SubSonic: New Code Samples And A SubStage Walkthrough
Thursday, July 10, 2008 -
I don't think I'll ever escape people telling me our docs suck, but I can always try :). Today I kicked up 3 new pages on our project site that are just the start of a barrage of "how-to" information so I get the word out.
Substage
Not many people know what SubStage is. Eric created it as a sort of "IDE" to help you configure your provider and generate code - as well as audit your database for "unconventional weirdness". It's a visual tool and it's very, very groovy.
I made a 6 minute webcast to show it off - I love it. You can view it here.
Querying
Our new query tool is loaded with all new ways to do things. This page here is a small sample of all the different ways you can run Select queries. There are more pages coming, and if you'd like to see more, please do tell me.
Aggregates
I tried to make this API as simple as possible - but it's really not easy. Here's a rundown on how to create Aggregate queries.
I'm committed to writing as much as possible and if you'd like to help - I'd love it if you could blog something you know how to do and I'll cross-post it (if you don't mind).
I love the discovery aspect of the properties windows. Very professionally done tool btw.
Conventional documentation may be lacking, but if the intellisense were better you could "escape people telling you the docs suck", or at least have less people telling you that.
For instance, the OrExpression, what does it do? Perhaps in intellisense you could also write that it will create "(OR column". Then by looking at the intellisense, you should be able to piece together the first query and run with it as a new user.
Also, I discovered by accident that SqlQuery.ToString() is very helpful. I just create my queries in the immediate window at first and check it with ToString(). That might help some people.
Just a quick note: the About section on the subsonic project site still mentions 2.0.3 as the latest stable release...
Any possiblity of getting an updated SubSonic Starter Site?
I appreciate the effort. :-)
I'm a little wary of the "post cool stuff on your blog and I'll cross-reference" approach though. What SubSonic needs is a good, one-stop knowledge base, and one that Rob and gang don't have to write all by themselves. I think this forum post
forums.subsonicproject.com/.../3481.aspx
has proposed an excellent solution to the "docs suck" problem, which would easily allow the whole community to fix said problem. ;-)
Awesome! Keep up the great work.
Here is a quick blog post on using the new Query tool to build "select in" type queries: blog.tech-cats.com/.../using-select-in