Thomas (de) picked up the topic of validating multiple forms in ASP.NET 1.1 (de) - and was wondering if / how this is solved in 2.0. Great opportunity to start my series on "What's cool in 2.0". The good doctor is in!

One of the features on the (rather long) list of cool features in 2.0 is validation groups. It allows you to group certain controls - validators and controls that allow (auto-)postback - in a validation group: only the validators in the group that is posted back is actually being executed.

Let me illustrate, take a look at the following "two form page" (contrived as always):

In the old days of 1.1, when you clicked either of the two buttons, all validators would be executed, even though not all are applicable for both forms. In 2.0, all you have to do to sort out this dilemma is to set the ValidationGroup property:

Now when we run our sample application, only the validators associated with the respective "form" (validation group defined by the button) fire:

I'm sure that a lot of my fellow developers can't wait till this feature RTM's!

To wrap up, Stephen Walter wrote the article Changes to the Validation Controls in ASP.NET 2.0, which goes into more depth on the validation control changes.

{ End Bracket } is a column in MSDN Magazine, and its August 2004 edition deals with the challenge of writing a C# to Visual Basic Translation Tool. John Robbins explains why there is a need for this (Joe Developer: "I really wish all the samples were written in my programming language."), and how it can be done - using #develop!

Now, this is a vindication for the project manager (me) who spent quite some time to coax the programmer (Mike) into implementing this feature.

With regards to my previous blog post Disagreements gone too far, I can say that the FSF's answers have put the discussion to rest and it looks like everybody can live with it. Note to self: do not discuss flame-worthy issues like licensing in public where lots of trolls and not-so-innocent bystanders make it impossible to have a fact-based discussion. Limit to main actors, go public with results - this is they way to go.

On a different note: when a manager asks you how OSS projects / vendors make money, point them to the article Seven open source business strategies for competitive advantage from the IT Manager's Journal.

I already mentioned that in my spare I double as project lead on the free software project #develop. Recently, a licensing issue came up between the #develop and MonoDevelop teams. Because we couldn't agree, the #develop team decided to ask the FSF for clarification (read the PDF, it contains links to the actual discussion threads).

We thought that, ok, let's wait what the FSF has to say, and we'll submit to whatever they decide in this matter. Todd Berman, MD lead, however decided to go frontal. This I had to rebuke, and make public because it is potentially damaging for my company.

Godwin's Law

This tool is a Windows Forms application, which be downloaded including source. It is based on the XMLDiff and XMLPatch classes that come with the XmlDiffPatch API, and shows how to use XMLDiff. To illustrate what this utility can do even for the programmer who doesn't want to use the classes directly, I have included a few screenshots of how differencing might help in everyday XML scenarios.

The main screen: select two files to compare, then click the Compare button.

Comparison control: yellow highlights elements / attributes that were added.

Changes as well as additions and removals are easily visible too.

And in case you want to fine tune, go to the Diff Options menu.

When to use? Ever tried to find out what is different between two web.config files?

Cw (Comega Web site) is a research programming language done by MSR. It is an "extension" of C# in two major areas:

• A control flow extension for asynchronous wide-area concurrency
• A data type extension for XML and table manipulation

In plain English this means new constructs for asynchronous concurrency as well as relational and semi-structured data access. If you've previously read about Polyphonic C# and X#, then this is basically the "successor".

You can download a preview.

I knew about Paint.NET (programmed by Rick Brewster, among others) for quite some time. However, now one can not only download an installer for version 1.0, but also the source code which is licensed under a slightly modified MIT license. Get it! (unless you are absolutely not interested in image manipulation and/or Windows programming in .NET)

For completeness one screenshot that includes the translucent floating toolbars:

Just in case you missed it - the Quickstarts are online. Definitely a quick way to get started and no, it is not strictly ASP.NET 2.0 only: Windows Forms, J# and Common Tasks make an appearance too.

Next week I'll be giving a talk on Visual Studio 2005 IDE enhancements in Graz, Austria. The German description for this talk:

"Willkommen in der PowerPoint-freien Zone! Dieser Vortrag ist 100% Hands-On zum Thema "Was ist neu in VS.NET 2005" - also nicht Framework Features sondern (neue) IDE-Features ist der Inhalt dieses Talks. Von Refactoring zu Debugging, Klassendesigner und IntelliSense und vielen anderen Verbesserungen im Bereich des Editing und der Unterstützung durch Tools. "

There is a download of an interview with Alan Griver and Ken Levy of Visual Studio data team, which includes one hot top: things that didn't make it into 2.0.