So a couple of weeks ago I ran into a situation on a project I was working on where all projects in the solution were signed, we received a third party assembly from a vendor that was not.  We asked them to sign it but it was going to take nearly 2 weeks before we received that delivery.  In order for us to move forward I needed to have this assembly signed, but how do you sign an assembly without access to the source code?

Well a coworker of mine came up with a rather ingenious solution, and I am posting here so the knowledge can be shared.  I googled for a solution and found none so hopefully this will help people with this same situation.

So here are the commands:

ildasm /tokens /out=unsignedAssembly.il unsignedAssembly.dll
ilasm /dll /key=key.snk unsignedAssembly.il /out=signedAssembly.dll

As you can see whats happening here is you use the dissassembler to generate the MSIL code into the unsignedAssembly.il file, at which point you essentially have the code, or a form of it.  Next you use the assembler to reassemble the msil code into the binary assembly but this time you sign it using your key!

Its brilliant, it works great and I did not notice any drawbacks to doing it this way.

Been a while since I have posted, so as you can see I don't think I have a journalists defining attributes.  But in any case to the point of this post!

I was writing a test application and I needed an easy way to take any object and print all of its properties, so I wrote a tiny little function that does just that, it will take any object and build a string that can then be used however you like.  I thought I would share it since it can be helpful, the debug viewer in Visual Studio lets you do this already but if you want to take that and print it out to a log file or a text window than you would normally have to write out all of the properties by hand. In addition by doing it that way you are bound to that specific type and it just starts being a huge amount of code for something really simple.

/// <summary>
/// Gets the object view.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="objInstance">The obj instance.</param>
/// <returns></returns>
private string GetObjectView(object objInstance)
{
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    foreach (MemberInfo info in objInstance.GetType().GetMembers())
    {
        if (info.MemberType == MemberTypes.Field)
        {
            builder.Append(info.DeclaringType.ToString() + "." + info.Name);
            FieldInfo fieldInfo = (FieldInfo)info;
            builder.Append(": " + fieldInfo.GetValue(objInstance));
            builder.AppendLine();
        }
    }
    return builder.ToString();
}

Found something interesting on the Microsoft Research page about an automatic test generation tool that is being developed called "Pex."  Which is quit interesting, they have a screencast available for your viewing pleasure if you would like to watch it.  I think it holds a great deal of promise, when I write Unit tests that are very repetitive and it gets quit tiresome after a while of basically just copying and pasting.  Change a couple things, and then do it all over again.  This would solve that problem, but something I find kind of interesting is that it will offer a fix for certain issues. 

Here is what the Microsoft page says about it: "Pex (Program EXploration) is an intelligent assistant to the programmer. By automatically generating unit tests, it allows to find bugs early. In addition, it suggests to the programmer how to fix the bugs."

You can visit the Pex page here: http://research.microsoft.com/pex/

I had one hell of a time finding this page, all of the help pages, KB pages, etc. pointed to an outdated link on Microsoft's page.  But if you are having the same problem here is a direct link to the download.  This fixes all known issues with Visual Studio 2005 and Windows Vista, also this is not the Beta service pack that was released prior.  This is the full blown released Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90e2942d-3ad1-4873-a2ee-4acc0aace5b6&DisplayLang=en

Have Fun!!

Well since I have started getting involved with writing gadgets I have been looking for a nice free javascript ide to use, and I finally found one.  It's called Aptana and while it has it's issues with Vista it is a great IDE, in fact I can't believe its free its so great.  I would highly recommend checking it out, however if you plan to use it with Vista there are a couple of things worth mentioning.

You can download it here: http://www.aptana.com

Installing

---

1. Right click the installer executable "Aptana_IDE_Setup.exe" and go to the compatibility tab.
2. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
3. Check "Disable desktop composition"
4. Check "Run this program as an administrator"

-OR-

1. Double click the installer but cancel the install.
2. Vista 'should' prompt you and ask if the program installed correctly, choose no and Vista will do the above for you but it doesn't always ask so this is kinda flaky.

Running

---

1. Right click the "Aptana" shortcut and select properties and go to the compatibility tab.
2. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
3. Check "Disable desktop composition"
4. Check "Run this program as an administrator"

Everything should work perfectly fine after you perform those actions and I have not noticed anything that has not worked properly.  It does use Java which it will install for you so just beware that it will be a tad bit slower than a native application, but its not very noticeable.

Well if you use Vista and you did not notice the horrible state of video drivers than you are either in denial or you don't use Vista enough.  So the long anticipated release from NVidia is finally here, this release fixes the majority of the major bug complains so far with the flickering issue when UAC pops up or CTRL-ALT-DEL is used in particular.  You can view more info about the driver on their site below.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/vista_driver_news_030207.html

I use the 64 bit version of Vista and was getting blue screens while watching movies, so far this has not reoccured with these drivers and hopefully it wont.  I still think they have a ways to go I mean XP's drivers have been tuned over a course of several years and Vista has only been tuned for a a couple of months now, so in due time I expect Vista to outperform XP.  I especially expect DirectX 10 to be a very jaw dropping experience, from the previews I have seen DirectX 10 is leaps and bounds above anything OpenGL could muster up so I cant wait till the latest releases of games hit the shelves using this amazing technology.

I bought the GeForce 8800 GTX about 1 month ago and I forgot to take picturs of it to post up here on my blog in my haste to install it and test it out.  But everyone knows what it looks like, I will take a couple shots with it in my computer and post them up here later for the curious.  I plan to rebuild my machine with some new components soon anyways, its not old its only 1 year old but I like bleeding edge and ever since purchasing my own home its harder to keep that edge with the pocket a little less empty.

Anyways enjoy the drivers!!

As I mentioned in my previous post I would add some polish to the Wikipedia gadget I have been using.  It's kind of funny that it took me twice (maybe three times) more time to make it look good than it did to code it.  I plan to add multiple based color themes as well as settings, and full multi-lingual support to the gadget in upcoming releases.

Wikipedia.gadget (49.37 KB)

Enjoy,
Eric Malamisura

I have been using Vista for quit some time now, ever since the early Beta stages and I have grown quit fond of the sidebar.  I use a multi-monitor setup and I put all my widgets on the second monitor so I can just glance over and get all my nifty tools at ease.  Well today I decided to test out my Widget development expertise, and I have to say its pretty easy to develop these things.  So I have created a Wikipedia Widget, with the help of some Javascript code I borrowed from the OS X wikipedia gadget, and yes I read the copyright and yes I am allowed to use the code.

So far its pretty freaking ugly, but then again I am a developer not a designer but I do have design skills they are just ultra slow so when I get time I will polish this baby up for all you guys.  It works quit well actually, this is a pre-release as I want to incorporate all the multilingual features that the OS X gadget also has in it. 

But here it is for your download pleasure, and remember its pre-release so it still has zero polish!

Wikipedia.gadget (17.63 KB)

Feel free to leave me comments, thanks!

So I stumbled on this new software application yesterday called Joost, its a P2P Streaming TV application.  Basically it lets you watch tv over the internet for comletely free by using P2P technology.  Its being developed by the guys who brought us the well known Skype application, so how cool is that?

Here is a quote from their site explaining exactly what Joost has to offer:

"Joost™ is a new way to watch TV, free of the schedules and restrictions that come with traditional television. Combining the best of TV with the best of the internet, Joost™ gives you more control and freedom than ever before - control over what you watch, and freedom to watch it whenever you like. We're providing a platform for the best television content on the planet - a platform that will bring you the biggest and best shows from the TV studios, as well as the specialist programs created by professionals and enthusiasts. It's all overlaid with a raft of nifty features that help you find the shows you love, watch and chat with friends, and even create your own TV channels."

So go check it out now and sign up for the beta at www.joost.com and have fun! :)