Moving a repository from one server to another is not something one typically does, so it’s good to know the (few) steps involved to make migration a smooth transition.

On the source computer:

svnadmin dump /path/to/repository > repository-name.dump
tar zcf repository-name.tgz repository-name.dump
scp repository-name.tgz hostname:/path/to/new/repository

On the destination computer:

cd /path/to/new/repository
svnadmin create repository-name
tar zxf repository-name.tgz
svnadmin load repository-name < repository-name.dump

Once complete, disable the old repository before testing, to ensure all linkage to the new repository is updated.

When setting up a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 system, I went through the motions to set up IIS, MS SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2010 to use as a test-bed.

One of the immediate benefits of setting up such a system is that most development can be done remotely: MS SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio’s Web development suite, as well as file shares, remote desktop, etc, make for a great way to remotely develop in ‘pristine’ conditions.

But there are drawbacks, too, such as needing to deal with firewall issues, not being able to penetrate past a router or the requirement of setting up a VPN.

One of the problems I encountered when trying to remote into the MS SQL Server 2008 that I’d set up was the following error:

Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 – Could not open a connection to SQL Server

I followed the below steps, and was able to connect to the server after just a few moments of tinkering:

1. From the server in question, surf to this Microsoft article, and download and install the Firewall rules modification program. Never drop your firewall, even on a development machine, unless you have a really good reason to.

2. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Navigate to SQL Server Network Configuration, then Protocols for your server name. Enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes by right-clicking and choosing Enable for each given Protocol Name.

3. Restart the SQL Server service from Services (or from command line, subsequently run “net stop mssqlserver” then “net start mssqlserver”.

4. Try your remote connection once more, and you should be able to connect.

It’s not a terribly difficult concept, but one of the more challenging tasks developers face is dealing with environment setup. And while there is a certain blurred-line overlap between software development and server administration, sometimes the latter is daunting, especially given that you might set up only a handful of servers during your career.

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Embedding fonts; the holy grail of web designers.

Microsoft, since 1997, has enabled web designers to embed fonts in websites, with some caveats. First, the utility they provide to convert .ttf files to .eot, is dated to function in Windows 98. Fast forward 13 years, I have been unable to get this tool to not crash in Windows 7. Second, this utility seems to want to connect to an IIS server (which is useful for about one-quarter of websites).

For Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera, .eot files are not required, and web developers may instead utilize the standard .ttf file format … except CSS rules involving .ttf files don’t work in Internet Explorer!

Fortunately, with some craftiness, it is possible to solve both these problems, as explained below.

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What is Adobe Version Cue?

Quite simply, Adobe Version Cue (along with its partner-in-crime, Adobe Drive) is a different method of managing your CS-created files. Version Cue enables the Project Manager, Graphic Designer, Web Developer, and Web Designer to coexist in the same project workspace.

One of the challenges of working with others (and indeed, even when flying solo) is the difficulty of managing projects, and files within projects. How many different versions of folders, PSDs, CSSs, etc, from the same project do you have stored on your desktop or laptop? I’m willing to bet your answer is somewhere north of “just one”!

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