In this post, I’m going to share how you can insert data via the C# SDK library provided by Microsoft and also for those who are not using C# or with a .NET background, good old raw HTTP methods. In my previous post Getting started with Azure Search, I talked about inserting data into a search index using Data Sources and Indexers. This is more of a pull model, as we are pulling data from a data source into an index....

If you have any search background experience such as Lucene or Elastic Search, you will most likely be able to relate to how Azure Search works and the components that are provided to enable you to create a search service. However, if you have not, fear not, it is not a pre-requisite, it just gives you a little head start. Main components of Azure Search Azure Search is made up of 3 main parts....

This is going to be a quick post, but I just wanted to share how you can do a one time bulk import to a Azure Cosmos DB if you have a json file that contains all your documents. You don’t need to install any software and this option is available in the Azure Portal as well as the local Azure Cosmos emulator portal. Log into the Azure Portal https://portal.azure.com or use your local Azure Portal https://localhost:8081/_explorer/index....

If you have ever attempted to download the Azure Cosmos Emulator msi 2.7.2 or later from Microsoft but have come across an error which says: “Installer is no longer responding.” Something like this: You are not alone. You may not actually get this error immediately. In fact, for me, I only saw this dialog about 20 minutes after I double-clicked the msi installer. You may also noticed a text file in the same location of the installer with an error log such as this:...

Application Insights is Microsoft Azure’s monitoring offering for not just dotnet apps, but Node.js and Java as well. It can be easily integrated into web based and console based applications as well as mobile apps. Application insights can track and monitor live statistics and metrics such as http requests rates, response times, exceptions and more. Once integrated, there is a wealth of information in the Application Insights section within the Azure Portal....

MassTransit is a free and open-source library that helps you build message-based applications and services in .NET. At the time of writing, it supports RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus, and AmazonSqs. MassTransit provides a framework that makes it easy to send and publish messages as well as receiving them. If you’ve ever had to incorporate a messaging system such as RabbitMQ or Azure Service Bus, you may find yourself, like me, writing wrappers or abstractions around it....

Writing Unit and integration tests are generally composed of setting up relevant test data, carrying the actual execution of the test, and finally making assertions. All this can be summarised as the AAA syntax. That is, Arrange, Act, and Assert. With AutoFixture, it can significantly save you time by taking away the tedious part of stubbing and arranging test data. The best way to describe this is to show a traditional test example followed by how it can be replaced with AutoFixture....

This guide is primarily aimed at UK Citizens and Europeans living in the UK who are traveling to China and need to obtain a Visa. If, however, you are of a different nationality in the UK, this guide will still be able to help as the process is very similar. This guide is also for those applying for a tourist visa, which the Chinese Visa Application Center refers to this as n “L” type Visa....

Having used Git for a good few years now, over time I have aquired a list of Git commands. Some very frequent and used daily. Other’s not so much. But, on a certain occasion and the “uh-oh” moment, I find them rather useful to get me out of a pickle. So I thought I should share some common Git commands I use. If you’re new to Git, I found Atlassian’s Git a good start and provides a very good foundation and understanding....

Slack needs little introduction and if you’re familiar or aware, they also have apps within Slack that help you with your workflow and day-to-day tasks. If you can’t find an app from the official Slack App directory, you can always build your own. In this post, I’ll be covering how to build a simple Slack app which get’s the latest crypto prices using a third party API and displaying them in Slack....