Saturday, September 17, 2011

ActiveGanttCSA is a Gantt Chart / Scheduler component designed for ASP.NET and C#. This is a complete tutorial that describes how to get started with the ActiveGanttCSA Component. It covers installing the component, as well as creating a very simple ASP.NET application with ActiveGanttCSA.

1. ActiveGanttCSA Requirements

2. Downloading the ActiveGanttCSA component.

3. Installing the ActiveGanttCSA component.

4. Examining the files created by the ActiveGanttCSA install program

      4.1. The ActiveGanttCSA HTML Help Shortcut.

      4.2. The ActiveGanttCSA Demo Project Shortcut.

      4.3. The ActiveGanttCSA Demo Website Shortcut.

5. How to create a simple ASP.NET application using the ActiveGanttCSA component.

1. ActiveGanttCSA Requirements:

For developing applications with ActiveGanttCSA:

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 (Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server R2 and Windows Server 2012 are also supported).
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012 or any .NET compliant IDE such as Sharp Develop.
• Internet Information Server (IIS) version 6.0, version 7.0, version 7.5 or version 8.

For deploying your applications that use ActiveGanttCSA:

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server R2 or Windows Server 2012.
• Internet Information Server (IIS) version 6.0 or version 7.0.
• The AGCSA.dll.
• The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 runtime.

Notes:

• ActiveGanttCSA can be used with any language that is designed for the .NET Common Language Infrastructure and that supports ASP.NET projects. But keep in mind that all of ActiveGanttCSA's examples are in C# and the component itself is programmed in C#.
• ActiveGanttCSA is also available for Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, but you have to make a request to our support department. When making such a request please make sure that the e-mail address you provide will not block incoming .zip files.
• The demo project is in Visual Studio 2010 format, but for development purposes you can also use any .NET development environment such as Sharp Develop.

2. Downloading the ActiveGanttCSA component.

The latest version of the ActiveGanttCSA component is accessible from this page in our website:

The ActiveGanttCSA install program is packaged in a compressed .zip file. The file names are structured according to the following convention:

3. Installing the ActiveGanttCSA component.

The first step in the installation process is to create an install as administrator option for .msi files. The Install_As_Administrator.reg file contains the following merge module for the Windows registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Msi.Package\shell\runas]
@="Install &As Administrator..."

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Msi.Package\shell\runas\command]
@="msiexec /i \"%1\""

This creates an "Install As Administrator..." option in the drop down menu for .msi files and once this option is selected msiexec will run with elevated privileges. Double click on the Install_As_Administrator.reg file.

You must completely uninstall the ActiveGanttCSA component when upgrading to a more recent version or when switching from the Trial to the Release version.

4. Examining the files created by the ActiveGanttCSA install program.

On a default install of the ActiveGanttCSA component, most files will be copied to the "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\AGDemoNETXX\" directory and some files will be copied to the "C:\Program Files\The Source Code Store LLC\ActiveGanttCSA\" directory.

The most important files copied by ActiveGanttCSA install program are the following:

4.1. The ActiveGanttCSA HTML Help Shortcut.

4.2. The ActiveGanttCSA Demo Project Shortcut.

The Visual Studio solution file contains all the source code for the ActiveGanttCSA example. You can press the F5 key to begin debuging.

4.3. The ActiveGanttCSA Demo Website Shortcut.

The ActiveGanttCSA Demo has two main examples:

• The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Project Management Example which is explained here. This example demonstrates how to build a Gantt chart using ActiveGanttCSA.
• The Car Rental/Fleet Control Example which is explained here. This example demonstrates how to build a schedule or a roster using ActiveGanttCSA.

Both examples have three modes:

• A no data source mode which does not read from a database.
• An XML data source mode which reads from XML files.
• A Microsoft Access data source mode which reads from an Access 2003 database*.

Additionally the ActiveGanttCSA Demo has three examples on how to read Microsoft Project 2003, 2007 and 2010 XML files.

All the code used to generate the demo is included in the AGCSA_TR.sln Visual Studio Solution.

*Microsoft has not released and does not intend to release an ODBC driver for Access databases for x64 systems and therefore, the Access data source mode is not available when running the demo in 64 bit mode on a 64 bit system.

5. How to create a simple ASP.NET application using the ActiveGanttCSA component.

When Visual Studio is loaded select   File -> New -> Project....

The ActiveGanttCSA component generates images on the fly and does not store them on the server. It does so by using IIS and an httpModule called clsAGCSARenderStream. In order for the module to work correctly the ASP.NET Web Application project's properties must be modified and some changes have to be done in the Web.config file.

Open the Web.config file and make the following changes:

If you are using IIS 7:

<configuration>
...
    <system.webServer>
        ...
        <modules>
            <add type="AGCSA.clsAGCSARenderStream, AGCSA" name="clsAGCSARenderStream"/>
        </modules>
        ...
    </system.webServer>
...
</configuration>

If you are using IIS 6:

<configuration>
    ...
    <system.web>
        ...
        <httpModules>
            <add type="AGCSA.clsAGCSARenderStream, AGCSA" name="clsAGCSARenderStream"/>
        </httpModules>
        ...
    </system.web>
    ...
</configuration>

In both cases, IIS7 and IIS6 eliminate this line:

    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/>

Or perform the following modification:

        <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
            <add type="AGCSA.clsAGCSARenderStream, AGCSA" name="clsAGCSARenderStream"/>
        </modules>

This page contains elements from the Site.Master page which we will not be using for this example.

But before we modify the HTML markup for this page we will add the ActiveGanttCSA to the project and the page.

Select the ActiveGanttCSA component (AGCSA.dll). In a default installation it will be located in "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\AGDemoCSNETXX\AGCSA\AGCSA.dll". Then click on the Open button.

The ActiveGanttCSACtl is now included in the Choose Toolbox Items dialog. Click on the OK button to exit the dialog.

After exiting the Choose Toolbox Items dialog, the ActiveGanttCSACtl component will now be present in the Toolbox.

The ASP.NET Web Application template will have generated the following code in Default.aspx's markup:

<%@ Page Title="Home Page" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Site.master" AutoEventWireup="true"
    CodeBehind="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="WebApplication2._Default" %>

<asp:Content ID="HeaderContent" runat="server" ContentPlaceHolderID="HeadContent">
</asp:Content>
<asp:Content ID="BodyContent" runat="server" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent">
    <h2>
        Welcome to ASP.NET!
    </h2>
    <p>
        To learn more about ASP.NET visit <a href="http://www.asp.net" title="ASP.NET Website">www.asp.net</a>.
    </p>
    <p>
        You can also find <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=152368&amp;clcid=0x409"
            title="MSDN ASP.NET Docs">documentation on ASP.NET at MSDN</a>.
    </p>
</asp:Content>

Erase the two asp:Content elements (HeaderContent and BodyContent), the MasterPageFile="~/Site.master" property and include the following code:

<%@ Page Title="Home Page" Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true"
    CodeBehind="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="WebApplication2._Default" %>

<%@ Register assembly="AGCSA" namespace="AGCSA" tagprefix="cc1" %>

<html>
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
<title></title>
</head>
    <body>
        <form id="Form1" method="post" runat="server">
            <cc1:ActiveGanttCSACtl ID="ActiveGanttCSACtl1" runat="server" Height="600px" Width="1024px" />
        </form>
    </body>
</html>

The first time you use the control in a project you should drag the ActiveGanttCSACtrl onto an .aspx page, because this automatically will create a reference to AGCSA.dll in the project. Otherwise you will have to create that reference manually. When dragging ActiveGanttCSACtl from the Toolbox onto an .aspx page, Visual Studio will only generate this code for the control:

...
<%@ Register assembly="AGCSA" namespace="AGCSA" tagprefix="cc1" %>
...
<cc1:ActiveGanttCSACtl ID="ActiveGanttCSACtl1" runat="server"/>
...

But in order for the ActiveGanttCSA control to function, it must have a height and a width property expressed in pixels (ActiveGanttCSA's width and height cannot be expressed in percentages).

Press the F5 key to begin debugging at this stage and you will get this output. You will only have an ActiveGanttCSA control with no functionality. The watermark on the lower right hand side will only be present in the trial version of the ActiveGanttCSA component.

Close the browser to exit debugging. You will again have Default.aspx in code view (HTML markup). Go to Default.aspx's design view and double click on any empty space (avoid double clicking on the ActiveGanttCSACtl) to add code for the page's Load event, and add this code:

        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            int i;
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Columns.Add("Column 1", "", 125, "");
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Columns.Add("Column 2", "", 100, "");
            for (i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
            {
                ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Rows.Add("K" + i.ToString());
            }
        }

Press the F5 key to begin debugging. You will have an ActiveGanttCSA control with two Columns and ten empty Rows. Notice that every Row has to be identified by a unique key, "K1", "K2", K3", etc.

To position the Time Line on a given date and add some Task objects, change the above code to this version:

        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            int i;
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Columns.Add("Column 1", "", 125, "");
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Columns.Add("Column 2", "", 100, "");
            for (i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
            {
                ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Rows.Add("K" + i.ToString());
            }
            //Position Time Line and add some tasks
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.CurrentViewObject.TimeLine.Position(new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 0, 0, 0));

            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Tasks.Add("Task1", "K1", new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 1, 0, 0), new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 3, 0, 0), "", "", "");
            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Tasks.Add("Task2", "K1", new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 4, 0, 0), new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 5, 0, 0), "", "", "");

            ActiveGanttCSACtl1.Tasks.Add("Task3", "K2", new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 1, 0, 0), new DateTime(2011, 9, 18, 6, 0, 0), "", "", "");

        }

Press the F5 key to begin debugging and you will get this output.

The examples included in the demo cover almost every piece of functionality present in the ActiveGanttCSA component, but if you need further assistance please create a Request for examples and/or further explanations through our web site or send an e-mail to: our support department. Important: if you are sending an e-mail you have to specify that you are referring to the ActiveGanttCSA component, otherwise you will inevitably experience delays in having your query answered.