Yearly Archives: 2011

Handy String Parsing Extension Methods

Written by: Lee Kohn Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

Since I’ve never particularly liked the feel of C#’s int.TryParse and bool.TryParse methods I decided to create some extension methods for strings which I feel like make the code using them much more readable:   Usage:  

Posted on November 4, 2011
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Linq to SharePoint vs. CAML vs. SQL Performance

Written by: Lee Kohn Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

On a project I’ve just recently started I was tasked to create some SharePoint web services which would serve up data stored in lists.  Having learned recently about a new tool for SharePoint 2010 called Linq to SharePoint I decided I would give it a try rather than taking my normal approach of using CAML [...]

Posted on October 25, 2011
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FedTalks2011

Written by: Bryan Roberts Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

I had the pleasure of attending FedTalks2011 – an event held October 11, 2011 at the Warner Theater in Washington D.C. The event was hosted by FedScoop and brought together “the greatest minds in government and business technology to discuss how innovation can aid in the way government works.” I was introduced to top White [...]

Posted on October 13, 2011
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Jenny’s SharePoint Tip: Rollup items across a site collection by creating a cross list data view web part.

Written by: Jennifer Hersko Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

Applies to:  SharePoint 2007 While working on a client project I had a request to rollup all  calendar items across a single site collection on the home page of the root site.  After reviewing several blogs describing how to create a cross list data view web part (dvwp) I was able to successfully create a [...]

Posted on October 3, 2011
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Jenny’s SharePoint Tip: How to display “This Month” birthdays in a list using an XSLT filter

Written by: Jennifer Hersko Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

Applies to:  SharePoint 2007 Anyone who has ever worked with SharePoint knows that creating filters on date values is not as straight forward as one would expect.  This example explains how to compile employee birthdays in a custom list that automatically displays only the current month’s birthdays.  With a few calculated columns, a data view, and minor XSLT [...]

Posted on September 30, 2011
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Using PowerShell to Update Content Editor Web Parts

Written by: Johnny Bouder Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to programmatically update the content in Content Editor Web Part (CEWP)? Maybe you added some HTML that is breaking your page or maybe you’re moving your content to another domain and you have some hard coded links in your CEWP’s.

Well it turns out that it isn’t really that hard. In my situation we were working with the latter scenario above and within our environment we have many administrators who have created hard coded links within CEWP’s and in order to streamline the upgrade process I thought I would create a PowerShell script…

Posted on September 20, 2011
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9/11 Memorial Video

Written by: Kathy Ohlhaber Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

We quantify our lives through periods of time often marking the intervals between the present day and a memorable event or day in the past.

1 week…6 months…1 year…5 years…

It is the 10-year mark, a full decade, that marks a special period. It is a noteworthy interval of time that curves around change and growth. This significant mark has now been imprinted onto the tragedy of September 11th, 2001.

It has been 10 years, and we still remember.

We remember the heroes.
We remember the fallen.
We remember and honor the sacrifices of those that have gone to fight for this country and those who continue to fight to protect us.

When thinking about 9/11, I realized I wasn’t alone in my memories. I work in a company full of people who remember that day and want to show honor and respect to the heroes, the fallen, and the loved ones left behind.

I sat down with some members of our team, including a Marine, a Purple Heart Soldier, and a mother of two, who shared their stories capturing a timeline of memories, sorrow, hope, and strength. The reflections my colleagues shared with me were truly moving, and I wanted to share them with you as we remember 9/11, 10 years later.

We will never forget.

Posted on September 6, 2011
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We are STARS too! The GSA 8(a) STARS II program

Written by: Monica Huie Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

MetroStar Systems is proud to announce it was recently awarded the new GSA 8(a) STARS II Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). The contract is a multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle, with a five-year base period and one five-year extension option. This program is reserved exclusively for qualifying certified 8(a) small businesses as prime contractors per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.8. The contract promotes small business utilization for IT services purchases.

8(a) STARS II Features:

  • A multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract vehicle
  • A five-year base with one five-year option
  • A $10 billion program ceiling
  • Limited protestability
  • Directed Order Authority: Directed task orders up to $4 million each are allowed for federal civilian and Department of Defense activities

8(a) STARS II Benefits:

  • 8(a) socioeconomic credit transferable to the agency
  • Pre-competed, easy to use contracts
  • Access to proven 8(a) small business technology providers
  • Shortened procurement lead time
  • A low user access fee (0.75 percent) built into contractor’s ceiling prices

In April 2011, MetroStar Systems successfully graduated from the SBA 8(a) program. As we are still classified as a Small Business, the GSA 8(a) STARS II award allows us to continue providing support in designing, developing, and implementing innovative technological tools across federal agencies. GSA has already evaluated and prequalified our technical capabilities, service offerings, and pricing through a competitive process for streamlined contracting and shortened procurement times. More information about the 8(a) STARS II GWAC program can be found here: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/105243

In addition to this new GWAC, MetroStar Systems has a variety of contract vehicles that allow government agencies to easily procure our products and services including: GSA Schedule 541, GSA Schedule 70, GSA Schedule 874, the Army and Air National Guard IDIQ, and SeaPort-e.

Posted on August 19, 2011
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Updated GAC DLLs not showing updates in ASP.Net Applications

Written by: Lee Kohn Subscribe to this Author's RSS feed

I recently ran into an issue on one of my development ASP.Net servers where I would deploy an updated DLL (Dynamic-link library) to the GAC (global assembly cache) but the ASP.Net applications which referenced the DLL would throw compilation errors at run-time saying that newly added fields/methods were not present in the assembly. I tried uninstalling and re-installing the assembly, adding the new DLL to the bin, and referencing it from there and so on, but nothing seemed to work.

As it turns out, ASP.Net keeps a cached version of the JIT compiled DLL in the C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files directory that was being used instead of the new DLL which was in the GAC. To fix it, I simply deleted the contents of this folder and everything was right as rain!

-Lee

Posted on July 28, 2011
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