Jim Blizzard's Blog - musings from a snowstorm...

Have techie friends in Europe?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:39:30

Let ‘em know that the Microsoft TechEd Europe session list has been posted here: http://europe.msteched.com/Sessions.

Where & When? Amsterdam on June 26 – 29.

I’ve never been to Europe. . . Anyone want to sponsor me? : )

Enjoy!

Fishing report

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:16:38

Woke up before sunrise again this morning and stepped out back to do a little fishing. Did the same thing yesterday morning and caught a nice little spotted sea trout. Figured, why not give it a try again today?

The sky was blue, the sun was trying to climb its way up, and the fish were active, making swirls all over the calm inlet. But they weren’t hungry this time. (At least, not for the spoon I used yesterday.)

A couple of boats slowly motored down the inlet, heading out for a day of fun. We waved at each other as they passed.

And now, just a few minutes later, a fog is rolling in from the east. I can barely see the trees about a half mile up the inlet as the fog takes over. The beautiful warm sunshine is gone, and the sky is a cold gray. That was fast. It’s turned into a nice day to stay inside.

December 23, 2011 - 1

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:33:35

After successfully using SQL Azure for a while, I’ve switched my snowstormlife.com blog database back to my database on DiscountASP.net. In the switch I wound up with a number of entries with a post date of 12/23/11. Apparently I didn’t program my site to allow me to set the post date through Live Writer. Oh well, such is life.

Anyway, back up and running. . .

October 18, 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:19:39

VS11 Developer Preview training kit now available!

You can download it from here: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9779649

Enjoy!

bliz

September 4, 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:18:19

If you’re trying out some WCF programming, there’s a nice little WCF test client available for you to use, aptly named WcfTestClient.exe.

To run it, the MSDN documentation tells you to navigate to the “%SystemDrive%\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE” folder. BUT, if you’re running 64-bit Windows, you won’t find it there. You’ll need to look in “%SystemDrive%\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE folder” instead.

You’re welcome.

bliz

September 4, 2011- 9:14 PM

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:16:08

If you’re trying out some WCF programming, there’s a nice little WCF test client available for you to use, aptly named WcfTestClient.exe.

You’re welcome.

bliz

August 5, 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:15:24

Many developers who first start working with Team Foundation Server find it easy to get wrapped around the axle when it comes to TFS Workspaces. They’re not very intuitive. The simple explanation I give about workspaces when asked, is that they’re a mapping between the files on your hard disk and the TFS server. But there are a lot of additional “features” that come with workspaces, and this is where the non-intuitive part comes into play.

Mickey Gousset has a nice article about TFS 2010 workspaces and what they’re about, which was recently posted online in Visual Studio Magazine here. And there’s a host of documentation about workspaces in the MSDN Library, located here.

Very good information, indeed.

BUT, change is coming, and life will get much easier.

Just the other day, Brian Harry blogged about Version Control Model Enhancements in TFS 11. In the post he talks about the concept of local workspaces. They’re very intuitive, simple to use, and make working with source code in an offline mode very easy. At the bottom of the entry Brian included nice a video by Matt Mitrik that walks through some scenarios using local workspaces in the next release of TFS.

Go read, watch, and enjoy.

-- bliz

July 29, 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:08:59

In yet another instance of getting real, I just swapped out the backend database for SnowstormLife.com to a SQL Azure Database. (The website itself is still on a 3rd party host, not on Windows Azure yet.)

It wasn’t that difficult. I simply needed to

Create a SQL Azure Database (I already had an account)
Create the Transact-SQL script for the table schema and data
Run that script against the new SQL Azure database.

Don’t have an Azure account? Microsoft currently has a free trial available: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/free-trial/

For steps 2 & 3, you can find step-by-step instructions with a sample here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee621790.aspx

I needed to add one piece to the script generated in step 2: the creation of a clustered primary key, which I discovered is a requirement in SQL Azure. (I didn’t have any primary keys defined in the old database.) It only took a couple of additional lines:

For more information about SQL Azure, head on over to the MSDN library: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg619386(BTS.70).aspx

Another helpful resource is the SQL Azure FAQ: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/sql-azure-faq.aspx

Enjoy.

-- bliz

Have something you'd like to see in a future version of Visual Studio?

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:03:24

I just found out about the Visual Studio UserVoice site, located here: http://visualstudio.uservoice.com. From the site:

Welcome to the Visual Studio UserVoice site. Let us know what you would like to see in future versions of the Visual Studio suite of products. This site is for suggestions and ideas. If you need to file a bug, visit the Visual Studio Connect site: http://connect.microsoft.com/visualstudio.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks – Doug Turnure
Visual Studio Team

How to: Visual Studio web performance tests - not using Internet Explorer

Wed, 18 May 2011 02:01:54

A client asked me how to create and run Visual Studio web performance tests using something other than Internet Explorer. (His web app only runs in a particular browser, and it’s not IE.) Here’s my answer.

Recording a web performance test using a browser other than Internet Explorer

The Web Test recorder in Visual Studio is going to open up Internet Explorer for recording. Period.

If you want to use some other browser (I used Firefox in my example) as the recording environment instead of Internet Explorer, you can use Fiddler 2.0 (http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/) to capture the HTTP traffic. Once you’ve gone through the web user scenario in the browser of your choice, in Fiddler go to File > Export Sessions > All Sessions . . . > Select Export Format > Visual Studio Web Test

Fiddler 2.0 captured the HTTP traffic generated from Firefox browser. I’m about to export it.

Then in Visual Studio, open the webtest file you exported from Fiddler.

In VS, create a test project
Right click on the test project > Add > Existing item . . .
Browse to the webtest file you exported from Fiddler (make sure your filter is set to “(*.webtest)” as shown below)
Select your webtest file and open it.

Here’s the webtest file I created using Fiddler and Firefox, opened in Visual Studio. Looks kind of normal, doesn’t it?

Running a webtest using a browser other than Internet Explorer

In a web performance test, you can change the Browser type for an individual run, but that setting is not permanent. It resets to the default after the test completes.

Changing the browser type for an individual web test run

If you want to make the change effective across multiple runs, you need to change the test settings via Test > Edit Test Settings. See images below. These changes will be saved until you change them again. Note: you can have multiple testsettings definitions. For more info about testsettings, see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee256991.aspx. You need to be sure which testsettings file you’ve set to active. That’s managed from Test > Select Active Test Settings.

Changing the browser type “permanently”

Here’s the web test, paused just before running, showing Firefox 2.0 is the browser type:

And here’s the test run after completion. (Notice that I ran my test against my local TFS instance?) :)

It’s as easy as that.

Additional background information regarding the Web Performance Test Engine: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff520100.aspx

Hope this helps!

-bliz

Q: So, what does the Visual Studio ALM Roadmap look like? A: Sweetness

Mon, 16 May 2011 11:01:46

Jason Zander just posted a blog entry about the ALM roadmap for Visual Studio vNext.

Read and enjoy.

-- bliz

Lookout fishies, here I come!!!

Fri, 13 May 2011 05:02:38

It’s the weekend, baby!

Fabulous reference for performance testing

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:50:16

If you’re into performance testing – and who isn’t these days? – and you haven’t downloaded the Visual Studio Performance Testing Quick Reference Guide, then you’re really missing out. Stop reading this blog post and go download it now. I’ll be here when you get back.

Why is this required reading for performance testers? Just take a look at the summary:

This document is a collection of items from public blog sites, Microsoft® internal discussion aliases (sanitized) and experiences from various Test Consultants in the Microsoft Services Labs. The idea is to provide quick reference points around various aspects of Microsoft Visual Studio® performance testing features that may not be covered in core documentation, or may not be easily understood. The different types of information cover:

How does this feature work under the covers?

How can I implement a workaround for this missing feature?

This is a known bug and here is a fix or workaround.

How do I troubleshoot issues I am having?

The document contains two Tables of Contents (high level overview, and list of every topic covered) as well as an index. The current plan is to update the document on a regular basis as new information is found.

Who can resist that?

Go. Now. Download and enjoy.

-- bliz

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sun, 01 May 2011 08:46:30

Some Saturdays are laid back and relaxing. Others are full speed ahead. This was the latter.

On land

As we’re slowly getting moved into our new, smaller, already furnished home, we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with all the furniture from our old home. I love the beachy feel of the furniture the former owner left behind. It looks like it belongs on the water.

All of it.

Including the shabby/beachy kitchen table and chairs. . .

Pam loves most of the furniture too, but the kitchen furniture? “Shabby/shabby.”

Women.

But I digress.

On Wednesday night, Pam put a bunch of the furniture from our old house on Craigslist. She also put our horse trailer and round pen up for sale. And her e-mail box lit up. The response was amazing.

Pam set up a number of appointments for Saturday morning, so it was off to the old house bright and early. And the people showed up. Trailer: gone. Round pen: gone. Beds from both kids rooms: gone. Desk: gone. This was so much better than a garage sale. The stuff we don’t sell? We’re going to donate it to a charity.

We celebrated by going to Bob Evans for lunch. Kind of a shabby/rural kind of restaurant.

We’re into shabby these days.

Finally made it home around 4:00. Still plenty of light for a boating adventure.

On sea

I grabbed my boat bag (GPS, boat keys, flashlight, charts, fish ID book, etc), fishing pole, kissed Pam bye and headed out.

First order of business: gas.

My skiff is a shabby little 17’ center console. The gas tank sits inside the console, and I don’t have a funnel that will reach the opening, so I couldn’t use any of the gas from the jerry cans I have.

Good enough. I’ll go fill up at Shell Point Marina down at the mouth of the river.

Got to the marina, putted around looking for the fuel dock but couldn’t see one. I asked a guy who was unloading his boat. . . he said the nearest fuel was in Apollo Beach. About 10 miles north by water.

So I check my chart and off I go.

Shell Point marina to Apollo Beach. . .

The bay was relatively calm, and I cruised my way northeast in warm sunshine and light breezes. About halfway there I checked my watch: already 5:00 -- and realized that there was a good chance there wouldn’t be anyone there to run the fuel pump. I had plenty of gas to get back home, so no worries, I’d just continue my boating adventure another day.

But as I pulled around the corner to the fuel dock, I saw I was lucky: there was a monster of a boat fueling up. I pulled in right beside him and got my 10 gallons of unleaded. My tank holds 18. The other guy’s? I asked him. His tank holds 1,000 gallons of diesel. Three fill ups and could pay for my boat, brand new. It burns 60 gallons per hour at cruising speed.

Now that’s some serious money.

I check my watch, look at the sun, and figure I have about 3 hours of light (including twilight) left. Time to head across the bay to Healy’s. Not going to call him. Just going to show up. If he’s home I’ll say Hi. If he’s not home, no worries. Still an adventure.

So I check my charts again, and set my GPS toward his place.

Apollo Beach to Riviera Bay. . .

It’s a bit of a hike to Joes’ place, but the wind was very light, and I had a full tank of gas. Off I go.

As I make my way around the south end of Apollo Beach, I see a cruise ship off to my north, heading south down the ship canal, with Tampa in the background. Awesome! If I hurry I’ll be able to take some cool pics.

Cruise ship to the north. . .

I race across the bay to a spot just to the west of the ship canal, near where it’s going to turn the head due south again.

She looks kinda small compared to my awesome skiff, doesn’t it?

Turns out she was the Radiance of the Seas, heading out on a 15-day Panama Canal cruise, winding up in San Diego in 2 weeks. . .

Bon voyage!!!

Anyway, back to my (much more modest) cruising adventure.

I turn back to the west towards Riviera Bay and floor it. The bay has glassed out by now, and I’m able to go full throttle. Which is a good thing, because it’s going to be a horse race getting back home before dark.

The passage into Healy’s neck of the woods is a bit twisty-turny. Luckily I’ve made the trip a few times, and have the GPS tracks from previous runs up the inlet. At one point there’s a sharp right-hand turn (almost a U-turn), and then it gets really narrow and shallow. I’m making my way through OK, then

WHUMP!

The boat bogs down.

What the?

I’m on course, in the marked channel. What’s up with that?

But the tide is ebbing, and the shallows had shifted. So I raise the engine to almost complete out of the water and try to find some deeper water. Found it way off to the right. And start putting along cautiously. . . and thinking about the time, because this was supposed to be a fast stretch, and there was a long stretch of idle-speed-only still to go.

Ah well, going to cut it even closer getting home before it’s completely dark, but my running lights work and I know the way home thanks to the GPS.

And the sinking sun doesn’t stop me from snapping a picture. Still another hour and a half till sunset.

Pelican grooming itself off Wheedon Island. . .

As I’m slowly approaching Healy’s place I decide to give him a call. Of course, he’s not home, so I snap a photo as evidence that I’d made it across the bay.

Dock’s looking good, Joe!

And then I turn to make the long run home. . .

Of course, I can’t just race my way along and ignore the pretty scenery.

St. Pete skyline . . .

And then the sun was gone. And I was still at the mouth of the Little Manatee River with about a mile of upriver travel remaining.

Typically I make my way along this path below. I’ve never really looked at the charts, just followed some other boats and paid a little attention to the markers. But at the stretch indicated by the arrow, it’s a bit shallow. And by now I was at low tide. This is a 25-knot section of the river, and I was cruising along about at 20.

And the water was gone.

WHUMP! (That’s two for the day.)

Another What the. . .???

I’ve been through this area a couple of times before, at pretty low tide. But . . . I’m grounded. And it’s really shallow.

Luckily the bottom is very soft – no rocks or oyster shells – so no damage to the engine.

So I hop out of the boat, start pulling and tugging, trying to figure out which way to deeper water. I manage to find it after a few minutes, but by now I’m spooked. Have I been flying over very shallow water each time I’ve come down river?

Putt, putt, putt, I go.

And I bottom out a few more times. (Total? about 6 for the day. I started to lose count.)

By now the twilight is gone. It’s dark. But I see another boat heading upriver, and I drop in behind it. And I limp my way back home. Tired, ego a bit bruised, but safe and sound.

Looking at the chart this morning, it looks like the safer and deeper (but slower because it’s so narrow), route is to the north around a little island.

Lesson learned.

I’ll probably check it out later today. But first, we’re off to buy a lounge chair (or two) for the pool.

To be continued. . .

Perfect evening

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:24:23

Late night homemade tacos outside by the pool with Pam, the sound of Linda Ronstadt singing “Blue Bayou” gently drifting across the water from the other side of the cove. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA to wash down the tacos.

Perfect evening.