Network Programming in .NET

Here is a simple example of how to call an IronPython function from C#

Here is the PY file: (With URL & Regex removed)

import urllib2
import re
import array

def getRoutes():
    strRouteRegex = '(?<From>[A-Z]{3})...\d+..iata...=..(?<To>[A-Z]{3})'
    httpRequest = urllib2.urlopen("http://www.somewebsite.com/")
    html = httpRequest.read()
    routesArray = []
    for m in re.finditer(strRouteRegex, html):
        route = FlightRoute()
        route.depart = m.group('From')
        route.arrive = m.group('To')
        routesArray.append(route)
    return routesArray;

class FlightRoute:
    depart = ''
    arrive = ''

And here is the C# calling code – This requires the .NET 4 to handle the dynamic types.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using IronPython.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Scripting.Hosting;

namespace CSPY
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            const string strPy = @"C:\research\Program.py";
            ScriptEngine engine = Python.CreateEngine();
            var lPath = new List<string> {@"c:\Program Files\IronPython 2.7\Lib"};
            engine.SetSearchPaths(lPath);
            ScriptRuntime scripting = engine.Runtime;
            dynamic runtime = scripting.UseFile(strPy);
            dynamic routes = runtime.getRoutes();
            foreach(dynamic route in routes)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(route.depart + " -> " + route.arrive);
            }
            Console.Read();
        }
    }
}
Useful?

In JavaScript you can display an image like this <img src=”data:image/jpg;base64,…”> where “…” is the base64 encoded version of the image. Here is some C# Code that can convert an image on-disk to this Base64 string format

     FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(strFileName);
     FileStream fs = new FileStream(strFileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read,FileShare.None);
     byte[] rawData = new byte[fi.Length];
     fs.Read(rawData, 0, (int)fi.Length);
     string strBase64 = Convert.ToBase64String(rawData);
     Response.Write("data:image/jpg;base64," + strBase64);
     fs.Close();

Shown opposite is a screenshot of an application that I’ve developed for Palm / WebOS using PhoneGap that enables you connect to a Linux server via SSH (PuTTY) from your Palm Phone.

How it works, is that you have to first install a piece of software called MobilePutty that you can download from http://bit.ly/puttyformobile , this application must be installed and run on a Windows PC. On this program, you enter the Host IP address, username and password of your Linux Server. And a PuTTY terminal window will appear.

From your phone, you can then enter in the host name, username and password, and you will be relayed screenshots of the PuTTY terminal to your phone. You can also send commands to your PuTTY terminal, in order to interact with your linux server. You can also open up any other terminal-style program, such as windows command prompt, and remotely control your home PC from your phone, without having to worry about firewalls etc.

This application works best over WiFi broadband, be very patient if you are using GPRS.

Shown opposite is a screenshot of an application that I’ve developed for Nokia / OVI using WRTKIT that enables you connect to a Linux server via SSH (PuTTY) from your Nokia Phone.

How it works, is that you have to first install a piece of software called MobilePutty that you can download from http://bit.ly/puttyformobile , this application must be installed and run on a Windows PC. On this program, you enter the Host IP address, username and password of your Linux Server. And a PuTTY terminal window will appear.

From your phone, you can then enter in the host name, username and password, and you will be relayed screenshots of the PuTTY terminal to your phone. You can also send commands to your PuTTY terminal, in order to interact with your linux server. You can also open up any other terminal-style program, such as windows command prompt, and remotely control your home PC from your phone, without having to worry about firewalls etc.

This application works best over WiFi broadband, be very patient if you are using GPRS.

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Please select “Get Key” above to get your voucher code, then follow the steps below to redeem it.

Voucher Redemption Instructions

NOTE: This offer is for select exams (with 072 prefix) for students globally who have valid student identification (not available in India and China). Each voucher code can only be redeemed once. Once the code has been redeemed, it cannot be used again. Students must redeem and take exams by June 30, 2011. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. This offer expires when supply is depleted and is not redeemable for cash.

Once you have your free exam voucher code, follow the instructions below on how to redeem it:

• Prometric is Microsoft’s Exam Delivery Provider
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  • Select “Schedule an Appointment”
  • Select your Country and State (if applicable)
  • Click Next
  • Next to Client, select Microsoft
  • Next to Program, select Microsoft (072)
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  • Click Next
• Select the exam number and the exam language for the exam you would like to take
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  • NOTE if you are a new user – PLEASE enter a VALID EMAIL ADDRESS for Prometric and Microsoft.
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• Once you are logged in, you will then be able to select a date and time for your appointment, select a date and time
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• When you go to the testing center to take your exam, you must have valid student identification with a photograph. You will not be allowed to take your exam without student identification with photo.

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Here’s an AJAX request that gets your longitude and latitude in javascript. It’s using XML, not JSON, since there was some problems using eval() for non-US addresses.

var strUrl = “http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?&#8221;;

strUrl += “address=bt489ph “;

strUrl += “&sensor=false”;

ajaxRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();

ajaxRequest.onreadystatechange = function() {

if (ajaxRequest.readyState != 4)

{

return;

};

var xmlDoc = ajaxRequest.responseXML;

var latitude = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName(‘lat’)[0].firstChild.nodeValue;

var longditude = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName(‘lng’)[0].firstChild.nodeValue;

alert(latitude);

alert(longditude);

};

ajaxRequest.open(“GET”,strUrl,true);

ajaxRequest.send(null);

Here’s a project I’m trying to get off the ground; a mobile app for viewing webcam images streamed from your PC.

http://www.mobilewebcam.co.uk

Probably really obvious for anybody who’s worked with XAML before, but I was happy with a little discovery, where you can show an image and have it scroll too…

<ScrollViewer
            HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
            VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
        <Image 
               HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" 
               Margin="0" Name="image1" 
               Stretch="None" 
               VerticalAlignment="Stretch" 

               Source="/ScrollViewer2;component/Images/dubai.png" />
        </ScrollViewer>

When compiling (ant build) a BlackBerry Webworks project, I got this error: error 907 icon data is too large.

The icon was about 42K. I discovered that, I had created the Icon with Fireworks 8, which had somehow jam packed the PNG full of layers, metadata, and larger images, that I had used to create the icon. I discovered, that if you export as image only, or select batch process, select export, then custom, the png 32, then it drops it down to a few Kb, and the build goes ok.