brushpen.net » Technology

Executing Transact-SQL scripts on a .mdf file

Heath Higgins — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:20:57 +0000

While setting up a Windows Workflow project, I recently spent some time trying to apply the stock SqlPersistenceService_Schema.sql and SqlPersistenceService_Logic.sql scripts to my standalone SQLEXPRESS .mdf database. What was not obvious to me at the time was how to execute .sql scripts against SQL Express in Visual Studio 2008. The way I’m assuming most people feel their way through database management in Visual Studio is through the Server Explorer window and by adding database items to a project directly. Unfortunately, neither of these provide an interface for running a Transact-SQL script to populate schema, data, logic, etc.

One of the first answers I found works on the default database format and uses the sqlcmd utility as follows:

sqlcmd -S localhost\SQLEXPRESS -E -Q "create database WorkflowPersistenceDB" sqlcmd -S localhost\SQLEXPRESS -E -d WorkflowPersistenceDB -i SqlPersistenceService_Schema.sql sqlcmd -S localhost\SQLEXPRESS -E -d WorkflowPersistenceDB -i SqlPersistenceService_Logic.sql

(For those interested in creating WorkflowPersistenceService databases, the above scripts are located in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Workflow Foundation\SQL\EN. Make sure to run the schema script first.)

I ran into trouble while trying to derive the sqlcmd arguments to target C:\myDatabase.mdf. Finally, I came across this article, which pointed out the Database Project template under Other Project Types in Visual Studio 2008. Here’s how it goes:

Create a new database by adding a Service-based Database item to a project.
From the Server Explorer window, right-click on Data Connections and select “Add Connection”.
Set “Server name” to ComputerName\SQLEXPRESS.
Under “Connect to a database”, select “Attach a database file” and browse to the .mdf file on disk. Click OK.

Add a new project to the solution. Select “Database Project” under “Other Project Types – Database”.
When prompted to Add Database Reference, select the connection that was just added.
Add the .sql scripts to the Create Scripts folder, or in general, whichever folder is appropriate.
Right-click on the .sql item and select “Run”.

I’m guessing that there are other ways to do this. Based on the wizard, it would seem that there’s a related interface in sqlcmd, something like this or this. I believe that there’s an easy way to execute .sql scripts from the SQL Server Management Studio as well, if you have a full version of SQL Server. For those just using Visual Studio, use the Database Project template.

Microsoft MIX09 Web Design and Development Conference

Heath Higgins — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:49:51 +0000

It’s well after 2:30am, and, despite many good reasons, I’m finding myself too preoccupied with MIX09 to sleep. The Day One keynote was apparently enough to send me buzzing around like a sugar-high ferret (multi-tab browsing as fast as my laptop and Internet connection can handle) to download Visual Studio 2008 SP1, the Silverlight 3 Beta, and Blend 3. Some of the key points that Scott Guthre and others hit on with Silverlight 3 include:

Adaptive streaming: automatically cycled bit-rates on streaming content to provide a responsive user experience and the best quality possible given available bandwidth
New codec support for H.264, AAC, MPEG-4, and custom codecs for your own bitstreams (see Expression Encoder)
Improved logging for media analytics
Support for IIS Media Services, an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform (free download)
GPU hardware acceleration and HD quality media on the web
GPU support for scaling and stretching video
Perspective 3D
Bitmap/Pixel APIs
Pixel shader effects
Deep Zoom improvements, including hardware acceleration
Deep linking, navigation and SEO
Multitouch support
100+ new Controls
Library caching support: referenced libraries and assemblies can be downloaded and cached on system, speeding up repeat visits and visits to other sites the use the libraries
Data binding improvements
Validation error templates
Server data push on databound fields
Multi-tier REST support
New DataForm control
Eclipse Support on Mac
Out of browser, standalone application support

And in Expression Blend 3:

SketchFlow: prototype design tool that handles behaviors and styles with very little code; build flow within application with high-level diagramming; demo to stakeholders using freely redistributable SketchFlow Player; generates document outlines
Supports import from Photoshop and Illustrator
Integrated revision control support

Microsoft fanboy? So it would seem. Evangelist in training? Definitely. Sleep-deprived? Very much so. Perhaps more on these topics after a couple software installations and a few REM cycles.

A sample WPF application

Heath Higgins — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:58:38 +0000

Last spring, I took a .NET Tools in C# course and had an opportunity to play around with Windows Presentation Foundation and Visual Studio 2008 a little. The resulting project is here. The application is a task list tool that utilizes:

LINQ to SQL using a standalone SQL Express file
Data Binding of static and dynamic resources
Layout controls, data templates, styles, and triggers
WPF Command Bindings
A lot of XAML, and surprisingly not as much C#
A Model-View-Controller architecture
Unit tests using the .NET Unit Testing framework
Automated build of the solution using a script

In the \Deliverables\ folder of the archive, there is a MSI package that installs the application and a test database using a Visual Studio setup project. The \Deliverables\Doc\ folder also contains a simple product backlog that I used during much of the project. The Autobulid.cmd can be run from a Visual Studio 2008 Command prompt and will produce Release configuration binaries for the main and test applications.

There is one simple unit test that passes, but I had trouble porting my SQLExpress database connection to the test project. It seems as though the current working folder is set to a Visual Studio\…\Common7\ path while running the tests, and I believe that this is causing problems with the connection string, which uses a relative path. Also, the Test Run Configuration items have been added to the solution and shows the tests within the IDE, but when run through mstest the tool reports that there were no tests present. I might have missed something here.

The application supports adding, removing, renaming, and completing tasks from the main form. Double clicking on a task allows you to edit additional details, which are also bound as read only in the main form. There is also a tooltip popup that shows the Notes field. You may come across some remnants in the code and the design tools that make reference to some additional functionality that I am working on, including a task timer, task due notifications, and some basic sorting.

There are still some features to complete, and the unit testing projects need work, but it was a lot of fun for a first dive into WPF.

The technology of the DJ

Heath Higgins — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:19:36 +0000

My DJ friend recently suggested that I look into becoming a DVJ for live music performances. While I hardly have the résumé for it, it does sound like a lot of fun. Showings such as Daft Punk’s Alive 2007 tour truly inspire, and the technological aspects are quickly drawing me in, let alone the awesome music, lights, and atmosphere of the scene. Here’s some of the gear (a.k.a. wishlist) that any techno-audiophile can appreciate:

The Pioneer SVM 1000 AV Mixer – Amazing

And accompanying DVJ-1000 DVD turntable

Yamaha’s Tenori-On – Visual Composition on a killer LED panel

US Portal Site (Check out Tenori-On radio)
Youtube product demo
Vimeo Demo

Pacemaker – The pocket-sized DJ System

I also wonder what role some additional custom software using WPF, XNA, and maybe a beat detection library might play in the whole scheme of things…

Thanks to Nick for pointing some of these out to me. Stay sharp, and come home from Iraq safely.

Spring technical electives

Heath Higgins — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:20:26 +0000

Patrick Cauldwell will be teaching an Advanced .NET course at OIT, Beaverton this spring term, starting 3/30/09. It should show up on the schedule here in the near future, probably as a CST 407. Also offered will be CST 207 – Game Development w/ Xbox 360, which features an intro to XNA development on the PC and Xbox 360 using C# 2008 and the Torque X Builder. Both are excellent courses. If you’re in the Portland area and are a technology student or professional, check them out!