| Downloads |
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| 49584.zip |
1. Perspectives
2. This & That
3. Script Watch
4. Scripter's Toolkit
5. Events and Resources
6. Featured White Paper
7. Announcements
1. Perspectives
by Karen Bemowski, [email protected]
How Many Hats Do You Wear?
If you're like most IT staff, you wear multiple hats in your company. It's
not uncommon, for example, for IT staff to wear the hat of a Windows systems
administrator as well as the hat of a database administrator (DBA) or
Exchange administrator. For this reason, Scripting Central provides
information about how to write code for not only Windows OSs but also
applications that run on those OSs, such as Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft
Exchange Server.
If your job includes wearing the DBA hat, you'll probably be interested in this month's winner of the "Mighty Mini" contest. Arthur Zubarev's winning script, QueryTable.vbs, queries a table on a local or remote database server and displays that table's contents in a browser. This script also demonstrates how you can use VBScript code to query a SQL Server database. You can read about this script in the "Scripter's Toolkit" section.
If you wear the DBA hat, you'll probably also be interested in learning that SQL Server Magazine has just launched its redesigned Web site. The site's new design features a cleaner layout, improved navigation, and improved search capabilities so that you can get SQL Server-specific results to your queries.
Even if you're not responsible for any databases, the launch of the redesigned SQL Server Magazine Web site might be good news for you. Like IT staff, the Web staff at Penton Media wears many hats. These hard-working folks are responsible for not only the SQL Server Magazine Web site but also the Code Central Web site (as well many other sites). With the redesign project completed, they'll be working on Code Central full force. If all goes well, when you receive the April 7 edition of Scripting Central, it'll feature a headline that reads "Code Central Now Open for Business."
2. This & That
ActivePerl Provider Sold
ActiveState, which provides the popular ActivePerl, ActiveTcl, and
ActivePython scripting engines, has been sold by Sophos to a new company
called ActiveState Software. This new company is jointly owned by ActiveState
employees and Pender Financial Group. As an independent entity, ActiveState
will continue to develop and support its programming tools, language
distributions, and enterprise support services for dynamic languages. For
more information about this acquisition, go to http://www.activestate.com/Corporate/Communications/Releases/Press1140209595.html.
The "Mighty Mini" Contest Continues
Have you written any scripts that are short in length but long on results?
Do you have a script that has saved you lots of time or perhaps saved the day
when an emergency arose? If so, submit your short script to Scripting
Central's "Mighty Mini" contest. The script can be written in any scripting
language.
Three "Mighty Mini" contest winners will be chosen (one a month for three
months). Each winner will receive $100 and get his or her script published in
Scripting Central and in Windows Scripting Solutions. In addition, the three
winners will be put into a drawing for another $100.
To enter the "Mighty Mini" contest, send a description of what your
script does and how to use it, including how readers can customize it for use
in their environment. In addition, please include the script file. You
can email your entry and script to [email protected]. Please
include your full name and telephone number.
You can find the winning script for the first month in the "Scripter's
Toolkit" section. Look for the second month's winner in the April 7 edition
of Scripting Central.
3. Script Watch
Script Automatically Changes Local Account Passwords
Every computer on a network that's running Windows NT 4.0 or later--with
the exception of an Active Directory (AD) domain controller (DC)--has a local
SAM database that contains local user accounts and passwords. One part of
effective security is to make sure that the passwords for these local
accounts, particularly accounts that are a member of the Administrators
group, are changed regularly. Bill Stewart wrote a script, SetLocalPass.js,
to help with this task. Learn more about the SetLocalPass.js script in the
article "Set Local Account Passwords" in the April issue of Windows Scripting
Solutions.
T-SQL Procedure Obtains Information About the Size of Transaction Logs
Microsoft SQL Server supplies the sp_SpaceUsed stored procedure for
getting information about databases. With this procedure, you can obtain the
current database's name, size, and amount of unallocated space, reserved
space, space used by data, space used by indexes, and unused space. However,
sp_SpaceUsed doesn't provide information about the transaction log's size or
the amount of used space in it. Thus, Eli Leiba wrote the sp_LogSpace stored
procedure. By compiling sp_LogSpace in a master database and calling it from
an updated version of sp_SpaceUsed, you can extend the ability of
sp_SpaceUsed to obtain transaction log statistics. Learn more about the
sp_LogSpace stored procedure in the Web-exclusive Reader to Reader article
"Extend the sp_spaceUsed Procedure's Usefulness in Obtaining Transaction Log
Statistics" at http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/49252/sql_server_49252.html.
4. Scripter's Toolkit
Editor's note: Arthur Zubarev is the first winner of the "Mighty Mini" contest. His VBScript script queries a SQL Server database table and displays the table's contents in an HTML file.
Mini Script Displays Tables' Contents
I wrote a short script, QueryTable.vbs, that queries a table on a local or
remote database server and displays that table's contents in a browser. I
needed this script when I was visiting a remote machine with no client
database access tools but needed to see contents of certain tables.
Here's how QueryTable.vbs works: After declaring the database and table variables and setting database connection parameters, the script connects to the specified table and retrieves the table's fields and their values. The script then creates the QryResults.html file and writes the table's contents in that file.
To use this script, you need to customize the DataSrc, DBName, sTable variables' values in QueryTable.vbs. You can download this fully commented script by clicking the 49584.zip hotlink at the top of this Web page. QueryTable.vbs is fully customizable and not limited just to one type of table or one type of database server.
5. Events and Resources
Dev Connections Conferences and Expos
Dev Connections provides world-class education for developers, architects,
DBAs, and IT professionals:
Collaboration in Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition
Learn why new features in Windows Server 2003 R2, including large
clustering, increased RAM, and 64-bit support, make it the ideal platform for your collaboration tools. Live event: March 28; 12:00 pm EST
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/seminars/microsoft/collaboration/?parterref=0301emailannc
Getting Started with Meeting Email Compliance Requirements
Find out what policies help or hurt in protecting your company's assets and data. View this on-demand seminar today!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/seminars/compliance/?partnerref=0301emailannc
Achieve High Availability in Real Time
Implement real-time processes in your email and data systems--you could
also win an iPod Nano!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/toolkits/xosoft/index.cfm?code=0301emailannc
6. Featured White Paper
Complying with the PCI Data Security Standard
Get the tips you need to prepare for and comply with the PCI Data Security
Standard, including how to define the 12 major requirements and how those
requirements affect IT.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/bindview/pci?code=0301emailannc
7. Announcements
Exclusive March Offer
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Save 44% Off the Windows Scripting Solutions Newsletter
For a limited time, order Windows Scripting Solutions and SAVE up to
$30 off the regular price. You'll get 12 helpful issues loaded with
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