Archives for January 2011 - Page 567

What causes Multi-Page allocations?

- by SQLOS Team

Writing about changes in the Denali Memory Manager In his last post Rusi mentioned: " In previous SQL versions only the 8k allocations were limited by the ‘max server memory’ configuration option. Allocations larger than 8k weren’t constrained." In SQL Server versions before Denali single page allocations and multi-Page allocations are handled by different components, the Single Page Allocator (which is responsible for Buffer Pool allocations and governed by 'max server memory') and the Multi-Page allocator (MPA) which handles allocations of greater than an 8K page. If there are many multi-page allocations this can affect how much memory needs to be reserved outside 'max server memory' which may in turn involve setting the -g memory_to_reserve startup parameter. We'll follow up with more generic articles on the new Memory Manager structure, but in this post I want to clarify what might cause these larger allocations. So what kinds of query result in MPA activity? I was asked this question the other day after delivering an MCM webcast on Memory Manager changes in Denali. After asking around our Dev team I was connected to one of our test leads Sangeetha who had tested the plan cache, and kindly provided this example of an MPA intensive query: A workload that has stored procedures with a large # of parameters (say > 100, > 500), and then invoked via large ad hoc batches, where each SP has different parameters will result in a plan being cached for this “exec proc” batch. This plan will result in MPA. Exec proc_name @p1, ….@p500 Exec proc_name @p1, ….@p500 . . . Exec proc_name @p1, ….@p500 Go Another workload would be large adhoc batches of the form: Select * from t where col1 in (1, 2, 3, ….500) Select * from t where col1 in (1, 2, 3, ….500) Select * from t where col1 in (1, 2, 3, ….500) … Go In Denali all page allocations are handled by an "Any size page allocator" and included in 'max server memory'. The buffer pool effectively becomes a client of the any size page allocator, which in turn relies on the memory manager. - Guy Originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlosteam/

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SQL Rally Voting Open

- by AllenMWhite

The voting for sessions for SQL Rally has been going on for a couple of weeks now. This week the Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment sessions are up for voting. I didn't go into politics because I don't feel comfortable telling people that they should vote for me but this is how the sessions are being decided for this conference, so here goes. I've submitted two abstracts, both grouped in the Summit Spotlight section. The first is a new session based on what I learned implementing...(read more)

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Curious about IObservable? Here’s a quick example to get you started!

- by Roman Schindlauer

Have you heard about IObservable/IObserver support in Microsoft StreamInsight 1.1? Then you probably want to try it out. If this is your first incursion into the IObservable/IObserver pattern, this blog post is for you! StreamInsight 1.1 introduced the ability to use IEnumerable and IObservable objects as event sources and sinks. The IEnumerable case is pretty straightforward, since many data collections are already surfacing as this type. This was already covered by Colin in his blog. Creating your own IObservable event source is a little more involved but no less exciting – here is a primer: First, let’s look at a very simple Observable data source. All it does is publish an integer in regular time periods to its registered observers. (For more information on IObservable, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd990377.aspx ). sealed class RandomSubject : IObservable<int>, IDisposable { private bool _done; private readonly List<IObserver<int>> _observers; private readonly Random _random; private readonly object _sync; private readonly Timer _timer; private readonly int _timerPeriod; /// <summary> /// Random observable subject. It produces an integer in regular time periods. /// </summary> /// <param name="timerPeriod">Timer period (in milliseconds)</param> public RandomSubject(int timerPeriod) { _done = false; _observers = new List<IObserver<int>>(); _random = new Random(); _sync = new object(); _timer = new Timer(EmitRandomValue); _timerPeriod = timerPeriod; Schedule(); } public IDisposable Subscribe(IObserver<int> observer) { lock (_sync) { _observers.Add(observer); } return new Subscription(this, observer); } public void OnNext(int value) { lock (_sync) { if (!_done) { foreach (var observer in _observers) { observer.OnNext(value); } } } } public void OnError(Exception e) { lock (_sync) { foreach (var observer in _observers) { observer.OnError(e); } _done = true; } } public void OnCompleted() { lock (_sync) { foreach (var observer in _observers) { observer.OnCompleted(); } _done = true; } } void IDisposable.Dispose() { _timer.Dispose(); } private void Schedule() { lock (_sync) { if (!_done) { _timer.Change(_timerPeriod, Timeout.Infinite); } } } private void EmitRandomValue(object _) { var value = (int)(_random.NextDouble() * 100); Console.WriteLine("[Observable]\t" + value); OnNext(value); Schedule(); } private sealed class Subscription : IDisposable { private readonly RandomSubject _subject; private IObserver<int> _observer; public Subscription(RandomSubject subject, IObserver<int> observer) { _subject = subject; _observer = observer; } public void Dispose() { IObserver<int> observer = _observer; if (null != observer) { lock (_subject._sync) { _subject._observers.Remove(observer); } _observer = null; } } } } So far, so good. Now let’s write a program that consumes data emitted by the observable as a stream of point events in a Streaminsight query. First, let’s define our payload type: class Payload { public int Value { get; set; } public override string ToString() { return "[StreamInsight]\tValue: " + Value.ToString(); } } Now, let’s write the program. First, we will instantiate the observable subject. Then we’ll use the ToPointStream() method to consume it as a stream. We can now write any query over the source - here, a simple pass-through query. class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Starting observable source..."); using (var source = new RandomSubject(500)) { Console.WriteLine("Started observable source."); using (var server = Server.Create("Default")) { var application = server.CreateApplication("My Application"); var stream = source.ToPointStream(application, e => PointEvent.CreateInsert(DateTime.Now, new Payload { Value = e }), AdvanceTimeSettings.StrictlyIncreasingStartTime, "Observable Stream"); var query = from e in stream select e; [...] We’re done with consuming input and querying it! But you probably want to see the output of the query. Did you know you can turn a query into an observable subject as well? Let’s do precisely that, and exploit the Reactive Extensions for .NET (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/ee794896.aspx) to quickly visualize the output. Notice we’re subscribing “Console.WriteLine()” to the query, a pattern you may find useful for quick debugging of your queries. Reminder: you’ll need to install the Reactive Extensions for .NET (Rx for .NET Framework 4.0), and reference System.CoreEx and System.Reactive in your project. [...] Console.ReadLine(); Console.WriteLine("Starting query..."); using (query.ToObservable().Subscribe(Console.WriteLine)) { Console.WriteLine("Started query."); Console.ReadLine(); Console.WriteLine("Stopping query..."); } Console.WriteLine("Stopped query."); } Console.ReadLine(); Console.WriteLine("Stopping observable source..."); source.OnCompleted(); } Console.WriteLine("Stopped observable source."); } } We hope this blog post gets you started. And for bonus points, you can go ahead and rewrite the observable source (the RandomSubject class) using the Reactive Extensions for .NET! The entire sample project is attached to this article. Happy querying! Regards, The StreamInsight Team

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BonaVista Dimensions used as a report service

- by Marco Russo (SQLBI)

Recently I have seen a long demo of BonaVista Dimensions . It is a product that is able to create reports and, most important dashboards. You can use it also without SQL Server and Analysis Services, just by importing data in a local cube file that you can model using its own simple to use user interface. But what is interesting to me (in this post) is the capability to connect to a SSAS cube. It is somewhat similar to XLCubed and in reality these two products have something in common, because both...(read more)

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PowerPivot, Stocks Exchange and the Moving Average

- by AlbertoFerrari

In this post I want to analyze a data model that perform some basic computations over stocks and uses one of the most commonly needed formula there (and in many other business scenarios): a moving average over a specified period in time. Moving averages can be very easily modeled in PowerPivot, but there is the need for some care and, in this post, I try to provide a solid background on how to compute moving averages. In general, a moving average over period T1..T2 is the average of all the values...(read more)

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Did You Know: I'm going back to Boston!

- by Kalen Delaney

After spending 5 months in Boston last summer and fall, I'm going back again, to teach my 5-day SQL Server Internals and Query Tuning class for Boston SQL Training. Last time I taught my course there, we had a completely full class with a waiting list. So I'm going to offer the course again! The class will be delivered April 11- 15 but early bird registration ends next Tuesday, February 1st. I'm very excited to go back, and thankful to Adam Machanic of Boston SQL Training for this opportunity. You...(read more)

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24 Hours of PASS scheduling

- by Rob Farley

I have a new appreciation for Tom LaRock (@sqlrockstar), who is doing a tremendous job leading the organising committee for the 24 Hours of PASS event (Twitter: #24hop). We’ve just been going through the list of speakers and their preferences for time slots, and hopefully we’ve kept everyone fairly happy. All the submitted sessions (59 of them) were put up for a vote, and over a thousand of you picking your favourites. The top 28 sessions as voted were all included (24 sessions plus 4 reserves), and duplicates (when a single presenter had two sessions in the top 28) were swapped out for others. For example, both sessions submitted by Cindy Gross were in the top 28. These swaps were chosen by the committee to get a good balance of topics. Amazingly, some big names missed out, and even the top ten included some surprises. T-SQL, Indexes and Reporting featured well in the top ten, and in the end, the mix between BI, Dev and DBA ended up quite nicely too. The ten most voted-for sessions were (in order): Jennifer McCown - T-SQL Code Sins: The Worst Things We Do to Code and Why Michelle Ufford - Index Internals for Mere Mortals Audrey Hammonds - T-SQL Awesomeness: 3 Ways to Write Cool SQL Cindy Gross - SQL Server Performance Tools Jes Borland - Reporting Services 201: the Next Level Isabel de la Barra - SQL Server Performance Karen Lopez - Five Physical Database Design Blunders and How to Avoid Them Julie Smith - Cool Tricks to Pull From Your SSIS Hat Kim Tessereau - Indexes and Execution Plans Jen Stirrup - Dashboards Design and Practice using SSRS I think you’ll all agree this is shaping up to be an excellent event.

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The Case of the Missing Date/Time Stamp: Reporting Services 2008 R2 Snapshots

- by smisner

This week I stumbled upon an undocumented “feature” in SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services as I was preparing a demonstration on how to set up and use report snapshots. If you’re familiar with the main changes in this latest release of Reporting Services, you probably already know that Report Manager got a facelift this time around. Although this facelift was generally a good thing, one of the casualties – in my opinion – is the loss of the snapshot label that served two purposes… First, it flagged the report as a snapshot. Second, it let you know when that snapshot was created. As part of my standard operating procedure when demonstrating report snapshots, I point out this label, so I was rather taken aback when I didn’t see it in the demonstration I was preparing. It sort of upset my routine, and I’m rather partial to my routines. I thought perhaps I wasn’t looking in the right place and changed Report Manager from Tile View to Detail View, but no – that label was still missing. In the grand scheme of life, it’s not an earth-shattering change, but you’ll have to look at the Modified Date in Details View to know when the snapshot was run. Or hope that the report developer included a textbox to show the execution time in the report. (Hint: this is a good time to add this to your list of report development best practices, whether a report gets set up as a report snapshot or not!) A snapshot from the past In case you don’t remember how a snapshot appeared in Report Manager back in the old days (of SQL Server 2008 and earlier), here’s an image I snagged from my Reporting Services 2008 Step by Step manuscript: A snapshot in the present A report server running in SharePoint integrated mode had no such label. There you had to rely on the Report Modified date-time stamp to know the snapshot execution time. So I guess all platforms are now consistent. Here’s a screenshot of Report Manager in the 2008 R2 version. One of these is a snapshot and the rest execute on demand. Can you tell which is the snapshot? Consider descriptions as an alternative So my report snapshot demonstration has one less step, and I’ll need to edit the Denali version of the Step by Step book. Things are simpler this way, but I sure wish we had an easier way to identify the execution methods of the reports. Consider using the description field to alert users that the report is a snapshot. It might save you a few questions about why the data isn’t up-to-date if the users know that something changed in the source of the report. Notice that the full description doesn’t display in Tile View, so keep it short and sweet or instruct users to open Details View to see the entire description.

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Windows Azure Use Case: Agility

- by BuckWoody

This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Agility in this context is defined as the ability to quickly develop and deploy an application. In theory, the speed at which your organization can develop and deploy an application on available hardware is identical to what you could deploy in a distributed environment. But in practice, this is not always the case. Having an option to use a distributed environment can be much faster for the deployment and even the development process. Implementation: When an organization designs code, they are essentially becoming a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider to their own organization. To do that, the IT operations team becomes the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to the development teams. From there, the software is developed and deployed using an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) process. A simplified view of an ALM process is as follows: Requirements Analysis Design and Development Implementation Testing Deployment to Production Maintenance In an on-premise environment, this often equates to the following process map: Requirements Business requirements formed by Business Analysts, Developers and Data Professionals. Analysis Feasibility studies, including physical plant, security, manpower and other resources. Request is placed on the work task list if approved. Design and Development Code written according to organization’s chosen methodology, either on-premise or to multiple development teams on and off premise. Implementation Code checked into main branch. Code forked as needed. Testing Code deployed to on-premise Testing servers. If no server capacity available, more resources procured through standard budgeting and ordering processes. Manual and automated functional, load, security, etc. performed. Deployment to Production Server team involved to select platform and environments with available capacity. If no server capacity available, standard budgeting and procurement process followed. If no server capacity available, systems built, configured and put under standard organizational IT control. Systems configured for proper operating systems, patches, security and virus scans. System maintenance, HA/DR, backups and recovery plans configured and put into place. Maintenance Code changes evaluated and altered according to need. In a distributed computing environment like Windows Azure, the process maps a bit differently: Requirements Business requirements formed by Business Analysts, Developers and Data Professionals. Analysis Feasibility studies, including budget, security, manpower and other resources. Request is placed on the work task list if approved. Design and Development Code written according to organization’s chosen methodology, either on-premise or to multiple development teams on and off premise. Implementation Code checked into main branch. Code forked as needed. Testing Code deployed to Azure. Manual and automated functional, load, security, etc. performed. Deployment to Production Code deployed to Azure. Point in time backup and recovery plans configured and put into place.(HA/DR and automated backups already present in Azure fabric) Maintenance Code changes evaluated and altered according to need. This means that several steps can be removed or expedited. It also means that the business function requesting the application can be held directly responsible for the funding of that request, speeding the process further since the IT budgeting process may not be involved in the Azure scenario. An additional benefit is the “Azure Marketplace”, In effect this becomes an app store for Enterprises to select pre-defined code and data applications to mesh or bolt-in to their current code, possibly saving development time. Resources: Whitepaper download- What is ALM? http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9743693 Whitepaper download - ALM and Business Strategy: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9743690 LiveMeeting Recording on ALM and Windows Azure (registration required, but free): http://www.microsoft.com/uk/msdn/visualstudio/contact-us.aspx?sbj=Developing with Windows Azure (ALM perspective) - 10:00-11:00 - 19th Jan 2011

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On technical talent

- by Rob Farley

In honour of the regular T-SQL Tuesday blogging, the UnSQL theme started, looking at topics that were not directly SQL related, but nevertheless quite interesting. This is the brainchild of Jen McCown, who posted the second of these recently. I’m actually a bit late in responding, as I haven’t got it in my head to look for these posts yet. Still, Jen says I can still contribute now, hence this post. The theme this time is on Tech Giants. I could list people all day for those I admire in the SQL Server space, and go on even longer if I branch out to other areas. But I actually want to highlight four guys that I admire so much for their skills, integrity and general awesomeness that I hired them. Yes – the guys that work for me at LobsterPot Solutions, being Ben McNamara, David Gardiner, Roger Noble and Ashley Sewell. I admire them all, and they present the company with a platform on which to grow.

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Using Substring() in XML FLOWR Queries

- by Jonathan Kehayias

Tonight I was monitoring the #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter for a response to a question I asked when Randy Knight ( Twitter ) asked a question about using SUBSTRING in FLOWR statements with XML. #sqlhelp Is there a way to do a SQL Type "LIKE" or "SUBSTRING" in the where clause of FLWOR statement? Need to evaluate just first n chars. By the time I posted a response, Randy had figured out how to use the contains() function to solve his problem, but I am going to blog this because...(read more)

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StreamInsight/SSIS Integration White Paper

- by Roman Schindlauer

This has been tweeted all over the place, but we still want to give it proper attention here in our blog: SSIS (SQL Server Integration Service) is widely used by today’s customers to transform data from different sources and load into a SQL Server data warehouse or other targets. StreamInsight can process large amount of real-time as well as historical data, making it easy to do temporal and incremental processing. We have put together a white paper to discuss how to bring StreamInsight and SSIS together and leverage both platforms to get crucial insights faster and easier. From the paper’s abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for enriching data integration scenarios by integrating StreamInsight with SQL Server Integration Services. Specifically, we looked at the technical challenges and solutions for such integration, by using a case study based on a customer scenarios in the telecommunications sector. Please take a look at this paper and send us your feedback! Using SQL Server Integration Services and StreamInsight Together Regards, Ping Wang

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Deprecate UPDATE FROM? Not if I can help it!

- by AaronBertrand

Fellow MVP Hugo Kornelis ( blog ) has suggested that the proprietary UPDATE FROM and DELETE FROM syntax, which has worked for several SQL Server versions, should be deprecated in favor of MERGE. Here is the Connect item he raised: #332437 : Deprecate UPDATE FROM and DELETE FROM As you can see, the response is quite divided (more so than any other item that I can recall) - at the time of writing, it was 11 up-votes and 12 down-votes. I have no shame in admitting that I am one of the people who down-voted...(read more)

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SQLPeople Interviews - Crys Manson, Jeremiah Peschka, and Tim Mitchell

- by andyleonard

Introduction Late last year I announced an exciting new endeavor called SQLPeople . At the end of 2010 I announced the 2010 SQLPeople Person of the Year . Check out these interviews from your favorite SQLPeople ! Interviews To Date Tim Mitchell Jeremiah Peschka Crys Manson Ben McEwan Thomas LaRock Lori Edwards Brent Ozar Michael Coles Rob Farley Jamie Thomson Conclusion I plan to post two or three interviews each week for the forseeable future. SQLPeople is just one of the cool new things I get to...(read more)

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New Article: SharePoint 2010 for Developers – Whats new?

- by Sahil Malik

SharePoint 2010 Training: more information This is an nice overview/beginners article about what is new in SharePoint 2010 from purely a developer point of view. Excerpt - “In some ways SharePoint 2007 was a brand new incarnation of the SharePoint product. For the very first time, ASP.NET 2.0 was applied properly to the product. Things such as master pages, membership providers, sitemap providers etc. were used heavily in SharePoint. As a result, SharePoint 2007 got a whole new developer story to it. But in some ways it was a first version of a big product, so the development story left us wanting for more. Wanting for more because in some ways the API wasn’t ideal, and most certainly the development tools were somewhere between non-existent to bad. Diagnosing SharePoint errors was another frustrating story many have endured. What has changed in SharePoint 2010? Let’s find out.” Read full article ....

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Configure SQL Express 2005 for remote access

Please follow the below steps as shown in pictures to configure SQL Server Express 2005 for remote access. Fig1: Open SQL Serve Configuration Manager Fig2: Navigate to SQL Serve 2005 N/W configuration and click on Protocols node Fig3: Enable TCP/IP Protocol Fig4: Enable Named Pipes Protocol Fig5: After enabling TCP/IP and Named Pipes protocols Fig6: Finally click on TCP/IP to configure the port number to listen N/W requests to SQL Express 2005. span.fullpost {display:none;}

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Visual Studio 2010 Installation Screenshots, links to installation Guides, Forum

Today Installed Visual Studio 2010 in my new Sony Vaio laptop. I’ve habit of taking screen shots while setups are running. It helps me if I want to find the items what I installed earlier for that software. but taking screen shots is not required for the software's like Visual Studio as it provides add/remove items at anytime. Below are the screen shorts for the members are you new to Visual Studio installation, it’s pretty much easy and self understandable if you follow the instructions mentioned in installation wizard. I thought it does several system restarts as earlier versions, but VS2010 did not restart the machine. Just it said successfully installed. You might want to refer this link for further assistance. You can also ask your queries in this forum. You can also find installation guide. Happy coding with Visual Studio 2010 :-) You might also want to other articles 27 New Features of .NET Framework 4.0 New features of IIS 7.0 22 New Features of Visual Studio 2008 for .NET Professionals span.fullpost {display:none;}

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An observation on .NET loops – foreach, for, while, do-while

It’s very common that .NET programmers use “foreach” loop for iterating through collections. Following is my observation whilst I was testing simple scenario on loops. “for” loop is 30% faster than “foreach” and “while” loop is 50% faster than “foreach”. “do-while” is bit faster than “while”. Someone may feel that how does it make difference if I’m iterating only 1000 times in a loop. This test case is only for simple iteration. According to the "Data structure" concepts, best and worst cases are completely based on the data we provide to the algorithm. so we can not conclude that a "foreach" algorithm is not good. All I want to tell that we need to be little cautious even choosing the loops. Example:- You might want to chose quick sort when you want to sort more numbers. At the same time bubble sort may be effective than quick sort when you want to sort less numbers. Take a simple scenario, a request of a simple web application fetches the data of 10000 (10K) rows and iterating them for some business logic. Think, this application is being accessed by 1000 (1K) people simultaneously. In this simple scenario you are ending up with 10000000 (10Million or 1 Crore) iterations. below is the test scenario with simple console application to test 100 Million records. using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Diagnostics;namespace ConsoleApplication1{ class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { var sw = new Stopwatch(); var numbers = GetSomeNumbers(); sw.Start(); foreach (var item in numbers) { } sw.Stop(); Console.WriteLine( String.Format("\"foreach\" took {0} milliseconds", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds)); sw.Reset(); sw.Start(); for (int i = 0; i < numbers.Count; i++) { } sw.Stop(); Console.WriteLine( String.Format("\"for\" loop took {0} milliseconds", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds)); sw.Reset(); sw.Start(); var it = 0; while (it++ < numbers.Count) { } sw.Stop(); Console.WriteLine( String.Format("\"while\" loop took {0} milliseconds", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds)); sw.Reset(); sw.Start(); var it2 = 0; do { } while (it2++ < numbers.Count); sw.Stop(); Console.WriteLine( String.Format("\"do-while\" loop took {0} milliseconds", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds)); } #region Get me 10Crore (100 Million) numbers private static List<int> GetSomeNumbers() { var lstNumbers = new List<int>(); var count = 100000000; for (var i = 1; i <= count; i++) { lstNumbers.Add(i); } return lstNumbers; } #endregion Get me some numbers }} In above example, I was just iterating through 100 Million numbers. You can see the time to execute various loops provided in .NET Output "foreach" took 1108 milliseconds "for" loop took 727 milliseconds "while" loop took 596 milliseconds "do-while" loop took 594 milliseconds Press any key to continue . . . So I feel we need to be careful while choosing the looping strategy. Please comment your thoughts. span.fullpost {display:none;}

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Control HelpButton, HelpRequested, HelpButtonClicked - Instant help for windows Dialog Form components

Instant help for windows dialog components is a great feature and very much known since windows 98. but I saw many many people are not aware it and query on Google to get help, but “help button” for dialogs helps you or your customers to get the help instantly. Every dialog window has help icon if that dialog was coded to enable it. it really helps to know the functionality of the components quickly. For example I was trying to pint a document from acrobat reader and opened printer properties to print the content front and back of the paper. If you observe there is a help button before close button. To get help on options of “Print on Both Sides” you would need to click on help button first and then click on the area on which you want to see the help. above picture shows help text for the options of “Print on Both Sides”. If you would like to get the help using keyboard you can use F1 key. Help button can be displayed only if minimize button and maximize button both are not shown unless you want go with custom buttons. below is the way if you want to get Help button for windows forms. In this sample demo I want to have a checkbox and need to show help when I click on F1 on check box. So I created a form which country check box and help label as show in adjacent picture. Below is the code for your code bind file. using System; using System.Windows.Forms; namespace WindowsFormsApplication1 { public partial classForm1: Form { publicForm1() { InitializeComponent(); } private void Form1_Load(objectsender, EventArgs e) { this.Text = "Help Button Demo Form"; lblHelp.Text = "Press F1 on any component to get Instant Help"; this.HelpButton = true; this.MaximizeBox = false; this.MinimizeBox = false; chkCountry.Tag = "Check or Uncheck Coutry Check Box"; chkCountry.HelpRequested += newHelpEventHandler(chkCountry_HelpRequested); chkCountry.MouseLeave += newEventHandler(chkCountry_MouseLeave); } void chkCountry_HelpRequested(objectsender, HelpEventArgs hlpevent) { ControlrequestingControl = (Control)sender; lblHelp.Text = (string)requestingControl.Tag; hlpevent.Handled = true; } void chkCountry_MouseLeave(objectsender, EventArgs e) { lblHelp.Text = "Press F1 on any component to get Instant Help"; } } } In above code “HelpRequested” is an event will be fired when you click on F1 on Country checkbox. I stored the help information in the checkbox property called “Tag”. You might also maintain a property file to keep help text for each component differently. If you click on F1 when focus is on main form instead on individual component then generally separate help window opens. This can be done using the event “Form.HelpRequested” to open help windows as in below code. this.HelpRequested += newHelpEventHandler(Form1_HelpRequested); voidForm1_HelpRequested(objectsender, HelpEventArgs hlpevent) { frmHelp.Show(); } span.fullpost {display:none;}

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NetAdvantage - jQuery, ASP .NET MVC and HTML5 UI Components released for Web Developers

Built for speed and portability across operating systems, iPad/tablets, desktops and multi-browser support. Includes controls for ASP .NET MVC and uses the latest technologies like HTML 5 & CSS 3. This preview includes a sampling of powerful UI controls: grid, date picker, rating, editors, even a video player! All work with the popular WebKit engine that underpins many modern desktop browsers without requiring plug-ins or extensions. The grid embraces the latest Web techniques and frameworks like jQuery Client Templates and DOM virtualization. Download these essentials for jQuery and ASP .NET MVC from us today. span.fullpost {display:none;}

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NHibernate 3 Webcast - Open to Public – Thursday from Pluralsight

This week for the very first time, we're giving all newsletter subscribers FREE access to our exclusive weekly webcast! Join us Thursday for a 45 minute presentation on NHibernate 3 presented by James Kovacs. James is an independent architect, developer, trainer and jack-of-all-trades. He also happens to be the instructor for our upcoming NHibernate virtual classroom course next week. LiveMeeting Login Add to outlook calendar Thursday 20 Jan 2011 - 09:30PM IST, 11:00 AM EST , 16:00 UTC span.fullpost {display:none;}

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Subterranean IL: Compiling C# exception handlers

- by Simon Cooper

An exception handler in C# combines the IL catch and finally exception handling clauses into a single try statement: try { Console.WriteLine("Try block") // ... } catch (IOException) { Console.WriteLine("IOException catch") // ... } catch (Exception e) { Console.WriteLine("Exception catch") // ... } finally { Console.WriteLine("Finally block") // ... } How does this get compiled into IL? Initial implementation If you remember from my earlier post, finally clauses must be specified with their own .try clause. So, for the initial implementation, we take the try/catch/finally, and simply split it up into two .try clauses (I have to use label syntax for this): StartTry: ldstr "Try block" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End EndTry: StartIOECatch: ldstr "IOException catch" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End EndIOECatch: StartECatch: ldstr "Exception catch" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End EndECatch: StartFinally: ldstr "Finally block" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... endfinally EndFinally: End: // ... .try StartTry to EndTry catch [mscorlib]System.IO.IOException handler StartIOECatch to EndIOECatch catch [mscorlib]System.Exception handler StartECatch to EndECatch .try StartTry to EndTry finally handler StartFinally to EndFinally However, the resulting program isn't verifiable, and doesn't run: [IL]: Error: Shared try has finally or fault handler. Nested try blocks What's with the verification error? Well, it's a condition of IL verification that all exception handling regions (try, catch, filter, finally, fault) of a single .try clause have to be completely contained within any outer exception region, and they can't overlap with any other exception handling clause. In other words, IL exception handling clauses must to be representable in the scoped syntax, and in this example, we're overlapping catch and finally clauses. Not only is this example not verifiable, it isn't semantically correct. The finally handler is specified round the .try. What happens if you were able to run this code, and an exception was thrown? Program execution enters top of try block, and exception is thrown within it CLR searches for an exception handler, finds catch Because control flow is leaving .try, finally block is run The catch block is run leave.s End inside the catch handler branches to End label. We're actually running the finally before the catch! What we do about it What we actually need to do is put the catch clauses inside the finally clause, as this will ensure the finally gets executed at the correct time (this time using scoped syntax): .try { .try { ldstr "Try block" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End } catch [mscorlib]System.IO.IOException { ldstr "IOException catch" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End } catch [mscorlib]System.Exception { ldstr "Exception catch" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... leave.s End } } finally { ldstr "Finally block" call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) // ... endfinally } End: ret Returning from methods There is a further semantic mismatch that the C# compiler has to deal with; in C#, you are allowed to return from within an exception handling block: public int HandleMethod() { try { // ... return 0; } catch (Exception) { // ... return -1; } } However, you can't ret inside an exception handling block in IL. So the C# compiler does a leave.s to a ret outside the exception handling area, loading/storing any return value to a local variable along the way (as leave.s clears the stack): .method public instance int32 HandleMethod() { .locals init ( int32 retVal ) .try { // ... ldc.i4.0 stloc.0 leave.s End } catch [mscorlib]System.Exception { // ... ldc.i4.m1 stloc.0 leave.s End } End: ldloc.0 ret } Conclusion As you can see, the C# compiler has quite a few hoops to jump through to translate C# code into semantically-correct IL, and hides the numerous conditions on IL exception handling blocks from the C# programmer. Next up: catch-all blocks, and how the runtime deals with non-Exception exceptions.

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Expanding Influence and Community

- by Johnm

When I was just nine years of age my father introduced me to the computer. It was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (aka: CoCo). He shared with me the nuances of writing BASIC and it wasn't long before I was in the back seat of the school bus scribbling, on a pad of paper, the code I would later type. My father demonstrated that while my friends were playing their Atari 2600 consoles, I had the unique opportunity to create my own games on the Coco. One of which provided a great friend of mine hours and hours of hilarity and entertainment. It wasn't long before my father was inviting me to tag along as he drove to the local high school where a gathering of fellow Coco enthusiasts assembled. In these meetings all in attendance would chat about their latest challenges and solutions. They would swap the labors of their sleepless nights eagerly gazing into their green and black screens. Friendships were built and business partners were developed. While these experiences at the time in my pre-teen mind were chalked up to simply sharing time with my father, it had a tremendous impact on me later in life. This past weekend I attended the Louisville SQL Saturday (#45). It was great to see that there were some who brought along their children. It is encouraging to see fresh faces in the crowd at our monthly IndyPASS meetings. Each time I see the youthful eyes peering from the audience while the finer details of SQL Server is presented, I cannot help but to be transported back to the experiences that I enjoyed in those Coco days. It is exciting to think of how these experiences are impacting their lives and stimulating their minds. Some of these children have actually approached me asking questions about what was presented or simply bragging about their latest discovery in programming. One of the topics that arose in the "Women in Technology" session in Louisville, which was masterfully facilitated by Kathi Kellenberger, was exploring how we could ignite the spark of interest in databases among the youth. It was awesome to hear that there were some that volunteer their time to share their experiences with students. It made me wonder what user groups could achieve if we were to consider expanding our influence and community beyond our immediate peers to include those who are simply enjoying their time with their father or mother.

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Where did I hide my TSQL mojo?

- by fatherjack

LiveJournal Tags: How To,SQL Server,Tips and Tricks,TSQL,Reporting Services A little while ago I wrote a piece about finding database objects that rely on other objects that no longer exist - OK, I have my database ready, now what's missing? . This is linked to that sort of process. Many SQL Server installations are associated in some way with a Reporting Services installation, it's a very logical way to distribute your database contents to system users so they can work effectively. Databases,...(read more)

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What Counts for a DBA: Passion

- by drsql

One of my first questions, when interviewing for a DBA/Programmer position, is always: “Why do you want this job?” The answers I receive range from cheesy hyperbole (“I want to enhance your services with my vast knowledge”) to deadpan realism (“I have N kids who all have a hole in the front of their face where food goes"). Both answers are fine in their own way, at least displaying some self-confidence, humour and honesty, but once in a while, I'll hear the answer that is music to me ears... “I LOVE DATABASES!” Whenever I hear it, my nerves tingle in hopeful anticipation; have I found someone for whom working with database isn't just a job, but a passion? Inevitably, I'm often disappointed. What initially seemed like passion turns out to be rather shallow enthusiasm; the person is enthusiastic about working with databases in the same way he or she might be about eating a bag of Cajun spiced kettle chips; enjoyable, but not something to think about too deeply or take too seriously. Enthusiasm comes, and enthusiasm goes. I've seen countless technical forum users burst onto the scene in a blaze of frantic question-answering, only to fade away within days, never to be heard from again. Passion, however, is more of a longstanding commitment. The biographies of the great technologists and authors of the recent past are full of the sort of passion and engrossment that lead a person to write a novel non-stop for a fortnight with no sleep and only dog food to eat (Philip K. Dick), or refuse to leave the works of the first tunnel under the Thames, even though it was flooded (Brunel). In a similar (though more modest) way, my passion for working with databases has led me to acts that might cause someone for whom it was "just a job" to roll their eyes in disbelief. Most evenings you're more likely to find me reading a database book than watching TV. I've spent hundreds of hours of my spare time writing blogs and articles (some of which are only read by tens of people); I've spent hundreds of dollars travelling to conferences, paying my own flight and hotel expenses, so that I can share a little of what I know, and mix with some like-minded people. And I know I'm far from alone in this, in the SQL Server community. Passion isn't everything, of course, and it isn't always accompanied by any great skill, but in almost every case, that skill can be cultivated over time. If you are doing what you are passionate about, work turns into more than just a way to feed your kids; it becomes your hobby, entertainment, and preoccupation. And it is this passion that gives a DBA the obsessive stubbornness, the refusal to be beaten by even the most difficult problem, which is often so crucial. A final word of warning though: passion without limits can turn weird. Never let it get in the way of your wife, kids, bills, or personal hygiene.

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