Get Random Elements from a List

public static List getRandomItemsFromList(int returnCount, List list)
        {   // Mucahid USLU, 14.03.2012
            List returnList = new List();
            T rndItem;
           
            int randomInt = 0 ;
            int i=0;
            while (i < returnCount)
            {
                randomInt = new Random().Next(list.Count);
                rndItem = list[randomInt];
                returnList.Add(rndItem);
                list.Remove(rndItem);
                i++;
            }

            return returnList;
        }

Add Disk Clean to Windows Server 2008 R2

> Control Panel
> .. Add Feature
> .. Desktop Experience
> Then restart server.

 

Simple C# Atom and Rss feed parser

.NET already has quite a few open source RSS and ATOM libraries for parsing feeds.
Update
.NET 4 now has built in RSS support in the framework in the System.ServiceModel.Syndication namespace.
A lot of the time these APIs are a bit overkill and bulky for what you need - the Link, Title, Content and Publish date. With LINQ-to-XML this is easily achievable with the the XDocument object and some basic node searching.
The only drawback with this method is it doesn't remove the namespaces from the nodes, which is why there are Where lookups going on instead of straight XName comparisons. When you have a namespace declaration in your XML document at the root, all XElement nodes than get called "{namespace}node". XElement has an overriden comparison operator to compare with a string, but unfortunately it uses this full name instead of its LocalName property, which would just be "Node".
I haven't done any performance comparisons but I will make a wild guess that it's faster than most feed APIs for parsing, as it ignores all the unwanted nodes. For downloading the feed versus a custom HttpWebRequest it may be slower as it uses the XDocument.Load method.

Usage

FeedParser parser = new FeedParser();

var items = parser.Parse("http://www.footballtoday.org.uk/rss/home/",FeedType.RSS);

Source

Firstly the Item class for holding a Feed's metadata. You might want to add a Site property to this for grouping per site.

///

/// Represents a feed item.

///

public class Item

{

public string Link { get; set; }

public string Title { get; set; }

public string Content { get; set; }

public DateTime PublishDate { get; set; }

public FeedType FeedType { get; set; }

 

public Item()

{

Link = "";

Title = "";

Content = "";

PublishDate = DateTime.Today;

FeedType = FeedType.RSS;

}

}

Any bad publish dates are turned into DateTime.Min. The idea behind the virtual methods is that you can subclass and do something more. At present though these methods don't return an Item but the entire list so there isn't much gained from overriding them. Sometime in the future I will probably add it.

///

/// A simple RSS, RDF and ATOM feed parser.

///

public class FeedParser

{

///

/// Parses the given and returns a .

///

///

public IList Parse(string url, FeedType feedType)

{

switch (feedType)

{

case FeedType.RSS:

return ParseRss(url);

case FeedType.RDF:

return ParseRdf(url);

case FeedType.Atom:

return ParseAtom(url);

default:

throw new NotSupportedException(string.Format("{0} is not supported",feedType.ToString()));

}

}

 

///

/// Parses an Atom feed and returns a .

///

public virtual IList ParseAtom(string url)

{

try

{

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(url);

 

// Feed/Entry

var entries = from item in doc.Root.Elements().Where(i => i.Name.LocalName == "entry")

select new Item

{

FeedType = FeedType.Atom,

Content = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "content").Value,

Link = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "link").Attribute("href").Value,

PublishDate = ParseDate(item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "published").Value),

Title = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "title").Value

};

 

return entries.ToList();

}

catch

{

return new List();

}

}

 

///

/// Parses an RSS feed and returns a .

///

public virtual IList ParseRss(string url)

{

try

{

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(url);

 

// RSS/Channel/item

var entries = from item in doc.Root.Descendants().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "channel").Elements().Where(i => i.Name.LocalName == "item")

select new Item

{

FeedType = FeedType.RSS,

Content = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "description").Value,

Link = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "link").Value,

PublishDate = ParseDate(item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "pubDate").Value),

Title = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "title").Value

};

 

return entries.ToList();

}

catch

{

return new List();

}

}

 

///

/// Parses an RDF feed and returns a .

///

public virtual IList ParseRdf(string url)

{

try

{

XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(url);

 

// is under the root

var entries = from item in doc.Root.Descendants().Where(i => i.Name.LocalName == "item")

select new Item

{

FeedType = FeedType.RDF,

Content = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "description").Value,

Link = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "link").Value,

PublishDate = ParseDate(item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "date").Value),

Title = item.Elements().First(i => i.Name.LocalName == "title").Value

};

 

return entries.ToList();

}

catch

{

return new List();

}

}

 

private DateTime ParseDate(string date)

{

DateTime result;

if (DateTime.TryParse(date, out result))

return result;

else

return DateTime.MinValue;

}

}

 

///

/// Represents the XML format of a feed.

///

public enum FeedType

{

///

/// Really Simple Syndication format.

///

RSS,

///

/// RDF site summary format.

///

RDF,

///

/// Atom Syndication format.

///

Atom

}

IEnumerable vs IQueryable

The difference is that IQueryable is the interface that allows LINQ-to-SQL (LINQ.-to-anything really) to work. So if you further refine your query on an IQueryable, that query will be executed in the database, if possible.
For the IEnumerable case, it will be LINQ-to-object, meaning that all objects matching the original query will have to be loaded into memory from the database.
In code:

IQueryable<Customer> custs = ...;
// ..
var customers = custs.Where(c => c.IsGold);

That code will execute SQL to only select gold customers. The following code, on the other hand, will execute the original query in the database, then filtering out the non-gold customers in the memory:

IEnumerable<Customer> custs = ...;
// ..
var customers = custs.Where(c => c.IsGold);

This is quite an important difference, and working on IQueryable can in many cases save you from returning too many rows from the database. Another prime example is doing paging: If you use Take and Skip on IQueryable, you will only get the number of rows requested; doing that on an IEnumerable will cause all of your rows to be loaded in memory.

Linq to DataTable

public static DataTable LINQToDataTable(IEnumerable varlist)
        {   // Mucahid USLU mucuslu@hotmail.com

             DataTable dtReturn = new DataTable();

             // column names
             PropertyInfo[] oProps = null;

             if (varlist == null) return dtReturn;

             foreach (T rec in varlist)
             {
                 // Use reflection to get property names, to create table, Only first time, others will follow
                  if (oProps == null)
                  {
                       oProps = ((Type)rec.GetType()).GetProperties();
                       foreach (PropertyInfo pi in oProps)
                       {
                            Type colType = pi.PropertyType;

                            if ((colType.IsGenericType) && (colType.GetGenericTypeDefinition()     
                            ==typeof(Nullable<>)))
                             {
                                 colType = colType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
                             }

                            dtReturn.Columns.Add(new DataColumn(pi.Name, colType));
                       }
                  }

                  DataRow dr = dtReturn.NewRow();

                  foreach (PropertyInfo pi in oProps)
                  {
                       dr[pi.Name] = pi.GetValue(rec, null) == null ?DBNull.Value :pi.GetValue
                       (rec,null);
                  }

                  dtReturn.Rows.Add(dr);
             }
             return dtReturn;
        }

HTML ASCII Characters

HTML ASCII Characters
codes	characters	character names
		ASCII: space (usually one em wide)
!	!	ASCII: exclamation mark
"	"	ASCII: quotation mark
#	#	ASCII: number sign
$	$	ASCII: dollar sign
%	%	ASCII: percent sign
&	&	ASCII: ampersand
'	'	ASCII: apostrophe-quote
(	(	ASCII: opening parenthesis
)	)	ASCII: closing parenthesis
*	*	ASCII: asterisk
+	+	ASCII: plus sign
,	,	ASCII: comma
-	-	ASCII: hyphen-minus
.	.	ASCII: period
/	/	ASCII: slash
0	0	ASCII: digit zero
1	1	ASCII: digit one
2	2	ASCII: digit two
3	3	ASCII: digit three
4	4	ASCII: digit four
5	5	ASCII: digit five
6	6	ASCII: digit six
7	7	ASCII: digit seven
8	8	ASCII: digit eight
9	9	ASCII: digit nine
:	:	ASCII: colon
;	;	ASCII: semicolon
<	<	ASCII: less-than sign
=	=	ASCII: equals sign
>	>	ASCII: greater-than sign
?	?	ASCII: question mark
@	@	ASCII: commercial at
A	A	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A
B	B	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter B
C	C	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter C
D	D	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter D
E	E	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter E
F	F	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter F
G	G	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter G
H	H	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter H
I	I	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter I
J	J	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter J
K	K	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter K
L	L	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter L
M	M	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter M
N	N	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter N
O	O	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O
P	P	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter P
Q	Q	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Q
R	R	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter R
S	S	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter S
T	T	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter T
U	U	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter U
V	V	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter V
W	W	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter W
X	X	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter X
Y	Y	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Y
Z	Z	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Z
[	[	ASCII: opening square bracket
\	\	ASCII: backslash
]	]	ASCII: closing square bracket
^	^	ASCII: spacing circumflex
_	_	ASCII: spacing underscore
`	`	ASCII: spacing grave
a	a	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A
b	b	ASCII: Latin Small Letter B
c	c	ASCII: Latin Small Letter C
d	d	ASCII: Latin Small Letter D
e	e	ASCII: Latin Small Letter E
f	f	ASCII: Latin Small Letter F
g	g	ASCII: Latin Small Letter G
h	h	ASCII: Latin Small Letter H
i	i	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I
j	j	ASCII: Latin Small Letter J
k	k	ASCII: Latin Small Letter K
l	l	ASCII: Latin Small Letter L
m	m	ASCII: Latin Small Letter M
n	n	ASCII: Latin Small Letter N
o	o	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O
p	p	ASCII: Latin Small Letter P
q	q	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Q
r	r	ASCII: Latin Small Letter R
s	s	ASCII: Latin Small Letter S
t	t	ASCII: Latin Small Letter T
u	u	ASCII: Latin Small Letter U
v	v	ASCII: Latin Small Letter V
w	w	ASCII: Latin Small Letter W
x	x	ASCII: Latin Small Letter X
y	y	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Y
z	z	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Z
{	{	ASCII: opening curly bracket
|	|	ASCII: vertical bar
}	}	ASCII: closing curly bracket
~	~	ASCII: tilde
		ASCII: DEL (ctrl DELETE)
€	?
	
‚	‚	ASCII: Comma
ƒ	ƒ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter F Script
„	„	ASCII: Double Prime Quote Mark Low
…	…	ASCII: Ellipsis Low
†	†	ASCII: Dagger
‡	‡	ASCII: Double Dagger
ˆ	ˆ	ASCII: Circumflex
‰	‰	ASCII: Per Mille (thousand) sign
Š	Š	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter S Hacek
‹	‹	ASCII: Less-than sign
Œ	Œ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter OE
	
Ž	Ž
	
	
‘	‘	ASCII: Opening Single Quotation Mark
’	’	ASCII: Closing Single Quotation Mark
“	“	ASCII: Opening Double Quotation Mark
”	”	ASCII: Closing Double Quotation Mark
•	•	ASCII: Bullet
–	–	ASCII: Hyphen or En-dash
—	—	ASCII: Em-dash
˜	˜	ASCII: Tilde accent
™	™	ASCII: Trade Mark sign
š	š	ASCII: Latin Small Letter S Hacek
›	›	ASCII: Greater-Than sign
œ	œ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter OE
	
ž	ž
Ÿ	Ÿ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Y Umlaut
¡	¡	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I
¢	¢	ASCII: Cent
£	£	ASCII: Pound Sterling
¤	¤	ASCII: Currency sign
¥	¥	ASCII: Yen
¦	¦	ASCII: Latin Letter Pipe
§	§	ASCII: Section sign
¨	¨	ASCII: Umlaut accent
©	©	ASCII: Copyright sign
ª	ª	ASCII: Superscript Small Letter A
«	«	ASCII: Left Double-Angle Quotation Mark
¬	¬	ASCII: NOT (Math)
­	­	ASCII: Hyphen
®	®	ASCII: Registered Name
¯	¯	ASCII: APL Overbar. Macron accent
°	°	ASCII: Ring accent
±	±	ASCII: Plus-Minus sign
²	²	ASCII: Superscript Numeral Two, Squared
³	³	ASCII: Superscript Numeral Three, Cubed
´	´	ASCII: Grave accent (?)
µ	µ	ASCII: Mu or Micro sign
¶	¶	ASCII: Paragraph or Pilcrow sign
·	·	ASCII: Middle Dot
¸	¸	ASCII: Cedilla Accent
¹	¹	ASCII: Superscript Numeral One
º	º	ASCII: Degree, Ring Accent
»	»	ASCII: Right Double-Angle Quotation Mark
¼	¼	ASCII: One Quarter
½	½	ASCII: One Half
¾	¾	ASCII: Three Quarters
¿	¿	ASCII: Turned Question Mark
À	À	ASCII: Capital Letter A Grave
Á	Á	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Acute
Â	Â	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Circumflex
Ã	Ã	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Tilde
Ä	Ä	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Umlaut
Å	Å	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Ring
Æ	Æ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter AE
Ç	Ç	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter C Cedilla
È	È	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter E Grave
É	É	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter A Acute
Ê	Ê	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter E Circumflex
Ë	Ë	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter E Umlaut
Ì	Ì	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter I Grave
Í	Í	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter I Acute
Î	Î	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter I Circumflex
Ï	Ï	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter I Umlaut
Ð	Ð	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Eth, D Bar
Ñ	Ñ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter N Tilde
Ò	Ò	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O Grave
Ó	Ó	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O Acute
Ô	Ô	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O Circumflex
Õ	Õ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O Tilde
Ö	Ö	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter O Umlaut
×	×	ASCII: Multiplication sign
Ø	Ø	ASCII: Greek Letter Phi
Ù	Ù	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter U Grave
Ú	Ú	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter U Acute
Û	Û	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter U Circumflex
Ü	Ü	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter U Umlaut
Ý	Ý	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Y Acute
Þ	Þ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Thorn
ß	ß	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Sharp S, Ess-Zed
à	à	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Grave
á	á	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Acute
â	â	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Circumflex
ã	ã	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Tilde
ä	ä	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Umlaut
å	å	ASCII: Latin Small Letter A Ring
æ	æ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter AE
ç	ç	ASCII: Latin Small Letter C Cedilla
è	è	ASCII: Latin Small Letter E Grave
é	é	ASCII: Latin Small Letter E Acute
ê	ê	ASCII: Latin Small Letter E Circumflex
ë	ë	ASCII: Latin Small Letter E Umlaut
ì	ì	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I Grave
í	í	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I Acute
î	î	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I Circumflex
ï	ï	ASCII: Latin Small Letter I Umlaut
ð	ð	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Eth
ñ	ñ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter N Tilde
ò	ò	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O Grave
ó	ó	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O Acute
ô	ô	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O Circumflex
õ	õ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O Tilde
ö	ö	ASCII: Latin Small Letter O Umlaut
÷	÷	ASCII: Division sign
ø	ø	ASCII: Greek Small Letter Phi
ù	ù	ASCII: Latin Small Letter U Grave
ú	ú	ASCII: Latin Small Letter U Acute
û	û	ASCII: Latin Small Letter U Circumflex
ü	ü	ASCII: Latin Small Letter U Umlaut
ý	ý	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Y Acute
þ	þ	ASCII: Latin Capital Letter Thorn
ÿ	ÿ	ASCII: Latin Small Letter Y Umlaut

How to set jQuery intellisense plugin onto VS 2008 ?

This instruction is compliant with Windows 7.

1- Install VS 2008 SP1 , you can download it for free here.

2- After installation of SP1, restart windows

.

3- Then, install jQuery intellisense hotfix, you can download for free here. (KB958502)

4- Restart VS 2008.

5 - Add jQuery library and its vsdoc file to your application. You can download jQuery here and vsdoc for 1.4.2

Finally we can start to take advantage of jquery by adding reference to your code as shown below;