TechnowledgeBase

In order to connect to a database using an ADO object, you need a connection string. Here’s a simple way to get one in Windows, and all you need to do it is… your desktop.

First, right-click on your desktop and create a new text file. It doesn’t matter what you name it, I usually keep mine as “New Text File”

Next, rename your new file with a .UDL extension. Notice that when you do, the icon changes to something that ISN’T a text file.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Part Two: Running the Query.

So we’ve created our ADO connection and opened it successfully. Now what?

First, we’ll need a query to run. This isn’t a tutorial on SQL, so I’ll just give you one… assigning it to a string for easy use.

Dim strSQL
strSQL="select * from customers where CustomerNum=098381"

For those who don’t speak SQL, the simple query above will return a list of customers that have the customer number 098381. Logically, this is PROBABLY a list of just one customer, but don’t get the impression that this will always be the case. (more…)

Popularity: 37% [?]

Part One: Making the ADO Connection

Usually, when a novice programmer hears the word “database” or “network” they break out in hives. They have the mistaken impression that connecting to a database, either locally or over a network, is difficult to do or involves some kind of esoteric commands that only more advanced programmers know how to use. Not true. The various flavors of Visual Basic have made this as easy as… well… reading this blog.

We’ll be using an ActiveX Data Object, which is commonly abbreviated as “ADO”. The process is called “Creating an ADO connection” to a database. Let’s jump right into the code, shall we?
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Popularity: 18% [?]

My webcam, a Creative LIVE! Notebook Pro, didn’t want to work with my MacMini. They wouldn’t talk. They had “issues” that needed to be resolved. True… the cam was never originally INTENDED to work with a Mac, but when the wife torched, destroyed, couldn’t use the laptop she had any more, I dragged the Mac Mini out of semi-retirement and plugged it in for her. My experiences getting her files and applications transferred from failing PC to Mac will probably be the subject of other blog postings, but I figured that the webcam would at least be easy. Find some MAC drivers, install them, and plug it in, right?

WRONG! If Creative had Mac OS drivers on their website, they had ‘em hid pretty good. I’m not saying that there AREN’T any, but at this point I had to proceed as if there weren’t.

The Problem:
My webcam won’t work with Mac OS X. There are no drivers to download from the vendor, and if I simply pug the webcam in, the light on the cam turns on but the operating system (and all the programs on it) tells me that there’s no cam attached. Damn.
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Popularity: 13% [?]

Most computers have internal clocks dedicated to maintaining system time. The internal real-time clocks rely on relatively cheap crystal oscillators, which are very inaccurate. In many cases computer system time can drift by several minutes each day. This article describes various methods of keeping a highly accurate time on your computer. It describes how to utilise Internet time servers, radio and GPS clocks and dedicated NTP server systems.
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Popularity: 10% [?]

You take the time to craft your post in a REAL editor (like, ohh, I dunno… Notepad!) but when you paste it into Wordpress and click “Publish”, Wordpress turns your efforts into something almost, but not quite, entirely UNLIKE what you wanted.
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Popularity: 6% [?]

Technology is supposed to make things easier, but a lot of times it just gets in the way of what we want to do. You never know when the simplest of tasks will become a marathon of mysterious bugs, weird error messages and esoteric commands. Even those of us in the IT field can fall victim to bad design, worse documentation, and our own misunderstandings about how things are supposed to work. The time spent tracking down the source of an error, or the proper way to make program X do task Y without screwing it up can add up to a lot of lost productivity, not to mention stress and frustration.

But what happens when you DO find the source of an error? Do you write it down? Do you share it so other people won’t waste time butting their heads against the same wall? Do you even remember it yourself the next time you see it?

Probably not.

That’s what this website is about: Cataloging the bugs, gotchas, annoyances, and how-to’s that we encounter when using our favorite (or least favorite) technologies. Wouldn’t it be nice if the next time you were stymied by some misbehaving software, you could go to one place and find an answer without spending hours scouring the internet? Wouldn’t it be even nicer if that one place wasn’t a pay-per-answer service that wanted you to cough up money just for a bit of information?

Well, this is that place.

Yes, it is a blog… but it’s a blog because that’s the most efficient way to keep and present the information being gathered. Don’t be fooled, this is not a “blog about blogging,” an SEO link-farm, or a Google-trap full of useless articles about how to write useless articles. The information presented will be as real, as relevant, and as useful as I (no, WE!) can make it… without being stuffy or boring. The intended audience will vary from novice to expert (or from n00b to 733t), and will cover hardware and software on Windows, Linux, and Macs. There will also be reviews, tools, links and downloads. And maybe the occasional tech-focused rant.

So bookmark us, subscribe to the RSS feed, or write the address on a sticky note. The next time you need help keeping your technology in line, start your search here. If you find your answer somewhere else… or even if you don’t… consider dropping by and sharing your experience for the benefit of everyone. You don’t even have to calm down first; anger makes good copy!

TechnowledgeBase… Questions, Answers, Attitude. Making Technology Behave.

Popularity: 5% [?]

You’re building a Java application that needs to connect to a Microsoft SQL 2005 database, and installing the JDBC driver on the database server isn’t an option for whatever reason. After some quick research, you stumble across the best, fastest, and easiest way to connect (barring the JDBC): the open-source JTDS package. You download it, install it, and start slinging code…

…only when you run the app, you get a mysterious message like: “unable to get information from sql server.” WTF!? Your first few minutes (hours?) of troubleshooting leads you people who insist that the database server isn’t configured to accept connections. Only it IS configured, and your connection URL is pristine. You’ve checked everything against the documentation and it still won’t run. Now what?

The Problem:

Your Jtds/Java/MSSQL2005 app won’t run. Java can’t “get information” from the server even though you’ve properly configured the server to accept the connection. Now what?

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Popularity: 22% [?]

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Happy Valentines Day… Here’s your present: A brand new IPod. A bazillion songs in your pocket. All you need to do is plug it in and install the special iTunes software-

Special Software? Itunes? Can’t you just browse to your IPod like an external hard drive and drop the mp3’s on it? Go ahead…. try. I’ll wait right here. Back so soon? Miserable failure, you say? Confusing mess of cryptic directories, you say? Take this piece of proprietary plastic crap back to Best Buy, you say?

Well, let’s not be hasty….

The Problem:
You’ve got a sweet ipod mp3 player, but you hate iTunes with a fury that burns with the heat of a thousand suns. A shame there isn’t a way to use the first without being stuck with the second.
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Popularity: 9% [?]