Larry West MCSD

What a Shock! I won a contest.

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:37:01 GMT

Next Sunday I will be flying to Spokane, Washington to attend the Arena Football League 2 Championship game on Monday, August 25, 2008 between the Spokane Shock and the Tennessee Valley Vipers of Huntsville, AL. This is the league that the Louisville Fire is in.

There is a 90% chance that my wife will not feel like going to the game. She is on the Board of Directors of a group that has a meeting on Sunday afternoon and an emergency board meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Since it appears that she is not going, I would like to offer one of my readers the following:

1. Her ticket to the game itself.

2. Her ticket to the AFL2 banquet on Sunday evening at the Davenport Hotel (sort of like Louisville's Seelbach, only better).

3. Her ticket to the Fan Fest.

Of course, you will have to find your own way to Spokane (if you don't already live there) and if she decides to go the offer is off.

If you are interested, please let me know at larrywest --at-- hotmail.com.

Some general thoughts about exam studying and other stuff.

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:10:07 GMT

If you are looking for my political ramblings, most of them are at http://activerepublican.spaces.live.com

If you are doing research on me in order to offer me a high-paying job, you will likely come across references to a Larry West in Louisville who is active in the neo-nazi movement. Please be aware that he is a different person. Although I am interested in politics, I am not interested in THAT type of politics. I desire to have smaller government, not have the government take over everything which is what the national socialists believe in.

Lately, there have been a lot of people who come to this site via www.google.co.in (that's India's version of Google) searching for the word "braindumps". This is probably because of the joke braindump post I have for the joke certification MCITP: US History Major (see http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/30/what-the-hell.aspx - yes, I'm the "Certified since 1857" person mentioned in that Microsoft blog).

For those who use braindumps, I would urge you to kick the habit. You risk losing all your certifications. Now that I have fourteen, that is a lot for me to lose. Since you will someday probably have a lot of certifications also, it is best to wean yourself from braindumps as quickly as possible.

Here are my suggestions for studying (for less than the cost of a braindump!):

1. Write the "Skills being measured" section of the Preparation Guide on the top of 3" by 5" index cards (or similar size in your country) or larger if you can't write in a small font-size. I number each item in the "Skills being measured" in case my cards get out of order. The very act of writing the items will help instill them in your head. That way, if you get a question with an answer mentioning a skill that you remember writing down, and three answers that were not listed on the "skills being measured," you've got a free question (without really cheating!).

2. Since some exams have skills that are mentioned in other exams (for example, most 70-290 and 70-291 skills are also mentioned in 70-292), I try to mark down all exams that a skill is mentioned on. That way, if I was studying for 70-290, for example, and came across a 70-292 book on a clearance aisle, I would know immediately that I could use it for my exam. Most likely, this will occur with the "upgrade" exams, but it also occurs in cases such as the 70-643 exam having a topic on Hyper-V, which is also its own exam.

3. Then, do research on each of the topics, writing down information on your card. The very act of hand-writing it will help instill those items in your head. I have found that http://msdn2.microsoft.com and http://technet.microsoft.com are the best study sources. Why? Because when the original exam question creators created their questions, they didn't have third-party books and websites, they just had the Microsoft sites. Try to fill the front of the card with information. This may mean trying to figure out what items to list on skills where there are abundant documentation, and trying to find further information on items where documentation is scarce.

4. Use the search boxes on the msdn2 and technet sites, and you will likely get better responses than public search engines such as google, which unfortunately still mostly points to braindump sites (if anyone can find such sites so easily by searching the terms in the preparation guides, why can't Microsoft do so and shut them down, or at least ask google not to include them in their databases?). Sometimes you luck out and get the exact wording of the "skill" on a msdn or technet site. If that happens, study the heck out of that page.

5. Leave the back of your cards blank. As you go to seminars and Tech-Eds (such as Tech-ED SEA in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which I would urge you to go to [see http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/techedsea2008/default.mspx] -- there, does that qualify me for the free T-shirt?) or watch web-casts (see http://www.microsoft.com/events/webcasts/calendar/monthview.aspx), you can add notes there, then compress the information onto the front of a new index card if you get a lot. (Remember, the very act of hand-writing the information will help you to learn it better - its called kinesthetic learning.) If one of your cards is blank (except for the name of the "skill"), you can know what topics to ask the presenters to talk about.

6. Carry the cards with you. If you are riding on a bus, waiting for a light to change, or standing in a queue, you could use that normally wasted time studying for your next exam.

7. If you still have mostly blank cards, visit your local library (if it carries up to date certification books) or bookstore, and peruse the books there, writing notes on your card as if you were listening to a lecture or reading on the Microsoft site. If you can afford a book, buy it, then pretend that you are an editor trying to find errors. This means going through each exercise in the book. By doing this, I was able to pass the 70-643 exam.

8. When writing down information regarding a skill, I always ask myself "If I was writing a question on this skill, what would I write about?" Try to get into the exam writers' heads. Some exam writers have blogs. If you can find them, read them as it will help you learn some of the things that are important to them and likely to be on the exam.

9. Don't take the exam until at least 95% of your cards are filled and you have studied them all for at least a week. It may take you several weeks to prepare the cards, versus several days to study the braindumps, but you are more likely to learn something usable in the real world than you would with a braindump.

Note: If you are studying for more than one exam at a time, use colo(u)red index cards, a different one for each exam. Walgreen's in the United States has such cards on sale this week for only 19 cents per pack. [Each pack has 5 colors and 14 cards per color per pack -- you will need to buy several packages.] August is the best time in the US to buy things like this due to the "back-to-school sales."

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know and I will include them.

P.S. For more information about Tech-Ed in Southeast Asia, see the following:

Yet another Certification

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:46:46 GMT

Well, I passed yet another certification exam last Friday, one that I hadn't ever planned on taking - 70-643: TS: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuring. [See http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-643.mspx]

That makes me a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration.

And I passed with a score of 930, possibly my personal highest ever.

My studying tool was the upcoming Wiley book "MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Application Infrastructure Configuration Study Guide" (ISBN: 978-0-470-26170-5). All but about four questions were from stuff mentioned in this book (pretty good considering the Preparation Guide states "May include but is not limited to:" for everything), although my particular exam did not have any questions from chapter 11.

Yes, I said upcoming. I did some of the technical editing for this book, and it was my examination of most of the items with Technet and other Microsoft websites that I believe led me to such a good score. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone thinking about taking the exam.

If you know of any other publishers looking for someone to help edit their books, I am open to further contracts.

[For those counting, that makes 14 Microsoft certifications, including 8 MCTS's.]

MCITP: United States History Major

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:16:10 GMT

If you look at the Microsoft website listing the number of certified personnel (www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certified.mspx), on the site dated 20 May 2008 you will see a mention of:

MCITP: United States History Major 2

I think this is someone's idea of a joke, but it may be related to the blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/03/25/back-in-the-saddle.aspx

For some reason, the MCP site is down, so I can't see if I am one of the two. I am the one who suggested the "Certified Since 1857" cap.

If you have more information about this, please let me know.

UPDATE: The certification is not on my MCP transcript, so it must be someone else. I just had a talk with a "Thomas Cornelius Tips" at Microsoft, who provides the best possible braindumps to whomever asks and admits that they used braindumps in their study for certification exams (his e-mail address is tctips@microsoft.com). He gave me a few questions from the new exam 70-666: Pro: United States History Major. Here they are:

Q1. The Panic of 1857 was caused by:

A. People realizing that it is no longer 1856.

B. A sudden downturn in the economy, caused by greedy financial institutions and problems with the nation's railroads

C. People starting to get upset that once again, they voted for someone from the two-party duopoly (Democrat and Whig) and made a determination that in 1860 they needed to elect someone from a third party.

D. People realizing that Bill Gates would not be born for another 98 years.

Answer: The real world answer is B, but Bob Barr hopes the answer is C and that history will repeat itself. However, since this is a Microsoft test, it would be wise to use the Microsoft answer -- therefore the answer is D.

Q2. What happened at Homestead High School in Sunnyvale, California in 1972? (Choose all that apply.)

A. Larry West won the District Math Competition, being the first person from nearby Monta Vista High School to do so.

B. Steve Jobs graduated from High School.

C. Upset that he couldn't defeat Mr. West in that math contest, Steve moved to Oregon and got an idea for a machine to take revenge on Mr. West by confusing his mind. He called it the "personal confuser," later changed to "personal computer" to hide its real intent.

Answer: A and B are true -- I don't know about C.

Q3. Why did the Wright Brothers fly their plane at Kitty Hawk?

A. To get frequent flyer footage.

B. So that Ohio couldn't claim "first in flight."

C. Microsoft Streets and Trips gave them wrong directions to Toledo.

D. Microsoft Flight Simulator wasn't available in Ohio at the time.

Answer: Ah, two answers with Microsoft in them, but since C criticizes Microsoft, the answer must be D.

[note: other questions will be inputted as I get free time to type them in.]

Note that Thomas has been replaced at Microsoft. From now on, if you want the greatest in braindumps, you need to e-mail Tammy Rikah (trikah-at-microsoft.com). Be sure to give her your MCP ID number.

P.S. A good site on this exam is available at http://blogs.msdn.com/trika/archive/2008/05/30/what-the-hell.aspx

Announcing a Brand New Blog!!!!

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:00:18 GMT

In order to turn this blog back into my certification helps and miscellaneous information, I am in the process of moving all of the Republican Conventions posting to http://ActiveRepublican.spaces.live.com. I will keep some things posted here as well in order to accomodate links from other sites, but most of it has been moved over.

I will continue over the next four years updating that site for the 2012 Jefferson County Republican Conventions, as well as anything else I want to say related to politics. In fact, there is a post there on the April JCREC meeting that is not posted here.

Hope you enjoy it, and my apologies for those interested in certification information that has had to put up with my interest in politics.

Exam 70-561 / 71-561 Study Sheet

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:16:29 GMT

Exam 70-561 / 71-561 Study Sheet

The following is taken from the “Skills being measured” section of the “Preparation Guide for Exam 70-561 -- TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Application Development.” Most of the links are to articles on MSDN. As you may note, it is not complete. If you use this document in your studies, I ask you to submit to me some references to items that I do not have references for and/or improvements to existing references and comments (in italics) for each item.

This document may not be placed on any non-free or for-profit website without permission.

Skills measured by Exam 70-561

F1. Connecting to Data Sources (12 percent) (Exam 70-561)
F1.1. Manage connection strings. – May include but is not limited to:
   F1.1a. using the ConnectionStringBuilder; -- Uses the dbConnectionStringBuilder class to create syntactically correct connection strings.
   F1.1b. leveraging the ConfigurationManager; -- provides access to configuration files. Use WebConfigurationManager for web.config files.
   F1.1c. protecting the connection string; -- Use Windows Authentication, avoid UDLs, keep Persist Security Info at false, etc.
      Video: #73 | Protecting Connection Strings and Other Configuration Information     View in VB or C#
   F1.1d. using Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) or SQL Server authentication; -- SSPI allows an application to use various security models available on a computer or network without changing the interface to the security system
   F1.1e. correctly addressing the SQL Server instance; --
   F1.1f. managing “User Instance” and AttachDBfilename --

F1.2. Manage connection objects. – May include but is not limited to:
   F1.2a. managing connection state, --
   F1.2b. managing connection pool; -- Connecting to a data source can be time consuming. To minimize the cost of opening connections, ADO.NET uses an optimization technique called connection pooling, which minimizes the cost of repeatedly opening and closing connections.
   F1.2c. implementing persistent data connections; --
   F1.2d. implementing Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS); --
   F1.2e. encrypting and decrypting data --

F1.3. Work with data providers. – May include but is not limited to: -- A .NET Framework data provider is used for connecting to a database, executing commands, and retrieving results.
   F1.3a. limitations, --
   F1.3b. behaviors, --
   F1.3c. performance, --
   F1.3d. installation issues, --
   F1.3e. deployment issues; --
   F1.3f. ODBC, --
   F1.3g. Microsoft OLE DB, --
   F1.3h. SqlClient, --
   F1.3i. managed providers, --
   F1.3j. third-party providers, --
   F1.3k. native providers --

F1.4. Connect to a data source by using a generic data access interface. – May include but is not limited to:
F1.4a. System.Data.Common namespace classes -- The System.Data.Common namespace contains classes shared by the.NET Framework data providers.

F1.5. Handle and diagnose database connection exceptions. – May include but is not limited to:
F1.5a. implementing try/catch handlers --

F2. Selecting and Querying Data (22 percent) (Exam 70-561)

F2.1. Build command objects. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.1a. building Parameters collections; --
   F2.1b. using input and output parameters and return values; --
   F2.1c. selecting an appropriate CommandType action; --
   F2.1d. selecting an appropriate Execute method; --
   F2.1e. using the CommandBuilder class; --
   F2.1f. choosing appropriate CommandBehavior --

F2.2. Query data from data sources. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.2a. writing queries to solve assigned problems; --
   F2.2b. implementing data paging; --
   F2.2c. sorting, filtering, and aggregating data --

F2.3. Retrieve data source data by using the DataReader. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.3a. retrieving data from SELECT statements; --
   F2.3b. retrieving data from stored procedures; --
   F2.3c. working with multiple result sets --

F2.4. Manage data by using the DataAdapter or the TableAdapter. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.4a. retrieving data from SELECT statements; --
   F2.4b. retrieving data from stored procedures; --
   F2.4c. working with multiple result sets; --
   F2.4d. working with JOIN products; --
   F2.4e. creating updatable DataAdapters and TableAdapters; --
   F2.4f. modifying TableAdapter Fill methods --

F2.5. Execute an asynchronous query. – May include but is not limited to:
F2.5a. handling asynchronous events --

F2.6. Handle special data types. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.6a. Binary Large Objects (BLOBs); --
   F2.6b. Filestream, --
   F2.6c. Spatial, --
   F2.6d. Table Value Parameters --

F2.7. Query data sources by using LINQ. – May include but is not limited to:
   F2.7a. extended method; --
   F2.7b. CLR delegate; --
   F2.7c. lambda expressions; -- A lambda expression is a function without a name that calculates and returns a single value. Lambda expressions can be used wherever a delegate type is valid. VB: Dim add1 = Function(num As Integer) num + 1
   F2.7d. classes of the System.LINQ.Expressions namespace --

F2.8. Manage exceptions when selecting data. – May include but is not limited to:
F2.8a. identifying and resolving syntax errors; --
F2.8b. security exceptions --

F3. Modifying Data (24 percent) (Exam 70-561)

F3.1. Manage transactions. – May include but is not limited to:
   F3.1a. selecting an appropriate transaction isolation level; -- READ COMMITTED (shared locks held to avoid dirty reads) | READ UNCOMMITTED (no shared locks issued, no exclusive locks honored) | REPEATABLE READ (locks on all data used in query) | SERIALIZABLE (range lock)
READ COMMITTED is the default isolation level for the Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine. If an application must operate at a different isolation level, it can use the following methods to set the isolation level:
      * Run the SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL statement.
      * ADO.NET applications that use the System.Data.SqlClient managed namespace can specify an IsolationLevel option by using the SqlConnection.BeginTransaction method.
       * Applications that use ADO can set the Autocommit Isolation Levels property.
       * When starting a transaction, applications using OLE DB can call ITransactionLocal::StartTransaction with isoLevel set to the desired transaction isolation level. When specifying the isolation level in autocommit mode, applications that use OLE DB can set the DBPROPSET_SESSION property DBPROP_SESS_AUTOCOMMITISOLEVELS to the desired transaction isolation level
      * Applications that use ODBC can set the SQL_COPT_SS_TXN_ISOLATION attribute by using SQLSetConnectAttr.

   F3.1b. participating in local transactions; --
   F3.1c. participating in distributed transactions; --
   F3.1d. using declarative transactions --

F3.2. Manage data integrity. – May include but is not limited to:
   F3.2a. cascading updates or cascading deletes; --
   F3.2b. auto number management; --
   F3.2c. server-generated value management; --
   F3.2d. client-side data validation; --
   F3.2e. business rules, --
   F3.2f. constraints --

F3.3. Update data. – May include but is not limited to:
   F3.3a. update data by using stored procedures; --
   F3.3b. update dataSets to data source; --
   F3.3c. managing concurrency --

F3.4. Manage exceptions when modifying data. – May include but is not limited to:
   F3.4a. resolve exceptions from data integrity, constraint, or referential integrity violations; --
   F3.4b. data locking conflicts; --
   F3.4c. data collision issues --

F3.5. Transform data by using LINQ. – May include but is not limited to:
F3.5a. aggregation operators; -- computes a single value from a collection of values, such as sum or average.
F3.5b. JOIN operator, QUERY operator, LIKE, etc. --

F4. Synchronizing Data (15 percent) (Exam 70-561)

F4.1. Monitor event notifications. – May include but is not limited to:
F4.1a. implement notifications by using SqlDependency or SqlNotificationRequest -- Represents a request for notification for a given command.

F4.2. Cache data. – May include but is not limited to:
F4.2a. SqlCacheDependency, -- Establishes a relationship between an item stored in an ASP.NET application's Cache object and either a specific SQL Server database table or the results of a SQL Server 2005 query.
F4.2b. Local Data Cache -- provides a great way for you to quickly develop a download-only synchronization application.

F4.3. Manage update conflicts between online data and offline data. --

F4.4. Partition data for synchronization. --

F4.5. Implement Synchronization Services. – May include but is not limited to:
   F4.5a. SyncAgent, -- The SyncAgent object orchestrates synchronization.
   F4.5b. SyncTable, -- Represents the client settings for a table involved in synchronization.
   F4.5c. ClientSyncProvider, -- Abstracts a client synchronization provider that communicates with the client data store and shields the synchronization agent from the specific implementation of the data store.
   F4.5d. ServerSyncProvider, -- Abstracts a generic server synchronization provider that communicates with the server data store and shields the synchronization agent from the specific implementation of that data store.
   F4.5e. SyncAdapter -- Represents a set of data commands that are used to obtain schema information and to retrieve and apply changes at the server database.

F5. Working with Disconnected Data (16 percent) (Exam 70-561)

F5.1. Manage occasionally connected data. -- An occasionally connected application is an application that uses data from a remote database but that might not always have access to the remote database.

F5.2. Programmatically create data objects. – May include but is not limited to:
F5.2a. DataTable; -- Represents one table of in-memory data.
F5.2b. DataSet -- Represents an in-memory cache of data.

F5.3. Work with untyped DataSets and DataTables. – May include but is not limited to:
F5.3a. populating a DataSet or DataTable --

F5.4. Expose a DataTableReader from a DataTable or from a DataSet. -- The DataTableReader obtains the contents of one or more DataTable objects in the form of one or more read-only, forward-only result sets.

F5.5. Work with strongly typed DataSets and DataTables. -- You create a typed DataSet using the Data Source Configuration Wizard or the Dataset Designer.

F6. Object Relational Mapping by Using the Entity Framework (11 percent) (Exam 70-561)

F6.1. Define and implement an Entity Data Model. – May include but is not limited to:
   F6.1a. mapping schemas and storage metadata; -- Building an application based on the Entity Data Model (EDM) requires writing three specifications using XML.
* The first specification uses conceptual schema definition language (CSDL) to declare and define the entities, associations, sets, and containers of the object model being designed. The programmable classes are built from this schema.
* The second specification in store schema definition language (SSDL) is metadata describing the storage container that persists data for applications built on the EDM.
* The third schema written in mapping specification language (MSL) maps the declarations in the CSDL file to tables described in the SSDL file.
Schemas and the mapping specification between them are written in XML.
   F6.1b. EDM Generator -- a command-line used for working with the Entity Data Model (EDM). The EdmGen.exe tool can be used to do the following:
            * Generate the .csdl, .ssdl, and .msl model files that are used by the EDM.
            * Validate an existing model.
            * Produce a source code file that contains the object classes generated from a .csdl file.
            * Create a source code file that contains the view generated from the .ssdl, .csdl, and .msl files.

F6.2. Query data by using Object Services. – May include but is not limited to:
   F6.2a. querying data as objects and shaping results; --
   F6.2b. working with objects; --
   F6.2c. managing the Object Context; --
   F6.2d. customizing objects --

F6.3. Map data by using the Entity SQL Language. – May include but is not limited to:
F6.3a. manually define mapping files; --
F6.3b. execute an Entity SQL Query by using EntityCommand -- Represents a command to be executed against an Entity Data Model (EDM). Execute methods include ExecuteNonQuery (executes the current command), ExecuteReader (executes the command and returns a data reader), and ExecuteScalar (executes the command, and returns the first column of the first row in the result set).

F6.4. Access entity data by using the EntityClient Provider. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F6.4a. managing EntityConnection; Represents a connection to an underlying data store.
   F6.4b. creating EntityCommand; Represents a command to be executed against an Entity Data Model (EDM).
   F6.4c. executing a query by using EntityDataReader; Reads a forward-only stream of rows from a data source.
   F6.4d. managing EntityTransaction Specifies the transaction for an EntityCommand.

Exam 70-562 / 71-562 Study Sheet

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:16:50 GMT

Note: "Third District Convention on Saturday" has been moved to http://ActiveRepublican.spaces.live.com

Exam 70-562 / 71-562 Study Sheet

The following is taken from the “Skills being measured” section of the “Preparation Guide for Exam 70-562 -- TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Application Development.” Most of the links are to articles on MSDN. As you may note, it is not complete. If you use this document in your studies, I ask you to submit to me some references to items that I do not have references for and/or improvements to existing references and comments (in italics) for each item.

This document may not be placed on any non-free or for-profit website without permission.

Skills measured by Exam 70-562

F7. Configuring and Deploying Web Applications (10 percent) (Exam 70-562)
F7.1. Configure providers. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F7.1a. personalization, --
   F7.1b. membership, -- you can manage authentication using your own user database using ASP.NET forms authentication and ASP.NET membership.
   F7.1c. data sources, --
   F7.1d. site map, -- The simplest way to create a site map is to create an XML file named Web.sitemap that organizes the pages in the site hierarchically. This site map is automatically picked up by the default site-map provider for ASP.NET.
   F7.1e. resource, --
   F7.1f. security --

F7.2. Configure authentication, authorization, and impersonation. - May include but is not limited to:
F7.2a. Forms Authentication, -- Forms authentication enables you to authenticate the user name and password of your users using a login form that you create. Unauthenticated requests are redirected to a login page, where the user provides credentials and submits the form. If the application authenticates the request, the system issues a ticket that contains a key for reestablishing the identity for subsequent requests.
F7.2b. Windows Authentication -- Windows Authentication treats the user identity supplied by Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) as the authenticated user in an ASP.NET application. IIS provides a number of authentication mechanisms to verify user identity, including anonymous authentication, Windows integrated (NTLM) authentication, Windows integrated (Kerberos) authentication, Basic (base64 encoded) authentication, Digest authentication, and authentication based on client certificates.

F7.3. Configure projects, solutions, and reference assemblies. - May include but is not limited to:
   F7.3a. local assemblies,
   F7.3b. shared assemblies (GAC),
   F7.3c. Web application projects,
   F7.3d. solutions

F7.4. Configure session state by using Microsoft SQL Server, State Server, or InProc. - May include but is not limited to:
F7.4a. setting the timeout;
F7.4b. cookieless sessions

F7.5. Publish Web applications. - May include but is not limited to:
F7.5a. FTP, File System, or HTTP from Visual Studio

F7.6. Configure application pools.

F7.7. Compile an application by using Visual Studio or command-line tools. - May include but is not limited to:
   F7.7a. aspnet_compiler.exe, -- ASP.NET pre-compilation tool
   F7.7b. Just-In-Time (JIT) compiling,
   F7.7c. aspnet_merge.exe -- The ASP.NET merge tool (Aspnet_merge.exe) lets you combine and manage assemblies that are created by the ASP.NET pre-compilation tool (Aspnet_compiler.exe).

F8. Consuming and Creating Server Controls (20 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F8.1. Implement data-bound controls. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F8.1a. DataGrid, -- A data bound list control that displays the items from data source in a table. The DataGrid control allows you to select, sort, and edit these items.
   F8.1b. DataList, -- A data bound list control that displays items using templates. With property RepeatLayout, you can choose whether to show the list in table structure or in a steady stream.
   F8.1c. Repeater, -- A data-bound list control that allows custom layout by repeating a specified template for each item displayed in the list.
   F8.1d. ListView, -- Displays the values of a data source by using user-defined templates. The ListView control enables users to select, sort, delete, edit, and insert records.
   F8.1e. GridView, -- Displays the values of a data source in a table where each column represents a field and each row represents a record. The GridView control enables you to select, sort, and edit these items.
   F8.1f. FormView, -- Displays the values of a single record from a data source using user-defined templates. The FormView control allows you to edit, delete, and insert records.
   F8.1g. DetailsView, -- Displays the values of a single record from a data source in a table, where each data row represents a field of the record. The DetailsView control allows you to edit, delete, and insert records.
   F8.1h. TreeView, -- Displays hierarchical data, such as a table of contents, in a tree structure.
   F8.1i. DataPager -- Provides paging functionality for data-bound controls that implement the IPageableItemContainer interface, such as the ListView control.

F8.2. Load user controls dynamically.

F8.3. Create and consume custom controls. -- May include but is not limited to:
F8.3a. registering controls on a page,
F8.3b. creating templated controls

F8.4. Implement client-side validation and server-side validation. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F8.4a. RequiredFieldValidator, -- Makes the associated input control a required field.
   F8.4b. CompareValidator, -- Compares the value entered by the user in an input control with the value entered in another input control, or with a constant value.
   F8.4c. RegularExpressionValidator, -- Validates whether the value of an associated input control matches the pattern specified by a regular expression.
   F8.4d. CustomValidator, -- Performs user-defined validation on an input control.
   F8.4e. RangeValidator -- Checks whether the value of an input control is within a specified range of values.

F8.5. Consume standard controls. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F8.5a. Button, -- Represents a Windows button control, which reacts to the ButtonBase..::.Click event.
   F8.5b. TextBox, -- Represents a control that can be used to display or edit unformatted text.
   F8.5c. DropDownList, -- Represents a control that allows the user to select a single item from a drop-down list.
   F8.5d. RadioButton, -- Represents a radio button control.
   F8.5d. CheckBox, -- Displays a check box that allows the user to select a true or false condition.
   F8.5e. HyperLink, -- A control that displays a link to another Web page.
   F8.5f. Wizard, -- Provides navigation and a user interface (UI) to collect related data across multiple steps.
   F8.5g. MultiView -- Represents a control that acts as a container for a group of View controls.

F9. Working with Data and Services (17 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F9.1. Read and write XML data. -- May include but is not limited to:
   F9.1a. XmlDocument, -- Represents an XML document.
   F9.1b. XPathNavigator, -- Provides a cursor model for navigating and editing XML data.
   F9.1c. XPathNodeIterator, -- Provides an iterator over a selected set of nodes.
   F9.1d. XPathDocument, -- Provides a fast, read-only, in-memory representation of an XML document using the XPath data model.
   F9.1e. XmlReader, -- Represents a reader that provides fast, non-cached, forward-only access to XML data.
   F9.1f. XmlWriter, -- Represents a writer that provides a fast, non-cached, forward-only means of generating streams or files containing XML data.
   F9.1g. XmlDataDocument, -- Allows structured data to be stored, retrieved, and manipulated through a relational DataSet.
   F9.1h. XmlNamespaceManager -- Resolves, adds, and removes namespaces to a collection and provides scope management for these namespaces.

F9.2. Manipulate data by using DataSet and DataReader objects.

F9.3. Call a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service or a Web service from an ASP.NET Web page. -- May include but is not limited to:
F9.3a. App_WebReferences; -- Contains reference contract files (.wsdl files), schemas (.xsd files), and discovery document files (.disco and .discomap files) defining a Web reference for use in an application. For more information about generating code for XML Web services, see Web Services Description Language Tool (Wsdl.exe).
F9.3b. <system.serviceModel> configuration

F9.4. Implement a DataSource control. – May include but is not limited to:
   F9.4a. LinqDataSource, -- Enables the use of Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) in an ASP.NET Web page through markup text to retrieve and modify data from a data object.
   F9.4b. ObjectDataSource, -- Represents a business object that provides data to data-bound controls in multitier Web application architectures.
   F9.4c. XmlDataSource, -- Represents an XML data source to data-bound controls.
   F9.4d. SqlDataSource -- Represents an SQL database to data-bound controls.

F9.5. Bind controls to data by using data binding syntax.

F10. Troubleshooting and Debugging Web Applications (16 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F10.1. Configure debugging and custom errors. – May include but is not limited to:
F10.1a. <customErrors mode="Off|On|RemoteOnly" />,
F10.1b. <compilation debug="true"/>

F10.2. Set up an environment to perform remote debugging.

F10.3 Debug unhandled exceptions when using ASP.NET AJAX. – May include but is not limited to:
F10.3a. client-side Sys.Debug methods; -- provides methods for displaying objects in readable form at the end of a Web page.
F10.3b. attaching a debugger to Windows Internet Explorer

F10.4. Implement tracing of a Web application. – May include but is not limited to:
   F10.4a. Trace.axd,
   F10.4b. Trace=True on @Page directive,
   F10.4c. <trace enabled="true"/>

F10.5. Debug deployment issues. – May include but is not limited to:
   F10.5a. aspnet_regiis.exe;
   F10.5b. creating an IIS Web application;
   F10.5c. setting the .NET Framework version

F10.6. Monitor Web applications. – May include but is not limited to:
F10.6a. health monitoring by using WebEvent,
F10.6b. performance counters

F11. Working with ASP.NET AJAX and Client-Side Scripting (15 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F11.1. Implement Web Forms by using ASP.NET AJAX. – May include but is not limited to:
   F11.1a. EnablePartialRendering,
   F11.1b. Triggers,
   F11.1c. ChildrenAsTriggers,
   F11.1d. Scripts,
   F11.1e. Services,
   F11.1f. UpdateProgress,
   F11.1g. Timer,
   F11.1h. ScriptManagerProxy

F11.2. Interact with the ASP.NET AJAX client-side library. – May include but is not limited to:
F11.2a. JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) objects;
F11.2b. handling ASP.NET AJAX events

F11.3. Consume services from client scripts.

F11.4. Create and register client script. – May include but is not limited to:
   F11.4a. inline,
   F11.4b. included .js file,
   F11.4c. embedded JavaScript resource,
      Video: #6 | JavaScript Intellisense Support in Visual Studio 200811 minutes, 23 seconds
   F11.4d. created from server code

F12. Targeting Mobile Devices (5 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F12.1. Access device capabilities. – May include but is not limited to:
F12.1a. working with emulators

F12.2. Control device-specific rendering. – May include but is not limited to:
   F12.2a. DeviceSpecific control;
   F12.2b. device filters;
   F12.2c. control templates

F12.3. Add mobile Web controls to a Web page. – May include but is not limited to:
   F12.3a. StyleSheet controls;
   F12.3b. List controls;
   F12.3c. Container controls

F12.4. Implement control adapters. – May include but is not limited to:
   F12.4a. App_Browsers; -- Contains browser definitions (.browser files) that ASP.NET uses to identify individual browsers and determine their capabilities. For more information, see Browser Definition File Schema (browsers Element) and How to: Detect Browser Types in ASP.NET Web Pages.
   F12.4b. rendering by using ChtmlTextWriter or XhtmlTextWriter --
      F12.4b1. ChtmlTextWriter -- Writes a series of cHTML-specific characters and text to the output stream of an ASP.NET server control. The ChtmlTextWriter class provides formatting capabilities that ASP.NET server controls use when rendering cHTML content to clients.
      F12.4b2. XhtmlTextWriter -- Writes Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)-specific characters, including all variations of XHTML modules that derive from XTHML, to the output stream for an ASP.NET server control for mobile devices.

F13. Programming Web Applications (17 percent) (Exam 70-562)

F13.1. Customize the layout and appearance of a Web page. – May include but is not limited to:
   F13.1a. CSS,
   F13.1b. Themes and Skins, -- ASP.NET themes are a collection of properties that define the appearance of pages and controls in your Web site. A theme can include skin files, which define property settings for ASP.NET Web server controls, and can also include cascading style sheet files (.css files) and graphics. By applying a theme, you can give the pages in your Web site a consistent appearance.
   F13.1c. Master Pages, -- ASP.NET master pages enable you to create a page layout (a master page) that you can use with selected or all pages (content pages) in your Web site. Master pages can greatly simplify the task of creating a consistent look for your site.

   F13.1d. and Web Parts, -- ASP.NET Web Parts is an integrated set of controls for creating Web sites that enable end users to modify the content, appearance, and behavior of Web pages directly from a browser.
   F13.1e. App_Themes, -- A page theme is a theme folder with control skins, style sheets, graphics files and other resources created as a subfolder of the \App_Themes folder in your Web site.
   F13.1f. StyleSheetTheme -- sets the cascading style sheet (CSS) that defines the appearance of the page in the Web browser.

F13.2. Work with ASP.NET intrinsic objects. – May include but is not limited to:
   F13.2a. Request, -- Gets the HttpRequest object for the requested page.
   F13.2b. Server, -- You can use the Server object to access methods and properties on the server. Most of these methods and properties serve as utility functions.
   F13.2c. Application, -- Gets the HttpApplicationState object for the current Web request.
   F13.2d. Session, -- The Session object controls the installation process. It opens the Installer database, which contains the installation tables and data.
   F13.2e. Response, -- Gets the HttpResponse object associated with the Page object. This object allows you to send HTTP response data to a client and contains information about that response. You can use the Response object to send output to the client.
   F13.2f. HttpContext -- Encapsulates all HTTP-specific information about an individual HTTP request.

F13.3. Implement globalization and accessibility. – May include but is not limited to:
   F13.3a. resource files, -- A resource file is an XML file that contains the strings that you want to translate into different languages or paths to images. The resource file contains key/value pairs. Each pair is an individual resource. Key names are not case sensitive. For example, a resource file might contain a resource with the key Button1 and the value Submit.
   F13.3b. culture settings, -- In an ASP.NET Web page, you can set to two culture values, the Culture and UICulture properties. The Culture value determines the results of culture-dependent functions, such as the date, number, and currency formatting, and so on. The UICulture value determines which resources are loaded for the page.
   F13.3c. RegionInfo, -- Contains information about the country/region.
   F13.3d. App_GlobalResources, -- Folder containing resources (.resx and .resources files) that are compiled into assemblies with global scope. Resources in the App_GlobalResources folder are strongly typed and can be accessed programmatically. For more information, see ASP.NET Web Page Resources Overview.
   F13.3e. App_LocalResources, -- Folder containing resources (.resx and .resources files) that are associated with a specific page, user control, or master page in an application For more information, see ASP.NET Web Page Resources Overview.
   F13.3f. TabIndex, -- Use the TabIndex property to specify or determine the tab index of a Web server control on the Web Forms page. When you press the Tab key, the order in which the Web server controls receive focus is determined by the TabIndex property of each control.
   F13.3g. AlternateText , -- Sets or returns the alternate text to display when an image is not available for the device. The default value is an empty string ("").
   F13.3h. GenerateEmptyAlternateText, -- Gets or sets a value indicating whether the control generates an alternate text attribute for an empty string value.
   F13.3i. AccessKey, -- Use the AccessKey property to specify the keyboard shortcut for the Web server control. This allows you to navigate quickly to the control by pressing the ALT key and the key for the specified character on the keyboard.
   F13.3j. Label.AssociatedControlID -- Gets or sets the identifier for a server control that the Label control is associated with.

F13.4. Implement business objects and utility classes. – May include but is not limited to:
F13.4a. App_Code , -- Contains source code for utility classes and business objects (for example, .cs, .vb, and .jsl files) that you want to compile as part of your application. In a dynamically compiled application, ASP.NET compiles the code in the App_Code folder on the initial request to your application. Items in this folder are then recompiled when any changes are detected.
F13.4b. external assemblies

F13.5. Implement session state, view state, control state, cookies, cache, or application state.
   F13.5a. session state, -- Use ASP.NET session state to store and retrieve values for a user.
   F13.5b. view state, -- View state is the method that the ASP.NET page framework uses to preserve page and control values between round trips. When the HTML markup for the page is rendered, the current state of the page and values that must be retained during postback are serialized into base64-encoded strings. This information is then put into the view-state hidden field or fields.
   F13.5c. control state, --
   F13.5d. cookies, -- A cookie is a small bit of text that accompanies requests and pages as they go between the Web server and browser. The cookie contains information the Web application can read whenever the user visits the site.
   F13.5e. cache, --
   F13.5f. application state. -- Application state is a data repository available to all classes in an ASP.NET application. Application state is stored in memory on the server and is faster than storing and retrieving information in a database. Unlike session state, which is specific to a single user session, application state applies to all users and sessions.

F13.6. Handle events and control page flow. – May include but is not limited to:
   F13.6a. page events,
   F13.6b. control events,
   F13.6c. application events,

F13.6d. and session events, -- ASP.NET provides two events that help you manage user sessions: the Session_OnStart event, which is raised when a new session

begins, and the Session_OnEnd event, which is raised when a session is abandoned or expires. Session events are specified in the Global.asax file for an ASP.NET application.
   F13.6e. cross-page posting; -- Cross-page posting enables you to configure a button on an ASP.NET Web page to post the current page to a different page.
   F13.6f. Response.Redirect, -- The Redirect method causes the browser to redirect the client to a different URL. The Redirect method of the Response object operates by sending a header to the client. This header causes the client to look to another URL location specified in the header. Because a header must come at the beginning of a document, it is not possible to place the Redirect method in a document with HTML code preceding it.
   F13.6g. Server.Transfer, -- The Transfer method sends all of the information that has been assembled for processing by one .asp file to a second .asp file. Server.Transfer acts as an efficient replacement for the Response.Redirect method.
   F13.6h. IsPostBack, -- Gets a value indicating whether the page is being loaded in response to a client postback, or if it is being loaded and accessed for the first time.
   F13.6i. setting AutoEventWireup -- Boolean attribute that indicates whether events of a Web Forms page are autowired: TRUE (default) if events for ASP.NET pages are automatically connected to event-handling functions; FALSE when event-autowiring is not activated.

F13.7. Implement the Generic Handler.

The other Larry West of Louisville.

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:17:20 GMT

Someone googled this site with the phrase "Larry West" Louisville to get here. I decided to see what other sites came up to that search and to my surprise one of them was a list of neo-Nazi leaders. Please be assured that the Larry West of Louisville (actually Fern Creek) who writes this blog is NOT the Larry West of Louisville (actually Jeffersontown) who is on the neo-Nazi list.

Note: I have no way of checking the veracity of that list and my apologies to the other Larry West if he was wrongly put on that list.