eWorld.UI - Matt Hawley

Ramblings of Matt

Windows Developer Power Tools

January 11, 2007 07:36 by matthaw

I've been keeping this under wraps for about 6 months now, but since the book has been finally published & I just received my copy, I'm happy to promote the book Windows Developer Power Tools.I was asked by James Avery and Jim Holmes to be a contributor writing about Unleash It. Check out the book as it has a ton of awesome free & open source tools, and read my section (12.8) starting on page 650. Yay!



Updated Utility: Unleash It 2.4.1

March 31, 2005 19:27 by matthaw

So with my looming day of working for Microsoft draws nearer, I wanted to make one last effort to get an updated version of Unleash It to fix some issues that have come up since the last release. Mostly, I wanted to do this because I’m not sure of Unleash It’s destiny after I start at Microsoft, so this is the main reason for getting a new version out now. So, here are the updates:

  • Added: Deploying via the systray icon now maximizes the application to show its status.
  • Added: Added the option to retain your plugins during an uninstall.
  • Added: If any errors occur during a deployment, you are notified in the informational message stating how many errors there were.
  • Fixed: Fixed problem where form wasn't displayed on the window if the X/Y coordinates were negative upon the previous shutdown.
  • Fixed: Fixed random error when saving a profile with no active profile currently set.
  • Fixed: Fixed error messages where no default browser is installed and you clicked a link in the about dialog.
  • Fixed: Shuts down applicaiton when Windows is shutting down.
  • Fixed: Fixed the file system transfer logging when copying files.

So, to get the latest version head on over to the site and download it now!

Categories: Unleash It
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Localized Versions of Unleash It

December 10, 2004 17:37 by matthaw
If there is anyone out there that would like to help me localize Unleash It to different languages, I’d really appreciate the help. I know English, and thats about it…and I’m not sure how much Free 2 Professional Translation will help. If you want to help, shoot me an email, and we can go from there!

Categories: Unleash It
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Unleash It Data Collection

December 9, 2004 07:02 by matthaw

Looks like an update I made somewhere along the line broke usage collection for 2.4 via my webservices. So, if you’re like me and wanted to know how much things were getting reported, you’ll probably be missing that data until I figure out whats wrong.

Ohh well, it doesn’t affect Unleash It’s ability to do its primary focus of deploying files, but I sure will miss some good data usage.

Update: This problem has now been fixed. Was an issue encrypting strings using obfuscation. You can re-download 2.4 if you wish, however it is not mandatory.



Categories: Unleash It
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Updated Utility: Unleash It 2.4

December 8, 2004 23:16 by matthaw

The time has cometh to release Unleash It 2.4. There are really no major enhancements, however here’s the changelog:

- Added: New update downloader to handle downloading, unzipping, and launching the setup of new versions.
- Added: Horizontal scrolling for listboxes that can have lengthy text.
- Fixed: Memory leak when testing FTP profiles.
- Fixed: Unleash It did not close when downloading new version when Minimize to System Tray on Close was enabled.
- Fixed: Was not closing all readers of VS.NET project files, causing possible file locks on the project file.
- Fixed: Copy Empty Directories was not working correctly if no files existed in a directory.
- Fixed: Intermittent error received when adding the same profile to the same multiple profile.
- Fixed: New plugins were not detected if dropping in the Plugins directory.
- Changed: Password textboxes now use Visual Styles.
- Changed: Updated Skybound.VisualStyles to version 1.5.5

For more information on Unleash It and the link to download, please visit the Unleash It site.



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Unleash It Survey

November 30, 2004 01:37 by matthaw

I’ve recently sent out a new beta to my beta group requiring them to fill out a survey. However, that group is limited, and I wanted to get a more broad input on Unleash It. So, please, if you use Unleash It, take a few moments to fill out the following survey using the “Contact” link to the left. Also, if you would like to become a user in my beta group, please indicate this as well!

Survey Questions:

1) How often do you use Unleash It, and is your use for personal or professional deployments?

2) If your use is within your profession, do other team members use Unleash It?

3) Have you utilized any of the included plugins, or have you created some on your own? If you've created some, do you find the documentation provided sufficient? Are there any additions or changes you would like to see with the plugin architecture?

4) What feature do you find most useful? What feature do you find least useful?

5) Are there any other features left lacking that Unleash It can enhance or implement?

6) Have you experienced any problems with the current version of Unleash It, or any previous versions? If you have, were your problems satisfactorily resolved?

7) Would a enterprise edition of Unleash It be something your corporation would use? This would involve having a central repository for profiles, logging of deployments, user authentication, and role based security, etc.

8) Any other comments?



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Unleash It 2.3.1 Memory Leak

November 24, 2004 01:28 by matthaw

This is just an FYI for users of Unleash It 2.3.1: There was a memory leak found in the latest version that only affects users who test their FTP settings.

If you are a user who tests their FTP settings, and then exit Unleash It, viewing the Task Manager will indicate that “UnleashIt-GUI.exe” is still running. Just kill that process and you’ll be on your merry way.

I have fixed the problem, but due to the nature of many people not using this on a daily basis it is not going to be rolled as an urgent fix. If you’re afflicted with this problem and cannot handle killing the process, please contact me and I will get the updated assemblies to you.



Categories: Unleash It
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Updated Utility: Unleash It 2.3.1

November 23, 2004 18:08 by matthaw

It’s time for a service release that fixes issues with using the Multiple Profile deployment settings. It was brought to my attention that many things were broken with this, and so I took it on to do a service release, one that I don’t normally do, to just get these bugs hammered out so people can continue to use them. Also in this release is an updated version of VisualStyles which will hopefully solve various error messages received when configuring a profile. However, since these are few and far between, please report any problems you’re continuing to have with these. So, here’s the changelog:

  • Fixed: Multiple Deployment only deploying the active profile indicated in single deployment.
  • Fixed: Deleting multiple profile configurations always deleted the last profile.
  • Fixed: Message on multiple profile tab not representing the actual problem why deployment can not continue.
  • Changed: A new process dialog indicating the progress of testing your FTP settings and allows you to cancel has been put in place.
  • Changed: Updated Skybound.VisualStyles to version 1.5.4

This release breaks any previously used plugins built on the 2.3 bits, and will need to be recompiled against the 2.3.1 bits. I will strive in the future to refrain from having to rebuild plugins with new releases, however sometimes this is an issue because many components are updated.

Visit Unleash It’s site to download the 2.3.1 service release!
Visit the Unleash It Forums!
View the Submitted Plugins for Unleash It!



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Unleash It Plugins Taking Off

November 18, 2004 16:20 by matthaw

So its been about a week since Unleash It 2.3 was released, and so far 2 plugins have surfaced. Talk about getting a good feeling when you see other people start creating things against your product with plugins.

The latest plugin that was released, developed by Josh Kewley, also comes with a thorough article on how he developed the plugin. He also gives his advice on how to debug your plugin (which I will be incorporating into the plugin information).

So, if you get a chance, hop on over to the plugins forums and read up on Josh's experiences. Both of which will help you out in the longrun if you need to create your own plugin for Unleash It!



Categories: .NET | Unleash It
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Updated Utility: Unleash It 2.3 - Now with Plugins!

November 8, 2004 19:11 by matthaw

Exactly 1 month from the last release, Unleash It 2.3 is now officially released with the gold stamp of approval. This release has some more major improvements in the application, however the biggest announcement for this release is the introduction of plugin support. Now, you have a way of writing managed code to do custom processes before, during, and after a deployment. With this release, I've also built and supplied the source code for 4 plugins:

  • File Exclusion Plugin - supply a file name to exclude during a deployment.
  • Visual Source Safe retrieval - retrieve VSS files prior to a deployment.
  • Vault retrieval - retrieve Vault 2.x files prior to a deployment
  • NAnt Execution - execute NAnt scripts prior to a deployment.

The installer also includes a PDF document outlining the plugin creation process, however feel free to start discussing anything in the forums. I've also created a new forum for posting your own plugins for others to download, discuss, and supply comments towards them.

So, here's the changelog for things that have changed:

  • Added: Ability to have N number of multiple deployment profiles.
  • Added: Tooltips for most controls on the main user interface.
  • Added: Ability to multi-select profiles to move in the multiple deployment.
  • Added: Ability to specify which build actions are to be included for VS.NET deployment. Configured in Tools->Options.
  • Added: Plugin functionality for deployments, with ability to disable plugins via Tools->Options.
  • Added: Ability to force the saving of selected file / folder masks via Tools->Options.
  • Added: Ability to globally remove file and folder masks.
  • Added: Ability to define command line parameters for pre/post commands.
  • Added: GUI now aware of the location when it was shut down and restores that.
  • Added: Splash Screen on startup.
  • Fixed: Invalid characters in VS.NET project files were throwing exceptions.
  • Fixed: Progress bar did not increment properly for UNC deployments.
  • Fixed: Logfile for UNC deployment showed the same path for both source and destination.
  • Fixed: Profile name was not being updated on form and on the combo box through quick editing of profile.
  • Fixed: File / Folder masks have to be clicked twice in the configuration to check them.
  • Changed: Updated VisualStyles component to 1.5.3
  • Changed: Files / Folders to be Deployed dialogs are now resizable.

To update your version of Unleash It (or just plain download it and try it out), go to http://www.eworldui.net/UnleashIt and grab your copy now. Enjoy all!



Categories: Unleash It
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