The Moth

A new namespace in System.Core.dll is System.Numeric. There is a single type contained within, the BigInteger structure. Inbar has the details on BigInteger here.

One of the namespaces in System.Core.dll is System.Collections.Generic with a single class HashSet (and its Enumerator of course). Kim has the details on HashSet here.

If you are looking for new stuff in the .NET Framework v3.5, you need to look at the new assembly System.Core.dll. NOTE: In the January CTP of Orcas you have to browse the file system in order to add a reference to it (i.e. navigate to C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5.11209\). In future CTPs, it will be added by default to NetFx3.5 projects.

There are a whole bunch of namespaces in System.Core.dll from System and System.Diagnostics to System.IO and System.Security etc (but none named System.Core). Quite frankly, I’d prefer to see the namespaces/types move to where their friends are in mscorlib.dll, system.dll etc. I strongly doubt this will happen in the short term though given the desire to leave existing assemblies with no modifications.

In other words, System.Core.dll is your main “green” assembly, while the older ones are “red”. For more on the green and red bits in Orcas read these blog entries here and here.

I discovered a small new feature in the Visual Studio “Orcas” IDE which I am already finding useful.

How many times have you had a Visual Studio solution open and you wanted to quickly open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder of the solution or maybe the folder of the project or maybe the build folder (e.g. Bin\Debug)?

What I used to do with VS2005 is open a code file, right click on its tab and select “Open Containing Folder” (don’t tell me you didn’t know about that one!) and then navigate up/down to go where I really wanted to be. In particular, many times I would “Show All Files” in Solution Explorer, then expand the bin\Debug folder, open the pdb file in VS just so I could right click on its tab and select “Open Containing Folder” (sounds long winded but is actually much faster than any alternative):


Now with Orcas, life becomes easier. Simply go to Solution Explorer select the solution node or the project node (or even a bin/obj folder if you have shown all files) and then... right click:

Notice just above “Properties” the new menu item “Open Folder in Windows Explorer”? It does exactly what you expect it to (and yes, I know that I am easily pleased :-D)

BTW, if you want to assign a shortcut key to the command (via Tools->Options->Environment->Keyboard), its name is ProjectandSolutionContextMenus.Project.OpenFolderInWindowsExplorer.

Out of all the work I’ve done over the past year, I get the most “thank you” notes for the screencast introducing Sidebar and gadgets. Many of the emails I receive include a request for more info on Sidebar gadget development.

In addition to the ones at the end of my Sidebar blog entry (in FAQ format), I usually point to two other articles, included here for future reference:
1. OdeToCode article.
2. UKStudentzine article (from a student on our team :)).

Lastly, I received an email from Danny Espinoza asking me to try their product. Even though the description looks interesting, I don’t have the time right now to play with it; maybe someone reading my blog will want to try out their widget converter.

For Sidebar gadget support questions, please use the dedicated forum.

A few people have asked me for the code I used in my WM5 Managed API screencasts (part one, two, and three). While I can’t find that exact code, it was almost identical to what I used in my Tech Ed session last year, which luckily I could find. You may download the VS2005 project here.

More often than not Sahil’s blog entries are written in a very entertaining style, so when I saw the title of his latest post I knew the content would make me smile: Hi, I'm a PC, and you're just a liar!! :-D

As suggested two days ago, yesterday I was at WebDD to listen to some talks and do a 10’ stint myself.

I had a good time. It was basically a DDD with focused web content, and with a few additional twists including:
1. There was active presence by Microsoft (e.g. speakers, pods)
2. It was slightly smaller (3 rooms instead of 4)
3. No public voting of sessions
4. ScottGu dominated the event (His room was always full, with people standing and queuing)

As a complete aside, having attended (and presented) a few 1-day events at our UK TVP offices I think I prefer events where the two rooms (Chicago 1 & 2) are joined i.e. single track events.

I was one of the people standing in Scott’s sessions and I can see why people were so attracted to his talks (heck, I am not even into web development and I sat through 3 of them!):
a. Gravitas
When the General Manager of the developer platform is telling you how it is, you know that you are not only getting the facts, but also what decisions were made before reaching the current spec and what is waiting in the pipeline. You also know that you can give feedback straight to the horse’s... ears.
b. Geekness
I have always maintained that developers enjoy watching/listening to fellow geeks. Scott is a geek.
c. Passion
Usually, but not always, follows on from the previous point. In this case, it was evident that Scott was passionate about what he was showing.

Notice how I did not include in the list above “presentation skills”. That is because I have never heard so many times the word “um” in a session. If it wasn’t for the compelling content I would have walked out at one point in the “WPF/e” talk :-)

Speaking of presentation mistakes, on to my grok talk...
I managed to start talking and then realised that I had forgotten to connect my laptop to the projector... doh! I also hadn’t realised that the only microphone available was one that you must hold... a bit difficult when your entire talk is demo-based! Thanks to Richard, Dave and John for filling in for me while I battled to get Vista to talk to the screen and thanks for later holding the microphone to my face while I used the keyboard/mouse. Live and learn. As for the topic of my grok talk, I settled on Sidebar (apologies if you were hoping for SideShow, but I feel that it is hard to talk about it without having real hardware to show to people).

Given that generally my focus is on client and mobile technologies, you wouldn’t expect to see me at a web event, but I want to catch Scott Guthrie’s “Sneak peak at Orcas” session, so tomorrow (Saturday) I will be at WebDD – say "hi" if you spot me :-)

They have some grok talks at lunch time and I’ve been pushed forward to do one. I entered the title of “Vista Gadgets”, which leaves the door open to talk about Sidebar or SideShow. I could try to cover both but in 10’ that would mean restricting it to an end user’s perspective rather than showing code for either of them... we’ll see what mood I am in tomorrow ;-)

In any case, don’t expect anything new from this grok talk, it will be a cut-down version of either the Sidebar screencast or the SideShow screencast. See you there!

The replacement of ActiveSync on Windows Vista, the Windows Mobile Device Center has RTMd (only 3-4 months after my last WMDC post)!

Remember to remove any Beta you may have had and get download links from here.
(or wait for Windows Update by the end of the week with your phone plugged in as always).