VS 2010 –Some amazing features

For the past some months I'm looking into what’s there will be with Visual Studio 2010.At its beta releases VS 2010 faced a series of problems(Installer crash,Add reference empty in Silverlight project, Smart device project creation problem). Now they fixed most of the issues in the latest releases.I’m describing some of the cool new features with 2010 IDE.

View Call Hierarchy

By this we can see the hierarchical list of function usage.We can see the parameter details and function location.

Data & Schema Comparer

Previously most of us struggle a lot in comparing data's and schemas in and between databases. Also there was some third party tools Sql tool belt from Redgate, its so expensive.In Visual Studio 2010(I'm using vs 2010 ultimate) there is a new schema and data comparison tool.You can select two different databases and run the comparison task.

Architectural and UML Model Explorer

This is quite useful for functional & architect.In the tool bat Select->Architecture->Windows->Architecture Explorer.Dig into it and do more!!!

Debugging With IntelliTrace

Visual Studio 2010 had a vast changes in the debugging sections.One of the cool feature is “IntelliTrace” which will more helpful while debugging the application as it provide a detailed picture of the debug info , you can record debug information and we can later look up into the previous debug info.

With IntelliTrace, you can actually see events that occurred in the past and the context in which they occurred. This reduces the number of restarts that are required to debug your application and the possibility that an error will fail to reproduce when you rerun the application.

Also we can pin-in values to variables  while debugging!!!

Read more in MSDN Click here

Read more about debugging information on ScottGu Blog Click here

Also VS 2010 newly added

• Optional & Named parameters(like old vb 6)
• Insert Code Snippet for JS,Html
• We drag windows outside the model-Multi monitor support(Like we drag a tab to another window in Firefox&chrome)

And many more…that i will update in this chain.

Go and Rocks with VS 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Converting “Var” to Dataset

After a long time back i’m into my blog…Didn’t get enough time to sit with the things..

In some cases we need to convert the anonymous datatype var to a dataset or datatable.we cant do it directly as so.Here is a

Simple method that will return the var or List item to dataset

   public static DataSet ToDataSet(List list)
    {

        Type type = typeof(T);
        DataSet ds = new DataSet("Company");
        DataTable dt = new DataTable("Contacts");
        ds.Tables.Add(dt);
        //Dynamically adding columns to data table
        foreach (var propInfo in type.GetProperties())
        {
            dt.Columns.Add(propInfo.Name, propInfo.PropertyType);

            //You can add columns manually also here
            if (propInfo.Name == "ID")
            {
                dt.Columns.Add("Photo");
            }
        }
        foreach (T item in list)
        {
            DataRow dr = dt.NewRow();
            foreach (var propInfo in type.GetProperties())
            {
                dr[propInfo.Name] = propInfo.GetValue(item, null);
            } 
            dt.Rows.Add(dr);
        }
        return ds;
    }

Xml Manipulation Using Linq-Some basic lessons

The “functional construction” feature of Linq to Xml provides great usability in creating and modifying xml documents. XDocument object is used for the xml declarations. The XElement class constructor are used in resolving the xml entities.

string path = Server.MapPath(@"/Linq2XML/DataStore.xml");
        XDocument xd = XDocument.Load(path);
        var result = from c in xd.Elements("DataStore").Elements("Table") select new { oid = (string)c.Element("oid"), BuildName = (string)c.Element("BuildName"), Appserver = (string)c.Element("Appserver"), DBServerName = (string)c.Element("DBServerName"), dbname = (string)c.Element("DBName"), comments = (string)c.Element("comments") };

This will load the Xml file to your XDocument object and perform a linq operation to get the xml elements. We can use Descendants to return the filtered collection of matching XName elements.

For modifying the elements we can use the SetElementValue Method of XElement, that will set, add and remove child elements.

public void ModifyEnvironments(string oid,string buildName,string appServer,string dbServer,string dbName,string comments )
    {
        XDocument objdoc = XDocument.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Envdetails\DataStore.xml"));
        var items = from item in objdoc.Descendants("Table")
                    where item.Element("oid").Value == oid
                    select item;
        foreach (XElement itemElement in items)
        {
            itemElement.SetElementValue("BuildName", buildName);
            itemElement.SetElementValue("Appserver", appServer);
            itemElement.SetElementValue("DBServerName", dbServer);
            itemElement.SetElementValue("DBName", dbName);
            itemElement.SetElementValue("comments", comments);          
        }
        objdoc.Save(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Linq2XML\DataStore.xml"));
    }

We can use Remove() to delete an element.Also can use RemoveContent method that will make an empty element tag()

 public void DeleteEnvironment(string oid)

    {
        XDocument objdoc = XDocument.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Linq2XML\DataStore.xml"));
        var items = (from item in objdoc.Descendants(@"Table")
                     where item.Element("oid").Value == oid
                     select item).FirstOrDefault();
        items.Remove();     
        objdoc.Save(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Envdetails\DataStore.xml"));
    }

For adding new XElement we can use the Add() method

    public void AddEnvironments(string buildName, string appServer, string dbServer, string dbName, string comments)
    {
        XDocument objdoc = XDocument.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Envdetails\DataStore.xml"));
        XElement xe = objdoc.Descendants("DataStore").Last();
        xe.Add(new XElement("Table", new XElement("oid", GetMaxOid()), new XElement("BuildName", buildName)
            ,new XElement("Appserver",appServer),new XElement("DBServerName",dbServer),new XElement("DBName",dbName),
            new XElement("comments",comments)));
        objdoc.Save(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(@"\Linq2XML\DataStore.xml")); 
    }

Please find the sample XML file (“DataStore.xml”)here

Location and Sensor Platform in Windows 7

Cool , there are some nice sets of Location and Sensor API associated with windows 7.As now computers are portable like cellular phone the necessity of GPS enabled application are very useful. If your laptop doesn’t have any sensors installed it will take the default location provided by the user. This Location and sensor API open wide variety of applications.

References
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd318936(VS.85).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd464636(VS.85).aspx


Learn how to read the GPS co-ordinates, See this article.
http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2006/10/31/912287.aspx
Even More..

Func<T,TResults> – Flexible delegate to create reusable functions

Today while googling i found an interesting feature of delegate Func<T,TResults> ,it allows us to represent a method that can be passed as a parameter without declaring a custom delegate explicitly and the method must have one parameter that is passed to it by value and must return a value.

In the following example we need to explicitly define a new delegate and assign a named method to it.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace BlogSamples
{
    delegate int ConvertMethod(int _x);
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ConvertMethod objConv = SquareMe;
            int val = 5;
            //delegate is called
            Console.WriteLine(objConv(val));
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
        private static int SquareMe(int myInt)
        {
            return myInt * myInt;
        }
    }
}

Without explicitly defining a new delegate it can be simplified as below

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace BlogSamples
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Func convertMethod = SquareMe;
            int val = 6;
            Console.WriteLine(convertMethod(val));
            Console.ReadKey();
        }
        private static int SquareMe(int myInt)
        {
            return myInt * myInt;
        }
    }
}

Please see the msdn link for more references.

Restoring backup of Partitioned Database in sql server 2008

If we need to restore a database having some 'n' number of partition its very tedious to give all the partitioned filegroup to restore into a particular location in the database server.The below example we demonstrate to perform the task.Run the script in the master database.

IF Exists (SELECT '1' from sysobjects where name = 'RESTOREBKP_2008' and type ='p')
BEGIN
DROP PROCEDURE dbo.RESTOREBKP_2008
END
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE RESTOREBKP_2008
(
@DBName varchar(max), -- DATABASENAME
@BackupPath varchar(max), -- BACKUPFILEPATH
@Path varchar(max) -- PHYSICALPATH
)
AS
BEGIN

DECLARE
--Variables declaration
@ResFilesOnly Nvarchar(max),
@ResQuery Nvarchar(max),
@STR AS nVARCHAR(MAX),
@Logicalname as nvarchar(max),
@physicalname as nvarchar(max)

--- LOOP Variable
DECLARE @I AS INT, @J AS INT


set @ResFilesOnly='RESTORE FILELISTONLY
FROM DISK = '''@BackupPath''''

set @I = 1

DECLARE @RESTORE AS TABLE(
LogicalName nvarchar(128), PhysicalName nvarchar(500), Type char(1), FileGroupName nvarchar(128),
Size numeric(20,0), MaxSize numeric(38,0), FileID bigint, CreateLSN numeric(38,0),
DropLSN numeric(25,0) NULL, UniqueID uniqueidentifier, ReadOnlyLSN numeric(25,0) NULL,
ReadWriteLSN numeric(25,0) NULL, BackupSizeInBytes bigint, SourceBlockSize int,
FileGroupID int, LogGroupGUID uniqueidentifier NULL, DifferentialBaseLSN numeric(38,0) NULL,
DifferentialBaseGUID uniqueidentifier, IsReadOnly bit, IsPresent bit,TDEThumbprint varchar(500)
)
INSERT INTO @RESTORE
EXEC sp_executesql @ResFilesOnly

SELECT @J = MAX(FILEID) FROM @RESTORE
SET @STR = ''
WHILE @I <= @J
BEGIN
SELECT
@Logicalname = LTRIM(RTRIM(Logicalname)), @physicalname = LTRIM(RTRIM(REVERSE(LEFT(REVERSE(physicalname),CHARINDEX('\',REVERSE(physicalname))-1))))
FROM
@RESTORE
WHERE
FILEID = @I
SET @STR = @STR + 'MOVE N''' + @Logicalname + ''' TO N''' + @Path + @physicalname + ''', '

SET @I = @I + 1
END

--Restore Backup Query
set @ResQuery = 'RESTORE DATABASE ' + @dbname + ' FROM DISK = '''+ @BackupPath + ''' WITH '+ @STR +
N' NOUNLOAD, STATS = 10'

EXECUTE SP_EXECUTESQL @ResQuery
END

Execute this Stored Procedure in your master database as given below

EXEC RESTOREBKP_2008 '', '', ''

Note:-In case of any clarification please mail me to mail@renjucool.com

See this article in MSDN by me http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Sql2008PartionedDb

Sql Server Reporting Service –Silverlight enabled

For sometime before i’m thinking of the reports(SSRS/CR) to be enabled by silverlight technologies, so after googling i found out a amazing tool from perpetuumsoft to display SSRS reports in RIA enabled UI can do a deep zoom!!!!.Seems rocking!!!!

Debugging for Silverlight

Find out the RIA platform silverlight debugging tool from MSFT,whdc. also see this blog regarding the memory leak problem in silverlight.

 http://blogs.msdn.com/delay/archive/2009/03/11/where-s-your-leak-at-using-windbg-sos-and-gcroot-to-diagnose-a-net-memory-leak.aspx

Table Comparison in Sql Server

SQL Server is having a command line tool (TableDiff) to compare the data in two tables.It will perform the following task.

1. A row by row comparison between a source table in an instance of Microsoft SQL Server acting as a replication Publisher and the destination table at one or more instances of SQL Server acting as replication Subscribers.
   
2. Perform a fast comparison by only comparing row counts and schema.
   
3. Perform column-level comparisons.
   
4. Generate a Transact-SQL script to fix discrepancies at the destination server to bring the source and destination tables into convergence.
   
5. Log results to an output file or into a table in the destination database.

eg:

 

 "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM\TableDiff.exe" -sourceserver "SERVERNAME" -sourcedatabase "DBNAME" -sourceschema "dbo" -sourcetable "SOURCETABLE1" -sourceuser "sa" -sourcepassword "PASSWORD" -destinationserver "SERVERNAME" -destinationdatabase "DBNAME" -destinationschema "dbo" -destinationtable "SOURCETABLE2" -destinationuser "sa" -destinationpassword "PASSWORD" -dt -o "C:\Documents and Settings\renjuraj\My Documents\diff.xls"

 

Run the above command in command prompt.Please refer your sql server installation path(C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM\TableDiff.exe).

Windows 7 Startup Animation Design

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Rolf Ebeling, a senior user experience lead for the User Experience Design and Research Team for Windows, Windows Live, and Internet Explorer, is the man who designed the 105-frame Windows 7 boot animation that millions see or will see every day for years to come. Along with developing the famous boot animation, he also helped with the appearance and functionality of the calculator. He's already confirmed that he'll be working on the next version of Windows. Ebeling was only with the company for four months before he was asked to start designing what would become four swirling balls of light that come together to form a pulsing Windows 7 flag. Although the sketches of the early boot animation concept pictured above don't show it, Ebeling said he looked everywhere for inspiration, including street lights in the rain, light reflecting off water, and fireflies. A self-taught designer with a degree in English literature, Ebeling was a creative director for Newsweek.com in New York before joining Microsoft in April 2008, his first software job.

Source :Microsoft