Don't use SQL Server 2000 Table Variables

SQL 2k's table variable is handy in some ways -- less locking required during transactions, fewer sproc recompiles than temp tables. However, I don't recommend using table variables because:

• Table variables cannot be defined using User Defined Types. We use UDTs frequently to enforce consistency in even the smallest dbs. Table variables force you to break this best practice and reverse its benefits.
• Unclear that the variable is a table. The # (or ##) prefix of temp tables gives immediate indication that it is a table. Although good naming conventions could be used to reduce this, naming conventions aren't validated by the compiler.

Power Blogger?

Am I a power blogger or what? It's only been 6 MONTHS since my last entry. Oh yeah -- all over this bloggin' thing.

MS Enterprise Library for GAC

Since I need to use E/L for several apps on a current project, I want to GAC the whole thing. I also want to make it easy for all the devs (of course). Easy solution, right? Just create an installer to gac the E/L assemblies. Well, I had more trouble than one would expect. One of the major hurdles was fairly obscure, so I want to record it here.

Update App Config After GAC'ing Enterprise Library

The biggest gotcha I ran into is that using the E/L config tool for an application sets PublicKeyToken=null in the reference info. This will cause exceptions similar to "Logging.Configuration.ConfigurationException" to occur. To correct this problem, add the PublicKeyToken from the GAC for each E/L assembly to the appropriate location in the app's config files.