Home › Resources › Articles

Articles and Writings

Visio Macro To List Document Tabs

(Microsoft Visio,Microsoft VBA) by Jason on 06/17/2010  |  0 Comments

Some I wrote up quickly to throw a sequential list of all the tabs (pages) of a Microsoft Visio document into a Shape (e.g. table of contents). Create your overview page Drop a shape onto the canvas Open the shape

Helpful Sql Scripts for Ektron CMS 400.Net

by Jason on 06/12/2010  |  0 Comments

Helpful Sql Scripts for Ektron CMS 400.Net A compilation of various SQL scripts I have acquired, modified or written myself to perform various tasks not possible through the workarea (at least as of 8.0). Disclaimer if you are downloading and

How to Programmatically Enable ThickBox Functionality in Ektron CMS 400.Net

(Ektron CMS 400.Net,Web Programming,CSS,JavaScript,AJAX) by Jason on 04/09/2010  |  2 Comments
Ektron CMS 400.Net includes a proprietary version of jQuery to handle most if not all its DHTML/AJAX client-side requirements. I wanted to demonstrate how a developer could leverage the out-of-box ThickBox (lightbox, etc.) functionality that is used throughout the Ektron components.

CMS400-Plugin Event Log Errors

(Ektron CMS 400.Net,Microsoft Windows) by Jason on 04/08/2010  |  0 Comments

Ektron has a snazzy plug-in framework that allows developers to write applications that hook directly into the CMS event model, thereby allowing us to create our own logic that is handled inline, alongside, within the CMS's.

If you have installed the Ektron Developer SDK as part of your core platform installation, this service will run automatically and has a couple of default plug-ins (Google, etc.) that run after installation.

The problem is that out of the box, these modules are not configured, so every time someone does anything in the work area that causes the plug-ins to fire, you may get errors.

TortoiseSVN Global Ignore Pattern

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 04/07/2010  |  0 Comments
I use Subversion as my version control system both at work and at home. To interact with the various Subversion repositories, I use TortoiseSVN, a SCM / source control software for Microsoft Windows and possibly the best standalone Subversion client there is. Over the years I have amassed a somewhat lengthy global ignore pattern used to prevent unversioned files from showing up in the commit dialog.

How To Shrink or Clear Out Large SQL Server Log Files

(Microsoft SQL Server) by Jason on 04/06/2010  |  1 Comments
While migrating our database server environment, I was reminded how huge SQL Server transaction log files can get. Of course in a development environment, transaction logs are irrelivant, so prior to migrating it is always best to truncate the log files as not to move GIGs of log files. These are the ways I am aware of to do such a thing.

How to Enable Aliases With Localized Content

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 03/27/2010  |  0 Comments
By default, the disable language awareness flag is "disabled" (ironic). By enabling this flag, the content for the specific language will display based the alias of the default language content block.

Online Project Management Systems

(Recommendation,Review,List,Web Software) by Jason on 03/09/2010  |  1 Comments
I have been asked on more than one occasion what online project management solution I would recommend. After emailing this list time over, I have decided to post it, permanently, on my site. For now, most of my ratings are

Ektron CMS400.Net Purge Content and Asset History Utility

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 03/09/2010  |  0 Comments
If you are stuck with a DMS heavy CMS instance, with very limited disk-space, you need to read this.

How to Run IIS and Apache on the Same Machine

(Microsoft IIS,Web Programming,Apache HTTP Server) by Jason on 03/02/2010  |  0 Comments

I have decided to consolidate various how-to's on configuringApacheIIS

andto run on the same machine but on different IP addresses.

Ektron CMS400.NET Helper Utilities

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 03/01/2010  |  0 Comments
In hopes to get these utilities in the public (and search engine) lime-light, I am posting the content of the Utilities.doc file of the CMS 400.Net program folder. If you are not familiar with these (as I myself haven't even taken advantage of all of them yet), I would urge that you at least read over this so you are familiar with them and what they do.

Ektron CMS400.Net Search

(Ektron CMS 400.Net,Microsoft Windows) by Jason on 02/17/2010  |  0 Comments
I've decided to start maintain a repository for things I encounter with Ektron CMS400.Net Search. This includes system issues, programming issues, and cross platform issues. I plan on maintaining this over time. Indesing Services Friendly Names File Includes all custom

Ektron CMS400.Net eSync

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 02/12/2010  |  2 Comments
Regardless of your personal opinion of Ektron's eSync technology, you can't help but admit it is a pretty amazing technology. After having used it for the past year or so, I have gained a love hate relationship for it's ability

Ektron eSync Error Generating Security Certificates

(Ektron CMS 400.Net) by Jason on 02/04/2010  |  1 Comments

While setting up another client esync configuration tonight we ran into the following error. It appears right after you click to add an esync relationship, before getting references to any local security cerficates in the drop down The communication object,

Ektron eSync Failing With Faulted State Error Message

by Jason on 01/09/2010  |  1 Comments
Today, I had the unforunate event of dealing with a failed Ektron eSync job. Also unfortunate was the fact that the error message doesn't stay up long enough to even figure out something went wrong. If you're not paying attention

Ektron Upgrade on Replicated SQL Server Instance

(Ektron CMS,Microsoft SQL Server) by Jason on 11/17/2009  |  1 Comments

I ran into an interesting situation this evening while prototyping an Ektron upgrade for a client. After running the site upgrade utility on my local instance, the DB upgrade portion of the upgrade process failed miserably. A slew of pop

Progressive Solution for Handling Browsers That Have Disabled JavaScript for Your Web Site

(Web Programming,HTML,CSS,Web Design,JavaScript) by Jason on 11/09/2009  |  0 Comments

Anyone that uses Firefox as their default web browser and has the NoScript add on enabled (if you don't I would highly recommend that you install it post haste) can attest to the terrible implementations of web sites that do

How to Take an IIS Web Site Offline

(Microsoft .NET,Microsoft IIS,Microsoft ASP.NET) by Jason on 10/27/2009  |  0 Comments

Use the following methods to put an IIS web site into off line or maintenance mode. App_Offline.htm Static Override Page (prefered) Adding a file in the application root named App_Offline.htm automatically causes the AppDomain to recycle and modifies its behavior

How To Disable Ektron Modules and Handlers in IIS 7 Virtual Applications

(Ektron CMS 400.Net,Microsoft IIS,Microsoft ASP.NET) by Jason on 10/21/2009  |  0 Comments
I recently came across a scenario where we had to configure a separate virtual application under our Ektron site. As you are aware, Ektron is heavy with it's own HttpHandlers and modules. This is the contents of a bare-bones web.config file you can drop into your virtual application directory to disable the offending Ektron DLLs from running and failing.

How to Enable SMTP Authentication for Outlook 2007

(Microsoft Office) by Jason on 10/06/2009  |  0 Comments

This article explains how to enable SMTP authentication for outbound e mail in Microsoft Outlook. Open Microsoft Outlook 2007 From the ribbon menu click Tools | Account Settings… Click the E mail tab Select the account to be modified and

Redirect Reference for Microsoft IIS 6.0

(Microsoft Windows,Microsoft IIS) by Jason on 10/01/2009  |  0 Comments
While assisting with a client deployment, I ran across a redirect web site that had the redirect URL that included wildcards. Yes, wildcards I tell you.

Leverage machine.config.comments to Learn How to Configure Your ASP.NET Web Sites

(Microsoft Windows,Microsoft IIS,Microsoft ASP.NET) by Jason on 10/01/2009  |  0 Comments

As one who is constantly having to deal with the web.config and on occasion the machine.config, I have found referencing the machine.config.comments indispensible. As such, I have decided to upload and host an accessible version the 2.0 configuration folder (C

Script to Start-Stop All Running Ektron Services on Local Workstation

(Ektron CMS,Microsoft Windows,Microsoft IIS,Microsoft ASP.NET) by Jason on 09/25/2009  |  0 Comments

Script to Start Stop All Running Ektron Services on Local Workstation Anyone that develops on Ektron knows just how resource intensive the locally run Windows services can be. After manually stopping and starting all three of them every time I

Salesforce.com Web-To-Lead C# Class

(Salesforce.com,Microsoft .NET) by Jason on 09/24/2009  |  3 Comments
Over the years I have done numerous Salesforce.com web projects using their API's and APEX libraries. I wrote this class library to do quick and dirty web to lead submissions without having to do clunky form redirects to their out.

PHP Flickr Photo Rotator Class

(PHP) by Jason on 09/09/2009  |  0 Comments

Last year I was approached by an old work associate buddy who needed someone to program a basic photo display web component that he could use with a WordPress blog site he was designing. Since I am pretty decent at WordPress,

Web Page Layout

by Jason on 09/08/2009  |  0 Comments

Web Page Layout A web page layout refers to the structural design of a web page being served up on the World Wide Web. There are various key sections or components that make up the core layout of a web

Breaking HttpModule Inheritance - InheritInChildApplications

(Microsoft .NET,Microsoft ASP.NET,Web Programming) by Jason on 08/20/2009  |  0 Comments

Ran into a situation with root IIS applications sites squatting sub applications' configuration (HttpModule's specifically). Here is how to disable the inheritance. <location inheritInChildApplications="false"> <system.web> ... < system.web> < location> SectionInformation.InheritInChildApplications Property

Generic JavaScript Page onLoad Event Handler

(Web Programming) by Jason on 08/18/2009  |  0 Comments

setup onload function if(typeof window.addEventListener = 'undefined') .. gecko, safari, konqueror and standard window.addEventListener('load', generic, false) else if(typeof document.addEventListener = 'undefined')

How to Take a Screenshot of a Windows Media Video Movie

by Jason on 08/13/2009  |  0 Comments

I can count on one hand how many times I have had to do this over the past few years, but each time it takes considerable effort to "reacall" how to replicate. Apparently, by default, Windows Media Player enables what's

Tips to Protect Yourself From Phishing Schemes

(Identity Theft) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  0 Comments

Never provide your personal information when responding to an unsolicited email request, no matter how legitimate the communication may look. Whether by phone, email or internet site, data created by phishers may look like the real thing. If you

How to Configure Custom QuickLinks in Ektron

(Ektron CMS) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  1 Comments

While prototyping a custom DMS asset handler today I managed to locate actual instructions on configuring your own QuickLink handlers for specific assets. However confusing it may be that these instructions were found in the “Users Manual”, I am just

How to Convert .NET DateTime to UNIX Timestamp

(Microsoft .NET) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  0 Comments

How to convert .NET DateTime to UNIX timestamp (as in PHP, etc.)int timestamp = (DateTime.UtcNow new DateTime(1970,1,1,0,0,0)).TotalSecondsand convert a Unix timestamp to an ASP.NET DateTime value DateTime date = (new DateTime(1970,1,1,0,0,0)).AddSeconds(datestamp)

Encoding and Downloading FLV Media

(Adobe Flash) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  0 Comments

One of the greatest features of Flash is the ability to encode video for online playback. For those that have not done this, the quick notes version Create a blank Flash movie (somewhere near the dimensions of the source video)

Ektron API to Access Localization Tag

(Ektron CMS) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  0 Comments

I ran across an interesting API library deep in the Ektron API framework that allows you to pull the actual localization tag (e.g. en US, en GB, etc.) for the current language type id of the site (e.g. 1033, 2058,

How to Delete a Windows Service

(Microsoft Windows) by Jason on 07/26/2009  |  0 Comments

I have used the service controller command line tool for years. I have finally decided to write something up on it briefly since I have been working with various frameworks systems that are not completely removing their services after uninstalling

Ektron Issues with Redirecting Submitted Form Data

(Ektron CMS) by Jason on 07/25/2009  |  0 Comments

I have been architecting, designing, and programming Ektron CMS400.NET web applications for over a year now. Though not an expert, I feel I am to the point I can actually add value to other programmers architects who may be running

SharePoint Wiki Homepage Not Working

(Microsoft SharePoint) by Jason on 07/25/2009  |  0 Comments

I ran into an issue when migrating a SharePoint Wiki list from one site to another. In creating a Wiki list based on a saved template (with content) the default home document was broken or not being set. So the

SkoNet provides comprehensive digital consulting services such as: web development, applications development, database design and architecture, business process management, customer relationship management, and many others that help businesses of every size, industry, and geography meet the complex challenge of managing and sharing information on the web. Our skills and expertise in online systems allow us to help customers build applications ranging from simple, single-page web sites to robust enterprise systems.

Online Backup, Ektron Consulting, Ektron Programmer, Ektron Developer, Ektron Partner in Utah, Ektron Partner, Ektron Architect, Ektron Hosting, Salesforce.com Consultant in Utah, Salesforce.com Partner in Utah, Salesforce.com Partner, Salesforce.com Programmer, Salesforce.com Architect, Salesforce.com APEX Programmer