What is Instant Share?

wagesj45

I see the feature listed under the File menu, but I cannot find any documentation as to what it is, or what it does. Does it share queries only, or DB schemas as well? Where does it upload to? Can you control those or turn them off?

Sorax

Hit Ctrl + Shift + U and it uploads your query, including reference, namespace and connection information, to a server. It then gives you a link that others can use to open your query in their LINQPad.

Here's a query I just shared. You'll notice the NuGet reference will be automatically retrieved:
http://share.linqpad.net/cm5q78.linq

wagesj45

That's pretty awesome. Are there any ways to set up your own host/server for these? I'd love to be able to set up an instant share where I work.

Are there any ways to control the privacy settings on these queries in case they contain sensitive information, or is sharing of that kind of query just not a good idea?

Sorax

It looks like the share endpoint isn't configurable.

If your connection uses names and integrated security I don't think there's much concern. If a password is needed maybe some concern but the password is encrypted. If the query body contains tokens, passwords or anything else sensitive I think it'd be best not to use this feature.

JoeAlbahari

Connection passwords are redacted before uploading (and are encrypted anyway).

You should consider avoiding having passwords or sensitive strings in the query text itself - whether or not you plan to use the "Instant Share" feature. Instead, call Util.GetPassword. This stores passwords securely via the Windows Data Protection API, and ensures that if someone gains access to your queries or your PC, they can't see your passwords. Util.GetPassword also lets you centralize passwords, so that you can change or delete a password for many queries in one place (File | Password Manager).