Sara Ford's Weblog
My adventures embracing open source on CodePlex and at Microsoft
How to set a string to null using the Watch Window in Visual Studio .NET 2003
An interesting customer question came my way about how to set a string to null in the Watch Window...
Author: saraford Date: 08/25/2005
Welcome Visual Studio Developer Center Visitors!
Just a little background on Tip of the Week… Sean and I started “Tip of the Day” on my blog back in...
Author: saraford Date: 08/23/2005
The best day of Graham's life - Sheep Herding
Graham, our 1 year old sheltie, had the best day of his life at https://www.ewetopia.com where they...
Author: saraford Date: 08/23/2005
Biography
I am Software Design Engineer in Test (SDET) on the Visual Studio Core team. I've been on the team...
Author: saraford Date: 08/21/2005
Finally, after 15 years, I’m going for black belt!
It’s the pre-black belt exam, or what’s called the “pre-shodan” exam, that’s coming up in three...
Author: saraford Date: 08/19/2005
Did you know… How the Configuration Manager works - Part 2
Now that you know the different between solution and project configurations, let’s move on to the...
Author: saraford Date: 08/18/2005
I’ve moved to the Project / Solution Team!
As of a month ago, I’ve officially transferred to the Project and Solution team under VS Core! ...
Author: saraford Date: 08/18/2005
Did you know… How to use Project Templates
What are Project Templates Project templates are sample projects you can use to create new projects,...
Author: saraford Date: 08/17/2005
See you at PDC!
Sweet… I’m going to PDC!! After missing out on the fun at TechEd, I made sure it was crystal...
Author: saraford Date: 08/17/2005
Did you know… How to add a Linked Item to a project
You learn something new every day, and this is what I learned today – Linked Items. Even in...
Author: saraford Date: 08/16/2005
Did you know… That you can hide the solution and advanced build configurations
Under Tools – Options – Projects and Solutions – General, there are options for both Always show...
Author: saraford Date: 08/16/2005
In for the Shock of His Life
My husband and I awoke early Saturday morning hearing a painful yelp with a huge thud from under the...
Author: saraford Date: 08/15/2005
Did you know… How to build a solution from the command lineI
I’d recommend using the Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt from All Programs – Microsoft Visual...
Author: saraford Date: 08/11/2005
Did you know… How to specify the default location for newly created projects
Just under Tools – Options – Projects and Solutions on the General page, you can specify the default...
Author: saraford Date: 08/11/2005
5 Tips for surviving as a Tester
These tips apply for all testers, not just Microsofties. What other tips would you include in...
Author: saraford Date: 08/10/2005
Good Luck Discovery
I almost stayed up last night to watch the landing, but fell asleep. Maybe tonight I’ll stay...
Author: saraford Date: 08/09/2005
Taught my first karate class all by myself
I’m getting ready to test for 1st kyu, again, for the third attempt (first two attempts failed due...
Author: saraford Date: 07/28/2005
How le Tour de France works - everything beginners want to know
I’ve been asked this question so many times this week, and now I just heard it asked by the guest on...
Author: saraford Date: 07/28/2005
How do I become a personal trainer when I grow up?
If anyone out there is a personal trainer, I’d love to find out how to get started. Which books to...
Author: saraford Date: 07/28/2005
Did you know… How to modify what gets saved before building?
Go to Tools – Options – Projects and Solutions – Build and Run page. The first combo box is...
Author: saraford Date: 07/26/2005
Looking for Visual Studio .NET 2003 Tips and Tricks? – here’s a book for you
Minh Nguyen wrote a collection of Tips and Tricks for 2002 and 2003, with some 2005 Beta 1 tips...
Author: saraford Date: 07/26/2005
Accessibility and Interviewing
Gretchen is curious what your experiences have been like, either as the interviewer or...
Author: saraford Date: 07/22/2005
Did you know... How to optimize your Tool Window Debugging layout
If you’re dealing with callstacks only 5 lines deep, you’ll probably like the current layout –...
Author: saraford Date: 07/22/2005
Did you know... How to have fun with MSO Command Bar Customizations you didn't know existed
Well, maybe you knew these existed, but I didn’t =) Double-clicking the Move Control On the...
Author: saraford Date: 07/22/2005
Did you know... How to optimize Visual Studio for Multi-Monitor setups
Update 7/20 @ 11:53pm: We have a bug: Please vote and leave your suggestions / feedback at...
Author: saraford Date: 07/20/2005
Yippee!! You can now view all VS Tips and Tricks from this category!
Community Server was only returning the last 20 or so posts in a category until recently. The full...
Author: saraford Date: 07/01/2005
Did you know… How to have Help appear within Visual Studio instead of Dexplorer
In Visual Studio .NET 2003, the default was for the help system to appear within Visual...
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… How to use Ask a Question
In Beta2 dexplorer, you’ll notice in an Ask a Question button on the standard toolbar. ...
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… How to import and export your help doc and search Favorites
Once you have created a set of help doc and search favorites, you can now share them among friends...
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… How to add help docs and searches to your favorites
In Visual Studio .NET 2003, your help docs were saved to your IE Favorites. In Visual Studio...
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… you can sort Help Search results by…
In Beta 2, on the Search page, you can sort by the following: Rank Source Contains Code Locale The...
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… Finding Help in the MSDN Library
This tip comes from Elona on the Visual Studio User Education team....
Author: saraford Date: 06/30/2005
Did you know… How to select / reorder Help Search Providers
In Visual Studio 2005 Help Search page, you’ll see a list of search provides listed on the...
Author: saraford Date: 06/28/2005
Spoiler Free!! My thoughts on the dark tower - part 2
I reread The Dark Tower last week. The book wouldn’t stop staring at me from across the room for...
Author: saraford Date: 06/26/2005
Spoiler Warning!! My thoughts on the dark tower – part 2
If you've found this page directly through your favorite search engine, be prepared - this post...
Author: saraford Date: 06/26/2005
Did you know… How to create Task List shortcuts
Under Edit – Bookmarks, you’ll see a disabled “Add Task List Shortcut” menu item. This menu...
Author: saraford Date: 06/24/2005
My autobiography from a former life? – Bread Givers
Bread Givers – from the back cover “Sara Smolinsky was the daughter…” My maiden name is “Smolensky”,...
Author: saraford Date: 06/24/2005
Did you know… How the Miscellaneous Files project works
Under Tools – Options – Environment – Document, there are the following options Show Miscellaneous...
Author: saraford Date: 06/24/2005
Did you know... What C# books to read
I asked around on the C# team what they recommend reading… Getting started Anders, Scott & Peter...
Author: saraford Date: 06/24/2005
Did you know… How to create temporary projects (Zero-impact Projects)
We have this new feature in Whidbey called Zero-Impact Projects. It allows you to create...
Author: saraford Date: 06/23/2005
Did you know… you can create your own How do I pages
In Whidbey, we have a feature called How Do I. I’ve explained it on this other post. And...
Author: saraford Date: 06/22/2005
Batman Begins is awesome
Holy cow! Batman Begins far exceeded my expectations. Well, maybe my expectations were...
Author: saraford Date: 06/22/2005
Did you know… How to use How Do I
(New Whidbey Feature). You have a task in mind, but don’t know how to do it. How Do I...
Author: saraford Date: 06/16/2005
Did you know… How to use F1 to get Help?
Once upon a time, a computer programmer drowned at sea. Many <insert occupation here>...
Author: saraford Date: 06/16/2005
Can’t wait for the juggling festival!
https://www.cascadejugglers.org/festival/index.shtml
Author: saraford Date: 06/16/2005
Got a tip of the day suggestion?
If you have a suggestion, send it my way! It doesn’t have to be a blog entry, just send the tips and...
Author: saraford Date: 06/14/2005
Did you know… How to tabify lines and convert spaces to tabs and vice versa
In Whidbey, there are four commands that involve converting spaces to tabs and vice versa Edit –...
Author: saraford Date: 06/14/2005
Gretchen is totally cool and we’re all proud of her
Gretchen is my hero. You see, I don’t take risks. I’m too afraid to ride my bicycle on the side of...
Author: saraford Date: 06/10/2005