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Printing Data Matrix 2d barcode in Font CH APT ER 8 GET TI NG S TA RTE D WI T H T H E PO PF LY BLO CK S DK

sb.append("<a href='" + this.url + "'>link</a>" + "<br>"); sb.append("<p/>"); return sb.toString(); } }

Each object has a special function called toString that is created to transform the data into HTML that is used by the test harness when the results are returned (see Figure 8-19). If you are really interested in the code that creates the test harness and the code used to emulate the Popfly objects, like the componentManager (componentManager.js) and the environment (environment.js) object, look in the Support folder in Solution Explorer and double-click the files you are interested in (see Figure 8-25). Notice that the full Microsoft JavaScript Ajax Library is available to Popfly blocks. You can learn more about the rich capabilities of this library at Microsoft s Ajax site at http://asp.net/ajax/. Remember that .aspx, and .cs files are .NET-specific technologies and are beyond the scope of this book.

Summary

In this chapter, we have examined the Popfly Block SDK. You have learned that the Popfly SDK has a test harness created with .NET technology, and it can be run in a free tool from Microsoft called Visual Web Developer. In the next chapter, you will use Visual Web Developer to create and debug your own blocks.

n 8, you learned about the Popfly SDK and how to use Microsoft Visual Web Developer to run it. In this chapter, you will walk through the creation of a block from scratch using the SDK and Visual Web Developer (VWD). We will also briefly explore the debugging capabilities of VWD and how it can help you test your block code.

The first thing you need to do is decide what functionality you want in your block. You can decide to create self-contained functionality that doesn t depend on external services, but what fun would that be The value proposition of mashups is the mixing of different services from different vendors, so it s best to look around a site that you use and see if they have an API that can be programmed into a block. For my example, I decided to create a Technorati block. This block will use the API published by Technorati. Technorati is a search engine that specializes in blogs. You can check it out by going to http://www.technorati.com. A screenshot of its home page can be seen in Figure 9-1.

I use Technorati all the time to search blogs and dig into a particular topic. Technorati is more than a search engine; there are many other features that make it an invaluable tool for bloggers and researchers. After navigating your browser to Technorati s home page, type Silverlight into the search box at the top of the window to see a result similar to Figure 9-2. Not only are you given results from hundreds of blogs based on your search words, you are given a credibility rating for the blogs authors. The rating is based on the number of people who link back to the post as a source, so the more people who link to your post, the higher the rating goes cool. Technorati also provides an API for registered users to use for their own purposes. Before you can use the API, you need to become a registered user. From the Technorati page, click the Join link to start the registration process (see Figure 9-3).

Once you are registered with a member name and password, log in to the site. The API information is located in the Development Center, which you can reach from a link at the bottom of the page (see Figure 9-4).

Click the link to go to the Development Center page (see Figure 9-5). Most reliable providers have an area, like Technorati s Development Center, on their sites that is for developers who want to use their APIs; the Development Center has a lot of documentation and tutorials. Extensive developer documentation is an important consideration on the service you want to use. It is a sign of the reliability, professionalism, and quality of the APIs.