So the challenge is to try to build a custom eCommerce site for a client in eight hours. I’ll be using the Telerik suite of tools (www.telerik.com) including OpenAccess to attempt to speed up the process.
It’s been a while since I’ve developed anything in ASP.net and I’ve never done it with VS 2010.
The client has provided a core set of data of products & categories (two levels: categories & subcategories) as well as photos that are saved within the database structure (image/blob fields). Database is SQL 2005.
To be clear: I’m starting with nothing and want to get to a point where customers can log in, browse products, and add them to a shopping cart.
Side note: I have been working on some components of this already, but this is the attempt to bring everything in together.
12:37 PM – Off we go!
12:45 PM – Interesting. VS 2010 new ASP.net project auto creates a core site including login page. No underlying code, but framework is there and ready to go. Bonus.
1:28 PM – Built the domain model using OpenAccess. Telerik should update their “OpenAccess Made Easy” document with the new version. Next up is to set up the context and load a dataset. After that, should be able to start building forms.
2:15 PM – Have a GridView populating from OpenAccessDataSource but having an issue with the database model causing an error on the MetaData side.
2:39 PM – Technical difficulties. Need to reinstall Telerik controls to enable access in VS 2010 since adding in the ASP.net features. Might as well upgrade to latest version of Telerik at the same time.
4:02 PM – Finally have everything up and running again. Trying to get the RadTreeView control working with the DB. Need to create a view to pull the data from the DB via OA.
4:51 PM – For some reason, can’t get the tree view to bind hierarchically with OA, but it works fine with a direct SqlDataSource connection.
5:47 PM – Having a heck of a time getting filtering working correctly. Will attempt plan B… more code, less GUI.
6:56 PM – Plan B working out. Don’t think I’ll get this done by my self-imposed time limit. We’ll see.
7:38 PM – Have the product & category list functioning. Adding search.
7:56 PM – Search is working. Had a bit of a problem getting the .FilterExpression property working correctly with multiple filters (a OR b OR c), but that’s sorted out as is the case insensitive search. Next up is product details. Will try the RadWindow control.
9:10 PM – Time’s up… in fact, I’m over time. Got the product details page loading (sans image from db) and was linking the RadGrid of product results to the details page, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
Why I failed: Ran into some delays with technology (upgrading Telerik controls) and had some issues at the start to get the OpenAccess functionality working with the RadTreeView control. Plus I’m a bit rusty with this platform.
Will continue tomorrow.