MS Teched India 2009

Hey everybody, the fun time is back. Microsoft Tech-Ed India is being held at Hyderabad from 13th May to 15th May. Tech-Ed is an annual event that focuses on the latest offerings from Microsoft on various platforms. If you are into technology and love to know about all the latest in the industry then this is the place for you to be.

All the information you need is available at the TechEd website.

Database Manager is now RC

The Database Manager RC for the IIS 7.0 is out and can be downloaded from here for x86 and for x64 from here.

Database Manager is a new IIS extension that has been provided by Microsoft which enables you to connect to your sql database right from the IIS UI. All sort of SQL operation on the database for your project can now be done directly from the IIS manager. This is great new way of allowing the developers to make there work move at a faster rate atealst on developement machines. The installation of the DB Manager is pretty straight forwarded. Once installed you would find it under the management group of the IIS Manager's feature view as shown below.

Click on the screenshot if not clear. Adding a database into the Database manager is again no big task. All you need to know is: Server, Database Name, User ID and Password. Just enter the details in text box which will be similar to the one shown below.

Once connected you can view the tables information and and execute queries as if you were on the fly without opening any other program. DB Manager gives this great tab views everytime you open a new table for a tab for executing a query. You can view the table content simply by right-clicking on the table name and clicking 'Show Table Data'. Wasnt that simple if you were a developer working on a test machine. You can also run query on the database just as you do it in your other programs. A screen shot below will show you how DB Manager gives the result.

This should give you a pretty good idea on how to get started with the DB manager.

Note: The Database Manager as of now comes only with Microsoft SQL
data provider. Therfore, if you are a MySql user you might not find this
useful. Well atleast not yet!

For any problems or feedback on DB Manager you can post at the DB Manager Forums on the iis.net site.

Awarded IIS MVP

How often do you wake up on the 1st of April, open your inbox and read the following:

"Congratulations, You have been awarded as the Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP)by Microsoft for your community participation and technical expertise"

Well, Yes not very often. The same goes with me. The first thought to come to my mind was: take a deep breath and verify that it's not a prank. After 10 minutes of figuring out the details I was not able to find any loop hole in the mail for any mischief, but, just then the realisation HIT ME!
I was going to be a MVP, something that I always wanted to be. For the second time that day I dint know how to react. The logo was something that I always saw on various communities, cool people with cool answers to almost any problem within their field. I was soon going to be one. Actually, it was just a matter of few moments of decision from my side... and Yes! I wanted to be an MVP. It seems kinda cool that I can now fashion the same logo that has given a lot of people on the communities an assurance that there is an answer for every problem. So here it goes:

For those who are still unaware of what I was speaking above and why I seemed to be so excited. I think it's time you took out a couple of minutes and checked out the MVP Site.
And for IIS (How can I forget that!) there is lot to come soon. See you around!

Let me know if you have any questions as usual... Have fun!