It's possible with some configurations of SQL server for the transaction logs to grow very large.  This has even at times threatened disk space on some of our customers' servers!  It's an infrequent support request, but to solve this, it's essential to use DBCC SHRINKFILE.  Here's some steps.

Back up your database! 

Launch SQL Server Management Studio.

Open up a query window associated with the database with the large transaction log. (Right-click on the DB and choose new query.)

Get the logical name of the transaction log file.  (Right-click on the DB, select Properties, then in the Files screen, grab the Logical Name... probably ends in something like _Log.)

Execute the following, substituting <log_file_name_Log> with the appropriate logical name of the database log file, no quotes needed:

1. DBCC SHRINKFILE(<log_file_name_Log>)
2. BACKUP LOG <database> WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY
3. DBCC SHRINKFILE(<log_file_name_Log>)

Afterwords, perform a full backup of the database. 

The file should shrink to a ridiculously small shadow of its former self. 

The FogBugz screen shot tool is a pretty simple thing, but you'd be surprised how often people run into difficulty with it.

Luckily, troubleshooting problems is pretty easy.  On Windows, we use the same libraries IE uses, so if you can log onto your FogBugz account with IE, you should be able to use the screen shot tool.

By far the most common mistake happens when people move servers or FogBugz installs. After that, you need to make sure that the FogBugz URL in your screen shot tool points to the right install.  You can find it on the bottom of the screen.

I've got a treat to celebrate Halloween for all the FogBugz fans out there!

I had been intending on creating a blog post about how you can set the various options within a case entry form from within the query string of the URL.  Rather, I created a small submission form to show you how to do it.  I should warn you that I'm most decidedly not a web designer, so this thing is bare bones.  It's so ugly it's scary!

Zombie Watch

The big news here is the sEvent parameter.  We can pre-populate the new case submission form with templates for users to fill in.  Kudos to my coworker Adam for figuring this out. We also figured out (finally) how to set the From address on outgoing emails through the URL.

Constructing one of these URLs or forms requires going to the database or into the code of your submission page to figure out what value to give the parameters.  For the public submission page, the settable params are:

• sTitle
• ixProject
  
• ixArea
• sCustomerEmail
• sVersion
• sComputer
• sEvent

Using the FogBugz Output Accessory with SnagIt

The FogBugz Output is the easiest way to get screenshots into FogBugz.

Download FogBugz.snagacc (249.46 kb)

Configuring the FogBugz Output Accessory:

The only thing necessary to configure the output accessory is telling it the URL for your FogBugz site, so it knows where to submit the screenshots.

From the SnagIt Editor, go to the Send tab and click on the arrow below FogBugz. Choose Options from the menu.

Enter your FogBugz URL:

Capture the Screenshot with SnagIt:

SnagIt includes a huge number of options for capturing and editing images.

Send the Screenshot to FogBugz:

On the Send tab, click on the FogBugz icon to create a new case with the image:

If you are not already logged on to your FogBugz account using Internet Explorer, you will be prompted to log on.

Other Options

Use the Existing Case... menu item to send a screenshot to an already existing case instead of opening a new one.

Use the New Email menu item to send a screenshot as a new email message through FogBugz.

Use the Send Reply menu item to send the screenshot as the reply to an email message received through FogBugz.

Troubleshooting

The FogBugz Output Accessory always uses Microsoft Internet Explorer to transmit the screenshot to FogBugz, even if your preferred browser is set to something else. Therefore, Microsoft Internet Explorer needs to be setup so that it can reach the FogBugz server. If you are having trouble sending screenshots to FogBugz and use a different browser, try running Internet Explorer once, and ensure that it can reach the FogBugz server and get you logged on.

Note that once the screenshot has been transmitted, the FogBugz Output Accessory will launch your preferred browser so that you  can edit and submit the case with the attached screenshot.

Peter Kent of Peter Kent Consulting wrote a nice review of FogBugz, and all the different ways you might use it yourself.  Take a look!

Our very own Jude Allred, one of our interns from last summer, uses iGoogle to keep track of the many tasks he has on his plate.  He came up with a nice way to make FogBugz cases appear on his iGoogle page for easy viewing.  

Have you ever just needed to export a FogBugz filter to CSV to import into Excel or some other application and you really didn't want to figure out the API?  Well, John Januszczak from Meta Software just made that really easy for you.

BugzReport is an open source Windows desktop app that will export any FogBugz filter to CSV files.

In the next version of FogBugz, this action will just be one click, but right now you can do it with the current version using this awesome tool.

Here at Fog Creek, we use searches a lot.  Almost to a fault, I would say.  Searches are so flexible that once we find a search that we like, we just bookmark the results page and use that to see the exact view we want.  But filters are still pretty good.  They allow you to see the exact columns you want, allow you to limit the number of rows returned, among other things. 

What a lot of people don't know is that you can mix searches into filters.  I make frequent use of the color:blue search term, which shows me only things that I haven't looked at since they've changed.  It's a great way of staying on top of what's going on in a given area.  Filters only allow you to check the box that specifies "Only items viewed by me" and not it's reverse.  However, you can simply add "color:blue" to the "Search for" field and voila!: only the freshest cases.

1. Create a shortcut to your screenshot.exe program under c:\program files\fogbugz\screenshot
2. Right click the shortcut and choose "Properties..."
3. Add /picture to the end of the target - making it "C:\Program Files\FogBugz\Screenshot\screenshot.exe" /picture
4. Assign a hot key to the shortcut.
5. Drink a lemonade.

FogBugz 6.x will work fine on Windows 2008.  The only things you need to do are

1. Install IIS 7 (it doesn't come preinstalled) and check off the boxes for .NET/ASP/CGI/etc
   
   
   
2. Disable DEP by typing "bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff" on a command prompt. And then make sure you reboot afterwards.
   
   
   

Morten Nisker, from the CS dept at Aarhus University, has created a FogBugz plugin for the CMS Typo3.

All of the Feedback Links on the website send a new case message via the API to their FogBugz installation.

All you need to backup, in order to backup FogBugz, is your FogBugz database.  Here's instructions on how to back up that database depending on how you have FogBugz installed and what type of database you are using.

On Demand

If you are using FogBugz On Demand, there is no need for you to back up your database.  We are constantly taking snapshots of your database and shipping them to our other data centers in case of a catastrophe.  We are also taking nightly backups.  You can read more about our FogBugz On Demand Infrastructure on our website.  If you still need to grab a backup for testing purposes, or reporting purposes, you can do so by going to Settings->Your FogBugz On Demand Account.  You'll find a link there which allows you to download your database.

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft has a knowledge base article on how to back up your SQL Server database.  You can find the physical server your database is on by looking under Settings->Site->Database tab in FogBugz.

MySQL

MySQL has a knowledge base article on how to back up your MySQL database.  You can find the physical server your database is on by looking under Settings->Site->Database tab in FogBugz.

Access

To make a backup of your Access database, you just need to copy the .mdb file you are using.  You can find the physical location of your database by looking under Settings->Site->Database tab in FogBugz.