ragin'Geek

Software Tip: How To Export A Table To XML File In SQL Server Management Studio

ragin'Geek — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:24:16 +0000

There doesn’t seem to be a User Interface for exporting a table to an XML file in SQL Server Management Studio. It seems that Microsoft completely overlooked the case when you just need to do a one time export. The Import and Export Wizard that can be run from SQL Server Management Studio has options to export tables to many destinations, but oddly an XML file is not one of them. In the wizard, there are two options that have the letters XML in them, but I cannot get either one of them to work.

After many hours of searching the internet and trying different settings in the Export Wizard, I resigned myself to doing it manually. Here are the steps I took:

1. Open a new query window in SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Type in the select statement adding “for xml raw”.

3. Set the results to output in grid.

4. Execute the query.

5. Click on the link in the results pane.

This opens the resulting xml in a new query window.

6. Add the tags to the beginning and ending of the xml.

7. Save the resulting text to a file.

Save Your Maxtor One Touch 4

ragin'Geek — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:56:55 +0000

If you happen to have a Maxtor One Touch that is going or has seemingly gone bad, don’t fear. Your data is most likely safe. It’s just that something has gone wrong with the controller card in the unit. For a few months my One Touch was hit or miss (probably 1 out of 5 times it would actually work). Finally I got tired of it and cracked open the case. I disconnected the Sata drive from the card and connected it to the Sata controller on my motherboard. After I booted up my machine and opened explorer, I was able to drill down into the drive and see all my data!

Software Tip: Linked Item Fails to Preview in Sitecore

ragin'Geek — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:15:28 +0000

Recently I encountered a situation where a linked item would only show in preview mode when the preview date / time was prior to 12/15/09 12:00pm. There were no publishing restrictions on my linked item. So I was very perplexed. After a few fruitless days of exchanging posts on the support site my issue was escalated to the next level and I was able to talk to a support rep. After a few minutes of showing him what was going on, he figured out that it must be a publishing restriction on an item in the path of the linked item. So we walked back up the item path in the content tree checking publishing restrictions for each node as we went along. Finally we got to the Home node and low and behold someone had set it to expire on 12/15/09 12:00pm. After we removed that expiration, previewing worked as expected.

HTH!

Software Tip: Add Machine Name to Log4Net Filename

ragin'Geek — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:20:13 +0000

If you have multiple servers logging to the same folder, you can create unique file names by adding the server name to the file that it logs to by changing your log4netConfig.xml file to something like:

Beware! SQL Server Stops Execution on Recompile

ragin'Geek — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:39:47 +0000

Can anyone tell me why Microsoft SQL Server stops executing a stored procedure when it is recompiled? This is dangerous behavior unlike any other software code release system I’ve ever seen. Through all my years of SQL development this thought never crossed my mind. In any other development platform, you compile your code to a dll or exe and copy it to where it needs to exist. If an existing copy is running, the operating system won’t let the file be overwritten. I’ve always expected a similar behavior in SQL Server. I thought, if a procedure is executing, SQL Server will continue to use the code that is in memory while a recompile of the procedure would just cause the next invocation to use the new version. But a few years ago a colleague posed that question right before we deployed a changed procedure. I didn’t even think twice about it (how preposterous that would be). I answered, “No way! That would be retarded!” Well recently, I was bitten by this exact behavior. An important process was running and I had a minor update to release. I went ahead and released my change while the procedure was running and I discovered that only half of the process that was running completed. Looking through our audit logs I was able to see that execution stopped exactly at the time of the recompile. I have since been able to reproduce this behavior a few times. I’m still puzzled as to why the Microsoft’s SQL Server development team would allow such dangerous behavior.

Wendy’s Boneless Buffalo Wings – Yuck!

ragin'Geek — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:52:44 +0000

As a buffalo wing enthusiast, I was excited to see a fast food restaurant was finally offering them. Although boneless buffalo wings are not the true buffalo wings we all know and love, I’ve found that buffalo wing sauce goes exceptionally well on anything. Have you tried it as a replacement for pizza sauce on pizza? On a Chicken sandwich? On Thanksgiving Turkey? Mmmmmmmmmm. Anyway, on the way to Wendy’s I thought about how great it will be to be able to quickly and afford-ably get my buffalo wing on whenever the urge strikes. After arriving at the local Wendy’s, I proceeded through the drive-thru and…Viola! In a matter of minutes and for only four dollars and change, I had a Wendy’s take out bag w/ a box of buffalo wings in it! I opened the bag to check ‘em out. Expecting them to barely have any sauce on them, I was ecstatically surprised when I saw them smothered in sauce. My mouth watering in anticipation, I sped home to partake.

After opening the box, I noticed the sauce didn’t look like any buffalo wing sauce I had ever seen. It kinda looked like syrup. My excitement was quickly tempered, but I kept hope that they would still be enjoyable. So I dug in. I quickly noticed how the sauce had a hint of that familiar buffalo sauce tang and bite followed by a sweet syrupy taste. Underneath all of that, the boneless buffalo wings tasted a little like Kentucky Fried Chicken. Realizing my disappointment, I choked down the rest of them and that was that. The next day, I headed over to the nearest restaurant that serves real buffalo wings and washed away the awful memory with a full plate of the good stuff. Although it cost 3 times as much as Wendy’s offering, it was exponentially more enjoyable. So until a fast food place comes up with a worthy competitor to what the sit down restaurants are putting out, I’m stuck paying more and waiting longer for my buffalo wing fixes. Oh well, thanks for trying Wendy’s, hopefully you’ll inspire your competitors to follow your lead, but with a better product of course. Or maybe you’ll just realize your mistake and use a better sauce. Frank’s RedHot buffalo sauce works for me!

Software Tip: Default Value for Checkbox in Sitecore

ragin'Geek — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:44:03 +0000

In Sitecore, if you want to default a checkbox in a template to checked, set the default value to 1.

Why do we let smokers litter?

ragin'Geek — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:13:52 +0000

On our summer camping trip in Yosemite my family and I were excited to get what appeared to be an excellent campsite at the Crane Flat Campground. It was a large site on the edge of the meadow with lots of large rock formations for privacy and rock climbing. While scouring the site to determine the best spot to pitch the tent I noticed several large clusters of cigarette butts. There were literally thousands of cigarette butts throughout the campsite. My excitement turned to anger as I realized we would basically be camping in an ashtray. Why do smokers so self-servingly disrespect others and nature?

My first day back from Yosemite on the way to work I stopped behind another car for a red light. After the light turned green the driver dropped her cigarette out the window and sped away. I thought about picking it up and following her to her destination. And giving it back to her letting her know that she dropped it.

On a recent trip to Kauai, my son and I went to play a little football on the beach. After being tackled on the first play I found myself face down in a pile of sand and cigarette butts. This continued for the rest of the game. They were everywhere. I wondered if somehow it was the same a**hole(s) that preceeded us in Yosemite.

Why do smokers feel they have the right to litter? Do you think anyone, even these same smokers, would be so careless with any other form of trash? Why does society let smokers treat the planet like an ashtray?

Fun Pic: Dart in a Dart

ragin'Geek — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:46:24 +0000

During a rather competitive game of Tiaga Darts, I threw one dart through the tail of another, kinda like Robin Hood.

Stranger Among Bears

ragin'Geek — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:29:49 +0000

I watched “Stranger Among Bears“ last weekend on Animal Planet. And as an avid hiker and nature lover I couldn’t help but admire the relationships Charlie has with these bears. When I saw the bears chillin on his porch and hiking with him, it blew my mind. I can’t help but think, how cool would it be to go hiking with a bear?! I mean anyone can go hiking with a dog, but how awesome would it be to have a bear as your “man’s best friend”? Anyway, I recommend you check it out for yourself.