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Online ALTER TABLE in MySQL 5.6

- by Marko Mäkelä

This is the low-level view of data dictionary language (DDL) operations in the InnoDB storage engine in MySQL 5.6. John Russell gave a more high-level view in his blog post April 2012 Labs Release – Online DDL Improvements. MySQL before the InnoDB Plugin Traditionally, the MySQL storage engine interface has taken a minimalistic approach to data definition language. The only natively supported operations were CREATE TABLE, DROP TABLE and RENAME TABLE. Consider the following example: CREATE TABLE t(a INT); INSERT INTO t VALUES (1),(2),(3); CREATE INDEX a ON t(a); DROP TABLE t; The CREATE INDEX statement would be executed roughly as follows: CREATE TABLE temp(a INT, INDEX(a)); INSERT INTO temp SELECT * FROM t; RENAME TABLE t TO temp2; RENAME TABLE temp TO t; DROP TABLE temp2; You could imagine that the database could crash when copying all rows from the original table to the new one. For example, it could run out of file space. Then, on restart, InnoDB would roll back the huge INSERT transaction. To fix things a little, a hack was added to ha_innobase::write_row for committing the transaction every 10,000 rows. Still, it was frustrating that even a simple DROP INDEX would make the table unavailable for modifications for a long time. Fast Index Creation in the InnoDB Plugin of MySQL 5.1 MySQL 5.1 introduced a new interface for CREATE INDEX and DROP INDEX. The old table-copying approach can still be forced by SET old_alter_table=0. This interface is used in MySQL 5.5 and in the InnoDB Plugin for MySQL 5.1. Apart from the ability to do a quick DROP INDEX, the main advantage is that InnoDB will execute a merge-sort algorithm before inserting the index records into each index that is being created. This should speed up the insert into the secondary index B-trees and potentially result in a better B-tree fill factor. The 5.1 ALTER TABLE interface was not perfect. For example, DROP FOREIGN KEY still invoked the table copy. Renaming columns could conflict with InnoDB foreign key constraints. Combining ADD KEY and DROP KEY in ALTER TABLE was problematic and not atomic inside the storage engine. The ALTER TABLE interface in MySQL 5.6 The ALTER TABLE storage engine interface was completely rewritten in MySQL 5.6. Instead of introducing a method call for every conceivable operation, MySQL 5.6 introduced a handful of methods, and data structures that keep track of the requested changes. In MySQL 5.6, online ALTER TABLE operation can be requested by specifying LOCK=NONE. Also LOCK=SHARED and LOCK=EXCLUSIVE are available. The old-style table copying can be requested by ALGORITHM=COPY. That one will require at least LOCK=SHARED. From the InnoDB point of view, anything that is possible with LOCK=EXCLUSIVE is also possible with LOCK=SHARED. Most ALGORITHM=INPLACE operations inside InnoDB can be executed online (LOCK=NONE). InnoDB will always require an exclusive table lock in two phases of the operation. The execution phases are tied to a number of methods: handler::check_if_supported_inplace_alter Checks if the storage engine can perform all requested operations, and if so, what kind of locking is needed. handler::prepare_inplace_alter_table InnoDB uses this method to set up the data dictionary cache for upcoming CREATE INDEX operation. We need stubs for the new indexes, so that we can keep track of changes to the table during online index creation. Also, crash recovery would drop any indexes that were incomplete at the time of the crash. handler::inplace_alter_table In InnoDB, this method is used for creating secondary indexes or for rebuilding the table. This is the ‘main’ phase that can be executed online (with concurrent writes to the table). handler::commit_inplace_alter_table This is where the operation is committed or rolled back. Here, InnoDB would drop any indexes, rename any columns, drop or add foreign keys, and finalize a table rebuild or index creation. It would also discard any logs that were set up for online index creation or table rebuild. The prepare and commit phases require an exclusive lock, blocking all access to the table. If MySQL times out while upgrading the table meta-data lock for the commit phase, it will roll back the ALTER TABLE operation. In MySQL 5.6, data definition language operations are still not fully atomic, because the data dictionary is split. Part of it is inside InnoDB data dictionary tables. Part of the information is only available in the *.frm file, which is not covered by any crash recovery log. But, there is a single commit phase inside the storage engine. Online Secondary Index Creation It may occur that an index needs to be created on a new column to speed up queries. But, it may be unacceptable to block modifications on the table while creating the index. It turns out that it is conceptually not so hard to support online index creation. All we need is some more execution phases: Set up a stub for the index, for logging changes. Scan the table for index records. Sort the index records. Bulk load the index records. Apply the logged changes. Replace the stub with the actual index. Threads that modify the table will log the operations to the logs of each index that is being created. Errors, such as log overflow or uniqueness violations, will only be flagged by the ALTER TABLE thread. The log is conceptually similar to the InnoDB change buffer. The bulk load of index records will bypass record locking. We still generate redo log for writing the index pages. It would suffice to log page allocations only, and to flush the index pages from the buffer pool to the file system upon completion. Native ALTER TABLE Starting with MySQL 5.6, InnoDB supports most ALTER TABLE operations natively. The notable exceptions are changes to the column type, ADD FOREIGN KEY except when foreign_key_checks=0, and changes to tables that contain FULLTEXT indexes. The keyword ALGORITHM=INPLACE is somewhat misleading, because certain operations cannot be performed in-place. For example, changing the ROW_FORMAT of a table requires a rebuild. Online operation (LOCK=NONE) is not allowed in the following cases: when adding an AUTO_INCREMENT column, when the table contains FULLTEXT indexes or a hidden FTS_DOC_ID column, or when there are FOREIGN KEY constraints referring to the table, with ON…CASCADE or ON…SET NULL option. The FOREIGN KEY limitations are needed, because MySQL does not acquire meta-data locks on the child or parent tables when executing SQL statements. Theoretically, InnoDB could support operations like ADD COLUMN and DROP COLUMN in-place, by lazily converting the table to a newer format. This would require that the data dictionary keep multiple versions of the table definition. For simplicity, we will copy the entire table, even for DROP COLUMN. The bulk copying of the table will bypass record locking and undo logging. For facilitating online operation, a temporary log will be associated with the clustered index of table. Threads that modify the table will also write the changes to the log. When altering the table, we skip all records that have been marked for deletion. In this way, we can simply discard any undo log records that were not yet purged from the original table. Off-page columns, or BLOBs, are an important consideration. We suspend the purge of delete-marked records if it would free any off-page columns from the old table. This is because the BLOBs can be needed when applying changes from the log. We have special logging for handling the ROLLBACK of an INSERT that inserted new off-page columns. This is because the columns will be freed at rollback.

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Delight and Excite

- by Applications User Experience

Mick McGee, CEO & President, EchoUser Editor’s Note: EchoUser is a User Experience design firm in San Francisco and a member of the Oracle Usability Advisory Board. Mick and his staff regularly consult on Oracle Applications UX projects. Being part of a user experience design firm, we have the luxury of working with a lot of great people across many great companies. We get to help people solve their problems. At least we used to. The basic design challenge is still the same; however, the goal is not necessarily to solve “problems” anymore; it is, “I want our products to delight and excite!” The question for us as UX professionals is how to design to those goals, and then how to assess them from a usability perspective. I’m not sure where I first heard “delight and excite” (A book? blog post? Facebook status? Steve Jobs quote?), but now I hear these listed as user experience goals all the time. In particular, somewhat paradoxically, I routinely hear them in enterprise software conversations. And when asking these same enterprise companies what will make the project successful, we very often hear, “Make it like Apple.” In past days, it was “make it like Yahoo (or Amazon or Google“) but now Apple is the common benchmark. Steve Jobs and Apple were not secrets, but with Jobs’ passing and Apple becoming the world’s most valuable company in the last year, the impact of great design and experience is suddenly very widespread. In particular, users’ expectations have gone way up. Being an enterprise company is no shield to the general expectations that users now have, for all products. Designing a “Minimum Viable Product” The user experience challenge has historically been, to echo the words of Eric Ries (author of Lean Startup) , to create a “minimum viable product”: the proverbial, “make it good enough”. But, in our profession, the “minimum viable” part of that phrase has oftentimes, unfortunately, referred to the design and user experience. Technology typically dominated the focus of the biggest, most successful companies. Few have had the laser focus of Apple to also create and sell design and user experience alongside great technology. But now that Apple is the most valuable company in the world, copying their success is a common undertaking. Great design is now a premium offering that everyone wants, from the one-person startup to the largest companies, consumer and enterprise. This emerging business paradigm will have significant impact across the user experience design process and profession. One area that particularly interests me is, how are we going to evaluate these new emerging “delight and excite” experiences, which are further customized to each particular domain? How to Measure “Delight and Excite” Traditional usability measures of task completion rate, assists, time, and errors are still extremely useful in many situations; however, they are too blunt to offer much insight into emerging experiences “Satisfaction” is usually assessed in user testing, in roughly equivalent importance to the above objective metrics. Various surveys and scales have provided ways to measure satisfying UX, with whatever questions they include. However, to meet the demands of new business goals and keep users at the center of design and development processes, we have to explore new methods to better capture custom-experience goals and emotion-driven user responses. We have had success assessing custom experiences, including “delight and excite”, by employing a variety of user testing methods that tend to combine formative and summative techniques (formative being focused more on identifying usability issues and ways to improve design, and summative focused more on metrics). Our most successful tool has been one we’ve been using for a long time, Magnitude Estimation Technique (MET). But it’s not necessarily about MET as a measure, rather how it is created. Caption: For one client, EchoUser did two rounds of testing. Each test was a mix of performing representative tasks and gathering qualitative impressions. Each user participated in an in-person moderated 1-on-1 session for 1 hour, using a testing set-up where they held the phone. The primary goal was to identify usability issues and recommend design improvements. MET is based on a definition of the desired experience, which users will then use to rate items of interest (usually tasks in a usability test). In other words, a custom experience definition needs to be created. This can then be used to measure satisfaction in accomplishing tasks; “delight and excite”; or anything else from strategic goals, user demands, or elsewhere. For reference, our standard MET definition in usability testing is: “User experience is your perception of how easy to use, well designed and productive an interface is to complete tasks.” Articulating the User Experience We’ve helped construct experience definitions for several clients to better match their business goals. One example is a modification of the above that was needed for a company that makes medical-related products: “User experience is your perception of how easy to use, well-designed, productive and safe an interface is for conducting tasks. ‘Safe’ is how free an environment (including devices, software, facilities, people, etc.) is from danger, risk, and injury.” Another example is from a company that is pushing hard to incorporate “delight” into their enterprise business line: “User experience is your perception of a product’s ease of use and learning, satisfaction and delight in design, and ability to accomplish objectives.” I find the last one particularly compelling in that there is little that identifies the experience as being for a highly technical enterprise application. That definition could easily be applied to any number of consumer products. We have gone further than the above, including “sexy” and “cool” where decision-makers insisted they were part of the desired experience. We also applied it to completely different experiences where the “interface” was, for example, riding public transit, the “tasks” were train rides, and we followed the participants through the train-riding journey and rated various aspects accordingly: “A good public transportation experience is a cost-effective way of reliably, conveniently, and safely getting me to my intended destination on time.” To construct these definitions, we’ve employed both bottom-up and top-down approaches, depending on circumstances. For bottom-up, user inputs help dictate the terms that best fit the desired experience (usually by way of cluster and factor analysis). Top-down depends on strategic, visionary goals expressed by upper management that we then attempt to integrate into product development (e.g., “delight and excite”). We like a combination of both approaches to push the innovation envelope, but still be mindful of current user concerns. Hopefully the idea of crafting your own custom experience, and a way to measure it, can provide you with some ideas how you can adapt your user experience needs to whatever company you are in. Whether product-development or service-oriented, nearly every company is ultimately providing a user experience. The Bottom Line Creating great experiences may have been popularized by Steve Jobs and Apple, but I’ll be honest, it’s a good feeling to be moving from “good enough” to “delight and excite,” despite the challenge that entails. In fact, it’s because of that challenge that we will expand what we do as UX professionals to help deliver and assess those experiences. I’m excited to see how we, Oracle, and the rest of the industry will live up to that challenge.

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What's the best way to expose a Model object in a ViewModel?

- by Angel

In a WPF MVVM application, I exposed my model object into my viewModel by creating an instance of Model class (which cause dependency) into ViewModel. Instead of creating separate VM properties, I wrap the Model properties inside my ViewModel Property. My model is just an entity framework generated proxy class: public partial class TblProduct { public TblProduct() { this.TblPurchaseDetails = new HashSet<TblPurchaseDetail>(); this.TblPurchaseOrderDetails = new HashSet<TblPurchaseOrderDetail>(); this.TblSalesInvoiceDetails = new HashSet<TblSalesInvoiceDetail>(); this.TblSalesOrderDetails = new HashSet<TblSalesOrderDetail>(); } public int ProductId { get; set; } public string ProductCode { get; set; } public string ProductName { get; set; } public int CategoryId { get; set; } public string Color { get; set; } public Nullable<decimal> PurchaseRate { get; set; } public Nullable<decimal> SalesRate { get; set; } public string ImagePath { get; set; } public bool IsActive { get; set; } public virtual TblCompany TblCompany { get; set; } public virtual TblProductCategory TblProductCategory { get; set; } public virtual TblUser TblUser { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblPurchaseDetail> TblPurchaseDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblPurchaseOrderDetail> TblPurchaseOrderDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblSalesInvoiceDetail> TblSalesInvoiceDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblSalesOrderDetail> TblSalesOrderDetails { get; set; } } Here is my ViewModel: public class ProductViewModel : WorkspaceViewModel { #region Constructor public ProductViewModel() { StartApp(); } #endregion //Constructor #region Properties private IProductDataService _dataService; public IProductDataService DataService { get { if (_dataService == null) { if (IsInDesignMode) { _dataService = new ProductDataServiceMock(); } else { _dataService = new ProductDataService(); } } return _dataService; } } //Get and set Model object private TblProduct _product; public TblProduct Product { get { return _product ?? (_product = new TblProduct()); } set { _product = value; } } #region Public Properties public int ProductId { get { return Product.ProductId; } set { if (Product.ProductId == value) { return; } Product.ProductId = value; RaisePropertyChanged("ProductId"); } } public string ProductName { get { return Product.ProductName; } set { if (Product.ProductName == value) { return; } Product.ProductName = value; RaisePropertyChanged(() => ProductName); } } private ObservableCollection<TblProduct> _productRecords; public ObservableCollection<TblProduct> ProductRecords { get { return _productRecords; } set { _productRecords = value; RaisePropertyChanged("ProductRecords"); } } //Selected Product private TblProduct _selectedProduct; public TblProduct SelectedProduct { get { return _selectedProduct; } set { _selectedProduct = value; if (_selectedProduct != null) { this.ProductId = _selectedProduct.ProductId; this.ProductCode = _selectedProduct.ProductCode; } RaisePropertyChanged("SelectedProduct"); } } #endregion //Public Properties #endregion // Properties #region Commands private ICommand _newCommand; public ICommand NewCommand { get { if (_newCommand == null) { _newCommand = new RelayCommand(() => ResetAll()); } return _newCommand; } } private ICommand _saveCommand; public ICommand SaveCommand { get { if (_saveCommand == null) { _saveCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Save()); } return _saveCommand; } } private ICommand _deleteCommand; public ICommand DeleteCommand { get { if (_deleteCommand == null) { _deleteCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Delete()); } return _deleteCommand; } } #endregion //Commands #region Methods private void StartApp() { LoadProductCollection(); } private void LoadProductCollection() { var q = DataService.GetAllProducts(); this.ProductRecords = new ObservableCollection<TblProduct>(q); } private void Save() { if (SelectedOperateMode == OperateModeEnum.OperateMode.New) { //Pass the Model object into Dataservice for save DataService.SaveProduct(this.Product); } else if (SelectedOperateMode == OperateModeEnum.OperateMode.Edit) { //Pass the Model object into Dataservice for Update DataService.UpdateProduct(this.Product); } ResetAll(); LoadProductCollection(); } #endregion //Methods } Here is my Service class: class ProductDataService:IProductDataService { /// <summary> /// Context object of Entity Framework model /// </summary> private MaizeEntities Context { get; set; } public ProductDataService() { Context = new MaizeEntities(); } public IEnumerable<TblProduct> GetAllProducts() { using(var context=new R_MaizeEntities()) { var q = from p in context.TblProducts where p.IsDel == false select p; return new ObservableCollection<TblProduct>(q); } } public void SaveProduct(TblProduct _product) { using(var context=new R_MaizeEntities()) { _product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; _product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; _product.CompanyId = GlobalObjects.CompanyID; context.TblProducts.Add(_product); context.SaveChanges(); } } public void UpdateProduct(TblProduct _product) { using (var context = new R_MaizeEntities()) { context.TblProducts.Attach(_product); context.Entry(_product).State = EntityState.Modified; _product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; _product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; _product.CompanyId = GlobalObjects.CompanyID; context.SaveChanges(); } } public void DeleteProduct(int _productId) { using (var context = new R_MaizeEntities()) { var product = (from c in context.TblProducts where c.ProductId == _productId select c).First(); product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; product.IsDel = true; context.SaveChanges(); } } } I exposed my model object in my viewModel by creating an instance of it using new keyword, also I instantiated my DataService class in VM. I know this will cause a strong dependency. So: What's the best way to expose a Model object in a ViewModel? What's the best way to use DataService in VM?

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MVVM- Expose Model object in ViewModel

- by Angel

I have a wpf MVVM application , I exposed my model object into my viewModel by creating an instance of Model class (which cause dependency) into ViewModel , and instead of creating seperate VM properties , I wrap the Model properties inside my ViewModel Property. My model is just an entity framework generated proxy classes. Here is my Model class : public partial class TblProduct { public TblProduct() { this.TblPurchaseDetails = new HashSet<TblPurchaseDetail>(); this.TblPurchaseOrderDetails = new HashSet<TblPurchaseOrderDetail>(); this.TblSalesInvoiceDetails = new HashSet<TblSalesInvoiceDetail>(); this.TblSalesOrderDetails = new HashSet<TblSalesOrderDetail>(); } public int ProductId { get; set; } public string ProductCode { get; set; } public string ProductName { get; set; } public int CategoryId { get; set; } public string Color { get; set; } public Nullable<decimal> PurchaseRate { get; set; } public Nullable<decimal> SalesRate { get; set; } public string ImagePath { get; set; } public bool IsActive { get; set; } public virtual TblCompany TblCompany { get; set; } public virtual TblProductCategory TblProductCategory { get; set; } public virtual TblUser TblUser { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblPurchaseDetail> TblPurchaseDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblPurchaseOrderDetail> TblPurchaseOrderDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblSalesInvoiceDetail> TblSalesInvoiceDetails { get; set; } public virtual ICollection<TblSalesOrderDetail> TblSalesOrderDetails { get; set; } } Here is my ViewModel , public class ProductViewModel : WorkspaceViewModel { #region Constructor public ProductViewModel() { StartApp(); } #endregion //Constructor #region Properties private IProductDataService _dataService; public IProductDataService DataService { get { if (_dataService == null) { if (IsInDesignMode) { _dataService = new ProductDataServiceMock(); } else { _dataService = new ProductDataService(); } } return _dataService; } } //Get and set Model object private TblProduct _product; public TblProduct Product { get { return _product ?? (_product = new TblProduct()); } set { _product = value; } } #region Public Properties public int ProductId { get { return Product.ProductId; } set { if (Product.ProductId == value) { return; } Product.ProductId = value; RaisePropertyChanged("ProductId"); } } public string ProductName { get { return Product.ProductName; } set { if (Product.ProductName == value) { return; } Product.ProductName = value; RaisePropertyChanged(() => ProductName); } } private ObservableCollection<TblProduct> _productRecords; public ObservableCollection<TblProduct> ProductRecords { get { return _productRecords; } set { _productRecords = value; RaisePropertyChanged("ProductRecords"); } } //Selected Product private TblProduct _selectedProduct; public TblProduct SelectedProduct { get { return _selectedProduct; } set { _selectedProduct = value; if (_selectedProduct != null) { this.ProductId = _selectedProduct.ProductId; this.ProductCode = _selectedProduct.ProductCode; } RaisePropertyChanged("SelectedProduct"); } } #endregion //Public Properties #endregion // Properties #region Commands private ICommand _newCommand; public ICommand NewCommand { get { if (_newCommand == null) { _newCommand = new RelayCommand(() => ResetAll()); } return _newCommand; } } private ICommand _saveCommand; public ICommand SaveCommand { get { if (_saveCommand == null) { _saveCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Save()); } return _saveCommand; } } private ICommand _deleteCommand; public ICommand DeleteCommand { get { if (_deleteCommand == null) { _deleteCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Delete()); } return _deleteCommand; } } #endregion //Commands #region Methods private void StartApp() { LoadProductCollection(); } private void LoadProductCollection() { var q = DataService.GetAllProducts(); this.ProductRecords = new ObservableCollection<TblProduct>(q); } private void Save() { if (SelectedOperateMode == OperateModeEnum.OperateMode.New) { //Pass the Model object into Dataservice for save DataService.SaveProduct(this.Product); } else if (SelectedOperateMode == OperateModeEnum.OperateMode.Edit) { //Pass the Model object into Dataservice for Update DataService.UpdateProduct(this.Product); } ResetAll(); LoadProductCollection(); } #endregion //Methods } Here is my Service class: class ProductDataService:IProductDataService { /// <summary> /// Context object of Entity Framework model /// </summary> private MaizeEntities Context { get; set; } public ProductDataService() { Context = new MaizeEntities(); } public IEnumerable<TblProduct> GetAllProducts() { using(var context=new R_MaizeEntities()) { var q = from p in context.TblProducts where p.IsDel == false select p; return new ObservableCollection<TblProduct>(q); } } public void SaveProduct(TblProduct _product) { using(var context=new R_MaizeEntities()) { _product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; _product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; _product.CompanyId = GlobalObjects.CompanyID; context.TblProducts.Add(_product); context.SaveChanges(); } } public void UpdateProduct(TblProduct _product) { using (var context = new R_MaizeEntities()) { context.TblProducts.Attach(_product); context.Entry(_product).State = EntityState.Modified; _product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; _product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; _product.CompanyId = GlobalObjects.CompanyID; context.SaveChanges(); } } public void DeleteProduct(int _productId) { using (var context = new R_MaizeEntities()) { var product = (from c in context.TblProducts where c.ProductId == _productId select c).First(); product.LastModUserId = GlobalObjects.LoggedUserID; product.LastModDttm = DateTime.Now; product.IsDel = true; context.SaveChanges(); } } } I exposed my model object in my viewModel by creating an instance of it using new keyword, also I instantiated my DataService class in VM, I know this will cause a strong dependency. So , 1- Whats the best way to expose Model object in ViewModel ? 2- Whats the best way to use DataService in VM ?

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How to change SMP affinity of an IRQ on Ubuntu domU inside Xen XCP?

- by Alexander Gladysh

I'd like to change IRQ SMP affinity for reasons, outlined in this question: CPU0 is swamped with eth1 interrupts But I can't — I see Input/output error when I try to write to /proc/irq/*/smp_affinity. Please point me to the HOWTO on the matter. (A formal reference on /proc/irq/*/ would be cool as well.) Gory details: Note that this is a VM inside an Ubuntu-based Xen XCP host. $ uname -a Linux MYHOST 2.6.38-15-virtual #59-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 27 16:40:18 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux $ lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 11.04 Release: 11.04 Codename: natty $ sudo cat /proc/irq/*/smp_affinity 01 01 01 01 01 80 80 80 80 80 80 40 40 40 40 40 40 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 10 10 10 10 10 08 08 08 08 08 08 04 04 04 04 04 04 02 02 02 02 02 02 01 01 01 01 01 01 Update. The error details: $ N=$(grep -c processor /proc/cpuinfo) $ echo $N 8 $ printf %x $((2**N-1)) ff $ printf %x $((2**N-1)) | sudo tee /proc/irq/*/smp_affinity fftee: /proc/irq/288/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/289/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/290/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/291/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/292/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/293/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/294/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/295/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/296/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/297/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/298/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/299/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/300/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/301/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/302/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/303/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/304/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/305/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/306/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/307/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/308/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/309/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/310/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/311/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/312/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/313/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/314/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/315/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/316/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/317/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/318/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/319/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/320/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/321/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/322/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/323/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/324/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/325/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/326/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/327/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/328/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/329/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/330/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/331/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/332/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/333/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/334/smp_affinity: Input/output error tee: /proc/irq/335/smp_affinity: Input/output error Update. irqbalance is running: $ sudo service irqbalance status irqbalance start/running, process 560

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SQL SERVER – Beginning SQL Server: One Step at a Time – SQL Server Magazine

- by pinaldave

I am glad to announce that along with SQLAuthority.com, I will be blogging on the prominent site of SQL Server Magazine. My very first blog post there is already live; read here: Beginning SQL Server: One Step at a Time. My association with SQL Server Magazine has been quite long, I have written nearly 7 to 8 SQL Server articles for the print magazine and it has been a great experience. I used to stay in the United States at that time. I moved back to India for good, and during this process, I had put everything on hold for a while. Just like many things, “temporary” things become “permanent” – coming back to SQLMag was on hold for long time. Well, this New Year, things have changed – once again, I am back with my online presence at SQLMag.com. Everybody is a beginner at every task or activity at some point of his/her life: spelling words for the first time; learning how to drive for the first time, etc. No one is perfect at the start of any task, but every human is different. As time passes, we all develop our interests and begin to study our subject of interest. Most of us dream to get a job in the area of our study – however things change as time passes. I recently read somewhere online (I could not find the link again while writing this one) that all the successful people in various areas have never studied in the area in which they are successful. After going through a formal learning process of what we love, we refuse to stop learning, and we finally stop changing career and focus areas. We move, we dare and we progress. IT field is similar to our life. New IT professionals come to this field every day. There are two types of beginners – a) those who are associated with IT field but not familiar with other technologies, and b) those who are absolutely new to the IT field. Learning a new technology is always exciting and overwhelming for enthusiasts. I am working with database (in particular) for SQL Server for more than 7 years but I am still overwhelmed with so many things to learn. I continue to learn and I do not think that I should ever stop doing so. Just like everybody, I want to be in the race and get ahead in learning the technology. For the same, I am always looking for good guidance. I always try to find a good article, blog or book chapter, which can teach me what I really want to learn at this stage in my career and can be immensely helpful. Quite often, I prefer to read the material where the author does not judge me or assume my understanding. I like to read new concepts like a child, who takes his/her first steps of learning without any prior knowledge. Keeping my personal philosophy and preference in mind, I will be blogging on SQL Server Magazine site. I will be blogging on the beginners stuff. I will be blogging for them, who really want to start and make a mark in this area. I will be blogging for all those who have an extreme passion for learning. I am happy that this is a good start for this year. One of my resolutions is to help every beginner. It is totally possible that in future they all will grow and find the same article quite ‘easy‘ – well when that happens, it indicates the success of the article and material! Well, I encourage everybody to read my SQL Server Magazine blog – I will be blogging there frequently on various topics. To begin, we will be talking about performance tuning, and I assure that I will not shy away from other multiple areas. Read my SQL Server Magazine Blog: Beginning SQL Server: One Step at a Time I think the title says it all. Do leave your comments and feedback to indicate your preference of subject and interest. I am going to continue writing on subject, and the aim is of course to help grow in this field. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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MySQL Syslog Audit Plugin

- by jonathonc

This post shows the construction process of the Syslog Audit plugin that was presented at MySQL Connect 2012. It is based on an environment that has the appropriate development tools enabled including gcc,g++ and cmake. It also assumes you have downloaded the MySQL source code (5.5.16 or higher) and have compiled and installed the system into the /usr/local/mysql directory ready for use. The information provided below is designed to show the different components that make up a plugin, and specifically an audit type plugin, and how it comes together to be used within the MySQL service. The MySQL Reference Manual contains information regarding the plugin API and how it can be used, so please refer there for more detailed information. The code in this post is designed to give the simplest information necessary, so handling every return code, managing race conditions etc is not part of this example code. Let's start by looking at the most basic implementation of our plugin code as seen below: /* Copyright (c) 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Author: Jonathon Coombes Licence: GPL Description: An auditing plugin that logs to syslog and can adjust the loglevel via the system variables. */ #include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <mysql/plugin_audit.h> #include <syslog.h> There is a commented header detailing copyright/licencing and meta-data information and then the include headers. The two important include statements for our plugin are the syslog.h plugin, which gives us the structures for syslog, and the plugin_audit.h include which has details regarding the audit specific plugin api. Note that we do not need to include the general plugin header plugin.h, as this is done within the plugin_audit.h file already. To implement our plugin within the current implementation we need to add it into our source code and compile. > cd /usr/local/src/mysql-5.5.28/plugin > mkdir audit_syslog > cd audit_syslog A simple CMakeLists.txt file is created to manage the plugin compilation: MYSQL_ADD_PLUGIN(audit_syslog audit_syslog.cc MODULE_ONLY) Run the cmake command at the top level of the source and then you can compile the plugin using the 'make' command. This results in a compiled audit_syslog.so library, but currently it is not much use to MySQL as there is no level of api defined to communicate with the MySQL service. Now we need to define the general plugin structure that enables MySQL to recognise the library as a plugin and be able to install/uninstall it and have it show up in the system. The structure is defined in the plugin.h file in the MySQL source code. /* Plugin library descriptor */ mysql_declare_plugin(audit_syslog) { MYSQL_AUDIT_PLUGIN, /* plugin type */ &audit_syslog_descriptor, /* descriptor handle */ "audit_syslog", /* plugin name */ "Author Name", /* author */ "Simple Syslog Audit", /* description */ PLUGIN_LICENSE_GPL, /* licence */ audit_syslog_init, /* init function */ audit_syslog_deinit, /* deinit function */ 0x0001, /* plugin version */ NULL, /* status variables */ NULL, /* system variables */ NULL, /* no reserves */ 0, /* no flags */ } mysql_declare_plugin_end; The general plugin descriptor above is standard for all plugin types in MySQL. The plugin type is defined along with the init/deinit functions and interface methods into the system for sharing information, and various other metadata information. The descriptors have an internally recognised version number so that plugins can be matched against the api on the running server. The other details are usually related to the type-specific methods and structures to implement the plugin. Each plugin has a type-specific descriptor as well which details how the plugin is implemented for the specific purpose of that plugin type. /* Plugin type-specific descriptor */ static struct st_mysql_audit audit_syslog_descriptor= { MYSQL_AUDIT_INTERFACE_VERSION, /* interface version */ NULL, /* release_thd function */ audit_syslog_notify, /* notify function */ { (unsigned long) MYSQL_AUDIT_GENERAL_CLASSMASK | MYSQL_AUDIT_CONNECTION_CLASSMASK } /* class mask */ }; In this particular case, the release_thd function has not been defined as it is not required. The important method for auditing is the notify function which is activated when an event occurs on the system. The notify function is designed to activate on an event and the implementation will determine how it is handled. For the audit_syslog plugin, the use of the syslog feature sends all events to the syslog for recording. The class mask allows us to determine what type of events are being seen by the notify function. There are currently two major types of event: 1. General Events: This includes general logging, errors, status and result type events. This is the main one for tracking the queries and operations on the database. 2. Connection Events: This group is based around user logins. It monitors connections and disconnections, but also if somebody changes user while connected. With most audit plugins, the principle behind the plugin is to track changes to the system over time and counters can be an important part of this process. The next step is to define and initialise the counters that are used to track the events in the service. There are 3 counters defined in total for our plugin - the # of general events, the # of connection events and the total number of events. static volatile int total_number_of_calls; /* Count MYSQL_AUDIT_GENERAL_CLASS event instances */ static volatile int number_of_calls_general; /* Count MYSQL_AUDIT_CONNECTION_CLASS event instances */ static volatile int number_of_calls_connection; The init and deinit functions for the plugin are there to be called when the plugin is activated and when it is terminated. These offer the best option to initialise the counters for our plugin: /* Initialize the plugin at server start or plugin installation. */ static int audit_syslog_init(void *arg __attribute__((unused))) { openlog("mysql_audit:",LOG_PID|LOG_PERROR|LOG_CONS,LOG_USER); total_number_of_calls= 0; number_of_calls_general= 0; number_of_calls_connection= 0; return(0); } The init function does a call to openlog to initialise the syslog functionality. The parameters are the service to log under ("mysql_audit" in this case), the syslog flags and the facility for the logging. Then each of the counters are initialised to zero and a success is returned. If the init function is not defined, it will return success by default. /* Terminate the plugin at server shutdown or plugin deinstallation. */ static int audit_syslog_deinit(void *arg __attribute__((unused))) { closelog(); return(0); } The deinit function will simply close our syslog connection and return success. Note that the syslog functionality is part of the glibc libraries and does not require any external factors. The function names are what we define in the general plugin structure, so these have to match otherwise there will be errors. The next step is to implement the event notifier function that was defined in the type specific descriptor (audit_syslog_descriptor) which is audit_syslog_notify. /* Event notifier function */ static void audit_syslog_notify(MYSQL_THD thd __attribute__((unused)), unsigned int event_class, const void *event) { total_number_of_calls++; if (event_class == MYSQL_AUDIT_GENERAL_CLASS) { const struct mysql_event_general *event_general= (const struct mysql_event_general *) event; number_of_calls_general++; syslog(audit_loglevel,"%lu: User: %s Command: %s Query: %s\n", event_general->general_thread_id, event_general->general_user, event_general->general_command, event_general->general_query ); } else if (event_class == MYSQL_AUDIT_CONNECTION_CLASS) { const struct mysql_event_connection *event_connection= (const struct mysql_event_connection *) event; number_of_calls_connection++; syslog(audit_loglevel,"%lu: User: %s@%s[%s] Event: %d Status: %d\n", event_connection->thread_id, event_connection->user, event_connection->host, event_connection->ip, event_connection->event_subclass, event_connection->status ); } } In the case of an event, the notifier function is called. The first step is to increment the total number of events that have occurred in our database.The event argument is then cast into the appropriate event structure depending on the class type, of general event or connection event. The event type counters are incremented and details are sent via the syslog() function out to the system log. There are going to be different line formats and information returned since the general events have different data compared to the connection events, even though some of the details overlap, for example, user, thread id, host etc. On compiling the code now, there should be no errors and the resulting audit_syslog.so can be loaded into the server and ready to use. Log into the server and type: mysql> INSTALL PLUGIN audit_syslog SONAME 'audit_syslog.so'; This will install the plugin and will start updating the syslog immediately. Note that the audit plugin attaches to the immediate thread and cannot be uninstalled while that thread is active. This means that you cannot run the UNISTALL command until you log into a different connection (thread) on the server. Once the plugin is loaded, the system log will show output such as the following: Oct 8 15:33:21 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: (null) Query: INSTALL PLUGIN audit_syslog SONAME 'audit_syslog.so' Oct 8 15:33:21 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: Query Query: INSTALL PLUGIN audit_syslog SONAME 'audit_syslog.so' Oct 8 15:33:40 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: (null) Query: show tables Oct 8 15:33:40 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: Query Query: show tables Oct 8 15:33:43 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: (null) Query: select * from t1 Oct 8 15:33:43 machine mysql_audit:[8337]: 87: User: root[root] @ localhost [] Command: Query Query: select * from t1 It appears that two of each event is being shown, but in actuality, these are two separate event types - the result event and the status event. This could be refined further by changing the audit_syslog_notify function to handle the different event sub-types in a different manner. So far, it seems that the logging is working with events showing up in the syslog output. The issue now is that the counters created earlier to track the number of events by type are not accessible when the plugin is being run. Instead there needs to be a way to expose the plugin specific information to the service and vice versa. This could be done via the information_schema plugin api, but for something as simple as counters, the obvious choice is the system status variables. This is done using the standard structure and the declaration: /* Plugin status variables for SHOW STATUS */ static struct st_mysql_show_var audit_syslog_status[]= { { "Audit_syslog_total_calls", (char *) &total_number_of_calls, SHOW_INT }, { "Audit_syslog_general_events", (char *) &number_of_calls_general, SHOW_INT }, { "Audit_syslog_connection_events", (char *) &number_of_calls_connection, SHOW_INT }, { 0, 0, SHOW_INT } }; The structure is simply the name that will be displaying in the mysql service, the address of the associated variables, and the data type being used for the counter. It is finished with a blank structure to show that there are no more variables. Remember that status variables may have the same name for variables from other plugin, so it is considered appropriate to add the plugin name at the start of the status variable name to avoid confusion. Looking at the status variables in the mysql client shows something like the following: mysql> show global status like "audit%"; +--------------------------------+-------+ | Variable_name | Value | +--------------------------------+-------+ | Audit_syslog_connection_events | 1 | | Audit_syslog_general_events | 2 | | Audit_syslog_total_calls | 3 | +--------------------------------+-------+ 3 rows in set (0.00 sec) The final connectivity piece for the plugin is to allow the interactive change of the logging level between the plugin and the system. This requires the ability to send changes via the mysql service through to the plugin. This is done using the system variables interface and defining a single variable to keep track of the active logging level for the facility. /* Plugin system variables for SHOW VARIABLES */ static MYSQL_SYSVAR_STR(loglevel, audit_loglevel, PLUGIN_VAR_RQCMDARG, "User can specify the log level for auditing", audit_loglevel_check, audit_loglevel_update, "LOG_NOTICE"); static struct st_mysql_sys_var* audit_syslog_sysvars[] = { MYSQL_SYSVAR(loglevel), NULL }; So now the system variable 'loglevel' is defined for the plugin and associated to the global variable 'audit_loglevel'. The check or validation function is defined to make sure that no garbage values are attempted in the update of the variable. The update function is used to save the new value to the variable. Note that the audit_syslog_sysvars structure is defined in the general plugin descriptor to associate the link between the plugin and the system and how much they interact. Next comes the implementation of the validation function and the update function for the system variable. It is worth noting that if you have a simple numeric such as integers for the variable types, the validate function is often not required as MySQL will handle the automatic check and validation of simple types. /* longest valid value */ #define MAX_LOGLEVEL_SIZE 100 /* hold the valid values */ static const char *possible_modes[]= { "LOG_ERROR", "LOG_WARNING", "LOG_NOTICE", NULL }; static int audit_loglevel_check( THD* thd, /*!< in: thread handle */ struct st_mysql_sys_var* var, /*!< in: pointer to system variable */ void* save, /*!< out: immediate result for update function */ struct st_mysql_value* value) /*!< in: incoming string */ { char buff[MAX_LOGLEVEL_SIZE]; const char *str; const char **found; int length; length= sizeof(buff); if (!(str= value->val_str(value, buff, &length))) return 1; /* We need to return a pointer to a locally allocated value in "save". Here we pick to search for the supplied value in an global array of constant strings and return a pointer to one of them. The other possiblity is to use the thd_alloc() function to allocate a thread local buffer instead of the global constants. */ for (found= possible_modes; *found; found++) { if (!strcmp(*found, str)) { *(const char**)save= *found; return 0; } } return 1; } The validation function is simply to take the value being passed in via the SET GLOBAL VARIABLE command and check if it is one of the pre-defined values allowed in our possible_values array. If it is found to be valid, then the value is assigned to the save variable ready for passing through to the update function. static void audit_loglevel_update( THD* thd, /*!< in: thread handle */ struct st_mysql_sys_var* var, /*!< in: system variable being altered */ void* var_ptr, /*!< out: pointer to dynamic variable */ const void* save) /*!< in: pointer to temporary storage */ { /* assign the new value so that the server can read it */ *(char **) var_ptr= *(char **) save; /* assign the new value to the internal variable */ audit_loglevel= *(char **) save; } Since all the validation has been done already, the update function is quite simple for this plugin. The first part is to update the system variable pointer so that the server can read the value. The second part is to update our own global plugin variable for tracking the value. Notice that the save variable is passed in as a void type to allow handling of various data types, so it must be cast to the appropriate data type when assigning it to the variables. Looking at how the latest changes affect the usage of the plugin and the interaction within the server shows: mysql> show global variables like "audit%"; +-----------------------+------------+ | Variable_name | Value | +-----------------------+------------+ | audit_syslog_loglevel | LOG_NOTICE | +-----------------------+------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> set global audit_syslog_loglevel="LOG_ERROR"; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec) mysql> show global status like "audit%"; +--------------------------------+-------+ | Variable_name | Value | +--------------------------------+-------+ | Audit_syslog_connection_events | 1 | | Audit_syslog_general_events | 11 | | Audit_syslog_total_calls | 12 | +--------------------------------+-------+ 3 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> show global variables like "audit%"; +-----------------------+-----------+ | Variable_name | Value | +-----------------------+-----------+ | audit_syslog_loglevel | LOG_ERROR | +-----------------------+-----------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) So now we have a plugin that will audit the events on the system and log the details to the system log. It allows for interaction to see the number of different events within the server details and provides a mechanism to change the logging level interactively via the standard system methods of the SET command. A more complex auditing plugin may have more detailed code, but each of the above areas is what will be involved and simply expanded on to add more functionality. With the above skeleton code, it is now possible to create your own audit plugins to implement your own auditing requirements. If, however, you are not of the coding persuasion, then you could always consider the option of the MySQL Enterprise Audit plugin that is available to purchase.

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SSAS Compare: an intern’s journey

- by Red Gate Software BI Tools Team

About a month ago, David mentioned an intern working in the BI Tools Team. That intern happens to be me! In five weeks’ time, I’ll start my second year of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge and be a full-time student again, but for the past eight weeks, I’ve been living a completely different life. As Jon mentioned before, the teams here at Red Gate are small and everyone (including the interns!) is responsible for the product as a whole. I’ve attended planning sessions, UX tests, daily meetings, and everything else a full-time member of the team would; I had as much say in where we would go next with the product as anyone; I was able to see that what I was doing was an important part of the product from the feedback we got in the UX tests. All these things almost made me forget that this is just an internship and not my full-time job. First steps at Red Gate Being based in Cambridge, Red Gate has many Cambridge university graduates working for them. They also hire some Cambridge undergraduates for internships each summer. With its popularity with university graduates and its great working environment, Red Gate has managed to build up a great reputation. When I thought of doing an internship here in Cambridge, Red Gate just seemed to be the obvious choice for my first real work experience. On my first day at Red Gate, David, the lead developer for SSAS Compare, helped me settle in and explained what I’d be doing. My task was to improve the user experience of displaying differences between MDX scripts by syntax highlighting, script formatting, and improving the difference identification in the first place. David suggested how I should approach the problem, but left all the details and design decisions to me. That was when I realised how much independence and responsibility I’d have. What I’ve done If you launch the latest version of SSAS Compare and drill down to an MDX script difference, you can see the changes that have been made. In earlier versions, you could only see the scripts in plain text on both sides — either in black or grey, depending on whether they were the same or not. However, you couldn’t see exactly where the scripts were different, which was especially annoying when the two scripts were large – as they often are. Furthermore, if parts of the two scripts were formatted differently, they seemed to be different but were actually the same, which caused even more confusion and made it difficult to see where the differences were. All these issues have been fixed now. The two scripts are automatically formatted by the tool so that if two things are syntactically equivalent, they look the same – including case differences in keywords! The actual difference is highlighted in grey, which makes them easy to spot. The difference identification has been improved as well, so two scripts aren’t identified as different if there’s just a difference in meaningless whitespace characters, or when you have “select” on one side and “SELECT” on the other. We also have syntax highlighting, which makes it easier to read the scripts. How I did it In order to do the formatting properly, we decided to parse the MDX scripts. After some investigation into parser builders, I decided to go with the GOLD Parser builder and the bsn-goldparser .NET engine. GOLD Parser builder provides a fairly nice GUI to write, build, and test grammar in. We also liked the idea of separating the grammar building from parsing a text. The bsn-goldparser is one of many .NET engines for GOLD, and although it doesn’t support the newest features of GOLD Parser, it has “the ability to map semantic action classes to terminals or reduction rules, so that a completely functional semantic AST can be created directly without intermediate token AST representation, and without the need for glue code.” That makes it much easier for us to change the implementation in our program when we change the grammar. As bsn-goldparser is open source, and I wanted some more features in it, I contributed two new features which have now been merged to the project. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an MDX grammar written for GOLD already, so I had to write it myself. I was referencing MSDN to get the formal grammar specification, but the specification was all over the place, so it wasn’t that easy to implement and find. We’re aware that we don’t yet fully support all valid MDX, so sometimes you’ll just see the MDX script difference displayed the old way. In that case, there is some grammar construct we don’t yet recognise. If you come across something SSAS Compare doesn’t recognise, we’d love to hear about it so we can add it to our grammar. When some MDX script gets parsed, a tree is produced. That tree can then be processed into a list of inlines which deal with the correct formatting and can be outputted to the screen. Doing all this has led me to many new technologies and projects I haven’t worked with before. This was my first experience with C# and Visual Studio, although I have done things in Java before. I have learnt how to unit test with NUnit, how to do dependency injection with Ninject, how to source-control code with SVN and Mercurial, how to build with TeamCity, how to use GOLD, and many other things. What’s coming next Sadly, my internship comes to an end this week, so there will be less development on MDX difference view for a while. But the team is going to work on marking the differences better and making it consistent with difference indication in the top part of comparison window, and will keep adding support for more MDX grammar so you can see the differences easily in every comparison you make. So long! And maybe I’ll see you next summer!

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Measuring Usability with Common Industry Format (CIF) Usability Tests

- by Applications User Experience

Sean Rice, Manager, Applications User Experience A User-centered Research and Design Process The Oracle Fusion Applications user experience was five years in the making. The development of this suite included an extensive and comprehensive user experience design process: ethnographic research, low-fidelity workflow prototyping, high fidelity user interface (UI) prototyping, iterative formative usability testing, development feedback and iteration, and sales and customer evaluation throughout the design cycle. However, this process does not stop when our products are released. We conduct summative usability testing using the ISO 25062 Common Industry Format (CIF) for usability test reports as an organizational framework. CIF tests allow us to measure the overall usability of our released products. These studies provide benchmarks that allow for comparisons of a specific product release against previous versions of our product and against other products in the marketplace. What Is a CIF Usability Test? CIF refers to the internationally standardized method for reporting usability test findings used by the software industry. The CIF is based on a formal, lab-based test that is used to benchmark the usability of a product in terms of human performance and subjective data. The CIF was developed and is endorsed by more than 375 software customer and vendor organizations led by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), a US government entity. NIST sponsored the CIF through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards-making processes. Oracle played a key role in developing the CIF. The CIF report format and metrics are consistent with the ISO 9241-11 definition of usability: “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” Our goal in conducting CIF tests is to measure performance and satisfaction of a representative sample of users on a set of core tasks and to help predict how usable a product will be with the larger population of customers. Why Do We Perform CIF Testing? The overarching purpose of the CIF for usability test reports is to promote incorporation of usability as part of the procurement decision-making process for interactive products. CIF provides a common format for vendors to report the methods and results of usability tests to customer organizations, and enables customers to compare the usability of our software to that of other suppliers. CIF also enables us to compare our current software with previous versions of our software. CIF Testing for Fusion Applications Oracle Fusion Applications comprises more than 100 modules in seven different product families. These modules encompass more than 400 task flows and 400 user roles. Due to resource constraints, we cannot perform comprehensive CIF testing across the entire product suite. Therefore, we had to develop meaningful inclusion criteria and work with other stakeholders across the applications development organization to prioritize product areas for testing. Ultimately, we want to test the product areas for which customers might be most interested in seeing CIF data. We also want to build credibility with customers; we need to be able to make the case to current and prospective customers that the product areas tested are representative of the product suite as a whole. Our goal is to test the top use cases for each product. The primary activity in the scoping process was to work with the individual product teams to identify the key products and business process task flows in each product to test. We prioritized these products and flows through a series of negotiations among the user experience managers, product strategy, and product management directors for each of the primary product families within the Oracle Fusion Applications suite (Human Capital Management, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management, Financials, Projects, and Procurement). The end result of the scoping exercise was a list of 47 proposed CIF tests for the Fusion Applications product suite. Figure 1. A participant completes tasks during a usability test in Oracle’s Usability Labs Fusion Supplier Portal CIF Test The first Fusion CIF test was completed on the Supplier Portal application in July of 2011. Fusion Supplier Portal is part of an integrated suite of Procurement applications that helps supplier companies manage orders, schedules, shipments, invoices, negotiations and payments. The user roles targeted for the usability study were Supplier Account Receivables Specialists and Supplier Sales Representatives, including both experienced and inexperienced users across a wide demographic range. The test specifically focused on the following functionality and features: Manage payments – view payments Manage invoices – view invoice status and create invoices Manage account information – create new contact, review bank account information Manage agreements – find and view agreement, upload agreement lines, confirm status of agreement lines upload Manage purchase orders (PO) – view history of PO, request change to PO, find orders Manage negotiations – respond to request for a quote, check the status of a negotiation response These product areas were selected to represent the most important subset of features and functionality of the flow, in terms of frequency and criticality of use by customers. A total of 20 users participated in the usability study. The results of the Supplier Portal evaluation were favorable and exceeded our expectations. Figure 2. Fusion Supplier Portal Next Studies We plan to conduct two Fusion CIF usability studies per product family over the next nine months. The next product to be tested will be Self-service Procurement. End users are currently being recruited to participate in this usability study, and the test sessions are scheduled to begin during the last week of November.

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Sound vs. Valid Argument

- by MarkPearl

Today I spent some time reviewing my Formal Logic course for my up coming exam. I came across a section that I have never really explored in any proper depth… the difference between a valid argument and a sound argument. Here go some notes I made… What is an argument? In this case we are not referring to a verbal fight, but more what we call a set of premise followed by a conclusion. Before we go further we need to understand what a premise is… a premise is a statement that an argument claims will induce or justify a conclusion. Think of a premise as an assumption that something is true. So, an argument can consist of one or more premises and a conclusion… When is an argument valid? An argument can be either valid or invalid. An argument is valid if, and only if, it is impossible for there to be a situation in which all it's premises are TRUE and it's conclusion is FALSE. It is generally easier to determine if an argument is invalid. Do this by applying the following… Assume that all the premises are true, then ask yourself if it is now possible for the conclusion to be false. If the answer is "yes," the argument is invalid. If it's "no," the argument is valid. Example 1… P1 – Mark is Tall P2 – Mark is a boy C – Mark is a tall boy Walkthrough 1… Assume Mark is Tall is true and also assume that Mark is a boy. Based on these two premises, the conclusion is also true – Mark is a tall boy, thus the it is a valid argument. Let’s make this an invalid argument… Example 2… P1 – Mark is Tall P2 – Mark is a boy C – Mark is a short boy Walkthrough 2… This would be an invalid argument, since from the premises we assume that Mark is tall and he is a boy, and then the conclusion goes against this by saying that Mark is short. Thus an invalid argument. When is an argument sound? An argument is said to be sound when it is valid and all the premises are indeed true (not just assumed to be true). Rephrased, an argument is said to be sound when the conclusion will follow from the premises and the premises are indeed true in real life. In example 1 we were referring to a specific person, if we generalized it a bit we could come up with the following example. Example 3 P1 – All people called Mark are tall P2 – I know a specific person called Mark C – He is a tall person In this instance, it is a valid argument (we assume the premises are true, which leads to the conclusion being true), but the argument is NOT sound. In the real world there must be at least one person called Mark who is not tall. Something also to note, all invalid arguments are also unsound – this makes sense, if an argument is not valid, how on earth can it be true in the real world. What happens when the premises contradict themselves? This is an interesting one… An argument is valid if, and only if, it is impossible for there to be a situation in which all it's premises are TRUE and it's conclusion is FALSE. When premises are contradictory, the argument is always valid because it is impossible for all the premises to be true at one time. Lets look at an example.. P1 - Elvis is dead P2 – Elvis is alive C – Laura is a woolly mammoth This is a valid argument, but not a sound one. Think about it. Is it possible to have a situation in which the premises are true and the conclusion is false? Sure, it's possible to have a situation in which the conclusion is false, but for the argument to be invalid, it has to be possible for the premises to all be true at the same time the conclusion is false. So if the premises can't all be true, the argument is valid. (If you still think the argument is invalid, draw a picture in which the premises are all true and the conclusion is false. Remember, there's only one Elvis, and you can't be both dead and alive.) For more info on this I suggest reading the following blog post.

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Meet our 2009 Oracle Graduates in South Africa

- by anca.rosu

Focusing on the broader Oracle community, Oracle South Africa initiated its first skills development programme in May 1988. Since its inception the programme has developed and improved and every year more graduates are taken on board. The Oracle Graduate Programme is made up of specific learning paths designed around customer, partner and Oracle specifications and is structured to meet the urgent skills requirements in the Oracle “economy”. The training programmes have a specific duration and incorporate both theoretical and practical application of Oracle product sets. It is aimed at creating: Meaningful employment for graduates; Learning opportunities for individuals within the organization so that career growth opportunities are exploited to the fullest; Capacity building for small enterprises which is aligned to Oracle’s Enterprise Development Programme Meet our five graduates who joined us in December 2008 and have spent over a year with us! Let’s get their initial feedback on the graduate programme and on their assignment to Jordan. Lector On the Oracle Graduate Programme: “The Oracle Graduate Programme is an experience of a life time. I would not trade it for anything. It’s challenging and rewarding. I am proud and happy to be in an organization like Oracle” On the assignment in Jordan: "Friendly, welcoming people, world class instructors always willing to go the extra mile. What more can you ask for?" Lungile On the Oracle Graduate Programme: “I joined Oracle as part of the graduate intake for pre-sales in order to develop my skills and knowledge. Working at Oracle has been an overwhelmingly positive experience as it has encouraged me to progress with my personal development. I am hugely grateful. It has been a great challenge and an awesome opportunity.” On the assignment to Jordan: “Going to Jordan was a great opportunity and the experience of a lifetime. The people were very welcoming and friendly. The culture was totally different from ours - the food, the clothes and the weather. It was an amazingly different experience to work from Sunday to Thursday with Friday and Saturday as the weekend.” Thabo On the Oracle Graduate Programme: “Life is an infinite learning path. I truly value growth. I believe for one to grow, one needs to be challenged to your full potential. The Oracle Graduate Programme offers real growth – and so much more.” On the assignment to Jordan: “I was amazed by the cultural differences. I now understood that to be part of the global community, I must embrace our similarities and understand our differences.” Albeauty On the Oracle Graduate Programme: “Responsibility, dedication, focus and taking initiative … these are the key points I learned from Oracle. It is such an honour to finally be part of the Oracle family. The graduate programme itself was a great experience as I managed to learn how Oracle operates – it has been the highlight of my year. I believe that my hard work will assist in the growth of the company.” On the Jordan assignment: “A memory worth embracing. Going to Jordan was a great opportunity as I learned a lot with respect to integration between different cultures and getting to adapt to all things different. I, along with almost every other graduate, discovered that Oracle is far more than a database company. Now I know there is far more to the ‘Big Red’ name.” Emmanuel On the Oracle Graduate Programme: “The programme gave me invaluable exposure to the ICT sector and also provided an opportunity to travel, network and exchange ideas with others. The formal training helped me to improve my presentation skills and gave me a better understanding of business etiquette and communication.” On the assignment to Jordan: “It was my first trip abroad. It was a great chance to get to know each other. I had the opportunity to share ideas, share personal stuff as a team. We met experts who gave us superb training in Oracle Technologies. It was great.” If you have any questions related to this article feel free to contact [email protected]. You can find our job opportunities via http://campus.oracle.com. Technorati Tags: Oracle community,South Africa,Graduate Programme,Jordan,Technologies

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What Will Happen to Real Estate Leases when Operating Leases are Gone?

- by Theresa Hickman

Many people are concerned about what will happen to real estate leases when FASB and IASB abolish operating leases. They plan to unveil the proposed standards on treating leases this summer as part of the convergence project but no "finalized ruling" is expected for at least a year because it will need to get formal consensus from many players, such as the SEC, American Association of Investors, Congress, the Big Four, American Associate of Realtors, the international equivalents of these, etc. If your accounting is a bit rusty, an Operating Lease is where you lease equipment or some asset for a shorter period than the actual (expected) life of the asset and then give the asset back while it still has some useful life in it. (Think leasing a car). Because an Operating Lease does not contain any of the provisions that would qualify it as a Capital Lease, the lease is not treated as a sale or purchase and hits the lessee's rental expense and the lessor's revenue. So it all stays on the P&L (assuming no prepayments are made). Capital Leases, on the other hand, hit lessee's and lessor's balance sheets because the asset is treated as a sale. (I'm ignoring interest and depreciation here to emphasize my point). Question: What will happen to real estate leases when Operating Leases go away and how will Oracle Financials address these changes? Before I attempt to address these questions, here's a real-life example to expound on some of the issues: Let's say a U.S. retailer leases a store in a mall for 15 years. Under U.S. GAAP, the lease is considered an operating or expense lease. Will that same lease be considered a capital lease under IFRS? Real estate leases are supposedly going to be capitalized under IFRS. If so, will everyone need to change all leases from operating to capital? Or, could we make some adjustments so we report the lease as an expense for operations reporting but capitalize it for SEC reporting? Would all aspects of the lease be capitalized, or would some line items still be expensed? For example, many retail store leases are defined to include (1) the agreed-to rent amount; (2) a negotiated increase in base rent, e.g., maybe a 5% increase in Year 5; (3) a sales rent component whereby the retailer pays a variable additional amount based on the sales generated in the prior month; (4) parking lot maintenance fees. Would the entire lease be capitalized, or would some portions still be expensed? To help answer these questions, I met up with our resident accounting expert and walking encyclopedia, Seamus Moran. Here's what he had to say: Oracle is aware of the potential changes specific to reporting/capitalization of real estate leases; i.e., we are aware that FASB and IASB have identified real estate leases as one of the areas for standards convergence. Oracle stays apprised of the on-going convergence through our domain expertise staff, our relationship with customers, our market awareness, and, of course, our relationships with the Big 4. This is part of our normal process with respect to regulatory compliance worldwide. At this time, Oracle expects that the standards convergence committee will make a recommendation about reporting standards for real estate leases in about a year. Following typical procedures, we also expect that the recommendation will be up for review for a year, and customers will then need to start reporting to the new standard about a year after that. So that means we would expect the first customer to report under the new standard in maybe 3 years. Typically, after the new standard is finalized and distributed, we find that our customers then begin to evaluate how they plan to meet the new standard. And through groups like the Customer Advisory Boards (CABs), our customers tell us what kind of product changes are needed in order to satisfy their new reporting requirements. Of course, Oracle is also working with the Big 4 and Accenture and other implementers in order to ascertain that these recommended changes will indeed meet new reporting standards. So the best advice we can offer right now is, stay apprised of the standards convergence committee; know that Oracle is also staying abreast of developments; get involved with your CAB so your voice is heard; know that Oracle products continue to be GAAP compliant, and we will continue to maintain that as our standard. But exactly what is that "standard"--we need to wait on the standards convergence committee. In a nut shell, operating leases will become either capital leases or month to month rentals, but it is still too early, too political and too uncertain to call out at this point.

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Responsible BI for Excel, Even for Older Versions

- by andrewbrust

On Wednesday, I will have the honor of co-presenting, for both The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI) and the New York Technology Council. on the subject of Excel and BI. My co-presenter will be none other than Bill Baker, who was a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer and, essentially, the father of BI at that company. Details on the events are here and here. We'll be talking about PowerPivot, of course, but that's not all. Probably even more important than any one product, will be our discussion of whether the usual characterization of Excel as the nemesis of IT, the guilty pleasure of business users and the antithesis of formal BI is really valid and/or hopelessly intractable. Without giving away our punchline, I'll tell you that we are much more optimistic than that. There are huge upsides to Excel and while there are real dangers to using it in the BI space, there are standards and practices you can employ to ensure Excel is used responsibly. And when those practices are followed, Excel becomes quite powerful indeed. One of the keys to this is using Excel as a data consumer rather than data storage mechanism. Caching data in Excel is OK, but only if that data is (a) not modified and (b) configured for automated periodic refresh. PowerPivot meets both criteria -- it stores a read-only copy of your data in the form of a model, and once workbook containing a PowerPivot model is published to SharePoint, it can be configured for scheduled data refresh, on the server, requiring no user intervention whatsoever. Data refresh is a bit like hard drive backup: it will only happen reliably if it's automated, and super-easy to configure. PowerPivot hits a real home run here (as does Windows Home Server for PC backup, but I digress). The thing about PowerPivot is that it's an add-in for Excel 2010. What if you're not planning to go to that new version for quite a while? What if you’ve just deployed Office 2007 in your organization? What if you're still on Office 2003, or an even earlier version? What can you do immediately to share data responsibly and easily? As it turns out, there's a feature in Excel that's been around for quite a while, that can help: Web Queries. The Web Query feature was introduced, ostensibly, to allow Excel to pull data in from Internet Web pages…for example, data in a stock quote history table will come in nicely, as will any data in a Web page that is displayed in an HTML table. To use the feature In Excel 2007 or 2010, click the Data Tab or the ribbon and click the “From Web” button towards the left; in older versions use the corresponding option in the menu or toolbars. Next, paste a URL into the resulting dialog box and tap Enter or click the Go button. A preview of the Web page will come up, and the dialog will allow you to select the specific table within the page whose data you’d like to import. Here’s an example: Now just click the table, click the Import button, and the Import Data dialog appears. You can simply click OK to bring in your data or you can first click the Properties… button and configure the data import to be refreshed at an interval in minutes that you select. Now your data’s in the spreadsheet and ready to worked with: Your data may be vulnerable to modification, but if you’ve set up the data refresh, any accidental or malicious changes will be corrected in time anyway. The thing about this feature is that it’s most useful not for public Web pages, but for pages behind the firewall. In effect, the Web Query feature provides an incredibly easy way to consume data in Excel that’s “published” from an application. Users just need a URL. They don’t need to know server and database names and since the data is read-only, providing credentials may be unnecessary, or can be handled using integrated security. If that’s not good enough, the Web Query can be saved to a special .iqy file, which can be edited to provide POST parameter data. The only requirement is that the data must be provided in an HTML table, with the first row providing the column names. From an ASP.NET project, it couldn’t be easier: a simple bound GridView control is totally compatible. Use a data source control with it, and you don’t even have to write any code. Users can link to pages that are part of an application’s UI, or developers can create pages that are specially designed for the purpose of providing an interface to the Web Query import feature. And none of this is Microsoft- or .NET-specific. You can create pages in any language you want (PHP comes to mind) that output the result set of a query in HTML table format, and then consume that data in a Web Query. Then build PivotTables and charts on the data, and in Excel 2007 or 2010 you can use conditional formatting to create scorecards and dashboards. This strategy allows you to create pages that function quite similarly to the OData XML feeds rendered when .NET developers create an “Astoria” WCF Data Service. And while it’s cool that PowerPivot and Excel 2010 can import such OData feeds, it’s good to know that older versions of Excel can function in a similar fashion, and can consume data produced by virtually any Web development platform. As a final matter, instead of just telling you that “older versions” of Excel support this feature, I’ll be more specific. To discover what the first version of Excel was to support Web queries, go to http://bit.ly/OldSchoolXL.

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Employee Engagement Q&A with John Brunswick

- by Kellsey Ruppel

As we are focusing this week on Employee Engagement, I recently sat down with industry expert and thought leader John Brunswick on the topic. Here is the Q&A dialogue we shared. Q: How do you effectively engage employees to drive business value?A: Motivation, both extrinsic and intrinsic, combined with the relevancy of various channels to support it. Beyond chaining business strategies like compensation models within an organization, engagement ultimately is most successful when driven by employee's motivations. Business value derived from engagement through technical capabilities can be objectively measured through metrics like the rate and accuracy of problem solving for a given business function or frequency of innovation created. Providing employees performing "knowledge work" with capabilities that allow them to perform work with a higher degree of accuracy in the same or ideally less time, adds value for that individual and in turn, drives their level of engagement to drive business value. Q: Organizations with high levels of employee engagement outperform the total stock market index by 22%. Can you comment on why you think this might be? A: Alignment through shared purpose. Zappos is an excellent example of a culture that arguably has higher than average levels of employee engagement and it permeates every aspect of their organization – embodied externally through their customer experience. I recently made my first purchase with them and it was obvious through their web experience, visual design, communication style, customer service and attention to detail down to green packaging, that they have an amazingly strong shared purpose. The Zappos.com ‘About page’ outlines their "Family Core Values", the first three being "Deliver WOW Through Service, Embrace and Drive Change & Create Fun and A Little Weirdness" – all reflected externally in my interaction with them. Strong shared purpose enables higher product and service experience, equating to a dedicated customer base, repeat purchases and expanded marketshare. Q: Have you seen any trends in the market regarding employee engagement? A: Some companies now see offering a form of social engagement similar to Facebook and LinkedIn as standard communication infrastructure like email or instant messaging. Originally offered as standalone tools, the value is now seen when these capabilities are offered in an integrated fashion in the context of business entities. An emerging area of focus is around employee activities related to their organization on external social platforms, implicitly creating external communities with employees acting on behalf of the brand and interacting with each other (e.g. Twitter). Companies have reached a formal understand that this now established communication medium requires strategies allowing employees to engage. I have personally met colleagues from Oracle, like Oracle User Experience Director Ultan O'Broin (@ultan), via Twitter before meeting first through internal channels. Q: Employee engagement is important, but what about engaging customers and partners? A: The last few years we have witnessed an interesting evolution from the novelty of self-service to expectations of "intelligent" self-service. From a consumer standpoint, engagement can end up being a key differentiator, especially in mature markets. Customers that perform some level of interaction with a brand develop greater affinity for the brand and have a greater probability of acting as an advocate. As organizations move toward a model of deeper engagement, they must ensure that their business is positioned to support deeper relationships, offering potentially greater transparency. From a partner standpoint greater engagement can lead to new types of business opportunities, much in the way that Amazon.com offers a unified shopping experience that can potentially span various vendors. This same model can be extended to blending services and product delivery models, based on a closeness not easily possible before increased capability of engagement mechanisms. Q: What types of solutions are available to successfully deliver employee engagement? A: Solutions enabling higher levels of engagement do so on the basis of relevancy. This relevancy is generally supported by aspects of content management, social collaboration, business intelligence, portal and process management technologies. These technologies can help deliver an experience tailored to a given role or process within an organization that applies equally to work that is structured or unstructured, appearing in the form of functionality as simple as an online employee directory search, knowledge communities supported by social collaboration, as well as more feature rich business intelligence dashboards and portals. Looking to learn more about how to effectively engage your employees? Check out this webcast, or read more from John Brunswick.

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A little primer on using TFS with a small team

- by johndoucette

The scenario; A small team of 3 developers mostly in maintenance mode with traditional ASP.net, classic ASP, .Net integration services and utilities with the company’s third party packages, and a bunch of java-based Coldfusion web applications all under Visual Source Safe (VSS). They are about to embark on a huge SharePoint 2010 new construction project and wanted to use subversion instead VSS. TFS was a foreign word and smelled of “high cost” and of an “over complicated process”. Since they had no preconditions about the old TFS versions (‘05 & ‘08), it was fun explaining how simple it was to install a TFS server and get the ball rolling, with or without all the heavy stuff one sometimes associates with such a huge and powerful application management lifecycle product. So, how does a small team begin using TFS? 1. Start by using source control and migrate current VSS source trees into TFS. You can take the latest version or migrate the entire version history. It’s up to you on whether you want a clean start or need quick access to all the version notes and history of the bits. 2. Since most shops are mainly in maintenance mode with existing applications, begin using bug workitems for everything. When you receive an issue/bug from your current tracking system, manually enter the workitem in TFS right through Visual Studio. You can automate the integration to the current tracking system later or replace it entirely. Believe me, this thing is powerful and can handle even the largest of help desks. 3. With new construction, begin work with requirements and task workitems and follow the traditional sprint-based development lifecycle. Obviously, some minor training will be needed, but don’t fear, this is very intuitive and MSDN has a ton of lesson based labs and videos. 4. For the java developers, use the new Team Explorer Everywhere 2010 plugin (recently known as Teamprise). There is a seamless interface in Eclipse, but also a good command-line utility for other environments such as Dreamweaver. 5. Wait to fully integrate the whole workitem/project management/testing process until your team is familiar with the integrated workitems for bugs and code. After a while, you will see the team wanting more transparency into the work they are all doing and naturally, everyone will want workitems to help them organize the chaos! 6. Management will be limited in the value of the reports until you have a fully blown implementation of project planning, construction, build, deployment and testing. However, there are some basic “bug rate” reports and current backlog listings that can provide good information. Some notable explanations of TFS; Work Item Tracking and Project Management - A workitem represents the unit of work within the system which enables tracking of all activities produced by a user, whether it is a developer, business user, project manager or tester. The properties of a workitem such as linked changesets (checked-in code), who updated the data and when, the states and reasons for change, are all transitioned to a data warehouse within TFS for reporting purposes. A workitem can be defines as a "bug", "requirement", test case", or a "change request". They drive the work effort by the individual assigned to it and also provide a key role in defining what needs to be done. Workitems are the things the team needs to do to accomplish a goal. Test Case Management - Starting with a workitem known as a "test case", a tester (or developer) can now author and manage test cases within a formal test plan subsystem. Although TFS supports the test case workitem type, there is a new product known as the VS Test Professional 2010 which allows a tester to facilitate manual tests including fast forwarding steps in the process to arrive at the assertion point quickly. This repeatable process provides quick regression tests and can be conducted by the business user to ensure completeness during UAT. In addition, developers no longer can provide a response to a bug with the line "cannot reproduce". With every test run, attachments including the recorded session, captured environment configurations and settings, screen shots, intellitrace (debugging history), and in some cases if the lab manager is being used, a snapshot of the tested environment is available. Version Control - A modern system allowing shared check-in/check-out, excellent merge conflict resolution, Shelvesets (personal check-ins), branching/merging visualization, public workspaces, gated check-ins, security hierarchy capabilities, and changeset/workitem tracking. Knowing what was done with the code by any developer has become much easier to picture and resolve issues. Team Build - Automate the compilation process whether you need it to be whenever a developer checks-in code, periodically such as nightly builds for testers in the morning, or manual builds to be deployed into production. Each build can run through pre-determined tests, perform code analysis to see if the developer conforms to the team standards, and reject the build if either fails. Project Portal & Reporting - Provide management with a dashboard with insight into the project(s). "Where are we" in each step of the way including past iterations and the current burndown rate. Enabling this feature is easy as it seamlessly interfaces with existing SharePoint implementations.

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Walmart and Fusion Apps

- by ultan o'broin

Photograph: Misha Vaughan I attended Fusion Apps (yes, I know I am supposed to say "Oracle Fusion Applications", but stuffy old style guides are a turn-off in interwebs conversations) User Experience Advocate (FXA) training in Long Beach, California last week; a suitable location as ODTUG KSCOPE 11 was kicking off and key players were in the area. As a member of Oracle's Apps-UX team I know the Fusion Apps messaging, natch, and done some other Fusion Apps go-to-market content work too. For the messaging details themselves, see Lonneke Dikmans (@lonnekedikmans) great blog, by the way. However, I wanted some 'formal' training combined with the opportunity to meet and learn from people already out there delivering those messages. The idea in me reaching out to Misha Vaughan, Apps-UX FXA maven, to get me onto this training was that in addition to my UX knowledge, I could leverage my location in EMEA and hit up customer events more quickly and easily. Those local user groups do like to hear the voice of locals too you know (so I need to work on that mid-Atlantic accent). I'm looking forward to such opportunities. The training was all smashing stuff, just the right level of detail, delivered professionally and with great style and humor. I was especially honored to be paired off for my er, coaching with Debra Lilley (@debralilley), who shared with everyone all kinds of tips and insights from her experiences of delivering the message and demo. For me, that was the real power of the FXA event--the communal, conversational aspect--the meeting up with people who had done all this for real, the sharing in their experiences, while learning along with other newbies. Sorry, but that all-important social aspect doesn't work so well with remote meetings. Katie Candland (Apps-UX) gave us a great tour of the Fusion Apps demo and included some useful presentational tips too (any excuse to buy that iPad). It's clear to me that the Fusion Apps messaging and demos really come alive with real-world examples that local application users will recognize, and I picked up some "yes, that's my job made easier" scene-stealers from Debra and Karen Brownfield too, to add to the great ones already provided. This power of examples shouldn't surprise anyone, they've long been a mainstay of applications user assistance, popular with users. We'll offer customers different types of example topics in the Fusion Apps online help too (stay tuned), and we know from research how important those 3S's (stories, scenarios, and simulations) are to users when they consume and apply information. Well, we've got the simulation, now it's time for more stories and scenarios. If you get a chance to participate in an FXA event (whether you are an Oracle employee or otherwise), I'd encourage it. It's committing your time and energy for sure, but I got real bang for the buck from it for my everyday job too. Listening to the room's feedback on the application demo really brought our internal design work to life, and I picked up on some things that I need to follow up on (like how you alphabetically sort stuff in other languages). User experience is after all, about users. What will I be doing next, and what would I like to see happen? Obviously, I need to develop my story-telling links with the people I met in Long Beach and do some practicing with the materials, and then get out there and deliver them at a suitable location. The demo is what it is right now, and that's a super-rich demo that I know everyone will want to see and ask questions about. Then, as mentioned by attendees at the FXA event, follow up on those translated and localized messages for EMEA (and APAC), that deal with different statutory or reporting requirements of the target markets. Given my background I would say that, wouldn't I? However, language is part of the UX, and international revenue is greater than US-only revenue for Oracle, so yes dear, we all need to get over the fact that enterprise apps users don't all speak, or want to speak, American-English. Most importantly perhaps, the continued development of a strong messaging community between Oracle and partners and customers where we can swap and share those FXA messaging stories and scenarios about Fusion Apps in a conversational way. The more the better, a combination of online and face-to-face meetings. I must also mention the great dinner after the event at Parker's Lighthouse, and the fun myself and Andrew Gilmour (Apps-UX) had at our end of the table talking about just about everything except Fusion Apps with Ronald Van Luttikhuizen and Ben Prusinski (who now understands the difference between Cork and Dublin people. I hope). Thanks to all the Apps-UXers who helped bring the FXA training to town, and to Debra and all the others that I am too jetlagged to mention right who were instrumental in making it happen for me. Here's to the next one. And the Walmart angle? That was me doing my Robert Scoble (ScO'bilizer?)-style guerilla smart phone research in Walmart in Long Beach, before the FXA event. It's all about stories for me. You can read more about it on the appslab blog (see the comments).

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Physics System ignores collision in some rare cases

- by Gajoo

I've been developing a simple physics engine for my game. since the game physics is very simple I've decided to increase accuracy a little bit. Instead of formal integration methods like fourier or RK4, I'm directly computing the results after delta time "dt". based on the very first laws of physics : dx = 0.5 * a * dt^2 + v0 * dt dv = a * dt where a is acceleration and v0 is object's previous velocity. Also to handle collisions I've used a method which is somehow different from those I've seen so far. I'm detecting all the collision in the given time frame, stepping the world forward to the nearest collision, resolving it and again check for possible collisions. As I said the world consist of very simple objects, so I'm not loosing any performance due to multiple collision checking. First I'm checking if the ball collides with any walls around it (which is working perfectly) and then I'm checking if it collides with the edges of the walls (yellow points in the picture). the algorithm seems to work without any problem except some rare cases, in which the collision with points are ignored. I've tested everything and all the variables seem to be what they should but after leaving the system work for a minute or two the system the ball passes through one of those points. Here is collision portion of my code, hopefully one of you guys can give me a hint where to look for a potential bug! void PhysicalWorld::checkForPointCollision(Vec2 acceleration, PhysicsComponent& ball, Vec2& collisionNormal, float& collisionTime, Vec2 target) { // this function checks if there will be any collision between a circle and a point // ball contains informations about the circle (it's current velocity, position and radius) // collisionNormal is an output variable // collisionTime is also an output varialbe // target is the point I want to check for collisions Vec2 V = ball.mVelocity; Vec2 A = acceleration; Vec2 P = ball.mPosition - target; float wallWidth = mMap->getWallWidth() / (mMap->getWallWidth() + mMap->getHallWidth()) / 2; float r = ball.mRadius / (mMap->getWallWidth() + mMap->getHallWidth()); // r is ball radius scaled to match actual rendered object. if (A.any()) // todo : I need to first correctly solve the collisions in case there is no acceleration return; if (V.any()) // if object is not moving there will be no collisions! { float D = P.x * V.y - P.y * V.x; float Delta = r*r*V.length2() - D*D; if(Delta < eps) return; Delta = sqrt(Delta); float sgnvy = V.y > 0 ? 1: (V.y < 0?-1:0); Vec2 c1(( D*V.y+sgnvy*V.x*Delta) / V.length2(), (-D*V.x+fabs(V.y)*Delta) / V.length2()); Vec2 c2(( D*V.y-sgnvy*V.x*Delta) / V.length2(), (-D*V.x-fabs(V.y)*Delta) / V.length2()); float t1 = (c1.x - P.x) / V.x; float t2 = (c2.x - P.x) / V.x; if(t1 > eps && t1 <= collisionTime) { collisionTime = t1; collisionNormal = c1; } if(t2 > eps && t2 <= collisionTime) { collisionTime = t2; collisionNormal = c2; } } } // this function should step the world forward by dt. it doesn't check for collision of any two balls (components) // it just checks if there is a collision between the current component and 4 points forming a rectangle around it. void PhysicalWorld::step(float dt) { for (unsigned i=0;i<mObjects.size();i++) { PhysicsComponent &current = *mObjects[i]; Vec2 acceleration = current.mForces * current.mInvMass; float rt=dt; // stores how much more the world should advance while(rt > eps) { float collisionTime = rt; Vec2 collisionNormal = Vec2(0,0); float halfWallWidth = mMap->getWallWidth() / (mMap->getWallWidth() + mMap->getHallWidth()) / 2; // we check if there is any collision with any of those 4 points around the ball // if there is a collision both collisionNormal and collisionTime variables will change // after these functions collisionTime will be exactly the value of nearest collision (if any) // and if there was, collisionNormal will report in which direction the ball should return. checkForPointCollision(acceleration,current,collisionNormal,collisionTime,Vec2(floor(current.mPosition.x) + halfWallWidth,floor(current.mPosition.y) + halfWallWidth)); checkForPointCollision(acceleration,current,collisionNormal,collisionTime,Vec2(floor(current.mPosition.x) + halfWallWidth, ceil(current.mPosition.y) - halfWallWidth)); checkForPointCollision(acceleration,current,collisionNormal,collisionTime,Vec2( ceil(current.mPosition.x) - halfWallWidth,floor(current.mPosition.y) + halfWallWidth)); checkForPointCollision(acceleration,current,collisionNormal,collisionTime,Vec2( ceil(current.mPosition.x) - halfWallWidth, ceil(current.mPosition.y) - halfWallWidth)); // either if there is a collision or if there is not we step the forward since we are sure there will be no collision before collisionTime current.mPosition += collisionTime * (collisionTime * acceleration * 0.5 + current.mVelocity); current.mVelocity += collisionTime * acceleration; // if the ball collided with anything collisionNormal should be at least none zero in one of it's axis if (collisionNormal.any()) { collisionNormal *= Dot(collisionNormal, current.mVelocity) / collisionNormal.length2(); current.mVelocity -= 2 * collisionNormal; // simply reverse velocity along collision normal direction } rt -= collisionTime; } // reset all forces for current object so it'll be ready for later game event current.mForces.zero(); } }

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Access Control Service v2: Registering Web Identities in your Applications [concepts]

- by Your DisplayName here!

ACS v2 support two fundamental types of client identities– I like to call them “enterprise identities” (WS-*) and “web identities” (Google, LiveID, OpenId in general…). I also see two different “mind sets” when it comes to application design using the above identity types: Enterprise identities – often the fact that a client can present a token from a trusted identity provider means he is a legitimate user of the application. Trust relationships and authorization details have been negotiated out of band (often on paper). Web identities – the fact that a user can authenticate with Google et al does not necessarily mean he is a legitimate (or registered) user of an application. Typically additional steps are necessary (like filling out a form, email confirmation etc). Sometimes also a mixture of both approaches exist, for the sake of this post, I will focus on the web identity case. I got a number of questions how to implement the web identity scenario and after some conversations it turns out it is the old authentication vs. authorization problem that gets in the way. Many people use the IsAuthenticated property on IIdentity to make security decisions in their applications (or deny user=”?” in ASP.NET terms). That’s a very natural thing to do, because authentication was done inside the application and we knew exactly when the IsAuthenticated condition is true. Been there, done that. Guilty ;) The fundamental difference between these “old style” apps and federation is, that authentication is not done by the application anymore. It is done by a third party service, and in the case of web identity providers, in services that are not under our control (nor do we have a formal business relationship with these providers). Now the issue is, when you switch to ACS, and someone with a Google account authenticates, indeed IsAuthenticated is true – because that’s what he is! This does not mean, that he is also authorized to use the application. It just proves he was able to authenticate with Google. Now this obviously leads to confusion. How can we solve that? Easy answer: We have to deal with authentication and authorization separately. Job done ;) For many application types I see this general approach: Application uses ACS for authentication (maybe both enterprise and web identities, we focus on web identities but you could easily have a dual approach here) Application offers to authenticate (or sign in) via web identity accounts like LiveID, Google, Facebook etc. Application also maintains a database of its “own” users. Typically you want to store additional information about the user In such an application type it is important to have a unique identifier for your users (think the primary key of your user database). What would that be? Most web identity provider (and all the standard ACS v2 supported ones) emit a NameIdentifier claim. This is a stable ID for the client (scoped to the relying party – more on that later). Furthermore ACS emits a claims identifying the identity provider (like the original issuer concept in WIF). When you combine these two values together, you can be sure to have a unique identifier for the user, e.g.: Facebook-134952459903700\799880347 You can now check on incoming calls, if the user is already registered and if yes, swap the ACS claims with claims coming from your user database. One claims would maybe be a role like “Registered User” which can then be easily used to do authorization checks in the application. The WIF claims authentication manager is a perfect place to do the claims transformation. If the user is not registered, show a register form. Maybe you can use some claims from the identity provider to pre-fill form fields. (see here where I show how to use the Facebook API to fetch additional user properties). After successful registration (which may include other mechanisms like a confirmation email), flip the bit in your database to make the web identity a registered user. This is all very theoretical. In the next post I will show some code and provide a download link for the complete sample. More on NameIdentifier Identity providers “guarantee” that the name identifier for a given user in your application will always be the same. But different applications (in the case of ACS – different ACS namespaces) will see different name identifiers. This is by design to protect the privacy of users because identical name identifiers could be used to create “profiles” of some sort for that user. In technical terms they create the name identifier approximately like this: name identifier = Hash((Provider Internal User ID) + (Relying Party Address)) Why is this important to know? Well – when you change the name of your ACS namespace, the name identifiers will change as well and you will will lose your “connection” to your existing users. Oh an btw – never use any other claims (like email address or name) to form a unique ID – these can often be changed by users.

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Top Questions and Answers for Pluging into Oracle Database as a Service

- by David Swanger

Yesterday we hosted a comprehensive online forum that shared a comprehensive path to help your organization design, deploy, and deliver a Database as a Service cloud. If you missed the online forum, you can watch it on demand by registering here. We received numerous questions. Below are highlights of the most informative: DBaaS requires a lengthy and careful design efforts. What is the minimum requirements of setting up a scaled-down environment and test it out? You should have an OEM 12c environment for DBaaS administration and then a target database deployment platform that has the key characteristics of what your production environment will look like. This could be a single server or it could be a small pool of hosts if your production DBaaS will be larger and you want to test a more robust / real world configuration with Zones and Pools or DR capabilities for example. How does this benefit companies having their own data center? This allows companies to transform their internal IT to a service delivery model for the database. The benefits to the company are significant cost savings, improved business agility and reduced risk. The benefits to the consumers (internal) of services if much fast provisioning, and response to change in business requirements. From a deployment perspective, is DBaaS's job solely DBA's job? The best deployment model enables the DBA (or end-user) to control the entire process. All resources required to deploy the service are pre-provisioned, and there are no external dependencies (on network, storage, sysadmins teams). The service is created either via a self-service portal or by the DBA. The purpose of self service seems to be that the end user does not rely on the DBA. I just need to give him a template. He decides how much AMM he needs. Why shall I set it one by one. That doesn't seem to be the purpose of self service. Most customers we have worked with define a standardized service catalog, with a few (2 to 5) different classes of service. For each of these classes, there is a pre-defined deployment template, and the user has the ability to select from some pre-defined service sizes. The administrator only has to create this catalog once. Each user then simply selects from the options offered in the catalog. Looking at DBaaS service definition, it seems to be no different from a service definition provided by a well defined DBA team. Why do you attribute it to DBaaS? There are a couple of perspectives. First, some organizations might already be operating with a high level of standardization and a higher level of maturity from an ITIL or Service Management perspective. Their journey to DBaaS could be shorter and their Service Definition will evolve less but they still might need to add capabilities such as Self Service and Metering/Chargeback. Other organizations are still operating in highly siloed environments with little automation and their formal Service Definition (if they have one) will be a lot less mature today. Therefore their future state DBaaS will look a lot different from their current state, as will their Service Definition. How database as a service impact or help with "Click to Compute" or deploying "Database in cloud infrastructure" DBaaS enables Click to Compute. Oracle DBaaS can be implemented using three architecture models: Oracle Multitenant 12c, native consolidation using Oracle Database and consolidation using virtualization in infrastructure cloud. As Deploy session showed, you get higher consolidating density and efficiency using Multitenant and higher isolation using infrastructure cloud. Depending upon your business needs, DBaaS can be implemented using any of these models. How exactly is the DBaaS different from the traditional db? Storage/OS/DB all together to 'transparently' provide service to applications? Will there be across-databases access by application/user. Some key differences are: 1) The services run on a shared platform. 2) The services can be rapidly provisioned (< 15 minutes). 3) The services are dynamic and can be relocated, grown, shrunk as needed to meet business needs without disruption and rapidly. 4) The user is able to provision the services directly from a standardized service catalog.. With 24x7x365 databases its difficult to find off peak hrs to do basic admin tasks such as gathering stats, running backups, batch jobs. How does pluggable database handle this and different needs/patching downtime of apps databases might be serving? You can gather stats in Oracle Multitenant the same way you had been in regular databases. Regarding patching/upgrading, Oracle Multitenant makes patch/upgrade very efficient in that you can pre-provision a new version/patched multitenant db in a different ORACLE_HOME and then unplug a PDB from its CDB and plug it into the newer/patched CDB in seconds. Thanks for all the great questions! If you'd like to learn more and missed the online forum, you can watch it on demand here.

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Lessons learnt in implementing Scrum in a Large Organization that has traditional values

- by MarkPearl

I recently had the experience of being involved in a “test” scrum implementation in a large organization that was used to a traditional project management approach. Here are some lessons that I learnt from it. Don’t let the Project Manager be the Product Owner First lesson learnt is to identify the correct product owner – in this instance the product manager assumed the role of the product owner which was a mistake. The product owner is the one who has the most to loose if the project fails. With a methodology that advocates removing the role of the project manager from the process then it is not in the interests of the person who is employed as a project manager to be the product owner – in fact they have the most to gain should the project fail. Know the time commitments of team members to the Project Second lesson learnt is to get a firm time commitment of the members on a team for the sprint and to hold them to it. In this project instance many of the issues we faced were with team members having to double up on supporting existing projects/systems and the scrum project. In many situations they just didn’t get round to doing any work on the scrum project for several days while they tried to meet other commitments. Initially this was not made transparent to the team – in stand up team members would say that had done some work but would be very vague on how much time they had actually spent using the blackhole of their other legacy projects as an excuse – putting up a time burn down chart made time allocations transparent and easy to hold the team to. In addition, how can you plan for a sprint without knowing the actual time available of the members – when I mean actual time, the exercise of getting them to go through all their appointments and lunch times and breaks and removing them from their time commitment helps get you to a realistic time that they can dedicate. Make sure you meet your minimum team sizes In a recent post I wrote about the difference between a partnership and a team. If you are going to do scrum in a large organization make sure you have a minimum team size of at least 3 developers. My experience with larger organizations is that people have a tendency to be sick more, take more leave and generally not be around – if you have a team size of two it is so easy to loose momentum on the project – the more people you have in the team (up to about 9) the more the momentum the project will have when people are not around. Swapping from one methodology to another can seem as waste to the customer It sounds bad, but most customers don’t care what methodology you use. Often they have bought into the “big plan upfront”. If you can, avoid taking a project on midstream from a traditional approach unless the customer has not bought into the process – with this particular project they had a detailed upfront planning breakaway with the customer using the traditional approach and then before the project started we moved onto a scrum implementation – this seemed as waste to the customer. We should have managed the customers expectation properly. Don’t play the role of the scrum master if you can’t be the scrum master With this particular implementation I was the “scrum master”. But all I did was go through the process of the formal meetings of scrum – I attended stand up, retrospectives and planning – but I was not hands on the ground. I was not performing the most important role of removing blockages – and by the end of the project there were a number of blockages “cropping up”. What could have been a better approach was to take someone on the team and train them to be the scrum master and be present to coach them. Alternatively actually be on the team on a fulltime basis and be the scrum master. By just going through the meetings of scrum didn’t mean we were doing scrum. So we failed with this one, if you fail look at it from an agile perspective As this particular project drew to a close and it became more and more apparent that it was not going to succeed the failure of it became depressing. Emotions were expressed by various people on the team that we not encouraging and enforced the failure. Embracing the failure and looking at it for what it is instead of taking it as the end of the world can change how you grow from the experience. Acknowledging that it failed and then focussing on learning from why and how to avoid the failure in the future can change how you feel emotionally about the team, the project and the organization.

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From the Classroom to the Boardroom

- by Maria Sandu

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Pens and Paper...these are the only things being a student and being a graduate / professional have in common. Walking in to the offices of Oracle South Africa as a graduate the first thing you notice is how polished and sleek all the people who work here look. 80% of the ladies wear sky-scraper heels and walk with the greatest grace. This was the first of many rude awakenings to remind me that I am no longer a student but a graduate. My first struggle was having to wake up at wee hours of the morning to prepare for work. As a student going to class was almost an optional thing, if you missed a morning class you could always attend an evening class to make up for it or simply attend with another group. But in the workplace, you HAVE to show up every single morning at the same time, with no option of coming in when it suits you and there is definitely no coming in with the evening class/shift. As a student, the earliest hour I ever woke up was 7:00am, anything earlier than that was considered inhumane torture. My reason for waking up every morning as a student was “you have a degree to go get” but as a graduate having to go to work I have to say to myself “here’s to a new day of learning and growing”. My second struggle has come in having to change my beloved wardrobe. Everyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about fashion and shopping. For me Shopping is a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT, that should not be messed with. Therefore it was with great sadness that I swopped my rippled skinny jeans for pin-striped formal pants, my long chandelier earrings for simple studs, my flat shoes for heels, my sheer blouses for crisp white shirts, even my beloved wild hair had to make way for a simple ponytail. Our looks as ladies also came under great scrutiny, we had to acquaint ourselves with some serious grooming tools: the mascara, blush, lip-gloss, blush, a touch of lipstick and a manicure set. Language was a struggle of its own as well. Being a student you learn to relate to your peers in a informal way. In the workplace you have to address everyone with the same respect, including your peers. Words like “Hey buddy” had to make way for “good morning friend”. The month long winter school holiday was one of the things I looked forward to as a student. This was a time where we got to be at home and avoid the coldest month of the year, July. It was the most amazing thing ever, just sleeping and snuggling up to all sorts of warm things but sadly it is now a thing of the past. It is currently winter in South Africa and going to work has become the most unfashionable thing with all the jackets, boots, scarves and gloves. But summer is coming and I will miss those holidays too. As a student the school holidays were like a gift for us to catch a break and not think for a while which was why it was imaginable how someone would go on for the entire year without a break, with only the promise of a mere 21 days annual leave!! Right now I am sure we are all looking forward to taking that annual leave when the time is right. The worst rude awakening I must say, has to be presenting in front of clients and managers. As a student you have the same class mates for almost four years therefore presenting in front of them becomes the norm over the years and your lecturer will always go gently on you. What they don’t tell you at University is that in the real world, time is money and clients pay money to see you present therefore there is no room for error. Clients are not there to give you a score and boost your ego, they expect nothing less than 100% and they will let you know without a second thought. For a graduate this can feel like you are being fed to the sharks, you either get eaten or you swim for your life. At the end of the day, it is all an experience that is meant to groom us into better professional and make us a part of the Red Team. All the sacrifices are worth it and they lead us to being better and more polished professionals. So if you are interested in joining the ECEMEA Sales and Presales Internship Programme, please have a look at http://campus.oracle.com for more information and for our latest vacancies and internships. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

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Replacing instructions in a method's MethodBody

- by Alix

Hi, (First of all, this is a very lengthy post, but don't worry: I've already implemented all of it, I'm just asking your opinion.) I'm having trouble implementing the following; I'd appreciate some help: I get a Type as parameter. I define a subclass using reflection. Notice that I don't intend to modify the original type, but create a new one. I create a property per field of the original class, like so: public class OriginalClass { private int x; } public class Subclass : OriginalClass { private int x; public int X { get { return x; } set { x = value; } } } For every method of the superclass, I create an analogous method in the subclass. The method's body must be the same except that I replace the instructions ldfld x with callvirt this.get_X, that is, instead of reading from the field directly I call the get accessor. I'm having trouble with step 4. I know you're not supposed to manipulate code like this, but I really need to. Here's what I've tried: Attempt #1: Use Mono.Cecil. This would allow me to parse the body of the method into human-readable Instructions, and easily replace instructions. However, the original type isn't in a .dll file, so I can't find a way to load it with Mono.Cecil. Writing the type to a .dll, then load it, then modify it and write the new type to disk (which I think is the way you create a type with Mono.Cecil), and then load it seems like a huge overhead. Attempt #2: Use Mono.Reflection. This would also allow me to parse the body into Instructions, but then I have no support for replacing instructions. I've implemented a very ugly and inefficient solution using Mono.Reflection, but it doesn't yet support methods that contain try-catch statements (although I guess I can implement this) and I'm concerned that there may be other scenarios in which it won't work, since I'm using the ILGenerator in a somewhat unusual way. Also, it's very ugly ;). Here's what I've done: private void TransformMethod(MethodInfo methodInfo) { // Create a method with the same signature. ParameterInfo[] paramList = methodInfo.GetParameters(); Type[] args = new Type[paramList.Length]; for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) { args[i] = paramList[i].ParameterType; } MethodBuilder methodBuilder = typeBuilder.DefineMethod( methodInfo.Name, methodInfo.Attributes, methodInfo.ReturnType, args); ILGenerator ilGen = methodBuilder.GetILGenerator(); // Declare the same local variables as in the original method. IList<LocalVariableInfo> locals = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().LocalVariables; foreach (LocalVariableInfo local in locals) { ilGen.DeclareLocal(local.LocalType); } // Get readable instructions. IList<Instruction> instructions = methodInfo.GetInstructions(); // I first need to define labels for every instruction in case I // later find a jump to that instruction. Once the instruction has // been emitted I cannot label it, so I'll need to do it in advance. // Since I'm doing a first pass on the method's body anyway, I could // instead just create labels where they are truly needed, but for // now I'm using this quick fix. Dictionary<int, Label> labels = new Dictionary<int, Label>(); foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { labels[instr.Offset] = ilGen.DefineLabel(); } foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { // Mark this instruction with a label, in case there's a branch // instruction that jumps here. ilGen.MarkLabel(labels[instr.Offset]); // If this is the instruction that I want to replace (ldfld x)... if (instr.OpCode == OpCodes.Ldfld) { // ...get the get accessor for the accessed field (get_X()) // (I have the accessors in a dictionary; this isn't relevant), MethodInfo safeReadAccessor = dataMembersSafeAccessors[((FieldInfo) instr.Operand).Name][0]; // ...instead of emitting the original instruction (ldfld x), // emit a call to the get accessor, ilGen.Emit(OpCodes.Callvirt, safeReadAccessor); // Else (it's any other instruction), reemit the instruction, unaltered. } else { Reemit(instr, ilGen, labels); } } } And here comes the horrible, horrible Reemit method: private void Reemit(Instruction instr, ILGenerator ilGen, Dictionary<int, Label> labels) { // If the instruction doesn't have an operand, emit the opcode and return. if (instr.Operand == null) { ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode); return; } // Else (it has an operand)... // If it's a branch instruction, retrieve the corresponding label (to // which we want to jump), emit the instruction and return. if (instr.OpCode.FlowControl == FlowControl.Branch) { ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, labels[Int32.Parse(instr.Operand.ToString())]); return; } // Otherwise, simply emit the instruction. I need to use the right // Emit call, so I need to cast the operand to its type. Type operandType = instr.Operand.GetType(); if (typeof(byte).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (byte) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(double).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (double) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(float).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (float) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(int).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (int) instr.Operand); ... // you get the idea. This is a pretty long method, all like this. } Branch instructions are a special case because instr.Operand is SByte, but Emit expects an operand of type Label. Hence the need for the Dictionary labels. As you can see, this is pretty horrible. What's more, it doesn't work in all cases, for instance with methods that contain try-catch statements, since I haven't emitted them using methods BeginExceptionBlock, BeginCatchBlock, etc, of ILGenerator. This is getting complicated. I guess I can do it: MethodBody has a list of ExceptionHandlingClause that should contain the necessary information to do this. But I don't like this solution anyway, so I'll save this as a last-resort solution. Attempt #3: Go bare-back and just copy the byte array returned by MethodBody.GetILAsByteArray(), since I only want to replace a single instruction for another single instruction of the same size that produces the exact same result: it loads the same type of object on the stack, etc. So there won't be any labels shifting and everything should work exactly the same. I've done this, replacing specific bytes of the array and then calling MethodBuilder.CreateMethodBody(byte[], int), but I still get the same error with exceptions, and I still need to declare the local variables or I'll get an error... even when I simply copy the method's body and don't change anything. So this is more efficient but I still have to take care of the exceptions, etc. Sigh. Here's the implementation of attempt #3, in case anyone is interested: private void TransformMethod(MethodInfo methodInfo, Dictionary<string, MethodInfo[]> dataMembersSafeAccessors, ModuleBuilder moduleBuilder) { ParameterInfo[] paramList = methodInfo.GetParameters(); Type[] args = new Type[paramList.Length]; for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) { args[i] = paramList[i].ParameterType; } MethodBuilder methodBuilder = typeBuilder.DefineMethod( methodInfo.Name, methodInfo.Attributes, methodInfo.ReturnType, args); ILGenerator ilGen = methodBuilder.GetILGenerator(); IList<LocalVariableInfo> locals = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().LocalVariables; foreach (LocalVariableInfo local in locals) { ilGen.DeclareLocal(local.LocalType); } byte[] rawInstructions = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().GetILAsByteArray(); IList<Instruction> instructions = methodInfo.GetInstructions(); int k = 0; foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { if (instr.OpCode == OpCodes.Ldfld) { MethodInfo safeReadAccessor = dataMembersSafeAccessors[((FieldInfo) instr.Operand).Name][0]; // Copy the opcode: Callvirt. byte[] bytes = toByteArray(OpCodes.Callvirt.Value); for (int m = 0; m < OpCodes.Callvirt.Size; m++) { rawInstructions[k++] = bytes[put.Length - 1 - m]; } // Copy the operand: the accessor's metadata token. bytes = toByteArray(moduleBuilder.GetMethodToken(safeReadAccessor).Token); for (int m = instr.Size - OpCodes.Ldfld.Size - 1; m >= 0; m--) { rawInstructions[k++] = bytes[m]; } // Skip this instruction (do not replace it). } else { k += instr.Size; } } methodBuilder.CreateMethodBody(rawInstructions, rawInstructions.Length); } private static byte[] toByteArray(int intValue) { byte[] intBytes = BitConverter.GetBytes(intValue); if (BitConverter.IsLittleEndian) Array.Reverse(intBytes); return intBytes; } private static byte[] toByteArray(short shortValue) { byte[] intBytes = BitConverter.GetBytes(shortValue); if (BitConverter.IsLittleEndian) Array.Reverse(intBytes); return intBytes; } (I know it isn't pretty. Sorry. I put it quickly together to see if it would work.) I don't have much hope, but can anyone suggest anything better than this? Sorry about the extremely lengthy post, and thanks.

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Copied Netbeans IDE Maven Web project failes to compile

- by Quaternion

If I am going to make serious changes to my project I like to make a copy (right click project and select copy). I have created copies of my projects many times (maven web applications included) without issue. Now all I do is copy the project making no changes, leaving the copy settings on default (project name etc) and then try to run it and spring decides to take issue with it. Again I try running the original and it works. I deleted the faulty copy, restarted and tried again and still it does not work. Here are my maven/system details: Apache Maven 2.2.1 (rdebian-4) Java version: 1.6.0_20 Java home: /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre Default locale: en_CA, platform encoding: UTF-8 OS name: "linux" version: "2.6.35-23-generic" arch: "i386" Family: "unix" Here is the exception: INFO: 2010-12-21 16:08:23,715 ERROR org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext:215 - Context initialization failed org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'personService': Injection of persistence methods failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:324) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:998) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:472) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory$1.run(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:409) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:380) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:264) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:261) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:185) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:164) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:429) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:728) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:380) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.createWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:255) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:199) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:45) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.contextListenerStart(StandardContext.java:4664) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.contextListenerStart(WebModule.java:535) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:5266) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.start(WebModule.java:499) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:928) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:912) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:694) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1947) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1619) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebApplication.start(WebApplication.java:90) at org.glassfish.internal.data.EngineRef.start(EngineRef.java:126) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ModuleInfo.start(ModuleInfo.java:241) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ApplicationInfo.start(ApplicationInfo.java:236) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:339) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:183) at org.glassfish.deployment.admin.DeployCommand.execute(DeployCommand.java:272) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$1.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:305) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:320) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1176) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.access$900(CommandRunnerImpl.java:83) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1235) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1224) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.doCommand(AdminAdapter.java:365) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.service(AdminAdapter.java:204) at com.sun.grizzly.tcp.http11.GrizzlyAdapter.service(GrizzlyAdapter.java:166) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.HK2Dispatcher.dispath(HK2Dispatcher.java:100) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.services.impl.ContainerMapper.service(ContainerMapper.java:245) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.invokeAdapter(ProcessorTask.java:791) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.doProcess(ProcessorTask.java:693) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.process(ProcessorTask.java:954) at com.sun.grizzly.http.DefaultProtocolFilter.execute(DefaultProtocolFilter.java:170) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.executeProtocolFilter(DefaultProtocolChain.java:135) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:102) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:88) at com.sun.grizzly.http.HttpProtocolChain.execute(HttpProtocolChain.java:76) at com.sun.grizzly.ProtocolChainContextTask.doCall(ProtocolChainContextTask.java:53) at com.sun.grizzly.SelectionKeyContextTask.call(SelectionKeyContextTask.java:57) at com.sun.grizzly.ContextTask.run(ContextTask.java:69) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.doWork(AbstractThreadPool.java:330) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.run(AbstractThreadPool.java:309) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636) Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:883) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:839) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.getSingletonFactoryBeanForTypeCheck(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:682) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.getTypeForFactoryBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:614) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.isTypeMatch(AbstractBeanFactory.java:450) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.getBeanNamesForType(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:223) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.getBeanNamesForType(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:202) at org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactoryUtils.beanNamesForTypeIncludingAncestors(BeanFactoryUtils.java:143) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.findDefaultEntityManagerFactory(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:503) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.findEntityManagerFactory(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:473) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$PersistenceElement.resolveEntityManager(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:599) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$PersistenceElement.getResourceToInject(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:570) at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata$InjectedElement.inject(InjectionMetadata.java:192) at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata.injectMethods(InjectionMetadata.java:117) INFO: at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:321) ... 57 more Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructors0(Native Method) at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredConstructors(Class.java:2406) at java.lang.Class.getConstructor0(Class.java:2716) at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructor(Class.java:2002) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:54) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:877) ... 71 more Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.lookup.DataSourceLookup at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:217) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:205) at org.glassfish.web.loader.WebappClassLoader.findClass(WebappClassLoader.java:959) at org.glassfish.web.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1430) ... 77 more SEVERE: PWC1306: Startup of context /quickstart_upgrade-0.1-SNAPSHOT failed due to previous errors SEVERE: PWC1305: Exception during cleanup after start failed org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: PWC2769: Manager has not yet been started at org.apache.catalina.session.StandardManager.stop(StandardManager.java:892) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.stop(StandardContext.java:5456) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.stop(WebModule.java:530) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:5284) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.start(WebModule.java:499) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:928) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:912) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:694) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1947) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1619) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebApplication.start(WebApplication.java:90) at org.glassfish.internal.data.EngineRef.start(EngineRef.java:126) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ModuleInfo.start(ModuleInfo.java:241) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ApplicationInfo.start(ApplicationInfo.java:236) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:339) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:183) at org.glassfish.deployment.admin.DeployCommand.execute(DeployCommand.java:272) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$1.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:305) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:320) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1176) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.access$900(CommandRunnerImpl.java:83) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1235) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1224) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.doCommand(AdminAdapter.java:365) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.service(AdminAdapter.java:204) at com.sun.grizzly.tcp.http11.GrizzlyAdapter.service(GrizzlyAdapter.java:166) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.HK2Dispatcher.dispath(HK2Dispatcher.java:100) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.services.impl.ContainerMapper.service(ContainerMapper.java:245) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.invokeAdapter(ProcessorTask.java:791) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.doProcess(ProcessorTask.java:693) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.process(ProcessorTask.java:954) at com.sun.grizzly.http.DefaultProtocolFilter.execute(DefaultProtocolFilter.java:170) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.executeProtocolFilter(DefaultProtocolChain.java:135) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:102) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:88) at com.sun.grizzly.http.HttpProtocolChain.execute(HttpProtocolChain.java:76) at com.sun.grizzly.ProtocolChainContextTask.doCall(ProtocolChainContextTask.java:53) at com.sun.grizzly.SelectionKeyContextTask.call(SelectionKeyContextTask.java:57) at com.sun.grizzly.ContextTask.run(ContextTask.java:69) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.doWork(AbstractThreadPool.java:330) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.run(AbstractThreadPool.java:309) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636) SEVERE: ContainerBase.addChild: start: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'personService': Injection of persistence methods failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:5289) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.start(WebModule.java:499) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:928) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:912) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:694) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1947) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebContainer.loadWebModule(WebContainer.java:1619) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebApplication.start(WebApplication.java:90) at org.glassfish.internal.data.EngineRef.start(EngineRef.java:126) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ModuleInfo.start(ModuleInfo.java:241) at org.glassfish.internal.data.ApplicationInfo.start(ApplicationInfo.java:236) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:339) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.ApplicationLifecycle.deploy(ApplicationLifecycle.java:183) at org.glassfish.deployment.admin.DeployCommand.execute(DeployCommand.java:272) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$1.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:305) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:320) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.doCommand(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1176) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl.access$900(CommandRunnerImpl.java:83) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1235) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.CommandRunnerImpl$ExecutionContext.execute(CommandRunnerImpl.java:1224) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.doCommand(AdminAdapter.java:365) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.admin.AdminAdapter.service(AdminAdapter.java:204) at com.sun.grizzly.tcp.http11.GrizzlyAdapter.service(GrizzlyAdapter.java:166) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.HK2Dispatcher.dispath(HK2Dispatcher.java:100) at com.sun.enterprise.v3.services.impl.ContainerMapper.service(ContainerMapper.java:245) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.invokeAdapter(ProcessorTask.java:791) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.doProcess(ProcessorTask.java:693) at com.sun.grizzly.http.ProcessorTask.process(ProcessorTask.java:954) at com.sun.grizzly.http.DefaultProtocolFilter.execute(DefaultProtocolFilter.java:170) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.executeProtocolFilter(DefaultProtocolChain.java:135) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:102) at com.sun.grizzly.DefaultProtocolChain.execute(DefaultProtocolChain.java:88) at com.sun.grizzly.http.HttpProtocolChain.execute(HttpProtocolChain.java:76) at com.sun.grizzly.ProtocolChainContextTask.doCall(ProtocolChainContextTask.java:53) at com.sun.grizzly.SelectionKeyContextTask.call(SelectionKeyContextTask.java:57) at com.sun.grizzly.ContextTask.run(ContextTask.java:69) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.doWork(AbstractThreadPool.java:330) at com.sun.grizzly.util.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.run(AbstractThreadPool.java:309) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636) Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'personService': Injection of persistence methods failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:324) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:998) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:472) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory$1.run(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:409) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:380) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:264) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:222) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:261) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:185) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:164) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:429) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:728) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:380) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.createWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:255) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:199) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:45) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.contextListenerStart(StandardContext.java:4664) at com.sun.enterprise.web.WebModule.contextListenerStart(WebModule.java:535) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:5266) ... 38 more Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:883) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:839) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.getSingletonFactoryBeanForTypeCheck(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:682) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.getTypeForFactoryBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:614) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.isTypeMatch(AbstractBeanFactory.java:450) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.getBeanNamesForType(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:223) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.getBeanNamesForType(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:202) at org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactoryUtils.beanNamesForTypeIncludingAncestors(BeanFactoryUtils.java:143) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.findDefaultEntityManagerFactory(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:503) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.findEntityManagerFactory(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:473) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$PersistenceElement.resolveEntityManager(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:599) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$PersistenceElement.getResourceToInject(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:570) at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata$InjectedElement.inject(InjectionMetadata.java:192) at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata.injectMethods(InjectionMetadata.java:117) at org.springframework.orm.jpa.support.PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(PersistenceAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:321) ... 57 more Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/jdbc/datasource/lookup/DataSourceLookup at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructors0(Native Method) at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredConstructors(Class.java:2406) at java.lang.Class.getConstructor0(Class.java:2716) at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredConstructor(Class.java:2002) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:54) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:877) ... 71 more Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.lookup.DataSourceLookup at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:217) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:205) at org.glassfish.web.loader.WebappClassLoader.findClass(WebappClassLoader.java:959) at org.glassfish.web.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1430) ... 77 more

Read the article
Inserting instructions into method.

- by Alix

Hi, (First of all, this is a very lengthy post, but don't worry: I've already implemented all of it, I'm just asking your opinion.) I'm having trouble implementing the following; I'd appreciate some help: I get a Type as parameter. I define a subclass using reflection. Notice that I don't intend to modify the original type, but create a new one. I create a property per field of the original class, like so: [- ignore this text here; I had to add something or the formatting wouldn't work <-] public class OriginalClass { private int x; } public class Subclass : OriginalClass { private int x; public int X { get { return x; } set { x = value; } } } [This is number 4! Numbered lists don't work if you add code in between; sorry] For every method of the superclass, I create an analogous method in the subclass. The method's body must be the same except that I replace the instructions ldfld x with callvirt this.get_X, that is, instead of reading from the field directly I call the get accessor. I'm having trouble with step 4. I know you're not supposed to manipulate code like this, but I really need to. Here's what I've tried: Attempt #1: Use Mono.Cecil. This would allow me to parse the body of the method into human-readable Instructions, and easily replace instructions. However, the original type isn't in a .dll file, so I can't find a way to load it with Mono.Cecil. Writing the type to a .dll, then load it, then modify it and write the new type to disk (which I think is the way you create a type with Mono.Cecil), and then load it seems like a huge overhead. Attempt #2: Use Mono.Reflection. This would also allow me to parse the body into Instructions, but then I have no support for replacing instructions. I've implemented a very ugly and inefficient solution using Mono.Reflection, but it doesn't yet support methods that contain try-catch statements (although I guess I can implement this) and I'm concerned that there may be other scenarios in which it won't work, since I'm using the ILGenerator in a somewhat unusual way. Also, it's very ugly ;). Here's what I've done: private void TransformMethod(MethodInfo methodInfo) { // Create a method with the same signature. ParameterInfo[] paramList = methodInfo.GetParameters(); Type[] args = new Type[paramList.Length]; for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) { args[i] = paramList[i].ParameterType; } MethodBuilder methodBuilder = typeBuilder.DefineMethod( methodInfo.Name, methodInfo.Attributes, methodInfo.ReturnType, args); ILGenerator ilGen = methodBuilder.GetILGenerator(); // Declare the same local variables as in the original method. IList<LocalVariableInfo> locals = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().LocalVariables; foreach (LocalVariableInfo local in locals) { ilGen.DeclareLocal(local.LocalType); } // Get readable instructions. IList<Instruction> instructions = methodInfo.GetInstructions(); // I first need to define labels for every instruction in case I // later find a jump to that instruction. Once the instruction has // been emitted I cannot label it, so I'll need to do it in advance. // Since I'm doing a first pass on the method's body anyway, I could // instead just create labels where they are truly needed, but for // now I'm using this quick fix. Dictionary<int, Label> labels = new Dictionary<int, Label>(); foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { labels[instr.Offset] = ilGen.DefineLabel(); } foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { // Mark this instruction with a label, in case there's a branch // instruction that jumps here. ilGen.MarkLabel(labels[instr.Offset]); // If this is the instruction that I want to replace (ldfld x)... if (instr.OpCode == OpCodes.Ldfld) { // ...get the get accessor for the accessed field (get_X()) // (I have the accessors in a dictionary; this isn't relevant), MethodInfo safeReadAccessor = dataMembersSafeAccessors[((FieldInfo) instr.Operand).Name][0]; // ...instead of emitting the original instruction (ldfld x), // emit a call to the get accessor, ilGen.Emit(OpCodes.Callvirt, safeReadAccessor); // Else (it's any other instruction), reemit the instruction, unaltered. } else { Reemit(instr, ilGen, labels); } } } And here comes the horrible, horrible Reemit method: private void Reemit(Instruction instr, ILGenerator ilGen, Dictionary<int, Label> labels) { // If the instruction doesn't have an operand, emit the opcode and return. if (instr.Operand == null) { ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode); return; } // Else (it has an operand)... // If it's a branch instruction, retrieve the corresponding label (to // which we want to jump), emit the instruction and return. if (instr.OpCode.FlowControl == FlowControl.Branch) { ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, labels[Int32.Parse(instr.Operand.ToString())]); return; } // Otherwise, simply emit the instruction. I need to use the right // Emit call, so I need to cast the operand to its type. Type operandType = instr.Operand.GetType(); if (typeof(byte).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (byte) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(double).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (double) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(float).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (float) instr.Operand); else if (typeof(int).IsAssignableFrom(operandType)) ilGen.Emit(instr.OpCode, (int) instr.Operand); ... // you get the idea. This is a pretty long method, all like this. } Branch instructions are a special case because instr.Operand is SByte, but Emit expects an operand of type Label. Hence the need for the Dictionary labels. As you can see, this is pretty horrible. What's more, it doesn't work in all cases, for instance with methods that contain try-catch statements, since I haven't emitted them using methods BeginExceptionBlock, BeginCatchBlock, etc, of ILGenerator. This is getting complicated. I guess I can do it: MethodBody has a list of ExceptionHandlingClause that should contain the necessary information to do this. But I don't like this solution anyway, so I'll save this as a last-resort solution. Attempt #3: Go bare-back and just copy the byte array returned by MethodBody.GetILAsByteArray(), since I only want to replace a single instruction for another single instruction of the same size that produces the exact same result: it loads the same type of object on the stack, etc. So there won't be any labels shifting and everything should work exactly the same. I've done this, replacing specific bytes of the array and then calling MethodBuilder.CreateMethodBody(byte[], int), but I still get the same error with exceptions, and I still need to declare the local variables or I'll get an error... even when I simply copy the method's body and don't change anything. So this is more efficient but I still have to take care of the exceptions, etc. Sigh. Here's the implementation of attempt #3, in case anyone is interested: private void TransformMethod(MethodInfo methodInfo, Dictionary<string, MethodInfo[]> dataMembersSafeAccessors, ModuleBuilder moduleBuilder) { ParameterInfo[] paramList = methodInfo.GetParameters(); Type[] args = new Type[paramList.Length]; for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; i++) { args[i] = paramList[i].ParameterType; } MethodBuilder methodBuilder = typeBuilder.DefineMethod( methodInfo.Name, methodInfo.Attributes, methodInfo.ReturnType, args); ILGenerator ilGen = methodBuilder.GetILGenerator(); IList<LocalVariableInfo> locals = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().LocalVariables; foreach (LocalVariableInfo local in locals) { ilGen.DeclareLocal(local.LocalType); } byte[] rawInstructions = methodInfo.GetMethodBody().GetILAsByteArray(); IList<Instruction> instructions = methodInfo.GetInstructions(); int k = 0; foreach (Instruction instr in instructions) { if (instr.OpCode == OpCodes.Ldfld) { MethodInfo safeReadAccessor = dataMembersSafeAccessors[((FieldInfo) instr.Operand).Name][0]; byte[] bytes = toByteArray(OpCodes.Callvirt.Value); for (int m = 0; m < OpCodes.Callvirt.Size; m++) { rawInstructions[k++] = bytes[put.Length - 1 - m]; } bytes = toByteArray(moduleBuilder.GetMethodToken(safeReadAccessor).Token); for (int m = instr.Size - OpCodes.Ldfld.Size - 1; m >= 0; m--) { rawInstructions[k++] = bytes[m]; } } else { k += instr.Size; } } methodBuilder.CreateMethodBody(rawInstructions, rawInstructions.Length); } private static byte[] toByteArray(int intValue) { byte[] intBytes = BitConverter.GetBytes(intValue); if (BitConverter.IsLittleEndian) Array.Reverse(intBytes); return intBytes; } private static byte[] toByteArray(short shortValue) { byte[] intBytes = BitConverter.GetBytes(shortValue); if (BitConverter.IsLittleEndian) Array.Reverse(intBytes); return intBytes; } (I know it isn't pretty. Sorry. I put it quickly together to see if it would work.) I don't have much hope, but can anyone suggest anything better than this? Sorry about the extremely lengthy post, and thanks.

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A Web exception occurred because an HTTP 503 - ServiceUnavailable response was received from Unknown

- by Dai

As far as I can tell my Exchange 2010 Mailbox and Client Access server is working fine except for Outlook Anywhere. I fired up the Exchange Connectivity Tester and ran it against my server and I get this report: Part 5 Testing HTTP Authentication Methods for URL https://mail.contoso.com/rpc/rpcproxy.dll?server6.corp.contoso.com:6002. The HTTP authentication test failed. Additional details: A Web exception occurred because an HTTP 503 - ServiceUnavailable response was received from Unknown. When I do a search for "ServiceUnavailable response was received from Unknown." I get only a couple of relevant results, including a 22k-view Exchange Forum thread, but none of the solutions discussed help. There is nothing of relevance in the server's Event Log. mail.contoso.com is the public domain name of the CAS/MB/HT server. server6.corp.contoso.com is the internal domain name of the server.

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