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UPDATED:
02/22/04
from Roy Busdiecker, www.busdkr.com
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Make Web articles easier to read with "printer-friendly" versions |
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| Visual Studio .NET - see Design View, Code at same time in tabbed windows |
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| Restore an SQL Server version of the Adventure database (LT 505) |
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Easy and safe way to create an ADO Connection String |
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How to create a Visual Basic Template (VB 6.0 and earlier) |
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Supplemental exercises for Learning Tree course 304 (Word 2000) |
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XP special features: create custom fonts, find and copy special characters |
Make Web articles easier to read
Many magazines put valuable information in articles on their web sites, but advertisements, menu columns and the like make the articles more difficult and less pleasant to read.
When this happens, examine the page to see if it offers a "printer-friendly" version. That version usually removes the ads and extra buttons and hyperlinks that distract from the article.
If you select the printer-friendly version, you can either read it more easily to your screen or print it for later reading, annotation, or permanent reference.
ADO.NET: Native Oracle drivers
There are three sources for native Oracle database drivers to use with ADO.NET: Microsoft, Oracle and DataDirect Technologies.
Both Microsoft and Oracle drivers connect to the Oracle database through the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) and require use of the Oracle Client. The Microsoft driver requires that the client be version 8.1.7 or higher. Oracle's driver requires version 9.2 or higher.
The Oracle driver from DataDirect Techologies connects directly to the Oracle database, and therefore does not require use of the Oracle client.
Those without a native driver have the option of using either the OleDb provider (which supports versions 7.3.4 and 8.x of the client) or ODBC, which requires download of the Microsoft ODBC provider.
This information was provided by an article at Visual Studio Magazine's site, which contains more detail and background on the subject.
a. Click Start | Programs | Accessories | Notepad
b. In Notepad click File | Save As
c. In Files of Type select All Files
d. Enter a filename with the extension .udl
e. Save the empty file and close Notepad
2. Customize the data link
a. Double-click on the .udl file to open it
b. In the wizard’s Provider tab select an appropriate Provider
c. In the Connection tab select or enter the required information
d. Click the Test Connection button
e. When you get the successful connection message close the wizard
3. Copy the connection string
a. Click Start | Programs | Accessories | Wordpad
b. Open the .udl file in Wordpad
c. Third line of text is the connection string
d. Copy the connection string and paste it where needed
e. Close Wordpad
Add Microsoft Data Link to Windows "New Item" List
1.
Open Registry Editor and create new Key and Value
a.
Click Start | Run
b.
Enter “regedit” and press Return
c.
Press Control+F to open Find window and enter “.udl”, then
press Enter
d.
Right-click on .UDL folder and select New | Key
e.
Type “ShellNew” and press enter
f.
Click on ShellNew to select it, then right click in the right
pane of Registry Editor
g.
Select String Value and enter the name “NullFile”
h.
Close Registry Editor
2.
Check your work by creating a new Data Link
a.
Right-click on the desktop or in the right pane of Windows
Explorer
b.
Click on Microsoft Data Link
c.
Double-click on the New Microsoft Data Link.UDL icon and follow
the wizard
Visual Basic Template (VB 6.0 and earlier)
1.
Create the template
a.
Create a new VB project of the desired type
b.
Configure the project as desired (properties, controls,
references)
c.
Save all files and the project with appropriate names in folder
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\Template\Projects
d.
Close the project
2.
Use the template
a.
Create a new project using the template that you created
b.
Add to and customize the project as desired
ASP.NET: Create and restore versions of a project
1. Create a new ASP.NET Web project with the desired project name
2. Save and close
the project
a. Two
new folders will be created
1) Under your web server's wwwroot folder a new subfolder
with the project name
3. Create a new folder to
hold one subfolder for each version of your project
a. In
each version subfolder create two folders named web and solution
5. Develop an initial
version of your project, then save and close it
a. Copy
files (.aspx, etc.) from the wwwroot project folder to the web subfolder
of the version folder
b. Copy
files (.sln, .suo, etc) from the Visual Studio project folder to the solution
subfolder of your version folder
6. To restore a previous
version of your project, close Visual Studio and:
a. Copy
files (.aspx, etc) from the version web subfolder to the project folder
under wwwroot
b. Copy
files (.sln, .suo, etc) from the solution subfolder of your version
folder to theVisual Studio project folder
Restore an SQL Server version of the Adventure database
1. Create a new SQL Server database named Adventure
2. Download this .mdb file (Access database) and import it into SQL Server
3. Re-create Connection, DataAdapter and DataSet objects for your AdventureNET project.
Open Windows Explorer with folders collapsed
1. Create a shortcut for
Windows Explorer.
a. In the Windows directory (usually C:\Windows or
C:\Winnt), right-click on the file explorer.exe
b. In the popup menu that appears, choose Create Shortcut
c.
Drag the shortcut to the desktop or Quick Launch tray (just to the right
of the Start button)
2. Add command-line keys to
customize Explorer's appearance
a.
Right-click on the shortcut and select Properties.
b. Locate
the Target box on the Properties dialog box. It should contain
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE, or something similar if your Windows folder was
renamed.
c. At
the end of the string in the Target box add a space followed by one of the
strings below.
| Desired Appearance | Shortcut String |
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Folder list collapsed to minimum, showing only My Computer, Network Neighborhood, My Documents (plus any other top-level folders you have added. |
/e,/select,/root,C:\ |
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As above, but with My Computer expanded to show all drives on the PC, but no folders |
/e,/select,C:\ |
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Show a particular folder on a specific drive expanded. For example, if you wanted to see all the files and subfolders in a file named "Files" on Drive F:, use the string at right |
/n,/e,F:\files |
Visual Studio .NET - see Design View, Code at same time in tabbed windows
1. Normally Visual Studio presents a set of tabbed pages
that are viewed one at a time
a. If you double-click on a design form, its code window appears
b. To see the design view again, you have to click its tab at the top of
the screen
2. To view any two windows at the same time
a. Make sure that the two windows are open (you should see two tabs at
the top)
b. Right-click on one of the tabs
c. Select New Vertical Tab Group from the popup menu
3. To recombine two tab groups
a. Right-click one of the tabs
b. Select Move to Next Group
Use Word to make a double-sided printer
If you want to print a Word document with the second page on the back of the first, and so on, it is easy to create a pair of macros that will do the job for you. Just look at the way your printer works, then choose the set of steps below to follow.
A. If you use a printer like the HP LaserJet that has blank pages face up in the feed tray and delivers them face down in the output tray, use these steps.
1. With
your document open in Word, click on the Tools men, then Macro, then Record New
Macro.
a. In the dialog box that appears, enter the Macro Name
"Step1", then click OK. This will start the Macro
Recorder. You will see a floating toolbar that has the word Stop at the
top and a small black square below (there will also be a circle and two vertical
lines, but don't worry about them). Be careful not to hit a wrong key ...
if you do, you will have to start over.
b. Carefully cllick the File menu and select Print. In this dialog
box, look in the lower left corner and find the dropdown control labelled
"Print:". Click the dropdown arrow and select Even Pages.
c. Now click the Options button below the dropdown and put a checkmark in
the box next to "Reverse Print Order", then click OK. If your
printer is turned on, one side of your document will be printed. Take the
pages out, turn them over, and place them in the feed tray.
d. Click the dark square in the floating toolbar to stop the recorder.
2. Create a second macro using the steps above,
but this time name the macro "Step2".
a. In the Print: dropdown, select Odd pages. In the
Options dialog, un-check the box next to "Reverse Print Order".
When you click OK, the second sides of you document will print.
3. Inspect the finished print job to make sure that the pages are printed properly.
4. See Final Steps below.
B. If you use a printer like the Epson inkjet that has blank pages face up in the feed tray and delivers them face up in the output tray, use these steps.
1. With
your document open in Word, click on the Tools men, then Macro, then Record New
Macro.
a. In the dialog box that appears, enter the Macro Name
"Step1", then click OK. This will start the Macro
Recorder. You will see a floating toolbar that has the word Stop at the
top and a small black square below (there will also be a circle and two vertical
lines, but don't worry about them). Be careful not to hit a wrong key ...
if you do, you will have to start over.
b. Carefully cllick the File menu and select Print. In this dialog
box, look in the lower left corner and find the dropdown control labelled
"Print:". Click the dropdown arrow and select Odd Pages.
c. Now click the Options button below the dropdown and make sure that the
box next to "Reverse Print Order" is not checked, then click OK.
If your printer is turned on, one side of your document will be printed.
Take the pages out, turn them over, and place them in the feed tray.
d. Click the dark square in the floating toolbar to stop the recorder.
2. Create a second macro using the steps above,
but this time name the macro "Step2".
a. In the Print: dropdown, select Even pages. In
the Options dialog, put a checkmark in the box next to "Reverse Print
Order". When you click OK, the second sides of you document will
print.
3. Inspect the finished print job to make sure that the pages are printed properly.
4. See Final Steps below.
FINAL STEPS
Now that you have created the macros, put them on the toolbar so you can use them easily.
1. Right-click on the toolbar and select Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab at the top of the dialog box. In the left pane find and select Macros. b.
3. In the right pane of the dialog box find your Step1 macro and drag it to the menu bar. Drag the Step2 macro next to Step1, then close the Customize box.
4. The next time that you are ready to print a two-sided document, just turn on your printer and click the Step1 macro. When the first side has been printed, turn the paper over and place it in the input tray, then click Step2.
These features have been verified in Windows XP Professional. They
may be in Home Edition, but you will need to confirm that they work there.
1. Create custom fonts
a. Click Start | Run
b. Type eudcedit
c. Press enter, then follow directions in Help.
2. Find and copy special characters, and find their
key-codes
a. Click Start | Run
b. Type charmap
c. Press enter to run the program. Select and copy your characters,
or select a character and read its key-code.
See ALL of your Recent Documents
The Start menu has a selection that allows you to see up to ten of your most recent documents. It is called "My Recent Documents" in XP and simply "Documents" in Windows 98.
You can see a list of All of your most recently used documents by
following the steps below. HINT: You may not want to see ALL of the
documents for one reason or another. Using the procedures below, you can
simply delete the shortcuts to the items that you do not want to appear on the
list.
1. In Windows XP
a. Open My Computer
b. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\
c. Locate the folder named "Recent" in the right-hand window.
d. Position the mouse pointer on the Recent folder, then hold down the
right mouse button and drag the folder onto the Start button. DO NOT
release the right mouse button yet.
e. When the Start menu opens, drag the Recent folder to the top section of
the Start menu and release the right mouse button.
f. A popup menu will appear. Select the choice that says, "Create
Shortcut here".
g. If you want to rename the shortcut in your Start menu, just right-click
on it and select Rename.
h. When you open the Start menu and click on your new shortcut, a separate
one-folder explorer window will open, showing all of the documents you have used
recently. You can sort it by name, date, size or type by clicking on the
appropriate column heading. Delete the shortcuts that you do not want on
the list ... the files that they point to will remain in place.
2. In Windows 98 and 98SE
a. Open My Computer
b. Navigate to C:\Windows
c. Follow the directions for Windows XP paragraphs c - h.
Publish individual pages quickly with Microsoft FrontPage 2002
1. Click File | Publish Web... on the FrontPage menu bar and log onto
your host site.
2. In the left-hand window, select the first file that you want to
publish, then add others using Control-Click.
3. When all desired files are highlighted, right-click on one of them and
select "Publish Selected Pages" from the popup menu.
Your selected pages will be published immediately, without the usual checking of pages on the host site.