The next step in learning how to create games in C# using Unity is to add extensions to get custom functionality. Lance Talbert shows you how to create an extension that changes the properties of many objects at once.… Read more
SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) is a great tool for managing SQL Server. Darko Martinovic demonstrates how to use SMO within a C# solution to create tables, backup the database, and more.… Read more
VS Code is a cross platform lightweight development environment from Microsoft. TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript. Ed Elliott shows you how to create a VS Code extension using TypeScript in this article.… Read more
Bootstrap is a popular open source tool for developing HTML and CSS. Version 4 has recently been released. Dino Esposito explains some of the differences between Bootstrap 3 and Bootstrap 4 when developing navigation bars.… Read more
T-SQL does not have an easy way to transpose a row and a column. Of course, there is the PIVOT statement, but it doesn’t quite accomplish the task. In this article, Darko Martinovic shares another method using a SQLCLR stored prodedure.… Read more
Azure Active Directory is a service that provides an authorization layer for different kinds of web applications easily. It is possible to implement it with many programming languages. Jakub Kaczmarek describes the development of an authorization procedure used in an Angular-based Chrome extension project.
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Stored procedures, for example, are very easy to document. The comment block at the beginning stays with the code and a CREATE or ALTER script contains everything to reproduce the proc. SQL Server tables, however, are more difficult to document. You can use Extended Properties to document columns and constraints, but working with Extended Properties is difficult at best. Phil Factor demonstrates ways to easily add Extended Properties to your build scripts. … Read more
With the release of .NET Core, developers must learn what has changed over classic ASP.NET programming. In this article, Dino Esposito explains that the skills you have will carry over well as he shows how to work with Action Control in ASP.NET Core. … Read more
Comparing URLs in C# code is a common task and seems simple. Camilo Reyes shows us that there are many pitfalls to avoid since people can come up with several ways to type the same URL. He then demonstrates how to solve several URL comparison problems.… Read more
As software development evolves to service-oriented architectures, the underlying frameworks and methods used must change as well. Mircea Oprea demonstrates how to create a service to manage authentication across components and servers.… Read more
ASP.NET Core has the flexibility to add HTTP response headers anywhere in the middleware pipeline. Dino Esposito explains what you need to know to handle the headers in ASP.NET Core.… Read more
The ASP.NET Core tag helpers improve on the HTML templated helpers in ASP.NET MVC 5. ASP.NET Core comes with some useful stock tag helpers for common tasks such as creating custom elements or extending existing HTML elements, but their use can be extended to making a framework such as Bootstrap easier to work with. Dino shows how helpers are used, and demonstrates a Bootstrap Modal Tag Helper… Read more
When designing web applications, it is a good idea to be cautious about the way you handle the time of day and calendar. It can get complicated when you have servers in different time zones and the user of the time-sensitive application may, or may not, want his local time, including daylight-saving adjustments, to be assumed. Problems pop up unexpectedly, so maybe it is better to tackle the issue up-front. Dino Esposito explains.… Read more
The C++/CLI is a dialect of C++ that is designed to work with the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). It is a replacement for 'Managed C++' and makes every feature of the CLI easily accessible from C++. Mircea demonstrates the architecture that is involved in a C++/CLI wrapper that allows you to use both managed and unmanaged code, and to provide the choice of controlling memory directly.… Read more
SQLCLR is now considered a robust solution to the few niche requirements that can't be met by the built-in features of SQL Server. Amongst the legitimate reasons for avoiding SQLCLR, there is the fear of getting bogged down in code with special requirements that is difficult to debug. Darko takes a real example, extending the features of sp_send_dbmail, to demonstrate that there need be few terrors in SQLCLR.
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Pre-existing SQL databases, particularly if complex, can often pose problems for software developers who are creating a new application. The data may be in a format that makes it hard to access or update, and may include functions and procedures. Jon Smith looks at what tools there are in Microsoft's Entity Framework's Data Access technology that can deal with these requirements.… Read more
It is strange that one can ask simple questions about extended events or Hekaton at professional events and conferences without feeling embarrassed, yet nobody likes to ask vital questions about SQL Server primary keys and foreign keys. Once more, Rob Sheldon is 'drawn to one side' to answer those questions about keys that one is too shy to ask.… Read more
Subqueries and derived tables can add great versatility to SQL statements, cut down complexity, but can occasionally be a curse when their effect on performance is poorly understood. Surely everyone understands the various types of subqueries and how they are used? If you felt a twinge of doubt, here is Rob Sheldon's easy guide to the subject.
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Filestream allows us to store and manage unstructured datain SQL Server more easily. Initially, the accounts of FILESTREAM assumed prodigious powers of concentration and cognition, and we mortals all recoiled numbly. However, it became clear that we were missing out on some extraordinarily useful functionality, so we asked Jacob Sebastian to come up with a simple and clear-cut account of the FILESTREAM feature in SQL Server 2008. You'll agree he has managed the feat superbly.… Read more
