Justin Cooney

Web Development Tips and Examples

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about

I am a Senior Applications Programmer / Analyst with years of experience developing enterprise solutions using the Microsoft technology stack including C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, AJAX, IIS and SQL Server. I specialize in Web application development with a focus on building secure systems, integrating applications, and designing robust database structures.

  • UDL Files: Centralizing your DataSource Connections – Overview

    I have not had much use for UDL (Universal Data Link) files in the past, but recently I found out just how useful they can be. Today I encountered an issue with Crystal Reports 9 calling SQL Server with a blank password when the connection was set within Crystal Reports. After much research and testing I found that the only way to correct this was to force Crystal Reports to use a UDL file to obtain its connection information.

    For anyone not sure exactly what a UDL file is, it is basically a file that one can create and use to centralize database connection information. So it functions along the lines of an ODBC data source, or a little like an old .ini file… or for the web, like a web.config file. The only difference being that like an ODBC datasource, Windows will present a forms like view of the connection information in the UDL file when it is opened.

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  • SQL Server Linked Servers: Linking Instances of SQL Server Step-by-Step

    In most places hosting instances of SQL Server, you will likely find older and newer versions of SQL Server running side-by side. This can of course become a challenge when you are writing code to make the servers communicate with each other.

    When writing a SQL query on one server, how can one tie together information from databases on other servers? The simplest way is to link the servers by creating a cross server link. In general the cross server links work well across the network and across the various versions of SQL Server (with some exceptions).

    So how does one set up a linked server?

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  • The NASA UARS – Tumbling Satellite to Impact Earth

    NASA UBRS Tumbles Closer to Earth - will impact early in the evening of September 23 2011
    NASA UBRS

    *** UPDATE Saturday Sept 24 2011, 1:38pm EDT ***

    The UARS satellite has crashed somewhere in the North Pacific Ocean, off the west Coast of the United States between the times of 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23 and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24 . The exact time and place are not yet known although NASA promises to post an update when it finds out further details.

    *** UPDATE Friday Sept 23 2011, 10:45pm EDT ***

    NASA confirms satellite is descending and will impact Earth between 11:00 pm EDT and 3:00 am EDT (Sept 24 2011). Data is still incredibly vague. The UARS satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans*** UPDATE Friday Sept 23 2011, 5:00pm EDT ***

    NASA still has not released an update on the estimated impact location of the rogue UARS satellite, even though the impact time was estimated for this evening. The latest NASA update was at 10:30 a.m. EDT

    The UARS satellite is likely to fall later than expected since its rate of descent has slowed. NASA indicates that this may be due to the satellite repositioning itself and possibly also a decrease in the amount of heightened solar activity that was previously accelerating the satellite’s descent by causing the thermosphere to expand. (ref.)

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