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I ran across a rather simple problem today that I did not find a lot of simple documentation to explain so here is my simple example to hopefully help whoever might stumble upon this same question.

The Scenario:

I have a simple controller that posts data to an API, at the conclusion it hands back the newly inserted item so I can display it to my user.  However the action to add the item is not the same action that displays the newly inserted item.  The problem is how do I hand off the newly inserted item to the other action handler.

The Solution:

Pretty simple in the long run using the “RedirectToAction” method.  In the end it looks a lot like this:

return RedirectToAction("Get", new RouteValueDictionary() { { "id", response.Id } });

I simply tell the method where to go and create a simple value dictionary object with my single Guid to pass on and lookup the object.  All in all pretty simple and you can even build up the dictionary to add other objects if you needed to.

Brent

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I had a couple of requests regarding this from the Intuitive ERP user group so I figured I would throw it in to a blog and make it easier for people to reference.

The Situation:

Our accounting friends want to be able to control the general ledger very closely in an attempt to keep from having to deal with lots of clean-up and problems down the road.  One of the ways they do this is by restricting the dates in which transactions can be entered into Intuitive.  Essentially if the date is not within the allowable range the transaction cannot be entered.

The Problem:

Normally the date restriction is set to restrict to the current month or quarter depending on the organization, regardless at times someone in the finance department may forget to update the end date to push it out to the next month or quarter and that’s when major problems come up.  If the date is not updated on the next business day the system pretty much grinds to a halt as no transactions such as work order release, purchase order release, work order clock on and off, etc. all stop.

The Solution:

Pretty simple fix here, we simply created a SQL Server Agent Job in the IT world that executes monthly to go out and push that end date out to the end of the next month.  Essentially automating the task for the finance group so no one has to remember to do it.  In addition we added strict error logic to the job so if anything fails it will notify a set group of users automatically via e-mail.  This is all configured via SQL Server Mail.

The Code:

You can download the SQL Agent Job script here: http://brntpb.st/A2hlld.  One note: we utilize multiple Intuitive databases so we create multiple steps in the job to update each individual database.  This is perfect for a multiple company or multi-site model.

Enjoy!

-Brent

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So I recently read a headline and article (http://brntpb.st/zVainJ) that made me laugh.  On the one hand I applaud any worker, in this case government researchers and scientists, who file complaints on organizations, both public and private, for doing things they shouldn’t be.  However there is a simple rule in any business:

Do Not Use Your Work Computer For Personal Activities!

All large organizations either monitor activity because they can or because they are required to by law for legal reasons.  If you want to use your personal e-mail at work just be aware that they most likely can read everything you send let alone take screenshots of your computer periodically as well.  There is no assumption of privacy on the computers or networks of your workplace… ever!

Use your smartphone on the PUBLIC 3G or 4G signal if you really want privacy as even company provided Wi-Fi access can be monitored as if it were your own computer.  I’m not saying the FDA was in the right here, but regardless as sensible professionals please remember your work computer is for work, and not personal activity.  You never know who is watching.

-Brent

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Many business travelers will tell you never to check a bag.  This is typically a true concept for simple trips or very short trips.  But this is typically only true for domestic flights.  It's simply too much work when traveling internationally to worry about bags.  After all you only get one carry on and a personal item.  For my female friends this means a backpack and a purse and that's it!

If you do travel internationally just a little bit of wisdom, especially if you are using different airlines throughout your trip:

- Make sure so hold on to your bag check tag.

This is the little receipt looking paper that you will get from the gate agent when you check your bag.  Make sure to hold on to this receipt, if you lose it they may not be able to find your bag when you make another connection.

Either way, hold on to that tag and don't be too afraid to check, on longer flights it is totally worth the worry-free experience.

Safe travels!

-Brent

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So I was going to use the normal route of sending a file to a colleague today.  Normally I either attach a file to an Outlook E-Mail or use the Windows context menu (Right-Click) to send the file as an e-mail attachment.  I went with the context menu route today and found a feature I am not used to seeing… Skype!

Needless to say my colleague was also on Skype.  Once I clicked on the Skype option it opened the normal Skype window where I could select the contact to send the file to.

Once I selected the contact it sent a normal File Transfer Request via Skype to my contact.

Pretty easy, and cool!

-Brent

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A common problem posted all over the web is in regards to DateTime2 errors thrown by Entity Framework.  Those problems are typically associated with the system generating invalid column and data types that are not supported by the older versions of MSSQL.  Fixing those problems is typically pretty easy and requires an update to the EDMX XML to specify the right database version to target.

My issue however is that I actually want to use DateTime2 as the column data type.  There are many reasons why you may want to do this and the benefits outweigh any risks associated with it.  The problem is however that there is no DateTime2 data type in .NET, only DateTime so when the T-SQL code is generated for the database (in model first mode) it will utilize the default DateTime column type and not DateTime2.

The solution below will change all DateTime data types in your model to utilize DateTime2 SQL storage types.  You cannot pick and choose easily which tables should use DateTime2 versus the default DateTime.  The entire solution is based around modifying the default T4 template for your project.

1. Browse to: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\Entity Framework Tools\DBGen
2. Copy the SSDLToSQL10.tt file to your project directory
3. Browse to %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\Entity Framework Tools\Templates\Includes
4. Copy the GenerateTSQL.Utility.ttinclude file to your project directory.

Note: I like to keep my template files in a different folder from my models and a sub-directory in the templates folder to store the include files.

1. Edit the SSDLToSQL10.tt file
2. Update the T4 file with the following code: http://codepaste.net/rchy2s
3. Change the template filename in the EDMX Designer:

Now all you have to do is re-generate the model and the DateTime2 type should be used.

-Brent

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As computers and specifically video cards and displays get better there is one common complaint amongst users.  It’s the standard “It’s too small! I can’t read the screen!”  I personally run two 1920x1200 Acer displays and my laptop has a built-in display running the same resolution.  On the 24” Acer monitors that resolution isn’t bad at all, however on a smaller portable 17” Laptop screen things get a bit interesting.

What most folks do is simply decrease their screen resolution to make things bigger.  However, the drawback here is that the video card and displays themselves don’t always support smaller formats well or at all so things tend to look disproportionate or out of focus, creating even more complaints.  Here is a simple solution, built in to Windows, that helps with this problem while still using the higher, crisper, and cleaner resolutions:

1.      Open the screen resolution window (Right-Click on the Desktop for the context menu)

2.      Select the option at the bottom called “Make text and other items larger or smaller”

3.      From here you can now change the default sizing of the screen.  Essentially this increases how text, buttons and Windows objects appear on the screen.

I really like this solution, specifically because it does make certain buttons a bit larger.  Having the larger minimize, maximize and close buttons is helpful.  This is also a great procedure to use if you are dealing with a tablet or touchscreen interface running Windows as some of the built-in buttons are a bit small, especially for those of us with larger fingers!

Hope this helps someone!

-Brent

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ad.mp4 Watch on Posterous

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Well it's funny that 2011 is almost over.  It's been a long year and a lot has happenned.  Here's looking forward to 2012 and all of the "crazyness" it might bring.

-Brent

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I just submitted and completed my final assignment towards my Masters degree in Information Systems.  I'm on a bit of a break now until next year when I continue on a three year journey towards my Doctoral degree.

Wish me luck!

Brent

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It's almost a complete chorus....

Gus_Howling.wma Listen on Posterous

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Well the official notice came in yesterday from the Secretary of State’s office.  Pabst Productions, Inc. has officially been dissolved as a North Carolina Corporation.

Thanks to everyone who participated, helped with, worked for and overall knew about the company.  Don’t worry there are other ideas and plans on the horizon.

Thanks,

Brent

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So my boss made a comment that he thought the entire IT department could read his e-mail one day.  We recently switched to Office 365 and as many mail administrators know it is possible to grant yourself access to other user’s mailboxes and poke around in most e-mail systems, Exchange included.  There are valid reasons for this like when a person has an assistant or multiple people using a shared mailbox.

Regardless the question came up, what if I DO NOT want anyone else to see an event on my personal calendar, especially if I provide access to my mailbox to other users.  Luckily in Outlook and Exchange Web App this is fairly easy to do.  After all you probably don’t want to let you assistant know you are going for a colonoscopy but you still want other employees to simply know you are out of the office!

When you compose a new message in Outlook simply mark the button that says “Private” on the ribbon.  This will hide the details in your Free/Busy information and will by default hide it from anyone who has read permissions to your calendar.  Please note however that anyone with at least read permissions could get access to the details if they were technically inclined.

You can get more information about this topic from Microsoft here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/make-an-appointment-or-meeting-private-HP001230355.aspx

Thanks,

Brent

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