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November 02, 2006

The New Books hit the Street

November 6th is going to be a big day for me. That’s when my latest Hitchhiker’s Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition) and my first EBook Hitchhiker’s Guide to SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition hit the streets. I expect to get my first copy here in Redmond tomorrow (Friday November 3rd). Addison Wesley tells me that the bookstore at the Connections conference in Vegas will have the first copies. They also plan to have copies at TechEd Barcelona that same week and at PASS here in Seattle the following week.

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Posted by William Vaughn at 03:16 PM | | Comments (0)

September 17, 2006

Question of the Day: Enumerating SQL Server Instances

Another question came up in the newsgroups today that's been asked (and answered) before so to short-circuit having to repeat myself, here is a blocl of code that can be used to enumerate the providers on a system and the services that the provider can see on the network. In other words, it lists the SQL Server instances on the network and puts the list in a DataGridView.

This code is extracted from an example in my new book Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server due to be on the streets in early November. See www.hitchhikerguides.net for more information.

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Posted by William Vaughn at 04:50 PM | | Comments (2)

June 03, 2006

EBooks--Profit for Pirates?

It’s become pretty clear that the technical book-writing business is not worth the time and effort—not to mention the years of time that I could have been contributing elsewhere. But is there a better way? This article explores the mechanics of writing technical books and the alternatives.

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Posted by William Vaughn at 10:46 AM | | Comments (1)

June 01, 2006

So, Where's the Book?

I get that a lot. Most folks know that I've been holed up working on the latest Hitchhiker's Guide. This (7th) edition was not a minor update like several of the earlier versions--I started from a blank slate over a year and a half ago. Sure, I couldn't really start building test and example applications until Whidbey shipped. I think it's a phenomenal waste of time to write "beta" books that have the shelf life of a roman candle on the 4th of July.

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Posted by William Vaughn at 01:54 PM | | Comments (0)

May 25, 2006

Proliferating Project-based Databases

Ok, so you heard that it’s possible to use Visual Studio to create a new SQL Server database and add it to your project. As a matter of fact, you can add any number of SQL Server databases to your project and Visual Studio will be happy to comply. How happy you are with debug performance might be another matter but I’m getting ahead of myself. This practice seems to be important enough for Microsoft to include the functionality in the IDE so if
this is something you do or plan to use as an easy database deployment technique read on—especially if you’re targeting Smart Client/Windows Forms applications. I understand how this can be appealing. All you have to do is add the database file to your project and Visual Studio automatically includes it in your deployment binaries.



Database Rabbitesque Proliferation







Using Project-based Databases






Proliferating Project-based Databases


Ok, so you heard that it’s possible to use Visual Studio to
create a new SQL Server database and add it to your project. As a matter of
fact, you can add any number of SQL Server databases to your project and Visual
Studio will be happy to comply. How happy you are with debug performance might
be another matter but I’m getting ahead of myself. This practice seems to be
important enough for Microsoft to include the functionality in the IDE so if
this is something you do or plan to use as an easy database deployment
technique read on—especially if you’re targeting Smart Client/Windows Forms
applications. I understand how this can be appealing. All you have to do is add
the database file to your project and Visual Studio automatically includes it
in your deployment binaries.

Continue reading "Database Rabbitesque Proliferation" »

Posted by William Vaughn at 02:04 PM | | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition)--It's Done

The latest edition in the Hitchhiker’s Guide series is finally done—at least my part. The book is in edit (and has been for awhile). This means we can expect to see it on shelves in about four months (hopefully less). Clearly, this is not a good way to get current information into your hands. As it is, the book is over 800 (Microsoft Office Word) pages. That means it’ll push 900 pages on the shelf if we keep all of the content. Yes, it will also include a DVD and a slew of examples, sample databases and possibly some Camtasia™ videos (if I find the time). I plan to post the outline here before long.

Continue reading "Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition)--It's Done" »

Posted by William Vaughn at 05:38 PM | | Comments (0)