Getting .dll files out of the GAC

Periodically, you may find it necessary to get a copy of a .dll file out of the the GAC (C:\Windows\Assembly).  Navigating to this folder, you will notice it doesn’t “feel” like a normal windows folder since it isn’t.  You can drag .dll files onto this folder to install, but you can’t drag anything out of [...]

Minor Detail, Major Impact in SSMS Script Wizard

After a few hours of pulling out what few stubs of hair I have remaining, I finally tracked down a rather perplexing problem relating to the Script Wizard feature of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
My goal was to script out all of the stored procedures in a database in a fully re-runnable state, one SP [...]

TeamCity 1 – CCNet 0

OK, so in my preliminary experiences I have to say that TeamCity is friggin awesome. It was amazing how simple it is to setup, and the features that come pre-installed are great. Effortless email notifications, build statistics including average build time and success rates, ability to monitor multiple projects in VSS — It’s [...]

Giving TeamCity another try…

Thanks to a comment from Eugene Petrenko, I decided TeamCity was worth another shot.  Everything I have heard has been positive, so I can’t let a little problem like not getting to my source control repository get in the way of continuous integration
Once again, I visited the TeamCity download site and read all [...]

TeamCity Install Experience

Well, my hopes for a streamlined CruiseControl.NET were not realized in my first attempt at installing the continuous integration server software.  My CCNet lava lamp server died on my last week so I needed to spin up a replacement.  This seemed like a good opportunity.
Although the installation was slick and simple, I feel as though [...]

TeamCity – A Better CCNet?

I have heard some buzz about a product from JetBrains called TeamCity.  Some very influential technologists such as Roy Osherove seem to like the capabilities, so it is definitely worth a look.  This looks like a good competitor to CruiseControl.NET, so I think I am going to give it a spin.  I’ll update the blog [...]

The Automatic DBA

You know, there is nothing like a painfully long set of SQL scripts that need to be applied to multiple databases to get the creative juices flowing. As I stared at a list of 29 scripts that needed to be applied to at least 2 different databases (it could be much worse), I thought [...]

Monitoring multiple VSS projects in CruiseControl.NET

One of the most useful techniques I have found in working with CCNet and VSS is the ability to monitor multiple VSS project folders to trigger a build. Many times, you will find your solution structured such that monitoring a top level folder may not be the right level for triggering a build. [...]

VSS and CruiseControl.NET

Recently, a respected member of the .NET community asked for some “gotchas” when using SourceSafe with CruiseControl.NET. At first, I was thinking, “There really aren’t any. It is working fine for us” however when thinking back on the setup of the current infrastructure I recall there was some tweaking necessary to get things [...]

Houston TechFest 2007 — Is this thing on?

The Houston TechFest has come and gone in a flurry of activity that I would say was widely regarded as a success. There were, of course, a few v1.0 type glitches as to be expected from an inaugural event as large as this one. Nonetheless, for an event of this size to be coordinated so [...]