Archive for November, 2005

LINK: Mailbox limits

Posted on November 26, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Yep, those mail box limits some companies set defy explanation
sg’s note in the comments about the 5.25″ backup cracked me up

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SQL: Compare case in WHERE clause

Posted on November 26, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Here’s one of those really easy SQL tips that I always forget (in fact I’m just posting it here for ease of finding later)
 
In VFP it is easy to compare case ie
SELECT fields FROM mytable
   WHERE UPPER(field) == field
 
If you want to compare case in a SQL Server database that is case insensitive, just convert to varbinary first eg:
SELECT fields FROM mytable
   WHERE CONVERT(varbinary, UPPER(field)) = CONVERT(varbinary, field)
 
Here’s an example:
USE Northwind
SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName, ContactName, ContactTitle, City
 FROM customers (NOLOCK)
 WHERE CONVERT(varbinary,UPPER(LEFT(CompanyName,4))) = CONVERT(varbinary,LEFT(CompanyName,4))

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LINK: Mailbox limits

Posted on November 26, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Yep, those mail box limits some companies set defy explanation
sg’s note in the comments about the 5.25″ backup cracked me up
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )

SQL: Compare case in WHERE clause

Posted on November 26, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Here’s one of those really easy SQL tips that I always forget (in fact I’m just posting it here for ease of finding later)
 
In VFP it is easy to compare case ie
SELECT fields FROM mytable
   WHERE UPPER(field) == field
 
If you want to compare case in a SQL Server database that is case insensitive, just convert to varbinary first eg:

SELECT fields FROM mytable
   WHERE CONVERT(varbinary, UPPER(field)) = CONVERT(varbinary, field)
 
Here’s an example:

USE Northwind
SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName, ContactName, ContactTitle, City
 FROM customers (NOLOCK)
 WHERE CONVERT(varbinary,UPPER(LEFT(CompanyName,4))) = CONVERT(varbinary,LEFT(CompanyName,4))
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VFP: Google to buy Visual FoxPro

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Originally I was going to post this on April 1 next year, but in the end I decided I couldn’t wait that long…
 
A few of us were chatting around the coffee machine at work the other day discussing what would happen if Google bought Visual FoxPro from Microsoft. It’s an interesting idea and one that would probably please the developers who think Microsoft doesn’t support the product (I’m not one of them).
 
Google would pick up a great product, (perhaps change its name to FoxProogle), release it to everyone for free, win over the anti-Microsoft crowd, no doubt building in some search API stuff along the way. Over night you’d see the press talking up a storm about how incredibly easy to use this ‘new’ product is compared to those complex development environments (!), how lightning fast its data engine is, how stable and mature, how well it hooked into SQL Server, the list goes on…
 
It’d be an exciting turn in the history of FoxPro.
 
Being free, many would assume it must be some kind of ‘open source initiative’ and embrace it for that reason alone (joke).
 
After that Google would buy West Wind Web Connection and between the two products they’d have the desktop and web development toolset covered.
 
Google could have hosted VFP accounts (eg just add it to your GMail account) and Google desktop extensions that hooked right into your VFP IDE. Every mum, dad, student and would-be developer around the world would be using Fox to write simple desktop and web apps, pointing to their GFox data store.
 
No doubt you can think of a million other things that Google could do.
 
Anyway, back to reality…
 
 

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VFP: Sydney VFP User Group year end meeting on 14 December 2005

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

The final Sydney VFP User Group meeting for 2005 has been postponed by two weeks.
We will now be meeting on Wednesday 14 December. Still at the usual venue and time.
 

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VFP: FoxTabs issue…

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

You might be wondering how FoxTabs is coming along. Well, all fine except for one little issue that is a potential showstopper…
Scott has posted here with the details.
 
 

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VFP: Google to buy Visual FoxPro

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

Originally I was going to post this on April 1 next year, but in the end I decided I couldn’t wait that long…
 
A few of us were chatting around the coffee machine at work the other day discussing what would happen if Google bought Visual FoxPro from Microsoft. It’s an interesting idea and one that would probably please the developers who think Microsoft doesn’t support the product (I’m not one of them).
 
Google would pick up a great product, (perhaps change its name to FoxProogle), release it to everyone for free, win over the anti-Microsoft crowd, no doubt building in some search API stuff along the way. Over night you’d see the press talking up a storm about how incredibly easy to use this ‘new’ product is compared to those complex development environments (!), how lightning fast its data engine is, how stable and mature, how well it hooked into SQL Server, the list goes on…
 
It’d be an exciting turn in the history of FoxPro.
 
Being free, many would assume it must be some kind of ‘open source initiative’ and embrace it for that reason alone (joke).
 
After that Google would buy West Wind Web Connection and between the two products they’d have the desktop and web development toolset covered.
 
Google could have hosted VFP accounts (eg just add it to your GMail account) and Google desktop extensions that hooked right into your VFP IDE. Every mum, dad, student and would-be developer around the world would be using Fox to write simple desktop and web apps, pointing to their GFox data store.
 
No doubt you can think of a million other things that Google could do.
 
Anyway, back to reality…
 
 
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VFP: Sydney VFP User Group year end meeting on 14 December 2005

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

The final Sydney VFP User Group meeting for 2005 has been postponed by two weeks.
We will now be meeting on Wednesday 14 December. Still at the usual venue and time.
 
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: FoxTabs issue…

Posted on November 25, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

You might be wondering how FoxTabs is coming along. Well, all fine except for one little issue that is a potential showstopper…
Scott has posted here with the details.
 
 
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

LINK: Music CD copy protection

Posted on November 3, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

An interesting piece on Music CD copy protection. Keep it in mind when you next consider purchasing a CD.http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8273Here’s the analysis:http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.htmlBTW: We finally have iTunes in Australia now (as of Tuesday 25 Oct 2006)

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LINK: Music CD copy protection

Posted on November 3, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

An interesting piece on Music CD copy protection. Keep it in mind when you next consider purchasing a CD.http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8273Here’s the analysis:http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.htmlBTW: We finally have iTunes in Australia now (as of Tuesday 25 Oct 2006)

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SQL: Installing SQL 2005

Posted on November 2, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

I installed SQL 2005 successfully after removing VS Beta 2 (and the SQL CTP that came with it).

For anyone who needs to remove Beta 2 the following steps may be useful:

1. Download the RTMs from MSDN Subscriber Downloads
(assuming you are a Subscriber)

2. Uninstall SQL Server CTP
The following wouldn’t work for me so I had to uninstall the components manually
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/06/14/429194.aspx

Here’s a guide to which order to do it in
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/06/14/429203.aspx

Here’s the order I uninstalled:
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Transformation Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Notification Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files
Microsoft SQL Native Client

3. Uninstall VS 2005 Beta 2
Use the VS removal tool
http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/a/a/0aacd9c1-a0c5-43ab-a428-0ee440d4472c/vs_uninst.exe

4. Mount your ISO image using the Microsoft utility
(some blogs advise against using this, but it works fine for me)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/b/6/7b6abd84-7841-4978-96f5-bd58df02efa2/winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel_21.exe
Overview of using it
http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=406936&seqNum=2

5. Install SQL Server 2005 as per normal install

Everything works fine, and all the issues I had with the Beta have been fixed.

Happy me.

See also Rick Strahl’s blog for VS specific advice
http://west-wind.com/weblog/posts/3367.aspx

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VFP: OzFox Lite conference announced

Posted on November 2, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

I’ve just posted details of OzFox Lite 2006 on the OzFox site.

OzFox Lite is a low cost conference for Australian VFP developers, similar to the CodeCamp concept. Oz developers, keep the weekend of March 25 and 26 next year free.

We are looking for talented Australian developers to present.

Think of this as a big VFP User Group going for a whole weekend. Bring it on!

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: Microsoft support here and there

Posted on November 2, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

wOOdy comments that Microsoft support for VFP isn’t the same everywhere. If this is the case then I agree with him that it is hurting – how disappointing for the German community who have such a strong voice globally (and even more so now given the latest FoxTalk news).

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: FoxTabs beta available

Posted on November 2, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

The FoxTabs Beta is available.

http://www.vfpsolutionexplorer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=61

This version is much more stable than the Alpha (but is still just a Beta – you’ve been warned) and is now ready for us to start adding features. Please let us know what you’d like included using the forums on the site.

Source code is included and we ofcourse welcome any coding improvements you can offer.

Many thanks to our Alpha testers who have provided valuable feedback – much appreciated.

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )

SQL: Installing SQL 2005

Posted on November 1, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

I installed SQL 2005 successfully after removing VS Beta 2 (and the SQL CTP that came with it).

For anyone who needs to remove Beta 2 the following steps may be useful:

1. Download the RTMs from MSDN Subscriber Downloads
(assuming you are a Subscriber)

2. Uninstall SQL Server CTP
The following wouldn’t work for me so I had to uninstall the components manually
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/06/14/429194.aspx

Here’s a guide to which order to do it in
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2005/06/14/429203.aspx

Here’s the order I uninstalled:
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Transformation Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Notification Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services CTP
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files
Microsoft SQL Native Client

3. Uninstall VS 2005 Beta 2
Use the VS removal tool
http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/a/a/0aacd9c1-a0c5-43ab-a428-0ee440d4472c/vs_uninst.exe

4. Mount your ISO image using the Microsoft utility
(some blogs advise against using this, but it works fine for me)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/b/6/7b6abd84-7841-4978-96f5-bd58df02efa2/winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel_21.exe
Overview of using it
http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=406936&seqNum=2

5. Install SQL Server 2005 as per normal install

Everything works fine, and all the issues I had with the Beta have been fixed.

Happy me.

See also Rick Strahl’s blog for VS specific advice
http://west-wind.com/weblog/posts/3367.aspx

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: OzFox Lite conference announced

Posted on November 1, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

I’ve just posted details of OzFox Lite 2006 on the OzFox site.

OzFox Lite is a low cost conference for Australian VFP developers, similar to the CodeCamp concept. Oz developers, keep the weekend of March 25 and 26 next year free.

We are looking for talented Australian developers to present.

Think of this as a big VFP User Group going for a whole weekend. Bring it on!

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: Microsoft support here and there

Posted on November 1, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

wOOdy comments that Microsoft support for VFP isn’t the same everywhere. If this is the case then I agree with him that it is hurting – how disappointing for the German community who have such a strong voice globally (and even more so now given the latest FoxTalk news).

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )

VFP: FoxTabs beta available

Posted on November 1, 2005. Filed under: Visual FoxPro |

The FoxTabs Beta is available.

http://www.vfpsolutionexplorer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=61

This version is much more stable than the Alpha (but is still just a Beta – you’ve been warned) and is now ready for us to start adding features. Please let us know what you’d like included using the forums on the site.

Source code is included and we ofcourse welcome any coding improvements you can offer.

Many thanks to our Alpha testers who have provided valuable feedback – much appreciated.

Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )

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