Fingerprint css in MVC web sites

http://madskristensen.net/post/cache-busting-in-aspnet

Optimizing for website performance includes setting long expiration dates on our static resources, such s images, stylesheets and JavaScript files. Doing that tells the browser to cache our files so it doesn’t have to request them every time the user loads a page. This is one of the most important things to do when optimizing websites.

In ASP.NET on IIS7+ it’s really easy. Just add this chunk of XML to the web.config’s <system.webServer> element:

<staticcontent>
  <clientcache cachecontrolmode="UseMaxAge" cachecontrolmaxage="365.00:00:00" />
</staticcontent>

The above code tells the browsers to automatically cache all static resources for 365 days. That’s good and you should do this right now.

The issue becomes clear the first time you make a change to any static file. How is the browser going to know that you made a change, so it can download the latest version of the file? The answer is that it can’t. It will keep serving the same cached version of the file for the next 365 days regardless of any changes you are making to the files.

Fingerprinting

The good news is that it is fairly trivial to make a change to our code, that changes the URL pointing to the static files and thereby tricking the browser into believing it’s a brand new resource that needs to be downloaded.

Here’s a little class that I use on several websites, that adds a fingerprint, or timestamp, to the URL of the static file.

using System; 
using System.IO; 
using System.Web; 
using System.Web.Caching; 
using System.Web.Hosting;

public class Fingerprint 
{ 
  public static string Tag(string rootRelativePath) 
  { 
    if (HttpRuntime.Cache[rootRelativePath] == null) 
    { 
      string absolute = HostingEnvironment.MapPath("~" + rootRelativePath);

      DateTime date = File.GetLastWriteTime(absolute); 
      int index = rootRelativePath.LastIndexOf('/');

      string result = rootRelativePath.Insert(index, "/v-" + date.Ticks); 
      HttpRuntime.Cache.Insert(rootRelativePath, result, new CacheDependency(absolute)); 
    }

      return HttpRuntime.Cache[rootRelativePath] as string; 
  } 
}

All you need to change in order to use this class, is to modify the references to the static files.

Modify references

Here’s what it looks like in Razor for the stylesheet reference:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="@Fingerprint.Tag("/content/site.css")" />

…and in WebForms:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="<%=Fingerprint.Tag(" />content/site.css") %>" />

The result of using the FingerPrint.Tag method will in this case be:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/content/v-634933238684083941/site.css" />

Since the URL now has a reference to a non-existing folder (v-634933238684083941), we need to make the web server pretend it exist. We do that with URL rewriting.

URL rewrite

By adding this snippet of XML to the web.config’s <system.webServer> section, we instruct IIS 7+ to intercept all URLs with a folder name containing “v=[numbers]” and rewrite the URL to the original file path.

<rewrite>
  <rules>
    <rule name="fingerprint">
      <match url="([\S]+)(/v-[0-9]+/)([\S]+)" />
      <action type="Rewrite" url="{R:1}/{R:3}" />
    </rule>
  </rules>
</rewrite>

You can use this technique for all your JavaScript and image files as well.

The beauty is, that every time you change one of the referenced static files, the fingerprint will change as well. This creates a brand new URL every time so the browsers will download the updated files.

FYI, you need to run the AppPool in Integrated Pipeline mode for the <system.webServer> section to have any effect.

Building a JavaScript Event Aggregator using TypeScript

 

http://www.wintellect.com/blogs/jlikness/building-a-javascript-event-aggregator-using-typescript

Jeremy Likness' Blog

Building a JavaScript Event Aggregator using TypeScript

The event aggregator is a useful mechanism for decoupling notifications. Typically, notifications happen through events. In JavaScript, an event is a notification that happens as the result of an action. You can think of it as a notification that is triggered by something. We call the triggering of the event “raising” the event. Events are a simple notification mechanism that contain a collection of handlers. A handler is really just a function that is called when the event is raised. The event may pass some information to the handler, and your function must react to the event.

Perhaps the most popular event in JavaScript is the “click” event. Events can be wired directly in HTML markup, like this:

<a id="homeLink" href="#home" onclick="alert('Go Home!')">Go Home</a>

A more sophisticated way to provide a handler is to do something like this:

var homeLink = document.getElementById('homeLink');
homeLink.onclick = function(e) {
   alert('Go Home!');
}

Here, the handler is assigned to the onclick function that is raised when the link is clicked.

Events are the core of interacting with HTML DOM. Many JavaScript frameworks provide a mechanism for you to extend JavaScript objects to participate in the event model as well. For example, using Backbone’s events you can register to an event that is triggered by a business object, and raise the event from the business object. This allows you to have events that are not tied to specific user actions in the DOM.

The event model makes sense for most cases. One complaint about this model is that it does force coupling. To register for an event, you must have a reference to the object or DOM element that triggers the event. You provide your handler directly to the source of the event. This is appropriate in most cases, because coupling isn’t always a bad thing. A common example of this is entering search criteria for a grid and pressing the search button.

The search criteria is often bound to a view model that contains properties for the search criteria. The search event will fire, and this will trigger a call to a service that passes the criteria and returns the results for the grid. While these actions should be decoupled to an extent (i.e. the view model will remain free of view-specific code to keep it testable and maintainable, and the service call is probably implemented in a separate function), it makes sense for the view model to be aware of the service because there is a direct action/reaction taking place – the action is to request the list of results and the reaction is to receive the list. Decoupling these (for example, simply sending a message that states, “I want data” and then having a completely separate mechanism to listen for the message “I have data”) can make the code confusing to follow, hard to troubleshoot and difficult to maintain.

There are a few scenarios such as cross-module communication and extensibility that make more sense from a highly decoupled perspective. For cross-module communication, for example, you may want to use an event aggregator. One module may focus on the process of searching for items and adding them to a shopping cart, while another module handles tracking the shopping cart. You may eventually add a third module and extend the application by providing a shipping estimation calculator that responds with a new total whenever items are added to the cart. In these cases, you can decouple the modules by sending a generic message that an item is selected, then build the other modules to receive that message and act on it.

To facilitate this, you can use the publisher/subscriber model as implemented by the event aggregator. The concept of an event aggregator is simple: you have a “broker” that manages notifications. All modules know about the broker, but not about each other, and publish messages to the broker. The broker maintains a list of subscriptions (modules “subscribe” to messages) and notifies the subscribers when a message is listed.

This pattern is a perfect example of how TypeScript can be used to build a facility without compromising the flexibility of the JavaScript language. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, so all valid JavaScript is also valid TypeScript code. Instead of trying to replace the language or force typing, TypeScript allows you to define contracts and types where they make sense and are expected, but retain full control over the power of the dynamic and function-oriented aspects of JavaScript.

I decided to start by developing an MVVM module I’ll call Gom because it’s the glue that we can use on the client to hold things together. I’m exploring this solely as a learning exercise as there are plenty of fantastic frameworks like KnockoutJS, AngularJS, and the framework built into Kendo UI that handle data-binding and enterprise concerns. In TypeScript, a module is like a namespace and can be simply defined like this:

module Gom {

}

That’s it – now I can start defining classes and methods that are specific to my module. The first thing I want to keep track of is subscriptions. A subscription is simply a callback – it’s a function that should be called when a notification is sent (or an event is raised). In this model, I’ll give the subscription an identifier as well so the listener can unsubscribe if it is no longer interested in the notification:

class Subscription {
    constructor (            
        public id: number, 
        public callback: (payload?: any) => void) {
    }        
}

Note the signature for a function can be declared using a lambda-style expression, showing the parameters that are expected and the return type. The implementation of the class in JavaScript is a self-invoking function scoped to the Gom module:

var Subscription = (function () {
    function Subscription(id, callback) {
        this.id = id;
        this.callback = callback;
    }
    return Subscription;
})();    

What’s nice is that I don’t have to worry about things like creating a constructor or wrapping the function – TypeScript does that for me. Next, I’ll create an interface for a message. Think of a message as a “channel.” I can send a type of message (giving it a name), and I’ll keep track of all subscriptions for that message. It is assumed that both publishers and subscribers understand how to deal with the content of messages that have the same name. In TypeScript, interfaces have no actual JavaScript implementation. They simply provide compile-time checks, design-time auto-completion and help keep your code clean and make it easier to build and maintain.

interface IMessage {
    subscribe(callback: (payload?: any) => void): number;
    unSubscribe(id: number): void;
    notify(payload?: any): void;
}

The subscription takes a callback which has the signature of expecting any type of object (optional) and returning nothing (this is the function the listener will implement) and returns a number (the token for the subscription so it can be unsubscribed). The unsubscribe function takes the identifier, and the notify function takes an optional payload.

We can now implement the interface:

class Message implements IMessage {
 
    private _subscriptions: Subscription[];
    private _nextId: number;
 
    constructor (public message: string) {
        this._subscriptions = [];
        this._nextId = 0;
    }
 
    public subscribe(callback: (payload?: any) => void) {
        var subscription = new Subscription(this._nextId++, callback);
        this._subscriptions[subscription.id] = subscription;
        return subscription.id;
    }
 
    public unSubscribe(id: number) {
        this._subscriptions[id] = undefined;                        
    }
 
    public notify(payload?: any) {
        var index;
        for (index = 0; index < this._subscriptions.length; index++) {
            if (this._subscriptions[index]) {
                this._subscriptions[index].callback(payload);
            }
        }
    }
}

Notice how the message maintains it’s own list of subscriptions. For efficiency, it keeps the subscriptions in their assigned slots and simply sets them to undefined when they are unsubscribed. A notification simply iterates through the array and sends the payload to the subscriptions. Empty slots are skipped.

The implementation in JavaScript is again as self-invoking function that scopes the variables appropriately. Note the public functions are class-wide and therefore assigned to the underlying prototype for the object:

var Message = (function () {
    function Message(message) {
        this.message = message;
        this._subscriptions = [];
        this._nextId = 0;
    }
    Message.prototype.subscribe = function (callback) {
        var subscription = new Subscription(this._nextId++, callback);
        this._subscriptions[subscription.id] = subscription;
        return subscription.id;
    };
    Message.prototype.unSubscribe = function (id) {
        this._subscriptions[id] = undefined;
    };
    Message.prototype.notify = function (payload) {
        var index;
        for(index = 0; index < this._subscriptions.length; index++) {
            if(this._subscriptions[index]) {
                this._subscriptions[index].callback(payload);
            }
        }
    };
    return Message;
})();    

All of the classes so far have been scoped internally to the module. This means they are local to the self-invoked function that defines the module, but not available externally. You can’t directly create a Message instance. Instead, I expose an EventManager class. This isexported in TypeScript so it can be referenced externally from the module. The event manager handles a list of messages and exposes the various operations:

export class EventManager {
 
    private _messages: any;
 
    constructor () {
        this._messages = {};
    }
 
    subscribe(message: string, callback: (payload?: any) => void ) {
        var msg: IMessage;            
        msg = this._messages[message] ||
            <IMessage>(this._messages[message] = new Message(message));
                       
        return msg.subscribe(callback);                        
    }
        
    unSubscribe(message: string, token: number) {            
        if (this._messages[message]) {
            (<IMessage>(this._messages[message])).unSubscribe(token);
        }
    }
 
    publish(message: string, payload?: any) {
        if (this._messages[message]) {
            (<IMessage>(this._messages[message])).notify(payload);
        }
    }
}

Now you can see some more powerful TypeScript features at work. The subscriptions simply exist as properties on the main _messages object. When a subscription comes in, the existence of the Message instance for that subscription is checked, otherwise it is created. The <IMessage> casts the result so you can use auto-complete (type msg and hit the period and you’ll see the list of available methods). This example passes the subscription through to the message.

To unsubscribe the function first checks that the message exists, and only if it does, it passes the token down to unsubscribe. Finally, the publication checks for the existence of subscriptions (if no one subscribed, there is no one to notify) and then passes the payload through. The generated JavaScript (note the assignment to the Gom module so it is available for external consumption):

var EventManager = (function () {
    function EventManager() {
        this._messages = {
        };
    }
    EventManager.prototype.subscribe = function (message, callback) {
        var msg;
        msg = this._messages[message] || (this._messages[message] = new Message(message));
        return msg.subscribe(callback);
    };
    EventManager.prototype.unSubscribe = function (message, token) {
        if(this._messages[message]) {
            ((this._messages[message])).unSubscribe(token);
        }
    };
    EventManager.prototype.publish = function (message, payload) {
        if(this._messages[message]) {
            ((this._messages[message])).notify(payload);
        }
    };
    return EventManager;
})();
Gom.EventManager = EventManager;   

Now I can demonstrate the pub/sub model through a simple page. Here is the full mark-up. The TypeScript is compiled to a corresponding JavaScript file that is referenced.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <title>GOM - MVVM Glue for JavaScript</title>    
</head>
<body>
    <div><input id="txtMessage" value=""/></div>
    <div><input type="button" id="btnSubmit" value="Publish"/></div>
    <div>
        <h1 id="header">Pub/Sub Example</h1>
        <p id="paragraph">Type a message in the box and click "publish" to continue.</p>
    </div>
    <script src="Scripts/GomEvents.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var events = new Gom.EventManager();
        
        var token = events.subscribe("message", function(msg) {
            document.getElementById("header").innerText = msg;
        });
 
        (function(tok) {
            events.subscribe("message", function(msg) {
                document.getElementById("paragraph").innerText = msg;
                events.unSubscribe("message", tok);
            });
        })(token);        
 
        document.getElementById("btnSubmit").onclick = function() {
            events.publish("message", document.getElementById("txtMessage").value);
        };
 
    </script>
</body>
</html>

This is a very simple example but it illustrates the working event aggregator. Two subscriptions are made, one that will listen for the message called “message” and update an H1 tag, another that listens to the same message and updates the P tag. The second listener will also try to unsubscribe the first listener. The result is that the first message will update the H1 and P tags, while subsequent messages only update the P tag. Finally, a click event is wired to obtain the contents of the text box and publish the message. This is of course a contrived example to illustrate the implementation.

While you would never use the event aggregator for such as simple case, let’s go back to the original scenario of a shopping cart. The payload can be any type of object. In the shopping cart example, you could serialize an item added to the cart into JSON, then publish a “cartAdded” message with that as the payload. The cart module could then receive and track that item, while the shipping estimation module receives the same payload and uses it to estimate the shipping costs.

I believe TypeScript made it easier to design and build the implementation by using a class structure, while still generating clean JavaScript code. The resulting code can be consumed by any other code and doesn’t require TypeScript. More importantly, however, developers in a large enterprise project will now be able to reference the module and consume the contents with full IntelliSense, making it a lot easier to explore APIs and understand what they expect. Here’s an example of auto-completion in the IDE – note that I get a list of available functions as well as their complete signature:

You can download the source for this post here. I leave you with this working example:

Click here to view in a new window.

Enjoy!

Upgrading an ASP.NET MVC 3 Project to ASP.NET MVC 4

http://www.asp.net/whitepapers/mvc4-release-notes#_Toc303253806

 

ASP.NET MVC 4 can be installed side by side with ASP.NET MVC 3 on the same computer, which gives you flexibility in choosing when to upgrade an ASP.NET MVC 3 application to ASP.NET MVC 4.

The simplest way to upgrade is to create a new ASP.NET MVC 4 project and copy all the views, controllers, code, and content files from the existing MVC 3 project to the new project and then to update the assembly references in the new project to match any non-MVC template included assembiles you are using. If you have made changes to the Web.config file in the MVC 3 project, you must also merge those changes into the Web.config file in the MVC 4 project.

To manually upgrade an existing ASP.NET MVC 3 application to version 4, do the following:

1. In all Web.config files in the project (there is one in the root of the project, one in the Views folder, and one in the Views folder for each area in your project), replace every instance of the following text (note: System.Web.WebPages, Version=1.0.0.0 is not found in projects created with Visual Studio 2012):

   System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.0
   System.Web.WebPages, Version=1.0.0.0
   System.Web.Helpers, Version=1.0.0.0
   System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=1.0.0.0

   
   

   with the following corresponding text:

   System.Web.Mvc, Version=4.0.0.0
   System.Web.WebPages, Version=2.0.0.0
   System.Web.Helpers, Version=2.0.0.0
   System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=2.0.0.0

   
   
2. In the root Web.config file, update the webPages:Version element to "2.0.0.0" and add a new PreserveLoginUrl key that has the value "true":

   <appSettings>
     <add key="webpages:Version" value="2.0.0.0" />
     <add key="PreserveLoginUrl" value="true" />
   </appSettings>

   
   
3. In Solution Explorer, right-click on the References and select Manage NuGet Packages. In the left pane, select Online\NuGet official package source, then update the following:
   
   
   
   • ASP.NET MVC 4
     
   • (Optional) jQuery, jQuery Validation and jQuery UI
     
   • (Optional) Entity Framework
     
   • (Optonal) Modernizr
   
   
4. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project name and then select Unload Project. Then right-click the name again and select EditProjectName.csproj.
   
5. Locate the ProjectTypeGuids element and replace {E53F8FEA-EAE0-44A6-8774-FFD645390401} with {E3E379DF-F4C6-4180-9B81-6769533ABE47}.
   
6. Save the changes, close the project (.csproj) file you were editing, right-click the project, and then select Reload Project.
   
7. If the project references any third-party libraries that are compiled using previous versions of ASP.NET MVC, open the root Web.config file and add the following three bindingRedirect elements under the configuration section:

   <configuration>
     <!--... elements deleted for clarity ...-->
    
     <runtime>
       <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
         <dependentAssembly>
           <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Helpers" 
                publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
           <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0"/>
         </dependentAssembly>
         <dependentAssembly>
           <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.Mvc" 
                publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
           <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0-3.0.0.0" newVersion="4.0.0.0"/>
         </dependentAssembly>
         <dependentAssembly>
           <assemblyIdentity name="System.Web.WebPages" 
                publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" />
           <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0"/>
         </dependentAssembly>
       </assemblyBinding>
     </runtime>
   </configuration>

Batch file parameters

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/percent.mspx?mfr=true

REM   The next lines to change directory just works.
REM
REM Set environ variable for the BAT current DIR
set batchDirectory=%~dp0
REM Strip away the trailing backslash
if "%batchDirectory:~-1%"=="\" set batchDirectory=%batchDirectory:~0,-1%

REM Make the batch directory the current directory and change the default drive
cd /D %batchDirectory%

 

Using batch parameters

You can use batch parameters anywhere within a batch file to extract information about your environment settings.

Cmd.exe provides the batch parameter expansion variables %0 through %9. When you use batch parameters in a batch file, %0 is replaced by the batch file name, and %1 through %9 are replaced by the corresponding arguments that you type at the command line. To access arguments beyond %9, you need to use the shift command. For more information about the shift command, see Shift The %* batch parameter is a wildcard reference to all the arguments, not including %0, that are passed to the batch file.

For example, to copy the contents from Folder1 to Folder2, where %1 is replaced by the value Folder1 and %2 is replaced by the value Folder2, type the following in a batch file called Mybatch.bat:

xcopy %1\*.* %2

To run the file, type:

mybatch.bat C:\folder1 D:\folder2

This has the same effect as typing the following in the batch file:

xcopy C:\folder1 \*.* D:\folder2

You can also use modifiers with batch parameters. Modifiers use current drive and directory information to expand the batch parameter as a partial or complete file or directory name. To use a modifier, type the percent (%) character followed by a tilde (~) character, and then type the appropriate modifier (that is, %~modifier).

The following table lists the modifiers you can use in expansion.

Modifier
Description

%~1

Expands %1 and removes any surrounding quotation marks ("").

%~f1

Expands %1 to a fully qualified path name.

%~d1

Expands %1 to a drive letter.

%~p1

Expands %1 to a path.

%~n1

Expands %1 to a file name.

%~x1

Expands %1 to a file extension.

%~s1

Expanded path contains short names only.

%~a1

Expands %1 to file attributes.

%~t1

Expands %1 to date and time of file.

%~z1

Expands %1 to size of file.

%~$PATH:1

Searches the directories listed in the PATH environment variable and expands %1 to the fully qualified name of the first one found. If the environment variable name is not defined or the file is not found, this modifier expands to the empty string.

The following table lists possible combinations of modifiers and qualifiers that you can use to get compound results.

Modifier
Description

%~dp1

Expands %1 to a drive letter and path.

%~nx1

Expands %1 to a file name and extension.

%~dp$PATH:1

Searches the directories listed in the PATH environment variable for %1 and expands to the drive letter and path of the first one found.

%~ftza1

Expands %1 to a dir-like output line.

Note

•

In the previous examples, you can replace %1 and PATH with other batch parameter values.

The %* modifier is a unique modifier that represents all arguments passed in a batch file. You cannot use this modifier in combination with the %~ modifier. The %~ syntax must be terminated by a valid argument value.

You cannot manipulate batch parameters in the same manner that you can manipulate environment variables. You cannot search and replace values or examine substrings. However, you can assign the parameter to an environment variable, and then manipulate the environment variable.

Windows 7 keyboard shorcuts

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/keyboard-shortcuts#keyboard-shortcuts=windows-7

Keyboard shortcuts

Windows 7

---

Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other programs.

Most programs also provide accelerator keys that can make it easier to work with menus and other commands. Check the menus of programs for accelerator keys. If a letter is underlined in a menu, that usually means that pressing the Alt key in combination with the underlined key will have the same effect as clicking that menu item.

Pressing the Alt key in some programs, such as Paint and WordPad, shows commands that are labelled with additional keys that you can press to use them.

You can also create new keyboard shortcuts to open programs. For more information, see Create keyboard shortcuts to open programs.

Hide all

<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = [default] http://www.w3.org/2000/svg NS = "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" />

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts that can help make your computer easier to use.

Press this key
To do this

Right Shift for eight seconds

Turn Filter Keys on and off

Left Alt+Left Shift+PrtScn (or PrtScn)

Turn High Contrast on or off

Left Alt+Left Shift+Num Lock

Turn Mouse Keys on or off

Shift five times

Turn Sticky Keys on or off

Num Lock for five seconds

Turn Toggle Keys on or off

Windows logo key +U

Open the Ease of Access Center

General keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains general keyboard shortcuts.

Press this key
To do this

F1

Display Help

Ctrl+C (or Ctrl+Insert)

Copy the selected item

Ctrl+X

Cut the selected item

Ctrl+V (or Shift+Insert)

Paste the selected item

Ctrl+Z

Undo an action

Ctrl+Y

Redo an action

Delete (or Ctrl+D)

Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin

Shift+Delete

Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first

F2

Rename the selected item

Ctrl+Right Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word

Ctrl+Left Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word

Ctrl+Down Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph

Ctrl+Up Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph

Ctrl+Shift with an arrow key

Select a block of text

Shift with any arrow key

Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document

Ctrl with any arrow key+Spacebar

Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop

Ctrl+A

Select all items in a document or window

F3

Search for a file or folder

Alt+Enter

Display properties for the selected item

Alt+F4

Close the active item, or exit the active program

Alt+Spacebar

Open the shortcut menu for the active window

Ctrl+F4

Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)

Alt+Tab

Switch between open items

Ctrl+Alt+Tab

Use the arrow keys to switch between open items

Ctrl+Mouse scroll wheel

Change the size of icons on the desktop

Windows logo key +Tab

Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D

Ctrl+Windows logo key +Tab

Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D

Alt+Esc

Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened

F6

Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop

F4

Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer

Shift+F10

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item

Ctrl+Esc

Open the Start menu

Alt+underlined letter

Display the corresponding menu

Alt+underlined letter

Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)

F10

Activate the menu bar in the active program

Right Arrow

Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu

Left Arrow

Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu

F5 (or Ctrl+R)

Refresh the active window

Alt+Up Arrow

View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer

Esc

Cancel the current task

Ctrl+Shift+Esc

Open Task Manager

Shift when you insert a CD

Prevent the CD from automatically playing

Left Alt+Shift

Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled

Ctrl+Shift

Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled

Right or Left Ctrl+Shift

Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for use in dialog boxes.

Press this key
To do this

Ctrl+Tab

Move forward through tabs

Ctrl+Shift+Tab

Move back through tabs

Tab

Move forward through options

Shift+Tab

Move back through options

Alt+underlined letter

Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter

Enter

Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands

Spacebar

Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box

Arrow keys

Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons

F1

Display Help

F4

Display the items in the active list

Backspace

Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

Windows logo key keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts that use the Windows logo key .

Press this key
To do this

Windows logo key

Open or close the Start menu.

Windows logo key +Pause

Display the System Properties dialog box.

Windows logo key +D

Display the desktop.

Windows logo key +M

Minimize all windows.

Windows logo key +Shift+M

Restore minimized windows to the desktop.

Windows logo key +E

Open Computer.

Windows logo key +F

Search for a file or folder.

Ctrl+Windows logo key +F

Search for computers (if you're on a network).

Windows logo key +L

Lock your computer or switch users.

Windows logo key +R

Open the Run dialog box.

Windows logo key +T

Cycle through programs on the taskbar.

Windows logo key +number

Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.

Shift+Windows logo key +number

Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Ctrl+Windows logo key +number

Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Alt+Windows logo key +number

Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Windows logo key +Tab

Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.

Ctrl+Windows logo key +Tab

Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.

Ctrl+Windows logo key +B

Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.

Windows logo key +Spacebar

Preview the desktop.

Windows logo key +Up Arrow

Maximize the window.

Windows logo key +Left Arrow

Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.

Windows logo key +Right Arrow

Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.

Windows logo key +Down Arrow

Minimize the window.

Windows logo key +Home

Minimize all but the active window.

Windows logo key +Shift+Up Arrow

Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.

Windows logo key +Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow

Move a window from one monitor to another.

Windows logo key +P

Choose a presentation display mode.

Windows logo key +G

Cycle through gadgets.

Windows logo key +U

Open Ease of Access Center.

Windows logo key +X

Open Windows Mobility Center.

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Windows Explorer windows or folders.

Press this key
To do this

Ctrl+N

Open a new window

Ctrl+W

Close the current window

Ctrl+Shift+N

Create a new folder

End

Display the bottom of the active window

Home

Display the top of the active window

F11

Maximize or minimize the active window

Ctrl+Period (.)

Rotate a picture clockwise

Ctrl+Comma (,)

Rotate a picture counter-clockwise

Num Lock+Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad

Display all subfolders under the selected folder

Num Lock+Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad

Display the contents of the selected folder

Num Lock+Minus Sign (-) on numeric keypad

Collapse the selected folder

Left Arrow

Collapse the current selection (if it's expanded), or select the parent folder

Alt+Enter

Open the Properties dialog box for the selected item

Alt+P

Display the preview pane

Alt+Left Arrow

View the previous folder

Backspace

View the previous folder

Right Arrow

Display the current selection (if it's collapsed), or select the first subfolder

Alt+Right Arrow

View the next folder

Alt+Up Arrow

View the parent folder

Ctrl+Shift+E

Display all folders above the selected folder

Ctrl+Mouse scroll wheel

Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons

Alt+D

Select the address bar

Ctrl+E

Select the search box

Ctrl+F

Select the search box

Taskbar keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with items on the taskbar.

Press this key
To do this

Shift+Click on a taskbar button

Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program

Ctrl+Shift+Click on a taskbar button

Open a program as an administrator

Shift+Right-click on a taskbar button

Show the window menu for the program

Shift+Right-click on a grouped taskbar button

Show the window menu for the group

Ctrl+Click on a grouped taskbar button

Cycle through the windows of the group

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Magnifier.

Press this key
To do this

Windows logo key + Plus Sign (+) or Minus Sign (-)

Zoom in or out

Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar

Preview the desktop in full-screen mode

Ctrl+Alt+F

Switch to full-screen mode

Ctrl+Alt+L

Switch to lens mode

Ctrl+Alt+D

Switch to docked mode

Ctrl+Alt+I

Invert colors

Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys

Pan in the direction of the arrow keys

Ctrl+Alt+R

Resize the lens

Windows logo key + Esc

Exit Magnifier

Remote Desktop Connection keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Remote Desktop Connection.

Press this key
To do this

Alt+Page Up

Move between programs from left to right.

Alt+Page Down

Move between programs from right to left.

Alt+Insert

Cycle through programs in the order that they were started in.

Alt+Home

Display the Start menu.

Ctrl+Alt+Break

Switch between a window and full screen.

Ctrl+Alt+End

Display the Windows Security dialog box.

Alt+Delete

Display the system menu.

Ctrl+Alt+Minus Sign (-) on the numeric keypad

Place a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing Alt+PrtScn on a local computer).

Ctrl+Alt+Plus Sign (+) on the numeric keypad

Place a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrtScn on a local computer).

Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow

“Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow

“Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Note

• Ctrl+Alt+Break and Ctrl+Alt+End are available in all Remote Desktop sessions, even when you've set up the remote computer to recognize Windows keyboard shortcuts.

Paint keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Paint.

Press this key
To do this

Ctrl+N

Create a new picture

Ctrl+O

Open an existing picture

Ctrl+S

Save changes to a picture

F12

Save the picture as a new file

Ctrl+P

Print a picture

Alt+F4

Close a picture and its Paint window

Ctrl+Z

Undo a change

Ctrl+Y

Redo a change

Ctrl+A

Select the entire picture

Ctrl+X

Cut a selection

Ctrl+C

Copy a selection to the Clipboard

Ctrl+V

Paste a selection from the Clipboard

Right Arrow

Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel

Left Arrow

Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel

Down Arrow

Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel

Up Arrow

Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel

Esc

Cancel a selection

Delete

Delete a selection

Ctrl+B

Bold selected text

Ctrl++

Increase the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel

Ctrl+-

Decrease the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel

Ctrl+I

Italicize selected text

Ctrl+U

Underline selected text

Ctrl+E

Open the Properties dialog box

Ctrl+W

Open the Resize and Skew dialog box

Ctrl+Page Up

Zoom in

Ctrl+Page Down

Zoom out

F11

View a picture in full-screen mode

Ctrl+R

Show or hide the ruler

Ctrl+G

Show or hide gridlines

F10 or Alt

Display keytips

Shift+F10

Show the current shortcut menu

F1

Open Paint Help

WordPad keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with WordPad.

Press this key
To do this

Ctrl+N

Create a new document

Ctrl+O

Open an existing document

Ctrl+S

Save changes to a document

F12

Save the document as a new file

Ctrl+P

Print a document

Alt+F4

Close WordPad

Ctrl+Z

Undo a change

Ctrl+Y

Redo a change

Ctrl+A

Select the entire document

Ctrl+X

Cut a selection

Ctrl+C

Copy a selection to the Clipboard

Ctrl+V

Paste a selection from the Clipboard

Ctrl+B

Make selected text bold

Ctrl+I

Italicize selected text

Ctrl+U

Underline selected text

Ctrl+=

Make selected text subscript

Ctrl+Shift+=

Make selected text superscript

Ctrl+L

Align text left

Ctrl+E

Align text center

Ctrl+R

Align text right

Ctrl+J

Justify text

Ctrl+1

Set single line spacing

Ctrl+2

Set double line spacing

Ctrl+5

Set line spacing to 1.5

Ctrl+Shift+>

Increase the font size

Ctrl+Shift+<

Decrease the font size

Ctrl+Shift+A

Change characters to all capitals

Ctrl+Shift+L

Change the bullet style

Ctrl+D

Insert a Microsoft Paint drawing

Ctrl+F

Find text in a document

F3

Find the next instance of the text in the Find dialog box

Ctrl+H

Replace text in a document

Ctrl+Left Arrow

Move the cursor one word to the left

Ctrl+Right Arrow

Move the cursor one word to the right

Ctrl+Up Arrow

Move the cursor to the line above

Ctrl+Down Arrow

Move the cursor to the line below

Ctrl+Home

Move to the beginning of the document

Ctrl+End

Move to the end of the document

Ctrl+Page Up

Move up one page

Ctrl+Page Down

Move down one page

Ctrl+Delete

Delete the next word

F10

Display keytips

Shift+F10

Show the current shortcut menu

F1

Open WordPad Help

Calculator keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Calculator.

Press this key
To do this

Alt+1

Switch to Standard mode

Alt+2

Switch to Scientific mode

Alt+3

Switch to Programmer mode

Alt+4

Switch to Statistics mode

Ctrl+E

Open date calculations

Ctrl+H

Turn calculation history on or off

Ctrl+U

Open unit conversion

Alt+C

Calculate or solve date calculations and worksheets

F1

Open Calculator Help

Ctrl+Q

Press the M- button

Ctrl+P

Press the M+ button

Ctrl+M

Press the MS button

Ctrl+R

Press the MR button

Ctrl+L

Press the MC button

%

Press the % button

F9

Press the +/– button

/

Press the / button

*

Press the * button

+

Press the + button

-

Press the – button

R

Press the 1/× button

@

Press the square root button

0-9

Press the number buttons (0-9)

=

Press the = button

.

Press the . (decimal point) button

Backspace

Press the backspace button

Esc

Press the C button

Del

Press the CE button

Ctrl+Shift+D

Clear the calculation history

F2

Edit the calculation history

Up Arrow key

Navigate up in the calculation history

Down Arrow key

Navigate down in the calculation history

Esc

Cancel editing the calculation history

Enter

Recalculate the calculation history after editing

F3

Select Degrees in Scientific mode

F4

Select Radians in Scientific mode

F5

Select Grads in Scientific mode

I

Press the Inv button in Scientific mode

D

Press the Mod button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+S

Press the sinh button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+O

Press the cosh button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+T

Press the tanh button in Scientific mode

(

Press the ( button in Scientific mode

)

Press the ) button in Scientific mode

N

Press the ln button in Scientific mode

;

Press the Int button in Scientific mode

S

Press the sin button in Scientific mode

O

Press the cos button in Scientific mode

T

Press the tan button in Scientific mode

M

Press the dms button in Scientific mode

P

Press the pi button in Scientific mode

V

Press the F-E button in Scientific mode

X

Press the Exp button in Scientific mode

Q

Press the x^2 button in Scientific mode

Y

Press the x^y button in Scientific mode

#

Press the x^3 button in Scientific mode

L

Press the log button in Scientific mode

!

Press the n! button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+Y

Press the y√x button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+B

Press the 3√x button in Scientific mode

Ctrl+G

Press the 10x button in Scientific mode

F5

Select Hex in Programmer mode

F6

Select Dec in Programmer mode

F7

Select Oct in Programmer mode

F8

Select Bin in Programmer mode

F12

Select Qword in Programmer mode

F2

Select Dword in Programmer mode

F3

Select Word in Programmer mode

F4

Select Byte in Programmer mode

K

Press the RoR button in Programmer mode

J

Press the RoL button in Programmer mode

<

Press the Lsh button in Programmer mode

>

Press the Rsh button in Programmer mode

%

Press the Mod button in Programmer mode

(

Press the ( button in Programmer mode

)

Press the ) button in Programmer mode

|

Press the Or button in Programmer mode

^

Press the Xor button in Programmer mode

~

Press the Not button in Programmer mode

&

Press the And button in Programmer mode

A-F

Press the A-F buttons in Programmer mode

Spacebar

Toggles the bit value in Programmer mode

A

Press the Average button in Statistics mode

Ctrl+A

Press the Average Sq button in Statistics mode

S

Press the Sum button in Statistics mode

Ctrl+S

Press the Sum Sq button in Statistics mode

T

Press the S.D. button in Statistics mode

Ctrl+T

Press the Inv S.D. button in Statistics mode

D

Press the CAD button in Statistics mode

Windows Journal keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Windows Journal.

Press this key
To do this

Ctrl+N

Start a new note

Ctrl+O

Open a recently used note

Ctrl+S

Save changes to a note

Ctrl+Shift+V

Move a note to a specific folder

Ctrl+P

Print a note

Alt+F4

Close a note and its Journal window

Ctrl+Z

Undo a change

Ctrl+Y

Redo a change

Ctrl+A

Select all items on a page

Ctrl+X

Cut a selection

Ctrl+C

Copy a selection to the Clipboard

Ctrl+V

Paste a selection from the Clipboard

Esc

Cancel a selection

Delete

Delete a selection

Ctrl+F

Start a basic find

Ctrl+G

Go to a page

F5

Refresh find results

F5

Refresh the note list

F6

Toggle between a note list and a note

Ctrl+Shift+C

Display a shortcut menu for column headings in a note list

F11

View a note in full-screen mode

F1

Open Journal Help

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with the Help viewer.

Press this key
To do this

Alt+C

Display the Table of Contents

Alt+N

Display the Connection Settings menu

F10

Display the Options menu

Alt+Left Arrow

Move back to the previously viewed topic

Alt+Right Arrow

Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic

Alt+A

Display the customer support page

Alt+Home

Display the Help and Support home page

Home

Move to the beginning of a topic

End

Move to the end of a topic

Ctrl+F

Search the current topic

Ctrl+P

Print a topic

F3

Move the cursor to the search box

Reporting services log file location

The log file for reporting services SSRS 2008 R2 can be found in this default directory...

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS10_50.SSRSBI\ Reporting Services\LogFiles

Restarting Outlook mail search indexer

Kill the SearchIndexer.exe process in task manager, and then follow the steps below to get outlook search working again...

 

Migrating a shelve set to another branch

Use the following command from Visual studio team foundation server power tools

http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/f017b10c-02b4-4d6d-9845-58a06545627f

tfpt.exe unshelve "shelvesetnamehere" /migrate /source:"$/Main" /target:"$/Branch"