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August 2008 Archive

Online sales on the up

With summer showing all the signs of being a washout and the downturn in the economy making most consumers feel the pinch more than ever. It does look like the future for more online e-retailing is on the up. With more consumers than ever looking for the lowest prices and comparing deals online to find the best bargains its becoming clear that the web is going to play an even greater role in the delivery of efficient applications that enable people to get to the information far quicker than before. IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index has stated that online shoppers spent more than £26.5 billion in the first six months of 2008, up 38 per cent on last year, they also point out that 17p in every pound is spent online. The way in which online services deliver the information to their customers is becoming even more important than ever before and for us web companies the way in which this sites deliver information is going to play an even great role.

Being a company that spends all of its time thinking Rich Internet, we feel there is certainly going to be a place for both Adobe Flex and Microsoft Silverlight applications that allow customers to find the information they need get to the purchase quickly and for retailers to gain a great ability to up-sell all from one screen.

Posted by Adrian Munn on 04 Aug 2008

Export data from Excel 2007 to MSSQL Server 2005

Some time ago I was asked to export some data from Excel to MSSQL Server 2005. I spent some time looking for possible solutions to tackle this task. There are some ways, such as:

using SQL Server Integration Services tool (which I don’t have)

linking Excel as external database and then writing some strange SQL queries

finally use Jakarta POI to read data and send it to MSSQL with ColdFusion

All of those look like one-time solution*. Simplest way would be just clicking a button in Ribbon but that isn’t implemented (at least it appears to be not implemented). So I’ve created this add-in called MSSQL Export Add-in for Excel 2007.

Here it is:

You can download installer and source code** from CodePlex. It requires following components installed first:

.NET 3.5 framework

Office 2007 Primary Interop Assemblies
This component should be installed by default with Microsoft Office 2007 but if prompted on install search for “2007 Office Primary Interop Assemblies”.

Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime 3.0
Small download which enables your computer to run Office add-in’s.

Once add-in is installed you can find it in Data tab.

* UPDATE *
If your add-in won’t start when installed try do following:

Set system environment variable VSTO_SUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS with value 0

Restart Excel

Click Office button

Click Excel Options button

Go to Add-Ins section

Select COM Add-ins in Manage option and click Go… button

Tick MSSQLExport and press OK

Excel should ask for MSSQLExport Add-in installation permission

Click Install button

Add-in should work fine now.

When clicked it will bring new panel called MSSQL Export Add-in.

MSSQL Export Add-in can connect to more than one server at a time. But before I describe how to use it I will explain structure of the worsheet. Add-in assumes first row in active worksheet contain colummn names and rest of rows contain data that has to be exported. There should be no empty rows at the beginning and empty columns. Of course cells in data rows can be empty. You can see sample valid worksheet below.

For each connection it will show new tab with name of the server as tab label. First you will have to select database, then table. Once that is done add-in makes ti best to match worksheet column names with table column names.

If specific column should not be exported, simply select empty value from corresponding drop-down. As you can see on above screenshot there are few additional controls available

refresh button: when active worksheet is changed it allows to run column auto-matching again

use transaction tick box: when checked all database operation will run under SQL transaction

truncate first tick box: when checked target table will be truncated first

That is all. When ready just click Export data button. You will be asked for confirmation and when you click Yes button data will be exported. Depending on amount of data export may take few seconds or few minutes.

Few words about licensing. Binary release and source code are available under MIT license. Application uses selected icons from iVista2 icon pack created by gakuseisean and are not included in source release but they are redistributed as compiled DLL assembly. If you want build application from source you will need add reference to it (DLL is included in source release).

There are probably some other methods I don’t know about, but it was good fun to build this one.
* I’m sure it isn’t the best C# code you’ve seen in your life.

Posted by Neil Middleton on 05 Aug 2008

Flex Camp London registration now open!

Flex Camp London 08 is a FREE, community-run event for everyone interested in Adobe Flex! Whether you’re just getting started with Flex or you’re an expert, Flex Camp aims to provide something for you.

We’ve lined up some of the most experienced Flex developers in the UK who will share their knowledge on everything from creating your first application, connecting to data, creating components and development best practices through to selecting an application framework for larger projects.

Flex Camp will also include a panel discussion, provide an opportunity for you to show off what you’re building in the Show & Tell open session and let you meet up with other developers to talk about Flex. We’ve also got some great prizes to give-away throughout the day, including a ticket to Adobe MAX in Milan, Adobe software and Flex training courses from Academy Class.

Flex Camp is on August 28th, 2-8pm at Conway Hall, London WC1 – register today at http://ria.meetup.com…

This is a FREE event, but you must be registered to attend and names will be taken at the door.

See you there!

Posted by Neil Middleton on 08 Aug 2008

Are Flash and Silverlight the same thing?

We’ve been having a discussion in Monochrome towers over the last few days about the whole Silverlight vs Flash vs Flex etc etc etc argument, and some interesting things have turned up that I thought we should repeat here.

Both Microsoft and Adobe now have some very similar looking technologies with Silverlight and Flash, namely the ability to script code, and render applications all within a box in the browser, whilst doing various background tasks such as hitting out to web services and remote APIs. Similar sounding although they may initially seem, they do differ at a slightly lower point in the stack. Behind the box in the browser, lies two frameworks – the .NET framework for Silverlight, and the Flash Player API for Flash/Flex.

OK, so these aren’t dramatically different either – so where does the differences lie? The entire internet seems to think that Microsoft is out to get Flash with Silverlight and take over the world of the rich internet application – but we at Monochrome now think a bit differently.

For starters, lets look at the bloodlines of both formats. First up, Flash has always been flash (or Future Splash as it used to be), it’s been a tool for drawing vector graphics into a stage. Certain other things have also been added over time: video, web services, AMF, XML support etc etc. Finally, the flex framework has come trotted along to enable developers to build their applications using Flash in a more rapid way.

Silverlight on the other hand used to go by a different name, WPF/E. So, WTF is WPF/E? WPF/E is essentially Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere, or another way of saying WPF (the technology now used to build applications on Windows Vista), but not necessarily on the desktop. Therefore, in a nutshell, this means that it has come from a very different background to that of Flash. Silverlight’s heritage, in a round-a-bout way comes from the ancestry of WinForms, i.e application development. It is not coming from the stable of design.

So, what does this mean? At the end of the day, not much, but it does mean something when you look more into the future. For a start, Microsoft have no intention of taking on Flash – after all, it not easy taking on the most installed piece of software on the planet. It’s a well known fact that Microsoft intend to see everything they provide ultimately in the cloud, coming down to your screen via WPF or Silverlight into the browser, which is exactly what they are setting themselves up to do. Therefore hey are developing Silverlight to be the best web based application development platform it can be, not necessarily a “flash killer”.

Therefore I think it’s fair to say that going forward, Flash and Silverlight will co-exist as two very different beasts. Silverlight will specialise in delivery applications to the web, backing up the vast library of applications available out there already from .NET developers. Flash on the other hand will continue as normal, specialising in browser based animation and video as it does now, with a smattering of applications via the Flex framework.

It will certainly be interesting to see where things take us over the next couple of years.

Posted by Neil Middleton on 11 Aug 2008

Niklas and Neil at Flex Camp London

Last week we mentioned that a Flex Camp London has been organised for the 28th of August up in town. What we didn’t say at the time was that both Niklas Richardson and Neil Middleton will be speaking at the conference.

Nik will be speaking on the topic of “Flex and ColdFusion” at 4.20pm, and Neil will be presenting “Who you need on your Flex team”. At 3.45pm we will also be showing off on of our flex apps in one of the three “Show and tell” sessions.

So, if you’d like to find out more about Flex, or come and meet up with us for a chat, come down to the Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL on the 28th and say hello.

For more detailed information, please visit the Flex Camp London website.

Posted by Niklas Richardson on 13 Aug 2008