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  • Itzik Ben-Gan is in town

    - by Dave Ballantyne
    Not that you would know it from the page below,  but Itzik Ben-Gan is back in London to do a 5 day training course, start 03october.  http://www.qa.com/training-courses/technical-it-training/microsoft/microsoft-sql-server/microsoft-sql-server-2008-and-r2/advanced-t-sql-querying,-programming-and-tuning-for-sql-server-2005--2008Why QA are not screaming this from the rafters, I will never be able to fathom.  Its kind of like going for a physics course and finding that Steven Hawking is taking the class. Training budgets are tight at the moment and £2500+ is a fair amount to pay but ,as the saying goes,  but if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Looks like you will need to be quick , the site is saying "Fewer than 5 places available".

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  • A training world nugget for being taught by the best

    - by Testas
    June represents an exciting time for the SQL Server community with events all over the country in the next few months and there is plenty of knowledge to be gained from willing speakers enthusiastically sharing their knowledge. Furthermore, Paul Randall and Kimberley Trip will be conducting their highly recommended immersion events at London Heathrow in June.There are other big names within SQL Server that will be teaching this year. The company I used to work for, QA, has excellent trainers teaching SQL Server who I would always recommend. Occasionally a big name speaker will be take a course, unknowingly to the community. Solid Quality Mentors is such a company where their staff will teach at QA offices from time to time. And I know from conversation with Itzik Ben-Gan that he will be teaching Advanced TSQL within QA offices in London during the week of Oct 3-7. A link to the course details can be found here.http://www.qa.com/training-courses/technical-it-training/microsoft/microsoft-sql-server/microsoft-sql-server-2008-and-r2/advanced-t-sql-querying,-programming-and-tuning-for-sql-server-2005--2008So if you want to be taught by the best experts, consider checking www.QA.com for their advanced SQL courses, you could find yourself being taught by the best in the business in their field.Chris  

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  • Book Review: “Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Querying” by Itzik Ben-Gan et al

    - by Sam Abraham
    In the past few weeks, I have been reading “Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Querying” by Itzik Ben-Gan et al. In the next few lines, I will be providing a quick book review having finished reading this valuable resource on SQL Server 2008. In this book, the authors have targeted most of the common as well as advanced T-SQL Querying scenarios that one would use for development on a SQL Server database. Book content covered sufficient theory and practice to empower its readers to systematically write better performance-tuned queries. Chapter one introduced a quick refresher of the basics of query processing. Chapters 2 and 3 followed with a thorough coverage of applicable relational algebra concepts which set a good stage for chapter 4 to dive deep into query tuning. Chapter 4 has been my favorite chapter of the book as it provided nice illustrations of the internals of indexes, waits, statistics and query plans. I particularly appreciated the thorough explanation of execution plans which helped clarify some areas I may have not paid particular attention to in the past. The book continues to focus on SQL operators tackling a few in each chapter and covering their internal workings and the best practices to follow when used. Figures and illustrations have been particularly helpful in grasping advanced concepts covered therein. In conclusion, Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Querying provided me with 750+ pages of focused, advanced and practical knowledge that has added a few tips and tricks to my arsenal of query tuning strategies. Many thanks to the O’Reilly User Group Program and its support of our West Palm Beach Developers’ Group. --Sam Abraham

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  • Content API for Shopping Office Hours - June 12, 2012

    Content API for Shopping Office Hours - June 12, 2012 Hangout discussing Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and the Google Affiliate Network (GAN) with guest Mark Coppin (GAN) and Claire Hugo (PLAs) of Google. In the Hangout, we reference the video "How to create a new Product Listing Ads campaign" (www.youtube.com which can be found in the Getting Starting page on the Shopping/Ads integration site (www.google.com Also, check out the GAN site to learn more: www.google.com From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 703 6 ratings Time: 31:23 More in Science & Technology

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  • What do you think about RefactoringManifesto.org?

    - by Gan
    Quite some time ago, on December 19 2010, a site called RefactoringManifesto.org was launched. The site is to voice concerns about refactoring. It lists ten main points as shown below (head over the website to see more details): Make your products live longer! Design should be simple so that it is easy to refactor. Refactoring is not rewriting. What doesn't kill it makes it stronger. Refactoring is a creative challenge. Refactoring survives fashion. To refactor is to discover. Refactoring is about independence. You can refactor anything, even total crap. Refactor – even in bad times! What do you think about this? Would you sign the manifesto? If not, why?

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  • Authlogic auto login fails on registration with STI User model

    - by Wei Gan
    Authlogin by default is supposed to auto login when the user's persistence token changes. It seems to fail in my Rails app. I set up the following single table inheritance user model hierarchy: class BaseUser < ActiveRecord::Base end class User < BaseUser acts_as_authentic end create_table "base_users", :force => true do |t| t.string "email" t.string "crypted_password" t.string "persistence_token" t.string "first_name" t.string "last_name" t.datetime "created_at" t.datetime "updated_at" t.string "type" end To get auto login to work, I need to explicitly log users in in my UsersController: def create @user = User.new(params[:user]) if @user.save UserSession.create(@user) # EXPLICITLY LOG USER IN BY CREATING SESSION flash[:notice] = "Welcome to Askapade!" redirect_to_target_or_default root_url else render :action => :new end end I was wondering if it's anything to do with STI, or that the table is named "base_users" and not "users". I set it up before without STI and it worked so I'm wondering why once I put in place this hierarchy, it fails. Thanks!

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  • shopping cart software mysql ajax

    - by gan
    Hi, I am working on a shopping cart(open cart) software and have this question. I am not familiar with mvc framework. What i want to know how to show content(mysql) inside a div when you click on a link. There will be 8-10 links and clicking on each should fetch its corresponding products. So for example category 1 | category 2 | category 3 show [products from category 1] when clicked on "category 1" and same way for the other two. the problem is the url for each link will have the category id so when clicked it will fetch its own products inside this div. Can someone please guide me with an example available online? looking for some thing that can dynamically fetch contents from mysql inside this div. content change is based on the category id in the url of the links I am clicking on. regards

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  • Data Modeling Resources

    - by Dejan Sarka
    You can find many different data modeling resources. It is impossible to list all of them. I selected only the most valuable ones for me, and, of course, the ones I contributed to. Books Chris J. Date: An Introduction to Database Systems – IMO a “must” to understand the relational model correctly. Terry Halpin, Tony Morgan: Information Modeling and Relational Databases – meet the object-role modeling leaders. Chris J. Date, Nikos Lorentzos and Hugh Darwen: Time and Relational Theory, Second Edition: Temporal Databases in the Relational Model and SQL – all theory needed to manage temporal data. Louis Davidson, Jessica M. Moss: Pro SQL Server 2012 Relational Database Design and Implementation – the best SQL Server focused data modeling book I know by two of my friends. Dejan Sarka, et al.: MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-441): Designing Database Solutions by Using Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 – SQL Server 2005 data modeling training kit. Most of the text is still valid for SQL Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012 and 2014. Itzik Ben-Gan, Lubor Kollar, Dejan Sarka, Steve Kass: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Querying – Steve wrote a chapter with mathematical background, and I added a chapter with theoretical introduction to the relational model. Itzik Ben-Gan, Dejan Sarka, Roger Wolter, Greg Low, Ed Katibah, Isaac Kunen: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Programming – I added three chapters with theoretical introduction and practical solutions for the user-defined data types, dynamic schema and temporal data. Dejan Sarka, Matija Lah, Grega Jerkic: Training Kit (Exam 70-463): Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 – my first two chapters are about data warehouse design and implementation. Courses Data Modeling Essentials – I wrote a 3-day course for SolidQ. If you are interested in this course, which I could also deliver in a shorter seminar way, you can contact your closes SolidQ subsidiary, or, of course, me directly on addresses [email protected] or [email protected]. This course could also complement the existing courseware portfolio of training providers, which are welcome to contact me as well. Logical and Physical Modeling for Analytical Applications – online course I wrote for Pluralsight. Working with Temporal data in SQL Server – my latest Pluralsight course, where besides theory and implementation I introduce many original ways how to optimize temporal queries. Forthcoming presentations SQL Bits 12, July 17th – 19th, Telford, UK – I have a full-day pre-conference seminar Advanced Data Modeling Topics there.

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  • Only a few places left for the SQL Social evening on 16th March

    - by simonsabin
    We've got over 50 people registered for the SQLSocial event on 16th March with Itzik Ben-Gan, Greg Low, Davide Mauri and Bill Vaughn I need to finalise numbers on early next week so if you want to come along please register asap, otherwise I can't promise that we'll have space for you. To register use he form on herehttp://sqlsocial.com/events.aspx. I look forward to hearing from you.

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  • Latest SolidQ Journal Plus Giveaways

    - by Andrew Kelly
      You can find the latest edition of the SolidQ Journal here that is always good reading but if you register over the next 3 weeks you may be eligible for a prize including:  One $500 Amazon gift card and 5 $150 gift cards; books from Itzik Ben-Gan, Greg Low, and Erik Veerman/Jay Hackney/Dejan Sarka; and chats with MarkTab and Kevin Boles.   The deadline for the giveaway is January 7th and you can register for it HERE .  So be a good little boy or girl and maybe Santa will bring...(read more)

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  • How to select from datetime in sqlite?

    - by Sein Kraft
    Joined is a datetime data type column in the database and dates are saved as '12/05/2010 15:54:32' This my query: SELECT * FROM users WHERE joined BETWEEN '12/05/2010 00:00:00' AND '12/05/2010 59:59:59' ORDER BY id ASC But it doesn't work. It returns no rows. So how i gan get them?

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  • ServerAlias override server name?

    - by GusDeCooL
    I tried to setting up virtual host with apache2 on my ubuntu server. my serverName is not working, it show wrong document, but the server alias is showing right document. How is that happen? Here is my virtual host config: <VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin [email protected] ServerName bungamata.web.id ServerAlias www.bungamata.web.id DocumentRoot /home/gusdecool/host/bungamata.web.id <Directory /> Options FollowSymLinks AllowOverride None </Directory> <Directory /home/gusdecool/host/bungamata.web.id> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride None Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/ <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin"> AllowOverride None Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log # Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit, # alert, emerg. LogLevel warn CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined </VirtualHost> if you access http://bungamata.web.id it shows wrong document, but if you open http://www.bungamata.web.id it open the rights document. The right document should have content "testing gan"

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  • SQLRally Nordic gets underway

    - by Rob Farley
    PASS is becoming more international, which is great. The SQL Community has always been international – it’s not as if data is only generated in North America. And while it’s easy for organisations to have a North American focus, PASS is taking steps to become international. Regular readers will be aware that I’m one of three advisors to the PASS Board of Directors, with a focus on developing PASS as a more global organisation. With this in mind, it’s great that today is Day 1 of SQLRally Nordic, being hosted in in Sweden – not only a non-American country, but one that doesn’t have English as its major language. The event has been hosted by the amazing Johan Åhlén and Raoul Illyés, two guys who I met earlier this year, but the thing that amazes me is the incredible support that this event has from the SQL Community. It’s been sold out for a long time, and when you see the list of speakers, it’s not surprising. Some of the industry’s biggest names from Microsoft have turned up, including Mark Souza (who is also a PASS Director), Thomas Kejser and Tobias Thernström. Business Intelligence experts such as Jen Stirrup, Chris Webb, Peter Myers, Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari are there, as are some of the most awarded SQL MVPs such as Itzik Ben-Gan, Aaron Bertrand and Kevin Kline. The sponsor list is also brilliant, with names such as HP, FusionIO, SQL Sentry, Quest and SolidQ complimented by Swedish companies like Cornerstone, Informator, B3IT and Addskills. As someone who is interested in PASS becoming global, I’m really excited to see this event happening, and I hope it’s a launch-pad into many other international events hosted by the SQL community. If you have the opportunity, thank Johan and Raoul for putting this event on, and the speakers and sponsors for helping support it. The noise from Twitter is that everything is going fantastically well, and everyone involved should be thoroughly congratulated! @rob_farley

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  • DevWeek & SQL Social @ London

    - by Davide Mauri
    Yesterday I had my “SQL Server best practices for developers” session at DevWeek and I really enjoyed it a lot. For all those who asked, I’ll put slides and demos online as soon as possible. I’ve just waiting to know where I can put it (on my website or somewhere else), so it should be just a matter of some days. If you attended my session and would like to rate it, please use SpeakerRate here: http://speakerrate.com/talks/2857-sql-server-best-practices-for-developers I also have to thank Simon Sabin for the very nice event he organized for SQLSocial http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/archive/2010/02/16/SQLSocial-presents-Itzik-Ben-gan--Greg-Low-and-Davide-Mauri.aspx A lot of people attended and we really had interesting discussions. And it was my first time doing a session at a pub, and I must say it's *really* funny and enjoyable, expecially when you have free beer :-) Now back to Italy to the “usual” work! Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!

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  • Book Review: Inside Windows Communicat?ion Foundation by Justin Smith

    - by Sam Abraham
    In gearing up for a new major project, I have taken it upon myself to research and review various aspects of our Microsoft stack of choice seeking new creative ways for us to leverage in our upcoming state-of-the-art solution projected to position us ahead of the competition. While I am a big supporter of search engines and online articles as a quick and usually reliable source of information, I have opted in my investigative quest to actually “hit the books”.  I have also made it a habit to provide quick reviews for material I go over hoping this can be of help to someone who may be looking for items others may have had success using for reference. I have started a few months ago by investigating better ways to implementing, profiling and troubleshooting SQL Server 2008. My reference of choice was Itzik Ben-Gan et al’s “Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008” series. While it has been a month since my last book review, this by no means meant that I have been sitting idle. It has been pretty challenging to balance research with the continuous flow of projects and deadlines all while balancing that with my family duties which, of course, always comes first. In this post, I will be providing a quick review of my latest reading: Inside Windows Communication Foundation by Justin Smith. This book has been on my reading list for a very long time and I am proud to have finally tackled it. Justin’s book presents a great coverage of WCF internals. His simple, concise and well-worded style has simplified the relatively complex internals of WCF and made it comprehensible. Justin opted to organize the book into three parts: an introduction to WCF, coverage of the Channel Layer and a look at WCF internals at the ServiceModel layer. Part I introduced the concepts and made the case behind WCF while covering a simplified version of WCF’s message patterns, endpoints and contracts. In Part II, Justin provided a thorough coverage of the internals of Messages, Channels and Channel Managers. Part III concluded this nice reading with coverage of Bindings, Contracts, Dispatchers and Clients. While one would not likely need to extend WCF at that low level of the API, an understanding of the inner-workings of WCF is a must to avoid pitfalls mainly caused by misinformation or erroneous assumptions. Problems can quickly arise in high-traffic hosted solutions, but most can be easily avoided with some minimal time investment and education. My next goal is to pay a closer look at WCF from the programmer’s API perspective now that I have acquired a better understanding of its inner working.   Many thanks to the O’Reilly User Group Program and its support of our West Palm Beach Developers’ Group.   Stay tuned for more… All the best, --Sam

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  • Predefined column names in SQL Server pivot table

    - by Marcos Buarque
    Hi, the other day I opened a topic here in StackOverflow (stackoverflow.com/questions/4663698/how-can-i-display-a-consolidated-version-of-my-sql-server-table). At that time I needed help on how to show data on a pivot table. From the help I got here in the forum, my research led me to this page about dynamic SQL: www.sommarskog.se/dynamic_sql.html. And then it led me to this awesome SQL script by Itzik Ben-Gan that will create a stored procedure that outputs a pivot table exactly the way I want: sommarskog.se/pivot_sp.sp. Well, almost. I need one change in this stored procedure. Instead of having dynamic column names pulled from the @on_cols variable in the SPROC, I need the output table to hold generic column names in simple ASC order. Could be, for example, col1, col2, col3, col4 ... The dynamic column names are a problem for me. So I need them named by their index in the order they appear. I have tried all sorts of things changing this great SQL script, but it won't work. I did not paste the code from the author because it is too long, but the link above will get us there. Any help appreciated. Thank you very much

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  • Control layout using graphviz twopi

    - by vy32
    I am trying to draw a graph showing search prefixes using twopi. I have a simple input file and am getting this output: (full image) Here is the input file: digraph search { // ordering=out; // color=blue; // rank=same; // overlap=scale; rankdir=LR; root=root; ranksep=1.25; overlap=true; "root"; a [color=none,fontsize=12]; b [color=none,fontsize=12]; c [color=none,fontsize=12]; d [color=none,fontsize=12]; e [color=none,fontsize=12]; f [color=none,fontsize=12]; #g [color=none,fontsize=12]; h [color=none,fontsize=12]; i [color=none,fontsize=12]; j [color=none,fontsize=12]; k [color=none,fontsize=12]; l [color=none,fontsize=12]; m [color=none,fontsize=12]; n [color=none,fontsize=12]; o [color=none,fontsize=12]; p [color=none,fontsize=12]; q [color=none,fontsize=12]; r [color=none,fontsize=12]; s [color=none,fontsize=12]; t [color=none,fontsize=12]; u [color=none,fontsize=12]; v [color=none,fontsize=12]; w [color=none,fontsize=12]; x [color=none,fontsize=12]; y [color=none,fontsize=12]; #ga [color=none,fontsize=12]; gb [color=none,fontsize=12]; gc [color=none,fontsize=12]; gd [color=none,fontsize=12]; ge [color=none,fontsize=12]; gf [color=none,fontsize=12]; gg [color=none,fontsize=12]; gh [color=none,fontsize=12]; gi [color=none,fontsize=12]; gj [color=none,fontsize=12]; gk [color=none,fontsize=12]; gl [color=none,fontsize=12]; gm [color=none,fontsize=12]; gn [color=none,fontsize=12]; go [color=none,fontsize=12]; gp [color=none,fontsize=12]; gq [color=none,fontsize=12]; gr [color=none,fontsize=12]; gs [color=none,fontsize=12]; gt [color=none,fontsize=12]; gu [color=none,fontsize=12]; gv [color=none,fontsize=12]; gw [color=none,fontsize=12]; gx [color=none,fontsize=12]; gy [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaa [color=none,fontsize=12]; gab [color=none,fontsize=12]; gac [color=none,fontsize=12]; gad [color=none,fontsize=12]; gae [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaf [color=none,fontsize=12]; gag [color=none,fontsize=12]; gah [color=none,fontsize=12]; gai [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaj [color=none,fontsize=12]; gak [color=none,fontsize=12]; gal [color=none,fontsize=12]; gam [color=none,fontsize=12]; gan [color=none,fontsize=12]; gao [color=none,fontsize=12]; gap [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaq [color=none,fontsize=12]; #gaz [color=none,fontsize=12]; gas [color=none,fontsize=12]; gat [color=none,fontsize=12]; gau [color=none,fontsize=12]; gav [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaw [color=none,fontsize=12]; gax [color=none,fontsize=12]; gay [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaza [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazb [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazc [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazd [color=none,fontsize=12]; gaze [color=none,fontsize=12]; #gazf [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazg [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazh [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazi [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazj [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazk [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazl [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazm [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazn [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazo [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazp [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazq [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazr [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazs [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazt [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazu [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazv [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazw [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazx [color=none,fontsize=12]; gazy [color=none,fontsize=12]; root -> a [minlen=2]; root -> b [minlen=2]; root -> c [minlen=2]; root -> d [minlen=2]; root -> e [minlen=2]; root -> f [minlen=2]; root -> g [minlen=2]; root -> h [minlen=2]; root -> i [minlen=2]; root -> j [minlen=2]; root -> k [minlen=2]; root -> l [minlen=2]; root -> m [minlen=2]; root -> n [minlen=2]; root -> o [minlen=2]; root -> p [minlen=2]; root -> q [minlen=2]; root -> r [minlen=2]; root -> s [minlen=20]; root -> t [minlen=2]; root -> u [minlen=2]; root -> v [minlen=2]; root -> w [minlen=2]; root -> x [minlen=2]; root -> y [minlen=2]; root -> 0 [minlen=2]; root -> 1 [minlen=2]; root -> 2 [minlen=2]; root -> 3 [minlen=2]; root -> 4 [minlen=2]; root -> 5 [minlen=2]; root -> 6 [minlen=2]; root -> 7 [minlen=2]; root -> 8 [minlen=2]; root -> 9 [minlen=2]; root -> "." [minlen=2]; g -> ga ; g -> gb ; g -> gc ; g -> gd ; g -> ge ; g -> gf ; g -> gg ; g -> gh ; g -> gi ; g -> gj ; g -> gk ; g -> gl ; g -> gm ; g -> gn ; g -> go ; g -> gp ; g -> gq ; g -> gr ; g -> gs ; g -> gt ; g -> gu ; g -> gv ; g -> gw ; g -> gx ; g -> gy ; ga -> gaa ; ga -> gab ; ga -> gac ; ga -> gad ; ga -> gae ; ga -> gaf ; ga -> gag ; ga -> gah ; ga -> gai ; ga -> gaj ; ga -> gak ; ga -> gal ; ga -> gam ; ga -> gan ; ga -> gao ; ga -> gap ; ga -> gaq ; ga -> gaz ; ga -> gas ; ga -> gat ; ga -> gau ; ga -> gav ; ga -> gaw ; ga -> gax ; ga -> gay ; gaz -> gaza ; gaz -> gazb ; gaz -> gazc ; gaz -> gazd ; gaz -> gaze ; gaz -> gazf ; gaz -> gazg ; gaz -> gazh ; gaz -> gazi ; gaz -> gazj ; gaz -> gazk ; gaz -> gazl ; gaz -> gazm ; gaz -> gazn ; gaz -> gazo ; gaz -> gazp ; gaz -> gazq ; gaz -> gazr ; gaz -> gazs ; gaz -> gazt ; gaz -> gazu ; gaz -> gazv ; gaz -> gazw ; gaz -> gazx ; gaz -> gazy ; gazo -> "Blue Tuesday" ; "Blue Tuesday" [ fontsize=10]; // Layout engines: circo dot fdp neato nop nop1 nop2 osage patchwork sfdp twopi } This output is generated with: twopi -os1.png -Tpng s1.dot I'm posting here because the printout is pretty dreadful. All of the nodes hung of "gaz" are overlapping; I've tried specifying nodesep and it is simply ignored. I would like to see the lines from root to the single letters further apart, but again, I can't control that. This seems to be a bug in twopi. The documentation says it should clearly follow these directives, but it doesn't seem to. My questions: Is there any way to make twopi behave? Failing that, is there a better layout engine to use? Thanks.

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  • Summit Time!

    - by Ajarn Mark Caldwell
    Boy, how time flies!  I can hardly believe that the 2011 PASS Summit is just one week away.  Maybe it snuck up on me because it’s a few weeks earlier than last year.  Whatever the cause, I am really looking forward to next week.  The PASS Summit is the largest SQL Server conference in the world and a fantastic networking opportunity thrown in for no additional charge.  Here are a few thoughts to help you maximize the week. Networking As Karen Lopez (blog | @DataChick) mentioned in her presentation for the Professional Development Virtual Chapter just a couple of weeks ago, “Don’t wait until you need a new job to start networking.”  You should always be working on your professional network.  Some people, especially technical-minded people, get confused by the term networking.  The first image that used to pop into my head was the image of some guy standing, awkwardly, off to the side of a cocktail party, trying to shmooze those around him.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  If you’re good at that sort of thing, and you can strike up a conversation with some stranger and learn all about them in 5 minutes, and walk away with your next business deal all but approved by the lawyers, then congratulations.  But if you’re not, and most of us are not, I have two suggestions for you.  First, register for Don Gabor’s 2-hour session on Tuesday at the Summit called Networking to Build Business Contacts.  Don is a master at small talk, and at teaching others, and in just those two short hours will help you with important tips about breaking the ice, remembering names, and smooth transitions into and out of conversations.  Then go put that great training to work right away at the Tuesday night Welcome Reception and meet some new people; which is really my second suggestion…just meet a few new people.  You see, “networking” is about meeting new people and being friendly without trying to “work it” to get something out of the relationship at this point.  In fact, Don will tell you that a better way to build the connection with someone is to look for some way that you can help them, not how they can help you. There are a ton of opportunities as long as you follow this one key point: Don’t stay in your hotel!  At the least, get out and go to the free events such as the Tuesday night Welcome Reception, the Wednesday night Exhibitor Reception, and the Thursday night Community Appreciation Party.  All three of these are perfect opportunities to meet other professionals with a similar job or interest as you, and you never know how that may help you out in the future.  Maybe you just meet someone to say HI to at breakfast the next day instead of eating alone.  Or maybe you cross paths several times throughout the Summit and compare notes on different sessions you attended.  And you just might make new friends that you look forward to seeing year after year at the Summit.  Who knows, it might even turn out that you have some specific experience that will help out that other person a few months’ from now when they run into the same challenge that you just overcame, or vice-versa.  But the point is, if you don’t get out and meet people, you’ll never have the chance for anything else to happen in the future. One more tip for shy attendees of the Summit…if you can’t bring yourself to strike up conversation with strangers at these events, then at the least, after you sit through a good session that helps you out, go up to the speaker and introduce yourself and thank them for taking the time and effort to put together their presentation.  Ideally, when you do this, tell them WHY it was beneficial to you (e.g. “Now I have a new idea of how to tackle a problem back at the office.”)  I know you think the speakers are all full of confidence and are always receiving a ton of accolades and applause, but you’re wrong.  Most of them will be very happy to hear first-hand that all the work they put into getting ready for their presentation is paying off for somebody. Training With over 170 technical sessions at the Summit, training is what it’s all about, and the training is fantastic!  Of course there are the big-name trainers like Paul Randall, Kimberly Tripp, Kalen Delaney, Itzik Ben-Gan and several others, but I am always impressed by the quality of the training put on by so many other “regular” members of the SQL Server community.  It is amazing how you don’t have to be a published author or otherwise recognized as an “expert” in an area in order to make a big impact on others just by sharing your personal experience and lessons learned.  I would rather hear the story of, and lessons learned from, “some guy or gal” who has actually been through an issue and came out the other side, than I would a trained professor who is speaking just from theory or an intellectual understanding of a topic. In addition to the three full days of regular sessions, there are also two days of pre-conference intensive training available.  There is an extra cost to this, but it is a fantastic opportunity.  Think about it…you’re already coming to this area for training, so why not extend your stay a little bit and get some in-depth training on a particular topic or two?  I did this for the first time last year.  I attended one day of extra training and it was well worth the time and money.  One of the best reasons for it is that I am extremely busy at home with my regular job and family, that it was hard to carve out the time to learn about the topic on my own.  It worked out so well last year that I am doubling up and doing two days or “pre-cons” this year. And then there are the DVDs.  I think these are another great option.  I used the online schedule builder to get ready and have an idea of which sessions I want to attend and when they are (much better than trying to figure this out at the last minute every day).  But the problem that I have run into (seems this happens every year) is that nearly every session block has two different sessions that I would like to attend.  And some of them have three!  ACK!  That won’t work!  What is a guy supposed to do?  Well, one option is to purchase the DVDs which are recordings of the audio and projected images from each session so you can continue to attend sessions long after the Summit is officially over.  Yes, many (possibly all) of these also get posted online and attendees can access those for no extra charge, but those are not necessarily all available as quickly as the DVD recording are, and the DVDs are often more convenient than downloading, especially if you want to share the training with someone who was not able to attend in person. Remember, I don’t make any money or get any other benefit if you buy the DVDs or from anything else that I have recommended here.  These are just my own thoughts, trying to help out based on my experiences from the 8 or so Summits I have attended.  There is nothing like the Summit.  It is an awesome experience, fantastic training, and a whole lot of fun which is just compounded if you’ll take advantage of the first part of this article and make some new friends along the way.

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