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.

HOWTO Inserting a file into image column using only Transact-SQL (SQL Server 2005)

CREATE PROC dbo.InsertBlob
  @id int
, @path varchar(255)
AS
  DECLARE @sql nvarchar(MAX)
 
  CREATE TABLE #BlobData(BlobData varbinary(max))
 
  --insert blob into temp table
  SET @sql =
      N'
      INSERT INTO #BlobData
      SELECT BlobData.*
      FROM OPENROWSET
          (BULK ''' + @path + ''',
          SINGLE_BLOB) BlobData'
  EXEC sp_executesql @sql
 
  --update main table with blob data
  UPDATE dbo.SOME_TABLE
  SET SOME_BLOB_FIELD = (SELECT BlobData FROM #BlobData)
  WHERE SOME_TABLE_ID = @id

  DROP TABLE #BlobData
GO

I found it here and I am happy I can finally stop using textcopy.exe tool.

HOWTO Getting 16x16 icons for file types

1. Download this sample.

2. Put a button and a textbox on the form.

3. Use a snippet similar to:

Dim types As String() = txtFileTypes.Text.Split(",")
For i As Integer = 0 To types.GetLength(0) - 1
  Dim im As Image = _
  Me.FileSystemImages.SmallImageList.Images( _
  FileSystemImages.GetTheFileIconIndex("*." & types(i)))
  im.Save(Application.StartupPath & "\" & types(i) & ".bmp", _
  Imaging.ImageFormat.Bmp)
Next

and you have a tool that allows you to retrieve 16x16 icons for different file types.

Skype may prevent Outlook from closing properly

If you use Skype with the View / View Outlook Contacts option checked, Outlook does not close properly after you hit Alt+F4 or click the Close button. It disappears from the taskbar, but the OUTLOOK.EXE process continues to run and the Outlook icon stays in the system tray.

I think this is because Skype holds some kind of lock on Outlook's address book, but that's only my guess.

Here you can find some other applications that cause similar behaviour.

A job step seems to hang when executing a console application

An application executed in an Operating System (CmdExec) job step has to be a console application and it cannot ask for any user input.

Even a simple Press any key to continue..., used (when the application is executed by a user, not SQL Server Agent) to prevent the command prompt window from closing before the user can see the results, will keep such a job running forever.

Clipboard stops working while using remote desktop connection

If the clipboard suddenly stops functioning, when you are connected to a terminal server or other remote computer, you can try to do the following:

1. open Task Manager on the remote machine and kill the rdpclip.exe process;
2. start the rdpclip.exe application again (you can find it in c:\WINDOWS\system32\).

Working with multiple terminal sessions simultaneously

If you often work with many terminal sessions opened in the same time, you should try Terminals.

My two favourite features of Terminals are:

1. the tabbed view of the sessions that helps to unclutter the taskbar,
2. the ability to create Favorites (session definitions) so I no longer need to have to store that information in separate files.

You can find some screenshots here.