Nox Software

Blog moved to a new address

2011-02-19T19:44:00.000+02:00

This blog was merged to my personal one, for future freeware updates please check http://www.stefanprodan.eu/

Recommended: Lokad Shared Libraries

2010-11-19T23:10:00.001+02:00

Lokad Shared Libraries is a set of helper assemblies for .NET 3.5 and Silverlight 2.0. They are being developed as part of the Open Source effort by Lokad and are distributed under the new BSD license.

Lokad.Shared.dll hosts various Application Blocks, helper classes and generic interfaces.

I highly recommend the usage of Action Policies and Exception Handling

Make Report Viewer Control work with Sql Server 2008

2010-01-06T16:41:00.000+02:00

Since it's first version, Reporting Services was a tricky tool to work with, the biggest problem was embedding a report into your custom Asp.net application. In order to solve this problem Visual Studio 2008 comes with a new control named ReportViewer that works on Windows Forms and Asp.net.
ReportViewer control has two ways of processing reports:

Local mode (using the new report designer from VS.NET 2008 you can create .rdlc files and host them directly in your app)
Remote mode (using the Report Designer that comes with SQL Server 2008 you can create .rdl files that are hosted on your IIS Server, those reports can be embedded in your app using ReportViewer control)

In order to embed a RDL file hosted on Report Server 2008 you need to follow these steps:

Drag ReportViewer control into your aspx page and set it for remote mode, like this:

Now go into your .cs page and copy this code under Page_Load event:

this.ReportViewer1.ServerReport.ReportServerUrl = new Uri(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["reportUrl"]);
this.ReportViewer1.ServerReport.ReportPath = "/MyReport";

In order to find your report server URI you'll need to open Reporting Services Configuration Manager, go to Web Service URL tab and copy the url mentioned there. Because report server url can differ from server to server I did create a new entry in web.config (appSettings) named reportUrl to store this value.
Next step is to set the ReportPath property, in the Configuration Manager go to Report Manager URL tab and click on the link, the Report Manager will pop-up, if your desired report is in the root just replace "MyReport" with your report name in the code above.

Everything is now set but if you'll run the code you'll notice that ReportViewer will throw several exceptions like "The attempt to connect to the report server failed" or "The permissions granted to user 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE' are insufficient for performing this operation."

Fix those security issues by adding these users to the SQLServerReportServerUser$ALEPH$MSRS10.SQL2008 like this:

I added the Administrator to this group because the ReportServer web site is running on my 2003 Server with anonymous access using the default account, on XP you'll have there the IUSR account, so you should add IUSR to the group as well.

We are almost done, there is one more thing to do, go to Report Manager, click on the desired report, click on the Properties tab and select from the left menu the Security section. Click on the New Role Assignment and add NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE with full rites, just check all the role boxes. You'll have to do this for every report that you want to embed using ReportViewer.

Now if you'll run your page the report will show up nicely, if you need to supply your report with parameters from code you'll have to write in the Page_Load event something like this:

ReportParameter[] parameters = new ReportParameter[1];
parameters[0] = new ReportParameter("myParamName", "myValue");
this.ReportViewer1.ServerReport.SetParameters(parameters);

This method has been tested on XP Pro SP3, 2003 Server SP2 x86 & x64 with SQL Server 2008 Express and Enterprise x86 & x64. Note that both the ASP.NET app and the SQL Server must run on the same machine.

My Smartphone Wallet on smartphone-freeware.com

2009-12-18T14:20:00.002+02:00

Download
the My Smartphone Wallet v1.0 free for Windows Mobile Smartphone

.mobi Mobile friendly download
Download My Smartphone Wallet v1.0 direct on your windows mobile smartphone

My Smartphone Wallet on Softpedia

2009-12-16T16:18:00.000+02:00

My Smartphone Wallet Version 1.0 is on Softpedia at Handheld / Categories / Security / Password Managers

My Smartphone Wallet 1.0 final

2009-12-15T13:42:00.002+02:00

My Smartphone Wallet is a freeware mobile application designed to store in a secure way your credit card information and web sites credentials, very simple and easy to use. It has a windows client as well so you can edit your entries and backup or restore the database. This application is compatible with Windows Mobile Version 5 and 6 for Smartphone QVGA and needs .NET Compact Framework 2.0 installed on the device. The current version 1.0.0.0 was tested on HTC S710 device and should work fine on any Windows Mobile 6 without the need of .NET Compact Framework updates.

Why this software? Well there is no freeware wallet application for Smartphone that I could find on the web and as any software developer will say "If you can make your own why buying from others ?! " :) Before I was storing in my notes the credit card information as allot of people do... so if anyone finds your lost phone or steals it there is a big chance that you'll lose the money from the cards as well, with this app no such thing is possible, just put a strong password and you are safe. Only someone that can reverse SHA1 can hack the password, so I wouldn't mind about that. (For geeks: I know about MD5 and SHA1 reverse lookup databases but with a strong password all the effort to crack are in vain).

Features

Password protected access to credit cards information and site credentials

Encrypts all entries using 128-bit Hash and 40-bit Symmetric

Stores all the information needed for online transactions

Warns about expire dates

Data file backup (restore is done by copy/paste to app dir)

No phone dependencies, the data can be accessed on any WM5 or WM6 device with the rite password

Small memory footprint (internal memory can be monitored using the "Memory info" function)

The credit card fields that are stored are:

Credit Type (Visa, MasterCard, etc)

Owner (the person name that owns the card)

Bank name

Card number

Card CVV/CVC/CID Code (Security code on the back of the card, not all types has it)

Expiration date

Card PIN (Used for money redraw at the ATM)

Lost phone number (any card has it)

Notes (extra data that you can add like currency and such)

The web site fields that are stored are:

URL
User
Password
Notes (extra data that you can add like email)

Safety concerns?
This software is made using VS.NET and WM6 SDK, the code is not protected in any way so you can easily decompile it and see the C# code for yourself, there is no trick in it, no secret backdoor access or any bad intentions. I intend to make this project open source if anyone shows interest in it. The encryption code uses Microsoft Base Cryptographic Provider v1.0 so if there is any vulnerability blame the Windows Mobile Kernel or RSA :)

License
I hereby state that My Smartphone Wallet is Freeware, and therefore can be used in an unlimited fashion for any purpose by individuals, corporations, educational, government, military departments, and any other entity. It is prohibited to sell My Smartphone Wallet standalone as part of another software, to distribute in any form without permission from Stefan Prodan, or to claim any rights regarding My Smartphone Wallet.
The software is provided "AS IS" and the author and contributors disclaim all warranties with regard to this software including all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall author and contributors be liable for any special, direct, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this software.

Download
Zip file that contains the phone app and the windows client

PS: If you are using this app please leave a comment, your feedback is always welcome.

Cue4Mp3 Version 1.0 beta

2009-12-15T13:41:00.003+02:00

Cue4Mp3 is a freeware windows application that can help you make .cue files for large mp3 files that contains more than a melody like a dj's mix. This application was developed using the .NET Framework 3.5 so it will work on any windows version from XP to Windows 7.

Why this software? I am addicted to music, so when I am listening to a mix I like to see what song is playing not just the mix title, dragging the .cue file into your player will do the trick. Second of all, if you want to burn a mix mp3 to an audio cd the .cue file is very helpful, you'll be able to see the tracks in your cd player like they where separate files on the cd. You can find the technical details behind the .cue sheet format on wiki.

Usage
To start a new .cue file use the "New" button in the toolbax, then use the "Open" button to select your mp3 file. The mp3 file will start to play, you will see that on the buttom of the windows there is a track bar that is moving. Insert the number of the tracks and hit the "Set" button. The list will be filled with data so you can start by editing the "Artist" and the "Track name" columns. When the mp3 playing reaches the 2ed track you can right click on the second row and paste the offset, repeat this for every track and you are done, hit the save button and a .cue file will be saved next to your mp3. N8NMJM7KCTZ6

Download
Zip file with the application setup

PS: Note that Cue4Mp3 is in beta faze so bugs may appear, please leave a comment if you'll find any.