Try Some New Tools This Month

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  • I use the sysinternals suite of utilities virtually every day. I'm more like a production dba and troubleshooter then a developer. I'd like to start using a wikii at home, though I haven't found the one to start on yet.

  • Greetings,

    I remember using DropBox back when it was still beta. Definitely a great program to have. Unfortunately, I can't use it at my current worksite. A few programs that I do use are IrfanView (link)[/url] and NotePad++ (link)[/url]. IrfanView is a speedy graphics viewer with some simple editing abilities. I use it for converting graphic types or saving screen shots easily. Also works fast when loading and viewing a directory of graphic files. NotePad++ is a very nice multi tabbed text editor with a large number of options and extras. One of the few text editors that can do columnar cut and paste. Both of these programs carry a cost that is suitable to the thrifty developer or DBA - FREE! 😀

    Take care all.

    Terry Steadman

  • I like several free apps...

    doPDF7... virtual pdf print driver or cutepdf

    foxit reader... quick pdf reader

    7zip... for compression

    Q-dir... alternative to windows explorer

    Agent ransack... alternative search tool; not indexed

  • Free Tools:

    Notepad ++

    CSVed

    gpg4win

    FileZilla

    WinSCP

    Mercurial

    TortoiseHg

    SQLite

    Mono

  • The Most important piece of software I have is VMWare Workstation, I have used it for over 10 years and don't think I could compute with out it

  • As a jr. SQL dev, I had never gotten the chance to use some of the redgate tools. Earlier this month I checked out SQL Search (http://bit.ly/e6JRtf), and wow, just wow! Hopefully in the future I will get to be able to use some of their non-free stuff 😎

    Also, starting up my own company with some buddies of mine we had a need for free project collaboration/management (startup with no angel fund... just yet!). So after scoping and exploring for something that was so easy a dingo could do it (buddies are not tech savvy), I came across two sites that rock!

    For coordination of tasks, schedules, events, files, etc, we started using www.hitask.com. It is fantastic and free! Very user friendly. Never once did I have to read the help page except for a few advanced stuff recently.

    For collaboration we found www.vyew.com. Thanks to the kids at berkely on this one! Simple, awesome, and amazing whiteboard-style meeting web app. Not only can you do mic/webcam for meetings, but also import files, pics, screenshots, or webpages and doodle/write on them. Plus the awesome whiteboard and... its free.

  • Andy, speaking of Password Managers. The best FREE Password Manager I have found is KeePass. A DBA has to manage alot of changing passwords and he/she has to have a good secure repository to keep them and this is the best I have found yet and it is FREE and OSI certified as well. It also has a great Password Generator too. 😀

    http://keepass.info/

    "Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"

  • Notepad++

    RedGate SQLCompare

    RedGate SQLSearch

    All are indispensible tools in my book.

  • The utility I use more than any other is SlickRun, a command/application launcher that saves me a ton of time every day. By typing a two or three-letter combination, I can launch any application, URL, folder -- anything!

    http://www.bayden.com/slickrun/

  • The ones I use all the time at work are:

    - ClipCache[/url] - saves everything you put in the clipboard and allows you to put in folders for later re-use (I even bought this for my home use)

    - HyperSnap[/url] - allows you to do a variety of screen captures (the one I use the most is the region "box" that I draw); the best part is you can setup shortcut keys for all the various capture options you want

    - Beyond Compare[/url] - super fast compare utility that will do entire directories faster than most do 2 files; can also live as a right-click option within Windows Explorer ... great timesaver (also have this at home)

    - and of course - RedGate's SQLPrompt (used on SQL 2005 - may not be as needed in 2008?) and SQLSearch

  • Oh yeah! Beyond Compare is incomparable! We use it all the time and I couldn't live without it!

  • Some of these are tools I have had for years and may have changed names...

    HappyFish - ERD Diagram

    MyGeneration - Similar to CodeSmith

    AdeptSQL Diff - Database Compare Utiliity

    OpenProj - Project Management

    yEd Graph Editor - Process/Flow Charts

    Mockup Screens - Quick wireframe design

    QlikView - Business Intelligence

  • I'll second some previous nominations along with others:

    My Can't live without tools:

    - Beyond Compare

    - KeePass

    - Launchy

    - ScitTE

    - AutoHotKey

    My other standbys:

    - IrfanView

    - Notepad2 (for portable editing on other machines)

    - 7zip

    - Foxit PDF Reader

    - Agent Ransack

    - Filezilla

    - Sysinternals Suite

    - SQL Compare/SQL Packager

    - SQL Complete Express Edition

    And then there is the glue to make everything work .. scripts.

    I am absolutely dependent on my scripts. They are mostly self-developed, in a variety of scripting languages as suitable for the task at hand; batch file, PowerShell, Perl, VBScript

  • I'm looking forward to trying many of those!

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