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Mark Monster

Mark Monster  

Archive for September, 2009

Book review: ASP.NET MVC in Action now in print

Mark Monster
September 18th, 2009
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image Jeffrey Palermo, Ben Scheirman and Jimmy Bogard, real community leaders, have written the ASP.NET MVC in Action book. I did have the honour to review the MS of the book in very early stages. They were already writing this book when ASP.NET MVC was still in a preview stadium.

Although I followed the development of ASP.NET MVC, I didn’t have time to try every feature. After the final release of ASP.NET MVC this book helped me better understand ASP.NET MVC. Reading this book will give you control over ASP.NET MVC. If you want to learn ASP.NET MVC this book will really help you. It covers best practices and recipes. Besides all the basics, you will really get at speed level if you combine reading sessions with development sessions.

MYdea – Capture your ideas with MYdea

Mark Monster
September 13th, 2009
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Some time ago I started feeling the need for a tool to quickly capture any ideas. In the past I’ve used pen and paper, but because I’ve always have my phone at my fingertips, why not use a piece of software?

Yes that’s about how it started. Just the idea. I started to work on paper to get a slick UI-experience. It should be simple, finger friendly and also it should be easy to share. Share with others, but more important share with yourself.

Let’s start with a few screen shots.

MYdea Home screenMYdea Draw screenMYdea Write screen

MYdea supports capturing of ideas by writing, drawing and photography. As long as your device runs on Windows Mobile 5 or later and has touch input support. It runs very fine on my own HTC Touch Diamond. I’m already using the application for a few months, the first version I used was version 0.1 which I released to myself on June 14th 2009. The first version that made it to the web was version 1.0, I released it on August 16th. Today I released the first bug-fix release which also consumes much less memory and storage, version 1.1.

As explained you can capture an idea by writing, drawing and photography. In the next step you will be asked for a name and then you’re done. And MYdea helps you manage your ideas as well, you can view it, and if you want you can e-mail it through the standard e-mail application that’s available on your Windows Mobile phone.

If you are interested you can try MYdea for free, if you have more than two ideas you want to capture you will have to buy it. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding MYdea. Please let me know what you think about this application.

The commercial version of MYdea is available for $ 14,99 or € 12,99.

OpenID User Control in Silverlight – Part 2 OpenID Integration

Mark Monster
September 11th, 2009
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It’s already a long time ago when I posted part 1 of the OpenID User Control, but sadly I didn’t have any time to blog, until now.

Recap: Part 1 explained how to create the visual design of the user control with two visual states. The visual design we create was also templatable, so you can provide your own template if you wish without changing any inner code. Let’s continue with this part.

OpenID Integration

The integration with OpenID is basically url-based. The application providing the login view constructs a url, redirects to this url, and after successful authentication it will redirect back to the application with a lot of parameters in the url. First of all the integration starts with the identity, also url based.

For example the identity http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo has even an page attached. The source in the page contains the links to the OpenID server. In this case:

<link rel="openid.server" href="http://www.myopenid.com/server" />
<link rel="openid2.provider" href="http://www.myopenid.com/server" />

This information is used while construction the login-url. The base url in this case would be:

http://www.myopenid.com/server?openid.ns=http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0&openid.mode=checkid_setup

In addition to this base url the following parameters are added as well.

openid.identity=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo

openid.claimed_id=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo

openid.return_to=http://somedemo.mymonster.nl

OpenID also has some extensions available. We can for example already ask for some fields to be filled in on the OpenID page when your application is authenticated for this user for the first time. Basically the first login is a registration.

openid.ns.sreg=http://openid.net/extensions/sreg/1.1

To add required fields add a comma separated list to the following parameter.

openid.sreg.required=email

To add optional fields add a comma separated list to the following parameter.

openid.sreg.optional=country

A complete url could then be something like this:

http://www.myopenid.com/server?openid.ns=http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0&openid.mode=checkid_setup

&openid.identity=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo&openid.claimed_id=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo

&openid.return_to=http://somedemo.mymonster.nl

&openid.ns.sreg=http://openid.net/extensions/sreg/1.1&openid.sreg.required=email&openid.sreg.optional=country

The OpenIdService class I created contains a method to combine the information of the Identity, OpenID server url, RequiredParameters and OptionalParameters.

/// <summary>
/// Creates the URL to the OpenID provider with all parameters.
/// </summary>
private string CreateRedirectUrl(string delegateUrl,
                                 string identity)
{
    string requiredParameters = string.Join(",", RequiredParameters.ToArray());
    string optionalParameters = string.Join(",", OptionalParameters.ToArray());

    var urlBuilder = new StringBuilder();
    urlBuilder.AppendFormat("?openid.ns={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode("http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0"));
    urlBuilder.Append("&openid.mode=checkid_setup");
    urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.identity={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(delegateUrl));
    urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.claimed_id={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(identity));
    Uri documentUri = HtmlPage.Document.DocumentUri;
    string url = documentUri.ToString();
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentUri.Query))
        url = url.Replace(documentUri.Query, string.Empty);
    urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.return_to={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(url));

    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(requiredParameters) || !string.IsNullOrEmpty(optionalParameters))
    {
        urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.ns.sreg={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode("http://openid.net/extensions/sreg/1.1"));

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(requiredParameters))
            urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.sreg.required={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(requiredParameters));

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(optionalParameters))
            urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.sreg.optional={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(optionalParameters));
    }

    return urlBuilder.ToString();
}

The OpenID user control uses this url to redirect to the OpenID login page, so you are basically leaving your application. You will get presented a login screen, after login you will be redirected back to your application. The user control reads the url and parses it to determine if the login was successful.

The return url is something like: http://somedemo.mymonster.nl/?openid.assoc_handle=%7BHMAC-SHA1%7D%7B4aa94a51%7D%7BtceKsw%3D%3D%7D

&openid.claimed_id=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo&openid.identity=http://openid.mymonster.nl/demo

&openid.mode=id_res

&openid.ns=http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0&openid.ns.sreg=http://openid.net/extensions/sreg/1.1

&openid.op_endpoint=http://www.myopenid.com/server&openid.response_nonce=2009-09-10T18%3A493A53ZxSfHsI

&openid.return_to=http://somedemo.mymonster.nl/&openid.sig=h1el2rjtXXXxabB7nrsddyjpSTM%3D

&openid.signed=assoc_handle/claimed_id/identity/mode/ns/ns.sreg/

op_endpoint/response_nonce/return_to/signed/sreg.email

&openid.sreg.email=demo@mymonster.nl

I agree this is very long url, but to get the idea if the login was successful we have to check part by part. After we converted the querystring to a Dictionary<string,string>.

To determine if the request is an OpenID request we look for an openid.mode querystring parameter.

public bool IsOpenIdRequest(IDictionary<string, string> dictionary)
{
    return dictionary.ContainsKey("openid.mode");
}

Alright if we have an OpenID request we can continue and check if the login was successful. To get the original identity we look for a querystring parameter openid.claimed_id. If the login was successful the value for openid.mode will be id_res. After that we need to find all the query string keys that start with openid.sreg. to find out the parameter names of the required and optional parameters and the values of course.

public OpenIdUser Authenticate(IDictionary<string, string> query)
{
    var openIdUser = new OpenIdUser
                         {
                             Identity = query["openid.claimed_id"],
                             IsSuccess = query["openid.mode"] == "id_res"
                         };

    foreach (string keyName in query.Keys)
    {
        if (keyName.StartsWith("openid.sreg."))
            openIdUser.Parameters.Add(keyName.Replace("openid.sreg.", string.Empty), query[keyName]);
    }

    return openIdUser;
}

The full OpenIdService is collapsed below.

public class OpenIdService
{
    private static readonly Regex RegexHref = new Regex("href\\s*=\\s*(?:\"(?<1>[^\"]*)\"|(?<1>\\S+))",
                                                        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);

    private static readonly Regex RegexLink = new Regex(@"<link[^>]*/?>", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);

    public OpenIdService()
    {
        Downloader = new DefaultDownloader();
        RequiredParameters = new List<string>();
        OptionalParameters = new List<string>();
    }

    public IDownloader Downloader { get; set; }
    public List<string> RequiredParameters { get; set; }
    public List<string> OptionalParameters { get; set; }

    public void DefineLoginUrl(string identity, Action<string> loginUrlDefinedCallBack)
    {
        DefineServer(identity,
                     server =>
                         {
                             if (server == null)
                                 throw new OpenIdException("Determining OpenId server failed.");
                             loginUrlDefinedCallBack(
                                 string.Concat(server.ServerUrl,
                                               CreateRedirectUrl(server.DelegateUrl, identity)));
                         });
    }

    private void DefineServer(string identity, Action<Server> defineServerCallBack)
    {
        Downloader.Download(identity,
                            res =>
                                {
                                    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(res))
                                        throw new OpenIdException("Couldn't find profile at identity.");
                                    defineServerCallBack(ProcessIdentityResponse(identity, res));
                                });
    }

    private Server ProcessIdentityResponse(string identity, string identityResponse)
    {
        var server = new Server();
        foreach (Match linkMatches in RegexLink.Matches(identityResponse))
        {
            string serverName = "openid.server";
            string delegateName = "openid.delegate";

            if (linkMatches.Value.IndexOf(serverName) > 0)
            {
                Match hrefMatch = RegexHref.Match(linkMatches.Value);
                if (hrefMatch.Success)
                {
                    server.ServerUrl = hrefMatch.Groups[1].Value;
                }
            }

            if (linkMatches.Value.IndexOf(delegateName) > 0)
            {
                Match hrefMatch = RegexHref.Match(linkMatches.Value);
                if (hrefMatch.Success)
                {
                    server.DelegateUrl = hrefMatch.Groups[1].Value;
                }
            }
        }
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(server.DelegateUrl))
            server.DelegateUrl = identity;
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(server.ServerUrl) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(server.DelegateUrl))
            return server;
        return null;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Creates the URL to the OpenID provider with all parameters.
    /// </summary>
    private string CreateRedirectUrl(string delegateUrl,
                                     string identity)
    {
        string requiredParameters = string.Join(",", RequiredParameters.ToArray());
        string optionalParameters = string.Join(",", OptionalParameters.ToArray());

        var urlBuilder = new StringBuilder();
        urlBuilder.AppendFormat("?openid.ns={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode("http://specs.openid.net/auth/2.0"));
        urlBuilder.Append("&openid.mode=checkid_setup");
        urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.identity={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(delegateUrl));
        urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.claimed_id={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(identity));
        Uri documentUri = HtmlPage.Document.DocumentUri;
        string url = documentUri.ToString();
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(documentUri.Query))
            url = url.Replace(documentUri.Query, string.Empty);
        urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.return_to={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(url));

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(requiredParameters) || !string.IsNullOrEmpty(optionalParameters))
        {
            urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.ns.sreg={0}",
                                    HttpUtility.UrlEncode("http://openid.net/extensions/sreg/1.1"));

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(requiredParameters))
                urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.sreg.required={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(requiredParameters));

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(optionalParameters))
                urlBuilder.AppendFormat("&openid.sreg.optional={0}", HttpUtility.UrlEncode(optionalParameters));
        }

        return urlBuilder.ToString();
    }

    public bool IsOpenIdRequest(IDictionary<string, string> dictionary)
    {
        return dictionary.ContainsKey("openid.mode");
    }

    public OpenIdUser Authenticate(IDictionary<string, string> query)
    {
        var openIdUser = new OpenIdUser
                             {
                                 Identity = query["openid.claimed_id"],
                                 IsSuccess = query["openid.mode"] == "id_res"
                             };

        foreach (string keyName in query.Keys)
        {
            if (keyName.StartsWith("openid.sreg."))
                openIdUser.Parameters.Add(keyName.Replace("openid.sreg.", string.Empty), query[keyName]);
        }

        return openIdUser;
    }
}

How to integration all this in your application?

In part one we already discussed the option to provide your own visual template. But there needs to be an easy way to provide the list optional and required fields from xaml. To be enable changing a list in xaml there needs to be DependyProperty for this list. So the user control OpenIdLoginControl is changed a little bit to enable xaml editing for both OptionalParameters and RequiredParameters.

public static readonly DependencyProperty OptionalParametersProperty =
    DependencyProperty.Register(
        "OptionalParameters",
        typeof (List<String>),
        typeof(OpenIdLoginControl),
        new PropertyMetadata(new List<String>()));

public List<String> OptionalParameters
{
    get { return m_openIdService.OptionalParameters; }
    set { m_openIdService.OptionalParameters = value; }
}

public static readonly DependencyProperty RequiredParametersProperty =
    DependencyProperty.Register(
        "RequiredParameters",
        typeof (List<String>),
        typeof(OpenIdLoginControl),
        new PropertyMetadata(new List<String>()));

public List<String> RequiredParameters
{
    get { return m_openIdService.RequiredParameters; }
    set { m_openIdService.RequiredParameters = value; }
}

After this we can write the following things in the xaml of for example the MainPage.

<openid:OpenIdLoginControl x:Name="LoginControl" OnAuthentication="LoginControl_OnOnAuthentication">
    <openid:OpenIdLoginControl.RequiredParameters>
        <System:String>email</System:String>
    </openid:OpenIdLoginControl.RequiredParameters>
    <openid:OpenIdLoginControl.OptionalParameters>
        <System:String>country</System:String>
        <System:String>city</System:String>
    </openid:OpenIdLoginControl.OptionalParameters>
</openid:OpenIdLoginControl>

The login control also contains an event that will be called upon successful login, you can subscribe to it. To test yourself, the complete solution can be downloaded here. Please remember: this solution is probably not be the most secure option to integrate OpenID with Silverlight, but it’s the only option which doesn’t require anything on the server. Usage on your own risk, no guarantees for this solution.