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- TechRepublic Author Biography
I am currently an Intranet developer at a major health insurance company based in Kentucky. We're working on a business intelligence portal that merges an internally-built BI tool with Oracle Portal. Before that I worked nearly 10 years for the company that publishes this Web site, CNET Networks.- more about Rex Baldazo »
TechRepublic Resources
- Using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services variables from a Script Task
- If you've written a SQL Server 2005 Integration Services SSIS package that uses variables, you may have occasion to manipulate those variables within a Visual Basic script task. Unlike much of SSIS, there's not really a visual editor to help you with this part. In my opinion, the process is...
- Tags: Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Variable, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Databases, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-04-28
- Creating variables in SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
- SQL Server 2005 Integration Services SSIS is really well thought out in terms of how it supports user-created variables inside the packages you create. It is, however, not always that intuitive how to create, consume, and manipulate those variables. So I'm going to take my next couple of blog posts...
- Tags: Task, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Variable, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Databases, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-04-14
- What bargains did you find at CompUSA?
- I figure that most of us who write code for a living are probably gadget geeks at heart, so I assume that many of you went to your local CompUSA during its closing days. Sunday was the final sale at the two stores here in the Nashville area....
- Tags: Retail Price, Recorder, CompUSA Inc., Games, Consumer Electronics, DVD, Taxes, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Financial Planning, Finance, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-03-06
- How my memory of Ada code influences my current .NET code
- The following is not a recommendation on how to perform this type of concurrent programming. Given my complete lack of experience in this stuff, it's probably more of a case study in how not to implement this type of feature. This is more of a meditation on how my early...
- Tags: Web, Database, Microsoft .NET, Idea, Web Service, Memory, Code, Ada, Programming, Channel Management, Web Services, Programming Languages, Storage, Marketing, Enterprise Software, Software, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Hardware, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-03-02
- SQL Server 2005 Integration Services makes a good first impression
- You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This aphorism applies to so many things -- dating and job interviews come to mind. It also applies to software, which I was reminded of when I got to use SQL Server 2005 Integration Services SSIS for the first...
- Tags: Oracle Corp., Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Oracle Data Integrator, Productivity, Databases, Enterprise Software, Java Development Tools, Software, Data Management, Development Tools, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-02-20
- SSIS has a strange little bug with set rowcount
- Last week, I described how impressed I was with my first experience using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services SSIS. Well, I've run into a quirk with the way SSIS handles certain SQL constructs. It doesn't make me change my overall impression of SSIS, but it's enough to take the bloom off the rose....
- Tags: OLE DB, SQL, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Programming Languages, Databases, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-02-25
- Installing Oracle on Linux is too difficult
- Even though I'm not working in an Oracle environment any longer, I still want to maintain and expand my Oracle skills. Since I don't have a company-sponsored Oracle database to use now, I needed to set up an Oracle database myself. I thought I'd use a Linux box for Oracle...
- Tags: Oracle Corp., Linux, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, UNIX, Open Source, Software, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-02-12
- Is it okay to pronounce URL as a single syllable?
- I'm starting a new job in a couple weeks, and so I'm in transition at my current job. I've been spending all my time in meetings, debriefing the various people who are taking over the bits and pieces of all the projects I'm working on. In many of...
- Tags: Job, Recruitment & Selection, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-01-27
- Handling HTML multi-selects in PL/SQL
- Dealing with HTML multi-selects in Oracle's PL/SQL is a bit trickier than I'd like. Depending on how many items the user picks out of the multi-select, you either get back a simple VARCHAR2 object or a special array object. This means you have to write two separate methods to deal...
- Tags: Method, HTML, PL/SQL, Programming Languages, Databases, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-01-19
- I can't get a zero-length string in PL/SQL
- One of the things I wind up doing a lot in my code is looping thru some data structure -- say an HTML option list or a SQL result set -- and concatenating the results into a single string so that it can be printed to a text file or...
- Tags: Problem, PL/SQL, Comma, String, selectedOptions, Programming Languages, Databases, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-01-13
- A little JavaScript + Google Charts = quick pie charts
- I admit that I'm a bit of a political junkie. The primary reason I have cable TV is so I can watch CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Like all political junkies, I was glued to the coverage of the Iowa caucuses this week. CNN kept flashing pie charts...
- Tags: Google Inc., JavaScript, Value, Pie Chart, innerHTML, Scripting Languages, Software/Web Development, Web Development, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2008-01-05
- My Christmas wish is more open source for programmers (and an ultralight MacBook for me)
- I haven't posted to this blog for a few weeks mostly because I've been slammed at work trying to help stabilize our Oracle Portal system that kept crashing every few days. We appear to have gotten a handle on it after spending a ton of time and money. But this...
- Tags: Wish, Apple MacBook, IP Address, Programmer, Portals, Development Tools, Networking, Open Source, Internet, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-12-21
- Poorly written LDAP code can really affect your Portal
- Oracle Portal uses Oracle Internet Directory OID to power authentication (single-sign-on, SSO) and authorization. OID is an LDAP directory server, and even though the underlying implementation is an Oracle database, the only supported interface to access the directory information is thru LDAP. So to port some of the authentication and...
- Tags: Connection, Portal, Oracle Internet Directory, LDAP, Directory Services, Portals, Enterprise Software, Software, Internet, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-11-30
- Configuring SQL Developer for MySQL
- I rant against Oracle products a lot in this blog, but I have to admit I actually like a few of their products. One of them is SQL Developer. Strangely though, the feature I kind of like best is that SQL Developer can connect to non-Oracle databases like MySQL. This makes...
- Tags: Developer, Oracle Corp., MySQL, SQL, Databases, Open Source, Programming Languages, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-11-27
- Setting up a bbPress dev environment with XAMPP
- I'm lazy, so when it comes to my personal Web sites, I tend not to do the right thing and set up a dev environment first. Instead, I just deploy stuff and work on the templates directly in my live Web site. I keep copies of the templates locally before I...
- Tags: Database, Environment, Domain, Site, phpMyAdmin, Storage, Databases, Hardware, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-11-19
- Blogs Oracle developers should bookmark
- Well, once again, I did not get to attend Oracle OpenWorld. I would like to attend the event at least one time because I'm sure some of those sessions would provide much better documentation than the selection found on the Oracle Technology Network. One of the reasons why I am so...
- Tags: Oracle Corp., Oracle Developer, Blog, Blogging, Databases, Internet, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-11-12
- Sometimes a variables table is better than hard coding into a package
- When writing PL/SQL packages, there are times where it's better to store a variable in a table instead of coding it into the package. It's most useful for a variable that you might want to change fairly often. If you put such a variable directly in the package (either...
- Tags: Variable, Programming Languages, Databases, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-10-31
- A surfeit of caches
- A cache is useful in theory. By storing a temporary copy of some page or image, the servers can deliver it faster to the client computer. But if you've ever been stuck trying to debug a problem related to caches, you quickly realize that computer science types have gone overboard...
- Tags: Web, Oracle Corp., Server, Portal, Akamai Technologies Inc., Portals, Web Technology, Channel Management, Servers, Internet, Marketing, Hardware, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-10-23
- Switching Oracle Portal to a new database is easier than Oracle Tech Support says
- If you do not have to support an Oracle Portal, consider yourself lucky. We recently ran into a problem that forced us to quickly move to a new metadata database. Once again, the lousy Oracle documentation, coupled with lousy Oracle Tech Support, had us believing it would be a week-long...
- Tags: Repository, Database, Oracle Corp., Oracle Application Server Portal, Server, Portal, Metadata Repository, Test, Portals, Web Technology, LDAP, Internet, Directory Services, Enterprise Software, Software, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-10-15
- Should I make Google part of the programmer's interview?
- I've noticed lately that even though everybody in IT uses Google, not everybody knows some of the quick basic tips that can really help when trying to zero in on the answer to a particular search. It's gotten to the point that I'm seriously considering adding some Google questions into...
- Tags: Google Inc., Search, Programmer, Development Tools, Portals, Databases, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Internet, Enterprise Software, Software, Data Management, Rex Baldazo
- Blog posts 2007-10-09
