Develop Reference

Problem speeding up report rendering with FastReports

I'm working on report rendering with FastReports - I'm doing this coming from a system to render with Crystal Reports. When using Crystal, I found that preloading a report and then binding parameters on request sped up crystal dramatically, since most of the time for a small layout like an invoice is in the setup. I'm now trying to achieve the same with FastReports.
It's unclear how much time setup takes however, so I'd also be interested in whether this is not a worthwhile endeavour.
My issue is that I have used a JSON API call, and used ConnectionStringExpression with a single parameter. In a nutshell, changing the parameter does not reload the data when I call Prepare.
Here's my code, with the second report load taken out, it renders the same report twice.
var report = new Report();
report.Load("C:\\dev\\ia\\products\\StratusCloud\\AppFiles\\Reports\\SalesQuoteItems.frx");
var urlTemplate = "http://localhost:9502/data/sales-quote/{CardCode#}/{DocEntry#}";
var reportParms = new Dictionary<string, dynamic>();
reportParms.Add("CardCode#", "C20000");
reportParms.Add("DocEntry#", 77);
var connectionstring = "Json=" + System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(urlTemplate, "{([^}]+)}", (m) => {
if (reportParms.ContainsKey(m.Groups[1].Value))
{
return string.Format("{0}", reportParms[m.Groups[1].Value]);
}
return m.Value;
});
var dataapiparm = report.Dictionary.Parameters.FindByName("DataAPIUrl#");
if (dataapiparm != null)
{
dataapiparm.Value = connectionstring;
}
foreach(FastReport.Data.Parameter P in report.Dictionary.Parameters)
{
if (reportParms.ContainsKey(P.Name))
{
P.Value = reportParms[P.Name];
}
}
report.Prepare();
var pdfExport = new PDFSimpleExport();
pdfExport.Export(report, "test1.pdf");
//report = new Report();
//report.Load("C:\\dev\\ia\\products\\StratusCloud\\AppFiles\\Reports\\SalesQuoteItems.frx");
reportParms["DocEntry#"] = 117;
connectionstring = "Json=" + System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(urlTemplate, "{([^}]+)}", (m) => {
if (reportParms.ContainsKey(m.Groups[1].Value))
{
return string.Format("{0}", reportParms[m.Groups[1].Value]);
}
return m.Value;
});
dataapiparm = report.Dictionary.Parameters.FindByName("DataAPIUrl#");
if (dataapiparm != null)
{
dataapiparm.Value = connectionstring;
}
foreach (FastReport.Data.Parameter P in report.Dictionary.Parameters)
{
if (reportParms.ContainsKey(P.Name))
{
P.Value = reportParms[P.Name];
}
}
report.Prepare();
pdfExport.Export(report, "test2.pdf");
Cheers,
Mark

Fast Project definitely doesn't recalculate the ConnectionStringExpression on report.Prepare, so I went back to another method that I was looking at. It turns out that if the ConnectionString itself is rewritten, then report.Prepare does refetch the data.
A simple connection string without a schema takes a long time to process, so I remove everything beyond the semi-colon and keep it, replace the url portion of the connectionstring, and then stick teh same schema information back on the end.
Copying the schema information into each report generation connection string seems to remove around 10 seconds from report.Prepare!
At the moment it's the best that I can do, and I wonder if there is another more efficient method of rerunning the same report against new data (having the same schema).

Read all users from AD using Novell.Directory.Ldap.NETStandard

I need to read all users from the AD. Here is code that I am using:
using Novell.Directory.Ldap;
using Novell.Directory.Ldap.Controls;
using System.Linq;
namespace LdapTestApp
{
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
LdapConnection ldapConn = new LdapConnection();
ldapConn.SecureSocketLayer = true;
ldapConn.Connect(HOST, PORT);
try
{
var cntRead = 0;
int? cntTotal = null;
var curPage = 0;
ldapConn.Bind(USERNAME, PASSWORD);
do
{
var constraints = new LdapSearchConstraints();
constraints.SetControls(new LdapControl[]
{
new LdapSortControl(new LdapSortKey("sn"), true),
new LdapVirtualListControl("sn=*", 0, 10)
});
ILdapSearchResults searchResults = ldapConn.Search(
"OU=All Users,DC=homecredit,DC=ru",
LdapConnection.ScopeSub,
"(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user))",
null,
false,
constraints
);
while (searchResults.HasMore() && ((cntTotal == null) || (cntRead < cntTotal)))
{
++cntRead;
try
{
LdapEntry entry = searchResults.Next();
}
catch (LdapReferralException)
{
continue;
}
}
++curPage;
cntTotal = GetTotalCount(searchResults as LdapSearchResults);
} while ((cntTotal != null) && (cntRead < cntTotal));
}
finally
{
ldapConn.Disconnect();
}
}
private static int? GetTotalCount(LdapSearchResults results)
{
if (results.ResponseControls != null)
{
var r = (from c in results.ResponseControls
let d = c as LdapVirtualListResponse
where (d != null)
select (LdapVirtualListResponse)c).SingleOrDefault();
if (r != null)
{
return r.ContentCount;
}
}
return null;
}
}
}
I used this question Page LDAP query against AD in .NET Core using Novell LDAP as basis.
Unfortunatelly I get this exception when I am trying to recieve the very first entry:
"Unavailable Critical Extension"
000020EF: SvcErr: DSID-03140594, problem 5010 (UNAVAIL_EXTENSION), data 0
What am I doing wrong?

VLVs are browsing indexes and are not directly related to the possibility or not to browse large numbers of entries (see generic documentation). So even if this control would be activated on your AD, you wouldn't be able to retrieve more than 1000 elements this way :
how VLVs work on AD
MaxPageSize is 1000 by default on AD (see documentation)
So what you can do:
use a specific paged results control, but it seems that the Novell C# LDAP library does not have one
ask you the question: "is this pertinent to look for all the users in a single request?" (your request looks like a batch request: remember that a LDAP server is not designed for the same purposes than a classic database - that can easily return millions of entries - and that's why most of LDAP directories have default size limits around 1000).
The answer is no: review your design, be more specific in your LDAP search filter, your search base, etc.
The answer is yes:
you have a single AD server: ask your administrator to change the MaxPageSize value, but this setting is global and can lead to several side effects (ie. what happens if everybody start to request all the users all the time?)
you have several AD servers: you can configure one for specific "batch like" queries like the one you're trying to do (so large MaxPageSize, large timeouts etc.)

I had to use approach described here:
https://github.com/dsbenghe/Novell.Directory.Ldap.NETStandard/issues/71#issuecomment-420917269
The solution is far from being perfect but at least I am able to move on.

Starting with version 3.5 the library supports Simple Paged Results Control - https://ldapwiki.com/wiki/Simple%20Paged%20Results%20Control - and the usage is as simple as ldapConnection.SearchUsingSimplePaging(searchOptions, pageSize) or ldapConnection.SearchUsingSimplePaging(ldapEntryConverter, searchOptions, pageSize) - see Github repo for more details - https://github.com/dsbenghe/Novell.Directory.Ldap.NETStandard and more specifically use the tests as usage samples.

Get specific subdomain from URL in foo.bar.car.com

Given a URL as follows:
foo.bar.car.com.au
I need to extract foo.bar.
I came across the following code :
private static string GetSubDomain(Uri url)
{
if (url.HostNameType == UriHostNameType.Dns)
{
string host = url.Host;
if (host.Split('.').Length > 2)
{
int lastIndex = host.LastIndexOf(".");
int index = host.LastIndexOf(".", lastIndex - 1);
return host.Substring(0, index);
}
}
return null;
}
This gives me like foo.bar.car. I want foo.bar. Should i just use split and take 0 and 1?
But then there is possible wwww.
Is there an easy way for this?

Given your requirement (you want the 1st two levels, not including 'www.') I'd approach it something like this:
private static string GetSubDomain(Uri url)
{
if (url.HostNameType == UriHostNameType.Dns)
{
string host = url.Host;
var nodes = host.Split('.');
int startNode = 0;
if(nodes[0] == "www") startNode = 1;
return string.Format("{0}.{1}", nodes[startNode], nodes[startNode + 1]);
}
return null;
}

I faced a similar problem and, based on the preceding answers, wrote this extension method. Most importantly, it takes a parameter that defines the "root" domain, i.e. whatever the consumer of the method considers to be the root. In the OP's case, the call would be
Uri uri = "foo.bar.car.com.au";
uri.DnsSafeHost.GetSubdomain("car.com.au"); // returns foo.bar
uri.DnsSafeHost.GetSubdomain(); // returns foo.bar.car
Here's the extension method:
/// <summary>Gets the subdomain portion of a url, given a known "root" domain</summary>
public static string GetSubdomain(this string url, string domain = null)
{
var subdomain = url;
if(subdomain != null)
{
if(domain == null)
{
// Since we were not provided with a known domain, assume that second-to-last period divides the subdomain from the domain.
var nodes = url.Split('.');
var lastNodeIndex = nodes.Length - 1;
if(lastNodeIndex > 0)
domain = nodes[lastNodeIndex-1] + "." + nodes[lastNodeIndex];
}
// Verify that what we think is the domain is truly the ending of the hostname... otherwise we're hooped.
if (!subdomain.EndsWith(domain))
throw new ArgumentException("Site was not loaded from the expected domain");
// Quash the domain portion, which should leave us with the subdomain and a trailing dot IF there is a subdomain.
subdomain = subdomain.Replace(domain, "");
// Check if we have anything left. If we don't, there was no subdomain, the request was directly to the root domain:
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(subdomain))
return null;
// Quash any trailing periods
subdomain = subdomain.TrimEnd(new[] {'.'});
}
return subdomain;
}

You can use the following nuget package Nager.PublicSuffix. It uses the PUBLIC SUFFIX LIST from Mozilla to split the domain.
PM> Install-Package Nager.PublicSuffix
Example
var domainParser = new DomainParser();
var data = await domainParser.LoadDataAsync();
var tldRules = domainParser.ParseRules(data);
domainParser.AddRules(tldRules);
var domainName = domainParser.Get("sub.test.co.uk");
//domainName.Domain = "test";
//domainName.Hostname = "sub.test.co.uk";
//domainName.RegistrableDomain = "test.co.uk";
//domainName.SubDomain = "sub";
//domainName.TLD = "co.uk";

private static string GetSubDomain(Uri url)
{
if (url.HostNameType == UriHostNameType.Dns)
{
string host = url.Host;
String[] subDomains = host.Split('.');
return subDomains[0] + "." + subDomains[1];
}
return null;
}

OK, first. Are you specifically looking in 'com.au', or are these general Internet domain names? Because if it's the latter, there is simply no automatic way to determine how much of the domain is a "site" or "zone" or whatever and how much is an individual "host" or other record within that zone.
If you need to be able to figure that out from an arbitrary domain name, you will want to grab the list of TLDs from the Mozilla Public Suffix project (http://publicsuffix.org) and use their algorithm to find the TLD in your domain name. Then you can assume that the portion you want ends with the last label immediately before the TLD.

I would recommend using Regular Expression. The following code snippet should extract what you are looking for...
string input = "foo.bar.car.com.au";
var match = Regex.Match(input, #"^\w*\.\w*\.\w*");
var output = match.Value;

In addition to the NuGet Nager.PubilcSuffix package specified in this answer, there is also the NuGet Louw.PublicSuffix package, which according to its GitHub project page is a .Net Core Library that parses Public Suffix, and is based on the Nager.PublicSuffix project, with the following changes:
Ported to .NET Core Library.
Fixed library so it passes ALL the comprehensive tests.
Refactored classes to split functionality into smaller focused classes.
Made classes immutable. Thus DomainParser can be used as singleton and is thread safe.
Added WebTldRuleProvider and FileTldRuleProvider.
Added functionality to know if Rule was a ICANN or Private domain rule.
Use async programming model
The page also states that many of above changes were submitted back to original Nager.PublicSuffix project.

Correct way to cache images in MVC app

I am using the ImageResizing library, to resize and deliver my image in my C# Mvc application.
One thing that isn't happening though is my image aren't getting cached.
I am struggling to understand what would be required to appropriately add caching for each image.
I just need to know if I am on the write track? Will this cache my images correctly?
I think what I need to do, is set the FinalContentType, and FinalContentType in my ImageResizer_OnPostAuthorizeRequestStart (I dont know where to get these values)
And then, I am hoping that in the Application_PreSendRequestHeaders I can use the code below to set the cache headers correctly.
I have used a modified version of the method described here.
Here is my code:
private static void ImageResizer_OnPostAuthorizeRequestStart(IHttpModule sender2, HttpContext context)
{
string path = Config.Current.Pipeline.PreRewritePath;
if (!path.StartsWith(PathUtils.ResolveAppRelative("~/s3"), StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) return;
Config.Current.Pipeline.SkipFileTypeCheck = true;
Config.Current.Pipeline.ModifiedQueryString["cache"] = ServerCacheMode.Always.ToString();
}
protected void Application_PreSendRequestHeaders(Object source, EventArgs e)
{
var app = source as HttpApplication;
HttpContext context = (app != null) ? app.Context : null;
if (context != null && context.Items != null && context.Items["FinalContentType"] != null && context.Items["LastModifiedDate"] != null)
{
//Clear previous output
//context.Response.Clear();
context.Response.ContentType = context.Items["FinalContentType"].ToString();
//FinalContentType is set to image/jpeg or whatever the image mime-type is earlier in code.
//Add caching headers
int mins = 1; //Or Configuration.AppSettings['whatever']
if (mins > 0)
{
context.Response.Expires = 1;
}
var lastModified = (DateTime?)context.Items["LastModifiedDate"]; //Set earlier in code.
if (lastModified != DateTime.MinValue)
{
Response.Cache.SetLastModified(lastModified.Value);
}
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(context.Request.IsAuthenticated ? HttpCacheability.Private : HttpCacheability.Public);
}
}

Use the DiskCache and ClientCache plugins to handle disk caching and cache headers respectively.
ASP.NET output caching is useless here.

Out of Memory at line XXXX

can anyone help me how to resolve the out of memory error on my asp page? im using linq to sql.. after adding data several data.. like more than 10 rows. in the grid. an out of memory error occurs.. attached herewith is my add function..
public ServiceDetail checkservicedetailid()
{
string ServiceName = ViewState["Tab"].ToString();
ServiceDetail checkservicedetailid = ServiceDetails_worker.get(a => a.ServiceName == ServiceName && a.MarginAnalysisID == checkmarginanalysisid().MarginAnalysisID).SingleOrDefault();
return checkservicedetailid;
}
public IEnumerable<ServiceDetail> get(Expression<Func<ServiceDetail, Boolean>> express)
{
return ServiceDetailsDB.ServiceDetails.Where(express);
}
protected void btnSaveEmptyOC_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
if (checkservicedetailid() != null)
{
CashExpense tblCashExpenses = new CashExpense();
Guid CashExpensesID = Guid.NewGuid();
tblCashExpenses.CashExpensesID = CashExpensesID;
tblCashExpenses.ServiceDetailsID = checkservicedetailid().ServiceDetailsID;
tblCashExpenses.Description = txtDescriptionEmptyOC.Text;
tblCashExpenses.Quantity = Decimal.Parse(txtQTYEmptyOC.Text);
tblCashExpenses.UnitCost = Decimal.Parse(txtUnitCostEmptyOC.Text);
tblCashExpenses.CreatedBy = User.Identity.Name;
tblCashExpenses.DateCreated = DateTime.Now;
tblCashExpenses.CashExpensesTypeID = "OTHER";
CashExpenses_worker.insert(tblCashExpenses);
CashExpenses_worker.submit();
//Clear items after saving
txtDescriptionEmptyOC.Text = "";
txtQTYEmptyOC.Text = "";
txtUnitCostEmptyOC.Text = "";
ValidationMessage.ShowValidationMessage(MessageCenter.CashExpenseMaintenace.InsertOC2, "SaveEmptyOC", this.Page);
MyAuditProvider.Insert(this.GetType().ToString(), ViewState["MarginAnalysisID"].ToString(), MessageCenter.Mode.ADD, MessageCenter.CashExpenseMaintenace.InsertOC2, Page.Request, User);
divOtherCost.Visible = false;
grd_othercost.Visible = true;
btnaddothercost.Visible = true;
}
else
{
//Displays a Message on the Validation Summary (Service Id does not exist)
ValidationMessage.ShowValidationMessage(MessageCenter.CashExpenseMaintenace.SaveServiceDetailOC, "SaveEmptyOC", this.Page);
}
}
catch
{
//Displays a Message on the Validation Summary (Error on Saving)
ValidationMessage.ShowValidationMessage(MessageCenter.CashExpenseMaintenace.InsertOCError, "SaveEmptyOC", this.Page);
}
finally
{
//Rebinds the Grid
populategrd_othercost();
}
}

I'm guessing from your code here:
ServiceDetail checkservicedetailid = ServiceDetails_worker.get(
a => a.ServiceName == ServiceName &&
a.MarginAnalysisID == checkmarginanalysisid().MarginAnalysisID
).SingleOrDefault();
that .get() is taking a Func<SomeType, bool>, and you are doing something like:
var row = dbCtx.SomeTable.Where(predicate);
(please correct me here if I'm incorrect)
This, however, is using LINQ-to-Objects, meaning: it is loading every row from the table to the client and testing locally. That'll hurt memory, especially if a different db-context is created for each row. Additionally, the checkmarginanalysisid() call is being executed per row, when presumably it doesn't change between rows.
You should be testing this with an Expression<Func<SomeType, bool>> which would be translated to TSQL and executed at the server. You may also need to remove untranslatable methods, i.e.
var marginAnalysisId = checkmarginanalysisid().MarginAnalysisID;
ServiceDetail checkservicedetailid = ServiceDetails_worker.get(
a => a.ServiceName == ServiceName &&
a.MarginAnalysisID == marginAnalysisId
).SingleOrDefault();
where that is get(Expression<Func<SomeType, bool>>).

I tried all of the solution given to me both by my peers as well as the solution provided here, from GC.Collect, to disposing linq datacontext after use etc. however the error keeps on occurring, i then tried to remove the update panel, Ive read a site that showed how ridiculous update panel when it comes to handling data esp when a function is done repeatedly. And poof! the memory problem is gone!