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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, November 02, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, November 02, 2012Popular ReleasesVST.NET: VST.NET 1.0: Long overdue, but here is version 1.0! The zip contains the Debug and Release binaries for x86 and x64 as well as .NET 2.0 and .NET 4.0. Note that the samples sources are not included in the release. Refer to "Building the Source Code" to get them working in the Visual Studio Express editions. The documentation will be uploaded later... Changes: Removed nuget and fixed samples copy operation (*.exe). Finalized build automation support. Bug fixes in VS templates. Compiled and Packaged n...DevTreks -social budgeting that improves lives and livelihoods: DevTreks Version 1.0: This is the first production release.Mouse Jiggler: MouseJiggle-1.3: This adds the much-requested minimize-to-tray feature to Mouse Jiggler.Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.10.0 Release Candidate: This is a Release Candidate, which means that if we do not find any major issues in the next week, we will release this version as the final release of 4.10.0 on November 9th, 2012. The documentation for the MVC bits still lives in the Github version of the docs for now and will be updated on our.umbraco.org with the final release of 4.10.0. Browse the documentation here: https://github.com/umbraco/Umbraco4Docs/tree/4.8.0/Documentation/Reference/Mvc If you want to do only MVC then make sur...Skype Auto Recorder: SkypeAutoRecorder 1.3.4: New icon and images. Reworked settings window. Implemented high-quality sound encoding. Implemented a possibility to produce stereo records. Added buttons with system-wide hot keys for manual starting and canceling of recording. Added buttons for opening folder with records. Added Help button. Fixed an issue when recording is continuing after call end. Fixed an issue when recording doesn't start. Fixed several bugs and improved stability. Major refactoring and optimization...Access 2010 Application Platform - Build Your Own Database: Application Platform - 0.0.1: Initial Release This is the first version of the database. At the moment is all contained in one file to make development easier, but the obvious idea would be to split it into Front and Back End for a production version of the tool. The features it contains at the moment are the "Core" features.Python Tools for Visual Studio: Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5: We’re pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5 RTM. Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python language. PTVS supports a broad range of features including CPython/IronPython, Edit/Intellisense/Debug/Profile, Cloud, HPC, IPython, etc. support. For a quick overview of the general IDE experience, please watch this video There are a number of exciting improvement in this release comp...Devpad: 4.25: Whats new for Devpad 4.25: New Theme support New Export Wordpress Minor Bug Fix's, improvements and speed upsAssaultCube Reloaded: 2.5.5: Linux has Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit precompiled binaries and Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit precompiled binaries, but you can compile your own as it also contains the source. If you are using Mac or other operating systems, please wait while we try to package for those OSes. Try to compile it. If it fails, download a virtual machine. The server pack is ready for both Windows and Linux, but you might need to compile your own for Linux (source included) Changelog: Fixed potential bot bugs: Map change, OpenAL...Edi: Edi 1.0 with DarkExpression: Added DarkExpression theme (dialogs and message boxes are not completely themed, yet)DirectX Tool Kit: October 30, 2012 (add WP8 support): October 30, 2012 Added project files for Windows Phone 8MCEBuddy 2.x: MCEBuddy 2.3.6: Changelog for 2.3.6 (32bit and 64bit) 1. Fixed a bug in multichannel audio conversion failure. AAC does not support 6 channel audio, MCEBuddy now checks for it and force the output to 2 channel if AAC codec is specified 2. Fixed a bug in Original Broadcast Date and Time. Original Broadcast Date and Time is reported in UTC timezone in WTV metadata. TVDB and MovieDB dates are reported in network timezone. It is assumed the video is recorded and converted on the same machine, i.e. local timezone...MVVM Light Toolkit: MVVM Light Toolkit V4.1 for Visual Studio 2012: This version only supports Visual Studio 2012 (and all Express editions too). If you use Visual Studio 2010, please stay tuned, we will publish an update in a few days with support for VS10. V4.1 supports: Windows Phone 8 Windows 8 (Windows RT) Silverlight 5 Silverlight 4 WPF 4.5 WPF 4 WPF 3.5 And the following development environments: Visual Studio 2012 (Pro, Premium, Ultimate) Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8 Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone 8 Visual...Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.73: Fix issue in Discussion #401101 (unreferenced var in a for-in statement was getting removed). add the grouping operator to the parsed output so that unminified parsed code is closer to the original. Will still strip unneeded parens later, if minifying. more cleaning of references as they are minified out of the code.RiP-Ripper & PG-Ripper: PG-Ripper 1.4.03: changes NEW: Added Support for the phun.org forum FIXED: Kitty-Kats new Forum UrlLiberty: v3.4.0.1 Release 28th October 2012: Change Log -Fixed -H4 Fixed the save verification screen showing incorrect mission and difficulty information for some saves -H4 Hopefully fixed the issue where progress did not save between missions and saves would not revert correctly -H3 Fixed crashes that occurred when trying to load player information -Proper exception dialogs will now show in place of crashesPlayer Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 (Preview 7): This release is compatible with the version of the Smooth Streaming SDK released today (10/26). Release 1 of the player framework is expected to be available next week. IMPROVEMENTS & FIXESIMPORTANT: List of breaking changes from preview 6 Support for the latest smooth streaming SDK. Xaml only: Support for moving any of the UI elements outside the MediaPlayer (e.g. into the appbar). Note: Equivelent changes to the JS version due in coming week. Support for localizing all text used in t...Send multiple SMS via Way2SMS C#: SMS 1.1: Added support for 160by2Quick Launch: Quick Launch 1.0: A Lightweight and Fast Way to Manage and Launch Thousands of Tools and ApplicationsPress Win+Q and start to search and run. http://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=quicklaunch&DownloadId=523536Orchard Project: Orchard 1.6: Please read our release notes for Orchard 1.6: http://docs.orchardproject.net/Documentation/Orchard-1-6-Release-Notes Please do not post questions as reviews. Questions should be posted in the Discussions tab, where they will usually get promptly responded to. If you post a question as a review, you will pollute the rating, and you won't get an answer.New ProjectsAnother Green World: Another Green WorldApplication Data across Web Farm: A library containing a new version of the HttpApplicationState class that allow the synchronization of data across a web farm. With this library, on the web farm Data can be: • Shared • Auto synchronized • Locked for a useras3 game: it's as3 framework . Context: UIFramework,GameFrameworkBit Moose: Bit Moose is a bitcoin mining assistant program. It allows miners to run under a background windows service. Includes a GUI and console host.BUMO: A TFS Build MOnitoring Tool: BUMO is short name of Build Monitoring tool for TFS. BUMO provides a platform to Monitor TFS builds, Statistics of Builds,View Build History, Clone Builds.cantinho: cantinhoCMTS: CMTSCP866U Encoding: A simple implementation of cp866u encoding class written in C#.D3D9Client: This is a DirectX 9 Graphics Client for Orbiter SpaceFlight SimulatorDatabase Exporter for DotNetNuke By IowaComputerGurus Inc.: Database Exporter is a customized SQL module designed for selects and supports export to XML/CSV of query resultsDistributed Systems at TUM: The initial project is a simple client connecting to a server through sockets. The client may send a message and the server will echo back that message.Enneract Project: Enneract makes it easier for LDS Leadership works in theirs responsibilities through BI techniques.EntityFramework Reverse POCO Code First Generator: Reverse engineers an existing database and generates EntityFramework Code First POCO classes, DbContext and Configuration mappingsfastCSharp: ?????????????????,????????????????????,??????。 ??:????????????????,???????????,???????????。 ??? http://www.51nod.com/topic/index.html#!topicId=100000056Fault Logger!: Fault Logger is a simple web application ideal for schools and small business which allows staff to report computer faults and allows technicians to keep logs.Flow Sequencer: Simple task sequencer using Johnson's algorithm for two and three machines. Client side is made in wpf technology. Free Template Filler (FTF): Tool for generating text from templates, when given parameters. Good for generating code, etc.GameTrakXNA: This project aims to create a simple library to use the unique GameTrak controller within XNA and Flash.Greg DNN Task Manager: This is a test project that I am using to learn about DNN Module Development.GroupToolbar: A Toolbar that can group your items and is totally templatable :)Helper Project: Helpdesk project, using C# .NET, Linq, with Nhibernate ORM and interface written using ExtJS 4.HIPO Legacy Systems Flowcharter: Creates Visio HIPO flowcharts from legacy system batch files.huangli1101: jabbr projectHusqvarna Svishtov: The idea is to create content management system for web site of a small town store.Hybrid Lab Workflow: This workflow allows you to incorporate snapshots into a Build-Deploy-Test using a Standard Environment that is composed of Virtual Machines in TFS 2012.jas: Project to make an application for Jeugdondernemingen Aartselaar Service...keleyi: MD5 C# WinFormKnockout.js Declarations for TypeScript: A set of declarations for intellisense and type completion for Knockout.js in TypeScript. Last edited Today at 8:39 AM by jnosek, version 2List Rollup web part: Hi I was wondering that how to show a list from other site on my home page. But I didn’t get any proper & free solution. So I decided to create a Cross Site LisMidlands Community Management Solution (MCMS): This project is to develop an open source residential community management solution. This initiative has been taken by the IT guys of Srijan Midlands Community.MultipartHttpClient for Windows Phone 7: This is a simple MultipartHttpClient for windows phone 7MyGProject: GprojectN2F Yverdon FirePHP Extension: Extension to add FirePHP support to your N2F Yverdon projects.netbee: ???Over Look Pa Controller: Real World Application for the Collection of Credit Card, Gift Card and Driver License information. Controls access to an Observation Tower via a turnstile.PureSystems DotNetNuke GoSquared tracking module: A DotNetNuke module which adds the GoSquared tracking code to your pages.Quiz Module for DotNetNuke by IowaComputerGurus Inc.: The IowaComputerGurus DotNetNuke Quiz Module is a free extension that allows users to quickly and easily create custom quizzes for their site.RadioSmart: ? ??d??a? t?? radiosmartRSA ID Validation for SQL Server: Solution for validating South African identity numbers. Provides SQL Server CLR bindings which allow identity numbers to be efficiently validated within T-SQLSales Visualization Web App: Sales VisualizationsSonar Connector (Wagga Wagga Christian College Network connector): A network settings manager for Wagga Wagga christian college. Supports switching back and forth settings and can be used for personal use.Stopwatch - Windows Phone: This project is a Stopwatch for windows phone app. Now, it had published in Windows phone store.Study: Study for ExtJS! Come on!Team Foundation Server Test Management Tools: Team Foundation Server Test Management Tools ? Team Foundation Server ???? ???? Visual Studio ??????????????????????????。testdd11012012git01: ttesttom11012012tfs02: gdgf dgf dTimBazinga EVoting: Undergrad project - designing an e-voting software system.TNT Scripts: TNT ScriptsTrombone: Trombone makes it easier for Windows Mobile Professional users to automate status reply through SMS. It's developed in Visual C# 2008.TurbofilmTV: Turbofilm metro is the greate metro app for turbofilm users.VinculacionMicrosoft: Vinculacion Microsoft is a project for distributing Dreamsparks and Faculty Connection codes to students and professors. It is developed in ASP .Net and designed for Universities in Mexico interested in the different benefits that Microsoft has for them. Visual Studio Reference Swap: Winforms app and Nant task that will handle swapping out project references to file references.??????: ??????????: ??

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, December 08, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, December 08, 2012Popular ReleasesYnote Classic: Ynote Classic version 1.0: Ynote Classic is a text editor made by SS Corporation. It can help you write code by providing you with different codes for creation of html or batch files. You can also create C/C++ /Java files with SS Ynote Classic. Author of Ynote Classic is Samarjeet Singh. Ynote Classic is available with different themes and skins. It can also compile *.bat files into an executable file. It also has a calculator built within it. 1st version released of 6-12-12 by Samarjeet Singh. Please contact on http:...Http Explorer: httpExplorer-1.1: httpExplorer now has the ability to connect to http server via web proxies. The proxy may be explicitly specified by hostname or IP address. Or it may be specified via the Internet Options settings of Windows. You may also specify credentials to pass to the proxy if the proxy requires them. These credentials may be NTLM or basic authentication (clear text username and password).Bee OPOA Platform: Bee OPOA Demo V1.0.001: Initial version.Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.78: Fix for issue #18924 - using -pretty option left in ///#DEBUG blocks. Fix for issue #18980 - bad += optimization caused bug in resulting code. Optimization has been removed pending further review.Torrents-List Organizer: Torrents-list organizer v 0.5.0.0: ????? ? ?????? 0.5.0.0: 1) ????? ? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ???????? ?????????? ? ?????? ????????. ??????????????, ????????? ???????, ??? ????????? ???????? ?????? ("???????? ?? ??????"). 2) ????????? ???????? ???????? ???????-??????. ????? ??????, ?????? ??? ?????? ?????????????? ??? ???????-?????. 3) ?????? ??? ??????? ??????? ?????? ? ????? ????????????? ?????????? ???????????, ? ?????????????, ??????? ?????? ????? ?????? ??????????, ?????????? ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ???????? ??????? ? ...fastJSON: v2.0.11: - bug fix single char number json - added UseEscapedUnicode parameter for controlling string output in \uxxxx for unicode/utf8 format - bug fix null and generic ToObject<>() - bug fix List<> of custom typesMedia Companion: MediaCompanion3.508b: Recommended Download - Fixes IMDB title scrape bug and several mc_com movie and actor cache bugs.Measure It: MeasureIt v0.2.1: Updated with lots of bug fixes and support for interactive measurements in LinqPadPeriodic.Net: 0.8: Whats new for Periodic.Net 0.8: New Element Info Dialog New Website MenuItem Minor Bug Fix's, improvements and speed upsYahoo! UI Library: YUI Compressor for .Net: Version 2.2.0.0 - Epee: New : Web Optimization package! Cleaned up the nuget packages BugFix: minifying lots of files will now be faster because of a recent regression in some code. (We were instantiating something far too many times).DtPad - .NET Framework text editor: DtPad 2.9.0.40: http://dtpad.diariotraduttore.com/files/images/flag-eng.png English + A new built-in editor for the management of CSV files, including the edit of cells, deleting and adding new rows, replacement of delimiter character and much more (issue #1137) + The limit of rows allowed before the decommissioning of their side panel has been raised (new default: 1.000) (issue #1155, only partially solved) + Pressing CTRL+TAB now DtPad opens a screen that shows the list of opened tabs (issue #1143) + Note...AvalonDock: AvalonDock 2.0.1746: Welcome to the new release of AvalonDock 2.0 This release contains a lot (lot) of bug fixes and some great improvements: Views Caching: Content of Documents and Anchorables is no more recreated everytime user move it. Autohide pane opens really fast now. Two new themes Expression (Dark and Light) and Metro (both of them still in experimental stage). If you already use AD 2.0 or plan to integrate it in your future projects, I'm interested in your ideas for new features: http://avalondock...AcDown?????: AcDown????? v4.3.2: ??●AcDown??????????、??、??、???????。????,????,?????????????????????????。???????????Acfun、????(Bilibili)、??、??、YouTube、??、???、??????、SF????、????????????。 ●??????AcPlay?????,??????、????????????????。 ● AcDown??????????????????,????????????????????????????。 ● AcDown???????C#??,????.NET Framework 2.0??。?????"Acfun?????"。 ?? v4.3.2?? ?????????????????? ??Acfun??????? ??Bilibili?????? ??Bilibili???????????? ??Bilibili????????? ??????????????? ???? ??Bilibili??????? ????32??64? Windows XP/...ExtJS based ASP.NET 2.0 Controls: FineUI v3.2.2: ??FineUI ?? ExtJS ??? ASP.NET 2.0 ???。 FineUI??? ?? No JavaScript,No CSS,No UpdatePanel,No ViewState,No WebServices ???????。 ?????? IE 7.0、Firefox 3.6、Chrome 3.0、Opera 10.5、Safari 3.0+ ???? Apache License 2.0 (Apache) ???? ??:http://fineui.com/bbs/ ??:http://fineui.com/demo/ ??:http://fineui.com/doc/ ??:http://fineui.codeplex.com/ ???? +2012-12-03 v3.2.2 -?????????????,?????button/button_menu.aspx(????)。 +?Window????Plain??;?ToolbarPosition??Footer??;?????FooterBarAlign??。 -????win...Player Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows Phone 8: This is a brand new version of the Player Framework for Windows Phone, available exclusively for Windows Phone 8, and now based upon the Player Framework for Windows 8. While this new version is not backward compatible with Windows Phone 7 (get that http://smf.codeplex.com/releases/view/88970), it does offer the same great feature set plus dozens of new features such as advertising, localization support, and improved skinning. Click here for more information about what's new in the Windows P...SSH.NET Library: 2012.12.3: New feature(s): + SynchronizeDirectoriesQuest: Quest 5.3 Beta: New features in Quest 5.3 include: Grid-based map (sponsored by Phillip Zolla) Changable POV (sponsored by Phillip Zolla) Game log (sponsored by Phillip Zolla) Customisable object link colour (sponsored by Phillip Zolla) More room description options (by James Gregory) More mathematical functions now available to expressions Desktop Player uses the same UI as WebPlayer - this will make it much easier to implement customisation options New sorting functions: ObjectListSort(list,...Chinook Database: Chinook Database 1.4: Chinook Database 1.4 This is a sample database available in multiple formats: SQL scripts for multiple database vendors, embeded database files, and XML format. The Chinook data model is available here. ChinookDatabase1.4_CompleteVersion.zip is a complete package for all supported databases/data sources. There are also packages for each specific data source. Supported Database ServersDB2 EffiProz MySQL Oracle PostgreSQL SQL Server SQL Server Compact SQLite Issues Resolved293...RiP-Ripper & PG-Ripper: RiP-Ripper 2.9.34: changes FIXED: Thanks Function when "Download each post in it's own folder" is disabled FIXED: "PixHub.eu" linksD3 Loot Tracker: 1.5.6: Updated to work with D3 version 1.0.6.13300New ProjectsAqui Estoy ( IP announcing Tool): Aqui Estoy its a tool that once installed on a computer announces its IP to another computer, so it can be localized, it can be used to find computer that have a dinamic IP. Developed with vb.net and sockets technology. Bing Maps for Windows Store Apps Training Kit: This training kit consists of a power point slide deck which gives an overview of how to create a Windows Store App that uses Bing Maps. BTFramework: Beauty Code FrameworkCAML Builder: Small and simple API which allows you to easily write CAML queries, in a declarative way.Easy sound: Easy sound is a .net tool for managing audio stream in the memory. It joins existing wav streams into single one using different method.EBusiness: Little Prototype of an education ProjectField Validator: Silverlight 3 Field Validator finalproject: Web 2.0 project about Real Madrid Community.fossilGui: Gui for fossil (http://www.fossil-scm.org)HubLog: Tool for application administrator: collects and joins logs from multiple instances of an application, and displays them. Example of usage in C#: the telnet protocol, dynamically compiled functions as elements of configuration.Implementing Google Protocol Buffers using C#: Demonstration for Implementing Google Protocol Buffers using C# Jarvis PSO Course Project: Project for the course Programmazione di Sistema taught @ Politecnico di TorinoL3374tw: Translates text into L337log4net Dynamics CRM 2011 Appender: log4net Dynamics CRM 2011 AppenderNote Garden: Note Garden is my extension to NodeGarden (http://alphalabs.codeplex.com) for Windows Phone 8, using Silverlight. NV2: This library will support playback of v2m files.Paste As Plugin For Windows Live Writer: The Paste As Plugin for Windows Live Writer is a simple plugin which steamlines the pasting of text and HTML into a WLW post.PMS_LSI: PMS LSIPoker Calculator: Monte Poker is poker utility which calculates probabilities of handspostleitzahlensuche: Postleitzahlen Suche C# WPF Applikation; Suche nach Postleitzahlen oder Orten => Liefert als Ergebnis eine Liste von übereinstimmenden Orten mit deren PLZsPythagorean Theorem in WPF: This project shows off using the Pythagorean Theorem in a simple drawing WPF Application. Measuring the distance between 2 objects in WPF can easily be achieved using this approach.Resource management language: This project is a try to create an automata-based resource management language in C#. Resource management means the work with computational resources (possibly threads, processors) in order to execute a program.Resource-Based Economy: A .Net framework to help with the implementation of a global Resource-Based Economy.Sinbiota 2.0 prototype: SinBiota 2.0 prototype is an open source biodiversity information system, which allows the presentation of biodiversity data through an enhanced GIS framework.Snapword: Work in progress.UISandbox: UISandbox is a sample C# source code showing how to deal with plugins requiring sandbox, when those plugins must interact with WPF application interface (classically display child controls inside application window).UnitFundProfitability: This program helps to calculate real profitability of your investments in unit funds. It knows about markdown rate, markup rate, taxes and other payments, which decrease declaring profitability.Z3 Test Suite: Test suite for the Z3 theorem prover.

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  • Down Tools Week Cometh: Kissing Goodbye to CVs/Resumes and Cover Letters

    - by Bart Read
    I haven't blogged about what I'm doing in my (not so new) temporary role as Red Gate's technical recruiter, mostly because it's been routine, business as usual stuff, and because I've been trying to understand the role by doing it. I think now though the time has come to get a little more radical, so I'm going to tell you why I want to largely eliminate CVs/resumes and cover letters from the application process for some of our technical roles, and why I think that might be a good thing for candidates (and for us). I have a terrible confession to make, or at least it's a terrible confession for a recruiter: I don't really like CV sifting, or reading cover letters, and, unless I've misread the mood around here, neither does anybody else. It's dull, it's time-consuming, and it's somewhat soul destroying because, when all is said and done, you're being paid to be incredibly judgemental about people based on relatively little information. I feel like I've dirtied myself by saying that - I mean, after all, it's a core part of my job - but it sucks, it really does. (And, of course, the truth is I'm still a software engineer at heart, and I'm always looking for ways to do things better.) On the flip side, I've never met anyone who likes writing their CV. It takes hours and hours of faffing around and massaging it into shape, and the whole process is beset by a gnawing anxiety, frustration, and insecurity. All you really want is a chance to demonstrate your skills - not just talk about them - and how do you do that in a CV or cover letter? Often the best candidates will include samples of their work (a portfolio, screenshots, links to websites, product downloads, etc.), but sometimes this isn't possible, or may not be appropriate, or you just don't think you're allowed because of what your school/university careers service has told you (more commonly an issue with grads, obviously). And what are we actually trying to find out about people with all of this? I think the common criteria are actually pretty basic: Smart Gets things done (thanks for these two Joel) Not an a55hole* (sorry, have to get around Simple Talk's swear filter - and thanks to Professor Robert I. Sutton for this one) *Of course, everyone has off days, and I don't honestly think we're too worried about somebody being a bit grumpy every now and again. We can do a bit better than this in the context of the roles I'm talking about: we can be more specific about what "gets things done" means, at least in part. For software engineers and interns, the non-exhaustive meaning of "gets things done" is: Excellent coder For test engineers, the non-exhaustive meaning of "gets things done" is: Good at finding problems in software Competent coder Team player, etc., to me, are covered by "not an a55hole". I don't expect people to be the life and soul of the party, or a wild extrovert - that's not what team player means, and it's not what "not an a55hole" means. Some of our best technical staff are quiet, introverted types, but they're still pleasant to work with. My problem is that I don't think the initial sift really helps us find out whether people are smart and get things done with any great efficacy. It's better than nothing, for sure, but it's not as good as it could be. It's also contentious, and potentially unfair/inequitable - if you want to get an idea of what I mean by this, check out the background information section at the bottom. Before I go any further, let's look at the Red Gate recruitment process for technical staff* as it stands now: (LOTS of) People apply for jobs. All these applications go through a brutal process of manual sifting, which eliminates between 75 and 90% of them, depending upon the role, and the time of year**. Depending upon the role, those who pass the sift will be sent an assessment or telescreened. For the purposes of this blog post I'm only interested in those that are sent some sort of programming assessment, or bug hunt. This means software engineers, test engineers, and software interns, which are the roles for which I receive the most applications. The telescreen tends to be reserved for project or product managers. Those that pass the assessment are invited in for first interview. This interview is mostly about assessing their technical skills***, although we're obviously on the look out for cultural fit red flags as well. If the first interview goes well we'll invite candidates back for a second interview. This is where team/cultural fit is really scoped out. We also use this interview to dive more deeply into certain areas of their skillset, and explore any concerns that may have come out of the first interview (these obviously won't have been serious or obvious enough to cause a rejection at that point, but are things we do need to look into before we'd consider making an offer). We might subsequently invite them in for lunch before we make them an offer. This tends to happen when we're recruiting somebody for a specific team and we'd like them to meet all the people they'll be working with directly. It's not an interview per se, but can prove pivotal if they don't gel with the team. Anyone who's made it this far will receive an offer from us. *We have a slightly quirky definition of "technical staff" as it relates to the technical recruiter role here. It includes software engineers, test engineers, software interns, user experience specialists, technical authors, project managers, product managers, and development managers, but does not include product support or information systems roles. **For example, the quality of graduate applicants overall noticeably drops as the academic year wears on, which is not to say that by now there aren't still stars in there, just that they're fewer and further between. ***Some organisations prefer to assess for team fit first, but I think assessing technical skills is a more effective initial filter - if they're the nicest person in the world, but can't cut a line of code they're not going to work out. Now, as I suggested in the title, Red Gate's Down Tools Week is upon us once again - next week in fact - and I had proposed as a project that we refactor and automate the first stage of marking our programming assessments. Marking assessments, and in fact organising the marking of them, is a somewhat time-consuming process, and we receive many assessment solutions that just don't make the cut, for whatever reason. Whilst I don't think it's possible to fully automate marking, I do think it ought to be possible to run a suite of automated tests over each candidate's solution to see whether or not it behaves correctly and, if it does, move on to a manual stage where we examine the code for structure, decomposition, style, readability, maintainability, etc. Obviously it's possible to use tools to generate potentially helpful metrics for some of these indices as well. This would obviously reduce the marking workload, and would provide candidates with quicker feedback about whether they've been successful - though I do wonder if waiting a tactful interval before sending a (nicely written) rejection might be wise. I duly scrawled out a picture of my ideal process, which looked like this: The problem is, as soon as I'd roughed it out, I realised that fundamentally it wasn't an ideal process at all, which explained the gnawing feeling of cognitive dissonance I'd been wrestling with all week, whilst I'd been trying to find time to do this. Here's what I mean. Automated assessment marking, and the associated infrastructure around that, makes it much easier for us to deal with large numbers of assessments. This means we can be much more permissive about who we send assessments out to or, in other words, we can give more candidates the opportunity to really demonstrate their skills to us. And this leads to a question: why not give everyone the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, to show that they're smart and can get things done? (Two or three of us even discussed this in the down tools week hustings earlier this week.) And isn't this a lot simpler than the alternative we'd been considering? (FYI, this was automated CV/cover letter sifting by some form of textual analysis to ideally eliminate the worst 50% or so of applications based on an analysis of the 20,000 or so historical applications we've received since 2007 - definitely not the basic keyword analysis beloved of recruitment agencies, since this would eliminate hardly anyone who was awful, but definitely would eliminate stellar Oxbridge candidates - #fail - or some nightmarishly complex Google-like system where we profile all our currently employees, only to realise that we're never going to get representative results because we don't have a statistically significant sample size in any given role - also #fail.) No, I think the new way is better. We let people self-select. We make them the masters (or mistresses) of their own destiny. We give applicants the power - we put their fate in their hands - by giving them the chance to demonstrate their skills, which is what they really want anyway, instead of requiring that they spend hours and hours creating a CV and cover letter that I'm going to evaluate for suitability, and make a value judgement about, in approximately 1 minute (give or take). It doesn't matter what university you attended, it doesn't matter if you had a bad year when you took your A-levels - here's your chance to shine, so take it and run with it. (As a side benefit, we cut the number of applications we have to sift by something like two thirds.) WIN! OK, yeah, sounds good, but will it actually work? That's an excellent question. My gut feeling is yes, and I'll justify why below (and hopefully have gone some way towards doing that above as well), but what I'm proposing here is really that we run an experiment for a period of time - probably a couple of months or so - and measure the outcomes we see: How many people apply? (Wouldn't be surprised or alarmed to see this cut by a factor of ten.) How many of them submit a good assessment? (More/less than at present?) How much overhead is there for us in dealing with these assessments compared to now? What are the success and failure rates at each interview stage compared to now? How many people are we hiring at the end of it compared to now? I think it'll work because I hypothesize that, amongst other things: It self-selects for people who really want to work at Red Gate which, at the moment, is something I have to try and assess based on their CV and cover letter - but if you're not that bothered about working here, why would you complete the assessment? Candidates who would submit a shoddy application probably won't feel motivated to do the assessment. Candidates who would demonstrate good attention to detail in their CV/cover letter will demonstrate good attention to detail in the assessment. In general, only the better candidates will complete and submit the assessment. Marking assessments is much less work so we'll be able to deal with any increase that we see (hopefully we will see). There are obviously other questions as well: Is plagiarism going to be a problem? Is there any way we can detect/discourage potential plagiarism? How do we assess candidates' education and experience? What about their ability to communicate in writing? Do we still want them to submit a CV afterwards if they pass assessment? Do we want to offer them the opportunity to tell us a bit about why they'd like the job when they submit their assessment? How does this affect our relationship with recruitment agencies we might use to hire for these roles? So, what's the objective for next week's Down Tools Week? Pretty simple really - we want to implement this process for the Graduate Software Engineer and Software Engineer positions that you can find on our website. I will be joined by a crack team of our best developers (Kevin Boyle, and new Red-Gater, Sam Blackburn), and recruiting hostess with the mostest Laura McQuillen, and hopefully a couple of others as well - if I can successfully twist more arms before Monday.* Hopefully by next Friday our experiment will be up and running, and we may have changed the way Red Gate recruits software engineers for good! Stay tuned and we'll let you know how it goes! *I'm going to play dirty by offering them beer and chocolate during meetings. Some background information: how agonising over the initial CV/cover letter sift helped lead us to bin it off entirely The other day I was agonising about the new university/good degree grade versus poor A-level results issue, and decided to canvas for other opinions to see if there was something I could do that was fairer than my current approach, which is almost always to reject. This generated quite an involved discussion on our Yammer site: I'm sure you can glean a pretty good impression of my own educational prejudices from that discussion as well, although I'm very open to changing my opinion - hopefully you've already figured that out from reading the rest of this post. Hopefully you can also trace a logical path from agonising about sifting to, "Uh, hang on, why on earth are we doing this anyway?!?" Technorati Tags: recruitment,hr,developers,testers,red gate,cv,resume,cover letter,assessment,sea change

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  • Why should main() be short?

    - by Stargazer712
    I've been programming for over 9 years, and according to the advice of my first programming teacher, I always keep my main() function extremely short. At first I had no idea why. I just obeyed without understanding, much to the delight of my professors. After gaining experience, I realized that if I designed my code correctly, having a short main() function just sortof happened. Writing modularized code and following the single responsibility principle allowed my code to be designed in "bunches", and main() served as nothing more than a catalyst to get the program running. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I was looking at Python's souce code, and I found the main() function: /* Minimal main program -- everything is loaded from the library */ ... int main(int argc, char **argv) { ... return Py_Main(argc, argv); } Yay python. Short main() function == Good code. Programming teachers were right. Wanting to look deeper, I took a look at Py_Main. In its entirety, it is defined as follows: /* Main program */ int Py_Main(int argc, char **argv) { int c; int sts; char *command = NULL; char *filename = NULL; char *module = NULL; FILE *fp = stdin; char *p; int unbuffered = 0; int skipfirstline = 0; int stdin_is_interactive = 0; int help = 0; int version = 0; int saw_unbuffered_flag = 0; PyCompilerFlags cf; cf.cf_flags = 0; orig_argc = argc; /* For Py_GetArgcArgv() */ orig_argv = argv; #ifdef RISCOS Py_RISCOSWimpFlag = 0; #endif PySys_ResetWarnOptions(); while ((c = _PyOS_GetOpt(argc, argv, PROGRAM_OPTS)) != EOF) { if (c == 'c') { /* -c is the last option; following arguments that look like options are left for the command to interpret. */ command = (char *)malloc(strlen(_PyOS_optarg) + 2); if (command == NULL) Py_FatalError( "not enough memory to copy -c argument"); strcpy(command, _PyOS_optarg); strcat(command, "\n"); break; } if (c == 'm') { /* -m is the last option; following arguments that look like options are left for the module to interpret. */ module = (char *)malloc(strlen(_PyOS_optarg) + 2); if (module == NULL) Py_FatalError( "not enough memory to copy -m argument"); strcpy(module, _PyOS_optarg); break; } switch (c) { case 'b': Py_BytesWarningFlag++; break; case 'd': Py_DebugFlag++; break; case '3': Py_Py3kWarningFlag++; if (!Py_DivisionWarningFlag) Py_DivisionWarningFlag = 1; break; case 'Q': if (strcmp(_PyOS_optarg, "old") == 0) { Py_DivisionWarningFlag = 0; break; } if (strcmp(_PyOS_optarg, "warn") == 0) { Py_DivisionWarningFlag = 1; break; } if (strcmp(_PyOS_optarg, "warnall") == 0) { Py_DivisionWarningFlag = 2; break; } if (strcmp(_PyOS_optarg, "new") == 0) { /* This only affects __main__ */ cf.cf_flags |= CO_FUTURE_DIVISION; /* And this tells the eval loop to treat BINARY_DIVIDE as BINARY_TRUE_DIVIDE */ _Py_QnewFlag = 1; break; } fprintf(stderr, "-Q option should be `-Qold', " "`-Qwarn', `-Qwarnall', or `-Qnew' only\n"); return usage(2, argv[0]); /* NOTREACHED */ case 'i': Py_InspectFlag++; Py_InteractiveFlag++; break; /* case 'J': reserved for Jython */ case 'O': Py_OptimizeFlag++; break; case 'B': Py_DontWriteBytecodeFlag++; break; case 's': Py_NoUserSiteDirectory++; break; case 'S': Py_NoSiteFlag++; break; case 'E': Py_IgnoreEnvironmentFlag++; break; case 't': Py_TabcheckFlag++; break; case 'u': unbuffered++; saw_unbuffered_flag = 1; break; case 'v': Py_VerboseFlag++; break; #ifdef RISCOS case 'w': Py_RISCOSWimpFlag = 1; break; #endif case 'x': skipfirstline = 1; break; /* case 'X': reserved for implementation-specific arguments */ case 'U': Py_UnicodeFlag++; break; case 'h': case '?': help++; break; case 'V': version++; break; case 'W': PySys_AddWarnOption(_PyOS_optarg); break; /* This space reserved for other options */ default: return usage(2, argv[0]); /*NOTREACHED*/ } } if (help) return usage(0, argv[0]); if (version) { fprintf(stderr, "Python %s\n", PY_VERSION); return 0; } if (Py_Py3kWarningFlag && !Py_TabcheckFlag) /* -3 implies -t (but not -tt) */ Py_TabcheckFlag = 1; if (!Py_InspectFlag && (p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONINSPECT")) && *p != '\0') Py_InspectFlag = 1; if (!saw_unbuffered_flag && (p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONUNBUFFERED")) && *p != '\0') unbuffered = 1; if (!Py_NoUserSiteDirectory && (p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONNOUSERSITE")) && *p != '\0') Py_NoUserSiteDirectory = 1; if ((p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONWARNINGS")) && *p != '\0') { char *buf, *warning; buf = (char *)malloc(strlen(p) + 1); if (buf == NULL) Py_FatalError( "not enough memory to copy PYTHONWARNINGS"); strcpy(buf, p); for (warning = strtok(buf, ","); warning != NULL; warning = strtok(NULL, ",")) PySys_AddWarnOption(warning); free(buf); } if (command == NULL && module == NULL && _PyOS_optind < argc && strcmp(argv[_PyOS_optind], "-") != 0) { #ifdef __VMS filename = decc$translate_vms(argv[_PyOS_optind]); if (filename == (char *)0 || filename == (char *)-1) filename = argv[_PyOS_optind]; #else filename = argv[_PyOS_optind]; #endif } stdin_is_interactive = Py_FdIsInteractive(stdin, (char *)0); if (unbuffered) { #if defined(MS_WINDOWS) || defined(__CYGWIN__) _setmode(fileno(stdin), O_BINARY); _setmode(fileno(stdout), O_BINARY); #endif #ifdef HAVE_SETVBUF setvbuf(stdin, (char *)NULL, _IONBF, BUFSIZ); setvbuf(stdout, (char *)NULL, _IONBF, BUFSIZ); setvbuf(stderr, (char *)NULL, _IONBF, BUFSIZ); #else /* !HAVE_SETVBUF */ setbuf(stdin, (char *)NULL); setbuf(stdout, (char *)NULL); setbuf(stderr, (char *)NULL); #endif /* !HAVE_SETVBUF */ } else if (Py_InteractiveFlag) { #ifdef MS_WINDOWS /* Doesn't have to have line-buffered -- use unbuffered */ /* Any set[v]buf(stdin, ...) screws up Tkinter :-( */ setvbuf(stdout, (char *)NULL, _IONBF, BUFSIZ); #else /* !MS_WINDOWS */ #ifdef HAVE_SETVBUF setvbuf(stdin, (char *)NULL, _IOLBF, BUFSIZ); setvbuf(stdout, (char *)NULL, _IOLBF, BUFSIZ); #endif /* HAVE_SETVBUF */ #endif /* !MS_WINDOWS */ /* Leave stderr alone - it should be unbuffered anyway. */ } #ifdef __VMS else { setvbuf (stdout, (char *)NULL, _IOLBF, BUFSIZ); } #endif /* __VMS */ #ifdef __APPLE__ /* On MacOS X, when the Python interpreter is embedded in an application bundle, it gets executed by a bootstrapping script that does os.execve() with an argv[0] that's different from the actual Python executable. This is needed to keep the Finder happy, or rather, to work around Apple's overly strict requirements of the process name. However, we still need a usable sys.executable, so the actual executable path is passed in an environment variable. See Lib/plat-mac/bundlebuiler.py for details about the bootstrap script. */ if ((p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONEXECUTABLE")) && *p != '\0') Py_SetProgramName(p); else Py_SetProgramName(argv[0]); #else Py_SetProgramName(argv[0]); #endif Py_Initialize(); if (Py_VerboseFlag || (command == NULL && filename == NULL && module == NULL && stdin_is_interactive)) { fprintf(stderr, "Python %s on %s\n", Py_GetVersion(), Py_GetPlatform()); if (!Py_NoSiteFlag) fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", COPYRIGHT); } if (command != NULL) { /* Backup _PyOS_optind and force sys.argv[0] = '-c' */ _PyOS_optind--; argv[_PyOS_optind] = "-c"; } if (module != NULL) { /* Backup _PyOS_optind and force sys.argv[0] = '-c' so that PySys_SetArgv correctly sets sys.path[0] to '' rather than looking for a file called "-m". See tracker issue #8202 for details. */ _PyOS_optind--; argv[_PyOS_optind] = "-c"; } PySys_SetArgv(argc-_PyOS_optind, argv+_PyOS_optind); if ((Py_InspectFlag || (command == NULL && filename == NULL && module == NULL)) && isatty(fileno(stdin))) { PyObject *v; v = PyImport_ImportModule("readline"); if (v == NULL) PyErr_Clear(); else Py_DECREF(v); } if (command) { sts = PyRun_SimpleStringFlags(command, &cf) != 0; free(command); } else if (module) { sts = RunModule(module, 1); free(module); } else { if (filename == NULL && stdin_is_interactive) { Py_InspectFlag = 0; /* do exit on SystemExit */ RunStartupFile(&cf); } /* XXX */ sts = -1; /* keep track of whether we've already run __main__ */ if (filename != NULL) { sts = RunMainFromImporter(filename); } if (sts==-1 && filename!=NULL) { if ((fp = fopen(filename, "r")) == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "%s: can't open file '%s': [Errno %d] %s\n", argv[0], filename, errno, strerror(errno)); return 2; } else if (skipfirstline) { int ch; /* Push back first newline so line numbers remain the same */ while ((ch = getc(fp)) != EOF) { if (ch == '\n') { (void)ungetc(ch, fp); break; } } } { /* XXX: does this work on Win/Win64? (see posix_fstat) */ struct stat sb; if (fstat(fileno(fp), &sb) == 0 && S_ISDIR(sb.st_mode)) { fprintf(stderr, "%s: '%s' is a directory, cannot continue\n", argv[0], filename); fclose(fp); return 1; } } } if (sts==-1) { /* call pending calls like signal handlers (SIGINT) */ if (Py_MakePendingCalls() == -1) { PyErr_Print(); sts = 1; } else { sts = PyRun_AnyFileExFlags( fp, filename == NULL ? "<stdin>" : filename, filename != NULL, &cf) != 0; } } } /* Check this environment variable at the end, to give programs the * opportunity to set it from Python. */ if (!Py_InspectFlag && (p = Py_GETENV("PYTHONINSPECT")) && *p != '\0') { Py_InspectFlag = 1; } if (Py_InspectFlag && stdin_is_interactive && (filename != NULL || command != NULL || module != NULL)) { Py_InspectFlag = 0; /* XXX */ sts = PyRun_AnyFileFlags(stdin, "<stdin>", &cf) != 0; } Py_Finalize(); #ifdef RISCOS if (Py_RISCOSWimpFlag) fprintf(stderr, "\x0cq\x0c"); /* make frontend quit */ #endif #ifdef __INSURE__ /* Insure++ is a memory analysis tool that aids in discovering * memory leaks and other memory problems. On Python exit, the * interned string dictionary is flagged as being in use at exit * (which it is). Under normal circumstances, this is fine because * the memory will be automatically reclaimed by the system. Under * memory debugging, it's a huge source of useless noise, so we * trade off slower shutdown for less distraction in the memory * reports. -baw */ _Py_ReleaseInternedStrings(); #endif /* __INSURE__ */ return sts; } Good God Almighty...it is big enough to sink the Titanic. It seems as though Python did the "Intro to Programming 101" trick and just moved all of main()'s code to a different function called it something very similar to "main". Here's my question: Is this code terribly written, or are there other reasons to have a short main function? As it stands right now, I see absolutely no difference between doing this and just moving the code in Py_Main() back into main(). Am I wrong in thinking this?

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, November 27, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, November 27, 2012Popular ReleasesCodeGen Code Generator: CodeGen 4.2.6: IMPORTANT: If you are using CodeGen in conjunction with Symphony Framework then it is important that you do not upgrade to this version of CodeGen until you also upgrade to Symphony Framework V2.1.0.0. Changes in this release include: The CodeGen installation on Windows now supports upgrading from a previously installed version. We use Windows Installers "major upgrade" mechanism, which essentially performs an automatic uninstall of a previous version before installing the new version. The ea...SimpleRest Integrated Pipeline: Beta: Beta version of the integrated REST pipeline.Kooboo CMS: Kooboo CMS 3.3.0: New features: Dropdown/Radio/Checkbox Lists no longer references the userkey. Instead they refer to the UUID field for input value. You can now delete, export, import content from database in the site settings. Labels can now be imported and exported. You can now set the required password strength and maximum number of incorrect login attempts. Child sites can inherit plugins from its parent sites. The view parameter can be changed through the page_context.current value. Addition of c...Facebook Windows 8 Sample: Facebook Windows 8 Sample: The current drop holds two versions of the sample: A basic version that uses a Facebook application to list the content of facebook page. A full version including the use of Bing Maps sdk for positioning the restaurant in a map, and showing how to get there. See Developing a Windows Store App to learn how to use the Bing Maps AJAX Control to add Bing Maps to your Windows Store app.Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.75: Fix over-aggressive removal of local-variable assignments in return statements. Can't remove them if there are any inner-scope references. add settings properties/switches for V3 source map source root value, and a flag to indicate whether to add an XSSI-busting header to the map file.Distributed Publish/Subscribe (Pub/Sub) Event System: Distributed Pub Sub Event System Version 3.0: Important Wsp 3.0 is NOT backward compatible with Wsp 2.1. Prerequisites You need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. You can find it at: x64 http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=14632x86 http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5555 Wsp now uses Rx (Reactive Extensions) and .Net 4.0 3.0 Enhancements I changed the topology from a hierarchy to peer-to-peer groups. This should provide much greater scalability and more fault-resi...sb0t v.5: sb0t 500 alpha 5: Keep those bug reports coming. :)Redmine Reports: Redmine Reports V 1.0.7: added new sample report added new DateRange feature for report generation (see issue Tracker ID 15372) updated to latest MySql (6.6.4.0)datajs - JavaScript Library for data-centric web applications: datajs version 1.1.0: datajs is a cross-browser and UI agnostic JavaScript library that enables data-centric web applications with the following features: OData client that enables CRUD operations including batching and metadata support using both ATOM and JSON payloads. Single store abstraction that provides a common API on top of HTML5 local storage technologies. Data cache component that allows reading data ranges from a collection and storing them locally to reduce the number of network requests. Changes...Team Foundation Server Administration Tool: 2.2: TFS Administration Tool 2.2 supports the Team Foundation Server 2012 Object Model. Visual Studio 2012 or Team Explorer 2012 must be installed before you can install this tool. You can download and install Team Explorer 2012 from http://aka.ms/TeamExplorer2012. There are no functional changes between the previous release (2.1) and this release.Coding Guidelines for C# 3.0, C# 4.0 and C# 5.0: Coding Guidelines for CSharp 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0: See Change History for a detailed list of modifications.Math.NET Numerics: Math.NET Numerics v2.3.0: Portable Library Build: Adds support for WP8 (.Net 4.0 and higher, SL5, WP8 and .NET for Windows Store apps) New: portable build also for F# extensions (.Net 4.5, SL5 and .NET for Windows Store apps) NuGet: portable builds are now included in the main packages, no more need for special portable packages Linear Algebra: Continued major storage rework, in this release focusing on vectors (previous release was on matrices) Thin QR decomposition (in addition to existing full QR) Static Cr...ExtJS based ASP.NET 2.0 Controls: FineUI v3.2.1: +2012-11-25 v3.2.1 +????????。 -MenuCheckBox?CheckedChanged??????,??????????。 -???????window.IDS??????????????。 -?????(??TabCollection,ControlBaseCollection)???,????????????????。 +Grid??。 -??SelectAllRows??。 -??PageItems??,?????????????,?????、??、?????。 -????grid/gridpageitems.aspx、grid/gridpageitemsrowexpander.aspx、grid/gridpageitems_pagesize.aspx。 -???????????????????。 -??ExpandAllRowExpanders??,?????????????????(grid/gridrowexpanderexpandall2.aspx)。 -??????ExpandRowExpande...VidCoder: 1.4.9 Beta: Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5079. Fixed crashes when encoding DVDs with title gaps.ZXing.Net: ZXing.Net 0.10.0.0: On the way to a release 1.0 the API should be stable now with this version. sync with rev. 2521 of the java version windows phone 8 assemblies improvements and fixesBlackJumboDog: Ver5.7.3: 2012.11.24 Ver5.7.3 (1)SMTP???????、?????????、??????????????????????? (2)?????????、?????????????????????????? (3)DNS???????CNAME????CNAME????????????????? (4)DNS????????????TTL???????? (5)???????????????????????、?????????????????? (6)???????????????????????????????Liberty: v3.4.3.0 Release 23rd November 2012: Change Log -Added -H4 A dialog which gives further instructions when attempting to open a "Halo 4 Data" file -H4 Added a short note to the weapon editor stating that dropping your weapons will cap their ammo -Reach Edit the world's gravity -Reach Fine invincibility controls in the object editor -Reach Edit object velocity -Reach Change the teams of AI bipeds and vehicles -Reach Enable/disable fall damage on the biped editor screen -Reach Make AIs deaf and/or blind in the objec...Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.11.0: NugetNuGet BlogRead the release blog post for 4.11.0. Whats new50 bugfixes (see the issue tracker for a complete list) Read the documentation for the MVC bits. Breaking changesGetPropertyValue now returns an object, not a string (only affects upgrades from 4.10.x to 4.11.0) NoteIf you need Courier use the release candidate (as of build 26). The code editor has been greatly improved, but is sometimes problematic in Internet Explorer 9 and lower. Previously it was just disabled for IE and...Audio Pitch & Shift: Audio Pitch And Shift 5.1.0.3: Fixed supported files list on open dialog (added .pls and .m3u) Impulse Media Player splash message (can be disabled anyway)WiX Toolset: WiX v3.7 RC: WiX v3.7 RC (3.7.1119.0) provides feature complete Bundle update and reference tracking plus several bug fixes. For more information see Rob's blog post about the release: http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2012/11/20/WiX-v3.7-Release-Candidate-availableNew Projects20121126: ??????SVN????。AHMobe: Testing deployments to AppHarborArborium: A versatile, tree-based data structure to store or exchange data and metadata efficiently (in binary format). Written in pure C#.Ballenato: Mobile app salidas.Blend Assets Manager (Blasm): Blend Assets Manager (Blasm) is a simple application to allow users of Expression Blend adding custom and third-party controls to Blend Assets tab.Cornell Class Explorer: Cornell University Courses of Study Windows 8 AppCustom Cursor for Metro APP XAML Based: It's a porting program from Nielsen for win 8 Metro Style app XAML based. original: http://www.sharpgis.net/post/2011/05/09/Custom-Cursors-in-Silverlight.aspxDataAnalyzer: Application for analyzing protocols and other binary dataDebugWriterTextBox: This is modified TextBox which can catch up Debug.Write() and display log. Also it can write log data to file - all you need is to set up file name!Dewin: Solution th? nghi?m cho chuong trình Dewin, dùng d? th?c hi?n co b?n v? hu?ng d?i tu?ngEducação no Trânsito: Sistema para Educação para o Trânsito – Um Ambiente para o Aprendizado tem como principal função gerir conteúdos de educação no trânsitoEjemplos alabra: Ejemplos para el blog http://www.alejandrolabra.comEnterprise MVC Music Store: The Enterprise Music Store takes the MvcMusicStore sample from ASP.Net and adds Dependency Injection, Unit Tests and a more maintainable architecture. ERC - Easy Redirect Converter: Tool to convert websites using .htaccess to maintain redirects on sites that do not support it. Great for moving from Apache to IIS Facebook Windows 8 Sample: This sample shows a way to work with Facebook APIs by using the Open Graph API in a Windows Store App. Gruyas: Plataforma educativa online Os like.G's Syndication Pocket: G's Syndication Pocket is simple RSS Aggregate application. This is suitable for .NET Compact Framework. I checked it on Sharp's W-ZERO3.HTML to OpenXML (PHP Script): H2OXML : HTML to OpenXML Converter is a simple PHP script which take HTML code and transform it into OpenXML Code. (for Docx) Indexr: Indexr is an open source project, where I am trying to share how to build a web application with Strong Architecture, Manageable, High Performance, EffectivelyjQuery Expandable Menu for SharePoint 2010: Packaged as a site collection feature, this component transforms the SharePoint 2010 standard navigation menu into an expandable-collapsible menu, using jQuery.K-Vizinhos: K-VizinhosLa Ranisima: La Ranisima is an open source "Space Invaders" alike game totally written in DHTML (JavaScript, CSS and HTML) that uses keyboard. This cross-platform and cross-browser game was tested under BeOS, Linux, NetBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Windows and others.lambdaCommandBuilderData: ???????????????????,????????????,???????。 ??????test??,?????????。LeyRay: Quick view and merge Doc and Pdf filesMessegeBox RightToLeft Lib: This is really simple lib project for use RTL in MessegeBox class. This just for short code and default option for RTL.MineFlagger: MineFlagger is a mine clearing game modeled after Microsoft’s Minesweeper. In addition to standard play, MineFlagger incorporates an AI for fun and training.MineSweeperChallenge: C# programming exercise. Simulates a given number of minesweeper games using a given ISweeper implementation (or use the step by step mode to study how the ISweeper implementations work). Create your own implementation and see how it compares to other implementations.MVVM Light Plus: Multiplatform MVVM Framework.Nethouse MVP: Nethouse MVP is a framework incorporating MVP base presenters, views and interfaces. Neznayka: Static Ruleset for VS2010 Database Edition. Noctl Library: Noctl is a C# library which contains tools to improve production time. It supports .net 4.5, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Store applications.Oridea.Data.Fetching: Oridea.Data.Fetching is a class library that consists of a few wrappers over the LINQ's IQueryable interface narrowing its scope to fetching, ordering, and paging operations. It is designed for use in the implementations of the Repository pattern.p301: Old project.PluggEd: To be continuedProject13241127: papaProject13271127: papareading control for windows phone: reading control for windows phoneRSUtility: RS Utility is a C# application that interacts with a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) web service to manage items on a report server.sadd.practical.approach: SADD workshop is a project testorage to demonstrate practical approach of sadd while Lessons Learned site was developing. ?????? ???? ?????????? ??????????? ??? ?? ???????? ?????????? SADD ??? ???????? ????? "????????? ??????", ??????????? ????????? ??????????????? ?????? ?????.SimpleRest Integrated Pipeline: Simple light weight integrated extensible REST pipeline that developers can use to very quickly and reliably create REST services. Influenced by WebApi 0..6.0.0Substitute - Variable Substitution Utility for Config Management: Variable Substitution Utility for Configuration Management (FinalBuilder etc)Synq Placement Management Console: A client-service system for dynamic application deployment which integrates directly into active directory. This is the management console.Task Manager Student Project: Task manager or tmanager is a student ASP.NET MVC 4.0 project for Software Engineering classes. It is a web site, where you can planning your tasks.Tempus Fugate: YAFA for tracking music ratings and statistics. End state of these tools, utilities, plug-ins, and services will be to allow merging of statistic data between the various services and repositories in which users store their musical preferences. Examples of musical preferences include rating information and play history. Examples of services include last.fm, Facebook, iLike, Windows Media Player, and iTunes. tysyjsj: afaprojectWASM: Simple ASP.MVC windows azure storage manager with SQL Azure query window.Weather Slice: Use the German weather sevice Wetter.com for a weather forecast gadget Wettervorhersage von Wetter.comwwtfly: 111YBOT_Field_Control_2013: YBOT 2013 Field Control Software. Used to control the Youth BOT game field. Score the games and track field actions. The field currently uses 1-wire.??_iwtfly: ??_iwtfly

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, November 01, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, November 01, 2012Popular ReleasesAccess 2010 Application Platform - Build Your Own Database: Application Platform - 0.0.1: Initial Release This is the first version of the database. At the moment is all contained in one file to make development easier, but the obvious idea would be to split it into Front and Back End for a production version of the tool. The features it contains at the moment are the "Core" features.Python Tools for Visual Studio: Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5: We’re pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5 RTM. Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python language. PTVS supports a broad range of features including CPython/IronPython, Edit/Intellisense/Debug/Profile, Cloud, HPC, IPython, etc. support. For a quick overview of the general IDE experience, please watch this video There are a number of exciting improvement in this release comp...Devpad: 4.25: Whats new for Devpad 4.25: New Theme support New Export Wordpress Minor Bug Fix's, improvements and speed upsAssaultCube Reloaded: 2.5.5: Linux has Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit precompiled binaries and Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit precompiled binaries, but you can compile your own as it also contains the source. If you are using Mac or other operating systems, please wait while we try to package for those OSes. Try to compile it. If it fails, download a virtual machine. The server pack is ready for both Windows and Linux, but you might need to compile your own for Linux (source included) Changelog: Fixed potential bot bugs: Map change, OpenAL...Edi: Edi 1.0 with DarkExpression: Added DarkExpression theme (dialogs and message boxes are not completely themed, yet)MCEBuddy 2.x: MCEBuddy 2.3.6: Changelog for 2.3.6 (32bit and 64bit) 1. Fixed a bug in multichannel audio conversion failure. AAC does not support 6 channel audio, MCEBuddy now checks for it and force the output to 2 channel if AAC codec is specified 2. Fixed a bug in Original Broadcast Date and Time. Original Broadcast Date and Time is reported in UTC timezone in WTV metadata. TVDB and MovieDB dates are reported in network timezone. It is assumed the video is recorded and converted on the same machine, i.e. local timezone...MVVM Light Toolkit: MVVM Light Toolkit V4.1 for Visual Studio 2012: This version only supports Visual Studio 2012 (and all Express editions too). If you use Visual Studio 2010, please stay tuned, we will publish an update in a few days with support for VS10. V4.1 supports: Windows Phone 8 Windows 8 (Windows RT) Silverlight 5 Silverlight 4 WPF 4.5 WPF 4 WPF 3.5 And the following development environments: Visual Studio 2012 (Pro, Premium, Ultimate) Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8 Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone 8 Visual...Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.73: Fix issue in Discussion #401101 (unreferenced var in a for-in statement was getting removed). add the grouping operator to the parsed output so that unminified parsed code is closer to the original. Will still strip unneeded parens later, if minifying. more cleaning of references as they are minified out of the code.Liberty: v3.4.0.1 Release 28th October 2012: Change Log -Fixed -H4 Fixed the save verification screen showing incorrect mission and difficulty information for some saves -H4 Hopefully fixed the issue where progress did not save between missions and saves would not revert correctly -H3 Fixed crashes that occurred when trying to load player information -Proper exception dialogs will now show in place of crashesPlayer Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 (Preview 7): This release is compatible with the version of the Smooth Streaming SDK released today (10/26). Release 1 of the player framework is expected to be available next week. IMPROVEMENTS & FIXESIMPORTANT: List of breaking changes from preview 6 Support for the latest smooth streaming SDK. Xaml only: Support for moving any of the UI elements outside the MediaPlayer (e.g. into the appbar). Note: Equivelent changes to the JS version due in coming week. Support for localizing all text used in t...Send multiple SMS via Way2SMS C#: SMS 1.1: Added support for 160by2Quick Launch: Quick Launch 1.0: A Lightweight and Fast Way to Manage and Launch Thousands of Tools and ApplicationsPress Win+Q and start to search and run. http://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=quicklaunch&DownloadId=523536Orchard Project: Orchard 1.6: Please read our release notes for Orchard 1.6: http://docs.orchardproject.net/Documentation/Orchard-1-6-Release-Notes Please do not post questions as reviews. Questions should be posted in the Discussions tab, where they will usually get promptly responded to. If you post a question as a review, you will pollute the rating, and you won't get an answer.Media Companion: Media Companion 3.507b: Once again, it has been some time since our release, and there have been a number changes since then. It is hoped that these changes will address some of the issues users have been experiencing, and of course, work continues! New Features: Added support for adding Home Movies. Option to sort Movies by votes. Added 'selectedBrowser' preference used when opening links in an external browser. Added option to fallback to getting runtime from the movie file if not available on IMDB. Added new Big...MSBuild Extension Pack: October 2012: Release Blog Post The MSBuild Extension Pack October 2012 release provides a collection of over 475 MSBuild tasks. A high level summary of what the tasks currently cover includes the following: System Items: Active Directory, Certificates, COM+, Console, Date and Time, Drives, Environment Variables, Event Logs, Files and Folders, FTP, GAC, Network, Performance Counters, Registry, Services, Sound Code: Assemblies, AsyncExec, CAB Files, Code Signing, DynamicExecute, File Detokenisation, GUI...NAudio: NAudio 1.6: Release notes at http://mark-dot-net.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/naudio-16-release-notes-10th.htmlPowerShell Community Extensions: 2.1 Production: PowerShell Community Extensions 2.1 Release NotesOct 25, 2012 This version of PSCX supports both Windows PowerShell 2.0 and 3.0. See the ReleaseNotes.txt download above for more information.Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.9.1: Umbraco 4.9.1 is a bugfix release to fix major issues in 4.9.0 BugfixesThe full list of fixes can be found in the issue tracker's filtered results. A summary: Split buttons work again, you can now also scroll easier when the list is too long for the screen Media and Content pickers have information of the full path of the picked item Fixed: Publish status may not be accurate on nodes with large doctypes Fixed: 2 media folders and recycle bins after upgrade to 4.9 The template/code ...AcDown????? - AcDown Downloader Framework: AcDown????? v4.2.2: ??●AcDown??????????、??、??、???????。????,????,?????????????????????????。???????????Acfun、????(Bilibili)、??、??、YouTube、??、???、??????、SF????、????????????。 ●??????AcPlay?????,??????、????????????????。 ● AcDown??????????????????,????????????????????????????。 ● AcDown???????C#??,????.NET Framework 2.0??。?????"Acfun?????"。 ????32??64? Windows XP/Vista/7/8 ???? 32??64? ???Linux ????(1)????????Windows XP???,????????.NET Framework 2.0???(x86),?????"?????????"??? (2)???????????Linux???,????????Mono?? ??2...Rawr: Rawr 5.0.2: This is the Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!For web-based version see http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.php You can find the version notes at: http://rawr.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=VersionNotes Rawr Addon (NOT UPDATED YET FOR MOP)We now have a Rawr Official Addon for in-game exporting and importing of character data hosted on Curse. The Addon does not perform calculations like Rawr, it simply shows your exported Rawr data in wow tooltips and lets you export your character to Rawr (including ba...New ProjectsAsbesto: Proyecto grupo: "2ravas" para Laboratorio de Computación IV de la carrera TSP de la UTN-FRGP Realizado en C# y ASP.NET en Visual Studio 2012 y SQL Server 2012C++ Diamond printer on console without if statement: prints just a diamond with stars(*). only one important and funny feature is that it's not using 'if' statement. C++ used.CloudTest: Test cloud computing projectEnumeration of objects Class Library C#: At core level in Java I like extension of traditional enum type permiting use as the elements instances of a class. The project implements the same idea by C# with some more advanced features like a set type with boolean operators extending idea of FlagsAttributeEquation Inversion: Visual Studion 2008 Add-in for equation inversions.ESENT Serialization Class Library: ESENT Serialization class library is built above Managed ESENT. It allows you to store your objects in the underlying extensible storage engine database.ForceHttps: Very simple httpModule to ensure that all http requests are https. 1. Drop the dll into your website's bin directory 2. Update httpModules section of your web.config to reference the dll 3. Make sure your Web Server can handle SSL requests for the URL ALL http requests will be redirected as https.forrajeriaPAV2: tp pav2 asd as asd as fasfjaijiasjifoa as asf asf as afs fas asf afs fsaGoogle Analytics for WinRT: A Windows Store (WinRT) class library for tracking Google Analytics page views, events, and custom variables for your Metro style desktop and tablet apps.huanglitest10312: mvc projectiMan: iMan will be your own port manager, which help to provide the information about all the ports open in your PC It's completely developed in .NET C#InjectionCop: Facilitates secure coding through static code analysis and contract annotations in the Common Language Infrastructure.Master of Olympus: Remake of Master of Olympus : Zeus, a game developed by Impressions Games in 2000.MediaScribe: MediaScribe is a note app for your media.MouseNestDotNet: A small personal website application.Project Estimator ???????? ?? ?????????????? ?? ???????: Project Estimator ? ???????? ??????????? ? ??????????? ?? ????? ? ???????? ????.Projekt grupowy 1: Project created only for school purpose.SecondHandApp: Warenwirtschaftsprogramm für denn SecondHand LädenSimple .NET XML Serialization: .NET's XML serialization using Linq XObject classes EG: XElement in an IXmlSerializable base classStrip Converter: A Very Handy Converter for 2D Games Developers Developer Website: http://www.bluebulk.infoSwitch JS Control (Client Side): Switch JS control is a very light client side library to create switch(es) on web applications or mobile applications.VisaSys: Visa System????????: TODO::????

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, November 03, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, November 03, 2012Popular ReleasesZXMAK2: Version 2.6.8.2: fix save to SZX snapshot for +3 model fix +3 ULA timingsLaunchbar: Launchbar 4.2.2.0: This release is the first step in cleaning up the code and using all the latest features of .NET 4.5 Changes 4.2.2 (2012-11-02) Improved handling of left clicks 4.1.0 (2012-10-17) Removed tray icon Assembly renamed and signed with strong name Note When you upgrade, Launchbar will start with the default settings. You can import your previous settings by following these steps: Run Launchbar and just save the settings without configuring anything Shutdown Launchbar Go to the folder %LOCA...CommonLibrary.NET: CommonLibrary.NET 0.9.8.8: Releases notes for FluentScript located at http://fluentscript.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Release%20Notes&referringTitle=Documentation Fluentscript - 0.9.8.8 - Final ReleaseApplication: FluentScript Version: 0.9.8.8 Build: 0.9.8.8 Changeset: 77368 ( CommonLibrary.NET ) Release date: November 2nd, 2012 Binaries: CommonLibrary.dll Namespace: ComLib.Lang Project site: http://fluentscript.codeplex.com/ Download: http://commonlibrarynet.codeplex.com/releases/view/90426 Source code: http://common...Mouse Jiggler: MouseJiggle-1.3: This adds the much-requested minimize-to-tray feature to Mouse Jiggler.Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.10.0 Release Candidate: This is a Release Candidate, which means that if we do not find any major issues in the next week, we will release this version as the final release of 4.10.0 on November 9th, 2012. The documentation for the MVC bits still lives in the Github version of the docs for now and will be updated on our.umbraco.org with the final release of 4.10.0. Browse the documentation here: https://github.com/umbraco/Umbraco4Docs/tree/4.8.0/Documentation/Reference/Mvc If you want to do only MVC then make sur...Skype Auto Recorder: SkypeAutoRecorder 1.3.4: New icon and images. Reworked settings window. Implemented high-quality sound encoding. Implemented a possibility to produce stereo records. Added buttons with system-wide hot keys for manual starting and canceling of recording. Added buttons for opening folder with records. Added Help button. Fixed an issue when recording is continuing after call end. Fixed an issue when recording doesn't start. Fixed several bugs and improved stability. Major refactoring and optimization...Access 2010 Application Platform - Build Your Own Database: Application Platform - 0.0.2: Release 0.0.2 Created two new users. One belongs to the Administrators group and the other to the Public group. User: admin Pass: admin User: guest Pass: guest Initial Release This is the first version of the database. At the moment is all contained in one file to make development easier, but the obvious idea would be to split it into Front and Back End for a production version of the tool. The features it contains at the moment are the "Core" features.Python Tools for Visual Studio: Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5: We’re pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5 RTM. Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python language. PTVS supports a broad range of features including CPython/IronPython, Edit/Intellisense/Debug/Profile, Cloud, HPC, IPython, etc. support. For a quick overview of the general IDE experience, please watch this video There are a number of exciting improvement in this release comp...BCF.Net: BCF.Net: BCF.Net-20121024 source codeAssaultCube Reloaded: 2.5.5: Linux has Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit precompiled binaries and Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit precompiled binaries, but you can compile your own as it also contains the source. If you are using Mac or other operating systems, please wait while we try to package for those OSes. Try to compile it. If it fails, download a virtual machine. The server pack is ready for both Windows and Linux, but you might need to compile your own for Linux (source included) Changelog: Fixed potential bot bugs: Map change, OpenAL...Edi: Edi 1.0 with DarkExpression: Added DarkExpression theme (dialogs and message boxes are not completely themed, yet)DirectX Tool Kit: October 30, 2012 (add WP8 support): October 30, 2012 Added project files for Windows Phone 8MCEBuddy 2.x: MCEBuddy 2.3.6: Changelog for 2.3.6 (32bit and 64bit) 1. Fixed a bug in multichannel audio conversion failure. AAC does not support 6 channel audio, MCEBuddy now checks for it and force the output to 2 channel if AAC codec is specified 2. Fixed a bug in Original Broadcast Date and Time. Original Broadcast Date and Time is reported in UTC timezone in WTV metadata. TVDB and MovieDB dates are reported in network timezone. It is assumed the video is recorded and converted on the same machine, i.e. local timezone...MVVM Light Toolkit: MVVM Light Toolkit V4.1 for Visual Studio 2012: This version only supports Visual Studio 2012 (and all Express editions too). If you use Visual Studio 2010, please stay tuned, we will publish an update in a few days with support for VS10. V4.1 supports: Windows Phone 8 Windows 8 (Windows RT) Silverlight 5 Silverlight 4 WPF 4.5 WPF 4 WPF 3.5 And the following development environments: Visual Studio 2012 (Pro, Premium, Ultimate) Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8 Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone 8 Visual...Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 4.73: Fix issue in Discussion #401101 (unreferenced var in a for-in statement was getting removed). add the grouping operator to the parsed output so that unminified parsed code is closer to the original. Will still strip unneeded parens later, if minifying. more cleaning of references as they are minified out of the code.RiP-Ripper & PG-Ripper: PG-Ripper 1.4.03: changes NEW: Added Support for the phun.org forum FIXED: Kitty-Kats new Forum UrlLiberty: v3.4.0.1 Release 28th October 2012: Change Log -Fixed -H4 Fixed the save verification screen showing incorrect mission and difficulty information for some saves -H4 Hopefully fixed the issue where progress did not save between missions and saves would not revert correctly -H3 Fixed crashes that occurred when trying to load player information -Proper exception dialogs will now show in place of crashesPlayer Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 (Preview 7): This release is compatible with the version of the Smooth Streaming SDK released today (10/26). Release 1 of the player framework is expected to be available next week. IMPROVEMENTS & FIXESIMPORTANT: List of breaking changes from preview 6 Support for the latest smooth streaming SDK. Xaml only: Support for moving any of the UI elements outside the MediaPlayer (e.g. into the appbar). Note: Equivelent changes to the JS version due in coming week. Support for localizing all text used in t...Send multiple SMS via Way2SMS C#: SMS 1.1: Added support for 160by2Quick Launch: Quick Launch 1.0: A Lightweight and Fast Way to Manage and Launch Thousands of Tools and ApplicationsPress Win+Q and start to search and run. http://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=quicklaunch&DownloadId=523536New Projectsappnitiren: This project's main objective is to deepen my knowledge on developing apps for windows 8 and windows phone and Buddhist philosophy of Nichiren Daishonin. Aspect - TypeScript AOP Framework: A simple AOP framework for TypeScript.AWF's PowerPoint Tab: A collection of little powerpoint utilities, including "resize all shapes".Base64 Encoder-Decoder: (Base64 Encoder/Decoder using C#)BombaJob-WF: Official Windows desktop client for BombaJob.bgBungie Test: !CCAudio: A project to create an audio recording/mixing and processing framework in C#/C++ with a look to creating a Digital Audio Workstation. EvaluationSyarem: for yuanguangexporttfschangesets: Small utility that runs agains tftp.exe(tfs power tools) and exports a given range of changesets.fjfdszjtfs: fjfdszjtfsKladionica: Ovo je mala web aplikacija koja je specijalizovana za f1 kladionicu na forumu KrstaricaListViewItem Float Test: WPF testing ground for development of a "floating" listviewitem (preeettty)Macconnell: This is my test projectNWebsec Demo site: This is the NWebsec demo website project.Ocean Flattened: Summary of this projectQuagmire: QUAGMIRE aims to make distributed data processing and visualisation simple and flexible.Scheduled SQL Jobs for DotNetNuke by IowaComputerGurus Inc.: Keeping a DotNetNuke site database clean can be a real nightmare for those hosting sites on shared hosting providers.Secretary Tool: Tool for secretaries of congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses.Secure My Install for DotNetNuke by IowaComputerGurus: This module is a single-use per DotNetNuke installation utility module that will make a number of security enhancing modifications to your "out of the box" DotNServStop: ServStop is a .NET application that makes it easy to stop several system services at once. Now you don't have to change startup types or stop them one at a time. It has a simple list-based interface with the ability to save and load lists of user services to stop. Written in C#.Simple File List for DotNetNuke by IowaComputerGurus Inc.: The Simple File List module is a Free DotNetNuke module that will list all files within a specific folder under the specific portal folder within DNN for users SOLUS3 Config Discovery: An open-source community developed tool for generating a simple text file detailing your local SIMS server settings to simplify new SOLUS3 configurations.Sort Project: Project Name: Sort Project Description: This project holds a class that extends objects type of IEnumerable by enabling them using sorting algorithms other than the buil in one within the microsoft staff SQL Azure Data Protector: This tool leverages the currently available options that Azure platform has to provide an integrated and automated solution to back up the SQL Azure databases.Throttling Suite for ASP.NET Applications: The Throttling Suite provides throttling control capabilities to the ASP.NET applications. It is highly customizable; including "log-only" mode.TidyBackups: Allows for automation of deletion of Microsoft SQL backup files based on file type (.bak) creation age as well as compression using standard ZIP technology.TrainingData: TrainingData is a set of libraries for reading and modifying training data files for Garmin and Polar heart rate monitors.Virtual eCommerce: ??? ? ?????? ????????? ??????. ??????: ??????????? ?????????, ?????????? ?????????? ?? ????????????? ?? Microsoft - ASP Web Pages with Razor Engine.WebNext: My personal web page / blog with cms on asp mvc 3Windows 8 Mouse Unsticky: Makes Windows 8 top right/left hot corners unsticky.WPForms: WPForms is simple framework for Form-driven Silverlight Windows Phone applications. Using the framework allows developers to easily create and display forms.

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  • Tools and Utilities for the .NET Developer

    - by mbcrump
    Tweet this list! Add a link to my site to your bookmarks to quickly find this page again! Add me to twitter! This is a list of the tools/utilities that I use to do my job/hobby. I wanted this page to load fast and contain information that only you care about. If I have missed a tool that you like, feel free to contact me and I will add it to the list. Also, this list took a lot of time to complete. Please do not steal my work, if you like the page then please link back to my site. I will keep the links/information updated as new tools/utilities are created.  Windows/.NET Development – This is a list of tools that any Windows/.NET developer should have in his bag. I have used at some point in my career everything listed on this page and below is the tools worth keeping. Name Description License AnkhSVN Subversion support for Visual Studio. It also works with VS2010. Free Aurora XAML Designer One of the best XAML creation tools available. Has a ton of built in templates that you can copy/paste into VS2010. COST/Trial BeyondCompare Beyond Compare 3 is the ideal tool for comparing files and folders on your Windows or Linux system. Visualize changes in your code and carefully reconcile them. COST/Trial BuildIT Automated Task Tool Its main purpose is to automate tasks, whether it is the final packaging of a product, an automated daily build, maybe sending out a mailing list, even backing-up files. Free C Sharper for VB Convert VB to C#. COST CLRProfiler Analyze and improve the behavior of your .NET app. Free CodeRush Direct competitor to ReSharper, contains similar feature. This is one of those decide for yourself. COST/Trial Disk2VHD Disk2vhd is a utility that creates VHD (Virtual Hard Disk - Microsoft's Virtual Machine disk format) versions of physical disks for use in Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). Free Eazfuscator.NET Is a free obfuscator for .NET. The main purpose is to protect intellectual property of software. Free EQATEC Profiler Make your .NET app run faster. No source code changes are needed. Just point the profiler to your app, run the modified code, and get a visual report. COST Expression Studio 3/4 Comes with Web, Blend, Sketch Flow and more. You can create websites, produce beautiful XAML and more. COST/Trial Expresso The award-winning Expresso editor is equally suitable as a teaching tool for the beginning user of regular expressions or as a full-featured development environment for the experienced programmer or web designer with an extensive knowledge of regular expressions. Free Fiddler Fiddler is a web debugging proxy which logs all HTTP(s) traffic between your computer and the internet. Free Firebug Powerful Web development tool. If you build websites, you will need this. Free FxCop FxCop is an application that analyzes managed code assemblies (code that targets the .NET Framework common language runtime) and reports information about the assemblies, such as possible design, localization, performance, and security improvements. Free GAC Browser and Remover Easy way to remove multiple assemblies from the GAC. Assemblies registered by programs like Install Shield can also be removed. Free GAC Util The Global Assembly Cache tool allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the global assembly cache and download cache. Free HelpScribble Help Scribble is a full-featured, easy-to-use help authoring tool for creating help files from start to finish. You can create Win Help (.hlp) files, HTML Help (.chm) files, a printed manual and online documentation (on a web site) all from the same Help Scribble project. COST/Trial IETester IETester is a free Web Browser that allows you to have the rendering and JavaScript engines of IE9 preview, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP, as well as the installed IE in the same process. Free iTextSharp iText# (iTextSharp) is a port of the iText open source java library for PDF generation written entirely in C# for the .NET platform. Use the iText mailing list to get support. Free Kaxaml Kaxaml is a lightweight XAML editor that gives you a "split view" so you can see both your XAML and your rendered content. Free LINQPad LinqPad lets you interactively query databases in a LINQ. Free Linquer Many programmers are familiar with SQL and will need a help in the transition to LINQ. Sometimes there are complicated queries to be written and Linqer can help by converting SQL scripts to LINQ. COST/Trial LiquidXML Liquid XML Studio 2010 is an advanced XML developers toolkit and IDE, containing all the tools needed for designing and developing XML schema and applications. COST/Trial Log4Net log4net is a tool to help the programmer output log statements to a variety of output targets. log4net is a port of the excellent log4j framework to the .NET runtime. We have kept the framework similar in spirit to the original log4j while taking advantage of new features in the .NET runtime. For more information on log4net see the features document. Free Microsoft Web Platform Installer The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 (Web PI) is a free tool that makes getting the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server Express, .NET Framework and Visual Web Developer easy. Free Mono Development Don't have Visual Studio - no problem! This is an open Source C# and .NET development environment for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X Free Net Mass Downloader While it’s great that Microsoft has released the .NET Reference Source Code, you can only get it one file at a time while you’re debugging. If you’d like to batch download it for reading or to populate the cache, you’d have to write a program that instantiated and called each method in the Framework Class Library. Fortunately, .NET Mass Downloader comes to the rescue! Free nMap Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network exploration or security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Free NoScript (Firefox add-in) The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and other Mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java and Flash and other plug-ins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser. Free NotePad 2 Notepad2, a fast and light-weight Notepad-like text editor with syntax highlighting. This program can be run out of the box without installation, and does not touch your system's registry. Free PageSpy PageSpy is a small add-on for Internet Explorer that allows you to select any element within a webpage, select an option in the context menu, and view detailed information about both the coding behind the page and the element you selected. Free Phrase Express PhraseExpress manages your frequently used text snippets in customizable categories for quick access. Free PowerGui PowerGui is a free community for PowerGUI, a graphical user interface and script editor for Microsoft Windows PowerShell! Free Powershell Comes with Win7, but you can automate tasks by using the .NET Framework. Great for network admins. Free Process Explorer Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. Also, included in the SysInterals Suite. Free Process Monitor Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. Free Reflector Explore and analyze compiled .NET assemblies, viewing them in C#, Visual Basic, and IL. This is an Essential for any .NET developer. Free Regular Expression Library Stuck on a Regular Expression but you think someone has already figured it out? Chances are they have. Free Regulator Regulator makes Regular Expressions easy. This is a must have for a .NET Developer. Free RenameMaestro RenameMaestro is probably the easiest batch file renamer you'll find to instantly rename multiple files COST ReSharper The one program that I cannot live without. Supports VS2010 and offers simple refactoring, code analysis/assistance/cleanup/templates. One of the few applications that is worth the $$$. COST/Trial ScrewTurn Wiki ScrewTurn Wiki allows you to create, manage and share wikis. A wiki is a collaboratively-edited, information-centered website: the most famous is Wikipedia. Free SharpDevelop What is #develop? SharpDevelop is a free IDE for C# and VB.NET projects on Microsoft's .NET platform. Free Show Me The Template Show Me The Template is a tool for exploring the templates, be their data, control or items panel, that comes with the controls built into WPF for all 6 themes. Free SnippetCompiler Compiles code snippets without opening Visual Studio. It does not support .NET 4. Free SQL Prompt SQL Prompt is a plug-in that increases how fast you can work with SQL. It provides code-completion for SQL server, reformatting, db schema information and snippets. Awesome! COST/Trial SQLinForm SQLinForm is an automatic SQL code formatter for all major databases  including ORACLE, SQL Server, DB2, UDB, Sybase, Informix, PostgreSQL, Teradata, MySQL, MS Access etc. with over 70 formatting options. COST/OnlineFree SSMS Tools SSMS Tools Pack is an add-in for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) including SSMS Express. Free Storm STORM is a free and open source tool for testing web services. Free Telerik Code Convertor Convert code from VB to C Sharp and Vice Versa. Free TurtoiseSVN TortoiseSVN is a really easy to use Revision control / version control / source control software for Windows.Since it's not an integration for a specific IDE you can use it with whatever development tools you like. Free UltraEdit UltraEdit is the ideal text, HTML and hex editor, and an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. UltraEdit is also an XML editor including a tree-style XML parser. An industry-award winner, UltraEdit supports disk-based 64-bit file handling (standard) on 32-bit Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and later). COST/Trial Virtual Windows XP Comes with some W7 version and allows you to run WinXP along side W7. Free VirtualBox Virtualization by Sun Microsystems. You can virtualize Windows, Linux and more. Free Visual Log Parser SQL queries against a variety of log files and other system data sources. Free WinMerge WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle. Free Wireshark Wireshark is one of the best network protocol analyzer's for Unix and windows. This has been used several times to get me out of a bind. Free XML Notepad 07 Old, but still one of my favorite XML viewers. Free Productivity Tools – This is the list of tools that I use to save time or quickly navigate around Windows. Name Description License AutoHotKey Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder. Free CLCL CLCL is clipboard caching utility. Free Ditto Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. It saves each item placed on the clipboard allowing you access to any of those items at a later time. Ditto allows you to save any type of information that can be put on the clipboard, text, images, html, custom formats, ..... Free Evernote Remember everything from notes to photos. It will synch between computers/devices. Free InfoRapid Inforapid is a search tool that will display all you search results in a html like browser. If you click on a word in that browser, it will start another search to the word you clicked on. Handy if you want to trackback something to it's true origin. The word you looked for will be highlighted in red. Clicking on the red word will open the containing file in a text based viewer. Clicking on any word in the opened document will start another search on that word. Free KatMouse The prime purpose of the KatMouse utility is to enhance the functionality of mice with a scroll wheel, offering 'universal' scrolling: moving the mouse wheel will scroll the window directly beneath the mouse cursor (not the one with the keyboard focus, which is default on Windows OSes). This is a major increase in the usefulness of the mouse wheel. Free ScreenR Instant Screencast with nothing to download. Works with Mac or PC and free. Free Start++ Start++ is an enhancement for the Start Menu in Windows Vista. It also extends the Run box and the command-line with customizable commands.  For example, typing "w Windows Vista" will take you to the Windows Vista page on Wikipedia! Free Synergy Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). Free Texter Texter lets you define text substitution hot strings that, when triggered, will replace hotstring with a larger piece of text. By entering your most commonly-typed snippets of text into Texter, you can save countless keystrokes in the course of the day. Free Total Commander File handling, FTP, Archive handling and much more. Even works with Win3.11. COST/Trial Available Wizmouse WizMouse is a mouse enhancement utility that makes your mouse wheel work on the window currently under the mouse pointer, instead of the currently focused window. This means you no longer have to click on a window before being able to scroll it with the mouse wheel. This is a far more comfortable and practical way to make use of the mouse wheel. Free Xmarks Bookmark sync and search between computers. Free General Utilities – This is a list for power user users or anyone that wants more out of Windows. I usually install a majority of these whenever I get a new system. Name Description License µTorrent µTorrent is a lightweight and efficient BitTorrent client for Windows or Mac with many features. I use this for downloading LEGAL media. Free Audacity Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Learn more about Audacity... Also check our Wiki and Forum for more information. Free AVast Free FREE Antivirus. Free CD Burner XP Pro CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Free CDEX You can extract digital audio CDs into mp3/wav. Free Combofix Combofix is a freeware (a legitimate spyware remover created by sUBs), Combofix was designed to scan a computer for known malware, spyware (SurfSideKick, QooLogic, and Look2Me as well as any other combination of the mentioned spyware applications) and remove them. Free Cpu-Z Provides information about some of the main devices of your system. Free Cropper Cropper is a screen capture utility written in C#. It makes it fast and easy to grab parts of your screen. Use it to easily crop out sections of vector graphic files such as Fireworks without having to flatten the files or open in a new editor. Use it to easily capture parts of a web site, including text and images. It's also great for writing documentation that needs images of your application or web site. Free DropBox Drag and Drop files to sync between computers. Free DVD-Fab Converts/Copies DVDs/Blu-Ray to different formats. (like mp4, mkv, avi) COST/Trial Available FastStone Capture FastStone Capture is a powerful, lightweight, yet full-featured screen capture tool that allows you to easily capture and annotate anything on the screen including windows, objects, menus, full screen, rectangular/freehand regions and even scrolling windows/web pages. Free ffdshow FFDShow is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DivX, XviD, H.264, FLV1, WMV, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4 movies. Free Filezilla FileZilla Client is a fast and reliable cross-platform FTP, FTPS and SFTP client with lots of useful features and an intuitive graphical user interface. You can also download a server version. Free FireFox Web Browser, do you really need an explanation? Free FireGestures A customizable mouse gestures extension which enables you to execute various commands and user scripts with five types of gestures. Free FoxIt Reader Light weight PDF viewer. You should install this with the advanced setting or it will install a toolbar and setup some shortcuts. Free gSynchIt Synch Gmail and Outlook. Even supports Outlook 2010 32/64 bit COST/Trial Available Hulu Desktop At home or in a hotel, this has replaced my cable/satellite subscription. Free ImgBurn ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit! Free Infrarecorder InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration. Free KeePass KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. Free LastPass Another password management, synchronize between browsers, automatic form filling and more. Free Live Essentials One download and lots of programs including Mail, Live Writer, Movie Maker and more! Free Monitores MonitorES is a small windows utility that helps you to turnoff monitor display when you lock down your machine.Also when you lock your machine, it will pause all your running media programs & set your IM status message to "Away" / Custom message(via options) and restore it back to normal when you back. Free mRemote mRemote is a full-featured, multi-tab remote connections manager. Free Open Office OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose. Free Paint.NET Simple, intuitive, and innovative user interface for editing photos. Free Picasa Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great. Free Pidgin Pidgin is an easy to use and free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once. Free PING PING is a live Linux ISO, based on the excellent Linux From Scratch (LFS) documentation. It can be burnt on a CD and booted, or integrated into a PXE / RIS environment. Free Putty PuTTY is an SSH and telnet client, developed originally by Simon Tatham for the Windows platform. Free Revo Uninstaller Revo Uninstaller Pro helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer easily! Even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet.Revo Uninstaller is a much faster and more powerful alternative to "Windows Add or Remove Programs" applet! It has very powerful features to uninstall and remove programs. Free Security Essentials Microsoft Security Essentials is a new, free consumer anti-malware solution for your computer. Free SetupVirtualCloneDrive Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Point to the .ISO file and it appears in Windows Explorer as a Drive. Free Shark 007 Codec Pack Play just about any file format with this download. Also includes my W7 Media Playlist Generator. Free Snagit 9 Screen Capture on steroids. Add arrows, captions, etc to any screenshot. COST/Trial Available SysinternalsSuite Go ahead and download the entire sys internals suite. I have mentioned multiple programs in this suite already. Free TeraCopy TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, providing the user with a lot of features. Free for Home TrueCrypt Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux Free TweetDeck Fully featured Twitter client. Free UltraVNC UltraVNC is a powerful, easy to use and free software that can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen. The program allows you to use your mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location. Free Unlocker Unlocks locked files. Pretty simple right? Free VLC Media Player VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats Free Windows 7 Media Playlist This program is special to my heart because I wrote it. It has been mentioned on podcast and various websites. It allows you to quickly create wvx video playlist for Windows Media Center. Free WinRAR WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format. COST/Trial Available Blogging – I use the following for my blog. Name Description License Insert Code for Windows Live Writer Insert Code for Windows Live Writer will format a snippet of text in a number of programming languages such as C#, HTML, MSH, JavaScript, Visual Basic and TSQL. Free LiveWriter Included in Live Essentials, but the ultimate in Windows Blogging Free PasteAsVSCode Plug-in for Windows Live Writer that pastes clipboard content as Visual Studio code. Preserves syntax highlighting, indentation and background color. Converts RTF, outputted by Visual Studio, into HTML. Free Desktop Management – The list below represent the best in Windows Desktop Management. Name Description License 7 Stacks Allows users to have "stacks" of icons in their taskbar. Free Executor Executor is a multi purpose launcher and a more advanced and customizable version of windows run. Free Fences Fences is a program that helps you organize your desktop and can hide your icons when they are not in use. Free RocketDock Rocket Dock is a smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher. It provides a nice clean interface to drop shortcuts on for easy access and organization. With each item completely customizable there is no end to what you can add and launch from the dock. Free WindowsTab Tabbing is an essential feature of modern web browsers. Window Tabs brings the productivity of tabbed window management to all of your desktop applications. Free

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  • Rendering ASP.NET MVC Views to String

    - by Rick Strahl
    It's not uncommon in my applications that I require longish text output that does not have to be rendered into the HTTP output stream. The most common scenario I have for 'template driven' non-Web text is for emails of all sorts. Logon confirmations and verifications, email confirmations for things like orders, status updates or scheduler notifications - all of which require merged text output both within and sometimes outside of Web applications. On other occasions I also need to capture the output from certain views for logging purposes. Rather than creating text output in code, it's much nicer to use the rendering mechanism that ASP.NET MVC already provides by way of it's ViewEngines - using Razor or WebForms views - to render output to a string. This is nice because it uses the same familiar rendering mechanism that I already use for my HTTP output and it also solves the problem of where to store the templates for rendering this content in nothing more than perhaps a separate view folder. The good news is that ASP.NET MVC's rendering engine is much more modular than the full ASP.NET runtime engine which was a real pain in the butt to coerce into rendering output to string. With MVC the rendering engine has been separated out from core ASP.NET runtime, so it's actually a lot easier to get View output into a string. Getting View Output from within an MVC Application If you need to generate string output from an MVC and pass some model data to it, the process to capture this output is fairly straight forward and involves only a handful of lines of code. The catch is that this particular approach requires that you have an active ControllerContext that can be passed to the view. This means that the following approach is limited to access from within Controller methods. Here's a class that wraps the process and provides both instance and static methods to handle the rendering:/// <summary> /// Class that renders MVC views to a string using the /// standard MVC View Engine to render the view. /// /// Note: This class can only be used within MVC /// applications that have an active ControllerContext. /// </summary> public class ViewRenderer { /// <summary> /// Required Controller Context /// </summary> protected ControllerContext Context { get; set; } public ViewRenderer(ControllerContext controllerContext) { Context = controllerContext; } /// <summary> /// Renders a full MVC view to a string. Will render with the full MVC /// View engine including running _ViewStart and merging into _Layout /// </summary> /// <param name="viewPath"> /// The path to the view to render. Either in same controller, shared by /// name or as fully qualified ~/ path including extension /// </param> /// <param name="model">The model to render the view with</param> /// <returns>String of the rendered view or null on error</returns> public string RenderView(string viewPath, object model) { return RenderViewToStringInternal(viewPath, model, false); } /// <summary> /// Renders a partial MVC view to string. Use this method to render /// a partial view that doesn't merge with _Layout and doesn't fire /// _ViewStart. /// </summary> /// <param name="viewPath"> /// The path to the view to render. Either in same controller, shared by /// name or as fully qualified ~/ path including extension /// </param> /// <param name="model">The model to pass to the viewRenderer</param> /// <returns>String of the rendered view or null on error</returns> public string RenderPartialView(string viewPath, object model) { return RenderViewToStringInternal(viewPath, model, true); } public static string RenderView(string viewPath, object model, ControllerContext controllerContext) { ViewRenderer renderer = new ViewRenderer(controllerContext); return renderer.RenderView(viewPath, model); } public static string RenderPartialView(string viewPath, object model, ControllerContext controllerContext) { ViewRenderer renderer = new ViewRenderer(controllerContext); return renderer.RenderPartialView(viewPath, model); } protected string RenderViewToStringInternal(string viewPath, object model, bool partial = false) { // first find the ViewEngine for this view ViewEngineResult viewEngineResult = null; if (partial) viewEngineResult = ViewEngines.Engines.FindPartialView(Context, viewPath); else viewEngineResult = ViewEngines.Engines.FindView(Context, viewPath, null); if (viewEngineResult == null) throw new FileNotFoundException(Properties.Resources.ViewCouldNotBeFound); // get the view and attach the model to view data var view = viewEngineResult.View; Context.Controller.ViewData.Model = model; string result = null; using (var sw = new StringWriter()) { var ctx = new ViewContext(Context, view, Context.Controller.ViewData, Context.Controller.TempData, sw); view.Render(ctx, sw); result = sw.ToString(); } return result; } } The key is the RenderViewToStringInternal method. The method first tries to find the view to render based on its path which can either be in the current controller's view path or the shared view path using its simple name (PasswordRecovery) or alternately by its full virtual path (~/Views/Templates/PasswordRecovery.cshtml). This code should work both for Razor and WebForms views although I've only tried it with Razor Views. Note that WebForms Views might actually be better for plain text as Razor adds all sorts of white space into its output when there are code blocks in the template. The Web Forms engine provides more accurate rendering for raw text scenarios. Once a view engine is found the view to render can be retrieved. Views in MVC render based on data that comes off the controller like the ViewData which contains the model along with the actual ViewData and ViewBag. From the View and some of the Context data a ViewContext is created which is then used to render the view with. The View picks up the Model and other data from the ViewContext internally and processes the View the same it would be processed if it were to send its output into the HTTP output stream. The difference is that we can override the ViewContext's output stream which we provide and capture into a StringWriter(). After rendering completes the result holds the output string. If an error occurs the error behavior is similar what you see with regular MVC errors - you get a full yellow screen of death including the view error information with the line of error highlighted. It's your responsibility to handle the error - or let it bubble up to your regular Controller Error filter if you have one. To use the simple class you only need a single line of code if you call the static methods. Here's an example of some Controller code that is used to send a user notification to a customer via email in one of my applications:[HttpPost] public ActionResult ContactSeller(ContactSellerViewModel model) { InitializeViewModel(model); var entryBus = new busEntry(); var entry = entryBus.LoadByDisplayId(model.EntryId); if ( string.IsNullOrEmpty(model.Email) ) entryBus.ValidationErrors.Add("Email address can't be empty.","Email"); if ( string.IsNullOrEmpty(model.Message)) entryBus.ValidationErrors.Add("Message can't be empty.","Message"); model.EntryId = entry.DisplayId; model.EntryTitle = entry.Title; if (entryBus.ValidationErrors.Count > 0) { ErrorDisplay.AddMessages(entryBus.ValidationErrors); ErrorDisplay.ShowError("Please correct the following:"); } else { string message = ViewRenderer.RenderView("~/views/template/ContactSellerEmail.cshtml",model, ControllerContext); string title = entry.Title + " (" + entry.DisplayId + ") - " + App.Configuration.ApplicationName; AppUtils.SendEmail(title, message, model.Email, entry.User.Email, false, false)) } return View(model); } Simple! The view in this case is just a plain MVC view and in this case it's a very simple plain text email message (edited for brevity here) that is created and sent off:@model ContactSellerViewModel @{ Layout = null; }re: @Model.EntryTitle @Model.ListingUrl @Model.Message ** SECURITY ADVISORY - AVOID SCAMS ** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home ** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping ** More Info: @(App.Configuration.ApplicationBaseUrl)scams.html Obviously this is a very simple view (I edited out more from this page to keep it brief) -  but other template views are much more complex HTML documents or long messages that are occasionally updated and they are a perfect fit for Razor rendering. It even works with nested partial views and _layout pages. Partial Rendering Notice that I'm rendering a full View here. In the view I explicitly set the Layout=null to avoid pulling in _layout.cshtml for this view. This can also be controlled externally by calling the RenderPartial method instead: string message = ViewRenderer.RenderPartialView("~/views/template/ContactSellerEmail.cshtml",model, ControllerContext); with this line of code no layout page (or _viewstart) will be loaded, so the output generated is just what's in the view. I find myself using Partials most of the time when rendering templates, since the target of templates usually tend to be emails or other HTML fragment like output, so the RenderPartialView() method is definitely useful to me. Rendering without a ControllerContext The preceding class is great when you're need template rendering from within MVC controller actions or anywhere where you have access to the request Controller. But if you don't have a controller context handy - maybe inside a utility function that is static, a non-Web application, or an operation that runs asynchronously in ASP.NET - which makes using the above code impossible. I haven't found a way to manually create a Controller context to provide the ViewContext() what it needs from outside of the MVC infrastructure. However, there are ways to accomplish this,  but they are a bit more complex. It's possible to host the RazorEngine on your own, which side steps all of the MVC framework and HTTP and just deals with the raw rendering engine. I wrote about this process in Hosting the Razor Engine in Non-Web Applications a long while back. It's quite a process to create a custom Razor engine and runtime, but it allows for all sorts of flexibility. There's also a RazorEngine CodePlex project that does something similar. I've been meaning to check out the latter but haven't gotten around to it since I have my own code to do this. The trick to hosting the RazorEngine to have it behave properly inside of an ASP.NET application and properly cache content so templates aren't constantly rebuild and reparsed. Anyway, in the same app as above I have one scenario where no ControllerContext is available: I have a background scheduler running inside of the app that fires on timed intervals. This process could be external but because it's lightweight we decided to fire it right inside of the ASP.NET app on a separate thread. In my app the code that renders these templates does something like this:var model = new SearchNotificationViewModel() { Entries = entries, Notification = notification, User = user }; // TODO: Need logging for errors sending string razorError = null; var result = AppUtils.RenderRazorTemplate("~/views/template/SearchNotificationTemplate.cshtml", model, razorError); which references a couple of helper functions that set up my RazorFolderHostContainer class:public static string RenderRazorTemplate(string virtualPath, object model,string errorMessage = null) { var razor = AppUtils.CreateRazorHost(); var path = virtualPath.Replace("~/", "").Replace("~", "").Replace("/", "\\"); var merged = razor.RenderTemplateToString(path, model); if (merged == null) errorMessage = razor.ErrorMessage; return merged; } /// <summary> /// Creates a RazorStringHostContainer and starts it /// Call .Stop() when you're done with it. /// /// This is a static instance /// </summary> /// <param name="virtualPath"></param> /// <param name="binBasePath"></param> /// <param name="forceLoad"></param> /// <returns></returns> public static RazorFolderHostContainer CreateRazorHost(string binBasePath = null, bool forceLoad = false) { if (binBasePath == null) { if (HttpContext.Current != null) binBasePath = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/"); else binBasePath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory; } if (_RazorHost == null || forceLoad) { if (!binBasePath.EndsWith("\\")) binBasePath += "\\"; //var razor = new RazorStringHostContainer(); var razor = new RazorFolderHostContainer(); razor.TemplatePath = binBasePath; binBasePath += "bin\\"; razor.BaseBinaryFolder = binBasePath; razor.UseAppDomain = false; razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(binBasePath + "ClassifiedsBusiness.dll"); razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(binBasePath + "ClassifiedsWeb.dll"); razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(binBasePath + "Westwind.Utilities.dll"); razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(binBasePath + "Westwind.Web.dll"); razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(binBasePath + "Westwind.Web.Mvc.dll"); razor.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.Web.dll"); razor.ReferencedNamespaces.Add("System.Web"); razor.ReferencedNamespaces.Add("ClassifiedsBusiness"); razor.ReferencedNamespaces.Add("ClassifiedsWeb"); razor.ReferencedNamespaces.Add("Westwind.Web"); razor.ReferencedNamespaces.Add("Westwind.Utilities"); _RazorHost = razor; _RazorHost.Start(); //_RazorHost.Engine.Configuration.CompileToMemory = false; } return _RazorHost; } The RazorFolderHostContainer essentially is a full runtime that mimics a folder structure like a typical Web app does including caching semantics and compiling code only if code changes on disk. It maps a folder hierarchy to views using the ~/ path syntax. The host is then configured to add assemblies and namespaces. Unfortunately the engine is not exactly like MVC's Razor - the expression expansion and code execution are the same, but some of the support methods like sections, helpers etc. are not all there so templates have to be a bit simpler. There are other folder hosts provided as well to directly execute templates from strings (using RazorStringHostContainer). The following is an example of an HTML email template @inherits RazorHosting.RazorTemplateFolderHost <ClassifiedsWeb.SearchNotificationViewModel> <html> <head> <title>Search Notifications</title> <style> body { margin: 5px;font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 10pt;} h3 { color: SteelBlue; } .entry-item { border-bottom: 1px solid grey; padding: 8px; margin-bottom: 5px; } </style> </head> <body> Hello @Model.User.Name,<br /> <p>Below are your Search Results for the search phrase:</p> <h3>@Model.Notification.SearchPhrase</h3> <small>since @TimeUtils.ShortDateString(Model.Notification.LastSearch)</small> <hr /> You can see that the syntax is a little different. Instead of the familiar @model header the raw Razor  @inherits tag is used to specify the template base class (which you can extend). I took a quick look through the feature set of RazorEngine on CodePlex (now Github I guess) and the template implementation they use is closer to MVC's razor but there are other differences. In the end don't expect exact behavior like MVC templates if you use an external Razor rendering engine. This is not what I would consider an ideal solution, but it works well enough for this project. My biggest concern is the overhead of hosting a second razor engine in a Web app and the fact that here the differences in template rendering between 'real' MVC Razor views and another RazorEngine really are noticeable. You win some, you lose some It's extremely nice to see that if you have a ControllerContext handy (which probably addresses 99% of Web app scenarios) rendering a view to string using the native MVC Razor engine is pretty simple. Kudos on making that happen - as it solves a problem I see in just about every Web application I work on. But it is a bummer that a ControllerContext is required to make this simple code work. It'd be really sweet if there was a way to render views without being so closely coupled to the ASP.NET or MVC infrastructure that requires a ControllerContext. Alternately it'd be nice to have a way for an MVC based application to create a minimal ControllerContext from scratch - maybe somebody's been down that path. I tried for a few hours to come up with a way to make that work but gave up in the soup of nested contexts (MVC/Controller/View/Http). I suspect going down this path would be similar to hosting the ASP.NET runtime requiring a WorkerRequest. Brrr…. The sad part is that it seems to me that a View should really not require much 'context' of any kind to render output to string. Yes there are a few things that clearly are required like paths to the virtual and possibly the disk paths to the root of the app, but beyond that view rendering should not require much. But, no such luck. For now custom RazorHosting seems to be the only way to make Razor rendering go outside of the MVC context… Resources Full ViewRenderer.cs source code from Westwind.Web.Mvc library Hosting the Razor Engine for Non-Web Applications RazorEngine on GitHub© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in ASP.NET   ASP.NET  MVC   Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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  • An Introduction to Meteor

    - by Stephen.Walther
    The goal of this blog post is to give you a brief introduction to Meteor which is a framework for building Single Page Apps. In this blog entry, I provide a walkthrough of building a simple Movie database app. What is special about Meteor? Meteor has two jaw-dropping features: Live HTML – If you make any changes to the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or data on the server then every client shows the changes automatically without a browser refresh. For example, if you change the background color of a page to yellow then every open browser will show the new yellow background color without a refresh. Or, if you add a new movie to a collection of movies, then every open browser will display the new movie automatically. With Live HTML, users no longer need a refresh button. Changes to an application happen everywhere automatically without any effort. The Meteor framework handles all of the messy details of keeping all of the clients in sync with the server for you. Latency Compensation – When you modify data on the client, these modifications appear as if they happened on the server without any delay. For example, if you create a new movie then the movie appears instantly. However, that is all an illusion. In the background, Meteor updates the database with the new movie. If, for whatever reason, the movie cannot be added to the database then Meteor removes the movie from the client automatically. Latency compensation is extremely important for creating a responsive web application. You want the user to be able to make instant modifications in the browser and the framework to handle the details of updating the database without slowing down the user. Installing Meteor Meteor is licensed under the open-source MIT license and you can start building production apps with the framework right now. Be warned that Meteor is still in the “early preview” stage. It has not reached a 1.0 release. According to the Meteor FAQ, Meteor will reach version 1.0 in “More than a month, less than a year.” Don’t be scared away by that. You should be aware that, unlike most open source projects, Meteor has financial backing. The Meteor project received an $11.2 million round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz. So, it would be a good bet that this project will reach the 1.0 mark. And, if it doesn’t, the framework as it exists right now is still very powerful. Meteor runs on top of Node.js. You write Meteor apps by writing JavaScript which runs both on the client and on the server. You can build Meteor apps on Windows, Mac, or Linux (Although the support for Windows is still officially unofficial). If you want to install Meteor on Windows then download the MSI from the following URL: http://win.meteor.com/ If you want to install Meteor on Mac/Linux then run the following CURL command from your terminal: curl https://install.meteor.com | /bin/sh Meteor will install all of its dependencies automatically including Node.js. However, I recommend that you install Node.js before installing Meteor by installing Node.js from the following address: http://nodejs.org/ If you let Meteor install Node.js then Meteor won’t install NPM which is the standard package manager for Node.js. If you install Node.js and then you install Meteor then you get NPM automatically. Creating a New Meteor App To get a sense of how Meteor works, I am going to walk through the steps required to create a simple Movie database app. Our app will display a list of movies and contain a form for creating a new movie. The first thing that we need to do is create our new Meteor app. Open a command prompt/terminal window and execute the following command: Meteor create MovieApp After you execute this command, you should see something like the following: Follow the instructions: execute cd MovieApp to change to your MovieApp directory, and run the meteor command. Executing the meteor command starts Meteor on port 3000. Open up your favorite web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 and you should see the default Meteor Hello World page: Open up your favorite development environment to see what the Meteor app looks like. Open the MovieApp folder which we just created. Here’s what the MovieApp looks like in Visual Studio 2012: Notice that our MovieApp contains three files named MovieApp.css, MovieApp.html, and MovieApp.js. In other words, it contains a Cascading Style Sheet file, an HTML file, and a JavaScript file. Just for fun, let’s see how the Live HTML feature works. Open up multiple browsers and point each browser at http://localhost:3000. Now, open the MovieApp.html page and modify the text “Hello World!” to “Hello Cruel World!” and save the change. The text in all of the browsers should update automatically without a browser refresh. Pretty amazing, right? Controlling Where JavaScript Executes You write a Meteor app using JavaScript. Some of the JavaScript executes on the client (the browser) and some of the JavaScript executes on the server and some of the JavaScript executes in both places. For a super simple app, you can use the Meteor.isServer and Meteor.isClient properties to control where your JavaScript code executes. For example, the following JavaScript contains a section of code which executes on the server and a section of code which executes in the browser: if (Meteor.isClient) { console.log("Hello Browser!"); } if (Meteor.isServer) { console.log("Hello Server!"); } console.log("Hello Browser and Server!"); When you run the app, the message “Hello Browser!” is written to the browser JavaScript console. The message “Hello Server!” is written to the command/terminal window where you ran Meteor. Finally, the message “Hello Browser and Server!” is execute on both the browser and server and the message appears in both places. For simple apps, using Meteor.isClient and Meteor.isServer to control where JavaScript executes is fine. For more complex apps, you should create separate folders for your server and client code. Here are the folders which you can use in a Meteor app: · client – This folder contains any JavaScript which executes only on the client. · server – This folder contains any JavaScript which executes only on the server. · common – This folder contains any JavaScript code which executes on both the client and server. · lib – This folder contains any JavaScript files which you want to execute before any other JavaScript files. · public – This folder contains static application assets such as images. For the Movie App, we need the client, server, and common folders. Delete the existing MovieApp.js, MovieApp.html, and MovieApp.css files. We will create new files in the right locations later in this walkthrough. Combining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Files Meteor combines all of your JavaScript files, and all of your Cascading Style Sheet files, and all of your HTML files automatically. If you want to create one humongous JavaScript file which contains all of the code for your app then that is your business. However, if you want to build a more maintainable application, then you should break your JavaScript files into many separate JavaScript files and let Meteor combine them for you. Meteor also combines all of your HTML files into a single file. HTML files are allowed to have the following top-level elements: <head> — All <head> files are combined into a single <head> and served with the initial page load. <body> — All <body> files are combined into a single <body> and served with the initial page load. <template> — All <template> files are compiled into JavaScript templates. Because you are creating a single page app, a Meteor app typically will contain a single HTML file for the <head> and <body> content. However, a Meteor app typically will contain several template files. In other words, all of the interesting stuff happens within the <template> files. Displaying a List of Movies Let me start building the Movie App by displaying a list of movies. In order to display a list of movies, we need to create the following four files: · client\movies.html – Contains the HTML for the <head> and <body> of the page for the Movie app. · client\moviesTemplate.html – Contains the HTML template for displaying the list of movies. · client\movies.js – Contains the JavaScript for supplying data to the moviesTemplate. · server\movies.js – Contains the JavaScript for seeding the database with movies. After you create these files, your folder structure should looks like this: Here’s what the client\movies.html file looks like: <head> <title>My Movie App</title> </head> <body> <h1>Movies</h1> {{> moviesTemplate }} </body>   Notice that it contains <head> and <body> top-level elements. The <body> element includes the moviesTemplate with the syntax {{> moviesTemplate }}. The moviesTemplate is defined in the client/moviesTemplate.html file: <template name="moviesTemplate"> <ul> {{#each movies}} <li> {{title}} </li> {{/each}} </ul> </template> By default, Meteor uses the Handlebars templating library. In the moviesTemplate above, Handlebars is used to loop through each of the movies using {{#each}}…{{/each}} and display the title for each movie using {{title}}. The client\movies.js JavaScript file is used to bind the moviesTemplate to the Movies collection on the client. Here’s what this JavaScript file looks like: // Declare client Movies collection Movies = new Meteor.Collection("movies"); // Bind moviesTemplate to Movies collection Template.moviesTemplate.movies = function () { return Movies.find(); }; The Movies collection is a client-side proxy for the server-side Movies database collection. Whenever you want to interact with the collection of Movies stored in the database, you use the Movies collection instead of communicating back to the server. The moviesTemplate is bound to the Movies collection by assigning a function to the Template.moviesTemplate.movies property. The function simply returns all of the movies from the Movies collection. The final file which we need is the server-side server\movies.js file: // Declare server Movies collection Movies = new Meteor.Collection("movies"); // Seed the movie database with a few movies Meteor.startup(function () { if (Movies.find().count() == 0) { Movies.insert({ title: "Star Wars", director: "Lucas" }); Movies.insert({ title: "Memento", director: "Nolan" }); Movies.insert({ title: "King Kong", director: "Jackson" }); } }); The server\movies.js file does two things. First, it declares the server-side Meteor Movies collection. When you declare a server-side Meteor collection, a collection is created in the MongoDB database associated with your Meteor app automatically (Meteor uses MongoDB as its database automatically). Second, the server\movies.js file seeds the Movies collection (MongoDB collection) with three movies. Seeding the database gives us some movies to look at when we open the Movies app in a browser. Creating New Movies Let me modify the Movies Database App so that we can add new movies to the database of movies. First, I need to create a new template file – named client\movieForm.html – which contains an HTML form for creating a new movie: <template name="movieForm"> <fieldset> <legend>Add New Movie</legend> <form> <div> <label> Title: <input id="title" /> </label> </div> <div> <label> Director: <input id="director" /> </label> </div> <div> <input type="submit" value="Add Movie" /> </div> </form> </fieldset> </template> In order for the new form to show up, I need to modify the client\movies.html file to include the movieForm.html template. Notice that I added {{> movieForm }} to the client\movies.html file: <head> <title>My Movie App</title> </head> <body> <h1>Movies</h1> {{> moviesTemplate }} {{> movieForm }} </body> After I make these modifications, our Movie app will display the form: The next step is to handle the submit event for the movie form. Below, I’ve modified the client\movies.js file so that it contains a handler for the submit event raised when you submit the form contained in the movieForm.html template: // Declare client Movies collection Movies = new Meteor.Collection("movies"); // Bind moviesTemplate to Movies collection Template.moviesTemplate.movies = function () { return Movies.find(); }; // Handle movieForm events Template.movieForm.events = { 'submit': function (e, tmpl) { // Don't postback e.preventDefault(); // create the new movie var newMovie = { title: tmpl.find("#title").value, director: tmpl.find("#director").value }; // add the movie to the db Movies.insert(newMovie); } }; The Template.movieForm.events property contains an event map which maps event names to handlers. In this case, I am mapping the form submit event to an anonymous function which handles the event. In the event handler, I am first preventing a postback by calling e.preventDefault(). This is a single page app, no postbacks are allowed! Next, I am grabbing the new movie from the HTML form. I’m taking advantage of the template find() method to retrieve the form field values. Finally, I am calling Movies.insert() to insert the new movie into the Movies collection. Here, I am explicitly inserting the new movie into the client-side Movies collection. Meteor inserts the new movie into the server-side Movies collection behind the scenes. When Meteor inserts the movie into the server-side collection, the new movie is added to the MongoDB database associated with the Movies app automatically. If server-side insertion fails for whatever reasons – for example, your internet connection is lost – then Meteor will remove the movie from the client-side Movies collection automatically. In other words, Meteor takes care of keeping the client Movies collection and the server Movies collection in sync. If you open multiple browsers, and add movies, then you should notice that all of the movies appear on all of the open browser automatically. You don’t need to refresh individual browsers to update the client-side Movies collection. Meteor keeps everything synchronized between the browsers and server for you. Removing the Insecure Module To make it easier to develop and debug a new Meteor app, by default, you can modify the database directly from the client. For example, you can delete all of the data in the database by opening up your browser console window and executing multiple Movies.remove() commands. Obviously, enabling anyone to modify your database from the browser is not a good idea in a production application. Before you make a Meteor app public, you should first run the meteor remove insecure command from a command/terminal window: Running meteor remove insecure removes the insecure package from the Movie app. Unfortunately, it also breaks our Movie app. We’ll get an “Access denied” error in our browser console whenever we try to insert a new movie. No worries. I’ll fix this issue in the next section. Creating Meteor Methods By taking advantage of Meteor Methods, you can create methods which can be invoked on both the client and the server. By taking advantage of Meteor Methods you can: 1. Perform form validation on both the client and the server. For example, even if an evil hacker bypasses your client code, you can still prevent the hacker from submitting an invalid value for a form field by enforcing validation on the server. 2. Simulate database operations on the client but actually perform the operations on the server. Let me show you how we can modify our Movie app so it uses Meteor Methods to insert a new movie. First, we need to create a new file named common\methods.js which contains the definition of our Meteor Methods: Meteor.methods({ addMovie: function (newMovie) { // Perform form validation if (newMovie.title == "") { throw new Meteor.Error(413, "Missing title!"); } if (newMovie.director == "") { throw new Meteor.Error(413, "Missing director!"); } // Insert movie (simulate on client, do it on server) return Movies.insert(newMovie); } }); The addMovie() method is called from both the client and the server. This method does two things. First, it performs some basic validation. If you don’t enter a title or you don’t enter a director then an error is thrown. Second, the addMovie() method inserts the new movie into the Movies collection. When called on the client, inserting the new movie into the Movies collection just updates the collection. When called on the server, inserting the new movie into the Movies collection causes the database (MongoDB) to be updated with the new movie. You must add the common\methods.js file to the common folder so it will get executed on both the client and the server. Our folder structure now looks like this: We actually call the addMovie() method within our client code in the client\movies.js file. Here’s what the updated file looks like: // Declare client Movies collection Movies = new Meteor.Collection("movies"); // Bind moviesTemplate to Movies collection Template.moviesTemplate.movies = function () { return Movies.find(); }; // Handle movieForm events Template.movieForm.events = { 'submit': function (e, tmpl) { // Don't postback e.preventDefault(); // create the new movie var newMovie = { title: tmpl.find("#title").value, director: tmpl.find("#director").value }; // add the movie to the db Meteor.call( "addMovie", newMovie, function (err, result) { if (err) { alert("Could not add movie " + err.reason); } } ); } }; The addMovie() method is called – on both the client and the server – by calling the Meteor.call() method. This method accepts the following parameters: · The string name of the method to call. · The data to pass to the method (You can actually pass multiple params for the data if you like). · A callback function to invoke after the method completes. In the JavaScript code above, the addMovie() method is called with the new movie retrieved from the HTML form. The callback checks for an error. If there is an error then the error reason is displayed in an alert (please don’t use alerts for validation errors in a production app because they are ugly!). Summary The goal of this blog post was to provide you with a brief walk through of a simple Meteor app. I showed you how you can create a simple Movie Database app which enables you to display a list of movies and create new movies. I also explained why it is important to remove the Meteor insecure package from a production app. I showed you how to use Meteor Methods to insert data into the database instead of doing it directly from the client. I’m very impressed with the Meteor framework. The support for Live HTML and Latency Compensation are required features for many real world Single Page Apps but implementing these features by hand is not easy. Meteor makes it easy.

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  • NTFS Corruption: Files created in Linux corrupted when Windows Boots

    - by Logan Mayfield
    I'm getting some file loss and corruption on my Win7/Ubuntu 12.04 dual boot setup. I have a large shared NTFS partition. I have my Windows Docs/Music/etc. directories on that file and have the comparable directors in Linux setup as a sym. link. I'm using ntfs-3g on the linux side of things to manage the ntfs partition. The shared partition is on a logical partition along with my Linux /home / and /swap partitions. The ntfs partition is mounted at boot time via fstab with the following options: ntfs-3g users,nls=utf8,locale=en_US.UTF-8,exec,rw The problem seems to be confined to newly created and recently edited files. I have not see data loss or corruption when creating/editing files in Windows and then moving over to Ubuntu. I've been using the sync command aggressively in Ubuntu to try to ensure everything is getting written to the HDD. I do not use hibernate in Windows so I know it's not the usual missing files due to Hibernation problem. I'm not seeing any mount related issues on dmesg. Most recently I had a set of files related to a LaTeX document go bad. Some of them show up in Ubuntu but I am unable to delete them. In the GUI file browser they are given thumbnails associated with files I created on my last boot of Windows. To be more specific: I created a few png files in Windows. The files corrupted by that Windows boot are associated with running PdfLatex on a file and are not image files. However, two of the corrupted files show up with the thumbnail image of one of the previously mentioned png files. The png files are not in the same directory as the latex files but they are both win the Document Folder tree. I've had sucess with using NTFS for shared data in the past and am hoping there's some quirk here I'm missing and it's not just bad luck. On one hand this appears to be some kind of Windows problem as data loss occurs when I boot to Windows after having worked in Ubuntu for a while. However, I'm assuming it's more on the Ubuntu end as it requires the special NTFS drivers. Edit for more info: This is a Lenovo Thinkpad L430. Purchased new in the last month. So it's a fairly fresh install. Many of the files on the shared partition were copied over from a previous NTFS formatted shared partition on another HDD. As requested: here's a sample chkdsk log. Some of the files its mentioning were files that got deleted off the partition while in Ubuntu. Others were created/edited but not deleted. Checking file system on D: Volume dismounted. All opened handles to this volume are now invalid. Volume label is Files. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)... Attribute record of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x2 is cross linked starting at 0x789f47 for possibly 0x21 clusters. Some clusters occupied by attribute of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x2 in file 0x42 is already in use. Deleting corrupt attribute record (128, "") from file record segment 66. 86496 file records processed. File verification completed. 385 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 0 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)... Deleted invalid filename Screenshot from 2012-09-09 09:51:27.png (72) in directory 46. The NTFS file name attribute in file 0x48 is incorrect. 53 00 63 00 72 00 65 00 65 00 6e 00 73 00 68 00 S.c.r.e.e.n.s.h. 6f 00 74 00 20 00 66 00 72 00 6f 00 6d 00 20 00 o.t. .f.r.o.m. . 32 00 30 00 31 00 32 00 2d 00 30 00 39 00 2d 00 2.0.1.2.-.0.9.-. 30 00 39 00 20 00 30 00 39 00 3a 00 35 00 31 00 0.9. .0.9.:.5.1. 3a 00 32 00 37 00 2e 00 70 00 6e 00 67 00 0d 00 :.2.7...p.n.g... 00 00 00 00 00 00 90 94 49 1f 5e 00 00 80 d4 00 ......I.^.... File 72 has been orphaned since all its filenames were invalid Windows will recover the file in the orphan recovery phase. Correcting minor file name errors in file 72. Index entry found.000 of index $I30 in file 0x5 points to unused file 0x11. Deleting index entry found.000 in index $I30 of file 5. Index entry found.001 of index $I30 in file 0x5 points to unused file 0x16. Deleting index entry found.001 in index $I30 of file 5. Index entry found.002 of index $I30 in file 0x5 points to unused file 0x15. Deleting index entry found.002 in index $I30 of file 5. Index entry DOWNLO~1 of index $I30 in file 0x28 points to unused file 0x2b6. Deleting index entry DOWNLO~1 in index $I30 of file 40. Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry Screenshot from 2012-09-09 09:51:27.png of index $I30 with parent 0x2e in file 0x48. Deleting index entry Screenshot from 2012-09-09 09:51:27.png in index $I30 of file 46. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x32 points to file 0x151e8 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry latexsheet.tex in index $I30 of file 50. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x58bc points to file 0x151eb which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry D8CZ82PK in index $I30 of file 22716. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x58bc points to file 0x151f7 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry EGA4QEAX in index $I30 of file 22716. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x58bc points to file 0x151e9 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry NGTB469M in index $I30 of file 22716. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x58bc points to file 0x151fb which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry WU5RKXAB in index $I30 of file 22716. Index entry comp220-lab3.synctex.gz of index $I30 in file 0xda69 points to unused file 0xd098. Deleting index entry comp220-lab3.synctex.gz in index $I30 of file 55913. Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry comp220-numberGrammars.aux of index $I30 with parent 0xda69 in file 0xa276. Deleting index entry comp220-numberGrammars.aux in index $I30 of file 55913. The file reference 0x500000000cd43 of index entry comp220-numberGrammars.out of index $I30 with parent 0xda69 is not the same as 0x600000000cd43. Deleting index entry comp220-numberGrammars.out in index $I30 of file 55913. The file reference 0x500000000cd45 of index entry comp220-numberGrammars.pdf of index $I30 with parent 0xda69 is not the same as 0xc00000000cd45. Deleting index entry comp220-numberGrammars.pdf in index $I30 of file 55913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xda69 points to file 0x15290 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry gram.aux in index $I30 of file 55913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xda69 points to file 0x15291 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry gram.out in index $I30 of file 55913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xda69 points to file 0x15292 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry gram.pdf in index $I30 of file 55913. Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry comp230-quiz1.synctex.gz of index $I30 with parent 0xda6f in file 0xd183. Deleting index entry comp230-quiz1.synctex.gz in index $I30 of file 55919. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf3cc points to file 0x15283 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry require-transform.rkt in index $I30 of file 62412. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf3cc points to file 0x15284 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry set.rkt in index $I30 of file 62412. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf497 points to file 0x15280 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry logger.rkt in index $I30 of file 62615. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf497 points to file 0x15281 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry misc.rkt in index $I30 of file 62615. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf497 points to file 0x15282 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry more-scheme.rkt in index $I30 of file 62615. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf5bf points to file 0x15285 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry core-layout.rkt in index $I30 of file 62911. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf5e0 points to file 0x15286 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry ref.scrbl in index $I30 of file 62944. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x15287 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry base-render.rkt in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x15288 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry html-properties.rkt in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x15289 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry html-render.rkt in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x1528b which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry latex-prefix.rkt in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x1528c which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry latex-render.rkt in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf6f0 points to file 0x1528e which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry scribble.tex in index $I30 of file 63216. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf717 points to file 0x1528a which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry lang.rkt in index $I30 of file 63255. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf721 points to file 0x1528d which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry lang.rkt in index $I30 of file 63265. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0xf764 points to file 0x1528f which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry lang.rkt in index $I30 of file 63332. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14261 points to file 0x15270 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry fddff3ae9ae2221207f144821d475c08ec3d05 in index $I30 of file 82529. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14621 points to file 0x15268 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry FETCH_HEAD in index $I30 of file 83489. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14650 points to file 0x15272 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 86 in index $I30 of file 83536. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14651 points to file 0x15266 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry pack-7f54ce9f8218d2cd8d6815b8c07461b50584027f.idx in index $I30 of file 83537. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14651 points to file 0x15265 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry pack-7f54ce9f8218d2cd8d6815b8c07461b50584027f.pack in index $I30 of file 83537. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x146f1 points to file 0x15275 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry master in index $I30 of file 83697. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x146f6 points to file 0x15276 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry remotes in index $I30 of file 83702. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x1477d points to file 0x15278 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry pad.rkt in index $I30 of file 83837. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14797 points to file 0x1527c which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry pad1.rkt in index $I30 of file 83863. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14810 points to file 0x1527d which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry cm.rkt in index $I30 of file 83984. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14926 points to file 0x1527e which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry multi-file-search.rkt in index $I30 of file 84262. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x149ef points to file 0x1527f which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry com.rkt in index $I30 of file 84463. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b47 points to file 0x15202 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry COMMIT_EDITMSG in index $I30 of file 84807. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b47 points to file 0x15279 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry index in index $I30 of file 84807. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b4c points to file 0x15274 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry master in index $I30 of file 84812. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1520b which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 02 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1525a which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 28 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15208 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 29 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1521f which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 2c in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15261 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 2e in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x151f0 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 45 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1523e which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 47 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x151e5 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 49 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15214 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 58 in index $I30 of file 84833. Index entry 6e of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to unused file 0xd182. Deleting index entry 6e in index $I30 of file 84833. Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry a0 of index $I30 with parent 0x14b61 in file 0xd29c. Deleting index entry a0 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1521b which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry cd in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15249 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry d6 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15242 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry df in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x15227 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry ea in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x1522e which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry f3 in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b61 points to file 0x151f2 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry ff in index $I30 of file 84833. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b62 points to file 0x15254 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 1ed39b36ad4bd48c91d22cbafd7390f1ea38da in index $I30 of file 84834. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b75 points to file 0x15224 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 96260247010fe9811fea773c08c5f3a314df3f in index $I30 of file 84853. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b79 points to file 0x15219 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 8f689724ca23528dd4f4ab8b475ace6edcb8f5 in index $I30 of file 84857. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b7c points to file 0x15223 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 1df17cf850656be42c947cba6295d29c248d94 in index $I30 of file 84860. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b7c points to file 0x15217 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 31db8a3c72a3e44769bbd8db58d36f8298242c in index $I30 of file 84860. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b7c points to file 0x15267 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 8e1254d755ff1882d61c07011272bac3612f57 in index $I30 of file 84860. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b82 points to file 0x15246 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry f959bfaf9643c1b9e78d5ecf8f669133efdbf3 in index $I30 of file 84866. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b88 points to file 0x151fe which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 7e9aa15b1196b2c60116afa4ffa613397f2185 in index $I30 of file 84872. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b8a points to file 0x151ea which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 73cb0cd248e494bb508f41b55d862e84cdd6e0 in index $I30 of file 84874. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b8e points to file 0x15264 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry bd555d9f0383cc14c317120149e9376a8094c4 in index $I30 of file 84878. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b96 points to file 0x15212 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 630dba40562d991bc6cbb6fed4ba638542e9c5 in index $I30 of file 84886. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b99 points to file 0x151ec which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 478be31ca8e538769246e22bba3330d81dc3c8 in index $I30 of file 84889. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b99 points to file 0x15258 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 66c60c0a0f3253bc9a5112697e4cbb0dfc0c78 in index $I30 of file 84889. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b9c points to file 0x15238 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 1c7ceeddc2953496f9ffbfc0b6fb28846e3fe3 in index $I30 of file 84892. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14b9c points to file 0x15247 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry ae6e32ffc49d897d8f8aeced970a90d3653533 in index $I30 of file 84892. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14ba0 points to file 0x15233 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry f71c7d874e45179a32e138b49bf007e5bbf514 in index $I30 of file 84896. Index entry 2e04fefbd794f050d45e7a717d009e39204431 of index $I30 in file 0x14ba7 points to unused file 0xd097. Deleting index entry 2e04fefbd794f050d45e7a717d009e39204431 in index $I30 of file 84903. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14baa points to file 0x15241 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 0dda7dec1c635cd646dfef308e403c2843d5dc in index $I30 of file 84906. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14baa points to file 0x151fc which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 98151e654dd546edcfdec630bc82d90619ac8e in index $I30 of file 84906. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14bb1 points to file 0x151e9 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 1997c5be62ffeebc99253cced7608415e38e4e in index $I30 of file 84913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14bb1 points to file 0x1521d which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 6bf3aedefd3ac62d9c49cad72d05e8c0ad242c in index $I30 of file 84913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14bb1 points to file 0x151f4 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry 907b755afdca14c00be0010962d0861af29264 in index $I30 of file 84913. An index entry of index $I30 in file 0x14bb3 points to file 0x15218 which is beyond the MFT. Deleting index entry

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  • Red Gate Coder interviews: Robin Hellen

    - by Michael Williamson
    Robin Hellen is a test engineer here at Red Gate, and is also the latest coder I’ve interviewed. We chatted about debugging code, the roles of software engineers and testers, and why Vala is currently his favourite programming language. How did you get started with programming?It started when I was about six. My dad’s a professional programmer, and he gave me and my sister one of his old computers and taught us a bit about programming. It was an old Amiga 500 with a variant of BASIC. I don’t think I ever successfully completed anything! It was just faffing around. I didn’t really get anywhere with it.But then presumably you did get somewhere with it at some point.At some point. The PC emerged as the dominant platform, and I learnt a bit of Visual Basic. I didn’t really do much, just a couple of quick hacky things. A bit of demo animation. Took me a long time to get anywhere with programming, really.When did you feel like you did start to get somewhere?I think it was when I started doing things for someone else, which was my sister’s final year of university project. She called up my dad two days before she was due to submit, saying “We need something to display a graph!”. Dad says, “I’m too busy, go talk to your brother”. So I hacked up this ugly piece of code, sent it off and they won a prize for that project. Apparently, the graph, the bit that I wrote, was the reason they won a prize! That was when I first felt that I’d actually done something that was worthwhile. That was my first real bit of code, and the ugliest code I’ve ever written. It’s basically an array of pre-drawn line elements that I shifted round the screen to draw a very spikey graph.When did you decide that programming might actually be something that you wanted to do as a career?It’s not really a decision I took, I always wanted to do something with computers. And I had to take a gap year for uni, so I was looking for twelve month internships. I applied to Red Gate, and they gave me a job as a tester. And that’s where I really started having to write code well. To a better standard that I had been up to that point.How did you find coming to Red Gate and working with other coders?I thought it was really nice. I learnt so much just from other people around. I think one of the things that’s really great is that people are just willing to help you learn. Instead of “Don’t you know that, you’re so stupid”, it’s “You can just do it this way”.If you could go back to the very start of that internship, is there something that you would tell yourself?Write shorter code. I have a tendency to write massive, many-thousand line files that I break out of right at the end. And then half-way through a project I’m doing something, I think “Where did I write that bit that does that thing?”, and it’s almost impossible to find. I wrote some horrendous code when I started. Just that principle, just keep things short. Even if looks a bit crazy to be jumping around all over the place all of the time, it’s actually a lot more understandable.And how do you hold yourself to that?Generally, if a function’s going off my screen, it’s probably too long. That’s what I tell myself, and within the team here we have code reviews, so the guys I’m with at the moment are pretty good at pulling me up on, “Doesn’t that look like it’s getting a bit long?”. It’s more just the subjective standard of readability than anything.So you’re an advocate of code review?Yes, definitely. Both to spot errors that you might have made, and to improve your knowledge. The person you’re reviewing will say “Oh, you could have done it that way”. That’s how we learn, by talking to others, and also just sharing knowledge of how your project works around the team, or even outside the team. Definitely a very firm advocate of code reviews.Do you think there’s more we could do with them?I don’t know. We’re struggling with how to add them as part of the process without it becoming too cumbersome. We’ve experimented with a few different ways, and we’ve not found anything that just works.To get more into the nitty gritty: how do you like to debug code?The first thing is to do it in my head. I’ll actually think what piece of code is likely to have caused that error, and take a quick look at it, just to see if there’s anything glaringly obvious there. The next thing I’ll probably do is throw in print statements, or throw some exceptions from various points, just to check: is it going through the code path I expect it to? A last resort is to actually debug code using a debugger.Why is the debugger the last resort?Probably because of the environments I learnt programming in. VB and early BASIC didn’t have much of a debugger, the only way to find out what your program was doing was to add print statements. Also, because a lot of the stuff I tend to work with is non-interactive, if it’s something that takes a long time to run, I can throw in the print statements, set a run off, go and do something else, and look at it again later, rather than trying to remember what happened at that point when I was debugging through it. So it also gives me the record of what happens. I hate just sitting there pressing F5, F5, continually. If you’re having to find out what your code is doing at each line, you’ve probably got a very wrong mental model of what your code’s doing, and you can find that out just as easily by inspecting a couple of values through the print statements.If I were on some codebase that you were also working on, what should I do to make it as easy as possible to understand?I’d say short and well-named methods. The one thing I like to do when I’m looking at code is to find out where a value comes from, and the more layers of indirection there are, particularly DI [dependency injection] frameworks, the harder it is to find out where something’s come from. I really hate that. I want to know if the value come from the user here or is a constant here, and if I can’t find that out, that makes code very hard to understand for me.As a tester, where do you think the split should lie between software engineers and testers?I think the split is less on areas of the code you write and more what you’re designing and creating. The developers put a structure on the code, while my major role is to say which tests we should have, whether we should test that, or it’s not worth testing that because it’s a tiny function in code that nobody’s ever actually going to see. So it’s not a split in the code, it’s a split in what you’re thinking about. Saying what code we should write, but alternatively what code we should take out.In your experience, do the software engineers tend to do much testing themselves?They tend to control the lowest layer of tests. And, depending on how the balance of people is in the team, they might write some of the higher levels of test. Or that might go to the testers. I’m the only tester on my team with three other developers, so they’ll be writing quite a lot of the actual test code, with input from me as to whether we should test that functionality, whereas on other teams, where it’s been more equal numbers, the testers have written pretty much all of the high level tests, just because that’s the best use of resource.If you could shuffle resources around however you liked, do you think that the developers should be writing those high-level tests?I think they should be writing them occasionally. It helps when they have an understanding of how testing code works and possibly what assumptions we’ve made in tests, and they can say “actually, it doesn’t work like that under the hood so you’ve missed this whole area”. It’s one of those agile things that everyone on the team should be at least comfortable doing the various jobs. So if the developers can write test code then I think that’s a very good thing.So you think testers should be able to write production code?Yes, although given most testers skills at coding, I wouldn’t advise it too much! I have written a few things, and I did make a few changes that have actually gone into our production code base. They’re not necessarily running every time but they are there. I think having that mix of skill sets is really useful. In some ways we’re using our own product to test itself, so being able to make those changes where it’s not working saves me a round-trip through the developers. It can be really annoying if the developers have no time to make a change, and I can’t touch the code.If the software engineers are consistently writing tests at all levels, what role do you think the role of a tester is?I think on a team like that, those distinctions aren’t quite so useful. There’ll be two cases. There’s either the case where the developers think they’ve written good tests, but you still need someone with a test engineer mind-set to go through the tests and validate that it’s a useful set, or the correct set for that code. Or they won’t actually be pure developers, they’ll have that mix of test ability in there.I think having slightly more distinct roles is useful. When it starts to blur, then you lose that view of the tests as a whole. The tester job is not to create tests, it’s to validate the quality of the product, and you don’t do that just by writing tests. There’s more things you’ve got to keep in your mind. And I think when you blur the roles, you start to lose that end of the tester.So because you’re working on those features, you lose that holistic view of the whole system?Yeah, and anyone who’s worked on the feature shouldn’t be testing it. You always need to have it tested it by someone who didn’t write it. Otherwise you’re a bit too close and you assume “yes, people will only use it that way”, but the tester will come along and go “how do people use this? How would our most idiotic user use this?”. I might not test that because it might be completely irrelevant. But it’s coming in and trying to have a different set of assumptions.Are you a believer that it should all be automated if possible?Not entirely. So an automated test is always better than a manual test for the long-term, but there’s still nothing that beats a human sitting in front of the application and thinking “What could I do at this point?”. The automated test is very good but they follow that strict path, and they never check anything off the path. The human tester will look at things that they weren’t expecting, whereas the automated test can only ever go “Is that value correct?” in many respects, and it won’t notice that on the other side of the screen you’re showing something completely wrong. And that value might have been checked independently, but you always find a few odd interactions when you’re going through something manually, and you always need to go through something manually to start with anyway, otherwise you won’t know where the important bits to write your automation are.When you’re doing that manual testing, do you think it’s important to do that across the entire product, or just the bits that you’ve touched recently?I think it’s important to do it mostly on the bits you’ve touched, but you can’t ignore the rest of the product. Unless you’re dealing with a very, very self-contained bit, you’re almost always encounter other bits of the product along the way. Most testers I know, even if they are looking at just one path, they’ll keep open and move around a bit anyway, just because they want to find something that’s broken. If we find that your path is right, we’ll go out and hunt something else.How do you think this fits into the idea of continuously deploying, so long as the tests pass?With deploying a website it’s a bit different because you can always pull it back. If you’re deploying an application to customers, when you’ve released it, it’s out there, you can’t pull it back. Someone’s going to keep it, no matter how hard you try there will be a few installations that stay around. So I’d always have at least a human element on that path. With websites, you could probably automate straight out, or at least straight out to an internal environment or a single server in a cloud of fifty that will serve some people. But I don’t think you should release to everyone just on automated tests passing.You’ve already mentioned using BASIC and C# — are there any other languages that you’ve used?I’ve used a few. That’s something that has changed more recently, I’ve become familiar with more languages. Before I started at Red Gate I learnt a bit of C. Then last year, I taught myself Python which I actually really enjoyed using. I’ve also come across another language called Vala, which is sort of a C#-like language. It’s basically a pre-processor for C, but it has very nice syntax. I think that’s currently my favourite language.Any particular reason for trying Vala?I have a completely Linux environment at home, and I’ve been looking for a nice language, and C# just doesn’t cut it because I won’t touch Mono. So, I was looking for something like C# but that was useable in an open source environment, and Vala’s what I found. C#’s got a few features that Vala doesn’t, and Vala’s got a few features where I think “It would be awesome if C# had that”.What are some of the features that it’s missing?Extension methods. And I think that’s the only one that really bugs me. I like to use them when I’m writing C# because it makes some things really easy, especially with libraries that you can’t touch the internals of. It doesn’t have method overloading, which is sometimes annoying.Where it does win over C#?Everything is non-nullable by default, you never have to check that something’s unexpectedly null.Also, Vala has code contracts. This is starting to come in C# 4, but the way it works in Vala is that you specify requirements in short phrases as part of your function signature and they stick to the signature, so that when you inherit it, it has exactly the same code contract as the base one, or when you inherit from an interface, you have to match the signature exactly. Just using those makes you think a bit more about how you’re writing your method, it’s not an afterthought when you’ve got contracts from base classes given to you, you can’t change it. Which I think is a lot nicer than the way C# handles it. When are those actually checked?They’re checked both at compile and run-time. The compile-time checking isn’t very strong yet, it’s quite a new feature in the compiler, and because it compiles down to C, you can write C code and interface with your methods, so you can bypass that compile-time check anyway. So there’s an extra runtime check, and if you violate one of the contracts at runtime, it’s game over for your program, there’s no exception to catch, it’s just goodbye!One thing I dislike about C# is the exceptions. You write a bit of code and fifty exceptions could come from any point in your ten lines, and you can’t mentally model how those exceptions are going to come out, and you can’t even predict them based on the functions you’re calling, because if you’ve accidentally got a derived class there instead of a base class, that can throw a completely different set of exceptions. So I’ve got no way of mentally modelling those, whereas in Vala they’re checked like Java, so you know only these exceptions can come out. You know in advance the error conditions.I think Raymond Chen on Old New Thing says “the only thing you know when you throw an exception is that you’re in an invalid state somewhere in your program, so just kill it and be done with it!”You said you’ve also learnt bits of Python. How did you find that compared to Vala and C#?Very different because of the dynamic typing. I’ve been writing a website for my own use. I’m quite into photography, so I take photos off my camera, post-process them, dump them in a file, and I get a webpage with all my thumbnails. So sort of like Picassa, but written by myself because I wanted something to learn Python with. There are some things that are really nice, I just found it really difficult to cope with the fact that I’m not quite sure what this object type that I’m passed is, I might not ever be sure, so it can randomly blow up on me. But once I train myself to ignore that and just say “well, I’m fairly sure it’s going to be something that looks like this, so I’ll use it like this”, then it’s quite nice.Any particular features that you’ve appreciated?I don’t like any particular feature, it’s just very straightforward to work with. It’s very quick to write something in, particularly as you don’t have to worry that you’ve changed something that affects a different part of the program. If you have, then that part blows up, but I can get this part working right now.If you were doing a big project, would you be willing to do it in Python rather than C# or Vala?I think I might be willing to try something bigger or long term with Python. We’re currently doing an ASP.NET MVC project on C#, and I don’t like the amount of reflection. There’s a lot of magic that pulls values out, and it’s all done under the scenes. It’s almost managed to put a dynamic type system on top of C#, which in many ways destroys the language to me, whereas if you’re already in a dynamic language, having things done dynamically is much more natural. In many ways, you get the worst of both worlds. I think for web projects, I would go with Python again, whereas for anything desktop, command-line or GUI-based, I’d probably go for C# or Vala, depending on what environment I’m in.It’s the fact that you can gain from the strong typing in ways that you can’t so much on the web app. Or, in a web app, you have to use dynamic typing at some point, or you have to write a hell of a lot of boilerplate, and I’d rather use the dynamic typing than write the boilerplate.What do you think separates great programmers from everyone else?Probably design choices. Choosing to write it a piece of code one way or another. For any given program you ask me to write, I could probably do it five thousand ways. A programmer who is capable will see four or five of them, and choose one of the better ones. The excellent programmer will see the largest proportion and manage to pick the best one very quickly without having to think too much about it. I think that’s probably what separates, is the speed at which they can see what’s the best path to write the program in. More Red Gater Coder interviews

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  • Much Ado About Nothing: Stub Objects

    - by user9154181
    The Solaris 11 link-editor (ld) contains support for a new type of object that we call a stub object. A stub object is a shared object, built entirely from mapfiles, that supplies the same linking interface as the real object, while containing no code or data. Stub objects cannot be executed — the runtime linker will kill any process that attempts to load one. However, you can link to a stub object as a dependency, allowing the stub to act as a proxy for the real version of the object. You may well wonder if there is a point to producing an object that contains nothing but linking interface. As it turns out, stub objects are very useful for building large bodies of code such as Solaris. In the last year, we've had considerable success in applying them to one of our oldest and thorniest build problems. In this discussion, I will describe how we came to invent these objects, and how we apply them to building Solaris. This posting explains where the idea for stub objects came from, and details our long and twisty journey from hallway idea to standard link-editor feature. I expect that these details are mainly of interest to those who work on Solaris and its makefiles, those who have done so in the past, and those who work with other similar bodies of code. A subsequent posting will omit the history and background details, and instead discuss how to build and use stub objects. If you are mainly interested in what stub objects are, and don't care about the underlying software war stories, I encourage you to skip ahead. The Long Road To Stubs This all started for me with an email discussion in May of 2008, regarding a change request that was filed in 2002, entitled: 4631488 lib/Makefile is too patient: .WAITs should be reduced This CR encapsulates a number of cronic issues with Solaris builds: We build Solaris with a parallel make (dmake) that tries to build as much of the code base in parallel as possible. There is a lot of code to build, and we've long made use of parallelized builds to get the job done quicker. This is even more important in today's world of massively multicore hardware. Solaris contains a large number of executables and shared objects. Executables depend on shared objects, and shared objects can depend on each other. Before you can build an object, you need to ensure that the objects it needs have been built. This implies a need for serialization, which is in direct opposition to the desire to build everying in parallel. To accurately build objects in the right order requires an accurate set of make rules defining the things that depend on each other. This sounds simple, but the reality is quite complex. In practice, having programmers explicitly specify these dependencies is a losing strategy: It's really hard to get right. It's really easy to get it wrong and never know it because things build anyway. Even if you get it right, it won't stay that way, because dependencies between objects can change over time, and make cannot help you detect such drifing. You won't know that you got it wrong until the builds break. That can be a long time after the change that triggered the breakage happened, making it hard to connect the cause and the effect. Usually this happens just before a release, when the pressure is on, its hard to think calmly, and there is no time for deep fixes. As a poor compromise, the libraries in core Solaris were built using a set of grossly incomplete hand written rules, supplemented with a number of dmake .WAIT directives used to group the libraries into sets of non-interacting groups that can be built in parallel because we think they don't depend on each other. From time to time, someone will suggest that we could analyze the built objects themselves to determine their dependencies and then generate make rules based on those relationships. This is possible, but but there are complications that limit the usefulness of that approach: To analyze an object, you have to build it first. This is a classic chicken and egg scenario. You could analyze the results of a previous build, but then you're not necessarily going to get accurate rules for the current code. It should be possible to build the code without having a built workspace available. The analysis will take time, and remember that we're constantly trying to make builds faster, not slower. By definition, such an approach will always be approximate, and therefore only incremantally more accurate than the hand written rules described above. The hand written rules are fast and cheap, while this idea is slow and complex, so we stayed with the hand written approach. Solaris was built that way, essentially forever, because these are genuinely difficult problems that had no easy answer. The makefiles were full of build races in which the right outcomes happened reliably for years until a new machine or a change in build server workload upset the accidental balance of things. After figuring out what had happened, you'd mutter "How did that ever work?", add another incomplete and soon to be inaccurate make dependency rule to the system, and move on. This was not a satisfying solution, as we tend to be perfectionists in the Solaris group, but we didn't have a better answer. It worked well enough, approximately. And so it went for years. We needed a different approach — a new idea to cut the Gordian Knot. In that discussion from May 2008, my fellow linker-alien Rod Evans had the initial spark that lead us to a game changing series of realizations: The link-editor is used to link objects together, but it only uses the ELF metadata in the object, consisting of symbol tables, ELF versioning sections, and similar data. Notably, it does not look at, or understand, the machine code that makes an object useful at runtime. If you had an object that only contained the ELF metadata for a dependency, but not the code or data, the link-editor would find it equally useful for linking, and would never know the difference. Call it a stub object. In the core Solaris OS, we require all objects to be built with a link-editor mapfile that describes all of its publically available functions and data. Could we build a stub object using the mapfile for the real object? It ought to be very fast to build stub objects, as there are no input objects to process. Unlike the real object, stub objects would not actually require any dependencies, and so, all of the stubs for the entire system could be built in parallel. When building the real objects, one could link against the stub objects instead of the real dependencies. This means that all the real objects can be built built in parallel too, without any serialization. We could replace a system that requires perfect makefile rules with a system that requires no ordering rules whatsoever. The results would be considerably more robust. We immediately realized that this idea had potential, but also that there were many details to sort out, lots of work to do, and that perhaps it wouldn't really pan out. As is often the case, it would be necessary to do the work and see how it turned out. Following that conversation, I set about trying to build a stub object. We determined that a faithful stub has to do the following: Present the same set of global symbols, with the same ELF versioning, as the real object. Functions are simple — it suffices to have a symbol of the right type, possibly, but not necessarily, referencing a null function in its text segment. Copy relocations make data more complicated to stub. The possibility of a copy relocation means that when you create a stub, the data symbols must have the actual size of the real data. Any error in this will go uncaught at link time, and will cause tragic failures at runtime that are very hard to diagnose. For reasons too obscure to go into here, involving tentative symbols, it is also important that the data reside in bss, or not, matching its placement in the real object. If the real object has more than one symbol pointing at the same data item, we call these aliased symbols. All data symbols in the stub object must exhibit the same aliasing as the real object. We imagined the stub library feature working as follows: A command line option to ld tells it to produce a stub rather than a real object. In this mode, only mapfiles are examined, and any object or shared libraries on the command line are are ignored. The extra information needed (function or data, size, and bss details) would be added to the mapfile. When building the real object instead of the stub, the extra information for building stubs would be validated against the resulting object to ensure that they match. In exploring these ideas, I immediately run headfirst into the reality of the original mapfile syntax, a subject that I would later write about as The Problem(s) With Solaris SVR4 Link-Editor Mapfiles. The idea of extending that poor language was a non-starter. Until a better mapfile syntax became available, which seemed unlikely in 2008, the solution could not involve extentions to the mapfile syntax. Instead, we cooked up the idea (hack) of augmenting mapfiles with stylized comments that would carry the necessary information. A typical definition might look like: # DATA(i386) __iob 0x3c0 # DATA(amd64,sparcv9) __iob 0xa00 # DATA(sparc) __iob 0x140 iob; A further problem then became clear: If we can't extend the mapfile syntax, then there's no good way to extend ld with an option to produce stub objects, and to validate them against the real objects. The idea of having ld read comments in a mapfile and parse them for content is an unacceptable hack. The entire point of comments is that they are strictly for the human reader, and explicitly ignored by the tool. Taking all of these speed bumps into account, I made a new plan: A perl script reads the mapfiles, generates some small C glue code to produce empty functions and data definitions, compiles and links the stub object from the generated glue code, and then deletes the generated glue code. Another perl script used after both objects have been built, to compare the real and stub objects, using data from elfdump, and validate that they present the same linking interface. By June 2008, I had written the above, and generated a stub object for libc. It was a useful prototype process to go through, and it allowed me to explore the ideas at a deep level. Ultimately though, the result was unsatisfactory as a basis for real product. There were so many issues: The use of stylized comments were fine for a prototype, but not close to professional enough for shipping product. The idea of having to document and support it was a large concern. The ideal solution for stub objects really does involve having the link-editor accept the same arguments used to build the real object, augmented with a single extra command line option. Any other solution, such as our prototype script, will require makefiles to be modified in deeper ways to support building stubs, and so, will raise barriers to converting existing code. A validation script that rederives what the linker knew when it built an object will always be at a disadvantage relative to the actual linker that did the work. A stub object should be identifyable as such. In the prototype, there was no tag or other metadata that would let you know that they weren't real objects. Being able to identify a stub object in this way means that the file command can tell you what it is, and that the runtime linker can refuse to try and run a program that loads one. At that point, we needed to apply this prototype to building Solaris. As you might imagine, the task of modifying all the makefiles in the core Solaris code base in order to do this is a massive task, and not something you'd enter into lightly. The quality of the prototype just wasn't good enough to justify that sort of time commitment, so I tabled the project, putting it on my list of long term things to think about, and moved on to other work. It would sit there for a couple of years. Semi-coincidentally, one of the projects I tacked after that was to create a new mapfile syntax for the Solaris link-editor. We had wanted to do something about the old mapfile syntax for many years. Others before me had done some paper designs, and a great deal of thought had already gone into the features it should, and should not have, but for various reasons things had never moved beyond the idea stage. When I joined Sun in late 2005, I got involved in reviewing those things and thinking about the problem. Now in 2008, fresh from relearning for the Nth time why the old mapfile syntax was a huge impediment to linker progress, it seemed like the right time to tackle the mapfile issue. Paving the way for proper stub object support was not the driving force behind that effort, but I certainly had them in mind as I moved forward. The new mapfile syntax, which we call version 2, integrated into Nevada build snv_135 in in February 2010: 6916788 ld version 2 mapfile syntax PSARC/2009/688 Human readable and extensible ld mapfile syntax In order to prove that the new mapfile syntax was adequate for general purpose use, I had also done an overhaul of the ON consolidation to convert all mapfiles to use the new syntax, and put checks in place that would ensure that no use of the old syntax would creep back in. That work went back into snv_144 in June 2010: 6916796 OSnet mapfiles should use version 2 link-editor syntax That was a big putback, modifying 517 files, adding 18 new files, and removing 110 old ones. I would have done this putback anyway, as the work was already done, and the benefits of human readable syntax are obvious. However, among the justifications listed in CR 6916796 was this We anticipate adding additional features to the new mapfile language that will be applicable to ON, and which will require all sharable object mapfiles to use the new syntax. I never explained what those additional features were, and no one asked. It was premature to say so, but this was a reference to stub objects. By that point, I had already put together a working prototype link-editor with the necessary support for stub objects. I was pleased to find that building stubs was indeed very fast. On my desktop system (Ultra 24), an amd64 stub for libc can can be built in a fraction of a second: % ptime ld -64 -z stub -o stubs/libc.so.1 -G -hlibc.so.1 \ -ztext -zdefs -Bdirect ... real 0.019708910 user 0.010101680 sys 0.008528431 In order to go from prototype to integrated link-editor feature, I knew that I would need to prove that stub objects were valuable. And to do that, I knew that I'd have to switch the Solaris ON consolidation to use stub objects and evaluate the outcome. And in order to do that experiment, ON would first need to be converted to version 2 mapfiles. Sub-mission accomplished. Normally when you design a new feature, you can devise reasonably small tests to show it works, and then deploy it incrementally, letting it prove its value as it goes. The entire point of stub objects however was to demonstrate that they could be successfully applied to an extremely large and complex code base, and specifically to solve the Solaris build issues detailed above. There was no way to finesse the matter — in order to move ahead, I would have to successfully use stub objects to build the entire ON consolidation and demonstrate their value. In software, the need to boil the ocean can often be a warning sign that things are trending in the wrong direction. Conversely, sometimes progress demands that you build something large and new all at once. A big win, or a big loss — sometimes all you can do is try it and see what happens. And so, I spent some time staring at ON makefiles trying to get a handle on how things work, and how they'd have to change. It's a big and messy world, full of complex interactions, unspecified dependencies, special cases, and knowledge of arcane makefile features... ...and so, I backed away, put it down for a few months and did other work... ...until the fall, when I felt like it was time to stop thinking and pondering (some would say stalling) and get on with it. Without stubs, the following gives a simplified high level view of how Solaris is built: An initially empty directory known as the proto, and referenced via the ROOT makefile macro is established to receive the files that make up the Solaris distribution. A top level setup rule creates the proto area, and performs operations needed to initialize the workspace so that the main build operations can be launched, such as copying needed header files into the proto area. Parallel builds are launched to build the kernel (usr/src/uts), libraries (usr/src/lib), and commands. The install makefile target builds each item and delivers a copy to the proto area. All libraries and executables link against the objects previously installed in the proto, implying the need to synchronize the order in which things are built. Subsequent passes run lint, and do packaging. Given this structure, the additions to use stub objects are: A new second proto area is established, known as the stub proto and referenced via the STUBROOT makefile macro. The stub proto has the same structure as the real proto, but is used to hold stub objects. All files in the real proto are delivered as part of the Solaris product. In contrast, the stub proto is used to build the product, and then thrown away. A new target is added to library Makefiles called stub. This rule builds the stub objects. The ld command is designed so that you can build a stub object using the same ld command line you'd use to build the real object, with the addition of a single -z stub option. This means that the makefile rules for building the stub objects are very similar to those used to build the real objects, and many existing makefile definitions can be shared between them. A new target is added to the Makefiles called stubinstall which delivers the stub objects built by the stub rule into the stub proto. These rules reuse much of existing plumbing used by the existing install rule. The setup rule runs stubinstall over the entire lib subtree as part of its initialization. All libraries and executables link against the objects in the stub proto rather than the main proto, and can therefore be built in parallel without any synchronization. There was no small way to try this that would yield meaningful results. I would have to take a leap of faith and edit approximately 1850 makefiles and 300 mapfiles first, trusting that it would all work out. Once the editing was done, I'd type make and see what happened. This took about 6 weeks to do, and there were many dark days when I'd question the entire project, or struggle to understand some of the many twisted and complex situations I'd uncover in the makefiles. I even found a couple of new issues that required changes to the new stub object related code I'd added to ld. With a substantial amount of encouragement and help from some key people in the Solaris group, I eventually got the editing done and stub objects for the entire workspace built. I found that my desktop system could build all the stub objects in the workspace in roughly a minute. This was great news, as it meant that use of the feature is effectively free — no one was likely to notice or care about the cost of building them. After another week of typing make, fixing whatever failed, and doing it again, I succeeded in getting a complete build! The next step was to remove all of the make rules and .WAIT statements dedicated to controlling the order in which libraries under usr/src/lib are built. This came together pretty quickly, and after a few more speed bumps, I had a workspace that built cleanly and looked like something you might actually be able to integrate someday. This was a significant milestone, but there was still much left to do. I turned to doing full nightly builds. Every type of build (open, closed, OpenSolaris, export, domestic) had to be tried. Each type failed in a new and unique way, requiring some thinking and rework. As things came together, I became aware of things that could have been done better, simpler, or cleaner, and those things also required some rethinking, the seeking of wisdom from others, and some rework. After another couple of weeks, it was in close to final form. My focus turned towards the end game and integration. This was a huge workspace, and needed to go back soon, before changes in the gate would made merging increasingly difficult. At this point, I knew that the stub objects had greatly simplified the makefile logic and uncovered a number of race conditions, some of which had been there for years. I assumed that the builds were faster too, so I did some builds intended to quantify the speedup in build time that resulted from this approach. It had never occurred to me that there might not be one. And so, I was very surprised to find that the wall clock build times for a stock ON workspace were essentially identical to the times for my stub library enabled version! This is why it is important to always measure, and not just to assume. One can tell from first principles, based on all those removed dependency rules in the library makefile, that the stub object version of ON gives dmake considerably more opportunities to overlap library construction. Some hypothesis were proposed, and shot down: Could we have disabled dmakes parallel feature? No, a quick check showed things being build in parallel. It was suggested that we might be I/O bound, and so, the threads would be mostly idle. That's a plausible explanation, but system stats didn't really support it. Plus, the timing between the stub and non-stub cases were just too suspiciously identical. Are our machines already handling as much parallelism as they are capable of, and unable to exploit these additional opportunities? Once again, we didn't see the evidence to back this up. Eventually, a more plausible and obvious reason emerged: We build the libraries and commands (usr/src/lib, usr/src/cmd) in parallel with the kernel (usr/src/uts). The kernel is the long leg in that race, and so, wall clock measurements of build time are essentially showing how long it takes to build uts. Although it would have been nice to post a huge speedup immediately, we can take solace in knowing that stub objects simplify the makefiles and reduce the possibility of race conditions. The next step in reducing build time should be to find ways to reduce or overlap the uts part of the builds. When that leg of the build becomes shorter, then the increased parallelism in the libs and commands will pay additional dividends. Until then, we'll just have to settle for simpler and more robust. And so, I integrated the link-editor support for creating stub objects into snv_153 (November 2010) with 6993877 ld should produce stub objects PSARC/2010/397 ELF Stub Objects followed by the work to convert the ON consolidation in snv_161 (February 2011) with 7009826 OSnet should use stub objects 4631488 lib/Makefile is too patient: .WAITs should be reduced This was a huge putback, with 2108 modified files, 8 new files, and 2 removed files. Due to the size, I was allowed a window after snv_160 closed in which to do the putback. It went pretty smoothly for something this big, a few more preexisting race conditions would be discovered and addressed over the next few weeks, and things have been quiet since then. Conclusions and Looking Forward Solaris has been built with stub objects since February. The fact that developers no longer specify the order in which libraries are built has been a big success, and we've eliminated an entire class of build error. That's not to say that there are no build races left in the ON makefiles, but we've taken a substantial bite out of the problem while generally simplifying and improving things. The introduction of a stub proto area has also opened some interesting new possibilities for other build improvements. As this article has become quite long, and as those uses do not involve stub objects, I will defer that discussion to a future article.

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  • Nagging As A Strategy For Better Linking: -z guidance

    - by user9154181
    The link-editor (ld) in Solaris 11 has a new feature that we call guidance that is intended to help you build better objects. The basic idea behind guidance is that if (and only if) you request it, the link-editor will issue messages suggesting better options and other changes you might make to your ld command to get better results. You can choose to take the advice, or you can disable specific types of guidance while acting on others. In some ways, this works like an experienced friend leaning over your shoulder and giving you advice — you're free to take it or leave it as you see fit, but you get nudged to do a better job than you might have otherwise. We use guidance to build the core Solaris OS, and it has proven to be useful, both in improving our objects, and in making sure that regressions don't creep back in later. In this article, I'm going to describe the evolution in thinking and design that led to the implementation of the -z guidance option, as well as give a brief description of how it works. The guidance feature issues non-fatal warnings. However, experience shows that once developers get used to ignoring warnings, it is inevitable that real problems will be lost in the noise and ignored or missed. This is why we have a zero tolerance policy against build noise in the core Solaris OS. In order to get maximum benefit from -z guidance while maintaining this policy, I added the -z fatal-warnings option at the same time. Much of the material presented here is adapted from the arc case: PSARC 2010/312 Link-editor guidance The History Of Unfortunate Link-Editor Defaults The Solaris link-editor is one of the oldest Unix commands. It stands to reason that this would be true — in order to write an operating system, you need the ability to compile and link code. The original link-editor (ld) had defaults that made sense at the time. As new features were needed, command line option switches were added to let the user use them, while maintaining backward compatibility for those who didn't. Backward compatibility is always a concern in system design, but is particularly important in the case of the tool chain (compilers, linker, and related tools), since it is a basic building block for the entire system. Over the years, applications have grown in size and complexity. Important concepts like dynamic linking that didn't exist in the original Unix system were invented. Object file formats changed. In the case of System V Release 4 Unix derivatives like Solaris, the ELF (Extensible Linking Format) was adopted. Since then, the ELF system has evolved to provide tools needed to manage today's larger and more complex environments. Features such as lazy loading, and direct bindings have been added. In an ideal world, many of these options would be defaults, with rarely used options that allow the user to turn them off. However, the reality is exactly the reverse: For backward compatibility, these features are all options that must be explicitly turned on by the user. This has led to a situation in which most applications do not take advantage of the many improvements that have been made in linking over the last 20 years. If their code seems to link and run without issue, what motivation does a developer have to read a complex manpage, absorb the information provided, choose the features that matter for their application, and apply them? Experience shows that only the most motivated and diligent programmers will make that effort. We know that most programs would be improved if we could just get you to use the various whizzy features that we provide, but the defaults conspire against us. We have long wanted to do something to make it easier for our users to use the linkers more effectively. There have been many conversations over the years regarding this issue, and how to address it. They always break down along the following lines: Change ld Defaults Since the world would be a better place the newer ld features were the defaults, why not change things to make it so? This idea is simple, elegant, and impossible. Doing so would break a large number of existing applications, including those of ISVs, big customers, and a plethora of existing open source packages. In each case, the owner of that code may choose to follow our lead and fix their code, or they may view it as an invitation to reconsider their commitment to our platform. Backward compatibility, and our installed base of working software, is one of our greatest assets, and not something to be lightly put at risk. Breaking backward compatibility at this level of the system is likely to do more harm than good. But, it sure is tempting. New Link-Editor One might create a new linker command, not called 'ld', leaving the old command as it is. The new one could use the same code as ld, but would offer only modern options, with the proper defaults for features such as direct binding. The resulting link-editor would be a pleasure to use. However, the approach is doomed to niche status. There is a vast pile of exiting code in the world built around the existing ld command, that reaches back to the 1970's. ld use is embedded in large and unknown numbers of makefiles, and is used by name by compilers that execute it. A Unix link-editor that is not named ld will not find a majority audience no matter how good it might be. Finally, a new linker command will eventually cease to be new, and will accumulate its own burden of backward compatibility issues. An Option To Make ld Do The Right Things Automatically This line of reasoning is best summarized by a CR filed in 2005, entitled 6239804 make it easier for ld(1) to do what's best The idea is to have a '-z best' option that unchains ld from its backward compatibility commitment, and allows it to turn on the "best" set of features, as determined by the authors of ld. The specific set of features enabled by -z best would be subject to change over time, as requirements change. This idea is more realistic than the other two, but was never implemented because it has some important issues that we could never answer to our satisfaction: The -z best proposal assumes that the user can turn it on, and trust it to select good options without the user needing to be aware of the options being applied. This is a fallacy. Features such as direct bindings require the user to do some analysis to ensure that the resulting program will still operate properly. A user who is willing to do the work to verify that what -z best does will be OK for their application is capable of turning on those features directly, and therefore gains little added benefit from -z best. The intent is that when a user opts into -z best, that they understand that z best is subject to sometimes incompatible evolution. Experience teaches us that this won't work. People will use this feature, the meaning of -z best will change, code that used to build will fail, and then there will be complaints and demands to retract the change. When (not if) this occurs, we will of course defend our actions, and point at the disclaimer. We'll win some of those debates, and lose others. Ultimately, we'll end up with -z best2 (-z better), or other compromises, and our goal of simplifying the world will have failed. The -z best idea rolls up a set of features that may or may not be related to each other into a unit that must be taken wholesale, or not at all. It could be that only a subset of what it does is compatible with a given application, in which case the user is expected to abandon -z best and instead set the options that apply to their application directly. In doing so, they lose one of the benefits of -z best, that if you use it, future versions of ld may choose a different set of options, and automatically improve the object through the act of rebuilding it. I drew two conclusions from the above history: For a link-editor, backward compatibility is vital. If a given command line linked your application 10 years ago, you have every reason to expect that it will link today, assuming that the libraries you're linking against are still available and compatible with their previous interfaces. For an application of any size or complexity, there is no substitute for the work involved in examining the code and determining which linker options apply and which do not. These options are largely orthogonal to each other, and it can be reasonable not to use any or all of them, depending on the situation, even in modern applications. It is a mistake to tie them together. The idea for -z guidance came from consideration of these points. By decoupling the advice from the act of taking the advice, we can retain the good aspects of -z best while avoiding its pitfalls: -z guidance gives advice, but the decision to take that advice remains with the user who must evaluate its merit and make a decision to take it or not. As such, we are free to change the specific guidance given in future releases of ld, without breaking existing applications. The only fallout from this will be some new warnings in the build output, which can be ignored or dealt with at the user's convenience. It does not couple the various features given into a single "take it or leave it" option, meaning that there will never be a need to offer "-zguidance2", or other such variants as things change over time. Guidance has the potential to be our final word on this subject. The user is given the flexibility to disable specific categories of guidance without losing the benefit of others, including those that might be added to future versions of the system. Although -z fatal-warnings stands on its own as a useful feature, it is of particular interest in combination with -z guidance. Used together, the guidance turns from advice to hard requirement: The user must either make the suggested change, or explicitly reject the advice by specifying a guidance exception token, in order to get a build. This is valuable in environments with high coding standards. ld Command Line Options The guidance effort resulted in new link-editor options for guidance and for turning warnings into fatal errors. Before I reproduce that text here, I'd like to highlight the strategic decisions embedded in the guidance feature: In order to get guidance, you have to opt in. We hope you will opt in, and believe you'll get better objects if you do, but our default mode of operation will continue as it always has, with full backward compatibility, and without judgement. Guidance suggestions always offers specific advice, and not vague generalizations. You can disable some guidance without turning off the entire feature. When you get guidance warnings, you can choose to take the advice, or you can specify a keyword to disable guidance for just that category. This allows you to get guidance for things that are useful to you, without being bothered about things that you've already considered and dismissed. As the world changes, we will add new guidance to steer you in the right direction. All such new guidance will come with a keyword that let's you turn it off. In order to facilitate building your code on different versions of Solaris, we quietly ignore any guidance keywords we don't recognize, assuming that they are intended for newer versions of the link-editor. If you want to see what guidance tokens ld does and does not recognize on your system, you can use the ld debugging feature as follows: % ld -Dargs -z guidance=foo,nodefs debug: debug: Solaris Linkers: 5.11-1.2275 debug: debug: arg[1] option=-D: option-argument: args debug: arg[2] option=-z: option-argument: guidance=foo,nodefs debug: warning: unrecognized -z guidance item: foo The -z fatal-warning option is straightforward, and generally useful in environments with strict coding standards. Note that the GNU ld already had this feature, and we accept their option names as synonyms: -z fatal-warnings | nofatal-warnings --fatal-warnings | --no-fatal-warnings The -z fatal-warnings and the --fatal-warnings option cause the link-editor to treat warnings as fatal errors. The -z nofatal-warnings and the --no-fatal-warnings option cause the link-editor to treat warnings as non-fatal. This is the default behavior. The -z guidance option is defined as follows: -z guidance[=item1,item2,...] Provide guidance messages to suggest ld options that can improve the quality of the resulting object, or which are otherwise considered to be beneficial. The specific guidance offered is subject to change over time as the system evolves. Obsolete guidance offered by older versions of ld may be dropped in new versions. Similarly, new guidance may be added to new versions of ld. Guidance therefore always represents current best practices. It is possible to enable guidance, while preventing specific guidance messages, by providing a list of item tokens, representing the class of guidance to be suppressed. In this way, unwanted advice can be suppressed without losing the benefit of other guidance. Unrecognized item tokens are quietly ignored by ld, allowing a given ld command line to be executed on a variety of older or newer versions of Solaris. The guidance offered by the current version of ld, and the item tokens used to disable these messages, are as follows. Specify Required Dependencies Dynamic executables and shared objects should explicitly define all of the dependencies they require. Guidance recommends the use of the -z defs option, should any symbol references remain unsatisfied when building dynamic objects. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nodefs. Do Not Specify Non-Required Dependencies Dynamic executables and shared objects should not define any dependencies that do not satisfy the symbol references made by the dynamic object. Guidance recommends that unused dependencies be removed. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nounused. Lazy Loading Dependencies should be identified for lazy loading. Guidance recommends the use of the -z lazyload option should any dependency be processed before either a -z lazyload or -z nolazyload option is encountered. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nolazyload. Direct Bindings Dependencies should be referenced with direct bindings. Guidance recommends the use of the -B direct, or -z direct options should any dependency be processed before either of these options, or the -z nodirect option is encountered. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nodirect. Pure Text Segment Dynamic objects should not contain relocations to non-writable, allocable sections. Guidance recommends compiling objects with Position Independent Code (PIC) should any relocations against the text segment remain, and neither the -z textwarn or -z textoff options are encountered. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=notext. Mapfile Syntax All mapfiles should use the version 2 mapfile syntax. Guidance recommends the use of the version 2 syntax should any mapfiles be encountered that use the version 1 syntax. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nomapfile. Library Search Path Inappropriate dependencies that are encountered by ld are quietly ignored. For example, a 32-bit dependency that is encountered when generating a 64-bit object is ignored. These dependencies can result from incorrect search path settings, such as supplying an incorrect -L option. Although benign, this dependency processing is wasteful, and might hide a build problem that should be solved. Guidance recommends the removal of any inappropriate dependencies. This guidance can be disabled with -z guidance=nolibpath. In addition, -z guidance=noall can be used to entirely disable the guidance feature. See Chapter 7, Link-Editor Quick Reference, in the Linker and Libraries Guide for more information on guidance and advice for building better objects. Example The following example demonstrates how the guidance feature is intended to work. We will build a shared object that has a variety of shortcomings: Does not specify all it's dependencies Specifies dependencies it does not use Does not use direct bindings Uses a version 1 mapfile Contains relocations to the readonly allocable text (not PIC) This scenario is sadly very common — many shared objects have one or more of these issues. % cat hello.c #include <stdio.h> #include <unistd.h> void hello(void) { printf("hello user %d\n", getpid()); } % cat mapfile.v1 # This version 1 mapfile will trigger a guidance message % cc hello.c -o hello.so -G -M mapfile.v1 -lelf As you can see, the operation completes without error, resulting in a usable object. However, turning on guidance reveals a number of things that could be better: % cc hello.c -o hello.so -G -M mapfile.v1 -lelf -zguidance ld: guidance: version 2 mapfile syntax recommended: mapfile.v1 ld: guidance: -z lazyload option recommended before first dependency ld: guidance: -B direct or -z direct option recommended before first dependency Undefined first referenced symbol in file getpid hello.o (symbol belongs to implicit dependency /lib/libc.so.1) printf hello.o (symbol belongs to implicit dependency /lib/libc.so.1) ld: warning: symbol referencing errors ld: guidance: -z defs option recommended for shared objects ld: guidance: removal of unused dependency recommended: libelf.so.1 warning: Text relocation remains referenced against symbol offset in file .rodata1 (section) 0xa hello.o getpid 0x4 hello.o printf 0xf hello.o ld: guidance: position independent (PIC) code recommended for shared objects ld: guidance: see ld(1) -z guidance for more information Given the explicit advice in the above guidance messages, it is relatively easy to modify the example to do the right things: % cat mapfile.v2 # This version 2 mapfile will not trigger a guidance message $mapfile_version 2 % cc hello.c -o hello.so -Kpic -G -Bdirect -M mapfile.v2 -lc -zguidance There are situations in which the guidance does not fit the object being built. For instance, you want to build an object without direct bindings: % cc -Kpic hello.c -o hello.so -G -M mapfile.v2 -lc -zguidance ld: guidance: -B direct or -z direct option recommended before first dependency ld: guidance: see ld(1) -z guidance for more information It is easy to disable that specific guidance warning without losing the overall benefit from allowing the remainder of the guidance feature to operate: % cc -Kpic hello.c -o hello.so -G -M mapfile.v2 -lc -zguidance=nodirect Conclusions The linking guidelines enforced by the ld guidance feature correspond rather directly to our standards for building the core Solaris OS. I'm sure that comes as no surprise. It only makes sense that we would want to build our own product as well as we know how. Solaris is usually the first significant test for any new linker feature. We now enable guidance by default for all builds, and the effect has been very positive. Guidance helps us find suboptimal objects more quickly. Programmers get concrete advice for what to change instead of vague generalities. Even in the cases where we override the guidance, the makefile rules to do so serve as documentation of the fact. Deciding to use guidance is likely to cause some up front work for most code, as it forces you to consider using new features such as direct bindings. Such investigation is worthwhile, but does not come for free. However, the guidance suggestions offer a structured and straightforward way to tackle modernizing your objects, and once that work is done, for keeping them that way. The investment is often worth it, and will replay you in terms of better performance and fewer problems. I hope that you find guidance to be as useful as we have.

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  • StackOverflowException throws often when .net application built with Debug mode

    - by user1487950
    I have an application which access an external webservice often, when i are trying to debug it, means debuging in vistual studio. it often throws out StackOverflowException at the webserverice call point. when building in Release mode , the exception thrown out only occasionally. I checked the call stack, looks like there is no recursive call. can you please suggest? thank you very much. call statck attached. [In a sleep, wait, or join] mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.WaitHandle.InternalWaitOne(System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle waitableSafeHandle, long millisecondsTimeout, bool hasThreadAffinity, bool exitContext) + 0x2b bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.WaitHandle.WaitOne(int millisecondsTimeout, bool exitContext) + 0x2d bytes System.dll!System.Net.NetworkAddressChangePolled.CheckAndReset() + 0x9d bytes System.dll!System.Net.NclUtilities.LocalAddresses.get() + 0x49 bytes System.dll!System.Net.WebProxyScriptHelper.myIpAddress() + 0x27 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] System.dll!System.Net.WebProxyScriptHelper.MyMethodInfo.Invoke(object target, System.Reflection.BindingFlags bindingAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, object[] args, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) + 0x6b bytes MTOqoHCT.dll!JScript 0.myIpAddress(object this, Microsoft.JScript.Vsa.VsaEngine vsa Engine, object arguments) + 0x91 bytes MTOqoHCT.dll!JScript 0.FindProxyForURL(object this, Microsoft.JScript.Vsa.VsaEngine vsa Engine, object arguments, object url, object host) + 0x3c6e bytes MTOqoHCT.dll!__WebProxyScript.__WebProxyScript.ExecuteFindProxyForURL(object url, object host) + 0x11d bytes [Native to Managed Transition] Microsoft.JScript.dll!System.Net.VsaWebProxyScript.CallMethod(object targetObject, string name, object[] args) + 0x11a bytes Microsoft.JScript.dll!System.Net.VsaWebProxyScript.Run(string url, string host) + 0x74 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] [Managed to Native Transition] mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage msg, int methodPtr, bool fExecuteInContext) + 0x1ef bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.StackBuilderSink.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage msg) + 0xf bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.ServerObjectTerminatorSink.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg) + 0x66 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.ServerContextTerminatorSink.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg) + 0x8a bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossContextChannel.SyncProcessMessageCallback(object[] args) + 0x94 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Thread.CompleteCrossContextCallback(System.Threading.InternalCrossContextDelegate ftnToCall, object[] args) + 0x8 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] [Managed to Native Transition] mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossContextChannel.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg) + 0xa7 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.ChannelServices.SyncDispatchMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage msg) + 0x92 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossAppDomainSink.DoDispatch(byte[] reqStmBuff, System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.SmuggledMethodCallMessage smuggledMcm, out System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.SmuggledMethodReturnMessage smuggledMrm) + 0xed bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossAppDomainSink.DoTransitionDispatchCallback(object[] args) + 0x8a bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Thread.CompleteCrossContextCallback(System.Threading.InternalCrossContextDelegate ftnToCall, object[] args) + 0x8 bytes [Appdomain Transition] mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossAppDomainSink.DoTransitionDispatch(byte[] reqStmBuff, System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.SmuggledMethodCallMessage smuggledMcm, out System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.SmuggledMethodReturnMessage smuggledMrm) + 0x74 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Channels.CrossAppDomainSink.SyncProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg) + 0xa3 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RemotingProxy.CallProcessMessage(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessageSink ms, System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg, System.Runtime.Remoting.Contexts.ArrayWithSize proxySinks, System.Threading.Thread currentThread, System.Runtime.Remoting.Contexts.Context currentContext, bool bSkippingContextChain) + 0x50 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RemotingProxy.InternalInvoke(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMethodCallMessage reqMcmMsg, bool useDispatchMessage, int callType) + 0x1d5 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RemotingProxy.Invoke(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage reqMsg) + 0x66 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.PrivateInvoke(ref System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.MessageData msgData, int type) + 0xee bytes System.dll!System.Net.NetWebProxyFinder.GetProxies(System.Uri destination, out System.Collections.Generic.IList<string> proxyList) + 0x83 bytes System.dll!System.Net.AutoWebProxyScriptEngine.GetProxies(System.Uri destination, out System.Collections.Generic.IList<string> proxyList, ref int syncStatus) + 0x84 bytes System.dll!System.Net.WebProxy.GetProxiesAuto(System.Uri destination, ref int syncStatus) + 0x2e bytes System.dll!System.Net.ProxyScriptChain.GetNextProxy(out System.Uri proxy) + 0x2e bytes System.dll!System.Net.ProxyChain.ProxyEnumerator.MoveNext() + 0x98 bytes System.dll!System.Net.ServicePointManager.FindServicePoint(System.Uri address, System.Net.IWebProxy proxy, out System.Net.ProxyChain chain, ref System.Net.HttpAbortDelegate abortDelegate, ref int abortState) + 0x120 bytes System.dll!System.Net.HttpWebRequest.FindServicePoint(bool forceFind) + 0xb1 bytes System.dll!System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetRequestStream(out System.Net.TransportContext context) + 0x247 bytes System.dll!System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetRequestStream() + 0xe bytes System.Web.Services.dll!System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(string methodName, object[] parameters) + 0xc0 bytes Gfinet.Config.dll!Gfinet.Config.Service.cfg_webservice.addOrUpdateProperties(string string, int intVal, Gfinet.Config.Service.PropertiesDataM[] propertiesDataMs) + 0xa3 bytes Gfinet.Config.dll!Gfinet.Config.Service.WSServiceImpl.AddOrUpdateProperties(int setId, Gfinet.Config.Service.PropertiesDataM[] properties) + 0x46 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] Gfinet.Config.dll!Gfinet.Config.Service.ServiceAspect.InvocationHandler(object target, System.Reflection.MethodBase method, object[] parameters) + 0x49e bytes Gfinet.Config.dll!Gfinet.Config.DynamicProxy.DynamicProxyImpl.Invoke(System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.IMessage message) + 0x110 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.PrivateInvoke(ref System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.MessageData msgData, int type) + 0xee bytes Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Configuration.GFINetConfiguration.StoreElement(string application, string category, string id, string elementValue, bool save) Line 303 + 0x55 bytes C# Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Configuration.GFINetConfiguration.SaveAllInternal() Line 582 + 0x6e bytes C# Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Configuration.GFINetConfiguration.SaveAll(bool async) Line 434 + 0x8 bytes C# Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Configuration.GFINetConfiguration.SaveAll() Line 406 + 0xa bytes C# Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Container.Persistor.Save() Line 59 + 0xc bytes C# Spark.exe!Tici.Kraps.RibbonShell.OnBtnSaveWorkspaceItemClick(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.ItemClickEventArgs e) Line 642 + 0xf bytes C# DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItem.OnClick(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink link) + 0x108 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarBaseButtonItem.OnClick(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink link) + 0x47 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink.OnLinkClick() + 0x245 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink.OnLinkAction(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarLinkAction action, object actionArgs) + 0xb3 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarButtonItemLink.OnLinkAction(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarLinkAction action, object actionArgs) + 0x47e bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink.OnLinkActionCore(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarLinkAction action, object actionArgs) + 0x82 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.ViewInfo.BarSelectionInfo.ClickLink(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink link) + 0x85 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.ViewInfo.BarSelectionInfo.UnPressLink(DevExpress.XtraBars.BarItemLink link) + 0x1e5 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.Handler.BaseRibbonHandler.OnUnPressItem(DevExpress.Utils.DXMouseEventArgs e, DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.ViewInfo.RibbonHitInfo hitInfo) + 0xa7 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.Handler.BaseRibbonHandler.OnUnPress(DevExpress.Utils.DXMouseEventArgs e, DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.ViewInfo.RibbonHitInfo hitInfo) + 0x5f bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.Handler.BaseRibbonHandler.OnMouseUp(DevExpress.Utils.DXMouseEventArgs e) + 0x19a bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.Handler.RibbonHandler.OnMouseUp(DevExpress.Utils.DXMouseEventArgs e) + 0x47 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.RibbonControl.OnMouseUp(System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e) + 0x95 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m, System.Windows.Forms.MouseButtons button, int clicks) + 0x2d1 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m) + 0x93a bytes DevExpress.Utils.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.Utils.Controls.ControlBase.WndProc(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m) + 0x81 bytes DevExpress.XtraBars.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon.RibbonControl.WndProc(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m) + 0x85 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m) + 0x13 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m) + 0x31 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(System.IntPtr hWnd, int msg, System.IntPtr wparam, System.IntPtr lparam) + 0x96 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] [Managed to Native Transition] DevExpress.Utils.v11.2.dll!DevExpress.Utils.Win.Hook.ControlWndHook.WindowProc(System.IntPtr hWnd, int message, System.IntPtr wParam, System.IntPtr lParam) + 0x159 bytes [Native to Managed Transition] [Managed to Native Transition] System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(System.IntPtr dwComponentID, int reason, int pvLoopData) + 0x287 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(int reason, System.Windows.Forms.ApplicationContext context) + 0x16c bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(int reason, System.Windows.Forms.ApplicationContext context) + 0x61 bytes System.Windows.Forms.dll!System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(System.Windows.Forms.Form mainForm) + 0x31 bytes Tici.Kraps.Services.dll!Tici.Kraps.Services.Container.DefaultApplicationRunner.Run() Line 41 + 0x17 bytes C# Kraps.exe!Tici.Kraps.Program.Main() Line 105 + 0x9 bytes C# [Native to Managed Transition] [Managed to Native Transition] mscorlib.dll!System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(string assemblyFile, System.Security.Policy.Evidence assemblySecurity, string[] args) + 0x6d bytes Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.Utilities.dll!Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly() + 0x2a bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(object state) + 0x63 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext executionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback callback, object state, bool ignoreSyncCtx) + 0xb0 bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext executionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback callback, object state) + 0x2c bytes mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart() + 0x44 bytes [Native to Managed Transition]

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  • Impossible to do POSTs with appengine-jruby/RoR: Reflection is not allowed

    - by Joel Cuevas
    I'm trying to build a site with RoR on Google App Engine. I'm using the google-appengine gem (http://appengine-jruby.googlecode.com) and following the instructions in (http://gist.github.com/268192). The problem is that I can't submit ANY form! I've already tried this in two diferent clean Win 7 Pro envs and the result is the same. After install Ruby 1.8.6 (One-Click Installer): 1. gem update --system 2. gem install rails 3. gem install google-appengine 4. gem install rails_dm_datastore 5. gem install activerecord-nulldb-adapter 6. curl -O http://appengine-jruby.googlecode.com/hg/demos/rails2/rails2_appengine.rb 7. ruby rails2_appengine.rb (previously downloaded) 8. rails myproj 9. chmod myproj 10. ruby script/generate dd_model MyModel f1:string f2:float f3:float f4:float f5:integer f6:integer f7:integer -f 11. ruby script/generate scaffold MyModel f1:string f2:float f3:float f4:float f5:integer f6:integer f7:integer -f --skip-migration 12. dev_appserver.rb -p 3000 . At this point, I manually test the scaffold in (http://localhost:3000/my_models). The index is OK, then I create a new registry with the generated form, everything's fine, but when I try to create a second one, I get a "java.lang.RuntimeException: DummyDynamicScope should never be used for backref storage" in the console. As far as I read this is a won't-fix behavior in JRuby 1.4.1, but it's converted to a debug only warning in 1.5.0, so I proceed to install the pre release. 13. gem install appengine-jruby-jars --pre With this, that exception is solved and everything works great... until I move the project to the GAE server. 14. ruby appcfg.rb update . And now, in (http://myproj.appspot.com/my_models), again, the index is fine, also the new form, but in the moment that I submit it with valid data, I get a 500 error: "java.lang.IllegalAccessException: Reflection is not allowed on public int". As I said, this behavior is not present in the local SDK. In both cases, I'm completely unable to post anything. This is what I have right now in the GAE environment: Ruby version 1.8.7 (java) RubyGems disabled Rack version 1.1 Rails version 2.3.5 Action Pack version 2.3.5 Active Support version 2.3.5 DataMapper version 0.10.2 Environment production JRuby Runtime version 1.5.0.pre JRuby-Rack version 0.9.7 AppEngine SDK version Google App Engine/1.3.3 AppEngine APIs version 0.0.15 And this are my intalled gems: actionmailer (2.3.5) actionpack (2.3.5) activerecord (2.3.5) activerecord-nulldb-adapter (0.2.0) activeresource (2.3.5) activesupport (2.3.5) addressable (2.1.2) appengine-apis (0.0.15) appengine-jruby-jars (0.0.8.pre, 0.0.7) appengine-rack (0.0.8) appengine-sdk (1.3.3.1) appengine-tools (0.0.12) bundler08 (0.8.5) dm-appengine (0.0.8) dm-ar-finders (0.10.2) dm-core (0.10.2) dm-timestamps (0.10.2) dm-validations (0.10.2) extlib (0.9.14) fxri (0.3.7, 0.3.6) google-appengine (0.0.12) hpricot (0.8.2 x86-mswin32, 0.6 mswin32) jruby-rack (0.9.8, 0.9.7) log4r (1.1.7, 1.0.5) rack (1.1.0, 1.0.1) rails (2.3.5) rails_appengine (0.0.3) rails_dm_datastore (0.2.9) rake (0.8.7, 0.7.3) rubygems-update (1.3.7, 1.3.6) rubyzip (0.9.4) sources (0.0.1) win32-api (1.4.6 x86-mswin32-60, 1.0.4 mswin32) win32-clipboard (0.5.2, 0.4.3) win32-dir (0.3.6, 0.3.2) win32-eventlog (0.5.2, 0.4.6) win32-file (0.6.3, 0.5.4) win32-file-stat (1.3.4, 1.2.7) win32-process (0.6.2, 0.5.3) win32-sapi (0.1.5, 0.1.4) win32-sound (0.4.2, 0.4.1) windows-api (0.4.0, 0.2.0) windows-pr (1.0.9, 0.7.2) I'm unable to attach the full logs of the exceptions because of the character limits, but I can provide them under request. Here's an abstract of them: DummyDynamicScope (dev and prod envs): 14-may-2010 7:18:40 com.google.appengine.tools.development.ApiProxyLocalImpl log SEVERE: [1273821520195000] javax.servlet.ServletContext log: Application Error java.lang.RuntimeException: DummyDynamicScope should never be used for backref storage at org.jruby.runtime.scope.DummyDynamicScope.getBackRef(DummyDynamicScope.java:49) at org.jruby.RubyRegexp.updateBackRef(RubyRegexp.java:1404) at org.jruby.RubyRegexp.updateBackRef(RubyRegexp.java:1396) at org.jruby.RubyRegexp.search(RubyRegexp.java:1386) at org.jruby.RubyRegexp.op_match(RubyRegexp.java:1301) at org.jruby.RubyString.op_match(RubyString.java:1446) at org.jruby.RubyString$i_method_1_0$RUBYINVOKER$op_match.call(org/jruby/RubyString$i_method_1_0$RUBYINVOKER$op_match.gen) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.JavaMethod$JavaMethodOneOrN.call(JavaMethod.java:721) at org.jruby.RubyClass.finvoke(RubyClass.java:472) at org.jruby.RubyObject.send(RubyObject.java:1442) at org.jruby.RubyObject$i_method_multi$RUBYINVOKER$send.call(org/jruby/RubyObject$i_method_multi$RUBYINVOKER$send.gen) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.JavaMethod$JavaMethodZeroOrOneOrTwoOrNBlock.call(JavaMethod.java:276) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.cacheAndCall(CachingCallSite.java:330) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.call(CachingCallSite.java:189) at ruby.jit.ruby.C_3a_.Desarrollo.AppEngine.gorgory.WEB_minus_INF.lib.gems_dot_jar.bundler_gems.jruby.$1_dot_8.gems.dm_minus_validations_minus_0_dot_10_dot_2.lib.dm_minus_validations.validators.numeric_validator.validate_with_comparison at ruby.jit.ruby.C_3a_.Desarrollo.AppEngine.gorgory.WEB_minus_INF.lib.gems_dot_jar.bundler_gems.jruby.$1_dot_8.gems.dm_minus_validations_minus_0_dot_10_dot_2.lib.dm_minus_validations.validators.numeric_validator.validate_with_comparison at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.JittedMethod.call(JittedMethod.java:102) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.DefaultMethod.call(DefaultMethod.java:144) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.cacheAndCall(CachingCallSite.java:280) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.call(CachingCallSite.java:69) at org.jruby.ast.FCallManyArgsNode.interpret(FCallManyArgsNode.java:60) at org.jruby.ast.NewlineNode.interpret(NewlineNode.java:104) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.InterpretedMethod.call(InterpretedMethod.java:229) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.DefaultMethod.call(DefaultMethod.java:193) at org.jruby.RubyClass.finvoke(RubyClass.java:491) at org.jruby.RubyObject.send(RubyObject.java:1448) at org.jruby.RubyObject$i_method_multi$RUBYINVOKER$send.call(org/jruby/RubyObject$i_method_multi$RUBYINVOKER$send.gen) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.JavaMethod$JavaMethodZeroOrOneOrTwoOrThreeOrNBlock.call(JavaMethod.java:293) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.cacheAndCall(CachingCallSite.java:350) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.call(CachingCallSite.java:229) at ruby.jit.ruby.C_3a_.Desarrollo.AppEngine.gorgory.WEB_minus_INF.lib.gems_dot_jar.bundler_gems.jruby.$1_dot_8.gems.dm_minus_validations_minus_0_dot_10_dot_2.lib.dm_minus_validations.validators.numeric_validator.validate_with28985350_50 at ruby.jit.ruby.C_3a_.Desarrollo.AppEngine.gorgory.WEB_minus_INF.lib.gems_dot_jar.bundler_gems.jruby.$1_dot_8.gems.dm_minus_validations_minus_0_dot_10_dot_2.lib.dm_minus_validations.validators.numeric_validator.validate_with28985350_50 at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.JittedMethod.call(JittedMethod.java:221) at org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.DefaultMethod.call(DefaultMethod.java:201) at org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.call(CachingCallSite.java:227) at org.jruby.ast.FCallThreeArgNode.interpret(FCallThreeArgNode.java:40) Reflection (only prod env): Java::JavaLang::SecurityException (java.lang.IllegalAccessException: Reflection is not allowed on public int java.lang.String$CaseInsensitiveComparator.compare(java.lang.String,java.lang.String)): com.google.appengine.runtime.Request.process-92563a0605f433ea(Request.java) java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.setAccessible(AccessibleObject.java:40) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaMethod.<init>(JavaMethod.java:176) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaMethod.create(JavaMethod.java:183) org.jruby.java.invokers.MethodInvoker.createCallable(MethodInvoker.java:23) org.jruby.java.invokers.RubyToJavaInvoker.<init>(RubyToJavaInvoker.java:63) org.jruby.java.invokers.MethodInvoker.<init>(MethodInvoker.java:13) org.jruby.java.invokers.InstanceMethodInvoker.<init>(InstanceMethodInvoker.java:15) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass$InstanceMethodInvokerInstaller.install(JavaClass.java:339) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass.installClassMethods(JavaClass.java:723) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass.setupProxy(JavaClass.java:586) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.createProxyClass(Java.java:506) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.getProxyClass(Java.java:445) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.getInstance(Java.java:354) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaUtil.convertJavaToUsableRubyObject(JavaUtil.java:143) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass$ConstantField.install(JavaClass.java:360) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass.installClassFields(JavaClass.java:711) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaClass.setupProxy(JavaClass.java:585) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.createProxyClass(Java.java:506) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.getProxyClass(Java.java:445) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.getProxyOrPackageUnderPackage(Java.java:885) org.jruby.javasupport.Java.get_proxy_or_package_under_package(Java.java:918) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaUtilities.get_proxy_or_package_under_package(JavaUtilities.java:54) org.jruby.javasupport.JavaUtilities$s_method_2_0$RUBYINVOKER$get_proxy_or_package_under_package.call(org/jruby/javasupport/JavaUtilities$s_method_2_0$RUBYINVOKER$get_proxy_or_package_under_package.gen:65535) org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.cacheAndCall(CachingCallSite.java:329) org.jruby.runtime.callsite.CachingCallSite.call(CachingCallSite.java:188) org.jruby.ast.CallTwoArgNode.interpret(CallTwoArgNode.java:59) org.jruby.ast.NewlineNode.interpret(NewlineNode.java:104) org.jruby.ast.BlockNode.interpret(BlockNode.java:71) org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.InterpretedMethod.call(InterpretedMethod.java:113) org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.DefaultMethod.call(DefaultMethod.java:138) org.jruby.javasupport.util.RuntimeHelpers$MethodMissingMethod.call(RuntimeHelpers.java:389) org.jruby.internal.runtime.methods.DynamicMethod.call(DynamicMethod.java:182) What should I do now? Any hint would be wellcome. Thanks!

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  • Wikipedia API: list=alllinks confusion

    - by Chris Salij
    I'm doing a research project for the summer and I've got to use get some data from Wikipedia, store it and then do some analysis on it. I'm using the Wikipedia API to gather the data and I've got that down pretty well. What my questions is in regards to the links-alllinks option in the API doc here After reading the description, both there and in the API itself (it's down and bit and I can't link directly to the section), I think I understand what it's supposed to return. However when I ran a query it gave me back something I didn't expect. Here's the query I ran: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=google&rvprop=ids|timestamp|user|comment|content&rvlimit=1&list=alllinks&alunique&allimit=40&format=xml Which in essence says: Get the last revision of the Google page, include the id, timestamp, user, comment and content of each revision, and return it in XML format. The allinks (I thought) should give me back a list of wikipedia pages which point to the google page (In this case the first 40 unique ones). I'm not sure what the policy is on swears, but this is the result I got back exactly: <?xml version="1.0"?> <api> <query><normalized> <n from="google" to="Google" /> </normalized> <pages> <page pageid="1092923" ns="0" title="Google"> <revisions> <rev revid="366826294" parentid="366673948" user="Citation bot" timestamp="2010-06-08T17:18:31Z" comment="Citations: [161]Tweaked: url. [[User:Mono|Mono]]" xml:space="preserve"> <!-- The page content, I've replaced this cos its not of interest --> </rev> </revisions> </page> </pages> <alllinks> <l ns="0" title="!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*was up all u hater just stopingby to show u some love*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!!!!!!!!!&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;********(( )))))F/W///CHRYSLER/FUCKING/FUCKING/FUCKING/I HATE THE QUEEN!!!/I AM HORRID HENRY/Chrysler Cirrus/php" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!!Hephaestos IS A FUCKING WHINY GUY!!!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!Do you really want to see this article on your default search?" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!Legal!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!!YOU ARE A COCKSUCKING WHINY GREASER!!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!BESQUERKAN!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Fuck You!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Fuck You!!! And Then Some" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Fuck You!!! And Then some" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Fuck You!!! And then Some" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Fuck You!!! and Then Some" /> <l ns="0" title="!!!Three !!! Amigos!!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!! (album)" /> <l ns="0" title="!!! (band)" /> <l ns="0" title="!!1" /> <l ns="0" title="!!BOSS!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!Destroy-Oh-Boy!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!Fuck you!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!M" /> <l ns="0" title="!!Que Corra La Voz!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!! (chess)" /> <l ns="0" title="!! (disambiguation)" /> <l ns="0" title="!! 6- -.4rtist.com" /> <l ns="0" title="!!m" /> <l ns="0" title="!!suck my balls!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!!~~YOU WIN~~!!" /> <l ns="0" title="!&#039;O-!khung language" /> <l ns="0" title="!(1)Full Name:(2)Age:(3)Sex:(4)Occupation:(5)Phone Number: (6)Delivery Address:(7)Country of Residence:. Dr.John Aboh" /> <l ns="0" title="!-" /> <l ns="0" title="!-My Degrassi Top 10 Episodes" /> <l ns="0" title="!10 Show" /> <l ns="0" title="!2005" /> <l ns="0" title="!2006" /> </alllinks> </query> <query-continue> <revisions rvstartid="366673948" /> <alllinks alfrom="!2009" /> </query-continue> </api> As you can see if you look at the <alllinks> part, its just a load of random gobbledy-gook. No nearly what I thought I'd get. I've done a fair bit of searching but I can't seem to find a direct answer to my question. What should the list=alllinks option return? Why am I getting this crap in there? Thanks for your help

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  • Managing the layout of a Java MainFrame of Canvas3d

    - by John N
    Hi, Im trying to organise the layout of four canvas3d objects in a single MainFrame. Iv tried using some layout managers but none are working (or im doing it wrong). Can anyone give me advice or point me to a way to get this to display the four canvas's as a grid of four? Thanks, John public class Main { public static void Main(){ Window win = new Window(); } } import javax.media.j3d.BranchGroup; import javax.media.j3d.Canvas3D; import javax.media.j3d.Locale; import javax.media.j3d.PhysicalBody; import javax.media.j3d.PhysicalEnvironment; import javax.media.j3d.Transform3D; import javax.media.j3d.TransformGroup; import javax.media.j3d.View; import javax.media.j3d.ViewPlatform; import javax.media.j3d.VirtualUniverse; import javax.vecmath.Vector3f; import com.sun.j3d.utils.picking.PickCanvas; public class Universe { boolean camera = true; Canvas3D canvas1, canvas2, canvas3, canvas4; VirtualUniverse universe; Locale locale; TransformGroup vpTrans1, vpTransRight, vpTransFront, vpTransPers; TransformGroup mouseTransform = null; View view1, view2, view3, view4; BranchGroup scene; PickCanvas pickCanvas1 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas2 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas3 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas4 = null; BranchGroup obj = new BranchGroup(); // Create a BranchGroup node for the view platform BranchGroup vpRoot = new BranchGroup(); //Temp vars for cam movement public Universe(Canvas3D c1, Canvas3D c2, Canvas3D c3, Canvas3D c4, BranchGroup scene) { this.canvas1 = c1; this.canvas2 = c2; this.canvas3 = c3; this.canvas4 = c4; this.scene = scene; // Establish a virtual universe that has a single // hi-res Locale universe = new VirtualUniverse(); locale = new Locale(universe); // Create a PhysicalBody and PhysicalEnvironment object PhysicalBody body = new PhysicalBody(); PhysicalEnvironment environment = new PhysicalEnvironment(); // Create a View and attach the Canvas3D and the physical // body and environment to the view. view1 = new View(); view1.addCanvas3D(c1); view1.addCanvas3D(c2); view1.addCanvas3D(c3); view1.addCanvas3D(c4); view1.setPhysicalBody(body); view1.setPhysicalEnvironment(environment); // Create a BranchGroup node for the view platform BranchGroup vpRoot = new BranchGroup(); // Create a ViewPlatform object, and its associated // TransformGroup object, and attach it to the root of the // subgraph. Attach the view to the view platform. Transform3D t = new Transform3D(); t.set(new Vector3f(0.0f, 0.0f, 2.0f)); ViewPlatform vp = new ViewPlatform(); vpTrans1 = new TransformGroup(t); vpTrans1.addChild(vp); vpRoot.addChild(vpTrans1); vpRoot.addChild(scene); view1.attachViewPlatform(vp); // Attach the branch graph to the universe, via the // Locale. The scene graph is now live! locale.addBranchGraph(vpRoot); } } import javax.media.j3d.BranchGroup; import javax.media.j3d.Canvas3D; import javax.media.j3d.Locale; import javax.media.j3d.PhysicalBody; import javax.media.j3d.PhysicalEnvironment; import javax.media.j3d.Transform3D; import javax.media.j3d.TransformGroup; import javax.media.j3d.View; import javax.media.j3d.ViewPlatform; import javax.media.j3d.VirtualUniverse; import javax.vecmath.Vector3f; import com.sun.j3d.utils.picking.PickCanvas; public class Universe { boolean camera = true; Canvas3D canvas1, canvas2, canvas3, canvas4; VirtualUniverse universe; Locale locale; TransformGroup vpTrans1, vpTransRight, vpTransFront, vpTransPers; TransformGroup mouseTransform = null; View view1, view2, view3, view4; BranchGroup scene; PickCanvas pickCanvas1 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas2 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas3 = null; PickCanvas pickCanvas4 = null; BranchGroup obj = new BranchGroup(); // Create a BranchGroup node for the view platform BranchGroup vpRoot = new BranchGroup(); //Temp vars for cam movement public Universe(Canvas3D c1, Canvas3D c2, Canvas3D c3, Canvas3D c4, BranchGroup scene) { this.canvas1 = c1; this.canvas2 = c2; this.canvas3 = c3; this.canvas4 = c4; this.scene = scene; // Establish a virtual universe that has a single // hi-res Locale universe = new VirtualUniverse(); locale = new Locale(universe); // Create a PhysicalBody and PhysicalEnvironment object PhysicalBody body = new PhysicalBody(); PhysicalEnvironment environment = new PhysicalEnvironment(); // Create a View and attach the Canvas3D and the physical // body and environment to the view. view1 = new View(); view1.addCanvas3D(c1); view1.addCanvas3D(c2); view1.addCanvas3D(c3); view1.addCanvas3D(c4); view1.setPhysicalBody(body); view1.setPhysicalEnvironment(environment); // Create a BranchGroup node for the view platform BranchGroup vpRoot = new BranchGroup(); // Create a ViewPlatform object, and its associated // TransformGroup object, and attach it to the root of the // subgraph. Attach the view to the view platform. Transform3D t = new Transform3D(); t.set(new Vector3f(0.0f, 0.0f, 2.0f)); ViewPlatform vp = new ViewPlatform(); vpTrans1 = new TransformGroup(t); vpTrans1.addChild(vp); vpRoot.addChild(vpTrans1); vpRoot.addChild(scene); view1.attachViewPlatform(vp); // Attach the branch graph to the universe, via the // Locale. The scene graph is now live! locale.addBranchGraph(vpRoot); } }

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  • WCF timeout exception detailed investigation

    - by Jason Kealey
    We have an application that has a WCF service (*.svc) running on IIS7 and various clients querying the service. The server is running Win 2008 Server. The clients are running either Windows 2008 Server or Windows 2003 server. I am getting the following exception, which I have seen can in fact be related to a large number of potential WCF issues. System.TimeoutException: The request channel timed out while waiting for a reply after 00:00:59.9320000. Increase the timeout value passed to the call to Request or increase the SendTimeout value on the Binding. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout. ---> System.TimeoutException: The HTTP request to 'http://www.domain.com/WebServices/myservice.svc/gzip' has exceeded the allotted timeout of 00:01:00. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout. I have increased the timeout to 30min and the error still occurred. This tells me that something else is at play, because the quantity of data could never take 30min to upload or download. The error comes and goes. At the moment, it is more frequent. It does not seem to matter if I have 3 clients running simultaneously or 100, it still occurs once in a while. Most of the time, there are no timeouts but I still get a few per hour. The error comes from any of the methods that are invoked. One of these methods does not have parameters and returns a bit of data. Another takes in lots of data as a parameter but executes asynchronously. The errors always originate from the client and never reference any code on the server in the stack trace. It always ends with: at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.HttpChannelFactory.HttpRequestChannel.HttpChannelRequest.WaitForReply(TimeSpan timeout) On the server: I've tried (and currently have) the following binding settings: maxBufferSize="2147483647" maxReceivedMessageSize="2147483647" maxBufferPoolSize="2147483647" It does not seem to have an impact. I've tried (and currently have) the following throttling settings: <serviceThrottling maxConcurrentCalls="1500" maxConcurrentInstances="1500" maxConcurrentSessions="1500"/> It does not seem to have an impact. I currently have the following settings for the WCF service. [ServiceBehavior(InstanceContextMode = InstanceContextMode.Single, ConcurrencyMode = ConcurrencyMode.Single)] I ran with ConcurrencyMode.Multiple for a while, and the error still occurred. I've tried restarting IIS, restarting my underlying SQL Server, restarting the machine. All of these don't seem to have an impact. I've tried disabling the Windows firewall. It does not seem to have an impact. On the client, I have these settings: maxReceivedMessageSize="2147483647" <system.net> <connectionManagement> <add address="*" maxconnection="16"/> </connectionManagement> </system.net> My client closes its connections: var client = new MyClient(); try { return client.GetConfigurationOptions(); } finally { client.Close(); } I have changed the registry settings to allow more outgoing connections: MaxConnectionsPerServer=24, MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server=32. I have now just recently tried SvcTraceViewer.exe. I managed to catch one exception on the client end. I see that its duration is 1 minute. Looking at the server side trace, I can see that the server is not aware of this exception. The maximum duration I can see is 10 seconds. I have looked at active database connections using exec sp_who on the server. I only have a few (2-3). I have looked at TCP connections from one client using TCPview. It usually is around 2-3 and I have seen up to 5 or 6. Simply put, I am stumped. I have tried everything I could find, and must be missing something very simple that a WCF expert would be able to see. It is my gut feeling that something is blocking my clients at the low-level (TCP), before the server actually receives the message and/or that something is queuing the messages at the server level and never letting them process. If you have any performance counters I should look at, please let me know. (please indicate what values are bad, as some of these counters are hard to decypher). Also, how could I log the WCF message size? Finally, are there any tools our there that would allow me to test how many connections I can establish between my client and server (independently from my application) Thanks for your time! Extra information added June 20th: My WCF application does something similar to the following. while (true) { Step1GetConfigurationSettingsFromServerViaWCF(); // can change between calls Step2GetWorkUnitFromServerViaWCF(); DoWorkLocally(); // takes 5-15minutes. Step3SendBackResultsToServerViaWCF(); } Using WireShark, I did see that when the error occurs, I have a five TCP retransmissions followed by a TCP reset later on. My guess is the RST is coming from WCF killing the connection. The exception report I get is from Step3 timing out. I discovered this by looking at the tcp stream "tcp.stream eq 192". I then expanded my filter to "tcp.stream eq 192 and http and http.request.method eq POST" and saw 6 POSTs during this stream. This seemed odd, so I checked with another stream such as tcp.stream eq 100. I had three POSTs, which seems a bit more normal because I am doing three calls. However, I do close my connection after every WCF call, so I would have expected one call per stream (but I don't know much about TCP). Investigating a bit more, I dumped the http packet load to disk to look at what these six calls where. 1) Step3 2) Step1 3) Step2 4) Step3 - corrupted 5) Step1 6) Step2 My guess is two concurrent clients are using the same connection, that is why I saw duplicates. However, I still have a few more issues that I can't comprehend: a) Why is the packet corrupted? Random network fluke - maybe? The load is gzipped using this sample code: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms751458.aspx - Could the code be buggy once in a while when used concurrently? I should test without the gzip library. b) Why would I see step 1 & step 2 running AFTER the corrupted operation timed out? It seems to me as if these operations should not have occurred. Maybe I am not looking at the right stream because my understanding of TCP is flawed. I have other streams that occur at the same time. I should investigate other streams - a quick glance at streams 190-194 show that the Step3 POST have proper payload data (not corrupted). Pushing me to look at the gzip library again.

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  • Authoritative sources about Database vs. Flatfile decision

    - by FastAl
    <tldr>looking for a reference to a book or other undeniably authoritative source that gives reasons when you should choose a database vs. when you should choose other storage methods. I have provided an un-authoritative list of reasons about 2/3 of the way down this post.</tldr> I have a situation at my company where a database is being used where it would be better to use another solution (in this case, an auto-generated piece of source code that contains a static lookup table, searched by binary sort). Normally, a database would be an OK solution even though the problem does not require a database, e.g, none of the elements of ACID are needed, as it is read-only data, updated about every 3-5 years (also requiring other sourcecode changes), and fits in memory, and can be keyed into via binary search (a tad faster than db, but speed is not an issue). The problem is that this code runs on our enterprise server, but is shared with several PC platforms (some disconnected, some use a central DB, etc.), and parts of it are managed by multiple programming units, parts by the DBAs, parts even by mathematicians in another department, etc. These hit their own platform’s version of their databases (containing their own copy of the static data). What happens is that every implementation, every little change, something different goes wrong. There are many other issues as well. I can’t even use a flatfile, because one mode of running on our enterprise server does not have permission to read files (only databases, and of course, its own literal storage, e.g., in-source table). Of course, other parts of the system use databases in proper, less obscure manners; there is no problem with those parts. So why don’t we just change it? I don’t have administrative ability to force a change. But I’m affected because sometimes I have to help fix the problems, but mostly because it causes outages and tons of extra IT time by other programmers and d*mmit that makes me mad! The reason neither management, nor the designers of the system, can see the problem is that they propose a solution that won’t work: increase communication; implement more safeguards and standards; etc. But every time, in a different part of the already-pared-down but still multi-step processes, a few different diligent, hard-working, top performing IT personnel make a unique subtle error that causes it to fail, sometimes after the last round of testing! And in general these are not single-person failures, but understandable miscommunications. And communication at our company is actually better than most. People just don't think that's the case because they haven't dug into the matter. However, I have it on very good word from somebody with extensive formal study of sociology and psychology that the relatively small amount of less-than-proper database usage in this gigantic cross-platform multi-source, multi-language project is bureaucratically un-maintainable. Impossible. No chance. At least with Human Beings in the loop, and it can’t be automated. In addition, the management and developers who could change this, though intelligent and capable, don’t understand the rigidity of this ‘how humans are’ issue, and are not convincible on the matter. The reason putting the static data in sourcecode will solve the problem is, although the solution is less sexy than a database, it would function with no technical drawbacks; and since the sharing of sourcecode already works very well, you basically erase any database-related effort from this section of the project, along with all the drawbacks of it that are causing problems. OK, that’s the background, for the curious. I won’t be able to convince management that this is an unfixable sociological problem, and that the real solution is coding around these limits of human nature, just as you would code around a bug in a 3rd party component that you can’t change. So what I have to do is exploit the unsuitableness of the database solution, and not do it using logic, but rather authority. I am aware of many reasons, and posts on this site giving reasons for one over the other; I’m not looking for lists of reasons like these (although you can add a comment if I've miss a doozy): WHY USE A DATABASE? instead of flatfile/other DB vs. file: if you need... Random Read / Transparent search optimization Advanced / varied / customizable Searching and sorting capabilities Transaction/rollback Locks, semaphores Concurrency control / Shared users Security 1-many/m-m is easier Easy modification Scalability Load Balancing Random updates / inserts / deletes Advanced query Administrative control of design, etc. SQL / learning curve Debugging / Logging Centralized / Live Backup capabilities Cached queries / dvlp & cache execution plans Interleaved update/read Referential integrity, avoid redundant/missing/corrupt/out-of-sync data Reporting (from on olap or oltp db) / turnkey generation tools [Disadvantages:] Important to get right the first time - professional design - but only b/c it's meant to last s/w & h/w cost Usu. over a network, speed issue (best vs. best design vs. local=even then a separate process req's marshalling/netwk layers/inter-p comm) indicies and query processing can stand in the way of simple processing (vs. flatfile) WHY USE FLATFILE: If you only need... Sequential Row processing only Limited usage append only (no reading, no master key/update) Only Update the record you're reading (fixed length recs only) Too big to fit into memory If Local disk / read-ahead network connection Portability / small system Email / cut & Paste / store as document by novice - simple format Low design learning curve but high cost later WHY USE IN-MEMORY/TABLE (tables, arrays, etc.): if you need... Processing a single db/ff record that was imported Known size of data Static data if hardcoding the table Narrow, unchanging use (e.g., one program or proc) -includes a class that will be shared, but encapsulates its data manipulation Extreme speed needed / high transaction frequency Random access - but search is dependent on implementation Following are some other posts about the topic: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1499239/database-vs-flat-text-file-what-are-some-technical-reasons-for-choosing-one-over http://stackoverflow.com/questions/332825/are-flat-file-databases-any-good http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2356851/database-vs-flat-files http://stackoverflow.com/questions/514455/databases-vs-plain-text/514530 What I’d like to know is if anybody could recommend a hard, authoritative source containing these reasons. I’m looking for a paper book I can buy, or a reputable website with whitepapers about the issue (e.g., Microsoft, IBM), not counting the user-generated content on those sites. This will have a greater change to elicit a change that I’m looking for: less wasted programmer time, and more reliable programs. Thanks very much for your help. You win a prize for reading such a large post!

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  • how to debug "deep" crashes in Android?

    - by eerok512
    Hi All, I've been trying to debug an android crash that is occurring without a Java Stack Trace... Java Stack Trace bugs are very easy for me to fix... but this bug I'm getting seems to be crashing inside the "NDK" or whatever it is the deep internals of Android are called... I've made no modifications to the NDK btw... I just dunno what else to call that layer hehe. Anyway I'm mainly looking for advice on deep-debug methods, rather than help with this specific problem... because I doubt I can post all the source code involved... so really I just need to know how to set breakpoints at the deep layers or whatever other methods there are to trace deep-crashes to their source... so I will briefly describe the bug and then post a LogCat. I have an app with 7 Activities Activity_INTRO Activity_EULA Activity_MAIN Activity_Contact Activity_News Activity_Library Activity_More INTRO is the initiating one... it fades in some company logos... after displaying them for a set time it jumps to the EULA activity... after the user accepts the EULA, it jumps to MAIN... MAIN then creates a TabHost and populates it with the 4 remaining activities now heres the thing... when I click on say, the More tab of the TabHost, the app pauses for a few seconds and then hard-crashes... no java stack trace, but an actual ASM level trace with the registers and IP and stack... the same thing occurs no matter which tab I select, Contact, News, Library, More... all of them crash with the same hard-crash if however I set the manifest to start the app at Activity_MAIN, bypassing the INTRO and EULA, then these crashes do not occur... so something is lingering from those opening activities that is somehow hosing the TabHost'ed Activities... and I'm wondering what the hell that could be... because I'm using finish() on those activites when they need to jump... in fact here is how I'm doing it let me know if you see any bugs: when jumping from INTRO to EULA I do: //Display the EULA Intent newIntent = new Intent (avi, Activity_EULA.class); startActivity (newIntent); finish(); and EULA to MAIN: Intent newIntent = new Intent (this, Activity_Main.class); startActivity (newIntent); finish(); anyway, here is the hard crash log... please let me know if there is some way I can reverse engineer either /system/lib/libcutils.so or /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so, because I think the crash is happening in one of them... i think its happening in the libandroid_runtime in fact.... anyway on to the log: 12-25 00:56:07.322: INFO/DEBUG(551): *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 12-25 00:56:07.332: INFO/DEBUG(551): Build fingerprint: 'generic/sdk/generic/:1.5/CUPCAKE/150240:eng/test-keys' 12-25 00:56:07.362: INFO/DEBUG(551): pid: 722, tid: 723 >>> com.killerapps.chokes <<< 12-25 00:56:07.362: INFO/DEBUG(551): signal 11 (SIGSEGV), fault addr 00000004 12-25 00:56:07.362: INFO/DEBUG(551): r0 00000004 r1 40021800 r2 00000004 r3 ad3296c5 12-25 00:56:07.372: INFO/DEBUG(551): r4 00000000 r5 00000000 r6 ad342da5 r7 41039fb8 12-25 00:56:07.372: INFO/DEBUG(551): r8 100ffcb0 r9 41039fb0 10 41e014a0 fp 00001071 12-25 00:56:07.382: INFO/DEBUG(551): ip ad35b874 sp 100ffc98 lr ad3296cf pc afb045a8 cpsr 00000010 12-25 00:56:07.552: INFO/DEBUG(551): #00 pc 000045a8 /system/lib/libcutils.so 12-25 00:56:07.572: INFO/DEBUG(551): #01 lr ad3296cf /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so 12-25 00:56:07.582: INFO/DEBUG(551): stack: 12-25 00:56:07.582: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc58 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.592: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc5c 001c5278 [heap] 12-25 00:56:07.602: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc60 000000da 12-25 00:56:07.602: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc64 0016c778 [heap] 12-25 00:56:07.602: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc68 100ffcc8 12-25 00:56:07.602: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc6c 001c5278 [heap] 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc70 427d1ac0 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc74 000000c1 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc78 40021800 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc7c 000000c2 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc80 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.612: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc84 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.622: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc88 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.622: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc8c 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.622: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc90 df002777 12-25 00:56:07.632: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc94 e3a070ad 12-25 00:56:07.632: INFO/DEBUG(551): #00 100ffc98 00000000 12-25 00:56:07.632: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffc9c ad3296cf /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so 12-25 00:56:07.632: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffca0 100ffcd0 12-25 00:56:07.642: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffca4 ad342db5 /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so 12-25 00:56:07.642: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffca8 410a79d0 12-25 00:56:07.642: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcac ad00e3b8 /system/lib/libdvm.so 12-25 00:56:07.652: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcb0 410a79d0 12-25 00:56:07.652: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcb4 0016bac0 [heap] 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcb8 ad342da5 /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcbc 40021800 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcc0 410a79d0 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcc4 afe39dd0 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcc8 100ffcd0 12-25 00:56:07.662: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffccc ad040a8d /system/lib/libdvm.so 12-25 00:56:07.672: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcd0 41039fb0 12-25 00:56:07.672: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcd4 420000f8 12-25 00:56:07.672: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcd8 ad342da5 /system/lib/libandroid_runtime.so 12-25 00:56:07.672: INFO/DEBUG(551): 100ffcdc 100ffd48 12-25 00:56:07.852: DEBUG/dalvikvm(722): GC freed 367 objects / 15144 bytes in 210ms 12-25 00:56:08.081: DEBUG/InetAddress(722): www.akillerapp.com: 74.86.47.202 (family 2, proto 6) 12-25 00:56:08.242: DEBUG/dalvikvm(722): GC freed 62 objects / 2328 bytes in 122ms 12-25 00:56:08.771: DEBUG/dalvikvm(722): GC freed 245 objects / 11744 bytes in 179ms 12-25 00:56:09.131: INFO/ActivityManager(577): Process com.killerapps.chokes (pid 722) has died. 12-25 00:56:09.171: INFO/WindowManager(577): WIN DEATH: Window{43719320 com.killerapps.chokes/com.killerapps.chokes.Activity_Main paused=false} 12-25 00:56:09.251: INFO/DEBUG(551): debuggerd committing suicide to free the zombie! 12-25 00:56:09.291: DEBUG/Zygote(553): Process 722 terminated by signal (11) 12-25 00:56:09.311: INFO/DEBUG(781): debuggerd: Jun 30 2009 17:00:51 12-25 00:56:09.331: WARN/InputManagerService(577): Got RemoteException sending setActive(false) notification to pid 722 uid 10020

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  • How do I prove I should put a table of values in source code instead of a database table?

    - by FastAl
    <tldr>looking for a reference to a book or other undeniably authoritative source that gives reasons when you should choose a database vs. when you should choose other storage methods. I have provided an un-authoritative list of reasons about 2/3 of the way down this post.</tldr> I have a situation at my company where a database is being used where it would be better to use another solution (in this case, an auto-generated piece of source code that contains a static lookup table, searched by binary sort). Normally, a database would be an OK solution even though the problem does not require a database, e.g, none of the elements of ACID are needed, as it is read-only data, updated about every 3-5 years (also requiring other sourcecode changes), and fits in memory, and can be keyed into via binary search (a tad faster than db, but speed is not an issue). The problem is that this code runs on our enterprise server, but is shared with several PC platforms (some disconnected, some use a central DB, etc.), and parts of it are managed by multiple programming units, parts by the DBAs, parts even by mathematicians in another department, etc. These hit their own platform’s version of their databases (containing their own copy of the static data). What happens is that every implementation, every little change, something different goes wrong. There are many other issues as well. I can’t even use a flatfile, because one mode of running on our enterprise server does not have permission to read files (only databases, and of course, its own literal storage, e.g., in-source table). Of course, other parts of the system use databases in proper, less obscure manners; there is no problem with those parts. So why don’t we just change it? I don’t have administrative ability to force a change. But I’m affected because sometimes I have to help fix the problems, but mostly because it causes outages and tons of extra IT time by other programmers and d*mmit that makes me mad! The reason neither management, nor the designers of the system, can see the problem is that they propose a solution that won’t work: increase communication; implement more safeguards and standards; etc. But every time, in a different part of the already-pared-down but still multi-step processes, a few different diligent, hard-working, top performing IT personnel make a unique subtle error that causes it to fail, sometimes after the last round of testing! And in general these are not single-person failures, but understandable miscommunications. And communication at our company is actually better than most. People just don't think that's the case because they haven't dug into the matter. However, I have it on very good word from somebody with extensive formal study of sociology and psychology that the relatively small amount of less-than-proper database usage in this gigantic cross-platform multi-source, multi-language project is bureaucratically un-maintainable. Impossible. No chance. At least with Human Beings in the loop, and it can’t be automated. In addition, the management and developers who could change this, though intelligent and capable, don’t understand the rigidity of this ‘how humans are’ issue, and are not convincible on the matter. The reason putting the static data in sourcecode will solve the problem is, although the solution is less sexy than a database, it would function with no technical drawbacks; and since the sharing of sourcecode already works very well, you basically erase any database-related effort from this section of the project, along with all the drawbacks of it that are causing problems. OK, that’s the background, for the curious. I won’t be able to convince management that this is an unfixable sociological problem, and that the real solution is coding around these limits of human nature, just as you would code around a bug in a 3rd party component that you can’t change. So what I have to do is exploit the unsuitableness of the database solution, and not do it using logic, but rather authority. I am aware of many reasons, and posts on this site giving reasons for one over the other; I’m not looking for lists of reasons like these (although you can add a comment if I've miss a doozy): WHY USE A DATABASE? instead of flatfile/other DB vs. file: if you need... Random Read / Transparent search optimization Advanced / varied / customizable Searching and sorting capabilities Transaction/rollback Locks, semaphores Concurrency control / Shared users Security 1-many/m-m is easier Easy modification Scalability Load Balancing Random updates / inserts / deletes Advanced query Administrative control of design, etc. SQL / learning curve Debugging / Logging Centralized / Live Backup capabilities Cached queries / dvlp & cache execution plans Interleaved update/read Referential integrity, avoid redundant/missing/corrupt/out-of-sync data Reporting (from on olap or oltp db) / turnkey generation tools [Disadvantages:] Important to get right the first time - professional design - but only b/c it's meant to last s/w & h/w cost Usu. over a network, speed issue (best vs. best design vs. local=even then a separate process req's marshalling/netwk layers/inter-p comm) indicies and query processing can stand in the way of simple processing (vs. flatfile) WHY USE FLATFILE: If you only need... Sequential Row processing only Limited usage append only (no reading, no master key/update) Only Update the record you're reading (fixed length recs only) Too big to fit into memory If Local disk / read-ahead network connection Portability / small system Email / cut & Paste / store as document by novice - simple format Low design learning curve but high cost later WHY USE IN-MEMORY/TABLE (tables, arrays, etc.): if you need... Processing a single db/ff record that was imported Known size of data Static data if hardcoding the table Narrow, unchanging use (e.g., one program or proc) -includes a class that will be shared, but encapsulates its data manipulation Extreme speed needed / high transaction frequency Random access - but search is dependent on implementation Following are some other posts about the topic: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1499239/database-vs-flat-text-file-what-are-some-technical-reasons-for-choosing-one-over http://stackoverflow.com/questions/332825/are-flat-file-databases-any-good http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2356851/database-vs-flat-files http://stackoverflow.com/questions/514455/databases-vs-plain-text/514530 What I’d like to know is if anybody could recommend a hard, authoritative source containing these reasons. I’m looking for a paper book I can buy, or a reputable website with whitepapers about the issue (e.g., Microsoft, IBM), not counting the user-generated content on those sites. This will have a greater change to elicit a change that I’m looking for: less wasted programmer time, and more reliable programs. Thanks very much for your help. You win a prize for reading such a large post!

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  • File using .net sockets, transferring problem

    - by Sergei
    I have a client and server, client sending file to server. When i transfer files on my computer(in local) everything is ok(try to sen file over 700mb). When i try to sent file use Internet to my friend in the end of sending appears error on server "Input string is not in correct format".This error appears in this expression fSize = Convert::ToUInt64(tokenes[0]); - and i don't mind wht it's appear. File should be transfered and wait other transferring ps: sorry for too much code, but i want to find solution private: void CreateServer() { try{ IPAddress ^ipAddres = IPAddress::Parse(ipAdress); listener = gcnew System::Net::Sockets::TcpListener(ipAddres, port); listener->Start(); clientsocket =listener->AcceptSocket(); bool keepalive = true; array<wchar_t,1> ^split = gcnew array<wchar_t>(1){ '\0' }; array<wchar_t,1> ^split2 = gcnew array<wchar_t>(1){ '|' }; statusBar1->Text = "Connected" ; // while (keepalive) { array<Byte>^ size1 = gcnew array<Byte>(1024); clientsocket->Receive(size1); System::String ^notSplited = System::Text::Encoding::GetEncoding(1251)->GetString(size1); array<String^> ^ tokenes = notSplited->Split(split2); System::String ^fileName = tokenes[1]->ToString(); statusBar1->Text = "Receiving file" ; unsigned long fSize = 0; //IN THIS EXPRESSIN APPEARS ERROR fSize = Convert::ToUInt64(tokenes[0]); if (!Directory::Exists("Received")) Directory::CreateDirectory("Received"); System::String ^path = "Received\\"+ fileName; while (File::Exists(path)) { int dotPos = path->LastIndexOf('.'); if (dotPos == -1) { path += "[1]"; } else { path = path->Insert(dotPos, "[1]"); } } FileStream ^fs = gcnew FileStream(path, FileMode::CreateNew, FileAccess::Write); BinaryWriter ^f = gcnew BinaryWriter(fs); //bytes received unsigned long processed = 0; pBarFilesTr->Visible = true; pBarFilesTr->Minimum = 0; pBarFilesTr->Maximum = (int)fSize; // Set the initial value of the ProgressBar. pBarFilesTr->Value = 0; pBarFilesTr->Step = 1024; //loop for receive file array<Byte>^ buffer = gcnew array<Byte>(1024); while (processed < fSize) { if ((fSize - processed) < 1024) { int bytes ; array<Byte>^ buf = gcnew array<Byte>(1024); bytes = clientsocket->Receive(buf); if (bytes != 0) { f->Write(buf, 0, bytes); processed = processed + (unsigned long)bytes; pBarFilesTr->PerformStep(); } break; } else { int bytes = clientsocket->Receive(buffer); if (bytes != 0) { f->Write(buffer, 0, 1024); processed = processed + 1024; pBarFilesTr->PerformStep(); } else break; } } statusBar1->Text = "File was received" ; array<Byte>^ buf = gcnew array<Byte>(1); clientsocket->Send(buf,buf->Length,SocketFlags::None); f->Close(); fs->Close(); SystemSounds::Beep->Play(); } }catch(System::Net::Sockets::SocketException ^es) { MessageBox::Show(es->ToString()); } catch(System::Exception ^es) { MessageBox::Show(es->ToString()); } } private: void CreateClient() { clientsock = gcnew System::Net::Sockets::TcpClient(ipAdress, port); ns = clientsock->GetStream(); sr = gcnew StreamReader(ns); statusBar1->Text = "Connected" ; } private:void Send() { try{ OpenFileDialog ^openFileDialog1 = gcnew OpenFileDialog(); System::String ^filePath = ""; System::String ^fileName = ""; //file choose dialog if (openFileDialog1->ShowDialog() == System::Windows::Forms::DialogResult::OK) { filePath = openFileDialog1->FileName; fileName = openFileDialog1->SafeFileName; } else { MessageBox::Show("You must select a file", "Error", MessageBoxButtons::OK, MessageBoxIcon::Exclamation); return; } statusBar1->Text = "Sending file" ; NetworkStream ^writerStream = clientsock->GetStream(); System::Runtime::Serialization::Formatters::Binary::BinaryFormatter ^format = gcnew System::Runtime::Serialization::Formatters::Binary::BinaryFormatter(); array<Byte>^ buffer = gcnew array<Byte>(1024); FileStream ^fs = gcnew FileStream(filePath, FileMode::Open); BinaryReader ^br = gcnew BinaryReader(fs); //file size unsigned long fSize = (unsigned long)fs->Length; //transfer file size + name bFSize = Encoding::GetEncoding(1251)->GetBytes(Convert::ToString(fs->Length+"|"+fileName+"|")); writerStream->Write(bFSize, 0, bFSize->Length); //status bar pBarFilesTr->Visible = true; pBarFilesTr->Minimum = 0; pBarFilesTr->Maximum = (int)fSize; pBarFilesTr->Value = 0; // Set the initial value of the ProgressBar. pBarFilesTr->Step = 1024; //bytes transfered unsigned long processed = 0; int bytes = 1024; //loop for transfer while (processed < fSize) { if ((fSize - processed) < 1024) { bytes = (int)(fSize - processed); array<Byte>^ buf = gcnew array<Byte>(bytes); br->Read(buf, 0, bytes); writerStream->Write(buf, 0, buf->Length); pBarFilesTr->PerformStep(); processed = processed + (unsigned long)bytes; break; } else { br->Read(buffer, 0, 1024); writerStream->Write(buffer, 0, buffer->Length); pBarFilesTr->PerformStep(); processed = processed + 1024; } } array<Byte>^ bufsss = gcnew array<Byte>(100); writerStream->Read(bufsss,0,bufsss->Length); statusBar1->Text = "File was sent" ; btnSend->Enabled = true; fs->Close(); br->Close(); SystemSounds::Beep->Play(); newThread->Abort(); } catch(System::Net::Sockets::SocketException ^es) { MessageBox::Show(es->ToString()); } } UPDATE: ok, i can add checking if clientsocket->Receive(size1); equal zero, but why he begin receiving data again , in the ending of receiving. UPDATE:After adding this checking problem remains. AND WIN RAR SAY TO OPENING ARCHIVE - unexpected end of file! UPDATE:http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3760/erorr.gif I think it continue receiving some bytes from client(that remains in the stream), but why existes cicle while (processed < fSize)

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  • Android App Crashes On Second Run

    - by user1091286
    My app runs fine on first run. On the Menu I added two choices options and quit. options which set up a new intent who goes to a PreferenceActivity and quit which simply call: "android.os.Process.killProcess(android.os.Process.myPid());" On the second time I run my app (after I quit from inside the emulator) it crashes.. Ideas? the menu is called by the foolowing code: @Override public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) { getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu , menu); return true; } - @Override public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) { // Set up a new intent between the updater service and the main screen Intent options = new Intent(this, OptionsScreenActivity.class); // Switch case on the options switch (item.getItemId()) { case R.id.options: startActivity(options); return true; case R.id.quit: android.os.Process.killProcess(android.os.Process.myPid()); return true; default: return false; } Code for SeekBarPreference: package com.testapp.logic; import com.testapp.R; import android.content.Context; import android.content.res.TypedArray; import android.preference.Preference; import android.util.AttributeSet; import android.util.Log; import android.view.LayoutInflater; import android.view.View; import android.view.ViewGroup; import android.view.ViewParent; import android.widget.RelativeLayout; import android.widget.SeekBar; import android.widget.SeekBar.OnSeekBarChangeListener; import android.widget.TextView; public class SeekBarPreference extends Preference implements OnSeekBarChangeListener { private final String TAG = getClass().getName(); private static final String ANDROIDNS="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"; private static final String PREFS="com.testapp.logic"; private static final int DEFAULT_VALUE = 5; private int mMaxValue = 100; private int mMinValue = 1; private int mInterval = 1; private int mCurrentValue; private String mUnitsLeft = ""; private String mUnitsRight = ""; private SeekBar mSeekBar; private TextView mStatusText; public SeekBarPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) { super(context, attrs); initPreference(context, attrs); } public SeekBarPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) { super(context, attrs, defStyle); initPreference(context, attrs); } private void initPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) { setValuesFromXml(attrs); mSeekBar = new SeekBar(context, attrs); mSeekBar.setMax(mMaxValue - mMinValue); mSeekBar.setOnSeekBarChangeListener(this); } private void setValuesFromXml(AttributeSet attrs) { mMaxValue = attrs.getAttributeIntValue(ANDROIDNS, "max", 100); mMinValue = attrs.getAttributeIntValue(PREFS, "min", 0); mUnitsLeft = getAttributeStringValue(attrs, PREFS, "unitsLeft", ""); String units = getAttributeStringValue(attrs, PREFS, "units", ""); mUnitsRight = getAttributeStringValue(attrs, PREFS, "unitsRight", units); try { String newInterval = attrs.getAttributeValue(PREFS, "interval"); if(newInterval != null) mInterval = Integer.parseInt(newInterval); } catch(Exception e) { Log.e(TAG, "Invalid interval value", e); } } private String getAttributeStringValue(AttributeSet attrs, String namespace, String name, String defaultValue) { String value = attrs.getAttributeValue(namespace, name); if(value == null) value = defaultValue; return value; } @Override protected View onCreateView(ViewGroup parent){ RelativeLayout layout = null; try { LayoutInflater mInflater = (LayoutInflater) getContext().getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE); layout = (RelativeLayout)mInflater.inflate(R.layout.seek_bar_preference, parent, false); } catch(Exception e) { Log.e(TAG, "Error creating seek bar preference", e); } return layout; } @Override public void onBindView(View view) { super.onBindView(view); try { // move our seekbar to the new view we've been given ViewParent oldContainer = mSeekBar.getParent(); ViewGroup newContainer = (ViewGroup) view.findViewById(R.id.seekBarPrefBarContainer); if (oldContainer != newContainer) { // remove the seekbar from the old view if (oldContainer != null) { ((ViewGroup) oldContainer).removeView(mSeekBar); } // remove the existing seekbar (there may not be one) and add ours newContainer.removeAllViews(); newContainer.addView(mSeekBar, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.FILL_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT); } } catch(Exception ex) { Log.e(TAG, "Error binding view: " + ex.toString()); } updateView(view); } /** * Update a SeekBarPreference view with our current state * @param view */ protected void updateView(View view) { try { RelativeLayout layout = (RelativeLayout)view; mStatusText = (TextView)layout.findViewById(R.id.seekBarPrefValue); mStatusText.setText(String.valueOf(mCurrentValue)); mStatusText.setMinimumWidth(30); mSeekBar.setProgress(mCurrentValue - mMinValue); TextView unitsRight = (TextView)layout.findViewById(R.id.seekBarPrefUnitsRight); unitsRight.setText(mUnitsRight); TextView unitsLeft = (TextView)layout.findViewById(R.id.seekBarPrefUnitsLeft); unitsLeft.setText(mUnitsLeft); } catch(Exception e) { Log.e(TAG, "Error updating seek bar preference", e); } } public void onProgressChanged(SeekBar seekBar, int progress, boolean fromUser) { int newValue = progress + mMinValue; if(newValue > mMaxValue) newValue = mMaxValue; else if(newValue < mMinValue) newValue = mMinValue; else if(mInterval != 1 && newValue % mInterval != 0) newValue = Math.round(((float)newValue)/mInterval)*mInterval; // change rejected, revert to the previous value if(!callChangeListener(newValue)){ seekBar.setProgress(mCurrentValue - mMinValue); return; } // change accepted, store it mCurrentValue = newValue; mStatusText.setText(String.valueOf(newValue)); persistInt(newValue); } public void onStartTrackingTouch(SeekBar seekBar) {} public void onStopTrackingTouch(SeekBar seekBar) { notifyChanged(); } @Override protected Object onGetDefaultValue(TypedArray ta, int index){ int defaultValue = ta.getInt(index, DEFAULT_VALUE); return defaultValue; } @Override protected void onSetInitialValue(boolean restoreValue, Object defaultValue) { if(restoreValue) { mCurrentValue = getPersistedInt(mCurrentValue); } else { int temp = 0; try { temp = (Integer)defaultValue; } catch(Exception ex) { Log.e(TAG, "Invalid default value: " + defaultValue.toString()); } persistInt(temp); mCurrentValue = temp; } } } Logcat: E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): FATAL EXCEPTION: main E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate activity ComponentInfo{com.ui.testapp/com.logic.testapp.SeekBarPreferen ce}: java.lang.InstantiationException: can't instantiate class com.logic.testapp.SeekBarPreference; no empty constructor E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1879) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1980) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread.access$600(ActivityThread.java:122) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1146) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4340) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:784) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:551) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): Caused by: java.lang.InstantiationException: can't instantiate class com.logic.testapp.SeekBarPreference; no empty construc tor E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Native Method) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1319) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.Instrumentation.newActivity(Instrumentation.java:1023) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1870) E/AndroidRuntime( 4525): ... 11 more W/ActivityManager( 84): Force finishing activity com.ui.testapp/com.logic.testapp.SeekBarPreference W/ActivityManager( 84): Force finishing activity com.ui.testapp/.MainScreen I/WindowManager( 84): createSurface Window{41a90320 paused=false}: DRAW NOW PENDING W/ActivityManager( 84): Activity pause timeout for ActivityRecord{4104a848 com.ui.testapp/com.logic.testapp.SeekBarPreference} W/NetworkManagementSocketTagger( 84): setKernelCountSet(10021, 1) failed with errno -2 I/WindowManager( 84): createSurface Window{412bcc10 com.android.launcher/com.android.launcher2.Launcher paused=false}: DRAW NOW PENDING W/NetworkManagementSocketTagger( 84): setKernelCountSet(10045, 0) failed with errno -2 I/Process ( 4525): Sending signal. PID: 4525 SIG: 9 I/ActivityManager( 84): Process com.ui.testapp (pid 4525) has died. I/WindowManager( 84): WIN DEATH: Window{41a6c9c0 com.ui.testapp/com.ui.testapp.MainScreen paused=true}

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  • addEventListener() isn't detecting KEY_UP nor KEY_DOWN

    - by Zirenth
    My full code is import flash.events.KeyboardEvent; import flash.events.Event; //init some variables var speedX = 0; var speedY = 0; msg.visible = false; var curLevel = 2; var level = new Array(); var flagVar; var won = false; //Adding level platforms for(var i = 0; i < numChildren; i++) { if(getChildAt(i) is platform) { level.push(getChildAt(i).getRect(this)); } if(getChildAt(i) is flag) { flagVar = getChildAt(i).getRect(this); } } //Checking key presses var kUp = false; var kDown = false; var kLeft = false; var kRight = false; var kSpace = false; stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, kD); stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, kU); function kD(k:KeyboardEvent) { trace("Key down - " + k.keyCode); if(k.keyCode == 32) { kSpace = true; } if(k.keyCode == 37 ) { kLeft = true; } if(k.keyCode == 38) { kUp = true; } if(k.keyCode == 39) { kRight = true; } } function kU(k:KeyboardEvent) { trace("Key up - " + k.keyCode); if(k.keyCode == 32) { kSpace = false; } if(k.keyCode == 37) { kLeft = false; } if(k.keyCode == 38) { kUp = false; } if(k.keyCode == 39) { kRight = false; } } addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, loopAround); function loopAround(e:Event) { //horizontal movement if(kLeft) { speedX = -10; } else if(kRight) { speedX = 10; } else { speedX *= 0.5; } player.x += speedX; //horizontal collision checks for(var i = 0; i < level.length; i++) { if(player.getRect(this).intersects(level[i])) { if(speedX > 0) { player.x = level[i].left - player.width; } if(speedX < 0) { player.x = level[i].right; } speedX = 0; } } //vertical movement speedY += 1; player.y += speedY; var jumpable = false; //Vertical collision for(i = 0; i < level.length; i++) { if(player.getRect(this).intersects(level[i])) { if(speedY > 0) { player.y = level[i].top - player.height; speedY = 0; jumpable = true; } if(speedY < 0) { player.y = level[i].bottom; speedY *= -0.5; } } } //JUMP! if((kUp || kSpace) && jumpable) { speedY=-20; } //Moving camera and other this.x = -player.x + (stage.stageWidth/2); this.y = -player.y + (stage.stageHeight/2); msg.x = player.x - (msg.width/2); msg.y = player.y - (msg.height/2); //Checking win if(player.getRect(this).intersects(flagVar)) { msg.visible = true; won = true; } //Check for next level request if(kSpace && won) { curLevel++; gotoAndStop(curLevel); won = false; } } The section in question is //Checking key presses var kUp = false; var kDown = false; var kLeft = false; var kRight = false; var kSpace = false; stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, kD); stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, kU); function kD(k:KeyboardEvent) { trace("Key down - " + k.keyCode); if(k.keyCode == 32) { kSpace = true; } if(k.keyCode == 37 ) { kLeft = true; } if(k.keyCode == 38) { kUp = true; } if(k.keyCode == 39) { kRight = true; } } function kU(k:KeyboardEvent) { trace("Key up - " + k.keyCode); if(k.keyCode == 32) { kSpace = false; } if(k.keyCode == 37) { kLeft = false; } if(k.keyCode == 38) { kUp = false; } if(k.keyCode == 39) { kRight = false; } } This was working fine last night, but today I moved it to a new keyframe and now it's not working. I'm not getting any errors (even if I debug). It just won't move the character or even show up in output. I'm still quite new to as3, so I don't really know what to do. Thanks in advance. Edit: After playing with it a bit, I've found out that the reason it's not working is due to the menu. The menu has a single button and two text elements, which are fine. The code that I'm using on the menu is this: import flash.events.MouseEvent; stop(); var format:TextFormat = new TextFormat(); format.size = 26; format.bold = true; playGameButton.setStyle("textFormat", format); stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playGame); function playGame(e:MouseEvent) { if(e.target.name == "playGameButton") { gotoAndStop(2); } } If I use just gotoAndStop(2); it works fine, but with everything else it just goes to the second frame, and nothing else works after that. Edit #2: I've narrowed it down even farther to the if statement itself. if(e.target == playGameButton) if(e.target.name == "playGameButton") Both of those don't work. If I just remove the if statement all together it works perfectly fine.

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