Tuesday, November 30, 2010

You Might Be a 4 Year Old If...

.. you blow your nose with a tissue and pull it away from your face without capturing the contents, then wipe the mess of snot off of your face with your shirt sleeve.

Yeah, that just happened.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Upgrading to Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2008 Express R2

I made the jump yesterday to finally install and configure my dev machine to run the latest bits. I upgraded from Visual Studio 2008 to Visual Studio 2010. I also upgraded from Sql Server Express 2005 to Sql Server 2008 R2 Express. I must say that I'm very excited to start using all the new stuff. Rather than installing everything side by side, I decided to scrap the old apps and fully commit to the new pieces.

During this process I had no real problems. The only real problem I had was getting SQL Server 2008 R2 Express configured correctly. I've tried various things to get the new database management tools working inside the SQL Server Management Studio 2008 R2 and couldn't quite figure it out (still can't). No matter what I do, I can't create a new 2008 R2 database without using VS2008 Server Explorer. Whenever I right click and 'Create Database', it always creates a SQL CE 3.5 database instance. This version is missing a lot of functionality. For instance, I'm not able to create views and the designer for this is very kludgy IMO. I'm sure it's something simple, but I just can't figure it out yet.

While trying to get it fixed, I completely uninstalled SQL Server Development Edition 2005. This still didn't solve my problem, so now I'm without Analysis Services 2005 and no full blown SQL Engine. It's all good, I've read that they sit side by side nicely even when installing SQL 2005 after SQL 2008.

The good news is that I can create a 2008 R2 database instance from inside my new VS2010 IDE. That's a win in my book and I'm content with this. The process was pretty simple


  • Uninstall SQL Server 2005 Express

  • Uninstall Visual Studio 2008

  • Install SQL Server 2008 Express R2

  • Install Visual Studio 2010 Professional

  • Reinstall Resharper 5.1

  • Test that everything worked...

  • Convert Projects to VS2010

  • Blog about the new goodness



I did have one pretty nasty problem when converting my ASP.NET MVC project to the 4.0 framework. Visual Studio provided a nice little wizard to do this, but when it did this there were some things that didn't work as expected.

The first problem was that it didn't add System.Core to the references. Without this library referenced, all of my Linq queries were brokent (+100 source files)! While this looks like a pretty simple thing to fix, it turned out to be a little tricky. I couldn't just add it as a reference from inside the IDE like I thought. When I tried to do this, I got an error stating:

"A reference to 'System.Core' could not be added. This component is automatically referenced by the build system."

Hmm... The way I was able to fix it was to:


  1. Right click on my Web Project

  2. Unload Project

  3. Edit the .csproj file

  4. Add <Reference Include="System.Core" /> in the appropriate ItemGroup

  5. Save the change

  6. Right click on my Web Project again

  7. Reload project



Voila!

I also had (and still have) a problem debugging my web project. When I try to run my project, it does not actually start debugging like it should. The project compiles and starts the ASP.NET Development Server, but it doesn't actually load the URL in my default web browser. When I open the system tray icon and click 'Show in browser...' it crashes. I tried all kinds of things to get it to work, but nothing is working. I've installed a few patches and restarted IIS a few times after each one, but nothing. I've tried running aspnet_regiis -i against the new framework. Again, to no avail. As a test, I ran the project and then went to my web browser and typed in the appropriate URL. It works. I set some breakpoints in my code, and they work too. This works well enough for me.

Next steps I think are to convert my entire project to .NET 4.0 Framework so I can take advantage of all the new goodness with C# 4.0. I also plan to upgrade our web solution from ASP.NET MVC 1.0 to ASP.NET MVC 2.0. I'm also anxious to start using GrapeCity ActiveAnalysis 2.0 Silverlight control.

Upgrading to new development environments is so much fun... I'm actually excited to work a full day tomorrow! :)

Friday, November 05, 2010

Mike McCune Tribute Post - The Dillon Runner

I got a phone call yesterday from my buddy Rob telling me that my Dillon buddy, Mike McCune had died. It took me by total surprise. I don't know the details of what happened, but I do know that he will be missed.

Michael D. ''Mike'' McCune
View Service Information

Michael D. 'Mike' McCune, 56 of Nashport, died Tuesday, November 02, 2010 following a sudden illness. He was born Friday, October 08, 1954 in Port Washington the son of Donald McCune and Shirley Peters Seevers. He married Cassandra L. (Ousley) McCune on Saturday, August 24, 1996. Mike was employed by Sound Energy. He liked to fish and enjoyed the outdoors. Mike liked to cruise and enjoyed running and ran in several marathons including the Mohican 100 Mile Marathon. Mike was a great guy who enjoyed people and never met a stranger. Mike was a loving and caring husband, father and grandfather. In addition to his father, Mike is survived by his wife of the home; one son: Michael “Clay†McCune of Athens; one daughter: Page (Andy) Reichman Of Bolivar; three grandchildren: Kaden and Kaya Russell and Brennen Reichman; three brothers: Donnie (Sharna) McCune of Newcomerstown, Shawn (Vickie) McCune of Massillon and James Seevers of Dover; several nieces, nephews and friends. Mike was preceded in death by his mother: Shirley Seevers and one brother: Patrick McCune Friends may call from 4:00 to 7:00 PM Friday, November 5, 2010 at The Hillis & Hardwick Funeral Home, 935 Forest Avenue where funeral services will be held at 7:00 PM with Pastor Larry Kudart officiating. To sign the online register book or to send a personal condolence note please visitwww.HillisHardwickFH.com


That picture is the exactly how I remember Mike; smiling and happy. I met Mike @ Dillon State Park when I was on one of my long runs back in 2008. We passed each other once on the single track trail and traded greetings. A few hours later I passed him again and we both stopped and introduced ourselves to each other. We quickly realized that we both knew a lot of the same people. He was training for the Mohican 100 mile race and I was training for the Mohican 50 miler that year.

We crossed paths a few other times at various races after that. He would would always go out of his way and say "Hi" to me. I saw him at the Mohican 50 miler that year, I then saw him again at Bobcat Trail Marathon, and then again at the Forget the PR 50K (in his knee wrap). Mike was always so nice to me and treated me with great respect.

One day Jennifer and I took our dogs to the Vet in Zanesville, and I saw him and his wife (Cassandra) coming out with their dogs. Just like Mike, he stopped and talked to me for about 5 minutes and I introduced him to my family.

There were numerous times when I ran at Dillon and saw him in his yard. Each time I saw him he was all smiles and happy. I'd stop and talk to him in his front yard and he was fascinated with my VFF's. :) He kept inviting me to meet at his house for organized / group runs with other trail runners, but I never did... I wish I had now. :( It will be sad when I run by his house the next time I run at Dillon knowing that I won't see him again.

Tonight, I went to his calling hours to pay my respects. He had so many family members there and it was obvious that he was loved by many. I enjoyed seeing all the pictures of him through the years. He knew how to enjoy life, and he lived it to the fullest. What an inspirational guy! We'll miss you buddy!!

This post is just my way of saying that I'll miss running into Mike here and there. I'm sure he's already organizing group long runs in Heaven.