UpdateBatch has been dramatically changed with the current bits (41129) of VS2005. Here are the details on that.

Now that we can exceed the 2100 parameter limit I have been doing some experiments with a 10000 record query from a 104,000 record table and doing batch updates in big chunks. It will be important to tune your batch updates based on the system - location of sql server relative to the application, latency, etc etc. Here is what I hit today when working against a hardwired remote sql server 2000.

Interesting....

Modifying the new CommandTimeout property (from default of 10 to 60) on the DataAdapter's SelectCommand, fixed this problem. Then I had to change it again for a batch of 10,000. I just popped it up to 120 and that did the trick.

What's going on of course is that ado.net is building some big goo up front. Prior to this version, it built one big fat query to accomodate the entire batch. But that's where they quickly (very quickly) hit the 2100 parameter limit. Now watching profiler, it is getting run one update (one row) at a time. I wish I could watch what happens in between, but, really, that's okay! Can't geek out too much.

This is the kind of fun you can have on a beautiful winter day with a broken foot.

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A few days ago I noticed that GetDataReader had an obsolete stamp all over it in the online docs. Jackie Goldstein as well as Kawarjit Bedi (from the ADO.NET team) let me know it was just because the name was being changed. I found this warning in the latest bits (November CTP) to be much less alarming than the "obsolete" stamp!

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Hip Hip Hooray! Yippee yi yo ki yay!!

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This is local news - but for the curious, Champlain College is in downtown Burlington and is incredibly innovate, technical and leading edge. They have super facilities for technology and even a Masters program in IT. Here is a link to the press release on the new president. 

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http://www.citroen.co.uk/c4/

turn on your speakers and click on "See the Ad" on the bottom left

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I haven't been following this story, but noticed this on CNN's home page. Two students had taken the school to court saying that the school should wait until all of the current student body has graduated. Their case was rejected.  I graduated from Wells College in 1983.

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Congrats to Ken Levy and everyone involved with VFP!

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Microsoft watch asks "Would you trust Microsoft to backup your personal files?"

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Avonelle points out Joel Spolsky's comment in a discussion about being a one-man shop and Christopher Hawkin's response.

Although Joel's backup logic is bull, I do agree with his main "thesis" - that a consultant is not an entrepreneur. In 16 or so years I have been a consultant, I have never considered myself an entrepreneur or a start-up business, so I don't even care about qualifying that one.

However, he uses some dead-wrong points to back up that statement. Pure bull.

I am hardly the low man on the totem pole with my clients. I am a business partner - a trusted business partner. The owner of my largest client absolutely sees me that way. I have acquired such a good understanding of his business over the years that it is not uncommon for him to discuss other areas of his business (other than technology) with me and seek my opinion.

Perpetual Job hunting. My very first client came to me as a referral. I had a full time job then and was not even looking for contract work. Since then, almost all of my work has been word of mouth for all of these years. That does not mean that I "put the word out" that I was looking either. I'm talking about totally unsolicited. The only real caveat to this is that when I moved to Vermont, I needed a full time job in order to get a mortgage. At that time, I did have to actively look for a W-2 position.)

Back to work...

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Just an FYI - the latest bits on MSDN (for msdn universal subscribers) for VS2005 are 2.5 GB and are meant for a DVD. It is not broken up into CD sized chunks like the October CTP. I just upgraded my DSL service to download at 1000 Mbps (instead of 512) and the it still looks like it's going to be 10+ hours. Uggh.

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I am thrilled and proud of the fact that my friend Maryam has just become a U.S. citizen

HOORAY MARYAM!!

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(aha! just getting a new name: CreateDataReader. Thanks for the info Jackie and Kawarjit (from the AD0.Net team!)

whoa. I just noticed this in the online docs that come up through the msdn library with vs2005 (which points to this link)

The same holds true (as per the above set of docs) for DataTable.GetDataReader.

However, if you browse to a separate source of docs at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/0xbt1065.aspx there is no indication of it being obsolete.

It works just fine in the October CTP bits I am using. I'm confused.

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Brad Wilson pointed to a new article on www.DotNetDevs.com, which prompted me to go over to the site and see what else is there. What I saw thrilled me. A host of articles that are aimed at removing the bridge of fear that many people have of particular topics. "Reflection Demystified", "Understanding Isolated Storage", "Using Encryption in .NET" and more. The authors of these articles understand that "you can't know everything" and just because you don't understand a particular topic or concept, does not mean you need to be addressed as though you don't even know how to turn on a computer. Nor do they speak in tongues, taking a topic so deeply that there is no place for you to hook in so you can understand what the heck they are talking about. This site is looking like the chapters of the fantasy book I was dreaming of writing (but probably won't ever really write). Kudos to Brad Wilson and the other authors on the .NET Developers site.

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Sorry - I had to beat Mary Jo to the pun, err punch.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/dec04/12-16GIANTPR.asp

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My INETA Winter Warmup arrived today. Dave Totzke did some hell of a job getting vendors to contribute. Here is a list of all of the vendors who contributed stuff. But I wanted to say an extra thanks to Programmer's Paradise. They also made an incredible donation. They packaged and shipped the mailing. Not only was it packed like a pro, but think about the fact that this went to all of the user groups in North America. That's about 250 groups. That's 250 boxes to pack and 250 * ?? for shipping each box. At least $5/box right? This is a huge contribution. So thank you SO VERY MUCH to everyone at Programmer's Paradise!

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I got a monthly beer delivery for for Rich from www.hogshead.com a bunch of years ago and it is really awesome.

Groovy little micro breweries from around the country that you might never know of unless you travelled to where those beers are made. I'm getting this for a really fantastic client this year.

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Larry O'Brien points out that Office has been updated with improved ink recognition. I haven't played with it yet - I still don't use my tablet for this type of stuff. (she said, sitting in front of her big desktop, 19" monitor and typing away at the keyboard - but still using BLInk! to write the post...)

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Very cool!!! Short films do not have many venues outside of film festivals in the u.s. Amazon Theater is actually showing some right on their website! Granted there is some serious product placement going on. I don't know if the films are created with the goal of featuring items you can buy on Amazon, or if Amazon scours the films to find items that they sell. But there is a page that says “see something you liked in the movie? Buy it here“ Sheesh - but still....

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Why wait when Beth Massi has created a tool to do it now?? In fact, she did this in February!

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I wonder if this is what Jason's newscasts look like!

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