Thursday, July 28, 2011

Comparing Content Management Systems

Recently I needed to compare the features of different Content Management Systems (CMS) and came up to the following site which has a huge list of Systems with the ability to compare their features.

http://www.cmsmatrix.org/

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Came Back to Australia

Since last May I was back in Australia with my wife, so didn’t had a chance to update my site for a long time. This time I will be staying in Adelaide for long.

Thought to share some pictures I took on my way here through Singapore.

Following are some photos I took while we were in some indoor gardens at Singapore Airport.

IMG_2819IMG_2826IMG_2894IMG_2896IMG_2897IMG_2900IMG_2901IMG_2904IMG_2887

Some photos I captured while we were in Singapore City.

IMG_2841IMG_2852IMG_2853IMG_2856IMG_2866IMG_2867IMG_2868IMG_2871IMG_2872IMG_2875IMG_2876IMG_2882IMG_2884

Even though this was my second time in Singapore I will never be bored being in Singapore due to vast variety of facilities Changi airport is providing.

In flight to Adelaide, Australia on Singapore Airlines Airbus A330.

IMG_2918

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Database Not Accessible

Recently after restoring a database backup which I got from another server I repeatedly encountered an error when logged in using a user who is given permission. But when ‘sa’ account is used I could work with the database without any problem.

The error message was “The database DATABASE NAME is not accessible. (ObjectExplorer)” which was not helpful since it didn’t give any clue to figure out the issue.

image

Later I found that the issue is because the user in the restored database is not properly mapped to the user in the new server and the resolution for this is to run the stored procedure sp_change_users_login to correct the orphaned user.

  • sp_change_users_login 'update_one', 'USER', 'LOGIN' – Links the given user in the current database to the specified login.
  • sp_change_users_login 'auto_fix', 'USER' – Links the given user in the current database to the login having the same name in the current server.

After running this you will be able to access the restored database without any issue using the mentioned database user.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

SharePoint 2010 Videos

Thought to share few sites I found which might help you start development on SharePoint 2010.

Official Microsoft SharePoint Site

Getting started developing on SharePoint

SharePoint Resources for Developers – This has links to many SharePoint learning videos

Using SharePoint 2010

Hope these helps.

Menu Overlapping with Report

If you had lengthier menus in you ASP.Net application and had used report viewer control you may have faced the problem of report and menu overlapping when ever the report is loaded with data. For example in my sample application it appeared as below.

image

To correct this behavior you need to set the z-index for menu and report viewer using CSS class property. For this I have used the following CSS classes in the Style.CSS.

  1. /* CSS Class for the Menu. */
  2. div.menu
  3. {
  4.     padding: 4px 0px 4px 8px;
  5. }
  6.  
  7. /* CSS Class for a Menu Item. */
  8. div.menu ul
  9. {
  10.     list-style: none;
  11.     margin: 0px;
  12.     padding: 0px;
  13.     width: auto;
  14.     z-index: 1; /* Setting the control to appear on top of level 0 controls for e.g. report viewer. */
  15. }
  16.  
  17. /* CSS Class for the Report Viewer. */
  18. .report
  19. {
  20.     z-index: 0; /* Setting the control to appear below the level 1 controls for e.g. menu items. */
  21. }

To apply the CSS use a code similar to following.

Appling CSS Class to menu in master page.

  1. <asp:Menu ID="NavigationMenu" runat="server" CssClass="menu"
  2. EnableViewState="false" IncludeStyleBlock="false" Orientation="Horizontal">
  3.     <Items>
  4.         <asp:MenuItem NavigateUrl="~/Default.aspx" Text="Home"/>
  5.         <asp:MenuItem NavigateUrl="~/About.aspx" Text="About"/>
  6.         <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item">
  7.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  8.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  9.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  10.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  11.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  12.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  13.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  14.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  15.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  16.         </asp:MenuItem>
  17.         <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item">
  18.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  19.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  20.             <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  21.         </asp:MenuItem>
  22.         <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  23.         <asp:MenuItem Text="New Item" Value="New Item"></asp:MenuItem>
  24.     </Items>
  25. </asp:Menu>

Appling CSS Class to report viewer.

  1. <rsweb:ReportViewer ID="ReportViewer1" runat="server" Font-Names="Verdana" CssClass="report"
  2.     Font-Size="8pt" InteractiveDeviceInfos="(Collection)" WaitMessageFont-Names="Verdana"
  3.     WaitMessageFont-Size="14pt" Width="636px">
  4.     <LocalReport ReportPath="Report1.rdlc">
  5.         <DataSources>
  6.             <rsweb:ReportDataSource DataSourceId="ObjectDataSource1" Name="DataSet1" />
  7.         </DataSources>
  8.     </LocalReport>
  9. </rsweb:ReportViewer>

 

This will correct the overlapping issue as seen below.

image

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Amazing Craft Shop Benthota – Sri Lanka

Recently when I visit my home town Benthota I happen to step into a craft shop on the way to my home thinking to buy a wooden model of an elephant. Before stepping into the shop it was appeared to me as a shop having a huge collection of animal models but I felt I am wrong after entering into the shop.

The collection was larger than I imagined, it had almost all the craft items you can possibly buy in Sri Lanka. To name some it had many different god statues, animal models, traditional masks, resting chairs, wall hangers, leather items, hand bags, shoes, African masks, etc… Since the list may go on for some time I thought to put some pictures I took of the place to give you an idea.

IMG_2343

If you are a tourist visiting Sri Lanka or if you are a Sri Lankan searching for handi/crafts I recommend you to visit this shop. You can find this shop besides the road when you are travelling from Benthota to Yathramulla.

If you need any help finding the place or buying these stuff let me know, I might be able to help you.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Saman Villas Benthota – Sri Lanka

If you are in Sri Lanka there are many places that you should visit, among them one very good and different hotel that I recommend is Saman Vilas Benthota.

Even though a friend told me that it is an amazing hotel I didn’t think that it would be such a great place until I went there. Because of its shear beauty I thought to put a post on that amazing hotel.

It is different because it will not provide you rooms but it will provide private villas for your comfort. Some of them are even having private swimming pools as well. Among the many other goodies you will get there, one thing is that you can wake up into the rising sun from your villa with a great view of the ocean. Also the food is very tasty and the presentation is also very attractive. Another specialty of the hotel is that the kitchen staff is working all 24 hours for you. If you need to have a late dinner at about 1:00 AM they are very happy to cater you without any extra payments and you only needs to ask the friendly staff.

If you would like to relax your body the best place is to go to their spa, you will be entitled to a 15 minutes free massage. If interested you can also use their library as well.

Before putting pictures I should say that it is having very nice views which are worth experiencing. No need to explain more since the following pictures that I took will prove my fact.

12

Contact them to get more details.

Hotel

Aturuwella, Benthota. Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 34 2275435, +94 34 4936200.
Fax: +94 34 2275433, +94 34 4287063.
resv@samanvilla.com

Head Office

90 Gothami Road, Colombo 08. Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 4866515, +94 11 2679562.
Fax: +94 11 4611049.
resv_samanvil@sltnet.lk

http://www.samanvilla.com/