Fix the problem where Windows explorer opens a new window for every folder you click on rather than just opening it in existing window February 18, 2010
click Start > Run… and paste this command: regsvr32 /i shell32.dll
Call an extension method on IEnumerable using reflection February 17, 2010
I recently needed to invoke the Cast extension method on a List via reflection, and found it was a bit different to what I was used to
I tried:
var cast = typeof (List<string>).GetMethod("Cast");
but this returned null, then after a bit of digging around I realised that because Cast is an extension method, I needed to get it from the class it is defined in which is System.Linq.Enumerable. This code gets us the MethodInfo for Cast:
var cast = typeof (Enumerable).GetMethod("Cast");
Then because Cast is a generic method we need to provide it with the TResult type parameter as follows:
var constructedCast = cast.MakeGenericMethod(ListType);
Then we can invoke it:
var castVals = constructedCast.Invoke(null, new[]{ theList});
notice that the first parameter to Invoke is null because extension methods are static, and also that we pass in the List we want to invoke the method on, which then becomes the ‘this’ parameter of the extension method.
The result of Cast is a CastIterator and I wanted a List so I can then call ToList in the same way and I end up with a List cast to the type I am interested in.
//The result of Cast<TResult> is a a CastIterator so we need to call ToList on this
var toList = typeof (Enumerable).GetMethod("ToList");
var constructedToList = toList.MakeGenericMethod(ListType);
var castList = constructedToList.Invoke(null, new [] {castVals});
An extended Html.Encode function for the Asp.Net Mvc HtmlHelper February 12, 2010
The built in Asp.Net Html encoding function misses out a large number of extended characters (including apostrophes). This extension method for the HtmlHelper class does a much more thorough job:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace KableDirect.Web.FrontEnd.Helpers
{
public static class HtmlHelperExtensions
{
#region The List of replacements
public static readonly Dictionary<string, string> Replacements = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{"–", "–"},
{"—", "—"},
{"‘", "‘"},
{"’", "’"},
{"‚", "‚"},
{"“", "“"},
{"”", "”"},
{"„", "„"},
{"†", "†"},
{"‡", "‡"},
{"•", "•"},
{"…", "…"},
{"‰", "‰"},
{"€", "€"},
{"™", "™"},
{"'", "'"},
{"ą", "ą"},
{"Ą", "Ą"},
{"ę", "ę"},
{"Ę", "Ę"},
{"Ā", "Ā"},
{"ā", "ā"},
{"Ă", "Ă"},
{"ă", "ă"},
{"Ǟ", "Ǟ"},
{"ǟ", "ǟ"},
{"Ǻ", "Ǻ"},
{"ǻ", "ǻ"},
{"Ǽ", "Ǽ"},
{"ǽ", "ǽ"},
{"Ḃ", "Ḃ"},
{"ḃ", "ḃ"},
{"Ć", "Ć"},
{"ć", "ć"},
{"Č", "Č"},
{"č", "č"},
{"Ĉ", "Ĉ"},
{"ĉ", "ĉ"},
{"Ċ", "Ċ"},
{"ċ", "ċ"},
{"Ḑ", "Ḑ"},
{"ḑ", "ḑ"},
{"Ď", "Ď"},
{"ď", "ď"},
{"Ḋ", "Ḋ"},
{"ḋ", "ḋ"},
{"Đ", "Đ"},
{"đ", "đ"},
{"DZ", "DZ"},
{"Dz", "Dz"},
{"dz", "dz"},
{"DŽ", "DŽ"},
{"Dž", "Dž"},
{"dž", "dž"},
{"Ě", "Ě"},
{"ě", "ě"},
{"Ē", "Ē"},
{"ē", "ē"},
{"Ĕ", "Ĕ"},
{"ĕ", "ĕ"},
{"Ė", "Ė"},
{"ė", "ė"},
{"Ʒ", "Ʒ"},
{"ʒ", "ʒ"},
{"Ǯ", "Ǯ"},
{"ǯ", "ǯ"},
{"Ḟ", "Ḟ"},
{"ḟ", "ḟ"},
{"ƒ", "ƒ"},
{"ff", "ff"},
{"fi", "fi"},
{"fl", "fl"},
{"ffi", "ffi"},
{"ffl", "ffl"},
{"ſt", "ſt"},
{"Ǵ", "Ǵ"},
{"ǵ", "ǵ"},
{"Ģ", "Ģ"},
{"ģ", "ģ"},
{"Ǧ", "Ǧ"},
{"ǧ", "ǧ"},
{"Ĝ", "Ĝ"},
{"ĝ", "ĝ"},
{"Ğ", "Ğ"},
{"ğ", "ğ"},
{"Ġ", "Ġ"},
{"ġ", "ġ"},
{"Ǥ", "Ǥ"},
{"ǥ", "ǥ"},
{"Ĥ", "Ĥ"},
{"ĥ", "ĥ"},
{"Ħ", "Ħ"},
{"ħ", "ħ"},
{"Ĩ", "Ĩ"},
{"ĩ", "ĩ"},
{"Ī", "Ī"},
{"ī", "ī"},
{"Ĭ", "Ĭ"},
{"ĭ", "ĭ"},
{"Į", "Į"},
{"į", "į"},
{"İ", "İ"},
{"ı", "ı"},
{"IJ", "IJ"},
{"ij", "ij"},
{"Ĵ", "Ĵ"},
{"ĵ", "ĵ"},
{"Ḱ", "Ḱ"},
{"ḱ", "ḱ"},
{"Ķ", "Ķ"},
{"ķ", "ķ"},
{"Ǩ", "Ǩ"},
{"ǩ", "ǩ"},
{"ĸ", "ĸ"},
{"Ĺ", "Ĺ"},
{"ĺ", "ĺ"},
{"Ļ", "Ļ"},
{"ļ", "ļ"},
{"Ľ", "Ľ"},
{"ľ", "ľ"},
{"Ŀ", "Ŀ"},
{"ŀ", "ŀ"},
{"Ł", "Ł"},
{"ł", "ł"},
{"LJ", "LJ"},
{"Lj", "Lj"},
{"lj", "lj"},
{"Ṁ", "Ṁ"},
{"ṁ", "ṁ"},
{"Ń", "Ń"},
{"ń", "ń"},
{"Ņ", "Ņ"},
{"ņ", "ņ"},
{"Ň", "Ň"},
{"ň", "ň"},
{"ʼn", "ʼn"},
{"Ŋ", "Ŋ"},
{"ŋ", "ŋ"},
{"NJ", "NJ"},
{"Nj", "Nj"},
{"nj", "nj"},
{"Ō", "Ō"},
{"ō", "ō"},
{"Ŏ", "Ŏ"},
{"ŏ", "ŏ"},
{"Ő", "Ő"},
{"ő", "ő"},
{"Ǿ", "Ǿ"},
{"ǿ", "ǿ"},
{"Œ", "Œ"},
{"œ", "œ"},
{"Ṗ", "Ṗ"},
{"ṗ", "ṗ"},
{"Ŕ", "Ŕ"},
{"ŕ", "ŕ"},
{"Ŗ", "Ŗ"},
{"ŗ", "ŗ"},
{"Ř", "Ř"},
{"ř", "ř"},
{"ɼ", "ɼ"},
{"Ś", "Ś"},
{"ś", "ś"},
{"Ş", "Ş"},
{"ş", "ş"},
{"Š", "Š"},
{"š", "š"},
{"Ŝ", "Ŝ"},
{"ŝ", "ŝ"},
{"Ṡ", "Ṡ"},
{"ṡ", "ṡ"},
{"ſ", "ſ"},
{"Ţ", "Ţ"},
{"ţ", "ţ"},
{"Ť", "Ť"},
{"ť", "ť"},
{"Ṫ", "Ṫ"},
{"ṫ", "ṫ"},
{"Ŧ", "Ŧ"},
{"ŧ", "ŧ"},
{"Ũ", "Ũ"},
{"ũ", "ũ"},
{"Ů", "Ů"},
{"ů", "ů"},
{"Ū", "Ū"},
{"ū", "ū"},
{"Ŭ", "Ŭ"},
{"ŭ", "ŭ"},
{"Ų", "Ų"},
{"ų", "ų"},
{"Ű", "Ű"},
{"ű", "ű"},
{"Ẁ", "Ẁ"},
{"ẁ", "ẁ"},
{"Ẃ", "Ẃ"},
{"ẃ", "ẃ"},
{"Ŵ", "Ŵ"},
{"ŵ", "ŵ"},
{"Ẅ", "Ẅ"},
{"ẅ", "ẅ"},
{"Ỳ", "Ỳ"},
{"ỳ", "ỳ"},
{"Ŷ", "Ŷ"},
{"ŷ", "ŷ"},
{"Ÿ", "Ÿ"},
{"Ź", "Ź"},
{"ź", "ź"},
{"Ž", "Ž"},
{"ž", "ž"},
{"Ż", "Ż"},
{"ż", "ż"}
};
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// A fuller html encoding than the built in method, will encode a large number of characters ignored by the built in method including apostrophes.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="helper"></param>
/// <param name="html"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static string EncodeFull(this HtmlHelper helper, string html)
{
var result = helper.Encode(html);
foreach (var replacement in Replacements)
{
result = result.Replace(replacement.Key, replacement.Value);
}
return result;
}
}
}
And here is a unit test for it, this uses the HtmlHelperFactory class I described here:
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Routing;
using KableDirect.Web.FrontEnd.Helpers;
using MbUnit.Framework;
namespace KableDirect.UnitTests
{
[TestFixture]
public class TestHtmlEncode
{
[Test]
public void test_all_chars_are_encoded()
{
var html = HtmlHelperFactory.CreateInstance(new RouteData());
var specials = "–—‘’‚“”„†‡•…‰€™ŒœŠšŸƒ’ÀàÁáÂâÃãÄäÅåĀāĂ㥹ǞǟǺǻÆæǼǽḂḃĆćÇçČčĈĉĊċḐḑĎďḊḋĐđÐðDZDzdzDŽDždžÈèÉéĚěÊêËëĒēĔĕĘęĖėƷʒǮǯḞḟƒfffiflffifflſtǴǵĢģǦǧĜĝĞğĠġǤǥĤĥĦħÌìÍíÎîĨĩÏïĪīĬĭĮįİıIJijĴĵḰḱĶķǨǩĸĹĺĻļĽľĿŀŁłLJLjljṀṁŃńŅņŇňÑñʼnŊŋNJNjnjÒòÓóÔôÕõÖöŌōŎŏØøŐőǾǿŒœṖṗŔŕŖŗŘřɼŚśŞşŠšŜŝṠṡſßŢţŤťṪṫŦŧÞþÙùÚúÛûŨũÜüŮůŪūŬŭŲųŰűẀẁẂẃŴŵẄẅỲỳÝýŶŷŸÿŹźŽžŻż";
var encoded = html.EncodeFull(specials);
var specialChars = specials.ToCharArray();
var missedChars = encoded.ToCharArray().Intersect(specialChars);
string output = "";
foreach(var ch in missedChars)
{
output += "{\"" + ch + "\", \"&#" + ((int) ch) + ";\"},\n";
}
Assert.IsEmpty(output);
}
}
}
301 redirects from Asp.Net February 9, 2010
Using Response.Redirect in Asp.Net will issue a 302 (temporary redirect) response. For items that have moved permanently you should issue a 301 (permanent redirect) using code such as:
<script runat="server">
private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Response.StatusCode = (int) HttpStatusCode.MovedPermanently;
Response.Status = "301 Moved Permanently";
Response.AddHeader("Location", "http://www.my-redirect.co.uk/newhomepage.aspx");
}
</script>
Paul Roach the SEO lead at guardian.co.uk explains why this matters:
“301 redirects are preferable from an SEO point of view because they instruct the search engine to pass all of the value of the original page to the destination page, including link equity and page history / age. If you use 302 redirects the search engine considers it a temporary state and does not pass the value from the original page to the destination page, this can also lead to both pages being displayed in the index.”
Of Code and Me 