I usually turn it on. As a developer, I sometimes need to know the exact extension of the file, e.g. windows display .xls and .xlsx exactly the same when this feature is turn off but it treats two types of file differently.

petersgyoung

For Date field, I use Null value if it is unknown. But for address field, I use empty string if it is unknown. It is because empty string address is almost equivalent to no address but if you put 1900-01-01 or 2999-01-01 as unknown date, it is not so good.

petersgyoung

As developer and user, I want interface that is familiar to me. Win 8 makes some useless changes (not just remove the Start button and hide many functions). I quote an example: you cannot find "Backup annd Restore" in Control Panel. They rename it completely! Users need to imagine some other phrases for the same function. I like to find the same function of newer version in the same location (and also familar name) of the older version. If Win 8 has improvement in certain functions, I don't think it is a good idea to use a completely new name.

petersgyoung

As a business user, I don't like Windows 8. I do not need to use Apps for tablet or phone at work. I like to work in a familiar environment. If the interface of Windows 8 is similar to Windows 7, it will be ideal. A better approach is that Microsoft should name Windows 8 as Windows Metro mainly for tablet, phone and home users and the name Windows 8 is reserved as the upgrade version of Windows 7. I am even more disappointing that Windows 2012 Server uses Interface similar to Windows 8. System Administrators usually have to work with different versions of server. Forcing them to work with less familiar interface will make their lives more difficult. They want better functions or performance, not beautiful interface.

petersgyoung

Microsoft should consider including two display modes in Windows 8, one for desktop users and one for mobile users. I think it is quite easy. The success of Windows depends very much on a group of old Windows users. It is meaningless to force them to change their way of using computers.

petersgyoung

There is case that Chinese characters work but English characters not work correctly. Chinese name can be safely represented in 4 unicode characters but it is not possible to represent English name in 4 characters. Sometimes, you need to force user to input ASCII in certain field, e.g. Product Code. Please see my blog for testing whether user is inputting ASCII or Unicode.

petersgyoung

My company Biswaretech.com joined Empower Partner Program. With this program, we have 5 software licenses for Windows XP or Vista. We have 5 software licenses for MS Office 2007. We also have VS 2008, Windows Server, SQL Server and many more licenses that is necessary for development. If you are serious with Microsoft development, you should consider this option because the price is substantially lower than the normal MSDN Premium subscription price.

petersgyoung

Two days ago, I requested Gisol.com for refund as per their "Anytime Money Back Guarantee". They declined to refund money to me. They said I can only use my remaining credit for their other service if I do not use the existing service. Gisol.com is a very cunning web hoster. Will a person use their other service if he does not satisfy thier overall service? They are just using a dishonest promotion slogan.

petersgyoung

Thank you everyone for giving me valuable advice. In fact, I do have another domain registered in GoDaddy. The one in gisol.com is my testing site. I use them because they are cheap. But cheap service does not mean they can remove my domain name without notice. I just want to let people know their terrible service. I search google today. Here[^] is another victim. http://forums.webhostdir.com/showthread.php?threadid=15736[^] is another forum about their bad service.

petersgyoung

I signed up gisol.com for a biennial Web Hoster plan (which include domain name registration) in Jul 2006. Global Internet Solutions (gisol.com) is the worst web hoster that I have ever encountered. One week ago, my service was cut and my domain name status was changed to "Redemption Period". I cannot access my site and email with this domain name anymore. I emailed them more than 10 times. The reply is "please write to sales@gisol.com or admin@gisol.com". I emailed sales@gisol.com and admin@gisol.com (again more than 10 times) but received NO reply! How can a web hoster not respond the problem encountered by its client? I search from Google for this web hoster and found that many people described Global Internet Solutions as terrible web hoster too.

petersgyoung

Thank you very much. You might be correct. But my point is that it is the responsibility of the programmer to make sure that he does not rely on casting to trim decimal if he wants to convert his codes to some other languages in the future. He needs to use Math.Floor() in his C# code. In fact, VB is a more forgiving language than C#. CType("3.4", Integer) is legal in VB, by (int)"3.4" is not.

petersgyoung

CInt() is a function that uses CType(, Integer) to return integer value for backward compatibility (VB6 function). I don't mean you cannot use Math.Floor. Before you do that, consider this: when you translate C# code to VB, all casting change to Math.Floor; and when you translate the translated VB back to C#, you cannot translate all Math.Floor back to casting. When you translate VB code to C#, you cannot use Math.Celling nor Math.Floor. VB is doing a better job in casting decimal to integer. I prefer casting 3.99 to 4 rather than casting it to 3.

petersgyoung

CInt() and Math.Floor are functions. CType(, Integer) and (int) are casting. You can easily substitute Integer with other types, e.g. CType(x, String) is (string)x, CType(x, DateTime) is (DateTime)x, etc. Unfortunately, VB and C# are using different rules for casting decimal to integer!

petersgyoung

Agree! Translation tool is not always reliable. A better translation of (int)f to VB.Net is Ctype(f, Integer). I do not think CInt() and Math.Floor are exact translation. Early this year, I translated the C# code of a book "Learning WCF" for O'Reilly into VB.Net. I did not use any translation tool at all. The reason is that when I do not know how to translate and try translation tools, they cannot give me the answer too.

petersgyoung

If you want to stick to older technology, you can try WSE (Web Service Enhancement). If I remember correctly, WSE is an add-in which makes SOAP with Attachments (SwA) and Direct Internet Message Encapsulation(DIME) possible on older framework, e.g. .Net 1.1. I, however, do not recommend you to learn phasing out technology. SwA and DIME are now replaced by MTOM.

petersgyoung

I think WCF is the solution for you. WCF supports Large Message Transfer. If you want to use Http protocol, you need to use wsHttpBinding (design to supports SOAP 1.2 standard; amsx web service is SOAP 1.1 standard). To support Large Message Transfer, you can set messageEncoding to MTOM (MTOM stands for Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism). You also need to adjust the maxReceiveMessageSize and maxReceiveMessageSize of the binding because the default is not very large.

petersgyoung

"Group by" should work. Very likely, your statement cannot find something in your Excel, e.g. Table Name, Column Name, File Location, etc. The easiest way for me to help you is to get a copy of your Excel file. My email address is petersgyoung@hotmail.com.

petersgyoung

Use css style.

petersgyoung

Please try this: Dim MyCommand1 As New OleDBDataAdapter("select " & col1 & ", count(*) As [Count] from [flnme$] group by " & col1, conn1)

petersgyoung

I know very little about LINQ. Before I start learning, can someone explain the following questions to me? What is the advantage of using LINQ? Performance? Easier Coding? If LINQ does not accept parameters, how LINQ protect the application from SQL injection attack? How can we control database security? I often grant only Excute permission to users so that users can only use pre-defined queries. They cannot modify database other than that. Can LINQ support this feature? Does LINQ work with database other than MSSQL?

petersgyoung