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.

  • ASP.NET Error – Adding the specified count to the semaphore would cause it to exceed its maximum count

    If you are working with ASP.NET in Visual Studio, then you may be mystified when you see an error code : Adding the specified count to the semaphore would cause it to exceed its maximum count.

    This error had me wondering what exactly is going on… (more…)

  • An Overview of Returning XML from an MS SQL Server T-SQL Query

    There are times when using the XML data type in Microsoft SQL Server can be of great help. For example the XML data type is very useful when you want to return data in a hierarchical structure rather than a simple tabular structure.

    There are several options for going about and returning XML from your queries rather than tabular data, but I will take a short look into the pros and cons of the two most popular options. These are: FOR XML AUTO and FOR XML PATH.

    A point to note is that the XML returned in any of these queries will not output nodes if NULL database data is involved. That can potentially cause problems if you are expecting a specific XML structure at your front-end (ie: in your XSLT file). So if you want to return blank nodes as part of your XML you need to use the command: ELEMENTS XSINIL. Note that this forces your XML to return as nodes rather than the default syntax which returns the tables you are selecting from as nodes, and the data returned as attributes of your node.

    (more…)

  • Microsoft’s New Outlook.com and Why You Should Care

    So with all of the hype surrounding Microsoft’s new Outlook.com webmail system, one has to ask oneself exactly what the benefits are to this new system. Is Outlook.com just another online email service just like the rest? Or is there something unique that distinguishes it from similar systems by Google or Yahoo?

    Keep in mind that these are just my personal opinions and I’m sure many would strongly disagree. However, from what I can see there are a few key features which really make Outlook.com stand out from the crowd: (more…)