Friday, March 31, 2006

Error converting data type varchar to datetime

Of the errors you can get in software, the two most basic errors are a syntax error, and a data type error. Neither of these have anything to do with actual program logic, but are caused by not doing the most basic of things that can be done when you program. This is the type of incorrect coding that should never be done, and certainly is only a work product of the most junior of programmers. The data type error is again one of the most basic things that can be tested by the testing team, so it should never make it to production software.

Good software engineering is an iterative process that involves cycling through requirements, coding, testing, and deployment. These most basic of errors are indicative of software teams that do not follow best practices.

While attempting to access http://aff.dbpn.com/aff_home.aspx, for use with Doyle's Room, I got an error. A data type error, "Error converting data type varchar to datetime."

It sems if you press the "update" button without first selecting dates, you get this untrapped error.

Error converting data type varchar to datetime.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Error converting data type varchar to datetime.

Source Error:


An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web
request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be
identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[SqlException: Error converting data type varchar to datetime.]
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream) +740
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader() +41
AffMan.aff_home.DoReport() in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\AffMan\aff_home.aspx.cs:59
AffMan.aff_home.btnUpdate_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\AffMan\aff_home.aspx.cs:105
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e) +108
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.System.Web.UI

.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +57
System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent

(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) +18
System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) +33
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +1292

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2032; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2032

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Ticker Annoyance

In Doyle's Room, I find the ticker at the bottom of the window to be very annoying. First of all, I don't like the "motion". Secondly, I can't actually read anything there if I wanted to.

The ticker looks like it was some "nifty" gadget some young programmer saw and said, hey let's put this in here. If there was some way to remove it, I would. An option choice, like with show avatars, don't show avatars would be nice. I'd simply turn it off. It serves no purpose other than to annoy me. This leaves me wondering what wisdom declared that some people do not want the avatars, but all people want the ticker. I can't imagine the avatars being offensive at all, and they certainly are far less offensive than the ticker.

The ticker just said "of the games we offer". That is all that was there. The rest had scrolled off the screen. As far as I can tell, there is no way to recover the message. It is gone. There was once a message about "trivia games" but I never saw the message, only a portion of it. As much as I'd like a feature to get rid of the ticker, what I would like even more is a feature to be able to read the ticker.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

My Tourneys Annoyance

Doyle's Room is full of minor inconveniences such as the problems with the "My Tourneys" section of the Multi-Tourney screen. The "status" columns do not update at all on their own. To get a tourney status to update, you have to go to that specific area where you found the tournament originally (Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha H/L), then come back to "My Tourneys". It will then update in a few seconds. If you have Tourneys from three different areas, then you have to do this three times.

Absolutely not the worst problem they have, but far from a good design.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Affiliate Server Error

I received the following error trying to get statistics from the Doyle's Room affiliate server.

Server Error in '/' Application.

Timeout expired.
The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding.

Description:
An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details:
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding.

Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:
[SqlException: Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding.]
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream) +740
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader() +41
AffManAdmin.Agent.GetInfoForDates() in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\affmanadmin\agent.cs:829
AffMan.aff_rep.DoPage() in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\affman\aff_rep.aspx.cs:83
AffMan.aff_rep.Button1_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\affman\aff_rep.aspx.cs:309
System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button .OnClick(EventArgs e) +108
System.Web.UI .WebControls.Button .System.Web
.UI.IPostBackEventHandler. RaisePostBackEvent (String eventArgument) +57
System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent (IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) +18
System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) +33
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +1292

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2032; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2032

Monday, March 27, 2006

Doyle's Room GUI

The Graphical User Interface in Doyle's Room leaves a lot to be desired. But I like the way the cards appear otherwise.