Wednesday, 6 January 2010 16:45 by
SyntaxC4A new year is upon us, and things are starting to get back into full swing. Guelph Coffee and Code will be meeting tomorrow for the first time this year but I couldn’t wait to give an update on the things that are happening in our group.
Telerik creators of productivity tools for the .NET Platform,
including my new favorite code analysis and refactoring tool JustCode, will be sponsoring Guelph Coffee and Code. Telerik will be providing us with some swag to give away at some meetings, and they would like to help get our own website [GuelphCoffeeAndCode.org] up and running using their product Sitefinity .NET CMS.
If you haven’t been out to Guelph Coffee and Code it’s never too late to start coming out, be sure to check out the Coffee and Code Website for details of each event. Pizza is provided to group members by Microsoft Canada.
If you would like to help out Guelph Coffee and Code and become a sponsor contact me or find me on twitter @SyntaxC4.
I’d like to thank Microsoft Canada, Telerik, Synn Studios and all of the members of Guelph Coffee and Code for making this community event possible. I’d also like to give credit to Joey deVilla for inventing the Coffee and Code event.
Friday, 11 December 2009 07:36 by
SyntaxC4
It’s an amazing how one simple concept can grow an amazing community. It all started with one simple question What’s Brewing Here? Joey deVilla, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Canada, took to the streets to work one day a week in a coffee shop in order to connect with local Developers. I wasn’t able to attend the first Coffee and Code, but I thought the idea was brilliant. I decided that it was something that was simple enough to do that I would start my own Coffee and Code group, thus Guelph Coffee and Code was born, the Tuesday following the first [Toronto] Coffee and Code.
Tonight we wrapped up the 41st meeting of Guelph Coffee and Code, and it’s come a long way from me sitting by myself at a local Coffee shop. We have recently moved into a new venue ‘Synnema’ a screening room for a local media production company Synn Studios. This new location will give us the ability to do presentations, and collaborate as an entire team as opposed to micro teams.
I have started to plan for the Anniversary of Guelph Coffee and Code, which would officially land on February 24th, but will be held on March 4th. My Plan is to bring Educators, Publishers and Software Vendors into Coffee and Code to give our community a chance to learn about what is out there for them to Advance their skills, or increase productivity with third party tools.
If you would like to attend, or sponsor the event [Door Prize, or Funding] please contact me through either the Contact Form or by snapping my Microsoft Tag.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 20:35 by
SyntaxC4
Hopefully you’ve had the chance to get a token [Check for a token here] to check out Microsoft's Upcoming Cloud computing Platform Windows Azure. I’ll be posting some more information about Windows Azure in the coming weeks, but while i am creating a new website for Guelph Coffee and Code I thought I would bring you some information on connecting to SQL Azure in order to get your database up into the cloud.
Even though it is possible to connect to a database using SQL Server 2008, I’d suggest getting the Nov CTP for SQL Server 2008R2. Just incase you don’t want to download a CTP here’s a hint as to how you can connect to your database with SQL Server 2008. The main reason I suggest SQL Server 2008 R2 is due to the fact that the Object Explorer of the current version of SQL Server is not compatible with SQL Azure.
Oh, I see you took my hint and downloaded R2, excellent choice. Now that you have your SQL Server Management Studio set up, lets take a look at some of the configurations that we will have to do in SQL Azure in order to connect to our database. [At the time of this blog post SQL Azure was available only to those who requested a token to access it. This post assumes you have access to SQL Azure.] Here are the steps to take to get to the SQL Azure Cloud Configuration Console.
You should now be in an area that contains an interface much like this one:
As you see I’ve already Created a Database, it’s a very simple process where you define a name and a size [1GB or 10GB] and click on OK to create it. In order to allow your Azure applications or to Manage your database using your SQL Server Management Studio you will have to allow connections through the Firewall, to change the firewall settings click on the ‘Firewall Settings’ tab.
In order for your Azure applications to be able to connect to your SQL Azure Database you will need to check the ‘Allow Microsoft Services access to this server’ checkbox. This adds the ‘MicrosoftServices’ Definition in the Rules grid. If you don’t intend on using the SQL Azure database with a Windows Azure Application, keep the box unchecked. To Allow you to access SQL Azure using SSMS you will have to Add a Rule.
The SQL Azure team did an excellent job making the Rules to be simple to configure. Enter a name, which is a Label to Identify the IP Range you are allowing to connect. Then specify an IP Range that you wish to allow access to this database. You’ll notice that the application displays your IP Address, so if you only wish to add your IP simply copy and paste the IP address into both the Start and End textboxes. Then Click Submit to Save the changes. Repeat this step if you would like to be able to connect to your SQL Azure database from Multiple locations (Work, and Home).
One last piece of information you’ll need from the Azure Services site is the Connection String for your new Database. To get the Connection String, Navigate back to the Databases Tab. Select your new database from the list and click on the ‘Connection Strings’ button.
From here you can either select the entire Connection String and Copy using the Right Click context menu, or click on the ‘Copy to clipboard’ link (which may cause a Security pop-up in your browser) [Note: Choose the appropriate Connection String for your Application. I have only tested the ADO.NET Connection String in SSMS]. Paste your Connection String somewhere it is easy to work with, I prefer using ‘Sticky Notes’ a feature of Windows 7, but you can use notepad if you’re more inclined to do so.
If you haven’t done so Already, Fire up your installation for SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio. [The SQL Server instance in the cloud uses the TCP port 1433 so you will have to make sure that your Firewall will allow outbound traffic on TCP port 1433.] As you normally would, Select Connect to Server from the Object Explorer.
Fill out the Server name, Login and Password information [Note: The Server name, and login are contained in your Connection String that you pasted safely into Sticky Notes or Notepad.] Your password you would have set while accessing the SQL Azure Menu for the first time. At this point it gets a little bit different than your typical connection to the database. If you were to connect now, you will only have access to the ‘master’ database which you do not have the ability to add tables to, not to mention you’ve created a nice new database to house your data for your current application. Here’s the trick to make sure you connect to the proper database on your SQL Azure account:
- Click on Options at the bottom of the Connect to Server Screen.
- Select the Additional Connection Parameter Tab
- Paste in your trusty connection string [waiting idly by in Sticky Notes]
- Change the password in the Connection String from myPassword to your actual SQL Azure password
- Hit the Connect button to Connect to the database.
Now that we’re up and running lets add a few tables. Being a .NET Developer myself I know that one of the existing .NET Features I’m going to want to leverage will be the ASP.NET Membership Provider. After giving the command-line utility a try, I found out that SQL Azure does not support a number of Commands that are contained in the Utility. This includes use [cannot select other databases in the cloud], GRANT your login cannot GRANT or DENY privileges on the tables or stored procedures, nor is it able to Query against the master table.
No I wouldn’t bring this up just to let you down, here is a work around. Open the Visual Studio 20008 Command Prompt, and type the following:
aspnet_regsql.exe -A mpr -sqlexportonly <filePath>
-A: Application Services Options
- P – Profiles
- M – Membership
- R – Role Manager
Then Obviously replace <filePath> with a Path where you can Save the SQL Output like “C:\SQL\ASP_NET_MemberShip_Tables.sql”.
This will allow you to run the SQL file against the database in the SSMS Query window. It will throw warnings about the invalid keywords but the tables and stored procedures get created regardless.
I wish you luck with your Deployments to Windows Azure, Stay Tuned for more blog posts on Developing on the Windows Azure Platform.
Friday, 9 October 2009 11:03 by
SyntaxC4
Tech Days Toronto has come and gone, opening what I hope to be one of many speaking engagements to come. It was an honor to be able to Headline the conference with a presentation on “What’s new in Silverlight 3”.
After taking the time to rest over the weekend, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about it at Guelph Coffee and Code while I wait for some more attendees to show up. For more information on Coffee and Code in general check out the official website
Being my first technical conference, and more importantly the first time speaking in front of a large crowd (approx. 400 people were in attendance for my session), I was extremely nervous. To start my presentation and to try to get comfortable with the audience, I started up getting the entire room to chant “Silver” - “Light”, dividing the room in half.
Feeling energized by the ability to stir the crowd, I began my presentation at a blazing speed. I started into demoing my first topic, “Perspective 3D”. I walked through the 2 forms explaining the idea behind each of the forms, how you have the ability to flip elements on the X, Y, and Z Planes. After showing these 2 demos, I remembered at tweet of advice from Barry Gervin of Object Sharp, the general idea “Speaker quieter, and slower than you think you have to”. After the words slower passed my mind, I flinched, I haven’t shown any code yet. In a bit of a panic I explain myself and decide to jump into the code of my first two demos.
After reviewing the code from the first two demos, things went as you would expect a live demo to go. One of my demos didn’t cooperate but I was able to recover and show an example of Data Validation in a subsequent demo.
Overall, I had a great time being able to present at Tech Days and hope to be able to speak at future Microsoft Events. I’ll be sure to keep my head in Silverlight code, and make tours at local .Net User Groups (like CTTDNUG & FCDNUG)