Programmer Tidbits

1. Finding the location of the executing assembly

String exePath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);  

2. Support memory objects > 2 GB
<runtime>
<gcAllowVeryLargeObjects enabled ="true" />
</runtime>

More more, refer –  Handling large objects in .net ( C# )

3. Parallel processing and using Task factory

BlockingCollection buffer1 = new BlockingCollection();
PrepareData(ConfiguationValues,buffer1);
BlockingCollection buffer2 = new BlockingCollection();
........................
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BlockingCollection buffer6 = new BlockingCollection();

TaskFactory factory = new TaskFactory(TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning,TaskContinuationOptions.None);
Task stage2 = factory.StartNew(() => CreateCoverSheet(buffer1, buffer2, ConfiguationValues));
............................
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Task stage6 = factory.StartNew(() => MergePDf(buffer5, buffer6, ConfiguationValues));

4. Create zip file from 2 files

Add reference to the following two dlls

1. C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5\System.IO.Compression.dll
2. C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.5\System.IO.Compression.FileSystem.dll

using System.IO.Compression;

ZipArchive zip = ZipFile.Open(zip_file_path_and_name, ZipArchiveMode.Create);
zip.CreateEntryFromFile(file1Path, file1Name, CompressionLevel.Optimal);
zip.CreateEntryFromFile(file2Path, file1Name, CompressionLevel.Optimal);
zip.Dispose();

5. Time taken to execute a program

var watch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
//name of the function to time
watch.Stop();
Console.WriteLine("Total time taken " + watch.Elapsed);

6. XML Validation

using (XmlReader xr = XmlReader.Create(xmlFileName))
{
    try
    {
         while (xr.Read()) { }
         Console.WriteLine("XML validation PASSED for xml file '" + xmlFileName + "'");
    }

  catch (Exception ex)
       {
          Console.WriteLine("XML validation FAILED for xml file'+ xmlFileName + "'. Details: " + ex.Message);
       }
}

7. Read from Configuration file

Add the dll ‘System.Configuration.dll‘ as a reference to the project

using System.Configuration;
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("setting name");

In the configuration file ( app.config), add the following lines,

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="LogOutput" value="file" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>

 

8. Check for path validity

public static string checkForPathValidity(params string[] paths)
{
    string missingFolder = "";
    foreach (string path in paths)
    {
          missingFolder += checkDir(path);
    }
    return missingFolder;
}

9. Calling an external executable

The following code calls an external executable and retrieves the output ( exit 1 or 0 ) which is printed to the console and returns it back to the program

public string callExternalExecutable(string exePath, string arguments)
{
    string consoleOutput = "";
    try
    {
        var process = new Process
        {
            StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
            {
                  FileName = exePath,
                  Arguments = arguments,
                  RedirectStandardOutput = true,
                  UseShellExecute = false,
            }
        };
     process.Start();

     using (StreamReader reader = process.StandardOutput)
     {
         consoleOutput = reader.ReadToEnd();
     }
     return consoleOutput;
     }

     catch (Exception ex)
     {
     throw ex;
     }
}