I Hate Linux : WHS Dev Tips

WHS Dev Tip #15: Terminal Services

I Hate Linux — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:13:46 GMT

Did you know the Home Server Console uses the Remote Desktop Protocol/Terminal Services to bring the application to clients? Did you know that you can launch additional applications in the session? Terminal Services Before getting into what we can do...(read more)

WHS Dev Tip #14, ITabExtender, Part 4: Tab Status

I Hate Linux — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:41:04 GMT

Plenty of times we've seen the little status notifications at the bottom of the Home Server Console telling us who is logged in through the remote access web site or the status of the storage balancing: How would you like to put your own information...(read more)

WHS Dev Tip #14: ITabExtender, Part 3: Multiple-Tabs

I Hate Linux — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:20:35 GMT

Under the current tab model we are familiar with... the Home Server Console looks for a class named HomeServerTabExtender in a namespace based on the name of the assembly (ie HomeServerConsoleTab. MyTab .dll holds Microsoft.HomeServer.HomeServerConsoleTab...(read more)

WHS Dev Tip #14: ITabExtender, Part 2: Tab Refreshing

I Hate Linux — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:33:57 GMT

As easy as it is to create a tab for the Windows Home Server Console, something's are difficult. Needlessly so at times. Should a programmer want to know when their tab is being displayed they might watch for their Controls ParentChanged or reflect...(read more)

WHS Dev Tip #14: ITabExtender, Part 1: TabOrdinal

I Hate Linux — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:29:48 GMT

A little secret is buried away in the Windows Home Server Console, a secret so useful it should have been officially documented and made available to the coding public long ago (in the opinion of this humble blogger) with a couple of tweaks. This secret...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #13: MessageListBox

I Hate Linux — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:38:30 GMT

Q : How can I create my own list like what I see in the Home Server Console's Network Health dialog? A : Another one of the custom ListBox (like) controls exposed by Windows Home Server is the MessageListBox control, the very control that is used...(read more)

Indefinite WHS testing in VPC

I Hate Linux — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:57:29 GMT

In many homes this morning countless children screamed and yelled as they discovered Santa had visited and left them just what they'd asked for. What follows is something I learned a few weeks ago and that made me act similarly... only I was giggling...(read more)

WHS Dev Tip #12: QButton, ConsoleToolBar, and LineBox

I Hate Linux — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:01:14 GMT

Q : What are some of the other Home Server Controls that I can take advantage of in my add-in? A : Three of the most commonly used controls are QButton, ConsoleToolBar and LineBox which individually behave virtually identical to existing controls, only...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #11: FancyListView

I Hate Linux — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:40:32 GMT

Q : How can make a ListView that looks more like what I see in the Home Server Console with so many images and progress bars? A : Another one of the wonderful undocumented features of Windows Home Server is the FancyListView control (Microsoft.HomeServer...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #10: Home Server Controls

I Hate Linux — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:32:13 GMT

Did you know that most of the custom visual controls used in the Windows Home Server Console (with the exception of the graphs) are unofficially available for your use in your add-ins? In order to access them in the designer, simply add the controls to...(read more)

WHS Dev Tips: Correction

I Hate Linux — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:25:50 GMT

On Monday and Tuesday I made a horrible mistake in the two part WHS Dev Tip on remote and local debugging as I completely forgot about the static Control.CheckForIllegalCrossThreadCalls property that can be used to get around debug time exceptions such...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #9.5: Debugging (Part 2: Local)

I Hate Linux — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:01:31 GMT

Q : Remote debugging is fine and dandy... but what about debugging my application locally? A : For those who don't want to deal with the complexities of remote debugging, want the simplicity of having everything on a single machine and/or do not have...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #9: Debugging (Part 1: Remote)

I Hate Linux — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:54:14 GMT

Q : Can I attach a debugger to the Home Server Console application to test my application? A : Absolutely! There are two ways of doing this... locally and remotely. Locally works by installing a copy of Visual Studio (including Express) and setting it...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #8: Virtual PC

I Hate Linux — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:47:06 GMT

Q : Can I use Virtual PC to make my testing and development job easier? A : Yes you can... and if you haven't already added Virtual PC to your development process, now is the time to do so! With it, you can create a custom test environment that can...(read more)

WHS Developer Tip #7: Testing without deployment

I Hate Linux — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:08:56 GMT

Q : Is there any way to more rapidly test my add-in than copying it over to my WHS and restarting the console every single time I want to view a minor change? A : There are a few different ways (some of which I'll be covering in later tips) to test...(read more)