Clearcase was blowing up for me when I tried to create a view.  As this article pointed out, something else was configured for the TCP/IP configuration (looking in winmsd).  That something was this guy.  So, go to add/remove programs, remove it (a roughly 15 minute ununinstall, then reboot), and you’ll be all set.

Today turned out to be a fun day installing sql server 2005 dev edition today.  The machine already had Sql express 2k5 installed from the Dell factory (or would have anyhow after the VS 2005 install i did). The problem occured when I tried to install anything greater than express (namely, sql server 2005 dev or standard edition(s)).  I intially had to back everything out of the machine to get it to stop complaining about the need to upgrade, and then once those were gone, the OWC11 portion kept failing (apparently Office Web components).  Those things looked installed, via a glance in add/remove programs (plus reflecting on the zillions of other machines with various installations with which never had this problem).  Googling, I found articles about temp file locks and such, so I cleaned up files, directories, and rebooted and such.

This blog entry turned out to be the simple solution. 

Thanks to this guy’s article, which shows a decent way to hide reporting service’s export formats from the report viewer, without making global changes to the entire server and such.  If you look at the code, his sample requires a reference to the ReportingServices2005 stuff, so here’s a slight modification of one of his routines which removes that dependency (additionally, we subclassed the ReportViewer itself, but the decorator pattern used in the article is equally compelling): private void ReflectivelySetVisibilityFalse(RenderingExtension extension)
{
FieldInfo info = extension.GetType().GetField(“m_serverExtension”,
BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
if (info != null)
{
object actualExtension = info.GetValue(extension);
if (actualExtension != null)
{
PropertyInfo propInfo = actualExtension.GetType().GetProperty(“Visible”);
if (propInfo != null && propInfo.CanWrite)
{
propInfo.SetValue(actualExtension, false, null);
}
}
}
}

I’m reading this book right now and enjoying it big-time.  It also makes me realize how much i’ve been missing out by not pushing javascript much harder.  The book takes you through the lower-level details of Ajax, such that when you use something higher level , then you can appreciate/understand a bit more of the magic behind the scenes.  Anyhow, a good read and a relevant skill for any current web developer to have.

If you have any reporting beyond trivial needs, I urge you to avoid Sql Server Reporting Services.  For example, if you want

• A templating mechanism (like a “Master Page for reports”…Data Dynamics has this)
• A Theming/styling mechanism
• The need to have reports dynamically pull from different databases
• The need to have available report parameter values dynamically pull from different databases
• Need data items in headers/footers
• Want a viewer that is’nt [broken and..] married to the workflow of creating reports
• An API for the report definition language

Then go buy a solid reporting technology (some of this may be alleviated with Sql 2008, but many will not).  I suggest looking at Data Dynamics.