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.

  • SQL OpenRowSet Excel Query Returns Null Values

    In an earlier article I reviewed how to query an Excel spreadsheet from SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). I’ve found that this functionality is very useful, especially when working with data maintained by business users outside of a database system.

    For an overview of how to connect SSMS with an Excel WorkSheet, please see my detailed article covering the subject. I continue to use the method of saving my SpreadSheet as a .xls format file which I then connect to using the OpenRowSet command with the Microsoft Jet OLEDB 4.0 driver. Once the Excel worksheet is query-able by SSMS it’s quite simple to work with this data just like you would work with a regular table.

    However, one important caveat is that if your worksheet contains numeric as well as alphabetic data, this will confuse the driver and depending on the order of the data in your Spreadsheet, null results will be returned instead of the numeric data.

    This behavior can be surprising when one first notices it, but happily it can be easily corrected so that you can properly query mixed data type columns.

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  • Pinging Services for WordPress Bloggers

    I’ve heard about how pinging services can help to promote new content on one’s Web site. Basically a pinging service works by notifying a list of search providers when you post new content to your Web site or blog. My question is:

    Do these work and are they needed for a WordPress.com blog?

    While researching the issue I’ve read that these pinging services are no longer needed and can in fact lower your blog’s standing with the search engine.

    For example, I took a look into Ping-o-Matic. This service appears to be integrated with WordPress so that a number of search providers are automatically notified as soon as you publish a new blog article (based on information I saw on the WordPress.com forums).

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  • Create and Style an Editable Select List Using a JQuery Combobox

    JQuery Combobox
    JQuery Combobox

    By default there is no HTML control that can act as both a dropdown list and an editable input area. The best resource to create such a control is the JQuery Combobox widget.

    Overview

    HTML and Web-based controls can cause confusion for users who are accustomed to using Windows applications. Often the look of Web-based controls is similar to the Windows-based equivalent, but then the behavior of the HTML control is sufficiently different to cause confusion with the user.

    Case in point: drop-down lists in a Windows-based application often allow a user to either select from a list of options, or to enter free-form text themselves. There is no real equivalent for this on the Web which basically combines the functionality of a free-form text area with a select list.

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