Friday, April 1, 2022

Recipient Update Service v Email Address Policy

Recipient Update Service v Email Address Policy

We just started our migration and one item we discovered is that mailboxes that have modified primary SMTP addresses were being changed after running the Move-Mailbox cmdlet.  These mailboxes did not have the "automatically update email address based on recipient policy" checkbox cleared.  Luckily we only migrated a small pilot group, and one mailbox fit this description.  We needed to avoid this issue in the future so I wrote the following script to identify and update these mailboxes:

 

Code Snippet

$searcher = New-Object DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher([ADSI]"OU=Users,OU=Company,DC=domain,DC=com")

$searcher.Filter = "(&(objectClass=user)(mailNickname=*))"

$searcher.PageSize = 2500

$searcher.SearchScope = "Subtree"

$searcher.FindAll() | %

{

$user = $_.getDirectoryEntry()

$email = $user.Get("givenName").substring(0,1) + $user.Get("sn") + "@domain.com"

If ($email.ToLower() -ne $user.Get("mail").ToLower())

{

(Write-Host $user.Get("displayName")) | Set-Mailbox $user.Get("mailNickname") -EmailAddressPolicyEnabled:$False

}

}

 

 

 

Our recipient policy used the format %1g%s@domain.com

Looking for Feedback: Native 64-bit Support in SQL Express

Hi All,

 

I have another set of questions for the group to help guide me in planning future versions of SQL Express, this time related to 64-bit support.

 

Quick History

 

In SQL Server 2005, SQL Express was only released in the 32-bit architecture. We supported installation to x64 computers using the Windows on Windows implementation that allowed the 32-bit program to install on 64-bit computers. We released two different installer packages, SQLEXPR32.EXE could only be installed on 32-bit platforms, while SQLEXPR.EXE could be installed on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, but was the exact same db engine. Package size differences were the result of additional files needed to support WoW installation.

 

Now to the Point

 

A number of people have asked that we release a native 64-bit version of SQL Express, which leads me to my questions for this thread:

  1. What advantages will a native 64-bit Express offer you?
  2. Does a 64-bit Express eliminate the need to support 32-bit WoW? (Consider that without WoW, we would not have a single package that could install on both architectures.)
  3. If you could only have either native 64-bit Express or WoW support, which would you choose? (Bonus if you tell me why. )
  4. What user/application scenarios are driving your need for native 64-bit Express?

Once again, I will try to limit my participation in this thread, since it's all about your feedback, but I will be reading it closely. I appreciate the effort you put into answering my questions and want to assure you that your feedback is a significant part of how I plan the future of SQL Express. As always, you can answer directly in this thread or respond to me directly, just remove the word "online" from the e-mail address in my profile.

 

Let the feedback begin,

 

Mike Wachal

SQL Express team


Reply:

Hi!

 

I might be a bit rusty since I haven't used Express for some time, but I want to speak up anyway.

 

> 1. What advantages will a native 64-bit Express offer you?

 

- Better IO performance maybe.

- Single CLR executable for use in Express and the heavier versions. Management bonus.

- Better security, I believe, what immediately comes to mind is that updates can be identical for express and workgroup+, so that one can trust that security conserns fixed on workgroup+ are fixed on express on the same time.

 

> 2. Does a 64-bit Express eliminate the need to support 32-bit WoW? (Consider that without WoW, we would not have a single package that could install on both architectures.)

 

Not for me, I've used it to use Jet on x64: http://gorm-braarvig.blogspot.com/2005/11/access-database-from-sql-200564.html. Of course a 64-bit Jet or some 32-64-bit provider bridge would fix this.

 

> 3. If you could only have either native 64-bit Express or WoW support, which would you choose? (Bonus if you tell me why. )

 

WoW, so that I can keep using 32-bit providers, especially Jet (see above)

 

> 4. What user/application scenarios are driving your need for native 64-bit Express?

 

Currently none.

 

Later, G.


------------------------------------
Reply:
 Mike Wachal - MSFT wrote:
  1. What advantages will a native 64-bit Express offer you?

      If  for x64 application SQLNCLI provider use shared memory mode I gues it can work only with x64- Express ? 

     

    1. If you could only have either native 64-bit Express or WoW support, which would you choose? (Bonus if you tell me why. )

    64-bit Express because we have quite big notification server build as Extended SP and for contacting with 64-bit Application I dont' need to go to other branches in registry.

     

     

    --What user/application scenarios are driving your need for native 64-bit Express?

     

    previous answer also answer on this question.  I have quite complex application based on several application servers and ESP requires  x64 arcitecture.  Off course I can do workarround but it take some time to do support of WOW32  for installer and changes in ESP logic


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
    1. What advantages will a native 64-bit Express offer you?
      If the 64 bit version also carried Reporting Services in native 64 bit, then the advantage would be that we could run SQL Express with Advanced services on the same box as Exchange 2007 (currently they are mutually exclusive due to E2007 not liking WoW on IIS, therefore SSRS is out). One coherent 64 bit platform with components that all play nice would be a huge headache off my plate.

    2. Does a 64-bit Express eliminate the need to support 32-bit WoW? (Consider that without WoW, we would not have a single package that could install on both architectures.)
      No, (unless of course you can port the reporting services to 64 bit for Express as well.)

    3. If you could only have either native 64-bit Express or WoW support, which would you choose? (Bonus if you tell me why. )
      The answer is tricky and there would be work to do before you could cut off one or the other:
      1) On exchange boxes: 64 bit native if SSRS was also delivered native (an could therefore run on IIS in 64 bit)
      2) On non exchange boxes: WoW, because I can then run Sql and IIS in 32 bit WoW and still  have access to the 32bit Jet provider which we still use a lot of. (Does anyone have any friends in the Jet team, would love to put a vote in for a 64 bit port of the Jet Provider )


      Generally speaking, I don't think 64 bit is ready to solo yet, as there are still so many things that we would have to leave behind to do this.

    4. What user/application scenarios are driving your need for native 64-bit Express?
      So far, nothing performance based, as mentioned in point one, at the moment with all our Data Access solutions, (not that many really) it is very hard to put together one platform that actually works cohesively. There seem to be workarounds available, but it is to the point where some workarounds mutually exclude others.
      The main driver is our clients are upgrading their hardware, so I guess simple evolution.


      FYI It is a great product, and appreciate the thought given to keeping installation simple etc.

    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Mike,

     

    Not sure if this thread has reached its expiration date, but I thought I would mention that the WOW version is still needed for situations where there are database or middleware drivers for the 32-bit environment but not for 64-bit.  If Microsoft were to provide 64-bit drivers for certain of what exists today as 32-bit drivers, then the WOW version of SQL Express would perhaps be less relevant.

     

    Regards,

     

    Mike

     


    ------------------------------------

    don't see exchange-servers in exchange-"management packs"

    Hello,

     

    we have installed SCE in our domain. I see under "computer" 9 Servers (AD-Server, Exchange, SQL etc.)

    But when i open "monitoring section", where i can look at the management packs, there are no exchange 2003 serers. E.g. when i open "exchange 2003" / "all server state" there are no entries. But an exchange server has an agent installed and i see the server under computer.

     

     

    The operating system is german Windows 2003.

     

    What is going wrong there?

     

    Thank you

    Greetings

     

    Marc


    Reply:

    Hi Marc,

     

    We need more information for further analysis.

     

    Please help to capture screen shots of the related symptoms and save the Operations Manager section of event viewer to *.evt files. Then  send them to SCEDATA@microsoft.com.

     

    Note:

     

    Please include the following three lines in the email body:

     

    don't see exchange-servers in exchange-"management packs"
    http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1798756&SiteID=17
    Guo-zhen Wang - MSFT

     

    Regarding more information about how to send email to SCEDATA@microsoft.com, please refer to:

     

    How to send files to the Microsoft SCE team for review
    http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1680389&SiteID=17

     

    Post a quick note in the current thread after sending the email.

     

    Thanks!
    -----------------------------
    Sincerely,
    Guozhen Wang
    Microsoft Online Community Support

     


    ------------------------------------

    Setting Autoresponder for Exchange 5.5 Mail Boxes ?

    Hi Glen,

     

    Started workin on this , sooner i ll get back once done.

     

    Thanks,

    Jesumani

    Health Service Configuration Not Up To Date

    I started getting this error but it SCE doesn't give any indication on how to fix it.. For the most part most of my health service errors are occuring on Windows 2000 Professional machines. Is anyone else seem to have the same issues with Windows 2000 Professional?

    Reply:
    Do the machines indicate that they are unable to connect to the SCE Server?  Are any events on the Windows 2000 Pro machines indicating they have requested configuration from SCE and been denied?  Does the SCE server itself indicate it is rejecting communication from these agents in the Operations Manager eventlog?

    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

     

    Hi Steve,

     

    As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

     

    If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

     

    If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Sincerely,

    Robbin Meng

    Microsoft Online Community Support

     

     


    ------------------------------------

    re: com surrogate

     

    i installed nero 6.6 yesterday from a bundled software pack that came with an old dvd burner i installed in my desktop, (using a lap top now that came with xp sp2. upgraded to vista home premium. since then i started getting the same com surrogate error in this posting. looks like i'm going to remove it and see what happens. i will post the results here, thanks for your input.

    Sysprep and Start Menu

    Hi, I'm facing quite a strange problem with SysPrep. I'm using SysPrep to keep "safe" images of the desktop PCs in our faculty Informatics classroom, in order to be able to restore the systems periodically. We have three different kinds of hardware (HP, IBM and DELL) and I keep three versions of Windows XP Professional (as University we have a site-wide license) with some pre-installed educational applications. I have been using this system for a while without hassles. Recently we have moved from a domain-type networking to workgroup networking for convenience. We had two non-privileged users in addition to two Administrator accounts. Since the non-privileged user definitions were on the domain server (an old Windows 2000 Server), I created local non-privileged users with the same names I was using on the domain server. On the HP platform, this issue came up: once I restart the system after sealing it with SysPrep, one of the two user accounts has no access to the Start menu, that is, clicking the "Start" tab does not bring up the Start menu. This is due to the fact that permissions on the start menu folder for that user are screwed up: the username of the user is missing, and an alpha-numeric string between brackets is present instead of the username. The user icon, instead of the usual head, has an interrogative mark. if I add the correct user name to the permissions, everything works again.I tried to delete the user account and recreate it, also changing the name. As soon as I create the user everything works and the permissions are correctly set, but after sealing and restarting, permission are screwed again. Please note that the other user is unaffected, nor are the other SysPrep images I'm using for IBM and DELL machines.

    Can you point me in the right direction to solve the issue? At present, I have to re-set manually the permissions after restoring the system, which is quite annoying, even if I can use a script.

    Thank you for your time, best regards

    Paolo Tosco

    Reply:

    Hi Paolo,

     

    Did this issue have anything to do with SteadyState? This appears to be a general Windows XP deployment issue. As this forum focuses on SteadyState specific issues, this inquiry would best be posted to Windows XP Deployment newsgroup:

                                

    http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment

     

    The reason why we recommend posting appropriately is that you will get the most qualified pool of respondents, and other customers who read the newsgroups regularly can either share their knowledge or learn from your interaction with us.  Thank you for your understanding.

     

    Best Regards,


    ------------------------------------

    windows explorer has stopped working loop

     

    I had this problem on windows Vista!!! but i have found the fix for it. my computer is a dell desktop. all i had to do was back up my data from my hard drive. then restart the computer keep pressing F8, get the option repair my computer, then follow the options till you get a screen that says how do u want to repair your computer. click on restore factory settings..

    It works trust me or try it and see for your self

    Microsoft update ATI 4379 crashed my computer

    After not being able to download the "excellent" update provided by Microsoft for the bug ridden Vista, I was given the error message that my computer may not run properly until the update was downloaded. I tried again to load it without success but then the next day my computer went to the repair page and attempted to repair the problem with no success, it even attempted a restore but my computer will not boot up past this screen. Any solutions?

    Getting the reporting server to work

    i am having a most difficult time getting SCE installed.  I installed sql2005 sp2 reporting on the sce system.  I have another sql2005sp2 system running database services in a particular instance (ntvsql3\sce).  I went through the reporting server config and everything was checked but sce didn't like it.

     

    i am guessing there is some issue with the reporting server communication with the DB.  I have tried erasing the reportserver database and starting over, but that doesn't seem to help.  Now i see issues with encryption keys (which i know nothing about) - the app log says logonCred cannot be decrypted.

     

    how can i clean up this little mess.  It shouldn't be this difficult to get things going.

     

    thanks

     

    bj


    Reply:

    i got past this error - but now sce just wont install - i get a 3 5MB log file that means nothing to me and is too large to upload to the forum.  grr.

     

    any thoughts on how to proceed.


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Hi, BJ

     

    Firstly, I would like to share some documents about SCE installation. Hope it's helpful.

     

    About System Center Essentials Deployment

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb437287.aspx

     

    Also, I need some more information to understand your situation.

    1. The topology that SCE was installed.

    2. The screenshot where the installation failed, which would show us the exact problem.

    3. The installation log files. Generally, they are located in %temp% folder and the names are:

        SCESetupx.log (x stands for different numbers)

        WSUSSetup.log

        SCEReportingx.log 

        SCEx.log

     

    Please send all the information to SCEDATA@microsoft.com, with the following there lines in the E-mail.

     

    Getting the reporting server to work

    http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?postid=2143752&siteid=17

    For Yog.Li – MSFT

     

    Thanks.

     

                                                    

    Sincerely,

    Yog Li

    Microsoft Online Community Support


    ------------------------------------

    LiveMeeting and SteadyState

     

    I recently discovered how to configure SteadyState so that the locked-down account can still use Microsoft LiveMeeting.

     

    1. As admin, install the LiveMeeting Windows-based console (from office.microsoft.com).
    2. In SteadyState, go to User Settings for the user you are locking down.
    3. On the Feature Restrictions tab,
    4. In the Internet Explorer Restrictions section,
    5. In the Toolbar options section,
    6. Make sure that Third Party Extension Buttons is deselected.

    Also, under the Internet Explorer Restrictions section, if you have "Prevent Internet access (except Web sites below)" selected, then at the bottom of the page, under "Web Addresses Allowed", make sure that you have:

     

    *.livemeeting.com;*.placeware.com

     

    Note that I have not tested this with Windows Disk Protection on, so if you use this feature, your mileage may vary.

     


    Reply:

    Hi Schuylkill,

     

    Thanks for your great sharing. Based on my experience, some websites need to access this option to enable plug-ins.

     

    Here are two related threads for your reference:

     

    http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1898325&SiteID=69

    http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1922296&SiteID=69

     

    Best Regards,


    ------------------------------------

    WINDOWS EXPLORER HAS STOPPED WORKING /WINDOWS EXPLORER IS RESTARTING

    I am having the same problem with Windows Explorerhas stopped working Windows Explorer is restarting, keeps looping .I can't get anything done.  Any answers would be greatly appreciated. This is so annoying I am ready to SCREAM. This PC is only a few months old. I am sending it to the manufacturer. Hope they can help! PLEASE HELP ME, I am at a loss. I have tried reboot, System restore, safe mode , nothing works.

     

    time.windows.com

    1-Start Menu => Run => services.msc =>
    2-Find Windows Time And Start it From Right Click And Then REstart it
    3-Control Panel => Date and Time => Internet Time => in server list Type "time-a.nist.gov" And Then Click Update Now

    you Can Find Other Serverds in "http://tf.nist.gov/service/time-servers.html"

    """Its Not a big Problem The Big Problem is ms Windows mobile""" Big Smile

    moshaver666@clubimate.com

    Web parts for learning and testing web part connections

    Hi everyone,

     

    I've written some simple web parts that produce and consume common web part connections interfaces.  They might help you learn about connections and test web parts that use connections.  If you're new to connections or to the ASP.NET or SharePoint connection interfaces, reading the source could be instructive.

     

    The source is available here: http://svn.jonahb.com/projects/web_part_connections_test/trunk

    Binary is here: http://svn.jonahb.com/projects/web_part_connections_test/releases/WebPartConnectionsTest-0.1.zip

     

    See the README for instructions on how to build and/or install.

     

    - Jonah


    Reply:

    Hello Johan,

     

    First of all, I'd like to tell you your article is very interesting.

     

    I'd like to make the web part that will be universal data provider. It means that other web parts, including built-in web parts, can use its internal data.

     

    What interface or class that web part should implement or derive from to be universal data provider?

     

    I've made a simple web part that implements IWebPartTable interface and the custom list cannot be populated using that simple web part. Also, I've made another simple web part that implements IWebPartRow interface and the dialog that matches fields from custom list and web part appears, but after I click "Finish" button, the error message about inproper casting comes up.

     

    Could you help me, please, to resolve this issue?

     

     

    Thank you in advance.

     

    Goran Tesic

     


    ------------------------------------

    Windows Vista - XP Networking Issue Resolution

    Below I've noted the Five Steps that worked for me to network a new Vista laptop with two existing WinXP machines.


    See also the excellent post by Sunthar (svAbhinava) at http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1683125&SiteID=17

    His post and mine have several common elements.


    One post reported success with Network Magic; another reported that the VPN software installed by his IT org had caused problems. If you're interested, the posts are at:

    http://forums.microsoft.com/technet/showpost.aspx?postid=1323486&siteid=17&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=3


    Here are my five steps:


    1) Gotta do. Firewall settings. Whether ZoneAlarm or Norton Internet Security are installed, what was required was to ensure that the IP address of the router was entered as trusted in the firewall app on every pc.

    2) Gotta do. File Sharing & Workgroup Name. This is fairly straightforward and is well documented on the MS site at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx . Ensure you use the same workgroup name on all machines. WinXP and Vista machines have different default workgroup names. I changed my Vista machine workgroup name to match that of the WinXP machines. See http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/vista/Vista_network_options.shtml

    for a nice graphical article on vista networking that includes the common workgroup name requirement.
    See also http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b304040 for WinXp.

    3) Nicety. Download and install Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) onto the WinXP machines. Not required but enables the network map in Vista to show all machines on the network. You can find this at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4f01a31d-ee46-481e-ba11-37f485fa34ea&DisplayLang=en

    4) A maybe step. Check and edit (as required) Registry Setting on WinXP machines. Tough to find step; not required in all cases. I found this step by searching MS for "error message when you try to access a Windows XP-based network computer: "You might not have permission to use this network resource". I edited the registry on my WinXP machines per MS article 913628 at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913628.

    5) A maybe step. You may need to enter Vista PC Admin Account Username and Password to map Vista pc shares to a WinXP pc. Although sharing config on my Vista pc did not require password, when I went to map the Vista pc shares to one of my WinXP pcs a dialogue box opened requiring a username and password. No indication what username/password was being requested. I finally figured-out it was asking for the Vista pc admin account username and password. That worked ... networking and file sharing complete.

    What a trail, eh? Amazing that the everyday "user" has to go through all these hoops to get a home network to operate as designed. I'm not an IT guy, just persistent. Anyway, hope this works for all of you checking this forum ...


    Regards,

    Redondo77

    Editing Task Sequences

    If you encounter problems trying to save a task sequence after editing one, restarting the WMI service sorts it out.

     

    DISCLAIMER - the above info is based on pre-RTM code. We have not validated the issue on released code to date. YMMV!


    Reply:

     

    Many of those issues have been fixed from RC1. Is there something specific you are noticing?

    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    not at all... I have a number of "notes" collected over the past few months I thought I'd seed into these forums to get started, hence the RTM disclaimer... may well be moot at this point, but thought I'd toss 'em out just the same so folks such as yourself could tell us all that the issue/behavior is gone.

     

    Tks for the reply!

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    To continue the thought, if you are experiencing problems in saving a task sequence, the ConfigMgr product team would like to know about it.   There definitely were problems in builds prior to RTM, but we *think* we got the problem fixed in the RTM version.  If that turns out not to be the case, we need to know about it.  And of course, we will want to bug you about the details of your task sequence and what you were doing so that we can find and fix the problem.


    ------------------------------------

    Can we add z axis in the chart in SSRS 2005

     

    Hi All

     

    I have

    State in the category field

    Total count and played count in the data filed. I am creating a bar chart using ssrs 2005. I would like to know if it is possible  to add z axis in the chart. I have run rate and run rate minus no tone. I want show that in the chart drawing z axis.

     

    Please let me know.

     

    Thanks

    Rozarm02

    Custom Source Component Timeout

    Just thought it would be useful to post this in case anyone comes across the same. When building a SSIS Customer Source Component to access data from an OLEDB data source, the component will timeout after around 30 seconds. Unless in the PrimeOutput overridden method one sets.

     

    oledbcommand.Timeout = 0

     

    Stuart

    Best Practices for Sequencing

     

    Just an FYI but if you're running into trouble when sequencing an application, or if you're new to the whole SoftGrid thing, be sure you take a quick read through this:

     

    http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/07/12/sequencing-best-practices.aspx.

     

    That post discusses some best practices as well as a link to a Knowledge Base article with yet more tips.  If you're up to speed on what's in these then you'll probably save yourself a headache or two down the road.

     

    J.C. Hornbeck, MCSE: Security

    Microsoft Corporation

    http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/


    Reply:
    I just wanted to say taht the "sequencing best practice" is great but I would like to have an "advanced guide" in secuencing where it explains how you modify packages. For example I've been trying to sequence Firefox and having some problems with keeping the profile outside the "bubble" so that personal settings are saved, favourites etc. There is very little info about how to do these things. If anyone has info about "advanced sequencing", that would be great.

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Frody,

     

    Advanced guide missing set aside, for Firefox you can download such sequence from my site at http://www.instantapp.net/ . It will store user-settings outside VE to real %APPDATA%.

     

    br,

    Kalle

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Hi Kalle,

     

    I know. I downloaded it and tested it. It worked great but I need a version in swedish. I've looked att your package and tried too do the same and it almost works. I want to tweak it so I can config the default settings (start page, internet cache etc.) and the users can save bookmarks etc.I'v not succeded in that yet. And a couple of times my computer totally craches when I use my Firefox package, no error message just black screen and reboot. Any tip what to do?

     

    /Frody

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    We're working on an advanced guide and I'll be sure to post a link when it's ready.  As far as Firefox goes, what I usually recommend is that you don't launch Firefox during sequencing and just load it all up in FB1.  The problem is that if you do launch it during sequencing, it creates the default profile which gets sucked into the virtual environment, which essentially means that it gets reset every time it's launched.  As long as you don't launch it, the first time the end user runs it, Firefox creates the profile as user data and they can customize it any way they like.  There are other ways to do it but that's the easiest IMO.

     

    J.C. Hornbeck, MCSE: Security

    Microsoft Corporation

    The SoftGrid Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Sean Donahue has begun publishing a series on advanced sequencing techniques.  You can read the first at http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/09/12/advanced-sequencing-topics.aspx.

     

    J.C. Hornbeck, MCSE: Security

    Microsoft Corporation

    The SoftGrid Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Great, thanx for the great input, I will read the "advanced sequencing techniques" guide. And I'll try the Firefox tip. Once again thank you for the fast and great response. I'll keep on posting my experience in "softgridding".

     

    /Frody - Softgrid Rookie


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
     Frody wrote:

    I know. I downloaded it and tested it. It worked great but I need a version in swedish. I've looked att your package and tried too do the same and it almost works. I want to tweak it so I can config the default settings (start page, internet cache etc.) and the users can save bookmarks etc.I'v not succeded in that yet. And a couple of times my computer totally craches when I use my Firefox package, no error message just black screen and reboot. Any tip what to do?

     

    In order to make some default settings (apart from having that Mozilla profile inside VFS and pre-configuring Firefox that way), is that you need to edit firefox.js in pref\default -directory under directory where you installed Firefox. Files in this directory will be copied as template to user's Mozilla profile dir on profile creation. I seem to remember that some other means exists for customizing Firefox, so you might want to check from mozilla.com.

     

    As for the annoyance of having Mozilla -profile to VFS if you want to optimize package FB1 properly, there's of course exclusion items that you could use to exclude "%APPDATA%\Mozilla" which would, in theory, mean that that folder is not taken into VFS. Unfortunately exclusion items are still unreliable as hell as I have discovered that Sequencer sometimes just plainly refuses to acknowledge of them. I opened case against Softricity support long ago about the subject, but as I found out this "lacking" implementation on my own (i.e. no actual customer/user case besides my own), they didn't want to prioritize it at all. And since I now don't have any access to better level MS support, I don't bother to go through the hassle of re-opening case when normal support procedure is, let's say, painful.

     

    Anyways, going back how to work-around the exclusion items; you can do a trick of adding temporarily "c:\windows\explorer.exe" as additional shortcut during application wizard, then going onto launching all applications but with explorer launching as last. From within that explorer.exe instance, go and delete whole Mozilla -dir from %APPDATA% and then before actually finishing the wizard, go back one screen to shortcut definitions and delete exporer.exe away (as you don't really want to publish it to users). Then next, next and finish. You don't need to re-launch applications when you modify shortcuts, FB1 is already formed (or data for it is already gathered).. This is tactic I have used with Firefox packages in InstantApp -site and as you can see, it will use Mozilla -profile on local FS.

     

    Additionally, one extremely good improvement from MS for application wizard (apart from fixing exclusion items) would be to NOT monitor any changes during application wizard -phase. I strongly feel that it's counter-intuitive that when you are supposed to optimize package by launching applications, the changes are still registred and included! Installation wizard is for that, application wizard should not monitor changes anymore as it result these sort of issues as with Firefox, or even the ones like when launching Outlook (even wondered why recipe for Office says that you shouldn't launch Outlook even when optimizing package, this is the reason...). Or at least it should be one option more in Sequencer's options, to revent functionality back to traditional (in my mind, broken) semantics of picking up changes in application wizard.

     

    Oh well, I guess you got longer answer than expected ;-)

     

    /Kalle


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    OK!

    I guess this thread turned into a little FireFox guide ;-) Thanx Kalle for your great input. I did exactly as your instructions and it seems to work great. I have one last question. How can I use the prefs.js file? It should be in the users profile folder to work but I remove that folder as you described above.

    Is the only solution to create a script that copies prefs.js file onto the users computer after Firefox is started for the first time and the local profile folder is created?

     

    Or, do you have another magic card up your sleeve Kalle?

     

    /Frody

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
     Frody wrote:

    I have one last question. How can I use the prefs.js file? It should be in the users profile folder to work but I remove that folder as you described above.

    Is the only solution to create a script that copies prefs.js file onto the users computer after Firefox is started for the first time and the local profile folder is created?

     

    Or, do you have another magic card up your sleeve Kalle?

     

    Well, no magic cards in my sleeves but looking at Firefox installation directory, there's also defaults\profile directory which seems to hold that file. I believe that this whole directory is used as template which is just copied over to user's profile directory (which is, as you have probably discovered, named by random directoryname under %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles, making it very unsuitable as script target). So I'd suggest you edit this pref.js in defaults\profile?

     

    br,

    Kalle


    ------------------------------------

    SSIS Quibbles

    In trying to use SSIS for a data migration task I ran into issues that I felt like quibbling about. Am listing them here in the hope that they may draw the attention of (a) The Powers That Be, (b) community members who may have found solutions / workarounds etc.

     

     

             ·                  Variable type must match result set type exactly: e.g. Int32 cannot be stored in Int64

    ·                  Variable scope cannot be changed - has to be deleted and re-created

    ·                  In Precedence Constraint Editor, variables don't show up - have to be typed in manually

    ·                  When executing any dataflow task all Data Viewers from all DF tasks show up

    ·                  In the Foreach Loop Container; when mapping variables to recordset, indices are used - column names from the recordset would be much easier

    ·                  Cannot assign NULL to variables of type INT

    ·                  Error message on failure of SQL Task not specific enough

    ·                  Dataviewer loses column that has been modified

    ·                  Setting up a Derived Column of String type defaults the type to Unicode String (DT_WSTR) resulting in an invariable mismatch when trying to map that column downstream in the Data Flow

    ·                  Destination Task should allow for constants to be mapped to destination columns

    ·                  In Recordset Destination Recordset type variables in scope should show up in drop-down against VariableName property

    ·                  Cannot map a currency column form Data Flow task to a variable type of double - so what's left?

    ·                  Data Viewers from other packages also display when executing any D Flow task

    ·                  Variables not in Alphabetical Order in Derived Column Transform Editor

    ·                  In Derived Column Transform Editor, Expression column should open in a separate window

    ·                  During debug local variables display is not sorted

    ·                  Changing table data size does not automatically update dependent objects in Data Flow task; variable needs to be deleted and added back

    ·                  In Dataflow task, error message displayed on 'mouse-over' does not fit into window displayed

     

     


    Reply:
     Jaafar H wrote:

    In trying to use SSIS for a data migration task I ran into issues that I felt like quibbling about. Am listing them here in the hope that they may draw the attention of (a) The Powers That Be, (b) community members who may have found solutions / workarounds etc.

     

     

             ·                  Variable type must match result set type exactly: e.g. Int32 cannot be stored in Int64

    By design. And with good reason in my opinion but of course feel free to disagree Smile

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Variable scope cannot be changed - has to be deleted and re-created

    Agreed. That's annoying.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  In Precedence Constraint Editor, variables don't show up - have to be typed in manually

    Yes, there needs to be a better editor on the PC expressions.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  When executing any dataflow task all Data Viewers from all DF tasks show up

    yep. That's annoying.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  In the Foreach Loop Container; when mapping variables to recordset, indices are used - column names from the recordset would be much easier

    50-50 on this one. Names would be more descriptive but using indexes allows column names to be changed. Actully that;s not important. i've changed my mind - 75-25 in favour Smile

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Cannot assign NULL to variables of type INT

    Again not sure about this one. NULL avoidance seems like a good idea to me. Inherently I think this is because theunderlying type is a .Net type which can't be nullable.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Error message on failure of SQL Task not specific enough

    I don't agree. Error messages are surfaced from the external data source/sink. if the error messages aren't good enough its not teh fault of SSIS.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Dataviewer loses column that has been modified

    Yeah, this is indeed a quibble.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Setting up a Derived Column of String type defaults the type to Unicode String (DT_WSTR) resulting in an invariable mismatch when trying to map that column downstream in the Data Flow

    It has to default to something, why is DT_WSTR worse than DT_STR (or vice versa).

     

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Destination Task should allow for constants to be mapped to destination columns

    It does. use the Derived Column component.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  In Recordset Destination Recordset type variables in scope should show up in drop-down against VariableName property

    Indeed they should. This has been rectified i katmai (I think)

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Cannot map a currency column form Data Flow task to a variable type of double - so what's left?

    DT_DECIMAL

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Data Viewers from other packages also display when executing any D Flow task

    I've never seen this happen. Sorry.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Variables not in Alphabetical Order in Derived Column Transform Editor

    err..OK yeah. is it a problem?

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  In Derived Column Transform Editor, Expression column should open in a separate window

    Yes, the editor definitely needs improving.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  During debug local variables display is not sorted

    Same. Is it really a problem? I'd rather they spend time fixing other stuff.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  Changing table data size does not automatically update dependent objects in Data Flow task; variable needs to be deleted and added back

    Not sure what you mean. Changes in an executiontree in the dataflow are propogated to downstream components in the same dataflow. Don't understand what variables has to do with this.

     Jaafar H wrote:

    ·                  In Dataflow task, error message displayed on 'mouse-over' does not fit into window displayed

     

     

     

    yeah. The whole tooltip thing needs sorting out.

     

     

    If you feel strongly about these things then raise them at http://connect.microsoft.com/sqlserver/feedback I will vote for some of them.

     

    -Jamie

     

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    something else...

     

     

     

    1)                Sometimes Data Flow tasks remains in yellow and tasks on control flow follow executing. In a fact everything is fine but I don't know if that colour is related with memory lack...

     

    2)                        When you creates a new variable by default appears Int32 as datatype and if you begins to write the contents, i.e alfabetic stuff, then you lose that contents


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
     enric vives wrote:

     

     

    2)                        When you creates a new variable by default appears Int32 as datatype and if you begins to write the contents, i.e alfabetic stuff, then you lose that contents

     

    It has to default to something.  Don't blame SSIS for your mistakes!


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
     enric vives wrote:

    something else...

     

     

     

    2)                        When you creates a new variable by default appears Int32 as datatype and if you begins to write the contents, i.e alfabetic stuff, then you lose that contents

     

    Eh? Why are you trying to write alphanumerics into an int? Why is this SSIS's fault?

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:
    just see all the posts about ODBC destinations

     


    ------------------------------------
    Reply:

    Hi,

     

    yeah, I perfectly understand that I cannot enter 'ABC' inside a integer datatype..

     

    I meant, when you inadvertently writes alphabetic contents when you've got Int32 as default datatype and then wants to change to String datatype you lose all that contents.

     

    Just an appreciation.

     

    Easier in my own tongue language, I'm sorry.

     

    Thanks!!


    ------------------------------------

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