Wednesday 25 July 2012

Team foundation server power tools

Had completely forgotten about these handy little tools that helps you figure out what your team members are up to in source control…

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb980963.aspx

This one, http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/c255a1e4-04ba-4f68-8f4e-cd473d6b971f,  for example allows you to see your team members in team explorer, and run queries against them. Didn't even realise there was a status search built into source control until I found this option this morning.

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Tuesday 24 July 2012

Fix for Icons in WPF being blurry

 

Just found this article on stack overflow about why our WPF icons appear blurry.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5645274/image-in-wpf-getting-blurry

Turns out you can fix this by adding the following attached properties to your images

<Image Source="/LoginPanel;component/Icons/icoLogin.ico"
RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="NearestNeighbor"
RenderOptions.EdgeMode="Aliased"/>

Monday 23 July 2012

Software installing in one easy step

Use this handy utility next time you have to install a machine with base software. Aggregates all installers into one handy little setup...

 

http://ninite.com/

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Wednesday 18 July 2012

Client side tools for Phone development

These are the client side tools that have just been mentioned for developing responsive web applications for mobile platform today on http://live.aspconf.net/ 

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Frameworks to learn for SPAs

If you're thinking of building single page applications in future, then you will need to learn the following frameworks for sure..

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Thursday 12 July 2012

Handy SQL for extracting creating your test data insert scripts

 

SET NOCOUNT ON

GO

PRINT 'Checking for the existence of this procedure'

IF (SELECT OBJECT_ID('sp_generate_inserts','P')) IS NOT NULL --means, the procedure already exists

BEGIN

PRINT 'Procedure already exists. So, dropping it'

DROP PROC sp_generate_inserts

END

GO

CREATE PROC sp_generate_inserts

(

      @table_name varchar(776), -- The table/view for which the INSERT statements will be generated using the existing data

      @target_table varchar(776) = NULL, -- Use this parameter to specify a different table name into which the data will be inserted

      @include_column_list bit = 1, -- Use this parameter to include/ommit column list in the generated INSERT statement

      @from varchar(800) = NULL, -- Use this parameter to filter the rows based on a filter condition (using WHERE)

      @include_timestamp bit = 0, -- Specify 1 for this parameter, if you want to include the TIMESTAMP/ROWVERSION column's data in the INSERT statement

      @debug_mode bit = 0, -- If @debug_mode is set to 1, the SQL statements constructed by this procedure will be printed for later examination

      @owner varchar(64) = NULL, -- Use this parameter if you are not the owner of the table

      @ommit_images bit = 0, -- Use this parameter to generate INSERT statements by omitting the 'image' columns

      @ommit_identity bit = 0, -- Use this parameter to ommit the identity columns

      @top int = NULL, -- Use this parameter to generate INSERT statements only for the TOP n rows

      @cols_to_include varchar(8000) = NULL, -- List of columns to be included in the INSERT statement

      @cols_to_exclude varchar(8000) = NULL, -- List of columns to be excluded from the INSERT statement

      @disable_constraints bit = 0, -- When 1, disables foreign key constraints and enables them after the INSERT statements

      @ommit_computed_cols bit = 0        -- When 1, computed columns will not be included in the INSERT statement

)

AS

BEGIN

/***********************************************************************************************************

Procedure:  sp_generate_inserts  (Build 22)

            (Copyright © 2002 Narayana Vyas Kondreddi. All rights reserved.)

Purpose:    To generate INSERT statements from existing data.

            These INSERTS can be executed to regenerate the data at some other location.

            This procedure is also useful to create a database setup, where in you can

            script your data along with your table definitions.

Written by: Narayana Vyas Kondreddi

http://vyaskn.tripod.com

Acknowledgements:

            Divya Kalra -- For beta testing

            Mark Charsley     -- For reporting a problem with scripting uniqueidentifier columns with NULL values

            Artur Zeygman     -- For helping me simplify a bit of code for handling non-dbo owned tables

            Joris Laperre   -- For reporting a regression bug in handling text/ntext columns

Tested on: SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005

Date created:     January 17th 2001 21:52 GMT

Date modified:    May 1st 2002 19:50 GMT

Email:            vyaskn@hotmail.com

NOTE:       This procedure may not work with tables with too many columns.

            Results can be unpredictable with huge text columns or SQL Server 2000's sql_variant data types

            Whenever possible, Use @include_column_list parameter to ommit column list in the INSERT statement, for better results

            IMPORTANT: This procedure is not tested with internation data (Extended characters or Unicode). If needed

            you might want to convert the datatypes of character variables in this procedure to their respective unicode counterparts

            like nchar and nvarchar

            ALSO NOTE THAT THIS PROCEDURE IS NOT UPDATED TO WORK WITH NEW DATA TYPES INTRODUCED IN SQL SERVER 2005 / YUKON

Example 1:  To generate INSERT statements for table 'titles':

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles'

Example 2: To ommit the column list in the INSERT statement: (Column list is included by default)

            IMPORTANT: If you have too many columns, you are advised to ommit column list, as shown below,

            to avoid erroneous results

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles', @include_column_list = 0

Example 3:  To generate INSERT statements for 'titlesCopy' table from 'titles' table:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles', 'titlesCopy'

Example 4:  To generate INSERT statements for 'titles' table for only those titles

            which contain the word 'Computer' in them:

            NOTE: Do not complicate the FROM or WHERE clause here. It's assumed that you are good with T-SQL if you are using this parameter

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles', @from = "from titles where title like '%Computer%'"

Example 5: To specify that you want to include TIMESTAMP column's data as well in the INSERT statement:

            (By default TIMESTAMP column's data is not scripted)

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles', @include_timestamp = 1

Example 6:  To print the debug information:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts 'titles', @debug_mode = 1

Example 7: If you are not the owner of the table, use @owner parameter to specify the owner name

            To use this option, you must have SELECT permissions on that table

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts Nickstable, @owner = 'Nick'

Example 8: To generate INSERT statements for the rest of the columns excluding images

            When using this otion, DO NOT set @include_column_list parameter to 0.

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts imgtable, @ommit_images = 1

Example 9: To generate INSERT statements excluding (ommiting) IDENTITY columns:

            (By default IDENTITY columns are included in the INSERT statement)

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts mytable, @ommit_identity = 1

Example 10:       To generate INSERT statements for the TOP 10 rows in the table:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts mytable, @top = 10

Example 11:       To generate INSERT statements with only those columns you want:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts titles, @cols_to_include = "'title','title_id','au_id'"

Example 12:       To generate INSERT statements by omitting certain columns:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts titles, @cols_to_exclude = "'title','title_id','au_id'"

Example 13: To avoid checking the foreign key constraints while loading data with INSERT statements:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts titles, @disable_constraints = 1

Example 14:       To exclude computed columns from the INSERT statement:

            EXEC sp_generate_inserts MyTable, @ommit_computed_cols = 1

***********************************************************************************************************/

SET NOCOUNT ON

--Making sure user only uses either @cols_to_include or @cols_to_exclude

IF ((@cols_to_include IS NOT NULL) AND (@cols_to_exclude IS NOT NULL))

BEGIN

RAISERROR('Use either @cols_to_include or @cols_to_exclude. Do not use both the parameters at once',16,1)

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: Both @cols_to_include and @cols_to_exclude parameters are specified

END

--Making sure the @cols_to_include and @cols_to_exclude parameters are receiving values in proper format

IF ((@cols_to_include IS NOT NULL) AND (PATINDEX('''%''',@cols_to_include) = 0))

BEGIN

RAISERROR('Invalid use of @cols_to_include property',16,1)

PRINT 'Specify column names surrounded by single quotes and separated by commas'

PRINT 'Eg: EXEC sp_generate_inserts titles, @cols_to_include = "''title_id'',''title''"'

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: Invalid use of @cols_to_include property

END

IF ((@cols_to_exclude IS NOT NULL) AND (PATINDEX('''%''',@cols_to_exclude) = 0))

BEGIN

RAISERROR('Invalid use of @cols_to_exclude property',16,1)

PRINT 'Specify column names surrounded by single quotes and separated by commas'

PRINT 'Eg: EXEC sp_generate_inserts titles, @cols_to_exclude = "''title_id'',''title''"'

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: Invalid use of @cols_to_exclude property

END

--Checking to see if the database name is specified along wih the table name

--Your database context should be local to the table for which you want to generate INSERT statements

--specifying the database name is not allowed

IF (PARSENAME(@table_name,3)) IS NOT NULL

BEGIN

RAISERROR('Do not specify the database name. Be in the required database and just specify the table name.',16,1)

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: Database name is specified along with the table name, which is not allowed

END

--Checking for the existence of 'user table' or 'view'

--This procedure is not written to work on system tables

--To script the data in system tables, just create a view on the system tables and script the view instead

IF @owner IS NULL

BEGIN

IF ((OBJECT_ID(@table_name,'U') IS NULL) AND (OBJECT_ID(@table_name,'V') IS NULL))

BEGIN

RAISERROR('User table or view not found.',16,1)

PRINT 'You may see this error, if you are not the owner of this table or view. In that case use @owner parameter to specify the owner name.'

PRINT 'Make sure you have SELECT permission on that table or view.'

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: There is no user table or view with this name

END

END

ELSE

BEGIN

IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME = @table_name AND (TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE' OR TABLE_TYPE = 'VIEW') AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @owner)

BEGIN

RAISERROR('User table or view not found.',16,1)

PRINT 'You may see this error, if you are not the owner of this table. In that case use @owner parameter to specify the owner name.'

PRINT 'Make sure you have SELECT permission on that table or view.'

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: There is no user table or view with this name       

END

END

--Variable declarations

DECLARE           @Column_ID int,

            @Column_List varchar(8000),

            @Column_Name varchar(128),

            @Start_Insert varchar(786),

            @Data_Type varchar(128),

            @Actual_Values varchar(8000), --This is the string that will be finally executed to generate INSERT statements

            @IDN varchar(128) --Will contain the IDENTITY column's name in the table

--Variable Initialization

SET @IDN = ''

SET @Column_ID = 0

SET @Column_Name = ''

SET @Column_List = ''

SET @Actual_Values = ''

IF @owner IS NULL

BEGIN

SET @Start_Insert = 'INSERT INTO ' + '[' + RTRIM(COALESCE(@target_table,@table_name)) + ']'

END

ELSE

BEGIN

SET @Start_Insert = 'INSERT ' + '[' + LTRIM(RTRIM(@owner)) + '].' + '[' + RTRIM(COALESCE(@target_table,@table_name)) + ']'

END

--To get the first column's ID

SELECT      @Column_ID = MIN(ORDINAL_POSITION)

FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS (NOLOCK)

WHERE       TABLE_NAME = @table_name AND

(@owner IS NULL OR TABLE_SCHEMA = @owner)

--Loop through all the columns of the table, to get the column names and their data types

WHILE @Column_ID IS NOT NULL

BEGIN

SELECT      @Column_Name = QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME),

            @Data_Type = DATA_TYPE

FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS (NOLOCK)

WHERE       ORDINAL_POSITION = @Column_ID AND

            TABLE_NAME = @table_name AND

(@owner IS NULL OR TABLE_SCHEMA = @owner)

IF @cols_to_include IS NOT NULL --Selecting only user specified columns

BEGIN

IF CHARINDEX( '''' + SUBSTRING(@Column_Name,2,LEN(@Column_Name)-2) + '''',@cols_to_include) = 0

BEGIN

GOTO SKIP_LOOP

END

END

IF @cols_to_exclude IS NOT NULL --Selecting only user specified columns

BEGIN

IF CHARINDEX( '''' + SUBSTRING(@Column_Name,2,LEN(@Column_Name)-2) + '''',@cols_to_exclude) <> 0

BEGIN

GOTO SKIP_LOOP

END

END

--Making sure to output SET IDENTITY_INSERT ON/OFF in case the table has an IDENTITY column

IF (SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY( OBJECT_ID(QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + @table_name),SUBSTRING(@Column_Name,2,LEN(@Column_Name) - 2),'IsIdentity')) = 1

BEGIN

IF @ommit_identity = 0 --Determing whether to include or exclude the IDENTITY column

SET @IDN = @Column_Name

ELSE

GOTO SKIP_LOOP               

END

--Making sure whether to output computed columns or not

IF @ommit_computed_cols = 1

BEGIN

IF (SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY( OBJECT_ID(QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + @table_name),SUBSTRING(@Column_Name,2,LEN(@Column_Name) - 2),'IsComputed')) = 1

BEGIN

GOTO SKIP_LOOP                           

END

END

--Tables with columns of IMAGE data type are not supported for obvious reasons

IF(@Data_Type in ('image'))

BEGIN

IF (@ommit_images = 0)

BEGIN

RAISERROR('Tables with image columns are not supported.',16,1)

PRINT 'Use @ommit_images = 1 parameter to generate INSERTs for the rest of the columns.'

PRINT 'DO NOT ommit Column List in the INSERT statements. If you ommit column list using @include_column_list=0, the generated INSERTs will fail.'

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: There is a column with image data type

END

ELSE

BEGIN

GOTO SKIP_LOOP

END

END

--Determining the data type of the column and depending on the data type, the VALUES part of

--the INSERT statement is generated. Care is taken to handle columns with NULL values. Also

--making sure, not to lose any data from flot, real, money, smallmomey, datetime columns

SET @Actual_Values = @Actual_Values  +

CASE

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('char','varchar','nchar','nvarchar')

THEN

'COALESCE('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(' + @Column_Name + '),'''''''','''''''''''')+'''''''',''NULL'')'

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('datetime','smalldatetime')

THEN

'COALESCE('''''''' + RTRIM(CONVERT(char,' + @Column_Name + ',109))+'''''''',''NULL'')'

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('uniqueidentifier')

THEN

'COALESCE('''''''' + REPLACE(CONVERT(char(255),RTRIM(' + @Column_Name + ')),'''''''','''''''''''')+'''''''',''NULL'')'

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('text','ntext')

THEN

'COALESCE('''''''' + REPLACE(CONVERT(char(8000),' + @Column_Name + '),'''''''','''''''''''')+'''''''',''NULL'')'

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('binary','varbinary')

THEN

'COALESCE(RTRIM(CONVERT(char,' + 'CONVERT(int,' + @Column_Name + '))),''NULL'')'

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('timestamp','rowversion')

THEN

CASE

WHEN @include_timestamp = 0

THEN

'''DEFAULT'''

ELSE

'COALESCE(RTRIM(CONVERT(char,' + 'CONVERT(int,' + @Column_Name + '))),''NULL'')'

END

WHEN @Data_Type IN ('float','real','money','smallmoney')

THEN

'COALESCE(LTRIM(RTRIM(' + 'CONVERT(char, ' +  @Column_Name  + ',2)' + ')),''NULL'')'

ELSE

'COALESCE(LTRIM(RTRIM(' + 'CONVERT(char, ' +  @Column_Name  + ')' + ')),''NULL'')'

END + '+' + ''',''' + ' + '

--Generating the column list for the INSERT statement

SET @Column_List = @Column_List +  @Column_Name + ','

SKIP_LOOP: --The label used in GOTO

SELECT      @Column_ID = MIN(ORDINAL_POSITION)

FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS (NOLOCK)

WHERE       TABLE_NAME = @table_name AND

            ORDINAL_POSITION > @Column_ID AND

(@owner IS NULL OR TABLE_SCHEMA = @owner)

--Loop ends here!

END

--To get rid of the extra characters that got concatenated during the last run through the loop

SET @Column_List = LEFT(@Column_List,len(@Column_List) - 1)

SET @Actual_Values = LEFT(@Actual_Values,len(@Actual_Values) - 6)

IF LTRIM(@Column_List) = ''

BEGIN

RAISERROR('No columns to select. There should at least be one column to generate the output',16,1)

RETURN -1 --Failure. Reason: Looks like all the columns are ommitted using the @cols_to_exclude parameter

END

--Forming the final string that will be executed, to output the INSERT statements

IF (@include_column_list <> 0)

BEGIN

SET @Actual_Values =

'SELECT ' +

CASE WHEN @top IS NULL OR @top < 0 THEN '' ELSE ' TOP ' + LTRIM(STR(@top)) + ' ' END +

'''' + RTRIM(@Start_Insert) +

' ''+' + '''(' + RTRIM(@Column_List) + '''+' + ''')''' +

' +''VALUES(''+ ' +  @Actual_Values  + '+'')''' + ' ' +

COALESCE(@from,' FROM ' + CASE WHEN @owner IS NULL THEN '' ELSE '[' + LTRIM(RTRIM(@owner)) + '].' END + '[' + rtrim(@table_name) + ']' + '(NOLOCK)')

END

ELSE IF (@include_column_list = 0)

BEGIN

SET @Actual_Values =

'SELECT ' +

CASE WHEN @top IS NULL OR @top < 0 THEN '' ELSE ' TOP ' + LTRIM(STR(@top)) + ' ' END +

'''' + RTRIM(@Start_Insert) +

' '' +''VALUES(''+ ' +  @Actual_Values + '+'')''' + ' ' +

COALESCE(@from,' FROM ' + CASE WHEN @owner IS NULL THEN '' ELSE '[' + LTRIM(RTRIM(@owner)) + '].' END + '[' + rtrim(@table_name) + ']' + '(NOLOCK)')

END

--Determining whether to ouput any debug information

IF @debug_mode =1

BEGIN

PRINT '/*****START OF DEBUG INFORMATION*****'

PRINT 'Beginning of the INSERT statement:'

PRINT @Start_Insert

PRINT ''

PRINT 'The column list:'

PRINT @Column_List

PRINT ''

PRINT 'The SELECT statement executed to generate the INSERTs'

PRINT @Actual_Values

PRINT ''

PRINT '*****END OF DEBUG INFORMATION*****/'

PRINT ''

END

PRINT '--INSERTs generated by ''sp_generate_inserts'' stored procedure written by Vyas'

PRINT '--Build number: 22'

PRINT '--Problems/Suggestions? Contact Vyas @ vyaskn@hotmail.com'

PRINT '--http://vyaskn.tripod.com'

PRINT ''

PRINT 'SET NOCOUNT ON'

PRINT ''

--Determining whether to print IDENTITY_INSERT or not

IF (@IDN <> '')

BEGIN

PRINT 'SET IDENTITY_INSERT ' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + QUOTENAME(@table_name) + ' ON'

PRINT 'GO'

PRINT ''

END

IF @disable_constraints = 1 AND (OBJECT_ID(QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + @table_name, 'U') IS NOT NULL)

BEGIN

IF @owner IS NULL

BEGIN

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@target_table, @table_name)) + ' NOCHECK CONSTRAINT ALL' AS '--Code to disable constraints temporarily'

END

ELSE

BEGIN

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' + QUOTENAME(@owner) + '.' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@target_table, @table_name)) + ' NOCHECK CONSTRAINT ALL' AS '--Code to disable constraints temporarily'

END

PRINT 'GO'

END

PRINT ''

PRINT 'PRINT ''Inserting values into ' + '[' + RTRIM(COALESCE(@target_table,@table_name)) + ']' + ''''

--All the hard work pays off here!!! You'll get your INSERT statements, when the next line executes!

EXEC (@Actual_Values)

PRINT 'PRINT ''Done'''

PRINT ''

IF @disable_constraints = 1 AND (OBJECT_ID(QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + @table_name, 'U') IS NOT NULL)

BEGIN

IF @owner IS NULL

BEGIN

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@target_table, @table_name)) + ' CHECK CONSTRAINT ALL' AS '--Code to enable the previously disabled constraints'

END

ELSE

BEGIN

SELECT 'ALTER TABLE ' + QUOTENAME(@owner) + '.' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@target_table, @table_name)) + ' CHECK CONSTRAINT ALL' AS '--Code to enable the previously disabled constraints'

END

PRINT 'GO'

END

PRINT ''

IF (@IDN <> '')

BEGIN

PRINT 'SET IDENTITY_INSERT ' + QUOTENAME(COALESCE(@owner,USER_NAME())) + '.' + QUOTENAME(@table_name) + ' OFF'

PRINT 'GO'

END

PRINT 'SET NOCOUNT OFF'

SET NOCOUNT OFF

RETURN 0 --Success. We are done!

END

GO

PRINT 'Created the procedure'

GO

--Mark procedure as system object

EXEC sys.sp_MS_marksystemobject sp_generate_inserts

GO

PRINT 'Granting EXECUTE permission on sp_generate_inserts to all users'

GRANT EXEC ON sp_generate_inserts TO public

SET NOCOUNT OFF

GO

PRINT 'Done'

Monday 9 July 2012

Knockout.js learning

I've come across this great site for helping you to get to grips with the basics of creating some excellent user interfaces in javascript and HTML5.

http://learn.knockoutjs.com/

image

If anything, it's great just for using the editor for quick checking of HTML in a preview mode using the Run functionality on the left hand side...

image

Thursday 5 July 2012

User Agent switcher extension for Google Chrome for mobile development

In case you have Google chrome, and are doing device based HTML rendering, this extension to chrome is very useful. Allows you to switch your desktop browser into behaving like an iPhone...

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg?hl=en-US&gl=US

image

Here Chrome is looking like iPhone4 for twitter.com

image

Tuesday 3 July 2012

How to set the physical path of a virtual directory from the command line using appcmd.exe

 

>\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set vdir "Default Web Site/MyAppName/" -physicalPath:"C:\MyAppPath"

For more information relating to appcmd.exe and it's various usages, see this link here...

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/114/getting-started-with-appcmdexe/

Also to discover which app pool workerprocess is which you can use the following command

%systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list WP

or just look at your task manager with the command line column expanded for the w3wp.exe process

 

image

Monday 2 July 2012

Spot the imposter!

Clearly this guy did not get much coverage on the news, although he's my absolute hero, for being able to by pass all the security and get himself on to the platform, with champagne bottle in hand, as Spain lifted the 2012 European cup last night on the winners podium...

http://youtu.be/p5iKNOeHtXo?hd=1&t=54s

image

Watch how he gets shepherded away after they realise he's an imposter. Well funny!

How to find the last interactive logons in Windows using PowerShell

Use the following powershell script to find the last users to login to a box since a given date, in this case the 21st April 2022 at 12pm un...