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  • Flag outgoing message for follow-up in Thunderbird

    - by nw
    More and more I need to follow up on specific messages I have sent, but memory fades. Can anyone recommend a way to flag outgoing messages "for follow-up" in Thunderbird? (Not sure but I think MS Outlook supports this.) I have a little hack, which involves a custom rule to tag incoming messages from myself to myself. Then I simply include myself in the recipient list on messages I want to follow up on. But perhaps there is a more elegant extension or technique out there?

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  • Running Tomcat 7 and Apache 2 on the same server

    - by Thorn
    Part of my site needs to run over HTTPS and I'm creating a sub-domain for that part. I have apache httpd 2 AND Tomcat 7 running on the same server with the same IP, Apache is on port 80 of course, while Tomcat is running on port 8080. Right now I am doing domain forwarding for requests that need to run off tomcat. For example, mathteamhosting.com/mathApp can forward to mathteamhosting.com:8080/mathApp. I would like to have Tomcat handle the https requests for that subdomain. I don't think this forwarding technique can work in this case. How do I set that up so that Tomcat receives the requests on port 443 while apache handles port 80. To be more specific: http://proctinator.com == request goes to Apache web server https://private.proctinator.com == request goes to Apache web server

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  • Hyper-V: determine the guest's name given the GUID

    - by syneticon-dj
    How would I go about determining the guest's name given its GUID or vice-versa, preferably with only the Hyper-V/Server Core stock install at hands? Rationale: I am in favor of having a repository of dirty tricks to revert to when in great need. To immediately quiesce all (storage) operations of a VM guest without losing the state, I used to run kill 17 <all VM's virtual processes> (signaling SIGSTOP) and resumed afterwards using kill 19 <all VM's virtual processes> (signaling SIGCONT) in ESXi/vSphere shell. I tried the same technique with Hyper-V using Process Explorer's "Suspend" functionality on the vmwp.exe processes and it seemed to work. I have yet to find a way for easily identifying the processes to suspend, though - the vmwp command line is only listing a GUID.

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  • Is there a way to undo deletion of registry keys while the machine is still running?

    - by Oliver Giesen
    [ also posted from a programmer's POV at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3299230 ] I messed up big time and deleted a large portion of my registry during a programming experiment: As a result most of the contents of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ are gone. I haven't logged off or shutdown since this happened. The applications that were already running seem to be coping fine so far but I suspect that after the next reboot there won't be much happiness left... Also, System Restore tells me there are no restore points even though I'm pretty sure there should have been. Could this be another symptom of the purged registry? I wouldn't have expected this information to be stored under HKCU, though... Does anybody know of a technique or utility that can possibly restore some or all of the deleted entries? I'm on Windows 7 Enterprise 32bit. I'm not really holding my breath but you can always hope, can't you?

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  • How to bring back a far right chromeless window?

    - by Click Ok
    Accidentally some windows goes far right, and "goes out of" to the monitor. I know keyboard shortcuts to move it back when the windows have a title bar. But that windows (HTC Home and Rainlendar) don't have title bar, doesn't appears in windows TaskBar or TaskManager. I've tryed restart windows; to close and reopen that software; change the resolution to very low, and then to very high; but it doesn't works... I know that I can dig in the settings files of that programs, but I think interesting discover how to bring back that windows so I can use that technique if that problem appears again with another softwares too. Thank you!

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  • Loading PNGs into OpenGL performance issues - Java & JOGL much slower than C# & Tao.OpenGL

    - by Edward Cresswell
    I am noticing a large performance difference between Java & JOGL and C# & Tao.OpenGL when both loading PNGs from storage into memory, and when loading that BufferedImage (java) or Bitmap (C# - both are PNGs on hard drive) 'into' OpenGL. This difference is quite large, so I assumed I was doing something wrong, however after quite a lot of searching and trying different loading techniques I've been unable to reduce this difference. With Java I get an image loaded in 248ms and loaded into OpenGL in 728ms The same on C# takes 54ms to load the image, and 34ms to load/create texture. The image in question above is a PNG containing transparency, sized 7200x255, used for a 2D animated sprite. I realise the size is really quite ridiculous and am considering cutting up the sprite, however the large difference is still there (and confusing). On the Java side the code looks like this: BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(new File(fileName)); texture = TextureIO.newTexture(image, false); texture.setTexParameteri(GL.GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL.GL_LINEAR); texture.setTexParameteri(GL.GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, GL.GL_LINEAR); The C# code uses: Bitmap t = new Bitmap(fileName); t.RotateFlip(RotateFlipType.RotateNoneFlipY); Rectangle r = new Rectangle(0, 0, t.Width, t.Height); BitmapData bd = t.LockBits(r, ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); Gl.glBindTexture(Gl.GL_TEXTURE_2D, tID); Gl.glTexImage2D(Gl.GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, Gl.GL_RGBA, t.Width, t.Height, 0, Gl.GL_BGRA, Gl.GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, bd.Scan0); Gl.glTexParameteri(Gl.GL_TEXTURE_2D, Gl.GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, Gl.GL_LINEAR); Gl.glTexParameteri(Gl.GL_TEXTURE_2D, Gl.GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, Gl.GL_LINEAR); t.UnlockBits(bd); t.Dispose(); After quite a lot of testing I can only come to the conclusion that Java/JOGL is just slower here - PNG reading might not be as quick, or that I'm still doing something wrong. Thanks. Edit2: I have found that creating a new BufferedImage with format TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE decreases OpenGL texture load time by almost half - this includes having to create the new BufferedImage, getting the Graphics2D from it and then rendering the previously loaded image to it. Edit3: Benchmark results for 5 variations. I wrote a small benchmarking tool, the following results come from loading a set of 33 pngs, most are very wide, 5 times. testStart: ImageIO.read(file) -> TextureIO.newTexture(image) result: avg = 10250ms, total = 51251 testStart: ImageIO.read(bis) -> TextureIO.newTexture(image) result: avg = 10029ms, total = 50147 testStart: ImageIO.read(file) -> TextureIO.newTexture(argbImage) result: avg = 5343ms, total = 26717 testStart: ImageIO.read(bis) -> TextureIO.newTexture(argbImage) result: avg = 5534ms, total = 27673 testStart: TextureIO.newTexture(file) result: avg = 10395ms, total = 51979 ImageIO.read(bis) refers to the technique described in James Branigan's answer below. argbImage refers to the technique described in my previous edit: img = ImageIO.read(file); argbImg = new BufferedImage(img.getWidth(), img.getHeight(), TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE); g = argbImg.createGraphics(); g.drawImage(img, 0, 0, null); texture = TextureIO.newTexture(argbImg, false); Any more methods of loading (either images from file, or images to OpenGL) would be appreciated, I will update these benchmarks.

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  • Marrying Core Animation with OpenGL ES

    - by Ole Begemann
    Edit: I suppose instead of the long explanation below I might also ask: Sending -setNeedsDisplay to an instance of CAEAGLLayer does not cause the layer to redraw (i.e., -drawInContext: is not called). Instead, I get this console message: <GLLayer: 0x4d500b0>: calling -display has no effect. Is there a way around this issue? Can I invoke -drawInContext: when -setNeedsDisplay is called? Long explanation below: I have an OpenGL scene that I would like to animate using Core Animation animations. Following the standard approach to animate custom properties in a CALayer, I created a subclass of CAEAGLLayer and defined a property sceneCenterPoint in it whose value should be animated. My layer also holds a reference to the OpenGL renderer: #import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h> #import "ES2Renderer.h" @interface GLLayer : CAEAGLLayer { ES2Renderer *renderer; } @property (nonatomic, retain) ES2Renderer *renderer; @property (nonatomic, assign) CGPoint sceneCenterPoint; I then declare the property @dynamic to let CA create the accessors, override +needsDisplayForKey: and implement -drawInContext: to pass the current value of the sceneCenterPoint property to the renderer and ask it to render the scene: #import "GLLayer.h" @implementation GLLayer @synthesize renderer; @dynamic sceneCenterPoint; + (BOOL) needsDisplayForKey:(NSString *)key { if ([key isEqualToString:@"sceneCenterPoint"]) { return YES; } else { return [super needsDisplayForKey:key]; } } - (void) drawInContext:(CGContextRef)ctx { self.renderer.centerPoint = self.sceneCenterPoint; [self.renderer render]; } ... (If you have access to the WWDC 2009 session videos, you can review this technique in session 303 ("Animated Drawing")). Now, when I create an explicit animation for the layer on the keyPath @"sceneCenterPoint", Core Animation should calculate the interpolated values for the custom properties and call -drawInContext: for each step of the animation: - (IBAction)animateButtonTapped:(id)sender { CABasicAnimation *animation = [CABasicAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"sceneCenterPoint"]; animation.duration = 1.0; animation.fromValue = [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointZero]; animation.toValue = [NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake(1.0f, 1.0f)]; [self.glView.layer addAnimation:animation forKey:nil]; } At least that is what would happen for a normal CALayer subclass. When I subclass CAEAGLLayer, I get this output on the console for each step of the animation: 2010-12-21 13:59:22.180 CoreAnimationOpenGL[7496:207] <GLLayer: 0x4e0be20>: calling -display has no effect. 2010-12-21 13:59:22.198 CoreAnimationOpenGL[7496:207] <GLLayer: 0x4e0be20>: calling -display has no effect. 2010-12-21 13:59:22.216 CoreAnimationOpenGL[7496:207] <GLLayer: 0x4e0be20>: calling -display has no effect. 2010-12-21 13:59:22.233 CoreAnimationOpenGL[7496:207] <GLLayer: 0x4e0be20>: calling -display has no effect. ... So it seems that, possibly for performance reasons, for OpenGL layers, -drawInContext: is not getting called because these layers do not use the standard -display method to draw themselves. Can anybody confirm that? Is there a way around it? Or can I not use the technique I laid out above? This would mean I would have to implement the animations manually in the OpenGL renderer (which is possible but not as elegant IMO).

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  • Simple animation using C#/Windows Forms

    - by clintp
    I need to knock out a quick animation in C#/Windows Forms for a Halloween display. Just some 2D shapes moving about on a solid background. Since this is just a quick one-off project I really don't want to install and learn an entire new set of tools for this. (DirectX dev kits, Silverlight, Flash, etc..) I also have to install this on multiple computers so anything beyond the basic .Net framework (2.0) would be a pain in the arse. For tools I've got VS2k8, 25 years of development experience, a wheelbarrow, holocaust cloak, and about 2 days to knock this out. I haven't done animation since using assembler on my Atari 130XE (hooray for page flipping and player/missile graphics!) Advice? Here's some of the things I'd like to know: I can draw on any empty widget (like a panel) by fiddling with it's OnPaint handler, right? That's how I'd draw a custom widget. Is there a better technique than this? Is there a page-flipping technique for this kind of thing in Windows Forms? I'm not looking for a high frame rate, just as little flicker/drawing as necessary. Thanks. Post Mortem Edit ... "a couple of coding days later" Well, the project is done. The links below came in handy although a couple of them were 404. (I wish SO would allow more than one reply to be marked "correct"). The biggest problem I had to overcome was flickering, and a persistent bug when I tried to draw on the form directly. Using the OnPaint event for the Form: bad idea. I never got that to work; lots of mysterious errors (stack overflows, or ArgumentNullExceptions). I wound up using a panel sized to fill the form and that worked fine. Using the OnPaint method is slow anyway. Somewhere online I read that building the PaintEventArgs was slow, and they weren't kidding. Lots of flickering went away when I abandoned this. Skip the OnPaint/Invalidate() and just paint it yourself. Setting all of the "double buffering" options on the form still left some flicker that had to be fixed. (And I found conflicting docs that said "set them on the control" and "set them on the form". Well controls don't have a .SetStyle() method.) I haven't tested without them, so they might be doing something (this is the form): this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserPaint, true); this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer, true); this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint, true); So the workhorse of the code wound up looking like (pf is the panel control): void PaintPlayField() { Bitmap bufl = new Bitmap(pf.Width, pf.Height); using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bufl)) { g.FillRectangle(Brushes.Black, new Rectangle(0, 0, pf.Width, pf.Height)); DrawItems(g); DrawMoreItems(g); pf.CreateGraphics().DrawImageUnscaled(bufl, 0, 0); } } And I just called PaintPlayField from the inside of my Timer loop. No flicker at all.

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  • Pure JSP without mixing HTML, by writing html as Java-like code

    - by ADTC
    Please read before answering. This is a fantasy programming technique I'm dreaming up. I want to know if there's anything close in real life. The following JSP page: <% html { head { title {"Pure fantasy";} } body { h1 {"A heading with double quote (\") character";} p {"a paragraph";} String s = "a paragraph in string. the date is "; p { s; new Date().toString(); } table (Border.ZERO, new Padding(27)) { tr { for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { td {i;} } } } } } %> could generate the following HTML page: <html> <head> <title>Pure fantasy</title> </head> <body> <h1>A heading with double quote (") character</h1> <p>a paragraph</p> <p>a paragraph in string. the date is 11 December 2012</p> <table border="0" padding="27"> <tr> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>3</td> <td>4</td> <td>5</td> <td>6</td> <td>7</td> <td>8</td> <td>9</td> </tr> </table> </body> </html> The thing about this fantasy is it reuses the same old Java programming language technique that enable customized keywords used in a way similar to if-else-then, while, try-catch etc to represent html tags in a non-html way that can easily be checked for syntactic correctness, and most importantly can easily be mixed up with regular Java code without being lost in a sea of <%, %>, <%=, out.write(), etc. An added feature is that strings can directly be placed as commands to print out into generated HTML, something Java doesn't support (where pure strings have to be assigned to variables before use). Is there anything in real life that comes close? If not, is it possible to define customized keywords in Java or JSP? Or do I have to create an entirely new programming language for that? What problems do you see with this kind of setup? PS: I know you can use HTML libraries to construct HTML using Java code, but the problem with such libraries is, the source code itself doesn't have a readable HTML representation like the code above does - if you get what I mean.

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  • Retreiving multiple rows from a loop-created form... Stuck.

    - by hangston
    Hi All, Let me start by saying that I'm new to PHP, but I'm here to learn and would really appreciate your help. I use the following code to pull in data and create a form. This creates up to 40 lines for a user to fill out. Each line consists of the same information: Description, Amount, and Frequency. The remainder of the information needed is generated by the database. (See hidden fields) <?php $row = 0; do { $optid = $row_options['option_id']; echo "<tr>\n\t<td>" . htmlentities($row_options['option']) . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<input name='description' type='text' size='40' maxlength='120'/>" . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<input name='option_id' type='hidden' value='$optid' />$<input name='amount' type='text' size='10' maxlength='7'/>" . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<select name='assisted_frequency'> <option value='Monthly'>Monthly</option> <option value='Weekly'>Weekly</option> <option value='Daily'>Daily</option> <option value='Hourly'>Hourly</option> <option value='One-Time'>One-Time</option> </select>" . "</td>\n</tr>\n"; $array[$row] = array( $arraydesc[$row] = $_POST['description'], $arrayamto[$row] = $_POST['amount'], $arrayoptid[$row] = $optid, $arrayfreq[$row] = $_POST['frequency'], ); $row ++; } while ($row_options = mysql_fetch_assoc($options)); $counter = $row - 1; ?> I'm having troubles retrieving the information that the user inputs. My intent is to loop through each row after the user has input their information, then upload the mix of my database information and the user's information into another database. For example, the user would see, albeit prettier: form1 Option 1: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 2: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 3: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 4: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] submit Upon submitting the form above, I'm using a query similar to the following to input the data into the database: for($row=0; $row<=$counter; $row++){ $insertSQL2 = sprintf("INSERT INTO table (option_id, amount, description, frequency) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s)", GetSQLValueString($arrayoptid[$row], "int"), GetSQLValueString($arrayamto[$row], "int"), GetSQLValueString($arraydesc[$row], "text"), GetSQLValueString($arrayfreq[$row], "text")); // code to submit query } I've tried for, foreach, arrays (what feels like the everything I know) to post each row (row by row) into the database. I either get just the last row of data, or no data at all. I also worry that the [$row] technique is adding characters to my data. What is the best way to retrieve each row of the user's inputs, then upload this data (row by row) into the database? Also, I would really appreciate your suggestions for improving my coding technique and the approach I'm taking. Thank you, Hangston

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  • Reordering Variadic Parameters

    - by void-pointer
    I have come across the need to reorder a variadic list of parameters that is supplied to the constructor of a struct. After being reordered based on their types, the parameters will be stored as a tuple. My question is how this can be done so that a modern C++ compiler (e.g. g++-4.7) will not generate unnecessary load or store instructions. That is, when the constructor is invoked with a list of parameters of variable size, it efficiently pushes each parameter into place based on an ordering over the parameters' types. Here is a concrete example. Assume that the base type of every parameter (without references, rvalue references, pointers, or qualifiers) is either char, int, or float. How can I make it so that all the parameters of base type char appear first, followed by all of those of base type int (which leaves the parameters of base type float last). The relative order in which the parameters were given should not be violated within sublists of homogeneous base type. Example: foo::foo() is called with arguments float a, char&& b, const float& c, int&& d, char e. The tuple tupe is std::tuple<char, char, int, float, float>, and it is constructed like so: tuple_type{std::move(b), e, std::move(d), a, c}. Consider the struct defined below, and assume that the metafunction deduce_reordered_tuple_type is already implemented. How would you write the constructor so that it works as intended? If you think that the code for deduce_reodered_tuple_type, would be useful to you, I can provide it; it's a little long. template <class... Args> struct foo { // Assume that the metafunction deduce_reordered_tuple_type is defined. typedef typename deduce_reordered_tuple_type<Args...>::type tuple_type; tuple_type t_; foo(Args&&... args) : t_{reorder_and_forward_parameters<Args>(args)...} {} }; Edit 1 The technique I describe above does have applications in mathematical frameworks that make heavy use of expression templates, variadic templates, and metaprogramming in order to perform aggressive inlining. Suppose that you wish to define an operator that takes the product of several expressions, each of which may be passed by reference, reference to const, or rvalue reference. (In my case, the expressions are conditional probability tables and the operation is the factor product, but something like matrix multiplication works suitably as well.) You need access to the data provided by each expression in order to evaluate the product. Consequently, you must move the expressions passed as rvalue references, copy the expressions passed by reference to const, and take the addresses of expressions passed by reference. Using the technique I describe above now poses several benefits. Other expressions can use uniform syntax to access data elements from this expression, since all of the heavy-lifting metaprogramming work is done beforehand, within the class. We can save stack space by grouping the pointers together and storing the larger expressions towards the end of the tuple. Implementing certain types of queries becomes much easier (e.g. check whether any of the pointers stored in the tuple aliases a given pointer). Thank you very much for your help!

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  • Retrieving multiple rows from a loop-created form... Stuck.

    - by hangston
    Let me start by saying that I'm new to PHP, but I'm here to learn and would really appreciate your help. I use the following code to pull in data and create a form. This creates up to 40 lines for a user to fill out. Each line consists of the same information: Description, Amount, and Frequency. The remainder of the information needed is generated by the database. (See hidden fields) <?php $row = 0; do { $optid = $row_options['option_id']; echo "<tr>\n\t<td>" . htmlentities($row_options['option']) . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<input name='description' type='text' size='40' maxlength='120'/>" . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<input name='option_id' type='hidden' value='$optid' />$<input name='amount' type='text' size='10' maxlength='7'/>" . "</td>\n"; echo "\t<td>" . "<select name='assisted_frequency'> <option value='Monthly'>Monthly</option> <option value='Weekly'>Weekly</option> <option value='Daily'>Daily</option> <option value='Hourly'>Hourly</option> <option value='One-Time'>One-Time</option> </select>" . "</td>\n</tr>\n"; $array[$row] = array( $arraydesc[$row] = $_POST['description'], $arrayamto[$row] = $_POST['amount'], $arrayoptid[$row] = $optid, $arrayfreq[$row] = $_POST['frequency'], ); $row ++; } while ($row_options = mysql_fetch_assoc($options)); $counter = $row - 1; ?> I'm having troubles retrieving the information that the user inputs. My intent is to loop through each row after the user has input their information, then upload the mix of my database information and the user's information into another database. For example, the user would see, albeit prettier: form1 Option 1: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 2: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 3: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] Option 4: description [input box] amount [input box] frequency [option box] submit Upon submitting the form above, I'm using a query similar to the following to input the data into the database: for($row=0; $row<=$counter; $row++){ $insertSQL2 = sprintf("INSERT INTO table (option_id, amount, description, frequency) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s)", GetSQLValueString($arrayoptid[$row], "int"), GetSQLValueString($arrayamto[$row], "int"), GetSQLValueString($arraydesc[$row], "text"), GetSQLValueString($arrayfreq[$row], "text")); // code to submit query } I've tried for, foreach, arrays (what feels like the everything I know) to post each row (row by row) into the database. I either get just the last row of data, or no data at all. I also worry that the [$row] technique is adding characters to my data. What is the best way to retrieve each row of the user's inputs, then upload this data (row by row) into the database? Also, I would really appreciate your suggestions for improving my coding technique and the approach I'm taking.

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  • Parallelism in .NET – Part 3, Imperative Data Parallelism: Early Termination

    - by Reed
    Although simple data parallelism allows us to easily parallelize many of our iteration statements, there are cases that it does not handle well.  In my previous discussion, I focused on data parallelism with no shared state, and where every element is being processed exactly the same. Unfortunately, there are many common cases where this does not happen.  If we are dealing with a loop that requires early termination, extra care is required when parallelizing. Often, while processing in a loop, once a certain condition is met, it is no longer necessary to continue processing.  This may be a matter of finding a specific element within the collection, or reaching some error case.  The important distinction here is that, it is often impossible to know until runtime, what set of elements needs to be processed. In my initial discussion of data parallelism, I mentioned that this technique is a candidate when you can decompose the problem based on the data involved, and you wish to apply a single operation concurrently on all of the elements of a collection.  This covers many of the potential cases, but sometimes, after processing some of the elements, we need to stop processing. As an example, lets go back to our previous Parallel.ForEach example with contacting a customer.  However, this time, we’ll change the requirements slightly.  In this case, we’ll add an extra condition – if the store is unable to email the customer, we will exit gracefully.  The thinking here, of course, is that if the store is currently unable to email, the next time this operation runs, it will handle the same situation, so we can just skip our processing entirely.  The original, serial case, with this extra condition, might look something like the following: foreach(var customer in customers) { // Run some process that takes some time... DateTime lastContact = theStore.GetLastContact(customer); TimeSpan timeSinceContact = DateTime.Now - lastContact; // If it's been more than two weeks, send an email, and update... if (timeSinceContact.Days > 14) { // Exit gracefully if we fail to email, since this // entire process can be repeated later without issue. if (theStore.EmailCustomer(customer) == false) break; customer.LastEmailContact = DateTime.Now; } } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } Here, we’re processing our loop, but at any point, if we fail to send our email successfully, we just abandon this process, and assume that it will get handled correctly the next time our routine is run.  If we try to parallelize this using Parallel.ForEach, as we did previously, we’ll run into an error almost immediately: the break statement we’re using is only valid when enclosed within an iteration statement, such as foreach.  When we switch to Parallel.ForEach, we’re no longer within an iteration statement – we’re a delegate running in a method. This needs to be handled slightly differently when parallelized.  Instead of using the break statement, we need to utilize a new class in the Task Parallel Library: ParallelLoopState.  The ParallelLoopState class is intended to allow concurrently running loop bodies a way to interact with each other, and provides us with a way to break out of a loop.  In order to use this, we will use a different overload of Parallel.ForEach which takes an IEnumerable<T> and an Action<T, ParallelLoopState> instead of an Action<T>.  Using this, we can parallelize the above operation by doing: Parallel.ForEach(customers, (customer, parallelLoopState) => { // Run some process that takes some time... DateTime lastContact = theStore.GetLastContact(customer); TimeSpan timeSinceContact = DateTime.Now - lastContact; // If it's been more than two weeks, send an email, and update... if (timeSinceContact.Days > 14) { // Exit gracefully if we fail to email, since this // entire process can be repeated later without issue. if (theStore.EmailCustomer(customer) == false) parallelLoopState.Break(); else customer.LastEmailContact = DateTime.Now; } }); There are a couple of important points here.  First, we didn’t actually instantiate the ParallelLoopState instance.  It was provided directly to us via the Parallel class.  All we needed to do was change our lambda expression to reflect that we want to use the loop state, and the Parallel class creates an instance for our use.  We also needed to change our logic slightly when we call Break().  Since Break() doesn’t stop the program flow within our block, we needed to add an else case to only set the property in customer when we succeeded.  This same technique can be used to break out of a Parallel.For loop. That being said, there is a huge difference between using ParallelLoopState to cause early termination and to use break in a standard iteration statement.  When dealing with a loop serially, break will immediately terminate the processing within the closest enclosing loop statement.  Calling ParallelLoopState.Break(), however, has a very different behavior. The issue is that, now, we’re no longer processing one element at a time.  If we break in one of our threads, there are other threads that will likely still be executing.  This leads to an important observation about termination of parallel code: Early termination in parallel routines is not immediate.  Code will continue to run after you request a termination. This may seem problematic at first, but it is something you just need to keep in mind while designing your routine.  ParallelLoopState.Break() should be thought of as a request.  We are telling the runtime that no elements that were in the collection past the element we’re currently processing need to be processed, and leaving it up to the runtime to decide how to handle this as gracefully as possible.  Although this may seem problematic at first, it is a good thing.  If the runtime tried to immediately stop processing, many of our elements would be partially processed.  It would be like putting a return statement in a random location throughout our loop body – which could have horrific consequences to our code’s maintainability. In order to understand and effectively write parallel routines, we, as developers, need a subtle, but profound shift in our thinking.  We can no longer think in terms of sequential processes, but rather need to think in terms of requests to the system that may be handled differently than we’d first expect.  This is more natural to developers who have dealt with asynchronous models previously, but is an important distinction when moving to concurrent programming models. As an example, I’ll discuss the Break() method.  ParallelLoopState.Break() functions in a way that may be unexpected at first.  When you call Break() from a loop body, the runtime will continue to process all elements of the collection that were found prior to the element that was being processed when the Break() method was called.  This is done to keep the behavior of the Break() method as close to the behavior of the break statement as possible. We can see the behavior in this simple code: var collection = Enumerable.Range(0, 20); var pResult = Parallel.ForEach(collection, (element, state) => { if (element > 10) { Console.WriteLine("Breaking on {0}", element); state.Break(); } Console.WriteLine(element); }); If we run this, we get a result that may seem unexpected at first: 0 2 1 5 6 3 4 10 Breaking on 11 11 Breaking on 12 12 9 Breaking on 13 13 7 8 Breaking on 15 15 What is occurring here is that we loop until we find the first element where the element is greater than 10.  In this case, this was found, the first time, when one of our threads reached element 11.  It requested that the loop stop by calling Break() at this point.  However, the loop continued processing until all of the elements less than 11 were completed, then terminated.  This means that it will guarantee that elements 9, 7, and 8 are completed before it stops processing.  You can see our other threads that were running each tried to break as well, but since Break() was called on the element with a value of 11, it decides which elements (0-10) must be processed. If this behavior is not desirable, there is another option.  Instead of calling ParallelLoopState.Break(), you can call ParallelLoopState.Stop().  The Stop() method requests that the runtime terminate as soon as possible , without guaranteeing that any other elements are processed.  Stop() will not stop the processing within an element, so elements already being processed will continue to be processed.  It will prevent new elements, even ones found earlier in the collection, from being processed.  Also, when Stop() is called, the ParallelLoopState’s IsStopped property will return true.  This lets longer running processes poll for this value, and return after performing any necessary cleanup. The basic rule of thumb for choosing between Break() and Stop() is the following. Use ParallelLoopState.Stop() when possible, since it terminates more quickly.  This is particularly useful in situations where you are searching for an element or a condition in the collection.  Once you’ve found it, you do not need to do any other processing, so Stop() is more appropriate. Use ParallelLoopState.Break() if you need to more closely match the behavior of the C# break statement. Both methods behave differently than our C# break statement.  Unfortunately, when parallelizing a routine, more thought and care needs to be put into every aspect of your routine than you may otherwise expect.  This is due to my second observation: Parallelizing a routine will almost always change its behavior. This sounds crazy at first, but it’s a concept that’s so simple its easy to forget.  We’re purposely telling the system to process more than one thing at the same time, which means that the sequence in which things get processed is no longer deterministic.  It is easy to change the behavior of your routine in very subtle ways by introducing parallelism.  Often, the changes are not avoidable, even if they don’t have any adverse side effects.  This leads to my final observation for this post: Parallelization is something that should be handled with care and forethought, added by design, and not just introduced casually.

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  • Need help transforming DirectX 9 skybox hlsl shader to DirectX 11

    - by J2V
    I am in the middle of implementing a skybox to my game. I have been following this tutorial http://rbwhitaker.wikidot.com/skyboxes-2. I am using MonoGame as a framework and in order to support both Windows and Windows 8 metro I need to compile the shader with pixel and vertex shader 4. compile vs_4_0_level_9_1 compile ps_4_0_level_9_1 However some of the hlsl syntax has been updated with DX10 and DX11. I need to update this hlsl code: float4x4 World; float4x4 View; float4x4 Projection; float3 CameraPosition; Texture SkyBoxTexture; samplerCUBE SkyBoxSampler = sampler_state { texture = <SkyBoxTexture>; magfilter = LINEAR; minfilter = LINEAR; mipfilter = LINEAR; AddressU = Mirror; AddressV = Mirror; }; struct VertexShaderInput { float4 Position : POSITION0; }; struct VertexShaderOutput { float4 Position : POSITION0; float3 TextureCoordinate : TEXCOORD0; }; VertexShaderOutput VertexShaderFunction(VertexShaderInput input) { VertexShaderOutput output; float4 worldPosition = mul(input.Position, World); float4 viewPosition = mul(worldPosition, View); output.Position = mul(viewPosition, Projection); float4 VertexPosition = mul(input.Position, World); output.TextureCoordinate = VertexPosition - CameraPosition; return output; } float4 PixelShaderFunction(VertexShaderOutput input) : COLOR0 { return texCUBE(SkyBoxSampler, normalize(input.TextureCoordinate)); } technique Skybox { pass Pass1 { VertexShader = compile vs_2_0 VertexShaderFunction(); PixelShader = compile ps_2_0 PixelShaderFunction(); } } I quess I need to change Texture into TextureCube, change sampler, swap texCUBE() with TextureCube.Sample() and change PixelShader return semantic to SV_Target0. I'm very new in shader languages and any help is appreciated!

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  • Silverlight 4 Training Kit

    - by ScottGu
    We recently released a new free Silverlight 4 Training Kit that walks you through building business applications with Silverlight 4.  You can browse the training kit online or alternatively download an entire offline version of the training kit.  The training material is structured on teaching how to use the new Silverlight 4 features to build an end to end business application. The training kit includes 8 modules, 25 videos, and several hands on labs. Below is a breakdown and links to all of the content. [In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu] Module 1: Introduction Click here to watch this module. In this video John Papa and Ian Griffiths discuss the key areas that the Building Business Applications with Silverlight 4 course focuses on. This module is the overview of the course and covers many key scenarios that are faced when building business applications, and how Silverlight can help address them. Module 2: WCF RIA Services Click here to explore this module. In this lab, you will create a web site for managing conferences that will be the basis for the other labs in this course. Don’t worry if you don’t complete a particular lab in the series – all lab manual instructions are accompanied by completed solutions, so you can either build your own solution from start to finish, or dive straight in at any point using the solutions provided as a starting point. In this lab you will learn how to set up WCF RIA Services, create bindings to the domain context, filter using the domain data source, and create domain service queries. Online Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 2.1 - WCF RIA Services Ian Griffiths sets up the Entity Framework and WCF RIA Services for the sample Event Manager application for the course. He covers how to set up the services, how the Domain Services work and the role that the DomainContext plays in the sample application. He also reviews the metadata classes and integrating the navigation framework. Module 2.2 – Using WCF RIA Services to Edit Entities Ian Griffiths discusses how he adds the ability to edit and create individual entities with the features built into WCF RIA Services into the sample Event Manager application. He covers data binding fundamentals, IQueryable, LINQ, the DomainDataSource, navigation to a single entity using the navigation framework, and how to use the Visual Studio designer to do much of the work . Module 2.3 – Showing Master/Details Records Using WCF RIA Services Ian Griffiths reviews how to display master/detail records for the sample Event Manager application using WCF RIA Services. He covers how to use the Include attribute to indicate which elements to serialize back to the client. Ian also demonstrates how to use the Data Sources window in the designer to add and bind controls to specific data elements. He wraps up by showing how to create custom services to the Domain Services. Module 3 – Authentication, Validation, MVVM, Commands, Implicit Styles and RichTextBox Click here to visit this module. This lab demonstrates how to build a login screen, integrate ASP.NET authentication, and perform validation on data elements. Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) is introduced and used in this lab as a pattern to help separate the UI and business logic. You will also learn how to use implicit styling and the new RichTextBox control. Online Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 3.1 – Authentication Ian Griffiths covers how to integrate a login screen and authentication into the sample Event Manager application. Ian shows how to use the ASP.NET authentication and integrate it into WCF RIA Services and the Silverlight presentation layer. Module 3.2 – MVVM Ian Griffiths covers how to Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) patterns into the sample Event Manager application. He discusses why MVVM exists, what separated presentation means, and why it is important. He shows how to connect the View to the ViewModel, why data binding is important in this symbiosis, and how everything fits together in the overall application. Module 3.3 –Validation Ian Griffiths discusses how validation of user input can be integrated into the sample Event Manager application. He demonstrates how to use the DataAnnotations, the INotifyDataErrorInfo interface, binding markup extensions, and WCF RIA Services in concert to achieve great validation in the sample application. He discusses how this technique allows for property level validation, entity level validation, and asynchronous server side validation. Module 3.4 – Implicit Styles Ian Griffiths discusses how why implicit styles are important and how they can be integrated into the sample Event Manager application. He shows how implicit styles defined in a resource dictionary can be applied to all elements of a particular kind throughout the application. Module 3.5 – RichTextBox Ian Griffiths discusses how the new RichTextBox control and it can be integrated into the sample Event Manager application. He demonstrates how the RichTextBox can provide editing for the event information and how it can display the rich text for selection and copying. Module 4 – User Profiles, Drop Targets, Webcam and Clipboard Click here to visit this module. This lab builds new features into the sample application to take the user's photo. It teaches you how to use the webcam to capture an image, use Silverlight as a drop target, and take advantage of programmatic access to the clipboard. Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 4.1 – Webcam Ian Griffiths demonstrates how the webcam adds value to the sample Event Manager application by capturing an image of the attendee. He discusses the VideoCaptureDevice, the CaptureDviceConfiguration, and the CaptureSource classes and how they allow audio and video to be captured so you can grab an image from the capture device and save it. Module 4.2 - Drag and Drop in Silverlight Ian Griffiths demonstrates how to capture and handle the Drop in the sample Event Manager application so the user can drag a photo from a file and drop it into the application. Ian reviews the AllowDrop property, the Drop event, how to access the file that can be dropped, and the other drag related events. He also reviews how to make this work across browsers and the challenges for this. Module 5 – Schedule Planner and Right Mouse Click Click here to visit this module. This lab builds on the application to allow grouping in the DataGrid and implement right mouse click features to add context menu support. Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 5.1 – Grouping and Binding Ian Griffiths demonstrates how to use the grouping features for data binding in the DataGrid and how it applies to the sample Event Manager application. He reviews the role of the CollectionViewSource in grouping, customizing the templates for headers, and how to work with grouping with ItemsControls. Module 5.2 – Layout Visual States Ian Griffiths demonstrates how to use the Fluid UI animation support for visual states in the ListBox control DataGrid and how it applies to the sample Event Manager application. He reviews the 3 visual states of BeforeLoaded, AfterLoaded, and BeforeUnloaded. Module 5.3 – Right Mouse Click Ian Griffiths demonstrates how to add support for handling the right mouse button click event to display a context menu for the Event Manager application. He demonstrates how to handle the event, show a custom context menu control, and integrate it into the scheduling portion of the application. Module 6 – Printing the Schedule Click here to visit this module. This lab teaches how to use the new printing features in Silverlight 4. The lab walks through the PrintDocument class and the ViewBox control, while showing how to print multiple pages of content using them. Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 6.1 – Printing and the Viewbox Ian Griffiths demonstrates how to add the ability to print the schedule to the sample Event Manager application. He walks through the importance of the PrintDocument class and its members. He also shows how to handle printing the visual tree and how the ViewBox control can help. Module 6.2 – Multi Page Printing Ian Griffiths expands on his printing discussion by showing how to handle printing multiple pages of content for the sample Event Manager application. He shows how to paginate the content and points out various tips to keep in mind when determining the printable area. Module 7 – Running the Event Dashboard Out of Browser Click here to visit this module. This lab builds a dashboard for the sample application while explaining the fundamentals of the out of browser features, how to handle authentication, displaying notifications (toasts), and how to use native integration to use COM Interop with Silverlight. Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 7.1 – Out of Browser Ian Griffiths discusses the role of an Out of Browser application for administrators to manage the events and users in the sample Event Manager application. He discusses several reasons why out of browser applications may better suit your needs including custom chrome, toasts, window placement, cross domain access, and file access. He demonstrates the basic technique to take your application and make it work out of browser using the tools. Module 7.2 – NotificationWindow (Toasts) for Elevated Trust Out of Browser Applications Ian Griffiths discusses the how toasts can be used in the sample Event Manager application to show information that may require the user's attention. Ian covers how to create a toast using the NotificationWindow, security implications, and how to make the toast appear as needed. Module 7.3 – Out of Browser Window Placement Ian Griffiths discusses the how to manage the window positioning when building an out of browser application, handling the windows state, and controlling and handling activation of the window. Module 7.4 – Out of Browser Elevated Trust Application Overview Ian Griffiths discusses the implications of creating trusted out of browser application for the Event Manager sample application. He reviews why you might want to use elevated trust, what features is opens to you, and how to take advantage of them. Topics Ian covers include the dynamic keyword in C# 4, the AutomationFactory class, the API to check if you are in a trusted application, and communicating with Excel. Module 8 – Advanced Out of Browser and MEF Click here to visit this module. This hands-on lab walks through the creation of a trusted out of browser application and the new functionality that comes with that. You will learn to use COM Automation, handle the window closing event, set custom window chrome, digitally sign your Silverlight out of browser trusted application, create a silent install option, and take advantage of MEF. Link Download Source Download Lab Document Videos Module 8.1 – Custom Window Chrome for Elevated Trust Out of Browser Applications Ian Griffiths discusses how to replace the standard operating system window chrome with customized chrome for an elevated trusted out of browser application. He covers how it is important to handle close, resize, minimize, and maximize events. Ian mentions that the tooling was not ready when he shot this video, but the good news is that the tooling now supports setting the custom chrome directly from the property page for the Silverlight application. Module 8.2 – Window Closing Event for Out of Browser Applications Ian Griffiths discusses the WindowClosing event and how to handle and optionally cancel the event. Module 8.3 – Silent Install of Out of Browser Applications Ian Griffiths discusses how to use the SLLauncher executable to install an out of browser application. He discusses the optional command line switches that can be set including how the emulate switch can help you emulate the install process. Ian also shows how to setup a shortcut for the application and tell the application where it should look for future updates online. Module 8.4 – Digitally Signing Out of Browser Application Ian Griffiths discusses how and why to digitally sign an out of browser application using the signtool program. He covers what trusted certificates are, the implications of signing (or not signing), and the effect on the user experience. Module 8.5 – The Value of MEF with Silverlight Ian Griffiths discusses what MEF is, how your application can benefit from it, and the fundamental features it puts at your disposal. He covers the 3 step import, export and compose process as well as how to dynamically import XAP files using MEF. Summary As you can probably tell from the long list above – this series contains a ton of great content, and hopefully provides a nice end-to-end walkthrough that helps explain how to take advantage of Silverlight 4 (and all its new features).  Hope this helps, Scott

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  • error X3501: 'main': entrypoint not found

    - by Pasha
    I am trying to learn DX10 by following this tutorial. However, my shader won't compile. Below is the detailed error message. Build started 9/10/2012 10:22:46 PM. 1>Project "D:\code\dx\Engine\Engine\Engine.vcxproj" on node 2 (Build target(s)). C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\bin\x86\fxc.exe /nologo /E"main" /Fo "D:\code\dx\Engine\Debug\color.cso" /Od /Zi color.fx 1>FXC : error X3501: 'main': entrypoint not found compilation failed; no code produced 1>Done Building Project "D:\code\dx\Engine\Engine\Engine.vcxproj" (Build target(s)) -- FAILED. Build FAILED. Time Elapsed 00:00:00.05 I can easily compile the downloaded code, but I want to know how to fix this error myself. My color.fx looks like this //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Filename: color.fx //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////// // GLOBALS // ///////////// matrix worldMatrix; matrix viewMatrix; matrix projectionMatrix; ////////////// // TYPEDEFS // ////////////// struct VertexInputType { float4 position : POSITION; float4 color : COLOR; }; struct PixelInputType { float4 position : SV_POSITION; float4 color : COLOR; }; //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Vertex Shader //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// PixelInputType ColorVertexShader(VertexInputType input) { PixelInputType output; // Change the position vector to be 4 units for proper matrix calculations. input.position.w = 1.0f; // Calculate the position of the vertex against the world, view, and projection matrices. output.position = mul(input.position, worldMatrix); output.position = mul(output.position, viewMatrix); output.position = mul(output.position, projectionMatrix); // Store the input color for the pixel shader to use. output.color = input.color; return output; } //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Pixel Shader //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// float4 ColorPixelShader(PixelInputType input) : SV_Target { return input.color; } //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Technique //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// technique10 ColorTechnique { pass pass0 { SetVertexShader(CompileShader(vs_4_0, ColorVertexShader())); SetPixelShader(CompileShader(ps_4_0, ColorPixelShader())); SetGeometryShader(NULL); } }

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  • WebCenter Spaces 11g - UI Customization

    - by john.brunswick
    When developing on top of a portal platform to support an intranet or extranet, a portion of the development time is spent adjusting the out-of-box user templates to adjust the look and feel of the platform for your organization. Generally your deployment will not need to look like anything like the sites posted on http://cssremix.com/ or http://www.webcreme.com/, but will meet business needs by adjusting basic elements like navigation, color palate and logo placement. After spending some time doing custom UI development with WebCenter Spaces 11G I have gathered a few tips that I hope can help to speed anyone's efforts to quickly "skin" a WebCenter Spaces deployment. A detailed white paper was released that outlines a technique to quickly update the UI during runtime - http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/webcenter/pdf/owcs_r11120_cust_skins_runtime_wp.pdf. Customizing at "runtime" means using CSS and images to adjust the page layout and feel, which when creatively done can change the pages drastically. WebCenter also allows for detailed templates to manage the placement of major page elements like menus, sidebar, etc, but by adjusting only images and CSS we can end up with something like the custom solution shown below. view large image Let's dive right in and take a look at some tools to make our efforts more efficient.

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  • Inside Amazon’s Warehouses

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re expecting the inside of Amazon’s warehouses to be some sort of rigidly organized robot-filled warehouse of tomorrow, you’ll be quite surprised to find that storage technique they employ is called “chaotic storage”. International Business Times paid a visit to a major Amazon warehouse and took a tour. Rather than finding robots they found: Amazon must rely on barcodes and human hands to find the ordered items and drop them into the proper bins — without robots, Amazon utilizes a system known as “chaotic storage,” where products are essentially shelved at random. By storing items randomly instead of categorically, the warehouse has a much better flow of material. Even without robots or automation, Amazon can compile a “picking list” where each item needs to be taken off the shelf and scanned again before it can be shipped. The real advantage to chaotic storage is that it’s significantly more flexible than conventional storage systems. If there are big changes in a product range, the company doesn’t need to plan for more space, because the products or their sales volumes don’t need to be known or planned in advance if they’re simply being stored at random. HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder?

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  • How bad is it to use display: none in CSS?

    - by Andy
    I've heard many times that it's bad to use display: none for SEO reasons, as it could be an attempt to push in irrelevant popular keywords. A few questions: Is that still received wisdom? Does it make a difference if you're only hiding a single word, or perhaps a single character? If you should avoid any use of it, what are the preferred techniques for hiding (in situations where you need it to become visible again on certain conditions)? Some references I've found so far: Matt Cutts from 2005 in a comment If you're straight-out using CSS to hide text, don't be surprised if that is called spam. I'm not saying that mouseovers or DHTML text or have-a-logo-but-also-have-text is spam; I answered that last one at a conference when I said "imagine how it would look to a visitor, a competitor, or someone checking out a spam report. If you show your company's name and it's Expo Markers instead of an Expo Markers logo, you should be fine. If the text you decide to show is 'Expo Markers cheap online discount buy online Expo Markers sale ...' then I would be more cautious, because that can look bad." And in another comment on the same article We can flag text that appears to be hidden using CSS at Google. To date we have not algorithmically removed sites for doing that. We try hard to avoid throwing babies out with bathwater. (My emphasis) Eric Enge said in 2008 The legitimate use of this technique is so prevalent that I would rarely expect search engines to penalize a site for using the display: none attribute. It’s just very difficult to implement an algorithm that could truly ferret out whether the particular use of display: none is meant to deceive the search engines or not. Thanks in advance, Andy

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  • 10 Useful CSS Tips And Tutorials

    - by Jyoti
    CSS is a technology that web designers use everyday, but yet it is something that most struggle with as well. Whether it’s keeping stylesheets for large sites manageable or creating image effects that are cross browser compatible, there are plenty of things to cause frustration. This article is an attempt to provide you with a few resources that might help you with your CSS or introduce you to a few tricks you didn’t know about. Organizing Your Stylesheet Using CSS Edit: Rob Soule of Viget Labs shows you how to organize your style sheets using CSS Edit, a powerful CSS editor built exclusively for the mac. Tips For Organizing Your CSS: A set of practical tips for organizing your style sheets. Write A Well Structured CSS File: A detailed and well written post about how to write a well structured CSS file. Expandable CSS Tabs Tutorials: A tutorial on creating expandable CSS tabs. Simple Round CSS Buttons: Learn how to create rounded corner buttons with only One Image and One CSS file. Beautiful CSS Buttons With Icons Set: Learn how to create a clean set of buttons with CSS and an icon set. Scalable CSS Buttons Using PNG And Background Colors: Create Resizing Thumbnails Using Overflow Property: Learn how to create a cool resizing thumbnail effect. CSS Decorative Gallery: Decorate your images and photo galleries without editing the source images. Placing Text Over Image Using CSS Position Property: A simple technique for placing text over an image.

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  • Ada and 'The Book'

    - by Phil Factor
    The long friendship between Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace created one of the most exciting and mysterious of collaborations ever to have resulted in a technological breakthrough. The fireworks that created by the collision of two prodigious mathematical and creative talents resulted in an invention, the Analytical Engine, which went on to change society fundamentally. However, beyond that, we just don't know what the bulk of their collaborative work was about:;  it was done in strictest secrecy. Even the known outcome of their friendship, the first programmable computer, was shrouded in mystery. At the time, nobody, except close friends and family, had any idea of Ada Byron's contribution to the invention of the ‘Engine’, and how to program it. Her great insight was published in August 1843, under the initials AAL, standing for Ada Augusta Lovelace, her title then being the Countess of Lovelace. It was contained in a lengthy ‘note’ to her translation of a publication that remains the best description of Babbage's amazing Analytical Engine. The secret identity of the person behind those enigmatic initials was finally revealed by Prince de Polignac who, seventy years later, wrote to Ada's daughter to seek confirmation that her mother had, indeed, been the author of the brilliant sentences that described so accurately how Babbage's mechanical computer could be programmed with punch-cards. L.F. Menabrea's paper on the Analytical Engine first appeared in the 'Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve' in October 1842, and Ada translated it anonymously for Taylor's 'Scientific Memoirs'. Charles Babbage was surprised that she had not written an original paper as she already knew a surprising amount about the way the machine worked. He persuaded her to at least write some explanatory notes. These notes ended up extending to four times the length of the original article and represented the first published account of how a machine could be programmed to perform any calculation. Her example of programming the Bernoulli sequence would have worked on the Analytical engine had the device’s construction been completed, and gave Ada an unassailable claim to have invented the art of programming. What was the reason for Ada's secrecy? She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, who was probably the best known celebrity of the age, so she was already famous. She was a senior aristocrat, with titles, a fortune in money and vast estates in the Midlands. She had political influence, and was the cousin of Lord Melbourne, who was the Prime Minister at that time. She was friendly with the young Queen Victoria. Her mathematical activities were a pastime, and not one that would be considered by others to be in keeping with her roles and responsibilities. You wouldn't dare to dream up a fictional heroine like Ada. She was dazzlingly beautiful and talented. She could speak several languages fluently, and play some musical instruments with professional skill. Contemporary accounts refer to her being 'accomplished in science, art and literature'. On top of that, she was a brilliant mathematician, a talent inherited from her mother, Annabella Milbanke. In her mother's circle of literary and scientific friends was Charles Babbage, and Ada's friendship with him dates from her teenage zest for Mathematics. She was one of the first people he'd ever met who understood what he had attempted to achieve with the 'Difference Engine', and with whom he could converse as intellectual equals. He arranged for her to have an education from the most talented academics in the country. Ada melted the heart of the cantankerous genius to the point that he became a faithful and loyal father-figure to her. She was one of the very few who could grasp the principles of the later, and very different, ‘Analytical Engine’ which was designed from the start to tackle a variety of tasks. Sadly, Ada Byron's life ended less than a decade after completing the work that assured her long-term fame, in November 1852. She was dying of cancer, her gambling habits had caused her to run up huge debts, she'd had more than one affairs, and she was being blackmailed. Her brilliant but unempathic mother was nursing her in her final illness, destroying her personal letters and records, and repaying her debts. Her husband was distraught but helpless. Charles Babbage, however, maintained his steadfast paternalistic friendship to the end. She appointed her loyal friend to be her executor. For years, she and Babbage had been working together on a secret project, known only as 'The Book'. We have a clue to what it was in a letter written by her nine years earlier, on 11th August 1843. It was a joint project by herself and Lord Lovelace, her husband, and was intended to involve Babbage's 'undivided energies'. It involved 'consulting your Engine' (it required Babbage’s computer). The letter gives no hint about the project except for the high-minded nature of its purpose, and its highly mathematical nature.  From then on, the surviving correspondence between the two gives only veiled references to 'The Book'. There isn't much, since Babbage later destroyed any letters that could have damaged her reputation within the Establishment. 'I cannot spare the book today, which I am very sorry for. At the moment I want it for constant reference, but I think you can have it tomorrow' (Oct 1844)  And 'I will send you the book directly, and you can say, when you receive it, how long you will want to keep it'. (Nov 1844)  The two of them were obviously intent on the work: She writes, four years later, 'I have an engagement for Wednesday which will prevent me from attending to your wishes about the book' (Dec 1848). This was something that they both needed to work on, but could not do in parallel: 'I will send the book on Tuesday, and it can be left with you till Friday' (11 Feb 1849). After six years work, it had been so well-handled that it was beginning to fall apart: 'Don't forget the new cover you promised for the book. The poor book is very shabby and wants one' (20 Sept 1849). So what was going on? The word 'book' was not a code-word: it was a real book, probably a 'printer's blank', plain paper, but properly bound so printers and publishers could show off how the published work might look. The hints from the correspondence are of advanced mathematics. It is obvious that the book was travelling between them, back and forth, each one working on it for less than a week before passing it back. Ada and her husband were certainly involved in gambling large sums of money on the horses, and so most biographers have concluded that the three of them were trying to calculate the mathematical odds on the horses. This theory has three large problems. Firstly, Ada's original letter proposing the project refers to its high-minded nature. Babbage was temperamentally opposed to gambling and would scarcely have given so much time to the project, even though he was devoted to Ada. Secondly, Babbage would have very soon have realized the hopelessness of trying to beat the bookies. This sort of betting never attracts his type of intellectual background. The third problem is that any work on calculating the odds on horses would not need a well-thumbed book to pass back and forth between them; they would have not had to work in series. The original project was instigated by Ada, along with her husband, William King-Noel, 1st Earl of Lovelace. Charles Babbage was invited to join the project after the couple had come up with the idea. What could William have contributed? One might assume that William was a Bertie Wooster character, addicted only to the joys of the turf, but this was far from the truth. He was a scientist, a Cambridge graduate who was later elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. After Eton, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. On graduation, he entered the diplomatic service and acted as secretary under Lord Nugent, who was Lord Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. William was very friendly with Babbage too, able to discuss scientific matters on equal terms. He was a capable engineer who invented a process for bending large timbers by the application of steam heat. He delivered a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1849, and received praise from the great engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. As well as being Lord Lieutenant of the County of Surrey for most of Victoria's reign, he had time for a string of scientific and engineering achievements. Whatever the project was, it is unlikely that William was a junior partner. After Ada's death, the project disappeared. Then, two years later, Babbage, through one of his occasional outbursts of temper, demonstrated that he was able to decrypt one of the most powerful of secret codes, Vigenère's autokey cipher.  All contemporary diplomatic and military messages used a variant of this cipher. Babbage had made three important discoveries, namely, the mathematical law of this cipher, the principle of the key periodicity, and the technique of the symmetry of position. The technique is now known as the Kasiski examination, also called the Kasiski test, but Babbage got there first. At one time, he listed amongst his future projects, the writing of a book 'The Philosophy of Decyphering', but it never came to anything. This discovery was going to change the course of history, since it was used to decipher the Russians’ military dispatches in the Crimean war. Babbage himself played a role during the Crimean War as a cryptographical adviser to his friend, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the Admiralty. This is as much as we can be certain about in trying to make sense of the bulk of the time that Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace worked together. Nine years of intensive work, involving the 'Engine' and a great deal of mathematics and research seems to have been lost: or has it? I've argued in the past http://www.simple-talk.com/community/blogs/philfactor/archive/2008/06/13/59614.aspx that the cracking of the Vigenère autokey cipher, was a fundamental motive behind the British Government's support and funding of the 'Difference Engine'. The Duke of Wellington, whose understanding of the military significance of being able to read enemy dispatches, was the most steadfast advocate of the project. If the three friends were actually doing the work of cracking codes by mathematical techniques that used the techniques of key periodicity, and symmetry of position (the use of a book being passed quickly to and fro is very suggestive), intending to then use the 'Engine' to do the routine cracking of each dispatch, then this is a rather different story. The project was Ada and William's idea. (William had served in the diplomatic service and would be familiar with the use of codes). This makes Ada Lovelace the initiator of a project which, by giving both Britain, and probably the USA, a diplomatic and military advantage in the second part of the Nineteenth century, changed world history. Ada would never have wanted any credit for cracking the cipher, and developing the method that rendered all contemporary military and diplomatic ciphering techniques nugatory; quite the reverse. And it is clear from the gaps in the record of the letters between the collaborators that the evidence was destroyed, probably on her request by her irascible but intensely honorable executor, Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage toyed with the idea of going public, but the Crimean war put an end to that. The British Government had a valuable secret, and intended to keep it that way. Ada and Charles had quite often discussed possible moneymaking projects that would fund the development of the Analytic Engine, the first programmable computer, but their secret work was never in the running as a potential cash cow. I suspect that the British Government was, even then, working on the concealment of a discovery whose value to the nation depended on it remaining so. The success of code-breaking in the Crimean war, and the American Civil war, led to the British and Americans  subsequently giving much more weight and funding to the science of decryption. Paradoxically, this makes Ada's contribution even closer to the creation of Colossus, the first digital computer, at Bletchley Park, specifically to crack the Nazi’s secret codes.

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  • ASP.NET MVC localization DisplayNameAttribute alternatives: a good way

    - by Brian Schroer
    The ASP.NET MVC HTML helper methods like .LabelFor and .EditorFor use model metadata to autogenerate labels for model properties. By default it uses the property name for the label text, but if that’s not appropriate, you can use a DisplayName attribute to specify the desired label text: [DisplayName("Remember me?")] public bool RememberMe { get; set; } I’m working on a multi-language web site, so the labels need to be localized. I tried pointing the DisplayName attribute to a resource string: [DisplayName(MyResource.RememberMe)] public bool RememberMe { get; set; } …but that results in the compiler error "An attribute argument must be a constant expression, typeof expression or array creation expression of an attribute parameter type”. I got around this by creating a custom LocalizedDisplayNameAttribute class that inherits from DisplayNameAttribute: 1: public class LocalizedDisplayNameAttribute : DisplayNameAttribute 2: { 3: public LocalizedDisplayNameAttribute(string resourceKey) 4: { 5: ResourceKey = resourceKey; 6: } 7:   8: public override string DisplayName 9: { 10: get 11: { 12: string displayName = MyResource.ResourceManager.GetString(ResourceKey); 13:   14: return string.IsNullOrEmpty(displayName) 15: ? string.Format("[[{0}]]", ResourceKey) 16: : displayName; 17: } 18: } 19:   20: private string ResourceKey { get; set; } 21: } Instead of a display string, it takes a constructor argument of a resource key. The DisplayName method is overridden to get the display string from the resource file (line 12). If the key is not found, I return a formatted string containing the key (e.g. “[[RememberMe]]”) so I can tell by looking at my web pages which resource keys I haven’t defined yet (line 15). The usage of my custom attribute in the model looks like this: [LocalizedDisplayName("RememberMe")] public bool RememberMe { get; set; } That was my first attempt at localized display names, and it’s a technique that I still use in some cases, but in my next post I’ll talk about the method that I now prefer, a custom DataAnnotationsModelMetadataProvider class…

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, April 26, 2010

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, April 26, 2010New Projects.Net 4.0 WPF Twitter Client: A .Net 4.0 Twitter client application built in WPF using PrismAop 权限管理 license授权: 授权管理 Aop应用asp.mvc example with ajax: asp.mvc example with ajaxBojinx: Flex 4 Framework and Management utilities IOC Container Flexible and powerful event management and handling Create your own Processors and Annotat...Browser Gallese: Il Browser Gallese serve per andare in internet quasi SICURO e GratiseaaCaletti: 2. Semester project @ ÅrhusEnki Char 2 BIN: A program that converts characters to binary and vice versaFsGame: A wrapper over xna to improve its usage from F#jouba Images Converter: Convert piles of images to all key formats at one go! Make quick adjustments - resize, rotate. Get your pictures ready to be printed or uploaded to...MVC2 RESTful Library: A RESTFul Library using ASP.NET MVC 2.0My Schedule Tool: Schedule can be used to create simple or complex schedules for executing tens. NAntDefineTasks: NAnt Define Tasks allows you to define NAnt tasks in terms of other NAnt tasks, instead of having to write any C# code. PowerShell Admin Modules: PAM supplies a number of PowerShell modules satisfying the needs of Windows administrators. By pulling together functions for adminsitering files a...Search Youtube Direct: Another project By URPROB This is a sample application that take search videos from youtube. The videos are shown with different attributes catagor...Simple Site Template: Simple Site Template 一个为了方便网站项目框架模板~Slaff's demo project: this is my demo projectSSIS Credit Card Number Validator 08 (CCNV08): Credit Card Number Validator 08 (CCNV08) is a Custom SSIS Data Flow Transformation Component for SQL Server 2008 that determines whether the given ...Su-Lekhan: Su-Lekhan is lite weight source code editor with refactoring support which is extensible to multiple languagesV-Data: V-Data es una herramienta de calidad de datos (Data Quality) que mejora considerablemente la calidad de la información disponible en cualquier sist...zy26: zy26 was here...New ReleasesActive Directory User Properties Change: Source Code v 1.0: Full Source Code + Database Creation SQL Script You need to change some values in web.config and DataAccess.vb. Hope you will get the most benefit!!Bojinx: Bojinx Core V4.5: V 4.5 Stable buildBrowser Gallese: Browser 1.0.0.9: Il Browser Gallese va su internet veloce,gratis e Sicuro dalla nascita Su questo sito ci sono i fle d'istallazione e il codice sorgente scritti con...CSS 360 Planetary Calendar: LCO: Documents for the LCO MilestoneGArphics: Backgrounds: GArphics examples converted into PNG-images with a resolution of 1680x1050.GArphics: Beta v0.8: Beta v0.8. Includes built-in examples and a lot of new settings.Helium Frog Animator: Helium Frog Flow Diagram: This file contains a flow diagram showing how the program functions. The image is in .bmp format.Highlighterr for Visual C++ 2010: Highlighterr for Visual C++ 2010 Test Release: Seems I'm updating this on a daily basis now, I keep finding things to add/fix. So stay tuned for updates! Current Version: 1.02 Now picks up chan...HTML Ruby: 6.22.2: Slightly improved performance on inserted ruby Cleaned up the code someiTuner - The iTunes Companion: iTuner 1.2.3767 Beta 3: Beta 3 is requires iTunes 9.1.0.79 or later A Librarian status panel showing active and queued Librarian scanners. This will be hidden behind the ...Jet Login Tool (JetLoginTool): Logout - 1.5.3765.28026: Changed: Will logout from Jet if the "Stop" button is hit Fixed: Bug where A notification is received that the engine has stopped, but it hasn't ...jouba Images Converter: Release: The first beta release for Images ConverterKeep Focused - an enhanced tool for Time Management using Pomodoro Technique: Release 0.3 Alpha: Release Notes (Release 0.3 Alpha) The alpha preview provides the basic functionality used by the Pomodoro Technique. Files 1. Keep Focused Exe...Mercurial to Team Foundation Server Work Item Hook: Version 0.2: Changes Include: Eliminates the need for the Suds package by hand-rolling its own soap implementation Ability to specify columns and computed col...Mews: Mews.Application V0.8: Installation InstuctionsNew Features16569 16571 Fixed Issues16668 Missing Features16567 Known Remaining IssuesLarge text-only articles require la...MiniTwitter: 1.12: MiniTwitter 1.12 更新内容 注意 このバージョンは開発中につき、正式リリースまでに複数回更新されることがあります。 また不安定かもしれませんので、新機能を試したいという方以外には 1.11 をお勧めします。 追加 List 機能に仮対応 タイムラインの振り分け条件として...Multiwfn: multiwfn1.3.1_binary: multiwfn1.3.1_binaryMultiwfn: multiwfn1.3.1_source: multiwfn1.3.1_sourceMVC2 RESTful Library: Source Code: VS2010 Source CodeMy Schedule Tool: MyScheduleTool 0.1: Initial version for MyScheduleTool. If you have any comments about the project, please let me know. My email is cmicmobile@gmail.comNestoria.NET: Nestoria.NET 0.8.1: Provides access to the Nestoria API. Documentation contains a basic getting started guide. Please visit Darren Edge's blog for ongoing developmen...OgmoXNA: OgmoXNA Binaries: Binary release libraries for OgmoXNA and OgmoXNA content pipeline extensions. Includes both Windows and Xbox360 binaries in separate directories.OgmoXNA: OgmoXNA Source: NOTE: THE ASSETS PROVIDED IN THE DEMO GAME DISTRIBUTED WITH THIS SOURCE ARE PROPERTY OF MATT THORSON, AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY OTHER PROJECT...PokeIn Comet Ajax Library: PokeIn v07 x64: New FeaturesInstant Client Disconnected Detection Disable Server Push Technology OptionPokeIn Comet Ajax Library: PokeIn v07 x86: New FeaturesInstant Client Disconnected Detection Disable Server Push Technology OptionPowerShell Admin Modules: PAM 0.1: Version 0.1 includes share moduleRehost Image: 1.3.8: Added option to remove resolution/size text from the thumbnails of uploaded images in ImageShack. Fixed issue with FTP servers that give back jun...Site Directory for SharePoint 2010 (from Microsoft Consulting Services, UK): v1.3: Same as v1.2 with the following changes: Source Code and WSP updated to SharePoint 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 RTM releases Fields seperated into...SSIS Credit Card Number Validator 08 (CCNV08): CCNV08-1004Apr-R1: Version Released in Apr 2010SSIS Twitter Suite: v2.0: Upgraded Twitter Task to SSIS 2008sTASKedit: sTASKedit v0.7 Alpha: Features:Import of v56 (CN 1.3.6 v101) and v79 (PWI 1.4.2 v312) tasks.data files Export to v56 (Client) and v55 (Server) Clone & Delete Tasks ...StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.0.14724.1: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.0.14724.1 =============== StyleCop 4.3.3.0 ReSharper 5.0.1659.36 Visual Studio 2008 / Visual Studio 2010 Fixes === G...Windows Live ID SSO Luminis Integration: Version 1.2: This new version has been updated for accomodating the new release of the Windows Live SSO Toolkit v4.2.WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 1.0.0.11: Version: 1.0.0.11 (Milestone 11): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requi...XAML Code Snippets addin for Visual Studio 2010: Release for VS 2010 RTM: Release built for Visual Studio 2010 RTMXP-More: 1.0: Release Notes Improved VM folder recognition Added About window Added input validation and exception handling If exist, vud and vpcbackupfile...Most Popular ProjectsRawrWBFS ManagerAJAX Control ToolkitSilverlight ToolkitMicrosoft SQL Server Product Samples: Databasepatterns & practices – Enterprise LibraryWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF)ASP.NETMicrosoft SQL Server Community & SamplesPHPExcelMost Active Projectspatterns & practices – Enterprise LibraryRawrGMap.NET - Great Maps for Windows Forms & PresentationBlogEngine.NETParticle Plot PivotNB_Store - Free DotNetNuke Ecommerce Catalog ModuleDotNetZip LibraryFarseer Physics EngineN2 CMSpatterns & practices: Composite WPF and Silverlight

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  • Here’s How to Create a Blue Screen of Death in Any Color You Want

    - by The Geek
    Everybody that’s ever used Windows has at least heard of the Blue Screen of Death, even if they have been lucky enough to never encounter one themselves. Here’s how to make a BSOD in any color you want, using a couple of clicks. Note: following the technique in this article WILL crash your PC, every single time. Without fail… it’s kinda the point, after all. Isn’t the black and green BSOD a lot more geeky? Keep reading at your own risk Latest Features How-To Geek ETC HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy How to Combine Rescue Disks to Create the Ultimate Windows Repair Disk What is Camera Raw, and Why Would a Professional Prefer it to JPG? The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: The Basics How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 Lord of the Rings Movie Parody Double Feature [Video] Turn a Webpage into an Asteroids-Styled Shooting Game in Opera Dolphin Browser Mini Leaves Beta; Sports New GUI, Easy Bookmarking, and More Updated Google Goggles Scans Faster; Solves Sudoku Puzzles Snowy Castle Retreat in the Mountains Wallpaper Fix TV Show Sorting Issues on iOS Devices

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  • SQL SERVER – Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #033

    - by Pinal Dave
    Here is the list of selected articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane. 2007 Spatial Database Definition and Research Documents Here is the definition from Wikipedia about spatial database : A spatial database is a database that is optimized to store and query data related to objects in space, including points, lines and polygons. While typical databases can understand various numeric and character types of data, additional functionality needs to be added for databases to process spatial data types. Select Only Date Part From DateTime – Best Practice A very common question which I receive is how to only get Date or Time part from datetime value. In this blog post I explain the same in very simple words. T-SQL Paging Query Technique Comparison (OVER and ROW_NUMBER()) – CTE vs. Derived Table I have received few emails and comments about my post SQL SERVER – T-SQL Paging Query Technique Comparison – SQL 2000 vs SQL 2005. The main question was is this can be done using CTE? Absolutely! What about Performance? It is identical! Please refer above mentioned article for the history of paging. SQL SERVER – Cannot resolve collation conflict for equal to operation One of the very first error I ever encountered in my career was to resolve this conflict. I have blogged about it and I have realized that many others like me who are facing this error. LEN and DATALENGTH of NULL Simple Example Here is the question for you what is the LEN of NULL value? Well it is very easy – just read the blog. Recovery Models and Selection Very simple and easy explanation of the Database Backup Recovery Model and how to select the best option for you. Explanation SQL SERVER Hash Join Hash join gives best performance when two more join tables are joined and at-least one of them have no index or is not sorted. It is also expected that smaller of the either of table can be read in memory completely (though not necessary). Easy Sequence of SELECT FROM JOIN WHERE GROUP BY HAVING ORDER BY SELECT yourcolumns FROM tablenames JOIN tablenames WHERE condition GROUP BY yourcolumns HAVING aggregatecolumn condition ORDER BY yourcolumns NorthWind Database or AdventureWorks Database – Samples Databases In this blog post we learn how to install Northwind database. I also shared the source where one can download this database as that is used in many examples on MSDN help files. sp_HelpText for sp_HelpText – Puzzle A simple quick puzzle – do you know the answer of it? If not, go ahead and read the blog. 2008 SQL SERVER – 2008 – Step By Step Installation Guide With Images When SQL Server 2008 was newly introduced lots of people had no clue how to install SQL Server 2008 and the amount of the question which I used to receive were so much. I wrote this blog post with the spirit that this will help all the newbies to install SQL Server 2008 with the help of images. Still today this blog post has been bible for all of the people who are confused with SQL Server installation. Inline Variable Assignment I loved this feature. I have always wanted this feature to be present in SQL Server. The last time when I met developers from Microsoft SQL Server, I had talked about this feature. I think this feature saves some time but make the code more readable. Introduction to Policy Management – Enforcing Rules on SQL Server If our company policy is to create all the Stored Procedure with prefix ‘usp’ that developers should be just prevented to create Stored Procedure with any other prefix. Let us see a small tutorial how to create conditions and policy which will prevent any future SP to be created with any other prefix. 2009 Performance Counters from System Views – By Kevin Mckenna Many of you are not aware of this fact that access to performance information is readily available in SQL Server and that too without querying performance counters using a custom application or via perfmon. Till now, this fact has remained undisclosed but through this post I would like to explain you can easily access SQL Server performance counter information. Without putting much effort you will come across the system viewsys.dm_os_performance_counters. As the name suggests, this provides you easy access to the SQL Server performance counter information that is passed on to perfmon, but you can get at it via tsql. Customize Toolbar – Remove Debug Button from Toolbar I was fond of SQL Server Debugger feature in SQL Server 2000. To my utter disappointment, this feature was withdrawn from SQL Server 2005. The button of the debugger is similar to a play button and is used to run debugging commands of Visual Studio. Because of this reason, it gets very much infuriating for developers when they are developing on both – Visual Studio and SSMS. Let us now see how we can remove debugging button from SQL Server Management Studio. Effect of Normalization on Index and Performance A very interesting conversation which started from twitter. If you want to read one link this is the link I encourage you to read it. SSMS Feature – Multi-server Queries Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) DBAs can now query multiple servers from one window. It is quite common for DBAs with large amount of servers to maintain and gather information from multiple SQL Servers and create report. This feature is a blessing for the DBAs, as they can now assemble all the information instantaneously without going anywhere. Query Optimizer Hint ROBUST PLAN – Question to You “ROBUST PLAN” is a kind of query hint which works quite differently than other hints. It does not improve join or force any indexes to use; it just makes sure that a query does not crash due to over the limit size of row. Let me elaborate upon it in the blog post. 2010 Do you really know the difference between various date functions available in SQL Server 2012? Here is a three part story where we explored the same with examples: Fastest Way to Restore the Database Difference Between DATETIME and DATETIME2 Difference Between DATETIME and DATETIME2 – WITH GETDATE Shrinking NDF and MDF Files – Readers’ Opinion Shrinking Database always creates performance degradation and increases fragmentation in the database. I suggest that you keep that in mind before you start reading the following comment. If you are going to say Shrinking Database is bad and evil, here I am saying it first and loud. Now, the comment of Imran is written while keeping in mind only the process showing how the Shrinking Database Operation works. Imran has already explained his understanding and requests further explanation. I have removed the Best Practices section from Imran’s comments, as there are a few corrections. 2011 Solution – Puzzle – SELECT * vs SELECT COUNT(*) This is very interesting question and I am very confident that not every one knows the answer to this question. Let me ask you again – Which will be faster SELECT* or SELECT COUNT (*) or do you think this is apples and oranges comparison. 2012 Service Broker and CAP_CPU_PERCENT – Limiting SQL Server Instances to CPU Usage In SQL Server 2012 there are a few enhancements with regards to SQL Server Resource Governor. One of the enhancement is how the resources are allocated. Let me explain you with examples. Let us understand the entire discussion with the help of three different examples. Finding Size of a Columnstore Index Using DMVs One of the very common question I often see is need of the list of columnstore index along with their size and corresponding table name. I quickly re-wrote a script using DMVs sys.indexes and sys.dm_db_partition_stats. This script gives the size of the columnstore index on disk only. I am sure there will be advanced script to retrieve details related to components associated with the columnstore index. However, I believe following script is sufficient to start getting an idea of columnstore index size. Developer Training Resources and Summary Roundup Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 In this part we discussed the importance of training in the real world. The most important and valuable resource any company is its employee. Employees who have been well-trained will be better at their jobs and produce a better product.  An employee who is well trained obviously knows more about their job and all the technical aspects. I have a very high opinion about training employees and it is the most important task. Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 In this part we discussed the most crucial components of training. Often employees are expecting the company to pay for their training and the company expresses no interest in training the employee. Quite often training expenses are the real issue for both the employee and employer. Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 This part was the most difficult to write as I tried to address a few difficult questions and answers. Training is such a sensitive issue that many developers when not receiving chance for training think about leaving the organization. Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 In this part I tried to explore a few methods and options for training. The generic feedback I received on this blog post was short and I should have explored each of the subject of the training in details. I believe there are two big buckets of training 1) Instructor Lead Training and 2) Self Lead Training. Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 There is no better motivation than a personal desire to learn new technology. Honestly there is nothing more personal learning. That “change is the only constant” and “adapt & overcome” are the essential lessons of life. One cannot stop the learning and resist the change. In the IT industry “ego of knowing all” and the “resistance to change” are the most challenging issues. A Quick Look at Logging and Ideas around Logging Question: What is the first thing comes to your mind when you hear the word “Logging”? Strange enough I got a different answer every single time. Let me just list what answer I got from my friends. Let us go over them one by one. Beginning Performance Tuning with SQL Server Execution Plan Solution of Puzzle – Swap Value of Column Without Case Statement Earlier this week I asked a question where I asked how to Swap Values of the column without using CASE Statement. Read here: SQL SERVER – A Puzzle – Swap Value of Column Without Case Statement. I have proposed 3 different solutions in the blog posts itself. I had requested the help of the community to come up with alternate solutions and honestly I am stunned and amazed by the qualified entries. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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