I’ve recently received my new iPhone 4.0.  It’s by far, the BEST phone I’ve ever owned.  Before this phone I owned the iPhone 3G as well as some Blackberrys. I have found that I love taking videos of my daughter.  My wife uses FaceTime a lot to show me her latest antics or just to talk to me while I’m at work.  The new folders options is just awesome (but should of been there from the beginning).  And the App Store like always is still hugely robust for all the available apps.

*photo doctored for pun

I can live without some of the stuff in my previous articles however version 2 of the iPad does need the front facing camera as well as the other options that the iPhone 4 has.  We want to be able to sit on the couch and FaceTime with our daughter.  I want to read the news and play my addictive game with a bigger screen.  I admit all this.  I just hope it’s my iPhone 4 on growth hormones.

So Hurry up Apple..  Let’s get the Bigger Younger brother to the iPhone caught up and as great.  BTW, can you make it just a little cheaper then $500 ??

Because I had the Close in the try catch, another error was throwing the code into the catch where I had the Close() statement.  This generated this error because the connection was already closed.  To fix this and to make sure this never happens again, I suggest the following code on any close of a WCF client.

if (client.State == System.ServiceModel.CommunicationState.Opened)
     client.Close();

 Windows Installer XML is the most powerful Installer suite I’ve ever worked with.  But it also is the hardest Install suite I’ve ever used.

WiX was the first Microsoft project to be released under the Open Source license of CPL.  It was first released in 2005.  It has been around now for quite some time and still has active weekly releases.  The framework has been used to author installs for products such as SQL Server 2005 and Office 2007. You can find a nice history of WiX at Wikipedia.   

I’ve been using the Visual Studio version of Wix (called Votive) for about a year now.  I was starting a new product that would involve handing off my code to other developers.  I’ve used Wise and InstallShield in the past but the problem with these are that there are high runtime costs for each developer and some developers won’t be doing much with them except changing text and recompiling.

I went on a search for a good open source installer.  I came across WiX.  (<joke>And sometimes I wish I didn’t</joke>)  I was impressed by the large packages that it was used to author.  I figured if WiX could be used for those setups, then it would be perfect for my projects.  It has turned out to be a great tool but again, I warn anyone that decides to learn WiX, don’t take it lightly.  If you aren’t a developer and if your installs will have to do anything out of the ordinary then it can be very time consuming to learn.  On a good note, I haven’t found anything I couldn’t do in WiX now that I have a good grasp of it.

I’m hoping to share some of WiX knowledge soon to help other developers with the learning curve of getting started with this great framework.

The Pen

Where’s the stylus pen to take notes with?  No one is going to use their Notes app if they have to type each note.  I want to be sitting in a business meeting or a classroom and take notes on my Tablet in lieu of a paper notebook.  Imagine if Apple also let us write emails by writing.  Microsoft has had software (OneNote) for years that can translate writing styles.  Apple has proven that they have the software geniuses and the hardware guys to make this happen so again, where is the pen?

Say Cheese

Ok, so the IPad doesn’t have phone support like the IPhone.  I personally thing that’s a good thing because I just can’t see me talking on a 9 inch phone however what happen to the camera that’s in the IPhone?  The IPad would be perfect for Mom to Skype with her daughter or granddaughter.  How about a business man doing a teleconference meeting with all members linked together through their IPad tablets.  Apple could start by having online interactive IPad development classes to learn how to design apps for the IPad.

Blue File Sharing

No, I’m not telling you Apple should make all their Icons blue but Bluetooth would certainly improve this IPod touch.. err I mean IPad.  Imagine if the new IPad had Bluetooth technology that could pick up on other IPads in the same area.  Yes, you could sit in a class and share white boards with your stylus and then just push the ideas back and forth to the different IPads.  How about putting your IPad up on it’s nifty charger and just bring an external keyboard close to type.  The tablet could even be made into a remote control for all your electronics if Bluetooth existed.  I guess the designers are trying to tell us Bluetooth is only good for phone calls.  There’s no drooling for the 3rd party accessory makers on this one.

Where Are You?

Don’t ask this question to the IPad; it can’t answer.  There’s no GPS in the IPad.  So you’re sitting in the coffee shop reading the daily news on your out of town trip.  You decide you would like to see all stores in walking distance of you.  Well, you better go ask the girl working the cappuccino machine because your IPad can’t tell you.  That is, unless you know the address then you can type it in.  And don’t worry about downloading the Tom Tom app so you can have someone to talk to you because it won’t be very talkative without the GPS.

Get Busy or be #2

HP, Dell, and Asus already have tablets on the market or coming out in the next year.  These Tablets don’t have all the listed amenities either but it’s just a matter of time before one does.  Right now the consumer will have to shop around and buy one of his/her liking similar to the way we buy cell phones.  If Apple or any other company wants to lead the Tablet market, they need to create a revolutionary machine; not a repackaged IPod on growth hormones.

I use it by snipping a image that I want.in the blog.

Then Mark if up if needed.

And Copy it to the Clipboard.

Finally Click on the Clipboard Live plugin to insert the image into your blog.

Clipboard Live Plugin can be found at the following address:

http://gallery.live.com/LiveItemDetail.aspx?li=326740b7-413b-4e0a-bf51-dd49258fd84a

Documentation and screen shots can be found at:

http://codewordhank.com/clipboard-live/

All the Pasting in this Blog Post was done with Clipboard Live.  I copy and pasted pictures, and Html Fragments.  I hope you find this plugin very useful for your blogging needs.  If you have any issues, I am planning a version 2.0.  You can report them at http://clipboardlive.codeplex.com/.

http://gallery.live.com/LiveItemDetail.aspx?li=326740b7-413b-4e0a-bf51-dd49258fd84a

Documentation and screen shots can be found at:

http://codewordhank.com/clipboard-live/

Windows Live Writer is used to write and edit this blog.  I decided to make the plugin after I coudln’t paste a picture into the blog.  I will be doing some blog posts about different sub project from building this plugin.  So keep an eye open for them.

If you use Live Writer and Clipboard Live, please leave me feedback on how you like the plugin.  I am planning a version 2.0 in the future.

Clipboard Live source code is shared under the GNU License at http://clipboardlive.codeplex.com/

This app puts your windows into a 3D window on your desktop and let’s you bring them back up as you need them.  I’ve always preached that windows users should limit desktop icons so the desktop can be used as a more productive viewing canvas.  I like the way this app is starting to use it.  Best of all, it’s free.

Check out the link below and the picture of my desktop.

T3Desk – Free 3D Desktop for Windows

Declare @tablename varchar(50)
Declare @sqlTxt varchar(500)
set @tablename = 'Customers'
set sqlTxt = 'SELECT * FROM ' + @tablename
Exec(sqlTxt)

In this sample, we can see that we can change the query by changing the variable @tablename.

(Note: There is much more great reading about dynamic SQL on the web.  Try this site out for much more details: The curse and blessings of dynamic SQL)

Now let’s look at dynamic SQL in a Trigger. 

BEWARE: The following code WILL give an ERROR in a Trigger. 

Declare @tablename varchar(50)
Delcare @sqlTxt varchr(500)
set @sqlTxt = 'insert into ' + @tablename + ' select column1, column2 from INSERTED'
Exec(sqlTxt)

The problem is that you cannot access the internal INSERTED or DELETED temporary trigger tables when running the Exec function.  It treats the code as an external procedure and doesn’t have access to these pre-defined trigger tables.

However there is a workaround.  You can make true temporary tables that can be accessed through the dynamic code.  Be careful though, because by doing this method the Trigger can get heavy and slow performance on your database.

Declare @tablename varchar(50)
Delcare @sqlTxt varchr(500)
SELECT * INTO #inserted FROM INSERTED
set @sqlTxt = 'insert into ' + @tablename + ' select column1, column2 from #inserted'
Exec(sqlTxt)

You’ll notice that by making a temporary table, now our code can access the new #inserted table.  This same method can be used for DELETED as well.

The following trigger is one I wrote that can be used on any table and will make a logging table by a different name however it will contain all the same fields in the original table plus a few logging fields.  The new log table will store all transactions that have been done to the original table.

If the transaction is an Update, it will store the record’s data in the new log table.  If it’s a delete, it will store the deleted data.  If it’s an Update transaction, the trigger stores the Old data.  It does Not store the new data.  I figure the original table can be checked to see the new data.

You will need to replace the ##SCHEMA##, ##TRIGGERNAME##, ##TABLENAME##, and ##LOG_TABLENAME## below.  The ##LOG_TABLENAME# will be a name of a table that does not exist.  This is where all the logging will occur.

Without further adieu:

SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
CREATE TRIGGER [##SCHEMA##].[##TRIGGERNAME##]
   ON  [##SCHEMA##].[##TABLENAME##]
   AFTER INSERT,DELETE,UPDATE
AS
BEGIN
	SET NOCOUNT ON;
	-------------------
	-- Make Audit File of record that has been changed
	-- Set the Table Name
	declare @schemaName varchar(20)
	declare @tableName varchar(40)
	declare @auditTableName varchar(50)
	declare @fullTableName varchar(60)
	declare @fullAuditTableName varchar(70)
	set @schemaName = '##SCHEMA##'
	set @tableName = '##TABLENAME##'
	set @auditTableName = '##LOG_TABLENAME##'
	set @fullTableName = '[' + @schemaName + '].[' + @tableName + ']'
	set @fullAuditTableName = '[' + @schemaName + '].[' + @auditTableName + ']'
	-- Check to see if this Trigger is a Insert, Update, or Delete
	declare @Act varchar(6)
	declare @Del bit
	declare @Ins bit
	set @Del = 0
	set @Ins = 0
	if (exists(select top 1 1 from Deleted)) set @Del = 1
	if (exists(select top 1 1 from Inserted)) set @Ins = 1
	if ((@Ins = 1) and (@Del = 1)) set @Act = 'UPDATE'
	if ((@Ins = 1) and (@Del = 0)) set @Act = 'INSERT'
	if ((@Del = 1) and (@Ins = 0)) set @Act = 'DELETE'
	if ((@Ins = 0) and (@Del = 0)) return
	-- Make Audit Table
	if (not(exists(SELECT 1 FROM sysobjects WHERE lower(xtype)='u' AND name=@auditTableName)))
	begin
		-- create a Temporary table containing Fields and Types of Table
		declare @MEMTABLE Table
		(
			Id int Identity
			,ColumnName sysname
			,TypeName varchar(20)
		 )
		-- Insert the columnNames and DataTypes
		insert into @MEMTABLE (ColumnName, TypeName)
			select name, TYPE_NAME(xtype)
			from syscolumns
			where id = object_id(@fullTableName)
			order by colid
		declare @cur integer
		declare @max integer
		declare @sqlStr as varchar(8000)
		declare @curcol sysname
		declare @colType as varchar(10)
		-- Setup variables
		set @sqlStr = ''
		set @cur=1
		select @max = max(Id) from @MEMTABLE
		-- Loop throu the fields and make the sql statement to add the new table
		while @cur <= @max
		begin
			-- Get values from MEMTABLE
			select @curCol = ColumnName, @colType = TypeName from @MEMTABLE where id = @cur
			-- Add Column ot Sql String
			if (@colType = 'int') or (@colType = 'bigint') or (@colType = 'uniqueidentifier')
			begin
				-- Identity or RowGuidColumn - We do not want to copy the attributes
				set @sqlStr = @sqlStr + ' cast([' + @curCol + '] as ' + @colType + ') as [' + @curCol + '] '
			end
			else begin
				set @sqlStr = @sqlStr + ' [' + @curCol + '] as [' + @curCol + '] '
			end
			if (@cur <= (@max - 1)) set @sqlStr = @sqlStr + ','
			set @cur = @cur + 1
		end
		-- Add the User and Date time Fields
		set @sqlStr = @sqlStr + ',cast(''      '' as varchar(6)) as TriggerAction, cast(GETDATE() as datetime) as TriggerDate, cast(''  '' as varchar(50)) as TriggerUser'
		-- Set up the Select statement to create the Audit Table
		set @sqlStr = 'select Top 0 ' + @sqlStr + ' into ' + @fullAuditTableName + ' from ' + @fullTableName
		exec(@sqlStr)
	end
	if (exists(SELECT 1 FROM sysobjects WHERE lower(xtype)='u' AND name=@auditTableName))
	begin
		declare @instrStr as varchar(8000)
		set @instrStr = null
		if ((@Act = 'INSERT') or (@Act = 'UPDATE')) SELECT * INTO #inserted FROM inserted
		if ((@Act = 'DELETE') or (@Act = 'UPDATE')) SELECT * INTO #deleted FROM deleted
		if (@Act = 'INSERT') set @instrStr = 'insert into ' + @fullAuditTableName + ' select *, ''INSERT'', GETDATE(), SYSTEM_USER from #inserted'
		if (@Act = 'DELETE') set @instrStr = 'insert into ' + @fullAuditTableName + ' select *, ''DELETE'', GETDATE(), SYSTEM_USER from #deleted'
		if (@Act = 'UPDATE') set @instrStr = 'insert into ' + @fullAuditTableName + ' select *, ''UPDATE'', GETDATE(), SYSTEM_USER from #deleted'
		if (@instrStr is not null) exec(@instrStr)
	end
END

WARNING:  Using this Trigger can cause a lot of overhead for you table and slow down production in the database.  Use it as your own risk.  It also can make the Log file grow HUGE in a short time if there’s a lot of transactions so be careful.

Good Luck and Happy Coding