp;'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+)*@(?:[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])?\.)+(?:[A-Z]{2}|com|org|net|gov|biz|info|name|aero|jobs|museum|asia|edu)\b" />
    <regexConfig name="JobTitle" value="^[a-z A-Z&amp;)( \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,50}$" />
    <regexConfig name="Text" value="^[a-z A-Z \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,50}$" />
    <regexConfig name="Text100" value="^[a-z A-Z&amp;!. 0-9 \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,100}$" />
    <regexConfig name="Text1000" value="^[a-z A-Z&amp;!. 0-9 \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,1000}$" />
    <regexConfig name="AlphaNumeric" value="^[0-9a-z A-Z \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff]+$" />
    <regexConfig name="BuildingName" value="^[0-9a-z A-Z' \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff.,-]+[-]*[0-9a-z A-Z' \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff.,-]*$" />
    <regexConfig name="Street" value="^[a-z A-Z' \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff.,-]+$" />
    <regexConfig name="Address" value="^[a-z A-Z-' \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff.]+$" />
    <regexConfig name="Postcode" value="(?i)^(((([A-PR-UWYZ][0-9][0-9]?)|(([A-PR-UWYZ][A-HK-Y][0-9][0-9]?)|(([A-PR-UWYZ][0-9][A-HJKSTUW])|([A-PR-UWYZ][A-HK-Z][0-9][ABEHMNPRVWXY]))))\s?[0-9][ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{2})|(GIR\s?0AA))$" />
    <regexConfig name="POBox" value="(?i)^((?!PO Box|POBox|P.O. Box|P.O.Box|P.O Box|PO. Box).)*$" />
    <regexConfig name="AccountNumber" value="^[0-9]{8}$" />
    <regexConfig name="EmployerName" value="^[0-9a-z A-Z\xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]+$" />
    <regexConfig name="SortCode" value="^[0-9]{2}$" />
    <regexConfig name="Income" value="^(0|[1-9]{1}(,[0-9]{3}){0,2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{0,2}(,[0-9]{3})?|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{0,6})$" />
    <regexConfig name="Expenditure" value="^([1-9]{1}(,[0-9]{3}){0,2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{0,2}(,[0-9]{3})?|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{0,6})$" />
    <regexConfig name="InternetID" value="^[a-z A-Z \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{6,13}$" />
    <regexConfig name="MemorableWord" value="^[a-zA-Z0-9'-]{6,20}$" />
    <regexConfig name="PIN" value="^[0-9]{5,5}$" />
    <regexConfig name="Decimal" value="^[0-9]+$" />
    <regexConfig name="DDMMYYYY" value="^((((0?[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01])(0?[13578]|1[02])((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|((0?[1-9]|[12]\d|30)(0?[13456789]|1[012])((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|((0?[1-9]|1\d|2[0-8])0?2((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|(290?2((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?(0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|((16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00)|00)))|(((0[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01])(0[13578]|1[02])((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|((0[1-9]|[12]\d|30)(0[13456789]|1[012])((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|((0[1-9]|1\d|2[0-8])02((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2}))|(2902((1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?(0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|((16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00)|00))))$"/>
    <regexConfig name="SubmissionName" value="^[a-z A-Z&amp;!)(# 0-9 \xc0-\xd6 \xd8-\xf6 \xf9-\xff'-]{2,100}$" />
  </regularExpressions>
</regexSection>

Query String Utilities

Every time I write any web layer code, I always end up have to manipulate query strings and this little class pays dividends when manipulating the Query String

Uri mainUrl = . . . 
QueryStringCollection queryString = new QueryStringCollection(mainUrl.Query);
queryString.Add("BookingEventId", bookingEventId.ToString());

So here is the class, it has indexers, contains, to strings and will automatically Url encode.

/// <summary>
/// A chainable query string helper class.
/// </summary>
/// <example>
/// string strQuery = QueryString.Current.Add("id", "179").ToString();
/// string strQuery = new QueryString().Add("id", "179").ToString();
/// </example>
[SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Design", "CA1035:ICollectionImplementationsHaveStronglyTypedMembers",
    Justification="We are implementing a new object based collection."), Serializable]
public class QueryStringCollection : NameValueCollection
{
    public QueryStringCollection() { }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="QueryStringCollection"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="info">A <see cref="T:System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo"/> object that contains the information required to serialize the new <see cref="T:System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection"/> instance.</param>
    /// <param name="context">A <see cref="T:System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext"/> object that contains the source and destination of the serialized stream associated with the new <see cref="T:System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection"/> instance.</param>
    protected QueryStringCollection(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
        : base(info, context)
    {
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="QueryStringCollection"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="queryString">The query string.</param>
    public QueryStringCollection(string queryString)
    {
        FillFromString(queryString);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the current.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>The current.</value>
    public static QueryStringCollection Current
    {
        get
        {
            return new QueryStringCollection().FromCurrent();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Extracts the query string.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The value.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string ExtractQueryString(string value)
    {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
        {
            if (value.Contains("?"))
                return value.Substring(value.IndexOf("?", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) + 1);
        }
        return value;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Fills from string.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The value.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public QueryStringCollection FillFromString(string value)
    {
        base.Clear();
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return this;
        foreach (string keyValuePair in ExtractQueryString(value).Split('&'))
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(keyValuePair)) continue;
            string[] split = keyValuePair.Split('=');
            base.Add(split[0],
                split.Length == 2 ? split[1] : "");
        }
        return this;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// returns a QueryString object based on the current querystring of the request
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>the QueryString object </returns>
    public QueryStringCollection FromCurrent()
    {
        if (HttpContext.Current != null)
        {
            return FillFromString(HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString.ToString());
        }
        base.Clear();
        return this;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// add a name value pair to the collection
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">the name</param>
    /// <param name="value">the value associated to the name</param>
    /// <returns>the QueryString object </returns>
    public new QueryStringCollection Add(string name, string value)
    {
        return Add(name, value, false);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// adds a name value pair to the collection
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">the name</param>
    /// <param name="value">the value associated to the name</param>
    /// <param name="isUnique">true if the name is unique within the querystring. This allows us to override existing values</param>
    /// <returns>the QueryString object </returns>
    public QueryStringCollection Add(string name, string value, bool isUnique)
    {
        string existingValue = base[name];
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(existingValue))
            base.Add(name, HttpUtility.UrlEncodeUnicode(value));
        else if (isUnique)
            base[name] = HttpUtility.UrlEncodeUnicode(value);
        else
            base[name] += "," + HttpUtility.UrlEncodeUnicode(value);
        return this;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// removes a name value pair from the querystring collection
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">name of the querystring value to remove</param>
    /// <returns>the QueryString object</returns>
    public new QueryStringCollection Remove(string name)
    {
        string existingValue = base[name];
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(existingValue))
            base.Remove(name);
        return this;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// clears the collection
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>the QueryString object </returns>
    public QueryStringCollection Reset()
    {
        base.Clear();
        return this;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Encrypts the keys and values of the entire querystring acc. to a key you specify
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>an encrypted querystring object</returns>
    public QueryStringCollection Encrypt()
    {
        QueryStringCollection qs = new QueryStringCollection();
        for (var i = 0; i < base.Keys.Count; i++)
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(base.Keys[i]))
            {
                foreach (string val in base[base.Keys[i]].Split(','))
                    qs.Add(base.Keys[i].Encrypt(), HttpUtility.UrlDecode(val).Encrypt());
            }
        }
        return qs;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Decrypts the keys and values of the entire querystring acc. to a key you specify
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>a decrypted querystring object</returns>
    public QueryStringCollection Decrypt()
    {
        QueryStringCollection qs = new QueryStringCollection();
        for (var i = 0; i < base.Keys.Count; i++)
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(base.Keys[i]))
            {
                foreach (string val in base[base.Keys[i]].Split(','))
                    qs.Add(HttpUtility.UrlDecode(base.Keys[i]).Decrypt(), HttpUtility.UrlDecode(val).Decrypt());
            }
        }
        return qs;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// overrides the default
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name"></param>
    /// <returns>the associated decoded value for the specified name</returns>
    public new string this[string name]
    {
        get
        {
            return HttpUtility.UrlDecode(base[name]);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// overrides the default indexer
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="index"></param>
    /// <returns>the associated decoded value for the specified index</returns>
    public new string this[int index]
    {
        get
        {
            return HttpUtility.UrlDecode(base[index]);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// checks if a name already exists within the query string collection
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">the name to check</param>
    /// <returns>a boolean if the name exists</returns>
    public bool Contains(string name)
    {
        string existingValue = base[name];
        return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(existingValue);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// outputs the querystring object to a string
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>the encoded querystring as it would appear in a browser</returns>
    public override string ToString()
    {
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
        for (var i = 0; i < base.Keys.Count; i++)
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(base.Keys[i]))
            {
                foreach (string val in base[base.Keys[i]].Split(','))
                    builder.Append((builder.Length == 0) ? "?" : "&").Append(HttpUtility.UrlEncodeUnicode(base.Keys[i])).Append("=").Append(val);
            }
        }
        return builder.ToString();
    }
}

Guid.TryParse()

Are you ever passed GUID’s via a query string? How can you trust that it is a real GUID? I want to be able to do this

Guid result;
if (GuidHelper.TryParse(Request["ID"], out result))
    return result;
else
    return null;

I have to parse Guids occasionally so I wrote this little helper to add to where the .Net Framework is lacking.

public static class GuidHelper
{
        private static Regex guidFormat = new Regex(
        "^[A-Fa-f0-9]{32}$|" +
        "^({|\\()?[A-Fa-f0-9]{8}-([A-Fa-f0-9]{4}-){3}[A-Fa-f0-9]{12}(}|\\))?$|" +
        "^({)?[0xA-Fa-f0-9]{3,10}(, {0,1}[0xA-Fa-f0-9]{3,6}){2}, {0,1}({)([0xA-Fa-f0-9]{3,4}, " +
        "{0,1}){7}[0xA-Fa-f0-9]{3,4}(}})$",
        RegexOptions.Compiled|RegexOptions.CultureInvariant|RegexOptions.Singleline);


    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the string representation of a Guid to its Guid 
    /// equivalent. A return value indicates whether the operation 
    /// succeeded. 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">A string containing a Guid to convert.</param>
    /// <param name="result">
    /// When this method returns, contains the Guid value equivalent to 
    /// the Guid contained in <paramref name="value"/>, if the conversion 
    /// succeeded, or <see cref="Guid.Empty"/> if the conversion failed. 
    /// The conversion fails if the <paramref name="value"/> parameter is a 
    /// <see langword="null" /> reference (<see langword="Nothing" /> in 
    /// Visual Basic), or is not of the correct format. 
    /// </param>
    /// <value>
    /// <see langword="true" /> if <paramref name="value"/> was converted 
    /// successfully; otherwise, <see langword="false" />.
    /// </value>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">
    ///        Thrown if <pararef name="value"/> is <see langword="null"/>.
    /// </exception>
    public static bool TryParse(string value, out Guid result)
    {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
        {
            Match match = guidFormat.Match(value);
            if (match.Success)
            {
                result = new Guid(value);
                return true;
            }
        }
        result = Guid.Empty;
        return false;
    }
}

Triple DES Encrypt/decrypt extension method

I wanted to have a simple encryption method so that I could convert any string.

return credentials.Encrypt();

You should note that there is no constructor as it is better to initialise our key with a function call.

/// <summary>
/// The class will encrypt or decrpyt based on Triple DES algoritm
/// </summary>
public static class EncryptionService
{
    static byte[] _encryptionKey = InitialiseKey();

    /// <summary>
    /// Initialises the key.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns></returns>
    private static byte[] InitialiseKey()
    {
        string encryptionKey = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["EncryptionPassword"];
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(encryptionKey))
            throw new ConfigurationErrorsException(
		"'EncryptionPassword' is not defined in your config file.");

        byte[] encryptionKeyBytes = ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(encryptionKey);

        using (MD5CryptoServiceProvider hashmd5 = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider())
        {
            return hashmd5.ComputeHash(encryptionKeyBytes);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Decrypts the specified input.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="input">The input.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string Decrypt(this string input)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
            return string.Empty;

        using (TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider des = new TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider())
        {
            des.Key = _encryptionKey;
            des.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;

            byte[] buff = null;
            try
            {
                buff = Convert.FromBase64String(input);
            }
            catch (FormatException)
            {
                return string.Empty;
            }

            return ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetString(
                des.CreateDecryptor().TransformFinalBlock(buff, 0, buff.Length));
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Encrypts the specified input.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="input">The input.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static string Encrypt(this string input)
    {
        using (TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider des = new TripleDESCryptoServiceProvider())
        {
            des.Key = _encryptionKey;
            des.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;

            byte[] buff = ASCIIEncoding.ASCII.GetBytes(input);

            return Convert.ToBase64String(
                des.CreateEncryptor().TransformFinalBlock(buff, 0, buff.Length));
        }
    }
}

Formatted Code in a blog

I realised that over the years I have never blogged any of my work as I never had time. So now I intend to address this matter and place little utilities and snippets up for other people. First I wanted to make all of my code look nice and neat, so I started looking at the following blog.

http://james.newtonking.com/archive/2008/05/13/display-nicely-formatted-net-source-code-on-your-blog.aspx

But then I found this little add-in

 http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=d8835a5e-28da-4242-82eb-e1a006b083b9&bt=9&pl=8