May 2003

Real-World XML: Manipulate XML Data Easily with Integrated Readers and Writers in the .NET Framework

In the .NET Framework, XmlTextReader and XmlTextWriter provide for XML-driven reading and writing operations. In this article, the author discusses the architecture of readers and how they relate to XMLDOM and SAX parsers. He also shows how to use readers to parse and validate XML documents, how to leverage writers to create well-formed documents, and how to optimize the processing of large XML documents using functions to read and write Base64 and BinHex-encoded text. He then reviews how to implement a stream-based read/write parser that combines the functions of a reader and a writer into a single class. Dino Esposito

Debugging Tool: Build a Logging and Event Viewing Library to Help Debug Your .NET Framework-based App

Building a basic, reusable application framework can make development quicker and easier. This allows you to focus more on the problems at hand and less on the repetitive tasks involved in building any application. In this article, the author presents a framework that provides facilities to access the registry and an extensible framework for logging messages to a console window or the Event Viewer. This reusable framework can be included as a library in your projects, allowing you to display an enhanced, color-coded message log and dynamically change logging levels. Daryn Kiely

Metadata: Create a Database Schema Repository with Meta Data Services in SQL Server 2000

SQL Server 2000 Meta Data Services is a repository technology that stores and manages metadata for SQL Server. Instead of building database schemas over and over, Meta Data Services allows you to freeze an entire schema for use in other projects. You can also use these schemas for training, testing, or debugging. In this article, the authors will review the various components of Meta Data Services and show how it can be programmed using a Visual Basic client, XML, and XSLT. They will also show you how to manage and manipulate your metadata by generating a simple database schema using a SQL Server repository. Alok Mehta and Ricardo Rodriguez

Visual Studio .NET: Building Windows Forms Controls and Components with Rich Design-Time Features, Part 2

This is the second of two articles discussing the extremely rich design-time features of the .NET Framework. Part 1 discussed the basics, showing you where to start and how to extend your control implementation through attributes and interfaces, as well as their effects on the property browser, code serialization, and other controls. Part 2 continues the journey by concentrating on design-time functionality that you can implement beyond your components and controls, including TypeConverters, UITypeEditors, and Designers. It would be impossible to cover everything you can do in two short articles, which is a testament to just how all-encompassing and flexible the design-time capability of the .NET Framework is. Michael Weinhardt and Chris Sells

Virus Hunting: Understand Common Virus Attacks Before They Strike to Better Protect Your Apps

Developer's machines can often be more vulnerable to viruses than the average corporate user because of their more frequent access to remote machines and shares, and the differing administrative privileges they maintain across mutiple machines. Reliance on antivirus software is fine as a first line of defense, but you need a basic arsenal of skills for securing the executables on your system and coping with viruses on your own. This article reviews proactive methods you can use to defend yourself against malicious executable code in resources, component libraries, scripts and macros, as well as how to avoid a handful of other potential vulnerabilities. Jason Fisher

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