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  • Oracle Tutor: Installing Is Not Implementing or Why CIO's should care about End User Adoption

    - by emily.chorba(at)oracle.com
    Eighteen months ago I showed Tutor and UPK Productive Day One overview to a CIO friend of mine. He works in a manufacturing business which had been recently purchased by a global conglomerate. He had a major implementation coming up, but said that the corporate team would be coming in to handle the project. I asked about their end user training approach, but it was unclear to him at the time. We were in touch over the course of the implementation project. The major activities were data conversion, how-to workshops, General Ledger realignment, and report definition. The message was "Here's how we do it at corporate, and here's how you are going to do it." In short, it was an application software installation. The corporate team had experience and confidence and the effort through go-live was smooth. Some weeks after cutover, problems with customer orders began to surface. Orders could not be fulfilled in a timely fashion. The problem got worse, and the corporate emergency team was called in. After many days of analysis, the issue was tracked down and resolved, but by then there were weeks of backorders, and their customer base was impacted in a significant way. It took three months of constant handholding of customers by the sales force for good will to be reestablished, and this itself diminished a new product sales push. I learned of these results in a recent conversation with the CIO. I asked him what the solution to the problem was, and he replied that it was twofold. The first component was a lack of understanding by customer service reps about how a particular data item in order entry was to be filled in, resulting in discrepant order data. The second component was that product planners were using this data, along with data from other sources, to fill in a spreadsheet based on the abandoned system. This spreadsheet was the primary input for planning data. The result of these two inaccuracies was that key parts were not being ordered to effectively meet demand and the lead time for finished goods was pushed out by weeks. I reminded him about the Productive Day One approach, and it's focus on methodology and tools for end user training. A more collaborative solution workshop would have identified proper applications use in the new environment. Using UPK to document correct transaction entry would have provided effective guidelines to the CSRs for data entry. Using Oracle Tutor to document the manual tasks would have eliminated the use of an out of date spreadsheet. As we talked this over, he said, "I wish I knew when I started what I know now." Effective end user adoption is the most critical and most overlooked success factor in applications implementations. When the switch is thrown at go-live, employees need to know how to use the new systems to do their jobs. Their jobs are made up of manual steps and systems steps which must be performed in the right order for the implementing organization to operate smoothly. Use Tutor to document the manual policies and procedures, use UPK to document the systems tasks, and develop this documentation in conjunction with a solution workshop. This is the path to develop effective end user training material for a smooth implementation. Learn More For more information about Tutor, visit Oracle.com or the Tutor Blog. Post your questions at the Tutor Forum. Chuck Jones, Product Manager, Oracle Tutor and BPM

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  • PASS Summit 2011 &ndash; Part II

    - by Tara Kizer
    I arrived in Seattle last Monday afternoon to attend PASS Summit 2011.  I had really wanted to attend Gail Shaw’s (blog|twitter) and Grant Fritchey’s (blog|twitter) pre-conference seminar “All About Execution Plans” on Monday, but that would have meant flying out on Sunday which I couldn’t do.  On Tuesday, I attended Allan Hirt’s (blog|twitter) pre-conference seminar entitled “A Deep Dive into AlwaysOn: Failover Clustering and Availability Groups”.  Allan is a great speaker, and his seminar was packed with demos and information about AlwaysOn in SQL Server 2012.  Unfortunately, I have lost my notes from this seminar and the presentation materials are only available on the pre-con DVD.  Hmpf! On Wednesday, I attended Gail Shaw’s “Bad Plan! Sit!”, Andrew Kelly’s (blog|twitter) “SQL 2008 Query Statistics”, Dan Jones’ (blog|twitter) “Improving your PowerShell Productivity”, and Brent Ozar’s (blog|twitter) “BLITZ! The SQL – More One Hour SQL Server Takeovers”.  In Gail’s session, she went over how to fix bad plans and bad query patterns.  Update your stale statistics! How to fix bad plans Use local variables – optimizer can’t sniff it, so it’ll optimize for “average” value Use RECOMPILE (at the query or stored procedure level) – CPU hit OPTIMIZE FOR hint – most common value you’ll pass How to fix bad query patterns Don’t use them – ha! Catch-all queries Use dynamic SQL OPTION (RECOMPILE) Multiple execution paths Split into multiple stored procedures OPTION (RECOMPILE) Modifying parameter values Use local variables Split into outer and inner procedure OPTION (RECOMPILE) She also went into “last resort” and “very last resort” options, but those are risky unless you know what you are doing.  For the average Joe, she wouldn’t recommend these.  Examples are query hints and plan guides. While I enjoyed Andrew’s session, I didn’t take any notes as it was familiar material.  Andrew is a great speaker though, and I’d highly recommend attending his sessions in the future. Next up was Dan’s PowerShell session.  I need to look into profiles, manifests, function modules, and function import scripts more as I just didn’t quite grasp these concepts.  I am attending a PowerShell training class at the end of November, so maybe that’ll help clear it up.  I really enjoyed the Excel integration demo.  It was very cool watching PowerShell build the spreadsheet in real-time.  I must look into this more!  On a side note, I am jealous of Dan’s hair.  Fabulous hair! Brent’s session showed us how to quickly gather information about a server that you will be taking over database administration duties for.  He wrote a script to do a fast health check and then later wrapped it into a stored procedure, sp_Blitz.  I can’t wait to use this at my work even on systems where I’ve been the primary DBA for years, maybe there’s something I’ve overlooked.  We are using EPM to help standardize our environment and uncover problems, but sp_Blitz will definitely still help us out.  He even provides a cloud-based update feature, sp_BlitzUpdate, for sp_Blitz so you don’t have to constantly update it when he makes a change.  I think I’ll utilize his update code for some other challenges that we face at my work.

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  • Social Targeting: This One's Just for You

    - by Mike Stiles
    Think of social targeting in terms of the archery competition we just saw in the Olympics. If someone loaded up 5 arrows and shot them straight up into the air all at once, hoping some would land near the target, the world would have united in laughter. But sadly for hysterical YouTube video viewing, that’s not what happened. The archers sought to maximize every arrow by zeroing in on the spot that would bring them the most points. Marketers have always sought to do the same. But they can only work with the tools that are available. A firm grasp of the desired target does little good if the ad products aren’t there to deliver that target. On the social side, both Facebook and Twitter have taken steps to enhance targeting for marketers. And why not? As the demand to monetize only goes up, they’re quite motivated to leverage and deliver their incredible user bases in ways that make economic sense for advertisers. You could target keywords on Twitter with promoted accounts, and get promoted tweets into search. They would surface for your followers and some users that Twitter thought were like them. Now you can go beyond keywords and target Twitter users based on 350 interests in 25 categories. How does a user wind up in one of these categories? Twitter looks at that user’s tweets, they look at whom they follow, and they run data through some sort of Twitter secret sauce. The result is, you have a much clearer shot at Twitter users who are most likely to welcome and be responsive to your tweets. And beyond the 350 interests, you can also create custom segments that find users who resemble followers of whatever Twitter handle you give it. That means you can now use boring tweets to sell like a madman, right? Not quite. This ad product is still quality-based, meaning if you’re not putting out tweets that lead to interest and thus, engagement, that tweet will earn a low quality score and wind up costing you more under Twitter’s auction system to maintain. That means, as the old knight in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” cautions, “choose wisely” when targeting based on these interests and categories to make sure your interests truly do line up with theirs. On the Facebook side, they’re rolling out ad targeting that uses email addresses, phone numbers, game and app developers’ user ID’s, and eventually addresses for you bigger brands. Why? Because you marketers asked for it. Here you were with this amazing customer list but no way to reach those same customers should they be on Facebook. Now you can find and communicate with customers you gathered outside of social, and use Facebook to do it. Fair to say such users are a sensible target and will be responsive to your message since they’ve already bought something from you. And no you’re not giving your customer info to Facebook. They’ll use something called “hashing” to make sure you don’t see Facebook user data (beyond email, phone number, address, or user ID), and Facebook can’t see your customer data. The end result, social becomes far more workable and more valuable to marketers when it delivers on the promise that made it so exciting in the first place. That promise is the ability to move past casting wide nets to the masses and toward concentrating marketing dollars efficiently on the targets most likely to yield results.

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  • Problem with Json Date format when calling cross-domain proxy

    - by Christo Fur
    I am using a proxy service to allow my client side javascript to talk to a service on another domain The proxy is a simple ashx file with simply gets the request and forwards it onto the service on the other domain : using (var sr = new System.IO.StreamReader(context.Request.InputStream)) { requestData = sr.ReadToEnd(); } string data = HttpUtility.UrlDecode(requestData); using (var client = new WebClient()) { client.BaseAddress = serviceUrl; client.Headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/json"); response = client.UploadString(new Uri(webserviceUrl), data); } The client javascript calling this proxy looks like this function TestMethod() { $.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/custommodules/configuratorproxyservice.ashx?m=TestMethod", contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8", data: JSON.parse('{"testObj":{"Name":"jo","Ref":"jones","LastModified":"\/Date(-62135596800000+0000)\/"}}'), dataType: "json", success: AjaxSucceeded, error: AjaxFailed }); function AjaxSucceeded(result) { alert(result); } function AjaxFailed(result) { alert(result.status + ' - ' + result.statusText); } } This works fine until I have to pass a date. At which point I get a Bad Request error when the proxy tries to call the service I did have this working at one point but have now lost it. Have tried using JSON.Parse on the object before sending. and JSON.Stringify, but no joy anyone got any ideas what I am missing

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  • Why isn't my WPF Datagrid showing data?

    - by Edward Tanguay
    This walkthrough says you can create a WPF datagrid in one line but doesn't give a full example. So I created an example using a generic list and connected it to the WPF datagrid, but it doesn't show any data. What do I need to change on the code below to get it to show data in the datagrid? ANSWER: This code works now: XAML: <Window x:Class="TestDatagrid345.Window1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:toolkit="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wpf/2008/toolkit" xmlns:local="clr-namespace:TestDatagrid345" Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300" Loaded="Window_Loaded"> <StackPanel> <toolkit:DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding}"/> </StackPanel> </Window> Code Behind: using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Windows; namespace TestDatagrid345 { public partial class Window1 : Window { private List<Customer> _customers = new List<Customer>(); public List<Customer> Customers { get { return _customers; }} public Window1() { InitializeComponent(); } private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { DataContext = Customers; Customers.Add(new Customer { FirstName = "Tom", LastName = "Jones" }); Customers.Add(new Customer { FirstName = "Joe", LastName = "Thompson" }); Customers.Add(new Customer { FirstName = "Jill", LastName = "Smith" }); } } }

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  • ASP.NET Ajax - Asynch request has separate session???

    - by Marcus King
    We are writing a search application that saves the search criteria to session state and executes the search inside of an asp.net updatepanel. Sometimes when we execute multiple searches successively the 2nd or 3rd search will sometimes return results from the first set of search criteria. Example: our first search we do a look up on "John Smith" - John Smith results are displayed. The second search we do a look up on "Bob Jones" - John Smith results are displayed. We save all of the search criteria in session state as I said, and read it from session state inside of the ajax request to format the DB query. When we put break points in VS everything behaves as normal, but without them we get the original search criteria and results. My guess is because they are saved in session, that the ajax request somehow gets its own session and saves the criteria to that, and then retrieves the criteria from that session every time, but the non-async stuff is able to see when the criteria is modified and saves the changes to state accordingly, but because they are from two different sessions there is a disparity in what is saved and read. EDIT::: To elaborate more, there was a suggestion of appending the search criteria to the query string which normally is good practice and I agree thats how it should be but following our requirements I don't see it as being viable. They want it so the user fills out the input controls hits search and there is no page reload, the only thing they see is a progress indicator on the page, and they still have the ability to navigate and use other features on the current page. If I were to add criteria to the query string I would have to do another request causing the whole page to load, which depending on the search criteria can take a really long time. This is why we are using an ajax call to perform the search and why we aren't causing another full page request..... I hope this clarifies the situation.

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  • ASP.Net MVC 3 Full Name In DropDownList

    - by tgriffiths
    I am getting a bit confused with this and need a little help please. I am developing a ASP.Net MVC 3 Web application using Entity Framework 4.1. I have a DropDownList on one of my Razor Views, and I wish to display a list of Full Names, for example Tom Jones Michael Jackson James Brown In my Controller I retrieve a List of User Objects, then select the FirstName and LastName of each User, and pass the data to a SelectList. List<User> Requesters = _userService.GetAllUsersByTypeIDOrgID(46, user.organisationID.Value).ToList(); var RequesterNames = from r in Requesters let person = new { UserID = r.userID, FullName = new { r.firstName, r.lastName } } orderby person.FullName ascending select person; viewModel.RequestersList = new SelectList(RequesterNames, "UserID", "FullName"); return View(viewModel); In my Razor View I have the following @Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.requesterID, Model.RequestersList, "Select", new { @class = "inpt_a"}) @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.requesterID) However, when I run the code I get the following error At least one object must implement IComparable. I feel as if I am going about this the wrong way, so could someone please help with this? Thanks.

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  • Use jquery to create a multidimensional array

    - by Simon M White
    I'd like to use jquery and a multidemensional array to show a random quote plus the name of the individual who wrote it as a separate item. I'll then be able to use css to style them differently. The quote will change upon page refresh. So far i have this code which combines the quote and the name and person who wrote it: $(document).ready(function(){ var myQuotes = new Array(); myQuotes[0] = "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec in tortor mauris. Peter Jones, Dragons Den"; myQuotes[1] = "Curabitur interdum, nibh et fringilla facilisis, lacus ipsum pulvinar mauris, eu facilisis justo arcu eget diam. Duis id sagittis elit. Theo Pathetis, Dragons Den"; myQuotes[2] = "Vivamus purus purus, tincidunt et porttitor et, euismod sit amet urna. Etiam sollicitudin eros nec metus pretium scelerisque. James Caan, Dragons Den"; var myRandom = Math.floor(Math.random()*myQuotes.length); $('.quote-holder blockquote span').html(myQuotes[myRandom]); }); any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Create a HTML table from nested maps (and vectors)

    - by Kenny164
    I'm trying to create a table (a work schedule) I have coded previously using python, I think it would be a nice introduction to the Clojure language for me. I have very little experience in Clojure (or lisp in that matter) and I've done my rounds in google and a good bit of trial and error but can't seem to get my head around this style of coding. Here is my sample data (will be coming from an sqlite database in the future): (def smpl2 (ref {"Salaried" [{"John Doe" ["12:00-20:00" nil nil nil "11:00-19:00"]} {"Mary Jane" [nil "12:00-20:00" nil nil nil "11:00-19:00"]}] "Shift Manager" [{"Peter Simpson" ["12:00-20:00" nil nil nil "11:00-19:00"]} {"Joe Jones" [nil "12:00-20:00" nil nil nil "11:00-19:00"]}] "Other" [{"Super Man" ["07:00-16:00" "07:00-16:00" "07:00-16:00" "07:00-16:00" "07:00-16:00"]}]})) I was trying to step through this originally using for then moving onto doseq and finally domap (which seems more successful) and dumping the contents into a html table (my original python program outputed this from a sqlite database into an excel spreadsheet using COM). Here is my attempt (the create-table fn): (defn html-doc [title & body] (html (doctype "xhtml/transitional") [:html [:head [:title title]] [:body body]])) (defn create-table [] [:h1 "Schedule"] [:hr] [:table (:style "border: 0; width: 90%") [:th "Name"][:th "Mon"][:th "Tue"][:th "Wed"] [:th "Thur"][:th "Fri"][:th "Sat"][:th "Sun"] [:tr (domap [ct @smpl2] [:tr [:td (key ct)] (domap [cl (val ct)] (domap [c cl] [:tr [:td (key c)]]))]) ]]) (defroutes tstr (GET "/" ((html-doc "Sample" create-table))) (ANY "*" 404)) That outputs the table with the sections (salaried, manager, etc) and the names in the sections, I just feel like I'm abusing the domap by nesting it too many times as I'll probably need to add more domaps just to get the shift times in their proper columns and the code is getting a 'dirty' feel to it. I apologize in advance if I'm not including enough information, I don't normally ask for help on coding, also this is my 1st SO question :). If you know any better approaches to do this or even tips or tricks I should know as a newbie, they are definitely welcome. Thanks.

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  • Why is the 'Named Domain Class' tool missing in the DSL Designer category in the toolbox ?

    - by Gishu
    I have the Domain-Specific development with VS DSL Tools book by Cook, Jones, et.all The book and various tutorials online mention a NamedDomainClass tool that should be present in the DSL Designer toolbox. I have installed VS 2010 beta 2 on Win XP - however this tool is missing in the toolbox. I've created a project using the Minimal project template as mentioned in the book. I have 12 tools showing up including the Domain Class tool. I've searched online and apparently no one else has this problem. Can someone confirm that it's missing in VS 2010 Beta 2? If not how can I get it to show up ? Is there any way in which I can add a Domain class instance and tweak it so that it becomes a Named Domain Class? The book mentions that there is some must-be-unique validation and serialization changes that are done by the NamedDomainClass tool. I've tried 'Choose Items' context menu on the DSL Designer category. These tools apparently are added dynamically ; do not show up in the lists on the dialog that comes up.

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  • Converting table columns to key value pairs

    - by TomD1
    I am writing a PL/SQL procedure that loads some data from Schema A into Schema B. They are both very different schemas and I can't change the structure of Schema B. Columns in various tables in Schema A (joined together in a view) need to be inserted into Schema B as key=value pairs in 2 columns in a table, each on a separate row. For example, an employee's first name might be present as employee.firstname in Schema A, but would need to be entered in Schema B as: id=>1, key=>'A123', value=>'Smith' There are almost 100 keys, with the potential for more to be added in future. This means I don't really want to hardcode any of these keys. Sample code: create table schema_a_employees ( emp_id number(8,0), firstname varchar2(50), surname varchar2(50) ); insert into schema_a_employees values ( 1, 'James', 'Smith' ); insert into schema_a_employees values ( 2, 'Fred', 'Jones' ); create table schema_b_values ( emp_id number(8,0), the_key varchar2(5), the_value varchar2(200) ); I thought an elegant solution would most likely involve a lookup table to determine what value to insert for each key, and doesn't involve effectively hardcoding dozens of similar statements like.... insert into schema_b_values ( 1, 'A123', v_firstname ); insert into schema_b_values ( 1, 'B123', v_surname ); What I'd like to be able to do is have a local lookup table in Schema A that lists all the keys from Schema B, along with a column that gives the name of the column in the table in Schema A that should be used to populate, e.g. key "A123" in Schema B should be populated with the value of the column "firstname" in Schema A, e.g. create table schema_a_lookup ( the_key varchar2(5), the_local_field_name varchar2(50) ); insert into schema_a_lookup values ( 'A123', 'firstname' ); insert into schema_a_lookup values ( 'B123', 'surname' ); But I'm not sure how I could dynamically use values from the lookup table to tell Oracle which columns to use. So my question is, is there an elegant solution to populate schema_b_values table with the data from schema_a_employees without hardcoding for every possible key (i.e. A123, B123, etc)? Cheers.

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  • Select XML nodes as rows

    - by Bjørn
    I am selecting from a table that has an XML column using T-SQL. I would like to select a certain type of node and have a row created for each one. For instance, suppose I am selecting from a people table. This table has an XML column for addresses. The XML is formated similar to the following: <address> <street>Street 1</street> <city>City 1</city> <state>State 1</state> <zipcode>Zip Code 1</zipcode> </address> <address> <street>Street 2</street> <city>City 2</city> <state>State 2</state> <zipcode>Zip Code 2</zipcode> </address> How can I get results like this: Name         City         State Joe Baker   Seattle      WA Joe Baker   Tacoma     WA Fred Jones  Vancouver BC

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  • PDO bindparam not working.

    - by jim
    I am trying to save data into a database using PDO. All columns save correctly with the exception of one. No matter what I try, I cannot get the data to go in. myfunc($db, $data) { echo $data; // <----- Outputs my data. example: 'jim jones' $stmt = $db->prepare("CALL test(:id, :data, :ip, :expires)"); $stmt->bindParam(':id', $id, PDO::PARAM_STR); $stmt->bindParam(':data', $data, PDO::PARAM_STR); $stmt->bindParam(':ip', $ip, PDO::PARAM_STR); $stmt->bindParam(':expires', $expires, PDO::PARAM_STR); ... } So even after verifying that the data variable in fact holds my data, the bindParam method will not bind. When I echo the data variable, I can see the data is there. It will not save though. If I copy the echo'd output of the data variable to screen and paste it into a new variable, it WILL save. I'm at this now for a couple of hours. Can someone please have a look? EDIT: I want to also mention that I have tried using bindValue() in place of bindParam() and the data for the data variable will still not save.

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  • Problem Displaying XML in Grid View-newbie

    - by Dean
    I am trying to do something in VisualWebDev 2008 Express that I thought would be simple, but it is not working. I want to display data from an XML file so I added the XMLDataSource to my page, pointed it to the XML file, and then added the GridView and connected it to the datasource. I am getting the following error: GridView - GridView1There was an error rendering the control. The data source for GridView with id 'GridView1' did not have any properties or attributes from which to generate columns. Ensure that your data source has content. Could someone please tell me what I might be doing wrong, TIA Dean A smippet from my XML is as follows: 6019 - Renaissance MS - New School Renaissance MS 7155 Hall Road Fairburn, GA 30213 NS-6019200-LA-01 New School Close-out NS-6019200 0.000000000000000e+000 The construction of the new Renaissance MS will be at the intersection of Jones/Hall Road, in the districts 7th & 9F and Land Lots 117, 143 & 146 of Fulton County, GA. The work includes the construction of the 180,500 square foot building that will house 34 standard classrooms, 12 standard science labs, 20 special purpose classrooms, cafeteria and litchen, gymnasium, media center and administrative offices. The site will also have multi-purpose playfields with track, softball field, tennis courts and basketball/volleyball court. Terry O'Brien Parsons Stevens Wilkinson Stang Newdow Barton Malow -84.62242 33.61497

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  • Legitimate uses of the Function constructor

    - by Marcel Korpel
    As repeatedly said, it is considered bad practice to use the Function constructor (also see the ECMAScript Language Specification, 5th edition, § 15.3.2.1): new Function ([arg1[, arg2[, … argN]],] functionBody) (where all arguments are strings containing argument names and the last (or only) string contains the function body). To recapitulate, it is said to be slow, as explained by the Opera team: Each time […] the Function constructor is called on a string representing source code, the script engine must start the machinery that converts the source code to executable code. This is usually expensive for performance – easily a hundred times more expensive than a simple function call, for example. (Mark ‘Tarquin’ Wilton-Jones) Though it's not that bad, according to this post on MDC (I didn't test this myself using the current version of Firefox, though). Crockford adds that [t]he quoting conventions of the language make it very difficult to correctly express a function body as a string. In the string form, early error checking cannot be done. […] And it is wasteful of memory because each function requires its own independent implementation. Another difference is that a function defined by a Function constructor does not inherit any scope other than the global scope (which all functions inherit). (MDC) Apart from this, you have to be attentive to avoid injection of malicious code, when you create a new Function using dynamic contents. Lots of disadvantages and it is intelligible that ECMAScript 5 discourages the use of the Function constructor by throwing an exception when using it in strict mode (§ 13.1). That said, T.J. Crowder says in an answer that [t]here's almost never any need for the similar […] new Function(...), either, again except for some advanced edge cases. So, now I am wondering: what are these “advanced edge cases”? Are there legitimate uses of the Function constructor?

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  • C: 8x8 -> 16 bit multiply precision guaranteed by integer promotions?

    - by craig-blome
    I'm trying to figure out if the C Standard (C90, though I'm working off Derek Jones' annotated C99 book) guarantees that I will not lose precision multiplying two unsigned 8-bit values and storing to a 16-bit result. An example statement is as follows: unsigned char foo; unsigned int foo_u16 = foo * 10; Our Keil 8051 compiler (v7.50 at present) will generate a MUL AB instruction which stores the MSB in the B register and the LSB in the accumulator. If I cast foo to a unsigned int first: unsigned int foo_u16 = (unsigned int)foo * 10; then the compiler correctly decides I want a unsigned int there and generates an expensive call to a 16x16 bit integer multiply routine. I would like to argue beyond reasonable doubt that this defensive measure is not necessary. As I read the integer promotions described in 6.3.1.1, the effect of the first line shall be as if foo and 10 were promoted to unsigned int, the multiplication performed, and the result stored as unsigned int in foo_u16. If the compiler knows an instruction that does 8x8-16 bit multiplications without loss of precision, so much the better; but the precision is guaranteed. Am I reading this correctly? Best regards, Craig Blome

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  • PHP programmer wanting to learn Flash game development

    - by grokker
    Hi! I'm currently a PHP programmer and one of my childhood dreams is to create a game. A game to show my friends or my children when the time comes :) The problem is I don't know Flash. I'm not great at drawing stuff or even artistic. I could program a little with Javascript and I could consider myself intermediate with jQuery. So my question is, how do I get started? What books do I read first? What's the steps that I should take on this journey? Thank you SO friends. I hope you all could help me create something I could be proud of :) P.S. I'm just assuming that Flash is the easiest way to create and show to other people my game. Anyway I'm very open for other suggestions! My game in mind is a side scroller about an indiana jones type of character and the setting is on the jungle with trees and snakes and a lot of animals!

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  • JavaFx 2.1, 2.2 TableView update issue

    - by Lewis Liu
    My application uses JPA read data into TableView then modify and display them. The table refreshed modified record under JavaFx 2.0.3. Under JavaFx 2.1, 2.2, the table wouldn't refresh the update anymore. I found other people have similar issue. My plan was to continue using 2.0.3 until someone fixes the issue under 2.1 and 2.2. Now I know it is not a bug and wouldn't be fixed. Well, I don't know how to deal with this. Following are codes are modified from sample demo to show the issue. If I add a new record or delete a old record from table, table refreshes fine. If I modify a record, the table wouldn't refreshes the change until a add, delete or sort action is taken. If I remove the modified record and add it again, table refreshes. But the modified record is put at button of table. Well, if I remove the modified record, add the same record then move the record to the original spot, the table wouldn't refresh anymore. Below is a completely code, please shine some light on this. import javafx.application.Application; import javafx.beans.property.SimpleStringProperty; import javafx.collections.FXCollections; import javafx.collections.ObservableList; import javafx.event.ActionEvent; import javafx.event.EventHandler; import javafx.geometry.HPos; import javafx.geometry.Insets; import javafx.geometry.Pos; import javafx.scene.Group; import javafx.scene.Scene; import javafx.scene.control.*; import javafx.scene.control.cell.PropertyValueFactory; import javafx.scene.layout.GridPane; import javafx.scene.layout.HBox; import javafx.scene.layout.VBox; import javafx.scene.text.Font; import javafx.stage.Modality; import javafx.stage.Stage; import javafx.stage.StageStyle; public class Main extends Application { private TextField firtNameField = new TextField(); private TextField lastNameField = new TextField(); private TextField emailField = new TextField(); private Stage editView; private Person fPerson; public static class Person { private final SimpleStringProperty firstName; private final SimpleStringProperty lastName; private final SimpleStringProperty email; private Person(String fName, String lName, String email) { this.firstName = new SimpleStringProperty(fName); this.lastName = new SimpleStringProperty(lName); this.email = new SimpleStringProperty(email); } public String getFirstName() { return firstName.get(); } public void setFirstName(String fName) { firstName.set(fName); } public String getLastName() { return lastName.get(); } public void setLastName(String fName) { lastName.set(fName); } public String getEmail() { return email.get(); } public void setEmail(String fName) { email.set(fName); } } private TableView<Person> table = new TableView<Person>(); private final ObservableList<Person> data = FXCollections.observableArrayList( new Person("Jacob", "Smith", "[email protected]"), new Person("Isabella", "Johnson", "[email protected]"), new Person("Ethan", "Williams", "[email protected]"), new Person("Emma", "Jones", "[email protected]"), new Person("Michael", "Brown", "[email protected]")); public static void main(String[] args) { launch(args); } @Override public void start(Stage stage) { Scene scene = new Scene(new Group()); stage.setTitle("Table View Sample"); stage.setWidth(535); stage.setHeight(535); editView = new Stage(); final Label label = new Label("Address Book"); label.setFont(new Font("Arial", 20)); TableColumn firstNameCol = new TableColumn("First Name"); firstNameCol.setCellValueFactory( new PropertyValueFactory<Person, String>("firstName")); firstNameCol.setMinWidth(150); TableColumn lastNameCol = new TableColumn("Last Name"); lastNameCol.setCellValueFactory( new PropertyValueFactory<Person, String>("lastName")); lastNameCol.setMinWidth(150); TableColumn emailCol = new TableColumn("Email"); emailCol.setMinWidth(200); emailCol.setCellValueFactory( new PropertyValueFactory<Person, String>("email")); table.setItems(data); table.getColumns().addAll(firstNameCol, lastNameCol, emailCol); //--- create a edit button and a editPane to edit person Button addButton = new Button("Add"); addButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { fPerson = null; firtNameField.setText(""); lastNameField.setText(""); emailField.setText(""); editView.show(); } }); Button editButton = new Button("Edit"); editButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { if (table.getSelectionModel().getSelectedItem() != null) { fPerson = table.getSelectionModel().getSelectedItem(); firtNameField.setText(fPerson.getFirstName()); lastNameField.setText(fPerson.getLastName()); emailField.setText(fPerson.getEmail()); editView.show(); } } }); Button deleteButton = new Button("Delete"); deleteButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { if (table.getSelectionModel().getSelectedItem() != null) { data.remove(table.getSelectionModel().getSelectedItem()); } } }); HBox addEditDeleteButtonBox = new HBox(); addEditDeleteButtonBox.getChildren().addAll(addButton, editButton, deleteButton); addEditDeleteButtonBox.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER_RIGHT); addEditDeleteButtonBox.setSpacing(3); GridPane editPane = new GridPane(); editPane.getStyleClass().add("editView"); editPane.setPadding(new Insets(3)); editPane.setHgap(5); editPane.setVgap(5); Label personLbl = new Label("Person:"); editPane.add(personLbl, 0, 1); GridPane.setHalignment(personLbl, HPos.LEFT); firtNameField.setPrefWidth(250); lastNameField.setPrefWidth(250); emailField.setPrefWidth(250); Label firstNameLabel = new Label("First Name:"); Label lastNameLabel = new Label("Last Name:"); Label emailLabel = new Label("Email:"); editPane.add(firstNameLabel, 0, 3); editPane.add(firtNameField, 1, 3); editPane.add(lastNameLabel, 0, 4); editPane.add(lastNameField, 1, 4); editPane.add(emailLabel, 0, 5); editPane.add(emailField, 1, 5); GridPane.setHalignment(firstNameLabel, HPos.RIGHT); GridPane.setHalignment(lastNameLabel, HPos.RIGHT); GridPane.setHalignment(emailLabel, HPos.RIGHT); Button saveButton = new Button("Save"); saveButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { if (fPerson == null) { fPerson = new Person( firtNameField.getText(), lastNameField.getText(), emailField.getText()); data.add(fPerson); } else { int k = -1; if (data.size() > 0) { for (int i = 0; i < data.size(); i++) { if (data.get(i) == fPerson) { k = i; } } } fPerson.setFirstName(firtNameField.getText()); fPerson.setLastName(lastNameField.getText()); fPerson.setEmail(emailField.getText()); data.set(k, fPerson); table.setItems(data); // The following will work, but edited person has to be added to the button // // data.remove(fPerson); // data.add(fPerson); // add and remove refresh the table, but now move edited person to original spot, // it failed again with the following code // while (data.indexOf(fPerson) != k) { // int i = data.indexOf(fPerson); // Collections.swap(data, i, i - 1); // } } editView.close(); } }); Button cancelButton = new Button("Cancel"); cancelButton.setOnAction(new EventHandler<ActionEvent>() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { editView.close(); } }); HBox saveCancelButtonBox = new HBox(); saveCancelButtonBox.getChildren().addAll(saveButton, cancelButton); saveCancelButtonBox.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER_RIGHT); saveCancelButtonBox.setSpacing(3); VBox editBox = new VBox(); editBox.getChildren().addAll(editPane, saveCancelButtonBox); Scene editScene = new Scene(editBox); editView.setTitle("Person"); editView.initStyle(StageStyle.UTILITY); editView.initModality(Modality.APPLICATION_MODAL); editView.setScene(editScene); editView.close(); final VBox vbox = new VBox(); vbox.setSpacing(5); vbox.getChildren().addAll(label, table, addEditDeleteButtonBox); vbox.setPadding(new Insets(10, 0, 0, 10)); ((Group) scene.getRoot()).getChildren().addAll(vbox); stage.setScene(scene); stage.show(); } }

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  • OpenCL - incremental summation during compute

    - by user1721997
    I'm absolutelly novice in OpenCL programming. For my app. (molecular simulaton) I wrote a kernel for calculate intermolecular potential of lennard-jones liquid. In this kernel I need to compute cumulative value of the potential of all particles with one: __kernel void Molsim(__global const float* inmatrix, __global float* fi, const int c, const float r1, const float r2, const float r3, const float rc, const float epsilon, const float sigma, const float h1, const float h23) { float fi0; float fi1; float d; unsigned int i = get_global_id(0); //number of particles (typically 2000) if(c!=i) { // potential before particle movement d=sqrt(pow((0.5*h1-fabs(0.5*h1-fabs(inmatrix[c*3]-inmatrix[i*3]))),2.0)+pow((0.5*h23-fabs(0.5*h23-fabs(inmatrix[c*3+1]-inmatrix[i*3+1]))),2.0)+pow((0.5*h23-fabs(0.5*h23-fabs(inmatrix[c*3+2]-inmatrix[i*3+2]))),2.0)); if(d<rc) { fi0=4.0*epsilon*(pow(sigma/d,12.0)-pow(sigma/d,6.0)); } else { fi0=0; } // potential after particle movement d=sqrt(pow((0.5*h1-fabs(0.5*h1-fabs(r1-inmatrix[i*3]))),2.0)+pow((0.5*h23-fabs(0.5*h23-fabs(r2-inmatrix[i*3+1]))),2.0)+pow((0.5*h23-fabs(0.5*h23-fabs(r3-inmatrix[i*3+2]))),2.0)); if(d<rc) { fi1=4.0*epsilon*(pow(sigma/d,12.0)-pow(sigma/d,6.0)); } else { fi1=0; } // cumulative difference of potentials fi[0]+=fi1-fi0; } } My problem is in the line: fi[0]+=fi1-fi0;. In the one-element vector fi[0] are wrong results. I read something about sum reduction, but I do not know how to do it during the calculation. Exist any simple solution of my problem?

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  • How can I change the tags/css class of some dynamic text based on output from a helper?

    - by Angela
    I have a repeated line which outputs something like: Call John Jones in -3 days (status) I have a helper called show_status(contact,email) which will output whether that particular email had been sent to that particular contact. If it is "sent," then that entire line should show up as "strike out." Similarly, if the number of days is -3 (<0), the line should be formatted in red. Here's my hack, but there must be a cleaner way to put the logic into the controller? I hard-code a value that wraps around the lines I want formatted, and assign the value based on a separate call to the same helper: <% for call in @campaign.calls %> <% if !show_call_status(@contact,call).blank? %> <%= strike_start = '<s>'%> <%= strike_end = '</s>' %> <% end %> <p> <%= strike_start %> <%= link_to call.title, call_path(call) %> on <%= (@contact.date_entered + call.days).to_s(:long) %> in <%= interval_email(@contact,call) %> days <%= make_call(@contact,call) %> <span class='status'><%= show_call_status(@contact,call) %></span> <%= strike_end %> </p> <% end %> I guess what I'd like to do is not have the if statement in the View. Not sure how to do this.

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  • HTML, CSS: overbar matching square root symbol

    - by Pindatjuh
    Is there a way in HTML and/or CSS to do the following, but then correctly: √¯¯¯¯¯¯φ·(2π−γ) Such that there is an overbar above the expression, which neatly aligns with the &radic;? I know there is the Unicode &macr;, that looks like the overbar I need (as used in the above example, though as you can see – it doesn't align well with the root symbol). The solution I'm looking for works at least for one standard font, on most sizes, and all modern browsers. I can't use images; I'd like to have a pure HTML4/CSS way, without client scripting. Here is my current code, thank you Matthew Jones (+1) for the text-decoration: overline! Still some problems <div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 200%"> <span style="vertical-align: -15%;">&radic;</span><span style="text-decoration: overline;">&nbsp;x&nbsp;+&nbsp;1&nbsp;</span> </div> The line doesn't match the &radic; because I lowered it with 15% baseline height. (Because the default placement is not nice) The line thickness doesn't match the thickness of the &radic;. Thanks!

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  • What is the Fastest Way to Check for a Keyword in a List of Keywords in Delphi?

    - by lkessler
    I have a small list of keywords. What I'd really like to do is akin to: case MyKeyword of 'CHIL': (code for CHIL); 'HUSB': (code for HUSB); 'WIFE': (code for WIFE); 'SEX': (code for SEX); else (code for everything else); end; Unfortunately the CASE statement can't be used like that for strings. I could use the straight IF THEN ELSE IF construct, e.g.: if MyKeyword = 'CHIL' then (code for CHIL) else if MyKeyword = 'HUSB' then (code for HUSB) else if MyKeyword = 'WIFE' then (code for WIFE) else if MyKeyword = 'SEX' then (code for SEX) else (code for everything else); but I've heard this is relatively inefficient. What I had been doing instead is: P := pos(' ' + MyKeyword + ' ', ' CHIL HUSB WIFE SEX '); case P of 1: (code for CHIL); 6: (code for HUSB); 11: (code for WIFE); 17: (code for SEX); else (code for everything else); end; This, of course is not the best programming style, but it works fine for me and up to now didn't make a difference. So what is the best way to rewrite this in Delphi so that it is both simple, understandable but also fast? (For reference, I am using Delphi 2009 with Unicode strings.) Followup: Toby recommended I simply use the If Then Else construct. Looking back at my examples that used a CASE statement, I can see how that is a viable answer. Unfortunately, my inclusion of the CASE inadvertently hid my real question. I actually don't care which keyword it is. That is just a bonus if the particular method can identify it like the POS method can. What I need is to know whether or not the keyword is in the set of keywords. So really I want to know if there is anything better than: if pos(' ' + MyKeyword + ' ', ' CHIL HUSB WIFE SEX ') > 0 then The If Then Else equivalent does not seem better in this case being: if (MyKeyword = 'CHIL') or (MyKeyword = 'HUSB') or (MyKeyword = 'WIFE') or (MyKeyword = 'SEX') then In Barry's comment to Kornel's question, he mentions the TDictionary Generic. I've not yet picked up on the new Generic collections and it looks like I should delve into them. My question here would be whether they are built for efficiency and how would using TDictionary compare in looks and in speed to the above two lines? In later profiling, I have found that the concatenation of strings as in: (' ' + MyKeyword + ' ') is VERY expensive time-wise and should be avoided whenever possible. Almost any other solution is better than doing this.

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  • Lync 2010, Kamailio, & Trixbox 2.6.23 (Asterisk 1.4)

    - by slashp
    I'm having an issue trying to connect Lync 2010 phone calls with our trixbox PBX. I've gotten to the point where Kamailio seems to be functioning properly and acting as a bridge between TCP traffic (from Lync) & UDP traffic (to the trixbox, as Asterisk 1.4 does not support SIP over TCP). Our Lync box IP: 10.100.10.41 Our Kamailio box IP: 10.100.10.44 Our trixbox IP: 10.100.10.2 The issue I'm running into is as follows when enabling SIP debugging for the Kamailio box: <--- SIP read from 10.100.10.44:5060 ---> PRACK sip:TNECLTSLY01.contoso.com:5068;transport=Tcp;maddr=10.100.10.41 SIP/2.0 FROM: <sip:9121;[email protected];user=phone>;epid=CF2380792B;tag=4852bab430 TO: <sip:[email protected];user=phone>;epid=CF2380792B;tag=3684a6a24e CSEQ: 24 PRACK CALL-ID: 192daae6-00e1-4140-bddd-0394b35d475b MAX-FORWARDS: 70 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 10.100.10.44;branch=z9hG4bKcydzigwkX;i=d VIA: SIP/2.0/TCP 10.100.10.41:51677;branch=z9hG4bK159fc989 CONTACT: <sip:TNECLTSLY01.contoso.com:5068;transport=Tcp;maddr=10.100.10.41> CONTENT-LENGTH: 0 USER-AGENT: RTCC/4.0.0.0 MediationServer RAck: 1 23 INVITE <-------------> --- (12 headers 0 lines) --- Sending to 10.100.10.44 : 5060 (NAT) <--- Transmitting (NAT) to 10.100.10.44:5060 ---> SIP/2.0 481 Call leg/transaction does not exist Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 10.100.10.44;branch=z9hG4bKcydzigwkX;i=d;received=10.100.10.44 Via: SIP/2.0/TCP 10.100.10.41:51677;branch=z9hG4bK159fc989 From: <sip:9121;[email protected];user=phone>;epid=CF2380792B;tag=4852bab430 To: <sip:[email protected];user=phone>;epid=CF2380792B;tag=3684a6a24e Call-ID: 192daae6-00e1-4140-bddd-0394b35d475b CSeq: 24 PRACK User-Agent: Asterisk PBX Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, REFER, SUBSCRIBE, NOTIFY Supported: replaces Content-Length: 0 <------------> trixbox1*CLI> <--- SIP read from 10.100.10.44:5060 ---> ACK sip:[email protected];user=phone SIP/2.0 FROM: "John Jones"<sip:9121;[email protected];user=phone>;tag=4852bab430;epid=CF2380792B TO: <sip:[email protected];user=phone>;tag=3684a6a24e;epid=CF2380792B CSEQ: 23 ACK CALL-ID: 192daae6-00e1-4140-bddd-0394b35d475b MAX-FORWARDS: 70 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 10.100.10.44;branch=z9hG4bKcydzigwkX;i=d VIA: SIP/2.0/TCP 10.100.10.41:51677;branch=z9hG4bK79a21c CONTENT-LENGTH: 0 My SIP trunk on the trixbox looks like this: [from-lync] exten => _+4XXX!,1,Noop(Stripping + from start of number) exten => _+4XXX!,n,Goto(from-internal,${EXTEN:1}) Though I am still having no luck getting the + stripped or the call to go through. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! -slashp

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  • JMaghreb 2012 Trip Report

    - by arungupta
    JMaghreb is the inaugural Java conference organized by Morocco JUG. It is the biggest Java conference in Maghreb (5 countries in North West Africa). Oracle was the exclusive platinum sponsor with several others. The registrations had to be closed at 1412 for the free conference and several folks were already on the waiting list. Rabat with 531 registrations and Casablanca with 426 were the top cities. Some statistics ... 850+ attendees over 2 days, 500+ every day 30 sessions were delivered by 18 speakers from 10 different countries 10 sessions in French and 20 in English 6 of the speakers spoke at JavaOne 2012 8 will be at Devoxx Attendees from 5 different countries and 57 cities in Morocco 40.9% qualified them as professional and rest as students Topics ranged from HTML5, Java EE 7, ADF, JavaFX, MySQL, JCP, Vaadin, Android, Community, JCP Java EE 6 hands-on lab was sold out within 7 minutes and JavaFX in 12 minutes I gave the keynote along with Simon Ritter which was basically a recap of the Strategy and Technical keynotes presented at JavaOne 2012. An informal survey during the keynote showed the following numbers: 25% using NetBeans, 90% on Eclipse, 3 on JDeveloper, 1 on IntelliJ About 10 subscribers to free online Java magazine. This digital magazine is a comprehensive source of information for everything Java - subscribe for free!! About 10-15% using Java SE 7. Download JDK 7 and get started today! Even JDK 8 builds have been available for a while now. My second talk explained the core concepts of WebSocket and how JSR 356 is providing a standard API to build WebSocket-driven applications in Java EE 7. TOTD #183 explains how you can easily get started with WebSocket in GlassFish 4. The complete slide deck is available: Next day started with a community keynote by Sonya Barry. Some of us live the life of JCP, JSR, EG, EC, RI, etc every day, but not every body is. To address that, Sonya prepared an excellent introductory presentation providing an explanation of these terms and how java.net infrastructure supports Java development. The registration for the lab showed there is a definite demand for these technologies in this part of the world. I delivered the Java EE 6 hands-on lab to a packed room of about 120 attendees. Most of the attendees were able to progress and follow the lab instructions. Some of the attendees did not have a laptop but were taking extensive notes on paper notepads. Several attendees were already using Java EE 6 in their projects and typically they are the ones asking deep dive questions. Also gave out three copies of my recently released Java EE 6 Pocket Guide and new GlassFish t-shirts. Definitely feels happy to coach ~120 more Java developers learn standards-based enterprise Java programming. I also participated in a JCP BoF along with Werner, Sonya, and Badr. Adotp-a-JSR, java.net infrastructure, how to file a JSR, what is an RI, and other similar topics were discussed in a candid manner. You can follow @JMaghrebConf or check out their facebook page. java.net published a timely conversation with Badr El Houari - the fearless leader of the Morocco JUG team. Did you know that Morocco JUG stood for JCP EC elections (ADD LINK) ? Even though they did not get elected but did fairly well. Now some sample tweets from #JMaghreb ... #JMaghreb is over. Impressive for a first edition! Thanks @badrelhouari and all the @MoroccoJUG team ! Since you @speakjava : System.out.println("Thank you so much dear Tech Evangelist ! The JavaFX was pretty amazing !!! "); #JMaghreb @YounesVendetta @arungupta @JMaghrebConf Right ! hope he will be back to morocco again and again .. :) @Alji_ @arungupta @JMaghrebConf That dude is a genius ;) Put it on your wall :p @arungupta rocking Java EE 6 at @JMaghrebConf #Java #JavaEE #JMaghreb http://t.co/isl0Iq5p @sonyabarry you are an awesome speaker ;-) #JMaghreb rich more than 550 attendees in day one. Expecting more tomorrow! ongratulations @badrelhouari the organisation was great! The talks were pretty interesting, and the turnout was surprising at #JMaghreb! #JMaghreb is truly awesome... The speakers are unbelievable ! #JavaFX... Just amazing #JMaghreb Charmed by the talk about #javaFX ( nodes architecture, MVC, Lazy loading, binding... ) gotta start using it intead of SWT. #JMaghreb JavaFX is killing JFreeChart. It supports Charts a lot of kind of them ... #JMaghreb The british man is back #JMaghreb I do like him!! #JMaghreb @arungupta rocking @JMaghrebConf. pic.twitter.com/CNohA3PE @arungupta Great talk about the future of Java EE (JEE 7 & JEE 8) Thank you. #JMaghreb JEE7 more mooore power , leeess less code !! #JMaghreb They are simplifying the existing API for Java Message Service 2.0 #JMaghreb good to know , the more the code is simplified the better ! The Glassdoor guy #arungupta is doing it RIGHT ! #JMaghreb Great presentation of The Future of the Java Platform: Java EE 7, Java SE 8 & Beyond #jMaghreb @arungupta is a great Guy apparently #JMaghreb On a personal front, the hotel (Soiftel Jardin des Roses) was pretty nice and the location was perfect. There was a 1.8 mile loop dirt trail right next to it so I managed to squeeze some runs before my upcoming marathon. Also enjoyed some great Moroccan cuisine - Couscous, Tajine, mint tea, and moroccan salad. Visit to Kasbah of the Udayas, Hassan II (one of the tallest mosque in the world), and eating in a restaurant in a kasbah are some of the exciting local experiences. Now some pictures from the event (and around the city) ... And the complete album: Many thanks to Badr, Faisal, and rest of the team for organizing a great conference. They are already thinking about how to improve the content, logisitics, and flow for the next year. I'm certainly looking forward to JMaghreb 2.0 :-)

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  • SOA Implementation Challenges

    Why do companies think that if they put up a web service that they are doing Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)? Unfortunately, the IT and business world love to run on the latest hype or buzz words of which very few even understand the meaning. One of the largest issues companies have today as they consider going down the path of SOA, is the lack of knowledge regarding the architectural style and the over usage of the term SOA. So how do we solve this issue?I am sure most of you are thinking by now that you know what SOA is because you developed a few web services.  Isn’t that SOA, right? No, that is not SOA, but instead Just Another Web Service (JAWS). For us to better understand what SOA is let’s look at a few definitions.Douglas K. Bary defines service-oriented architecture as a collection of services. These services are enabled to communicate with each other in order to pass data or coordinating some activity with other services.If you look at this definition closely you will notice that Bary states that services communicate with each other. Let us compare this statement with my first statement regarding companies that claim to be doing SOA when they have just a collection of web services. In order for these web services to for an SOA application they need to be interdependent on one another forming some sort of architectural hierarchy. Just because a company has a few web services does not mean that they are all interconnected.SearchSOA from TechTarget.com states that SOA defines how two computing entities work collectively to enable one entity to perform a unit of work on behalf of another. Once again, just because a company has a few web services does not guarantee that they are even working together let alone if they are performing work for each other.SearchSOA also points out service interactions should be self-contained and loosely-coupled so that all interactions operate independent of each other.Of all the definitions regarding SOA Thomas Erl’s seems to shed the most light on this concept. He states that “SOA establishes an architectural model that aims to enhance the efficiency, agility, and productivity of an enterprise by positioning services as the primary means through which solution logic is represented in support of the realization of the strategic goals associated with service-oriented computing.” (Erl, 2011) Once again this definition proves that a collection of web services does not mean that a company is doing SOA. However, it does mean that a company has a collection of web services, and that is it.In order for a company to start to go down the path of SOA, they must take  a hard look at their existing business process while abstracting away any technology so that they can define what is they really want to accomplish. Once a company has done this, they can begin to factor out common sub business process like credit card process, user authentication or system notifications in to small components that can be built independent of each other and then reassembled to form new and dynamic services that are loosely coupled and agile in that they can change as a business grows.Another key pitfall of companies doing SOA is the fact that they let vendors drive their architecture. Why do companies do this? Vendors’ do not hold your company’s success as their top priority; in fact they hold their own success as their top priority by selling you as much stuff as you are willing to buy. In my experience companies tend to strive for the maximum amount of benefits with a minimal amount of cost. Does anyone else see any conflicts between this and the driving force behind vendors.Mike Kavis recommends in an article written in CIO.com that companies need to figure out what they need before they talk to a vendor or at least have some idea of what they need. It is important to thoroughly evaluate each vendor and watch them perform a live demo of their system so that you as the company fully understand what kind of product or service the vendor is actually offering. In addition, do research on each vendor that you are considering, check out blog posts, online reviews, and any information you can find on the vendor through various search engines.Finally he recommends companies to verify any recommendations supplied by a vendor. From personal experience this is very important. I can remember when the company I worked for purchased a $200,000 add-on to their phone system that never actually worked as it was intended. In fact, just after my departure from the company started the process of attempting to get their money back from the vendor. This potentially could have been avoided if the company had done the research before selecting this vendor to ensure that their product and vendor would live up to their claims. I know that some SOA vendor offer free training regarding SOA because they know that there are a lot of misconceptions about the topic. Superficially this is a great thing for companies to take part in especially if the company is starting to implement SOA architecture and are still unsure about some topics or are looking for some guidance regarding the topic. However beware that some companies will focus on their product line only regarding the training. As an example, InfoWorld.com claims that companies providing deep seminars disguised as training, focusing more about ESBs and SOA governance technology, and less on how to approach and solve the architectural issues of the attendees.In short, it is important to remember that we as software professionals are responsible for guiding a business’s technology sections should be well informed and fully understand any new concepts that may be considered for implementation. As I have demonstrated already a company that has a few web services does not mean that they are doing SOA.  Additionally, we must not let the new buzz word of the day drive our technology, but instead our technology decisions should be driven from research and proven experience. Finally, it is important to rely on vendors when necessary, however, always take what they say with a grain of salt while cross checking any claims that they may make because we have to live with the aftermath of a system after the vendors are gone.   References: Barry, D. K. (2011). Service-oriented architecture (SOA) definition. Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from Service-Architecture.com: http://www.service-architecture.com/web-services/articles/service-oriented_architecture_soa_definition.html Connell, B. (2003, 9). service-oriented architecture (SOA). Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from SearchSOA: http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/service-oriented-architecture Erl, T. (2011, 12 12). Service-Oriented Architecture. Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from WhatIsSOA: http://www.whatissoa.com/p10.php InfoWorld. (2008, 6 1). Should you get your SOA knowledge from SOA vendors? . Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from InfoWorld.com: http://www.infoworld.com/d/architecture/should-you-get-your-soa-knowledge-soa-vendors-453 Kavis, M. (2008, 6 18). Top 10 Reasons Why People are Making SOA Fail. Retrieved 12 13, 2011, from CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/438413/Top_10_Reasons_Why_People_are_Making_SOA_Fail?page=5&taxonomyId=3016  

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