bizTech Software : Development Blog

WPF XAML Data Binding Snippets

2011-06-10T13:42:00.001+01:00

List Box with inline template

Windows 7 Can’t delete folder FIlename too long message

2011-03-28T19:18:00.001+01:00

Solution
Open 7zip file manager.
Browse to folder
Shift Delete (as normal won't work due to copying to recycle bin)
Folders gone.

T-SQL Snippets

2010-12-15T23:06:00.001Z

FAO bizTech Team : Add frequently used SQL Snippets here.

Get Yesterday’s Date without, any time

-- Add -1 to current time + format without hours
Select DATEADD (day , -1 , CONVERT(varchar(10), getdate(), 101) )

T-SQL Get dates on a specific day when you don't care about time

Quite often I have to write queries to return rows where something happened on a specific day. But the values in the table could be anytime within that day.
Previous I would pass in a start date, end date to do this, but the query then needs 2 parameters and it looks a bit cumbersome.
I came across this method which I now employ. Don't know if this has much performance impact, but it certainly is quicker to code and takes less parameters from calling application.
Where
(
DateDiff(day, @ReportStartDate,TerminalSession.StartDate) = 0
--StartDate >= @ReportStartDate
--And
--EndDate >= @ReportEndDate
)

bizTech Software : Development Blog: How to enter Rule fours in Arkle Version 2.7.34 or later

2010-12-15T14:50:00.000Z

bizTech Software : Development Blog: How to enter Rule fours in Arkle Version 2.7.34 or later

How to enter Rule fours in Arkle Version 2.7.34 or later

2010-12-15T14:48:00.001Z

Application : Arkle bet POS

Markets | Horse Racing | Edit Early Prices

Enter the race time, in the race time text box, as shown below.

Select the specific race in the Rule four grid shown above

Enter the Rule four and click apply

Configuring Directory Browsing ASP.NET 4.0 Web.Config Snipper

2010-12-14T23:45:00.001Z

Note: this also enables browsing on any subdirectories.

This code snippet is brough to you by: Web Design by bizTech Software.

Foreign Racing Not Settling Properly

2010-12-14T15:52:00.001Z

Arkle betPos has recently had an issue with Foreign racing not settling properly.
This is due to no SPs being returned on these races.

Some customers have mentioned that these races settle correctly in other bet settling systems. The reason they do not settle in Arkle, is that for daily SIS supplied racing, we always waiting until an SP was in before settling any selections. This was to prevent settling in the case of an SP being missed. We assume the other bet settling systems use the last supplied price and assume it is the SP. We are amending Arkle to do this for meetings that SIS don’t supply an SP for, but are continuing with our belt and braces policy for UK, IRE races.

Below is our communication with SIS on this issue.

With Arkle Feed 2.2.01 and above you should no longer have an issue for the current meetings with no SP (however any new meetings/tracks added may cause problems, unless SIS provide a permanent solution to let us distinguish between an SP race and a non SP race).

Rachel,

Is there anything in the SIS event that distinguishes between a meeting that will supply an SP, and a meeting that will not?

At the moment we are just having to hardcode this by meeting name.

This is currently the header information we receive with a meeting.

[SIS DATA SPEC REMOVED FOR CONFIDENTIALITY REASONS]

Rachel O'Reilly

to me, Aoife

show details 14:57 (52 minutes ago)

I will pass this on to technical for you!

Regards

Rachel

How to send an error report from within Arkle

2010-12-09T15:29:00.001Z

While you have the relevant Bet Slip or Error on screen, Type Control + Print Screen at the same time on your keyboard (This copies the current screen image to your clipboard)
Help|Send Error Report
Click on the Add Image button (This pastes the image that is in your clipboard to the error report)

Fill in the details of the error within the error description box. (Please include Bet slip ID's and full details of the error within this.)
You may also need to send us an image of the race result:

Right click on the relevant selection
Result|View Result
Again Type Control + Print Screen at the same time on your keyboard
Click on the Add Image button (This pastes the result image that is in your clipboard to the error report)
Please include Bet slip ID's that link this result image with relevant error report.

Click: Send Report button(this automatically sends the error report to support@biztechsoftware.co.uk)
At this stage you can amend any bets if a customer is waiting.
Notify the support team via a messenging program(Skype, MSN Messenger, etc) or by telephone if it is urgent(Urgent = Customers are being served)

Arkle bet POS

2010-10-19T14:55:00.002+01:00

Arkle bet POS, is our replacement for Arkle ePos.
When you login you will notice a huge difference on the Home Screen, and windows management. This difference is mainly a new skin, and much 99% of the functionality is the same.
Previously we used a multi document interface, which contained all the Windows under one main parent window.
We have now go rid of this outdated windows management method.
Now each window is a separate window of its on. And you can press F3 to go back to the home window, which will have all your menus, that you are used to.
All of your normal menus should be available by pressing F3 and looking at the menu bars on the home window.

Faster Printing
Press F3, and then select the scanner window, in settings check the WPF printing checkbox

Bet Slip Editor Window
We have also rebuilt the Bet Slip Editor Window, from scratch
Image size
If you find that the default image size is too small(or too big). You can resize the image using the Zoom+ and Zoom- buttons. If you want all the images to have the same zoom level that you have just changed, you just need to select Actions/Save Zoom.

Re-organised the screen, it will take some getting used to, but the layout is much more compact now, and more information is available on the screen.
New price shortcuts when editing

Type name + [Page Up] (instead of name + [enter]), this adds the selection and takes price @ scan time guaranteed (instead of having to ctrl + G, and confirm]
Type name + [Page Down], this adds the selection and takes price @ scan time not guaranteed (instead of having to ctrl + P and confirm]
If you want to edit the taken price in this scenario, just do ctrl + P or ctrl + G as before

Arkle ePos : Taking Prices Shortcut

2010-10-06T13:03:00.000+01:00

QUICK PRICE ENTRY
When entering a selection by name you normal type part of the name and press [enter]
Instead of pressing [enter], you can press [page up], this adds your selection with scan time price guaranteed.
Or you can press [page down], this adds your selection with scan time price not guaranteed.
Version 2.7.19 or above

Note this currently is not available on entry by number.

Roulette Videos

2010-10-06T12:23:00.001+01:00

Roulette Videos

The videos below are samples of the Roulette software. The actual software have much better quality, the videos have been compressed for a better visualization.

Wheel Spinning

All possible bets

WPF Snippets

2010-09-21T11:26:00.001+01:00

Formatting Binded Data Samples

Numeric 2 Decimal Places
Text="{Binding Path=SlipStake,StringFormat=N2}"

Custom date Format
Text="{Binding Path=DateScanned, StringFormat='{}{0:dd-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss}'}"

Implements INotifyPropertyChanged

Implements INotifyPropertyChanged

Implements INotifyPropertyChanged
Public Event PropertyChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs) Implements System.ComponentModel.INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged

   ' call This when you change a property (also remember to call it ' for read only properties that use that propered Protected
   Sub NotifyPropertyChanged(ByVal name As String)
       RaiseEvent PropertyChanged(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(name))

End Sub

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.input.keyboardnavigationmode.aspx

Unable to copy from obj\debug to bin\debug

2010-08-05T17:17:00.001+01:00

Arrrrgghgghgh this problem reared its ugly head again today. Occurs whenever I try to build a solution (winforms) on Visual Studio 2010.

Previously adding this to the build events (My project, compile tab, click build events):
If exist "$(TargetPath).locked" del "$(TargetPath).locked"

But after working for ages I started getting the error again. Found this online though, and added it and looks like we are good again:

If exist "$(TargetPath).locked" del "$(TargetPath).locked"
if not exist "$(TargetPath).locked" if exist "$(TargetPath)" move "$(TargetPath)" "$(TargetPath).locked"

Microsoft really want to sort this out, as developers typically build a solution more than once, can’t quite get the hang of perfect coding 1st time round yet.

DataGridViewComboBoxColumn "value is not valid" on datagrid combobox column bound to enum

2010-07-30T15:26:00.001+01:00

I've been having problems with this error for a while and finally got it solved.

What we have is a form with a number of datagrids which contain combobox columns bound to enums, which was throwing the error when the form is first opened. We discovered that the enum binding must be set before the datagrid bindings are set on the form or else the error will occur. In our case we were setting a property on the form before showing it then trying to bind the enums.

The solution was to bind the enums to the datagridcolumns before setting any other properties on the form. To be sure we also set the enum bindings again on the form_load method.

Another bug in .Net meant that the error was also displayed when we closed the form if the datagrid was not populated, so we set the enum bindings again in the form_closing event, and it all seems to work fine now, thnakfully.

Note this error only seems to appear if we allow the add rows property of the datagrid.

Becoming a better programmer

2010-06-24T01:20:00.001+01:00

Recently we have started training one of our support guys, into becoming a junior developer. It’s the 1st time we’ve trained someone on the team, who hasn’t coded commercially before. It got me to thinking about what makes a good developer, and in turn how I can become a better developer.

I read a few other good blogs on this issue of being a better developer before starting this one.

It also got me to thinking about how I have improved at developing over my career. Here are some of the things I’m definitely better at now than I was at university.

Naming of methods and refactoring. I now use clear concise methods, both in their naming and what they do. If you need to comment in what the method is doing, rather than that being obvious by the name, I think you are doing something wrong.
Becoming less likely to jump to a new technology straight away.
Building user interfaces that really guide the user from start to finish and require little or no introduction. SSW rules to have some great pointers here.
Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s in a project, getting it deployed and not having it sit in development or ready for deployment state.
Searching Google (will it wasn’t there when I was at uni) but I now know when searching which paths it sends me down which are just plain ludicrous and which to follow. Google can point you in one or two good directions when searching how to solve a coding issue, and thousands of wrong directions.

Then I started thinking, what am I worse at than I was when I came out of university.

Becoming less likely to learn a new technology quickly (didn’t I mention about that in the positives above) – yeah but there are pluses and minuses to it.
Deploying projects before they are fully ready.

My main tips to becoming a better developer

Name your methods and classes will, if they don’t make good sense when you are developing them, you are going to have a lot of trouble maintaining them.
REFACTOR REFACTOR REFACTOR!!!
Build user interfaces that don’t need instructions and are in the main self explanatory
Get involved in teaching others what tips & techniques you have acquired, this will crystallize them in your own mind and help your team. Teaching will also show you where you are bluffing and don’t understand it, because if you don’t get it you certainly can’t explain it.
Learn a new technology once per month, and use it in a mini project.
Don’t let another member of your team become completely specialised into one technology – make sure you all have some awareness of what the other guys are coding. My colleague is doing a WPF project, and I have no clue how it works, this shouldn’t happen.
Get to know the users of your software and LISTEN to them, also if possible use your software in the field.
Above all be passionate about coding and the software you write.

Calibrating the cyberview scanner

2010-06-22T20:56:00.001+01:00

Calibration helps fix mark sense scanning, allows you to darken images, and can get rid of unwanted lines through text. Calibration should be done after the scanner is cleaned (for instructions on cleaning your scanner click here). TIP: It is a good idea to do this about once a week, as blobs of build up on the scanner glass.

Exit Arkle epos (as you need to run EngBench, which can’t operate when Arkle has the scanner in operation).
Run EngBench (try running as administrator). There should be a shortcut or your desktop (otherwise navigate to C:\Program Files\bizTech Software\Arkle – ePos\ where you will find it.

Click Cal button (to initiate calibration)

Insert a blank sheet of A4 into scanner (leave it in scanner, it won’t automatically scan through).
Click OK (the scanner will now start processing the blank A4)

The scanner will process the blank A4 by repeatedly pulling the paper in and out, this is normal.
Once this has completed, scan a few test slips and modify the light setting and gamma, until you are happy with scanned image.
Click OK, to save the new settings, and log back into Arkle and test the scanner there. If settings do not appear to have saved, you may not have run as administrator or have correct permissions to save files to the Arkle ePos folder.

Fixes

2010-06-08T15:56:00.001+01:00

Fixes in 2.5.41 and above

Monitored Customers

View detailed monitored customer report, and view all their slips (Reports | Profit Loss | Stake Payout Profit | By Monitored Customer, Sport
You can now remove a slip from monitored customer, select other slip details tab, and click the delete button beside monitored customer, this sets bet slip back to no monitored customer.
Hide an old inactive customer, so they don’t show up in monitored customer list.
In the edit customer Form change their status to “Hidden”
Bet Slip Actions | Refresh customer list (refreshes added customers, so you no longer have to log out and back in).
On the F8 screen you can see monitored customer ID column to easily identify which slips are monitored and which are not.

Bet Slip Editor

Bet Slip Actions | Remove all bets (deletes all bets from slip in one go)

Bug Fixes

Remove bug allowing re-edit of void bet slips.
Lotto entry, tab order fixed
Ctrl + C, fixed bug (was previously copying unselected selections)

A new BETA version is out to selected shops for testing.
As this was a complete rewrite of the internals of Arkle ePos, a lot of functions fell off the radar and were not included. We are added them back in one by one and doing daily mini-releases to installed shops.

For a list of what is new and improved in the new slip editor click here

Below is a list of the BETA versions and the missing features they fix

2.5.33 : Added ctrl + S (soccer), Ctrl + O (golf), Ctrl + D (draw)
2.5.33 : Fixed with on editing alert, so you can now easily see whole alert, no matter how large it is.
2.5.32 (BETA) | F4 (settle slip) + Add wager to slip, vastly speeded up (by removing event handlers that seemed to be firing all over the place
2.5.32 (BETA) | Event Liabilities + Accumulator Liabilities re-added.
2.5.32 : Changes to speed up F4 etc... by not firing events
2.5.27 (BETA) | Almost Ready For Release to BETA Shops

F5 Check for prices defaults to entering next selection after each price checked
Market Book Summary | View Slips (working again)
F8 | Search Slips By Selection name

Problem: If you enter a bet by the race time / selection number, it doesn't go straight to the stake screen anymore, it defaults back to the name selection editor.
2.5.27 BETA changes this behaviour if you enter 2 or more by number it goes to stake, otherwise goes back to selection number (this is by design)

· When entering lotto, It defaults to the draws e.g. lunchtime draw, teatime draw etc. it should default up at the game type then if you press tab it should bring you down to the draws then to 6 or 7 nums and then to enter the numbers.
Shift tab should work for this on 2.5.27 BETA (as most times you are going to be entering consecutive same game types)

Edit after Actual Off Alert, doesn’t include the length of the race.
Should be fixed in 2.5.26 BETA

Arkle Feed 2.1.14, fixes slow settling of losers, which can slow payout if a bet has one loser and one winner on a race just gone

My Fav Blogs

2010-05-26T12:56:00.000+01:00

Going to keep a list here of my fav bugs & online posts

My all time favourite (a toss up by SSW rules & How to report bugs effectively)

How to Report Bugs Effectively
by Simon Tatham, professional and free-software programmer

SSW Rules to better

Scott Hanselman : Tools List

Beth Massi's blog (excellent stuff)

Non IT Related

Belfast food reviews

New Selection Editor Tips

2010-05-19T14:57:00.001+01:00

None Slip editing enhancements (this update is mainly enhancements to slip editor although a few bugs have been fixed).

Entry of Irish Lotto Results from SIS (fixed)
Entry of 49s Results from SIS (fixed)
Settling of Fav/2nd Fav (fixed)

Enhancements to bet slip editor

Warnings on no rule4 applied before payout
Warnings on amended result before payout
Warnings on Stewarts Enquiries or Objections before payout

See bottom of document for screenshots.

The new results viewer is much easier on the eye

Dead heats/Co Favs etc... highlighted in yellow

What you will notice

Some new shortcut keys (so it may take a bit of getting used too)
Switching sports (e.g. Ctrl + L is much faster)
Filtering when typing selection names is much faster
Numbers editor defaults to forty nines upon login, and then last edited numbers game, for subsequent ctrl + N calls until you log back out.

Ctrl + E will return you to text entry textbox at any time (without having to refresh coupon)
Tip: You would use this if you had clicked elsewhere, and wanted to go back to editing another selection

If using the arrow up and down to enter a selection, use "+" key on keyboard to add that particular selection (rather then the enter key)

Entering Dogs/Horses by time & number (of fav)
Tab over to the time filter text box

You can filter time by entering exact time (e.g. 3.05) or if you just enter 3 (it will show all races between 3pm & 4pm – and you can use up down arrow to select). If only one race is shown the Market list box will go green.
If more than one race matches your search criteria use the up down arrows (or mouse) to select appropriate race.
Once you are happy with the race click [Space] or [Tab] and enter your numbers of favourites
- 2 3 (will select numbers 2 & 3)
- 2 f (will select number 2 & the favourite)
- 2 2f (will select number 2 & the second favourite)

How was this achieved in code?

Enhanced reading from database (using stream data instead of database tables)
Local caching of data, to prevent database calls, if stream data is not updated
Enhanced filtering during editing using LINQ instead of dataview

Screenshot | 1 (Amended result + no rule 4 warning)

New Results Viewer

DatagridView : Sort Generic List on any property (minimal code)

2010-05-18T16:30:00.000+01:00

Had been wrecking my head with this for a few hours but got a good solution (with very little code).
Okay so it using reflection and mightn't have order log n speed, but so what if you are sorting collections with normally less than 50 items.

I handle the Column Header Mouse Click
Get the data property name.
Then use some reflection to sort the generic list. (before this I had to use select case, and sort by knowing the property name in code, but when I add new properties this was a pain to maintain).

    Private Sub SelectionsCollectionsDataGridView_ColumnHeaderMouseClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewCellMouseEventArgs) Handles SelectionsCollectionsDataGridView.ColumnHeaderMouseClick
        Try
            Dim col = Me.SelectionsCollectionsDataGridView.Columns(e.ColumnIndex)
            Me.selectedMarket.SelectionsCollections.Sort(Function(p1, p2) p1.GetType.GetProperty(col.DataPropertyName).GetValue(p1, Nothing).CompareTo(p2.GetType.GetProperty(col.DataPropertyName).GetValue(p2, Nothing)))
            Me.SelectionsCollectionsBindingSource.CurrencyManager.Refresh()
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.ToString, MsgBoxStyle.Critical)
        End Try
    End Sub

In Running Betting

2010-04-24T17:08:00.002+01:00

bizTech Software are pleased to announce in-running betting is now available in arkle bet POS.

Display in running on arkle betting screens in your shop.
Edit in running bets on arkle ePos, and view full price change history, in your ePos and online.
Prices automatically update and suspend in real time.

Sports Available

Football

Match betting, next goalscorer, correct score, match handicaps.

Snooker, Tennis, Golf (and more sports coming soon).

Cleaning Cyberview Scanner

2010-04-23T13:18:00.002+01:00

Scanner Cleaning

Perform the following cleaning procedure periodically every week, whenever black lines appear on the scanned image or scanning errors occur.
1. Grab the Scanner Cover by the tips of the input and output guides, or alternatively, by the Front and Back borders on each side.

Grab

2. Either use one or two hands
i.

Grab

3. Lift-up the Scanner Cover.

Lift-Up

4. Place the Scanner Cover away from the scanner.

5. Locate the two Feed Roller Lock-Levers as shown (only right side shown).

Right Side Lock-Lever

Feed Roller

6. Place both thumbs on the Feed Roller Lock-Levers grooves and push-backward to rotate them.

Rotate Backward

7. Rotate the two Lever-Locks until the Lever-Tail is oriented upward (only right side shown).
i.

Lock-Tail oriented upward

ii.
8. The Feed-Roller will be released when the 2 Lock-Tails are in the upward position
9. Grab-up both Lock-Tails.
i.

Grab-up

ii.

Grab-up

10. Lift the Feed Roller straight up by holding the two Lock-Tails.
i.

Lift straight up

ii.

Lift-up

11. Take-away the Feed Roller.

Take-away

12. The Glass of the Image Sensor will swing up and be fully exposed.
13. Open a new Cleaning Wipe bag provided and gently swipe the impregnated wipe over the entire glass surface from side to side.
i.

Swipe

Glass

14. Examine closely the surface of the Image Sensor Glass for cleanliness and rub with a fingernail on difficult-to-remove spots.
15. Put-back the Feed Roller by holding the Lock-Levers Handles vertically, then engaging them into their slots. Ensure the toothed gear wheels mesh correctly.

Put-back in

16. Once engaged in their slots, turn the Lever-Locks toward the front.
i.

Turn toward Front

ii.
17. Pushdown the two Lever-Tails until they reach the horizontal position.

Push-down

18. The two Lever-Tails should be pushed-down toward the front; otherwise, the Feed Roller will pop off during operation of the scanner.
19. Replace the Scanner Cover.
i.

Push-down

5 with one hand

i.
5 or alternatively, with two hands
20. The scanner is now ready to operate.

Arkle ePos Datafeeds

2010-04-22T20:40:00.000+01:00

bizTech are pleased to announce we can now provide data feeds from various sources, for use with Arkle ePos*

Super Soccer (all markets, including results)
Bruce Betting (all markets, including results)
Bet Byrne (all markets, prices only, no results at present)

Betting from other bookmakers also available (contact us for details).

* Please note you will need to sign up with the odds provider and a cost may occur.
Also for each shop connecting there will be a charge of £10 per month, to cover bizTechs cost of hosting the data.

Disable Close Button .NET WinForms

2010-04-06T18:54:00.001+01:00

Just seen some really neat code for doing this at: http://addressof.com/blog/articles/232.aspx

I've also put a copy down below of the bit I used. I modified Cory Smiths code a little, so you don't have to remember to handle the resize event (a maximise or minimise for some reason renables the close button). On my modification I automatically add a handler for this in the Class CloseButton.

Public Class CloseButton

    Private Declare Function GetSystemMenu Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Integer, ByVal revert As Integer) As Integer
    Private Declare Function EnableMenuItem Lib "user32" (ByVal menu As Integer, ByVal ideEnableItem As Integer, ByVal enable As Integer) As Integer

    Private Const SC_CLOSE As Integer = &HF060
    Private Const MF_BYCOMMAND As Integer = &H0
    Private Const MF_GRAYED As Integer = &H1
    Private Const MF_ENABLED As Integer = &H0

    Private Sub New()
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Disable(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
        ' The return value specifies the previous state of the menu item (it is either
        ' MF_ENABLED or MF_GRAYED). 0xFFFFFFFF indicates   that the menu item does not exist.
        Dim frm1 As Form
        frm1 = sender

        Select Case EnableMenuItem(GetSystemMenu(frm1.Handle.ToInt32, 0), SC_CLOSE, MF_BYCOMMAND Or MF_GRAYED)
            Case MF_ENABLED
            Case MF_GRAYED
            Case &HFFFFFFFF
                Throw New Exception("The Close menu item does not exist.")
            Case Else
        End Select

    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Disable(ByVal form As System.Windows.Forms.Form)
        ' The return value specifies the previous state of the menu item (it is either
        ' MF_ENABLED or MF_GRAYED). 0xFFFFFFFF indicates   that the menu item does not exist.
        Select Case EnableMenuItem(GetSystemMenu(form.Handle.ToInt32, 0), SC_CLOSE, MF_BYCOMMAND Or MF_GRAYED)
            Case MF_ENABLED
            Case MF_GRAYED
            Case &HFFFFFFFF
                Throw New Exception("The Close menu item does not exist.")
            Case Else
        End Select

        AddHandler form.Resize, AddressOf CloseButton.Disable

    End Sub

End Class

FAO Cory Smith, if you don't want your code on here contact me and I'll remove it.

SQL Server 2008 Ad Hoc Queries Distributed

2010-03-29T21:28:00.000+01:00

Configure ad hoc queries
(this needs to be done on the server you want to run the queries from).

sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1
reconfigure

sp_configure 'Ad Hoc Distributed Queries', 1
reconfigure

I normally set these back to 0 afterwards as I use ad hoc queries rarely.

Sample ad hoc query

SELECT RS.*
FROM OPENROWSET(
  'SQLNCLI',
  'SERVER=arkleserverws,6521;UID=username;PWD=password;DATABASE=dbname;',
  'SELECT Top (10) * FROM dbname.dbo.tablename'
) AS RS;

Visual Studio Memory Leak D'OH

2010-03-26T15:09:00.002Z

Another memory leak.
Just installed .NET mem profiler and locating now how to fix.

Update to this blog.
Turns out memory leak was due to some tabs in a frequently opened form.
I decided to hide the tabs when they were not in use. As a result the .NET framework did not garbage collect them when the tab was closed. So I had to manually dispose them on form closing.

I have no idea why the .NET framework would assume these are to be kept in memory just because they aren't visible.

??????????????????

.NET FlowLayoutPanel Large Vertical Gaps (unwanted)

2010-03-23T21:19:00.000Z

Ran into this issue and found a post to fix it thanks to LewisG (as this was doing my head in).

http://www.windows-tech.info/3/c9cb6b44b9529869.php

When two controls that would fit width-wise are added to a Flowlayoutpanel, and the first one has FlowBreak = true, the FlowLayoutPanel inserts a significant amount of unwanted vertical blank space between the controls.

Even in design time it can be reproduced. Steps are:

- Create a new form

- Add a flow layout panel

- Add a label

- Add a button

- Set flowbreak=true on the label

- Resize the button width-wise. It jumps up and down, the unwanted blank space appears and dissappears, depending on whether it is large enough to fit alongside the label or not.

I'm really surprised noone has made a reference to this bug in msdn forums, or any of the usual search engines.

We have an application that creates controls dynamically, and the client is hammering us with this bug. Help is appreciated.

Re: Windows Forms General Flowlayoutpanel flowbreak bug. It creates unwanted empty space

LewisG

I realize this issue is pretty old, but I ran into this bug myself and I figured out a workaround I thought might be useful to someone else.

The vertical size of the gap seems to be the same as the height of the control that follows after the flow break. So, I just add a panel of Size(0,0) with no margins after the flow break. That gets rid of the gap.

Using File Streams SQL Server 2008

2010-03-02T22:58:00.001Z

Had a bit of trouble getting these up and running. A lot of the samples out there missed steps are did them in wrong order (hopefully below is full list of steps).

Enable the file stream on the server:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645923.aspx
To enable and change FILESTREAM settings

To enable and change FILESTREAM settings

On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2008, point to Configuration Tools, and then click SQL Server Configuration Manager.
In the list of services, right-click SQL Server Services, and then click Open.
In the SQL Server Configuration Manager snap-in, locate the instance of SQL Server on which you want to enable FILESTREAM.
Right-click the instance, and then click Properties.
In the SQL Server Properties dialog box, click the FILESTREAM tab.
Select the Enable FILESTREAM for Transact-SQL access check box.
If you want to read and write FILESTREAM data from Windows, click Enable FILESTREAM for file I/O streaming access. Enter the name of the Windows share in the Windows Share Name box.
If remote clients must access the FILESTREAM data that is stored on this share, select Allow remote clients to have streaming access to FILESTREAM data.
Click Apply.
In SQL Server Management Studio, click New Query to display the Query Editor.
In Query Editor, enter the following Transact-SQL code:

EXEC sp_configure filestream_access_level, 2
RECONFIGURE

Or use 1 for T-SQL access only

Enable Filestream in your database
ALTER DATABASE ArkleStream ADD FILEGROUP ArkleStream_Filegroup CONTAINS FILESTREAM

ALTER DATABASE ArkleStream ADD FILE (
    NAME = ArkleStream_Filegroup
    ,FILENAME = 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\ArkleStream_Filegroup_Data'
    )
TO FILEGROUP ArkleStream_Filegroup

Create a table using a filesteam column
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[TestFileStreamTable](
    [SomeOtherColumn] [varchar](100) NULL,
    [FileStreamColumn] [varbinary](max) FILESTREAM NULL,
    [UniqueID] [uniqueidentifier] ROWGUIDCOL NOT NULL,
    [Test] [varbinary](max) NULL,
UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED
(
    [UniqueID] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY] FILESTREAM_ON [ArkleStream_Filegroup]

2010-02-03T13:08:00.001Z

Attach bet to customer at edit time (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Create customers for monitoring

2010-02-03T13:05:00.006Z

Create customers for monitoring (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Attach bet to customer at scan time

2010-02-03T13:05:00.005Z

Attach bet to customer at scan time (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Modifying Payouts

2010-02-03T13:02:00.003Z

Modifying Payouts (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

How to pay out a slip that has not been edited, but result is in

2010-01-15T12:12:00.001Z

How to pay out a slip that has not been edited, but result is in(added by John McGuinness 14th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

How to fix the Cyberview scanner if it stops working

2010-01-15T12:03:00.009Z

How to fix the Cyberview scanner if it stops working(added by John McGuinness 14th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Voiding a slip if it has already been edited

2010-01-15T12:02:00.001Z

Voiding a slip if it has already been edited(added by John McGuinness 14th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Cash movements

2010-01-14T09:29:00.007Z

Cash movements(added by John McGuinness 07th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Shift swaps

2010-01-14T09:29:00.006Z

Shift swaps(added by John McGuinness 07th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Checkpoints

2010-01-14T09:29:00.005Z

Checkpoints (added by John McGuinness 06th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Start Float

2010-01-14T09:29:00.004Z

Start Float (added by John McGuinness 11th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Changing stakes

2010-01-14T09:28:00.005Z

Changing stakes(added by John McGuinness 11th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Voiding slips

2010-01-14T09:28:00.004Z

Voiding slips(added by John McGuinness 11th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Editing slips

2010-01-14T09:28:00.003Z

Editing slips(added by John McGuinness 11th-Jan-2010): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Roboweb Labs

2010-01-12T14:24:00.003Z

Tips: When entering a result with multiple winners, remember you may need to set dead heat count to zero (e.g. Soccer score anytime), as dead heat does not apply here.

Date	Status	Description
29-Jun-2010	Ready For Live Test	robo Web can generate in-running to non arkle screens
29-Jun-2010	Ready For End User Test	Rule4s can be entered against non sis racing markets (e.g. across the card doubles).
29-Jun-2010	2.4.05	Can now select multiple dates for creating numbers games
29-Jun-2010	2.4.05	Monday Millions Plus Draw now generated (these can be resent over top of existing 1 draw events).

12-Jan-2010 : Warns if event greater than 10 days in future or if date is blank
12-Jan-2010 : Attachment to email added as in line
12-Jan-2010 : Apply can send email
12-Jan-2010 : Saves to network drive/current/antepost

Arkle ePos Troubleshooting

2010-01-07T11:09:00.010Z

Here are a list of common problems and what to check. Will will be adding videos to this post.
If you would like to see anything added her please email support.

Bets Stop Settling / Results stop coming in
3 programs are required to correct process results.
2 run on your sis terminal

Sis bet settling feed collector (this collects data from sis)
Arkle Feed (this processes the data from sis)

1 runs on your server machine

Bet Settler (this processes your results and marks slips).
- Tip: Make sure you only have one bet settler open, opening multiple will drain resources and impact performance

Cybview Slip Scanner stops
(note you do not need to log off and back on)

Check leads are firmly in back of scanner
Windows | Form Scanner
Select Diagnostics Tab
Click Initialise (after about 2 seconds text should appear in the text box, with the margin/gama/threshold). And you should get a notification in bottom right that scanner has worked.
If this does not work, remove the power lead from scanner and put back in and repeat.
(to do add video showing this)

Arkle Updates : Bug Fixes And Changes

2010-01-04T16:22:00.004Z

PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL AN UPDATE YOURSELF WITHOUT CHECKING WITH HELPDESK 1st
SOME UPDATES REQUIRE CHANGES TO YOUR DATABASE

UPDATING YOURSELF COULD BREAK ARKLE, AND PREVENT YOU SCANNING OR PRINTING SLIPS FOR CUSTOMERS

2.3.94
OMR Slips go to security hold before printing out, this prevents bet settler erroring, they then go to edited upon print out.
Can rescan payout barcode (on voyager scanner without error)
Can't cancel payout, unless already paid
Fixed NR on forecasts
Stake change receipt for customer
UserControlSelectionFinder: Copy selections duplicates removed
Formatted Terminal Transactions to 2 decimal places (re round error gary @scotbet)
Form Scanner : Payout Totals
Fixed end of day report for nulls
Euro Millions : Don't include bonus checked by default for euro millions
Tidy up danger alerts, euro (friday) millions fixed

Arkle Online Training Videos

2009-12-21T15:12:00.020Z

Hi,
Follow our blog which shows new features and how to use them.

Please don't update yourself to a new version without checking with the helpdesk first. You may need schema updates to your database before applying an update (and if you update with out them Arkle may fall over and not work).

http://biztechteam.blogspot.com/2010/01/arkle-updates-bug-fixes-and-changes.html

Modifying Payouts (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Create customers for monitoring (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Attach bet to customer at scan time (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

Attach bet to customer at edit time (added by John McGuinness 21st-Dec-2009): Available version ePos 2.3.88 or above

SQL Server Transaction Log Full

2009-12-16T10:46:00.004Z

Sometimes, for whatever reason the transaction log gets full up.
And shrinking via management studio doesn't work;

sp_detach_db [database name]
Then rename or delete the log file

Then

EXEC sp_attach_db @dbname = N'pubs',
@filename1 = N'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data\pubs.mdf',

This will create a new blank log file and get you up and running.

Checking Types in VB.NET

2009-12-15T10:07:00.001Z

Easiest way I have found to date:

If TypeOf (Me.Button1) Is Button Then
MsgBox("is button", MsgBoxStyle.Information)
End If

GUI Letting Users Know Which control has focus

2009-11-26T11:57:00.009Z

When a control has focus there is a very subtle change in it's colour, that experienced windows users know.

However we develop software that is often the 1st windows programme the users have experienced.

To help, with this we sometimes set the background colour to yellow on focus and white on no focus. I've also modified the code, to allow you to set it up for making the border colour (color) go yellow on focus, and form colour on lost focus (bit like google chrome text boxes).

Here is some easy code to allow this:

#Region "ChangeColourOnHasFocus"

Private intFocusType As FocusType = FocusType.BackgroundColor
Private Enum FocusType
BackgroundColor = 1
BorderColor = 2
End Enum

Private Sub SetControlBackgroundToWhiteOnLostFocus(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Dim ctl1 As Control
ctl1 = sender
Debug.WriteLine(ctl1.Text)

Dim blChangeColour As Boolean
blChangeColour = Me.needToChangeControlColourOnFocusChange(ctl1)
If blChangeColour Then
Select Case intFocusType
Case FocusType.BackgroundColor
ctl1.BackColor = Color.White
Case FocusType.BorderColor
Dim g As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics
Dim pen As New Pen(Me.BackColor, 5.0)
g.DrawRectangle(pen, New _
Rectangle(ctl1.Location, ctl1.Size))

End Select

End If

End Sub
Private Sub SetControlBackgroundToYellowOnFocus(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Dim ctl1 As Control
ctl1 = sender

Dim blChangeColour As Boolean
blChangeColour = Me.needToChangeControlColourOnFocusChange(ctl1)
If blChangeColour Then
'ctl1.BackColor = Color.Yellow

Select Case intFocusType
Case FocusType.BackgroundColor
ctl1.BackColor = Color.Yellow
Case FocusType.BorderColor
Dim g As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics
Dim pen As New Pen(Color.Yellow, 5.0)
g.DrawRectangle(pen, New _
Rectangle(ctl1.Location, ctl1.Size))

End Select

End If

End Sub

Function needToChangeControlColourOnFocusChange(ByVal control1 As Control) As Boolean
' Don't change colour if control is not enabled or read only
Dim blSetColour As Boolean = True
If control1.Enabled = False Then
Return False
End If
If TypeOf (control1) Is TextBox Then
Dim txt1 As TextBox
txt1 = control1

If txt1.ReadOnly Then
Return False
End If
End If
Return True
End Function

Sub AddChangeColourOnFocusLostFocusHandlers()
' Can call this on form load on whenever you want to enable the colour changing
For Each control1 As Control In Me.Controls
Me.AddHandlersForLostFocusOnControlAndChildControls(control1)
Next
End Sub

Private Sub AddHandlersForLostFocusOnControlAndChildControls(ByVal control1 As Control)
For Each ctrlChild As Control In control1.Controls
Me.AddHandlersForLostFocusOnControlAndChildControls(ctrlChild)
Next
If TypeOf (control1) Is TextBox Or TypeOf (control1) Is ComboBox Then
AddHandler control1.GotFocus, AddressOf Me.SetControlBackgroundToYellowOnFocus
AddHandler control1.LostFocus, AddressOf Me.SetControlBackgroundToWhiteOnLostFocus
End If
End Sub

#End Region

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Me.AddChangeColourOnFocusLostFocusHandlers()
End Sub

SQL Server 2008 & Windows 7

2009-10-26T09:49:00.004Z

We have just moved Arkle ePos to use SQL Server 2008. No problems at all.
We have also tested on Windows 7 (32 bit) and it works.

Enums / Data Binding

2009-10-07T11:21:00.008+01:00

I use enums in my code a lot.
Often I have to set the various enumerations into the text in a text box. This is simple:

Me.ComboBoxGameCode.DataSource = System.Enum.GetValues(GetType(NumbersGameDraw.GameType))

This is nice but not great.
Say we have enums representing multiple words (for example the following)
Paid
NotPaid (we would like NotPaid to display as Not Paid).

So I created enumhelper class to do this:

Public Class EnumHelper
Private Shared Function ChangeHungarianTextToSeperateWords(ByVal originalText As String) As String

Dim strOutput As String = ""
Dim i As Integer = 0
While i < originalText.Length
Dim char1 As Char
char1 = originalText.Substring(i, 1)

If Char.IsUpper(char1) Then
strOutput &= " " & char1
Else
strOutput &= char1
End If
i += 1
End While
Return strOutput.Trim

End Function

Public Shared Function GetEnumSeperateWordsList(ByVal enumType As Type) As ArrayList
Dim x = System.Enum.GetNames(enumType)
Dim y As New ArrayList

For Each item1 As Object In x
'item1 = Me.ChangeHungarianTextToSeperateWords(item1)
y.Add(EnumHelper.ChangeHungarianTextToSeperateWords(item1))
Next
Return y

End Function
End Class

Numeric Up Down and the tab key

2009-10-06T15:33:00.003+01:00

When users have to enter data in numerous numeric up down and tab between them, they can't just key the new amount.

Say 1 is in the numeric up down they have just tabbed to and they type 2, it will go to 21 (instead of 2 which they wanted).

So for this I have put a bit of code on the got focus

Private Sub NumericUpDown1_GotFocus(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles NumericUpDown1.GotFocus
Me.NumericUpDown1.Select(0, Me.NumericUpDown1.Value.ToString.Length)
End Sub

Private Sub NumericUpDown2_GotFocus(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles NumericUpDown2.GotFocus
Me.NumericUpDown2.Select(0, Me.NumericUpDown1.Value.ToString.Length)
End Sub

This selects the whole value and allows them to type.
Why does the control not just behave like this in the first place?

Also I'm toying with setting background colours to yellow when controls have focus and back to white when they do not, this is much better than the less subtle built in controls.

T-SQL Get dates on a specific day when you don't care about time

2009-09-26T13:20:00.003+01:00

Quite often I have to write queries to return rows where something happened on a specific day. But the values in the table could be anytime within that day.

Previous I would pass in a start date, end date to do this, but the query then needs 2 parameters and it looks a bit cumbersome.

I came across this method which I now employ. Don't know if this has much performance impact, but it certainly is quicker to code and takes less parameters from calling application.

Where
(
DateDiff(day, @ReportStartDate,TerminalSession.StartDate) = 0

--StartDate >= @ReportStartDate
--And
--EndDate >= @ReportEndDate
)

Visual Studio Dataset Designer Problem

2009-09-22T22:01:00.004+01:00

Just wasted about 5 hours on a really annoying problem.
I have a data access layer project in my solution.

It stopped compiling properly and was giving mutliple defintion errors.
The was one dataset.xsd
but mutliple dataset.designer.vb (e.g. dataset.designer1.vb, dataset.designer2.vb).
Somewhere along the line the .vbproj file must have added another entry.

To solve I copied the XSD file to desktop.
Deleted it from project (through IDE).
Deleted all the .designer files (through explorer).
Readded the XSD to the project and it compiles fine.

Actually thats what I should have done, initially I wasted hours and hours trying other solutions.

Code Rush : Refactor

2009-09-09T19:58:00.005+01:00

Had tried this out a few years back, and it ate up my CPU/Memory so unistalled it on the day I installed it.

Just downloaded the latest version available on their website

Structural highlighting is my favourite feature to date (even though it isn't much of a time saver)

Have to say no speed/cpu/memory issues now, and the product is SUPERB.
It is going to save me so much time coding I might cut down to a 6 day working week.

New Blog

2009-09-07T01:21:00.001+01:00

Hi folks,
Haven't blogged in quite some time, but have decided to start again.
Some stuff on .NET serialization to follow.