karl@karlmoore.com
Generating automatic passwords for your users is a common programming scenario. However, due to the techniques typically employed, most autogenerated passwords end up looking like YPSWW9441 - which, although highly secure, also end up completely unmemorable.
Business applications often find it useful to calculate the number of years between two particular dates, such as the date a customer first ordered and the present date, perhaps to see whether they apply for a 'loyalty' discount or a free gift.
Calculating the opening and closing quarter dates for a particular date is a common task for programmers. So, to save you from figuring out how to write that code, here are some ready-to-run functions that do it all for you.
Sometimes you don't just want to add a certain number of days to a date; you want to take working days into account.
Implement the likes of paging and sorting into your DataGrids, but first, start off with the most gruesome of tasks: adding an editable drop-down box to your DataGrid!
Setting up your own editable Windows DataGrid may be an absolute doddle, but creating the equivalent grid for the Web is a little more complicated.
In Building ASP.NET database applications, in addition verifying a connection to the Net, you also need to ensure that your database server is up and running.
Discover how to take advantage of one of the big new features of the DataSet over the old Recordset: Learn how to hold multiple tables of data at a single time.
Learn two techniques for creating thin .NET clients without the inflexibility of Web applications.
Discover how to view system information, existing performance monitors, and more, all from your .NET applications!
Like a number of older features, Visual Basic's .PrintForm got sold out in the name of 'standardization.' Learn how to bring it back!
A three-point checklist to help with trouble-free deployment of ASP.NET applications.
Not all browser redirecting is created equal....
By default anyone can access your ASP.NET web pages; however, there is a way to keep nosy, unwanted types out. Discover how to use authentication.
Still getting used to Visual Studio .NET? Here are a handful of little-known Visual Studio tips sure to make your life easier...
If you don't want the overhead or complexity of a government-standard encryption technique, there is a simple solution.
Discover howe to use Visual Basic to add a gradient backdrop to your applications!
Converting from one image format to another could not be easier!
After reading at least a dozen articles on how to generate random numbers, it seems that many technical writers are still getting it wrong.
Adding ordinals to your applications requires intelligence. Learn to make 1, 2, 3 become 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
.NET proudly boasts absolutely no intrinsic support for INI files; however, there's always a workaround!
Discover how you can have your Visual Basic programs automatically open files in their default applications for you.
What a human being would call one gigabyte, a computer would call 1073741824 bytes. How do you translate one into the other? Karl shows you how in Visual Basic.
Learn how to create (and then remove) temporary files from your Visual Basic programs.
Learn the best method for checking for an internet connection from a Visual Basic application.
Learn how to parse out all the links from an HTML page.
Discover how to create a Visual Basic function that will grab the HTML from a Web page!
Check out this tool, it may come in handy!
It's a little-known fact, but you can actually 'cache' what a Web service gives out and automatically serve up the same response next time, seriously speeding up popular, processor-intensive services.
Use OLE DB code to access a named range within an Excel workbook and return it as a DataSet object, ready for binding to a Windows DataGrid.
Because not all of Microsoft's examples work as expected, Karl will show you how to have your applications print from the .NET Framework.
Finally! Solid instructions on how to integrate your application with Windows XP themes.
If you're attempting to create that foolproof Windows application, one great technique to use is that of snapping the cursor to a particular control, anticipating the next click.
ASP.NET gives you tremendous control over how your images can work. From this example, you will learn how to create thumbnails on the fly!
Learn how to use ASP.NET to upload files. More importantly, learn how to store an uploaded file directly into a database.
Wouldn't it be nice to show a DataGrid table inside a neat scrollable micro window, rather than serving up one big messy page?
Learn how to creating a DOS-style console application with Visual Basic. The simplicity of doing this may surprise you!
Create a Windows service — such as virus checkers, disk-monitoring applications, or security programs — using Visual Basic.
Learn how to access and harness the power of Amazon.com's massive databse of information.
Devices such as the Pocket PC are becoming almost as powerful as the machines sitting on our desks. It makes sense that more and more developers want to create applications directly targeted at such platforms. Learn how to create a Pocket PC application using Visual Basic .NET.
For a long, long time, Microsoft has been touting this dream of information on any device, anywhere, anytime. But, at least when it comes to Visual Basic developers, the company hasn't done much to prove it. That is, until now.
In his twelfth and final column, industry guru Karl Moore explores the world of Web services. From plugging into Google to zooming in on the Empire State Building through TerraServer, it's all here - in the last of the .NET secrets series.
Learn about using a Web Grid for quick and easy data paging, fast sorting, exporting a Web grid to Excel, and using an amazing undocumented SQL Server tool for writing code.
Discover a few more tips and tricks for working with data in .NET using Visual Basic .NET. In this installment you learn nine steps to building a quick, editable Web grid as well as a little-known technique for confirming Web deletes. Selecting multiple Web form grid items in a Hotmail style is also presented.
Among the top solutions being built today are database applications. Karl more teaches some time saving tricks to get the most out of database development for .NET.
Learn more ASP.NET tricks from Karl Moore. In this installment, learn what to do when Session_End doesn't work, spy on your Web host (checking uptime in .NET), stress test your Web applications, and learn about using .IsClientConnected for Long Processes.
Karl Moore once again goes wild with Web application tricks. In this installment, he covers creating super fast ASP.NET applications by using caching, hiding error code from clients, customizing the 404: page, and ten steps to successful debugging.
Once again Karl Moore presents a .NET tricks for your ASP.NET applications. Tricks in this installment include using ASP.NET Authentication for all or part of your site, storing your settings, and where to find some ASP.NET code.
Karl Moore presents a few more .NET tricks to really put the shine on your Web applications. Tricks in this installment include changing your Web page title in code, Sending mail in ASP.NET, uploading files with ease, and dynamically creating images.
Discover a number of tips and tricks for ASP.NET. Tips in this first part include learning two ways to display Web warning messages, creating a default 'Enter' button, Learning about the SmartNavigation property, and discovering the secret behind user controls.
Karl Moore presents four more tips and tricks for Visual Basic: How to 'reset' a form; The facts on visual inheritance; Secrets of working with the system tray; and, The best of all worlds: Creating an ultra-thin client.
Karl Moore presents more secrets for Visual Basic programmers. Learn how to check for a previous instance in .NET, how to convert RichTextBox to HTML, how to support dragging-and-dropping from Windows Explorer, and the exact code you need to capture the screen, quickly and easily.
Veteran VB-World author Karl Moore makes his return this week, with the first of twelve articles in which he exposes some of the most hidden .NET secrets. In this article, Moore uncovers a bundle of nifty Windows form tricks. Interested? Read on...
ActiveX Control Tutorial - Part 4
ActiveX Control Tutorial - Part 5
ActiveX Control Tutorial - Part 3
Confused over controls? Puzzled by properties? Fear no more as Karl Moore dons centre stage to explain all. By the end of this first tutorial, you'll be an ActiveX wizard and a love machine. Well, maybe just an ActiveX wizard...
ActiveX Control Tutorial - Part 2
Beginning Visual Basic SQL Server 7.0: In this review, Karl Moore takes a brief peek at one of the latest Wrox publications. If you're wanting to use Visual Basic and SQL Server together, this book promises the earth. Find out how it got on.
Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32 API
What book would you recommend for assistance with the API? For years, programmers worldwide have sworn by Dan Appleman's 1500-page tutorial. In this review, Karl Moore figures out whether the publication is really his cup of tea...
Developing ASP Components
In this review, Karl Moore takes a brief look at a book that claims to make developing ASP components a breeze. But is it comprehensive enough to get the thumbs up? Read on.
Hands On Visual Basic 6 for Web Development Fancy putting that customer database online? Sounds scary. In this review, Karl Moore checks out a popular Prima publication that claims it can help.
Professional Visual Basic 6 Databases Getting bored with the Data Control? Fancy spicing up your database knowledge? In this review, Karl Moore checks out a book that promises to boost your database wisdom to the enterprise level.
Professional Visual Basic Windows CE Programming In this review, Karl Moore checks out a new Wrox publication that promises to turn you into one of the new "portable programmer" breeds. Does it meet expectations? Read the review here.
Ready-To-Run Visual Basic Code Library
Can't be bothered churning out another window full of code? Take the easy route - copy and paste! In this review, we check out a book that claims to be packed with timesaving tips and ready-to-use code. But is it suitable for all?
VB.Net Programming
Looking to get up to speed with VB.NET? But you're on a low budget? Apparently the latest release from Wrox has the answer, promising to cover the whole big-bang of Beta One in just a few hundred pages. But if VB.NET isn't yet good enough to start charging... is this publication? Karl Moore takes a critical sneak-peek.
VB/VBA Developer's Guide to the Windows Installer It's one of the latest industry buzzwords. It promises to streamline your setup procedures, reduce your support costs and automatically repair problematic installs. But how do you use this new fangled Windows Installer technology? Karl Moore casts a critical eye over a book that claims it can help.
Visual Basic 6.0 Internet Programming
Fancy joining the Internet revolution and wiring your application up to the Information Superhighway? Karl Moore checks out a book that claims it can help Visual Basic 6.0 Internet Programming from Carl Franklin.
Visual Basic Shell Programming
Need to get down-and-dirty with the Windows shell? Karl Moore checks out a book that offers advice on manipulating your favourite operating system far beyond the usual VB realms. But is it perhaps a little too in-depth for the everyday developer?
Annoyed with arrays? Muddled by multi-dimensions? In this tutorial, Karl Moore finds out exactly what these 'hyped-up lists' are all about, discovers a host of new buzzwords along the way, plus talks about practical uses in the real world. An interesting read for any Visual Basic programmer.
Getting the Internet Time
In Search of .NET Nirvana
Dazzled by the recent mass of buzzwords hitting the developer scene? Get the lowdown on VB.Net, XML, SOAP, the Windows Installer and more in this big picture article from Karl Moore.
My Favourite Functions - Part 2
My Favourite Functions - Part 3
Quick Start Guide to SQL Server 7
Quick Start Guide to SQL Server 7 - Part 2
Quick Start Guide to SQL Server 7 - Part 3
Quick Start Guide to SQL Server 7 - Part 4
Quickstart Guide to Screensavers
Review of SolutionCert 70-100 From Transcender
Review of Transcender Exam Simulations
Review of TX Text Control
The Top Twenty Programmer Tips!
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 1 100068
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 2 100069
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 3
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 4
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 5
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 6
Visual Basic Database Tutorial - Part 7
Windows API Tutorial - Part One
Windows API Tutorial - Part Two 100153
Winner of the VBForums VBeXpress competition, Josh Sullivan demonstrates how his easy-to-use class makes it a breeze to work with the XML features of SQL Server 2000.
You can add a little extra panache to your application by using animated cursors. When that program is busy whizzing and whirring, why not impress your user by displaying a spinning globe, a wiggly starfish, or a floating rocket? Now you can with this chunck of code.
One of the latest user interface fads is AutoComplete, a feature Microsoft introduced with Internet Explorer 5. With this code snippet, learn how to instantly add it to your application — simplifying the typing of filenames, folders and Web addresses!
What's your favourite function? Whether it's Kill or FileCopy, Replace or Round, if it's useful, it's in our exclusive three part series on the grooviest intrinsic Visual Basic features. Definitely one to print out for the office notice board.
Head geek Karl Moore returns with the final instalment of his popular jargon-free VB tutorial!
Karl Moore returns with another geek-speak free guide to Visual Basic coding. This week, Karl explains what methods, events and properties actually are, as well as delving into the enigmas that are functions. Lets code geek-to-geek baby!
Karl Moore gives you the buzz about looping, grabbing information from users and subs, as always without geek-speak!
Karl Moore returns with the third instalment of our exclusive no-geek-speak Visual Basic tutorial. This week, Karl gets his hands dirty with variables and conditional logic, so get out your nerds dictionary!
Karl Moore returns with the third instalment of our exclusive no-geek-speak Visual Basic tutorial. This week, Karl gets his hands dirty with variables and conditional logic, so get out your nerds dictionary!
Visual Basic can be confusing, especially for newbie programmers. But don't worry - here to help is technology journalist and head geek Karl Moore, with the first installation of his up-and-coming Visual Basic tutorial!
Once again, the nerd returns in the fourth instalment of VB.NET Uncovered: Services Rendered. This week, Karl Moore gets down and dirty with Web Services, the DCOM-replacement sure to knock your lil' cotton socks off.
In this third instalment of his VB.NET Uncovered series, Karl Moore returns to look at Web Forms - and finds out how you can create a fully interactive Web site without knowing of HTML, ASP or CGI. Exclusively here on VB-World.
He's back - and he's bigger than ever. At least that's what he tells his girlfriend. Yes, it's Karl Moore returning with the second part of his VB.NET tutorial. Get the lowdown before everyone else - exclusively here at VB-World!
Move over Ibiza, here comes VB.NET Uncovered! In this six-part series, the wizzy Karl Moore gives you the ultimate lowdown on the next version of Visual Basic — in English. In this first instalment, he looks at setting up VB.NET, explores the new programming environment, plus does the 'Hello World' thing all over again.
Validate an E-Mail Address Need to ensure an e-mail address is valid? This copy-and-paste code snippet checks an address for its length, the @ sign, the period, the characters used, the suffix - and more! Save your overworked fingers further strain and add this snippet to your code library.
Need to count the number of words in that jungle of text? Does your count conflict with the MS Word interpretation? Stop scratching your head - let this copy-and-paste code snippet do all the hard work for you, using the same techniques as Microsoft itself.
Does your program need to work with MP3 files? The winner of the VBWorld SmartUI competition, MuchMetal shows us how to extract all the vital track information with the help of his groovy class. Plus, we show you how to play MP3 files from within VB.
Need to boost your skill-set without spending too many of those oh-so-precious pounds? Worry not. In this review Karl Moore takes a geek peek at something that could help — SQL Server videos from Keystone.
Still in search of .Net nirvana, Karl Moore checks out a course that promises to turn you into a Visual Basic 7 guru within two days. But can this VBUG offering deliver what it promises or is it perhaps a little too light on content? Read on.
