xVal is an open-source validation helper for ASP.NET MVC that lets you use your own choice of server-side validation framework (e.g., Microsoft’s DataAnnotations attributes, or Castle Validator, or NHibernate Validaion) and dynamically generates client-side validation code from your rules.
Following are the new features in v1.0:
- Support for dynamic client-side validation summaries
- Remote validation (i.e., evaluating rules via Ajax)
- Additional language files for localised default validation messages: Danish, French, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, and Italian
- Upgraded to work with jQuery 1.3.2 and jQuery.Validation 1.5.5
- Fixes for some bugs and issues in version 0.8.
Download xVal v1.0 from CodePlex
Microsoft has launched a new WebsiteSpark program for independent Web developers and companies that build Web applications and Web sites for others. The program enables qualified developers to receive FREE software, support and business resources from Microsoft for three years. The purpose is to help independent Web developers expand their business and build great Web solutions using ASP.NET, Silverlight, SharePoint and PHP.
WebsiteSpark provides the following free software licenses:
- 3 licenses of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
- 1 license of Expression Studio 3 (which includes Expression Blend, Sketchflow, and Web)
- 2 licenses of Expression Web 3
- 4 processor licenses of Windows Web Server 2008 R2
- 4 processor licenses of SQL Server 2008 Web Edition
- DotNetPanel control panel (enabling easy remote/hosted management of your servers)
The only two requirements to join the program are:
- Your company builds Web sites and/or Web applications on behalf of others.
- Your company currently has less than 10 employees.
If you meet these requirements, visit the WebsiteSpark website to enroll in the program. As part of the enrollment process, you can pick either a network referral partner (for example: a Web host or an existing Microsoft partner), or enter a referral code that you have received at an event or from a Microsoft employee. Or you can send an email to webspark@microsoft.com to get a referral code quickly.
The Microsoft Anti-Cross Site Scripting Library v3.1 (Anti-XSS v3.1) is an encoding library designed to help developers protect their ASP.NET web-based applications from XSS attacks. It differs from most encoding libraries in that it uses the white-listing technique — sometimes referred to as the principle of inclusions — to provide protection against XSS attacks. This approach works by first defining a valid or allowable set of characters, and encodes anything outside this set (invalid characters or potential attacks). The white-listing approach provides several advantages over other encoding schemes.
New features in version 3.1 of the Microsoft Anti-Cross Site Scripting Library include:
- An expanded white list that supports more languages
- Performance improvements
- Performance data sheets (in the online help)
- Support for Shift_JIS encoding for mobile browsers
- A sample application
- Security Runtime Engine (SRE) HTTP module
- HTML Sanitization methods to strip dangerous HTML scripts
Download Anti-XSS v3.1
AutoMapper is a convention-based object-to-object mapper. AutoMapper uses a fluent configuration API to define an object-object mapping strategy. AutoMapper uses a convention-based matching algorithm to match up source to destination values. Currently, AutoMapper is geared towards model projection scenarios to flatten complex object models to DTOs and other simple objects, whose design is better suited for serialization, communication, messaging, or simply an anti-corruption layer between the domain and application layer.
New features in v1.0 release candidate 1 include:
- Non-generic CreateMap overload
- Can specify custom mapping ordering for individual destination members
- Before/After map callbacks for custom pre/post processing
- Registration of custom pre- and postfixes on member type names (i.e. CustomerKey can map to Customer)
- Mapping from dictionaries to split out key-value pairs
- Basic support for IDataReader/IDataRecord
- Support for custom naming conventions
- Support for IListSource (for Entity Framework)
AutoMapper at CodePlex
The ASP.NET team has launched a new Microsoft Ajax CDN (Content Delivery Network) service that provides caching support for AJAX libraries (including jQuery and ASP.NET AJAX). The service is available for free, does not require any registration, and can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Content delivery networks (CDNs) are composed of “edge cache” servers that are strategically placed around the world at key Internet network points. These servers cache and deliver all types of content – including images, videos, CSS and JavaScript files. Using a CDN can significantly improve a website’s end-user performance, since it enables browsers to more quickly retrieve and download content.
The Microsoft AJAX CDN makes it easy to add the jQuery and ASP.NET AJAX script libraries to your websites, and have them be automatically served from one of our thousands of geo-located edge-cache servers around the world.
More from Scott Gu
Rhino.Mocks is an open-source dynamic mock object framework for the .NET platform. It makes testing easier by enabling the developer to create mock implementations of custom objects and verify the object interactions with unit testing.
New features include:
- Recursive mocks
- Raise events on VB6 DLLs
- Remoting mocks as static methods
- Access methods from MethodInvocation
- Bug fixes
Download Rhino Mocks
Microsoft has released the Windows 7-based Windows Embedded Standard 2011 (formerly code-named “Quebec”) Community Technology Preview (CTP) to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers of specialized devices worldwide.
Windows Embedded Standard 2011 delivers the latest Windows 7 technologies to OEMs, enabling them to bring high-performing specialized devices to market faster, to differentiate those devices through innovative user experiences, and to delight their customers with devices that extend the Windows user experience to specialized devices from Windows-based PCs, servers and online services.
Windows Embedded Standard
