My Latest Project - Guerrilla Tools Sneak Peak

I came into 2014 with a goal to blog more frequently than I did in 2013. While I didn't have as lofty a goal as Tom over at networkingnerd.net, I was, shall we say, inspired. I planned on trolling through my "blog ideas" list to churn out some content.  Well, clearly the universe (or fate or whatever) had different plans and I had to adjust priorities. Free time was at a premium and I opted to work on a side project more often than adding content to the blog. Both would have been nice but coding has a calming affect. 

Yeah, I am that breed of nerd that finds solace tinkering with things like coding to center myself. We all need hobbies. Anyway, the side project I have been working on is starting to evolve into the real boy I hope it to be some day. I think it is far enough along to share with readers.

Right now, I am just calling the project "Guerrilla Tools". I'll probably rename it but that is a decision for later. The initial version is focused on functionality that complements one of the prominent series in this blog: the SQL Query Series.

A Mini-Adventure Using Expect to Query Voice Gateway Configurations

Many moons ago, I started a series on the NetCraftsmen blog site covering various "tools" in my UC toolkit . I never did finish that series out and I may pick it back up and carry it forward. I still get asked about it from time to time and a recent query got me thinking about some of the more useful tools in my toolkit: scripting/programming languages.

I don't want to get into the pros/cons of specific languages here. There are just too many options available and I am not fool enough to consider myself an expert on the nuances between programming languages or development environments. I'll leave that to those who live and breath this stuff.

What I want to do with this entry is emphasize the fact that the greatest tool you can add to your toolkit is "ingenuity". Sometimes you need to go outside of the box and create a solution to your problem rather than waiting for Cisco or some other vendor to solve your problem with a bit of software. 

Personally, if I can't find a way to automate a task using existing tools I wonder if I can build it myself. That doesn't always work (trust me) but it works more often than not and I find the process to be a lot of fun. Then again, I am a bit of a nerd and what I find fun usually isn't by most standards. That's cool, too.

Identifying Cisco IP Phone Models for Custom Directory

Earlier this year I decided to develop a web application (NetCraftsmen Enterprise Directory - NED) that could provide a multi-tenant and multi-source corporate directory feature for the Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM) telephony environment. I have written custom corporate directory apps before using the Cisco IP Phone SDK. 

This time around, I decided to start from scratch. I also decided to use C# and the ASP.NET framework. So, I am immersed in a learning curve - which is really where I like to be. I thought that periodically I could throw a tidbit of information in this blog. Whether that information is about C#, ASP.NET, or just Cisco-isms.

In the current installment, I am going to provide a very simple example for determining what model of phone is connecting to a web application. Turns out, this is pretty important to create a robust corporate directory application for Cisco IP Phones.

Adventures in Coding: Web Caching and C#

Continuing on my "lame-man's" journey down the road of application development on the .NET platform with C#, I thought I would discuss one of the more interesting lessons I have learned thus far: System.Web.Caching.

I was developing a custom Corporate Directory application for a customer using ASP.NET and C#. This application pulls data from a remote repository and presents it to the Cisco IP Phone as XML. One issue that was immediately apparent was that I needed to cache results or drive the users mad with the lag in rendering the data. In steps System.Web.Caching and all of the goodies that come with it.

Adventures in Coding - Fun with Corporate Directory

This is just a quick blurb pointing to a blog I published on the NetCraftsmen Site: NetCraftsmen Enterprise Directory Application. I have been working with Cisco UC solutions for a long freakin time a while. Prior to that I was doing routing switching (Cisco, Foundry, Juniper, etc.) and prior to that I was doing app dev (short lived). I have always worked in some custom app to help me with deployment, migrations, and operational tasks. It's how I "relax". As dorky as that sounds.

Recently I have started building a few applications that are being deployed by my customers.  Nothing mind blowing (yet) but the journey is always at least as much fun as the destination! 

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Thanks for reading. If you have time, post a comment!

Adventures in Coding: ASP.NET Links

Continuing my series on my "adventures in coding: asp.net", I wanted to post a quick "link blog". As with anything that is "new", you have to identify some resources you can use to get samples, guidance, etc. I haven't found a "home base" as it were, but here are a few links that I think come in handy:

• http://www.asp.net/ : The ASP.NET home page.
• http://stackoverflow.com/ : This site just kept coming up when I was querying for help
• http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/ : Another site that came up a lot when I was searching for answers.
• http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/ : A little clunky from a nav point of view, but still some good material.
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg145045.aspx : Of course, we can't forget the MSDN library. Infinitely valuable!
• http://blogs.msdn.com/ : Lot's of good content here

I am sure this list will grow over time, but over the past two weeks I used the above resources. Once I find a good site, I like to use google to search the site. For example using the search term:

system.web.caching site:blogs.msdn.com 

In my Google search bar lets me jump right to content I am most interested in at the time.

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Thanks for reading. If you have time, post a comment!

Adventures in Coding: ASP.NET

I have always been a bit of a "mr. scripty pants", as my friend and colleague David Hailey likes to call me. Whenever I came across a task that was repetitive or not "do-able" via the standard tools of a product (primarily Cisco Unified Communications Manager), I would just  put together some code that did what I needed it to do. It wasn't always pretty, but it was functional. Some of the tools I wrote years ago are still being put to good use today. 


Anyway, a few months ago we had a project where we needed to develop some custom XML application for Cisco IP Phones. We could have outsourced the effort but I kinda wanted to do it in-house. I have written a handful of XML apps for Cisco phones, so I knew what was needed. I decided to use C-sharp (C#) and ASP.NET, which I have never used before. So, now a new blog series is born. As I muddle my way through learning, I figured why not share my novice revelations?