I have a CLI application which is able to edit XML files with some parameters.
However I'm needing now a more powerful way to do it.
I want to give users the option to edit XML files using custom code from a .txt for total control over the XML editing.
For example:
#CODE File<file name for XML editing>
<code>
# Custom XML parser/editing code
for elem in tree.iter(tag='location'):
if elem.text == 'J':
elem.text = 'January'
</code>
Which would be the safest way to do this in .net C#? I mean the user only be able to edit the XML file and not doing anything more that compromises the security of the system (like deleting files)?
I'm thinking of using a Javascript engine (like this one) and running javascript code from the file. I believe javascript would limit what the user would be able to do. I also thought in C# code and Python but this ones may introduce the security issues.
Edit:
One requirement is that it must work on mono.
I have choose the IronJS .NET runtime with a javascript XML library discussed here (XML for < script> W3C DOM Parser).
I have also looked for other javascript .NET runtimes like: Javascript .NET, Jurassic and Jint (opted for IronJS because the better performance). Plus tested some .NET Lua libraries, namely Kopilua, but opted for the javascript solution because it seemed more complete, more documented and easier to use.
Related
I'd like to know what would be the most straightforward (i.e., preferably without adding DLLs to my solution) way to write a C# code snippet for modifying a PDF document's page layout and magnification options.
I know this is incredibly easy in LaTeX (well, it's easy to set these for a PDF to-be-generated using a single package) through hyperref options.
Modifying an already-created PDF document is a lot more work however. Also, most MS Office print-to-PDF options don't seem to include this ability while it's obviously annoying to keep opening documents up in Acrobat and manually modifying these for the proper (desired) opening settings (layout: single page, and magnification: fit page, for me).
So, I would like to write a code snippet that could do this. What is the most straightforward way of modifying PDF start-up options via C#?
Alternatively, is there a way to force-apply these options when generating PDFs from MS Office software suites?
I looked into PDFSharp and MigraDoc at one point for PDF-making from C#, but that really didn't match what I was hoping for. Plus, it added a DLL set (of ten dependencies) which was sub-optimal with respect to how many ancillary files were included with the build for managing a relatively simple function.
However, as noted in the comments, such a batch modification code is likely to be very difficult without any dependencies, so I'll also accept answers which reference dependencies.
Past topics (but not very good matches):
This is similar but for JavaScript, and actually suggests it shouldn't be done.
This is a bit more elaborate for JavaScript, but not exactly what I am looking for.
This topic seems to be this question for PHP but including some external references...
I have a batch of HTML files which need some editions easy to perform with jQuery (mainly selecting some nodes and changing their attributes).
My approach to achive this, has been opening them one by one in Google Chrome, excecuting the jQuery code in the console, and then copying the resulting DOM back to my HTML editor.
Since what I'm currently doing takes a lot of time, and also due to the fact that every file needs the same edition (i.e., the same jQuery/JS code will work for every HTML file), I am considering to write a script/program to do this.
Anyway, I am not completely clear of which of the following (if any of them) approaches I should take to accomplish this task.
Write a JavaScript script with jQuery using some FileSystem/File manipulation library (which one?)
Write a Java or C# program using some jQuery-based library (like CsQuery)
Finding a plugin for some of my editors (Aptana, Notepad++, Eclipse, etc) or a completely different editor that supports jQuery-like commands for edition (just as notepad++ regex replacement support). This would be slow with big batches, but at least it would allow me to avoid the annoying copy/paste to/from Chrome.
Is one of this approaches the right way to accomplish what I need? (Is there a right way to do this?) Which should be more straight-forward?
I think that #2 would be easier for me since I have a lot more experience in Java and C# than in JavaScript, but I think that maybe that idea would be sort of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
You should consider using PhantomJs. It is a headless WebKit which can be executed from te commandline. It accepts a javascript or coffeescript file as a an argument, which can be used to e.g. do something with a web page. Here is an example:
var page = require('webpage').create();
page.open('http://m.bing.com', function(status) {
var title = page.evaluate(function(s) {
return document.querySelector(s).innerText;
}, 'title');
console.log(title);
phantom.exit();
});
I am not sure of the right way but it sounds like you are familiar with C# and would think writing a class library would be the least overhead for automation. Here are some potential solutions:
Scripting Library (e.g., C#.NET) - You can use a library like the one you mentioned or something like ScriptSharp if you want to use DOM manipulation. If the HTML has appropriate closing tags you can also use LINQ to easily navigate the HTML (or something like the HTML Agility Pack found on CodePlex). I would even recommend using Mustache with an HTML file template in C#.
JavaScript Library - If you wanted to stay in pure JavaScript you can use Node.js. There are file manipulation libraries you can use.
Headless Browsers - Haven't thought through being able to save the resulting HTML automatically but you can use something like jsTestDriver or Phantom.js
You can go with the plugins in editors as well, but I would stick with a Java, C#, python, etc. library that you can potentially call from existing application or schedule as a job/service.
I'm building a generic survey engine where end users can generate and design their own surveys (including UI design). I'm interested in building (or perhaps even buying) a custom WinForms designer which would be able to output design in XML format. I'd then save the XML to database and when users load a survey, XML would be parsed and the form would be dynamically generated based on the XML data.
Building my own C# to XML converter is an option, but I'd like to avoid it since users would have to use Visual Studio to get ahold of WinForms code and then run a custom tool to generate XML output, which is a pretty clumsy solution (besides I can't force customers to buy VS).
I'd appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction.
Thanks!
The bits of the WinForms Designer are exposed by the .NET framework: Design surface, toolbox, property grids,...
This MSDN article and this CodeProject article should help you get started.
Of course, this is only the start of the story.
Your second problem is to make the designer emit XML rather than C#/VB code. Last but not least, you'll have to create the form at runtime, which is usually done by compiling the code generated by the designer. Needless to say that compiling XML is another story.
It would certainly be easier to store the C# code in your DB rather than some XML model. You can then compile it programmatically at runtime (no need to have VS installed on the client's computer. The .NET runtime is enough) and instantiate the form class dynamically. BTW, whether you complie the code in the designer or in runtime is up to you.
However, other routes may be easier, such as Hans' suggestion: InfoPath.
The Mono project has a Winforms Designer. I don't know how easy it would be to re-use as a componant. Here it is in action:
I don't know how you would go about serializing the output to XML and deserializing it again. Maybe you could even store the C# in your database?
Check this post on how to create xml files in C#: Working with XML
Then use sp_xml_preparedocument/sp_xml_removedocument in SQL to create/parse xml files (use stored procedures to do this)
Traverse and use the generated xml in your winform (I suggest you use LINQ to XML to do this)
Probably the hardest thing you'll encounter here is the creating xml part and traversing the xml nodes, but aside from that everything will be a breeze.
We're already implementing this structure/architecture at work but on webforms not winforms. But I think the flow/logic is the same. HTH.
Edit: This post might help you. Cheers.
I browsed internet but haven't found my answer... as I'm running out of ideas, I'd appreciate some help on this issue.
So here it is:
I have some PHP code that takes a path to a file and returns a bunch of information that i need.
I have the source code (it is open source), and i know my C#.
My problem is i want to be able to use this PHP code from a C# application, offline, emulating the PHP code.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
If you really must, you can always launch the PHP interpreter from C# by spawning a process. I'll leave the details to MSDN. Better, though, would be to just translate the PHP to C# by hand.
You could set up a PHP server on the local machine and invoke the file using an HTTP request created with c# (such as with the WebRequest object). This satisfies the requirement of working offline and since you have the PHP code, you can make minor modifications to accommodate whatever parameters you need to pass into it.
However unless this is for an isolated case in a controlled environment, I would not suggest it.
If this is for distribution to user machines it would be a) impractical to deploy and b) a maintenance nightmare. If you are running on a server and rewriting the PHP in c# is not an option, it should get the job done.
It sounds like to either wish to
Translate the PHP code to C#
Call the PHP code from .NET
???
I don't think emulation is the term you're looking for, exactly.
If you can link to the PHP code (if it's OSS, is there a site with more information?) or paste it here, we can probably let you know the best way to handle this.
If you don't want to translate the PHP code into C# then you must invoke the PHP interpreter.
First, look at the license on the PHP code you would be using. When I looked at the code earlier I noticed that all but one PHP file had a GNU GPL license on it. GNU GPL should work for what you want, but I recommend that you review the GNU GPL if you haven't done so already. You should also look into what license is supposed to be applied to the last file before continuing.
Second, rewrite the entry file. The file in question is upload_file.php. This file loads the other files as includes, parses the SC2 replay file, and generates an output for use by a web browser. You just need to rewrite this file to have it output a simplified version of its output to the console. You might have it receive the name of the replay file from command line arguments. The other files that are marked as GNU GPL can just be copied directly into your project. I should also say here that there may already be a console version. Take a minute to look around for one.
Third, write a C# application. Invoke the PHP interpreter telling it the what file to interpret, and the name of the replay file to parse. You will need to redirect the console output from your PHP instance into your C# code to be able to read the output.
Fourth, read the output.
Fifth, parse the output for use in your C# application.
Old thread but figured it could use an answer.
You could use the codeplex Phalanger. http://phalanger.codeplex.com/ It allows you to take existing php files and compile them to .net
I want to have my ASP C# application to be multi-language. I was planned to do this with a XML file. The thing is, i don't have any experience with this. I mean how, do i start? Is it a good idea to store the languages in an xml file? And how in the code do i set the values for ie my menu buttons? I'd like to work with XML because i never worked before with XML, i want to learn how to deal with cases like this.
You want to look into RESX resource files. These are XML files that can contain texts (and images) and they have standardized handling of localization/translations.
Support for this is built right into ASP.NET. There is a guide for how to use it and set it up at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fw69ke6f(VS.80).aspx.
The walkthough is pretty detailed and should help you to understand the concepts. My preferred is method described a bit down in the document in the section "Explicit Localization with ASP.NET". Using this you will get a set of XML files with your texts and translations in a fully standardized format.
Do you know about the .Net From automatic translatation (based on .resx) resources ?
You're in luck, this sort of stuff is built directly into .Net
The way it's done is that for every page you have a language specific resx file.
eg
Homepage.aspx
Homepage.aspx.cs
Homepage.aspx.en.resx
Homepage.aspx.fr.resx
you simply dynamically figure out what resource file to use, and all the appropriate labels come through in French for example.
Helpful Tutorials and Videos
A Simple Example
Good luck.
If internationalization in .net is something you want to get into seriously, you might want to consider this
(and no - I have no stake in it)