http://aspalliance.com/author.aspx?uId=43427 AspAlliance articles by Richard Dudley In this article, Richard demonstrates how to create an XML file from a SQL Server 2005 database using LINQ. He provides a detailed explanation of the relevant steps with the help of source code and screenshots captured from Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition. At the end of the article, he also gives a few references where you can learn more regarding the techniques involved with LINQ. http://aspalliance.com/1534_Easy_SQL_to_XML_with_LINQ_and_Visual_Basic_2008 Richard Dudley Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT I am a fan of simple tools which work well and save me a lot of time. Two of my "new best friends" are Logica2's sister programs dtsdoc, which documents SQL Server DTS packages, and dbdesc, which documents SQL Server schemas. The documentation is complete and generated quickly, and both programs have found a lasting place in my SQL Server toolkit. http://aspalliance.com/1507_Review_dtsdoc_and_dbdesc Richard Dudley Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT ASP.NET 2.0 brought us all sorts of new technologies and one of the most exciting is Web Parts. Web Parts are versatile contols over which the end user can exhibit some level of control and form the basis of portals. In his recently published book, Darren takes us from the very basics of web parts and portals to advanced techniques of portal building. Darren's book is well written, and illustrated with screenshots and code (which can be downloaded from the publisher's website). http://aspalliance.com/1118_Review_ASPNET_20_Web_Parts_in_Action Richard Dudley Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT Since the release of ASP.NET 2.0, several starter kits have been released as examples of programming practices. These kits are also good starting points for actual websites and can be valuable to novice webmasters. This article will demonstrate how to download and install the Club Site Starter Kit, configure a different database to prepare for a production site and change the appearance by modifying the master page. http://aspalliance.com/839_Getting_Started_with_the_Club_Site_Starter_Kit Richard Dudley Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT ASP.NET 2.0 brought about a number of improvements in the way configuration settings are stored and accessed. Several new configuration sections have been added to the web.config schema, settings can be updated via code, and can be more easily encrypted and decrypted than before. In this article, Richard examines these new features with the help of code samples. http://aspalliance.com/820_Web_Application_Settings_in_ASPNET_20 Richard Dudley Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT Passphrases have been receiving more and more attention as part of a strong security policy. When building secure web-based applications, assigning random passphrases to new user accounts can be a bit of a challenge. In this article, we'll build a simple passphrase generator that can be used as part of a web application to set or reset user passphrases. http://aspalliance.com/703_A_Simple_Passphrase_Generator Richard Dudley Tue, 09 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT The inclusion of Forms Authentication in the .NET Framework has been a significant benefit to developers securing web-based applications. While pages can be secured server-side, local caching by browsers and proxy servers may allow a user to review information even after they have logged out. In some cases, this may present a risk to the user's confidential information. This article discusses three HTTP headers that can be used to prevent local caching of web pages, adding some protection to the user's data. http://aspalliance.com/694_Preventing_Page_Review_after_Logout_with_Forms_Authentication Richard Dudley Mon, 11 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT DotNetNuke is an exciting open-source portal application, full of features and potential. Unlocking the application's potential through custom modules and configurable skins can involve a steep learning curve. "Professional DotNetNuke ASP.NET Portals" has been written by members of the DotNetNuke Core Team (which manages the overall project), and provides an in-depth discussion on what a developer needs to know to install and develop for the portal. http://aspalliance.com/693_Review_Professional_DotNetNuke_ASPNET_Portals Richard Dudley Wed, 06 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT In most cases, when using Forms Authentication, redirecting a user to their originally requested page, or default.aspx, is the desired action. However, there may be times where you want to redirect a user to a specific page based on role membership, or to enforce a password change, or for some other reason. This codesnip will show you how to do so. http://aspalliance.com/684_Codesnip_Redirecting_a_User_to_a_Specific_Page_with_Forms_Authentication Richard Dudley Wed, 08 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMT Crystal Reports has the ability to produce output in PDF format. Often, it is desirable to have multiple reports appear in the same PDF file. Crystal Reports does not have the ability to export multiple reports into the same PDF, or to password protect a PDF, but several third party components can process PDFs post-export from Crystal Reports. We'll use one .NET control named Dynamic PDF Merger to combine two PDFs into a single file, and return the single file to the end user. http://aspalliance.com/571_Merging_and_Password_Protecting_PDFs_Exported_by_Crystal_Reports Richard Dudley Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT