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Leveraging the DPAPI to encrypt sensitive configuration settings

It is very common that an application will need to store settings in a configuration file and then later retrieve the value of those settings. Quite often, one or more of these settings will be sensitive in nature; such as API keys, database connection strings, or perhaps mail server passwords. Protecting sensitive data is a…

SmtpClient is obsolete! The new way to send emails from your .NET app…

InProgramming

In the past, when you needed to send emails from a .NET app, the built-in SmtpClient class was typically the most appropriate tool for the job. However, for some time now the .NET Framework SmtpClient class has not been the recommended option for new development. In this article, I review how the .NET SmtpClient can…

SQL query things you keep forgetting

InSQL

When working with SQL databases, you may find there are things you need to do which although seemingly basic on the surface, are easy to forget due to nuances in query syntax and the required ordering of statements. For these situations, it is useful to have a working example to refer to which reminds you…

How to create and fire a SQL Server Trigger

InSQL

When implemented correctly, SQL Server Triggers are a powerful mechanism for adding useful functionality to a database without the need to change any application code. In this article, I look at what a SQL Server Trigger is, a template for defining a new Trigger and possible use cases. A few facts You may already be…

Protecting access to gRPC services with Auth0

InAPIs

Having already introduced the concept of gRPC services and having walked through how to consume a gRPC service using .NET Core, I’m now going to cover the next most fundamental topics; authentication and authorization. For production applications, your API endpoints are normally going to be available publicly and therefore they need to be protected from…

How to consume a gRPC service using .NET Core

InAPIs

In a prior post, I introduced the key concepts behind using gRPC to develop an RPC service and walked through the process of creating a sample project. In this article, I build on the previously discussed topics by adding an additional service and a client to the sample project. After reading through the content below,…

Getting to grips with gRPC… A gentle introduction

InAPIs

Before we begin, here’s a quick definition of the term “Get to grips” to mull over. to make an effort to understand and deal with a problem or situation If you’re looking into micro-service communication options for a greenfield project, gRPC is a great place to start. In this article, I take a first look at…

How to generate a random string with C#

InProgramming

On occasion, during day-to-day programming, the problem I am working on requires the generation of a random sequence of characters. For example, when dealing with some sort of account entity, the account might require a unique account reference to be specified upon its creation. Considering this scenario, it would be inconvenient for the end-user to…

XML Serialization with C#

InProgramming

Today JSON has taken over the role of XML for many scenarios, however, XML is still in very wide usage. XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language and has been a stalwart for data interchange since the year 1998. It has been adapted over time to solve many different problems related to programming. In this article,…

How to parse the name parts from a full name using SQL

InSQL

Sometimes I come across situations where I need to extract the individual parts of a full name from a database record that relates to a person e.g. a customer or an employee. This may be part of general application logic or perhaps something that needs to be carried out during a database migration. For example,…

Leveraging the DPAPI to encrypt sensitive configuration settings

SmtpClient is obsolete! The new way to send emails from your .NET app…

SQL query things you keep forgetting

How to create and fire a SQL Server Trigger

Protecting access to gRPC services with Auth0

How to consume a gRPC service using .NET Core

Getting to grips with gRPC… A gentle introduction

How to generate a random string with C#

XML Serialization with C#

How to parse the name parts from a full name using SQL

How to catch and parse a SQL Server Duplicate Key Exception

How to publish a .NET application as a standalone executable file

Encrypt directories and file names within a zip archive using 7-Zip