TBD

Debate Azure vs. Amazon Web Services

2011-09-05T12:00:00.002-04:00

This morning I was pointed to an interesting article that goes over some interesting arguments both for and against using Azure vs. AWS: http://gigaom.com/cloud/the-great-debate-windows-azure-vs-amazon-web-services/. Ultimately what this looks like it will come down to is a question of the right fit for your organization. Do you employ primarily .NET developers or Java developers? Is most of your investment in Microsoft or do you have a mix (Oracle/Java/IBM)?

Developers: Exercise Your Problem Solving Skills

2011-04-05T12:24:00.002-04:00

A friend at work showed me this. Facebook has some good software engineering puzzles they are using to screen potential software development employees. The puzzles are arranged from easy ("snacks") to hard ("meals") to advanced ("buffet"). All of them are challenging.

Caveat Emptor: Excellent Article About Flash Memory

2010-05-27T11:15:00.005-04:00

http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=918

Mint Now Available for Android

2010-05-03T21:52:00.001-04:00

A Mint client is now available for Android in the Marketplace.

How to Upgrade Your Verizon Droid to 2.1

2010-04-05T14:01:00.002-04:00

You don't have to wait for Verizon. Here's a great how-to article on MobileCrunch.com.

The Evolution of C#

2010-04-02T14:34:00.013-04:00

This is a work in progress. Primer for .NET Developer technical interview?

C# 2.0

Generics: Jon Skeet, Microsoft
Iterators: O'Reilly (Apr 2004), Microsoft
Partial Classes: O'Reilly (Apr 2004), Microsoft
Nullable types: Jon Skeet, Microsoft
Anonymous Methods: O'Reilly (Apr 2004), Microsoft
Static classes: Jon Skeet, Microsoft
Partial types: Jon Skeet
Indexers: Microsoft
Aliases: Jon Skeet
Property access modifiers: Jon Skeet
Delegate changes: Jon Skeet, Microsoft (Covariance & Contravariance)
Implementing iterators with yield statements: Jon Skeet
Comprehensive: CodeProject, Microsoft

C# 3.0

Implicitly Typed Local Variables: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Implicitly Typed Arrays: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Object & Collection Initializers: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Extension Methods: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Anonymous Types: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Lambda Expressions: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Query Expressions: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Expression Trees: Microsoft (Mar 2007)
Auto-Implemented Properties: Microsoft (Mar 2007)

C# 4.0

Dynamic Lookup: CodeProject (Jul 2009)
Named and Optional parameters: CodeProject (Jul 2009)
COM Interop: CodeProject (Jul 2009)
Variance: CodeProject (Jul 2009)

Keeping Your Home PC Up To Date

2010-03-31T21:21:00.009-04:00

Keeping your PC current with Operating System and software patches, Virus Protection, and Spyware Protection has never been easy but it's getting there. In addition backups are a concern as well. Lately I've been using a four-pronged approach, all of which are currently free...

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware. Microsoft Security Essentials is an effective tool based on what of seen and read, as well as my own experience. I was a subscriber to Windows Live OneCare which handled Virus Protection, Spyware, Operating System patches and backups in one easy to use application. Unfortunately Microsoft discontinued this little gem and offered Security Essentials in its place for free.
Backups. The simplest and easiest backup application is built right into your Microsoft operating system. I'm running Windows 7 Backup & Restore but the Windows XP OS has a similar feature. I use an external drive to store the backups. The great thing about these backups is how easy it is to restore multiple user profiles when rebuilding my PC from scratch (i.e., reinstalling the Operating System).
Application Update Notifications. I've been using this great free product for several weeks now, FileHippo Update Checker. It's free and it has been working well without any problems. In the four weeks or so since we've installed it I've been notified of at least six different software application updates including the Sun Java Runtime, Apple iTunes, Apple QuickTime, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, and more.
Operating System Patches. Once again, built right into the Windows operating system is Windows Update. I've been using this for years now without a problem. In addition to Operating system updates, Microsoft Office updates are included as well.

Another great tool I've come across is Secunia Software's Personal Software Inspector (PSI). I've been using this without any problems for a several weeks now as well. It is also free and purports to "detect vulnerable and out-dated programs and plug-ins which expose your PC to attacks".

Popular Anti-Spyware options include Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware (free version), and Windows Defender.

LifeHacker.com has an excellent guide to keeping your PC up to date...

Good Motorola Android Guide

2010-03-18T22:18:00.001-04:00

Master Google Android: 40 Tips and Tricks

How to Copy All Email From MS Outlook to Gmail

2010-03-16T01:07:00.001-04:00

I have been hosting my own Microsoft Exchange Server from my home for the past five years. Recently the hard drive went south on the only Domain Controller I had in my network. As luck would have it this occurred on the day before a two week family vacation. After several failures attempting to restore Active Directory I quickly decided to host our email on Gmail. I pointed DynDNS to Gmail's servers and voila! After returning from vacation I got around to bringing the Exchange Server back up. For now I decided I would stick with Gmail (yes I drank the Kool-Aid).

So Google has a neat tool Google Email Uploader that does the trick (Contacts & Email). The only thing now is my calendar (I have lot's of birthdays, anniversaries, and other recurring appointments)...

One major downside for me with the whole process was having to go through and fix many of the tags. Google doesn't use folders; instead the concept of a "tag" is used. The app converts each folder to a tag but if you have folders inside folders, the entire folder path becomes the tag. For example: "Employment\Benefits\401K\" was one tag. I flattened this structure by creating three tags, "Employment", "Benefits", and "401K", and then assigned all three tags to the emails in the folder. The process led me to simpliify my filing structure as well.

Correction: Android Does Have Multitouch

2010-03-13T20:24:00.001-05:00

I stand corrected. There is an applicaton called PicSay that allows "pinch and zoom", similar to the iPhone.

Android Annoyances

2010-03-13T20:05:00.002-05:00

A few things that the Motorola Droid lacks:

1. Multitouch (only Google Maps has multitouch)

2. Can't play Flash videos

3. No LogMeIn client (I want that)

4. No Mint client (yet -- supposedly in the works)

It appears that Flash may be added soon. It also seems likely to me that if they can do multitouch for Maps (iPhone has it), they can do it for other apps as well. Either it's on the way or violates a patent that Apple has on the iPhone. LogMeIn? I hope soon. Mint is also supposedly in the making...

04/18/2010 UPDATE. Just noticed the announcment on Adobe's site that Flash Player 10.1 which will run on Android 2.0 (& higher) will be released sometime during the first half of 2010. In addition Android 2.1 update has improved multitouch added to the browser and the photo gallery.

04/19/2010 UPDATE: The release of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 has been pushed back to the second half of 2010. Mint has been promising an Android client and here is a screenshot. LogMeIn is also apparently in development.

Moto Droid MAC Address for Wi-Fi

2010-03-12T23:10:00.003-05:00

If you're like me and you have MAC filtering turned on in your Wi-Fi unit it can be tricky locating the MAC address of your Motorola Droid (Android v2.0). You will need to enter this into the list of MAC addresses allowed in your wireless unit's administrative screens.

From the home screen (desktop) open the fly-out context menu and select "Settings".
Scroll to the bottom and select "About Phone".
Select "Status".
Scroll to the bottom (near the bottom) under "Wi-Fi MAC address".

Once connected to the Wi-Fi unit you will find your browsing speed is greatly improved.

Mind Mapping for Android

2010-03-12T12:27:00.001-05:00

Thinking Space is a great Mind Mapping tool that appears to integrate with FreeMind.

50 Best Android Apps

2010-02-18T18:51:00.001-05:00

There are several "Best apps for Android" lists on the web but here's the motherload: http://androinica.com/2009/08/31/50-best-android-apps-lifestyle-and-productivity-apps-1-15/

Blogger.com Client for Android

2010-02-18T10:10:00.009-05:00

There are two primary contenders for blogging at http://blogger.com/...

AndroBlogger. More limited but slightly more intuitive. Allows user to view comments for a given blog entry, which is nice. Clearly aimed at Blogger.com.
Blogaway. Better text editor than AndroBlogger. Also allows for Geo-caching (where the blog was posted from). Allows for editing previous posts. There is a nice blog for the app as well. My preference over AndroBlogger.

Android Office App

2010-02-18T08:59:00.001-05:00

Documents To Go seems to be the best Office product for Android on the market right now.

Just Purchased the Motorola Droid from Verizon

2010-02-13T22:37:00.010-05:00

A good place to start is the Android Forums site (http://androidforums.com/how-tips/17407-motorola-droid-ultra-faq.html). It came with a 16gb Micro SD card. I wanted this thing to be a portable PC so I needed a few essentials.

Astro File Manager (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfsH6EvYS5I). This is necessary to browse the SD card like a file system. There is also no Media Player-like interface for videos & movies and this serves as a point to open your movies.

Movies must be in MPEG-4 format. To rip DVDs to movies I found WinX DVD (http://www.winxdvd.com/). Free version of course. A full-length DVD such as Iron Man ends up being less than 2gb. That 16gb goes pretty fast.

Advanced Task Killer is aother must-have. This free utility is similar in function to the Task Manager in MS Windows operating systems, allowing the user to terminiate applications running in the background that are no longer in use.

Weather.com offers a free utility that is very useful on the Droid. One can quickly see what the weather will be today, hour-by-hour, or 10-days out.

FeedR is a great blog reader.

NPR has a handy shortcut, as do Amazon, YouTube and FaceBook.

On the more advanced side of the house are applications like Locale, Car Locater, Barcode Scanner, Goggles, FlghtTrack, Scan2PDF Mobile (very James Bond!), and Google Sky Map.

Finally I've purchased some hardware for the Droid that I have been exceedingly pleased with so far. The Motorola Windshield Mount (http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Droid-Snap-Cover-Mount/dp/B0037V7TZI/)is great for using the GPS feature. The Droid Alrm Clock Docking Station (http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Droid-Multimedia-Docking-Station/dp/B002WB2P76/) also makes all the sense in the world to me.

Three important applications I'm still looking for: an Office Application Suite (Word, Excel, Visio), a good personal finance package (track budget, expenses, sync with Quicken/Microsoft), and a solid Remote Desktop application (like LogMeIn.com).

SQL Server 2005 Service Broker

2009-12-09T14:36:00.003-05:00

So we've started doing some enterprise application integration and it was decided that we will use the Service Broker platform built into SQL Server 2005. Here is a good primer on the subject. Microsoft has continued with Service Broker in SQL Server 2008 as well.

Locating Special Characters in T-SQL

2009-12-03T12:26:00.009-05:00

I ran into a situation recently where we were performing a data load from a SQL Server database to a third-party application and the load failed because of CrLf (carriage-return + line-feed) and Lf characters in large string field. The solution was to strip out the characters (and in this case replace them with HTML markup). Here's what I used to find the characters in the source database...

SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM
[TableName]
WHERE
[FieldName] LIKE '%' + char(13) + char(10) + '%'

Char(13) is a carriage-return and char(10) is a line-feed.

To swap the characters for HTML tags I just used the SQL Server Replace function...

REPLACE(@CharacterString, char(13) + char(10),'<BR/>')

Displaying the List of Column Names in SQL Server

2009-11-04T15:43:00.005-05:00

Two ways to display the list of column names for a table. The examples use the AdventureWorks database.

Use the sp_help procedure.
exec sp_help 'HumanResources.Employee'
Query the information_schema table.

SELECT column_name
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_name = 'HumanResources.Employee'
ORDER BY ordinal_position

10 Myths about Charles Darwin

2009-10-21T21:38:00.004-04:00

I greatly enjoy reading and thinking about evolution. Here's an interesting article about Charles Darwin exposing some common fallacies (some of them I thought were true). To date I've only finished reading the Voyage of the Beagle but in my experience you get a much greater understanding of things when you go to the source. If you want a real eye-opening experience (besides reading the works of Darwin or Ernst Mayr of course) check out the TalkOrigins archive.

How to identify your SQL Server version and edition

2009-08-05T10:48:00.008-04:00

Here's all you need (Article ID 321185)...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321185

NLB vs. Hardware

2009-04-18T22:16:00.002-04:00

Joel Oleson has a good article about Microsoft's Network Load Balancing (software-based), hardware-based load balancing, and some good pointers for when not to use NLB.

Vista x64 Error: Profile Service Failed Logon

2009-04-04T22:34:00.004-04:00

Logging onto my home network I received the following error this week:

The User Profile Service service failed the logon.
User profile cannot be loaded.

I found the following two solutions online but chose the second because my profile contained a great deal of information (desktop icons, etc.) that I didn't want lost (I do use Windows Live OneCare but I didn't trust that I had current backup)...

Delete profile and restore from backup (this is the official Microsoft solution - Article ID: 947215).
In the Windows Registry locate the key for your profile (under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentUser\ProfileList\), delete the one with the .bak extension, and rename the Temp profile.

Find All SQL Server Stored Procedures Containing Table Reference

2009-04-02T09:39:00.006-04:00

This a real quick and dirty approach for locating all procedures in a SQL Server (2000/2005/2008?) database that contain a reference to a table name, or any other database object or string for that matter.

use [db name]
select distinct o.name
from syscomments c
inner join sysobjects o on o.id = c.id
where o.type = 'p'
and c.text like '% [name of db object or string] %'
--and o.name not like 'rpt_%'
order by o.name

In the 'where' clause above the sysobjects.type field is limited to 'p' for [stored] procedure. Another common type I have been searching in lately is a function 'fn'. Someone compiled a helpful list of sysobject types, comparing SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008 here.

SharePoint Designer Now Free?

2009-03-31T16:17:00.007-04:00

Looks like SharePoint Designer will be free starting April 1, 2009. I was unable to verify this from an official Microsoft site but did see it referenced on more than website.

Update (4/8/2009): SharePoint Designer 2007 can be downloaded free of charge from the official MS Office SharePoint Designer site.
.

Two Approaches for Deploying SharePoint Solutions

2009-03-31T12:25:00.013-04:00

I've come across two approaches for deploying SharePoint Solution Packages. There are of course other ways of doing this, including a cafeteria-style combination of both of these. Also, I haven't covered deploying Features as Solution Packages using Visual Studio 2005 here.

To give some background and perspective the following figure depicts the three steps in the SharePoint Solution deployment process...

First the Solution is added to the Solution Store.
Next the Solution is deployed from the Solution Store to the Content Sites (these can be Site Collections or Sites).
Finally, if it was deployed as a Feature (a recommended Best Practice) the Solution must be activated at the Site Collection or Site it was deployed to.

Below are the two approaches I've seen and used. I've only used the GUI approach in Visual Studio 2008…

Command line. This approach can be used universally (regardless of whether the Solution was written in VS 2005 or 2008). However it is manual and generally more prone to user error. You also cannot create a script to complete this process using GUI tools the way you can using the command line. Some samples of stsadm.exe usage are here.
- Add solution: From a command prompt navigate to the directory location of stsadm.exe (C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\) and enter the following command. If you are not deploying a Feature you can use the file path and file name of the .dll instead. TechNet reference.
  stsadm –o addsolution –filename [Path & filename of wsp]
- Deploy solution: From the same file path use the following to deploy the Feature to the Farm. TechNet reference.
  
  stsadm –o deploysolution –name [filename of wsp] -immediate
- Activate solution: This is only necessary if you are deploying a Feature. If you are deploying a .dll you should not perform this step. TechNet reference.
  
  stsadm –o activatefeature –name [name of Feature Directory]
GUI. This approach uses a combination a combination of Visual Studio 2008, SharePoint CA (Central Administration) and a SharePoint Content Site. As a prerequisite I am assuming you have VSeWSS 1.2 installed (Scot Hillier has an interesting in-depth review of VSeWSS 1.2 here).
- Add solution: In Visual Studio build the Solution binary by right-clicking the Solution in the Solution Explorer window and selecting Build Solution. If the build is successful repeat the same process but this time select Deploy Solution.
- Deploy solution: In SharePoint CA, on the Operations tab under Global Configuration select "Solution management". Locate your Solution (.wsp) in the list of Solutions in the Solution Store and click it. On the Solution Properties page click "Deploy Solution".
- Activate solution: If the Solution was not deployed as a Feature this step is unnecessary. If the Solution was deployed as a Feature it will be necessary to activate the solution. At the Site Collection level this can be done by doing the following. Navigate to the Site Collection TLS (top-level site). In the upper right corner select Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings. Under the Site Collection Administration column (to the right) select the "Site collection features" link. On the Site Collection Features page locate your Solution/Feature and click the Activate button.

SharePoint Administration Toolkit

2009-03-31T10:12:00.004-04:00

The Microsoft SharePoint Product Group has released what looks like a useful SharePoint administration toolkit. The functionality is generally targeted to complex farm or multi-farm scenarios.

SharePoint Error: "The language-neutral solution package was not found"

2009-03-30T13:02:00.004-04:00

Every once in a while when I am in the middle of deploying a Visual Studio 2008 SharePoint project (in Solution Explorer, right-click the Solution and select Deploy Solution) I get the following error: "The language-neutral solution package was not found".

So far the only solution to this I've found is to save the Solution, close Visual Studio, then reopen Visual Studio.

Adding Assemblies to the GAC

2009-03-27T10:17:00.009-04:00

While working with SharePoint I've found the following approaches (choose any one of the following) for adding assemblies to the GAC. A full explanation for all of the gacutil switches can be found in the Microsoft MSDN Library at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ex0ss12c(VS.80).aspx. Note that these are for a single-server farm scenario running Windows Server 2003 R2.

If Visual Studio .NET (any version) is installed, Start > All Programs > Microsoft Visual Studio [version] > Visual Studio Tools > Visual Studio [version] Command Prompt. From the command prompt navigate to the folder where the assembly to be added to the GAC resides and enter the following...

gacutil.exe -if "[assembly name]"

From a raw Command Prompt navigate to the location of the gacutil.exe program (C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Silverlight\v2.0\Libraries\Server\) and enter the following...

gacutil.exe -if "[assembly file path & name]"

Log onto the SharePoint server as an administrator and using Windows Explorer copy the assembly to be added to the GAC into C:\WINDOWS\assembly. Do this by dragging the assembly from the bin folder of your VS project into the C:\Windows\assembly folder.

Okay so where's the 12 Hive again?

2009-03-26T14:16:00.003-04:00

Typically C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\.
.

Intranet Maturity Framework

2009-03-24T14:45:00.007-04:00

Avenue A Razorfish (a Microsoft company) has an intriguing Intranet Maturity Framework Wiki that describes various intranet states based on the relationship between business value and information usage. There are 6 stages identified. On the low end of the scale are intranets that are primarily information publishing in nature. On the upper, more sophisticated end are those intranets referred to as the "Consolidated Workplace Interface" - a unified portal through which everyone in the host organization performs their work or goes for information.

SharePoint Governance

2009-03-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

Microsoft has an excellent SharePoint Governance site at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb507202.aspx.

SharePoint Development with Silverlight 2.0

2009-03-20T16:57:00.013-04:00

There are currently three modifications to make to your SharePoint environment for hosting Silverlight 2.0. First install the Silverlight runtime from http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/. Then...

Add a MIME type for Silverlight. I'm running my SharePoint farm on Windows Server 2003 (these instructions are a little different for Windows Server 2008). On the SharePoint server open IIS, right-click the server node and select Properties. Click the "MIME Types..." button. Click the "New..." button and add a MIME type. Extension: .xap (include the dot ".") MIME Type: application/x-silverlight-2.
Add System.Web.Silverlight.dll to the GAC. I found System.Web.Silverlight.dll at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Silverlight\v2.0\Libraries\Server\" in my [Windows Server 2003 R2] development environment. So from a command prompt (at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0a\bin") I entered the command: gacutil -i "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Silverlight\v2.0\Libraries\Server\System.Web.Silverlight.dll". Verify the installation by navigating to C:\WINDOWS\assembly (on a Windows 2003 Server OS): System.Web.Silverlight.dll should appear in the list.
Modify the SharePoint web.config file. This file is typically located at C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80\ but your mileage may vary.

A good article to start with is Light Up SharePoint With Silverlight 2 Web Parts. Be sure to do the above in the order given. For example, step 3 (web.config) relies on System.Web.Silverlight.dll being in the GAC.

OWA Web Parts in SharePoint

2009-03-20T14:54:00.020-04:00

I was using Outlook Web Access web parts on my "My Site" page and noticed that the "My Inbox" web part doesn't have a "New" button allowing me to create a new email. This seems a bit inconsistent because I can open an email and reply to it.

So I went looking for a way to display the "New" button. I discovered that there is a lot of flexibilty when displaying OWA parts in SharePoint if you are using Exchange 2007. However at my company we are currently using Exchange 2003.

I opened OWA in a browser window and was able to get just my inbox to appear using the http://[server]/exchange/[myname@mycompany.com]/inbox/?cmd=contents. I can do the same with my calendar using http://[server]/exchange/[myname@mycompany.com]/calendar/?cmd=contents&view=monthly. However when I return to SharePoint and attempt to do the same thing I have issues. Site Actions > Edit Page, then Edit > Modify Shared Web Part gets me to the field where I can enter the URL (replace the Mail Server Address"http://[server]/exchange/" with whatever you would like to see the results).

After trying a number of URL/querystring combinations, including those above, I've come to the conclusion that the web part code is obviously doing something to the querystring other than just appending information to it. For example I attempted an injection approach by using one of the URLs above with an ampersand "&" at the end but that didn't work.

I discovered that I could get the entire OWA interface (Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, etc.) in a single My Inbox web part by entering "http://[server]/exchange/?/" (note the question mark denoting the beginning of a querystring) in the Mail Server Address box. This has the benefit of squeezing everything in a single web part rather than spreading several web parts around.

MSDN Mag: 10 Best Practices for Building SharePoint Solutions

2009-03-17T11:29:00.006-04:00

The March 2009 issue of MSDN Magazine has an excellent "best practices" article for developing in SharePoint.

Outline for SharePoint 2007 Development Environment

2009-03-06T10:11:00.006-05:00

With less than a year of SharePoint experience, below is a sketch of the steps I've been taking to build a SharePoint developer desktop environment. I'm sure I will be fine-tuning this. For example, I am not using Disk Differencing which would probably make things easier by using the same base OS image to start...

Create a virtual machine (I use MS Virtual PC 2007).
Install Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise. I'm not certain what the optimal version of Windows 2003 is so a just use the sledgehammer approach).
Install IIS (include SMTP).
Apply OS patches.
Install Visual Studio 2008 Professional.
Apply any patches and/or Service Packs.

By installing as a standalone no network accounts are required.

I would also like to install SQL Server 2005 in there somewhere (my guess is this will have to be before SharePoint is installed) but I'm not certain of a few configuration elements yet.

Tony Zink has a number of posts that describe at length how to create a VPC development and demo image at http://www.pptspaces.com/sharepointreporterblog/lists/posts/post.aspx?ID=28. Someone also posted a comment about a VHD Resizer tool that looked handy.

Update (4/8/2009): My wife also has a thorough guide for installing SharePoint on a VPC here.

SharePoint Installation

2009-03-01T19:04:00.002-05:00

Create the following Domain accounts. Remember to give them strong passwords.
1. SP2007Admin
2. SP2007Search
3. SP2007ContentAccess
4. SP2007SSP
5. SP2007MOSSAppPool
Install Base Farm with CA
1. Create the VM and installed Windows 2003 R2
2. Install OS patches
3. Install IIS
4. Install patches
5. Install .NET 2.0 and 3.0 frameworks
6. Install patches
7. Install SQL Server 2005
8. Install latest Service Pack and patches/hotfixes
9. In SQL Server add the SP2007Admin account created above to SQL Server…
  1. Grant the account login access (Security > Logins) to the SQL Server
  2. Add the account to the following SQL Server Roles (Security > Server Roles): sysadmin, securityadmin, dbcreator
10. Log off the VM and log back on using the SP2007Admin account.
11. Install SharePoint. This will create the CA (Central Administration) site. By convention I use 5555 as the port for CA.
12. Add your account to the Farm Administrators group (Site Actions > Site Settings > Users & Permissions > People & Groups > New > Add Users)
13. Add services (Operations > Topology & Services > Services on Server).
  1. Turn on WSS Search (use [domain]\SP2007Search & [domain]\SP2007ContentAccess accounts)
  2. Next turn on MOSS Search (use SP2007Search)
  3. Start Excel Services (only available with SP 2007 Enterprise version)
Create SSP

**Prerequisite: Search must be turned on and configured.
1. Application Management > Office SharePoint Services Shared Services
2. New SSP
3. Create new web app (same screen). By convention I use 6666 as the port for the SSP. Use [domain]\SP2007SSP as the service account.
4. Create a new web app for MySites. By convention I use 7777 as the port for MySites. Use [domain]\SP2007SSP as the service account.
5. After the SSP has been created login to the SSP (SSP1) using the SP2007Admin account. Under Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Collection Administrator (under Users & Permissions) add your network login ID as a Site Collection Administrator.
6. Still in the SSP, Site Actions > Site Settings > People & Groups, click Site Permissions from the Quick Launch bar and add your account with Full Control rights.
7. Still on the SSP Home Page, under User Profiles & MySites, click Personalization Services & Permissions. Add your network login ID and select all rights.
8. Test your work. Use your own network login ID.
  1. User Profiles and MySites: User Profiles & Properties. Start a full AD import. (Note the time and day of the week so you can do this before audience compilation.)
  2. Audiences: Create and compile a test audience.
  3. Search Settings: not much to test yet…
  4. Email settings…
Create a Web Application for Content Sites
1. In CA > Application Management (tab) > Create or Extend Web Application > Create New
2. Use port 80
3. Use the [domain]\SP2007MOSSAppPool AD account
4. Create the web application and navigate to Create Site Collection via link.
5. Create Site Collection using the Publishing (tab) > Collaboration Portal template.

Nice California Red (Folie A Deux)

2009-03-01T17:42:00.003-05:00

I had a red wine with dinner last night that I thoroughly enjoyed: Folie A Deux - Menage A Trois.

Tips for Analyzing SharePoint Usage and Performance Diagnostics

2009-02-25T22:54:00.005-05:00

Two recent posts on the SharePoint Team Blog I would like to examine more thoroughly when I have the chance...

STSADM

2009-02-10T23:19:00.006-05:00

The following sample stsadm commands are useful when working with Features and Solutions. The stsadm.exe application can be found at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN\.

Deactivate a feature:
stsadm –o deactivatefeature –name wileyfeature–url http://sp2007dev/sitedirectory/wroxprosp2007teamsite

Uninstall a feature:
stsadm –o uninstallfeature –name wileyfeature

Add a solution to the Solution Store:
stsadm –o addsolution –filename c:\wsp\wileyfeature.wsp

Deploy a solution from the Solution Store:
stsadm –o deploysolution –name wileyfeature.wsp -immediate

Retract a solution from the Solution Store (do this before deleting the solution completely from the Solution Store – this is the opposite of the deploysolution switch):
stsadm –o retractsolution –name wileyfeature.wsp –immediate

Delete a solution from the Solution Store (do this only after retracting the solution from the web server – this is the opposite of the addsolution switch):
stsadm –o deletesolution –name wileyfeature.wsp

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MS Virtual PC: Virtual Machine Network Services driver

2008-11-08T21:08:00.008-05:00

My desktop is running Vista Ultimate x64 with SP1. I built a virtual machine using Microsoft Virtual PC x64 SP1 to host my SharePoint development environment. The VM is running Windows Server 2003 SP2 and SharePoint 2007 is installed as a single server farm. I've also installed Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, Visual Studio 2008 with SP1, and Visual Studio 2008 Extensions for WSS 3.0 (v1.2). Occasionally, after changing the configuration of my physical workstation (for example installing software or changing hardware), I receive the following error when starting the VM:

"Virtual PC could not open the Virtual Machine Network Services driver." This is not a big deal unless you want to access the farm from another host (such as your workstation) or need to connect to the internet to apply patches and install additional software. I've come across several references on the internet that recommend installing SP1 for Virtual PC in order to resolve this. I had already done this but the problem was still appearing. Next I tried uninstalling VPC, rebooting, and reinstalling. Same problem. Finally after a number of unsuccessful attempts, I determined that the following sequence of events will reliably fix the problem each time the message appears...

Disconnect the VM from the virtual network. In the VPC console select the VM image and click Settings. Select "Networking" from the list on the left. Select "Not Connected" from the drop-down list for Adapter 1 on the right. Click OK to save. You should be able to start your VM without any errors at this point, however you are no longer connected to your workstation or the network.
Disable the Virtual Machine Network Services service. Open the Network Connections window. In Vista, Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Shareing Center > Manage network connections. Right-click your local area network connection and select "Properties". Uncheck "Virtual Machine Network Services" and click OK.
Reboot your workstation.
Enable the Virtual Machine Network Services service. Open the Network Connections window. In Vista, Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Shareing Center > Manage network connections. Right-click your local area network connection and select "Properties". Check "Virtual Machine Network Services" to enable the service and click OK.
Reconnect the VM to the virtual network. In the VPC console select the VM image and click Settings. Select "Networking" from the list on the left. Select your network driver from the drop-down list for Adapter 1 on the right. Click OK to save.

The VM should start without any errors. If I determine exactly what the issue is I will update this post.

Passed Final SharePoint Exam

2008-10-30T19:06:00.003-04:00

Whew! I passed my final SharePoint 2007 exam today (MOSS 2007 Application Development, 070-542). Now all I need to do is get another SharePoint Job...

Passed the WSS 3.0 Developer Exam

2008-10-21T22:50:00.001-04:00

Three down, one to go.

ALM Summarized

2008-10-10T14:28:00.015-04:00

There is an article in this month's SD Times about Application Lifecycle Management suites. An ALM suite is any set of software packages that proposes to cover the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). An ALM suite might include for example a requirements tool, a use case tool, a project management tool, a software architecture design tool, an IDE (Integrated Development Environment), a source code control tool, a testing tool, and a build & release tool. Rational (now IBM) and Borland were two companies that developed early ALM suites with some real depth. There are many others.

What is the value of an ALM? Interested parties (project managers, business owners, etc.) can determine the health of a software project. Some questions that an ALM package would help to answer include the following: How far along is the project? [A dashboard view or report can be produced from the suite.] What is the soonest date a production release could be made? [Hopefully always within a few days if CI (Continuous Integration) principals are being followed.] Were all of the requirements met? [There is often some traceability aspect in ALM suites that allows the user to see whether all requirements have been met and how.] Ultimately all of this reduces risk and improves the quality of the project.

Back to the SD Times article mentioned above: I thought one of the most interesting and salient points Lisa Morgan (author) made was that "Not one of the software companies we've talked to claims to offer a totally complete ALM solution and they say that no one currently does." I believe that standard protocols may have to be in place for vendors to play nice but this may take awhile. Look at the state of the ERP (SAP, PeopleSoft, etc.) marketspace to see what I'm talking about. Customers want "best of breed" but vendors want to lock them in.

Also in the print edition of the article, there is an executive summary box titled "What Does ALM Include?" The list is impressively comprehensive...

Requirements planning

Visualization management

Modeling

Design

Feature management

Build management

Configuration management

Change management

Project management

Release management

Testing/QA

Deployment

Monitoring and reporting

Workflow

Collaboration

Team communication

Passed the MOSS 2007 Configuration Exam

2008-10-02T01:55:00.000-04:00

Two down, two more to go!

Passed the WSS 3.0 Configuration Exam

2008-09-26T10:14:00.002-04:00

On Friday, 9/19 passed the first exam for SharePoint 2007: 070-631. I am now an MCTS for WSS 3.0! I have 070-630 (MOSS 2007 Configuration) scheduled for Wednesday, 10/1. After this there are two other SharePoint MCTS certifications to achieve: 070-541 (WSS 3.0 Developer) on 10/10 and 070-542 (MOSS 2007 Developer) on 10/22.

SharePoint Training

2008-07-04T21:51:00.007-04:00

About a week ago I finished a 5-day course for Microsoft SharePoint administration. SharePoint is a collaboration platform that encompasses functionality including content management, wikis, blogs, files sharing (including file check-in/check-out/versioning), workflow/BPM (Business Process Management), BI (Business Intelligence) integration with MS Outlook/Exchange, integration with other third party ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platforms such as Oracle and SAP via the BDC (Business Data Catalog), and an amazing search engine to crawl and index all of these data sources.

The convergence of all of this functionality into a single platform is aggressive. There is room for improvement in some of these areas. For instance a comparison of the document management in SharePoint may not quite be on par with Stellent but it's pretty good.

MindSharp is just a fantastic organization as well. If you need SharePoint Training I can't stress this enough: you need MindSharp. Ben Curry was the trainer for the class I took and he is the most knowledgible, dynamic, student-focused trainer I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. In addition to being a first class teacher his books on Microsoft Press are on par. His titles include Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Administrator's Pocket Consultant and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Best Practices (just published). In addition he contributed material to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Administrator's Companion by Bill English (founder of MindSharp).

Continuous Integration

2008-02-09T20:44:00.002-05:00

Hands-down best Continuous Integration book on the market today. Continuous Integration is an implementation whereby every time a code file is checked into source control a series of actions is automatically kicked off. For example:

Compile the code contained in the files being checked in. If it doesn't compile an email is fired off to the developer who checked in the offending code, asw well as the tech lead, etc.

Run all unit tests written for the code being checked in.

Run integration tests between the code being checked in and the rest of the application or component.

Run QA tests on the code being checked.

Run code review tests on the code being checked in.

Most likely you would not do all of the above with every check-in. For a .NET application you might use CruiseControl.NET and NUnit. The seminal CI article can be found here. It is considered an integral part of many Agile approaches but clearly holds great value in just about any development/SDLC environment.

Great Classical Music Site

2008-02-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

If you're into Classical music Deutsche Grammophon has a great online music store.

2007 Lists from SD Times

2008-01-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

SD Times recently published several lists for 2007, including the following...

Catching Up With Recommended Reading.
The Best Sites for Developers.
Best Blogs of 2007. I'm adding most of these to my Bloglines.

New Rationalist Videos

2008-01-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

Two new fantastic sets of secularist/atheist videos are now available. The general focus of both of these efforts is general apprehension over the rise of fundamentalism in the world today. Specifically, concerns include the prominence of religiously motivated terrorism, politically

The so called "Four Horsemen" (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris & Christopher Hitchens) are available here.
The Second annual Beyond Belief symposium is a refreshing followup to the first, whose focus seemed to be "the new atheism". Beyond Belief is a consortium of well-known academics and scientific professionals focused on faith in an age of reason. My favorite sessions are those focused on recent research, in particular David Sloan Wilson (partly a response to Dan Dennett's presentation), Jonathan Haidt, Gregory Clark, and Pat Churchland. John Allen Paulos' presentation was enlightening. I was particularly interested in Scott Atran's presentation regarding terrorism. Sam Harris' speech was excellent as well.

Excellent Test Driven Development Article

2007-09-21T21:50:00.001-04:00

A friend sent me the following Code Project link:

http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/tdd_in_dotnet.asp.

This is a really good article about Test Driven Development. It includes an NUnit primer with some history and context thrown in. Although it was last updated in 2003 it's still very relevant.

The Future of UML and the American Programmer

2007-09-02T16:19:00.002-04:00

The UML (Unified Modeling Language) has been in existence for some time now. As a developer I've been using Class Diagrams, Sequence Diagrams, and Activity Diagrams for years. In fact I just gave a presentation on UML to my team and I'm scheduled to give the same presentation again in a few weeks to some other interested developers in my company.

The OCL (Object Constraint Language), an extension of the UML, has been in existence for roughly the same amount of time and is a necessary ingredient to bring MDA (Model Driven Architecture) to fruition.

The vision of the OMG (the consortium that owns and maintains the UML) is that in the near future all applications will be written using only a modeling tool. There will be no "code base" to maintain (at least in the current sense of the term). Models will compile straight to machine language. Obviously we are not there yet. Jos Warmer & Anneke Kleppe in their book The Object Constraint Language: Getting Your Models Ready for MDA describe a series of five Modeling Maturity Levels (MML if you can stomach another three letter acronym) analogous to the CMMI levels. The most advanced MML, level 5, known as "Models Only" is achieved when "No adjustments need to be made to the resulting code." I assume this will be due to (1) development tools indicating to the developer that a model won't compile, (2) the abstraction levels being such that the mistakes we as developers make in our code today being nonexistant - we will have other problems to fix, and (3) the conceptual gap that exists today between code and the actual business model being reduced.

All of this raises some interesting questions. Although the MDA Initiative was announced by the OMG in 2000 (if memory serves correctly) how many more years will pass before a tool exists that allows MML Level 5 to be achieved? Will it ever happen? More importantly to those of us who are already feeling the squeeze from watching so many of our jobs go overseas to countries with lower labor rates, will business analysts soon be competing with us as well? Will tools advance to the point that many business people will be doing their own application development?

With regard to the MDA vision: Yes I think in some form, in some way, development tools will eventually achieve the abstraction level promised. Programming languages have progressed from machine languages to assembler languages through to today's high-level object oriented languages (with trade-offs at each transition) in the same way. Advances in hardware technology have contributed to this evolution as well. But how long this will take or whether the current MDA standard will be the winner are questions I don't have the answer to.

As to the plight of the North American programmer: Yes more people from different disciplines will indeed encroach on what was previously programmer territory. In the past application developers have been forced to change as staff cutbacks due to economic pressures have forced them to interact more with stakeholders and take on roles previously handled by project managers and business analysts. More and more, programmers are being forced into the corner of ROI (Return on Investment). Agile Methodologies are also working to change thinking about the Application Development Lifecycle and the programmer's role in it. Ten years from now the role of programmer will be different than it is today, no doubt impacted by new methodologies and tools. I think those who wish to remain on the same career path (corporate developer) must continue to learn the business they are supporting, continue to improve their rapport with business stakeholders through communication skills, and continuously retrain themselves as new technology lifecycles appear. This is not much different than what many of us have already been doing.

If you want to remain in the field of programming stay on top of UML, OCL, & MDA. Learn and be on the lookout for possible alternative paradigms such as Software Factories. Learn as much as you can about competing SDLC Methodologies (Process Models) and ALM tools. Learn how your company's business model works. Good night and good luck...

Ontology

2007-08-18T22:23:00.000-04:00

Ontology = Schema. It could refer to a database schema but more often it is in the context of the W3C's Semantic Web initiative. Specifically, the RDF - Resource Description Framework. Earlier philosophical definition - somehow related?

Multi-Touch

2007-08-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

There's something new and interesting going on at Microsoft called Surface. It's based on a concept that has been around since the early 1980's (Wikipedia has a pretty nice backgrounder). It's called Multi-touch and it is really quite amazing to consider. MAKEzine has a nice little article for you hackers out there. The first thing crossed my mind watching the Surface demos was the movie Minority Report - the Wikipedia article mentions this as well. Actually Spielberg hired a number of professional "futurists" during the production of MR (for more on this see the Production section of this Wikipedia entry).

I rode home on the train this evening with a good friend who actually has a working prototype of something similar to Surface in his basement, though on a smaller scale. He's using an Acrylic screen that he purchased from Lowe's, a repurposed web cam, and some LEDs that he's sanded down. He explained that technology approach he is using is something called FTIR. What surprised me was that the most popular approach to Multi-touch is IR-based (infra red). I Can't say I completely comprehended everything he was trying to convey but I was fascinated.

Another thing Multi-touch brings to my mind is the whole UbiComp movement. I'm working my way through a great book on the subject, "Everyware - The dawning age of ubiquitous computing" by Adam Greenfield.

Fantastic Microsoft Video Training Library

2007-08-14T02:16:00.000-04:00

On Microsoft's ASP.NET site they have amassed quite a few training videos available for free at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/asp.net/bb498194.aspx. There are dozens on AJAX alone.

Business Rules Management

2007-08-14T02:12:00.000-04:00

I’m reading an excellent book about Business Rules Management Systems (BRMS) and SOA called, oddly enough, "Business Rules Management and Service Oriented Architecture". I’m still trying to get my head around what the next big thing will be but I’m pretty sure it will have something to do with the two of these.

The author duscusses some interesting nuances, for example there are levels of business rules: those that can never be broken, those that can occasionally be broken, etc.

The Semantic Web will be a part of the larger picture as well but I’m just not sure how it all fits together yet.

Just Purchased a Great Keyboard

2007-08-14T02:09:00.000-04:00

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 is awesome. Low profile keys. Ergodynamically designed. It is worth the money. Read the reviews: the only downside I have seen are complaints about the wireless connectivity. I haven't had any problems with the keyboard but I have had occasional issues with the mouse losing connectivity. I haven't determined the cause but I still have my old Logitech wireless station running so I'm thinking that's what is causing the interference.

Getting the Most Out of Your Cell Phone Part 2: Required Hardware & Software

2007-08-14T01:57:00.000-04:00

In Part 1 I went over some basic background information about synchronizing your cell phone with your PC. In this section I’ll go over what you’ll need in the way of software and hardware.But first a little more background. You may be wondering why on earth anyone would want to do what I’m going to show you in the next several posts. Actually if you’re reading this second post you probably already know or aren’t interested but I’m going to tell you anyway ;).

Losing My Contacts. The thing that drove me mad about cell phones was that every time I lost one or replaced one or simply switched carriers I was forced to try to recall all of my contacts and re-enter them. Ridiculous. I know Verizon at least now has a way of backing up your contacts but I’m not interested in sharing my personal information with them. I know they can get it but I won’t be making it easy for them.
Paying Extra for Media I Own. If I already own the media (either by purchasing the CD/DVD or buying it online) I will not pay the phone company to get it.

Ringtones. These companies will kill you on ringtones. Make your own and you never have to think about it again.

Back to the topic: hardware and software. You will need the following…

PC Adapter. My phone has Bluetooth capability. If your phone has it great. You buy a Bluetooth USB adapter and you’re golden for years to come. If you don’t, you’re going have to pay each time you switch phones so make sure your next phone has Bluetooth. Not to mention that if your spouse or other family member have different phone models you’ll have to pay for their adapters too if you wish to work with their phone(s).
BitPim. BitPim is an open source free software application published under the GNU General Public License. It’s free for personal use. Download the latest version.

Media Format Converter. For ringtones, my phone requires all ringtones to be in MP3 format. However the software I use to edit my music, Windows Media File Editor, requires a WMA format. So when I’m finished editing the ringtone I need something to convert it from WMA to MP3 format. I have been using 4U WMA MP3 Converter.

Windows Media File Editor. As previously mentioned, for editing ringtones I have been using Microsoft’s Windows Media File Editor which is a free product available as part of the Windows Media Encoder 9 Series application.

You will likely also need to expand your phone’s available on-board memory with additional Flash memory. Flash memory is getting cheaper every day but a good place to start is DealRAM. You may also wish to rid yourself of messy wires and go with a set of Bluetooth headphones.

Great Free Tool for Brain Dumps

2007-08-14T01:56:00.001-04:00

My father recently told me about a really neat tool called FreeMind. I've been working with it now for a few months and I love it. There are actually a number of so called "mind mapping" software tools available, some commercial, others free. Microsoft Visio also has a Mind Mapping tool called a "Brainstorming Diagram" (under "Brainstorming"). I've found Freemind very useful when attempting to put nebulous ideas or plans to paper. It's a great "first-pass" tool for just getting things out of your head.

Just Picked Up a Nice Webcam

2007-08-14T01:51:00.000-04:00

I ordered the Microsoft VX-3000 webcam and it arrived the other day from NewEgg. It's a nice camera, as cameras go: extremely easy to setup, integrates tightly with MS Windows Live Messenger, and the thing just works. It lacks facial recognition, low-light sensitivity and other high-end features but I have to say it's really a nice little camera for the price.

Now I'm just not sure of what to do with it. None of my friends own webcams (or will admit to it). What to do with it. Hm. Oh well.

Getting the Most Out of Your Cell Phone Part 1: Introduction

2007-08-14T01:06:00.000-04:00

I've been doing this for awhile so I figured I can share it now with confidence. I own an LG VX 8100 which is pretty worn out at this point. My provider is Verizon Wireless. I would love to purchase a SmartPhone model but they are all so damned expensive. I haven't looked lately but from time to time I see them being offered at deep discounts ($50 or even free). However you usually have to purchase a data plan along with a two year contract. That means a monthly bill starting at around $80 + taxes & fees, and about the same for my wife. No can do.

Anyway, here are some things I've been using my phone to do and I'll show you how.

Sync phone contacts with email contacts. The value in this is if you ever lose your phone (which I have done) you won't lose your contacts. I enter new contacts using my email since I usually have internet access wherever I am. You can enter them into your phone and later sync them with your email but I don't recommend that.

Sync your calendar with your phone. If you're like me you use your email calendar for everything: birthdays, anniversaries todo's, etc. I like to give myself reminders as well (maybe a day or two before the event). With LG phones (and others I'm sure) even the alarms/reminders are transferred.

MP3 player. My phone has an expansion slot for memory. Memory is getting so cheap nowadays it's unbelievable. I can get a 2gb miniSD flash card for less than $20, including p&h. That's enough for at least a dozen CDs or more. Many newer phones have BlueTooth so if you're like me and don't care for the wires you can spend a little extra and treat yourself to some BlueTooth enabled headphones.

Make your own ringtones. It's crazy to spend money to get ringtones when you can make them yourself and own them forever. I'll show you how to cut pieces of your favorite CDs or MP3s and make ringtones for your phone.

You don't have to be running a Windows operating system (I do). You will have to spend a little money (~$75) but it will go a long way, and for multiple phones. But you don't have to run out and spend the $75 all at once. In fact if you forgo the ringtones you only need $30.

In Part 2 I'll go over the hardware and software you'll need.