Using jQuery to Find Elements in the DOM object

This article describes how you can use jQuery to select specific elements from the DOM object. With that being said lets jump right into it.

.parent() Method
We will start with the .parent() method. The .parents() and .parent() methods are similar, except that the latter only travels a single level up the DOM tree.

.parent() - this will allow you to select the current focused element's direct parent.
Example:
<div id="Paul">
    <div id="Bill"></div>
</div>

In this case the direct parent of the div "Bill" is "Paul". If you would like to select that particular div and change its backgroung color to yellow you can use the following syntax:
$("#Bill").parent("#Paul").css("background", "yellow");

.find() Method
The exact opposite of the parent method would be the find method which looks at the children of the current focused element instead of the parent. The .find() and .children() methods are similar, except that the latter only travels a single level down the DOM tree

Example:
<div id="Paul">
    <div id="Bill"></div>
</div>

In this case the direct child of the div "Paul" is "Bill". If you would like to select that particular div and change its backgroung color to red you can use the following syntax:
$("#Paul").children("#Bill").css("background", "red");

Posted in Jquery
Tagged Jquery

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Getting Started with C# and Visual Studio 2010

In this post you will learn all the basic essentials to begin C# programming. In the end you will know what Visual Studio.NET 2010 is and be able to write a simple program. This is not difficult if I can learn this stuff I am more then sure you can. So lets get it!!!

Click For registration and to attend our free seminar here in Atlanta.

System Requirements:

• Windows 2000 operating system or greater
• Visual Studio. NET 2010 - for this purpose we will use the Free 2010 C# Express Edition

Download Visual Studio C# Express Edition by clicking here Please be sure to completely install this software before continuing.


Visual Studio.NET 2010
Visual Studio allows you to develop c# applications easily. It is the platform which allows you to actually write your code, debug your code, compile and execute any program that you write. You can use Visual Studio to quickly build web applications, console applications, windows applications, mobile applications and web services. If you plan to work in any real world environment as a c# .NET Developer it is imperative that you have a great understanding of how this application works.

Creating Your First Application
After downloading and installing Visual Studio 2010 C# Express edition run the application and you should see the screen below:



To create the type of application we will study in this lesson, on the main menu, you can click File -> New Project or you can simply click New Project located in the section below the title. Next, In the Templates section of the New Project dialog box, you can click Console Application, accept the default name or change it and click ok as seen below.



After clicking OK, skeleton code would be created for you. Lets dive right in a figure out what is exactly is going on see the c# code below that was auto generated by Visual Studio.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
        }
    }
}

First here is a list of keyword definitions used in the skeleton code that you must understand I try to break these down into simple terms.

Key Definitions
namespace - gives you the ability to organize your code within a scope. It also allows your code to become unique globally when used within your application or when your code is used outside this application. 2 types user defined which is what we are implementing notice the code "namespace Console Application1" or system defined in which Microsoft itself has developed. Full list found here Microsoft .NET Framework

using - in this content its the "using directive". This gives you the ability to reference and utilize other code or libraries organized as namespaces outside your current namespace. It could be a user defined namespace or system defined namespaces as I pointed out above.

class - a specification or blueprint of how to construct something (think of it as a set of instructions) . It defines the data and behavior of a type. We will dig into more examples in further lessons as this is a core concept of Object Oriented Programming.

method - a subroutine of a class. They define the behavior of a class. In auto generated code above we have the method "Main" in which Every C# application must contain a single Main method specifying where program execution is to begin.

Now that we have a better understanding of what the keywords mean in the generated code lets move forward. The System, System.Collections.Generic, System.Linq and System.Text system defined namespaces are referenced as defaults as they contain common classes that we more then likely would use in our program.

As pointed out above the main method is what gets executed first so we will start to write our first line of code here inside this method for our fist simple program but before that I want to point out a couple areas within Visual Studio that you need to know about and understand to build our simple program successfully.

Maneuvering around Visual Studio 2010
If we look to the far right pane of visual studio we will find the Solution Explorer as seen in the image below:



The solution explorer provides you with an organized view of all files associated with your project.

Note: Once you create any type of program in Visual Studio a project is automatically created to hold your files which is then bundled into a solution which can hold multiple projects.

In this case the project is named ConsoleApplication1 which you notice highlighted and bold the Solution also has the same name.

Notice the References tree node if you expand it you will notice references to other libraries which have namespaces that contain classes so that if we wanted we could reference them in our program with the "using" keyword.

Notice the "program.cs" file. This is the file that contains the auto generated code we just reviewed. This is the file that actually contains our core code. We could create many .cs files but we will get into this Object Oriented Concept later in future lessons.

Now, if we look to the top of Visual Studio in the main menu if you click Debug ->  Build Solution this will command visual studio to compile or review our code, assemble it and determine if it is ready for execution. If it detects any errors if will be sure to let you know.



If you click Debug -> Start Debugging this will command visual studio to attempt to run or execute our program but it will compile first and if there are errors it will be sure to let us know.

Creating Our Hello World Program!
Now that we know a little bit more about how to compile and run our program lets write some code and create our first application. Inside our Main method we are simply going to write the following code as you see below:



The Console Class has a method called WriteLine. The WriteLine method accepts a string parameter "Hello World". The behavior is to write "Hello World" to the console. We will get into what exactly are parameters and strings in future lessons.

I have also called Console's Class ReadLine method. This method defines the behavior that will have the Console wait until we hit Enter before the Console kills itself and the program terminates. This gives us a chance to see the output of the first method WriteLine.

If you write that code and from main menu click Debug -> Start Debugging to run the program you should get the following output:



If you see the Hello World output hit "Enter" on your keyboard and watch the program terminate. You have successfully created your first application.

If you are interested in learning more about computer programming with c# please do not hesitate to contact us.

Click For registration and to attend our free seminar here in Atlanta.

The market demand for application developers are at a all time high and we are here to get you ready to take advantage of the opportunity!

Posted in C# Programming Courses
Tagged ASP.NET Tutorials Programming C Sharp Programming Lessons

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B2B Outsourcing for ERP Integration Projects

Countless companies have implemented ERP systems to automate internal business processes in order to achieve critical business goals. Software packages like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, People Soft, SAGE MAS 500, RAMCO, Oracle E-Business are popular just to name a few. Nonetheless, in today's global economy business to business (B2B) integration with trading partners is just as critical to success as internal application integration.

Many of these ERP implementations have been focused on internal operations and completely dropping the ball when it comes to the requirements that need to be met for a community of trading partners. Due to the demand placed on a company's IT Resource during a ERP related project appointing a partner to handle the B2B integration infrastructure will prove to be efficient and bring financial and operational improvements.

Being unable to take advantage of B2B integration leaves a company falling short and vulnerable to being left by the wayside with today's demand on technology. B2B integration is serious business and should not be taking lightly. Anytime you can take advantage of technology to reduce the overall financial statement in a positive direction your business will have the advantage.

Global Gain's has experience in working across many ERP systems related directly to B2B integration projects.Take the first step in decreasing your overhead and increasing your bottom line with integrating with your business trading partners.

Posted in B2B
Tagged B2B Integration ERP

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Jquery UI Dialog Code Snippet

jQuery syntax for creating a dialog - here goes a quick code snippet. This is includes the open parameter to override the default css overlay code and the button parameter to set the logic of what happens when the close button is clicked. It also includes other miscellaneous settings.

First be sure to include references to Jquery libraries jquery and jquery-ui like the following. These are the versions I used.

<script src="../Scripts/jquery-1.4.2.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="../Scripts/jquery-ui-1.8.4.custom.js" type="text/javascript"></script>


This Code should be placed inside your function  $(document).ready(function () {

$("#TestDialog").dialog({
                autoOpen: false,
                bgiframe: true,
                width: 785,
                modal: true,
                open: function () { 
                   $('.ui-widget-overlay').css({ opacity: .20 });
                },                
                buttons: {                    
                   "Close": function () {                        
                   $(this).dialog('close');                    
                   }                
                }            
});

Use this code to actually pop the open the dialog.

 $("#TestDialog").dialog('open');

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Standard .NET DateTime Formats

I always have to create a test application to iterate thru all the standard .NET DateTime Formats. It stops me from what I am doing just to get the DateTime Format I want. I no longer need to do that now here is the quick reference.
   

Posted in ASP.NET
Tagged ASP.NET

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What is Electronic Document Exchange

Electronic Document Exchange is the ability for one business to communicate programmatically with another business to improve the efficiency of sending and receiving business documents of all types included but not limited to purchase orders, invoices, shipping documents, catalog inventory, credit memos, etc. The automation of delivering these documents securely with reliable confirmation over the internet directly into your company's back end software without human intervention is the very concept of Electronic Document Exchange.

Making Business Easier and More Efficient

Knowing what to expect from your B2B partner on a daily basis and understanding how to make doing business easier and more efficient gives your business the advantage in the ever so competitive market. Electronic Document Exchange gives your business the opportunity to become extremely productive and opens doors to your B2B trading partners that might otherwise be time consuming and to costly to implement.

.

Just as you may have a customer service rep on the computer interfacing with the software communicating with the customer entering and looking up data. You can also have a API (Application Programming Interface) that does the exact same thing automated with no human interaction in entering and looking up that data. Electronic Document Exchange is the service that will never rest and is always ready to send and receive data on demand.

Electronic Document Exchange is format free, what that means is regardless of your document format whether it be XML, EDI, character delimited, etc. it does not matter. You will be sending and receiving documents in the native format that your ERP or back end software uses, this eliminates the need to know the format that your B2B partner uses. No longer need to take the time to learn drawn out complicated schemas and formats as you would using EDI. You send your documents "as is" when they are exported from your software and you receive your documents "ready to go" in your format in position to be imported into your software.

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Tagged Electronic Document Exchange B2B

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Common Jquery tasks You Need in Your Toolbox

Now that I have had the chance to work with Jquery in conjuction with ASP.NET for nearly 2 years now implementing real world solutions. I have found myself often times google-ing particular tasks over and over again. There for I have managed to put together a go to list for back reference of how to do common tasks in Jquery so that i don't have to search for these things ever again. Hopefully in due time I have done these tasks so many times that it becomes second nature. Until then I have this. Hope you all enjoy and find this list useful for your development.

Jquery Selector

Selecting a ASP.NET control using Jquery

<asp:HiddenField ID="HiddenFieldTest" Value="test" runat="server" />

You can access this ASP.NET Hidden Field in Jquery using the following syntax:

var fieldvalue = $("*[name$='HiddenFieldTest']").val();

The javascript value fieldvalue = "test"



Accessing an ASP.NET Radiobutton list with the Jquery selector. I am actually enabling and disabling the RadioButton List.

<asp:RadioButtonList ID="RadioButtonList1" runat="server">
     <asp:ListItem Value="Yes" Text="Yes"></asp:ListItem>
     <asp:ListItem Value="No" Text="No"></asp:ListItem>
</asp:RadioButtonList>


//RadioButton Change Attribute:
$("*[name$='RadioButtonList1']").attr("disabled", "disabled");
$("*[name$='RadioButtonList1']").removeAttr("disabled");

ASP.NET dropdownlist access via jquery

//ASP.NET DropdownList Control
<asp:dropdownlist cssclass="DDClass" visible="false" 
id="DropDownList1" runat="server">
</asp:dropdownlist>

$('.DDClass').change(function (e) 
{            alert("indexChanged");        });

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Tagged ASP.NET JQuery

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