Seek the problem, Not the Solution

It’s not uncommon to have problems in life, and so in the application/code that you write. I am not being too techie here.
It’s just I am relating my thoughts to something technical.
Being a software engineer, writing code is inevitable in my day-to-day life and so comes bugs :)
I spend a lot of time sitting on to solve bugs(of late it’s been eating away my head) and so do I see people around me, at my workplace, doing the same.

I always go in seek of the problem that caused the bug, rather than to find a solution for the bug.
Certain others go in seek of the solution for the bug, rather than the problem that caused the bug.
So am I not saying the same thing in two different ways….solving the bug!!!!
But they are not…at least for me :)

Seeking for the problem gives you the solution for the bug and also a better understanding of the code that you have written. You seek for the problem because you feel the mistake is at your part, maybe a implementation one or a logical one.
Seeking for the solution too solves the bug but does not give you a better understanding of that you have done. Mostly the solution might be a workaround to cover up some of your own mistakes, which went unnoticed, as you were too concerned of the solution for the bug and not the problem for the bug. This might really not solve the bug too, it might just be a temporary fix or a specific scenario fix.

This is just an example.
Same goes in the day to day life. Whenever you go in seek for solutions you are actually creating more problems for yourself.
Maybe a real life example(non technical :)) would do good.
Say you are a spendthrift and you keep spending away all what you get.
Need money urgently?? Solution is to borrow from your friend. Does it really solve the problem??
Nope !! The problem here is that you are spendthrift. So try to change that and not keep borrowing :).

Don’t be happy with the solution, hunt down the problem.
Happy hunting :)

Hero or a Cheat????

Luis Suárez....that name would be said few more times, at least till Uruguay's fate is decided in FIFA WC 2010.
Early Saturday morning(IST),witnessed some dramatic moments of WC 2010.With the game about to be pushed into the shootout,which it did end up eventually,Ghana was to score a goal of substitute Dominic Adiyiah's header which was denied by Suárez with his 'hands'.The drama ended as Asamoah Gyan struck the crossbar for the penalty awarded and the match moved on to shootout,which saw Uruguay through to the best 4....shattering the African hopes.
Is he a Hero or a Cheat????
Wasn't it something anyone would have done?
Wasn't that a reaction rather than a response to a situation?
Ghana could have scored in the penalty awarded.But is just a penalty enough instead of a sure shot goal?

Would it be the next 'Hand Of God'??

Hero Or Cheat,fouls are committed knowingly and unknowingly in any game,as in football,as in this dramatic game.

So the play goes on says referee and so does Uruguay without him into the final 4

edit: Not too far says Netherlands,putting an end to the Uruguay's tale of WC 2010

Synchronize SQL Server database objects

Updating an old database, with newly created/modified database objects(mostly stored procedures,views,functions and table value parameters), from a new database was a very common,tedious,error prone task that was performed at my workplace for the past few months.This came up with the client requesting to retain their existing data and just make updates to their old database from our development database(which of course is the new/latest one), whenever a deliverable was made.
When the very work I do is to automate peoples work,I felt perturbed seeing this being done manually.So decided on to automate it :)
Writing SQL scripts would be db expert way I guess.But I am no expert in that so decided to do it in my way.
The .Net way :)
Thanks to the whole concept of .Net and Microsoft for having exposed such complex functionalities in the most elegant way ..... SMO(SQL Server Management Objects).
You have to add a reference to Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo and a few other assemblies(Check the source code for more details).
Rest everything the API provides.

Code quality might not be that good.Just did it in an hour :)
A help is there within the app.

Thanks to .Net once more :)

Download the source code (rename to .rar)

Role Based Access Control

RBAC(Role Based Access Control) is something that is very common in the day-to-day world.
So what is this all about.It is just about a authorization check on whether you have the access to a particular resource or not.
When faced with scenarios like this when developing applications, where you have to implement Role based access for the different users that are to use the system you might be confused on how to implement this.
Say you have a WCF service exposing a set of services.You have a WPF thick client consuming this service.Say for example you are exposing a service to Add/Delete/View Employees.Based on the various roles you need to allow/disallow the access to the functionality.The easiest way would be enable/disable the controls that would be used invoke the corresponding functionality,based on the user role.
So am I done?
What if tomorrow you are exposing this service to some other client of yours,who is to develop his on User Interface(UI) for the service.
Do I have a problem here?
Yes of course!!!
What if he does not make the same check on the UI to enable/disable the controls that would act as his inputs.So here exactly is where you have a access break.Any user will be able to perform all functions irrespective of the access specified for him.
So how do I go about?
Make this check at the service level itself.Check for access and throw a NoAccess exception if not authorized.What exactly happens when you try to enter a no-access area in your office :)
UI synchronization is an added level to this,so that you can stop unnecessary service calls.

Will soon post a implementation sample :)

.....confused

Its been a long time since I have last blogged.Ask me for the reason,the only one I would have is 'no time'.
But is it the truth?
Not sure..but still I don't have one good reason.So then what I am writing about.Am I trying to discover it through writing....hopefully yes.
One thing is sure but, life for the past few months have been monotonous,which makes me repeat 'no time' again and again for many a things including blogging.
Office has been quite boring,tiring and a bit irritating for the last few months.Hey but IT was your favorite ,which made you choose Computer Science stream.
It still is.
Then what?Is it the environment?the nature of work?is it the people?... thats bugging you.
Won't this be the same anywhere you end up,after your 3 months notice period.Oh yeah I have put my papers,currently into the second month of notice period.So whats the big deal in all this switching if it would be back to square one in an alien place.
Am I saying don't switch your job.love the company.stay there as long as they don't push you out.
No.Never.
Then what.
Am I confusing you..Can't be sorry for that.

Already I am....


....Confused

Not Able to "Start Debugging" in Visual Studio

Quite a few days back,I faced a peculiar problem :).Visual Studio was not having the green play button(the one for Start Debugging) enabled.No way was I able to start debugging.
Google gave many suggestions,none was of help.
I soon found out that,in Startup Projects(From the menu Project -> Properties),the option multiple was selected and all the projects were set to an action None)(Setting this to Start Without debugging also creates this same problem) :)

Yet to find out how this happened automatically but still setting up the startup project,made the green button glow :)

Be sure to check this the next time if the green button doesn't glow :)

The Building block

Since this comes under the 'WF' tag it would not be difficult for anyone to understand what I am talking about.
Yes its 'Activity'.
Activity is nothing but a piece of re-usable component performing a specified task.When I say re-usable it means across multiple workflows and thats where the catch is.Write Once ,Test Once and there you have something which works fine wherever put into.
WF ships with many activities,a list of which you will find here.The real power of WF is not in the out-of-the-box activities it ships with..it lies within you..Custom Activities.

My first question to such a statement would be,WHY?
WF is nothing but organizing activities in a logical manner addressing the requirement at stake.So the more of custom built activities you have the more easier and faster it is to address your needs.It all becomes the drag'n'drop funda microsoft boasts about and the reason why more developer turn towards it.The same reason why a GUI developer would go for a custom control rather than tweaking existing controls in every page he needs a similar look'n'feel.

Activities are of 2 type
1. Basic/Simple Activity
2. Composite Activity

Put everything in the code activity(the best example for a simple activity) and get done with the work assigned would be another approach amongst us.A definite YES keeping in mind the short term task at hand.But a big NO on the long run.
Code Activities ends within the current workflow.Re-usability across workflows is the key factor that is at stake in this approach,which should makes us think twice before using one.CodeActivities,mostly would be fully dependent on the instance properties of the workflow,which makes testing of something performed within the activity require the full workflow to be executed.
On the other hand a Custom Activity has its own properties on which it depends,can be tested individually and above all can be re-used across workflows.

So the next time you drag'n'drop a Code Activity from the toolbox think twice :)

Will catch you on developing a custom activity soon :)
CodeProject