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• File Access problems with SLES 10 SP2 OES2 SP1

  - by Blackhawk131

  We have identified a couple of repeatable, demonstrable scenarios with unexplained rejected folder access on our servers for Mac users. Hopefully, this can be presented to Novell for a solution. What we did to demonstrate scenario 1; 1. setup a PC and Mac side-by-side 2. login to our server and open up to a central location on both Mac and PC 3. on the PC in that central location create a folder 4. on the Mac in that central location drag the created folder to the Mac desktop, this should work fine, no problem 5. on the PC rename that folder 6. on the Mac drag a file to that renamed folder, this should error with the following message; a. You cannot copy some of these items to the destination because their names are too long for the destination. Do you want to skip copying these items and continue copying the other items? b. Select skip, response is the filename is copied to the location with zero or small byte size. Try opening it and you get file is corrupted error message. What we did to demonstrate scenario 2; 1. setup a PC and Mac side-by-side 2. login to our server and open up to a central location on both Mac and PC 3. on the PC in that central location create a folder then create a subfolder 4. copy some content into the subfolder 5. on the Mac in that central location drag the created top level folder to the Mac desktop, this should work fine, no problem 6. on the PC rename that subfolder 7. on the Mac drag that top level folder to the Mac desktop, this should error on the Mac with the following; a. The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for b. The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for 8. on the Mac, if you open that subfolder you can see the file copied in step 4 above but, you can not open that file, you get the following message if you try; a. There was an error opening this document. You do not have permission to open this file. 9. on the PC drag some content into the top level folder 10. on the Mac you can open that file directly from the server or copy it locally, no problem, however-the subfolder is still corrupted or locked, whichever 11. on the PC rename the top level folder 12. on the Mac that same file just opened in step 10 above is now not accessible, get the following message; a. The document could not be opened. I have observed some variances in the above. For instance, a change on the PC side may take a moment before you can observer or act on the Mac side - kind of like the server is slow to respond. Also, the error message may vary. However, the key is once a folder, or subfolder, gets renamed by a PC, Mac problems commence. The solution is to create a new folder from a PC and copy the contents of the corrupted folder to the new folder and not rename the folder name. This has to be done on a PC because the corrupted folder is not accessible by a Mac user. Another problem that dovetails with the above is that we know certain characters are not allowed for PC folder or filenames. If a Mac user creates a folder with a slash in the file name, from the PC the user does not see that slash in the name. As soon as the PC user copies a file to that folder, the Mac user is locked from that folder. Will get the following error message; - Sorry, the operation could not be completed because an unexpected error occurred. - (Error code - 50) In addition to the above mentioned character issue with folders, the problem is more evil with filenames. If, for example, you create a file with a slash in the filename on a Mac and copy it to the server you will get the following error message; - You cannot copy some of these items to the destination because their names are too long for the destination. Do you want to skip copying these items and continue copying the other items? Select either Stop or Skip buttons. It does not matter which button is selected. The file name gets copied to the destination location at a reduced size. Depending on the file type, the icon associated with the file may or may not be present. Furthermore, if you open that file on the server you will get the following message; - Couldnt open the file. It may be corrupt or a file format that doesnt recognize. From the users perspective, if they are not observant of the icon or file size, they may disregard the error message and think their file has copied as intended. Only later do they discover the file is corrupt if they open that file. I want to make a note on this problem. It is the PC causing the issue. You can change folder and file names all day on a MAC and you don't have a problem as long as a character is not the issue. Once you change the file name or folder name from a PC the entire folder structure from that level down is corrupted. But it has to be resolved from a PC by creating a new folder and copying the contents to the new folder like stated above. Is something not configured correctly? SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86_64) VERSION = 10 PATCHLEVEL = 2 LSB_VERSION="core-2.0-noarch:core-3.0-noarch:core-2.0-x86_64:core-3.0-x86_64" Novell Open Enterprise Server 2.0.1 (x86_64) VERSION = 2.0.1 PATCHLEVEL = 1 BUILD Note: We use Novell clients on all windows systems to connect to the servers for file access and network storage. We use AFP to allow OSx systems to connect to servers.

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• Fibre channel long distance woes

  - by Marki

  I need a fresh pair of eyes. We're using a 15km fibre optic line across which fibrechannel and 10GbE is multiplexed (passive optical CWDM). For FC we have long distance lasers suitable up to 40km (Skylane SFCxx0404F0D). The multiplexer is limited by the SFPs which can do max. 4Gb fibrechannel. The FC switch is a Brocade 5000 series. The respective wavelengths are 1550,1570,1590 and 1610nm for FC and 1530nm for 10GbE. The problem is the 4GbFC fabrics are almost never clean. Sometimes they are for a while even with a lot of traffic on them. Then they may suddenly start producing errors (RX CRC, RX encoding, RX disparity, ...) even with only marginal traffic on them. I am attaching some error and traffic graphs. Errors are currently in the order of 50-100 errors per 5 minutes when with 1Gb/s traffic. Optics Here is the power output of one port summarized (collected using sfpshow on different switches) SITE-A units=uW (microwatt) SITE-B ********************************************** FAB1 SW1 TX 1234.3 RX 49.1 SW3 1550nm (ko) RX 95.2 TX 1175.6 FAB2 SW2 TX 1422.0 RX 104.6 SW4 1610nm (ok) RX 54.3 TX 1468.4 What I find curious at this point is the asymmetry in the power levels. While SW2 transmits with 1422uW which SW4 receives with 104uW, SW2 only receives the SW4 signal with similar original power only with 54uW. Vice versa for SW1-3. Anyway the SFPs have RX sensitivity down to -18dBm (ca. 20uW) so in any case it should be fine... But nothing is. Some SFPs have been diagnosed as malfunctioning by the manufacturer (the 1550nm ones shown above with "ko"). The 1610nm ones apparently are ok, they have been tested using a traffic generator. The leased line has also been tested more than once. All is within tolerances. I'm awaiting the replacements but for some reason I don't believe it will make things better as the apparently good ones don't produce ZERO errors either. Earlier there was active equipment involved (some kind of 4GFC retimer) before putting the signal on the line. No idea why. That equipment was eliminated because of the problems so we now only have: the long distance laser in the switch, (new) 10m LC-SC monomode cable to the mux (for each fabric), the leased line, the same thing but reversed on the other side of the link. FC switches Here is a port config from the Brocade portcfgshow (it's like that on both sides, obviously) Area Number: 0 Speed Level: 4G Fill Word(On Active) 0(Idle-Idle) Fill Word(Current) 0(Idle-Idle) AL_PA Offset 13: OFF Trunk Port ON Long Distance LS VC Link Init OFF Desired Distance 32 Km Reserved Buffers 70 Locked L_Port OFF Locked G_Port OFF Disabled E_Port OFF Locked E_Port OFF ISL R_RDY Mode OFF RSCN Suppressed OFF Persistent Disable OFF LOS TOV enable OFF NPIV capability ON QOS E_Port OFF Port Auto Disable: OFF Rate Limit OFF EX Port OFF Mirror Port OFF Credit Recovery ON F_Port Buffers OFF Fault Delay: 0(R_A_TOV) NPIV PP Limit: 126 CSCTL mode: OFF Forcing the links to 2GbFC produces no errors, but we bought 4GbFC and we want 4GbFC. I don't know where to look anymore. Any ideas what to try next or how to proceed? If we can't make 4GbFC work reliably I wonder what the people working with 8 or 16 do... I don't assume that "a few errors here and there" are acceptable. Oh and BTW we are in contact with everyone of the manufacturers (FC switch, MUX, SFPs, ...) Except for the SFPs to be changed (some have been changed before) nobody has a clue. Brocade SAN Health says the fabric is ok. MUX, well, it's passive, it's only a prism, nature at it's best. Any shots in the dark? APPENDIX: Answers to your questions @Chopper3: This is the second generation of Brocades exhibiting the problem. Before we had 5000s, now we have 5100s. In the beginning when we still had the active MUX we rented a longdistance laser once to put it into the switch directly in order to make tests for a day, during that day of course it was clean. But as I said, sometimes it's clean just like that. And sometimes it's not. Alternative switches would mean to rebuild the entire SAN with those only to test. Alternative SFPs, well they're hard to come by just like that. @longneck: The line is rented. It's a dark fibre (9um monomode) so there's noone else on it. Sure there are splices. I can't go and look but I have to trust they have been done correctly. As I said the line has been checked and rechecked (using an optical time-domain reflectometer). Obviously you don't have all this equipment yourself because it's way too expensive. @mdpc: What would be the "wrong" type of cable according to you? Up to the switch everything is monomode, yes. The connectors are the correct ones too. Yeah I know there are the green ones where the fibre is cut off at a certain angle etc. But we have the correct ones for all that I know. Progress Report #1 We have had two fabrics (=2x2 switches) with Brocade 5100s with FabricOS 6.4.1 and two fabrics (another 2x4 switches) on FabricOS 7.0.2. On the longdistance ISLs (one in each fabric) it turned out that with FOS 6.4.1 setting it to long distance issues warnings about the VC Init setting and consequently the fill word. But those are only warnings. FOS 7.0.2 requires you to do modifications to VCI and the fillword for long distance links. Setting FOS 6.4.1 to the LS (long-distance static distance) setting with wrong VCI and fillword setting made the whole fabric inoperational (stuck in an SCN loop, use fabriclog -s to see, you don't see it anywhere else, no port error counters or anything increasing). Currently I'm giving the one fabric with the IMHO more correct settings a beating and it seems to do fine, whereas the other one without much traffic still has errors here and there. In short: We have eliminated the active part of the MUX (the FC retimer). We are putting the long distance SFPs into the end equipment themselves. Just to be sure we bought new monomode cables to connect the end equipment to the remaining passive part of the MUX. We are now trying out several long distance configs. It's almost black magic. Everything that happens is mostly empirical, noone seems to have a clue what are the exact reasons to do something. ("We have tried this, and it didn't work, then we tried that and it worked, so we stuck with that." But noone really seems to know why.) I'll keep you updated. Progress Report #2 We got the new lasers for one of the fabrics on warranty. It's ultra clean even on 4GbFC. They're transmitting with roughly 2mW (3dBm) whereas the others are only at 1.5mW (1.5dBm) although that should really be enough. The other fabric (where the lasers are apparently ok) still produces one or two CRCs infrequently. Using sfpshow the SFP producing the actual RX errors shows Status/Ctrl: 0x82 Alarm flags[0,1] = 0x5, 0x40 Warn Flags[0,1] = 0x5, 0x40 Now I'll have to find out what that means. Not sure if it was there before. Well I'll first clear my head with a week of vacation. 8-)

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• Python - Converting CSV to Objects - Code Design

  - by victorhooi

  Hi, I have a small script we're using to read in a CSV file containing employees, and perform some basic manipulations on that data. We read in the data (import_gd_dump), and create an Employees object, containing a list of Employee objects (maybe I should think of a better naming convention...lol). We then call clean_all_phone_numbers() on Employees, which calls clean_phone_number() on each Employee, as well as lookup_all_supervisors(), on Employees. import csv import re import sys #class CSVLoader: # """Virtual class to assist with loading in CSV files.""" # def import_gd_dump(self, input_file='Gp Directory 20100331 original.csv'): # gd_extract = csv.DictReader(open(input_file), dialect='excel') # employees = [] # for row in gd_extract: # curr_employee = Employee(row) # employees.append(curr_employee) # return employees # #self.employees = {row['dbdirid']:row for row in gd_extract} # Previously, this was inside a (virtual) class called "CSVLoader". # However, according to here (http://tomayko.com/writings/the-static-method-thing) - the idiomatic way of doing this in Python is not with a class-fucntion but with a module-level function def import_gd_dump(input_file='Gp Directory 20100331 original.csv'): """Return a list ('employee') of dict objects, taken from a Group Directory CSV file.""" gd_extract = csv.DictReader(open(input_file), dialect='excel') employees = [] for row in gd_extract: employees.append(row) return employees def write_gd_formatted(employees_dict, output_file="gd_formatted.csv"): """Read in an Employees() object, and write out each Employee() inside this to a CSV file""" gd_output_fieldnames = ('hrid', 'mail', 'givenName', 'sn', 'dbcostcenter', 'dbdirid', 'hrreportsto', 'PHFull', 'PHFull_message', 'SupervisorEmail', 'SupervisorFirstName', 'SupervisorSurname') try: gd_formatted = csv.DictWriter(open(output_file, 'w', newline=''), fieldnames=gd_output_fieldnames, extrasaction='ignore', dialect='excel') except IOError: print('Unable to open file, IO error (Is it locked?)') sys.exit(1) headers = {n:n for n in gd_output_fieldnames} gd_formatted.writerow(headers) for employee in employees_dict.employee_list: # We're using the employee object's inbuilt __dict__ attribute - hmm, is this good practice? gd_formatted.writerow(employee.__dict__) class Employee: """An Employee in the system, with employee attributes (name, email, cost-centre etc.)""" def __init__(self, employee_attributes): """We use the Employee constructor to convert a dictionary into instance attributes.""" for k, v in employee_attributes.items(): setattr(self, k, v) def clean_phone_number(self): """Perform some rudimentary checks and corrections, to make sure numbers are in the right format. Numbers should be in the form 0XYYYYYYYY, where X is the area code, and Y is the local number.""" if self.telephoneNumber is None or self.telephoneNumber == '': return '', 'Missing phone number.' else: standard_format = re.compile(r'^\+(?P<intl_prefix>\d{2})\((?P<area_code>\d)\)(?P<local_first_half>\d{4})-(?P<local_second_half>\d{4})') extra_zero = re.compile(r'^\+(?P<intl_prefix>\d{2})\(0(?P<area_code>\d)\)(?P<local_first_half>\d{4})-(?P<local_second_half>\d{4})') missing_hyphen = re.compile(r'^\+(?P<intl_prefix>\d{2})\(0(?P<area_code>\d)\)(?P<local_first_half>\d{4})(?P<local_second_half>\d{4})') if standard_format.search(self.telephoneNumber): result = standard_format.search(self.telephoneNumber) return '0' + result.group('area_code') + result.group('local_first_half') + result.group('local_second_half'), '' elif extra_zero.search(self.telephoneNumber): result = extra_zero.search(self.telephoneNumber) return '0' + result.group('area_code') + result.group('local_first_half') + result.group('local_second_half'), 'Extra zero in area code - ask user to remediate. ' elif missing_hyphen.search(self.telephoneNumber): result = missing_hyphen.search(self.telephoneNumber) return '0' + result.group('area_code') + result.group('local_first_half') + result.group('local_second_half'), 'Missing hyphen in local component - ask user to remediate. ' else: return '', "Number didn't match recognised format. Original text is: " + self.telephoneNumber class Employees: def __init__(self, import_list): self.employee_list = [] for employee in import_list: self.employee_list.append(Employee(employee)) def clean_all_phone_numbers(self): for employee in self.employee_list: #Should we just set this directly in Employee.clean_phone_number() instead? employee.PHFull, employee.PHFull_message = employee.clean_phone_number() # Hmm, the search is O(n^2) - there's probably a better way of doing this search? def lookup_all_supervisors(self): for employee in self.employee_list: if employee.hrreportsto is not None and employee.hrreportsto != '': for supervisor in self.employee_list: if supervisor.hrid == employee.hrreportsto: (employee.SupervisorEmail, employee.SupervisorFirstName, employee.SupervisorSurname) = supervisor.mail, supervisor.givenName, supervisor.sn break else: (employee.SupervisorEmail, employee.SupervisorFirstName, employee.SupervisorSurname) = ('Supervisor not found.', 'Supervisor not found.', 'Supervisor not found.') else: (employee.SupervisorEmail, employee.SupervisorFirstName, employee.SupervisorSurname) = ('Supervisor not set.', 'Supervisor not set.', 'Supervisor not set.') #Is thre a more pythonic way of doing this? def print_employees(self): for employee in self.employee_list: print(employee.__dict__) if __name__ == '__main__': db_employees = Employees(import_gd_dump()) db_employees.clean_all_phone_numbers() db_employees.lookup_all_supervisors() #db_employees.print_employees() write_gd_formatted(db_employees) Firstly, my preamble question is, can you see anything inherently wrong with the above, from either a class design or Python point-of-view? Is the logic/design sound? Anyhow, to the specifics: The Employees object has a method, clean_all_phone_numbers(), which calls clean_phone_number() on each Employee object inside it. Is this bad design? If so, why? Also, is the way I'm calling lookup_all_supervisors() bad? Originally, I wrapped the clean_phone_number() and lookup_supervisor() method in a single function, with a single for-loop inside it. clean_phone_number is O(n), I believe, lookup_supervisor is O(n^2) - is it ok splitting it into two loops like this? In clean_all_phone_numbers(), I'm looping on the Employee objects, and settings their values using return/assignment - should I be setting this inside clean_phone_number() itself? There's also a few things that I'm sorted of hacked out, not sure if they're bad practice - e.g. print_employee() and gd_formatted() both use __dict__, and the constructor for Employee uses setattr() to convert a dictionary into instance attributes. I'd value any thoughts at all. If you think the questions are too broad, let me know and I can repost as several split up (I just didn't want to pollute the boards with multiple similar questions, and the three questions are more or less fairly tightly related). Cheers, Victor

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• SetWindowHookEx and execution blocking

  - by Kalaz

  Hello, I just wonder... I mainly use .NET but now I started to investigate WINAPI calls. For example I am using this piece of code to hook to the API functions. It starts freezing, when I try to debug the application... using System; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using System.Threading; using System.Windows.Forms; public class Keyboard { private const int WH_KEYBOARD_LL = 13; private const int WM_KEYDOWN = 0x0100; private static LowLevelKeyboardProc _proc = HookCallback; private static IntPtr _hookID = IntPtr.Zero; public static event Action<Keys,bool, bool> KeyDown; public static void Hook() { new Thread(new ThreadStart(()=> { _hookID = SetHook(_proc); Application.Run(); })).Start(); } public static void Unhook() { UnhookWindowsHookEx(_hookID); } private static IntPtr SetHook(LowLevelKeyboardProc proc) { using (Process curProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess()) using (ProcessModule curModule = curProcess.MainModule) { return SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, proc, GetModuleHandle(curModule.ModuleName), 0); } } private delegate IntPtr LowLevelKeyboardProc( int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam); private static IntPtr HookCallback( int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam) { if (nCode >= 0 && wParam == (IntPtr)WM_KEYDOWN) { int vkCode = Marshal.ReadInt32(lParam); Keys k = (Keys) vkCode; if (KeyDown != null) { KeyDown.BeginInvoke(k, IsKeyPressed(VirtualKeyStates.VK_CONTROL), IsKeyPressed(VirtualKeyStates.VK_SHIFT),null,null); } } return CallNextHookEx(_hookID, nCode, wParam, lParam); } private static bool IsKeyPressed(VirtualKeyStates virtualKeyStates) { return (GetKeyState(virtualKeyStates) & (1 << 7))==128; } [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr SetWindowsHookEx(int idHook, LowLevelKeyboardProc lpfn, IntPtr hMod, uint dwThreadId); [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)] [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)] private static extern bool UnhookWindowsHookEx(IntPtr hhk); [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr CallNextHookEx(IntPtr hhk, int nCode, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam); [DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr GetModuleHandle(string lpModuleName); [DllImport("user32.dll")] static extern short GetKeyState(VirtualKeyStates nVirtKey); } enum VirtualKeyStates : int { VK_LBUTTON = 0x01, VK_RBUTTON = 0x02, VK_CANCEL = 0x03, VK_MBUTTON = 0x04, // VK_XBUTTON1 = 0x05, VK_XBUTTON2 = 0x06, // VK_BACK = 0x08, VK_TAB = 0x09, // VK_CLEAR = 0x0C, VK_RETURN = 0x0D, // VK_SHIFT = 0x10, VK_CONTROL = 0x11, VK_MENU = 0x12, VK_PAUSE = 0x13, VK_CAPITAL = 0x14, // VK_KANA = 0x15, VK_HANGEUL = 0x15, /* old name - should be here for compatibility */ VK_HANGUL = 0x15, VK_JUNJA = 0x17, VK_FINAL = 0x18, VK_HANJA = 0x19, VK_KANJI = 0x19, // VK_ESCAPE = 0x1B, // VK_CONVERT = 0x1C, VK_NONCONVERT = 0x1D, VK_ACCEPT = 0x1E, VK_MODECHANGE = 0x1F, // VK_SPACE = 0x20, VK_PRIOR = 0x21, VK_NEXT = 0x22, VK_END = 0x23, VK_HOME = 0x24, VK_LEFT = 0x25, VK_UP = 0x26, VK_RIGHT = 0x27, VK_DOWN = 0x28, VK_SELECT = 0x29, VK_PRINT = 0x2A, VK_EXECUTE = 0x2B, VK_SNAPSHOT = 0x2C, VK_INSERT = 0x2D, VK_DELETE = 0x2E, VK_HELP = 0x2F, // VK_LWIN = 0x5B, VK_RWIN = 0x5C, VK_APPS = 0x5D, // VK_SLEEP = 0x5F, // VK_NUMPAD0 = 0x60, VK_NUMPAD1 = 0x61, VK_NUMPAD2 = 0x62, VK_NUMPAD3 = 0x63, VK_NUMPAD4 = 0x64, VK_NUMPAD5 = 0x65, VK_NUMPAD6 = 0x66, VK_NUMPAD7 = 0x67, VK_NUMPAD8 = 0x68, VK_NUMPAD9 = 0x69, VK_MULTIPLY = 0x6A, VK_ADD = 0x6B, VK_SEPARATOR = 0x6C, VK_SUBTRACT = 0x6D, VK_DECIMAL = 0x6E, VK_DIVIDE = 0x6F, VK_F1 = 0x70, VK_F2 = 0x71, VK_F3 = 0x72, VK_F4 = 0x73, VK_F5 = 0x74, VK_F6 = 0x75, VK_F7 = 0x76, VK_F8 = 0x77, VK_F9 = 0x78, VK_F10 = 0x79, VK_F11 = 0x7A, VK_F12 = 0x7B, VK_F13 = 0x7C, VK_F14 = 0x7D, VK_F15 = 0x7E, VK_F16 = 0x7F, VK_F17 = 0x80, VK_F18 = 0x81, VK_F19 = 0x82, VK_F20 = 0x83, VK_F21 = 0x84, VK_F22 = 0x85, VK_F23 = 0x86, VK_F24 = 0x87, // VK_NUMLOCK = 0x90, VK_SCROLL = 0x91, // VK_OEM_NEC_EQUAL = 0x92, // '=' key on numpad // VK_OEM_FJ_JISHO = 0x92, // 'Dictionary' key VK_OEM_FJ_MASSHOU = 0x93, // 'Unregister word' key VK_OEM_FJ_TOUROKU = 0x94, // 'Register word' key VK_OEM_FJ_LOYA = 0x95, // 'Left OYAYUBI' key VK_OEM_FJ_ROYA = 0x96, // 'Right OYAYUBI' key // VK_LSHIFT = 0xA0, VK_RSHIFT = 0xA1, VK_LCONTROL = 0xA2, VK_RCONTROL = 0xA3, VK_LMENU = 0xA4, VK_RMENU = 0xA5, // VK_BROWSER_BACK = 0xA6, VK_BROWSER_FORWARD = 0xA7, VK_BROWSER_REFRESH = 0xA8, VK_BROWSER_STOP = 0xA9, VK_BROWSER_SEARCH = 0xAA, VK_BROWSER_FAVORITES = 0xAB, VK_BROWSER_HOME = 0xAC, // VK_VOLUME_MUTE = 0xAD, VK_VOLUME_DOWN = 0xAE, VK_VOLUME_UP = 0xAF, VK_MEDIA_NEXT_TRACK = 0xB0, VK_MEDIA_PREV_TRACK = 0xB1, VK_MEDIA_STOP = 0xB2, VK_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE = 0xB3, VK_LAUNCH_MAIL = 0xB4, VK_LAUNCH_MEDIA_SELECT = 0xB5, VK_LAUNCH_APP1 = 0xB6, VK_LAUNCH_APP2 = 0xB7, // VK_OEM_1 = 0xBA, // ';:' for US VK_OEM_PLUS = 0xBB, // '+' any country VK_OEM_COMMA = 0xBC, // ',' any country VK_OEM_MINUS = 0xBD, // '-' any country VK_OEM_PERIOD = 0xBE, // '.' any country VK_OEM_2 = 0xBF, // '/?' for US VK_OEM_3 = 0xC0, // '`~' for US // VK_OEM_4 = 0xDB, // '[{' for US VK_OEM_5 = 0xDC, // '\|' for US VK_OEM_6 = 0xDD, // ']}' for US VK_OEM_7 = 0xDE, // ''"' for US VK_OEM_8 = 0xDF, // VK_OEM_AX = 0xE1, // 'AX' key on Japanese AX kbd VK_OEM_102 = 0xE2, // "<>" or "\|" on RT 102-key kbd. VK_ICO_HELP = 0xE3, // Help key on ICO VK_ICO_00 = 0xE4, // 00 key on ICO // VK_PROCESSKEY = 0xE5, // VK_ICO_CLEAR = 0xE6, // VK_PACKET = 0xE7, // VK_OEM_RESET = 0xE9, VK_OEM_JUMP = 0xEA, VK_OEM_PA1 = 0xEB, VK_OEM_PA2 = 0xEC, VK_OEM_PA3 = 0xED, VK_OEM_WSCTRL = 0xEE, VK_OEM_CUSEL = 0xEF, VK_OEM_ATTN = 0xF0, VK_OEM_FINISH = 0xF1, VK_OEM_COPY = 0xF2, VK_OEM_AUTO = 0xF3, VK_OEM_ENLW = 0xF4, VK_OEM_BACKTAB = 0xF5, // VK_ATTN = 0xF6, VK_CRSEL = 0xF7, VK_EXSEL = 0xF8, VK_EREOF = 0xF9, VK_PLAY = 0xFA, VK_ZOOM = 0xFB, VK_NONAME = 0xFC, VK_PA1 = 0xFD, VK_OEM_CLEAR = 0xFE } It works well even if you put messagebox into the event or something that blocks execution. But it gets bad if you try to put breakpoint into the event. Why? I mean event is not run in the same thread that the windows hook is. That means that It shouldn't block HookCallback. It does however... I would really like to know why is this happening. My theory is that Visual Studio when breaking execution temporarily stops all threads and that means that HookCallback is blocked... Is there any book or valuable resource that would explain concepts behind all of this threading?

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• wglCreateContext in C# failing but not in managed C++

  - by SeeR

  I'm trying to use opengl in C#. I have following code which fails with error 2000 ERROR_INVALID_PIXEL_FORMAT First definitions: [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true, ExactSpelling = true)] public static extern IntPtr GetDC(IntPtr hWnd); [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] public struct PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR { public void Init() { nSize = (ushort) Marshal.SizeOf(typeof (PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR)); nVersion = 1; dwFlags = PFD_FLAGS.PFD_DRAW_TO_WINDOW | PFD_FLAGS.PFD_SUPPORT_OPENGL | PFD_FLAGS.PFD_DOUBLEBUFFER | PFD_FLAGS.PFD_SUPPORT_COMPOSITION; iPixelType = PFD_PIXEL_TYPE.PFD_TYPE_RGBA; cColorBits = 24; cRedBits = cRedShift = cGreenBits = cGreenShift = cBlueBits = cBlueShift = 0; cAlphaBits = cAlphaShift = 0; cAccumBits = cAccumRedBits = cAccumGreenBits = cAccumBlueBits = cAccumAlphaBits = 0; cDepthBits = 32; cStencilBits = cAuxBuffers = 0; iLayerType = PFD_LAYER_TYPES.PFD_MAIN_PLANE; bReserved = 0; dwLayerMask = dwVisibleMask = dwDamageMask = 0; } ushort nSize; ushort nVersion; PFD_FLAGS dwFlags; PFD_PIXEL_TYPE iPixelType; byte cColorBits; byte cRedBits; byte cRedShift; byte cGreenBits; byte cGreenShift; byte cBlueBits; byte cBlueShift; byte cAlphaBits; byte cAlphaShift; byte cAccumBits; byte cAccumRedBits; byte cAccumGreenBits; byte cAccumBlueBits; byte cAccumAlphaBits; byte cDepthBits; byte cStencilBits; byte cAuxBuffers; PFD_LAYER_TYPES iLayerType; byte bReserved; uint dwLayerMask; uint dwVisibleMask; uint dwDamageMask; } [Flags] public enum PFD_FLAGS : uint { PFD_DOUBLEBUFFER = 0x00000001, PFD_STEREO = 0x00000002, PFD_DRAW_TO_WINDOW = 0x00000004, PFD_DRAW_TO_BITMAP = 0x00000008, PFD_SUPPORT_GDI = 0x00000010, PFD_SUPPORT_OPENGL = 0x00000020, PFD_GENERIC_FORMAT = 0x00000040, PFD_NEED_PALETTE = 0x00000080, PFD_NEED_SYSTEM_PALETTE = 0x00000100, PFD_SWAP_EXCHANGE = 0x00000200, PFD_SWAP_COPY = 0x00000400, PFD_SWAP_LAYER_BUFFERS = 0x00000800, PFD_GENERIC_ACCELERATED = 0x00001000, PFD_SUPPORT_DIRECTDRAW = 0x00002000, PFD_DIRECT3D_ACCELERATED = 0x00004000, PFD_SUPPORT_COMPOSITION = 0x00008000, PFD_DEPTH_DONTCARE = 0x20000000, PFD_DOUBLEBUFFER_DONTCARE = 0x40000000, PFD_STEREO_DONTCARE = 0x80000000 } public enum PFD_LAYER_TYPES : byte { PFD_MAIN_PLANE = 0, PFD_OVERLAY_PLANE = 1, PFD_UNDERLAY_PLANE = 255 } public enum PFD_PIXEL_TYPE : byte { PFD_TYPE_RGBA = 0, PFD_TYPE_COLORINDEX = 1 } [DllImport("gdi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true, ExactSpelling = true)] public static extern int ChoosePixelFormat(IntPtr hdc, [In] ref PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR ppfd); [DllImport("gdi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true, ExactSpelling = true)] public static extern bool SetPixelFormat(IntPtr hdc, int iPixelFormat, ref PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR ppfd); [DllImport("opengl32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true, ExactSpelling = true)] public static extern IntPtr wglCreateContext(IntPtr hDC); And now the code that fails: IntPtr dc = Win.GetDC(hwnd); var pixelformatdescriptor = new GL.PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR(); pixelformatdescriptor.Init(); var pixelFormat = GL.ChoosePixelFormat(dc, ref pixelformatdescriptor); if(!GL.SetPixelFormat(dc, pixelFormat, ref pixelformatdescriptor)) throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error()); IntPtr hglrc; if((hglrc = GL.wglCreateContext(dc)) == IntPtr.Zero) throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error()); //<----- here I have exception the same code in managed C++ is working HDC dc = GetDC(hWnd); PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR pf; pf.nSize = sizeof(PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR); pf.nVersion = 1; pf.dwFlags = PFD_DRAW_TO_WINDOW | PFD_SUPPORT_OPENGL | PFD_DOUBLEBUFFER | PFD_SUPPORT_COMPOSITION; pf.cColorBits = 24; pf.cRedBits = pf.cRedShift = pf.cGreenBits = pf.cGreenShift = pf.cBlueBits = pf.cBlueShift = 0; pf.cAlphaBits = pf.cAlphaShift = 0; pf.cAccumBits = pf.cAccumRedBits = pf.cAccumGreenBits = pf.cAccumBlueBits = pf.cAccumAlphaBits = 0; pf.cDepthBits = 32; pf.cStencilBits = pf.cAuxBuffers = 0; pf.iLayerType = PFD_MAIN_PLANE; pf.bReserved = 0; pf.dwLayerMask = pf.dwVisibleMask = pf.dwDamageMask = 0; int ipf = ChoosePixelFormat(dc, &pf); SetPixelFormat(dc, ipf, &pf); HGLRC hglrc = wglCreateContext(dc); I've tried it on VIsta 64-bit with ATI graphic card and on Windows XP 32-bit with Nvidia with the same result in both cases. Also I want to mention that I don't want to use any already written framework for it. Can anyone show me where is the bug in C# code that is causing the exception?

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• How to compare a memory bits in C++?

  - by Trunet

  Hi, I need help with a memory bit comparison function. I bought a LED Matrix here with 4 x HT1632C chips and I'm using it on my arduino mega2560. There're no code available for this chipset(it's not the same as HT1632) and I'm writing on my own. I have a plot function that get x,y coordinates and a color and that pixel turn on. Only this is working perfectly. But I need more performance on my display so I tried to make a shadowRam variable that is a "copy" of my device memory. Before I plot anything on display it checks on shadowRam to see if it's really necessary to change that pixel. When I enabled this(getShadowRam) on plot function my display has some, just SOME(like 3 or 4 on entire display) ghost pixels(pixels that is not supposed to be turned on). If I just comment the prev_color if's on my plot function it works perfectly. Also, I'm cleaning my shadowRam array setting all matrix to zero. variables: #define BLACK 0 #define GREEN 1 #define RED 2 #define ORANGE 3 #define CHIP_MAX 8 byte shadowRam[63][CHIP_MAX-1] = {0}; getShadowRam function: byte HT1632C::getShadowRam(byte x, byte y) { byte addr, bitval, nChip; if (x>=32) { nChip = 3 + x/16 + (y>7?2:0); } else { nChip = 1 + x/16 + (y>7?2:0); } bitval = 8>>(y&3); x = x % 16; y = y % 8; addr = (x<<1) + (y>>2); if ((shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] & bitval) && (shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] & bitval)) { return ORANGE; } else if (shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] & bitval) { return GREEN; } else if (shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] & bitval) { return RED; } else { return BLACK; } } plot function: void HT1632C::plot (int x, int y, int color) { if (x<0 || x>X_MAX || y<0 || y>Y_MAX) return; if (color != BLACK && color != GREEN && color != RED && color != ORANGE) return; char addr, bitval; byte nChip; byte prev_color = HT1632C::getShadowRam(x,y); bitval = 8>>(y&3); if (x>=32) { nChip = 3 + x/16 + (y>7?2:0); } else { nChip = 1 + x/16 + (y>7?2:0); } x = x % 16; y = y % 8; addr = (x<<1) + (y>>2); switch(color) { case BLACK: if (prev_color != BLACK) { // compare with memory to only set if pixel is other color // clear the bit in both planes; shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] &= ~bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr, shadowRam[addr][nChip-1]); shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] &= ~bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr+32, shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1]); } break; case GREEN: if (prev_color != GREEN) { // compare with memory to only set if pixel is other color // set the bit in the green plane and clear the bit in the red plane; shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] |= bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr, shadowRam[addr][nChip-1]); shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] &= ~bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr+32, shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1]); } break; case RED: if (prev_color != RED) { // compare with memory to only set if pixel is other color // clear the bit in green plane and set the bit in the red plane; shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] &= ~bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr, shadowRam[addr][nChip-1]); shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] |= bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr+32, shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1]); } break; case ORANGE: if (prev_color != ORANGE) { // compare with memory to only set if pixel is other color // set the bit in both the green and red planes; shadowRam[addr][nChip-1] |= bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr, shadowRam[addr][nChip-1]); shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1] |= bitval; HT1632C::sendData(nChip, addr+32, shadowRam[addr+32][nChip-1]); } break; } } If helps: The datasheet of board I'm using. On page 7 has the memory mapping I'm using. Also, I have a video of display working.

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• What other tool is using my hotkey?

  - by Sammy

  I use Greenshot for screenshots, and it's been nagging about some other software tool using the same hotkey. I started receiving this warning message about two days ago. It shows up each time I reboot and log on to Windows. The hotkey(s) "Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen" could not be registered. This problem is probably caused by another tool claiming usage of the same hotkey(s)! You could either change your hotkey settings or deactivate/change the software making use of the hotkey(s). What's this all about? The only software I recently installed is CPU-Z Core Temp Speed Fan HD Tune Epson Print CD NetStress What I would like to know is how to find out what other tool is causing this conflict? Do I really have to uninstall each program, one by one, until there is no conflict anymore? I see no option for customizing any hotkeys in CPU-Z, and according to docs there are only a few keyboard shortcuts. These are F5 through F9, but they are no hotkeys. There is nothing in Core Temp, and from what I can see... nothing in Speed Fan. Is any of these programs known to use Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen hotkey for screenshots? I am actually suspecting the Dropbox client. I think I saw a warning recently coming from Dropbox program, something to do with hotkeys or keyboard shortcuts. I see that it has an option for sharing screenshots under Preferences menu, but I see no option for hotkeys. Core Temp actually also has an option for taking screenshots (F9) but it's just that - a keyboard shortcut, not a hotkey. And again, there's no option actually for changing this setting in Options/Settings menu. How do you resolve this type of conflicts? Are there any general methods you can use to pinpoint the second conflicting software? Like... is there some Windows registry key that holds the hotkeys? Or is it just down to mere luck and trial and error? Addendum I forgot to mention, when I do use the Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen hotkey, what happens is that the Greenshot context menu shows up, asking me where I want to save the screenshot. So it appears to be working. But I am still getting the darn warning every time I reboot and log on to Windows?! I actually tried changing the key bindings in Greenshot preferences, but after a reboot it seems to have returned back to the settings I had previously. Update I can't see any hotkey conflicts in the Widnows Hotkey Explorer. The aforementioned hotkey is reserved by Greenshot, and I don't see any other program using the same hotkey binding. But when I went into Greenshot preferences, this is what I discovered. As you can see it's the Greenshot itself that uses the same hotkey twice! I guess that's why no other program was listed above as using this hotkey. But how can Greenshot be so stupid to use the same hotkey more than once? I didn't do this! It's not my fault... I'm not that stupid. This is what it's set to right now: Capture full screen: Ctrl + Skift + Prntscrn Capture window: Alt + Prntscrn Capture region: Ctrl + Prntscrn Capture last region: Skift + Prntscrn Capture Internet Explorer: Ctrl + Skift + Prntscrn And this is my preferred setting: Capture full screen: Prntscrn Capture window: Alt + Prntscrn Capture region: Ctrl + Prntscrn Capture last region: Capture Internet Explorer: I don't use any hotkey for "last region" and IE. But when I set this to my liking, as listed here, Greenshot gives me the same warning message, even as I tab through the hotkey entry fields. Sometimes it even gives me the warning when I just click Cancel button. This is really crazy! On the side note... You might have noticed that I have "update check" set to 0 (zero). This is because, in my experience, Greenshot changes all or only some of my preferences back to default settings whenever it automatically updates to a new version. So I opted to stay off updates to get rid of the problem. It has done so for the past three updates or so. I hoped to receive a new update that would fix the issue, but I think it still reverts back to default settings after each update to a new version, including setting default hotkeys. Update 2 I'll give you just one example of how Greenshot behaves. This is the dialog I have in front of me right now. As you can see, I have removed the last two hotkeys and changed the first one to my own liking. While I was clicking in the fields and removing the two hotkeys I was getting the warning message. So let's say I click in the "capture last region" field. Then I get this: Note that none of the entries include "Ctrl + Shift + PrintScreen" that it's warning about. Now I will change all the hotkeys so I get something like this: So now I'm using QWERTY letters for binding, like Ctrl+Alt+Q, Ctrl+Alt+W and so on. As far as I know no Windows program is using these. While I was clicking through the different fields it was giving me the warning. Now when I try to click OK to save the changes, it once again gives me a warning about "ctrl + shift + printscreen". Update 3 After setting the above key bindings (QWERTY) and saving changes, and then rebooting, the conflict seems to have been resolved. I was then able to set following key bindings. Capture full screen: Prntscrn Capture window: Alt + Prntscrn Capture region: Ctrl + Prntscrn I was not prompted with the warning message this time. Perhaps changing key binding required a system reboot? Sounds far fetched but that appears to be the case. I'm still not sure what caused this conflict, but I know for sure that it started after installing aforementioned programs. It might just have to do with Greenshot itself, and not some other program. Like I said, I know from experience that Greenshot likes to mess with users' settings after each update. I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually silently updated, even though I have specified not to check for updates, then it changed the key bindings back to defaults and caused a conflict with the hotkeys that were registered with the operating system previously. I rarely reboot the system, so that could have added to the conflict. Next time if I see this I will run Hotkey Explorer immediately and see if there is another program causing the conflict.

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• Problem with GCC calling static templates functions in templated parent class.

  - by Adisak

  I have some code that compiles and runs on MSVC++ but will not compile on GCC. I have made a test snippet that follows. My goal was to move the static method from BFSMask to BFSMaskSized. Can someone explain what is going on with the errors (esp. the weird 'operator<' error)? Thank you. In the case of both #defines are 0, then the code compiles on GCC. #define DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC 0 #define FUNCTION_IN_PARENT 0 I get errors if I change either #define to 1. Here are the errors I see. #define DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC 0 #define FUNCTION_IN_PARENT 1 Test.cpp: In static member function 'static typename Snapper::BFSMask<T>::T_Parent::T_SINT Snapper::BFSMask<T>::Create_NEZ(TCMP)': Test.cpp(492): error: 'CreateMaskFromHighBitSized' was not declared in this scope #define DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC 1 #define FUNCTION_IN_PARENT 0 Test.cpp: In static member function 'static typename Snapper::BFSMask<T>::T_Parent::T_SINT Snapper::BFSMask<T>::Create_NEZ(TCMP) [with TCMP = int, T = int]': Test.cpp(500): instantiated from 'TVAL Snapper::BFWrappedInc(TVAL, TVAL, TVAL) [with TVAL = int]' Test.cpp(508): instantiated from here Test.cpp(490): error: invalid operands of types '<unresolved overloaded function type>' and 'unsigned int' to binary 'operator<' #define DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC 1 #define FUNCTION_IN_PARENT 1 Test.cpp: In static member function 'static typename Snapper::BFSMask<T>::T_Parent::T_SINT Snapper::BFSMask<T>::Create_NEZ(TCMP) [with TCMP = int, T = int]': Test.cpp(500): instantiated from 'TVAL Snapper::BFWrappedInc(TVAL, TVAL, TVAL) [with TVAL = int]' Test.cpp(508): instantiated from here Test.cpp(490): error: invalid operands of types '<unresolved overloaded function type>' and 'unsigned int' to binary 'operator<' Here is the code namespace Snapper { #define DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC 0 #define FUNCTION_IN_PARENT 0 // MASK TYPES // NEZ - Not Equal to Zero #define BFSMASK_NEZ(A) ( ( A ) | ( 0 - A ) ) #define BFSELECT_MASK(MASK,VTRUE,VFALSE) ( ((MASK)&(VTRUE)) | ((~(MASK))&(VFALSE)) ) template<typename TVAL> TVAL BFSelect_MASK(TVAL MASK,TVAL VTRUE,TVAL VFALSE) { return(BFSELECT_MASK(MASK,VTRUE,VFALSE)); } //----------------------------------------------------------------------------- // Branch Free Helpers template<int BYTESIZE> struct BFSMaskBase {}; template<> struct BFSMaskBase<2> { typedef UINT16 T_UINT; typedef SINT16 T_SINT; }; template<> struct BFSMaskBase<4> { typedef UINT32 T_UINT; typedef SINT32 T_SINT; }; template<int BYTESIZE> struct BFSMaskSized : public BFSMaskBase<BYTESIZE> { static const int SizeBytes = BYTESIZE; static const int SizeBits = SizeBytes*8; static const int MaskShift = SizeBits-1; typedef typename BFSMaskBase<BYTESIZE>::T_UINT T_UINT; typedef typename BFSMaskBase<BYTESIZE>::T_SINT T_SINT; #if FUNCTION_IN_PARENT template<int N> static T_SINT CreateMaskFromHighBitSized(typename BFSMaskBase<N>::T_SINT inmask); #endif }; template<typename T> struct BFSMask : public BFSMaskSized<sizeof(T)> { // BFSMask = -1 (all bits set) typedef BFSMask<T> T_This; // "Import" the Parent Class typedef BFSMaskSized<sizeof(T)> T_Parent; typedef typename T_Parent::T_SINT T_SINT; #if FUNCTION_IN_PARENT typedef T_Parent T_MaskGen; #else typedef T_This T_MaskGen; template<int N> static T_SINT CreateMaskFromHighBitSized(typename BFSMaskSized<N>::T_SINT inmask); #endif template<typename TCMP> static T_SINT Create_NEZ(TCMP A) { //ReDefineType(const typename BFSMask<TCMP>::T_SINT,SA,A); //const typename BFSMask<TCMP>::T_SINT cmpmask = BFSMASK_NEZ(SA); const typename BFSMask<TCMP>::T_SINT cmpmask = BFSMASK_NEZ(A); #if DOESNT_COMPILE_WITH_GCC return(T_MaskGen::CreateMaskFromHighBitSized<sizeof(TCMP)>(cmpmask)); #else return(CreateMaskFromHighBitSized<sizeof(TCMP)>(cmpmask)); #endif } }; template<typename TVAL> TVAL BFWrappedInc(TVAL x,TVAL minval,TVAL maxval) { const TVAL diff = maxval-x; const TVAL mask = BFSMask<TVAL>::Create_NEZ(diff); const TVAL incx = x + 1; return(BFSelect_MASK(mask,incx,minval)); } SINT32 currentsnap = 0; SINT32 SetSnapshot() { currentsnap=BFWrappedInc<SINT32>(currentsnap,0,20); return(currentsnap); } }

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• Compiler error: Variable or field declared void [closed]

  - by ?? ?

  i get some error when i try to run this, could someone please tell me the mistakes, thank you! [error: C:\Users\Ethan\Desktop\Untitled1.cpp In function `int main()': 25 C:\Users\Ethan\Desktop\Untitled1.cpp variable or field `findfactors' declared void 25 C:\Users\Ethan\Desktop\Untitled1.cpp initializer expression list treated as compound expression] #include<iostream> #include<cmath> using namespace std; void prompt(int&, int&, int&); int gcd(int , int , int );//3 input, 3 output void findfactors(int , int , int, int, int&, int&);//3 input, 2 output void display(int, int, int, int, int);//5 inputs int main() { int a, b, c; //The coefficients of the quadratic polynomial int ag, bg, cg;//value of a, b, c after factor out gcd int f1, f2; //The two factors of a*c which add to be b int g; //The gcd of a, b, c prompt(a, b, c);//Call the prompt function g=gcd(a, b, c);//Calculation of g void findfactors(a, b, c, f1, f2);//Call findFactors on factored polynomial display(g, f1, f2, a, c);//Call display function to display the factored polynomial system("PAUSE"); return 0; } void prompt(int& num1, int& num2, int& num3) //gets 3 ints from the user { cout << "This program factors polynomials of the form ax^2+bx+c."<<endl; while(num1==0) { cout << "Enter a value for a: "; cin >> num1; if(num1==0) { cout<< "a must be non-zero."<<endl; } } while(num2==0 && num3==0) { cout << "Enter a value for b: "; cin >> num2; cout << "Enter a value for c: "; cin >> num3; if(num2==0 && num3==0) { cout<< "b and c cannot both be 0."<<endl; } } } int gcd(int num1, int num2, int num3) { int k=2, gcd=1; while (k<=num1 && k<=num2 && k<=num3) { if (num1%k==0 && num2%k==0 && num3%k==0) gcd=k; k++; } return gcd; } void findFactors(int Ag, int Bg, int Cg,int& F1, int& F2) { int y=Ag*Cg; int z=sqrt(abs(y)); for(int i=-z; i<=z; i++) //from -sqrt(|y|) to sqrt(|y|) { if(i==0)i++; //skips 0 if(y%i==0) //if i is a factor of y { if(i+y/i==Bg) //if i and its partner add to be b F1=i, F2=y/i; else F1=0, F2=0; } } } void display(int G, int factor1, int factor2, int A, int C) { int k=2, gcd1=1; while (k<=A && k<=factor1) { if (A%k==0 && factor1%k==0) gcd1=k; k++; } int t=2, gcd2=1; while (t<=factor2 && t<=C) { if (C%t==0 && factor2%t==0) gcd2=t; t++; } cout<<showpos<<G<<"*("<<gcd1<<"x"<<gcd2<<")("<<A/gcd1<<"x"<<C/gcd2<<")"<<endl; }

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• Backing up my data causes my server to crash using Symantec Backup Exec 12, or How I Came to Loathe Irony

  - by Kyle Noland

  I have a Dell PowerEdge 2850 running Windows Server 2003. It is the primary file server for one of my clients. I have another server also running Windows Server 2003 that acts as the core media server for Symantec Backup Exec 12. I recently upgraded from Backup Exec 11d to 12. This upgrade was necessary because we also just upgraded from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007. After the upgrade I had to push-install the new version 12 Backup Exec Remote Agents to each of the servers I am backing up (about 6 total). 5 of my servers are doing just fine, faithfully completing backups every night. My file server routinely crashes. Observations: When the server crashes, it does not blue screen, it just locks up completely. Even the mouse is unresponsive. If you leave the server locked up long enough, it will eventually reboot itself and hang on the Windows splash screen. There is absolutely zero useful Event Viewer evidence of a problem. The logs go from routine logging to an Unexplained Shutdown Event the next morning when I have to hard reset the server to get it to boot. 90% of the time the server does not boot cleanly, it hangs on the Windows splash screen. I don't have any light to shed here. When the server hangs all I can do is hard reset it and try again. Even after a successful boot and chkdsk /r operation, if you reboot the machine, you have a 90% chance it won't back up again cleanly. The back story: This server started crashing during nightly backups about a month ago. I tried everything I could think of to troubleshoot the problem and eventually had to give up because I could not keep coming to the office at 4 AM to try to get the server back online. One Friday I got lucky and the server stayed up for its entire full backup. I took this opportunity to restore the full backup to a temporary server I set up and switched all my users to the temporary. Then I reloaded the ailing file server. I kept all my users on the temporary file server for about 3 weeks. I installed the same Backup Exec Remote Agent and Trend Micro A/V client on the temporary server that I was using on the regular file server. During this time, I had absolutely no problems backing up the temporary server. I tested the reloaded file server extensively. I rebooted the server once an hour every day for 3 weeks trying to make it fail. It never did. I felt confident that the reload was the answer to my problems. I moved all of the data from the temporary server back to the regular server. I got 3 nightly backups out of it before it locked up again and started the familiar failure to boot cleanly behavior. This weekend I decided to monitor the file server through the entire backup job. I RDPd into the file server and also into the server running Backup Exec. On the file server I opened the Task Manager so I could view the processes and watch CPU and memory usage. Everything was running smoothly for about 60GB worth of backup. Then I noticed that the byte count of the backup job in Backup Exec had stopped progressing. I looked back over at my RDP session into the file server, and I was getting real time updates about CPU and memory usage still - both nearly 0%, which is unusual. Backups usually hover around 40% usage for the duration of the backup job. Let me reiterate this point: The screen was refreshing and I was getting real time Task Manager updates - until I clicked on the Start menu. The screen went black and the server locked up. In truth, I think the server had already locked up, the video card just hadn't figured it out yet. I went back into my bag of trick: driving to the office and hard reseting the server over and over again when it hangs up at the Windows splash screen. I did this for 2 hours without getting a successful boot. I started panicking because I did not have a decent backup to use to get everything back onto the working temporary file server. Once I exhausted everything I knew to do, I took a deep breath, booted to the Windows Server 2003 CD and performed a repair installation of Windows. The server came back up fine, with all of my data intact. I can now reboot the server at will and it will come back up cleanly. The problem is that I'm afraid as soon as I try to back that data up again I will back at square one. So let me sum things up: Here is what I've done so far to troubleshoot this server: Deleted and recreated the RAID 5 sets. Initialized the drives. Reloaded the server with a fresh Server 2003 install. Confirmed with Dell that I have installed the latest, Dell approved BIOS and NIC drivers. Uninstalled / reinstalled the Backup Exec Remote Agent. Uninstalled the Trend Micro A/V client. Configured the server not to reboot itself after a blue screen so I can see any stop error. I used to think the server was blue screening, but since I enabled this setting I now know that the server just completely locks up. Run chkdsk /r from the Windows Recovery Console. Several errors were found and corrected, but did not help my problem. Help confirm or deny the following assumptions: There are two problems at work here. Why the server is locking up in the first place, and why the server won't boot cleanly after a lockup. This is ultimately a software problem. The server works fine and can be rebooted cleanly all day long - until the first lockup - following a fresh OS load or even a Repair installation. This is not a problem with Backup Exec in general. All of my other servers back up just fine. For the record, all of the other servers run Server 2003, and some of them house more data than the file server in question here. Any help is appreciated. The irony is almost too much to bear. Backing up my data is what is jeopardizing it.

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• jQuery Validation plugin: prompt for override

  - by Sam Carleton

  I have a jQuery form that has validation of a sort. It is a data entry screen with two 'recommend ranges', one is 36-84, the other 50-300. The business rules call for the values to be either blank or greater than zero, but to prompt for confirmation if the values are outside of the range listed above. I have seen some other threads that talk about setting the class="cancel" on the submit button. From what I can tell, this will simply disable the validation. I need to prompt for a "do you want to continue, yes or no?" and if no stop the submit, if yes, continue. Below is an example from the book Pro jQuery. By default the top row needs to be between 10 and 20 to submit. How would you change it so that it prompts you and if you say Yes it submits, no prevents the submit: <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Example</title> <script src="jquery-1.7.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="jquery.tmpl.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="jquery.validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <style type="text/css"> h1 { min-width: 70px; border: thick double black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; font-size: x-large; padding: .5em; color: darkgreen; background-image: url("border.png"); background-size: contain; margin-top: 0; } .dtable {display: table;} .drow {display: table-row;} .dcell {display: table-cell; padding: 10px;} .dcell > * {vertical-align: middle} input {width: 2em; text-align: right; border: thin solid black; padding: 2px;} label {width: 5em; padding-left: .5em; display: inline-block;} #buttonDiv {text-align: center;} #oblock {display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; min-width: 700px; } div.errorMsg {color: red} .invalidElem {border: medium solid red} </style> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function() { var data = [ { name: "Astor", product: "astor", stocklevel: "10", price: "2.99"}, { name: "Daffodil", product: "daffodil", stocklevel: "12", price: "1.99"}, { name: "Rose", product: "rose", stocklevel: "2", price: "4.99"}, { name: "Peony", product: "peony", stocklevel: "0", price: "1.50"}, { name: "Primula", product: "primula", stocklevel: "1", price: "3.12"}, { name: "Snowdrop", product: "snowdrop", stocklevel: "15", price: "0.99"}, ]; var templResult = $('#flowerTmpl').tmpl(data); templResult.slice(0, 3).appendTo('#row1'); templResult.slice(3).appendTo("#row2"); $('form').validate({ highlight: function(element, errorClass) { $(element).add($(element).parent()).addClass("invalidElem"); }, unhighlight: function(element, errorClass) { $(element).add($(element).parent()).removeClass("invalidElem"); }, errorElement: "div", errorClass: "errorMsg" }); $.validator.addClassRules({ flowerValidation: { required: true, min: 0, max: 100, digits: true, } }) $('#row1 input').each(function(index, elem) { $(elem).rules("add", { min: 10, max: 20 }) }); $('input').addClass("flowerValidation").change(function(e) { $('form').validate().element($(e.target)); }); }); </script> <script id="flowerTmpl" type="text/x-jquery-tmpl"> <div class="dcell"> <img src="${product}.png"/> <label for="${product}">${name}: </label> <input name="${product}" value="0" required /> </div> </script> </head> <body> <h1>Jacqui's Flower Shop</h1> <form method="post" action="http://node.jacquisflowershop.com/order"> <div id="oblock"> <div class="dtable"> <div id="row1" class="drow"> </div> <div id="row2"class="drow"> </div> </div> </div> <div id="buttonDiv"><button type="submit">Place Order</button></div> </form> </body> </html>

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• The impossible inline Javascript delay/sleep

  - by trex005

  There is a JavaScript function, of which I have zero control of the code, which calls a function that I wrote. My function uses DOM to generate an iFrame, defines it's src and then appends it to another DOM element. However, before my function returns, and thus allows continued execution of the containing function, it is imperative that the iFrame be fully loaded. Here are the things that I have tried and why they do not work : 1. The SetTimeout option : 99.999% of the time, this is THE answer. As a matter of fact, in the past decade that I have been mentoring in JavaScript, I have always insisted that code could always be refactored to use this option, and never believed a scenario existed where that was not the case. Well, I finally found one! The problem is that because my function is being called inline, if the very next line is executed before my iFrame finishes loading, it totally neuters my script, and since the moment my script completes, the external script continues. A callback of sorts will not work 2. The "Do nothing" loop :This option you use while(//iFrame is not loaded){//do nothing}. In theory this would not return until the frame is loaded. The problem is that since this hogs all the resources, the iFrame never loads. This trick, although horribly unprofessional, dirty etc. will work when you just need an inline delay, but since I require an external thread to complete, it will not.In FF, after a few seconds, it pauses the script and an alert pops up stating that there is an unresponsive script. While that alert is up, the iFrame is able to load, and then my function is able to return, but having the browser frozen for 10 seconds, and then requiring the user to correctly dismiss an error is a no go. 3. The model dialogue : I was inspired by the fact that the FF popup allowed the iFrame to load while halting the execution of the function, and thinking about it, I realized that it is because the modal dialogue, is a way of halting execution yet allowing other threads to continue! Brilliant, so I decided to try other modal options. Things like alert() work beautifully! When it pops up, even if only up for 1/10th of a second, the iFrame is able to complete, and all works great. And just in case the 1/10 of a second is not sufficient, I can put the model dialogue in the while loop from solution 2, and it would ensure that the iFrame is loaded in time. Sweet right? Except for the fact that I now have to pop up a very unprofessional dialogue for the user to dismiss in order to run my script. I fought with myself about this cost/benefit of this action, but then I encountered a scenario where my code was called 10 times on a single page! Having to dismiss 10 alerts before acessing a page?! That reminds me of the late 90s script kiddie pages, and is NOT an option. 4. A gazillion other delay script out there:There are about 10 jQuery delay or sleep functions, some of them actually quite cleverly developed, but none worked. A few prototype options, and again, none I found could do it! A dozen or so other libraries and frameworks claimed they had what I needed, but alas they all conspired to give me false hope. I am convinced that since a built in model dialogue can halt execution, while allowing other threads to continue, there must be some code accessible way to do the same thing with out user input. The Code is literally thousands upon thousands of lines and is proprietary, so I wrote this little example of the problem for you to work with. It is important to note the ONLY code you are able to change is in the onlyThingYouCanChange function Test File : <html> <head> </head> </html> <body> <div id='iFrameHolder'></div> <script type='text/javascript'> function unChangeableFunction() { new_iFrame = onlyThingYouCanChange(document.getElementById('iFrameHolder')); new_iFrame_doc = (new_iFrame.contentWindow || new_iFrame.contentDocument); if(new_iFrame_doc.document)new_iFrame_doc=new_iFrame_doc.document; new_iFrame_body = new_iFrame_doc.body; if(new_iFrame_body.innerHTML != 'Loaded?') { //The world explodes!!! alert('you just blew up the world! Way to go!'); } else { alert('wow, you did it! Way to go!'); } } var iFrameLoaded = false; function onlyThingYouCanChange(objectToAppendIFrameTo) { iFrameLoaded = false; iframe=document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.onload = new Function('iFrameLoaded = true'); iframe.src = 'blank_frame.html'; //Must use an HTML doc on the server because there is a very specific DOM structure that must be maintained. objectToAppendIFrameTo.appendChild(iframe); var it = 0; while(!iFrameLoaded) //I put the limit on here so you don't { //If I was able to put some sort of delay here that paused the exicution of the script, but did not halt all other browser threads, and did not require user interaction we'd be golden! //alert('test'); //This would work if it did not require user interaction! } return iframe; } unChangeableFunction(); </script> </body> blank_frame.html : <html> <head> </head> <body style='margin:0px'>Loaded?</body> </html>

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• Nagios plugin script not working as expected

  - by Linker3000

  I have modified an off-the-shelf Nagios plugin perl script to (in theory) return a one or zero according to the existence, or not, of a file on a remote linux server. The script runs a remote ssh session and logs in as the nagios user. The remote linux servers have private keys setup for that user, and on the bash command line the script works as expected, but when run as a plugin it always returns '1' (true) even if the file does not exist. Some help with the logic or a comment on why things are not working as expected within Nagios would be appreciated. I'd prefer to use this ssh login method rather than having to install nrpe on all the linux servers. To run from a command line (assuming remote server has a user called nagios with a valid private key): ./check_reboot_required -e ssh -H remote-servers-ip-addr -p 'filename-to-check' -v Ta. #! /usr/bin/perl -w # # # License Information: # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by # the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or # (at your option) any later version. # # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the # GNU General Public License for more details. # # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License # along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software # Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. # ############################################################################ use POSIX; use strict; use Getopt::Long; use lib "/usr/lib/nagios/plugins" ; use vars qw($host $opt_V $opt_h $opt_v $verbose $PROGNAME $pattern $opt_p $mmin $opt_e $opt_t $opt_H $status $state $msg $msg_q $MAILQ $SHELL $device $used $avail $percent $fs $blocks $CMD $RMTOS); use utils qw(%ERRORS &print_revision &support &usage ); sub print_help (); sub print_usage (); sub process_arguments (); $ENV{'PATH'}=''; $ENV{'BASH_ENV'}=''; $ENV{'ENV'}=''; $PROGNAME = "check_reboot_required"; Getopt::Long::Configure('bundling'); $status = process_arguments(); if ($status){ print "ERROR: processing arguments\n"; exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } $SIG{'ALRM'} = sub { print ("ERROR: timed out waiting for $CMD on $host\n"); exit $ERRORS{'WARNING'}; }; $host = $opt_H; $pattern = $opt_p; print "Pattern >" . $pattern . "< " if $verbose; alarm($opt_t); #$CMD = "/usr/bin/find " . $pattern . " -type f 2>/dev/null| /usr/bin/wc -l"; $CMD = "[ -f " . $pattern . " ] && echo 1 || echo 0"; alarm($opt_t); ## get cmd output from remote system if (! open (OUTPUT, "$SHELL $host $CMD|" ) ) { print "ERROR: could not open $CMD on $host\n"; exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } my $perfdata = ""; my $state = "3"; my $msg = "Indeterminate result"; # only first line is relevant in this iteration. while (<OUTPUT>) { my $result = chomp($_); $msg = $result; print "Shell returned >" . $result . "< length is " . length($result) . " " if $verbose; if ( $result == 1 ) { $msg = "Reboot required (NB: Result still not accurate)" . $result ; $state = $ERRORS{'WARNING'}; last; } elsif ( $result == 0 ) { $msg = "No reboot required (NB: Result still not accurate) " . $result ; $state = $ERRORS{'OK'}; last; } else { $msg = "Output received, but it was neither a 1 nor a 0" ; last; } } close (OUTPUT); print "$msg | $perfdata\n"; exit $state; ##################################### #### subs sub process_arguments(){ GetOptions ("V" => \$opt_V, "version" => \$opt_V, "v" => \$opt_v, "verbose" => \$opt_v, "h" => \$opt_h, "help" => \$opt_h, "e=s" => \$opt_e, "shell=s" => \$opt_e, "p=s" => \$opt_p, "pattern=s" => \$opt_p, "t=i" => \$opt_t, "timeout=i" => \$opt_t, "H=s" => \$opt_H, "hostname=s" => \$opt_H ); if ($opt_V) { print_revision($PROGNAME,'$Revision: 1.0 $ '); exit $ERRORS{'OK'}; } if ($opt_h) { print_help(); exit $ERRORS{'OK'}; } if (defined $opt_v ){ $verbose = $opt_v; } if (defined $opt_e ){ if ( $opt_e eq "ssh" ) { if (-x "/usr/local/bin/ssh") { $SHELL = "/usr/local/bin/ssh"; } elsif ( -x "/usr/bin/ssh" ) { $SHELL = "/usr/bin/ssh"; } else { print_usage(); exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } } elsif ( $opt_e eq "rsh" ) { $SHELL = "/usr/bin/rsh"; } else { print_usage(); exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } } else { print_usage(); exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } unless (defined $opt_t) { $opt_t = $utils::TIMEOUT ; # default timeout } unless (defined $opt_H) { print_usage(); exit $ERRORS{'UNKNOWN'}; } return $ERRORS{'OK'}; } sub print_usage () { print "Usage: $PROGNAME -e <shell> -H <hostname> -p <directory/file pattern> [-t <timeout>] [-v verbose]\n"; } sub print_help () { print_revision($PROGNAME,'$Revision: 0.1 $'); print "\n"; print_usage(); print "\n"; print " Checks for the presence of a 'reboot-required' file on a remote host via SSH or RSH\n"; print "-e (--shell) = ssh or rsh (required)\n"; print "-H (--hostname) = remote server name (required)"; print "-p (--pattern) = File pattern for find command (default = /var/run/reboot-required)\n"; print "-t (--timeout) = Plugin timeout in seconds (default = $utils::TIMEOUT)\n"; print "-h (--help)\n"; print "-V (--version)\n"; print "-v (--verbose) = debugging output\n"; print "\n\n"; support(); }

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• Preventing FIN_WAIT2 when closing socket

  - by patrickvacek

  I have a server program that connects to another program via a given socket, and in certain cases I need to close the connection and almost immediately re-open it on the same socket. This by and large works, except that I have to wait exactly one minute for the socket to reset. In the meantime, netstat indicates that the server sees the socket in FIN_WAIT2 and the client sees it as CLOSE_WAIT. I'm already using SO_REUSEADDR, which I thought would prevent the wait, but that isn't doing the trick. Setting SO_LINGER to zero also does not help. What else can I do to resolve this? Here are the relevant code snippets: SetUpSocket() { // Set up the socket and listen for a connection from the exelerate client. // Open a TCP/IP socket. m_baseSock = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP); if (m_baseSock < 0) { return XERROR; } // Set the socket options to reuse local addresses. int flag = 1; if (setsockopt(m_baseSock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &flag, sizeof(flag)) == -1) { return XERROR; } // Set the socket options to prevent lingering after closing the socket. //~ linger li = {1,0}; //~ if (setsockopt(m_baseSock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_LINGER, &li, sizeof(li)) == -1) //~ { //~ return XERROR; //~ } // Bind the socket to the address of the current host and our given port. struct sockaddr_in addr; memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr)); addr.sin_family = AF_INET; addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY; addr.sin_port = htons(m_port); if (bind(m_baseSock, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) != 0) { return XERROR; } // Tell the socket to listen for a connection from client. if (listen(m_baseSock, 4) != 0) { return XERROR; } return XSUCCESS; } ConnectSocket() { // Add the socket to a file descriptor set. fd_set readfds; FD_ZERO(&readfds); FD_SET(m_baseSock, &readfds); // Set timeout to ten seconds. Plenty of time. struct timeval timeout; timeout.tv_sec = 10; timeout.tv_usec = 0; // Check to see if the socket is ready for reading. int numReady = select(m_baseSock + 1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &timeout); if (numReady > 0) { int flags = fcntl(m_baseSock, F_GETFL, 0); fcntl(m_baseSock, flags | O_NONBLOCK, 1); // Wait for a connection attempt from the client. Do not block - we shouldn't // need to since we just selected. m_connectedSock = accept(m_baseSock, NULL, NULL); if (m_connectedSock > 0) { m_failedSend = false; m_logout = false; // Spawn a thread to accept commands from client. CreateThread(&m_controlThread, ControlThread, (void *)&m_connectedSock); return XSUCCESS; } } return XERROR; } ControlThread(void *arg) { // Get the socket from the argument. socket sock = *((socket*)arg); while (true) { // Add the socket to a file descriptor set. fd_set readfds; FD_ZERO(&readfds); FD_SET(sock, &readfds); // Set timeout to ten seconds. Plenty of time. struct timeval timeout; timeout.tv_sec = 10; timeout.tv_usec = 0; // Check if there is any readable data on the socket. int num_ready = select(sock + 1, &readfds, NULL, NULL, &timeout); if (num_ready < 0) { return NULL; } // If there is data, read it. else if (num_ready > 0) { // Check the read buffer. xuint8 buf[128]; ssize_t size_read = recv(sock, buf, sizeof(buf)); if (size_read > 0) { // Get the message out of the buffer. char msg = *buf; if (msg == CONNECTED) { // Do some things... } // If we get the log-out message, log out. else if (msg == LOGOUT) { return NULL; } } } } // while return NULL; } ~Server() { // Close the sockets. if (m_baseSock != SOCKET_ERROR) { close(m_baseSock); m_baseSock = SOCKET_ERROR; } if (m_connectedSock != SOCKET_ERROR) { close(m_connectedSock); m_connectedSock = SOCKET_ERROR; } } SOCKET_ERROR is equal to -1. The server object gets destroyed, at which point the connection should close, and then recreated, at which point the SetUpSocket() and ConnectSocket() routines are called. So why do I have to wait a minute for the socket to clear? Any ideas would be appreaciated.

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• Assigning two strings together getting Access Read Violation

  - by Jay Bell

  I am trying to pass a string to a class mutator and set the private member to that string here is the code that is sending the string void parseTradePairs(Exchange::Currency *curr, std::string *response, int begin, int exit) { int start; int end; string temp; string dataResponse; CURL *tempCurl; initializeCurl(tempCurl); int location = response->find("marketid", begin); if(location <= exit) { start = location + 11; begin = response->find("label", start); end = begin - start - 3; findStrings(start, end, temp, response); getMarketInfo(tempCurl, temp, dataResponse); curr->_coin->setExch(temp); // here is the line of code that is sending the string dataResponse >> *(curr->_coin); curr->_next = new Exchange::Currency(curr, curr->_position + 1); parseTradePairs(curr->_next, response, begin, exit); } } and here is the mutator within the coin class that is receiving the string and assigning it to _exch void Coin::setExch(string exch) { _exch = exch; } I have stepped through it and made sure that exch has the string in it. "105" but soon as it hits _exch = exch; I get the reading violation. I tried passing as pointer as well. I do not believe it should go out of scope. and the string variable in the class is initialized to zero in the default constructor but again that should matter unless I am trying to read from it instead of writing to it. /* defualt constructor */ Coin::Coin() { _id = ""; _label = ""; _code= ""; _name = ""; _marketCoin = ""; _volume = 0; _last = 0; _exch = ""; } Exchange::Exchange(std::string str) { _exch = str; _currencies = new Currency; std::string pair; std::string response; CURL *curl; initializeCurl(curl); getTradePairs(curl, response); int exit = response.find_last_of("marketid"); parseTradePairs(_currencies, &response, 0, exit); } int main(void) { CURL *curl; string str; string id; Coin coin1; initializeCurl(curl); Exchange ex("cryptsy"); curl_easy_cleanup(curl); system("pause"); return 0; } class Exchange { public: typedef struct Currency { Currency(Coin *coin, Currency *next, Currency *prev, int position) : _coin(coin), _next(next), _prev(prev), _position(position) {} Currency(Currency *prev, int position) : _prev(prev), _position(position), _next(NULL), _coin(&Coin()){} Currency() : _next(NULL), _prev(NULL), _position(0) {} Coin *_coin; Currency *_next; Currency *_prev; int _position; }; /* constructor and destructor */ Exchange(); Exchange(std::string str); ~Exchange(); /* Assignment operator */ Exchange& operator =(const Exchange& copyExchange); /* Parse Cryptsy Pairs */ friend void parseTradePairs(Currency *curr, std::string *response, int begin, int exit); private: std::string _exch; Currency *_currencies; }; here is what i changed it to to fix it. typedef struct Currency { Currency(Coin *coin, Currency *next, Currency *prev, int position) : _coin(coin), _next(next), _prev(prev), _position(position) {} Currency(Currency *prev, int position) : _prev(prev), _position(position), _next(NULL), _coin(&Coin()){} Currency() { _next = NULL; _prev = NULL; _position = 0; _coin = new Coin(); } Coin *_coin; Currency *_next; Currency *_prev; int _position; };

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• How Expedia Made My New Bride Cry

  - by Lance Robinson

  Tweet this? Email Expedia and ask them to give me and my new wife our honeymoon? When Expedia followed up their failure with our honeymoon trip with a complete and total lack of acknowledgement of any responsibility for the problem and endless loops of explaining the issue over and over again - I swore that they would make it right. When they brought my new bride to tears, I got an immediate and endless supply of motivation. I hope you will help me make them make it right by posting our story on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, on Expedia itself, and when talking to your friends in person about their own travel plans.   If you are considering using them now for an important trip - reconsider. Short summary: We arrived early for a flight - but Expedia had made a mistake with the data they supplied to JetBlue and Emirates, which resulted in us not being able to check in (one leg of our trip was missing)!  At the time of this post, three people (myself, my wife, and an exceptionally patient JetBlue employee named Mary) each spent hours on the phone with Expedia.  I myself spent right at 3 hours (according to iPhone records), Lauren spent an hour and a half or so, and poor Mary was probably on the phone for a good 3.5 hours.  This is after 5 hours total at the airport.  If you add up our phone time, that is nearly 8 hours of phone time over a 5 hour period with little or no help, stall tactics (?), run-around, denial, shifting of blame, and holding. Details below (times are approximate): First, my wife and I were married yesterday - June 18th, the 3 year anniversary of our first date. She is awesome. She is the nicest person I have ever known, a ton of fun, absolutely beautiful in every way. Ok enough mushy - here are the dirty details. 2:30 AM - Early Check-in Attempt - we attempted to check-in for our flight online. Some sort of technology error on website, instructed to checkin at desk. 4:30 AM - Arrive at airport. Try to check-in at kiosk, get the same error. We got to the JetBlue desk at RDU International Airport, where Mary helped us. Mary discovered that the Expedia provided itinerary does not match the Expedia provided tickets. We are informed that when that happens American, JetBlue, and others that use the same software cannot check you in for the flight because. Why? Because the itinerary was missing a leg of our flight! Basically we were not shown in the system as definitely being able to make it home. Mary called Expedia and was put on hold by their automated system. 4:55 AM - Mary, myself, and my brand new bride all waited for about 25 minutes when finally I decided I would make a call myself on my iPhone while Mary was on the airport phone. In their automated system, I chose "make a new reservation", thinking they might answer a little more quickly than "customer service". Not surprisingly I was connected to an Expedia person within 1 minute. They informed me that they would have to forward me to a customer service specialist. I explained to them that we were already on hold for that and had been for nearly half an hour, that we were going on our honeymoon and that our flight would be leaving soon - could they please help us. "Yes, I will help you". I hand the phone to JetBlue Mary who explains the situation 3 or 4 times. Obviously I couldn't hear both ends of the conversation at this point, but the Expedia person explained what the problem was by stating exactly what Mary had just spent 15 minutes explaining. Mary calmly confirms that this is the problem, and asks Expedia to re-issue the itinerary. Expedia tells Mary that they'll have to transfer her to customer service. Mary asks for someone specific so that we get an answer this time, and goes on hold. Mary get's connected, explains the situation, and then Mary's connection gets terminated. 5:10 AM - Mary calls back to the Expedia automated system again, and we wait for about 5 minutes on hold this time before I pick up my iPhone and call Expedia again myself. Again I go to sales, a person picks up the phone in less than a minute. I explain the situation and let them know that we are now very close to missing our flight for our honeymoon, could they please help us. "Yes, I will help you". Again I give the phone to Mary who provides them with a call back number in case we get disconnected again and explains the situation again. More back and forth with Expedia doing nothing but repeating the same questions, Mary answering the questions with the same information she provided in the original explanation, and Expedia simply restating the problem. Mary again asks them to re-issue the itinerary, and explains that doing so will fix the problem. Expedia again repeats the problem instead of fixing it, and Mary's connection gets terminated. 5:20 AM - Mary again calls back to Expedia. My beautiful bride also calls on her own phone. At this point she is struggling to hold back her tears, stumbling through an explanation of all that has happened and that we are about to miss our flight. Please help us. "Yes, I will help". My beautiful bride's connection gets terminated. Ok, maybe this disconnection isn't an accident. We've now been disconnected 3 times on two different phones. 5:45 AM - I walk away and pleadingly beg a person to help me. They "escalate" the issue to "Rosy" (sp?) at Expedia. I go through the whole song and dance again with Rosy, who gives me the same treatment Mary was given. Rosy blames JetBlue for now having the correct data. Meanwhile Mary is on the phone with Emirates Air (the airline for the second leg of our trip), who agrees with JetBlue that Expedia's data isn't up to date. We are informed by two airport employees that issues like this with Expedia are not uncommon, and that the fix is simple. On the phone iwth Rosy, I ask her to re-issue the itinerary because we are about to miss our flight. She again explains the problem to me. At this point, I am standing at the window, pleading with Rosy to help us get to our honeymoon, watching our airplane. Then our airplane leaves without us. 6:03 AM - At this point we have missed our flight. Re-issuing the itinerary is no longer a solution. I ask Rosy to start from the beginning and work us up a new trip. She says that she cannot do that. She says that she needs to talk to JetBlue and Emirates and find out why we cannot check-in for our flight. I remind Rosy that our flight has already left - I just watched it taxi away - it no longer matters why (not to mention the fact that we already knew why, and have known why since 4:30 AM), and have known the solution since 4:30 AM. Rosy, can you please book a new trip? Yes, but it will cost $400. Excuse me? Now you can, but it will cost ME to fix your mistake? Rosy says that she can escalate the situation to her supervisor but that will take 1.5 hours. 6:15 AM - I told Rosy that if they had re-issued the itinerary as JetBlue asked (at 4:30 AM), my new wife and I might be on the airplane now instead of dealing with this on the phone and missing the beginning (and how much more?) of our honeymoon. Rosy said that it was not necessary to re-issue the itinerary. Out of curiosity, i asked Rosy if there was some financial burden on them to re-issue the itinerary. "No", said Rosy. I asked her if it was a large time burden on Expedia to re-issue the itinerary. "No", said Rosy. I directly asked Rosy: Why wouldn't Expedia have re-issued the itinerary when JetBlue asked? No answer. I asked Rosy: If you had re-issued the itinerary at 4:30, isn't it possible that I would be on that flight right now? She actually surprised me by answering "Yes" to that question. So I pointed out that it followed that Expedia was responsible for the fact that we missed out flight, and she immediately went into more about how the problem was with JetBlue - but now it was ALSO an Emirates Air problem as well. I tell Rosy to go ahead and escalate the issue again, and please call me back in that 1.5 hours (which how is about 1 hour and 10 minutes away). 6:30 AM - I start tweeting my frustration with iPhone. It's now pretty much impossible for us to make it to The Maldives by 3pm, which is the time at which we would need to arrive in order to be allowed service to the actual island where we are staying. Expedia has now given me the run-around for 2 hours, caused me to miss my flight, and worst of all caused my amazing new wife Lauren to miss our honeymoon. You think I was mad? No. Furious. Its ok to make mistakes - but to refuse to fix them and to ruin our honeymoon? No, not ok, Expedia. I swore right then that Expedia would make this right. 7:45 AM - JetBlue mary is still talking her tail off to other people in JetBlue and Emirates Air. Mary works it out so that if Expedia simply books a new trip, JetBlue and Emirates will both waive all the fees. Now we just have to convince Expedia to fix their mistake and get us on our way! Around this time Expedia Rosy calls me back! I inform her of the excellent work of JetBlue Mary - that JetBlue and Emirates both will waive the fees so Expedia can fix their mistake and get us going on our way. She says that she sees documentation of this in her system and that she needs to put me on hold "for 1 to 10 minutes" to talk to Emirates Air (why I'm not exactly sure). I say ok. 8:45 AM - After an hour on hold, Rosy comes on the line and asks me to hold more. I ask her to call me back. 9:35 AM - I put down the iPhone Twitter app and picks up the laptop. You think I made some noise with my iPhone? Heh 11:25 AM - Expedia follows me and sends a canned "We're sorry, DM us the details".  If you look at their Twitter feed, 16 out of the most recent 20 tweets are exactly the same canned response.  The other 4?  Ads.  Um - #MultiFAIL? To Expedia:  You now have had (as explained above) 8 hours of 3 different people explaining our situation, you know the email address of our Expedia account, you know my web blog, you know my Twitter address, you know my phone number.  You also know how upset you have made both me and my new bride by treating us with such a ... non caring, scripted, uncooperative, argumentative, and possibly even deceitful manner.  In the wise words of the great Kenan Thompson of SNL: "FIX IT!".  And no, I'm NOT going away until you make this right. Period. 11:45 AM - Expedia corporate office called.  The woman I spoke to was very nice and apologetic.  She listened to me tell the story again, she says she understands the problem and she is going to work to resolve it.  I don't have any details on what exactly that resolution might me, she said she will call me back in 20 minutes.  She found out about the problem via Twitter.  Thank you Twitter, and all of you who helped.  Hopefully social media will win my wife and I our honeymoon, and hopefully Expedia will encourage their customer service teams treat their customers properly. 12:22 PM - Spoke to Fran again from Expedia corporate office.  She has a flight for us tonight.  She is booking it now.  We will arrive at our honeymoon destination of beautiful Veligandu Island Resort only 1 day late.  She cannot confirm today, but she expects that Expedia will pay for the lost honeymoon night.  Thank you everyone for your help.  I will reflect more on this whole situation and confirm its resolution after our flight is 100% confirmed.  For now, I'm going to take a breather and go kiss my wonderful wife! 1:50 PM - Have not yet received the promised phone call.  We did receive an email with a new itinerary for a flight but the booking is not for specific seats, so there is no guarantee that my wife and I will be able to sit together.  With the original booking I carefully selected our seats for every segment of our trip.  I decided to call into the phone number that Fran from the Expedia corporate office gave me.  Its automated voice system identified itself as "Tier 3 Support".  I am currently still on hold with them, I have not gotten through to a human yet. 1:55 PM - Fran from Expedia called me back.  She confirmed us as booked.  She called the airlines to confirm.  Unfortunately, Expedia was unwilling or unable to allow us any type of seat selection.  It is possible that i won't get to sit next to the woman I married less than a day ago on our 40 total hours of flight time (there and back).  In addition, our seats could be the worst seats on the planes, with no reclining seat back or right next to the restroom.  Despite this fact (which in my opinion is huge), the horrible inconvenience, the hours at the airport, and the negative Internet publicity that Expedia is receiving, Expedia declined to offer us any kind of upgrade or to mark us as SFU (suitable for upgrade).  Since they didn't offer - I asked, and was rejected.  I am grateful to finally be heading in the right direction, but not only did Expedia horribly botch this job from the very beginning, they followed that botch job with near zero customer service, followed by a verbally apologetic but otherwise half-hearted resolution.  If this works out favorably for us, great.  If not - I'm not done making noise, Expedia.  You owe us, and I expect you to make it right.  You haven't quite done that yet. Thanks - Thank you to Twitter.  Thanks to all those who sympathize with us and helped us get the attention of Expedia, since three people (one of them an airline employee) using Expedia's normal channels of communication for many hours didn't help.  Thanks especially to my PowerShell and Sharepoint friends, my local friends, and those connectors who encouraged me and spread my story. 5:15 PM - Love Wins - After all this, Lauren and I are exhausted.  We both took a short nap, and when we woke up we talked about the last 24 hours.  It was a big, amazing, story-filled 24 hours.  I said that Expedia won, but Lauren said no.  She pointed out how lucky we are.  We are in love and married.  We have wonderful family and friends.  We are both hard-working successful people who love what they do.  We get to go to an amazing exotic destination for our honeymoon like Veligandu in The Maldives...  That's a lot of good.  Expedia didn't win.  This was (is) a big loss for Expedia.  It is a public blemish for all to see.  But Lauren and I did win, big time.  Expedia may not have made things right - but things are right for us.  Post in progress... I will relay any further comments (or lack of) from Expedia soon, as well as an update on confirmation of their repayment of our lost resort room rates.  I'll also post a picture of us on our honeymoon as soon as I can!

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• Working with PivotTables in Excel

  - by Mark Virtue

  PivotTables are one of the most powerful features of Microsoft Excel.  They allow large amounts of data to be analyzed and summarized in just a few mouse clicks. In this article, we explore PivotTables, understand what they are, and learn how to create and customize them. Note:  This article is written using Excel 2010 (Beta).  The concept of a PivotTable has changed little over the years, but the method of creating one has changed in nearly every iteration of Excel.  If you are using a version of Excel that is not 2010, expect different screens from the ones you see in this article. A Little History In the early days of spreadsheet programs, Lotus 1-2-3 ruled the roost.  Its dominance was so complete that people thought it was a waste of time for Microsoft to bother developing their own spreadsheet software (Excel) to compete with Lotus.  Flash-forward to 2010, and Excel’s dominance of the spreadsheet market is greater than Lotus’s ever was, while the number of users still running Lotus 1-2-3 is approaching zero.  How did this happen?  What caused such a dramatic reversal of fortunes? Industry analysts put it down to two factors:  Firstly, Lotus decided that this fancy new GUI platform called “Windows” was a passing fad that would never take off.  They declined to create a Windows version of Lotus 1-2-3 (for a few years, anyway), predicting that their DOS version of the software was all anyone would ever need.  Microsoft, naturally, developed Excel exclusively for Windows.  Secondly, Microsoft developed a feature for Excel that Lotus didn’t provide in 1-2-3, namely PivotTables.  The PivotTables feature, exclusive to Excel, was deemed so staggeringly useful that people were willing to learn an entire new software package (Excel) rather than stick with a program (1-2-3) that didn’t have it.  This one feature, along with the misjudgment of the success of Windows, was the death-knell for Lotus 1-2-3, and the beginning of the success of Microsoft Excel. Understanding PivotTables So what is a PivotTable, exactly? Put simply, a PivotTable is a summary of some data, created to allow easy analysis of said data.  But unlike a manually created summary, Excel PivotTables are interactive.  Once you have created one, you can easily change it if it doesn’t offer the exact insights into your data that you were hoping for.  In a couple of clicks the summary can be “pivoted” – rotated in such a way that the column headings become row headings, and vice versa.  There’s a lot more that can be done, too.  Rather than try to describe all the features of PivotTables, we’ll simply demonstrate them… The data that you analyze using a PivotTable can’t be just any data – it has to be raw data, previously unprocessed (unsummarized) – typically a list of some sort.  An example of this might be the list of sales transactions in a company for the past six months. Examine the data shown below: Notice that this is not raw data.  In fact, it is already a summary of some sort.  In cell B3 we can see $30,000, which apparently is the total of James Cook’s sales for the month of January.  So where is the raw data?  How did we arrive at the figure of $30,000?  Where is the original list of sales transactions that this figure was generated from?  It’s clear that somewhere, someone must have gone to the trouble of collating all of the sales transactions for the past six months into the summary we see above.  How long do you suppose this took?  An hour?  Ten?  Probably. If we were to track down the original list of sales transactions, it might look something like this: You may be surprised to learn that, using the PivotTable feature of Excel, we can create a monthly sales summary similar to the one above in a few seconds, with only a few mouse clicks.  We can do this – and a lot more too! How to Create a PivotTable First, ensure that you have some raw data in a worksheet in Excel.  A list of financial transactions is typical, but it can be a list of just about anything:  Employee contact details, your CD collection, or fuel consumption figures for your company’s fleet of cars. So we start Excel… …and we load such a list… Once we have the list open in Excel, we’re ready to start creating the PivotTable. Click on any one single cell within the list: Then, from the Insert tab, click the PivotTable icon: The Create PivotTable box appears, asking you two questions:  What data should your new PivotTable be based on, and where should it be created?  Because we already clicked on a cell within the list (in the step above), the entire list surrounding that cell is already selected for us ($A$1:$G$88 on the Payments sheet, in this example).  Note that we could select a list in any other region of any other worksheet, or even some external data source, such as an Access database table, or even a MS-SQL Server database table.  We also need to select whether we want our new PivotTable to be created on a new worksheet, or on an existing one.  In this example we will select a new one: The new worksheet is created for us, and a blank PivotTable is created on that worksheet: Another box also appears:  The PivotTable Field List.  This field list will be shown whenever we click on any cell within the PivotTable (above): The list of fields in the top part of the box is actually the collection of column headings from the original raw data worksheet.  The four blank boxes in the lower part of the screen allow us to choose the way we would like our PivotTable to summarize the raw data.  So far, there is nothing in those boxes, so the PivotTable is blank.  All we need to do is drag fields down from the list above and drop them in the lower boxes.  A PivotTable is then automatically created to match our instructions.  If we get it wrong, we only need to drag the fields back to where they came from and/or drag new fields down to replace them. The Values box is arguably the most important of the four.  The field that is dragged into this box represents the data that needs to be summarized in some way (by summing, averaging, finding the maximum, minimum, etc).  It is almost always numerical data.  A perfect candidate for this box in our sample data is the “Amount” field/column.  Let’s drag that field into the Values box: Notice that (a) the “Amount” field in the list of fields is now ticked, and “Sum of Amount” has been added to the Values box, indicating that the amount column has been summed. If we examine the PivotTable itself, we indeed find the sum of all the “Amount” values from the raw data worksheet: We’ve created our first PivotTable!  Handy, but not particularly impressive.  It’s likely that we need a little more insight into our data than that. Referring to our sample data, we need to identify one or more column headings that we could conceivably use to split this total.  For example, we may decide that we would like to see a summary of our data where we have a row heading for each of the different salespersons in our company, and a total for each.  To achieve this, all we need to do is to drag the “Salesperson” field into the Row Labels box: Now, finally, things start to get interesting!  Our PivotTable starts to take shape….   With a couple of clicks we have created a table that would have taken a long time to do manually. So what else can we do?  Well, in one sense our PivotTable is complete.  We’ve created a useful summary of our source data.  The important stuff is already learned!  For the rest of the article, we will examine some ways that more complex PivotTables can be created, and ways that those PivotTables can be customized. First, we can create a two-dimensional table.  Let’s do that by using “Payment Method” as a column heading.  Simply drag the “Payment Method” heading to the Column Labels box: Which looks like this: Starting to get very cool! Let’s make it a three-dimensional table.  What could such a table possibly look like?  Well, let’s see… Drag the “Package” column/heading to the Report Filter box: Notice where it ends up…. This allows us to filter our report based on which “holiday package” was being purchased.  For example, we can see the breakdown of salesperson vs payment method for all packages, or, with a couple of clicks, change it to show the same breakdown for the “Sunseekers” package: And so, if you think about it the right way, our PivotTable is now three-dimensional.  Let’s keep customizing… If it turns out, say, that we only want to see cheque and credit card transactions (i.e. no cash transactions), then we can deselect the “Cash” item from the column headings.  Click the drop-down arrow next to Column Labels, and untick “Cash”: Let’s see what that looks like…As you can see, “Cash” is gone. Formatting This is obviously a very powerful system, but so far the results look very plain and boring.  For a start, the numbers that we’re summing do not look like dollar amounts – just plain old numbers.  Let’s rectify that. A temptation might be to do what we’re used to doing in such circumstances and simply select the whole table (or the whole worksheet) and use the standard number formatting buttons on the toolbar to complete the formatting.  The problem with that approach is that if you ever change the structure of the PivotTable in the future (which is 99% likely), then those number formats will be lost.  We need a way that will make them (semi-)permanent. First, we locate the “Sum of Amount” entry in the Values box, and click on it.  A menu appears.  We select Value Field Settings… from the menu: The Value Field Settings box appears. Click the Number Format button, and the standard Format Cells box appears: From the Category list, select (say) Accounting, and drop the number of decimal places to 0.  Click OK a few times to get back to the PivotTable… As you can see, the numbers have been correctly formatted as dollar amounts. While we’re on the subject of formatting, let’s format the entire PivotTable.  There are a few ways to do this.  Let’s use a simple one… Click the PivotTable Tools/Design tab: Then drop down the arrow in the bottom-right of the PivotTable Styles list to see a vast collection of built-in styles: Choose any one that appeals, and look at the result in your PivotTable:   Other Options We can work with dates as well.  Now usually, there are many, many dates in a transaction list such as the one we started with.  But Excel provides the option to group data items together by day, week, month, year, etc.  Let’s see how this is done. First, let’s remove the “Payment Method” column from the Column Labels box (simply drag it back up to the field list), and replace it with the “Date Booked” column: As you can see, this makes our PivotTable instantly useless, giving us one column for each date that a transaction occurred on – a very wide table! To fix this, right-click on any date and select Group… from the context-menu: The grouping box appears.  We select Months and click OK: Voila!  A much more useful table: (Incidentally, this table is virtually identical to the one shown at the beginning of this article – the original sales summary that was created manually.) Another cool thing to be aware of is that you can have more than one set of row headings (or column headings): …which looks like this…. You can do a similar thing with column headings (or even report filters). Keeping things simple again, let’s see how to plot averaged values, rather than summed values. First, click on “Sum of Amount”, and select Value Field Settings… from the context-menu that appears: In the Summarize value field by list in the Value Field Settings box, select Average: While we’re here, let’s change the Custom Name, from “Average of Amount” to something a little more concise.  Type in something like “Avg”: Click OK, and see what it looks like.  Notice that all the values change from summed totals to averages, and the table title (top-left cell) has changed to “Avg”: If we like, we can even have sums, averages and counts (counts = how many sales there were) all on the same PivotTable! Here are the steps to get something like that in place (starting from a blank PivotTable): Drag “Salesperson” into the Column Labels Drag “Amount” field down into the Values box three times For the first “Amount” field, change its custom name to “Total” and it’s number format to Accounting (0 decimal places) For the second “Amount” field, change its custom name to “Average”, its function to Average and it’s number format to Accounting (0 decimal places) For the third “Amount” field, change its name to “Count” and its function to Count Drag the automatically created field from Column Labels to Row Labels Here’s what we end up with: Total, average and count on the same PivotTable! Conclusion There are many, many more features and options for PivotTables created by Microsoft Excel – far too many to list in an article like this.  To fully cover the potential of PivotTables, a small book (or a large website) would be required.  Brave and/or geeky readers can explore PivotTables further quite easily:  Simply right-click on just about everything, and see what options become available to you.  There are also the two ribbon-tabs: PivotTable Tools/Options and Design.  It doesn’t matter if you make a mistake – it’s easy to delete the PivotTable and start again – a possibility old DOS users of Lotus 1-2-3 never had. We’ve included an Excel that should work with most versions of Excel, so you can download to practice your PivotTable skills. Download Our Practice Excel File Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Magnify Selected Cells In Excel 2007Share Access Data with Excel in Office 2010Make Excel 2007 Print Gridlines In Workbook FileMake Excel 2007 Always Save in Excel 2003 FormatConvert Older Excel Documents to Excel 2007 Format TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, 3/23/10 New Stinger from McAfee Helps Remove ‘FakeAlert’ Threats Google Apps Marketplace: Tools & Services For Google Apps Users Get News Quick and Precise With Newser Scan for Viruses in Ubuntu using ClamAV Replace Your Windows Task Manager With System Explorer

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• Coding With Windows Azure IaaS

  - by Hisham El-bereky

  This post will focus on some advanced programming topics concerned with IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) which provided as windows azure virtual machine (with its related resources like virtual disk and virtual network), you know that windows azure started as PaaS cloud platform but regarding to some business cases which need to have full control over their virtual machine, so windows azure directed toward providing IaaS. Sometimes you will need to manage your cloud IaaS through code may be for these reasons: Working on hyper-cloud system by providing bursting connector to windows azure virtual machines Providing multi-tenant system which consume windows azure virtual machine Automated process on your on-premises or cloud service which need to utilize some virtual resources We are going to implement the following basic operation using C# code: List images Create virtual machine List virtual machines Restart virtual machine Delete virtual machine Before going to implement the above operations we need to prepare client side and windows azure subscription to communicate correctly by providing management certificate (x.509 v3 certificates) which permit client access to resources in your Windows Azure subscription, whilst requests made using the Windows Azure Service Management REST API require authentication against a certificate that you provide to Windows Azure More info about setting management certificate located here. And to install .cer on other client machine you will need the .pfx file, or if not exist by exporting .cer as .pfx Note: You will need to install .net 4.5 on your machine to try the code So let start This post built on the post sent by Michael Washam "Advanced Windows Azure IaaS – Demo Code", so I'm here to declare some points and to add new operation which is not exist in Michael's demo The basic C# class object used here as client to azure REST API for IaaS service is HttpClient (Provides a base class for sending HTTP requests and receiving HTTP responses from a resource identified by a URI) this object must be initialized with the required data like certificate, headers and content if required. Also I'd like to refer here that the code is based on using Asynchronous programming with calls to azure which enhance the performance and gives us the ability to work with complex calls which depends on more than one sub-call to achieve some operation The following code explain how to get certificate and initializing HttpClient object with required data like headers and content HttpClient GetHttpClient() { X509Store certificateStore = null; X509Certificate2 certificate = null; try { certificateStore = new X509Store(StoreName.My, StoreLocation.CurrentUser); certificateStore.Open(OpenFlags.ReadOnly); string thumbprint = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["CertThumbprint"]; var certificates = certificateStore.Certificates.Find(X509FindType.FindByThumbprint, thumbprint, false); if (certificates.Count > 0) { certificate = certificates[0]; } } finally { if (certificateStore != null) certificateStore.Close(); }   WebRequestHandler handler = new WebRequestHandler(); if (certificate!= null) { handler.ClientCertificates.Add(certificate); HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient(handler); //And to set required headers lik x-ms-version httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-ms-version", "2012-03-01"); httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/xml")); return httpClient; } return null; }  Let us keep the object httpClient as reference object used to call windows azure REST API IaaS service. For each request operation we need to define: Request URI HTTP Method Headers Content body (1) List images The List OS Images operation retrieves a list of the OS images from the image repository Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/images] Replace <subscription-id> with your windows Id HTTP Method GET (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Body None.  C# Code List<String> imageList = new List<String>(); //replace _subscriptionid with your WA subscription String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/images", _subscriptionid);  HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); Stream responseStream = await http.GetStreamAsync(uri);  if (responseStream != null) {      XDocument xml = XDocument.Load(responseStream);      var images = xml.Root.Descendants(ns + "OSImage").Where(i => i.Element(ns + "OS").Value == "Windows");      foreach (var image in images)      {      string img = image.Element(ns + "Name").Value;      imageList.Add(img);      } } More information about the REST call (Request/Response) located here on this link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj157191.aspx (2) Create Virtual Machine Creating virtual machine required service and deployment to be created first, so creating VM should be done through three steps incase hosted service and deployment is not created yet Create hosted service, a container for service deployments in Windows Azure. A subscription may have zero or more hosted services Create deployment, a service that is running on Windows Azure. A deployment may be running in either the staging or production deployment environment. It may be managed either by referencing its deployment ID, or by referencing the deployment environment in which it's running. Create virtual machine, the previous two steps info required here in this step I suggest here to use the same name for service, deployment and service to make it easy to manage virtual machines Note: A name for the hosted service that is unique within Windows Azure. This name is the DNS prefix name and can be used to access the hosted service. For example: http://ServiceName.cloudapp.net// 2.1 Create service Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices HTTP Method POST (HTTP 1.1) Header x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Content-Type: application/xml Body More details about request body (and other information) are located here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/gg441304.aspx C# code The following method show how to create hosted service async public Task<String> NewAzureCloudService(String ServiceName, String Location, String AffinityGroup, String subscriptionid) { String requestID = String.Empty;   String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices", subscriptionid); HttpClient http = GetHttpClient();   System.Text.ASCIIEncoding ae = new System.Text.ASCIIEncoding(); byte[] svcNameBytes = ae.GetBytes(ServiceName);   String locationEl = String.Empty; String locationVal = String.Empty;   if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(Location) == false) { locationEl = "Location"; locationVal = Location; } else { locationEl = "AffinityGroup"; locationVal = AffinityGroup; }   XElement srcTree = new XElement("CreateHostedService", new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "i", ns1), new XElement("ServiceName", ServiceName), new XElement("Label", Convert.ToBase64String(svcNameBytes)), new XElement(locationEl, locationVal) ); ApplyNamespace(srcTree, ns);   XDocument CSXML = new XDocument(srcTree); HttpContent content = new StringContent(CSXML.ToString()); content.Headers.ContentType = new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/xml");   HttpResponseMessage responseMsg = await http.PostAsync(uri, content); if (responseMsg != null) { requestID = responseMsg.Headers.GetValues("x-ms-request-id").FirstOrDefault(); } return requestID; } 2.2 Create Deployment Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices/<service-name>/deploymentslots/<deployment-slot-name> <deployment-slot-name> with staging or production, depending on where you wish to deploy your service package <service-name> provided as input from the previous step HTTP Method POST (HTTP 1.1) Header x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Content-Type: application/xml Body More details about request body (and other information) are located here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ee460813.aspx C# code The following method show how to create hosted service deployment async public Task<String> NewAzureVMDeployment(String ServiceName, String VMName, String VNETName, XDocument VMXML, XDocument DNSXML) { String requestID = String.Empty;     String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deployments", _subscriptionid, ServiceName); HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); XElement srcTree = new XElement("Deployment", new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "i", ns1), new XElement("Name", ServiceName), new XElement("DeploymentSlot", "Production"), new XElement("Label", ServiceName), new XElement("RoleList", null) );   if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(VNETName) == false) { srcTree.Add(new XElement("VirtualNetworkName", VNETName)); }   if(DNSXML != null) { srcTree.Add(new XElement("DNS", new XElement("DNSServers", DNSXML))); }   XDocument deploymentXML = new XDocument(srcTree); ApplyNamespace(srcTree, ns);   deploymentXML.Descendants(ns + "RoleList").FirstOrDefault().Add(VMXML.Root);     String fixedXML = deploymentXML.ToString().Replace(" xmlns=\"\"", ""); HttpContent content = new StringContent(fixedXML); content.Headers.ContentType = new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/xml");   HttpResponseMessage responseMsg = await http.PostAsync(uri, content); if (responseMsg != null) { requestID = responseMsg.Headers.GetValues("x-ms-request-id").FirstOrDefault(); }   return requestID; } 2.3 Create Virtual Machine Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices/<cloudservice-name>/deployments/<deployment-name>/roles <cloudservice-name> and <deployment-name> are provided as input from the previous steps Http Method POST (HTTP 1.1) Header x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Content-Type: application/xml Body More details about request body (and other information) located here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj157186.aspx C# code async public Task<String> NewAzureVM(String ServiceName, String VMName, XDocument VMXML) { String requestID = String.Empty;   String deployment = await GetAzureDeploymentName(ServiceName);   String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deployments/{2}/roles", _subscriptionid, ServiceName, deployment);   HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); HttpContent content = new StringContent(VMXML.ToString()); content.Headers.ContentType = new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/xml"); HttpResponseMessage responseMsg = await http.PostAsync(uri, content); if (responseMsg != null) { requestID = responseMsg.Headers.GetValues("x-ms-request-id").FirstOrDefault(); } return requestID; } (3) List Virtual Machines To list virtual machine hosted on windows azure subscription we have to loop over all hosted services to get its hosted virtual machines To do that we need to execute the following operations: listing hosted services listing hosted service Virtual machine 3.1 Listing Hosted Services Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices HTTP Method GET (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Body None. More info about this HTTP request located here on this link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ee460781.aspx C# Code async private Task<List<XDocument>> GetAzureServices(String subscriptionid) { String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices ", subscriptionid); List<XDocument> services = new List<XDocument>();   HttpClient http = GetHttpClient();   Stream responseStream = await http.GetStreamAsync(uri);   if (responseStream != null) { XDocument xml = XDocument.Load(responseStream); var svcs = xml.Root.Descendants(ns + "HostedService"); foreach (XElement r in svcs) { XDocument vm = new XDocument(r); services.Add(vm); } }   return services; }  3.2 Listing Hosted Service Virtual Machines Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices/<service-name>/deployments/<deployment-name>/roles/<role-name> HTTP Method GET (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Body None. More info about this HTTP request here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj157193.aspx C# Code async public Task<XDocument> GetAzureVM(String ServiceName, String VMName, String subscriptionid) { String deployment = await GetAzureDeploymentName(ServiceName); XDocument vmXML = new XDocument();   String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deployments/{2}/roles/{3}", subscriptionid, ServiceName, deployment, VMName);   HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); Stream responseStream = await http.GetStreamAsync(uri); if (responseStream != null) { vmXML = XDocument.Load(responseStream); }   return vmXML; }  So the final method which can be used to list all virtual machines is: async public Task<XDocument> GetAzureVMs() { List<XDocument> services = await GetAzureServices(); XDocument vms = new XDocument(); vms.Add(new XElement("VirtualMachines")); ApplyNamespace(vms.Root, ns); foreach (var svc in services) { string ServiceName = svc.Root.Element(ns + "ServiceName").Value;   String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deploymentslots/{2}", _subscriptionid, ServiceName, "Production");   try { HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); Stream responseStream = await http.GetStreamAsync(uri);   if (responseStream != null) { XDocument xml = XDocument.Load(responseStream); var roles = xml.Root.Descendants(ns + "RoleInstance"); foreach (XElement r in roles) { XElement svcnameel = new XElement("ServiceName", ServiceName); ApplyNamespace(svcnameel, ns); r.Add(svcnameel); // not part of the roleinstance vms.Root.Add(r); } } } catch (HttpRequestException http) { // no vms with cloud service } } return vms; }  (4) Restart Virtual Machine Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices/<service-name>/deployments/<deployment-name>/roles/<role-name>/Operations HTTP Method POST (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Content-Type: application/xml Body <RestartRoleOperation xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <OperationType>RestartRoleOperation</OperationType> </RestartRoleOperation>  More details about this http request here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj157197.aspx  C# Code async public Task<String> RebootVM(String ServiceName, String RoleName) { String requestID = String.Empty;   String deployment = await GetAzureDeploymentName(ServiceName); String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deployments/{2}/roleInstances/{3}/Operations", _subscriptionid, ServiceName, deployment, RoleName);   HttpClient http = GetHttpClient();   XElement srcTree = new XElement("RestartRoleOperation", new XAttribute(XNamespace.Xmlns + "i", ns1), new XElement("OperationType", "RestartRoleOperation") ); ApplyNamespace(srcTree, ns);   XDocument CSXML = new XDocument(srcTree); HttpContent content = new StringContent(CSXML.ToString()); content.Headers.ContentType = new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/xml");   HttpResponseMessage responseMsg = await http.PostAsync(uri, content); if (responseMsg != null) { requestID = responseMsg.Headers.GetValues("x-ms-request-id").FirstOrDefault(); } return requestID; }  (5) Delete Virtual Machine You can delete your hosted virtual machine by deleting its deployment, but I prefer to delete its hosted service also, so you can easily manage your virtual machines from code 5.1 Delete Deployment Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/< subscription-id >/services/hostedservices/< service-name >/deployments/<Deployment-Name> HTTP Method DELETE (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Body None. C# code async public Task<HttpResponseMessage> DeleteDeployment( string deploymentName) { string xml = string.Empty; String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}/deployments/{2}", _subscriptionid, deploymentName, deploymentName); HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); HttpResponseMessage responseMessage = await http.DeleteAsync(uri); return responseMessage; }  5.2 Delete Hosted Service Request URI https://management.core.windows.net/<subscription-id>/services/hostedservices/<service-name> HTTP Method DELETE (HTTP 1.1) Headers x-ms-version: 2012-03-01 Body None. C# code async public Task<HttpResponseMessage> DeleteService(string serviceName) { string xml = string.Empty; String uri = String.Format("https://management.core.windows.net/{0}/services/hostedservices/{1}", _subscriptionid, serviceName); Log.Info("Windows Azure URI (http DELETE verb): " + uri, typeof(VMManager)); HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); HttpResponseMessage responseMessage = await http.DeleteAsync(uri); return responseMessage; }  And the following is the method which can used to delete both of deployment and service async public Task<string> DeleteVM(string vmName) { string responseString = string.Empty;   // as a convention here in this post, a unified name used for service, deployment and VM instance to make it easy to manage VMs HttpClient http = GetHttpClient(); HttpResponseMessage responseMessage = await DeleteDeployment(vmName);   if (responseMessage != null) {   string requestID = responseMessage.Headers.GetValues("x-ms-request-id").FirstOrDefault(); OperationResult result = await PollGetOperationStatus(requestID, 5, 120); if (result.Status == OperationStatus.Succeeded) { responseString = result.Message; HttpResponseMessage sResponseMessage = await DeleteService(vmName); if (sResponseMessage != null) { OperationResult sResult = await PollGetOperationStatus(requestID, 5, 120); responseString += sResult.Message; } } else { responseString = result.Message; } } return responseString; }  Note: This article is subject to be updated Hisham  References Advanced Windows Azure IaaS – Demo Code Windows Azure Service Management REST API Reference Introduction to the Azure Platform Representational state transfer Asynchronous Programming with Async and Await (C# and Visual Basic) HttpClient Class

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, January 11, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, January 11, 2011Popular ReleasesArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap: ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap 1.1 beta2: This is the beta2 release for the ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap version 1.1. Changes from version 1.0: Multi-part geometries are now supported. Homogeneous relations (consisting of only lines or only polygons) are converted into the appropriate multi-part geometry. Mixed relations and super relations are maintained and tracked in a stand-alone relation table. The underlying editing logic has changed. As opposed to tracking the editing changes upon "Save edit" or "Stop edit" the changes a...VSSpeedster - Parallel Builds for VS: VSSpeedster 1.2 (beta): - Improved Parallel Builds - Cancel running Parallel Build using Ctrl+BreakASP.NET Comet Ajax Library (Reverse Ajax - Server Push): Multiple server ASP.NET Reverse Ajax: This sample project demonstrates how is easy to scale your web applications via PokeInHawkeye - The .Net Runtime Object Editor: Hawkeye 1.2.5: In the case you are running an x86 Windows and you installed Release 1.2.4, you should consider upgrading to this release (1.2.5) as it appears Hawkeye is broken on x86 OS. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it appears Hawkeye 1.2.4 (and probably previous versions) doesn't run on x86 Windows (See issue http://hawkeye.codeplex.com/workitem/7791). This maintenance release fixes this broken behavior. This release comes in two flavors: Hawkeye.125.N2 is the standard .NET 2 build, was compile...Phalanger - The PHP Language Compiler for the .NET Framework: 2.0 (January 2011): Another release build for daily use; it contains many new features, enhanced compatibility with latest PHP opensource applications and several issue fixes. To improve the performance of your application using MySQL, please use Managed MySQL Extension for Phalanger. Changes made within this release include following: New features available only in Phalanger. Full support of Multi-Script-Assemblies was implemented; you can build your application into several DLLs now. Deploy them separately t...EnhSim: EnhSim 2.3.0: 2.3.0This release supports WoW patch 4.03a at level 85 To use this release, you must have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=A7B7A05E-6DE6-4D3A-A423-37BF0912DB84 To use the GUI you must have the .NET 4.0 Framework installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992 - Changed how flame shoc...AutoLoL: AutoLoL v1.5.3: A message will be displayed when there's an update available Shows a list of recent mastery files in the Editor Tab (requested by quite a few people) Updater: Update information is now scrollable Added a buton to launch AutoLoL after updating is finished Updated the UI to match that of AutoLoL Fix: Detects and resolves 'Read Only' state on Version.xmlExtended WPF Toolkit: Extended WPF Toolkit - 1.3.0: What's in the 1.3.0 Release?BusyIndicator ButtonSpinner ChildWindow ColorPicker - Updated (Breaking Changes) DateTimeUpDown - New Control Magnifier - New Control MaskedTextBox - New Control MessageBox NumericUpDown RichTextBox RichTextBoxFormatBar - Updated .NET 3.5 binaries and SourcePlease note: The Extended WPF Toolkit 3.5 is dependent on .NET Framework 3.5 and the WPFToolkit. You must install .NET Framework 3.5 and the WPFToolkit in order to use any features in the To...sNPCedit: sNPCedit v0.9d: added elementclient coordinate catcher to catch coordinates select a target (ingame) i.e. your char, npc or monster than click the button and coordinates+direction will be transfered to the selected row in the table corrected labels from Rot to Direction (because it is a vector)Free Silverlight & WPF Chart Control - Visifire: Visifire SL and WPF Charts v3.6.7 beta Released: Hi, Today Visifire is released along with one new feature * Inlines property has been implemented in Title. Now onwards you can customize the text content in Title. Please check out the Visifire documentation for more information. This release contains fix for the following bugs: * Styles for chart elements were not working as expected. * Bar chart was not drawn properly if AxisMinimum property was set to a value above zero base line. * In DateTime axis, AxisLables were no...Ionics Isapi Rewrite Filter: 2.1 latest stable: V2.1 is stable, and is in maintenance mode. This is v2.1.1.25. It is a bug-fix release. There are no new features. 28629 29172 28722 27626 28074 29164 27659 27900 many documentation updates and fixes proper x64 build environment. This release includes x64 binaries in zip form, but no x64 MSI file. You'll have to manually install x64 servers, following the instructions in the documentation.StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.1.14980.000: A considerable amount of work has gone into this release: Huge focus on performance around the violation scanning subsystem: - caching added to reduce IO operations around reading and merging of settings files - caching added to reduce creation of expensive objects Users should notice condsiderable perf boost and a decrease in memory usage. Bug Fixes: - StyleCop's new ObjectBasedEnvironment object does not resolve the StyleCop installation path, thus it does not return the correct path ...VivoSocial: VivoSocial 7.4.1: New release with bug fixes and updates for performance.UltimateJB: Ultimate JB 2.03 PL3 KAKAROTO + HERMES + Spoof 3.5: Voici une version attendu avec impatience pour beaucoup : - La version PL3 KAKAROTO intégre ses dernières modification et intégre maintenant le firmware 2.43 !!! Conclusion : - UltimateJB203PSXXXDEFAULTKAKAROTO=> Pas de spoof mais disponible pour les PS3 suivantes : 3.41_kiosk 3.41 3.40 3.30 3.21 3.15 3.10 3.01 2.76 2.70 2.60 2.53 2.43 - UltimateJB203PS341_HERMES => Pas de spoof mais version hermes 4b - UltimateJB203PS341HERMESSPOOF35X => hermes 4b + spoof des firmwares 3.50 et 3.55 au li....NET Extensions - Extension Methods Library for C# and VB.NET: Release 2011.03: Added lot's of new extensions and new projects for MVC and Entity Framework. object.FindTypeByRecursion Int32.InRange String.RemoveAllSpecialCharacters String.IsEmptyOrWhiteSpace String.IsNotEmptyOrWhiteSpace String.IfEmptyOrWhiteSpace String.ToUpperFirstLetter String.GetBytes String.ToTitleCase String.ToPlural DateTime.GetDaysInYear DateTime.GetPeriodOfDay IEnumberable.RemoveAll IEnumberable.Distinct ICollection.RemoveAll IList.Join IList.Match IList.Cast Array.IsNullOrEmpty Array.W...EFMVC - ASP.NET MVC 3 and EF Code First: EFMVC 0.5- ASP.NET MVC 3 and EF Code First: Demo web app ASP.NET MVC 3, Razor and EF Code FirstVidCoder: 0.8.0: Added x64 version. Made the audio output preview more detailed and accurate. If the chosen encoder or mixdown is incompatible with the source, the fallback that will be used is displayed. Added "Auto" to the audio mixdown choices. Reworked non-anamorphic size calculation to work better with non-standard pixel aspect ratios and cropping. Reworked Custom anamorphic to be more intuitive and allow display width to be set automatically (Thanks, Statick). Allowing higher bitrates for 6-ch....NET Voice Recorder: Auto-Tune Release: This is the source code and binaries to accompany the article on the Coding 4 Fun website. It is the Auto Tuner release of the .NET Voice Recorder application.BloodSim: BloodSim - 1.3.2.0: - Simulation Log is now automatically disabled and hidden when running 10 or more iterations - Hit and Expertise are now entered by Rating, and include option for a Racial Expertise bonus - Added option for boss to use a periodic magic ability (Dragon Breath) - Added option for boss to periodically Enrage, gaining a Damage/Attack Speed buffASP.NET MVC CMS ( Using CommonLibrary.NET ): CommonLibrary.NET CMS 0.9.5 Alpha: CommonLibrary CMSA simple yet powerful CMS system in ASP.NET MVC 2 using C# 4.0. ActiveRecord based components for Blogs, Widgets, Pages, Parts, Events, Feedback, BlogRolls, Links Includes several widgets ( tag cloud, archives, recent, user cloud, links twitter, blog roll and more ) Built using the http://commonlibrarynet.codeplex.com framework. ( Uses TDD, DDD, Models/Entities, Code Generation ) Can run w/ In-Memory Repositories or Sql Server Database See Documentation tab for Ins...New Projects.NET Event Spy: Full information available here: http://martincarolan.blogspot.com/2011/01/secret-project.html Simple development/debugging tool that hooks into and monitors events raised on any .NET object3DTweet: 3Dtweet is an effort to make tweets appear in a aesthetic manner to the users of windows phone.Its developed using VS2010 expresss.Agile .NET with SCRUM and XP: Source code for the book Apress Professional Agile .NET Development with SCRUM and XPBeskid Niski Agroturystyka: Travel Poland, turystyka w beskidzie niskim. Agroturystyka w miejscowosci Losie nad zalewem KlimkowkaCoding better: A better coding labs for .net new feature.FBApp: A simple facebook app I was busy with over the holidays as an experiment to try out the facebook api. 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Also providing a set of helper classes for ASP.Net and WCF development.Minecraft NBT reader: A simple Minecraft NBT reader.MobSoft: MobSoft is silverlight based news related application designed to test the new functionalitities in Silverlight 4netduino Helpers: The 'netduino Helpers' is a C# driver set for common hardware components and features convenient wrappers around complex .Net Micro Framework features such as: Analog joysticks, Real-time clock, 8*8 LED matrix, Shift register, runtime assembly & resource loader, bitmaps, etc.NewsGator Social Connectors for Sharepoint 2010: This project contains social connectors for the NewsGator SharePoint platform and supports sending messages to Twitter and LinkedIn just by putting tags in the text #li for sending to linkedin #tw for sending to twitterNon Profit Contact Relationship Management: A non profit contact relationship management software intended to help those in the non profit arena manage donors, sponsors, and prospects.OpenAGE: OpenAGE, short for Open Advance Game Engine, is aimed at developing a new Advanced Game engine strictly for the PC and Xbox360 gaming System using XNA 4.0, and Visual Studio 2010OpenAutoPoster: OpenAutoPoster automates some of the boring everyday tasks of aggregating, linking and posting that haunts content creators.Phefer WoodTurning Sketcher: Draw out your own turnings before you hit the wood. Import images and trace around them, print them out with the length and width measuresments.Simple Script Interpreter- A simple GPLEX/GPPG (Lex/Yacc) Primer: Simple Script is a simple implementation of an interpreter language built with GPlex and Gppg (Lex/Yacc). It's developed in C#.SP2010Tutorials: Code for learning SharePoint 2010The Social Developer: This is a social developer tool for programmers to create and share projects using the .Net framework and other technologies and integrate it into a socialistic approach of sharing the work load and the resources needed to develop high level applications. Traffic-sign Classification: Traffic sign shape classification and localization.unnamedyet: Experimental! para Investigadores de Sistemas. Objetivo! desarrollar una praxis tal que con un conjunto finito y discreto de términos para describir sea posible auto-demostrar y ejecutar cualquier proposición dada.VSSpeedster - Parallel Builds for VS: Improve the performance of your Visual Studio: - Parallel Builds integrated in visual studioWebservice Xslt Transformer WebPart for SharePoint 2010: The Dynamic Webservice Xslt Transformer WebPart makes it much easier for SharePoint Developers and Administrators to call the webservice and transform the results directly to HTML by providing their own custom xslt. The properties can be set on the webpart by using the UI.WilWaNet.HASH: An ASP.NET MVC web site designed for tracking nutrition for the purposes of losing weight. Tracks calories, fat calories, fat grams and saturated fat along with daily weight and exercise. Includes daily Basic Metabolic Rate calculation and graphing functions.WP7 Try it 01: The first try in wp7WPF TryIt 01: Quan ly Nhan khau WPF ApplicationWX Alerter CAP/XML: NWS Alerter using CAP 1.1 alerting protocol. The goal of this project is to consume weather alerts from the NWS site. The user will select the city or SAME code/zone to watch. As alerts trigger notices will display and info will fill the Alert Tab.

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• On automating a split-mirror ASM backup with EMC TimeFinder ...

  - by [email protected]

  Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Hi clerks,   Offloading the backup operation to another host using disk cloning could really improve the performance on highly busy databases ( 24x7, zero downtime and all this stuff ...) There are well know white papers on this subject, ASM included, but today Im showing you a nice way to automate the procedure using shell scripting with EMC TimeFinder technologies:   Assumptions: *********** ASM diskgroups name:   +data_${db_name} : asm data diskgroup +fra_${db_name} :  asm fra  diskgroup   EMC Time Finder sync groups name:   rac_${DB_NAME}_data_tf : data group rac_${DB_NAME}_fra_tf:   fra group     There are two scripts, one located on the production box ( bck_database.sh ) and the other one on the backup server node ( bck_database_mirror.sh ) The second one is remotly executed from the production host There are a bunch of variables along the code with selfexplanatory names I guess, anyway let me know if you want some help     #!/bin/ksh ### ###  Copyright (c) 1988, 2010, Oracle Corporation.  All Rights Reserved. ### ###    NAME ###     bck_database.sh ### ###    DESCRIPTION ###     Database backup on third mirror ### ###    RETURNS ### ###    NOTES ### ###    MODIFIED                                 (DD/MM/YY) ###    Oracle            28/01/10             - Creacion ###   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` V_FICH_LOG=`dirname $0`/trace_dir_location/`basename $0`.${V_DATE}.log exec 4>&1 tee ${V_FICH_LOG} >&4 |& exec 1>&p 2>&1     ADMIN_DIR=`dirname $0` . ${ADMIN_DIR}/setenv_instance.sh -- This script should set the instance vars like Oracle Home, Sid, db_name ... if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when setting the environment."   exit 1 fi   echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Executing database backup: ${DB_NAME}" echo "####################################################################"   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Sync asm data diskgroups ..." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_data_tf establish -noprompt if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when sync asm data diskgroups"   exit 2 fi V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Verifying asm data disks ..." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_data_tf -i 30 verify if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when verifying asm data diskgroups"   exit 3 fi     V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Sync asm fra diskgroups ..." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_fra_tf establish -noprompt if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when sync asm fra diskgroups"   exit 4 fi V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Verifying asm fra disks ..." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_fra_tf -i 30 verify if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when verifying asm fra diskgroups"   exit 5 fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "ASM sync sucessfully completed!" echo "####################################################################"     V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Updating status ${DB_NAME} to BEGIN BACKUP ..." echo "####################################################################" sqlplus -s /nolog <<-!   whenever sqlerror exit 1   connect / as sysdba   whenever sqlerror exit   alter system archive log current;   alter database ${DB_NAME} begin backup; ! if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when updating database status to BEGIN backup"   exit 6 fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Splitting asm data disks....." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_data_tf split -noprompt if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when splitting asm data disks"   exit 7 fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Updating status ${DB_NAME} to END BACKUP ..." echo "####################################################################" sqlplus -s /nolog <<-!   whenever sqlerror exit 1   connect / as sysdba   whenever sqlerror exit   alter database ${DB_NAME} end backup;   alter system archive log current; ! if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when updating database status to END backup"   exit 8 fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Generating controlfile copies...." echo "####################################################################" rman<<-! connect target / run { allocate channel ch1 type DISK; copy current controlfile to '+FRA_${DB_NAME}/${DB_NAME}/CONTROLFILE/control_mount.ctl'; copy current controlfile to '+FRA_${DB_NAME}/${DB_NAME}/CONTROLFILE/control_backup.ctl'; } ! if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error generating controlfile copies"   exit 9 fi V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Resync RMAN catalog ....." echo "####################################################################" rman<<-! connect target / connect catalog ${V_RMAN_USR}/${V_RMAN_PWD}@${V_DB_CATALOG} resync catalog; ! if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when resyncing RMAN catalog"   exit 10 fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Splitting asm fra disks....." echo "####################################################################" sudo symmir -g rac_${DB_NAME}_fra_tf split -noprompt if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when splitting asm fra disks"   exit 11 fi     echo "WARNING!: Calling bck_database_mirror.sh host ${NODE_BCK_SERVER}..." ssh ${NODO_BCK_SERVER} ${ADMIN_DIR_BCK}/bck_database_mirror.sh if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error, when remote executing the backup "   exit 12 fi V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S` echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Cleaning the archived redo logs already copied to tape ..." echo "####################################################################" rman<<-! connect target / connect catalog ${V_RMAN_USR}/${V_RMAN_PWD}@${V_DB_CATALOG} run { resync catalog; delete noprompt archivelog all backed up 1 times to device type sbt; } ! if [ $? -ne 0 ] then   echo "Error when cleaning the archived redo logs"   exit 13 fi echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################" echo "Backup sucessfully executed!!" echo "####################################################################" exit 0   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------** BACKUP SERVER NODE ** ----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------   #!/bin/ksh ### ###  Copyright (c) 1988, 2010, Oracle Corporation.  All Rights Reserved. ### ###    ###    NAME ###     bck_database_mirror.sh ### ###    DESCRIPTION ###      Backup @ backup server ### ###    RETURNS ### ###    NOTES ### ###    MODIFIED                                 (DD/MM/YY) ###      Oracle                    28/01/10     - Creacion         V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S`   echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################"   echo "Starting ASM instance ..."   echo "####################################################################"   ${V_ADMIN_DIR}/start_asm.sh -- This script is supposed to start the ASM instance in the backup server   if [ $? -ne 0 ]   then     echo "Error when tying to start ASM instance."     exit 1   fi       . ${V_ADMIN_DIR}/setenv_asm.sh -- This script is supposed to set the env. variables of the ASM instance   if [ $? -ne 0 ]   then     echo "Error when setting the ASM environment"     exit 1   fi       V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S`   echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################"   echo "The asm diskgroups/disks dettected are the following ..."   echo "####################################################################"     sqlplus /nolog <<-!     whenever sqlerror exit 1     connect / as sysdba     whenever sqlerror exit     SET LINES 200     COL PATH FORMAT A25     SELECT DISK.MOUNT_STATUS, DISK.PATH, DISK.NAME, DISK_GROUP.NAME, DISK_GROUP.TOTAL_MB FROM V\$ASM_DISK DISK, V\$ASM_DISKGROUP DISK_GROUP WHERE DISK.GROUP_NUMBER=DISK_GROUP.GROUP_NUMBER; !       V_ADMIN_DIR=`dirname $0`   . ${V_ADMIN_DIR}/setenv_instance.sh -- This script is supposed to set the env. variables of the database instance   if [ $? -ne 0 ]   then     echo "Error when setting the database instance environment"     exit 1   fi     V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S`   echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################"   echo "Starting ${DB_NAME} in MOUNT mode..."   echo "####################################################################"   ${V_ADMIN_DIR}/start_instance_mount.sh -- This script is supposed to do a startup mount   if [ $? -ne 0 ]   then     echo "Error starting  ${DB_NAME} in MOUNT mode"     exit 1   fi   V_DATE=`/bin/date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S`   echo "${V_DATE} ####################################################"   echo "Executing RMAN backup..."   echo "####################################################################"   rman<<-!   connect target /   connect catalog ${V_RMAN_USR}/${V_RMAN_PWD}@${V_DB_CATALOG}   run {   allocate channel ch1 type 'SBT_TAPE' parms'ENV=(TDPO_OPTFILE=/opt/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/tdpo.opt)'; -- TDPO Media Library   crosscheck archivelog all;   backup tag BCK_CONTROLFILE_ST_${DB_NAME}   format 'ctl_%d_%s__%p_%t'   controlfilecopy '+FRA_${DB_NAME}/${DB_NAME}/CONTROLFILE/control_backup.ctl';   backup tag BCK_DATAFILE_ST_${DB_NAME} full   format 'db_%d_%s_%p_%t'database;   backup tag BCK_ARCHLOG_ST_${DB_NAME} format 'al_%d_%s_%p_%t' archivelog all;   release channel ch1;   } !   if [ $? -ne 0 ]   then     echo "Error executing the RMAN backup"     exit 1   fi     ${V_ADMIN_DIR}/stop_instance_immediate.sh -- This script is supposed to do a shutdown immediate of the database instance   ${ADMIN_DIR}/stop_asm_immediate.sh -- This script is supposed to do a shutdown immediate of the ASM instance   exit 0     fi   Hope it helps someone! --L

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• Auto blocking attacking IP address

  - by dong

  This is to share my PowerShell code online. I original asked this question on MSDN forum (or TechNet?) here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserversecurity/thread/f950686e-e3f8-4cf2-b8ec-2685c1ed7a77 In short, this is trying to find attacking IP address then add it into Firewall block rule. So I suppose: 1, You are running a Windows Server 2008 facing the Internet. 2, You need to have some port open for service, e.g. TCP 21 for FTP; TCP 3389 for Remote Desktop. You can see in my code I’m only dealing with these two since that’s what I opened. You can add further port number if you like, but the way to process might be different with these two. 3, I strongly suggest you use STRONG password and follow all security best practices, this ps1 code is NOT for adding security to your server, but reduce the nuisance from brute force attack, and make sys admin’s life easier: i.e. your FTP log won’t hold megabytes of nonsense, your Windows system log will not roll back and only can tell you what happened last month. 4, You are comfortable with setting up Windows Firewall rules, in my code, my rule has a name of “MY BLACKLIST”, you need to setup a similar one, and set it to BLOCK everything. 5, My rule is dangerous because it has the risk to block myself out as well. I do have a backup plan i.e. the DELL DRAC5 so that if that happens, I still can remote console to my server and reset the firewall. 6, By no means the code is perfect, the coding style, the use of PowerShell skills, the hard coded part, all can be improved, it’s just that it’s good enough for me already. It has been running on my server for more than 7 MONTHS. 7, Current code still has problem, I didn’t solve it yet, further on this point after the code. :)    #Dong Xie, March 2012  #my simple code to monitor attack and deal with it  #Windows Server 2008 Logon Type  #8: NetworkCleartext, i.e. FTP  #10: RemoteInteractive, i.e. RDP    $tick = 0;  "Start to run at: " + (get-date);    $regex1 = [regex] "192\.168\.100\.(?:101|102):3389\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)";  $regex2 = [regex] "Source Network Address:\t(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)";    while($True) {   $blacklist = @();     "Running... (tick:" + $tick + ")"; $tick+=1;    #Port 3389  $a = @()  netstat -no | Select-String ":3389" | ? { $m = $regex1.Match($_); `    $ip = $m.Groups[1].Value; if ($m.Success -and $ip -ne "10.0.0.1") {$a = $a + $ip;} }  if ($a.count -gt 0) {    $ips = get-eventlog Security -Newest 1000 | Where-Object {$_.EventID -eq 4625 -and $_.Message -match "Logon Type:\s+10"} | foreach { `      $m = $regex2.Match($_.Message); $ip = $m.Groups[1].Value; $ip; } | Sort-Object | Tee-Object -Variable list | Get-Unique    foreach ($ip in $a) { if ($ips -contains $ip) {      if (-not ($blacklist -contains $ip)) {        $attack_count = ($list | Select-String $ip -SimpleMatch | Measure-Object).count;        "Found attacking IP on 3389: " + $ip + ", with count: " + $attack_count;        if ($attack_count -ge 20) {$blacklist = $blacklist + $ip;}      }      }    }  }      #FTP  $now = (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-5); #check only last 5 mins.     #Get-EventLog has built-in switch for EventID, Message, Time, etc. but using any of these it will be VERY slow.  $count = (Get-EventLog Security -Newest 1000 | Where-Object {$_.EventID -eq 4625 -and $_.Message -match "Logon Type:\s+8" -and `              $_.TimeGenerated.CompareTo($now) -gt 0} | Measure-Object).count;  if ($count -gt 50) #threshold  {     $ips = @();     $ips1 = dir "C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\FPTSVC2" | Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending `       | select -First 1 | gc | select -Last 200 | where {$_ -match "An\+error\+occured\+during\+the\+authentication\+process."} `        | Select-String -Pattern "(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)" | select -ExpandProperty Matches | select -ExpandProperty value | Group-Object `        | where {$_.Count -ge 10} | select -ExpandProperty Name;       $ips2 = dir "C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\FTPSVC3" | Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending `       | select -First 1 | gc | select -Last 200 | where {$_ -match "An\+error\+occured\+during\+the\+authentication\+process."} `        | Select-String -Pattern "(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)" | select -ExpandProperty Matches | select -ExpandProperty value | Group-Object `        | where {$_.Count -ge 10} | select -ExpandProperty Name;     $ips += $ips1; $ips += $ips2; $ips = $ips | where {$_ -ne "10.0.0.1"} | Sort-Object | Get-Unique;         foreach ($ip in $ips) {       if (-not ($blacklist -contains $ip)) {        "Found attacking IP on FTP: " + $ip;        $blacklist = $blacklist + $ip;       }     }  }        #Firewall change <# $current = (netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name="MY BLACKLIST" | where {$_ -match "RemoteIP"}).replace("RemoteIP:", "").replace(" ","").replace("/255.255.255.255",""); #inside $current there is no \r or \n need remove. foreach ($ip in $blacklist) { if (-not ($current -match $ip) -and -not ($ip -like "10.0.0.*")) {"Adding this IP into firewall blocklist: " + $ip; $c= 'netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="MY BLACKLIST" new RemoteIP="{0},{1}"' -f $ip, $current; Invoke-Expression $c; } } #>    foreach ($ip in $blacklist) {    $fw=New-object –comObject HNetCfg.FwPolicy2; # http://blogs.technet.com/b/jamesone/archive/2009/02/18/how-to-manage-the-windows-firewall-settings-with-powershell.aspx    $myrule = $fw.Rules | where {$_.Name -eq "MY BLACKLIST"} | select -First 1; # Potential bug here?    if (-not ($myrule.RemoteAddresses -match $ip) -and -not ($ip -like "10.0.0.*"))      {"Adding this IP into firewall blocklist: " + $ip;         $myrule.RemoteAddresses+=(","+$ip);      }  }    Wait-Event -Timeout 30 #pause 30 secs    } # end of top while loop.   Further points: 1, I suppose the server is listening on port 3389 on server IP: 192.168.100.101 and 192.168.100.102, you need to replace that with your real IP. 2, I suppose you are Remote Desktop to this server from a workstation with IP: 10.0.0.1. Please replace as well. 3, The threshold for 3389 attack is 20, you don’t want to block yourself just because you typed your password wrong 3 times, you can change this threshold by your own reasoning. 4, FTP is checking the log for attack only to the last 5 mins, you can change that as well. 5, I suppose the server is serving FTP on both IP address and their LOG path are C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\FPTSVC2 and C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\FPTSVC3. Change accordingly. 6, FTP checking code is only asking for the last 200 lines of log, and the threshold is 10, change as you wish. 7, the code runs in a loop, you can set the loop time at the last line. To run this code, copy and paste to your editor, finish all the editing, get it to your server, and open an CMD window, then type powershell.exe –file your_powershell_file_name.ps1, it will start running, you can Ctrl-C to break it. This is what you see when it’s running: This is when it detected attack and adding the firewall rule: Regarding the design of the code: 1, There are many ways you can detect the attack, but to add an IP into a block rule is no small thing, you need to think hard before doing it, reason for that may include: You don’t want block yourself; and not blocking your customer/user, i.e. the good guy. 2, Thus for each service/port, I double check. For 3389, first it needs to show in netstat.exe, then the Event log; for FTP, first check the Event log, then the FTP log files. 3, At three places I need to make sure I’m not adding myself into the block rule. –ne with single IP, –like with subnet.   Now the final bit: 1, The code will stop working after a while (depends on how busy you are attacked, could be weeks, months, or days?!) It will throw Red error message in CMD, don’t Panic, it does no harm, but it also no longer blocking new attack. THE REASON is not confirmed with MS people: the COM object to manage firewall, you can only give it a list of IP addresses to the length of around 32KB I think, once it reaches the limit, you get the error message. 2, This is in fact my second solution to use the COM object, the first solution is still in the comment block for your reference, which is using netsh, that fails because being run from CMD, you can only throw it a list of IP to 8KB. 3, I haven’t worked the workaround yet, some ideas include: wrap that RemoteAddresses setting line with error checking and once it reaches the limit, use the newly detected IP to be the list, not appending to it. This basically reset your block rule to ground zero and lose the previous bad IPs. This does no harm as it sounds, because given a certain period has passed, any these bad IPs still not repent and continue the attack to you, it only got 30 seconds or 20 guesses of your password before you block it again. And there is the benefit that the bad IP may turn back to the good hands again, and you are not blocking a potential customer or your CEO’s home pc because once upon a time, it’s a zombie. Thus the ZEN of blocking: never block any IP for too long. 4, But if you insist to block the ugly forever, my other ideas include: You call MS support, ask them how can we set an arbitrary length of IP addresses in a rule; at least from my experiences at the Forum, they don’t know and they don’t care, because they think the dynamic blocking should be done by some expensive hardware. Or, from programming perspective, you can create a new rule once the old is full, then you’ll have MY BLACKLIST1, MY  BLACKLIST2, MY BLACKLIST3, … etc. Once in a while you can compile them together and start a business to sell your blacklist on the market! Enjoy the code! p.s. (PowerShell is REALLY REALLY GREAT!)

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• Transformation of Product Management in Telecommunications for Rapid Launch of Next Generation Products

  - by raul.goycoolea

  @font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; } The Telecom industry continues to evolve through disruptive products, uncertain markets, shorter product lifecycles and convergence of technologies. Today’s market has moved from network centric to consumer centric and focuses primarily on the customer experience. It has resulted in several product management challenges such as an increased complexity and volume of offerings, creating product variants, accelerating time-to-market, ability to provide multiple product views for varied stakeholders, leveraging OSS intelligence to BSS layer, product co-creation and increasing audit and security concerns for service providers. The document discusses how enterprise product management enabled by PLM-based product catalogue solutions helps to launch next generation products rapidly in the context of the Telecommunication Industry.   1.0.       Introduction   Figure 1: Business Scenario   Modern business demands the launch of complex products in a very short timeframe and effecting changes in the price plan faster without IT intervention. One of the key transformation initiatives companies are focusing on is in the area of product management transformation and operational efficiency improvement. As part of these initiatives, companies are investing in best- in-class COTs-based Product Management solutions developed on industry-wide standards.   The new COTs packages are planned to integrate with existing or new B/OSS systems to provide a strategic end-to-end agile solution for reduced time-to-market and order journey time. In addition, system rationalization is being undertaken to phase out legacy systems and migrate to strategic systems.   2.0.       An Overview of Product Management in Telecom   Product data in telecom is multi- dimensional and difficult to manage. It increased significantly due to the complexity of the product, product offerings on the converged network, increased volume of offerings, bundled offering structures and ever increasing regulatory requirements.   In addition, the shrinking product lifecycle in telecom makes it difficult to manage the dynamic product data. Mergers and acquisitions coupled with organic growth pose major challenges in product portfolio management. It is a roadblock in the journey towards becoming an agile organization.       Figure 2: Complexity in Product Management   Network Technology’ is the new dimension in telecom product management where the same products are realized through different networks i.e., Soiled network to Converged network. Consequently, the product solution is different.     Figure 3: Current Scenario - Pain Points in Product Management   The major business implications arising out of the current scenario are slow time-to-market and an inefficient process that affects innovation.   3.0. Transformation of Next Generation Product Management   Companies must focus on their Product Management Transformation Journey in the areas of:   ·       Management of single truth of product information across the organization/geographies which is currently managed in heterogeneous systems   ·       Management of the Intellectual Property (IP) on the product concept and partnership in the design of discrete components to integrate into the system   ·       Leveraging structured and unstructured product data within the extended enterprise to extract consumer insights and drive innovation   ·       Management of effective operational separation to comply with regulatory bodies   ·       Reuse of existing designs and add relevant features such as value-added services to enable effective product bundling     Figure 4: Next generation needs   PLM-based Enterprise Product Catalogue solutions efficiently address the above requirements and act as an enabler towards product management transformation and rapid product launch.   4.0. PLM-based Enterprise Product Management     Figure 5: PLM-based Enterprise Product Mastering   Enterprise Product Management (EPM) enables the business to manage complex product attributes of data in complex environments. Product Mastering helps create a 'single view' of the product by creating a business-driven, IT-supported environment where a global 'single truth record' is created, managed and reused.   4.1 The Business Case for Telco PLM-based solutions for Enterprise Product Management   ·       Telco PLM-based Product Mastering solutions provide a centralized authoring environment for product definition and control of all product data and rules   ·       PLM packages are designed to support multiple perspectives of product data (ordering perspective, billing perspective, provisioning perspective)   ·       Maintains relationships/links between different elements of the entire product definition   ·       Telco PLM packages are specialized in next generation lifecycle management requirements of products such as revision and state management, test and release management, role management and impact analysis)   ·       Takes into consideration all aspects of OSS product requirements compared to CRM product catalogue solutions where the product data managed is mostly order oriented and transactional     ·       New breed of Telco PLM packages are designed with 'open' standards such as SID and eTOM. They are interoperable, support integration frameworks such as subscription and notification.   ·       Telco PLM packages have developed good collaboration frameworks to integrate suppliers and partners into the product development value chain   4.2 Various Architectures/Approaches for Product Mastering using Telco PLM systems   4. 2.a Single Central Product Management (Mastering) Approach   Figure 6: Single Central Product Management (Master) Approach       This approach is implemented across verticals such as aerospace and automotive. It focuses on a physically centralized product master to which other sources are dependent on. The product definition data (Product bundles, service bundles, price plans, offers and discounts, product configuration rules and market campaigns) is created and maintained physically in a centralized environment. In addition, the product definition/authoring environment is centralized. The existing legacy product definition data available in CRM product catalogue, billing catalogue and the legacy product catalogue is migrated to the centralized PLM-based Enterprise Product Management solution.   Architectural changes must be made in the existing business landscape of applications to create and revise data because the applications have to refer to the central repository for approvals and validation of product configurations. It is achieved by modifying how the applications write data or how the applications can be adapted to use the rules to be managed and published.   Complete product configuration validation will be done in enterprise / central product catalogue and final configuration will be sent to the B/OSS system through the SOA compliant product distribution architecture. The approach/architecture enables greater control in terms of product data management and product data governance.   4.2.b Federated Product Management (Mastering) Architecture     Figure 7: Federated Product Management (Mastering) Architecture   In the federated product mastering approach, the basic unique product definition data (product id, description product hierarchy, basic price plans and simple product design rules) will be centrally created and will be maintained. And, the advanced product definition (Product bundling, promotions, offers & discount plans) will be created in respective down stream OSS systems. The advanced product definition (Product bundling, promotions, offers and discount plans) will be created in respective downstream OSS systems.   For example, basic product definitions such as attributes, product hierarchy and basic price plans will be created and maintained in Enterprise/Central product reference catalogue and distributed to downstream OSS systems. Respective downstream OSS systems build product bundles, promotions, advanced price plans over the basic product definition and master the advanced product definition. Central reference database accesses the respective other source product master data and assembles a point-in-time consolidated view of the product. The approach is typically adapted in some merger and acquisition scenarios where there is a low probability of a central physical authority managing the data. In addition, the migration effort in this case is minimal and there are no big architectural changes to the organization application landscape. However, this approach will not result in better product data management and data governance.   5.0 Customer Scenario – Before EPC deployment   A leading global telecommunications service provider wanted to launch a quad play and triple play service offering in the shortest possible lead time. The service provider was offering Broadband and VoIP services to customers. The company wanted to reuse a majority of the Broadband services and price plans and bundle them with new wireless and IPTV services for quad play and triple play. The challenges in launching the new service offerings were:       Figure 8: Triple Play Plan   ·       Broadband product data was stored in multiple product catalogues (CRM catalogue, Billing catalogue, spread sheets)   ·       Product managers spent a lot of time performing tasks involving duplication or re-keying of data. Manual effort caused errors, cost and time over-runs.   ·       No effective product and price data governance mechanism. Price change issues arising from the lack of data consistency across systems resulted in leakage of customer value and revenue.   ·       Product data had re-usability issues and was not in a structured format. It resulted in uncontrolled product portfolio creation and product management issues.   ·       Lack of enterprise product model resulted into product distribution challenges and thus delays in product launch.   ·       Designers are constrained by existing legacy product management solutions to model product/service requirements and product configuration rules such as upgrading, downgrading and cross selling.    5.1 Customer Scenario - After EPC deployment     Figure 9: SOA-based end-to-end EPC Solution   The company deployed PLM-based Enterprise Product Catalogue solutions to launch quad play service after evaluating various product catalogues. The broadband product offering, service and price data were migrated to the new system, and the product and price plan hierarchy for new offerings were created using the entities defined in the Enterprise Product Model. Supplier product catalogue data such as routers and set up boxes were loaded onto the new solution through SOA-based web service. Price plans and configuration rules were built in the new system. The validated final product configurations were extracted from the product catalogue in a SID format and were distributed to the downstream B/OSS systems through exposed SOA-based web services. The transformations required for the B/OSS system were handled using the transformation layer as part of the solution.   6.0 How PLM enabled Product Management Transformation         Figure 10: Product Management Transformation     PLM-based Product Catalogue Solution helped the customer reduce the product launch cycle time by 30% and enable transformation of Product Management for next generation services.   7.0 Conclusion   On the one hand, the telecom industry is undergoing changes due to disruptions, uncertain product markets and increased complexity of products. On the other hand, the ARPU is decreasing year-on-year. Communications Service Providers are embarking on convergence, bundled service offerings, flexibility to cross-sell and up-sell, introduce new value-added services, leverage Web 2.0 concepts and network capabilities. Consequently, large scale IT transformation initiatives to improve their ARPU supporting network and business transformations are a business imperative. Product Management has become a focus area. Companies are investing in best-in- class COTS solutions to reduce time-to-market, ensure rapid service delivery and improve operational efficiency. An efficient PLM-based enterprise product mastering solution plays a key role in achieving zero touch automation and rapid product launch.   References:   1.     Preston G.Smith, Donald G.Reineristsem, Van Nostrand Reinhold “Developing Products in Half the time”.   2.     John G. Innes, "Achieving Successful Product Change", Pitman Publishing.   3.     D T Pham and R M Setchi (16th Jan, 2001) "Authoring environment for documentation development" University of Wales Cardiff, U.K., Proceedings on Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 215, Part B.   4.     Oracle Product Hub for Communications:   http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/master-data-management/product-hub-082059.html  

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• The Windows Store... why did I sign up with this mess again?

  - by FransBouma

  Yesterday, Microsoft revealed that the Windows Store is now open to all developers in a wide range of countries and locations. For the people who think "wtf is the 'Windows Store'?", it's the central place where Windows 8 users will be able to find, download and purchase applications (or as we now have to say to not look like a computer illiterate: <accent style="Kentucky">aaaaappss</accent>) for Windows 8. As this is the store which is integrated into Windows 8, it's an interesting place for ISVs, as potential customers might very well look there first. This of course isn't true for all kinds of software, and developer tools in general aren't the kind of applications most users will download from the Windows store, but a presence there can't hurt. Now, this Windows Store hosts two kinds of applications: 'Metro-style' applications and 'Desktop' applications. The 'Metro-style' applications are applications created for the new 'Metro' UI which is present on Windows 8 desktop and Windows RT (the single color/big font fingerpaint-oriented UI). 'Desktop' applications are the applications we all run and use on Windows today. Our software are desktop applications. The Windows Store hosts all Metro-style applications locally in the store and handles the payment for these applications. This means you upload your application (sorry, 'app') to the store, jump through a lot of hoops, Microsoft verifies that your application is not violating a tremendous long list of rules and after everything is OK, it's published and hopefully you get customers and thus earn money. Money which Microsoft will pay you on a regular basis after customers buy your application. Desktop applications are not following this path however. Desktop applications aren't hosted by the Windows Store. Instead, the Windows Store more or less hosts a page with the application's information and where to get the goods. I.o.w.: it's nothing more than a product's Facebook page. Microsoft will simply redirect a visitor of the Windows Store to your website and the visitor will then use your site's system to purchase and download the application. This last bit of information is very important. So, this morning I started with fresh energy to register our company 'Solutions Design bv' at the Windows Store and our two applications, LLBLGen Pro and ORM Profiler. First I went to the Windows Store dashboard page. If you don't have an account, you have to log in or sign up if you don't have a live account. I signed in with my live account. After that, it greeted me with a page where I had to fill in a code which was mailed to me. My local mail server polls every several minutes for email so I had to kick it to get it immediately. I grabbed the code from the email and I was presented with a multi-step process to register myself as a company or as an individual. In red I was warned that this choice was permanent and not changeable. I chuckled: Microsoft apparently stores its data on paper, not in digital form. I chose 'company' and was presented with a lengthy form to fill out. On the form there were two strange remarks: Per company there can just be 1 (one, uno, not zero, not two or more) registered developer, and only that developer is able to upload stuff to the store. I have no idea how this works with large companies, oh the overhead nightmares... "Sorry, but John, our registered developer with the Windows Store is on holiday for 3 months, backpacking through Australia, no, he's not reachable at this point. M'yeah, sorry bud. Hey, did you fill in those TPS reports yesterday?" A separate Approver has to be specified, which has to be a different person than the registered developer. Apparently to Microsoft a company with just 1 person is not a company. Luckily we're with two people! *pfew*, dodged that one, otherwise I would be stuck forever: the choice I already made was not reversible! After I had filled out the form and it was all well and good and accepted by the Microsoft lackey who had to write it all down in some paper notebook ("Hey, be warned! It's a permanent choice! Written down in ink, can't be changed!"), I was presented with the question how I wanted to pay for all this. "Pay for what?" I wondered. Must be the paper they were scribbling the information on, I concluded. After all, there's a financial crisis going on! How could I forget! Silly me. "Ok fair enough". The price was 75 Euros, not the end of the world. I could only pay by credit card, so it was accepted quickly. Or so I thought. You see, Microsoft has a different idea about CC payments. In the normal world, you type in your CC number, some date, a name and a security code and that's it. But Microsoft wants to verify this even more. They want to make a verification purchase of a very small amount and are doing that with a special code in the description. You then have to type in that code in a special form in the Windows Store dashboard and after that you're verified. Of course they'll refund the small amount they pull from your card. Sounds simple, right? Well... no. The problem starts with the fact that I can't see the CC activity on some website: I have a bank issued CC card. I get the CC activity once a month on a piece of paper sent to me. The bank's online website doesn't show them. So it's possible I have to wait for this code till October 12th. One month. "So what, I'm not going to use it anyway, Desktop applications don't use the payment system", I thought. "Haha, you're so naive, dear developer!" Microsoft won't allow you to publish any applications till this verification is done. So no application publishing for a month. Wouldn't it be nice if things were, you know, digital, so things got done instantly? But of course, that lackey who scribbled everything in the Big Windows Store Registration Book isn't that quick. Can't blame him though. He's just doing his job. Now, after the payment was done, I was presented with a page which tells me Microsoft is going to use a third party company called 'Symantec', which will verify my identity again. The page explains to me that this could be done through email or phone and that they'll contact the Approver to verify my identity. "Phone?", I thought... that's a little drastic for a developer account to publish a single page of information about an external hosted software product, isn't it? On Facebook I just added a page, done. And paying you, Microsoft, took less information: you were happy to take my money before my identity was even 'verified' by this 3rd party's minions! "Double standards!", I roared. No-one cared. But it's the thought of getting it off your chest, you know. Luckily for me, everyone at Symantec was asleep when I was registering so they went for the fallback option in case phone calls were not possible: my Approver received an email. Imagine you have to explain the idiot web of security theater I was caught in to someone else who then has to reply a random person over the internet that I indeed was who I said I was. As she's a true sweetheart, she gave me the benefit of the doubt and assured that for now, I was who I said I was. Remember, this is for a desktop application, which is only a link to a website, some pictures and a piece of text. No file hosting, no payment processing, nothing, just a single page. Yeah, I also thought I was crazy. But we're not at the end of this quest yet. I clicked around in the confusing menus of the Windows Store dashboard and found the 'Desktop' section. I get a helpful screen with a warning in red that it can't find any certified 'apps'. True, I'm just getting started, buddy. I see a link: "Check the Windows apps you submitted for certification". Well, I haven't submitted anything, but let's see where it brings me. Oh the thrill of adventure! I click the link and I end up on this site: the hardware/desktop dashboard account registration. "Erm... but I just registered...", I mumbled to no-one in particular. Apparently for desktop registration / verification I have to register again, it tells me. But not only that, the desktop application has to be signed with a certificate. And not just some random el-cheapo certificate you can get at any mall's discount store. No, this certificate is special. It's precious. This certificate, the 'Microsoft Authenticode' Digital Certificate, is the only certificate that's acceptable, and jolly, it can be purchased from VeriSign for the price of only ... $99.-, but be quick, because this is a limited time offer! After that it's, I kid you not, $499.-. 500 dollars for a certificate to sign an executable. But, I do feel special, I got a special price. Only for me! I'm glowing. Not for long though. Here I started to wonder, what the benefit of it all was. I now again had to pay money for a shiny certificate which will add 'Solutions Design bv' to our installer as the publisher instead of 'unknown', while our customers download the file from our website. Not only that, but this was all about a Desktop application, which wasn't hosted by Microsoft. They only link to it. And make no mistake. These prices aren't single payments. Every year these have to be renewed. Like a membership of an exclusive club: you're special and privileged, but only if you cough up the dough. To give you an example how silly this all is: I added LLBLGen Pro and ORM Profiler to the Visual Studio Gallery some time ago. It's the same thing: it's a central place where one can find software which adds to / extends / works with Visual Studio. I could simply create the pages, add the information and they show up inside Visual Studio. No files are hosted at Microsoft, they're downloaded from our website. Exactly the same system. As I have to wait for the CC transcripts to arrive anyway, I can't proceed with publishing in this new shiny store. After the verification is complete I have to wait for verification of my software by Microsoft. Even Desktop applications need to be verified using a long list of rules which are mainly focused on Metro-style applications. Even while they're not hosted by Microsoft. I wonder what they'll find. "Your application wasn't approved. It violates rule 14 X sub D: it provides more value than our own competing framework". While I was writing this post, I tried to check something in the Windows Store Dashboard, to see whether I remembered it correctly. I was presented again with the question, after logging in with my live account, to enter the code that was just mailed to me. Not the previous code, a brand new one. Again I had to kick my mail server to pull the email to proceed. This was it. This 'experience' is so beyond miserable, I'm afraid I have to say goodbye for now to the 'Windows Store'. It's simply not worth my time. Now, about live accounts. You might know this: live accounts are tied to everything you do with Microsoft. So if you have an MSDN subscription, e.g. the one which costs over $5000.-, it's tied to this same live account. But the fun thing is, you can login with your live account to the MSDN subscriptions with just the account id and password. No additional code is mailed to you. While it gives you access to all Microsoft software available, including your licenses. Why the draconian security theater with this Windows Store, while all I want is to publish some desktop applications while on other Microsoft sites it's OK to simply sign in with your live account: no codes needed, no verification and no certificates? Microsoft, one thing you need with this store and that's: apps. Apps, apps, apps, apps, aaaaaaaaapps. Sorry, my bad, got carried away. I just can't stand the word 'app'. This store's shelves have to be filled to the brim with goods. But instead of being welcomed into the store with open arms, I have to fight an uphill battle with an endless list of rules and bullshit to earn the privilege to publish in this shiny store. As if I have to be thrilled to be one of the exclusive club called 'Windows Store Publishers'. As if Microsoft doesn't want it to succeed. Craig Stuntz sent me a link to an old blog post of his regarding code signing and uploading to Microsoft's old mobile store from back in the WinMo5 days: http://blogs.teamb.com/craigstuntz/2006/10/11/28357/. Good read and good background info about how little things changed over the years. I hope this helps Microsoft make things more clearer and smoother and also helps ISVs with their decision whether to go with the Windows Store scheme or ignore it. For now, I don't see the advantage of publishing there, especially not with the nonsense rules Microsoft cooked up. Perhaps it changes in the future, who knows.

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• You should NOT be writing jQuery in SharePoint if&hellip;

  - by Mark Rackley

  Yes… another one of these posts. What can I say? I’m a pot stirrer.. a rabble rouser *rabble rabble* jQuery in SharePoint seems to be a fairly polarizing issue with one side thinking it is the most awesome thing since Princess Leia as the slave girl in Return of the Jedi and the other half thinking it is the worst idea since Mannequin 2: On the Move. The correct answer is OF COURSE “it depends”. But what are those deciding factors that make jQuery an awesome fit or leave a bad taste in your mouth? Let’s see if I can drive the discussion here with some polarizing comments of my own… I know some of you are getting ready to leave your comments even now before reading the rest of the blog, which is great! Iron sharpens iron… These discussions hopefully open us up to understanding the entire process better and think about things in a different way. You should not be writing jQuery in SharePoint if you are not a developer… Let’s start off with my most polarizing and rant filled portion of the blog post. If you don’t know what you are doing or you don’t have a background that helps you understand the implications of what you are writing then you should not be writing jQuery in SharePoint! I truly believe that one of the biggest reasons for the jQuery haters is because of all the bad jQuery out there. If you don’t know what you are doing you can do some NASTY things! One of the best stories I’ve heard about this is from my good friend John Ferringer (@ferringer). John tells this story during our Mythbusters session we do together. One of his clients was undergoing a Denial of Service attack and they couldn’t figure out what was going on! After much searching they found that some genius jQuery developer wrote some code for an image rotator, but did not take into account what happens when there are no images to load! The code just kept hitting the servers over and over and over again which prevented anything else from getting done! Now, I’m NOT saying that I have not done the same sort of thing in the past or am immune from such mistakes. My point is that if you don’t know what you are doing, there are very REAL consequences that can have a major impact on your organization AND they will be hard to track down.  Think how happy your boss will be after you copy and pasted some jQuery from a blog without understanding what it does, it brings down the farm, AND it takes them 3 days to track it back to you.  :/ Good times will not be had. Like it or not JavaScript/jQuery is a programming language. While you .NET people sit on your high horses because your code is compiled and “runs faster” (also debatable), the rest of us will be actually getting work done and delivering solutions while you are trying to figure out why your widget won’t deploy. I can pick at that scab because I write .NET code too and speak from experience. I can do both, and do both well. So, I am not speaking from ignorance here. In JavaScript/jQuery you have variables, loops, conditionals, functions, arrays, events, and built in methods. If you are not a developer you just aren’t going to take advantage of all of that and use it correctly. Ahhh.. but there is hope! There is a lot of jQuery resources out there to help you learn and learn well! There are many experts on the subject that will gladly tell you when you are smoking crack. I just this minute saw a tweet from @cquick with a link to: “jQuery Fundamentals”. I just glanced through it and this may be a great primer for you aspiring jQuery devs. Take advantage of all the resources and become a developer! Hey, it will look awesome on your resume right? You should not be writing jQuery in SharePoint if it depends too much on client resources for a good user experience I’ve said it once and I’ll say it over and over until you understand. jQuery is executed on the client’s computer. Got it? If you are looping through hundreds of rows of data, searching through an enormous DOM, or performing many calculations it is going to take some time! AND if your user happens to be sitting on some old PC somewhere that they picked up at a garage sale their experience will be that much worse! If you can’t give the user a good experience they will not use the site. So, if jQuery is causing the user to have a bad experience, don’t use it. I sometimes go as far to say that you should NOT go to jQuery as a first option for external facing web sites because you have ZERO control over what the end user’s computer will be. You just can’t guarantee an awesome user experience all of the time. Ahhh… but you have no choice? (where have I heard that before?). Well… if you really have no choice, here are some tips to help improve the experience: Avoid screen scraping This is not 1999 and SharePoint is not an old green screen from a mainframe… so why are you treating it like it is? Screen scraping is time consuming and client intensive. Take advantage of tools like SPServices to do your data retrieval when possible. Fine tune your DOM searches A lot of time can be eaten up just searching the DOM and ignoring table rows that you don’t need. Write better jQuery to only loop through tables rows that you need, or only access specific elements you need. Take advantage of Element ID’s to return the one element you are looking for instead of looping through all the DOM over and over again. Write better jQuery Remember this is development. Think about how you can write cleaner, faster jQuery. This directly relates to the previous point of improving your DOM searches, but also when using arrays, variables and loops. Do you REALLY need to loop through that array 3 times? How can you knock it down to 2 times or even 1? When you have lots of calculations and data that you are manipulating every operation adds up. Think about how you can streamline it. Back in the old days before RAM was abundant, Cores were plentiful and dinosaurs roamed the earth, us developers had to take performance into account in everything we did. It’s a lost art that really needs to be used here. You should not be writing jQuery in SharePoint if you are sending a lot of data over the wire… Developer:  “Awesome… you can easily call SharePoint’s web services to retrieve and write data using SPServices!” Administrator: “Crap! you can easily call SharePoint’s web services to retrieve and write data using SPServices!” SPServices may indeed be the best thing that happened to SharePoint since the invention of SharePoint Saturdays by Godfather Lotter… BUT you HAVE to use it wisely! (I REFUSE to make the Spiderman reference). If you do not know what you are doing your code will bring back EVERY field and EVERY row from a list and push that over the internet with all that lovely XML wrapped around it. That can be a HUGE amount of data and will GREATLY impact performance! Calling several web service methods at the same time can cause the same problem and can negatively impact your SharePoint servers. These problems, thankfully, are not difficult to rectify if you are careful: Limit list data retrieved Use CAML to reduce the number of rows returned and limit the fields returned using ViewFields.  You should definitely be doing this regardless. If you aren’t I hope your admin thumps you upside the head. Batch large list updates You may or may not have noticed that if you try to do large updates (hundreds of rows) that the performance is either completely abysmal or it fails over half the time. You can greatly improve performance and avoid timeouts by breaking up your updates into several smaller updates. I don’t know if there is a magic number for best performance, it really depends on how much data you are sending back more than the number of rows. However, I have found that 200 rows generally works well.  Play around and find the right number for your situation. Delay Web Service calls when possible One of the cool things about jQuery and SPServices is that you can delay queries to the server until they are actually needed instead of doing them all at once. This can lead to performance improvements over DataViewWebParts and even .NET code in the right situations. So, don’t load the data until it’s needed. In some instances you may not need to retrieve the data at all, so why retrieve it ALL the time? You should not be writing jQuery in SharePoint if there is a better solution… jQuery is NOT the silver bullet in SharePoint, it is not the answer to every question, it is just another tool in the developers toolkit. I urge all developers to know what options exist out there and choose the right one! Sometimes it will be jQuery, sometimes it will be .NET,  sometimes it will be XSL, and sometimes it will be some other choice… So, when is there a better solution to jQuery? When you can’t get away from performance problems Sometimes jQuery will just give you horrible performance regardless of what you do because of unavoidable obstacles. In these situations you are going to have to figure out an alternative. Can I do it with a DVWP or do I have to crack open Visual Studio? When you need to do something that jQuery can’t do There are lots of things you can’t do in jQuery like elevate privileges, event handlers, workflows, or interact with back end systems that have no web service interface. It just can’t do everything. When it can be done faster and more efficiently another way Why are you spending time to write jQuery to do a DataViewWebPart that would take 5 minutes? Or why are you trying to implement complicated logic that would be simple to do in .NET? If your answer is that you don’t have the option, okay. BUT if you do have the option don’t reinvent the wheel! Take advantage of the other tools. The answer is not always jQuery… sorry… the kool-aid tastes good, but sweet tea is pretty awesome too. You should not be using jQuery in SharePoint if you are a moron… Let’s finish up the blog on a high note… Yes.. it’s true, I sometimes type things just to get a reaction… guess this section title might be a good example, but it feels good sometimes just to type the words that a lot of us think… So.. don’t be that guy! Another good buddy of mine that works for Microsoft told me. “I loved jQuery in SharePoint…. until I had to support it.”. He went on to explain that some user was making several web service calls on a page using jQuery and then was calling Microsoft and COMPLAINING because the page took so long to load… DUH! What do you expect to happen when you are pushing that much data over the wire and are making that many web service calls at once!! It’s one thing to write that kind of code and accept it’s just going to take a while, it’s COMPLETELY another issue to do that and then complain when it’s not lightning fast!  Someone’s gene pool needs some chlorine. So, I think this is a nice summary of the blog… DON’T be that guy… don’t be a moron. How can you stop yourself from being a moron? Ah.. glad you asked, here are some tips: Think Is jQuery the right solution to my problem? Is there a better approach? What are the implications and pitfalls of using jQuery in this situation? Search What are others doing? Does someone have a better solution? Is there a third party library that does the same thing I need? Plan Write good jQuery. Limit calculations and data sent over the wire and don’t reinvent the wheel when possible. Test Okay, it works well on your machine. Try it on others ESPECIALLY if this is for an external site. Test with empty data. Test with hundreds of rows of data. Test as many scenarios as possible. Monitor those server resources to see the impact there as well. Ask the experts As smart as you are, there are people smarter than you. Even the experts talk to each other to make sure they aren't doing something stupid. And for the MOST part they are pretty nice guys. Marc Anderson and Christophe Humbert are two guys who regularly keep me in line. Make sure you aren’t doing something stupid. Repeat So, when you think you have the best solution possible, repeat the steps above just to be safe.  Conclusion jQuery is an awesome tool and has come in handy on many occasions. I’m even teaching a 1/2 day SharePoint & jQuery workshop at the upcoming SPTechCon in Boston if you want to berate me in person. However, it’s only as awesome as the developer behind the keyboard. It IS development and has its pitfalls. Knowledge and experience are invaluable to giving the user the best experience possible.  Let’s face it, in the end, no matter our opinions, prejudices, or ego providing our clients, customers, and users with the best solution possible is what counts. Period… end of sentence…

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, December 31, 2010

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, December 31, 2010Popular ReleasesFree Silverlight & WPF Chart Control - Visifire: Visifire SL and WPF Charts v3.6.6 Released: Hi, Today we are releasing final version of Visifire, v3.6.6 with the following new feature: * TextDecorations property is implemented in Title for Chart. * TitleTextDecorations property is implemented in Axis. * MinPointHeight property is now applicable for Column and Bar Charts. Also this release includes few bug fixes: * ToolTipText property of DataSeries was not getting applied from Style. * Chart threw exception if IndicatorEnabled property was set to true and Too...Windows Weibo all in one for Sina Sohu and QQ: WeiBee V0.1: WeiBee is an all in one Twitter tool, which can update Wei Bo at the same time for websites. It intends to support t.sohu.com, t.sina.com.cn and t.qq.com.cn. If you have WeiBo at SOHU, SINA and QQ, you can try this tool to help you save time to open all the webpages to update your status. For any business opportunity, such as put advertise on China Twitter market, and to build a custom WeiBo tool, please reach my email box qq1800@gmail.com My official WeiBo is http://mediaroom.t.sohu.comStyleCop Compliant Visual Studio Code Snippets: Visual Studio Code Snippets - January 2011: StyleCop Compliant Visual Studio Code Snippets Visual Studio 2010 provides C# developers with 38 code snippets, enhancing developer productivty and increasing the consistency of the code. Within this project the original code snippets have been refactored to provide StyleCop compliant versions of the original code snippets while also adding many new code snippets. Within the January 2011 release you'll find 82 code snippets to make you more productive and the code you write more consistent!...WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.0.0.2: Version: 2.0.0.2 (Milestone 2): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Remark The sample applications are using Microsoft’s IoC container MEF. However, the WPF Application Framework (WAF) doesn’t force you to use the same IoC container in your application. You can use ...eCompany: eCompany v0.2.0 Build 63: Version 0.2.0 Build 63: Added Splash screen & about box Added downloading of currencies when eCompany launched for the first time (must close any bug caused by no currency rate existing) Added corp creation when eCompany launched for the first time (for now, you didn't need to edit the company.xml file manually) You just need to decompress file "eCompany v0.2.0.63.zip" into your current eCompany install directory.SQL Monitor - tracking sql server activities: SQL Monitor 3.0 alpha 8: 1. added truncate table/defrag index/check db functions 2. improved alert 3. fixed problem with alert causing config file corrupted(hopefully)Analysis Services Stored Procedure Project: 1.3.5 Release: This release includes the following fixes and new functionality: Updates to GetCubeLastProcessedDate to work with perspectives Fixes to reports that call Discover functions improving drillthrough functions against perspectives improving ExecuteDrillthroughAndFixColumns logic fixing situation where MDX query calling certain ASSP sprocs which opened external connections caused deadlock to SSAS processing small fix to Partition code when DbColumnName property doesn't exist changes...DocX: DocX v1.0.0.11: Building Examples projectTo build the Examples project, download DocX.dll and add it as a reference to the project. OverviewThis version of DocX contains many bug fixes, it is a serious step towards a stable release. Added1) Unit testing project, 2) Examples project, 3) To many bug fixes to list here, see the source code change list history.Cosmos (C# Open Source Managed Operating System): 71406: This is the second release supporting the full line of Visual Studio 2010 editions. Changes since release 71246 include: Debug info is now stored in a single .cpdb file (which is a Firebird database) Keyboard input works now (using Console.ReadLine) Console colors work (using Console.ForegroundColor and .BackgroundColor)AutoLoL: AutoLoL v1.5.0: Added the all new Masteries Browser which replaces the Quick Open combobox AutoLoL will now attemt to create file associations for mastery (*.lolm) files Each Mastery Build can now contain keywords that the Masteries Browser will use for filtering Changed the way AutoLoL detects if another instance is already running Changed the format of the mastery files to allow more information stored in* Dialogs will now focus the Ok or Cancel button which allows the user to press Return to clo...Paint.NET PSD Plugin: 1.6.0: Handling of layer masks has been greatly improved. Improved reliability. Many PSD files that previously loaded in as garbage will now load in correctly. Parallelized loading. PSD files containing layer masks will load in a bit quicker thanks to the removal of the sequential bottleneck. Hidden layers are no longer made visible on save. Many thanks to the users who helped expose the layer masks problem: Rob Horowitz, M_Lyons10. Please keep sending in those bug reports and PSD repro files!Facebook C# SDK: 4.1.1: From 4.1.1 Release: Authentication bug fix caused by facebook change (error with redirects in Safari) Authenticator fix, always returning true From 4.1.0 Release Lots of bug fixes Removed Dynamic Runtime Language dependencies from non-dynamic platforms. Samples included in release for ASP.NET, MVC, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, WPF, WinForms, and one Visual Basic Sample Changed internal serialization to use Json.net BREAKING CHANGE: Canvas Session is no longer supported. Use Signed...Catel - WPF and Silverlight MVVM library: 1.0.0: And there it is, the final release of Catel, and it is no longer a beta version!EnhSim: EnhSim 2.2.7 ALPHA: 2.2.7 ALPHAThis release supports WoW patch 4.03a at level 85 To use this release, you must have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=A7B7A05E-6DE6-4D3A-A423-37BF0912DB84 To use the GUI you must have the .NET 4.0 Framework installed. This can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992 - Mongoose has bee...Euro for Windows XP: ChangeRegionalSettings 1..0: *Rocket Framework (.Net 4.0): Rocket Framework for Windows V 1.0.0: Architecture is reviewed and adjusted in a way so that I can introduce the Web version and WPF version of this framework next. - Rocket.Core is introduced - Controller button functions revisited and updated - DB is renewed to suite the implemented features - Create New button functionality is changed - Add Question Handling featuresFlickr Wallpaper Rotator (for Windows desktop): Wallpaper Flickr 1.1: Some minor bugfixes (mostly covering when network connection is flakey, so I discovered them all while at my parents' house for Christmas).NoSimplerAccounting: NoSimplerAccounting 6.0: -Fixed a bug in expense category report.NHibernate Mapping Generator: NHibernate Mapping Generator 2.0: Added support for Postgres (Thanks to Angelo)NewLife XCode: XCode v6.5.2010.1223 ????（????v3.5??）: XCode v6.5.2010.1223 ????，??： NewLife.Core ??? NewLife.Net ??? XControl ??? XTemplate ????，??C#?????? XAgent ???? NewLife.CommonEnitty ??????（???，XCode??????） XCode?? ?????????，??????????????????，?????95% XCode v3.5.2009.0714 ??，?v3.5?v6.0???????????????，?????????。v3.5???????????，??????????????。 XCoder ??XTemplate?????????，????????XCode??? XCoder_Src ???????（????XTemplate????），??????????????????New Projects1i2m3i4s5e6r7p: 1i2m3i4s5e6r7pA3 Fashion Web: A complete e-commerce siteAfonsoft Blog - Blog de teste: Blog para teste de desenvolvimento em MySQL ou SQLServer com ASP.NET 3.5AnyGrid for ASP.NET MVC: Which grid component should you use for your ASP.NET MVC project? How about all of them? AnyGrid makes it easy to switch between grid implementations, allowing a single action to, e.g., use two different grids for desktop and mobile views. It also supports DataAnnnotations.BizTalk Map Test Framework: The Map Test Framework makes it easier for BizTalk developers to test their maps. You'll no longer have to maintain a whole bunch of XML files for your tests. The use of template files and xpath queries to perform tests will increase your productivity tremendously.BlogResult.NET: A simple Blogging starter kit using S#harp Architecture. This project was originally course material sample code for an MVC class, but we decided to open source it and make it available to the community.Caro: Code demo caro game.Ecozany Skin for DotNetNuke: This Ecozany package contains three sample skins and a collection of containers for use in your DotNetNuke web sites.Enhanced lookup field: Enhanced lookup field makes it easier for end users to create filters. You'll no longer have to use a custom field or javascript to have a parent child lookup for example. It's developed in C#. - Parent/multiple child lookups - Advanced filters options - Easy to usejobglance: This is job siteMaxLeafWeb_K3: MaxLeafWeb_K3Miage Kart: Projet java M1msystem: MVC. Net web systemNetController: Controle sem teclas de direção, usando acelerômentro e .NET micro Framework.Pencils - A Blog Site framework: Another Blog site frameworkPICTShell: PICT is an efficient way to design test cases and test configurations for software systems. PICT Shell is the GUI for PICT.Portal de Solicitação de Serviços: O Portal de Solicitação de Serviços é uma solução que atende diversas empresas prestadores de serviços. Inicialmente desenvolvido para atender empresa de informática, mas o objetivo é que com a publicação do fonte, ele seja extendido à diversos tipos de prestadoras.Runery: Runery RSPSsCut4s: sCut4sSumacê Jogava Caxangá?: sumace makes it easier for gamers to play. You'll no longer have to play. It's developed in XNA.Supply_Chain_FInance: Supply Chain Finance thrives these years all over the world. In exploring the inner working mechanism ,we can sought to have a way to embed an information system in it. We develop the system to suit the domesticated supply chain finace .TestAmir: ??? ????? ??? ???The Cosmos: School project on a SOA based system (Loan system)Time zone: A c# library for manage time changes for any time zone in the world. Based on olson database.Validate: Validate is a collection of extension methods that let you add validations to any object and display validations in a user/developer friendly format. Its an extremely light weight validation framework with a zero learning curve.Windows Phone 7 Silverlight ListBox with CheckBox Control: A Windows Phone 7 ListBox control, providing CheckBoxes for item selection when in "Choose State" and no CheckBoxes in "Normal State", like the built-in Email app, with nice transition. To switch between states, set the "IsInChooseState" property. The control inherits ListBox.XQSOFT.WF.Designer: this is workflow designerzhanghai: my test project

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