.NET 2.x

Using The Microsoft InteropForms Toolkit v2.0 To Display .NET Forms In A VB6 Application Article Published

Shandy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:57:00 GMT

I have recently been looking into utilising VB.NET forms from a VB6 application and found that there seemed no one place on the internet where I could find all the relevent information I required to get it working. I have therefore created my own article on the subject.

SQL Server 2005 : Using sp_send_dbmail With Attachments With a SQL Server Authenticated Username

Shandy — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:21:00 GMT

In SQL Server 2000 I used a SQL Server authenticated user name to send emails with attachments using the xp_sendmail account. However, in SQL Server 2005 I was unable to get xp_sendmail working and after switching to using sp_send_dbmail I initially still couldn't get my SQL Server authenticated account to send emails with attachments. In the end I had to give the SQL Server authenticated account sysadmin rights. Not a very satisfactory solution but a lot easier than switching to using a windows authenticated account.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has a more elegent solution

SQL Server 2005 sp_Send_DBMail @File_Attachments Parameter Does Not Allow Trailing Semi Colons

Shandy — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:11:00 GMT

In SQL Server 2000 the @Attachments parameter for the xp_SendMail stored procedure allowed you to pass attachments in the format "\\servername\sharename\filename;\\servername\sharename\filename;". However, when using the sp_Send_DBMail stored procedure @file_attachments parameter this format is invalid resulting in the error message:

The format of the parameter @attachments is incorrect. The file names must be separated by a semicolon ";".

Note also the incorrect naming of the parameter @file_attachments as @attachments. Instead you need to use the format "\\servername\sharename\filename;\\servername\sharename\filename".

SQL Server Surface Area Configuration : Unable To Access Remote Servers

Shandy — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:47:00 GMT

I found that although I could access remote computers using SQL SErver Surface Area Configuration on the same domain as myself I could not access servers on other domains. I resolved the issue by allowing my windows login access to the local administrator group on the remote servers.

Using xp_SendMail In SQL Server 2005

Shandy — Tue, 22 May 2007 10:42:00 GMT

I give in. Having spent the last week on and off trying to allow a SQL Server authenticated user to execute the xp_SendMail stored procedure I am at a loss as to what to do to allow this to happen. It looks like I am going to have to rewrite my code to utilise the new Database Mail method, something I could really do without at the moment. I will still need my code to execute the xp_sendmail stored procedure because my code still needs to use the xp_sendmail on SQL 2000 servers.

I suppose the alternative is to change the login from the specific one I have created, which can only access stored procedures I give it execute acess to (it cannot access views nor tables directly), and allow my application to login as the sa user. Ironically making the SQL Server 2005 less not more secure.

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio - Full Edition Now Installed

Shandy — Thu, 03 May 2007 11:29:00 GMT

After a struggle I have finally managed to get the full edition of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio installed on my laptop. Initially, it refused to install claiming that it was already installed, despite the fact it wasn't. I believe the problem was because I had previously installed SQL Server 2005 Express and despite not installing Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express something had installed that prevented the full blown Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio from SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition from installing. Fortunately the solution was fairly straightforward. I simply un-installed all SQL Server 2005 express components and installed the SQL Server 2005 standard edition from scratch.

The reason I needed to install full Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio edition was that the express edition did not appear to list the SQL Server Agent in the Object Explorer and so I was unable to access any jobs installed on the SQL servers. As far as I am concerned this is a fairly fundemental flaw in the express edition, rending it useless for the work I need to do.

Creating A Splash Screen In VB.NET 2005 Article Posted

Shandy — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:34:00 GMT

I have just posted an article, Creating A Splash Screen In VB.NET 2005.. Not rocket science but a start on documenting my VB.NET 2005 experiences. Hopefully it will be of use to other newbies, like myself, in the future.

Visual Studio 2005 Installed

Shandy — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:16:00 GMT

The installation of VS 2005 Professional proved to be seemless. The only issue was the length of time it took to install - in excess of an hour when the VS, MSDN & VS SP1 had all been installed. This was on a pretty reasonable development PC too - my Dell Latitude D620. So if you are going for a VS install I'd advise putting aside at least an hour and have a .NET learning book handy ;-)

.NET 2005 Books

Shandy — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:36:00 GMT

We have finally gone ahead at work and purchased Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional. To kick start learning VB.NET 2005 I have purchased the following 3 books from Amazon:

I have to be honest and say that my first choice would have been to purchase Murach's books as I am a big fan of theirs but I found a few of issues when trying to order their books.

The first issue was that when I tried to order from Murach's web site I could not find out how to get the delivery costs before ordering the books.

The second issue was that when I tried to order Murach’s VB.NET Database Programming with ADO.NET from Amazon it appeared that by looking at the table of contents and checking the publication date - 1 May 2003 - that only the 2003 version was available.

The final issue was that delivery on the books seemed unlikely to occur within less than a couple of weeks.

As I wanted to get the books within a week I decided that I'd go with the Microsoft Press books as they were easier to order and could be delivered within a few days. I also wanted most of the books to be by the same publishing house as I find this makes moving between the books easier as the writing and content style tend to be similar. Time will tell whether this decision proves right or not.

Further subjects I possibly need books on are:

VB.NET 2005 and SQL Server 2005 development.
VB.NET 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0 programming.
VB.NET 2005 and Microsoft Office 2003 Programming.
Reporting using Visual Studio 2005.

Finally : A .NET Project At Work

Shandy — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:43:00 GMT

After 7 years of "playing around" with VB.NET I have finally been given the go ahead to develop my next project in work in VB.NET.

We have still to iron out the details but in principal it has been agreed and we can purchase Visual Studio 2005. At some stage in the next few months we will also be looking to upgrade our servers from SQL Server 2000 to 2005.

So a lot of work to be done in the next few weeks as I need to refresh my knowledge as its been almost a couple of years since I used VB.NET on a regular basis and I have never used VB.NET 2005 except playing around with VB.NET 2005 Express over the last week or so.