Panel with a Visible property that won't update

What's wrong with this pseudo-code?

Panel p = gridItems.Rows[0].FindControl("pnlHiddenByDefault");
//do some other random stuff
gridItems.DataBind();
//do more random stuff
p.Visible = true; //FAIL

The code will execute fine but even after setting the Visible property to true, a QuickWatch will show the property is still false.

The fix:

Panel p = gridItems.Rows[0].FindControl("pnlHiddenByDefault");
//do some other random stuff
gridItems.DataBind();
//do more random stuff
//get fresh reference after DataBind
p = gridItems.Rows[0].FindControl("pnlHiddenByDefault");

p.Visible = true; //WIN

using SqlDataSource in code

Sometimes there is a need to use a SqlDataSource object in the code...

ASPX:
<asp:SqlDataSource ID="sqlSelectUsers" runat="server"
ConnectionString="<%$ConnectionStrings:MainConnectionString %>"
ProviderName="<%$ ConnectionStrings:MainConnectionString.ProviderName %>"
SelectCommandType="StoredProcedure"
    SelectCommand="spSelectUsers">

<SelectParameters>
<asp:Parameter Name="RequestingUserID" Type="Int16" />
</SelectParameters>
</asp:SqlDataSource>


VB:
sqlSelectUsers.SelectParameters("RequestingUserID").DefaultValue = 2 //hard coded value for demo purposes
Dim dv As DataView = sqlSelectUsers.Select(DataSourceSelectArguments.Empty)
Dim dt As DataTable = dv.ToTable()

This will result in a DataTable for manual consumption.

Another way to parse CSV parameters for values not necessarily in a table

-- http://www.projectdmx.com/tsql/tblnumbers.aspx
CREATE TABLE dbo.Nbrs(n INT NOT NULL IDENTITY) ;
INSERT dbo.Nbrs DEFAULT VALUES ;
WHILE SCOPE_IDENTITY() < 500 INSERT dbo.Nbrs DEFAULT VALUES ;

-- http://www.projectdmx.com/tsql/sqlarrays.aspx

DECLARE @p VARCHAR(50)
SET @p = 'ALFKI,LILAS,PERIC,HUNGC,SAVEA,SPLIR,LONEP,GROSR'

SELECT SUBSTRING( ',' + @p + ',', n + 1, CHARINDEX( ',', ',' + @p + ',', n + 1 ) - n - 1 ) AS "value"
FROM Nbrs
WHERE SUBSTRING( ',' + @p + ',', n, 1 ) = ',' AND n < LEN( ',' + @p + ',' ) ;

drop table Nbrs    

Convert a SQL CSV Parameter into a table

Consider the need to pass in a CSV parameter like this:

DECLARE @UserIDs_CSV VARCHAR(50)
SET @UserIDs_CSV = '1,2,4,5,8,9'

If that CSV parameter happens to correlate to a table, like in this case, Users... Use a query like this to convert the CSV parameter into a temp table...

SELECT UserID
into #SelectedUserIDs
FROM Users
WHERE CHARINDEX(
',' + cast(UserID as varchar(10)) + ',',
',' + @UserIDs_CSV + ','
) > 0

So now just use the temp table as you need for future queries...

select * from #SelectedUserIDs

Credit goes to http://www.projectdmx.com/tsql/sqlarrays.aspx

Getting a quicker SQL row count

Credit goes to Rick Caminiti at http://rickcaminiti.com/tips/alternative-efficient-tables-rowcount-sql/

SELECT COUNT(*) statements make a full table scans to return the total table’s row count, it can take a lot of time and a lot of “energy” for a large table.

There is another way to determine the total row count in a table by using the sysindexes system table. There is a column (ROWS) in it that contains the total row count for each table in your database.

You can use the syntax below to speed up the query by several times.  You can see this by setting statistics on, as shown below.




SET STATISTICS IO ON
GO

SELECT count(*) FROM tbTest
GO

SELECT rows FROM sysindexes WHERE id = OBJECT_ID('tbTest') AND indid < 2
GO

SET STATISTICS IO OFF
GO

I tried my own test, and here are my results:


(1 row(s) affected)
Table 'myTable'. Scan count 1, logical reads 116, physical reads 1, read-ahead reads 176, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

(1 row(s) affected)
Table 'sysidxstats'. Scan count 1, logical reads 5, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

Reset Windows Media Player 12 To Default Settings

Here's a cool trick that allows you to reset WMP12 back to it’s default settings. This might be handy if you are encountering any issues of your own.

Simply to go Start > Run (or hold down the Windows Key and press R) and type in the following:

msdt.exe -id WindowsMediaPlayerConfigurationDiagnostic

Press enter and follow the prompts to reset WMP.

Credit goes to Ben:  http://daily-grind.net/reset-windows-media-player-12-to-default-settings/

SQL example for updating children records from a parent record

I just ran into this again, and I know I have had to do this several times before but it gets old having to look up such an activity that I may only do twice a year.

The scenario... There are four records:
ID=123, ParentID=null, Name="Bob"


ID=1000, ParentID=123, Name="Bob"
ID=1001, ParentID=123, Name="Bob"
ID=1002, ParentID=123, Name="Bob"

The requirement is to update Name="Joe" where ID=123, and then cascade the changes to the children records.  This could be done easily w/ the same proc that updates the parent, however in my situation that proc is being shared, so my solution is to make a new query that fetches the right info w/ a join and then updates:

UPDATE children
SET
Field1 = parent.Field1,
Field2 = parent.Field2,
Field3 = parent.Field3
from ExampleTable children
inner join ExampleTable parent on parent.ID = children.ParentID
WHERE children.ParentID = @ParentID