Rodan Sotto's Tech Blog

Before .NET came, COM (Component Object Model) was the norm.  You build COM objects to make your code reusable and so that you can fit them in a 3-tier or n-tier architecture.  This architecture was called or marketed by Microsoft as DNA (Distributed interNet Architecture).  It is just a way to architect or build distributed business application... Read More

My last project involved using Visual Basic 2005.  This is the latest version of VB.NET.  I have used Visual Basic before starting with version 4.0.  In fact I got certified a long time ago, November 2001 to be exact, as a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) by passing the exam Designing and Implementing Desktop Applications with Microsoft Vi... Read More

Aggregate functions (e.g. AVG, MIN, MAX, COUNT, etc.) can be in a SELECT statement without the GROUP BY clause.  Without the GROUP BY clause in the SELECT statement will apply the aggregate function to the entire result set. Also all aggregate functions, except for COUNT(*), ignore NULLs.  So you need to be sure that when you use an aggregate f... Read More

Access is the first database that I worked on, not SQL Server.  I started with version 97.  Now with version 2007 available, you ask why master 2003 when there is already 2007.  For one it’s still relatively new and companies especially small to mid-size ones where I cater to most, don’t jump hastily to new technologies so there should be plenty... Read More

There are actually 2 files that make up a database in SQL Server, one containing the data itself, and the other one containing the transaction logs.  All data inserts, updates, and deletes happen in transaction log file first and stay there until one point in time when they propagate to the actual database itself.  How long will they be in the t... Read More