(Michael Klaene) When creating software, it is a wise decision to separate business logic from information used to configure that software. Over the years, developers have used a number of techniques to externalize configuration. The goal is to make it possible to customize the functionality of a pr

This article describes how to add more safeguards to an ASP.NET application to help protect against common canonicalization issues.

(Jim Duffy) The sun is shining and I am sitting at a large, umbrella-covered picnic table overlooking a shimmering pond, my state right now is pretty relaxed. I have been fortunate enough to have spent the last few days at a cabin in the northern part of Maine. The birds are chirping, kids are playi

(Michael M. David) In Part 1 of last issue’s article entitled In SQL: Using XML to Link Below the Root I described how ANSI SQL can transparently integrate native XML, and do it at a full hierarchical level that utilizes the hierarchical semantics in the data. This inherent hierarchical SQL process

(Steven A. Smith) ASP.NET provides three primary forms of caching: page level output caching, user control level output caching (or fragment caching), and the Cache API. Output caching and fragment caching have the advantage of being incredibly simple to implement, and are sufficient in many cases.

(Vance McCarthy) PHP 5’s push to incorporate enterprise-caliber features (particularly with PHP 5’s adoption of an object-oriented model and native SOAP/web services extensions) is having an interesting impact. Some long-time PHP developers seem to be giving Microsoft’s ASP.NET another look. Far

(Rebecca Rohan) Everybody can use more secure code—and sometimes the best way to hone your skills is by listening to other programmers. Here are 18 tips offered by your fellow developers.

(Andrew Mooney) Retrieving Access database schema with ASP.NET 2.0 is actually very simple. First you create an OleDbConnection to a database. Next, you fill a DataTable with schema information using GetSchema method. Finally, you bind the DataTable to a GridView.

(Scott Mitchell) One of the most common tasks developers are faced with when working with data-driven Web sites is the need to page data. Most data is only worthwhile if it can easily be digested by a human, so a data-driven Web site needs to present data in an easy-to-read format. In situations whe

(Scott) Data validation is an important task in any application. Before accepting new information from a user, you need to make sure all the information is present in required fields, make sure all the dates have a valid format, make sure all the numbers in a form have a valid range, and all the oth