I'm using MySql server for the BlogEngine.NET back-end. Current version of the BlogEngine.NET supports XML and MS SQL as data storages. But my hosting plan has a limited option for MS SQL databases so i don't want to use it. And XML data provider option saves every post to individual files. Also i have some performance concerns about XML data storages. So i decide to use MySql. It's not very populer in ASP.Net community. But if you give it a chance, you will see how powerful and portable it is. I'm using MySql Connector/Net version 1.0, cause latest version of the connector has some trust level problems on Godaddy. Here are the steps that you need to follow for MySql data provider integration. (I'm assuming you're using BlogEngine.NET 1.2.x.x)

- Create a database and change connection string on the sql.config file.
   Download MySql Script (2.43 kb)

<connectionStrings>
<add name="BlogEngine" 
connectionString="Server=localhost; 
Port=3306; 
Database=databasename;
Uid=username;
Pwd='password';"
providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" /> 
</connectionStrings>

- Add MySql Connector dll to BlogEngine.Core References
   Download MySql Connector (54.92 kb)

- Add MYSQLBlogProvider.cs file to Providers folder which on the BlogEngine.Core project. Download MYSQLBlogProvider (4.16 kb)

- Add MySql provider to BlogEngine's provider tag on the web.congfig file.

 That's all..You can press F5 and test it ;)

Visual Studio 2008 is now available to download for MSDN subscribers.For non-MSDN subscribers it's possible to download trail editions.

Here is the download links of trails :

• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server
• Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition

The UpdatePanel is one of the coolest feature of Microsoft's ASP.NET AJAX. For some reason if you want to detect an ajax request on the page code-behind it's so easy. Take a look at the code snipped below :

if(ScriptManager.GetCurrent(this).IsInAsyncPostBack)
{
	//this is an ajax postback
}

On the other hand if you use a custom httpmodule with asp.net ajax web application, you will probably get this error  :

Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManagerParserErrorExeption: The message received from the server could not be parsed.  Common causes for this error are when the response is modified by calls to Response.Write(), response filters, HttpModules, or server trace is enabled.  Details: ...

In this situation, we can not use ScriptManager's IsInAsyncPostBack property cause we're working at the httpmodule level. We need something else to catch ajax request.So I began to look for a special property which represents the ajax request. Look at the page's request headers :

Whoala ! Asp.Net Ajax adds an extra header tag for it's request. Just look for the 'x-microsoftajax' tag on HttpModule's BeginRequest event. If it is existing then it's an ajax request. 

if (Request.Headers["x-microsoftajax"] != null)
{
	//ajax request
}