I recently read an article on CodeProject about using Web Services to upload/download files.  I was really impressed with the article and the code though there was one concern.  MTOM (using WSE 3.0).  The problem is that if I wanted to create an easily reusable component using, say, a DotNetNuke module, this could become restrictive because of end-user technical abillity.  I decided to scale back his code a tad and see if it would still work without any references to the MTOM libraries at all.  I found that it does but loses certain things that MTOM gives.  The tradeoff between easy deployment and the features gained by MTOM is what the programmer needs to decide on.

Without further ado, here is a zipped file containing both my code and all of Tim Mackey's original code.  All credits for the idea go to him, I only hacked it and started my own little test "explorer mode" application (so i added some code to his original files).  Download here.

Please check out his original article: http://www.codeproject.com/soap/MTOMWebServices.asp

WordJumbler

Trying to come up with a creative business name is a pain in the butt. Everything good I came up with ended up being taken already, so while looking around at "random" generators, I found something mentioning that a lot of businesses and their products are based on portions of words--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies. With that in mind, I wrote my own little program that will take a random # of characters from a random position and in random order from a list of words (random enough?), then string them together. The result may or may not make any sense, but when you generate a couple thousand at a time, you're sure to find something.

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SQL to CSV

Small application used to export data (based on a query) from SQL to a CSV file.  Unlike DTS, this allows specifying of a "batch size" to prevent files with too many records.  Excel has a 65k row limit, so this is a good way to make sure you can still load your file in excel.

Updated 1/23/2008 -- added "integrated security" option for connecting to database

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Access to CSV

Small application used to export data (based on a query) from a Microsoft Access DB to a CSV file.  Works the same as SQL to CSV, except designed for Access databases.

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I used to use VSS for my source control... but then I was enlightened.  My brother introduced me to Subversion (here-after referred to as SVN) two years ago as a good alternative to VSS.  I performed some research and learned as much as I could, then convinced my previous employer to replace their extensive VSS source control with SVN.  I was tasked with the conversion and did so.  I couldn't have been happier.

Since then, I have used SVN for school projects, my home repository, and even recently convinced my new employer to let me convert our control from VSS to SVN.

A decent installation guide to get it working on a Windows machine (though considered obsolete): http://www.excastle.com/blog/archive/2005/05/31/1048.aspx (as a note, his link to SVNService no longer works and I don't know if that is because it is no longer necessary at all, or what the deal is.  I have the file if you need it, just let me know.  Maybe I'll post it up later?)