By Reference or Value
For parameters, you can optionally specify ByVal or ByRef. ByRef is the default if you don't specify.

Function SomeRoutine(ByRef pPerson, ByVal pName, Age)

Microsoft's official Access newsgroup.

My Access Application still uses DAO and I'm thinking about migrating it to ADO. Should I?

No, especially if your accessing Access tables. It is true that ADO is more widespread but if your application is working with DAO, then there's no significant reason to switch. If you're starting a new Access Application that accesses Access tables, I would use DAO. If you're accessing a SQL server such as MS SQL or Oracle, I would use ADO.

Beside DAO and ADO, developers can also use OLE DB and ODBC.

The Object Modeling Group (OMG) controls the UML specification. The Unified Modeling Language - UML - is OMG's most-used specification, and a very popular way to model not only application structure, behavior, and architecture, but also business process and data structure.

Although you can use either a & or a + to concatenate values, my preference is to use a + because more languages use it. However, if you use & then some type conversions are done for you. If you use + you will sometimes have to cast a value to concatenate it. For example, you will have to use CStr to cast a number to a string if you use the + operator as a concatenation operator.

Dim FirstName
Dim LastName

FirstName  = "Mike"
LastName  = "Prestwood"

Response.Write "Full name: " & FirstName & " " + LastName

Response.Write "2+2=" + CStr(2+2)

Very popular ASP Classic and now ASP.Net website.

For C#, I prefer to put the opening { and the closing } on their own line (as opposed to C++, Java, and JavaScript where I put the opening bracket at the end of the first line.

int DoSomething()

{

 int a = 1;

 int b = 2;

 return a + b;

}

Pick just about any one of your thick, technical tomes, and give it a quick skim.  Inevitably, the book dives onto a topic with the assumption that you already know a bunch of the basics.

This is unavoidable, because nobody wants a book about, say, web services, that starts with a basic course in programming. Yet many books about .NET topics, assume too much prior knowledge.  They need a "chapter zero."

Charles Petzold has released a freely downloadable e-book on C# .NET. , and it is the chapter zero that so many of us need.

C++ is a hybrid language and as such offers global functions and class methods. A function must come before it's usage or you can prototype the function.

Same as standard C++.

//Does C++/CLI evaluate the math correctly? No!

if (0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 == 0.3)
  MessageBox::Show("correct");
else
  MessageBox::Show("not correct");

Official Delphi and C++Builder Roadmap from Codegear.

Aggregations indicate a whole-part relationship, and are known as "has-a" or "is part of" relationships. An Aggregation relationship is indicated by a line with a hollow diamond.

A static member is a member you can have access to without instantiating the class into an object. For example, you can read and write static properties and call static methods without ever creating the class. Static members are also called class members (class methods, class properties, etc.) since they belong to the class and not to a specific object. A static class is a class that contains only static members. In the UML, these classes are described as utility classes.

This code snippet will send a very quick email. Note that this code will not work as-is. You need to have valid email accounts and a valid email server to send a real email.

You need to add: using System.Net.Mail;

Sacramento Visual Studio.Net Usergroup

The Sacramento Visual Studio Users group is no charge resource for Visual Studio developers in the greater Sacramento area.

http://www.sacvsug.org/ No longer active. Go to SacNetUG.org instead.

When we create applications, we usually need one or more icons. We'll definitely want a main program icon - in several sizes. We may also want another icon for our setup program.

Sometimes our client supplies icon files, but often they do not.

There are some great tools available for creating and managing Icons. One of my favorites, IconLover, is available at the site this link is about.

But most out-of-the-box, general purpose graphics editors lack support for the Windows .ICO file format. The solution is at this link, and it's free: It's a plug-in for Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (even some version of Photoshop Elements).

At the bottom of this link's page, you'll find an entry for "Icon Plug-In for PhotoShop." Simply download the zip file, unzip, and follow the instructions in the ReadMe.txt file.

Your favorite, general purpose graphics editor will now be able to deal with ICO files!

Declare your class in the Interface section. Then implement the class in the Implementation section.

In Delphi programming language (Object Pascal), all classes ultimately inherit from the base class TObject.

Object Pascal allows parameters of the same type to be listed together, separated by commas, and followed with a single data type (more params of different data types can follow, after a semi-colon). The default for parameters is by value. For by reference, add var in front of the parameter. Object Pascal also offers constant parameters where you add const in front of the parameter. A constant parameter is like a local constant or read-only parameter the compiler can optimize. You cannot assign a value to a constant parameter, nor can you pass one as a var parameter to another routine.

function Add(a, b: integer) : integer; 
begin
  Result := a + b;
end;
  
procedure ReplaceTime(var pDT: TDateTime; const pNewDT: TDateTime);
begin
end;

With the demise of Delphi Informant, we've gone quite a while without a good, English language Delphi periodical.

It's exciting, then, so see the appearance of an English edition of Blaise Pascal, especially given it's lineup of writers; Nick Hodges, Bob Swart, Kim Madsen, Julian Bucknall, Jeremy North, and Hallvard Vassbotn. That's a virtual "who's who" of the lofty world of Delphi gurus.

A quick, simple, free registration gets you access to a PDF version of one issue. Check it out!

What are the benefits of Win32/64 native code such as in Delphi over .Net?

In general terms, native code offers faster potential performance and a smaller footprint but can be more complex to build. Also, native code does not require .Net's runtime -- Common Language Runtime (CLR).

Literals are quoted as in "Prestwood". If you need to embed a quote use a slash in front of the quote as in \".

System.out.println("Hello");

System.out.println("Hello \"Mike\".");

//Does Java evaluate this simple

//floating point math correctly? No!

if ((.1 + .1 + .1) == 0.3) {
  System.out.println("Correct");
} else {
  System.out.println("Not correct");
}

Literals use either an apostrophe (also known as a single quote) as in 'Prestwood' or quoted as in "Prestwood". If you need to embed an apostrophe in an apostrophe-literal or a quote in a quoted-literal, preced it with a slash as in \' and \".

Alert("Hello");

Alert("Hello \"Mike\".")

Alert('Hello');

Alert('Hello Mike\'s website.')

//Does JavaScript evaluate this simple

//floating point math correctly? No! 

if ((.1 + .1 + .1) == .3) {
 document.write("Correct")
} else {
 document.write("Not correct")
}

javascript:self.close()

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and anyone is welcome to join.

The Fedora Project is out front for you, leading the advancement of free, open software and content.

• Go Directly to Download Page

Paradox 9 versions for SP1 through SP4.

Literals are quoted as in "Prestwood".  If you need to embed a quote use a slash in front of the quote as in \". 

In ObjectPAL, string literals are limited to 255 characters but there's nothing preventing you from using multiple string literals together as in:

msgInfo("", "Hi Mike: " + "You can add literals together in ObjectPAL")

msgInfo("", "Hello")

msgInfo("", "Hello \"Mike\".")

;Does ObjectPAL evaluate this simple

;floating point math correctly? No!

If (.1 + .1 + .1) = .3 Then
 msgInfo("", "Correct")
Else
 msgInfo("", "Not correct")
EndIf

Corel products including newsgroups for the following: Paradox, ObjectPAL, Paradox and the Web, and Paradox FAQ. Also check out the following non-Corel newsgroups: comp.databases.Paradox. TheDBCommunity.com offers a newsgroup listing page.

Procedure for fixing the Could Not Initialize BDE" error.

How do you fix the "Could Not Initialize BDE" error?

Here are the steps I usually take:

1. Have all users exit Paradox.
2. Upon exit, the BDE deletes any *.lck files in use. Delete any stray BDE *.lck files in the working, private, and NetDir folders. Usually I just search the entire local drive and delete them all. The BDE will recreate these files as needed.
3. Delete the net files in the NetDir (pdoxusrs.net and sometimes paradox.net). The BDE will also recreate these files as needed.
4. Retest. Continue if problem still persists.
5. The BDE configuration file could be corrupt, try replacing it with a fresh copy.
6. Retest. Continue if problem still persists.
7. The BDE may be corrupt, try reinstalling the BDE (you can get a copy from prestwood.com).
8. Retest. Continue if problem still persists.
9. Rebuild all of your Paradox tables.
10. Retest. Continue if problem still persists.
11. Reinstall your application (Paradox, the Delphi EXE, etc.).
12. Retest.

Perl uses subs and parameters are referenced in a special array. All arguments passed to a subroutine are stored in a special @_ array. To retrieve the arguments, you have to look inside the array and extract them.

PHP is case sensitive with variable names but not with commands. Although commands are case incenstive, I prefer to use all lowercase because it's easy to type and that's what I see most PHP coders doing and I see it on PHP.Net.

All of the following are equivalent:

echo "hello<br>";

ECHO "hello<br>";

Echo "hello<br>";

eCHo "hello<br>";

...but variables are case sensitive:

$fullname = "Mike Prestwood"; //These are two...

$FullName = "Wes Peterson";   //separate varialbes.

Declare associative array with initial known values. You can also add to associative array. (You can just assign values without ever declaring it too!)

Common comparison operators:

==	equal
!= or <>	not equal
<	less than
>	greater than
<=	less than or equal
>=	greater than or equal

PHP 4 and above also offers === for indentical (equal plus same type) and !== for not identical (not equal or not same type).

//Does PHP evaluate the math correctly? No!

if (.1 + .1 + .1 == .3) {
  echo "correct";
}
else {
  echo "not correct";
}

Download page from PHP.Net.

Contains Windows PHP downloads and links to other OS binaries.

Member points information.

In Prism, everything is within a class (just like with C#, VB.Net, and Java). So you create class methods using the method keyword. Alternatively, you can use procedure or function if you want the compiler to enforce returning or not returning a value.

Object Pascal uses a semicolon ";" as an end of statement specifier and you can put multiple statements on a single line of code and put a single statement on two or more code lines if you wish.

MessageBox.Show("Hello1");

MessageBox.Show("Hello2");

MessageBox.Show("Hello3");
 
//Same line works too: 

MessageBox.Show("Hello4");  MessageBox.Show("Hello5");
 
//Two or more lines works too: 
MessageBox.Show
  ("Hello6");

Delphi Prism is Visual Studio.Net. If you have Visual Studio.Net installed, the Delphi Prism installation plugs into your existing VS.Net installation. If you don't own VS.Net, the installation installs the Visual Studio Shell before plugging in Delphi Prism.

The default phase for a defect is Phase 6 Testing & Rework. The default phase for a task or PSDP Artifact is Phase 2 Requirements. Whether or not you have enabled PSDP Phases for a project, the defaults are always set just in case you enable PSDP Phases.

Even though PSDP Artifacts contain a Task, Requirement Item, Design Item, and a Test Script, it belongs to the requirements phase because the Requirement Item is the first real software documentation item. An additional task or tasks of filling in design items belong to Phase 4 Detail Design. The task of coding the artifacts belong to Phase 5 Initial Coding, and finally the task of completing of the test scripts and testing a particular build belongs to Phase 5 Testing & Rework.

Self-publishing website. Publish your own books at a reasonable price. Free to publish and no setup fees.

Although you can use either a & or a + to concatenate values, my preference is to use a + because more languages use it. However, if you use & then some type conversions are done for you. If you use + you will sometimes have to cast a value to concatenate it. For example, you will have to use CStr to cast a number to a string if you use the + operator as a concatenation operator.

Dim FirstName As String
Dim LastName As String
 
FirstName = "Mike"
LastName = "Prestwood"
 
MsgBox "Full name: " & FirstName & " " + LastName

 
MsgBox "2+2=" + CStr(2+2)

This will show how to make a "hello world" console application in Visual Studio 2008 using VB.Net.

VB.Net, like VBClassiccode blocks, are surrounded by statement ending keywords that all use End such as End Class, End Sub, End Function, End If, and End If.

Public Class Dog

End Class

Protected Sub MySub

End Sub

Public Shared Function MySharedFunction() As Integer
 MySharedFunction = 12345
End Function 

If x Then

End If

The free Microsoft web stress tool is designed to realistically simulate multiple browsers requesting pages from a Web site.

The Microsoft WAS web stress tool is designed to realistically simulate multiple browsers requesting pages from a web site. You can use this tool to gather performance and stability information about your web application. This tool simulates a large number of requests with a relatively small number of client machines. The goal is to create an environment that is as close to production as possible so that you can find and eliminate problems in the web application prior to deployment.

Use this tool locally to test how well your website is performing in your test environment. The better it performs in your test environment under stress, the better it will perform when deployed live.

Why do images sometimes resize smaller well, and sometimes not? Sometimes when I resize an image to a small 100 pixel width or less image it looks great and sometimes it's very choppy.

1. You probably need to increase the number of colors prior to resizing. Some programs will do this for you automatically and some don't. For example, when working with a transparent GIF or PNG, the color palette is set to 256. If you shrink a transparent GIF or PNG, it will likely look choppy. However, if you increase the number of colors to 16-bit or higher, than resize, it looks great. Of course, you'll have to reapply transparency.

2. Various programs use various algorithms to resize images, make sure you try them all.

With the size of applications and data, my belief is that you need a minimum of 1 GB of RAM but 2 GBs is better. Unless you run lots of applications at the same time, there is no real need for more than 3 GBs of RAM.

By the way, in Windows Vista, the caching scheme changed. Vista's SuperFetch built on and replaced Prefetch. Unlike Prefetch, SuperFetch will use up ALL memory for caching you give it so you want as much memory on Vista as you can afford and your hardware will allow. Vista 32-bit has a general limit of 4 GB and Vista 64-bit has a general limit of 128 GB.