Restoring VS.NET 2005 Smart Tags...

.. after installing the C# Language Service (LINQ Preview May 2006)? You see the Smart Tag, but as soon as you click on the down-arrow to get the wizard or option list, the Smart Tag just disapears? - Annoying!! Here is the fix:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=419975&SiteID=1

XML Notepad - New Release

Nice litte Tool from Microsoft: XML Notepad. A slick and slim alternative to Altova XMLSpy or VS2005 XMLEditor.

It does support:

• Browsing XML
• Instant schema validation
• Intellisense according XSD
• Undo/Redo
• much more

Design is documented, Source Code is included, Tool is written in C# 2.0 and does use intensively System.Xml.

To get the code up and running in VS 2005 Solution, do the following:

• Open XmlNotePad.sln
• Delete Projects not needed (reduce to the max :-)
  - I just use Projects "Application", "Help" and "XMLNotePad"
• Delete reference to not existing *.snk file (thru Project-Properties, Signing, disable "Sign the assembly")
• Add a reference to the libraries XmlDiffPatch.dll and XmlDiffPatch.View.dll to Project "XMLNotepad"
• Set Project "Application" as Startup
• Run

Now, the solution should run without trouble.

Web Client Software Factory

Microsofts Pattern & Practices Team has released a first Version of Web Client Software Factory. A Version for Smart Clients does exist as well.

Guidance and best practices how-to implement Applications End-to-End. WCSF does/will use techniques like ASP.NET AJAX, WF.

Both Factories are in eary stages.

Syndication Icons

Identify synicated content with the standard icons. Harmonize - Customize - Stanardize:



But where do I find the official icon for ATOM ?

IE 7 - RC 1

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7, Release Candidate 1, August 24. Additonal Information at Microsoft Watch.

HTMLEncoder / -Decoder

HTMLEncoder / HTMLDecoder
There is nothing to say about. Just valuable.

Profile your SQL Express 'User Instance'

In the free SQL Server 2005 Express Edition , you get a new connection string parameter 'User instance=true'.

"data source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Integrated Security=SSPI;
AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|people.mdf;User Instance=true"

When this parameter is specified, SQL Express will create another instance of the sqlservr.exe process on the client. This process is running in the security context of the currently logged on user. The connection object passed back to the client is connected to this new user child instance, running as a client process in the user's security context.

More details about User Instances? Read this excellent article on msdn: Working with User Instances

SQL Profiler

For monitoring purposes (what's going on under the hood, troubleshooting and more), the SQL Server Profiler acts as a big time safer. The Profiler is able to read and display all the traffic between the client (e.g. a custom-application, SQL Management Studio etc.) and the SQL Server. Just attach the Profiler to a running SQL Server instance.

But how to attach to a 'user instance', where you don't have a well known instance name?

First, query the master database from SQL Express as follows:



There you get the named pipes per instance. You get the heart-beat as well: alive or dead (if the Lifetime of a User Instance Connection has timed out; default is 60 minutes).

Second, connect with the pipe (just alive instances can be connected):



Third, get the traffic, sniff, profile...



You get the Profiler together with Workgroup-, Standard- and Enterprise edition.

SQL Server Management Studio / SQL Server Management Express

This solution will work for SQL Server Management Studio as well:



The Management Studio does display all attached Databases(in my case AspNetDB.MDF and People.MDF). - There is the free Version SQL Server Management Studio Express.

Searching for a used string?

... then checkout this page http://www.connectionstrings.com/ ;~)

SQL 2005 Service Manager

With "SQL 2005 Service Manager" you can easily manage different SQL Services.

Local on my dev-machine, I have SQL2k5, SQLExpress nad SQL2k installed and by default, this services are not started when the OS starts. I don't need SQLServer every day, so they shouldn't block memory.



Thanks to this free tool, it's handy and easy to manage (start, pause, stop) the different SQLServices on the different SQLServers.

This Tool and more codes and articles you will find at http://www.sqldbatips.com/

GhostDoc

GhostDoc is a free add-in for Visual Studio that automatically generates XMLdocumentation comments for C#.

After you have installed the software, just move the cursor into properties and methods and call the "Document this" command either using the context menu or by pressing the hotkey (if you assigned one).

Here is a sample, where all the comment is generated by GhostDoc:

/// <summary> 

/// Initializes a new instance of the class. 

/// </summary> 

/// <param>name="id": The id.</param> 

/// <param> name="name": The name. </param> 

/// <param> name="latitude": The latitude. </param> 

/// <param> name="longitude": The longitude. </param>

/// <param> name="category": The category. </param>

/// <param> name="imageUrl": The image URL. </param>

/// <param> name="infoURL": The more info URL. </param> 

/// <param> name="description": The description. </param> 

public void MapItemRow(int id, string name, double latitude, double longitude, string category, string imageUrl, string moreInfoUrl, string description)

{ }