I've been keeping this under wraps for about 6 months now, but since the book has been finally published & I just received my copy, I'm happy to promote the book Windows Developer Power Tools.I was asked by James Avery and Jim Holmes to be a contributor writing about Unleash It. Check out the book as it has a ton of awesome free & open source tools, and read my section (12.8) starting on page 650. Yay!

Ohh, just in time for the holidays, Enterprise Library 3.0 has just had it's first CTP released. Might have to give it a whirl to see what I can use from it versus the current 2.0 version I'm using. Some of the new features look interesting, especially the new Validation Application Block & Application Block Software Factory. Good thing I'm leaving my computer behind, otherwise I think my wife would divorce me. Check out the new site on CodePlex.

Yes, the title says it all. FogBugz is getting an exposed API (oddly enough feels like WebServices but isn't even close - rar!) in the next version. The good news is there's a beta version of this API already out that enables a new Visual Studio 2005 Plugin to see your cases by your various filters. I've been wanting something like this for home for quite awhile, so I'm quite happy to see this finally exists. I would have posted sooner about this, but it was a rocky start for the API as it's already on (my version #, not there's) 1.2 due to some bugs not allowing me or many others to work with it. So definately check this out if you're using FogBugz and Visual Studio 2005 & hate to have a separate IE window open to manage your bugs.

I was bitten by this bug that was introduced in Microsoft AJAX RC. It seems that Microsoft AJAX is overriding the default implementation of Date.parse from Javascript with it's own implementation. Normally this isn't a bad idea, but it only accepted a certain set of templates when parsing making Google AdSense break upon loading on the page. Luckily enough, some developer named Cyril has a workaround available. The forum post and his blog entry (in French) have more information. Those visiting my website should no longer have a Javascript error displayed as I've implemented this workaround temporarily.

Version 2.0.5 of Excentrics World Server Controls has just been released targeting Microsoft AJAX Extensions, RC1 to ensure continued full compatibility as well as some other bug fixes. It should be noted that with this release, the control set will no longer be compatible with any prior versions of Microsoft AJAX Extensions. The items that were added/fixed are:

• Added disabling auto-complete for the calendar/timepicker textbox.
• Fixed issue where supplying less decimal characters than the max specified would throw an exception upon postback for the Numeric Box.
• Fixed issue where readonly was enabled on the Numeric Box and typing over selected text would delete the text.
• Fixed enabling or disabling the Calendar Popup control via client script multiple times so that the control doesn't display the calendar when clicking on the image.
• Fixed issue where setting Nullable=True, the visible date was 1/1/1900 on the Calendar Popup.
• Fixed month/year popup from jumping 10 years down to 5 years since that is what is displayed on the Calendar Popup.

The updated version can be downloaded by visiting http://www.eworldui.net/Download.aspx. The official build number for this release is 2.0.5.2356.

Version 2.0.4 of Excentrics World Server Controls has just been released targeting just two annoyance bugs that were introduced with v2.0.3. The control set has also been compiled against Microsoft AJAX Extensions, Beta 2 to ensure continued full compatibility - however it'll still function just fine with Beta 1. The bugs that were fixed were:

• Fixed issue where the *Image types for the CalendarPopup and TimePicker were not being rendered correctly to the client.
• Fixed issue where the next month link or image was being displayed outside of the calendar.

The updated version can be downloaded by visiting http://www.eworldui.net/Download.aspx. The official build number for this release is 2.0.4.2327.

I'm happy to announce that Excentrics World Server Controls has hit version 2.0.3. This version focuses primarily on Microsoft AJAX Extensions, Beta 1 support enabling developers to utilize the Excentrics World Server Controls through a compatibility layer. The full change-list is as follows:

• Full compatibility with Microsoft AJAX Extensions, Beta 1.
• Added support for applying the ToolTip to the title hyperlink in the CollapsablePanel.
• Added support for a valid alpha or numeric character within the MaskedTextBox using the character 'x' as the indicator.
• Fixed issue where setting the calendar width was not applying correctly in the CalendarPopup.
• Fixed issue where selecting the same date/time would raise client side events in the CalendarPopup and TimePicker.
• Fixed issue where setting the Page Culture to something other than en-US would not display the calendar correctly in the CalendarPopup.
• Fixed issue where special day styling was not being applied correctly to weekdays and weekends in the CalendarPopup.
• Fixed issue with Internet Explorer when the control is contained within a scrollable div in the CalendarPopup and TimePicker.

For information regarding the compatibility mode with Microsoft AJAX Extensions, Beta 1, please view the Read Me document installed with the setup utility.

The updated version can be downloaded by visiting http://www.eworldui.net/Download.aspx. The official build number for this release is 2.0.3.2310.

With the latest release of Microsoft AJAX, Beta 1 - things have drastically changed requiring a more stricter model which forces controls to register themselves through the ScriptManager versus using Page.ClientScript. This change, unfortunately, breaks just about every control out on the market when being used within the UpdatePanel control (including ASP.NET controls). Changes need to be made to Excentrics World Server Controls to enable full compatibility, and these changes are under-way. More information will be distributed concerning the new compatibility layer being developed as it is completed and released. Until then, if you require the use of UpdatePanel and Excentrics World Server Controls, I would recommend staying on the July CTP.

I’m proud to announce that Excentrics World Server Controls has released v2.0.2. This has been a work in progress for about a month now with the biggest issue finally resolved, full Microsoft “Atlas” compatibility support! The full change-list is as follows:

• Full compatibility with Microsoft “Atlas” for all controls.
• Added ability to enable/disable the CalendarPopup and TimePicker controls via Client-side Javascript API.
• Fixed validator controls not working with non en-US cultures.
• Fixed the display of the visible year for non-Gregorian calendars for the CalendarPopup.
• Fixed issue where setting PopupLocation=Left on the CalendarPopup and TimePicker never actually displayed the popups on the left.
• Fixed the issue where the CollapsablePanel was not retaining the expanded/collapsed state upon postback.
• Fixed the NumericBox not posting back when AutoPostBack=True
• Fixed issue where AutoFillFormat was not applying the mask when reaching a non-alpha/numeric character.
• Fixed tabbing into the MaskedTextBox by handling it more gracefully now when typing characters.
• Fixed issue where the multi-text drop down list and list box controls were not binding correctly against the selected value when contained in a DetailsView / FormView.

Along with the v2.0.2 release, there has been a price drop in licensing the source code. The cost is now $75 USD instead of $100 USD. Lastly, some website enhancements have been made, most notably the integration with my weblog displaying the latest 5 entries relating to website news.

The updated version can be downloaded by visiting http://www.eworldui.net/Download.aspx. The official build number for this release is 2.0.2.2264.