populating a database in ruby

Ruby in has a ton of cool database processes. There are Gems you can include that will randomly populate your database with test data. This free screencast shows how it is done.
http://railscasts.com/episodes/126-populating-a-database

Linq to xml

Linq (Language Integrated Query) works on xml too

<content>

  <gallery Name="All Videos">

    <video VideoClip="20081014.flv" Title="Orlando, Florida" Copy="Feb 12, 2009"/>

    <video VideoClip="20081121.flv" Title="Atlanta, Georgia" Copy="Feb 12, 2009"/>

  </gallery>

</content>

protected void LoadGallaryList()

{

    string xmlFile = this.Server.MapPath("~/Flash/_xml/video.xml"); 

    XDocument xmlDoc = XDocument.Load(xmlFile); 

    var videos = from v in xmlDoc.Descendants("video") // .Elements("video")

                 select new 

                 {

                     VideoClip = v.Attribute("VideoClip").Value,

                     Title = v.Attribute("Title").Value,

                     Date = v.Attribute("Copy").Value,

                 }; 

    foreach (var v in videos)

    {

        lblCurrent.Text += "title:" + v.Title + " VideoClip:" + v.VideoClip + " Date:" + v.Date + "<br/>";

    }

}

output:
title:Orlando, Florida VideoClip:20080914.flv Date:Feb 12, 2009
title:Atlanta, Georgia VideoClip:20081121.flv Date:Feb 12, 2009

jQuery in ASP.NET on Alt.NET

Alt.Net podcast is now on my regular playlist. This one episode gives a pretty good insight on how microsoft is changing with the times. Listen here.

ASP.NET MVC Storefront Starter Kit Videos

I have been watching these videos on asp.net presented by Rob Conery. Rob does an awesome job of showing you his thought process. You can check them out here.
The videos cover

• ASP.Net MVC framework
• The Repository Pattern (sort of)
• Pipes and Filters
• Linq To Sql
  
• Routing
• TDD (test driven development)
  
• Mocking
• Dependency Injection
  
  

TableMaker

http://www.bagism.com/tablemaker/
copy sql results to this page to create an html table like this

142	BISMARCK, ND	BIS	3	Central States
66	CEDAR RAPIDS, IA	CDR	3	Central States
129	COLUMBIA, MO	CBM	3	Central States
15	Denver, CO	DEN	3	Central States
114	DES MOINES, IA	DSM	3	Central States
143	FARGO, ND	FAR	3	Central States
104	FORT SMITH, AR	FSM	3	Central States
59	GRAND ISLAND, NE	GDI	3	Central States
138	GREAT BEND, KS	GRB	3	Central States
16	Kansas City, KS	KCY	3	Central States
133	LA CROSSE, WI	LAC	3	Central States
105	LITTLE ROCK, AR	LRA	3	Central States
139	MASON CITY, IA	MAC	3	Central States
92	MILWAUKEE, WI	MWK	3	Central States
17	Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN	MSP	3	Central States
113	AUSTIN, TX	AUS	4	Gulf-States

Omniture Tracking with Flash

/* START: Omniture ActionSource Configuration*/

import com.omniture.AS2.ActionSource;

var s;

function configActionSource() {

    s = new ActionSource();

    /* Specify the Report Suite ID(s) to track here */

    s.account = "XXXX";

    /*You may add or alter any code config here: see documentation for more variables

    */

    s.pageName = "Sample App d1.2: State 1";

    s.pageURL = "";

    s.charSet = "ISO-8859-1";

    s.currencyCode = "USD";

    /* Turn on and configure ClickMap tracking here */ 

    s.trackClickMap = true;

    s.movieID = "sample_dynamic_object_1_2";

    /* Turn on and configure debugging here */

    s.debugTracking = true;

    s.trackLocal = true;

    /* WARNING: Changing any of the below variables will cause drastic changes

    to how your visitor data is collected. Changes should only be made

    when instructed to do so by your account manager.*/

    s.dc = 112;

    /* onLoad Transaction*/

    s.delayTracking = 500;

    // half second delay for tracking after load

    s.track();

}

configActionSource();

/* END: Omniture ActionSource Configuration*/

open up fiddler and watch your tracking

Keep the scrollbar

html { height: 100%; margin-bottom: 1px; }

if you have a centered and the page is too short for a scroll bar, when it gets longer the scroll bar appears and you page shifts the left a few pixels. This post will help you avoid that problem.
http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/forcing-scrollbars-now-even-better

bind a gridview column to a method

bind a attribute of the ItemTemplate to a method

<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Deleted Ind" SortExpression="DeletedInd"> 

    <ItemTemplate>

        <asp:CheckBox ID="cbDeletedInd" runat="server" 

            Checked='<%# this.GetNullableBool(Eval("DeletedInd"))  %>' 

            Enabled="false" />

    </ItemTemplate>

</asp:TemplateField>

put the method in your codebehind (this could be a bind utility method)

protected bool GetNullableBool(object o)

{

    bool bReturn = false;

    Nullable<bool> b = o as Nullable<bool>;

    if (b != null)

    {

        if (b == true)

        {

            bReturn = true;

        }

    }

    return bReturn;

}

this method returns false if the bool is false or null
otherwise it returns true

now we use the RowDataBound to format that row

protected void gvResults_RowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)

{ 

    CheckBox c = (CheckBox)e.Row.FindControl("cbDeletedInd");

    if (c != null && c.Checked)

    {

        e.Row.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGray;

    } 

}

results: (the deleted rows are now grey)

creating change scripts in SQL Server Management Studio

when you change the schema of a database, Management Studio makes it easy to create your change script.

first make your change.
then click the generate script button





now you can save it to a sql script file.



this is what the file looks like. notice when you reorder the columns it creates a temporary table copies all the data. drops the original table, then creates the new table with the right column order. the copies the data back to the new table.

/*

   Thursday, October 30, 20088:49:47 AM

   User: 

   Server: stpdev

   Database: ODFL

   Application: 

*/

/* To prevent any potential data loss issues, you should review this script in detail before running it outside the context of the database designer.*/

BEGIN TRANSACTION

SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON

SET ARITHABORT ON

SET NUMERIC_ROUNDABORT OFF

SET CONCAT_NULL_YIELDS_NULL ON

SET ANSI_NULLS ON

SET ANSI_PADDING ON

SET ANSI_WARNINGS ON

COMMIT

BEGIN TRANSACTION

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

    DROP CONSTRAINT DF_tblEmailType_LeadDays

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

    DROP CONSTRAINT DF_tblEmailType_SendToNonRegistered

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

    DROP CONSTRAINT DF_tblEmailType_PostEvent

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

    DROP CONSTRAINT DF_tblEmailType_active

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

    DROP CONSTRAINT DF_tblEmailType_time_stamp

GO

CREATE TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType

    (

    EmailTypeID int NOT NULL IDENTITY (1, 1),

    Name nvarchar(50) NOT NULL,

    LeadDays int NULL,

    ExactTargetTemplate nvarchar(255) NULL,

    SendToRegistered bit NOT NULL,

    PostEvent bit NOT NULL,

    active bit NULL,

    MyNewColumn nchar(10) NULL,

    time_stamp smalldatetime NULL

    )  ON [PRIMARY]

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    DF_tblEmailType_LeadDays DEFAULT ((0)) FOR LeadDays

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    DF_tblEmailType_SendToNonRegistered DEFAULT ((0)) FOR SendToRegistered

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    DF_tblEmailType_PostEvent DEFAULT ((0)) FOR PostEvent

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    DF_tblEmailType_active DEFAULT ((1)) FOR active

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    DF_tblEmailType_time_stamp DEFAULT (getdate()) FOR time_stamp

GO

SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType ON

GO

IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM dbo.tblEmailType)

     EXEC('INSERT INTO dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType (EmailTypeID, Name, LeadDays, ExactTargetTemplate, SendToRegistered, PostEvent, active, time_stamp)

        SELECT EmailTypeID, Name, LeadDays, ExactTargetTemplate, SendToRegistered, PostEvent, active, time_stamp FROM dbo.tblEmailType WITH (HOLDLOCK TABLOCKX)')

GO

SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType OFF

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblUserEventEmail

    DROP CONSTRAINT FK_tblUserEventEmail_tblEmailType

GO

DROP TABLE dbo.tblEmailType

GO

EXECUTE sp_rename N'dbo.Tmp_tblEmailType', N'tblEmailType', 'OBJECT' 

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblEmailType ADD CONSTRAINT

    PK_tblEmailType PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED 

    (

    EmailTypeID

    ) WITH( STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]

GO

COMMIT

BEGIN TRANSACTION

GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tblUserEventEmail ADD CONSTRAINT

    FK_tblUserEventEmail_tblEmailType FOREIGN KEY

    (

    EmailTypeID

    ) REFERENCES dbo.tblEmailType

    (

    EmailTypeID

    ) ON UPDATE  NO ACTION 

     ON DELETE  NO ACTION 

GO

COMMIT

printing using javascript

This script will bring up the print dialog on load of a web page.

<body class="" onLoad="self.print()"> 

thanks to Ian for the tip.