Getting Country List from CultureInfo

We can use CultureInfo to get the list of countries/languages.Today i got a method to list all the countries, even it has some duplicate values that are elimated by a distinct linq query.

public void CountryList()
{
ArrayList cList=new ArrayList();
foreach (CultureInfo ci in CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.AllCultures & ~CultureTypes.NeutralCultures))
{
RegionInfo ri = new RegionInfo(ci.LCID);
cList.Add(ri.EnglishName);
}
var countries = cList.ToArray();
var i = (from temp in countries select temp).Distinct().OrderBy(s=>s);
foreach (var item in i)
{
listBox1.Items.Add(item.ToString()); 
}
}

Also an interesting thing with Textinfo to make the first letter of a string/sentence to capital.(Little bit tricky :-))

string temp = "MULTIDIMENSIONAL NEWTON RAPHSON";
string firstSmall = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TextInfo.ToTitleCase(temp.ToLower()); //I made a trick to make the string to lower case
MessageBox.Show(firstSmall.ToString());

Output :Multidimensional Newton Raphson

Workstation & Server Garbage Collector

There are two types of garbage collector,the workstation GC and Server GC.Workstation is the default on client versions of windows,but server is much faster on multicore machines.The Server GC utilize more memory

  
<configuration>  <runtime>    
 <gcServer enabled="true"/> 
 </runtime>
</configuration>

Note:All sample code is provided is for illustrative purposes only.These examples have not been thoroughly tested under all conditions.Myself, therefore, cannot guarantee or imply reliability,serviceability, or function of these programs.

Bugs in Sql Server

Today i got noticed a bug in sql server 2005(also in SSMS 08) while executing a simple select statement

select 3 --(*)

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1

Incorrect syntax near '--(*'.

If we put a space or any other characters before the "(" there is no error. Also
select 3 --)* not returning error.Any way this is a bug in sql server as it does not parse the comment statements



Also i got an error message while Parsing an sql script as

."Net SqlClient Data Provider: Msg 0, Level 11, State 0, Line 0
A severe error occurred on the current command. The results, if any, should be discarded."

But the script is executing successfully and giving the accurate results!!!!

Last modified Db User Objects & Tables without Trigger in Sql server

If you need to check the details of all DB User Objects by Last Modified Date try the following query


select name, modify_date, case when type_desc = 'USER_TABLE'
then 'Table'when type_desc = 'SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE' then 'Stored Procedure'
when type_desc in ('SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION', 'SQL_SCALAR_FUNCTION', 'SQL_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION')
then 'Function'end as type_desc from sys.objects where type in ('U', 'P', 'FN', 'IF', 'TF')and is_ms_shipped = 0
order by 2 desc  
Find the below query that will list all tables without triggers in sql server.This is helpful when someone modify the table
make sure that there aren't any tables that have triggers on them so that stuff doesn't start to break after you make changes.
 
SELECT ob1.name FROM sysobjects ob1 LEFT JOIN sysobjects ob2 ON
ob1.id =ob2.parent_obj AND ob2.xtype = 'TR'
WHERE ob2.name IS NULL AND ob1.xtype = 'U'
ORDER BY ob1.name

ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and Handlers)

HTTP modules and handlers can be used in ASP.NET to provide a high degree of componentization for code that is orthogonal to a web application, enabling entire sets of functionalities to be developed,packaged and deployed as a single unit and independent of an application. ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and Handlers) illustrates this approach by demonstration of an application-wide error logging that is completely pluggable. It can be dynamically added to a running ASP.NET web application, or even all ASP.NET web applications on a machine,without any need for re-compilation or re-deployment.The end-user(if allows) can view the exception/inner exception logged in the server,Its description and even the screen-shot of the
error page


It can be downloaded from
http://code.google.com/p/elmah/
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479332.aspx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/7/E97DB6A9-3418-46DF-99CA-840
357FE4D72/MSDNElmah.msi

Using spt_values to generate junk datas

master..spt_values can be used if you need to populate a table with 100 numbers from 1,or if you need to generate some Junk/Test data.Refer the query below that will generate data of various datatypes

select
abs(checksum(newid()))%10000 as n_id,
abs(checksum(newid()))*rand()/10000 as f_float,
substring(replace(cast(newid() as varchar(36)),'-',''),1,abs(checksum(newid()))%15) as s_string,
dateadd(day,0,abs(checksum(newid()))%100000) as d_date,
abs(checksum(newid()))%2 as b_byte
from master..spt_values
where type='p' and number between 1 and 200

Getting all reference of an Assembly

To get the assembly reference in a ASP.NET web application i found a recursive method that will read from the csproject file.
Import these namespace also
using System.Xml.Linq;
 
public void LoadAssembly(string path)
{

int result=0;
XNamespace msbuild = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003";
XDocument projDefinition = XDocument.Load(path);
IEnumerable<string> references = projDefinition.Element(msbuild + "Project")
.Elements(msbuild + "ItemGroup")
.Elements(msbuild + "Reference")
.Elements(msbuild + "Name")
.Select(refElem => refElem.Value);
foreach (string reference in references)
{

richTextBox1.AppendText(reference);

richTextBox1.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);

        }
}
 
If you need to loop through the IEnumerable iterator to find out other xml nodes u can use the following
 
using (IEnumerator<string> enumerator = references.GetEnumerator())
{

while (enumerator.MoveNext())
result++;

}
if (result == 0)
{

//Do ur xml operations

}

Trigger to monitor the entire database server

Please find this trigger script to monitor the entire database activities and to log its records into audit tables.
It will work on Sql Server 2008.
 
USE [master]
-------Create table -------------------------
-- DROP TABLE AuditTrigger
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[AuditTrigger](
[OID] [bigint] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[Details] [varchar](max) NULL,
[Host] [varchar](20) NULL
)
GO
-----Create proc to insert into AuditTrigger table
IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM sysobjects where name = 'PInsertAuditTrigger')
BEGIN
DROP PROCEDURE PInsertAuditTrigger
END
GO
CREATE PROC PInsertAuditTrigger(@Details varchar(max),@hostname VARCHAR(MAX))
AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO master.dbo.AuditTrigger(DETAILS,HOST) SELECT @DETAILS,@HOSTNAME
END
-------- Trigger to monitor tables
GO
CREATE TRIGGER [Table_Trigger]
ON ALL SERVER
FOR create_table,alter_table,drop_table
AS
BEGIN
print 'Create/Alter table is not allowed - '+host_name()
rollback;
DECLARE @host_name varchar(max),@Details varchar(max)
SELECT @host_name = Host_name(),@Details = 'Create/Alter table'
exec dbo.PInsertAuditTrigger @Details,@host_name
END
-------- Trigger to monitor procedures
GO
CREATE TRIGGER [Proc_Trigger]
ON ALL SERVER
FOR create_procedure,alter_procedure,drop_procedure
AS
BEGIN
print 'Create/Alter procedure is not allowed - '+host_name()
rollback;
DECLARE @host_name varchar(max),@Details varchar(max)
SELECT @host_name = Host_name(),@Details = 'Create/Alter procedure'
exec dbo.PInsertAuditTrigger @Details,@host_name
END
-------- Trigger to monitor login,roles and database
GO
CREATE TRIGGER [Misc_Trigger]
ON ALL SERVER
FOR Create_role,drop_role,alter_role,create_database,drop_database,alter_database,create_view,alter_view,drop_view,create_login,drop_login
AS
BEGIN
print 'Illegal operation is not allowed - '+host_name()
rollback;
DECLARE @host_name varchar(max),@Details varchar(max)
SELECT @host_name = Host_name(),@Details = 'Illegal operation'
exec dbo.PInsertAuditTrigger @Details,@host_name
END
GO

Removing all active connections from the db

Use Master

Go

Declare @dbname sysname

Set @dbname = 'DBNAME'

Declare @spid int Select @spid = min(spid) from master.dbo.sysprocesses

where dbid = db_id(@dbname)

While @spid Is Not Null Begin

Execute ('Kill ' + @spid)

Select @spid = min(spid) from master.dbo.sysprocesses

where dbid = db_id(@dbname) and spid > @spid

End

Sql Server 2008-Spacial Data

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers comprehensive spatial support that enables organizations to seamlessly consume, use, and extend location-based data through spatial-enabled applications which ultimately helps end users make better decisions.storing Lat/Long data in a geography datatype and being able to calculate/query using the functions that go along with it.It supports both Planar and Geodetic data.


•Use the new geography data type to store geodetic spatial data and perform operations on it

•Use the new geometry data type to store planar spatial data and perform operations on it

•Take advantage of new spatial indexes for high performance queries

•Use the new spatial results tab to quickly and easily view spatial query results directly from within Management Studio

•Extend spatial data capabilities by building or integrating location-enabled applications through support for spatial standards and specifications

DECLARE @g GEOMETRY
SET @g = 'LINESTRING ( 69 26, 69 23, 69 21, 67 20, 65 20,
63 18, 58 17, 52 17, 51 17, 49 17, 45 18, 44 20,
44 21, 42 26, 42 29, 42 32, 42 35, 43 35, 47 38,
50 41, 55 42, 58 42, 65 44, 66 44, 67 44, 68 45,
69 47, 70 48, 70 50, 71 51, 70 56, 68 60, 68 63,
66 65, 65 66, 63 68, 60 71, 59 71, 57 71, 55 71,
51 69, 45 65, 44 63, 42 62, 41 59, 41 57, 41 56,
41 54, 42 53 ,67 77 ,44 88)'
insert into location values(2,'renju',null,@g);

declare @p geometry
set @p= 'POLYGON ((30 30, 40 30, 40 40, 30 40, 30 30))'
insert into location values(3,'renju2',null,@p);

http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/spatial-data.aspx

Sql Server Hidden Features - Part 2

A lot of SQL Server developers still don't seem to know about the OUTPUT clause (SQL Server 2005 and newer) on the DELETE, INSERT and UPDATE statement.
It can be extremely useful to know which rows have been INSERTed, UPDATEd, or DELETEd, and the OUTPUT clause allows to do this very easily -

it allows access to the "virtual" tables called inserted and deleted (like in triggers):

 

DELETE FROM (table)OUTPUT deleted.ID, deleted.DescriptionWHERE (condition)

 

If you're inserting values into a table which has an INT IDENTITY primary key field, with the OUTPUT clause, you can get the inserted new ID right away:

INSERT INTO MyTable(Field1, Field2)OUTPUT inserted.IDVALUES (Value1, Value2)

 

And if you're updating, it can be extremely useful to know what changed - in this case, inserted represents the new values (after the UPDATE), while deleted refers to the old values before the UPDATE:

 

UPDATE (table)SET field1 = value1, field2 = value2OUTPUT inserted.ID, deleted.field1, inserted.field1WHERE (condition)

If a lot of info will be returned, the output of OUTPUT can also be redirected to a temporary table or a table variable (OUTPUT INTO @myInfoTable).

 

More tips

• Use ctrl-0 to insert a null value in a cell
• WITH (FORCESEEK) which forces the query optimizer to use only an index seek operation as the access path to the data in the table.
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510478.aspx
• PIVOT and UNPIVOT
• Save transactions
• Select xact_state()  --Returns whether transaction pending/committed
• xp_fixeddrives       --Returns the free disk space in the server
• SELECT ASCII('A'),CHAR(65),CHAR(ASCII('A')),UNICODE(N'?'),NCHAR(923),NCHAR(UNICODE(N'?')) --Some Ascii/unicode features
• select * from tablename tablesample(2 percent) --Returns the 2% of the records in the db.Alt select top 10 percent * from table
• select cast(GETDATE()as varchar) as datetime --Returns the date time as formatted.
• WITH TIES
  The SELECT TOP N query always return exactly N records, and arbitrarily drops any record that have the same value as the last record in the group
• select top 5 with ties * from scores order by name desc
• SELECT Column FROM Table ORDER BY CHECKSUM(NEWID()) -- Return rows in a random order

• master..xp_cmdshell to run commands from a command prompt on the server
  master..xp_cmdshell 'dir d:\'   --List the Directory
  master..xp_cmdshell 'sc query "ccm6.5_ess"' --Query a service
  master..xp_cmdshell 'sc start "ccm6.5_ess"' --Start a service

 

Two free security tools from Microsoft SDL team

The SDL team here at Microsoft released a couple of new tools recently to help development teams verify the security of their software before they ship. BinScope Binary Analyzer and MiniFuzz File Fuzzer are both being offered as free downloads. The team took the time to make sure that both tools work as stand-alone tools as well as integrated into Visual Studio and Team System.

BinScope is a verification tool that has been used inside Microsoft for several years to help developers and testers confirm they are building their code to use compiler/linker protections required by the SDL. BinScope allows you to scan your code to verify you are setting important security protections such as /GS, /SafeSEH, /NXCOMPAT, and /DYNAMICBASE. In addition it checks to see that you are using .NET strong-named assemblies, good ATL headers, an up-to-date compiler, and not using dangerous constructs such as global function pointers.



Both of these tools are equipped to easily integrate with Visual Studio 2008 Pro as well as Team Foundation Server 2008 and Team System 2008. By installing BinScope as integrated, it can be launched and output results within the Visual Studio IDE. MiniFuzz can be installed as an external tool add-in. Both tools have easy-to-set integration with Team Foundation Server 2008 and compliment the SDL Process Template for VSTS.

Writing secure code is becoming very important to most development teams. I am glad to see the SDL team making these types of tools available to the Visual Studio development community and making it easier to ship more secure code.

Sql Server Hidden Features

Stored Procedures

* sp_msforeachtable: Runs a command with '?' replaced with each table name (v6.5 and up)
* sp_msforeachdb: Runs a command with '?' replaced with each database name (v7 and up)
* sp_who2: just like sp_who, but with a lot more info for troubleshooting blocks (v7 and up)
* sp_helptext: If you want the code of a stored procedure
* sp_tables: return a list of all tables
* sp_stored_procedures: return a list of all stored procedures
* xp_sscanf: Reads data from the string into the argument locations specified by each format argument.
* xp_fixeddrives:: Find the fixed drive with largest free space
* sp_help: If you want to know the table structure, indexes and constraints of a table
Functions

* HashBytes()
* EncryptByKey
* PIVOT command

TableDiff.exe

* Table Difference tool allows you to discover and reconcile differences between a source and destination table or a view. Tablediff Utility can report differences on schema and data. The most popular feature of tablediff is the fact that it can generate a script that you can run on the destination that will reconcile differences between the tables.
See More

Return rows in a random order
SELECT
SomeColumn
FROM
SomeTable
ORDER BY
CHECKSUM(NEWID())

In Management Studio, you can put a number after a GO end-of-batch marker to cause the batch to be repeated that number of times:

PRINT 'X'
GO 10

Will print 'X' 10 times. This can save you from tedious copy/pasting when doing repetitive stuff

Identity Coloumn Insert

Last week i need a scenario to insert values into a table having an identity coloumn only.

eg: create table test(id int identity)

Is it possible to insert values into the without setting identity insert off/on.I find out a method as follows.

insert into test() default values
go 20

This will insert 20 records to the table haaa...
Will update later..

Google Wave: the sky is falling!!!

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Google Wave is also a platform with a rich set of open APIs that allow developers to embed waves in other web services and to build extensions that work inside waves.

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

So is Wave going to threaten RIA platforms? I don’t know. Is it even an RIA platform? I just think that all the messages about how Wave is pushing out things like Flash, Silverlight or JavaFX are unfounded at this point. They all serve purposes.I still requested for an invitation to join waves,but not yet received from google.One who got invites can invite 8 more people,if then so please invite me to mail@renjucool.com
http://wave.google.com