Lance's Whiteboard

Random scribbling about C#, Javascript, Web Development, Architecture, and anything else that pops into my mind.

  • Atlas & NetTiers, a match made in heaven (Part 1)

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    As mentioned in my previous post, Time to learn Atlas..., I am trying to quickly get up to speed on Atlas for a future project.    While I am waiting on requirements to be solidified, I decided to put together a prototype containing some of the site features I wanted to implement using , including: dynamic DataGrids, Autocompletion Textboxes, Drag & Drop Html Elements, JavaScript client WebService calls, external Map Service mashups, etc.

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  • Subversion clients...

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    I was looking for a new Subversion client so I could pull down the latest NetTiers bits from SourceForge and stumbled across this handy list of various different Subversion Tools at a Subversion source control hosting service named Collabnet.

    In the past, I have used TortoiseSVN but sometimes I get tired of its shell-extension integration creating so many context-menu options when I right-click on a file or folder.  So, hopefully one of the other open source apps on this list will satisfy my occasional needs with greater simplicity.

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  • Time to learn Atlas...

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    Its been a while since I really felt like I total noob on some technology, but with all of the advances in development over the past few years, I seemed to have missed the Ajax boat.   Back in the IE4/IE5 days, I did some fairly advanced stuff with DHTML/Javascript, Html Behaviors (HTCs), with liberal usage of XmlHttp.  Sadly, I really just didnt revist this stuff once that DotCom was absorbed/relocated to L.A.and I took a "Corporate Development" gig for the next 5 years.

    Okay, enough excuses - now its time to get back my thin-client scripting skils, so what do I need to learn?

    Hmm...I have heard a bit about Microsoft's answer to Ajax, the Atlas project, so I'll go see what they are doing...

    • Navigated to www.atlas.com & www.atlas.net...  Oops!  not what i'm looking for... I sure wish they would name these projects better!
    • Nagivated to msdn.microsoft.com...  Hmm..no mention of Atlas there either...
    • Entered "Atlas" in search box...found lots of misc articles, but nothing really for a beginner...
    • Googled Atlas and found "atlas.asp.net"  Woohoo!
    Okay, so I click on the huge Web 2.0-styled "Download" button and I'll get started....

    er...whats this?  Okay, so this is some kind of "Download Blog"...luckily the latest post is called "Atlas Setup - July CTP"...I'm sure that will start the download!   Wait! Now I'm back at a microsoft.com download page.  Hmm, wonder why this didnt show up in Microsoft's search results....

    (fast forward after downloading the Atlas July CTP, and various related files that looked interesting)
    Okay, so it installed a Microsoft.Web.Atlas.dll, some Visual Studio project templates for Atlas...but where are the JavaScript files?

    Oh, there are some in the install folder at:
    C:\Program Files\Microsoft ASP.NET\Atlas\v2.0.50727\Atlas\ScriptLibrary

    (peruses Atlas.js, et al)
    Wow!  There is some really crazy JavaScript here!!  Huh!?  what is this....What the....oh my gosh...how are they doing.....Hey is this OOP with java?!?!

    (12 hours later)
    Ahhhhhhhh!  So, you can treat a Function like a class!!  Eureka!  Oh wow...then they extend the base Function object so that all classes have some basic services...then they built a bunch of base types, interfaces, and higher level classes on top of this.   Hey!  This is starting to look a lot like the .NET Framework - yet in JavaScript!

    (Brain is melting, so I decide to call it a day and start fresh tomorrow)
    Okay, I get the gist now, so lets move on...I'll create a new project using the Atlas Project Template.   Ah, I see said the bind man....They monkeyed-up the whole ASP.NET stack with new httpModules, httpHandlers, some converters for popular data containers....not sure what much of this stuff is, but I'll figure that out when I need it.

    Wait! Dont I need to copy these Atlas JavaScript files into my web project somewhere?   No?  Well, the project template only has the Ajax DLL, so there must be some global ClientScripts folder somewhere that is setup by aspnet_regiis.exe.

    (checking Web root for scripts)
    Hmm...nothing there....(checks .NET Framework install folders) not there either....WTH!?!

    Okay, I'll just "assume" they know what they are doing and move along....so lets find a tutorial on how to get started with this stuff...

    (Flips back to browser pointed at Atlas.asp.net site)
    Okay, so lets see whats on this "Get Started" tab...

    Doh!  I should have started there in the first place...  Guess next time I'm a noob, I'll RTFM...  :)







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