Windows 7 Outlook issue: "ost is in use and cannot be accessed".

I got to work early today, ready to get to work, and was greeted with this cheery note from my Windows 7 box when opening Outlook:

"The file C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\username.ost is in use and cannot be accessed. Close any application that is using this file, and then try again. You might need to restart your computer."

Restarting the box did not help. I had to open the "Windows Task Manager" (Ctrl-Shift-Esc), select "Lync.exe" and kill it (you might also need to kill "Communicator", "ucmapi", or "Outlook" itself). Then Outlook was happy and I could start my day.

This morning's ambush reminds me of Cato hiding in wait for Inspector Clouseau to return so Cato can attack him, just to keep Clouseau sharp.

Testing .Net C# WebAPI methods with NUnit and HttpResponseMessage

I recently wrote my first NUnit test for a .Net WebAPI controller. I learned two interesting things. (The code has been simplified to be more explicit).

1. When you create your controller, set a value for it's "Request" object.

//helper function to create testable "projects" controller
private ProjectsController GetTestProjectsController()
{
    ProjectsController controller = 
         new ProjectsController(logger, new ProjectRepository())
    {
        Request = new HttpRequestMessage()
        {
            Properties = { { HttpPropertyKeys.HttpConfigurationKey, 
                 new HttpConfiguration() } }
        }
    };
    return controller;
}

2. When retrieving an object use the TryGetContentValue() method to extract the returned value as a C# object. Notice on line 18 we free the C# object from the clutches of the evil HttpResponseMessage object.

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[Test] public void GetTestWithExistingProjectName() { string projectName = "GetTestWithProjectName"; var projectRepository = new ProjectRepository(); // Arrange DeleteProjectIfItExists(projectRepository, projectName); var newTestProject = CreateNewTestProjectAndWriteToRepository(projectName,projectRepository); var controller = GetTestProjectsController(); // Act HttpResponseMessage httpResponseMessage = controller.Get(projectName); // Assert Assert.IsTrue(httpResponseMessage.IsSuccessStatusCode); Project project = null; httpResponseMessage.TryGetContentValue(out project); Assert.AreEqual(projectName, project.Name); //cleanup DeleteProjectIfItExists(projectRepository, projectName); }

This is the code for the api GET.

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public HttpResponseMessage Get(string name) { var project = _projectRepository.GetProjectByName(name); if (project != null) { return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, project); } return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.NotFound, "Sorry, the project '" + name + "' could not be found."); }

Special thanks to the folks at hilite.me for their awesome code highlighter site.