April , 2005  

  In This Issue

All articles have been reprinted with the written consent of their respective authors.

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We currently host Pipetalk boards for Oracle DBAs, Oracle PL/SQL, DB2 and MySQL. Log on and join the Pipeline community of database professionals today!

Free Utilities

Compiling Triggers
 Material Dreams

This procedure compiles all triggers in the specified schema. This process only takes place in the server and therefore is usually is much faster then other spooling based scripts.

Click here for the script.
 
DB2

Six Security Secrets Attackers Don't Want You to Know
 By Aaron C. Newman, Application Security Inc.

How secure is your data? Looking at your information management resources through a would-be intruder's eyes can help you find (and fix) vulnerabilities.

When E. F. Codd developed his relational data model in 1970, the business world was a different place. Almost 35 years after his seminal work appeared, RDBMSs that sprung from Codd's ideas are the standard for storing corporate information. And, with government and industry regulations dictating what kinds of information companies have to store, manage, and audit (and for how long), protecting this information is more important than ever.

Click here for the article.  

Oracle Development

Refactoring for PL/SQL Developers
 By Steven Feuerstein

What is refactoring?

Most PL/SQL developers stay very busy building applications. As a result, relatively few explore the wider world of software programming, in which the topic of refactoring is known.

Refactoring, to quote the book Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler et al. (Addison-Wesley, 1999), "is the process of changing a software system in such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of the code yet improves its internal structure. . . . It is a disciplined way to clean up code that minimizes the chances of introducing bugs. In essence when you refactor you are improving the design of the code after it has been written."

Click here for the article.
 

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Microsoft SQL Server

Changing SQL Server Passwords
 By David Weber, ORCS Web, Inc.

Most security experts' recommendations include changing passwords frequently to enhance security. It is easy to change the password on a SQL Server Username via Query Analyzer. Changing the password with Query Analyzer makes it easy to coordinate changing the password on the database server at the same time as it is changed in the connection string. This approach provides the flexibility to change the password at the most appropriate time for the application.

Click here for the article.
 

MySQL

VB Without Data Binding; A Better Way
By Robert Rowe

I answer a large number of questions from people having problems with their Visual Basic programs. Once I have the details of their situation I find that many people are using Data Binding techniques. While Data Binding is a powerful technique, it can also lead to many problems that would not otherwise exist. My efforts to explain this have ranged from difficult to impossible. The purpose of this article is to detail what Data Binding is, why it should be avoided and how to write VB programs without it.

Click here for the article.

Note: This article was previously published on VB/MySQL.com.  

Project Management Tips & Techniques
Managing a Dispersed Project Team
Tom Mochal, www.tenstep.com 
Each month, Tom Mochal, President of TenStep, Inc. presents project management tips and techniques for planning and managing a project. TenStep, Inc. has a comprehensive, scalable project management process called TenStep (www.TenStep.com), as well as a project lifecycle process called LifecycleStep (www.LifecycleStep.com). Pipeline readers receive 20% off any TenStep or LifecycleStep purchase by entering the coupon code of "Pipeline" in their purchase.

When you are building the network diagram, you will find that all of the activities in the work breakdown structure are related to at least one other activity. In many cases, the relationships will involve more than two activities. 

The most common precedence relationship is when one activity cannot start until another activity has finished. This is referred to as a Finish-to-Start relationship. However, there are four ways that one or more activities can be related to another one.

Click here for more information on managing a dispersed project team.
 

News & Events

Free Webcasts
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Tips of the Month
Oracle DBA Tip of the Month:  Preventing Oracle from Using an Index
PL/SQL Tip of the Month:  Running Hierarchy Queries Against DUAL
DB2 Tip of the Month:  Reduce RUNSTATS Impact on System Performance
SQL Server Tip of the Month: SQL Server Page Splits
MySQL Tip of the Month: Reusable Script to Send a Query to MySQL
Puzzle

Interactive Crossword Puzzle: "Batman"
 

 
1 Down - Oracle, for Example		 Test your knowledge with the Pipeline Newsletter's Monthly Crossword Puzzle. 

Click here to Play!
Regular Features

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