onDevelopment+=1;

Getting point in time snapshot using Visual Source Safe

jcallico@callicode.com — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I'm not a fan of meta posting but this information was so valuable to me that I wanted to keep track of it on my blog just in case something happens to the original article.

If you are one of the unlucky few (I would like to think there are no many of us) still using Visual Source Safe in 2010, then I bet that you've needed to get a version of your project at a given point in time. It happened to me today again and instead of setting with the "Sorry, SS doesn't support that" I set up to find a solution.

I found an old post by Brennan Stehling with the exact instructions to get a point in time snapshot using Visual Source Safe or using Brennan words: Get by date.

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Graphics.FromImage method leaves handle to file open if object is not disposed.

jcallico@callicode.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Today, when writing a function that opens an image, adds a simple text on the top corner and streams the resulting image to the client I noticed that the original image used as template couldn't be renamed or deleted after the code ran for the first time and for as long as the web application remained running. Restarting the web application makes the problem to go away until of course the offending code runs again.

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File not found when selecting build details (ViewProjectReport.aspx) on CruiseControl.NET

jcallico@callicode.com — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

After installing and configuring CruiseControl.NET on my Windows XP development station I was getting a File not Found (HTTP 404) error when trying to see the details of a given build, i.e. selecting Latest Build from the main menu.

Since these URLs don't point to a file in specific but to a "fake" location that is in place handled by CruiseControl.NET I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with the directories I was using on my project's configuration.

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How to disable .pdb generation in Visual Studio 2008

jcallico@callicode.com — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

First things first: If you think .pdb files are only used when debugging your application locally and are not needed when deploying production binaries, please read the following article by John Robbins: PDB Files: What Every Developer Must Know.

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Stop launching unnecessary instances of ASP.NET Development Server when debugging.

jcallico@callicode.com — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:00:00 GMT

This is one of these things that bother you but not enough to make you take any action about them.

Ever since I started using Visual Studio I've been bother by the fact that if your solution contains multiple web projects, when debugging, an instance of "ASP.NET Development Server" is started for every one of them, even if you have selected a "Single startup project" on your Solution properties.

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GDR Disappointment

jcallico@callicode.com — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

I'm currently multitasking: writing this post and also running the uninstaller for the Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR.

I was very excited with all the new features, already planning in my mind how I was going to create new database projects as part of my solutions, how I was going to stop using SQL Management Studio to write stored procedures, how I was going to start deploying my SQL changes as part of my releases until I actually installed the application and tried to use the functionality I need the most from the VS Database Edition: Schema and Data comparisons.

After trying for several hours to make it work, excusing the application and blaming the “learning curve” for the lack of progress I just decided to wait until the next version of the GDR is released.

Too many things just don’t work when comparing schemas; maybe too much attention was paid to the “new” features and the “old” features that made my company choose VS Database Edition over the duo of the Standard Edition and the most expensive Red Gate Software’s SQL Compare simply don’t work.

By the way, don't forget to follow these steps otherwise the old comparison functionality won't be there when you restart VS:

   1. Uninstall “Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR”.
   2. Open a Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt with Elevated Privileges (Start / All Programs / Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 / Visual Studio Tools / Visual Studio Command Prompt.
   3. Execute the command
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\DBPro\DBProRepair RestoreDBPro2008

Script to rebuild all indexes in a SQL 2005 database

jcallico@callicode.com — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I took an old script I had and modified it to:

- Include Schema support.
- Replace the old DBCC DBREINDEX statement with ALTER INDEX ALL.
- Rebuild the indexes online if the Enterprise edition was installed.
- Generate information about the tables processed.

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About the error: The name ... does not exist in the current context

jcallico@callicode.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT

When you try to compile in .Net 2.0 (and up) web pages created using .NET 1.1 and automatically migrated by Visual Studio you may receive an error like this:
The name "SampleControl" does not exist in the current context.

If you try to declare the control in your code-behind file you will receive the following error:
The type "SamplePage" already contains a definition for "SampleControl".

The solution is very simple - but hard to find - and involves making the Page class partial and moving all control declarations to a .designer file.

This can be done automatically with the following steps:

1- Right click on the .aspx file for the codebehind file that doesn't compile.
2- Choose the 'Convert to Web Application' option.

This will create a .designer file, and the page will compile.

Reading about Design Patterns

jcallico@callicode.com — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Last week I found this site on digg.com it caught my attention and since I was busy at that moment I saved it on my del.icio.us bookmarks to check it out later.

This Sunday I had an extra free time - since there is not much to do outside when it feels like -28C outside - and decided to go back to the article.

Well this is excellent reference material for any developer/software architect. The video tutorials are excellent and guide you step by step in understanding and implementing the given pattern.

Here is the link to the article: http://sourcemaking.com/design-patterns-and-tips

Say goodbye to HTML tables

jcallico@callicode.com — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

This month while involved on the redesign of a very popular website I decided not to use HTML tables anymore - or at least avoid its use as much as possible. Ten years ago - when I started building websites - Tables were your friends not your foe. Along came CSS and the idea of separating the content from the way it is presented.

CSS is been around for a while and almost all the sites currently use it somehow but do they use it well? Check out CSS Zen Garden and decide if your site allows being re-skinned as much as this site.

It’s been an excellent experience and I’ll be posting some tips about how to build CSS-friendly sites in the future.