Kevin S. Goff: Stages of Data

5-19-2010 - The return of Baker's Dozen

I stopped writing for CoDe Magazine back in the summer of 2008.   Job demands, and then becoming a father, meant that writing had to take a backseat for a period of time.  I actually tried to write an article last summer, but was seriously burned out from other things - and honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to write again.  But I decided in late March of this year to give it one more try. 

Well, thanks to the support from Rod Paddock and Erik Ruthruff at the magazine, I just finished my edits for the first Baker's Dozen article in two years.  The article is 13 productivity tips for using SQL Server Integration Services 2008, and will appear in the July/August issue  (which should hit the stands roughly in late June).  As that date gets closer, I'll have a companion post to the article here on my site/blog. 

I cannot thank Rod enough for keeping the door open for me!

For anyone not familiar with Baker's Dozen, I wrote a column in CoDe Magazine from summer of 2004 to summer of 2008 called "Baker's Dozen", where I presented 13 productivity tips on different areas of .NET and SQL Server.  Since my area of focus is almost exclusively databases these days, I'll be focusing on different areas of SQL Server and Business Intelligence.  

Writing the column always meant a great deal to me - as did receiving good and constructive feedback from readers.  I am so glad to be back!

KG

4/25/2009 - You know you're busy when it takes 4 months to announce you wrote part of a book....

Yes, the title says it all.

Last summer I contributed 2 chapters to Smart Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 .  I wrote the two chapters on MDX programming. 

For those who are new to OLAP databases and the BI world, MDX is generally to OLAP as T-SQL is to relational databases.   However, they are far more different than you'd initially think!

I wanted to write more, but between my job demands and the headache problems I had last year, I wasn't able to write any more chapters.   Major thanks and kudos to lead author Lynn Langit and MS Press for keeping my name on the cover of the book!

KG

12/9/2007 – Update to Baker’s Dozen article on LINQ

Hi, folks – this is an update to my CoDe Magazine article on LINQ, which appeared in the July/August 2007 issue.

First, I've posted an updated version of the .NET project, based on the released version of Visual Studio 2008:
http://www.commongroundsolutions.net/crashcourseonlinq.zip

Second, I've been doing a community presentation on LINQ, and have added several pieces of code since the publication of the CoDe article. In many cases, the additions come from great suggestions and feedback from attendees.

First, one of the code samples showed how to pump the results of a LINQ query, from an IEnumerable into a List collection:

List<VendorResults> oListResults = new List<VendorResults>();
foreach (VendorResults oRec in oVendorResultsEnumerable)
   oListResults.Add(oRec);

Well, Mark Lindell from the Baltimore MSDN User Group pointed out that one of the overloads for the List constructor allows someone to specify an IEnumerable. Therefore, I didn't need to write code to iterate through the IEnumerable, and can do the following instead:

List<VendorResults> oListResults =
    new List<VendorResults>(oVendorResults);

Thanks Mark!

Second, Manoj K. Srivastava from Central Maryland CodeCamp asked about a streaming LINQ to XML example. My example read an entire XML file into memory, and Manoj asked me how to handle an XML file that would be too big to load into memory. So I've added a second example in the download project for handling a streaming XML example. Thanks to my friend Don Demsak for pointing me in the right direction on this one (which I've attributed in the download code). Thanks for the idea, Manoj!

Third, I was getting some runtime errors when doing LINQ to SQL queries where I was bringing back null results. So I've added nullable type references, like so:

var OrderSum = from Vendor in db.Purchasing_Vendor
        orderby Vendor.Name
             select new {
                Vendor.Name,
                TotFreight = Vendor.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader.Sum
                            (o => (decimal?) o.Freight),
                TotSubTot = Vendor.Purchasing_PurchaseOrderHeader.Sum
                            (o => (decimal?) o.SubTotal)
                };

   

I intend to make more updates to this download project.
My goal (maybe an ambitious one) is to provide a single download project with as many meaningful LINQ code samples as possible. Right now, the download project features the following:

• 3 LINQ to SQL examples
• 7 standard LINQ queries to demonstrate LINQ syntax
• A generic extension method to convert an anonymous type to an ADO.NET DataTable
• An example for executing a LINQ query into an IEnumerable/List
• 2 LINQ to XML examples
• 2 LINQ to DataSet examples (one untyped, one typed)
• 1 LINQ to Object example
• Several examples of Lambda expressions and extension methods.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

KG

12/7/2007 - New SQL 2005 Article in Computer Training Magazine

Hi, folks – several months ago, Nicholas Ntovas from Netcom Information Technology contacted me and asked if I wanted to write an article for their Computer Training Magazine. So I wrote an article titled Haven't yet updated to SQL Server 2005?

(Of course, now that SQL 2008 is coming, I'll have to write an update J )

NetCom is an interesting company – they providing training on a wide array of topics. Their magazine also has some very good articles that I enjoyed reading.

KG

11/25/06: Newest Baker's Dozen article

My newest Baker's Dozen article in Code Magazine, 13 Productivity Tips for Generating PowerPoint presentations, is available.

The article and the timing is an interesting sequence of events - last year I wrote some code to generate PPT slideshows from within a .NET application, and wrote a Baker's Dozen article based on the code.   Rod Paddock/CoDe weren't able to use it, purely for space reasons.  So they just decided to tuck it away, in case I ever needed to take an issue off.    Good thing they did!  I needed to take an issue off a few months ago, when I was finishing the book.

I've received some nice feedback from developers who are generating PPT output from a .NET application.

At some point, I plan to do an update to the project using VS  Tools for Office.

The next issue of the Baker's Dozen will feature a redux of my Crystal Reports article from two years ago - should be out sometime in late December.   I'm currently working on two Baker's Dozen articles - 13 tips for implementing common design patterns in C# 2.0, and a special 13 tips for moving from VFP  to .NET, as part of the next CoDeFocus issue.  So between that and my contract gigs, I've got plenty to keep me busy and out of trouble, haha.

KG

6/23/06: Baker's Dozen Remoting article on Polymorphic Podcast

Craig Shoemaker (host of the Polymorphic Podcast) reviews new content from CoDe Magazine on his site.  He recently highlighted my Baker's Dozen article on  .NET Remoting

Check out the podcast at:
http://polymorphicpodcast.com/shows/objectthinking/

Many thanks to Craig for the coverage!   

Polymorphic Podcast is a great site.  I spent about an hour browsing it last night, and came across some great resources.  Two thumbs up!

Now listening to:  Lee Morgan (again).  I've been on a Lee Morgan kick for months.  If you love hard-bop, check out Lee Morgan.

Peace out...KG

5/1/06: latest Baker's Dozen article in CoDe

Hi, folks...

Latest Baker's Dozen article in CoDe magazine - 13 Productivity Tips for .NET remoting

The download has several .NET sample projects to accompany the article.

One of my four upcoming presentations at Boston CodeCamp is "Demystifying .NET Remoting"

Now listening to: Lee Morgan.   Classic bop.   One of these days I'm just gonna chill for an entire day and listen to him.

Peace out...KG

2/26/06: Back in the Kitchen

Hi, folks - the Baker is back in the kitchen, after 4 months of not touching my blog. 

Two things - first, thanks to everyone who attended NYC CodeCamp yesterday (http://nyc.codecamp.us/), and a special thanks to those who attended my sessions.   I wrote down a handful of very good questions that I'll eventually share - things I previously hadn't considered, that are worth working into my presentations.

It was a great CodeCamp, got to meet Nick Landry, Peter Laudati, and others.  My buds JB (who is becoming the king of DNN presentations), Miguel Castro(www.dotnetdude.com), Don Demsak (www.donxml.com), and some of their friends and I went to the Heartland Brewery afterwards.  I think we depleted their supply of Buffalo Chicken Rolls.

I am officially jinxed when it comes to driving.  Last Tuesday it took me nearly 3 hours to get from Allentown to Harrisburg because 3 different parts of I-78 were down to one lane.  Took me the same amount of time to get to NYC yesterday morning - someone decided to back up from an off-ramp and back on to the interstate.  Next Christmas I'm asking Hannu-Claus for a small plane.

Some of my presentations and code are in my downloads section (just go to www.commongroundsolutions.net and go to the download page).  The rest will be up in a few days. 

Second....I saw a news story that almost brought tears to my eyes:  http://www.wroctv.com/sports/story.asp?id=10211

Now listening to: Weekend in Monaco, the Rippingtons (some of their music is cheesier than a pizza, but some is very good)

KG