Using Underscores with wildcards in SQL queries

Yesterday, I wanted to do a wildcard query on table names that included an underscore. Since the underscore is considered a wildcard for a single character, I needed a way to 'Escape' the underscore. Fortunately there is a keyword that can be used in SQL.

Example: where fieldname like '%sp^_%' ESCAPE '^'

The Escape character now is the caret.

XMLRead and XMLWrite MSBuild Tasks

Hey,

I found what I was looking for...MSBuild Tasks for Reading and writing to a config file.

http://msbuildtasks.tigris.org/

MSBuild Equivalents to NAnt Tasks

Here is a pretty good link to equivalent tasks in MSBuild. I was looking for an equivalent to xmlpeak and xmlpoke. Guess I will have to write my own, unless someone else has one created.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MSBuild.EquivalentTasks

Creating Project and Item Templates - Visual Studio 2005

Folks,

It doesn't get much easier than this. I have created several templates in 2003, what a pain in the rear end.

Life is now simple,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/06/01/CodeTemplates/default.aspx

Hanselminutes

Scott has really done a fine job in all of his Hanselminutes episodes. Great Content!!!!

I thought it is particularly cool that he mentions the ASP.Net 2.0 MVP Hacks book written by David Yack, the head of the Southern Colorado .Net User Group, which I will be presenting at next month.

Partial Classes - Adding a new method from the class designer

Yesterday during the Southern Colorado .Net User Group, a question came regarding adding methods to a particular partial class. This is how it is done.

1. Right-Click on the heading of the partial class in the class diagram and choose Properties.
2. Change the New Member Location property to the file you want to add to.
3. Add your method, property, etc. It will now go to the appropriate file location.

You Can't Beat the Price - Axosoft OnTime 5 Users 5 Bucks

What a great deal. I have tried the eval before. It is real well done.

Thanks to Rob Zelt for the link.

http://www.axosoft.com/Products/ontime.aspx?cn=otm_stepromo

Deal ends February 24, 2006

ASP.NET 2.0 Chapter 13 - Working with XML

This chapter gives a basic overview on what XML is all about. It shows how to work with all aspects of XML. It is just pure coincidence that Scott Hanselman has put out a Hanselminutes episode this week on XML. As usual, he provides a lot more insight into using XML, including some very good tools to use.

What was that shortcut key

I prefer using keyboard shortcuts whenever possible in the Visual Studio IDE. There have been several keyboard shortcuts that have changed in 2005. I got frustrated going to Tools - Options just to find a keyboard shortcut, so I wrote a macro that brings up an input box to allow me to type in some text that is equivalent to a command.

But go figure, after implementing this macro and coding on my own, I found a very similar example here.

http://www.mobydisk.com/softdev/techinfo/dotnetkeyboard.html

Data Management in ADO.Net - Chapter 12

Wow!!!! What a lot of new features:

SQLBulkCopy
MARS
Asynchronous Connections and Commands

And my favorite, The DataTable is now serializable, woohooo!!!!

There is great detail in this chapter about the above areas. This should really enhance the way data retrieval and updates are currently done.

Chapter 11 - Databinding

The new datasource object, can it really be that simple. At least when it comes to direct access to the database from the UI tier.

I wish that business object binding would have been covered a little more in depth, however, there are some great tips on how to do it.

Even though this is much simpler than the old way to bind data, I still am a little disheartened about such a direct connectivity to the datasource. I wonder what Rocky Lothka did with his CSLA archtecture to utilize these datasource components?

DNRTV

DotNetRocks podcasts To DNRTV, Carl Franklin has outdone himself again. These shows are top notch.

Kudos go to Mark Miller, the DXCore show was absolutely amazing. I now am going to spend a lot of time looking at the object browser to understand more of what I can do with this FREE (Did I Say Free) developer add-in to extend visual studio in ways I never even thought of before. Thanks Mark.

Chapter 10 - The curveball in the book

A chapter describing collections and lists (in an ASP.NET book????)

I am not complaining however. This is probably the best reference that I have ever seen on the hows and whys of ArrayLists, Collections, and etc, etc, etc....

Phenomenal guys...This could have been a small ebook all by itself....

Chapter 9 - Themes and Skins

This chapter tells how to use thems from the App_themes folder to styles, css, and images in the theme. I didn't go too into depth into this chapter, however, doing some more reading on theming and skins won't hurt. I currently build my own skins for DotNetNuke, so I am very familiar with CSS and styles.

Chapter 8 - Working with Master pages

Visual Master Pages - How Nice!!!!

The best thing about this chapter was how the authors delved in to work with Master Pages for different situations, showing how to work with Master page properties and controls, and configuation options in the web.config file specifically geared to Master Pages.

Of course.... Visually view master pages is the best...