truncate SQL 2005 Log file

Unlike SQL 2000, you can't conveniently just truncate the transaction
log. But you can do this:

1. Highlight the database-> Tasks->Detach..-> Click OK
2. Go to log file folder -> rename the xxx_log.ldf to something else
3. Highlight Databases->Attach…-> Click Add -> add the database MDF
file, highlight the log file in the lower part of the window and click
the 'Remove' button.
4. After this is done, you can verify the contents of the attached
database and then delete the log file.

AJAX Calendar Extender only shows partial weekdays

The Calendar extender in my page only shows 5 days in a week, instead
of a full 7 days. There is no parameters controlling this behavior.
After some investigation I found that's because I have defined padding
in my stylesheet for TD:

TD {padding-left:5px;padding-right:5px;}

Generally it's not a good idea to change the general TD style,
especially third-party control will be used. I put the padding in my
own table class then problem solved!

Call server postback from ModalPopup extender

The Atlas AJAX Toolkit has a very convenient ModalPopup extender. However by default it doesn't do post back on button clicks, even the event is wired with the button:

< runat="server" id="btnAddExistingPart" text="Add" cssclass="SplashButton" onclick="btnAddExistingPart_Click">

Upon click it only dismiss the modal popup.

You have to explicitly call the post back client method to initiate the post back:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
...
btnAddExistingPart.OnClientClick = "__doPostBack('" + btnAddExistingPart.UniqueID + "','')";
...
}

System admin script

To lock the workstation (tested on Win2K/XP): rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation

OleDbCommand doesn't support named parameters

When calling a parameterized stored procedure, if you pass parameters to a SqlCommand object

(i.e.
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@productID", strProductID);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@productName", strName);
...
)

SqlCommand will correctly map the value with the parameter regardless of the order these AddWithValue methods are called. However, OleDbCommand doesn't support named parameters (MS confirmed it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316744). You have to make sure the order you call the AddWithValue method matches the order of your SP parameters. Obviously the SqlCommand is much more convinient because you can simply skip some parameters that have default values defined in SP. In my database utility class for SqlClient, I can pack the parameters in a HashTable and pass them in:

public DataSet ExecuteSPQuery(string spName, Hashtable param)
{
SqlConnection myConnection = null;
DataSet dataSet = new DataSet();
try
{
myConnection = ConnectToDB();
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.Connection = myConnection;
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.CommandText = spName;

// a different way of looping a hashtable
if (param != null)
{
foreach (DictionaryEntry de in param)
{
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@" + de.Key.ToString(), de.Value.ToString());
}
}

SqlDataAdapter myAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
myAdapter.SelectCommand = cmd;
myAdapter.Fill(dataSet);

}
finally
{
if (myConnection != null)
myConnection.Close();
}

if (dataSet != null && dataSet.Tables.Count == 0)
return null;
else
return dataSet;
}

However for OldDb client, I have to use a queue to do that, and anytime there is a change to the SP, I have to change everywhere that queue is populated, or to define a method for each SP I call. How nice...

Sorted view in SQL 2005

It looks like something new in SQL 2005. If you try to add a "order by" in the view, the management studio will automatically add a "TOP (100) PERCENT" after the SELECT clause. However this only works in "preview" mode. If you query "select * from [view_name]", you still get the records unsorted.

To get the sorted records from a view, a workaround is to use
SELECT top 1000000000 * FROM

This is not ideal but it works if you know your data count range. Microsoft has a hotfix for this. I can't believe MS let SQL 2005 out of the door with such a bug.