360Agileweb

What the heck is SYLK File?

According to Microsoft:
A SYLK file is a text file that begins with “ID” or “ID_xxxx”, where xxxx is a text string. The first record of a SYLK file is the ID_Number record. When Excel identifies this text at the beginning of a text file, it interprets the file as a SYLK file. Excel tries to convert the file from the SYLK format, but cannot do so because there are no valid SYLK codes after the “ID” characters. Because Excel cannot convert the file, you receive the error message.

I got the error message:
‘SYLK: File format is not valid’
when trying to open a CSV file.

Apparently this is a known issue in Microsoft products.

Read more on KB323626

360Agileweb

"Cannot insert the value NULL into column ”, table ”; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails."

One useful system stored procedure is sp_helpdb. This stored procedure returns information about all of your databases on your server such as the size, owner, when it was created and the database settings. One issue that you may run into is that the stored procedure does not provide data, but an error occurs instead. The error that you receive is “Cannot insert the value NULL into column ”, table ”; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails.”

Useful tips to fix this here

360Agileweb

Server-side vs Client-side validation for ASP.NET web applications

What is validation?
In HTML ‘Validation’ is not a process, it is merely a concept. HTML simply offers client-side scripting and form-posting. With the web page disconnected, nothing will happen server side until the form is posted – after that nothing more can happen client side until a new web page (response) is received.
Client-side validation
Client-side scripting must occur before server-side scripting. ‘Validation’ then is a function of our code.
If our code uses client side scripting to validate, it must happen before the form post, if we use server side code to validate it must happen after the form post.
This obviously gives the option of using the client side scripting to cancel the form post if our validation routine is not satisfied.
In .Net Microsoft offered a wizard to generate validation scripts (the validation controls), but this merely generates code as explained above.
Client-side validation is fundamentally flawed in that the ‘client’ which, strictly speaking is outside the applications control, is detailing whether something is acceptable or not. So, for example, the user might have a browser that does not fully support JavaScript and invalid data might be returned as valid. For this reason it is always recommended to use server side validation.
Server-side validation
Server side validation on the other hand can be very frustrating and with unexpected results. A user can submit a form, wait for long time for it to be processed, only to be told that it is invalid. For this reason we add client side validation to check the form before it is submitted, merely to enhance userability.
360Agileweb

Installing VSTS 2008

I had a chance to set up the VSTS 2008.

All I can share is that you need to follow the steps as outlined in this link

1. Ensure you meet all the pre-requisites
2. Ensure you follow the step-by-step guide to the letter
3. Enjoy the power of VSTS.

I love the Team Foundation Build, it makes automation of buids so basic. You have to try this!

Julius