Client-Side Model-Aware Validation in MVC3

Just a note so mostly, I remember.

I've been working with Nick Riggs' Foolproof validation in MVC3, trying to get more complex scenarios in place, and needed to write the client validation.  He has a great post for MVC2 at
http://www.nickriggs.com/posts/client-side-model-aware-validation/, but it doesn't cover MVC3.

After some research, etc., here is what I came up with for something very simplistic, where it's just making sure a value is set, etc...

$(function () {

    jQuery.validator.addMethod('listrequirediftrue', function (value, element, param) {
        if (param) {
            return $('#' + $(element).attr('id') + ' option:selected').length > 0;
        }

        return true;
    }, '');
    jQuery.validator.unobtrusive.adapters.add('listrequirediftrue', {}, function (options) {

        if (options.message) {
            options.rules['listrequirediftrue'] = true;
            options.messages['listrequirediftrue'] = options.message;
        }

    });
} (jQuery));

I just need to now figure out for more complex scenarios, like when you have a RequiredIf, but dependent on when another dropdown has a certain value.  Nick has the RequiredIfAttribute, but when you're validating based on an entire model, where the property to be validated is not at the same level as the property whose value is the "RequiredIf" property, you have to use the ModelAware style of validation... will update when I have an answer.

More quirks with ASP.NET MVC 3

So, another great quirk with ASP.NET MVC 3.  When you implement a controller with two methods, one being for the initial load of the page, and the other being for the subsequent form post to process the data... if your intention is to re-render the page to do another 'Add Item' scenario, you must issue a ModelState.Clear(); command before you render the new view... otherwise, it seems to keep the values from the posted data.

ASP.NET MVC3 has a few quirks

http://aspnet.codeplex.com/workitem/7629

Ack!  Seems like this shouldn't have happened. 

To correct, you have to do the following:

Give your select list the "Required" attribute.
Once the page loads, in jQuery, assign the data-val attribute and the data-val-message attributes.

Microsoft, this is not good!

Team Foundation Server 2010 isn't friendly for certain items...

It seems as if this is a normally recurring issue with build automation and Team Foundation Server 2010 specifically.  Utilizing Team Foundation Server's build automation, it takes the *.sln and *.csproj files and utilizes that to create the output binaries as expected.  What is unfortunate is that the .Net SDK doesn't have everything that you need to handle build automation on a build server, so you're forced to do one of 2 things:

1. Deploy VS.Net 2010 on your build server(s)
2. Copy the files from c:\{Program Files x86}\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\... to your build machine.

Honestly, both solutions break the fundamental rules of using a build automation server, IMHO.  Completely disappointed Microsoft! I think that I'll be writing ScottGU or someone else to see if they have a better solution to handle this case, as it's simply a poor "workaround" solution.

Textarea Autoexpand Javascript code.

As part of a project for a consulting job I'm on, the need we had was to give a forever expanding text area on the html form.  This is the javascript I wrote to do just that.  I'm sharing it because mainly, I think it's cool!

I should have documented how this works. What you'll do in the Html is to define a text area (could be an asp TextBox with its mode set to Multiple, or a generic TextArea tag... either way, they render out the same.) and you'll add an attribute called expandable and set its value equal to True.  From there, reference jQuery in your header, and this code should work for you as-is.

Have at it, and comment if you see where I could improve in some way.

          function formatPage() {
            $(document).find('*[expandable]').keyup(function () {
                var height = 0;
                var existingHeight = this.style.height;
                var lines = this.value.split('\r');
                this.style.height = '';
                for (x = 0; x < lines.length; x++) {
                    var lengthOverflow = lines[x].length % this.cols;

                    height = height + (14 * (((lines[x].length - lengthOverflow) / this.cols)));
                    if (lengthOverflow > 0) {
                        height = height + 14;
                    }
                }

                if (height == 0) {
                    height = 14;
                }

                if (existingHeight != height) {
                    this.style.height = height + 'px';
                }
            });

            $(document).find('*[expandable]').keyup();
        }

        $(document).ready(function () {
            formatPage();
            Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_endRequest(endRequestHandler);
        });


        function endRequestHandler(sender, args) {
            formatPage();
        }


A few changes on the horizon

It's been a while since I've last written a blog post.  Much to my amazement, there has been a few changes in the past n months that are scary and exciting at the same time.

I decided it is time to leave behind an old project and start to look ahead.  I'm starting by taking a 6 month contract position with someone, and be forced back into 8 hour shifts, so I can get my full day stamina back.  The past three years has been rather hectic with family woes and pulling many days on the road, not to mention, many late night coding/testing sessions to support a client base that I never had access to in the beginning.

A business contact discussed a new business venture with me that if all works well, we should be starting in the next six months, right after I finish the contract position with whichever company I choose to work with.  This venture is going to be a culmination of everything that I've done in the past 5 years, utilizing the recent education of learning how to properly deploy an application, how to use the latest and greatest in technology, and to even now be able to use some technology that is still being developed from the folks at Microsoft.  I can't wait to get started... it should be a wild ride.

As we go, the hope is to keep posting occasionally on the progress of the project, and maybe a tidbit or two of what the project is.  Again, I can't wait to get the project going, and to-market... it's going to be a wild ride!

Building a licensing system... thoughts on EULA's

In software development, it seems as if the devil is in the details.  You just get a great whizz-bang product built, spent 100's of hours on getting every last detail to work just the way it needs to in order to work in the market.  Now, it's time to sell the product.

Initial thoughts from potential customers are hopeful, but a few create a backlash with you.  They say that you're asking for too much for the product, and then come back and purchase a license anyhow.  What do you do to control them from distributing your product 100's of times?  Ahh... the need for product licensing just arose.

Now, although there are 1,000's of tools on the market for just this situation, I have decided to roll my own.  My reasoning comes from the not-invented-here attitude, meaning that I do want a bit of the god-like control over how the software system works.  I have special needs that I only know about, and that I don't want anyone to have the intellectual knowledge of how I did it just yet, because I want to avoid having an end user override my licensing scheme until after I have it written.  I have done many different projects, and they all have a custom list of what needs to be controlled.  I also don't like the fact that I've not seen much where the EULA can be created in a single format, and then exported to PDF/RTF/HTML/etc., so that's another sticking point.

The system will be constructed of the following:

• a WPF application that will allow data entry.
• a WCF web service to allow license key activation.
• a website (v2) to allow end-users to purchase and issue their own keys.
• 1 dll per product to handle licensing.  This will lend to better custom rules needed on a per-product or per-addin scenario, where buying an off-the-shelf product may not be able to handle this as well.

So far, I've adopted the use of Markdown for formatting the EULA's and can enter reseller information.  Adopting Markdown allows the quick and easy transformation of the text into HTML, and can then eventually have a converter written to move it to other formats, or use the HTML and create that into other formats.  Once I can complete the task of entering the rest of the product information, I will publish a few wireframe screenshots to the web for anyone that is interested in my progress as I go.

My hope is that I can get something respectable that will work for my needs, and maybe market this little tool to other software developers as time goes on.