Learn ODBC : Getting Connected

In this set of articles we will learn how to write code that will allow you to connect to tables within a database. We will show you how to connect to Data collection tables as well as normal SQL tables and show you the four things that you will need to do with them, find, Delete , update and export the records. This first article will teach you how to connect to a Data Base using the ADO object.

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Clean a specified Context of HTML

Ever wanted to get rid of the html from a specific context? Have you needed to create a clean MDD and get rid of the annoying characters that are messing up your Reports for survey tables? If the answer is yes to either one or both of these questions then you should read this article. In it we explain how to open up your MDD  file in your dms script and clean the metadata of all those unwanted characters before you export the data.

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Quick Question : What spec hardware should I buy?

Recently we where asked what spec hardware should we buy for our new Data Collection Interview Server setup, and we had to honestly reply we don’t know, but we know people that might have an in stite on some rules that they used. So … When you purchased your setup , how did you decide what hardware to buy? Did you use any sort of sizing calculator or was it just a guess?

If you did not use any sort of calculator, but have a setup in use and its working for you, what spec machines do you have , how many emails do you send out , and what is your response rate for WEB and CATI ?  How many questions do you have on average in your surveys? What does DimensionNet or Interview Administrator say your max con-currents are ?

We would love to hear from you be it from a comment on this article or a email to admin@smarterDimensions.com if you are willing to send us all your IVW* log files ( from all servers in the cluster )  then that would be great , we plan to run some articles on how we can write programs to read these and work out actual concurrency and then perhaps come up with a sizing calculator. So anything you send us will help us write a realy cool set of articles and scripts. We promise that all confidentiality will be kept and no names will be given as to whose setup is who’s

Regards
The Smarter Dimensions Team.

PS We cannot do this without your input !!

2010 : Its time to have your say.

Happy New year and welcome to 2010.

Its must be said that we did not think we would still be here after over a years worth of articles but we have enjoyed getting this far and want to make the next year ever better than the last. One thing we have noticed is that not many  of you have commented on the content of this site  or asked us to write any specific articles on certain content and we wonder why? Have we got it so right that you don’t want or need to say anything ? Do you feel you cannot say anything ? We really want to hear what you have to say. This site is as much yours as it is ours and we want to know what you think. Do you like the job post’s via twitter ? What do you think about the user forums or the code corner ? Do you use LinkedIn , does it work for you ? Are we posting the what you want or is there something else you want to see ?

Please let us know and lets make 2010 an even better year.

Regards
The Smarter Dimensions Team