Michael Bowersox's Blog

Using a Custom IDataReader to Stream Data Into a Database

Michael Bowersox (Admin) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:13:19 +0000

In a previous post, I discussed how to use the SqlBulkCopy class along with a SqlDataReader to quickly stream data from one database to another. The reason that you can use a SqlDataReader as a parameter in the WriteToServer method of SqlBulkCopy is because it implements the IDataReader interface. The great thing about this, is [...]

Streaming Data Between Databases using SqlBulkCopy and SqlDataReader

Michael Bowersox (Admin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:33:09 +0000

One little known fact about SqlBulkCopy is that not only can the WriteToServer method use a DataTable, but it can also use any object that implements IDataReader. Since the SqlDataReader object implements the IDataReader interface, it is a perfect candidate for use with a SqlBulkCopy object. One instance where I found this extremely useful, is [...]

Recursive Queries Using CTEs

Michael Bowersox — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:29:23 +0000

I previously explained the basics of common table expressions (CTEs) as well as how to chain them in sequence when you need multiple temporary result sets to get the results you desire. One of the topics I have not covered yet is using CTEs to write recursive queries. The classic example of using a recursive [...]

NSMutableDictionary Example

Michael Bowersox — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:41:30 +0000

The NSMutableDictionary object is very useful item in the Cocoa toolbox. It allows you to store values which are indexed by key. It is similar to the NSDictionary object with the exception that items can be added and removed dynamically. So let’s jump right in and take a look at some sample code. Creating an [...]

Determining Database Size in Microsoft SQL Server

Michael Bowersox — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:38:51 +0000

We’ve all experienced a database administrator coming up to us and questioning why a SQL Server database is consuming so much disk space. If you’re like me, you would immediately run the sp_helpdb stored procedure to see if the log file has grown out of control: EXEC sp_helpdb 'AdventureWorks' The output of the sp_helpdb shown [...]

My Favorite Visual Studio 2010 Theme

Michael Bowersox — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:15:22 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of visual studio themes with a darker background as I find that the white background of the default theme tends to hurt my eyes after working for a few hours straight. When starting my last job, I stuck with the default theme for a month or two before I noticed [...]

Converting From WPF Foreground to Windows Forms ForeColor

Michael Bowersox — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:02:03 +0000

I recently had the need to read the foreground color of a WPF control to assign to the foreground color of a Windows Forms control that I had hosted in a Windows Forms Host control. Once I started investigating, I realized that this wasn’t going to be as straight forward as I planned since the [...]

Multiple CTEs in Sequence

Michael Bowersox — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 01:49:32 +0000

In a previous post, I discussed how to use common table expressions to generate temporary result sets that can read from and written to. In this post, I’ll show how to use two CTEs together for more complex scenarios. To illustrate how to use CTEs this way, we’ll code up a simple example using the [...]

Intro to Common Table Expressions

Michael Bowersox — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 04:49:15 +0000

Common table expressions (CTEs) are a powerful feature that was added to Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Common table expressions can be thought of as a temporary result set that can be used with one single SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statement. The basic syntax for a CTE is the following: WITH <cte_name> (column1, column2, column3, [...]

Semaphores in C#

Michael Bowersox — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:18:09 +0000

A short while ago I had a need to limit simultaneous requests to a web service from a multi-threaded application to prevent timeouts. I learned about semaphores in school and knew this was the right approach, but I have never used one in a real-world application before. Luckily, the .NET framework makes it rather easy [...]