Code Snippets

same data, different controls

I have several pages where I use a FormView control to display an object. The object is composed of several simple properties (strings, etc) and several collections. The collections are displayed using a Repeater control

I want to do a single query to pull the object from the database. However, the design of the web controls is that each is bound to it's own ObjectDataSource which means each Repeater control want to do it's own select.

The following works around this. There is no gaurantee that future versions of ASP.NET will work this way because it doesn't promise this ordering. But the event ordering does work under .NET 2.0.

I bind my object to the FormView. In the FormView I set OnSelected and have:
ReportTemplateItem tmp;
protected void ReportTemplateItem_Selected(object sender, ObjectDataSourceStatusEventArgs e)
{
ReportTemplateItem rti = (ReportTemplateItem)e.ReturnValue;
tmp = rti;
}

Then for the Repeater control(s), I do not set DataSourceID but I do set OnDataBinding. In OnDataBinding I have:
protected void DataSourceBinding(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Repeater dsRows = (Repeater)sender;
dsRows.DataSource = tmp.Datasources;
}

Since both happen within the same request, the tmp variable is good between calls. And the select on the FormView is called before the binding on the Repeater inside it. So the FormView causes the object to be loaded from the database and the Repeater gets a collection property from the object.

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Why bank security sucks

I got a call from my bank, mbna, offering me a program called Privacy Assist. This is the bank's "identity theft program" (hopefully it's actually an anti-identity theft program). One can understand the bank's desire to not issue cards to thieves.

The thing is, they charge $11.95/month. So they apparently do not view stopping identity theft as one of their core jobs, but rather as a profit center. Or to put it another way, they'll help protect your identity if you pay them.

No wonder banks keep "losing" identity information and issuing cards to thieves. They actually have an interest in identity theft being common enough that people then pay for protection. (Sounds like a scene out of this movie).

And what do we do at Windward where I work? We store the last 4 digits of card numbers - encrypted. We do not store the rest of the number, the expiration date, or the 3 digit code on the back of the card. Those values go from our web page to signio (now part of paypal) and are never written to disk.

Note: The best book I have ever read on security, and it tells a number of stories of insecurity at numerous banks, is Security Engineering by Ross Anderson. After reading this you realize just how insecure your data is at a bank, or anywhere else.

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