.Net Development, Azure, DevOps, Ideas and Life...

While aiming to test whether a SQL connection is succeeding between an Application server and a remote Database Server, it is often not possible to install SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or Microsoft Command Line Utilities (MsSqlCmdLnUtils) due to the locked down nature of the targets, particularly in test and production environments. A lightweight approach that worked for me recently, makes use of components that have been a part of windows boxes for a long time, albeit different levels of database driver support as the components have evolved, the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC). MDAC provide a Universal Data Link, which can be configured using a common user interface for specifying connection properties as well as testing the connection.  Data Link properties dialog box At Assemblysoft we specialise in  Custom Software Development  tailored to your requirements. We have experience creating Booking solutions, as we did for HappyCamper

I was contacted recently with an interesting problem that had arisen for a client where a batch script was not working as expected and silently failing in a production environment. It was being run by the Windows Task Scheduler which was reporting a '1' return code from the Task : Action  history. As the script was configured to run silently there was no easy way to see what was going wrong.  The Event Log did not contain anything useful and u nfortunately, the batch script didn't contain any logging statements. There was also a strong desire not to install any remote tooling or alter the code as it had been working previously and was currently servicing. I thought i would share the steps taken to identify and fix the issue as it is not uncommon to be faced with a black box, which seemingly doesn't offer much at first glance, but with a little investigation, the lights can soon be turned back on. Understanding the Stack After some investigation it became

January 2017 Update for ASP.NET Core 1.1 Yesterday, Microsoft released an update for ASP.NET Core 1.1 due to  Microsoft Security Advisory 4010983 . The advisory is for a vulnerability in ASP.NET Core MVC 1.1.0 that could allow denial of service.  Affected Software The vulnerability affects any Microsoft ASP.NET Core project if it uses the following affected package version. Affected package and version Package name Package version Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Core 1.1.0 At Assemblysoft we specialise in  Custom Software Development  tailored to your requirements. We have experience creating Booking solutions, as we did for HappyCamperVan Hire. You can read more  here . We can onboard and add value to your business rapidly. We are an experienced Full-stack development team able to provide specific technical expertise or manage your project requirements end to end.  We specialise in the Microsoft cloud and .NET Solutions and Services . Our developers ar