Null and blank values
- by Jonathan D
What's the best way of writing robust code so that a variable can be checked for null and blank.
e.g.
string a;
if((a != null) && (a.Length() > 0))
{
//do some thing with a
}
Search Results
Search found 8692 results on 348 pages for 'patterns and practices'.
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Using Remote Web Page to Initialize iPhone App
- by Chris_K
My iPhone app relies on a vendor's XML feed to provide data. But that feed is not locked down. The vendor could change the format of the XML at any time, although so far they've promised not to. Since I might want to tell my app to use a different URL for its data source, I'd like to set up a single "Command Central" Web page, on my own server, to direct the app to the correct data source. In other words, each time my app starts, in the background and unseen by the user, it would visit "http://www.myserver.com/iphoneapp_data_sources.xml" to retrieve the URL for retrieving data from my vendor. That way, if my vendor suddenly changes the exact URL or the XML feed that the app needs, I can update that Web page and ensure that all installations of the app are using the correct XML feed. Does anyone have any advice or examples showing this kind of approach? It seems as if this must be a common problem, but so far I haven't found a well-established design pattern that fits it.Read the article
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Comparing objects and inheritance
- by ereOn
Hi, In my program I have the following class hierarchy: class Base // Base is an abstract class { }; class A : public Base { }; class B : public Base { }; I would like to do the following: foo(const Base& one, const Base& two) { if (one == two) { // Do something } else { // Do something else } } I have issues regarding the operator==() here. Of course comparing an instance A and an instance of B makes no sense but comparing two instances of Base should be possible. (You can't compare a Dog and a Cat however you can compare two Animals) I would like the following results: A == B = false A == A = true or false, depending on the effective value of the two instances B == B = true or false, depending on the effective value of the two instances My question is: is this a good design/idea ? Is this even possible ? What functions should I write/overload ? My apologies if the question is obviously stupid or easy, I have some serious fever right now and my thinking abilities are somewhat limited :/ Thank you.Read the article
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Passing arguments between classes - use public properties or pass a properties class as argument?
- by devoured elysium
So let's assume I have a class named ABC that will have a list of Point objects. I need to make some drawing logic with them. Each one of those Point objects will have a Draw() method that will be called by the ABC class. The Draw() method code will need info from ABC class. I can only see two ways to make them have this info: Having Abc class make public some properties that would allow draw() to make its decisions. Having Abc class pass to draw() a class full of properties. The properties in both cases would be the same, my question is what is preferred in this case. Maybe the second approach is more flexible? Maybe not? I don't see here a clear winner, but that sure has more to do with my inexperience than any other thing. If there are other good approaches, feel free to share them. Here are both cases: class Abc1 { public property a; public property b; public property c; ... public property z; public void method1(); ... public void methodn(); } and here is approach 2: class Abc2 { //here we make take down all properties public void method1(); ... public void methodn(); } class Abc2MethodArgs { //and we put them here. this class will be passed as argument to //Point's draw() method! public property a; public property b; public property c; ... public property z; } Also, if there are any "formal" names for these two approaches, I'd like to know them so I can better choose the tags/thread name, so it's more useful for searching purposes. That or feel free to edit them.Read the article
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Asynchronous SQL Operations
- by Paul Hatcherian
I've got a problem I'm not sure how best to solve. I have an application which updates a database in response to ad hoc requests. One request in particular is quite common. The request is an update that by itself is quite simple, but has some complex preconditions. For this request the business layer first requests a set of data from the data layer. The business logic layer evaluated the data from the database and parameters from the request, from this the action to be performed is determined, and the request's response message(s) are created. The business layer now executes the actual update command that is the purpose of the request. This last step is the problem, this command is dependent on the state of the database, which might have changed since the business logic ran. Locking down the data read in this operation across several round-trips to the database doesn't seem like a good idea either. Is there a 'best-practice' way to accomplish something like this? Thanks!Read the article
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Elegant and 'correct' multiton implementation in Objective C?
- by submachine
Would you call this implementation of a multiton in objective-c 'elegant'? I have programmatically 'disallowed' use of alloc and allocWithZone: because the decision to allocate or not allocate memory needs to be done based on a key. I know for sure that I need to work with only two instances, so I'm using 'switch-case' instead of a map. #import "Multiton.h" static Multiton *firstInstance = nil; static Multiton *secondInstance = nil; @implementation Multiton + (Multiton *) sharedInstanceForDirection:(char)direction { return [[self allocWithKey:direction] init]; } + (id) allocWithKey:(char)key { return [self allocWithZone:nil andKey:key]; } + (id)allocWithZone:(NSZone *)zone andKey:(char)key { Multiton **sharedInstance; @synchronized(self) { switch (key) { case KEY_1: sharedInstance = &firstInstance; break; case KEY_2: sharedInstance = &secondInstance; break; default: [NSException raise:NSInvalidArgumentException format:@"Invalid key"]; break; } if (*sharedInstance == nil) *sharedInstance = [super allocWithZone:zone]; } return *sharedInstance; } + (id) allocWithZone:(NSZone *)zone { //Do not allow use of alloc and allocWithZone [NSException raise:NSObjectInaccessibleException format:@"Use allocWithZone:andKey: or allocWithKey:"]; return nil; } - (id) copyWithZone:(NSZone *)zone { return self; } - (id) retain { return self; } - (unsigned) retainCount { return NSUIntegerMax; } - (void) release { return; } - (id) autorelease { return self; } - (id) init { [super init]; return self; } PS: I've not tried out if this works as yet, but its compiling cleanly :)Read the article
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Should you always write code for else cases that "can never happen"?
- by johnswamps
Take some code like if (person.IsMale()) { doGuyStuff(); } else { doGirlOtherStuff(); } (Yes, I realize this is bad OO code, it's an example) Should this be written so that to explicitly check if person.isFemale(), and then add a new else that throws an exception? Or maybe you're checking values in an enum, or something like that. You think that no one will add new elements to the enum, but who knows? "Can never happen" sounds like famous last words.Read the article
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using partials in view helpers
- by takeshin
Creating custom Zend View helpers I often end up with something like: // logic here if ($condition) { $output = <<<EOS... } else { $output = <<<EOS... } or using switch. Then to eliminate this, I create setPartial(), getPartial() and htmlize() for using external .phtml's. This is not the best solution, because partials do not support doctype changing. Is there any better solution, than creating abstract class handling this common case? Are there any ready Zend solutions for this case? Separate view helper for each case? And where to put common code?Read the article
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Why doesn't String's hashCode() cache 0?
- by polygenelubricants
I noticed in the Java 6 source code for String that hashCode only caches values other than 0. The difference in performance is exhibited by the following snippet: public class Main{ static void test(String s) { long start = System.currentTimeMillis(); for (int i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) { s.hashCode(); } System.out.format("Took %d ms.%n", System.currentTimeMillis() - start); } public static void main(String[] args) { String z = "Allocator redistricts; strict allocator redistricts strictly."; test(z); test(z.toUpperCase()); } } Running this in ideone.com gives the following output: Took 1470 ms. Took 58 ms. So my questions are: Why doesn't String's hashCode() cache 0? What is the probability that a Java string hashes to 0? What's the best way to avoid the performance penalty of recomputing the hash value every time for strings that hash to 0? Is this the best-practice way of caching values? (i.e. cache all except one?) For your amusement, each line here is a string that hash to 0: pollinating sandboxes amusement & hemophilias schoolworks = perversive electrolysissweeteners.net constitutionalunstableness.net grinnerslaphappier.org BLEACHINGFEMININELY.NET WWW.BUMRACEGOERS.ORG WWW.RACCOONPRUDENTIALS.NET Microcomputers: the unredeemed lollipop... Incentively, my dear, I don't tessellate a derangement. A person who never yodelled an apology, never preened vocalizing transsexuals.Read the article
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Is it good practice to initialize array in C/C++?
- by sand
I recently encountered a case where I need to compare two files (golden and expected) for verification of test results and even though the data written to both the files were same, the files does not match. On further investigation, I found that there is a structure which contains some integers and a char array of 64 bytes, and not all the bytes of char array were getting used in most of the cases and unused fields from the array contain random data and that was causing the mismatch. This brought me ask the question whether it is good practice to initialize the array in C/C++ as well, as it is done in Java?Read the article
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Which user account to assign as owner when attaching an SQL Server database?
- by FreshCode
This is a simple database security & performance question, but I've always used either a special user (eg. mydbuser), or Windows' built-in NETWORK SECURITY account as the owner when attaching databases to my SQL Server instances. When deploying my database to a production server, is there a specific user I should stick to or avoid? I would think that using an account with a set password could open the database up to a potential security issue.Read the article
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Are upper bounds of indexed ranges always assumed to be exclusive?
- by polygenelubricants
So in Java, whenever an indexed range is given, the upper bound is almost always exclusive. From java.lang.String: substring(int beginIndex, int endIndex) Returns a new string that is a substring of this string. The substring begins at the specified beginIndex and extends to the character at index endIndex - 1 From java.util.Arrays: copyOfRange(T[] original, int from, int to) from - the initial index of the range to be copied, inclusive to - the final index of the range to be copied, exclusive. From java.util.BitSet: set(int fromIndex, int toIndex) fromIndex - index of the first bit to be set. toIndex - index after the last bit to be set. As you can see, it does look like Java tries to make it a consistent convention that upper bounds are exclusive. My questions are: Is this the official authoritative recommendation? Are there notable violations that we should be wary of? Is there a name for this system? (ala "0-based" vs "1-based")Read the article
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How to provide global functionality in multi-user database app
- by Mike B
I have been building a multi-user database application (in C#/WPF 4.0) that manages tasks for all employees of a company. I now need to add some functionality such as sending an email reminder to someone when a critical task is due. How should this be done? Obviously I don’t want every instance of the program to be performing this function (Heh each user would get 10+ emails). Should I add the capability to the application as a "Mode" and then run a copy on the database server in this mode or would it be better to create a new app altogether to perform "Global" type tasks? Is there a better way?Read the article
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Securing input of private / protected methods?
- by ts
Hello, normally, all sane developers are trying to secure input of all public methods (casting to proper types, validating, sanitizing etc.) My question is: are you in your code validating also parameters passed to protected / private methods? In my opinion it is not necessary, if you securize properly parameters of public methods and return values from outside (other classes, db, user input etc...). But I am constantly facing frameworks and apps (ie. prestashop to name one) where validation is often repeated in method call, in method body and once again for securize returned value - which, I think, is creating performace overhead and is also a sign of bad design.Read the article
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Where do I put the Current user query so as to not repeat per controller?
- by Kevin
I have a standard query that gets the current user object: @user = User.find_by_email(session[:email]) but I'm putting it as the first line in every single controller action which is obviously not the best way to do this. What is the best way to refactor this? Do I put this as a method in the Application controller (and if so, can you just show me a quick example)? Do I put the entire @user object into the session (has about 50 columns and some sensitive ones like is_admin)? Or is there another way to remove this kind of redundancy?Read the article
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Doubleton Pattern Implementation
- by Pierreten
I'm leveraging the Doubleton Pattern from this link http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/designpattern_doubleton.aspx in my own code. I think it makes things a lot easier since the Singleton only provides one instance, but I get two with this pattern. I was wondering if it would make sense to have it implement an interface so I can inject it into my domain layer.Read the article
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best practice when referring to a program's name in C
- by guest
what is considered best practice when referring to a program's name? i've seen #define PROGRAM_NAME "myprog" printf("this is %s\n", PROGRAM_NAME); as well as printf("this is %s\n", argv[0]); i know, that the second approach will give me ./myprog rather than myprog when the program is not called from $PATH and that the first approach will guarantee consistence regarding the program's name. but is there anything else, that makes one approach superior to the other?Read the article
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how to implement this observer pattern?
- by lethal
Hello. I have 4 classes, that describe state diagram. Node, Edge, ComponentOfNode, ComponentOfEdge. ComponentOfEdge compounds from ComponentsOfNode. Node can have 0..n outgoing edges. Edge can have only 2 nodes. Edge should be able to offer ComponentOfNode, but only from nodes that Edge has, in form ComponentOfEdge. The user can change ComponentsOfNode. I need this change spreads to all Edge. Hw to do it? I expect the observer should be used. Can you give me example in pseudocode please?Read the article
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How to pass non-fatal warnings from a library
- by wRAR
A library function parses a file and returns an object. If a parser encounters unknown data, missing values etc., it shouldn't throw an exception and stop parsing (because this is not fatal), but there should be a way to pass information about these things to a caller (so that warnings can be displayed in the UI, for example). How can these warning be returned? I'm thinking of passing a callback function/object into the library, are there any other possible solutions?Read the article
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Question about a possible design pattern...
- by Aftershock
I have such a design in my mind.... My aim is to reuse the program with some features included and without some features. What is it called in the literature? class feature1 { void feature1function1(); void feature1function2(); } class feature2 { void feature2function1(); void feature2function2(); } class program: feature1, feature2 { void function1() { feature2function1(); } void function2() { feature1function1(); feature2function1(); } void execute() { function1(); function2(); } }Read the article
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Can I use the decorator pattern to wrap a method body?
- by mgroves
I have a bunch of methods with varying signatures. These methods interact with a fragile data connection, so we often use a helper class to perform retries/reconnects, etc. Like so: MyHelper.PerformCall( () => { doStuffWithData(parameters...) }); And this works fine, but it can make the code a little cluttery. What I would prefer to do is decorate the methods that interact with the data connection like so: [InteractsWithData] protected string doStuffWithData(parameters...) { // do stuff... } And then essentially, whenever doStuffWithData is called, the body of that method would be passed in as an Action to MyHelper.PerformCall(). How do I do this?Read the article
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Processing forms that generate many rows in DB
- by Zack
I'm wondering what the best approach to take here is. I've got a form that people use to register for a class and a lot of times the manager of a company will register multiple people for the class at the same time. Presently, they'd have to go through the registration process multiple times and resubmit the form once for every person they want to register. What I want to do is give the user a form that has a single <input/> for one person to register with, along with all the other fields they'll need to fill out (Email, phone number, etc); if they want to add more people, they'll be able to press a button and a new <input/> will be generated. This part I know how to do, but I'm including it to best describe what I'm aiming to do. The part I don't know how to approach is processing that data the form submits, I need some way of making a new row in the Registrant table for every <input/> that's added and include the same contact information (phone, email, etc) as the first row with that row. For the record, I'm using the Django framework for my back-end code. What's the best approach here? Should it just POST the form x times for x people, or is there a less "brute force" way of handling this?Read the article
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What pattern to use in this scenario?
- by jess
Hi, We have got many forms(windows app C#) in our application.We have similar steps in most of them - user adds a new object(in a grid),fills values and save.On,save,we validate,and save if everything ok,else show message.Now,adding of object usually means we add a new row with some default values.Read the article
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Books on Debugging Techniques?
- by zooropa
Are there any books on debugging techniques? A friend of mine is learning to code and he asked me this question. I told him I don't know of any. Is it that you just have to go through the School of Hard Knocks to learn?Read the article
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How to reference a class that implements certain interface?
- by vikp
Hi, I have an interface for logging the exceptions, i.e. IExceptionLogger. This interface has 3 implementations: DBExceptionLogger, XMLExceptionLogger, CSVExceptionLogger. I have an application that will make a use of DBExceptionLogger. The application references only IExceptionLogger. How do I create an instance of DBExceptionLogger within the application. I can't reference the DBExceptionLogger directly since it will break the purpose of having IExceptionLogger interface. ThanksRead the article
