Sending mail using System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient and Gmail

This code snippet:

MailMessage message = new MailMessage();
message.From = new MailAddress("somebody@gmail.com");
message.To.Add(new MailAddress("somebody-else@some.server.com"));
message.Subject = "testing...";
message.Body = "This is a test.";

SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient();
smtp.EnableSsl = true;
smtp.Send(message);

along with this app.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.net>
    <mailSettings>
      <smtp>
        <network
          host="smtp.gmail.com"
          port="587"
          userName="somebody@gmail.com"
          password="some-password"
          defaultCredentials="false"
        />
      </smtp>
    </mailSettings>
  </system.net>
</configuration>

allows to send e-mail from .NET code using Gmail as an SMTP server.

It is crucial to remember to:

1. set EnableSsl to true;
2. use port 587 (not 465, clicky).

Upgrading Ubuntu 6.10 to 7.04 on ASUS A6RP-AP069 laptop

If you are expecting a lengthy post with detailed list of encountered problems and their solutions, you will be disappointed, because... there were none.

We just clicked the Upgrade button in Update Manager and left the computer for a few hours to download the updates. Then, after the installation began, we answered 3 or 4 questions whether to keep or replace some configuration files (we replaced them all, but kept the copies of modified files just in case) and that's it.

After restart we had a laptop running Ubuntu 7.04 and everything - wireless networking (with WPA), sound, graphics - was working properly. No problem at all.

Converting datetime to YYYY-MM-DD and YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss formats

I know this is trivial, but somehow I keep forgetting this.

-- YYYY-MM-DD
SELECT CONVERT(varchar(10), GETDATE(), 120)

-- YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss
SELECT CONVERT(varchar(19), GETDATE(), 120)

UPDATE:

Depending on the input date format, an additional step may be necessary.

SELECT CONVERT(varchar(10),
  CONVERT(datetime, '20080730 00:00:00.000', 120), 120)

Importing data from DBF files using SSIS - configuring Connection Manager

This is an example Connection Manager configuration:

The most important thing to remember is that the Data Source property should only contain a path to the folder with DBF files (e.g. c:\temp\3\), not a full path to the file (e.g. c:\temp\3\sales.dbf).
The particular file that should be used is selected later in the Name of the table or the view combo box in OLE DB Source configuration.

Importing data from DBF files using SSIS on 64-bit SQL Server 2005 - errors during package execution

If you are trying to import data from DBF files using Integration Services (SSIS) and you are getting errors similar to:

Error: The AcquireConnection method call to the connection manager "DBF files" failed with error code 0xC0202009.

Error: component "DBF file source" (1) failed validation and returned error code 0xC020801C.

Error: An OLE DB error has occurred. Error code: 0x80040154. An OLE DB record is available. Source: "Microsoft OLE DB Service Components" Hresult: 0x80040154 Description: "Class not registered".

check whether you are not running 64-bit version of SQL Server 2005. If so, go to project properties and set the Run64BitRuntime property to false.

I found it here.

UPDATE:

If you are then using dtexec.exe utility to run such a package and encounter similar errors, read this thread and use 32-bit version of dtexec.exe.