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Showing posts from July, 2005

Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Emulator

Daemon Tools offers a virtual CD/DVD-ROM emulator that is able to emulate nearly all known copy protections on the market today. The product can be downloaded from http://www.disc-tools.com/download/daemon After installing the emulator, simply access the .ISO image of the CD/DVD, and you're done. This is especially useful when doing a remote software install. Although there are other similar products on the market, also free of charge, the advantages of Daemon tools are : 1. Small footprint on the HD 2. Easy to use 3. Less problematic than other products.

ComponentOne 10% Discount

ComponentOne is offering a special summer promotion for the C#/VB.Net SIG members. For those interested, a 10% discount is available off of any ComponentOne Development tools. The Promo code for this offer is " devten ". This Promo is valid up until September 30, 2005. For more information, please feel free to e-mail Karen Dansak ( karend@componentone.com ).

What is Vista?

"Vista" is the official name for Microsoft's new client operating system, formerly known as Longhorn. Currently Beta 1 is scheduled for release on August 3, 2005, with the production release due in 2006. Why the name change? Microsoft has not yet officially stated the reason for the name change. However, some think it's a marketing strategy that will allow Microsoft to distance itself from the "Longhorn" name and the delays associated with it. Although not much has been said by the software maker, 2 links can be found on Microsoft's web site. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jul05/07-22LHMA.mspx

Visual Studio .NET IDE for Linux!

It's true...well sort of! A new product from Mainsoft allows applications to be built using Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net to run in the Linux environment. Listed below is the link with more information and a free 30-day evaluation download. http://dev.mainsoft.com/Default.aspx?tabid=45

Debugging is not supported under current trust level settings.

If you're attempting to debug a web application/service and you encounter the following error: Debugging is not supported under current trust level settings. What can you do to resolve it? Simply increase the trust level by placing the following line (in XML format) in the web.config file of the application: trust level="Full" originUrl="" This line should be inserted inside the system.web tags. This will increase the trust level of the app and allow interactive debugging.

What is a Four-part name in SQL Server?

When accessing a linked server in SQL Server, a four-part name should be used. This naming convention requires the 4 fields (linkserver, catalog, schema, and table) to be specified in a hierarchal format, such as: SELECT * FROM LINKSERVER_NAME.CATALOG_NAME.SCHEMA_NAME.TABLE_NAME Please note the field names should be specified in UPPERCASE, especially when accessing a DB2 Database, otherwise the following error will occur: Server: Msg 7314, Level 16, State 1, Line 1OLE DB provider 'LINKSERVER_NAME' does not contain table '"CATALOG_NAME"."SCHEMA_NAME"."TABLE_NAME"'. The table either does not exist or the current user does not have permissions on that table.OLE DB error trace [Non-interface error: OLE DB provider does not contain the table: ProviderName='LINKSERVER_NAME', TableName='"CATALOG_NAME"."SCHEMA_NAME"."TABLE_NAME"'].

Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

[SHIFT ]+ [ALT] + [ENTER] = Toggle Full Screen Mode; I'm sure this works in all versions, but I haven't tested it, as I'm running the 1.1 framework. I'm told it also continues to work in Whidbey. [CTRL]+[i] = Incremental Search. I've stopped using [CTRL]+[F] to find. Incremental search works without a dialog box, and searches as you type. So you're in a class, and you want to find the word public. [CTRL]+[i] puts you into Incremental Search Mode, now just start typing. When you've found what you're looking for press [ESC] to get out of incremental search mode. Remember the famous [F3] is find again, and works with this incremental search also. [CTRL] + [-] = Move cursor back to it's last position. This works great when working with large pages. I commonly will [CTRL]+[Home] to enter a Using statement, then [CTRL]+[-] brings me rights back to my previous edit point. [CTRL] + [}] = Toggle to Open/Close { }. This is great. If you're working with nes

Official Microsoft Release Dates

It's official, Monday, November 7, 2005 is the day when the much talked about Whidbey and Yukon will become production versions and available for sale. http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/story/0,10801,102962,00.html?source=NLT_PM&nid=102962

Future of VB.Net

For some reason VB.Net seems to be surrounded by many myths. The latest rumor is that its days are numbered and will soon be gone after VS.Net 2.0 is released. Nothing could be further from the truth! For years Microsoft has been supporting VB as a RAD (Rapid Application Development) Tool, and this is still true. My experience from attending Microsoft training seminars and talking to other professionals in the field is that VB is here to stay and will not be replaced by C#. The only speculations I have heard were on blogs, but nothing official from Microsoft. Besides, both C# and VB.Net are very similar in most aspects with very few differences. In Whidbey, these differences are even less. It is true that more companies are looking for C# experience over VB by 60/40 margin. This is not to say that VB is dying. To further make my case, I went straight to the source for confirmation. Listed below is an email from Rick Brewis, a Microsoft employee, and previous speaker at the last SIG