Silverlight 2 is far more versatile than Silverlight 1. It can handle data-sources with some subtlety. John Papa tackles the whole subject of data-binding with Silverlight. This article is a partial excerpt from John Papa's upcoming book Data Access with Silverlight 2 by O'Reilly, due to be released in December 2008. … Read more
David Connell describes how the team that developed Red-Gate's SQL Data Generator tool came to realise that database developers and DBAs already knew what they wanted for their test data. The team wanted to use the Beta version of the program to get a clear message from them. . And then came the daunting task of working out the best way of incorporating all this wisdom into the final product.… Read more
Numeral systems can be fascinating. In everyday programming, we are now becoming quite insulated from the need to convert between binary numbers and their representation, so it is a novelty to try out ways of doing it in SQL, and experiment with other number systems from the past.… Read more
In SQL Reporting Services, the native Matrix control provides a crosstab view of data, similar in behavior to a PivotTable in MS Excel. Rows and columns will have intersecting points of data which is often useful in time based reporting . David Liebowitz shows you how...… Read more
The ASP.NET GridView is great for very simple tables, but the real world is not always as straightforward as we would like it to be. Sometimes we need to specify the format of the data from the database, and the way it is rendered in the table, more exactly.… Read more
András's article on Source Control shows a lot of the thinking amongst the developers at Red Gate at that time that eventually crystallized into SQL Source Control. It identified several problems that had to be overcome before the task could be done properly. Andras's suggestions for the use of SQL Compare are now built-in to SQL Source Control, but it remains a fascinating explanation of the complications along the way. … Read more
Microsoft's ASP.NET AJAX Extensions provide developers with a quick and simple way to add AJAX functionality into any ASP.NET Website. In this article, Dan Wahlin demonstrates how to use the UpdatePanel control, which performs asynchronous postback operations that update a portion of a page rather than the entire page itself. … Read more
In part 3 of Dan Sullivan's in-depth exploration of PowerSMO, the versatile command line utility for managing SQL Server databases, he describes how to control the identity that SMO uses to login to SQL Server, how to set up Server activity monitoring, and how to create standalone PowerSMO scripts, suitable for use in a production environment.… Read more
Robyn Page and Phil Factor present practical T-SQL techniques for controlling access to sensitive information within the database, and preventing malicious SQL injection attacks.… Read more
The need to produce Excel reports from SQL Server is very common. Here, Robyn Page and Phil Factor present practical techniques for creating and manipulating Excel spreadsheets from SQL Server, using linked servers and T-SQL. The pièce de résistance is a stored procedure that uses OLE Automation to allow you full control over the formatting of your Excel report, and the ability to include sums, ranges, pivot tables and so on.… Read more
The topic of cursors is the ultimate "hot potato" in the world of SQL Server. Everyone has a view on when they should and mainly should not be used. By example and testing Robyn Page proves that, when handled with care, cursors are not necessarily a "bad thing". This article coined a phrase, 'Quirky Update', that has since established itself as the industry-term. We now feature a new revised version of the old classic, with help from Phil Factor.… Read more
Jesse Liberty demonstrates a role-based security architecture for Windows Forms applications that will allow you to restrict access to any given control, on any form, so that it is either invisible or disabled, based on who is using the form.… Read more
Richard Mitchell and Steven Davidson describe how they used Red Gate's database schema-comparison tool, SQL Compare, to develop the latest version of red-gate.com… Read more
Nigel Rivett demonstrates some core techniques for extracting SQL Server data into CSV files, focussing on a stored procedure approach that gives complete control of the format of the extracted data.… Read more
Nigel Rivett demonstrates how to execute all SSIS packages in a given folder using either an SSIS control package, a stored procedure or a DOS batch file.… Read more
Developers, programmers and designers tend to be deeply geeky types, immersed in the minutiae of the technology. In stark contrast, many IT managers appear to have difficulty working the remote controls on their television. This cultural gap between the foot soldier and officer classes of the IT industry can have interesting consequences.… Read more
Visual Basic .NET is well known for its event-driven programming capabilities. VB.NET 2005 adds new functionality for custom events that provides flexibility in handling and controlling events.… Read more
Bill Bach, whose company, Goldstar Software, is perhaps the leading source for training and support for users of Btrieve and Pervasive databases. … Read more