Eric Moreau's web site (www.emoreau.com)

Extension methods in .Net

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

When you are using the API of any classes or controls, you always come up with this question: why isn’t MethodX exists? The answer is simple; the authors of the component you are using just cannot implement every single method you think of.

Since programming languages exist, developers always wanted to fit the component to their usage. For a long time, inheritance was THE answer but not all objects allow that (just think of the String here which was created as NotInheritable / Sealed). Starting with .Net 3.5, Visual Studio .Net offers developers using one of these classes to add their own add-ons to existing code without using inheritance. The creators of the classes cannot prevent you from doing it. And finally, you don’t need the original code.

The mechanism is simple, it is called Extensions methods. You would be surprised to see how many .Net developers are not using this mechanism yet.

I am not good at patterns but I have been told that this is the Visitors patter which allows us to change the class structure without changing the actual class. It is a way of separating the logic and algorithm from the current data structure.

New article: Extension methods in .Net

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I just published a new article. This time it is about a feature that was added in Visual Studio 2008 that surprisingly not every developer is aware. The subject is extension methods.

You can read the article from http://www.emoreau.com/Entries/Articles/2012/01/Extension-methods-in-Net.aspx.

SQL Server 2012 launch date = March 7th

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

On your mark. Get set. Install.

No not yet. Yes it is true that Microsoft will have its “Global Virtual Launch” event for SQL Server 2012 on March 7th 2012 but you won’t be able to download and install the final bits on that day. This purely a marketing event to get you excited about the upcoming real product.

One thing that will really happen on that day is an online event hosted by Microsoft. This event offers more than 30 sessions that you can watch live online. Visit http://www.sqlserverlaunch.com for all the details and to register.

Aaron Bertrand list of free SQL resources

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Aaron Bertrand put together (and still maintain) a list of valuables and free resources for SQL Server. It is worth looking at it athttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2010/10/26/useful-free-resources-for-sql-server.aspx

.Net Montréal event : Samedi .Net titled "Tirer le maximum de Visual Studio pour construire des applications de qualité!"

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

This is coming real soon. This Saturday January 28, the Montréal .Net Community will have another one of its famous ".Net Saturday". This event is titled "Tirer le maximum de Visual Studio pour construire des applications de qualité!"

All the info (and the registration) is avalaible from http://www.dotnetmontreal.com/events/25833471/

Presentation at the User group

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Yesterday night I was presenting at the “Communauté .Net Montréal” (http://www.dotnetmontreal.com/) the same session I did at DevTeach/SQLTeach last summer.

This session is titled “Running .Net code in SQL Server and the Table Value Parameters for the developers”. The session is about features of SQL Server that are not very well known from the developers. In the first part of the session, I showed how to run .Net code into the database and some tricks to deploy it to production server that ease the DBA job. In the second part of the session, I showed how to use Table Value Parameter (TVP) from a .Net application.

Judging from the number of questions, the crowd liked these topics.

Don’t forget that you can get the details of these 2 topics by reading http://www.emoreau.com/Entries/Articles/2011/05/Creating-SQL-Stored-Procedures-in-Net-SQL-CLR-Integration.aspx and http://www.emoreau.com/Entries/Articles/2010/11/SQL-Table-Value-parameters.aspx.

Microsoft SQL Server Grouping sets

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

There won’t be any Visual Studio programming this month. Instead, I will show you a neat Microsoft SQL Server 2008 feature that many developers (and even some DBAs) are not aware of and which come in handy very often.

Every now and then when working with SQL queries, you need to perform some kind of aggregation like sub-totals and totals at the same time you need the data. Very often I have seen (and did myself) UNION queries to achieve what I will show you here. Not only this method is not optimal, it is also more difficult to read and debug.

Over the years, many techniques have been documented to satisfy the requirements.

New article: Microsoft SQL Server Grouping sets

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

I have just published a new article, the last one for 2011.

No .Net programming this month, only SQL code, but still, I sincerely hope, useful for you.

This article is about the Grouping Sets feature of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and above.

You can read this article from http://www.emoreau.com/Entries/Articles/2011/12/Microsoft-SQL-Server-Grouping-sets.aspx.

Bypassing the credentials dialog when opening SSMS

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

If you are like me, one of the tool you open everyday is SSMS. And chances are that from a single PC, you always connect to the very same database. I have seen numerous questions in newsgroup asking how to bypass this dialog.

My friend Damir has documented an easy trick that does just that by simply adding a few arguments to your shortcut. You can read it from http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2011/12/12/the-sql-guy-post-6-save-time-connecting-to-sql-server-using-management-studio-ssms.aspx

Silverlight 5 now available

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

No Silverlight is not dead. The latest version, which is Silverlight 5, is now available at http://www.silverlight.net/learn/overview/what's-new-in-silverlight-5