My brother Sayed Y. Hashimi just released a new book Pro Android: Developing Mobile Applications for G1 and Other Google Phones.

I'm not an Android developer so I cannot speak about specifics about the content but here is the TOC so you can get a better idea of what the book contains.

1. Introducing the Android Computing Platform
2. Getting Your Feet Wet
3. Using Resources, Content Providers, and Intents
4. Building User Interfaces and Using Controls
5. Working with Menus and Dialogs
6. Unveiling 2D Animation
7. Exploring Security and Location-Based Services
8. Building and Consuming Services
9. Using the Media Framework and Telephony APIs
10. Programming 3D Graphics with OpenGL
11. Managing and Organizing Preferences
12. Coming to Grips with 1.5
13. Simplifying OpenGL and Exploring Live Folders

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

A few weeks ago I blogged about a video that I was in on Channel 9. Since then the creator of the video Russ Fustino has decided to break out his It's All About the Tools series into individual video entries. He has been posting 18 different videos for 18 consecutive days. I think this is a great idea, because it allows people to go right to the content that they are particularly interested in. There are a bunch of different topics covered from Visual Studio DB Pro to using Fiddler and of course my MSBuild Twitter Logger video which was posted just the other day. If you haven't seen this video yet now is your chance, take a look and let me know what you think. I'm interested in making more videos so if you have some specific topics that you think are cool let me know.

 

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

A long time ago a reader sent me a build script and asked for my thoughts on it. This is my response. In this entry I have marked up his build script with my comments inside of tags like:

 

I thought that you guys might be interested in this too. Here it is.

< Project DefaultTargets = " Build " xmlns = " http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003 " >

 

 

 

   < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.MoveUpBuildNumber " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.ReplaceInFile " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.CheckInIntoVSS " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.GetLatestFromVSS " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.LabelInVSS " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

  < UsingTask TaskName = " BuildTasks.ShowMessageBox " AssemblyFile = " BuildTasks\bin\Debug\BuildTasks.dll " />

 

 

 

 

  < PropertyGroup >

    < VSSDatabasePath > \\some\path\here\srcsafe.ini VSSDatabasePath >

  PropertyGroup >

 

 

 

  < Target Name = " Build " DependsOnTargets = " PrebuildAndRun;CheckInDeliverables " >

  Target >

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  < Target Name = " PrebuildAndRun " >

    < Message Text = " building $(MSBuildProjectFile) " Importance = " high " />

    < Message Text = " ------ PATCHING FILES WITH BUILD NUMBER " Importance = " high " />

   

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/BuildNumberLP.txt "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

   

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/DatabaseScripts/DatabasePackages.sql "

        WorkingDirectory = " LP/DatabaseScripts "

   />

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPinstaller/Properties "

   />

   

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/LPSetup.msi "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

    < BuildTasks.CheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/setup.exe "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

 

 

   

   

    < BuildTasks.MoveUpBuildNumber

    File = " LP/BuildNumberLP.txt " >

      < Output TaskParameter = " BuildNumber " PropertyName = " BuildNumber " />

    BuildTasks.MoveUpBuildNumber >

 

   

    < BuildTasks.ReplaceInFile

        SearchString = " PACKAGE_REVISION "

        ReplaceString = " $(BuildNumber) "

        FileName = " LP/DatabaseScripts/DatabasePackages.sql "

   />

    < BuildTasks.ReplaceInFile

        SearchString = " 27857 "

        ReplaceString = " $(BuildNumber) "

        FileName = " LP/AssemblyInfo.cs "

   />

    < BuildTasks.ReplaceInFile

        SearchString = " 27857 "

        ReplaceString = " $(BuildNumber) "

        FileName = " LPinstaller/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs "

   />

    < Message Text = " ------ PATCHING FILES WITH BUILD NUMBER... DONE " Importance = " high " />

   

   

   

   

    < Exec Command = " " C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE/devenv.com " " .\LP\LP.SLN

      " /build " Release " /project ..\LPSetup\LPSetup.vdproj /projectconfig " Release " " />

   

    < OnError ExecuteTargets = " RecoverFromError " />

  Target >

 

  < Target Name = " CheckInDeliverables " >

 

 

   

    < Message Text = " ------ CHECKING IN CHANGED FILES " Importance = " high " />

   

    < BuildTasks.CheckInIntoVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LP/BuildNumberLP.txt "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

   

   

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/DatabaseScripts/DatabasePackages.sql "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP/DatabaseScripts "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LP/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LPinstaller/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPinstaller/Properties "

   />

   

    < BuildTasks.CheckInIntoVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/LPSetup.msi "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

    < BuildTasks.CheckInIntoVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/setup.exe "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

   

    < BuildTasks.LabelInVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) "

      FilePathInVSS = " $ "

      Label = " Revision $(BuildNumber) "

   />

    < Message Text = " ------ CHECKING IN CHANGED FILES... DONE " Importance = " high " />

    < OnError ExecuteTargets = " ErrorOnCheckIn " />

  Target >

 

  < Target Name = " RecoverFromError " >

    < Message Text = " An error has occurred, reversing checkouts " />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LP/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LP/BuildNumberLP.txt "

      WorkingDirectory = " LP "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

    DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

    FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/DatabaseScripts/DatabasePackages.sql "

    WorkingDirectory = " LP/DatabaseScripts "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/LPinstaller/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPinstaller/Properties "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/LPSetup.msi "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

    < BuildTasks.UndoCheckOutFromVSS

      DatabasePath = " $(VSSDatabasePath) " IgnoreError = " true "

      FilePathInVSS = " $/Some/Path/Here/Release/setup.exe "

      WorkingDirectory = " LPSetup/Release "

   />

  Target >

 

  < Target Name = " ErrorOnCheckIn " >

   

    < BuildTasks.ShowMessageBox Message =

        " Build process failed to check in the files for the new build or reverse checkouts.

        Make sure that all files are checked in and retry the build. " />

  Target >

Project >

 

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

When I was in Orlando presenting at the Orlando Code Camp I had the pleasure of working with Russ Fustino and Stan Schultes on the latest edition of Russ' Toolshed - It's All About the Tools. This is a Channel 9 show that Russ has created. You can check out the video that I'm in at Episode 2 It's All About The Tools TV Show.

The topic that I discuss in that video is how you can create a custom MSBuild logger to update your Twitter page to keep everybody informed about the build. I love how using a REST based api can be so simple when appropriate. Since Twitter exposes one, of course it was pretty simple. I think that this is a pretty cool application of a custom MSBuild logger, and as far as I know it is the first of it's kind. You can download the source for my logger from my company's page sedotech.com and clicking on the MSBuild Twitter Logger link there.

Check me out in that video, I'm presenting from about the 50 minute mark to about the 65 minute mark. The guys were teasing me saying that I type fast, I don't think so, do you?

 

This is my second video on Channel 9, my first is described in my post at http://www.sedodream.com/PermaLink,guid,4db4f0b7-9d23-4c64-9fd1-992fb2ae1727.aspx.

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

This coming Wednesday I will be at the Jacksonville Developer User Group. The topic title is "Leveraging Web Deployment Projects". I am still thinking about a new title, I'm not extremely happy about that one. Here is the description about the talk.

In this session we will take a look at how Web Deployment Projects can be used to assist in the deployment of web sites and web applications; including ASP.NET Web Applications and ASP.NET MVC Web Applications. We will give an overview of what Web Deployment Projects are and the functionality that is available out of the box. A Web Deployment Project is a wrapper for the aspnet_compiler.exe tool in the form of an MSBuild project and adds value to using the tool itself. Because they are MSBuild files we are able to customize and extend the process. We will discuss how we can customize the process to perform common steps such as

1. Creating Virtual Directories
2. Updating values in the web.config file
3. Encrypting the web.config file
4. Minimizing JavaScript files
5. Versioning the Assemblies

In this session we will not be covering MSBuild itself, so I will not go into too much detail about MSBuild specifics. More to be discussed is how you can take advantage of Web Deployment Projects and how that build process can be extended and customized.

 

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi