Geocode Locations Using Google Maps v3 API and SSIS

I wanted to do a cool experiment on SSIS that I haven’t tried before. I am really interested in this whole mapping component on SSRS, and I know that most likely the biggest challenge of companies is how to geocode addresses that are already in their databases. So what I wanted to do was to try and retrieve lat/long information from public geocoding web services within SSIS.

Please note that the exercise below is purely for experimentation. Please read the restrictions of each of the geocoding services, and go with whichever is appropriate for your purpose.

Also this is a simplistic code to show you how to get the latitude/longitude information. On your own versions, test thoroughly and add the appropriate exception handlers.

Ok, let’s start.

BlackNinja Posts: Invoking Javascript and Impersonating Users in SharePoint

I just wrote a couple of SharePoint posts at the Black Ninja Software blog:

How to Programmatically Impersonate Users in SharePoint
– this post shows how you can programmatically execute code in another user’s context, and you can do this by getting a handle to that user’s UserToken

How to Invoke Javascript Snippets Without Using RegisterClientScriptBlock
– this post shows how to invoke and change Javascript code without needing to register that code. This approach uses asp:Literal

And in case you missed this one:
SharePoint Readiness Checklist – Reposted

The Case of the Missing Create GUID Tool (guidgen.exe) from Visual Studio 2005

The Create GUID tool is often found under the Tools menu.

The actual binary – guidgen.exe – is supposed to be in

C:Program FilesMicrosoft Visual Studio 8Common7Tools

Apparently if you did not install Visual C++ when you were installing Visual Studio 2005, you are not going to get guidgen.exe.

I didn’t install Visual C++ in any of my VMs (trying to conserve space, plus I don’t use it anyway), which explains why my Create GUID tool is missing.

There might be a better way to do (perhaps browse through the Visual Studio 2005 install files?) but my workaround is to copy guidgen.exe from one of my other Visual Studio 2005 installs.