Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

Some folks like firing up applications from the command line - the macho way. These commands are good to know when you also have to open system apps programmatically. Accessibility Controls - access.cpl Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl Administrative Tools - control admintools Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt Calculator - calc Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc Character Map - charmap Check Disk Utility - chkdsk Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd Command Prompt - cmd Component Services - dcomcnfg Computer Management - compmgmt.msc Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl DDE Shares - ddeshare Device Manager - devmgmt.msc Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* - directx.cpl Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag Disk Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc Disk Partition Manager - diskpart Display Properties - control desktop Display Properties - desk.cpl Display P

Every group (in MS) has personas. In the developer tools, we have Mort, Elvis, and Einstein. These guys are respectively, the typical VB developer, the typical C# developer and the typical MC++ developer. We have a detailed description of them in very specific vivid detail, which include not only the relevant job habits, but also their lifestyles (how they have fun, what they do on weekends). These get very specific, that you wonder if they are talking about a real person. I had a quick read of the profiles a long-time ago and I don't remember any of the details, but I reconstruct some probable personas based on my own intuition. Mort is your most common developer, who doesn't have a CS background, may even be a recent newcomer, and doesn't quite understand what the computer is doing under the covers, but who writes the dinky IT programs that make businesses run. Elvis, more knowledgeable, cares about code quality, but has a life too. Einstein writes some serious-ass piece

The good news about .NET Framework 2.0 is that unhandled exceptions , no matter where they come from, now cause termination of the app. There are basically five ways I've identified so far that enable you to deal with UE's (Unhandled Exceptions): 1. Putting Application.Run() in try-catch block 2. Using Application.ThreadException event 3. Using AppDomain.UnhandledException event 4. Add registry entry to pop up JIT Debugger 5. Use ADPLUS in crash mode with debug symbols installed. From Peter Bromberg's article Getting Better Information on Unhandled Exceptions