Development, Training and Consulting in .NET and Agile
Try out CoderProof
Codexcite builds online collaboration tools.
Try out coderproof - our first product!
FROM OUR BLOG Subscribe to our blog

Before

Working on a project that includes a database implies dealing with the schema changes and versions. The problem is that the tools that can help you are pretty expensive and (from my experience) not 100% reliable. It was so bad that my team and I developed our own database versioning mechanism and even started working on a tool to automate it.

What I want

I want to be able to deal with the database schema objects the same way i deal with the code files - specifically, I want to be able to see a svn history for them.

If you ever had to convince a client or a boss why Agile works, you know that it's not an easy task. Agile goes against many ideas that are considered axioms in the business world - like planning first and then keeping to that plan: "plan your work, then work your plan". If that is the case, these points from a talk by Martin Fowler and Neal Ford (ThoughtWorks) might help you.

In the Plan Driven approach, a project is successful if it goes according to plan, so in software development it depends on requirements stability, on having clear and fixed requirements. As you probably know, that is a luxury most software projects don't have, and a first approach would be to apply techniques like Change Management or Sign In Blood to contain the changes. Unfortunately that leads to unhappy clients and unusable software.

In Visual Studio 2010 you can use xdt transforms to fill the web.config files with the appropriate values for deployment to test or production environments.And it is pretty simple to use:

  • - add Config Transforms to the web.config (like web.Debug.config)
  • - duplicate the sections with the values you want to customize
  • - set the xdt:Locator attribute for the nodes that need to be identified by an attribute (like xdt:Locator="Match(name)")
  • - set the xdt:Transform to control how the values are changed (common uses - xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" to update some attribute values, or xdt:Transform="Replace" to replace the whole node
  • - you get the transformed web.config when publishing or creating a deployment package (or you can create it from command line).

More details on how to use the Web.Config Transformation here.

TWITTER Follow us on Twitter
@arvixe: "Object reference not set..." error when trying to view a virtual directory in the CP #WTF
Not bad! Mini-ebay site from zero to ready in 2 days - http://www.codexcite.com/GarageSale
Nos cambiamos de casa y hay muchas cosas que se tienen que ir (pls RT) -http://bit.ly/a2bRwS
GOTCHA: Visual Studio - Add Existing Folder http://blog.nitriq.com/VisualStudioAddExistingFolder.aspx
Balaur bondoc - "stocky dragon" unearthed in Romania http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11137905
RT @LHZambrano: Quien se va de Monterrey es un cobarde. Hay que luchar por lo que creemos.Tenemos que retomar nuestra gran ciudad !
Quien se va de Monterrey es un cobarde http://bit.ly/aXPDEg /cc @feedly
A product development tip - from a measuring cup http://goodexperience.com/2010/08/a-product-development.php
The Programmer's Body http://bit.ly/96pc0O /cc @feedly
RT @shanselman: I love it when French people say "focus."
Programmer Superstitions http://bit.ly/bHaBtt /cc @feedly
RT @jonathanconway: What idiot came up with the "meter maids" idea? That person should be sacked! http://tinyurl.com/264pndt
Why working at home is both horrible and awesome http://bit.ly/96zhZb /cc @feedly
CodeSOD: Masquerading as a Loop http://bit.ly/de5K9D /cc @feedly
Seeing the operation of code in Atari 2600 games - http://benfry.com/distellamap/
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
GO
Get news on the latest releases, beta programs, discounts and more.
SUPPORT
We are currently implementing a ticketing system and a support forum. Meanwhile, for bug reports and feature requests, please send us an email.
INFO
© Codexcite S.A. de C.V. - All Rights Reserved.
Calle Acacias #211, Colonia Valle Alto, Monterrey, Nuevo Léon, CP 64989, México