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SSW Tech Breakfast Archive

We store all our older Tech Breakfast topics here.

Team Foundation Server 2010 (TFS) for Successful Project Management

Friday, 4th December 2009 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Visual Studio Ultimate (formerly Visual Studio Team System (VSTS)) and Team Foundation Server (TFS) are the cornerstones of development on the Microsoft .NET platform. These are the best tools for a project manager to have successful projects and for the developers to have a focused and smooth software development process.

Come and see Adam Cogan, Microsoft Regional Director, VSTS Champ and Chief Architect from SSW show you:

How to successfully gather requirements with User stories
The right want to use work items
The way to complete a work items and send a "done"
Use templates for your standard work items
The extra work items that developers always forget
What is good and bad about Excel and Project integration
What you can use from the built in reporting as well as the Project portals available on from the SharePoint dashboard
The important reports to give your Project Manager

Walk away knowing how to see the project health and progress. Visual Studio Ultimate is designed to help address many of these traditional problems faced by project managers. It does so by providing a set of integrated tools to help teams improve their software development activities and to help project managers better support the software development processes.

During this session we will cover the lifecycle of creating work items and tracking of releases using Visual Studio Ultimate and Team Foundation Server.

SharePoint - 8 Tips from the Trenches

Friday, 30th October 2009 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

John Liu (aka Liuy) rarely gets out of the hot and sticky SSW trench. Come hear his war stories dealing with SharePoint solutions. John has delivered SharePoint sites for clients such as Microsoft, WorleyParsons and the worst one Adam Cogan.

Topics he will cover are:

Getting the design right
Web Parts - All the good stuff you get for free
Performance tips for publishing sites
The dirty stuff – deployment
Less manual steps via SPConfigModification
Dark data - CAML
The 3rd party tools you need
Things needed in SharePoint 2010

What is new in VS2010 & .NET FX 4.0... and what should you use in your next project?

Friday, 25th September 2009 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

A couple of years ago Visual Studio .NET 2008 + .NET 3.5 brought us exciting new features like LINQ-to-SQL, lambda expressions, auto implemented properties and anonymous types... Could things have got better?

Yes, and in this session Adam Cogan will show you how to Boost Your Productivity with:

The important enhancements to the IDE in VS2010
The new tricks and language features in .NET 4.0 to keep developers coding effectively and productively
Plus a couple of things that will make your teams work better together

SYDNEY: SharePoint - Yellow Brick Road

Location: SSW, Sydney

Come and join us as we learn how the largest public SharePoint site in Australia (www.WorleyParsons.com) got up and running.
Adam Cogan of SSW will share his experience and lessons learnt on this project. Adam will also show you how to "sexify" the look and feel of your website.

SYDNEY: TFS - What is new in 2010

Location: SSW, Sydney

The Visual Studio 2010 Community Technology Preview is an early look at the environment that will make up a large part of a .Net developers life in the near future. This session will delve into the CTP by taking a walk in the shoes of an everyday bug from discovery to release and the steps that make up the in between. Come along and check out the new features that will make you happier by making your code better, your job easier, and your team more productive by reducing the obstacles you face in your everyday coding life.

SYDNEY: Silverlight 2 - Tips and Tricks

Location: SSW, Sydney

Eric Phan will show you some tips and tricks to help you get started in Silverlight 2 easier.

SYDNEY: Project Server 2007 integration with Team Foundation Server

Location: SSW, Sydney

Streamline your project management and development cycles with Project Server 2007. In this session we will be stepping into the roles of the Project Manager, Developer, Account Manager and Client to see how these roles interact within a project. We will integrate with Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2008 and the Project Server 2007 Outlook Add-in.

Features covered:

Task tracking
Resource management
Time sheets
Reporting

SYDNEY: eXtreme Programming for .NET Developers

Friday, 25th July 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Presented by Adam Cogan, this session will cover how to incorporate eXtreme Programming practices with .NET- connected technologies to create high quality, low cost software. Adam will walk you through the 12 tenants of eXtreme Programming and then tell you what works and what doesn't.

How to implement is discussed and demo'ed in the context of Visual Studio .NET.

SYDNEY: Dynamic Data - Data entry made easy

Friday, 27th March 2009 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

When working with databases, we often need to create some administrative pages to do all our CRUD operations on the tables. This can be a long and repetitive process if you don't use a code generator. Thankfully in VS 2008 SP1 Dynamic data allows us to create all those pages without writing a single line of code! In this session you will also find out how to customize these admin pages with different looks and data entry controls.

See the newsletter of this event

SYDNEY: SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 In Depth

Friday, 31st October 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

In this session we will take a look at designing advanced reports, formatting and best practice for displaying your data, parameters, multiple datasources including Relational and OLAP databases. We will also take a look at the new upcoming features in SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 such as the new Tablix control and Charts.

SYDNEY: Build a Silverlight Web Application by Greg Harris

Friday, 26th September 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Now that we have heard what Silverlight can do for our web sites, lets get down to writing some real code and implement a real Silverlight based web application, that you can use on your web sites.
By the end of the session, attendees will be able to create their own Silverlight application.

SYDNEY: Hardcore LINQ to Entities

Friday, 25th July 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Adam will take a deep dive into LINQ to Entities showing you best practices, pitfalls to avoid, and answers to the most frequently asked questions, telling you exactly what you need to know. Adam will pull apart all the key components of the LINQ to Entities framework, discussing and showing how each part integrates with each other, and how you can quickly create and modify your data access conceptual schema.

This session will provide samples on how you can use the power of LINQ plus the new ADO.NET Entity Framework, to build advanced and fully featured data access layers immediately, without pain.

SYDNEY: 'LINQ to SQL' vs 'LINQ to Entities'

Friday, 27th June 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

LINQ (Language Integrated Query) is a key innovation introduced with .NET 3.0 which brings SQL-style query expressions into VB and C#.

In this session Adam will compare 'LINQ to SQL' and 'LINQ to Entities' showing the strengths and weaknesses of each and in what situations each should be used, providing you with a roadmap of what tools/techniques should be used in what situations.

Adam's discussion will include:

Introduction to both 'LINQ to SQL' and 'LINQ to Entities'
Building models in the data designers of each framework
Mapping your database in a conceptual schema and modifying the schema
Hooking up your application to your new data layer
Show the advantages of LINQ over more traditional ADO.NET methods

To finish Adam will build an application that uses both data layers and how easily you can make your applications data aware.

Build a Silverlight Web Application by Greg Harris

Friday, 23rd May 2008 8:00am-11:00am Location: SSW, Sydney

Now that we have heard what Silverlight can do for our web sites, let's get down to writing some real code and implement a real Silverlight based web application, that you can use on your web sites.

By the end of the session, attendees will be able to create their own Silverlight application.

To get the most out of the session, attendees should bring their own development laptop.

SYDNEY: SQL 2005/2008 T-SQL Enhancements and CLR Integration

Friday, 18th April 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Now that SQL 2008 is almost upon us and you have finally moved to SQL 2005. Are you really getting the most out of the new features that were introduced?

Come see Justin King demonstrate the T-SQL Language enhancements such as PIVOT, Common Table Expressions (CTE), Ranking Functions, Exception Handling, DDL Triggers and much more.

Also see how you can build CLR assemblies and how to use them within SQL Server 2005. We will also demonstrate some of the upcoming features for SQL Server 2008.

SYDNEY: Windows Server 2008 and Vista Service Pack 1

Friday, 28th March 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

February is a big month for Microsoft, lots of releases and updates

Windows Server 2008 (a.k.a. Longhorn)
Vista Service Pack 1
SQL Server 2008 (a.k.a Katami)
Visual Studio 2008 & TFS 2008 (a.k.a Orcas)

Find out what's new and how it affects you

SYDNEY: ORM Smackdown ?LINQ to Entities vs nHibernate

Friday, 29th February 2008 8:00am-11:00am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Adam Cogan and Justin King will face off developing an application using two different ORM (Object Relational Mapping) technologies, one using LINQ to Entities and the other using nHibernate.

We will show the good and bad from both solutions and which solution gets the job done in the quickest time and which one provides the best performance.

SYDNEY: CRM 4 (with WorkFlow)

25th January 2008 - 8am - 11am
Location: SSW, Sydney

Adam Cogan will introduce Microsoft CRM which has been designed to provide a complete suite of powerful marketing, sales, and customer service capabilities, all with a familiar and consistent user experience based on Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Office Outlook messaging and collaboration client.

The session will be broken into the following sections:

Up and Running on Microsoft CRM 4 (aka Titan)
Experiences with customizing and extending CRM 4 (aka Titan)
Using Workflow in CRM 4 (aka Titan)

SYDNEY: SharePoint 2007 (MOSS)

30th November 2007 - 8am - 11am
Location: SSW, Sydney

In this session, Marten Ataalla will provide an introduction to Microsoft SharePoint 2007 with the aim of evaluating its effectiveness for Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

He will also look at document and record management scenarios and taking advantage of the rich new Workflow and Content Management System.

SYDNEY: LINQ

Friday, 2nd November 2007 8:00am-11:00am

Come hear Adam Cogan and Eric Phan talk about LINQ.

Linq is the future of ORM on the .NET platform and with the release of Visual Studio 2008 only months away it will become mainstream. In this presentation you will learn about the different types of LINQ and how to use LINQ to quickly build data-driven applications.

SYDNEY: Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

Friday, 5th October 2007 8:00am-11:00am

Come hear Adam Cogan talk about Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 is an integrated performance management application designed to help improve operational and financial performance across all departments and all levels of your organization. With Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, you can monitor progress, analyze what is driving variances, and plan your business from budgeting to creating management reports. You can have metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and reports delivered to every desktop through intuitive scorecards, dashboards, and the easy-to-use 2007 Microsoft Office system environment. A key component of the Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) offering, Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 can help you understand how performance can align with personal and departmental goals and objectives.

SYDNEY: Access to SharePoint 2007

27th July 2007 - 8am - 11am

Presented by Adam Cogan, this session will cover how to migrate effectively from Access to SharePoint 2007.

15 Rules to Better Code & Tools to keep your Code Healthy (including FX Cop)

30th September 2005 - 8am - 11am

Are you looking to eradicate bugs and ensure consistency? Learn how to take control of your code, ensuring large, complex source code can be simplified, cleaned and maintained. The focus is on the most popular .NET languages (C#, VB.NET) for both Windows Forms and ASP.NET; however, you will learn how to maintain quality code in any language.

As a project or company grows, managing code standards throughout your team becomes virtually impossible. Consistent code is crucial to future development and maintenance. Learn how to review your web apps and projects.

The tools we will explore include FX Cop, SSW Code Auditor, and Re-Sharper.

A big peek at ASP .NET 2 Whidbey Applications PART A - presented by Adam Cogan

24th June 2005 - 8am - 11am
ASP.NET Whidbey is the current name for the next version of ASP.NET. Adam Cogan will give a talk on: ASP.NET Whidbey overview, working with data, caching improvements to significantly boost the performance of the next generation of ASP.NET applications, master pages for consistent web sites, new membership features, and personalization.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session, attendees should be familiar with ASP.NET.

From Access to the Enterprise - presented by Adam Cogan

27th May 2005 - 8am - 11am
Microsoft Access developers generally consider a move to SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services and .NET Windows Forms for performance, scalability, security and stability reasons. Attend this interactive session with Adam Cogan as he demonstrates how to:

Upgrade your Access 97 database to Access 2003
Upsize your Access 2003 database to SQL Server 2000
Recreate your Access reports using the new Reporting Services
Recreate your Access forms using .NET Windows Forms

This session is a must for all Access developers!

Prerequisites: You should have a working knowledge of Access, including using forms, basic VBA code, and designing simple reports.

The best tools to Audit Your SQL Server Database The SQL 2000 Best Practices Analyzer - presented by Adam Cogan

28th April 2005 - 8am - 11am
Microsoft recently released a tool called Best Practices Analyzer. All SQL Server developers and administrators should run this tool. Come learn about many issues you can't afford to ignore from Database Design and Yukon Readiness to T-SQL issues and poor Configuration choices. This is a great session for everyone from the new SQL Server developer to the old DBA! You'll all be impressed when you see how to run the tool and how to fix the identified issues.

The Best 3rd Party Tools - presented by Adam Cogan

31st March 2005 - 8am - 11am
In the big world of Microsoft it's easy to forget that there's a lot of other smart cookies out there building great programs and utilities. You could spend hours scouring the net for the latest .exe or you could save time and let Adam show you the best new products around. In this session Adam will show you tools that will help you write code quicker, upsize faster than ever before, and build better HTML pages, along with dozens of other useful tricks that will no doubt save you time if you're developing in SQL Server, Access, VB.NET and ASP.NET.

Object-orientated architectural patterns for enterprise scale applications - presented by Tatham Oddie

25th February 2005 - 8am - 11am
In this session Tatham You are now leaving SSW will discuss object orientated architectural patterns relating to enterprise scale applications.

Focus will be given to Inversion of Control style programming and design patterns such as the provider model and other patterns common in enterprise applications. Object-orientated architecture allows scalable applications both in terms of functionality and programmability but only when used correctly.

Prerequisites: This session will require you to be familiar with C# and some topics may be considered advanced.

eXtreme Programming for .NET Developers - presented by Dr. Neil Roodyn

28th January 2005 - 8.00am - 11.00am

To coincide with the release of his new book (http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321303636) , Dr. Neil will be presenting this session on eXtreme .NET.

In his book, leading .NET and XP mentor Dr. Neil Roodyn covers planning, task definition, test-driven development, user interfaces, refactoring, spiking, pair programming, and much more. Dr Neil offers field-proven advice for everything from automating builds to integrating third-party libraries. He also incorporates valuable exercises and presents a start-to-finish case study that shows exactly how XP and Microsoft .NET interoperate throughout an entire development project.

Using a hands-on approach, this course takes you through some of advanced programming techniques introduced in the book. Let Neil take you on a fast-paced journey that will change your coding methods forever.

About Neil
Neil Roodyn (PhD) has worked with a variety of international companies including Synon, Updata, NASDAQ Europe, ComputaCenter, SLK, Object Training and Citect. He is the founder of Sydney's eXtreme Programming Activity Club (SyXPAC) and has been closely associated with leading edge technologies for the last 15 years. In the last 2 years Neil has lead the push to .NET, both through the implementation of several .NET projects and a range .NET training courses.

Prerequisites: This is a great session for developers who have experience in .NET development and want to get extreme!

A big peek at ASP .NET 2 Whidbey Applications PART B - presented by Adam Cogan

21st December 2004 - 8am - 11am
ASP.NET Whidbey is the current name for the next version of ASP.NET. Adam Cogan will give a talk on: ASP.NET Whidbey overview, working with data, caching improvements to significantly boost the performance of the next generation of ASP.NET applications, master pages for consistent web sites, new membership features, and personalization.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session, attendees should be familiar with ASP.NET.

From Access to the Enterprise - presented by Adam Cogan

9th November 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

Microsoft Access developers generally consider a move to SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services and .NET Windows Forms for performance, scalability, security and stability reasons. Attend this interactive session with Adam Cogan as he demonstrates how to:

Upgrade your Access 97 database to Access 2003
Upsize your Access 2003 database to SQL Server 2000
Recreate your Access reports using the new Reporting Services
Recreate your Access forms using .NET Windows Forms

This session is a must for all Access developers!

Prerequisites: You should have a working knowledge of Access, including using forms, basic VBA code, and designing simple reports.

September Special A big peek at ASP .NET 2 Whidbey Applications PART A- presented by Adam Cogan

24th and 29th September 2004 - 8.00am - 11.00am
ASP.NET Whidbey is the current name for the next version of ASP.NET. Adam Cogan will give a talk on: ASP.NET Whidbey overview, working with data, caching improvements to significantly boost the performance of the next generation of ASP.NET applications, master pages for consistent web sites, new membership features, and personalization.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session, attendees should be familiar with ASP.NET.

The Top 15 tips for Real World Windows Forms Applications - presented by Adam Cogan

3rd and 10th September 2004 - 8.00am - 11.00am

Creating solid and flexible windows forms applications, only comes from experience. Learn the top 15 rules that every developer should follow when making windows applications. Adam will demonstrate techniques such as configuration management, the right and wrong way of making inherited forms and 3rd party controls. See how to benefit from user controls and effective exception management.
Also see how Windows Forms 2.0 is a giant step forward. Learn how Windows Forms 2.0 makes it easy to build professional looking applications and see demonstrations of the new Grid, ToolBar, Menu and Layout controls.
Learn how less code is more, and how code reuse really reduces your development time.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session, participants should be familiar with data applications.

Asynchronous Execution in Windows Forms: Today & Tomorrow - presented by Brian A. Randell

9th August 2004 - 8.00am - 11.00am
It's 2004 and the days of the blocking UI are over. What do you think you're using, VB3? In this talk Brian will show you how to execute long-running tasks (database queries, web services calls, etc.) on a secondary thread. More importantly, he'll show you how to do it safely and correctly. He'll cover how to do it in .NET 1.1 and show you some enhancements in .NET 2.0.

Special Speaker - About Brian
Brian Randell Brian A. Randell is a senior consultant with MCW Technologies, LLC, a Microsoft Certified Partner. Brian spends his time between teaching Microsoft .NET - based technologies to developers for DevelopMentor and consulting with MCW Technologies whose clients include Microsoft, American Honda, DELL, and others. Brian enjoys helping people get the most out of their software. He does this through training, consulting, and speaking at events such as VSLive!, Tech Ed, and the PDC. In addition, Brian shares through the written word. He is the co-author of Effective Visual Basic and has written articles for MSDN Magazine and Microsoft. Brian is currently working with Rockford Lhotka and Bernard Wong on a book about Visual Basic Express, tentatively titled "Tom and Huck's Guide to Visual Basic Express" to be published by Addison-Wesley. Reach Brian through his blog at http://sqljunkies.com/weblog/brianr/ or at http://www.mcwtech.com .

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session, attendees should be familiar with .NET.

The best tools to Audit Your SQL Server Database The SQL 2000 Best Practices Analyzer

25th June 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

Microsoft recently released a tool called Best Practices Analyzer. All SQL Server developers and administrators should run this tool. Come learn about many issues you can't afford to ignore from Database Design and Yukon Readiness to T-SQL issues and poor Configuration choices.

This is a great session for everyone from the new SQL Server developer to the old DBA! You'll all be impressed when you see how to run the tool and how to fix the identified issues.

Boost Your Productivity with the best - Microsofts .NET Application Blocks (Configuration & Exception Block)

23rd April 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

All developers need exception management and all developers need to store settings. Microsoft has built these two code sets called: Application Blocks to address these tasks. They are ready to use but forgot some important functionality. Come see how they have been extended, ready for you to insert them straight into your applications.

Combining Exchange Data, SQL Data and SQL Reporting Services

2nd April 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

Come see a code packed session that will show how to extend the out-of-the box features of Reporting Services. Everyone who has an Exchange Server 2000/2003 should be reporting on it but nobody does. Following this, we will explore the creation of a real Reporting Services solution. You will learn about the important issues of security, data access, rendering, and delivery. We will also discuss the deployment issues of an application that requires Reporting Services. Sample code is provided so you can use this useful solution.

XML Web Services in .NET

27th February 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

Web Services provide a rich set of components that communicate using standard Internet protocols and will become key building blocks for the next generation of both Microsoft Windows or Web-based applications. See how to speed your development by plugging Web Services into your own application development projects. In this interactive session led by Dr Neil Roodyn and Adam Cogan, you'll take away a finer understanding of how Web Services can change your future application development.

Rapid Development in Visual Studio .NET

29th January 2004 - 8.00am - 11:00am

In this session Adam will cover the following techniques:

Untyped Datasets vs Typed Datasets
Using Typed Datasets and Data Binding
Using a Global Error Handler
Learning about the 3 types of settings you will use and implementing a Configuration Class
Looking at the 4 projects you will need
Using Code Generators
N-Tier development

Planning and Managing Your Smooth Migration from Access to SQL Server

19th December 2003 - 8am - 11.00am

When Access mdb's hit their limit of scalability, corrupting too often and unable to handle the number of concurrent users required, it's time to upsize to SQL Server. But upsizing your application involves a lot more than running the Upsizing Wizard... This session will demonstrate what changes to make to your application before running the Upsizing Wizard and what to do after. You will be walked through development tools, application interface changes, query design and stored procedures to bring scalability for more users. You'll begin by learning how to:

Maximize the benefits of MS SQL server in your application
Upsize MS Access applications to MS SQL Server/MSDE while maintaining the user interface in Access
Design efficient applications for MS SQL Server
Weigh up when to use the new ADP Access 2000 option as opposed to link tables
Move processes to stored procedures (action queries) and views
Use triggers for de-normalized fields

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session participants should be familiar with MS Access development and relational database design methods.

The Best 3rd Party Tools

28th November 2003 8.00am - 11.00am
In the big world of Microsoft it's easy to forget that there's a lot of other smart cookies out there building great programs and utilities. You could spend hours scouring the net for the latest .exe or you could save time and let Adam show you the best new products around.

In this session Adam will show you tools that will help you write code quicker, upsize faster than ever before, and build better HTML pages, along with dozens of other useful tricks that will no doubt save you time if you're developing in SQL Server, Access, VB.NET and ASP.NET.

This is not a sales presentation; it's an informative session giving you an objective opinion on the best software around.

Register online now or call (02) 9953 3000

Special double session - Great solutions via Extreme Programming (XP) and Rules to better code and successful projects

24th October 2003 8.00am - 11.00am
Extreme Programming is NOT extreme - it is a discipline of software development based on values of simplicity, communication, feedback, and courage. It works by bringing the whole team together in the presence of simple practices, with enough feedback to enable the team to see where they are and to tune the practices to their unique situation.

In this session we are going to cover all of the practices of Extreme Programming including Pair Programming and Test-First Development, as well as some of the best ways to manage your software projects. While Adam will be showing you how it works in the .NET environment, these principles work regardless of the development environment.

Software projects are notorious for going off track and getting out of control. SSW's Rules to Better Code and Successful Projects help contain projects by getting them right from the start. Every software developer and program manager should have a series of rules they live by, you'll certainly find it useful to check out ours.
Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session you should have experience working with or building in a development environment.
Register online now or call (02) 9953 3000

Best Practices and Techniques for building secure ASP .NET Applications

5th September 2003 - 8.00am - 11.00am

Learn how to build secure Web applications and services using ASP.NET. This session covers best practices for authentication, authorization, safe techniques for secret storage, error handling, site configuration, and data validation. We walk through a hardened ASP.NET sample application that demonstrates these principles.
Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session attendees should be familiar with developing web applications.

XML Web Services in .NET

25th July 2003 - 8.00am - 11.00am
Web Services provide a rich set of components that communicate using standard Internet protocols and will become key building blocks for the next generation of both Microsoft Windows and Web-based applications. See how to speed your development by plugging Web Services into your own application development projects.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session attendees should be familiar with developing web applications as well as C#, C++, VB and XML.

Design and Implement Database Solutions Using Microsoft SQL Server

27th June 2003 - 8am - 11.00am Microsoft SQL Server has set the fastest TCP-C Performance record ever and is setting itself as the preferred database for both developer and industry. In this session you'll learn to:

Plan and initiate a logical data model
Create solutions for performance, maintainability, and scalability
Implement stored procedures and triggers
Develop and maintain explicit, implicit, and distributed transactions to ensure data integrity
Run Index Tuning Wizard and Database Maintenance Wizard
Utilize SP Mail as the most powerful work-horse in your application
Use DTS (Data Transformation Services) effectively

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session participants should be familiar with MS Access development and relational database design methods.

Building Advanced Data-Centric WinForm Clients with Data Binding

23rd May 2003 - 9am - 1.00pm (half day event)

Advanced topics will be covered for creating WinForm data-centric applications, how to do them well, and how to do them quick. Well look at dynamically downloading and creating a form from the web, data-binding in WinForm applications, how to provide input validation with the .NET Error Provider as well as custom Validation Extended Providers and how they can be used to speed up your GUI development.

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session participants should be familiar with Windows Forms, Relational Databases and VB.

Planning and Managing Your Smooth Migration from Access to SQL Server

2nd May 2003 - 8am - 12.30pm

Maximize the benefits of MS SQL server in your application
Upsize MS Access applications to MS SQL Server/MSDE while maintaining the user interface in Access
Design efficient applications for MS SQL Server
Weigh up when to use the new ADP Access 2000 option as opposed to link tables
Move processes to stored procedures (action queries) and views
Use triggers for de-normalized fields

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this session participants should be familiar with MS Access development and relational database design methods.

ADO.NET (Double Session)

28th February 2003 - 8am - 12:30pm (half day event)

An Introduction to ADO.NET & ADO.NET and SQL Server 2000

ADO.NET is a significant upgrade from ADO, and it changes the techniques for working with data. Whether the data is from SQL Server 2000, a Jet MDB file, an XML file, or almost any other data source, ADO.NET provides the tools for working with your data. Find out how to access and update data in SQL Server 2000, and the benefits of strongly typed datasets using XSD stored procedures.

Topics covered include:

Converting ADO to ADO.NET
Why should you use ADO.NET and the ADO.NET disconnected model
DEMOs of using ADO.NET in conjunction with XSLT
ADO.NET error handling
Typed datasets the good and bad
Code Generators for Quick ADO.NET code
Inheritance of Web Services with ADO.NET
Object Serialization with ADO.NET
ADO.NET Optimization
Connection Pooling
ADO.NET DataRelations and building Dataset structures on the fly.
Distributed Transactions

Prerequisites: To get the most out of this course delegates should be experienced programmers with some exposure to either VB.NET or C#. An understanding of databases is essential.

eXtreme Programming for .NET Developers

13th December 2002 - 8am - 12.30pm (half day event)

Using a hands on approach, this course takes you through some advanced programming techniques for rapid development of high quality code in Visual Studio .NET such as defining tasks; test first coding; refactoring; spiking; automated testing and automated builds. Let Adam and Neil take you on a fast-paced journey that will change your coding methods forever.

An introduction to tools such as: NUnit and NAnt .
Defining tasks
Refactoring
Automating testing
Automating builds

Component-based Design and .NET

29th November 2002 - 8am - 12.30pm (half day event)

This course presents an introduction to the Component-based features of Visual Basic .NET & C#, and advanced topics such as connecting objects to a database using ADO.NET, architecting great .NET applications, building components. It starts with the basics of object-oriented techniques in .NET, including building a class and creating and using objects from the class. It then details many of the new features of .NET such as parameterized constructors, function overloading, static class data, inheritance and inheritance-based polymorphism.

What does .NET do to replace COM and COM+.
What functionalities does .NET provide e.g. remoting, assemblies work and how the development paradigm from VB6 and C++ has changed.
Overview of how UML can be used to describe components that you're building.

XML Web Services in .NET

25th October 2002 - 7.30am - 12pm (half day event)

Web Services provide a rich set of components that communicate using standard Internet protocols and will become key building blocks for the next generation of both Microsoft Windows and Web-based applications. See how to speed your development by plugging Web Services into your own application development projects. In this interactive session led by Neil Roodyn and Adam Cogan, you'll take away a finer understanding of how Web Services can change your future application development.

7.30 - 8.00 Breakfast
8.00 - 9.00 An Introduction to XML Web Services, Adam Cogan
9.00 - 9.45 Get your hands-on, Neil Roodyn
10.00 - 11.00 Advanced XML Web Services, Neil Roodyn
11.00 - 11.45 Get your hands-on, Adam Cogan
11.45 - 12.00 Wrap Up, Adam Cogan & Neil Roodyn

The Best Third Party Utilities for SQL Server

18th October 2002 7.30am-10:00am

In this session we are going to introduce some of the best SQL Server tools from Red-Gate, FMS, Lockwoodtech and others. Adam Cogan will be showing you live demonstrations on how each tool works and where it can add value for you.

Find out:

Why the traditional way of recovering back-ups is a waste time!
How to avoid database inefficiency caused by poorly performing SQL statements.
How to Rollback schema, permission changes
How to undo one or more transactions, recover dropped tables
How to detect the differences in databases for easy migration
How to do 'lint' testing on your database

VB.NET and SQL Server 2000 - How to optimize your database

17th May - 7.30am - 10am

In this session we talk about performance tips for your SQL Server database. You will then see how you can use Windows Forms to build an application to find these problems in your SQL database.

Brian Randell on XML Services in .NET

26th April - 7.30am - 10am

William Vaughn on ADO.NET

26th April - 7:30am-10:00am

William Vaughn, in Australia to speak at VSLive! will be discussing the new ADO.NET data access paradigm Microsoft has just invented almost from scratch. When we're done you'll understand the new object model and new disconnected hierarchical approach to memory-resident data.

You'll have a better understanding about what you'll need to do to migrate your applications, or better yet, rebuild them from scratch. We'll also talk about skills and give you a feel for what your team of developers is going to have to learn and how long it should take to get them up to speed. It's going to be a full morning.

William Vaughn is President of Beta V Corporation and a 30-year veteran of the computer industry. Bill has worked in the industry for over 30 years and spent 14 years at Microsoft, where he developed and taught Microsoft University courses on SQL Server, Visual Basic and Windows and wrote Visual Basic data access documentation for versions 2 through 5. He has written several books and articles on Visual Basic, data access technology and SQL Server. His most recent book is ADO.NET and ADO Examples and Best Practices for Visual Basic Programmers Second Edition (Apress). ISBN: 1-893115-68-2.

VB.NET and SQL Server 2000 - How to optimize your database

5th April - 7.30am - 10am SOLD OUT
19th April - 7.30am - 10am Available

In this session we talk about performance tips for your SQL Server database. You will then see how you can use Windows Forms to build an application to find these problems in your SQL database.

Building Web Applications with ASP.NET

1st March - 7.30am - 10am

ASP.NET is a revolutionary new version of Microsoft's Active Server Pages. It provides a wealth of new features that make developers more productive and the applications they build faster, more reliable and scalable. There's a lot to learn about ASP.NET and this session is devoted to bringing you the latest and best information. You will walk away with code samples you can plug into your application.

ASP.NET and the .NET Framework
Validating Data Using the ASP.NET Validator Controls
Moving from ASP to ASP.NET
Building Web Services
Making Sense of ADO.NET
ASP.NET Configuration and Deployment

SSW's Rules to Better Code and Successful Projects

Thursday 24th January 2002

Building Web Applications with Visual Studio.NET

Friday 21st December

ASP.NET and the .NET Framework
Validating Data Using the ASP.NET Validator Controls
Moving from ASP to ASP.NET
Building Web Services
Making Sense of ADO.NET
ASP.NET Configuration and Deployment

Rules to Better Code and Successful Projects & An A - Z on Writing Better Specs

Wednesday 7th November

Managing a team of coders can be a tricky experience, especially as most coders like to do things their own way. We've compiled a list of rules that help make the development process as smooth as possible. These rules govern the creation of specifications and schedules, best methods for testing and fixing bugs and even the employees working conditions.

Skipping the spec writing phase is all too common in the software industry. Adam will teach you how to write one so you get a happier client and write better code along the way. At the end he will share a whole bunch of tips and tricks you can start using straight away.

Building Web Applications with Visual Studio.NET

Wednesday 26th September

This session will detail how to create a VB.NET desktop database application. We will discuss the advantages of VB.NET over Access and VB. You'll also learn about:

Data Binding in a Windows Form
Using OLE-DB for different data sources
How to utilize a UDL and connection strings
Using the SubMain for application startup
Using client side sorting and filtering
Using the new error handling Try-Catch-Finally

Design and Implement Database Solutions Using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 - Special Double Session

Wednesday 29th August

OK - so now you have upsized to SQL Server, but your application is running slower than it was in Access. This is not what the brochure says! This session will set you up a designing databases in SQL Server.

Plan and initiate a logical data model
Create solutions for performance, maintainability, and scalability
Implement stored procedures and triggers
Develop and maintain explicit, implicit, and distributed transactions to ensure data integrity
Run Index Tuning Wizard and Database Maintenance Wizard
Utilize SP Mail as the most powerful work-horse in your application
Use DTS (Data Transformation Services) effectively

Planning and Managing Your Smooth Migration from Access to SQL Server

Wednesay 25th July

When Access mdb's hit their limit of scalability, corrupting too often and unable to handle the number of concurrent users required, it's time to upsize to SQL Server. But upsizing your application involves a lot more than running the Upsizing Wizard...

This session will demonstrate what changes to make to your application before running the Upsizing Wizard and what to do after. You will be walked through development tools, application interface changes, query design and stored procedures to bring scalability for more users. You'll begin by learning how to:

Maximize the benefits of MS SQL server in your application
Upsize MS Access applications to MS SQL Server/MSDE while maintaining the user interface in Access
Design efficient applications for MS SQL Server
Weigh up when to use the new ADP Access 2000 option as opposed to link tables
Move processes to stored procedures (action queries) and views
Use triggers for de-normalized fields

The ABC of XML

Thursday 21st June

On-line services, such as websites, intranets and extranets now find a permanent home in today's business strategy. However, some businesses are still unclear of the total benefits available from new technologies such as XML and SQL Server 2000. These new tools allow businesses to use the Internet to send and receive data in a fully flexible format.

Special Double Session - Ken Getz and Adam Cogan - Access XP & XML, and .Net

Friday 25th May

Ken and Adam will be doubling up for an extended SSW Tech Breakfast. Book in fast! Places are going quick...

SharePoint Portal Server

Tuesday 15th May

SharePoint Portal Server brings together document management, advanced search, and an intranet portal into a powerful, easy-to-use server application. It enables groups, from small teams to large organizations, to manage the creation of new content as well as organize existing content. SharePoint Portal Server delivers an easy-to-deploy, stand-alone version of the Web Storage System for collaboration solutions.

SharePoint Team Services

Wednesday 9th May

SharePoint Team Services is wrapped in with the latest Office release - Office XP. SharePoint Team Services allows you to run an intranet over the Internet in a secure environment. With a SharePoint web site, you can configure multiple document libraries, make announcements, post events, direct tasks, conduct employee and customer surveys, and a whole lot more.

Adam explains the benefits of SharePoint Team Services, the version of SharePoint suitable for smaller teams, and how it can be customized to your requirements.

SSW's Rules to Better Code and Successful Projects

Friday 20th April

Access XP & XML

Wednesday 11th April

Access XP has been released to manufacture and promises many advanced features which make it more compatible with the web. Adam will explore the XML capabilities of Access XP and demo some of the sexy news tools.

Favorite 3rd Party Tools

Wednesday 28th February

This will be an informal interactive session. Adam will talk about his favorite utilities, tips and tricks they use for developing in Access, Visual Basic, ASP and SQL Server. In addition Adam will also discuss features of how to develop websites. Audience participation is encouraged.

The ABC of XML

Wednesday 21st February

On-line services, such as websites, intranets and extranets now find a permanent home in todays business strategy. However, some businesses are still unclear of the total benefits available from new technologies such as XML and SQL Server 2000. These new tools allow businesses to use the Internet to send and receive data in a fully flexible format.

The February 2001 SSW Tech-Breakfast will provide a personalized, interactive and informative session by Adam Cogan, Database Services Manager for SSW, on The ABC of XML.

Favorite 3rd Party Tools

29th November 2002 - 8am - 12.30pm

In the big world of Microsoft it's easy to forget that there are a lot of other smart cookies out there building great programs and utilities. You could spend hours scouring the net for the latest .exe or you could save time and let Adam show you the best new tools around. These tools will help you write code quicker, upsize faster than ever before, and build better HTML pages, along with dozens of other useful tricks that will no doubt save you time if you're developing in Access, VB, SQL Server, and ASP .NET.