Looking for a simple explanation on using trace logging - asp.net

I have seen several projects that use the Trace functionality to capture events and stream them out to a log file. I have been unsuccessful in finding a simple to follow guide that will show me how to configure Trace to capture and write said logfile. Does anyone have a link recommendations, or provide some simple steps to follow?

The Trace object writes the statements to any attached TraceListeners. You can build your own, but there are a number already defined in the System.Diagnostics namespace, including:
ConsoleTraceListener (Console)
DefaultTraceListener (Visual Studio / Debugger)
DelimitedListTraceListener (TextWriter, special formatting)
EventLogTraceListener (EventLog - anything that inherits from System.Diagnostics.EventLog)
TextWriterTraceListener (TextWriter - think file)
You can, of course, inherit your own from the TraceListener class that writes to where ever you want. For example, you could log to a database, have it send e-mails or pages in certain situations, or write the statements back to a logging platform like log4net.
The big thing is that you need to create an instance of whatever listeners you want and then add them to the Trace' class Listeners collection. You can add as many as you need and Trace will write to all of them. This way, you can write your logging code once using a well-supported and understood object that's part of the framework, and you can attach anything you need to it.

I stumbled into a MSDN article that really helps. Sorry I didn't find it before posting the question but perhaps others may have the same question and haven't found this link.

Take a look at logging frameworks. We rolled out own, but are now migrating over to log4net available free at http://logging.apache.org/log4net/

Im looking for a way to set the Category of the EventLog, the FormattedEventLogTraceListener writes into (not the category of the message).
But I can't find an appropriate property of this class.
Is it possible to set this?

Related

how to handle download request from a WebView using WebResourceRequestFilter blackberry Cascades

i want to handle any download request coming from Webview. how it is possible ? the documentation https://developer.blackberry.com/native/reference/cascades/bb__cascades__webresourcerequestfilter.html and https://developer.blackberry.com/native/reference/cascades/bb__cascades__webdownloadrequest.html are describing the parameters but couldn't figure out how to do it.
Your question is not clear on what you don't understand. Remember this is not a training forum, the idea is that you should try things, review the documentation and then ask specific questions to get the best out of a forum.
Moreover it is not clear whether you are trying to handle the download request at the Server, or capture the request before the download attempt leaves the BB.
I'm going to assume you want to display a web page on the BlackBerry but make sure that any resource requests that the page generates, are filtered by your program, so that you can supply the data (assuming you have it).
I implemented something like this a while ago and remember that it was not simple to figure out what was going on, but I played with it a bit and it all made sense.
I don't remember using WebDownloadRequest and can't really see how it helps in this case.
The key is WebResourceRequestFilter. You create your own WebResourceRequestFilter making sure you implement the required methods. Then you use WebPage::setNetworkResourceRequestFilter(WebResourceRequestFilter*) to make sure the webpage will ask your WebResourceRequestFilter for its resources. The first method the web page invokes is filterResourceRequest(), and the return from this invocation determines which other methods in your WebResourceRequestFilter, the Webage will invoke.
I suggest you implement a WebResourceRequestFilter, put some debugging in filterResourceRequest(), but always return FilterAction Accept, which means the web page will use its normal processing to obtain the resources. Then try various other FilterAction return values and see what happens...

Using Web Services in the Flex Mate Framework

I am currently trying to use the "Invocation tags" of Mate to call my web services and delegate the WS-responses to my fault/result handlers.
I want to use the generated proxies, provided by the Flex Builder, and not the plain <WebService> or <WebServiceInvoker> tags.
I actually failed using several techniques:
<WebServiceInvoker> does not work with the generated proxies.
<AsyncMethodInvoker> needs some complicated successType that I could not get to work with the WS-calls. And defining the events seems redundant to me. I want it simple and easy to read, the code will be touched by other people than me!
<MethodInvoker> can't use instances, and it also can't handle the proxies' AsyncToken
<DelegateInvoker> Looked fine at first. It calls the service but doesn't fire valid result events (infinite busy cursor). Even though i can successfully bind to the XYZ_lastResult of the WS-proxies, and a WS-call results in getting valid data from the WS-backend, the <faultHandlers> and <resulthandlers> are not executed. There is some solution for the DelegateInvoker that changes code in the generated proxies, which i definately do not want to do!
So here is my question: Is there a simple(!) way of using default Flexbuilder generated proxies with the Mate Invocation tags?
It appears that your request is not that uncommon to Mate. Check out this couple of threads in their forum:
http://mate.asfusion.com/forums/topic.php?id=424
http://mate.asfusion.com/forums/topic.php?id=421
The solution is to modify some bits of the auto-generated code... which in a way ruins the whole point of using code generation.

How to do Actionscript trace and/or component flow log using debugger

An existing (though incomplete) FLEX3 project was given to us to finish (always a nightmare).
It is quite small but highly abstracted (contains well over 150 files to support only about 10 page views). I'm attempting to trace a single mouseclick event through this maze.
Is there a way to print out an actionscript trace and/or component flow using the debugger (or any other tool that anyone knows of)?
The flash.txt file appears worthless since it doesn't contain ActionScript calls and/or component flows.
Thanks
This will print your execution graph:
Trace.setLevel(Trace.METHODS, Trace.LISTENER);
Trace.setListener(handleMethods);
function handleMethods(fqcn:String, lineNumber:uint, methodName:String, methodArguments:String):void
{
trace(methodName);
}
Oof. Yeah, always.
The Profiler might give you useful information, but you need to pay for FlexBuilder Pro to get it, if you don't already have it. I'm not real handy with the Profiler, so I may be off base with that advice. It would be worth checking into, though, if you are already familiar with other profiling tools.
I would probably just start looking at every point that .addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK occurs in the code - and .addEventListener("click", just in case the previous developer chose not to use the constant, for some reason.
Obviously, that could show up a lot in 150 files, but that's how I would go about it.
I would also look at any custom events that could get into the mix. Because maybe the CLICK event is handled at some point and the handler dispatches a custom event. And maybe the handler for that custom event dispatches another custom event. Or dispatches a MouseEvent.CLICK event, etc.
Hope that helps. Good luck...
Check out
http://jpauclair.net/2010/02/10/mmcfg-treasure/
esp.
AS3Trace = 1|0
This one is also very useful for
debugging It trace every single call
to any function that is being called
in the SWF at runtime! It’s like
expending the StackTrace to the full
software run time.
And many more.

Fetch userdata on each request

My problem is quite simple - I think. I'm doing an ASP.NET MVC project. It's a project that requires the user to be logged in at all time. I probably need the current user's information in the MasterPage, like so; "Howdy, Mark - you're logged in!".
But what if I need the same information in the view? Or some validation in my servicelayer?
So how to make sure this information is available when I need it, and where I need it?
How much user information do you need? You can always access the Thread.Current.Principal and get the user's name - and possibly use that to look up more info on the user in a database.
Or if you really really really need some piece of information at all times, you could implement your own custom principal deriving from IPrincipal (this is really not a big deal!), and add those bits of information there, and when the user logs in, create an instance of the MyCustomPrincipal and attach that to the current thread. Then it'll be available anywhere, everywhere, anytime.
Marc
I've had exactly the same issue, and have yet to find a satisfactory answer. All the options we've explored have had various issues. In the specific example you mention, you could obviously store that data in the session, as that would work for that example. There may be other scenarios, that we've had, where that may not work, but simple user info like that would be fine in the session.
We've just setup a BaseController that handles making sure that info is always set and correct for each view. Depending on how you're handling authentication, etc, you will have some user data available in HttpContext.User.Identity.Name at all times. Which can also be referenced.
Build a hierarchy of your models and put the shared information in the base model. This way it will be available to any view or partial view.
Of course it has to be retrieved on each request since web applications are not persistent.
You should store this in Session and retrieve it into your controllers via a custom ModelBinder.
Not sure if I get what you want to ask, but if you are looking for things like authentication and role-based authorization, actually ASP.net is providing a great framework to work on/start with.
This article (with also 2nd part) is something I recently discovered and read about which is really good start with the provider-pattern which help to understand the underlying authentication framework of ASP.net. Be sure to read about the membershipProvider class and the RoleProvider class in msdn also, they together make a great framework on most basic role-base authentication to work with (if you are comfortable with the function they provided, you even don't need to code data-access part, all are provided in the default implementation!)
PS: Check out Context.Users property too! It stores the current authenticated user information.
HttpContext.Current.Users.Identity returns the current user's information. Though I am not sure whether it gets passed implicitly when you make a webservice call.

Is it worth using Debug.Assert in ASP.NET?

It seems like a fairly large hassle to set up a proper debug environment in ASP.NET and I'm just wondering if using Asserts are the way to go or not. I've read a bit and saw that you need to modify your web.config to properly use Asserts. Is this usually the best way to go or are there other methods of debugging that might be easier to use?
We don't use a unit testing framework so that isn't really relevant to the question.
How do you know the difference between them working properly or not working at all? Currently I can put in asserts in my code and it will do absolutely nothing because they are not configured in the web.config. This seems dangerous to me.
I would direct you here: When should I use Debug.Assert()?. There are several good answers that can tell you when it's good to use them, and you can figure out from there if it's worth it in your app.
Having Debug Asserts will ensure your code is correct. With the right combination of test cases will definitely help you.
Several Unit test frameworks come with handlers that can log messages and throw exceptions on asserts. Choosing one of these framework or writing your own handler is something that you may have to think about. But once the Unit test code catches these exceptions, they should be logged and marked as failed.

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