Here is the list of what’s have been added/changed in 1.0.6.:

• better handling of a single DataTable - now, when table is part of a dataset, it loads entire dataset and jumps to the selected table. Note that when committing changes in this scenario, only changes in selected DataTable will be committed.
• minor bug fixes

Go, grab v1.0.6 from dedicated page and visit forums as well.

Here is the list of what’s have been added in 1.0.5.:

• Tables tree width is persisted
• added "show original values" feature (through button in a toolbar). When enabled it will show the cell original value in parentheses. Disabled by default.
• Error and Changed columns are narrower and fixed width to conserve space

Go, grab v1.0.5 from dedicated page and visit forums as well.

The Save As menu item should now work as expected. Go, grab v1.0.4 from dedicated page.

In version 1.0.3. I’ve added a popup item that toggles between showing time part of the date. Visualizer also inspects the DataTable at initialization and decides whether to show time part or not (if there is at least a DateTime with time value then it shows, otherwise not).

Navigate to dedicated page and find the download links there.

Editing an integer number doesn't display a comma anymore.

Righthand.DebuggerVisualizer.Dataset.2008_v1.0.2.zip (12.69 mb)

Righthand.DebuggerVisualizer.Dataset.2010_v1.0.2.zip (12.69 mb)

Since the last version released I become aware of an issue in the visualizer. If you were working on a project that referenced newer DevExpress assemblies the visualizer might have reported an exception due to the binary incompatibility with its references to the DevExpress assemblies - a assembly binding issue.

(If you want just the binaries you can skip to the end of the article and download them.)

The solution is to use a custom build of DevExpress assemblies. If you have their sources you can build your custom DevExpress assemblies using these useful scripts.

Then I have to use those custom built assemblies with my visualizer but I want to use them only for release build, not for debug. So I created a folder named CustomAssemblies under visualizer solution. I added a reference path to this folder to all of the visualizer projects. Which means that the MSBuild will use assemblies in this folder if they are present or ones from GAC (the original ones) if the folder is empty. Unfortunatelly the reference paths are global to the project and you can't have two different sets for two different configurations.

So the building of the release version looks like: populate CustomAssemblies folder with custom DevExpress assemblies, run MSBuild on Release configuration and at the end clear the CustomAssemblies folder so the debug version works with the original DevExpress assemblies. But there is one more obstacle. The license.licx file lists public key of the DevExpress assemblies and it doesn't match the one found in custom version. So I have to replace all occurences of the original public key with my custom version public key before the build and restore the originals after the build. Problems solved.

The actual release process involves also {SmartAssembly} which merges all assemblies into a single file and signing it with a certificate+timestamping and finally zipping the rather large result. Because I am not a masochist I decided to create a FinalBuilder project that does all of this automatically for me (except for building custom DevExpress assemblies).

Let me know if there are still problems!

Righthand.DebuggerVisualizer.Dataset.2008_v1.0.1.zip (12.67 mb)

Righthand.DebuggerVisualizer.Dataset.2010_v1.0.1.zip (12.67 mb)

Read more about Righthand DataSet Visualizer here.

New in 0.9.16: added support for Visual Studio 2010 and updated user interface a bit. As before, everything is merged into a single dll file which is also digitally signed now.

Thanks RedGate {smartassembly} obfuscator tool for merging everything into a single DLL (ILMerge and another 3rd tool failed in this task). So far, I can only praise {smartassembly}.

Read more about Righthand DataSet Visualizer here.

Download the newest and older versions from download section.

Enjoy, and let me know whether you miss features or if you have any other feedback, good or bad.

There are times one needs to edit a project file (csproj, vbproj or others) in XML editor or just text editor because all settings are not available through UI or perhaps it is easier. I usually right clicked on project node in solution explorer to open the folder (in explorer) where project file resides  and then edited the file using Notepad2.

Watching Hanselman’s podcast on MVC 2 I found that there is an easier way to do it. Right click on the project, do the unload project, re-click on, now unloaded, project node and pick edit yourproject.XXproj context item. There you go. After you’ve done editing, save it and pick reload project to continue working.

While trying to compiling nVidia CUDA kernels on my Windows 7 x64 I realized that somehow I didn’t install the Visual Studio 2008 C++ x64 compilers and tools.

So I tried updating Visual Studio by going to Control Panel/Programs And Features bla bla only to get this error dialog showing up:

Huh? I did have the ISO image mounted. Once more Google found Mike Eshva’s solution to the problem: uninstall SP1, add feature and reapply SP1. I am sure I’ve read this solution before but I never needed it. Later on I’ve found a bug report on Microsoft Connect with exact same motivation, the problem and the workaround as well.

The funny thing is that it didn’t work exactly like that for me. I’ve uninstalled SP1 and then I couldn’t get into uninstall/change dialog anymore. Ooops. But I wasn’t too worried because right before the process I’ve made a backup to my trusty Windows Home Server. Just in case. I didn’t need it though. Anyway I’ve reapplied SP1 and then it started working as it should – I was able to add the x64 feature just as it should be. Except for one additional obstacle during add process:

Argh. This one I’ve solved with help from this blog post.

I guess one or more of the updates/hotfixes after SP1 was causing the original problem (and was uninstalled with SP1), which one I’ll never know.

Bottom line

I hope that Visual Studio 2010 will handle better the updates. The way Visual Studio 2008 handles the updates looks like one big mess and it is scary to change anything within updates, service packs and hotfixes.

Yesterday I held a presentation (as the part of Bleeding Edge 2009 conference) on how to make ASP.NET MVC applications strong typed by using CodeSmith and CodeRush (actually by using its free DXCore part). Attendees were great and the presentation went well. Attached are the slides in Slovene and source code in C#.

If you are interested in the topic you might read my previous blog posts as well:

• Strong typing views in ASP.NET MVC
• Strong typing routes in ASP.NET MVC
• Enhancing strong typed views in ASP.NET MVC
• RenderPartialToString missing in ASP.NET MVC

Thanks everybody for attending the presentation.