Re: DataSet --> Pass from ASP.NET to Silverlight? - WPF Discussion Boards

Re: DataSet --> Pass from ASP.NET to Silverlight? [modified]

14-Feb-09 17:26

hello

Mid way through my horror trying to port old library to Silverlight. One question

Can I pass, say, a DataSet/DataTable, from ASP.NET to Silverlight? If I could then I don't need to rewrite DAO I had...

Also is only way to access database from silverlight is through LinQ? I can't even use DbProviderFactory in my Silverlight lib! (world upside down)

Thanks

dev

devvvy14-Feb-09 17:34

14-Feb-09 17:34

In short, is there a way for me to grab a List<person> from my hosting ASP.NET project, then pass it to Silverlight xap so I don't need to rewrite my DAO layer?!

My DAO done in combination of ADO.NET (not linq) and NHibernate.

My hunch feeling is - sockets?! But that's a lot of client-server traffic!! Can we feed xap/Silverlight with List<person> BEFORE it's sent out to client instead of round tripping via socket (not to mention this architecture seems ugly!)

This article[^] showed how to pass data between ASP.NET and silverlight by way of QueryString but that's only suitable for VERY SIMPLE objects.

dev

modified on Saturday, February 14, 2009 11:48 PM

Kevin McFarlane15-Feb-09 0:11

15-Feb-09 0:11

You can still use your conventional data access but you need to do so via a web service or via WCF. In my app. at work I started off using LINQ but later switched to conventional ADO. But I placed it all in a WCF service.

Kevin

devvvy15-Feb-09 3:50

15-Feb-09 3:50

Thanks yes. I am about to explore option Web Service+Silverlight. Socket is out of option because that'd make it an intranet solution (which is not our goal).

I'm still doing a lot of catch up, trying to figure out what WCF brings up and why I should use it instead of good old Web Service

dev

Kevin McFarlane15-Feb-09 4:07

15-Feb-09 4:07

devvvy wrote:
why I should use it instead of good old Web Service

One resaon is "In most cases WCF is significantly more performant (25%-50%) faster."

See here:
Silverlight-enabled WCF Services versus ASMX Web Services[^]

However, there is nothing to stop you using Web Services if that's what you're comfortable with. It's what my current client is using at work because they're familiar with it. Nonetheless the knowledge of WCF required for Silverlight is no more complex than what is required for web services. There's also a Visual Studio template for a Silverlight-enabled WCF service that does the plumbing for you.

Eventually you will need to move to WCF regardless of what you choose now as that is MS's preferred technology moving forward.

Btw, the best intro I've seen to WCF is Michele Bustamante's Learning WCF. The first chapter is available online and you can learn a lot just from that chapter.

Kevin

devvvy15-Feb-09 4:09

15-Feb-09 4:09

I know I can consume C# Web Service from a Java client - what about WCF? Is there anything proprietary...etc?

I already scanned through couple articles just now, seems like you can host WCF service on any Visual Studio project type, from Winform to console to WPF. Same can be said for client. Is that right?

dev

Kevin McFarlane15-Feb-09 4:13

15-Feb-09 4:13

devvvy wrote:
I know I can consume C# Web Service from a Java client - what about WCF? Is there anything proprietary...etc?

Since WCF is a superset of Web Services, you should be able to do it from a Java client, but I have no experience of it.

Kevin

devvvy15-Feb-09 4:14

15-Feb-09 4:14

Thank you.

dev

Programming Silverlight 2

VincentGee15-Oct-09 1:28

VincentGee1

5-Oct-09 1:28

You could use the libraries from http://www.silverlightds.com they do alot of what you are looking for.

Kevin McFarlane14-Feb-09 3:44

Re: Programming Silverlight 2

14-Feb-09 3:44

Does anyone know when Programming Silverlight 2 [^] is released?

Amazon says 1 Feb but not yet released (Amazon UK doesn't even list it!). I've emailed each author but had no response thus far.

Kevin

devvvy14-Feb-09 17:28

Re: Programming Silverlight 2

14-Feb-09 17:28

there're plenty of resources on the web, good tutorial too but seems like they failed to mentioned horror in porting old dotnet lib to Silverlight....

a. NHibernate, log4net
b. ISerializable and remoting (hum... why if they support socket!)
c. System.Data.Common (DbProviderFactory no long avail and combined with (a) seems like I need to rewrite DAO, great!)
d. App.config becomes App.xaml (I guess this is alright not too much changes)
e. System.Collection - everything in typed collection!
f. System.IO and file/directory access (Okay this makes sense)

dev

Kevin McFarlane15-Feb-09 0:16

Re: Programming Silverlight 2

15-Feb-09 0:16

I know there are plenty of resources but I'm interested in this book based on

1. Jesse Liberty's Silverlight tutorial at the main Silverlight site is good.
2. I like him as an author.

I did have a brief look at Silverlight 2 in Action but it didn't seem very accessible.

Anyway, I've since found out that, as I suspected, it will become Programming Silverlight 3 and will now appear late in the year.

Re: your list, put it all behind WCF and you should be good to go.

Kevin

devvvy15-Feb-09 3:52

good old .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib?

15-Feb-09 3:52

yes - i think WCF or good old web service will just do! No need to rewrite DAO layer.

dev

devvvy13-Feb-09 21:06

Re: good old .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib?

13-Feb-09 21:06

hello

I've got some .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib? Problem is you can only add reference to other Silverlight lib from within a silverlight lib/app.

And also, how can you use nhibernate/log4net/spring from Silverlight?

Thanks

dev

Kevin McFarlane14-Feb-09 3:51

Re: good old .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib?

14-Feb-09 3:51

devvvy wrote:
I've got some .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib

I guess you'll need to WCF-enable or Web-Service enable the class lib.

devvvy wrote:
how can you use nhibernate/log4net/spring from Silverlight?

Don't know about NHibernate. But re: logging, there's an open source project called CLog that covers this. I've bookmarked it but not looked into it yet.

Clog[^]

Clog - Client Logging, Silverlight Edition[^]

Kevin

devvvy14-Feb-09 17:11

Re: good old .net C# class lib to used in silverlight app/lib?

14-Feb-09 17:11

gosh ... I really feel like world upside down today

a. NHibernate, log4net
b. ISerializable and remoting
c. System.Data.Common (Combined with (a) this means I need to rewrite all DAO! I am impressed at the thoughts given to backward compatibility!)
d. App.config
e. System.Collection - everything in typed collection! (why now!)
f. System.IO and file/directory access (okay this makes sense)

Migration to silverlight proves to be

dev

Mark Salsbery14-Feb-09 6:17

Mark Salsbery

14-Feb-09 6:17

You're not going to be able to use anything except libraries targeting
the Silverlight .NET framework.

Also remember Silverlight apps run with strict security restrictions
so even things like writing to local storage (with the exception of
Isolated Storage) is not possible.

Mark

Mark Salsbery
Microsoft MVP - Visual C++
Java | [Coffee]

Combo Box Question: I am embarrassed to ask...

BlitzPackage13-Feb-09 11:08

BlitzPackage

13-Feb-09 11:08

Good people,

I have never used a combo box before. So, anyway, I databound it to my object. It produces the dropdown list of items. However, whenever I make a selection, it still shows the name it showed when it was constructed and displayed.

What am I missing? I am sure it's something simple.

Please forgive me for this most embarrassing question. Smile | :)

Blitz

Mark Salsbery13-Feb-09 13:45

Mark Salsbery

13-Feb-09 13:45

Can you show the combobox xaml and/or code?

Mark

Mark Salsbery
Microsoft MVP - Visual C++
Java | [Coffee]

BlitzPackage13-Feb-09 18:38

BlitzPackage

13-Feb-09 18:38

Sure:

<code>
<ComboBox IsSynchronizedWithCurrentItem="False" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="0,8,0,13.01" Width="100.88" Grid.Column="1" Height="23" FontFamily="./..\Fonts\Arial" FontSize="11" x:Name="ComboBoxMonthStart" ItemsSource="{Binding Mode=OneWay}" ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource DataTemplateComboBoxList}" MaxDropDownHeight="150" SelectedIndex="0"/>
</code>

Mark Salsbery14-Feb-09 6:36

Mark Salsbery

14-Feb-09 6:36

Thanks!

I can't reproduce the problem.

I took your code and only changed the ItemTemplate since I don't have yours:

<ComboBox IsSynchronizedWithCurrentItem="False"
              HorizontalAlignment="Left"
              Margin="0,8,0,13.01" Width="100.88"
              Grid.Column="1"
              Height="23"
              FontFamily="./..\Fonts\Arial"
              FontSize="11"
              x:Name="ComboBoxMonthStart"
              ItemsSource="{Binding Mode=OneWay}"

              MaxDropDownHeight="150" SelectedIndex="0" >
    <!--ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource DataTemplateComboBoxList}" -->
    <ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
        </DataTemplate>
    </ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>

Works as expected...

Something possibly in your ItemTemplate?

Mark Salsbery
Microsoft MVP - Visual C++
Java | [Coffee]

Pete O'Hanlon16-Feb-09 0:00

Pete O'Hanlon

16-Feb-09 0:00

When you say "it still shows the name it showed when it was constructed and displayed.", are you referring to the combo box itself (i.e. the text never changes, regardless of what you select), or are you talking about the value in the model behind the scenes?

"WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith

My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys

BlitzPackage16-Feb-09 3:25

BlitzPackage

16-Feb-09 3:25

First, thanks to both of you for replying.

I looked at your code, Mark, and I still don't understand why mines is not working.

Pete, indeed, no matter what I select, the selection in the combobox remains the same.

I'm open to any ideas.

Thanks,
Blitz