Vodafone Mobile Connect Pin Lost

This post was intended purely for education purposes. After careful consideration this post has been removed for privacy reasons.

Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition 2005 - Continued

In my previous article we had a brief look at scenarios where SQL CE can add value as well as problems I have encountered using SQL CE. In the following section I will be addressing how to overcome these problems.

Although the install can be executed silently an install is required to register SQL Server as a data provider

• Currently I am not aware of a means to overcome this issue. I believe that with enough registry and file system analysis the outcome of the install can reproduced without having to run the install though.

Although the database supports multi threading the provider only allows connections from a single process at any one time.

• This is not a very common scenario but a scenario that exists none the less. A small portable database with a small amount of traffic is required to service multiple clients. By exposing the database via a webservice multiple client are able to communicate with the database without running into the single process predicament.

When connected via management studio the database is locked for read access (Single process restriction).

• I unfortunately don't know any way around this SQL management studio. In Visual studio it is possible to specify the "File Mode" attribute as being only "Read" this will allow you to inspect the the data in the database without denying service to users.

The database engine does not support stored procedures

• Unfortunately there is no way around this. The CE engine does not support precompiled queries or an extensive security model, so I suggest you handle access in your data access and business tiers respectively.

I hope this article has given some insight into problems that need consideration when evaluating SQL CE as a database engine for your application.

Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition 2005

SQL Compact edition 2005 is a complement to the existing range of SQL server products.

Although SQL Server compact edition is aimed squarely at the mobile market it could offer value in the following scenarios:

• Scenarios where the deployment of SQL express edition is too cumbersome.
• A small portable database is required that does not justify the need for SQL server express edition.

I have encountered the following problems when using SQL compact edition:

• Although the install can be executed silently an install is required to register SQL Server as a data provider.
• Although the database supports multi threading the provider only allows connections from a single process at any one time.
• Although SQL Server management studio 2005 supports mobile edition, you have write queries to view the data in tables .
• When connected via management studio the database is locked for read access (Single process restriction).
• The database engine does not support stored procedures.

In my next article we will look at how we can overcome some of these problems.

...........NET

Hi Guys,

I have been soo busy with new and exciting projects I have not had time to update my blog in ages! I will be making time daily and will be spoiling you with awesome tips & tricks I have picked up along the way! I will also be creating an exciting new blog which focuses on secure software development aswell as other security related topics.

Enough promising...the time has come to start sharing...

C# Guided samples book in HTML format

Hi guys I found this really cool, very comprehesive, guided C# sample e-book on the web today. You can just download the HTML book from this URL:

http://www.skilldrive.com/book/DOTNETinSamples.htm

Visual Studio 2005 - Code Formatting

I dont't know if any of you guys have noticed the cool new code reformatting feature in visual studio. If you remove the bottom brace of a code file and retype it, the IDE reformats the code based on your settings in Tools > Options > Text Editor > Language.

Be warned though that this feature will not work if your code is currently un-parseable iow. if your page can't build the formatter will not reformat your code.

Web service based Membership provider

This is the first article I have come across that offers a web-service based membershipprovider implementation.

http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/WSSecurityProvider.asp

Visual Studio 2005 - Crystal Reports

Played around with crystal reports for asp.net today. I have noted some pleasant changes from the previous version.

1. The ability to format multiple objects at once: this is great for applying consistant formatting to a row of body fields.

Some negative points:

1. Crystal report viewer does not allow you to use the print/export buttons if the the reportviewer is inside an atlas:updatepanel. Im sure there are some work-arounds for this issue, but will abandon experimentation until such a time as i can afford to work on the bleeding edge again.
2. The width and height properties of the reportviewer cannot be set using percentages.

Code generation using CODEDOM

So what is CODEDOM anyway? This is what MSDN has to say about CODEDOM:

"The CodeDOM provides types that represent many common types of source code elements. You can design a program that builds a source code model using CodeDOM elements to assemble an object graph. This object graph can be rendered as source code using a CodeDOM code generator for a supported programming language. The CodeDOM can also be used to compile source code into a binary assembly.
Some common uses for the CodeDOM include:
Templated code generation: generating code for ASP.NET, XML Web services client proxies, code wizards, designers, or other code-emitting mechanisms.
Dynamic compilation: supporting code compilation in single or multiple languages."

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y2k85ax6.aspx