There is a very good blog entry located here which lists questions every development team and team leads should ask themselves during development cycles.

From the article:

Whole team

What can we automate?

where are we "Reinventing the wheel"?

what are the tools that slow us down?

what tools can we use better?

are there bugs that I could have found earlier? how do I make sure I find them earlier?

when do we find out we built the right thing?

when do we find out our code\design sucks? how can we make that earlier?

How do we show progress at the team level? at the management level?

How many meetings does each dev have every week? how can we remove them?

Are we building by feature or by layer?

can we make all our team sit in the same place?

Team Lead

daily: what bottlenecks exist in the team? what have I solved?

will my devs be better in a month or two than they were before? if not, how do I make that happen?

what prevents my devs from working? what am I doing about this?

Some of them are very useful, but I thought I?d expand on the list from my own experiences:

Whole team

• What is our focus this week?
• How do we effectively communicate who is doing what?
• Do we have any change requests or outstanding requirement clarifications?
• Can these be satisfied in a reasonable time frame?
• Are we ?on track? to meet agreed deliverables?

Team lead(s)

• How can we make our work more visible & available to the customer(s)?
• What resources (physical/technical) do the team require?� Are they available/scheduled?
• Do we have any ?single points of failure??� If so, how can this be mitigated?
• Are client expectations being met?� If not, what can be changed to fix this?

It?s really important to understand what is a ?team responsibility? versus a ?team lead responsibility?.

Some forms of Agile development practice make this a little unclear, but in my experience, someone needs to be responsible for ensuring team goals and responsibilities are being met on a weekly (or daily) basis.

Some of this could be shared by a project manager as well as a team lead/architect, but the important take away is to ensure someone is asking these questions on a regular basis.� Keeping client expectations in mind is a critical step.

Well, it?s been some time since my last decent technical article.� There have been some distractions lately, but I?ll be back on deck with some fresh content shortly.� I?ve got some SQL Reporting Services goodness and also some tips and tricks on getting the most out of SQL Integration Services.

Lastly, I?ll attempt a foray into developing a meaningful working solution on the back of Windows Azure.

July is creeping up very quickly (thankfully) so hopefully I?ll get a chance to put more thoughts into the blog.

Lastly, I hope winter isn?t dampening your spirits (or that summer is a bliss for the northern hemisphere types) and that you?re getting geared up for the second half of 2009.

Always../R

Well, this week I was routinely contributing to the massive indentations in my forehead (banging my head against my keyboard) due to an old SQL Server favourite.. ?An explicit value for the identity column in table '[Table]' can only be specified when a column list is used and IDENTITY_INSERT is ON?

Basically, to facilitate inserts (mirroring data) I had to switch off the use of an identity column on the target table.
To do this you normally use the SET IDENTITY_INSERT <Table> ON statement.�

The scenario?� In order to support the use of changeable (rather than hardcoded) server and schema names, we needed to prime dynamic T-SQL statements and execute them.� The problem?� An EXEC() statement operates in a separate environment.

In other words, executing a
SET IDENTITY_INSERT [' + @DB + '].[' + @Schema + '].[<Table>] ON;
statement is only going to be effective if it is used within the same command batch (the same statement executed by the exec statement) ? in other words, it should precede the required insert operation within the same statement, and then executed.

SET @statement =
'SET IDENTITY_INSERT [' + @MirrorDB + '].[' + @MirrorSchema + '].[Accounts] ON;
INSERT INTO [' + @MirrorDB + '].[' + @MirrorSchema + '].[Accounts]
?(snip)?
exec ( @statement )

The problem I was encountering was actually unrelated� to the actual problem!� After batching the SET statement, it turned out I was using an INSERT INTO statement between two databases (Fully Qualified) ? the schemas were the same (the tables both had identity columns), but for some reason the column ordering was not the same.� Thus, fully addressing the columns works fine:

INSERT [TargetDB].[Schema].[Table]
( <columns> )
SELECT ( <columns> )
FROM [SourceDB].[Schema].[Table]
WHERE ( <criteria> )

However, rather than returning an error indicating a column mismatch (when using INSERT INTO), we got instead the old familiar ?An explicit value for the identity column in table '[Table]' can only be specified when a column list is used and IDENTITY_INSERT is ON? ? despite the SET statement!

Anyhow, I consider this a lesson learned.� Perhaps it will help someone else out there?

There have been frequent not-so-subtle attacks on social media (in particular, blogging and Twitter) by mainstream journalists in recent times and quite frankly, I?m sick of hearing about it.�

There is hardly a day that goes by without reading the same old boring rhetoric coming from these ?Traditional News Outlets? about how bloggers do not deliver the same calibre of content, or how irrelevant a social network (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) is.�

An example?� This isn?t a credible technology news report, it?s junk journalism.

Sorry guys, that isn?t news.� Journalists are so busy trying to discredit sites like Twitter that do they have time to do any real reporting?

The comic on the right is probably an accurate representation of how big media feels about Internet bloggers.

Obviously, I?m aware of the inherent conflict of interest ? complaining about journalists who complain about bloggers by writing a blog entry about it ? however, my aim is offer a challenge to these professional journalists: create better content to demonstrate to us why there is a difference between blogging and professional journalism.

We hear so much about how bloggers are generally useless (leaving people perhaps under the impression that the common blogger hasn?t the slightest modicum of integrity) ? I?d like to challenge members of mainstream journalism to actually live up to their own billing and provide us with some journalistic integrity and reports on real news,

We?ve been witness to some shockingly biased ?news? coverage in the past eight years, especially post-9/11, and I think we deserve better journalism.� Sites like Twitter allow information to flow more freely, but the signal-to-noise ratio is very high.�

The quality is sketchy, but again you get what you pay for.�

If news outlets demand a price for news, they should provide newsworthy content.� The rash of garbage we?ve been subjected to as ?news? is simply unacceptable, and the attacks on social media are juvenile to boot.

[Comic Source: http://carocat.co.uk/2007/11/14/consider-it-blogged-why-bloggers-cant-be-trusted/]

It?s just getting to the point where you have to have to say that it?s pretty much unacceptable for major mainstream software to not support resizable windows.�

Today I went to adjust the bindings for the default web site on my local IIS 7 service using IIS Manager.

Sorry, but it?s 2009 and IIS Management was rewritten in 2007.� Somehow resizable windows escaped the redesign?�

Personally, I find IIS 7 Manager to be one of the worst organised consoles, it?s exceptionally counter intuitive.� Where else do you find an option for ?Basic Settings? and a little bit below it.. ?Advanced Settings??

While we?re on the subject, the SQL Server Team found time to improve SQL Management Studio.� The once-inflexible dialogs mostly sport resizing ? even the odd Browse dialog ? however the Dialogs remain pretty large.� If you?re on a screen resolution of 1024x768 or less, you?ll have a hard time using SSMS.� We?re glad they did it though :)

Still hideous after all these years..the Browse window in SSMS

At least we can say the interfaces, consoles and management tools are getting better with age.� From the early previous, Visual Studio 2010 is going to give Developers the kind of excellent layout options which Designers have bathed in for many years.� Can?t wait!

Visual Studio is an advanced programming environment for those wishing to develop software for the Microsoft platform.� From web applications, mobile phone applications and database analysis projects to Xbox games and windows applications and services - this is the one stop shopping solution.

By request.. a shortlist of things I hate about Visual Studio 2008 (sometimes with Service Pack 1).

#1 ? Help re-indexing after new product installations (i.e. the old ?updating to reflect recent changes?),� This occurs to integrate all help into one big index (for some reason) - MSDN + SQL Books Online integrated together, for example.

This should be ?please wait forever while we re-index all the help files on your local machine even though this is a stupid feature which you didn?t ask for and can?t opt out of.� Hope you aren?t in a hurry?.� It?s your fault for having more than 2GB of help files.� Use online help.

#2 ? Pressing F1 locks the VS IDE into waiting until Help loads (the hang of death).� Help is for sissies apparently.

#3 ? Reloading a Test Project, for some reason, loads tests into the list of Unit Tests and grinds the IDE to a halt.� Why, oh why, can?t this be an asynchronous process?� WTF?

#4 ? Initializing Toolbox grinds the IDE to a halt.� Again, are we asking too much for this to be done asynchronously?� It takes an unacceptably long time.

#5 ? The Add References Window takes far too long to load ? again.. do we need to load all the damned tabs at once?� Why not load the Projects tab (likely to be the least amount of items and arguably the most used) and load the rest in the background?

#6 ? Sometimes, after a ?Get Latest? from TFS, the Solution reloads but loads empty Test projects (project is loaded but shows no files)! WTF?
������� 6a) Then you have to experience #3 as you unload and reload the damn test projects yourself

#7 ? Underline errors in the editor + show live semantic errors (both on by default) - this can be annoying as it does this while you are writing a line of code which is obviously not complete.� It costs too, because of the little compilation going on all the time.� Not recommended for slow machines.

#8 ? TFS: Team Explorer seems to randomly want to check out the solution file.� If you refuse to let it do so it won?t run unit tests!

������ 8a) If you relent, and let it check out the solution file, it makes no changes!� WTF?

#9 ? Being able to search (CTRL + F) Team Explorer Windows (it?s just not there in a number of windows, and it?s annoying).� This action used to crash the IDE on 64 bit versions, so just ignoring the operation is an upgrade.

#10 ? Recompiling everything in the #%$# solution, all the time (especially when running unit tests).� This one is for those who use the ?Any CPU? configuration instead of a platform specific configuration (e.g. x86).� When you run a set of unit tests (without changing any code), Visual Studio will recompile the solution.� Why?� Nothing has changed!

#11 ? Pressing F5 when the Source Control Explorer window is the active window (in Team Explorer) starts debugging the active solution instead of refreshing the active window!� - This doesn?t happen with a TFS workitem query window, why the inconsistency?

#12 ? Using keyboard shortcut to cancel a build (CTRL + Break) stops Find in Files from working.� OK, a bug, fair enough.� Please fix :)

[More To Come]

So if you?ve missed it some how, there?s been an interesting clip from Nine Raw ? live reports from a shooting in King?s Cross on the weekend.� Here?s a link to the NineMSN article on the report.� Here?s the original footage:

This has quickly shot ?round the globe courtesy of YouTube, and has now also been remixed, as below..

To top it off, how?s this for inspirational?

�

Just another day/night/early morning in the Cross?

Hi All..

Finally, after a couple of months of sheer procrastination, I?ve re-launched Aussie Wine Guy� with a new look website.� I moved the hosting out to a VPS and gave the site a major face lift.� It?s still in blog format, which I?m hoping will attract the attention of wine enthusiasts like myself.

All wine related news will be on the website so please, if you enjoy a good drop, do yourself a favour and drop by the site.�

I?ll be doing a review of the 2003 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz soon(ish) after I was lucky enough to win a bottle at last weeks? Queensland SQL User Group/WardyIT SQL Breakfast (door prize).� SQL User Groups have all the best door prizes and giveaways!

Many thanks to Peter Ward & WardyIT for the donation :)

Well, as you might have known, a select few were lucky enough to see the new Star Trek film when it premiered world wide in April 2009.� I was, in fact, one of those lucky few (you can read my entries for April to get a feel for what it was like).� I?ve maintained a relative silence (except for a review I posted on IMDB) since that time.

Now that the film has been released to the masses, I believe I can talk fairly and freely about the film, and give you my objective views ? ** with spoilers **!

So some background.. I?ve been a fan from my childhood through until when The Next Generation wrapped up production in the mid 1990s.� I took a ?fan hiatus? from about 1997 and for various reasons I remain more attached to Gene Roddenbury?s original vision for the future, manifestly through the original series and the Next Generation series.

Star Trek (2009) ? My Thoughts (includes massive spoilers ? you have been forewarned)

So.. where do we begin?� At the beginning, of course.�

• Time Travel

Many fans hate time travelling plots especially within the Star Trek franchise where it has been repeatedly abused and used as a vehicle for various plot devices.�

However, some of the more popular (and successful) storylines (City on the Edge of Forever, Yesterday?s Enterprise, All Good Things..) have used time travelling including Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home which was (commercially) one of the most successful of the Star Trek movie franchise.�

So this isn?t a new concept, and in order to create an alternate reality to portray the original characters, you would have been hard pressed not to use a timeline altering event.� So let?s make peace with this, plus it?s not a bad storyline, as we?ll discuss.

• Kirk

Okay, so obviously from the very beginning, this film completely alters James T Kirk?s life by removing the influence of his father.� This has a trickle down effect and turns him into more of a rebel/renegade/troublemaker ? hardly the makings of a successful star ship Captain.

However, what makes it for me is that he can?t escape his genes.� Kirk is obviously made of the right stuff, and even with a more troubled past, it is clear that he is destined to command and I can live with that (whether other fans can is entirely their business).

Oh and just what about Bill Shatner?s Kirk didn?t exude overconfidence, cockiness, disregard for authority and arrogance exactly?� That?s 90% of the James T. Kirk character right there.

• Spock

What a fascinating thing: Spock as a child.� It never occurred to me that he would have a hard time given his half Human/half Vulcan heritage, but now we know: he did.� I think it?s fair to say that (altered timeline or not) we probably got to view life for young Spock much as it would have been.� Interesting that Vulcan adolescents would choose to bully, one might consider that an emotional concept?� I guess they were too young for Kohlinar..

The real surprise is his back story leading up to Starfleet Academy.� That scene with the Vulcan Academy of Science?s admission board: priceless.� Probably a little too much emotion in his decision making process, but hey, he was young and half human..� Great scene.

His relationship with Uhura was totally unexpected and I think very much out of character to display affection in public (and certainly within proximity to the bridge).� It?s quite acceptable for him to take on a relationship with a human I think (after all, his father did) but I very, very much doubt that Spock would ever have been comfortable with any public display of affection ? given or received.

I can only deduce that by the time of the Enterprise?s missions under Kirk, Spock had grown more familiar and comfortable with humans, because he really didn?t seem as relaxed as the earlier Leonard Nimoy Spock in the original series.

• The Kobayashi Maru

So we all know from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, that Kirk cheated to beat the ?unbeatable? simulation.� What we probably weren?t ready for was Kirk?s overly cocky and cavalier attitude in doing so, or the fact that it was Spock?s simulation.�

As I mentioned before, this is a different Kirk with a completely different upbringing ? it?s not to be unexpected that he might have a different style than Shatner?s Kirk.� What is interesting is that in both realities, Kirk cheated to beat the simulation ? Tigers don?t change their stripes :)

Too bad Lt. Saavik wasn?t around to take notes :)

• Christopher Pike and the USS Enterprise

What happened to Captain Robert April (first commander of the USS Enterprise?): a victim of the altered timeline?� Perhaps after the destruction of Kirk?s father?s ship (one less vessel) he got reassigned commands, we can move beyond it I think?

What a great touch ? Pike in a wheelchair at the end of the movie.� True fans will notice the sly tip of the hat to fans of the original series, where Pike is paralysed and ?wheelchair? bound.

As for building the USS Enterprise on land, I can live with it even if it flies against popular official documentation (e.g. the Next Generation?s Technical Manual by Michael and Denise Okuda).�

I mean, who honestly cares whether the ship was built in space or not?� Is it a significant plot change?� Hardly.� For the sake of argument, let?s stipulate that the destruction of Kirk's father's ship made the Federation/Star Fleet build on land for extra hull durability testing?. we are agreed?� Good.

• Destruction of Vulcan

Wow, what a major event!� This, for me, was the largest spoiler and one I didn?t discuss with anyone.� I?m going to elaborate on this point, because it seems like this major plot point has gone underestimated by fans and film goers, probably because the ramifications are so hard to estimate.

Until this film, it was generally accepted that Vulcans formed the backbone of the Federation, providing amongst other things some of the Star Trek universe?s greatest scientific minds alongside many important diplomats (such as Sarek) who helped to maintain peace and order throughout the Federation and member planets.

At face value, destroying Vulcan seems like such a big event that will alter the course of star trek timeline forever, however what specific events really came about as a direct consequence of Vulcan being there (or.. as now.. not there)?

There are a handful of Vulcans portrayed in the future series (including Tim Russ?s character Tuvok in DS9), but how many specific examples can we draw ? most references have been just that, background information and the odd remarks here and there.� What affect can this have on the timeline?� Of course, can only draw supposition.. how very.. Vulcan.�

Here is a list of notable Vulcan characters in case it helps fuel some debate� - note not that many notable Vulcans are listed in the 23rd century (and beyond) besides Spock, Sarek, Sybok (all presumably still alive) just Tuvok,, Valeris and Saavik really.

This is the kind of plot change which gives writer free reign to rewrite the Star Trek universe, and where contention arises blame it on the absence of the planet Vulcan.. In other words, this one event tragically alters the Star Trek universe in a way which can not be easily fixed (without a time travelling intervention? ha ha).

• Death of Amanda

So, okay, Kirk loses his father and Spock loses his mother.� The only difference here is that we actually got to see a lot more of Amanda in the original series & movies than we did of Kirk?s father (who we did not see prior to this movie).� At least we still have Sarek (a nice portrayal also)..

The loss of Spock?s mother was, in fact, a major plot device to allow Kirk into the Captain?s chair, since the destruction of Vulcan might not have been enough for Spock to ?lose it?.

?and here I was secretly hoping she got locked up for shoplifting, how ironic would that have been? *snortle*

• Spock meets Spock

No controversy on my end ? I just think it was a really awesome scene.� Leonard Nimoy is a classy actor and I really enjoyed his presence in the film.

Leonard Nimoy gets the best line in the whole film (to young Spock).. "Since my usual farewell seems strangely self serving, I shall only say this...Good luck."

The Wrap-up

So.. in terms of issue contention, that about sums it up for me.� I really enjoyed the new film and honestly think that true fans won?t have so many hang ups with the new direction the franchise has taken.�

We still had a red shirt as cannon fodder (tell me you didn?t see that coming!), Spock is still logic before emotion (just don?t tease him) and McCoy is as dry as always.� Scotty still provides the funny lines, as do Chekov and Sulu.

The enemy still is to be battled (as opposed to reasoned) with and the USS Enterprise continues on its voyage to seek out new civilizations and new life forms ? and to boldly go where no man/woman/child/other has gone before!

Discuss.

� Well I have found the perfect accompaniment for you ? Reporting Services Scripter.

� Key Features:

� - Quickly and easily extract all RDL from a Report Server

� - Automatically generates scripts to load reports, data sources, resources, linked reports and folders
��� with all their associated properties to enable report migration between servers with no manual
��� intervention, e.g. avoids having to try and copy execution options between servers manually
��� using Report Manager which is prone to mistakes and not as repeatable or efficient as scripting

� - Automatically generates command files to load scripted items onto a new server
� - Automatically transfer items from one server to another (including from
������������������������������������������������ SQL2000 to SQL2005 to SQL2008)

����������������������������������������������� - Generate scripts for Shared Schedules
����������������������������������������������� - Generate Scripts for System and Item Level Roles
����������������������������������������������� - Generate Scripts for Normal and Data Driven Report Subscriptions

����������������������������������������������� - Easily generate loader scripts to load existing RDL files e.g. if RDL is kept under source control
������������������������������������������������� then it can just generate the scripts to load the reports rather than extract the report
������������������������������������������������� definition as well

����������������������������������������������� - Automatically backs up reports before overwriting them
����������������������������������������������� - Easily generate scripts from the command line
����������������������������������������������� - Reverse engineer Visual Studio Report Projects from a Report Server
�
� Recently we needed the capability to regenerate schedules, and this utility proved to be quite handy�
� in scripting the environment setup.�

� If you wish to duplicate schedule, execution history and the like, you will need to enable a couple of��
� options which are disabled by default.�

� Here are the options I am using at present for Reports, and a folder view of the generated output:

�

�

�

With thanks to the author, Jasper Smith.