we are all robots

simple Netflix queue export bookmarklet

This morning I was trying to generate a list of the movies I have in my Netflix queues, after copying and pasting and failing to get what I wanted I decided to write a simple script. So, I worked on this bit of JavaScript during my lunch break. 

Simply drag Netflix Exporter into your bookmarks. Go to your desired queue (DVD or Instant) and click on the bookmark, the page will be replaced with the simplified list. On your DVD queue page, both DVD and Saved DVD queues will be unified.

EDIT: Tumblr had some issues displaying the full source code. Grab it here: http://pastebin.com/6RAPC0tz

migratordotnet 0.8 + elmah SqlServer migration script

I’ve been using the excellent error logging module elmah in a project for some time now. This same project uses the migratordotnet framework to maintain the different versions of the database schema, this tool works great and it’s pretty easy to use. But, when trying to get the elmah SqlServer script to execute from a migration I discovered a bug in migratordotnet :(

So, instead of being able to do a call like

Database.ExecuteNonQuery(@”[ENTIRE SQL SCRIPT HERE]”);

I had to separate all the different components of the SqlServer script to execute separately. It took some time and patience but I finally got it working. I put the code up in pastebin for all of you to enjoy.

I hope to Jebus they don’t change the SqlServer script any time soon…

customize HTML output of MvcSiteMapProvider HtmlHelper

The latest version of the SiteMap provider for ASP.NET MVC now includes support for templated helpers. This means you can use your SiteMap to dynamically create your site navigation based on your SiteMap and make it look extra shiny. Create your partial views under the “Views\Shared\DisplayTemplates" folder in your project and customize the output to your heart’s content. Here is an modified version of the default MvcSiteMapProvider.Web.Html.Models.MenuHelperModel partial view (used by Html.MvcSiteMap().Menu() HtmlHelper):

<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl`1[ [MvcSiteMapProvider.Web.Html.Models.MenuHelperModel,MvcSiteMapProvider] ]" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" %>

<ul>
<% for (int i = 0; i < Model.Nodes.Count; i++)
   {
       var node = Model.Nodes[i];
       if (node.IsCurrentNode)
       { %>
        <li class="active">
    <% } else { %>
        <li>
    <% } %>
        <%= Html.DisplayFor(m => node)%>
        <% if (node.Children.Any()) { %>
            <%= Html.DisplayFor(m => node.Children)%>
        <% } %>
        <% if (i == (Model.Nodes.Count - 1))
           { %>
            This is the last node
        <% } else { %>
			This is every other node
		<% } %>
        </li>
    <% } %>
</ul>

This new version makes it super easy for you (or your CSS guru) to easily change the markup generated to whatever you want it to look. Awesome. Here is more information about the HtmlHelper functions.

Mercurial global ignore pattern (it’s awesome)

This is the global ignore pattern for Mercurial that we use at my workplace, i think it’s pretty awesome and i wanted to share it. It’s configured to work with users on Mac OS X and Windows, with projects in all versions of Visual Studio, Eclipse projects (even Flex app projects), as well as some other extra pesky files you wouldn’t want in your shared repository. I’m not saying this is THE pattern to rule them all, but it certainly covers enough to meet most developer’s needs. If you have any suggestions or gripes please let me know in the comments section.

Read More

Mercurial keyring extension in Windows

After trying various ways to get the mercurial_keyring extension installed in Windows (via easy_install), i finally found a way. The solution is a bit counter-intuitive if you’re like me and only wanted to use the command line tool (hg.exe). So, the way to get this to work is to simply install TortoiseHG (uninstall any version of Mercurial you might have installed). The installer will automatically add hg.exe to your PATH env variable. Once installed go to TortoiseHG’s global settings menu, click Extensions and click the mercurial_keyring checkbox, click apply and everything should be well.

TortoiseHG will automatically add the necessary line to the mercurial.ini file in your user folder:

[extensions]
mercurial_keyring = 

The first time you do an hg command that hits the shared repository (hg incoming, hg pull, hg push, etc) you will be asked for your password, after that it will be saved and you will not need to enter your credentials again, ever!

For more info visit: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/mercurial_keyring