November 16, 1999

ANSI Join vs. WHERE Clause Join

Question: Is there a technical or logical difference between using an ANSI style join and specifying the join using the WHERE clause? Is there a general preference to either method, or is it solely dependent on your shop’s standards? Answer: No, there is good reason to adopt the new convention.

Missing the Calendar Folder

Question: I have set up an Exchange mailbox in Outlook 2000, but I am missing some folders. I can only see the Deleted Items, Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items folders. The one I really need is the Calendar folder. Why can’t I see those other folders? Answer: I’m betting that

Database Normalization/Design

Question: I have the following fields: productid, category. A product can be in many categories, and a category can have many products. For example, product1 can be under category1 and category2. I don’t want to have to enter a duplicate entry for every new category. Which is the most efficient

Multiple Linking to a Table

Question: I have a main table where there are three fields: UserID, Postal code main, Postal code sub. I have a second table where there are two fields: Postal code, description. I want to create a new table with these two tables. This new table will have three fields, like

Changing the Color of Command Buttons

Question: Is there a way to make command buttons appear in the color I choose, rather than the color selected in Windows > Display Properties > Appearance > 3DObjects? Command buttons have no BackColor property and the documentation says that colors for some items, such as system menus, cannot be

Preventing VFP Shutdown During Logoff

Question: I have a Visual FoxPro 5.0 application that I installed to run as a service on an NT server. Everything works fine except for when the user attempts to log off. During logoff, the VFP/service wants to shut down and fails with the message “Cannot quit FoxPro.” How can

Using PSTs to Enhance Performance

Question: In a site that has multiple servers (some top-of-the-line, others border-line) is it better to use PSTs (personal file folders)? In other words, does it enable Exchange to perform better if little-to-no mail is stored on the Exchange servers? Answer: Repeat after me: “In an Exchange environment, PSTs are

Importing Gigabytes of Data from a Flat File

Question: I’m currently working on a data warehousing application using SQL Server 7. The problem I have is that I have to import 610,000 records of mainframe data per day into my database from a flat file. I’m currently using BCP to copy the data into an initial import table,

Basic FoxPro SQL

Question: I’m trying to retrieve eight fields from four FoxPro tables via on-the-fly SQL from an ASP page… and I’m not familiar with FoxPro SQL. The following doesn’t work, but represents what I’d like to pull off: CPSQL = “SELECT Part.SSN, Part.Plan_ID, Part.FirstName & ‘ ‘ & Part.Last_Name AS Name,

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