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• TeraGrid Application Deadline Approaches

  Time requests must be in by April 15 Business - Management Science - Management - Management Information Systems - Call For Papers

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• How can I best share Ant targets between projects?

  - by Rob Hruska

  Is there a well-established way to share Ant targets between projects? I have a solution currently, but it's a bit inelegant. Here's what I'm doing so far. I've got a file called ivy-tasks.xml hosted on a server on our network. This file contains, among other targets, boilerplate tasks for managing project dependencies with Ivy. For example: <project name="ant-ivy-tasks" default="init-ivy" xmlns:ivy="antlib:org.apache.ivy.ant"> ... <target name="ivy-download" unless="skip.ivy.download"> <mkdir dir="${ivy.jar.dir}"/> <echo message="Installing ivy..."/> <get src="http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/ivy/ivy/${ivy.install.version}/ivy-${ivy.install.version}.jar" dest="${ivy.jar.file}" usetimestamp="true"/> </target> <target name="ivy-init" depends="ivy-download" description="-> Defines ivy tasks and loads global settings"> <path id="ivy.lib.path"> <fileset dir="${ivy.jar.dir}" includes="*.jar"/> </path> <taskdef resource="org/apache/ivy/ant/antlib.xml" uri="antlib:org.apache.ivy.ant" classpathref="ivy.lib.path"/> <ivy:settings url="http://myserver/ivy/settings/ivysettings-user.xml"/> </target> ... </project> The reason this file is hosted is because I don't want to: Check the file into every project that needs it - this will result in duplication, making maintaining the targets harder. Have my build.xml depend on checking out a project from source control - this will make the build have more XML at the top-level just to access the file. What I do with this file in my projects' build.xmls is along the lines of: <property name="download.dir" location="download"/> <mkdir dir="${download.dir}"/> <echo message="Downloading import files to ${download.dir}"/> <get src="http://myserver/ivy/ivy-tasks.xml" dest="${download.dir}/ivy-tasks.xml" usetimestamp="true"/> <import file="${download.dir}/ivy-tasks.xml"/> The "dirty" part about this is that I have to do the above steps outside of a target, because the import task must be at the top-level. Plus, I still have to include this XML in all of the build.xml files that need it (i.e. there's still some amount of duplication). On top of that, there might be additional situations where I might have common (non-Ivy) tasks that I'd like imported. If I were to provide these tasks using Ivy's dependency management I'd still have problems, since by the time I'd have resolved the dependencies I would have to be inside of a target in my build.xml, and unable to import (due to the constraint mentioned above). Is there a better solution for what I'm trying to accomplish?

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• Saving UIImagePickerController images to Core Data without crashing

  - by Gordon Fontenot

  I have been trying to minimize my memory footprint with UIImagePickerController, but I'm starting to think that the memory problems I am having are resulting from poor memory management, instead of a particular way to handle the UIImagePickerController object. My workflow is this: The "Edit Image" button is clicked, which presents a UIActionSheet. This action sheet allows you to delete, take a picture, choose from the library, or cancel. If you select Choose from the library or Take Picture, I alloc an instance of UIImagePickerController and present it, followed by a release of UIImagePickerController: -(void)actionSheet:(UIActionSheet *)actionSheet clickedButtonAtIndex:(NSInteger)buttonIndex { if (actionSheet.tag != 999) { UIImagePickerController *imagePicker = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init]; imagePicker.delegate = self; BOOL pickImage = nil; if (actionSheet.tag == iPhoneWithDelete) { switch (buttonIndex) { case 0: object.objectImage = nil; pickImage = NO; break; case 1: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera; pickImage = YES; break; case 2: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeSavedPhotosAlbum; pickImage = YES; break; default: pickImage = NO; break; } } else if (actionSheet.tag == iPhoneNoDelete) { switch (buttonIndex) { case 0: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera; pickImage = YES; break; case 1: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeSavedPhotosAlbum; pickImage = YES; break; default: pickImage = NO; break; } } else if (actionSheet.tag == iPodWithDelete) { switch (buttonIndex) { case 0: object.objectImage = nil; pickImage = NO; break; case 1: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeSavedPhotosAlbum; pickImage = YES; break; default: pickImage = NO; break; } } else if (actionSheet.tag == iPodNoDelete) { switch (buttonIndex) { case 0: imagePicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeSavedPhotosAlbum; pickImage = YES; break; default: pickImage = NO; break; } } if (pickImage) { imagePicker.allowsEditing = YES; [self presentModalViewController:imagePicker animated:YES]; } else { [self setupImageButton]; [self setupChooseImageButton]; } [imagePicker release]; } } Once I get a selection back from the UIImagePickerController, I save 2 images, a resized version of the edited image to use for a thumbnail, and a 800x600 version of the original unedited image into a relationship attribute (Transformational, using the same UIImage to PNG transformations found in the Recipes demo code) for display use: (the resize methods are based on the one demoed in this SO post.) - (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info { [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; NSManagedObject *oldImage = object.imageFull; if (oldImage != nil) { [object.managedObjectContext deleteObject:oldImage]; } NSManagedObject *image = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:@"Image" inManagedObjectContext:object.managedObjectContext]; object.imageFull = image; UIImage *rawImage = [info objectForKey:@"UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage"]; CGSize size = CGSizeMake(800, 600); UIImage *fullImage = [UIImageManipulator scaleImage:rawImage toSize:size]; [image setValue:fullImage forKey:@"imageFull"]; UIImage *processedImage = [UIImageManipulator scaleImage:[info objectForKey:@"UIImagePickerControllerEditedImage"] toSize:CGSizeMake(75, 75)]; object.objectImage = processedImage; [self setupImageButton]; [self setupChooseImageButton]; rawImage = nil; fullImage = nil; processedImage = nil; } When I go through viewDidUnload I am setting self.object = nil, and [object release] during dealloc, but I'm still getting memory warnings after about 10 image changes, with a crash at around 20. It leads me to believe that I am not getting that full image out of memory the correct way. What am I missing here? And on a second note, does the Camera source use significantly more memory than the Photo Albums source? I tend to get more crashes when using the camera.

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• NSMutableString leaks on append or replaceOccurrencesOfString

  - by John

  Hello Folks, I know similar questions have been asked time and time again but I ask that you please bear with me as I cannot seem to find an answer that helps. My application has leaks that are driving me out of my mind. Actually, they are not reported as leaks using Leaks, but my net bytes in ObjectAlloc goes up and up and up and never stops, eventually leading to a crash if it goes on long enough (not very long). The problem occurs with NSMutableStrings. I think there is either something fundamental I don't understand about them, or I am facing another problem that I am having difficulty tracking down but keeps hiding behind the NSMutableStrings. Specifically, I am noticing that whenever I append to or perform a replace on a NSMutableString, ObjectAlloc reports what appear to be mismatches in malloc/frees behind the scene when resizing the NSMutableString. I'm sorry to say this is the second time I'm facing this problem - the first time I messed around for hours and hours and finally the problem went away (magic!) but I don't really know why. When I look at the code below (and believe me, I've stared at it for hours) I cannot see the problem. I look at the code and think to myself that I should be fine because I'm releasing the only object for which I am responsible (aString) and that NSMutableString should be taking care of cleaning up after any resizing it does. In the second example, just so you know in case it helps, the string being passed in comes from an ASIHTTPRequest object (it's the responseString) and I don't do anything at all with it. It's being called simply like so ([self DoStuff2:[request responseString]]) and I don't free the request myself either (I'm using a ASINetworkQueue and I assume that the requests are destroyed for me (I tried and caused errors because the request was already being release somewhere else). Also, I know it shouldn't do anything, but I even tried wrapping the code in autorelease pools, which of course did nothing. I should mention that this code is being run inside of an NSOperation. I thought that perhaps I am experiencing problems because NSOperations should create an autorelease pool for themselves, but I've tried that to no avail. Not related to NSMutableString, but I find I also have similar problems using the NSString componentsSeparatedByString method. Sometimes the memory used by the array that gets the separated components is never released. Hmmm...strings in general seem to be somewhat problematic for me it seems. I would appreciate ANY help anyone can provide. If you require more info, I'll be glad to add it. I do promise you that I've struggled with this (and other problems) for weeks and every problem I encounter I research hard and long until I find a solution - this is not an idle request, but a true cry for help! I've written so much code and now I'm trying to seal some small leaks etc and I notice this problem. Honestly, I cannot believe how memory management in Objective C can stump me so at times...I've read Apple's memory mgmt docs many times and I thought I thoroughly understood it and I try to be diligent about releasing objects I own, but sometimes I find myself wondering if I truly understand...I would like to put this to bed once and make sure I understand all this fully - to have this sort of question/problem after writing thousands of lines of code is more than a little scary/embarrassing/annoying. So again, if anybody has any insight, I'd be grateful. Thanks for your time and efforts. -(void)DoStuff { NSString *aString [ [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"text %@ more text", self.strVariable]; [self.someMutableStringVar replaceOccurrencesOfString:@"replace" withString:aString options:NSCaseInsensitiveSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, [self.someMutableStringVar length])]; [aString release]; } -(void)DoStuff2:(NSString *)aString { [self.someMutableStringVar appendString:aString]; }

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• How to manage memory using classes in Objective-C?

  - by Flipper

  This is my first time creating an iPhone App and I am having difficulty with the memory management because I have never had to deal with it before. I have a UITableViewController and it all works fine until I try to scroll down in the simulator. It crashes saying that it cannot allocate that much memory. I have narrowed it down to where the crash is occurring: - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)aTableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Dequeue or create a cell UITableViewCellStyle style = UITableViewCellStyleDefault; UITableViewCell *cell = [aTableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"BaseCell"]; if (!cell) cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:style reuseIdentifier:@"BaseCell"] autorelease]; NSString* crayon; // Retrieve the crayon and its color if (aTableView == self.tableView) { crayon = [[[self.sectionArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.section] objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] getName]; } else { crayon = [FILTEREDKEYS objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; } cell.textLabel.text = crayon; if (![crayon hasPrefix:@"White"]) cell.textLabel.textColor = [self.crayonColors objectForKey:crayon]; else cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor blackColor]; return cell; } Here is the getName method: - (NSString*)getName { return name; } name is defined as: @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name; Now sectionArray is an NSMutableArray with instances of a class that I created Term in it. Term has a method getName that returns a NSString*. The problem seems to be the part of where crayon is being set and getName is being called. I have tried adding autorelease, release, and other stuff like that but that just causes the entire app to crash before even launching. Also if I do: cell.textLabel.text = @"test"; //crayon; /*if (![crayon hasPrefix:@"White"]) cell.textLabel.textColor = [self.crayonColors objectForKey:crayon]; else cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor blackColor];*/ Then I get no error whatsoever and it all scrolls just fine. Thanks in advance for the help! Edit: Here is the full Log of when I try to run the app and the error it gives when it crashes: [Session started at 2010-12-29 04:23:38 -0500.] [Session started at 2010-12-29 04:23:44 -0500.] GNU gdb 6.3.50-20050815 (Apple version gdb-967) (Tue Jul 14 02:11:58 UTC 2009) Copyright 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc. GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain conditions. Type "show copying" to see the conditions. There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for details. This GDB was configured as "i386-apple-darwin".sharedlibrary apply-load-rules all Attaching to process 1429. gdb-i386-apple-darwin(1430,0x778720) malloc: * mmap(size=1420296192) failed (error code=12) error: can't allocate region ** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug gdb stack crawl at point of internal error: [ 0 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (align_down+0x0) [0x1222d8] [ 1 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (xstrvprintf+0x0) [0x12336c] [ 2 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (xmalloc+0x28) [0x12358f] [ 3 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (dyld_info_read_raw_data+0x50) [0x1659af] [ 4 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (dyld_info_read+0x1bc) [0x168a58] [ 5 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (macosx_dyld_update+0xbf) [0x168c9c] [ 6 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (macosx_solib_add+0x36b) [0x169fcc] [ 7 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (macosx_child_attach+0x478) [0x17dd11] [ 8 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (attach_command+0x5d) [0x64ec5] [ 9 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (mi_cmd_target_attach+0x4c) [0x15dbd] [ 10 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (captured_mi_execute_command+0x16d) [0x17427] [ 11 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (catch_exception+0x41) [0x7a99a] [ 12 ] /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gdb/gdb-i386-apple-darwin (mi_execute_command+0xa9) [0x16f63] /SourceCache/gdb/gdb-967/src/gdb/utils.c:1144: internal-error: virtual memory exhausted: can't allocate 1420296192 bytes. A problem internal to GDB has been detected, further debugging may prove unreliable. The Debugger has exited with status 1.The Debugger has exited with status 1. Here is the backtrace that I get when I set the breakpoint for malloc_error_break: #0 0x0097a68c in objc_msgSend () #1 0x01785bef in -[UILabel setText:] () #2 0x000030e0 in -[TableViewController tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath:] (self=0x421d760, _cmd=0x29cfad8, aTableView=0x4819600, indexPath=0x42190f0) at /Volumes/Main2/Enayet/TableViewController.m:99 #3 0x016cee0c in -[UITableView(UITableViewInternal) _createPreparedCellForGlobalRow:withIndexPath:] () #4 0x016c6a43 in -[UITableView(UITableViewInternal) _createPreparedCellForGlobalRow:] () #5 0x016d954f in -[UITableView(_UITableViewPrivate) _updateVisibleCellsNow] () #6 0x016d08ff in -[UITableView layoutSubviews] () #7 0x03e672b0 in -[CALayer layoutSublayers] () #8 0x03e6706f in CALayerLayoutIfNeeded () #9 0x03e668c6 in CA::Context::commit_transaction () #10 0x03e6653a in CA::Transaction::commit () #11 0x03e6e838 in CA::Transaction::observer_callback () #12 0x00b00252 in __CFRunLoopDoObservers () #13 0x00aff65f in CFRunLoopRunSpecific () #14 0x00afec48 in CFRunLoopRunInMode () #15 0x00156615 in GSEventRunModal () #16 0x001566da in GSEventRun () #17 0x01689faf in UIApplicationMain () #18 0x00002398 in main (argc=1, argv=0xbfffefb0) at /Volumes/Main2/Enayet/main.m:14

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• Losing NSManaged Objects in my Application

  - by Wayfarer

  I've been doing quite a bit of work on a fun little iPhone app. At one point, I get a bunch of player objects from my Persistant store, and then display them on the screen. I also have the options of adding new player objects (their just custom UIButtons) and removing selected players. However, I believe I'm running into some memory management issues, in that somehow the app is not saving which "players" are being displayed. Example: I have 4 players shown, I select them all and then delete them all. They all disappear. But if I exit and then reopen the application, they all are there again. As though they had never left. So somewhere in my code, they are not "really" getting removed. MagicApp201AppDelegate *appDelegate = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate]; context = [appDelegate managedObjectContext]; NSFetchRequest *request = [[NSFetchRequest alloc] init]; NSEntityDescription *desc = [NSEntityDescription entityForName:@"Player" inManagedObjectContext:context]; [request setEntity:desc]; NSError *error; NSMutableArray *objects = [[[context executeFetchRequest:request error:&error] mutableCopy] autorelease]; if (objects == nil) { NSLog(@"Shit man, there was an error taking out the single player object when the view did load. ", error); } int j = 0; while (j < [objects count]) { if ([[[objects objectAtIndex:j] valueForKey:@"currentMultiPlayer"] boolValue] == NO) { [objects removeObjectAtIndex:j]; j--; } else { j++; } } [self setPlayers:objects]; //This is a must, it NEEDS to work Objects are all the players playing So in this snippit (in the viewdidLoad method), I grab the players out of the persistant store, and then remove the objects I don't want (those whose boolValue is NO), and the rest are kept. This works, I'm pretty sure. I think the issue is where I remove the players. Here is that code: NSLog(@"Remove players"); /** For each selected player: Unselect them (remove them from SelectedPlayers) Remove the button from the view Remove the button object from the array Remove the player from Players */ NSLog(@"Debugging Removal: %d", [selectedPlayers count]); for (int i=0; i < [selectedPlayers count]; i++) { NSManagedObject *rPlayer = [selectedPlayers objectAtIndex:i]; [rPlayer setValue:[NSNumber numberWithBool:NO] forKey:@"currentMultiPlayer"]; int index = [players indexOfObjectIdenticalTo:rPlayer]; //this is the index we need for (int j = (index + 1); j < [players count]; j++) { UIButton *tempButton = [playerButtons objectAtIndex:j]; tempButton.tag--; } NSError *error; if ([context hasChanges] && ![context save:&error]) { NSLog(@"Unresolved error %@, %@", error, [error userInfo]); abort(); } UIButton *aButton = [playerButtons objectAtIndex:index]; [players removeObjectAtIndex:index]; [aButton removeFromSuperview]; [playerButtons removeObjectAtIndex:index]; } [selectedPlayers removeAllObjects]; NSError *error; if ([context hasChanges] && ![context save:&error]) { NSLog(@"Unresolved error %@, %@", error, [error userInfo]); abort(); } NSLog(@"About to refresh YES"); [self refreshAllPlayers:YES]; The big part in the second code snippet is I set them to NO for currentMultiPlayer. NO NO NO NO NO, they should NOT come back when the view does load, NEVER ever ever. Not until I say so. No other relevant part of the code sets that to YES. Which makes me think... perhaps they aren't being saved. Perhaps that doesn't save, perhaps those objects aren't being managed anymore, and so they don't get saved in. Is there a lifetime (metaphorically) of NSManaged object? The Players array is the same I set in the "viewDidLoad" method, and SelectedPlayers holds players that are selected, references to NSManagedObjects. Does it have something to do with Removing them from the array? I'm so confused, some insight would be greatly appreciated!!

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• Quantifying the Performance of Garbage Collection vs. Explicit Memory Management

  - by EmbeddedProg

  I found this article here: Quantifying the Performance of Garbage Collection vs. Explicit Memory Management http://www.cs.umass.edu/~emery/pubs/gcvsmalloc.pdf In the conclusion section, it reads: Comparing runtime, space consumption, and virtual memory footprints over a range of benchmarks, we show that the runtime performance of the best-performing garbage collector is competitive with explicit memory management when given enough memory. In particular, when garbage collection has five times as much memory as required, its runtime performance matches or slightly exceeds that of explicit memory management. However, garbage collection’s performance degrades substantially when it must use smaller heaps. With three times as much memory, it runs 17% slower on average, and with twice as much memory, it runs 70% slower. Garbage collection also is more susceptible to paging when physical memory is scarce. In such conditions, all of the garbage collectors we examine here suffer order-of-magnitude performance penalties relative to explicit memory management. So, if my understanding is correct: if I have an app written in native C++ requiring 100 MB of memory, to achieve the same performance with a "managed" (i.e. garbage collector based) language (e.g. Java, C#), the app should require 5*100 MB = 500 MB? (And with 2*100 MB = 200 MB, the managed app would run 70% slower than the native app?) Do you know if current (i.e. latest Java VM's and .NET 4.0's) garbage collectors suffer the same problems described in the aforementioned article? Has the performance of modern garbage collectors improved? Thanks.

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• Maven2 - problem with pluginManagement and parent-child relationship

  - by Newtopian

  from maven documentation pluginManagement: is an element that is seen along side plugins. Plugin Management contains plugin elements in much the same way, except that rather than configuring plugin information for this particular project build, it is intended to configure project builds that inherit from this one. However, this only configures plugins that are actually referenced within the plugins element in the children. The children have every right to override pluginManagement definitions. Now : if I have this in my parent POM <build> <pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0</version> <executions> Some stuff for the children </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </pluginManagement> </build> and I run mvn help:effective-pom on the parent project I get what I want, namely the plugins part directly under build (the one doing the work) remains empty. Now if I do the following : <build> <pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0</version> <executions> Some stuff for the children </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0.2</version> <inherited>true</inherited> <configuration> <source>1.6</source> <target>1.6</target> </configuration> </plugin> </plugins> </build> mvn help:effective-pom I get again just what I want, the plugins contains just what is declared and the pluginManagement section is ignored. BUT changing with the following <build> <pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0</version> <executions> Some stuff for the children </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0</version> <inherited>false</inherited> <!-- this perticular config is NOT for kids... for parent only --> <executions> some stuff for adults only </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> and running mvn help:effective-pom the stuff from pluginManagement section is added on top of what is declared already. as such : <build> <pluginManagement> ... </pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0</version> <inherited>false</inherited> <!-- this perticular config is NOT for kids... for parent only --> <executions> Some stuff for the children </execution> <executions> some stuff for adults only </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> Is there a way to exclude the part for children from the parent pom's section ? In effect what I want is for the pluginManagement to behave exactly as the documentation states, that is I want it to apply for children only but not for the project in which it is declared. As a corrolary, is there a way I can override the parts from the pluginManagement by declaring the plugin in the normal build section of a project ? whatever I try I get that the section is added to executions but I cannot override one that exists already. EDIT: I never did find an acceptable solution for this and as such the issue remains open. Closest solution was offered below and is currently the accepted solution for this question until something better comes up. Right now there are three ways to achieve the desired result (modulate plugin behaviour depending on where in the inheritance hierarchy the current POM is): 1 - using profiles, it will work but you must beware that profiles are not inherited, which is somewhat counter intuitive. They are (if activated) applied to the POM where declared and then this generated POM is propagated down. As such the only way to activate the profile for child POM is specifically on the command line (least I did not find another way). Property, file and other means of activation fail to activate the POM because the trigger is not in the POM where the profile is declared. 2 - (this is what I ended up doing) Declare the plugin as not inherited in the parent and re-declare (copy-paste) the tidbit in every child where it is wanted. Not ideal but it is simple and it works. 3 - Split the aggregation nature and parent nature of the parent POM. Then since the part that only applies to the parent is in a different project it is now possible to use pluginManagement as firstly intended. However this means that a new artificial project must be created that does not contribute to the end product but only serves the could system. This is clear case of conceptual bleed. Also this only applies to my specific and is hard to generalize, so I abandoned efforts to try and make this work in favor of the not-pretty but more contained cut and paste patch described in 2. If anyone coming across this question has a better solution either because of my lack of knowledge of Maven or because the tool evolved to allow this please post the solution here for future reference. Thank you all for your help :-)

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• Something about Property Management or &hellip; the understanding of SharePoint Admins/roles ?!?

  - by Enrique Lima

  When I talk about SharePoint, for some reason it comes to my mind as if it were property management and all the tasks associated with it. So, imagine you have a lot ( a piece of land of sorts), you then decide there is something you want to do with it.  So, you make the choice of having a building built.  Now, in order to go forward with your plan, you need to check what the rules/regulations are.  Has is it been zoned residential, commercial, industrial … you get the idea.  This to me sounds like Governance.  The what am I to do given a defined set of rules. We keep on moving forward based on those rules.  And with this we start the process of building, the building process takes us to survey the land, identify what our boundaries are.  And as we go along we start getting the idea in our head as to what we will do as far as the building goes.  We identify the essentials of the building, basic services and such.  All in all, we plan.  And as with many things we do, we like solid foundations.  What a solid foundation looks like will depend on where and what we build.  The way buildings are built depends in many ways in being able to foresee the potential for natural disasters or to try to leverage the lay of the land.  Sound familiar?  We have done our Requirements Gathering. We have the building in place, we have followed the zoning rules, we have implemented services.  But we need someone to manage the building, now we move on to the human side of the story.  We want to establish a means to normalcy in the building, someone that can be the monitoring agent as to the “what’s going on?” of it.  This person will be tasked with making sure all basic services are functional, that measures are taken if there is an issue and so on.  Enter the Farm Administrator. In a way, we establish an extension of the rules to make sure the building and the apartments/offices build follow a standard set of rules too. Now, in turn you will have people leasing or buying the apartments/offices, they will be the keepers of that space.  So, now we are building sites, we have moved from having the building (farm) ready, to leasing/selling offices/apartments (site collections).  There will be someone assuming responsibility for those offices, that person will authorize or be informed about activities and also who not only gets a code into the building, but perhaps a key to the office.  Enter Site Collection Administrator.  And then perhaps we move on to the person that would be responsible for specifics within the office, for example a Human Resources Manager or Coordinator.  They will have specific control and knowledge about people.  A facilities coordinator, and so on.  I would translate that into Site Administrators. With that said then, we identify the following: Role Name Responsibility (but not limited to) Farm Administrator Infrastructure Site Collection Admin Policies for Content, Hierarchy, Recycle Bin, Security and Access Site Owner (Site Admin) Security and Access, Training, Guidance, Manage Templates All in all there are different levels of responsibility to be handled, but it is very important to understand what they are and what they mean. Here is a link to very well laid out explanation on this … http://www.endusersharepoint.com/2009/08/11/site-managers-and-end-user-expectations-roles-and-responsibilities/

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• How to set a management IP on a Dell powerconnect 5524/5548 switch?

  - by John Little

  When you first power on a 5524, connected via the serial console, you are offered a setup wizard where you can enter the management IP/Net/Gateway and enter the admin password. HOWEVER, if you dont do this in 60 seconds, the wizard dissapears, and there seems to be no way to run it again - even if you reboot the box. No commands work in the CLI, it just gives you this prompt: If you type say enable, or login, it gives: >login Unknown parameter May be one from the following list: debug help So no commands seem to work. The CLI reference guide does not seem to have any way to run the wizard, or to set the management port or admin passwords. So by not responding in 60 secons after boot, the unit is bricked. Any ideas?

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• How can I get Opera speed-dial and password management features in other browsers?

  - by Howard Guo

  I heavily rely on Opera's speed dial and password management features. Lack of these two features is really stopping me from switching to another web browser such as Chrome or Firefox. Opera's password management has two unique characteristics which I rely on heavily: It saves passwords on all pages, (apparently) despite the page's meta data asking not to save passwords. It offers keyboard shortcut and button to automatically fill in username/passwords and all other fields in a login form, then automatically submit the form. (So I'm only one key/click away from logging into a website) How can I get those functions in other browsers? Thank you! Edit: Reason being that I use other web browsers at work and I wish they could have those functions.

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• SQL Server Management Studio Reports: Why no open transactions?

  - by Sleepless

  On a server with several hundred user connections, when I open the SQL Server 2008 SP1 Management Studio report "Database - User Statistics", the result page shows the following results: Login Name: appUser Active Sessions: 243 Active Connections: 243 Open Transactions: 374 Still, when I open the report "Database - All Transactions" on the same DB, it doesn't show any connections ("Currently, there are no transactions running for [Database Name] Database"). What gives? Is this a bug in Management Studio? This is not the only report where this kind of behavious happens... Thanks all!

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• Why is cpu power management not working in Server 2012 with Hyper-V?

  - by Roland

  We've been using Server2008R2 with Hyper-V for a couple of years now and chose it at the time because of its ability to make use of Intel SpeedStep and AMD PowerNow! Now with Server 2012 and Hyper-V V3, all power management abilities seem to be gone. The CPUs are always at full speed and our servers need twice the energy as before while idling. (Yes, the CPU P-states are enabled in the BIOS) Is this by design? Is there a workaround to enable cpu power management again? Despite the great new features of Hyper-V 3, this would be a show-stopper for us since we are very concerned about energy consumption.

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• Anyone using Membership software (Association management software) they can recommend?

  - by cKK

  Anyone recommend a good, web enabled Membership software / Association management software?

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• Missing menu items for Azure SQL tables within SQL Server Management Studio?

  - by Sid

  I have a table (say Table1) that is replicated via SQL Data Sync Agent across a local SQL Server 2012 as well as an Azure SQL Server (part of Microsoft Azure). Everything about Table1 (schema, table values etc ) is identical to the best of my understanding. However, when I list and right click Table1 from Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 2012 (SSMS), I get some very different menu options, even for seemingly basic stuff. Lets focus only on the 'Design' menu item: It is visible for Table1 on the local SQL server in SSMS It is missing for Table1 on Azure SQL via SSMS It is visible for Table1 (as Open Table Definition) on Azure SQL when reaching it via Visual Studio 2012 (Server Explorer - Data connections) This is seen in the screenshots below: Now I use scripts from some real stuff (esp when I need to check in the SQL scripts etc) but this difference concerns me to some extent. Am I witnessing just a tools artifact in SQL Server Management Studio when connecting to Azure SQL? or is it something more serious about limitations of Azure SQL itself (although, just seeing the Design surface is so basic!)?

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• Recoomend company to take care or webserver and wordpress management?

  - by javipas

  I'm interested in setting up a professional WordPress site but I'd like to explore the pssibilities to leave the management of the webserver and even WordPress' management to a company that guarantees great availability, performance of the site (load times, security) and even SEO. My site is currently running on other platform but I plan on a migration on the next 4 weeks. I've done this usually, but I'd like to focus on the content, so I don't have to mess with webserver/mysql/php configs in order to get nice performance. Is there some (maybe hosting) company that is dedicated to this? Would it be better to hire a sysadmin with experience in those matters?

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• Does SQL Server Management Studio 2008 Activity Monitor work with SQL Server 2000?

  - by Andrew Janke

  I am trying to use SQL Server Management Studio 2008's Activity Monitor with an SQL Server 2000 instance to diagnose some query performance issues. I can connect SMSS 2008 to the db fine, and use it to browse objects and run queries. But when I press the Activity Monitor button, it pops up an error message saying: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio This operation does not support connections to Microsoft SQL Server Personal Edition version 8.00.818. This MSDN article implies that Activity Monitor works with SQL Server 2000. Is it the fact that it's Personal Edition that's preventing it from working? The error message isn't clear whether it's the edition or version that's the problem.

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• Issue on maven 2.2.1

  - by Dawit

  I wrote a small maven plugin and everything seems to work well with prior version of maven (2.0.9) but my build fails on version 2.2.1 The stack trace does not show anything from my end of the code and was wondering if anyone has encountered this issue. .... .... [ERROR] FATAL ERROR [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] null [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Trace java.lang.NullPointerException at java.util.Hashtable.put(Hashtable.java:396) at java.util.Properties.setProperty(Properties.java:128) at org.apache.maven.project.ModelUtils.cloneProperties(ModelUtils.java:1264) at org.apache.maven.project.ModelUtils.cloneModelBaseFields(ModelUtils.java:318) at org.apache.maven.project.ModelUtils.cloneModel(ModelUtils.java:953) at org.apache.maven.project.DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.calculateConcreteStateInternal(DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java:1855) at org.apache.maven.project.DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.calculateConcreteState(DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java:1814) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.calculateConcreteState(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:779) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:575) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalWithLifecycle(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:540) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:519) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:371) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:332) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:181) at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:356) at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:137) at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362) at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:41) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:592) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:430) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:375) [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Total time: 17 seconds [INFO] Finished at: Thu May 27 16:18:40 CDT 2010 [INFO] Final Memory: 35M/63M

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• Faster method for Matrix vector product for large matrix in C or C++ for use in GMRES

  - by user35959

  I have a large, dense matrix A, and I aim to find the solution to the linear system Ax=b using an iterative method (in MATLAB was the plan using its built in GMRES). For more than 10,000 rows, this is too much for my computer to store in memory, but I know that the entries in A are constructed by two known vectors x and y of length N and the entries satisfy: A(i,j) = .5*(x[i]-x[j])^2+([y[i]-y[j])^2 * log(x[i]-x[j])^2+([y[i]-y[j]^2). MATLAB's GMRES command accepts as input a function call that can compute the matrix vector product A*x, which allows me to handle larger matrices than I can store in memory. To write the matrix-vecotr product function, I first tried this in matlab by going row by row and using some vectorization, but I avoid spawning the entire array A (since it would be too large). This was fairly slow unfortnately in my application for GMRES. My plan was to write a mex file for MATLAB to, which is in C, and ideally should be significantly faster than the matlab code. I'm rather new to C, so this went rather poorly and my naive attempt at writing the code in C was slower than my partially vectorized attempt in Matlab. #include <math.h> #include "mex.h" void Aproduct(double *x, double *ctrs_x, double *ctrs_y, double *b, mwSize n) { mwSize i; mwSize j; double val; for (i=0; i<n; i++) { for (j=0; j<i; j++) { val = pow(ctrs_x[i]-ctrs_x[j],2)+pow(ctrs_y[i]-ctrs_y[j],2); b[i] = b[i] + .5* val * log(val) * x[j]; } for (j=i+1; j<n; j++) { val = pow(ctrs_x[i]-ctrs_x[j],2)+pow(ctrs_y[i]-ctrs_y[j],2); b[i] = b[i] + .5* val * log(val) * x[j]; } } } The above is the computational portion of the code for the matlab mex file (which is slightly modified C, if I understand correctly). Please note that I skip the case i=j, since in that case the variable val will be a 0*log(0), which should be interpreted as 0 for me, so I just skip it. Is there a more efficient or faster way to write this? When I call this C function via the mex file in matlab, it is quite slow, slower even than the matlab method I used. This surprises me since I suspected that C code should be much faster than matlab. The alternative matlab method which is partially vectorized that I am comparing it with is function Ax = Aprod(x,ctrs) n = length(x); Ax = zeros(n,1); for j=1:(n-3) v = .5*((ctrs(j,1)-ctrs(:,1)).^2+(ctrs(j,2)-ctrs(:,2)).^2).*log((ctrs(j,1)-ctrs(:,1)).^2+(ctrs(j,2)-ctrs(:,2)).^2); v(j)=0; Ax(j) = dot(v,x(1:n-3); end (the n-3 is because there is actually 3 extra components, but they are dealt with separately,so I excluded that code). This is partly vectorized and only needs one for loop, so it makes some sense that it is faster. However, I was hoping I could go even faster with C+mex file. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! EDIT: I should be more clear. I am open to any faster method that can help me use GMRES to invert this matrix that I am interested in, which requires a faster way of doing the matrix vector product without explicitly loading the array into memory. Thanks!

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• Using JRE 1.5, still maven says annotation not supported in -source 1.3

  - by Abhijeet

  Hi, I am using JRE 1.5. Still when I try to compile my code it fails by saying to use JRE 1.5 instead of 1.3 C:\temp\SpringExamplemvn -e clean install + Error stacktraces are turned on. [INFO] Scanning for projects... [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Building SpringExample [INFO] task-segment: [clean, install] [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] [clean:clean {execution: default-clean}] [INFO] Deleting directory C:\temp\SpringExample\target [INFO] [resources:resources {execution: default-resources}] [WARNING] Using platform encoding (Cp1252 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent! [INFO] Copying 6 resources [INFO] [compiler:compile {execution: default-compile}] [INFO] Compiling 6 source files to C:\temp\SpringExample\target\classes [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ERROR] BUILD FAILURE [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Compilation failure C:\temp\SpringExample\src\main\java\com\mkyong\stock\model\Stock.java:[45,9] annotations are not supported in -source 1.3 (try -source 1.5 to enable annotations) @Override [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Trace org.apache.maven.BuildFailureException: Compilation failure C:\temp\SpringExample\src\main\java\com\mkyong\stock\model\Stock.java:[45,9] annotations are not supported in -source 1.3 (try -source 1.5 to enable annotations) @Override at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:715) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalWithLifecycle(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:556) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:535) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:387) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:348) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:180) at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:328) at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:138) at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362) at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:60) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:430) at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:375) Caused by: org.apache.maven.plugin.CompilationFailureException: Compilation failure C:\temp\SpringExample\src\main\java\com\mkyong\stock\model\Stock.java:[45,9] annotations are not supported in -source 1.3 (try -source 1.5 to enable annotations) @Override at org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractCompilerMojo.execute(AbstractCompilerMojo.java:516) at org.apache.maven.plugin.CompilerMojo.execute(CompilerMojo.java:114) at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:490) at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:694) ... 17 more [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Total time: 2 seconds [INFO] Finished at: Wed Dec 22 10:04:53 IST 2010 [INFO] Final Memory: 9M/16M [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ C:\temp\SpringExamplejavac -version javac 1.5.0_08 javac: no source files

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• Connecting to MSSQL Express in silverlight 4 appl, the db doesn't shows up in Management Studio Expr

  - by Gabriel

  I'm using MSSQLExpress named instance in my Silverlight 4 application. The database located in the web application data folder. I attached the db via VS2010. The program works, but the db doesn't show up in Management Studio Express. If I delete the connection from within VS2010, and Try to attach to db via Management Studio Express, on writes, that the database with same the name already exists. Why the database connected via VS2010 doesn't show up in Management Studio Express? Thanks in advance Gabor

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• Enterprise Process Maps: A Process Picture worth a Million Words

  - by raul.goycoolea

  p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h1 { margin-top: 0.33in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(54, 95, 145); page-break-inside: avoid; }h1.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; }h1.cjk { font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; font-size: 14pt; }h1.ctl { font-size: 14pt; } Getting Started with Business Transformations A well-known proverb states that "A picture is worth a thousand words." In relation to Business Process Management (BPM), a credible analyst might have a few questions. What if the picture was taken from some particular angle, like directly overhead? What if it was taken from only an inch away or a mile away? What if the photographer did not focus the camera correctly? Does the value of the picture depend on who is looking at it? Enterprise Process Maps are analogous in this sense of relative value. Every BPM project (holistic BPM kick-off, enterprise system implementation, Service-oriented Architecture, business process transformation, corporate performance management, etc.) should be begin with a clear understanding of the business environment, from the biggest picture representations down to the lowest level required or desired for the particular project type, scope and objectives. The Enterprise Process Map serves as an entry point for the process architecture and is defined: the single highest level of process mapping for an organization. It is constructed and evaluated during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. (see Figure 1) Fig. 1: Business Process Management Lifecycle Many organizations view such maps as visual abstractions, constructed for the single purpose of process categorization. This, in turn, results in a lesser focus on the inherent intricacies of the Enterprise Process view, which are explored in the course of this paper. With the main focus of a large scale process documentation effort usually underlying an ERP or other system implementation, it is common for the work to be driven by the desire to "get to the details," and to the type of modeling that will derive near-term tangible results. For instance, a project in American Pharmaceutical Company X is driven by the Director of IT. With 120+ systems in place, and a lack of standardized processes across the United States, he and the VP of IT have decided to embark on a long-term ERP implementation. At the forethought of both are questions, such as: How does my application architecture map to the business? What are each application's functionalities, and where do the business processes utilize them? Where can we retire legacy systems? Well-developed BPM methodologies prescribe numerous model types to capture such information and allow for thorough analysis in these areas. Process to application maps, Event Driven Process Chains, etc. provide this level of detail and facilitate the completion of such project-specific questions. These models and such analysis are appropriately carried out at a relatively low level of process detail. (see figure 2) Fig. 2: The Level Concept, Generic Process HierarchySome of the questions remaining are ones of documentation longevity, the continuation of BPM practice in the organization, process governance and ownership, process transparency and clarity in business process objectives and strategy. The Level Concept in Brief Figure 2 shows a generic, four-level process hierarchy depicting the breakdown of a "Process Area" into progressively more detailed process classifications. The number of levels and the names of these levels are flexible, and can be fit to the standards of the organization's chosen terminology or any other chosen reference model that makes logical sense for both short and long term process description. It is at Level 1 (in this case the Process Area level), that the Enterprise Process Map is created. This map and its contained objects become the foundation for a top-down approach to subsequent mapping, object relationship development, and analysis of the organization's processes and its supporting infrastructure. Additionally, this picture serves as a communication device, at an executive level, describing the design of the business in its service to a customer. It seems, then, imperative that the process development effort, and this map, start off on the right foot. Figuring out just what that right foot is, however, is critical and trend-setting in an evolving organization. Key Considerations Enterprise Process Maps are usually not as living and breathing as other process maps. Just as it would be an extremely difficult task to change the foundation of the Sears Tower or a city plan for the entire city of Chicago, the Enterprise Process view of an organization usually remains unchanged once developed (unless, of course, an organization is at a stage where it is capable of true, high-level process innovation). Regardless, the Enterprise Process map is a key first step, and one that must be taken in a precise way. What makes this groundwork solid depends on not only the materials used to construct it (process areas), but also the layout plan and knowledge base of what will be built (the entire process architecture). It seems reasonable that care and consideration are required to create this critical high level map... but what are the important factors? Does the process modeler need to worry about how many process areas there are? About who is looking at it? Should he only use the color pink because it's his boss' favorite color? Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, these are all valid considerations that may just require a bit of structure. Below are Three Key Factors to consider when building an Enterprise Process Map: Company Strategic Focus Process Categorization: Customer is Core End-to-end versus Functional Processes Company Strategic Focus As mentioned above, the Enterprise Process Map is created during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. From Oracle Business Process Management methodology for business transformation, it is apparent that business processes exist for the purpose of achieving the strategic objectives of an organization. In a prescribed, top-down approach to process development, it must be ensured that each process fulfills its objectives, and in an aggregated manner, drives fulfillment of the strategic objectives of the company, whether for particular business segments or in a broader sense. This is a crucial point, as the strategic messages of the company must therefore resound in its process maps, in particular one that spans the processes of the complete business: the Enterprise Process Map. One simple example from Company X is shown below (see figure 3). Fig. 3: Company X Enterprise Process Map In reviewing Company X's Enterprise Process Map, one can immediately begin to understand the general strategic mindset of the organization. It shows that Company X is focused on its customers, defining 10 of its process areas belonging to customer-focused categories. Additionally, the organization views these end-customer-oriented process areas as part of customer-fulfilling value chains, while support process areas do not provide as much contiguous value. However, by including both support and strategic process categorizations, it becomes apparent that all processes are considered vital to the success of the customer-oriented focus processes. Below is an example from Company Y (see figure 4). Fig. 4: Company Y Enterprise Process Map Company Y, although also a customer-oriented company, sends a differently focused message with its depiction of the Enterprise Process Map. Along the top of the map is the company's product tree, overarching the process areas, which when executed deliver the products themselves. This indicates one strategic objective of excellence in product quality. Additionally, the view represents a less linear value chain, with strong overlaps of the various process areas. Marketing and quality management are seen as a key support processes, as they span the process lifecycle. Often, companies may incorporate graphics, logos and symbols representing customers and suppliers, and other objects to truly send the strategic message to the business. Other times, Enterprise Process Maps may show high level of responsibility to organizational units, or the application types that support the process areas. It is possible that hundreds of formats and focuses can be applied to an Enterprise Process Map. What is of vital importance, however, is which formats and focuses are chosen to truly represent the direction of the company, and serve as a driver for focusing the business on the strategic objectives set forth in that right. Process Categorization: Customer is Core In the previous two examples, processes were grouped using differing categories and techniques. Company X showed one support and three customer process categorizations using encompassing chevron objects; Customer Y achieved a less distinct categorization using a gradual color scheme. Either way, and in general, modeling of the process areas becomes even more valuable and easily understood within the context of business categorization, be it strategic or otherwise. But how one categorizes their processes is typically more complex than simply choosing object shapes and colors. Previously, it was stated that the ideal is a prescribed top-down approach to developing processes, to make certain linkages all the way back up to corporate strategy. But what about external influences? What forces push and pull corporate strategy? Industry maturity, product lifecycle, market profitability, competition, etc. can all drive the critical success factors of a particular business segment, or the company as a whole, in addition to previous corporate strategy. This may seem to be turning into a discussion of theory, but that is far from the case. In fact, in years of recent study and evolution of the way businesses operate, cross-industry and across the globe, one invariable has surfaced with such strength to make it undeniable in the game plan of any strategy fit for survival. That constant is the customer. Many of a company's critical success factors, in any business segment, relate to the customer: customer retention, satisfaction, loyalty, etc. Businesses serve customers, and so do a business's processes, mapped or unmapped. The most effective way to categorize processes is in a manner that visualizes convergence to what is core for a company. It is the value chain, beginning with the customer in mind, and ending with the fulfillment of that customer, that becomes the core or the centerpiece of the Enterprise Process Map. (See figure 5) Fig. 5: Company Z Enterprise Process Map Company Z has what may be viewed as several different perspectives or "cuts" baked into their Enterprise Process Map. It has divided its processes into three main categories (top, middle, and bottom) of Management Processes, the Core Value Chain and Supporting Processes. The Core category begins with Corporate Marketing (which contains the activities of beginning to engage customers) and ends with Customer Service Management. Within the value chain, this company has divided into the focus areas of their two primary business lines, Foods and Beverages. Does this mean that areas, such as Strategy, Information Management or Project Management are not as important as those in the Core category? No! In some cases, though, depending on the organization's understanding of high-level BPM concepts, use of category names, such as "Core," "Management" or "Support," can be a touchy subject. What is important to understand, is that no matter the nomenclature chosen, the Core processes are those that drive directly to customer value, Support processes are those which make the Core processes possible to execute, and Management Processes are those which steer and influence the Core. Some common terms for these three basic categorizations are Core, Customer Fulfillment, Customer Relationship Management, Governing, Controlling, Enabling, Support, etc. End-to-end versus Functional Processes Every high and low level of process: function, task, activity, process/work step (whatever an organization calls it), should add value to the flow of business in an organization. Suppose that within the process "Deliver package," there is a documented task titled "Stop for ice cream." It doesn't take a process expert to deduce the room for improvement. Though stopping for ice cream may create gain for the one person performing it, it likely benefits neither the organization nor, more importantly, the customer. In most cases, "Stop for ice cream" wouldn't make it past the first pass of To-Be process development. What would make the cut, however, would be a flow of tasks that, each having their own value add, build up to greater and greater levels of process objective. In this case, those tasks would combine to achieve a status of "package delivered." Figure 3 shows a simple example: Just as the package can only be delivered (outcome of the process) without first being retrieved, loaded, and the travel destination reached (outcomes of the process steps), some higher level of process "Play Practical Joke" (e.g., main process or process area) cannot be completed until a package is delivered. It seems that isolated or functionally separated processes, such as "Deliver Package" (shown in Figure 6), are necessary, but are always part of a bigger value chain. Each of these individual processes must be analyzed within the context of that value chain in order to ensure successful end-to-end process performance. For example, this company's "Create Joke Package" process could be operating flawlessly and efficiently, but if a joke is never developed, it cannot be created, so the end-to-end process breaks. Fig. 6: End to End Process Construction That being recognized, it is clear that processes must be viewed as end-to-end, customer-to-customer, and in the context of company strategy. But as can also be seen from the previous example, these vital end-to-end processes cannot be built without the functionally oriented building blocks. Without one, the other cannot be had, or at least not in a complete and organized fashion. As it turns out, but not discussed in depth here, the process modeling effort, BPM organizational development, and comprehensive coverage cannot be fully realized without a semi-functional, process-oriented approach. Then, an Enterprise Process Map should be concerned with both views, the building blocks, and access points to the business-critical end-to-end processes, which they construct. Without the functional building blocks, all streams of work needed for any business transformation would be lost mess of process disorganization. End-to-end views are essential for utilization in optimization in context, understanding customer impacts, base-lining all project phases and aligning objectives. Including both views on an Enterprise Process Map allows management to understand the functional orientation of the company's processes, while still providing access to end-to-end processes, which are most valuable to them. (See figures 7 and 8). Fig. 7: Simplified Enterprise Process Map with end-to-end Access Point The above examples show two unique ways to achieve a successful Enterprise Process Map. The first example is a simple map that shows a high level set of process areas and a separate section with the end-to-end processes of concern for the organization. This particular map is filtered to show just one vital end-to-end process for a project-specific focus. Fig. 8: Detailed Enterprise Process Map showing connected Functional Processes The second example shows a more complex arrangement and categorization of functional processes (the names of each process area has been removed). The end-to-end perspective is achieved at this level through the connections (interfaces at lower levels) between these functional process areas. An important point to note is that the organization of these two views of the Enterprise Process Map is dependent, in large part, on the orientation of its audience, and the complexity of the landscape at the highest level. If both are not apparent, the Enterprise Process Map is missing an opportunity to serve as a holistic, high-level view. Conclusion In the world of BPM, and specifically regarding Enterprise Process Maps, a picture can be worth as many words as the thought and effort that is put into it. Enterprise Process Maps alone cannot change an organization, but they serve more purposes than initially meet the eye, and therefore must be designed in a way that enables a BPM mindset, business process understanding and business transformation efforts. Every Enterprise Process Map will and should be different when looking across organizations. Its design will be driven by company strategy, a level of customer focus, and functional versus end-to-end orientations. This high-level description of the considerations of the Enterprise Process Maps is not a prescriptive "how to" guide. However, a company attempting to create one may not have the practical BPM experience to truly explore its options or impacts to the coming work of business process transformation. The biggest takeaway is that process modeling, at all levels, is a science and an art, and art is open to interpretation. It is critical that the modeler of the highest level of process mapping be a cognoscente of the message he is delivering and the factors at hand. Without sufficient focus on the design of the Enterprise Process Map, an entire BPM effort may suffer. For additional information please check: Oracle Business Process Management.

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• Should I base my Embedded Linux product on Qt?

  - by Udi

  My company is developing a medical product. One of the components is a pda-like platform that will run embedded linux. We were considering Qt as the UI framework but found out that Qt is a lot more than that (we are not familiar with Qt). In general, the device needs to do the following: 1. Receive measurements over USB HID from another device (USB HID is used for convenience). 2. Process the measurements. 3. Store them in a database. 4. Interact with the user using the device's touch screen lcd. 5. Communicate (wi-fi, tcp-ip) with a central management station that collects the data and configures the device. 6. Include a web server to allow accessing the device via a browser. We intend to program in C++. My questions are: 1. Is that a good choice for such a device? 2. Assuming we choose Qt, how do we build our product? - Do we use Qt just as a GUI framework and write the application code in a separate process (passing messages between Qt and the application process)? - Do we write the entire application inside Qt, using all of the services the tool has to offer? - Another approach?

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• The Business of Winning Innovation: An Exclusive Blog Series

  - by Kerrie Foy

  "The Business of Winning Innovation” is a series of articles authored by Oracle Agile PLM experts on what it takes to make innovation a successful and lucrative competitive advantage. Our customers have proven Agile PLM applications to be enormously flexible and comprehensive, so we’ve launched this article series to showcase some of the most fascinating, value-packed use cases. In this article by Keith Colonna, we kick-off the series by taking a look at the science side of innovation within the Consumer Products industry and how PLM can help companies innovate faster, cheaper, smarter. This article will review how innovation has become the lifeline for growth within consumer products companies and how certain companies are “winning” by creating a competitive advantage for themselves by taking a more enterprise-wide,systematic approach to “innovation”.   Managing the Science of Innovation within the Consumer Products Industry By: Keith Colonna, Value Chain Solution Manager, Oracle The consumer products (CP) industry is very mature and competitive. Most companies within this industry have saturated North America (NA) with their products thus maximizing their NA growth potential. Future growth is expected to come from either expansion outside of North America and/or by way of new ideas and products. Innovation plays an integral role in both of these strategies, whether you’re innovating business processes or the products themselves, and may cause several challenges for the typical CP company, Becoming more innovative is both an art and a science. Most CP companies are very good at the art of coming up with new innovative ideas, but many struggle with perfecting the science aspect that involves the best practice processes that help companies quickly turn ideas into sellable products and services. Symptoms and Causes of Business Pain Struggles associated with the science of innovation show up in a variety of ways, like: · Establishing and storing innovative product ideas and data · Funneling these ideas to the chosen few · Time to market cycle time and on-time launch rates · Success rates, or how often the best idea gets chosen · Imperfect decision making (i.e. the ability to kill projects that are not projected to be winners) · Achieving financial goals · Return on R&D investment · Communicating internally and externally as more outsource partners are added globally · Knowing your new product pipeline and project status These challenges (and others) can be consolidated into three root causes: A lack of visibility Poor data with limited access The inability to truly collaborate enterprise-wide throughout your extended value chain Choose the Right Remedy Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions are uniquely designed to help companies solve these types challenges and their root causes. However, PLM solutions can vary widely in terms of configurability, functionality, time-to-value, etc. Business leaders should evaluate PLM solution in terms of their own business drivers and long-term vision to determine the right fit. Many of these solutions are point solutions that can help you cure only one or two business pains in the short term. Others have been designed to serve other industries with different needs. Then there are those solutions that demo well but are owned by companies that are either unable or unwilling to continuously improve their solution to stay abreast of the ever changing needs of the CP industry to grow through innovation. What the Right PLM Solution Should Do for You Based on more than twenty years working in the CP industry, I recommend investing in a single solution that can help you solve all of the issues associated with the science of innovation in a totally integrated fashion. By integration I mean the (1) integration of the all of the processes associated with the development, maintenance and delivery of your product data, and (2) the integration, or harmonization of this product data with other downstream sources, like ERP, product catalogues and the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (or GDSN, which is now a CP industry requirement for doing business with most retailers). The right PLM solution should help you: Increase Revenue. A best practice PLM solution should help a company grow its revenues by consolidating product development cycle-time and helping companies get new and improved products to market sooner. PLM should also eliminate many of the root causes for a product being returned, refused and/or reclaimed (which takes away from top-line growth) by creating an enterprise-wide, collaborative, workflow-driven environment. Reduce Costs. A strong PLM solution should help shave many unnecessary costs that companies typically take for granted. Rationalizing SKU’s, components (ingredients and packaging) and suppliers is a major opportunity at most companies that PLM should help address. A natural outcome of this rationalization is lower direct material spend and a reduction of inventory. Another cost cutting opportunity comes with PLM when it helps companies avoid certain costs associated with process inefficiencies that lead to scrap, rework, excess and obsolete inventory, poor end of life administration, higher cost of quality and regulatory and increased expediting. Mitigate Risk. Risks are the hardest to quantify but can be the most costly to a company. Food safety, recalls, line shutdowns, customer dissatisfaction and, worst of all, the potential tarnishing of your brands are a few of the debilitating risks that CP companies deal with on a daily basis. These risks are so uniquely severe that they require an enterprise PLM solution specifically designed for the CP industry that safeguards product information and processes while still allowing the art of innovation to flourish. Many CP companies have already created a winning advantage by leveraging a single, best practice PLM solution to establish an enterprise-wide, systematic approach to innovation. Oracle’s Answer for the Consumer Products Industry Oracle is dedicated to solving the growth and innovation challenges facing the CP industry. Oracle’s Agile Product Lifecycle Management for Process solution was originally developed with and for CP companies and is driven by a specialized development staff solely focused on maintaining and continuously improving the solution per the latest industry requirements. Agile PLM for Process helps CP companies handle all of the processes associated with managing the science of the innovation process, including: specification management, new product development/project and portfolio management, formulation optimization, supplier management, and quality and regulatory compliance to name a few. And as I mentioned earlier, integration is absolutely critical. Many Oracle CP customers, both with Oracle ERP systems and non-Oracle ERP systems, report benefits from Oracle’s Agile PLM for Process. In future articles we will explain in greater detail how both existing Oracle customers (like Gallo, Smuckers, Land-O-Lakes and Starbucks) and new Oracle customers (like ConAgra, Tyson, McDonalds and Heinz) have all realized the benefits of Agile PLM for Process and its integration to their ERP systems. More to Come Stay tuned for more articles in our blog series “The Business of Winning Innovation.” While we will also feature articles focused on other industries, look forward to more on how Agile PLM for Process addresses innovation challenges facing the CP industry. Additional topics include: Innovation Data Management (IDM), New Product Development (NPD), Product Quality Management (PQM), Menu Management,Private Label Management, and more! . Watch this video for more info about Agile PLM for Process

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• Projected Results

  - by Sylvie MacKenzie, PMP

  Excerpt from PROFIT - ORACLE - by Monica Mehta Yasser Mahmud has seen a revolution in project management over the past decade. During that time, the former Primavera product strategist (who joined Oracle when his company was acquired in 2008) has not only observed a transformation in the way IT systems support corporate projects but the role project portfolio management (PPM) plays in the enterprise. “15 years ago project management was the domain of project management office (PMO),” Mahmud recalls of earlier days. “But over the course of the past decade, we've seen it transform into a mission critical enterprise discipline, that has made Primavera indispensable in the board room. Now, as a senior manager, a board member, or a C-level executive you have direct and complete visibility into what’s kind of going on in the organization—at a level of detail that you're going to consume that information.” Now serving as Oracle’s vice president of product strategy and industry marketing, Mahmud shares his thoughts on how Oracle’s Primavera solutions have evolved and how best-in-class project portfolio management systems can help businesses stay competitive. Profit: What do you feel are the market dynamics that are changing project management today? Mahmud: First, the data explosion. We're generating data at twice the rate at which we can actually store it. The same concept applies for project-intensive organizations. A lot of data is gathered, but what are we really doing with it? Are we turning data into insight? Are we using that insight and turning it into foresight with analytics tools? This is a key driver that will separate the very good companies—the very competitive companies—from those that are not as competitive. Another trend is centered on the explosion of mobile computing. By the year 2013, an estimated 35 percent of the world’s workforce is going to be mobile. That’s one billion people. So the question is not if you're going to go mobile, it’s how fast you are going to go mobile. What kind of impact does that have on how the workforce participates in projects? What worked ten to fifteen years ago is not going to work today. It requires a real rethink around the interfaces and how data is actually presented. Profit: What is the role of project management in this new landscape? Mahmud: We recently conducted a PPM study with the Economist Intelligence Unit centered to determine how important project management is considered within organizations. Our target was primarily CFOs, CIOs, and senior managers and we discovered that while 95 percent of participants believed it critical to their business, only six percent were confident that projects were delivered on time and on budget. That’s a huge gap. Most organizations are looking for efficiency, especially in these volatile financial times. But senior management can’t keep track of every project in a large organization. As a result, executives are attempting to inventory the work being conducted under their watch. What is often needed is a very high-level assessment conducted at the board level to say, “Here are the 50 initiatives that we have underway. How do they line up with our strategic drivers?” This line of questioning can provide early warning that work and strategy are out of alignment; finding the gap between what the business needs to do and the actual performance scorecard. That’s low-hanging fruit for any executive looking to increase efficiency and save money. But it can only be obtained through proper assessment of existing projects—and you need a project system of record to get that done. Over the next decade or so, project management is going to transform into holistic work management. Business leaders will want make sure key projects align with corporate strategy, but also the ability to drill down into daily activity and smaller projects to make sure they line up as well. Keeping employees from working on tasks—even for a few hours—that don’t line up with corporate goals will, in many ways, become a competitive differentiator. Profit: How do all of these market challenges and shifting trends impact Oracle’s Primavera solutions and meeting customers’ needs? Mahmud: For Primavera, it’s a transformation from being a project management application to a PPM system in the enterprise. Also making that system a mission-critical application by connecting to other key applications within the ecosystem, such as the enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain, and CRM systems. Analytics have also become a huge component. Business analytics have made Oracle’s Primavera applications pertinent in the boardroom. Now, as a senior manager, a board member, a CXO, CIO, or CEO, you have direct visibility into what’s going on in the organization at a level that you're able to consume that information. In addition, all of this information pairs up really well with your financials and other data. Certainly, when you're an Oracle shop, you have that visibility that you didn’t have before from a project execution perspective. Profit: What new strategies and tools are being implemented to create a more efficient workplace for users? Mahmud: We believe very strongly that just because you call something an enterprise project portfolio management system doesn’t make it so—you have to get people to want to participate in the system. This can’t be mandated down from the top. It simply doesn’t work that way. A truly adoptable solution is one that makes it super easy for all types users to participate, by providing them interfaces where they live. Keeping that in mind, a major area of development has been alternative user interfaces. This is increasingly resulting in the creation of lighter weight, targeted interfaces such as iOS applications, and smartphones interfaces such as for iPhone and Android platform. Profit: How does this translate into the development of Oracle’s Primavera solutions? Mahmud: Let me give you a few examples. We recently announced the launch of our Primavera P6 Team Member application, which is a native iOS application for the iPhone. This interface makes it easier for team members to do their jobs quickly and effectively. Similarly, we introduced the Primavera analytics application, which can be consumed via mobile devices, and when married with Oracle Spatial capabilities, users can get a geographical view of what’s going on and which projects are occurring in various locations around the world. Lastly, we introduced advanced email integration that allows project team members to status work via E-mail. This functionality leverages the fact that users are in E-mail system throughout the day and allows them to status their work without the need to launch the Primavera application. It comes back to a mantra: provide as many alternative user interfaces as possible, so you can give people the ability to work, to participate, to raise issues, to create projects, in the places where they live. Do it in such a way that it’s non-intrusive, do it in such a way that it’s easy and intuitive and they can get it done in a short amount of time. If you do that, workers can get back to doing what they're actually getting paid for.

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