I am using VB.Net and calling salesforce API. It returns very ugly JSON which I am not able to deserialize. I have a following code using JSON.Net
Dim objDescription As Object = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Object)(result)
objDescription contains many properties, one on=f them in fields. But when I write something like objDescription.fields it gives me error.
objDescription.fields Public member 'fields' on type 'JObject' not found. Object
I am not very sure but I think it C# allow to convert any JSON to dynamic object. How can I use it in VB.Net?
You can turn Option Strict Off and use ExpandoObject which is recognized by JSON.NET. In order to leverage the dynamic features you can use a variable of type object.
Option Strict Off
Sub Main
Dim jsonData As Object = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject)("{""Id"":25}")
Dim test As Integer = jsonData.Id
Console.WriteLine(test)
End Sub
If you would like to use JObject because you need some of its features, you can index the JObject instead.
Sub Main
Dim jsonData As Object = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Object)("{""Id"":25}")
Dim test = jsonData("Id")
Console.WriteLine(test)
End Sub
I am attempting to write a method using VB.NET that will allow me to read in a URL and compare it to a list. If it is one of the URLs on the list then Bing Tracking conversion will be applied.
At the moment I can only think do write it as a comaparative method, comapring the current URL with the ones that require tracking (a list). This, however, sems a little long winded.
Each page may have a different querystring value/page id, there for its fundamental to get exactly the right page for the tracking to be applied to.
Any Ideas?
Sorry I really am a novice when developing functions in VB.Net
If I were to use th Contains() function then I would imagine that it would look a little something like this:
Private sub URL_filter (ByVal thisPage As ContentPage, brandMessage? As Boolean) As String
Dim url_1 As String = "/future-contact thanks.aspx"
Dim url_2 As String = "/find-enquiry thanks.aspx?did=38"
Dim url_3 As String = "/find-enquiry-thanks.aspx?did=90"
Dim url_4 As String = "/find-enquiry-thanks.aspx?did=62"
Dim result as String
result = CStr (url_1.Contains(current_URL))
txtResult.Text = result
End Sub
If I were to use this then what type of loop would I have to run to check all the URLs that are in my list against the current_URL? Also where would I define the current_URL?
You can use the Contains() function to check if the list contains the given value. You could also implement a binary search, but it is probably overkill for your purposes. Here is an example:
Dim UrlList As New List(Of String)
UrlList.Add("www.example2.net") 'Just showing adding urls to the list
UrlList.Add("www.example3.co.uk")
UrlList.Add("www.exampletest.com")
Dim UrlToCheck As String = "www.exampletest.com" 'This is just an example url to check
Dim result As Boolean = UrlList.Contains(UrlToCheck) 'The result of whether it was found
Make sure to add these imports Imports System and Imports System.Collections.Generic
Disclaimer: I have no experience with VB.NET
Ive discovered an issue in some of our old web code. The problem is that the default serializer isnt serializing the date properly. I want to use JSON.Net in order to serialize the parameters for the web methods in our aspx code. But im not sure how to tell it to use JSON.NET instead of using the default serializer.
Here is an example snipit of our code
<System.Web.Services.WebMethod()> _
<System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptMethod()> _
Public Shared Function EditApplication(ByVal Application As ApplicationModel, ByVal Country As String, ByVal Language As String) As jsonResponse
Dim r As New jsonResponse
Dim g As New ApplicationRequest
g.country = Country
g.locale = Language
g.platform = "Android"
g.timestamp = ""
g.transactionid = "abc123"
....
So I need ApplicationModel to serialize using JSON.Net. Thanks for your help.
Not sure if this will be helpful (since this is taken from the REST web service) but you can define it on OperationContract like this one below:
System.ServiceModel.Web.WebMessageFormat.Json
<OperationContract()> _
<WebGet(responseformat:=System.ServiceModel.Web.WebMessageFormat.Json)> _
I know my ASP.NET but i have to admit, i am dumb with classes and not sure how they work exactly. Also have not worked with them yet but i want to. But what I do know is that it's a place where i can keep code for re-use correct? How will my class look with my code?
So this is my code i use on about 3 forms - but i want to save it in 1 spot and just call it from like when i click on btnSubmit.
Dim strConnection As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("ConnectionString").ConnectionString
Dim con As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection(strConnection)
Dim cmd As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand
Dim objDs As DataSet = New DataSet
Dim dAdapter As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter
cmd.Connection = con
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT distinct FIELD FROM TABLE order by FIELD"
dAdapter.SelectCommand = cmd
con.Open()
dAdapter.Fill(objDs)
con.Close()
If (objDs.Tables(0).Rows.Count > 0) Then
lstDropdown.DataSource = objDs.Tables(0)
lstDropdown.DataTextField = "FIELD"
lstDropdown.DataValueField = "FIELD"
lstDropdown.DataBind()
lstDropdown.Items.Insert(0, "Please Select")
lstDropdown2.Items.Insert(0, "Please Select")
Else
lblMessage.Text = "* Our Database seem to be down!"
End If
What must i put here to execute my code above?
Protected Sub btnSubmit_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSubmit.Click
?????????????????????????????????
End Try
End Sub
Etienne
A class is (in VB.Net) is defined as so
Public Class Person
private _firstName as string
private _lastName as string
'''Constructor with no params
public Sub New()
_firstName = ""
_lastName = ""
End Sub
'Contructor with params
Public Sub New(FirstName as String, LastName as String)
_firstName = FirstName
_lastName = LastName
End Sub
Public Property FirstName As String
Get
return _firstName
End Get
Set(value as String)
_firstName = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property LastName As String
Get
return _lastName
End Get
Set(value as String)
_lastName = value
End Set
End Property
Public Function HitHomeRun() As Boolean
....'Do some stuff here
End Function
End Class
You can then instantiate the class and call its members.
Dim p as New Person()
p.FirstName = "Mike"
p.LastName = "Schmidt"
dim IsHomeRunHit As Boolean = p.HitHomeRun()
Learn more about creating and consuming classes in VB.Net.
This is a very big topic and can be defined in many different ways. But typically what you are venturing into is an N-Tier architecture.
Data Access Layer
Business Logic
UI Logic
Now the way a class can be built in your question can be done, but in the long run is prone to maintenance horror and modifiiability is cut short. Not to mention very much prone to bugs. Putting any type of data access code in your UI layer is bad practice.
This is where the power of having separate layers of classes (separation of concerns) in each layer gives you the ability to reuse code and ability to easily modify for future expansions/features etc. This is getting into Software Architecture is a very broad topic to put into one post.
But if you are really interested here are some links to point you into the right directions.
N-Tier Architecture from Wikipedia
Data Access Layer
Business Logic Layer
Martin Fowler is an expert in Architecture
There is software that eases the pain of the DAL.
1. Linq-To-SQL ability to query your data via .Net Objects (compiled queries)
2. Entity Framework Version 2 of Linq-To-SQL
And this effectively could replace all of your SQL code.
If you want to reuse the code, you should put it in a separate project. That way you can add that project to different solutions (or just reference the compiled dll).
In your web project you add a reference to the project (or to the dll if you have compiled it before and don't want to add the project to the solution).
In your new project you add a class file, for example named UIHelper. In the class skeleton that is created for you, you add a method. As the class is in a separate project, it doesn't know about the controls in the page, so you have to send references to those in the method call:
Public Shared Sub PopulateDropdowns(lstDropdown As DropDownList, lstDropdown2 As DropDownList)
... here goes your code
End Sub
In your page you call it with references to the dropdown lists that you have in the page:
UIHelper.PopulateDropdowns(lstDropdown, lstDropdown2)
This will get you started. There is a lot more to learn about using classes...
I sometimes create a "Common" class and put public Shared methods in it that I want to call from different places.
Something along these lines:
Public Class Common
Public Shared Sub MyMethod
'Do things.
End Sub
End Class
I'd then call it using:
Common.MyMethod
Obviously, you can a sub/function definition that takes the parameters you require.
Sorry if my VB.NET code is a bit off. I usually use C#.
I think you should look into using visual studio designer tools to do your data access and data binding. Search for typed datasets
How can I transform a website to be able to handle multi language (example : english, french, spanish)?
I do not like the resource file because I feel limited and it's pretty long to build the list. Do you have any suggestion?
Update
For the moment the best way we found is to use an XML file and with some Xpath et get values.
Implicit localization (on the Visual Studio - Tools menu - Generate Local Resources) is about as easy as it can be. Write your pages in your default language, pick the menu option, and your resource files are created and can be sent to someone to translate.
The resx file is just xml, so if the translation company wants you can transform it into (and out of) spreadsheets easily.
Using a databases instead of resx as your backing store is not difficult. Rick Strahl has a good explanation and example code for a database-driven localization provider here - there's a nice built in localization editor too with interface to Google translations and Babelfish.
We store resources for multilingual sites in a database. We've created a couple of tools to make it easy to create and access these. There's a custom ExpressionBuilder that allows us to use this syntax:
<asp:linkbutton runat='server' text='<%$ LanguageStrings:ClickMe%>' />
And a custom label that contains the default text, and adds a row to the database if there's not already one.
<r:languagelabel runat="server" name="AboutUs">About Us</r:languagelabel>
The table containing the strings has one column per language. This makes it very easy to create the site in English (or whatever the default language is), then hand off the table (which populates itself) to a translator. It's also very easy to see what languages you need to have stuff translated for. With resources, every time you need to add a new string, you have to stop what you're doing, and then go to the resource file for each language and add the resource.
Here's the code for the language label:
''' <summary>
''' Retrieves a language-specific string.
''' </summary>
Public Class LanguageLabel
Inherits Label
Private _Name As String
Public Property Name() As String
Get
Return _Name
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
_Name = value
End Set
End Property
Private Sub Populate()
If Len(Me.Name) > 0 Then
Dim LanguageString As String = GetLanguageString(Me.Name, Me.Text)
If Len(LanguageString) > 0 Then Me.Text = LanguageString
End If
End Sub
Private Sub LanguageLabel_PreRender(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.PreRender
Populate()
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub Render(ByVal writer As System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter)
' By default a label wraps the text in a <span>, which we don't want in some situations
writer.Write(Me.Text)
End Sub
End Class
and the utility function:
Public Function GetLanguageString(ByVal Name As String, Optional ByVal DefaultText As String = "") As String
Dim DefaultLanguage As Language = Languages.GetById(1)
Name = StripPunctuation(Name).Trim.Replace(" ", "") ' Remove punctuation, spaces from name
Dim SelectSql As String = String.Format("Select {0},{1} from LanguageStrings where Name=#Name", Languages.CurrentLanguage.Code, DefaultLanguage.Code)
Dim LanguageStringTable As DataTable = ExecuteDataset(cs, CommandType.Text, SelectSql, New SqlParameter("#Name", Name)).Tables(0)
If LanguageStringTable IsNot Nothing AndAlso LanguageStringTable.Rows.Count > 0 Then
Dim LanguageText As String = LanguageStringTable.Rows(0)(Languages.CurrentLanguage.Code).ToString
Dim DefaultLanguageText As String = LanguageStringTable.Rows(0)(DefaultLanguage.Code).ToString
If Len(LanguageText) > 0 Then
' We have a string in this language
Return LanguageText
Else
' Nothing in this language - return default language value
Return DefaultLanguageText
End If
Else
' No record with this name - create a dummy one
If DefaultText = "" Then DefaultText = Name
Dim InsertSql As String = String.Format("Insert into LanguageStrings (Name, {0}) values (#Name, #Text)", DefaultLanguage.Code)
ExecuteNonQuery(cs, CommandType.Text, InsertSql, New SqlParameter("#Name", Name), New SqlParameter("#Text", DefaultText))
Return Name
End If
End Function
Resource files are the way to go. We ship our product in 12 languages. We pull all strings out into resource files and ship them to a translation company. It's a pain at times, but that is the defacto way to do it.
It also gets fun when 4-letter English words get translated into 17-letter phrases and you have to tweak your UI.
How late in the design process are you? If not too late, and if the budget allows, consider porting to a multi-lingual CMS like Ektron CMS300.net (which has built-in translation tools). If not, then you've got a huge task ahead of you.
Another solution I am using is to create the language folders which contain the aspx pages containing all the required text in that particular language.
The only problem here is how can you inject as little code as possible into those replicating pages. I am using a controller pattern here to do this, and then a object data source to get the data and bind it to the controls in all pages.
In this way I have achieved the goal of getting rid of the resource files and I can keep the code behind in one place without replicating it (unless necessary).
Edit: I would recommend a good CMS framework as well.
One of the web apps I develop has this NLS requirement too.
I found that there are at least 3 locations where you have localized texts:
user interface
database tables ("catalogs" or whatever you want to call them)
backend code (services etc)
My solution has one table for the pages, tables, etc ("Container"), one table for each item in that container (e.g. labels, buttons by ID, record identifiers), and one table for the translated items (plus language identifier).
A translation application helps me keep the translations up-to-date, and exports all translations in XML.
The product ships with translations, but customers can adjust the translations, changes taking effect immediately.
Sample code i have done using resource file
add global.asax
void Application_BeginRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs on application startup
HttpCookie cookie = HttpContext.Current.Request.Cookies["CultureInfo"];
if (cookie != null && cookie.Value != null)
{
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo(cookie.Value);
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo(cookie.Value);
}
else
{
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en");
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en");
}
}
http://satindersinght.blogspot.in/2012/06/create-website-for-multilanguage.html
http://satindersinght.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/create-website-for-multilanguage-support/