Hi Friends, this article shares my experience with Microsoft user group meeting.
I attended my First Microsoft meeting here in Heartford, speaker was CTO of Tallan systems Mario. He is an expert in Biztalk and the interesting fact is, he is part of Microsoft Virtual Tech Specialists.
see his profile below.
http://www.tallan.com/aboutus/pages/ExecutiveProfile.aspx?profileID=11
He gave good overview of Biztalk, usage, applicability and .net integration. Believe me coding is on his finger tips.
Some points i learned in the meeting.
Microsoft changed its logo recently. Interesting right!!! check the new logo here
http://weblogs.asp.net/pgielens/archive/2004/01/20/60813.aspx
In biztalk you can integrate with all other applications through concept of adapters.
Basically, it is competition for IBM message queue server
we have some cool features like single sign on, WCF adapter SDK etc.,
We can define our own adapters by defining Source and destination XSD's, pipeline, map, functiods. Don't get scared with these words, they are really simple with Biztalk editor, which looks similar to visual studio editor.
License is around 30K for Enterprise edition it seems.
There is a concept called Orchestration, dont ask me what it is :-) i may have to dive deep to understand it more clearly.
He explained a realworld example where it can be useful and then coded a simple application to get the feel of the biztalk development.
The most interesting and stunning part of it is , the next version is again pointing to Oslo (microsof model based development - yet to release) and Cloud computing.
Microsoft is counting big on these two. It would be separate article if i start writing about Oslo, Cloud Computing and Azure......you can find it soon in my blog though.......
Dont worry.....Thirst for knowledge never killed any body in the history......
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Install / Uninstall / start / stop Windows Service Programmatically
Necessity is mother of inventions one of my requirements turned out to be a blog entry again........
How to Install / Uninstall / start / stop Windows Service Programmatically
Sometimes you may want to install / Uninstall a Windows Service programmatically, but the target machine does not have InstallUtil.exe.
Install / Unistall:
To install/Uninstall a Windows Service programmatically, you can build an application to install that Windows Service.
Add a reference to System.Configuration.Install
Use this code: public static void InstallService(string ExeFilename)
{
System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller Installer = new System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller(ExeFilename);
Installer.UseNewContext = true;
Installer.Install(null);
Installer.Commit(null);
}
To uninstall:public static void UninstallService(string ExeFilename)
{
System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller Installer = new System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller(ExeFilename);
Installer.UseNewContext = true;
Installer.Uninstall(null);
}
Check for the service's startup type if disable. Keep it either Automatic or Manual.
Start and Stop of service
using System.ServiceProcess;
ServiceController controller = new ServiceController();
controller.MachineName = ".";
controller.ServiceName = "IISADMIN";
string status = controller.Status.ToString();
// Stop the servicecontroller.Stop();
// Start the servicecontroller.Start();
Happy Coding!!!!!
How to Install / Uninstall / start / stop Windows Service Programmatically
Sometimes you may want to install / Uninstall a Windows Service programmatically, but the target machine does not have InstallUtil.exe.
Install / Unistall:
To install/Uninstall a Windows Service programmatically, you can build an application to install that Windows Service.
Add a reference to System.Configuration.Install
Use this code: public static void InstallService(string ExeFilename)
{
System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller Installer = new System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller(ExeFilename);
Installer.UseNewContext = true;
Installer.Install(null);
Installer.Commit(null);
}
To uninstall:public static void UninstallService(string ExeFilename)
{
System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller Installer = new System.Configuration.Install.AssemblyInstaller(ExeFilename);
Installer.UseNewContext = true;
Installer.Uninstall(null);
}
Check for the service's startup type if disable. Keep it either Automatic or Manual.
Start and Stop of service
using System.ServiceProcess;
ServiceController controller = new ServiceController();
controller.MachineName = ".";
controller.ServiceName = "IISADMIN";
string status = controller.Status.ToString();
// Stop the servicecontroller.Stop();
// Start the servicecontroller.Start();
Happy Coding!!!!!
Windows HotFixes and updates, How they work???
I will try to keep this blog simple and precise.
Updates and Security Updates: They frequently contain security fixes. These are also known as GDR, General Distribution Release.
Hotfixes: Individual customer reported bugs will be fixed. These are also known as LDR, Limited Distribution Release.
Service Pack: The service pack is a major update in the life of an OS.
GDR VS LDR:
As described earlier GDR is General Distribution Release and LDR is Limited Distribution Release.
the below diagram explains how the flow work for each Service Pack.
Monday, October 20, 2008
MVC Pattern in ASP.NET
All of us are famous with MVC pattern. Model, View and Controller framework is in now introduced in ASP.NET. Please remember its not a replacement for ASP.NET, its an alternative only.
The major advantage with this is Testability. It gives boost to test driven approach. You can use NUnit to do the testing.
See how you can implement ASP.NET in MVC pattern
Model: datagrid
View: aspx, ascx or windows UI
Control: asp.net code behind.
In the ASP.NET Web Forms model, the input goes into the page (the View ASP.NET page), and the view is responsible for both handling the input and generating the output. When it comes to MVC, on the other hand, the responsibilities are separated.
In MVC model ASP.NET page that is VIEW is responsible for generation of output. Model (ex: datagrid) will handle the Input and controller (ASP.NET code behind) controls the business logic.
you can view half an hour video on Asp.net MVC building from start to end at below link
http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc-videos/video-395.aspx
you have more tutorials below ....
http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc/
Happy Learning!!!!!!!!!!
The major advantage with this is Testability. It gives boost to test driven approach. You can use NUnit to do the testing.
See how you can implement ASP.NET in MVC pattern
Model: datagrid
View: aspx, ascx or windows UI
Control: asp.net code behind.
In the ASP.NET Web Forms model, the input goes into the page (the View ASP.NET page), and the view is responsible for both handling the input and generating the output. When it comes to MVC, on the other hand, the responsibilities are separated.
In MVC model ASP.NET page that is VIEW is responsible for generation of output. Model (ex: datagrid) will handle the Input and controller (ASP.NET code behind) controls the business logic.
you can view half an hour video on Asp.net MVC building from start to end at below link
http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc-videos/video-395.aspx
you have more tutorials below ....
http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc/
Happy Learning!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Health check in Dotnet applications
Introduction: The purpose of this article is to automize some of the activities that are done manually to monitor the health of the Dot net application.
This means writing VBScript program to eliminate some of the below manual activities:
To check the count of rows in some critical tables of DB, this can cause problem if they grow large over the time.
Checking IIS is running or not
Checking specific process is running on the server or not
Checking the application pool status
Check status of taskschduler
Take list of task schedulers on the server
Code:
please reach me for code. I can not post my source code here :-0
Explanation:
At a high level I will explain each function achieving the points mentioned in Introduction.
SendMailCDO (toaddress, subject, body):
This Function sends a mail to specified addresses (it can send mail to more than one mail id) with the row count of tables or with the specific errors you are looking in the table.
CheckPoolHealth(Computer): This function will query the IISPoolsettings through vbscript and displays the status as Starting, Running, Stopped etc.,
GetServers(Webserver1): Checks the Task Scheduler service on the server. This function queries the Win32 service and checks whether Task Scheduler Service is running on the server or not.
Function GetStatus(Computer): Checks IIS Status on the server. It queries “microsoftiisv2" on the IISWebserver to know the state of IIS Server.
Function GetProcessStatus (processName, ServerName): Displays the status of the process and memory utilization from the specified server. Mircorsoft provides tools to monitor process information on the server. You can download one of such tools from below url
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896682.aspx
This tool will check the processes running on that particular server.
Checkout the command it is using to do so
pslist -s \\ServerName ProcessName
PSLIST: This is the tool
-S: Run in task-manager mode, for optional seconds specified. Press Escape to abort. If no number is specified it runs continuously.
ServerName: Specify server name on which this process need to be checked
ProcessName: Specify the process name which needs to be monitored
This means writing VBScript program to eliminate some of the below manual activities:
To check the count of rows in some critical tables of DB, this can cause problem if they grow large over the time.
Checking IIS is running or not
Checking specific process is running on the server or not
Checking the application pool status
Check status of taskschduler
Take list of task schedulers on the server
Code:
please reach me for code. I can not post my source code here :-0
Explanation:
At a high level I will explain each function achieving the points mentioned in Introduction.
SendMailCDO (toaddress, subject, body):
This Function sends a mail to specified addresses (it can send mail to more than one mail id) with the row count of tables or with the specific errors you are looking in the table.
CheckPoolHealth(Computer): This function will query the IISPoolsettings through vbscript and displays the status as Starting, Running, Stopped etc.,
GetServers(Webserver1): Checks the Task Scheduler service on the server. This function queries the Win32 service and checks whether Task Scheduler Service is running on the server or not.
Function GetStatus(Computer): Checks IIS Status on the server. It queries “microsoftiisv2" on the IISWebserver to know the state of IIS Server.
Function GetProcessStatus (processName, ServerName): Displays the status of the process and memory utilization from the specified server. Mircorsoft provides tools to monitor process information on the server. You can download one of such tools from below url
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896682.aspx
This tool will check the processes running on that particular server.
Checkout the command it is using to do so
pslist -s \\ServerName ProcessName
PSLIST: This is the tool
-S: Run in task-manager mode, for optional seconds specified. Press Escape to abort. If no number is specified it runs continuously.
ServerName: Specify server name on which this process need to be checked
ProcessName: Specify the process name which needs to be monitored
Thursday, October 9, 2008
SQL Server 2005 - Selecting the Correct SQL Server 2005 Edition
Microsoft Corporations long-awaited SQL Server 2005 represents significant change for administrators—the database server includes several new features that add capability and improved performance, but they increase complexity as well.
Many organizations who already have their applications in SQL Server 2000, I would strongly recommend migrating to SQL Server 2005 as it would bring an additional management interface, improved performance and additional support for XML which made the management of the database more easy and more suitable for our applications.
Scenario: Business have decided to upgrade their database version from SQL Server 2000 - SQL Server 2005
Either migrating the existing database version to 2005 or setting up a new application with SQL 2005 as back-end database we need to be careful at each and every step we take in
performing the activity.
First step is "Selecting the Correct SQL Server 2005 Edition" understanding the different SQL Server editions and the features and functionality of each of these editions is a key to select the edition as per user requirements.
Following are the different SQL Server 2005 Editions:
1. SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Enterprise Edition is designed to support the largest enterprise online transaction processing (OLTP) environments, highly complex data-analysis requirements, data-warehousing systems, and active Web sites. DBAs designing large database installations should consider only Enterprise Edition
2. SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Standard Edition includes the essential functionality needed for e-commerce, data warehousing, and lineof business solutions that most small- and medium-sized organizations use. Organizations with databases that will contain large amounts of data but do not need installations with all the features of Enterprise Edition might consider Standard Edition.
3. SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition (32-bit only) : Workgroup Edition is the datamanagement solution for small organizations that need a database that has no limits on size or number of users and has the capability to serve as a back end to small Web servers and departmental or branch-office operations. DBAs working with small amounts of data on smaller servers might want to consider using Workgroup Edition.
4. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Developer Edition includes all the functionality of SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, but it is licensed only for use as a development and test system, not as a production server. Developer Edition is suited for developers in larger companies who need to develop applications that will use Enterprise Edition but who do not want to install Enterprise Edition on development or test servers.
5. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (32-bit only) : SQL Server Express is a free, easyto-use, and simple-to-manage database that can be redistributed to function as the client database as well as a basic server database. Express Edition is usually suited only for very small data sets. Developers who are developing applications that require a small data store should consider using Express Edition.
Lets discuss the infrastructure requirements in the next item....Thanks for reading soo patiently :-)
Many organizations who already have their applications in SQL Server 2000, I would strongly recommend migrating to SQL Server 2005 as it would bring an additional management interface, improved performance and additional support for XML which made the management of the database more easy and more suitable for our applications.
Scenario: Business have decided to upgrade their database version from SQL Server 2000 - SQL Server 2005
Either migrating the existing database version to 2005 or setting up a new application with SQL 2005 as back-end database we need to be careful at each and every step we take in
performing the activity.
First step is "Selecting the Correct SQL Server 2005 Edition" understanding the different SQL Server editions and the features and functionality of each of these editions is a key to select the edition as per user requirements.
Following are the different SQL Server 2005 Editions:
1. SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Enterprise Edition is designed to support the largest enterprise online transaction processing (OLTP) environments, highly complex data-analysis requirements, data-warehousing systems, and active Web sites. DBAs designing large database installations should consider only Enterprise Edition
2. SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Standard Edition includes the essential functionality needed for e-commerce, data warehousing, and lineof business solutions that most small- and medium-sized organizations use. Organizations with databases that will contain large amounts of data but do not need installations with all the features of Enterprise Edition might consider Standard Edition.
3. SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition (32-bit only) : Workgroup Edition is the datamanagement solution for small organizations that need a database that has no limits on size or number of users and has the capability to serve as a back end to small Web servers and departmental or branch-office operations. DBAs working with small amounts of data on smaller servers might want to consider using Workgroup Edition.
4. SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition (32-bit and 64-bit) : Developer Edition includes all the functionality of SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, but it is licensed only for use as a development and test system, not as a production server. Developer Edition is suited for developers in larger companies who need to develop applications that will use Enterprise Edition but who do not want to install Enterprise Edition on development or test servers.
5. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (32-bit only) : SQL Server Express is a free, easyto-use, and simple-to-manage database that can be redistributed to function as the client database as well as a basic server database. Express Edition is usually suited only for very small data sets. Developers who are developing applications that require a small data store should consider using Express Edition.
Lets discuss the infrastructure requirements in the next item....Thanks for reading soo patiently :-)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
View and Modify SQL* Plus system variables
There are variables which control the behavior of SQL* PLUS. We can view these variables by SHOW command. ALL is used to view all the system variables. Thus to view all the SQL* PLUS system variable type:
SQL> SHOW ALL
To view the value for a single system variable use:
SHOW [Variable Name]
Example:
SQL> SHOW SUFFIX
suffix “sql”
How to change the default file extension in SQL*PLUS
The variable SUFFIX displays the default extension of the file created/edited or saved through SQL* PLUS. To set a system variable use SET command like
SQL> SET SUFFIX txt
Thus the default extension of files for the current SQL* PLUS session is set as txt. Thus when we use SAVE command followed by a file name without providing an extension file will be created as “.txt” file. Change in the system variable will be applicable only for the current session.
SQL> SHOW SUFFIX
suffix “txt”
SQL> SHOW ALL
To view the value for a single system variable use:
SHOW [Variable Name]
Example:
SQL> SHOW SUFFIX
suffix “sql”
How to change the default file extension in SQL*PLUS
The variable SUFFIX displays the default extension of the file created/edited or saved through SQL* PLUS. To set a system variable use SET command like
SQL> SET SUFFIX txt
Thus the default extension of files for the current SQL* PLUS session is set as txt. Thus when we use SAVE command followed by a file name without providing an extension file will be created as “.txt” file. Change in the system variable will be applicable only for the current session.
SQL> SHOW SUFFIX
suffix “txt”
Friday, October 3, 2008
IBM Rational Clear Case
ClearCase:
Introduction
ClearCase is multi-dimensional database. True to the database model all interaction with files are performed using database views.
Files and directories are base elements. It got its terminology from Unix.
usage
VOB: versioned object base
09 in the below diagram is folder. The rest are files. Dots represent the history of the file. Filesystem will always have one main stream. look at the dots connected by lines.
Check the below content in Wiki for interesting history of it.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_ClearCase
you can download clearCase from below link
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/clearcase/support/download.html
lot of help about clear case and other products is availble at below IBM site
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/products/clearcase/
Find some interesting discussion on VSTS VS Rational Clear Case in the below link
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1795308&SiteID=1
You can find more about VSTS in the below link. You can find some interesting real time case studies also.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?ProTaxID=2671
ClearCase has its origins and words usage common with Eclipse project......To know what is eclipse project check the below link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(software)
Just like VSS, ClearCase is also integrated with Visual Studio. It is tightly integrated with other application like NetBeans, Eclipse IDE
Remember to put check-in and check-out comments in Quickbase.
If you compare two .RPT files in ClearCase you will get they are identical even though they are not. Because it compares the compressed binary files.
You can have as many views you want on a stream. Views are called Snapshot Views. These are created at creation time and as the view is updated or files checked in.
There are two categories basically, Base ClearCase, which is like plain Configuration management tool. Second model is UCM (Unified Change Management). In this model you can tie Config Management to project plans.
You can always check how many views you have on a particular stream. Make a clear naming convention to identify who is using that particular view in the stream.
CMMI recommends ClearCase for configuration management.
Introduction
ClearCase is multi-dimensional database. True to the database model all interaction with files are performed using database views.
Files and directories are base elements. It got its terminology from Unix.
usage
VOB: versioned object base
09 in the below diagram is folder. The rest are files. Dots represent the history of the file. Filesystem will always have one main stream. look at the dots connected by lines.
Check the below content in Wiki for interesting history of it.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_ClearCase
you can download clearCase from below link
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/clearcase/support/download.html
lot of help about clear case and other products is availble at below IBM site
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/products/clearcase/
Find some interesting discussion on VSTS VS Rational Clear Case in the below link
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1795308&SiteID=1
You can find more about VSTS in the below link. You can find some interesting real time case studies also.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?ProTaxID=2671
ClearCase has its origins and words usage common with Eclipse project......To know what is eclipse project check the below link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(software)
Just like VSS, ClearCase is also integrated with Visual Studio. It is tightly integrated with other application like NetBeans, Eclipse IDE
Remember to put check-in and check-out comments in Quickbase.
If you compare two .RPT files in ClearCase you will get they are identical even though they are not. Because it compares the compressed binary files.
You can have as many views you want on a stream. Views are called Snapshot Views. These are created at creation time and as the view is updated or files checked in.
There are two categories basically, Base ClearCase, which is like plain Configuration management tool. Second model is UCM (Unified Change Management). In this model you can tie Config Management to project plans.
You can always check how many views you have on a particular stream. Make a clear naming convention to identify who is using that particular view in the stream.
CMMI recommends ClearCase for configuration management.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Dotnet Framework 4.0 / Visual Studiod 2010 / VSTS 2010
Dotnet Framework 4.0 / Visual Studiod 2010 / VSTS 2010 :
Next version of Dotnet is Visual Studio 2010 and Dotne Framwork 4.0.
What will be NEW: Microsof is focusing on below new 5 areas for Dotnet Framework 4.0 / VisualStudio 2010
PlatformWave: We have to wait and see what it is!!!!!
Developer Delight: As always developers can expect much more fancy, easy to use development environments from Microsft.
Departmental Applications: Sounds like domain specific solutions will be provided as default tools or packages (my assumption)
Cloud Computing: I expected this already, i wrote an article on this couple of days back in my blog. Checkout my blog for more details on cloud computing
http://suryaprakashj.blogspot.com/2008/09/cloud-computing.html
ALM: Application life cycle management. May be more stuff like Visual studio team server!!!!!!
VSTS 2010 will have more features as expected.
Modeling Tools: Graphically collaborative modeling tools for both technical and non technical users. Includes "Oslo" repository, tools and language.
Check here if you would like to know SOA product OSLO of microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/soa/products/oslo.aspx
Improved testing features, Scalability for agile development.
VSTS 2010 will provide a unified development and DB product!!!! Do you expect anything other than .net and SQL server in it??????
you can expect to see more about Dotnet 4.0 in the coming months.
check the announcement from Sr. VP of Development division Microsoft, ha ha ha he is Indian
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/MS_reveals_Visual_Studio_2010_/articleshow/3548271.cms
Next version of Dotnet is Visual Studio 2010 and Dotne Framwork 4.0.
What will be NEW: Microsof is focusing on below new 5 areas for Dotnet Framework 4.0 / VisualStudio 2010
PlatformWave: We have to wait and see what it is!!!!!
Developer Delight: As always developers can expect much more fancy, easy to use development environments from Microsft.
Departmental Applications: Sounds like domain specific solutions will be provided as default tools or packages (my assumption)
Cloud Computing: I expected this already, i wrote an article on this couple of days back in my blog. Checkout my blog for more details on cloud computing
http://suryaprakashj.blogspot.com/2008/09/cloud-computing.html
ALM: Application life cycle management. May be more stuff like Visual studio team server!!!!!!
VSTS 2010 will have more features as expected.
Modeling Tools: Graphically collaborative modeling tools for both technical and non technical users. Includes "Oslo" repository, tools and language.
Check here if you would like to know SOA product OSLO of microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/soa/products/oslo.aspx
Improved testing features, Scalability for agile development.
VSTS 2010 will provide a unified development and DB product!!!! Do you expect anything other than .net and SQL server in it??????
you can expect to see more about Dotnet 4.0 in the coming months.
check the announcement from Sr. VP of Development division Microsoft, ha ha ha he is Indian
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/MS_reveals_Visual_Studio_2010_/articleshow/3548271.cms
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