A Note of Discontinuation

From now on, I'm gonna maintain the blog on my own web site. Please come around.

Cheers,
Kirill

A Difference between Visual C++ 2010 and Visual C++ 2008

I have just noticed that there is no more global option for specifying reference (such as include, library, executable, etc.) directories in Visual C++ 2010. Previously you could open the Options window using Tools – Options menu, and there was an item called VC++ Directories. This was extremely useful for specifying external SDK roots. For example, I use wxWidgets for some of my research projects, WTL for the UI coding, and also the ACE library. Since VC6 the right way to link to such SDK-like products was precisely through the VC++ Directories dialog.

However, in Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 these settings are now made project-specific and are accessible via Project Properties window:

I am wondering if the same behavior is going to apply for the final release. If so, I guess it would bring a lot of inconvenience, especially for team development. I hope, it is not more than a bug.

Cheers,
Kirill

Reusing Source Files in Multiple Visual Studio Projects

Sometimes you have a file F in a project P1, and you want to add it to your project P2 without actually getting a copy of the file. In Visual C++ you simple choose Add Existing Item, the rest is taken care of for you. However, in Visual C# (and maybe Visual Basic which I didn't test) even if you choose Add Existing Item and pick a file from an external folder, the file will be copied to your project folder.

I really find it awkward especially in case you have your files under version control. Luckily, I've just found a simple solution how you can share your source code between two or more projects without copying the files. At least for C# it works just perfectly. Furthermore, no 3^rd party software is required!

You still choose Add Existing Item, then in the File Open dialog box you select your file and press the small arrow on the Add button. You should choose the Add As Link menu item:



Then the your file reference should be displayed as an icon with a shortcut arrow in the solution tree:



Cheers,
Kirill

Google Blogger Is Imbecile

Google Blogger has the ugliest, stupidest, crummiest, dumbest, most diabolical, most idiotic, most moronic, most irrational (please post your comments with negative adjectives so that I could keep my list in better sync with reality) content editing interface!

Just figure out that when I switch to HTML editing and paste my article's markup written in a professional quality editor (plus I pretty much know HTML so I could use plain text editor as well), the formatting is all quirky! For example, new lines are treated literally instead of just producing a single white space.

C'mon, we're talking about Google! It's not MyGrannySoftware, is it?

Cheers,
Kirill

CodeProject Article: Exposing Events in ASP.NET Server Controls

I've just submitted an article to CodeProject. The article's main concern is adding events to your ASP.NET Server Controls. Although the topic may seem pretty straightforward, there are still some major optimization pitfalls that developers may not be aware of.
In this article I emphasize on using the Events collection. Code listings are provided in C#.

Cheers,
Kirill

In Front of a Change

Just recently I started to realize -- I don't want to be the way I am. I don't want to be employed the way I am now. I don't want to manage my time the way I do now. There is maybe a dozen more different "I don't want to"s but I'm just unable to figure them out right now.

I want to start my way towards financial freedom the way smart people do. I want to find something that would bring me creative excitement from having made something, fair amount of money for compensating for my work, lots of free time for other new ideas, and an open mind to find one idea from a hundred that is worth giving myself to.

I'm sure it's gonna be a hard path, but at least I made my first step -- declared my goals.

Cheers,
Kirill

A Usability Issue in Office Communicator 2007

On my day job we use Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 for online conferencing and demos. Below is a screen I face every time my machine starts:

As a good boy I always type my password to NOT SIGN IN:-) Maybe it’s “broken on purpose” as Seth Godin would say?..