DBAs are expected to know how to administer the technologies that are available with and peripheral to SQL Server. To properly administer them, it certainly helps to understand the technology from the point of view of the user. By using an existing SSRS report as a data feed for Excel, Rodney Landrum explains how these users can now take advantage of development efforts in new ways.… Read more
When you work for a small software development (or any services) company, one of the major challenges is to make sure that you expend your limited resources on opportunities that are economically sound. You may be approached by companies that have heard about you and think they might want to do business with you, but do these leads really represent opportunities? How much of your time should be spent finding out? Dwain Camps offers some guidance.… Read more
Ruby on Rails, the open-source web application framework, grew out of David Heinemeier Hansson's work on Basecamp at 37Signals. It is now so popular with developers that it has been shipped with Mac OSX since 2007, and has a dedicated Windows following. Rail's focus on software engineering patters and Agile philosophy were so intriguing that we decided that DHH should be Geek of the Week. … Read more
FitNesse is an open-source framework for supporting user-acceptance testing. The aim is to make the construction of the individual tests as easy and intuitive as possible. It works with Java, .NET and database applications. It is very useful, but needs a simple 'tips from the trenches' guide to its use. Here is the start of that guide.… Read more
When you're monitoring SQL Server, it is better to capture a baseline for those aspects that you're checking, such as workload, Physical I/O or performance. Once you know what is normal, then performance tuning and resource provisioning can be done in a timely manner before any problem becomes apparent. We can prevent problems by being able to predict them. Louis shows how to get started.… Read more
PowerShell provides comment-based help for functions and scripts with Get-Help, but when you want to document modules or generate a complete indexed API in HTML format, just as you can with Sandcastle for .NET or javadoc for Java, then stronger magic is required. Michael Sorens shows you how it is done, with source code.… Read more
It isn't a problem to use deprecated TSQL features until it comes to the time to move the database to a server with a newer version of SQL Server, because The Upgrade Adviser tool will tell you what needs to be changed. An alternative is to flush out the use of archaic features via scripting during the development process so there are no surprises later. Jonathan Allen shows how… Read more
T4 usually stays behind the scenes in Visual Studio, but if you find that you have a good reason to write similar code over and over again, or use a lot of copy and paste, then it could be that you have a specific use for T4. There are times when it can be useful for generating code templates but it is versatile to provide a solution for a number of programming headaches.… Read more
Group Policy Software Installation (GPSI) allows for a high level of control on what can be installed where on a group of computers based on the user. In this article Joseph Moody walks you through the steps to create pre-approved software lists for users to install, and upgrade and uninstall that software.… Read more
It is important to prevent computer viruses from infecting a network within an organisation; Joseph Moody walks us through the setup and management of User Account Control (UAC) and AppLocker, which together provide network administrators with a powerful defense against malicious applications. … Read more
Although every computer language is suitable for data, some languages lend themselves especially well for working with certain types or sources of data, or processing the data in certain ways, and so are of particular use to the data scientist. … Read more
It is only recently that the tools have existed to make source-control easy for database developers. Although entire build-scripts for databases could be stored in Subversion, tools like Source Control for Oracle (SoCO) now allow for a more effective source-control at object-level. … Read more
The move from client-server version ontrol systems (VCS) to distributed version control systems can be bewildering. Tom uses his experience of moving to Mercurial to explain those aspects of the move that are liable to cause confusion to anyone steeped in the culture of the traditional VCS. Rebase, Push, Pull and Merge explained!… Read more
The creation of a public API for data presents something of a dilemma for the developer. Web API, with its content negotiation, seems somehow cleverer than classic ASP.NET MVC, but there are complications, such as the XML schema, that suggest that there are merits in using MVC controllers for all public HTTP APIs… Read more
You've just become responsible for a database, only to find that the log file is growing out of control. Why is it happening and what do you do to correct it?… Read more
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook is a comprehensive resource for administrators and consultants looking for practical examples of Hyper-V technology. Beginners unfamiliar with Hyper-V and those who have worked with earlier versions can benefit from this book.… Read more
Subversion provides a good way of source-controlling a database, but many operations are best done from within your database-development environmant. Fortunately, several products provide this integration … Read more
In the ninth installment of his popular series on using Subversion, Michael describes how to set up a simple Subversion server for a multi-user project and describes some of the reports, charts and tables you can get about the activity in your project … Read more
Although databases have no inherent way of recording their version numbers, SQL Server provides the means of doing so, and much more besides. This is a great advantage to anyone faced with the task of deploying databases without errors.… Read more
Although CSS editing tools exist that give you a measure of WYSIWYG, it is often more convenient to make small adjustments using the browser's built-in inspection tool and then repeating the changes back in your source. Now, there is a way to update the source automatically, faster and more reliably… Read more
