intelisign

Snippets and Tidbits

2011-07-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Run as command for application short cuts:
c:\WINDOWS\system32\runas.exe /netonly /user:<domain\username> "<application>"

Emailing outside addresses from .NET:
<system.net>
<mailsettings>
<smtp from="<email address>">
<network port="<port>" password="<password>" userName="<username>" defaultCredentials="false" host="<mailserver>" />
</smtp>
</mailsettings>
</system.net>

Showing multiselect values in SSRS:
=Join(Parameters!SalesOrderIDs.Label, ", ")

AX Table Reference and Enums:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa852568.aspx

SharePoint calendars: color coding, hover effects, etc. « Path to SharePoint

2009-07-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Christophe has provided great examples for customizing lists and calendars using a calculated column and a content editor web part. His examples show some of the ways to customize SharePoint without having to create your own web parts or make modifications with SharePoint Designer 2007.

SharePoint calendars: color coding, hover effects, etc. « Path to SharePoint:
"Two months ago, I introduced a method to display html in list views. The purpose of this post is to extend it to calendar views.
To learn more about the method itself, please refer to the post from September 1st. And of course, I recommend that you read the whole series about the “HTML calculated column“."

Bad, Bad Web Parts

2009-07-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

By incorrectly configuring a web part or after adding a web part to your SharePoint page you may discover that the web part is causing an error.

The offending web part can be removed via the Web Part Page Maintenance page:
1. Open the Edit Properties page for the affected page.
2. At the bottom of the Edit Properties page is a Open Web Part Page in maintenance view link.
3. You can then select and delete the offending web part.

But what if the error is so grievious to SharePoint that the page can no longer be displayed and you cannot access the Web Part Page Maintenance page via the SharePoint interface?

To remove the offending web part that is causing errors simply append ?contents=1 to the end of the url. This will open the Web Part Page Maintenance page directly.

Example:
/sites/default.aspx becomes /sites/default.aspx?contents=1

String Concatenation Across Rows

2009-06-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Here are two methods for performing string concatenation across rows in a select

1. Coalesce
This is probably the most commonly seen method.

DECLARE @authors varchar(200)
SET @authors = NULL

SELECT @authors = COALESCE(@authors + ',','') + Name
FROM Authors
ORDER BY Name

SELECT @authors

2. For xml
For xml will not include tags if you use an unnamed column.
This approach also utilizes stuff to replace the leading comma.

Caveat: the strings will be HTML encoded so beware of string containing <> etc.

SELECT
bookid,
STUFF((
SELECT ',' + a.[name]
FROM authors a
WHERE a.authorid = authors.authorid
ORDER BY a.[name]
FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'') AS name_csv
FROM authors
INNER JOIN book ON book.authorid = authors.authorid
GROUP BY bookid;

External Tool Add-Ins

2009-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

1. Select External Tools from the Tools menu inside Visual Studio
2. Click Add
3. Enter a Title, Command and Arguments
4. Click OK

Example
To add the Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt enter the following:
Title: Visual Studio Command Prompt
Command: cmd.exe
Arguments: %comspec% /k ""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat"" x86

nowrap

2009-06-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

The nowrap attribute was used to prevent text from wrapping inside table cells. The attribute has been deprecated. An alternative to the nowrap attribute is to use the white-space CSS attribute

Example:
<td style="white-space: nowrap;">

Displaying more detailed SharePoint errors

2009-06-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Developing in SharePoint can be frustrating when the only clue to a problem is the friendly but undescriptive error page that is displayed by default.

To hide the customErrors that are displayed in SharePoint by default as as simple as making a couple changes to the web.config file.

1. Open the web.config file in Notepad.
The web.config file is located at: [LocalDrive]:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\[directory for site]\Web.Config
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80\Web.Config

2. Search for "CallStack". Change the CallStack attribute value to "true".
<safemode maxcontrols="200" callstack="true" directfiledependencies="10" totalfiledependencies="50" allowpageleveltrace="false>

3. Search for "CustomErrors". Change the mode attribute to "off".
<customerrors mode="Off">

4. Save and close the Web.Config file.

Note: Only do this in a development environment and make a back up of the web.config file before you edit it so you can revert back if needed.

NTLM Windows Authentication in Browsers

2009-05-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

To enable integrated windows authentication in IE:
1. Tools > Internet Options
2. Advanced Tab
3. Scroll down to Security section
4. Check Enable Integrated Windows Authentication*
(Takes effect after you restart Internet Explorer)

To enable integrated windows authentication in FireFox:
1. Navigate to the url about:config
2. Set the value of the following Preference Names to a comma delimited list of address roots:

network.automatic-ntlm-auth.trusted-uris
network.negotiate-auth.delegation-uris
network.negotiate-auth.trusted-uris

Example:
localhost,serverA,serverN

Generate Script for SQL Server DB

2009-05-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

In Sql Server Management Studio 2005:
1. Right click on database
2. Select Tasks > Generate Scripts... from the context menu.

This allows you to script selected objects, but it does not include their data.

So how do you include data? For example, you might have some lookup tables that need to be populated with default data.

The SQL Publishing Wizard allows you to script the database and it will script insert statements for the data. The Sql Publishing Wizard can be located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Publishing\1.2\SqlPubWiz.exe.

If not found you can also download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=56E5B1C5-BF17-42E0-A410-371A838E570A&displaylang=en

The downside: you cannot select individual objects you want to script.

In Sql Server Management Studio 2008:
1. Right click on database
2. Select Tasks > Generate Scripts... from the context menu.

You can now script selected objects and their data under the Choose Script Options step. You can also connect to a 2005 db.

Setting Gridview RowIndex as ImageButton CommandArgument Value

2009-05-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

To set the CommandArgument value of an ImageButton control to the GridView's RowIndex you need to get a reference to the container, cast it to GridViewRow and then access the RowIndex Property.

<asp:TemplateField>
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="imgbtnEdit" Text="Edit" CommandName="EditMe" CommandArgument="<%# ((GridViewRow)Container).RowIndex %>" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

Source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.gridview.rowcommand.aspx

Quick Upper or Lower Case

2009-05-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

When editing a query in SQL Server, you can quickly convert text to upper case in the query editor.

1. Select the text to be upper cased by highlighting it.
2. Press Ctrl-Shft-U.

Note: To convert text to lower case use the Ctrl-Shft-L keyboard combination.

Set value to NULL in SQL Server Result Set

2009-05-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

To change a value in a nullable column to NULL in an editable SQL Server result set simply give the cell containing the value to be changed focus and then press Ctrl-0.

Visual Studio 2008 and IE8

2009-05-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I usually create web application projects opposed to using the web site templates in Visual Studio. I haven't had problems with running the web application with or without the debugger.

Today, I tried to run a project created by another developer who used the web site template and when I tried to run it without the debugger (Debug > Start Without Debugging) I was surprised when all I got was the about:blank page.

After some unsuccessful googling, and trying to run the application in both IE and Firefox with and without the debugger, I've come to the (possibly erroneous) conclusion that there is an IE8 issue.

The project runs as expected in the following scenarios:

IE8 > Start Debugging
Firefox > Start Debugging
Firefox > Start Without Debugging

So, as a workaround I'll be using Firefox as my default browser while working on this project, until I can find a way to get it to work correctly in IE8.

If anyone has further input or a resolution I'd be very interested in hearing it.

Setting default browser in Visual Studio

2009-05-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

To configure the default browser that is launched when running web applications in Visual Studio:

1. Right click on an .aspx page within the project to display the context menu
2. Select Browse With...

(Alternatively you can select Browse With... from the File menu)

3. A dialog window opens where you can select, set as default or add a browser.

Listed Browser
If the browser is listed then select the browser and click on the Set as Default button

Add Browser
If the browser is not listed then click on the Add button and browse to the browser's executable to add it.

Missing XP Security Tab

2009-05-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Symptom:
The security tab is missing in the folder and file properties dialog.

Solution:
To disable simple file sharing:
1. Click on Start
2. Select My Computer
3. Select Folder Options from the Tools menu
4. Select the View tab
5. Uncheck the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) option in the Advanced Settings section
6. Click OK