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  • JMS Step 5 - How to Create an 11g BPEL Process Which Reads a Message Based on an XML Schema from a JMS Queue

    - by John-Brown.Evans
    JMS Step 5 - How to Create an 11g BPEL Process Which Reads a Message Based on an XML Schema from a JMS Queue .jblist{list-style-type:disc;margin:0;padding:0;padding-left:0pt;margin-left:36pt} ol{margin:0;padding:0} .c12_5{vertical-align:top;width:468pt;border-style:solid;background-color:#f3f3f3;border-color:#000000;border-width:1pt;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt} .c8_5{vertical-align:top;border-style:solid;border-color:#000000;border-width:1pt;padding:5pt 5pt 0pt 5pt} .c10_5{vertical-align:top;width:207pt;border-style:solid;border-color:#000000;border-width:1pt;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt} .c14_5{vertical-align:top;border-style:solid;border-color:#000000;border-width:1pt;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt} .c21_5{background-color:#ffffff} .c18_5{color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline} .c16_5{color:#666666;font-size:12pt} .c5_5{background-color:#f3f3f3;font-weight:bold} .c19_5{color:inherit;text-decoration:inherit} .c3_5{height:11pt;text-align:center} .c11_5{font-weight:bold} .c20_5{background-color:#00ff00} .c6_5{font-style:italic} .c4_5{height:11pt} .c17_5{background-color:#ffff00} .c0_5{direction:ltr} .c7_5{font-family:"Courier New"} .c2_5{border-collapse:collapse} .c1_5{line-height:1.0} .c13_5{background-color:#f3f3f3} .c15_5{height:0pt} .c9_5{text-align:center} .title{padding-top:24pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#000000;font-size:36pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:bold;padding-bottom:6pt} .subtitle{padding-top:18pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#666666;font-style:italic;font-size:24pt;font-family:"Georgia";padding-bottom:4pt} li{color:#000000;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Arial"} p{color:#000000;font-size:10pt;margin:0;font-family:"Arial"} h1{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:24pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} h2{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:18pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} h3{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:14pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} h4{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} h5{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} h6{padding-top:0pt;line-height:1.15;text-align:left;color:#888;font-size:10pt;font-family:"Arial";font-weight:normal} Welcome to another post in the series of blogs which demonstrates how to use JMS queues in a SOA context. The previous posts were: JMS Step 1 - How to Create a Simple JMS Queue in Weblogic Server 11g JMS Step 2 - Using the QueueSend.java Sample Program to Send a Message to a JMS Queue JMS Step 3 - Using the QueueReceive.java Sample Program to Read a Message from a JMS Queue JMS Step 4 - How to Create an 11g BPEL Process Which Writes a Message Based on an XML Schema to a JMS Queue Today we will create a BPEL process which will read (dequeue) the message from the JMS queue, which we enqueued in the last example. The JMS adapter will dequeue the full XML payload from the queue. 1. Recap and Prerequisites In the previous examples, we created a JMS Queue, a Connection Factory and a Connection Pool in the WebLogic Server Console. Then we designed and deployed a BPEL composite, which took a simple XML payload and enqueued it to the JMS queue. In this example, we will read that same message from the queue, using a JMS adapter and a BPEL process. As many of the configuration steps required to read from that queue were done in the previous samples, this one will concentrate on the new steps. A summary of the required objects is listed below. To find out how to create them please see the previous samples. They also include instructions on how to verify the objects are set up correctly. WebLogic Server Objects Object Name Type JNDI Name TestConnectionFactory Connection Factory jms/TestConnectionFactory TestJMSQueue JMS Queue jms/TestJMSQueue eis/wls/TestQueue Connection Pool eis/wls/TestQueue Schema XSD File The following XSD file is used for the message format. It was created in the previous example and will be copied to the new process. stringPayload.xsd <?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?> <xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"                 xmlns="http://www.example.org"                 targetNamespace="http://www.example.org"                 elementFormDefault="qualified">   <xsd:element name="exampleElement" type="xsd:string">   </xsd:element> </xsd:schema> JMS Message After executing the previous samples, the following XML message should be in the JMS queue located at jms/TestJMSQueue: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?><exampleElement xmlns="http://www.example.org">Test Message</exampleElement> JDeveloper Connection You will need a valid Application Server Connection in JDeveloper pointing to the SOA server which the process will be deployed to. 2. Create a BPEL Composite with a JMS Adapter Partner Link In the previous example, we created a composite in JDeveloper called JmsAdapterWriteSchema. In this one, we will create a new composite called JmsAdapterReadSchema. There are probably many ways of incorporating a JMS adapter into a SOA composite for incoming messages. One way is design the process in such a way that the adapter polls for new messages and when it dequeues one, initiates a SOA or BPEL instance. This is possibly the most common use case. Other use cases include mid-flow adapters, which are activated from within the BPEL process. In this example we will use a polling adapter, because it is the most simple to set up and demonstrate. But it has one disadvantage as a demonstrative model. When a polling adapter is active, it will dequeue all messages as soon as they reach the queue. This makes it difficult to monitor messages we are writing to the queue, because they will disappear from the queue as soon as they have been enqueued. To work around this, we will shut down the composite after deploying it and restart it as required. (Another solution for this would be to pause the consumption for the queue and resume consumption again if needed. This can be done in the WLS console JMS-Modules -> queue -> Control -> Consumption -> Pause/Resume.) We will model the composite as a one-way incoming process. Usually, a BPEL process will do something useful with the message after receiving it, such as passing it to a database or file adapter, a human workflow or external web service. But we only want to demonstrate how to dequeue a JMS message using BPEL and a JMS adapter, so we won’t complicate the design with further activities. However, we do want to be able to verify that we have read the message correctly, so the BPEL process will include a small piece of embedded java code, which will print the message to standard output, so we can view it in the SOA server’s log file. Alternatively, you can view the instance in the Enterprise Manager and verify the message. The following steps are all executed in JDeveloper. Create the project in the same JDeveloper application used for the previous examples or create a new one. Create a SOA Project Create a new project and choose SOA Tier > SOA Project as its type. Name it JmsAdapterReadSchema. When prompted for the composite type, choose Empty Composite. Create a JMS Adapter Partner Link In the composite editor, drag a JMS adapter over from the Component Palette to the left-hand swim lane, under Exposed Services. This will start the JMS Adapter Configuration Wizard. Use the following entries: Service Name: JmsAdapterRead Oracle Enterprise Messaging Service (OEMS): Oracle WebLogic JMS AppServer Connection: Use an application server connection pointing to the WebLogic server on which the JMS queue and connection factory mentioned under Prerequisites above are located. Adapter Interface > Interface: Define from operation and schema (specified later) Operation Type: Consume Message Operation Name: Consume_message Consume Operation Parameters Destination Name: Press the Browse button, select Destination Type: Queues, then press Search. Wait for the list to populate, then select the entry for TestJMSQueue , which is the queue created in a previous example. JNDI Name: The JNDI name to use for the JMS connection. As in the previous example, this is probably the most common source of error. This is the JNDI name of the JMS adapter’s connection pool created in the WebLogic Server and which points to the connection factory. JDeveloper does not verify the value entered here. If you enter a wrong value, the JMS adapter won’t find the queue and you will get an error message at runtime, which is very difficult to trace. In our example, this is the value eis/wls/TestQueue . (See the earlier step on how to create a JMS Adapter Connection Pool in WebLogic Server for details.) Messages/Message SchemaURL: We will use the XSD file created during the previous example, in the JmsAdapterWriteSchema project to define the format for the incoming message payload and, at the same time, demonstrate how to import an existing XSD file into a JDeveloper project. Press the magnifying glass icon to search for schema files. In the Type Chooser, press the Import Schema File button. Select the magnifying glass next to URL to search for schema files. Navigate to the location of the JmsAdapterWriteSchema project > xsd and select the stringPayload.xsd file. Check the “Copy to Project” checkbox, press OK and confirm the following Localize Files popup. Now that the XSD file has been copied to the local project, it can be selected from the project’s schema files. Expand Project Schema Files > stringPayload.xsd and select exampleElement: string . Press Next and Finish, which will complete the JMS Adapter configuration.Save the project. Create a BPEL Component Drag a BPEL Process from the Component Palette (Service Components) to the Components section of the composite designer. Name it JmsAdapterReadSchema and select Template: Define Service Later and press OK. Wire the JMS Adapter to the BPEL Component Now wire the JMS adapter to the BPEL process, by dragging the arrow from the adapter to the BPEL process. A Transaction Properties popup will be displayed. Set the delivery mode to async.persist. This completes the steps at the composite level. 3 . Complete the BPEL Process Design Invoke the BPEL Flow via the JMS Adapter Open the BPEL component by double-clicking it in the design view of the composite.xml, or open it from the project navigator by selecting the JmsAdapterReadSchema.bpel file. This will display the BPEL process in the design view. You should see the JmsAdapterRead partner link in the left-hand swim lane. Drag a Receive activity onto the BPEL flow diagram, then drag a wire (left-hand yellow arrow) from it to the JMS adapter. This will open the Receive activity editor. Auto-generate the variable by pressing the green “+” button and check the “Create Instance” checkbox. This will result in a BPEL instance being created when a new JMS message is received. At this point it would actually be OK to compile and deploy the composite and it would pick up any messages from the JMS queue. In fact, you can do that to test it, if you like. But it is very rudimentary and would not be doing anything useful with the message. Also, you could only verify the actual message payload by looking at the instance’s flow in the Enterprise Manager. There are various other possibilities; we could pass the message to another web service, write it to a file using a file adapter or to a database via a database adapter etc. But these will all introduce unnecessary complications to our sample. So, to keep it simple, we will add a small piece of Java code to the BPEL process which will write the payload to standard output. This will be written to the server’s log file, which will be easy to monitor. Add a Java Embedding Activity First get the full name of the process’s input variable, as this will be needed for the Java code. Go to the Structure pane and expand Variables > Process > Variables. Then expand the input variable, for example, "Receive1_Consume_Message_InputVariable > body > ns2:exampleElement”, and note variable’s name and path, if they are different from this one. Drag a Java Embedding activity from the Component Palette (Oracle Extensions) to the BPEL flow, after the Receive activity, then open it to edit. Delete the example code and replace it with the following, replacing the variable parts with those in your sample, if necessary.: System.out.println("JmsAdapterReadSchema process picked up a message"); oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLElement inputPayload =    (oracle.xml.parser.v2.XMLElement)getVariableData(                           "Receive1_Consume_Message_InputVariable",                           "body",                           "/ns2:exampleElement");   String inputString = inputPayload.getFirstChild().getNodeValue(); System.out.println("Input String is " + inputPayload.getFirstChild().getNodeValue()); Tip. If you are not sure of the exact syntax of the input variable, create an Assign activity in the BPEL process and copy the variable to another, temporary one. Then check the syntax created by the BPEL designer. This completes the BPEL process design in JDeveloper. Save, compile and deploy the process to the SOA server. 3. Test the Composite Shut Down the JmsAdapterReadSchema Composite After deploying the JmsAdapterReadSchema composite to the SOA server it is automatically activated. If there are already any messages in the queue, the adapter will begin polling them. To ease the testing process, we will deactivate the process first Log in to the Enterprise Manager (Fusion Middleware Control) and navigate to SOA > soa-infra (soa_server1) > default (or wherever you deployed your composite to) and click on JmsAdapterReadSchema [1.0] . Press the Shut Down button to disable the composite and confirm the following popup. Monitor Messages in the JMS Queue In a separate browser window, log in to the WebLogic Server Console and navigate to Services > Messaging > JMS Modules > TestJMSModule > TestJMSQueue > Monitoring. This is the location of the JMS queue we created in an earlier sample (see the prerequisites section of this sample). Check whether there are any messages already in the queue. If so, you can dequeue them using the QueueReceive Java program created in an earlier sample. This will ensure that the queue is empty and doesn’t contain any messages in the wrong format, which would cause the JmsAdapterReadSchema to fail. Send a Test Message In the Enterprise Manager, navigate to the JmsAdapterWriteSchema created earlier, press Test and send a test message, for example “Message from JmsAdapterWriteSchema”. Confirm that the message was written correctly to the queue by verifying it via the queue monitor in the WLS Console. Monitor the SOA Server’s Output A program deployed on the SOA server will write its standard output to the terminal window in which the server was started, unless this has been redirected to somewhere else, for example to a file. If it has not been redirected, go to the terminal session in which the server was started, otherwise open and monitor the file to which it was redirected. Re-Enable the JmsAdapterReadSchema Composite In the Enterprise Manager, navigate to the JmsAdapterReadSchema composite again and press Start Up to re-enable it. This should cause the JMS adapter to dequeue the test message and the following output should be written to the server’s standard output: JmsAdapterReadSchema process picked up a message. Input String is Message from JmsAdapterWriteSchema Note that you can also monitor the payload received by the process, by navigating to the the JmsAdapterReadSchema’s Instances tab in the Enterprise Manager. Then select the latest instance and view the flow of the BPEL component. The Receive activity will contain and display the dequeued message too. 4 . Troubleshooting This sample demonstrates how to dequeue an XML JMS message using a BPEL process and no additional functionality. For example, it doesn’t contain any error handling. Therefore, any errors in the payload will result in exceptions being written to the log file or standard output. If you get any errors related to the payload, such as Message handle error ... ORABPEL-09500 ... XPath expression failed to execute. An error occurs while processing the XPath expression; the expression is /ns2:exampleElement. ... etc. check that the variable used in the Java embedding part of the process was entered correctly. Possibly follow the tip mentioned in previous section. If this doesn’t help, you can delete the Java embedding part and simply verify the message via the flow diagram in the Enterprise Manager. Or use a different method, such as writing it to a file via a file adapter. This concludes this example. In the next post, we will begin with an AQ JMS example, which uses JMS to write to an Advanced Queue stored in the database. Best regards John-Brown Evans Oracle Technology Proactive Support Delivery

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  • SSH server not working (respawns until stopped)

    - by Khaled
    I have a running Ubuntu Server 10.04.1. When I tried to login to the server via ssh, I could not. Instead, I got connection refused error. I tried to ping the machine and I got reply! So, the clear reason is that SSH daemon is stopped. After reboot, I was able to login to my server via ssh. After some time, I looked at my logs /var/log/syslog and found the following records: Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2465) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2469) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2473) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2477) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2481) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2485) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2489) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2493) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2497) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process ended, respawning Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh main process (2501) terminated with status 255 Jan 16 10:57:09 myserver init: ssh respawning too fast, stopped I searched for a similar problem/solution. Some people said that this is caused by the SSH daemon trying to start before networking and they suggest to change ListenAddress in /etc/ssh/sshd_config to be 0.0.0.0. I think this is not the cause in my case, because my problem occurs after system is up and running. Any idea what is causing this? This is Ubuntu Server and it should be running and accessed remotely using SSH.

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  • PHP, ANT and virtualhosts

    - by dbasch
    Hi all, I use the following standard folder structure with my projects: workspace myproject conf development.properties production.properties src build.xml build.properties build myproject Unfortunately, working with scripted languages nullifies the concept of separating the "workspace" from the "build". In my development environment, I use a virtual-host for each project. The virtual-host for a project is configured during the "deploytodevelopment" ANT task. Which method would you recommend for integrating PHP into my build process? Change the virtual-hosts setup to point to the workspace/myproject/src folder. Edit the PHP in the workspace/myproject/src folder. or Check out another working copy of the myproject/src folder to the build/myproject folder. Change the virtual-hosts setup to point to the build/myproject folder. Edit the PHP in the build/myproject folder.

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  • How to fix “Module ndiswrapper not found"

    - by jason328
    I have Ubuntu 12.10 and whenever I run sudo modprobe ndiswrapper, I get the following error. FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found. The command dkms status returns with... ndiswrapper, 1.57, 3.2.0-32-generic, i686: installed The make.log in ndiswrapper returns with... DKMS make.log for ndiswrapper-1.57 for kernel 3.5.0-18-generic (i686) Wed Nov 7 22:16:12 EST 2012 make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-3.5.0-18-generic M=/var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper /1.57/build make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.5.0-18-generic' LD /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/built-in.o MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/crt_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/hal_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ntoskernel_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ntoskernel_io_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/rtl_exports.h MKEXPORT /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/usb_exports.h CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/crt.o CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/hal.o CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/iw_ndis.o CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/loader.o CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.o /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.c: In function ‘NdisGetCurrentProcessorCounts’: /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.c:2657:24: error: ‘struct kernel_stat’ has no member named ‘cpustat’ /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.c:2658:31: error: ‘struct kernel_stat’ has no member named ‘cpustat’ /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.c:2659:17: error: ‘struct kernel_stat’ has no member named ‘cpustat’ make[2]: *** [/var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build/ndis.o] Error 1 make[1]: *** [_module_/var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.57/build] Error 2 make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.5.0-18-generic' make: *** [modules] Error 2 I have installed commons, utils-1.9, dkms, source but it's still returning this error. How do I fix this?

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  • Role of "Refactoring" in good programming pratices?

    - by Niranjan Kala
    I have learned in Agile Development that: Refactoring is the process of clarifying and simplifying the design of existing code, without changing its behavior. I have heard about some GUI refactoring tools like resharper and DevExpress Refactor Pro! Here is my Questions: Question 1: how does it takes place in the Software development process and How far it effects the system? Question 2: Is Refactoring using these tools really fast the process of development/ maintenance?

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  • Ubuntu won't boot after initializing the Build Environment for Android

    - by EntryLevelDev
    My laptop worked perfectly util I initialized the build environment for Android. The GUI won't start. It looks like some kinds of graphics card problems. I tried to fix it but after trying a lot of solutions on the internet nothing worked. (I only know basic linux stuffs.) I've already reinstalled the OS. However, I still want to build the Android from source. Any idea what might cause the problem? any workaround? Here is the command that I used to initialize the build environment: $ sudo apt-get install git gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential \ zip curl libc6-dev libncurses5-dev:i386 x11proto-core-dev \ libx11-dev:i386 libreadline6-dev:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 \ libgl1-mesa-dev g++-multilib mingw32 tofrodos \ python-markdown libxml2-utils xsltproc zlib1g-dev:i386 $ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so.1 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libGL.so My laptop model is asus u36sd. (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Asus_U36SD) Thanks Edit: Base on this, I guess libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 might cause the issue. sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 The following packages will be REMOVED: libgl1-mesa-dri-lts-quantal libxatracker1-lts-quantal ubuntu-desktop xorg xserver-xorg-lts-quantal xserver-xorg-video-all-lts-quantal xserver-xorg-video-vmware-lts-quantal The following NEW packages will be installed: libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau1a:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386 libexpat1:i386 libffi6:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libllvm3.0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libstdc++6:i386

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  • Restarting shell script with &disown using Monit

    - by Solas Admin
    I have a shell script that runs a C++ backend mail system (PluginHandler). I need to monitor this process in Monit and restart it if it fails. The script: export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/:/CONFIDENTAL/CONFIDENTAL/Common/ cd PluginHandler/ ./PluginHandler This script does not have a PID file and we run this script by executing ./rundaemon.sh &disown ./pluginhandler starts the process and starts logging into /etc/output/output.log I stop the process by identifying the process ID with [ps -f | grep PluginHandler] and then killing the process. I can check the process in Monit just fine, but I think Monit is starting the process if it is not running but it can't do &disown so the process ends as soon as it starts. This is the code in the monitrc file for checking this process: check process Backend matching "PluginHandler" if not exist then alert start "PATH/TO/SCRIPT/rundaemon.sh &disown" alert [email protected] only on {timeout} with mail-format {subject: "[BLAH"} I tried to stop the script from terminating by modifying the script like the following but this does not work either. export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/:/home/CONFIDENTAL/production/CONFIDENTAL/Common/ cd PluginHandler/ (nohup ./PluginHandler &) return Any help to write a proper Monit rules to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated :)

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  • How Mature is Your Database Change Management Process?

    - by Ben Rees
    .dbd-banner p{ font-size:0.75em; padding:0 0 10px; margin:0 } .dbd-banner p span{ color:#675C6D; } .dbd-banner p:last-child{ padding:0; } @media ALL and (max-width:640px){ .dbd-banner{ background:#f0f0f0; padding:5px; color:#333; margin-top: 5px; } } -- Database Delivery Patterns & Practices Further Reading Organization and team processes How do you get your database schema changes live, on to your production system? As your team of developers and DBAs are working on the changes to the database to support your business-critical applications, how do these updates wend their way through from dev environments, possibly to QA, hopefully through pre-production and eventually to production in a controlled, reliable and repeatable way? In this article, I describe a model we use to try and understand the different stages that customers go through as their database change management processes mature, from the very basic and manual, through to advanced continuous delivery practices. I also provide a simple chart that will help you determine “How mature is our database change management process?” This process of managing changes to the database – which all of us who have worked in application/database development have had to deal with in one form or another – is sometimes known as Database Change Management (even if we’ve never used the term ourselves). And it’s a difficult process, often painfully so. Some developers take the approach of “I’ve no idea how my changes get live – I just write the stored procedures and add columns to the tables. It’s someone else’s problem to get this stuff live. I think we’ve got a DBA somewhere who deals with it – I don’t know, I’ve never met him/her”. I know I used to work that way. I worked that way because I assumed that making the updates to production was a trivial task – how hard can it be? Pause the application for half an hour in the middle of the night, copy over the changes to the app and the database, and switch it back on again? Voila! But somehow it never seemed that easy. And it certainly was never that easy for database changes. Why? Because you can’t just overwrite the old database with the new version. Databases have a state – more specifically 4Tb of critical data built up over the last 12 years of running your business, and if your quick hotfix happened to accidentally delete that 4Tb of data, then you’re “Looking for a new role” pretty quickly after the failed release. There are a lot of other reasons why a managed database change management process is important for organisations, besides job security, not least: Frequency of releases. Many business managers are feeling the pressure to get functionality out to their users sooner, quicker and more reliably. The new book (which I highly recommend) Lean Enterprise by Jez Humble, Barry O’Reilly and Joanne Molesky provides a great discussion on how many enterprises are having to move towards a leaner, more frequent release cycle to maintain their competitive advantage. It’s no longer acceptable to release once per year, leaving your customers waiting all year for changes they desperately need (and expect) Auditing and compliance. SOX, HIPAA and other compliance frameworks have demanded that companies implement proper processes for managing changes to their databases, whether managing schema changes, making sure that the data itself is being looked after correctly or other mechanisms that provide an audit trail of changes. We’ve found, at Red Gate that we have a very wide range of customers using every possible form of database change management imaginable. Everything from “Nothing – I just fix the schema on production from my laptop when things go wrong, and write it down in my notebook” to “A full Continuous Delivery process – any change made by a dev gets checked in and recorded, fully tested (including performance tests) before a (tested) release is made available to our Release Management system, ready for live deployment!”. And everything in between of course. Because of the vast number of customers using so many different approaches we found ourselves struggling to keep on top of what everyone was doing – struggling to identify patterns in customers’ behavior. This is useful for us, because we want to try and fit the products we have to different needs – different products are relevant to different customers and we waste everyone’s time (most notably, our customers’) if we’re suggesting products that aren’t appropriate for them. If someone visited a sports store, looking to embark on a new fitness program, and the store assistant suggested the latest $10,000 multi-gym, complete with multiple weights mechanisms, dumb-bells, pull-up bars and so on, then he’s likely to lose that customer. All he needed was a pair of running shoes! To solve this issue – in an attempt to simplify how we understand our customers and our offerings – we built a model. This is a an attempt at trying to classify our customers in to some sort of model or “Customer Maturity Framework” as we rather grandly term it, which somehow simplifies our understanding of what our customers are doing. The great statistician, George Box (amongst other things, the “Box” in the Box-Jenkins time series model) gave us the famous quote: “Essentially all models are wrong, but some are useful” We’ve taken this quote to heart – we know it’s a gross over-simplification of the real world of how users work with complex legacy and new database developments. Almost nobody precisely fits in to one of our categories. But we hope it’s useful and interesting. There are actually a number of similar models that exist for more general application delivery. We’ve found these from ThoughtWorks/Forrester, from InfoQ and others, and initially we tried just taking these models and replacing the word “application” for “database”. However, we hit a problem. From talking to our customers we know that users are far less further down the road of mature database change management than they are for application development. As a simple example, no application developer, who wants to keep his/her job would develop an application for an organisation without source controlling that code. Sure, he/she might not be using an advanced Gitflow branching methodology but they’ll certainly be making sure their code gets managed in a repo somewhere with all the benefits of history, auditing and so on. But this certainly isn’t the case (yet) for the database – a very large segment of the people we speak to have no source control set up for their databases whatsoever, even at the most basic level (for example, keeping change scripts in a source control system somewhere). By the way, if this is you, Red Gate has a great whitepaper here, on the barriers people face getting a source control process implemented at their organisations. This difference in maturity is the same as you move in to areas such as continuous integration (common amongst app developers, relatively rare for database developers) and automated release management (growing amongst app developers, very rare for the database). So, when we created the model we started from scratch and biased the levels of maturity towards what we actually see amongst our customers. But, what are these stages? And what level are you? The table below describes our definitions for four levels of maturity – Baseline, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. As I say, this is a model – you won’t fit any of these categories perfectly, but hopefully one will ring true more than others. We’ve also created a PDF with a flow chart to help you find which of these groups most closely matches your team:  Download the Database Delivery Maturity Framework PDF here   Level D1 – Baseline Work directly on live databases Sometimes work directly in production Generate manual scripts for releases. Sometimes use a product like SQL Compare or similar to do this Any tests that we might have are run manually Level D2 – Beginner Have some ad-hoc DB version control such as manually adding upgrade scripts to a version control system Attempt is made to keep production in sync with development environments There is some documentation and planning of manual deployments Some basic automated DB testing in process Level D3 – Intermediate The database is fully version-controlled with a product like Red Gate SQL Source Control or SSDT Database environments are managed Production environment schema is reproducible from the source control system There are some automated tests Have looked at using migration scripts for difficult database refactoring cases Level D4 – Advanced Using continuous integration for database changes Build, testing and deployment of DB changes carried out through a proper database release process Fully automated tests Production system is monitored for fast feedback to developers   Does this model reflect your team at all? Where are you on this journey? We’d be very interested in knowing how you get on. We’re doing a lot of work at the moment, at Red Gate, trying to help people progress through these stages. For example, if you’re currently not source controlling your database, then this is a natural next step. If you are already source controlling your database, what about the next stage – continuous integration and automated release management? To help understand these issues, there’s a summary of the Red Gate Database Delivery learning program on our site, alongside a Patterns and Practices library here on Simple-Talk and a Training Academy section on our documentation site to help you get up and running with the tools you need to progress. All feedback is welcome and it would be great to hear where you find yourself on this journey! This article is part of our database delivery patterns & practices series on Simple Talk. Find more articles for version control, automated testing, continuous integration & deployment.

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  • How do I ensure a process is running, even if it kills itself? (it needs to be restarted then)

    - by le_me
    I'm using linux. I want a process (an irc bot) to run every time I start the computer. But I've got a problem: The network is bad and it disconnects often, so I need to manually restart the bot a few times a day. How do I automate that? Additional information: The bot creates a pid file, called bot.pid The bot reconnects itself, but only a few times. The network is too bad, so the bot kills itself sometimes because it gets no response. What I do currently (aka my approach ;) ) I have a cron job executing startbot.rb every 5 minutes. (The script itself is in the same directory as the bot) The script: #!/usr/bin/ruby require 'fileutils' if File.exists?(File.expand_path('tmp/bot.pid')) @pid = File.read(File.expand_path('tmp/bot.pid')).chomp!.to_i begin raise "ouch" if Process.kill(0, @pid) != 1 rescue puts "Removing abandoned pid file" FileUtils.rm(File.expand_path('tmp/bot.pid')) puts "Starting the bot!" Kernel.exec(File.expand_path('./bot.rb')) else puts "Bot up and running!" end else puts "Starting the bot!" Kernel.exec(File.expand_path('./bot.rb')) end What this does: It checks if the pid file exists, if that's true it checks if kill -s 0 BOT_PID == 1 (if the bot's running) and starts the bot if one of the two checks fail/are not true. My approach seems to be quite dirty so how do I do it better?

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  • Building boost 1.42 on FreeBSD 6.3

    - by Ivan Perekluyev
    Hi, i need to build mapnik on freebsd 6.3, but port marked as 'broken', so i forced to build it from source. With boost 1.41 (which is in ports) mapnik doesn't build. somewhere in internet, i found that mapnik successfully builded with boost 1.42. So, i download patch from wiki.freebsd.org/BoostPortingProject andd apply it: wget http://alexanderchuranov.com/boost-port/boost-from-1.41-to-1.42-2010-02-16-17-11.diff cd /usr/ports patch -p0 -i ~/boost-from-1.41-to-1.42-2010-02-16-17-11.diff after that, i trying to install boost-all metaport, but its failed. cd devel/boost-all make install 2>&1 | tee build.log tail -n 100 build.log > short_build.log Build.log (attention, 5m !): dl.dropbox.com/u/7365614/build.log Short build log: http://paste.pocoo.org/show/224474/ Thanks!

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  • How to build the mainline kernel source package?

    - by Maxime R.
    Ubuntu kernel PPA only provides linux-headers*.deb and linux-image*.deb packages. How can I build the corresponding linux-source*.deb package ? Context: I'm currently running Ubuntu 11.10 with the mainline kernel (3.2 rc6 now) to get a better support for my sandybridge IGP (Dell E6420 laptop with intel i5-2520M CPU). Appears, i'd like to install this touchpad driver, ALPS touchpads being badly supported (see previous link bug report), while waiting for upstream support in kernel version 3.3. Problem is, DKMS keeps complaining about not finding the full kernel source: Module build for the currently running kernel was skipped since the kernel source for this kernel does not seem to be installed. Appears I may not need the full source but I'd still like to try having it installed to see if it solve my problem. What I tried : Uncompressing the kernel.org source archive in /usr/src/. DKMS still complaining. Manually updating the kernel source package with uupdate and the mainline source package like explained here. Did not succeed. Manually building the linux-source package following @roadmr and @elmicha instructions. I eventually succeeded to build it but DKMS still complained about the missing source. At last I noticed an error I did not catch in the first place while reinstalling the kernel headers. Appears the .deb I got may have been corrupted, downloading it again did the trick :) Alas, while DKMS agreed to compile the module i ran into the following error which appears to have already been reported. This issue isn't yet solved but I won't try to because of the following: in the end I decided to test the precise kernel version 3.2-rc6 through the xorg-edgers ppa which appears to be correctly patched: it works. Nevertheless, it might still be of some interest to know how to build the mainline linux-source package as the Ubuntu Kernel Team doesn't provide it. Not to mention that I learned a lot in the process ^^

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  • Weekend Project: Build a Fireball Launcher

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    What’s more fun than playing with fire? Shooting it from your hands. Put on your robe and wizard hat, make a stop at the hardware store, and spend the weekend trying to convince your friends you’ve acquired supernatural powers. Over at MAKE Magazine, Joel Johnson explains the impetus for his project: A stalwart of close-quarter magicians for years, the electronic flash gun is a simple device: a battery-powered, hand-held ignitor that uses a “glo-plug” to light a bit of flash paper and cotton, shooting a fireball a few feet into the air. You can buy one from most magic shops for around $50, but if you build one on your own, you’ll not only save a few bucks, you’ll also learn how easy it is to add fire effects to almost any electronics project. (And what gadget couldn’t stand a little more spurting flame?) The parts list is minimal but the end effect is pretty fantastic. Hit up the link below for the full build guide, plenty of warnings, and a weekend project that’s sure to impress. How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 3 How to Sync Your Media Across Your Entire House with XBMC How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 2

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  • Mulitple processes aware of each other

    - by Abhan
    Hope you can help me with this, I've searched a lot and I got really confused of what to do here. I'm building a program in C and I need to run it multiple time as I need. So it's going to be like below, process 1 handle all rows on DB table test where process_flag=1 process 2 handle all rows on DB table test where process_flag=2 process 3 handle all rows on DB table test where process_flag=3 and so on How can I make the processes aware of each other, so if process 3 goes down then processes 2 & 3 start working on process_flag=3?

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  • How do I find and kill a php loop (process)?

    - by Hoytman
    I have a php script that I have been developing which calls an external api within a loop. It is being tested on a VPS which is running LAMP on Debian. I noticed this morning that the api was not responding to my script. When I called the provider, they told me that my server had been calling the api 1000's of times per hour for the past 10 hours. I am assuming that a php script (which I have been working on the day before and testing on my VPS) entered into an infinite loop during one of the executions, and never came out (I have been testing it from the command prompt, and not over the web.) I have attempted to stop and start Apache, but the api support staff says that the calls are still coming in from my server address. How can I find and stop the process? Also, is there a possibility that the Apache stop/start solved the problem, but the api is still trying to sort through past calls? Please forgive me for not using my local test environment correctly. Edit: I do not know the process name, I need to discover the name (or pid) based on behavior.

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  • How to detect that a process is started using C# code[windows service]

    - by infant programmer
    I am trying to design a windows-service which monitors a process namely "Gtalk", if the process is started then, the browser Internet-explorer (process iexplore) should be closed. This should happen only when the process "Gtalk" is started, [not when running] The code I have written and implemented, doesn't allow to open IExplore when Gtalk is running. That is certainly what not I am trying for. The process Gtalk should close browser only at its start-up, After the process is started, it should allow to open IExplore. Is it possible with Windows service or is it must be the part of Gtalk process itself? This is my code: while (true) { if (Process.GetProcessesByName("Gtalk").Length > 0) { foreach (Process prc in Process.GetProcessesByName("IExplore")) { prc.Kill(); } } }

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  • Running control.exe as process does not WaitForExit()

    - by Lisa Alliss
    I am running control.exe as a process. (Windows 7 OS, .NET 3.5, C#). It does not stop at WaitForExit() as expected. It immediately "exits" the process even though the control.exe window is still open. I have tried the process.Exited event also and that is triggered before the application exits as well. Here is my code: Process process = new Process(); process.StartInfo.FileName = @"c:\windows\system32\control.exe"; process.StartInfo.Arguments = @"userpasswords"; process.Start(); process.WaitForExit();

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  • Process.Start() and ShellExecute() fails with URLs on Windows 8

    - by Rick Strahl
    Since I installed Windows 8 I've noticed that a number of my applications appear to have problems opening URLs. That is when I click on a link inside of a Windows application, either nothing happens or there's an error that occurs. It's happening both to my own applications and a host of Windows applications I'm running. At first I thought this was an issue with my default browser (Chrome) but after switching the default browser to a few others and experimenting a bit I noticed that the errors occur - oddly enough - only when I run an application as an Administrator. I also tried switching to FireFox and Opera as my default browser and saw exactly the same behavior. The scenario for this is a bit bizarre: Running on Windows 8 Call Process.Start() (or ShellExecute() in Win32 API) with a URL or an HTML file Run 'As Administrator' (works fine under non-elevated user account!) or with UAC off A browser other than Internet Explorer is set as your Default Web Browser Talk about a weird scenario: Something that doesn't work when you run as an Administrator which is supposed to have rights to everything on the system! Instead running under an Admin account - either elevated with a User Account Control prompt or even when running as a full Administrator fails. It appears that this problem does not occur for everyone, but when I looked for a solution to this, I saw quite a few posts in relation to this with no clear resolutions. I have three Windows 8 machines running here in the office and all three of them showed this behavior. Lest you think this is just a programmer's problem - this can affect any software running on your system that needs to run under administrative rights. Try it out Now, in order for this next example to fail, any browser but Internet Explorer has to be your default browser and even then it may not fail depending on how you installed your browser. To see if this is a problem create a small Console application and call Process.Start() with a URL in it:namespace Win8ShellBugConsole { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Launching Url..."); Process.Start("http://microsoft.com"); Console.Write("Press any key to continue..."); Console.ReadKey(); Console.WriteLine("\r\n\r\nLaunching image..."); Process.Start(Path.GetFullPath(@"..\..\sailbig.jpg")); Console.Write("Press any key to continue..."); Console.ReadKey(); } } } Compile this code. Then execute the code from Explorer (not from Visual Studio because that may change the permissions). If you simply run the EXE and you're not running as an administrator, you'll see the Web page pop up in the browser as well as the image loading. Now run the same thing with Run As Administrator: Now when you run it you get a nice error when Process.Start() is fired: The same happens if you are running with User Account Control off altogether - ie. you are running as a full admin account. Now if you comment out the URL in the code above and just fire the image display - that works just fine in any user mode. As does opening any other local file type or even starting a new EXE locally (ie. Process.Start("c:\windows\notepad.exe"). All that works, EXCEPT for URLs. The code above uses Process.Start() in .NET but the same happens in Win32 Applications that use the ShellExecute API. In some of my older Fox apps ShellExecute returns an error code of 31 - which is No Shell Association found. What's the Deal? It turns out the problem has to do with the way browsers are registering themselves on Windows. Internet Explorer - being a built-in application in Windows 8 - apparently does this correctly, but other browsers possibly don't or at least didn't at the time I installed them. So even Chrome, which continually updates itself, has a recent version that apparently has this registration issue fixed, I was unable to simply set IE as my default browser then use Chrome to 'Set as Default Browser'. It still didn't work. Neither did using the Set Program Associations dialog which lets you assign what extensions are mapped to by a given application. Each application provides a set of extension/moniker mappings that it supports and this dialog lets you associate them on a system wide basis. This also did not work for Chrome or any of the other browsers at first. However, after repeated retries here eventually I did manage to get FireFox to work, but not any of the others. What Works? Reinstall the Browser In the end I decided on the hard core pull the plug solution: Totally uninstall and re-install Chrome in this case. And lo and behold, after reinstall everything was working fine. Now even removing the association for Chrome, switching to IE as the default browser and then back to Chrome works. But, even though the version of Chrome I was running before uninstalling and reinstalling is the same as I'm running now after the reinstall now it works. Of course I had to find out the hard way, before Richard commented with a note regarding what the issue is with Chrome at least: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=156400 As expected the issue is a registration issue - with keys not being registered at the machine level. Reading this I'm still not sure why this should be a problem - an elevated account still runs under the same user account (ie. I'm still rickstrahl even if I Run As Administrator), so why shouldn't an app be able to read my Current User registry hive? And also that doesn't quite explain why if I register the extensions using Run As Administrator in Chrome when using Set as Default Browser). But in the end it works… Not so fast It's now a couple of days later and still there are some oddball problems although this time they appear to be purely Chrome issues. After the reinstall Chrome seems to pop up properly with ShellExecute() calls both in regular user and Admin mode. However, it now looks like Chrome is actually running two completely separate user profiles for each. For example, when I run Visual Studio in Admin mode and go to View in browser, Chrome complains that it was installed in Admin mode and can't launch (WTF?). Then you retry a few times later and it ends up working. When launched that way some of the plug-ins installed don't show up with the effect that sometimes they're visible sometimes they're not. Also Chrome seems to loose my configuration and Google sign in between sessions now, presumably when switching user modes. Add-ins installed in admin mode don't show up in user mode and vice versa. Ah, this is lovely. Did I mention that I freaking hate UAC precisely because of this kind of bullshit. You can never tell exactly what account your app is running under, and apparently apps also have a hard time trying to put data into the right place that works for both scenarios. And as my recent post on using Windows Live accounts shows it's yet another level of abstraction ontop of the underlying system identity that can cause all sort of small side effect headaches like this. Hopefully, most of you are skirting this issue altogether - having installed more recent versions of your favorite browsers. If not, hopefully this post will take you straight to reinstallation to fix this annoying issue.© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in Windows  .NET   Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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  • Spawned Process Terminated in GP Startup Script

    - by Charles Gargent
    I have a Group Policy Startup Script which runs synchronously. I now need this script to run one process asynchronously. So far I have managed to get the spawned process running via the command below, however once the rest of the script finishes and the GP Startup Script "phase" finishes and the logon prompt is shown, my spawned process is terminated. Is there any way to have this process continue beyond the Startup Script phase? cmd /c start spawned.bat I guess the reason why it terminates is because the process was launched by the Startup Script process and when the parent process terminates so do its children. PS I need it to be launched via the exisitng script.

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  • /sbin/getty process causing 100% CPU utilization

    - by scrrr
    I have an instance of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.2.0-25-virtual i686) running as a KVM-VM on a host-machine that runs one more VM beside it. I deploy a Ruby on Rails application using the Capistrano deployment-gem. However, if I deploy twice in a row in a short time, the CPU usage jumps to 100% because of the /sbin/getty process. How can this be? I believe getty is a rather simple program that passes a login-name from a terminal to a login-process. Also: In my Capfile (Capistrano configuration file) I am running certain commands after the Rails application is deployed including a call to sudo /sbin/restart <APPNAME> which is an upstart task. Could this be related somehow? I can always kill the getty process and the problem is gone until the next deployment, but I would rather understand and fix the problem. Any help is appreciated. Attached is a screenshot of my problem.

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  • Inside the JCP (Java Community Process)

    - by Tori Wieldt
    There has been lots of interest lately in the Java Community Process (JCP) and how it works. Here are two great chances to learn about the JCP, both are interviews with Patrick Curran, Chair of the JCP and director of the JCP's Program Management Office: Video InterviewGet an insider view of the Java Community Process (JCP) in this Oracle Technology Network (OTN) TechCast. (See below or click here.) Justin Kestelyn, Oracle Technical Network Senior Director, sits down to have a beer with Patrick Curran and discuss the JCP. They start with the basics of what is the JCP, then describe how its governance model has evolved, addressing common misperceptions, and explain how and why developers around the world can get involved.Written Interview Janice J. Heiss interviews Patrick Curran to get his perspective on recent developments at the JCP, ongoing concerns and controversies, its history -- and its future in this article titled "The Latest on the Java Community Process: A Conversation wiht Patrick Curran."The home of the JCP is jcp.org.

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  • Articles on TFS Build Server / MSBuild

    - by MartinWatts
    I have decided to write some articles on using a TFS Build Server. During the past few years I have had the responsibility and challange of keeping one running, and I found out that on some subjects, there is very little to find on the internet. So hopefully my experiences can help others. That is, before VS 2010 build server makes everything we have learnt on MSBuild so far redundant. ;) The first article is about selectively getting the sources you need to get the build done. You can find the article here.

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  • Continuous integration - build Debug and Release every time?

    - by Darian Miller
    Is it standard practice when setting up a Continuous Integration server to build a Debug and Release version of each project? Most of the time developers code with a Debug mode project configuration set enabled and there could be different library path configurations, compiler defines, or other items configured differently between Debug/Release that would cause them to act differently. I configured my CI server to build both Debug & Release of each project and I'm wondering if I'm just overthinking it. My assumption is that I'll do this as long as I can get quick feedback and once that happens, then push the Release off to a nightly build perhaps. Is there a 'standard' way of approaching this?

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  • BUILD 2013 day 1 Keynote recap for devs

    - by pluginbaby
    Only 7 months after the previous BUILD event, Microsoft is hosting a new BUILD conference in San Francisco (June 26-28, 2013).   Notable announcements of day 1: The Windows 8.1 preview is available today Preview of Internet Explorer 11 Visual Studio 2013 Preview and .NET Framework 4.5.1 Preview are both available The Windows Store has been redesigned and is now much more interesting, both for users and developers Windows Phone 8 annual Dev Center registration is reduced to $19 for the next 60 days! (normally $99 for individuals and companies)     Also to check out: Windows 8.1 Preview Product Guide for Developers http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/apps/bg184615 F12 Tools in Internet Explorer 11 Preview has been rebuilt from the ground up: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/bg182632   Watch the entire keynote online: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2013/1-001 Read the full transcript: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Speeches/2013/06-26Build2013.aspx

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  • Build 2012, some thoughts..

    - by Dennis Vroegop
    I think you probably read my rant about the logistics at Build 2012, as posted here, so I am not going into that anymore. Instead, let’s look at the content. (BTW If you did read that post and want some more info then read Nia Angelina’s post about Build. I have nothing to add to that.) As usual, there were good speakers and some speakers who could benefit from some speaker training. I find it hard to understand why Microsoft allows certain people on stage, people who speak English with such strong accents it’s hard for people, especially from abroad, to understand. Some basic training might be useful for some of them. However, it is nice to see that most speakers are project managers, program managers or even devs on the teams that build the stuff they talk about: there was a lot of knowledge on stage! And that means when you ask questions you get very relevant information. I realize I am not the average audience member here, I am regular speaker myself so I tend to look for other things when I am in a room than most audience members so my opinion might differ from others. All in all the knowledge of the speakers was above average but the presentation skills were most of the times below what I would describe as adequate. But let us look at the contents. Since the official name of the conference is Build Windows 2012 it is not surprising most of the talks were focused on building Windows 8 apps. Next to that, there was a lot of focus on Azure and of course Windows Phone 8 that launched the day before Build started. Most sessions dealt with C# and JavaScript although I did see a tendency to use C++ more. Touch. Well, that was the focus on a lot of sessions, that goes without saying. Microsoft is really betting on Touch these days and being a Touch oriented developer I can only applaud this. The term NUI is getting a bit outdated but the principles behind it certainly aren’t. The sessions did cover quite a lot on how to make your applications easy to use and easy to understand. However, not all is touch nowadays; still the majority of people use keyboard and mouse to interact with their machines (or, as I do, use keyboard, mouse AND touch at the same time). Microsoft understands this and has spend some serious thoughts on this as well. It was all about making your apps run everywhere on all sorts of devices and in all sorts of scenarios. I have seen a couple of sessions focusing on the portable class library and on sharing code between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. You get the feeling Microsoft is enabling us devs to write software that will be ubiquitous. They want your stuff to be all over the place and they do anything they can to help. To achieve that goal they provide us with brilliant SDK’s, great tooling, a very, very good backend in the form of Windows Azure (I was particularly impressed by the Mobility part of Azure) and some fantastic hardware. And speaking of hardware: the partners such as Acer, Lenovo and Dell are making hardware that puts Apple to a shame nowadays. To illustrate: in Bellevue (very close to Redmond where Microsoft HQ is) they have the Microsoft Store located very close to the Apple Store, so it’s easy to compare devices. And I have to say: the Microsoft offerings are much, much more appealing that what the Cupertino guys have to offer. That was very visible by the number of people visiting the stores: even on the day that Apple launched the iPad Mini there were more people in the Microsoft store than in the Apple store. So, the future looks like it’s going to be fun. Great hardware (did I mention the Nokia Lumia 920? No? It’s brilliant), great software (Windows 8 is in a league of its own), the best dev tools (Visual Studio 2012 is still the champion here) and a fantastic backend (Azure.. need I say more?). It’s up to us devs to fill up the stores with applications that matches this. To summarize: it is great to be a Windows developer. PS. Did I mention Surface RT? Man….. People were drooling all over it wherever I went. It is fantastic :-) Technorati Tags: Build,Windows 8,Windows Phone,Lumia,Surface,Microsoft

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  • Real life example of an agile game development process

    - by Ken
    I'm trying to learn about applying agile methodologies to game development. But seems to be impossible to find real life examples. What I am looking for are things like; Initial user stories Final user stories (complete, covering the entire game requirements) Acceptance criteria Task list Sprint backlogs (before and after each sprint) The agile books seem to have some limited examples, many of which seem contrived. In this era of open source software, there must be an documented example of the process applied to a game that is publicly available. I am asking specifically about games because they are so different from normal applications. Regular applications are built to all users to complete specific tasks in order to get stuff done(book a room, print a report etc). People play games for much less tangible reasons, so I think the process is significantly different. [it doesn't have to be scrum, it could be any process, just needs to be a real life example game and be reasonably complete]

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