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• jQuery: AJAX umlauts & special characters are a mess

  - by rayne

  I've just created my first ajax function with jQuery which actually works, but unfortunately the character encoding (for characters like ä, ö, ü, ß, c, c, å, ø) is a nightmare. My files and my database are all UTF-8. I've tried a multitude of options in the ajax function and the PHP function, none of which were satisfactory. This is my ajax var dataString = { 'name': name, 'mail': mail // other stuff } $.ajax({ type: "POST", url: "/post.php", data: dataString, contentType: "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=UTF-8", cache: false, success: function(html){ // do stuff } I've tried it without contentType: "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=UTF-8" and I've tried to wrap the affected data in encodeURIComponent(), none of which worked. When I use that AJAX with htmlentities() in my php, my umlauts look like this in plain text: UE Ã?, AE Ã?, OE Ã?, ue ü, ae ä, oe o And like this in the database: UE Ãœ , AE Ä, OE Ö, ue ü, ae ä, oe o If I don't use htmlentities() but mysql_real_escape_string() instead (or neither), they look good in plain text, but they look like this in the database: AE Ä, OE Ö, UE Ãœ, ae ä oe ö ue ü I've been trying tons of options for hours now, but I can't find a solution that works. So far the only option I seem to have is having them look like a total mess in the database, but that would be very contraproductive if those data sets need to be edited.

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• Need hekp with font in latex

  - by laspal

  Hi, Mine tex file looks like \documentclass[a4paper,twoside]{article}` \usepackage{graphics} \usepackage{color} \usepackage{hyperref} \usepackage{multirow} \usepackage{longtable} \usepackage{fullpage} \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx} \usepackage{fancyhdr} \oddsidemargin 0cm \evensidemargin 0cm \pagestyle{fancy} \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0.0pt} \rfoot{Raval, Ketan R -13223} \textwidth 15.5cm \topmargin -1cm \parindent 0cm \textheight 26.5cm \parskip 1mm \begin{document} \fontencoding{\encodingdefault} \renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault} \fontshape{\shapedefault} \selectfont So how can I improve my overall look and feel of the pdf. Right now all fonts are coming too dim. Is there any thing I can do to try out differnt look and feel of the pdfs. Thanks

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• Google Tasks-like js control

  - by Alexander Gladysh

  I need to imitate Google Tasks look and feel with a few minor changes. Is there an open-source JavaScript control that I may reuse? The main feature that I look for is "plain-text-like" feel of the in-place task editing process.

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• How do I get the Silverlight Add-On for Visual Studio 2010 and some example code?

  - by xarzu

  How do I get the Silverlight Add-On for Visual Studio 2010? And where can I find lots of example code? When the interent and html was new, one could find examples of how to build a website on a few trusted web sites. The same web sites might not be the best choice for looking for examples for Silverlight, I guess. What are the best web sites where you can look at examples -- and most importantly -- look at the source code of some examples of Silverlight? Back when MFC existed as a option that programmers might use to develop windows applications, a coder could look at a huge list of sample code and step through that code to find something that somewhat did what he was looking for and use that example code to build his own app. Is there anything like that for Silverlight? I have found the http://gallery.expression.microsoft.com/ Expression Blend Gallery and I have found the http://www.silverlight.net/community/samples/silverlight-samples/ Silverlight dot net community samples. I guess that will keep me busy for a while. Are there other sites? There are video instructions on MSDN's Channel9: http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/curso-silverlight-4/ Are there any videos in English? The video instructions look very good. Where is the links to the English versions? I was suggested this site for learning silverlight: http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/Silverlight4/ This online documentation mentions "The Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010" which "is an add-on for Visual Studio 2010 that provides tooling for Microsoft Silverlight 4 and WCF RIA Services. It can be installed on top of either Visual Studio 2010 or Visual Web Developer 2010 Express" where can I find this? Is it shipped with Visual Studio 2010?

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• Why does Java's invokevirtual need to resolve the called method's compile-time class?

  - by Chris

  Consider this simple Java class: class MyClass { public void bar(MyClass c) { c.foo(); } } I want to discuss what happens on the line c.foo(). At the bytecode level, the meat of c.foo() will be the invokevirtual opcode, and, according to the documentation for invokevirtual, more or less the following will happen: Look up the foo method defined in compile-time class MyClass. (This involves first resolving MyClass.) Do some checks, including: Verify that c is not an initialization method, and verify that calling MyClass.foo wouldn't violate any protected modifiers. Figure out which method to actually call. In particular, look up c's runtime type. If that type has foo(), call that method and return. If not, look up c's runtime type's superclass; if that type has foo, call that method and return. If not, look up c's runtime type's superclass's superclass; if that type has foo, call that method and return. Etc.. If no suitable method can be found, then error. Step #3 alone seems adequate for figuring out which method to call and verifying that said method has the correct argument/return types. So my question is why step #1 gets performed in the first place. Possible answers seem to be: You don't have enough information to perform step #3 until step #1 is complete. (This seems implausible at first glance, so please explain.) The linking or access modifier checks done in #1 and #2 are essential to prevent certain bad things from happening, and those checks must be performed based on the compile-time type, rather than the run-time type hierarchy. (Please explain.)

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• How to create a high quality icon for my Windows application?

  - by Patrick Klug

  If you are running Windows with a higher DPI setting you will notice that most application icons on the desktop look terrible. Even high profile application icons such as Google Chrome look terrible while for example Firefox, Skype and MS Office icons look sharp: (example) I suspect that most icons look blurry because a lower resolution icon is scaled up rather than using a higher resolution icon. I want to give my application a high quality icon and can't seem to convince Windows to use the higher resolution icon. I have created a multi-resolution icon with the free icon editor IcoFX. The icon is provided in 16x16, 24x24, 32x32,48x48, 128x128 and 256x256 (!) (all in 32 bit including alpha channel) yet Windows seems to use the 128x128 version of the icon on the desktop and scale it up which looks terrible. (I am using Windows 7 - 64 bit - the icon is placed by means of setting up a shortcut in the msi (created via Visual Studio 2008 Setup Project) and pointing it to the .ico file that contains the multi-resolution icon) I have tried removing the 128x128 icon but to no avail. Interestingly in Windows Explorer the icon looks great even when using the Extra Large Icon setting. How can I create a high quality desktop icon that looks great on higher DPI settings on Windows?

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• How to open a html page as a popup with in the page (no new window opens) using Jquery

  - by Vara Prasad

  I am having the link button and when i clicked on the link button the popup will be open (with in the page itself like a modalpopup. now i have to get the popup feel using jquery and inside the div text should come from database. How is it possible for getting the message from the backend. means open a div in a modal popup feel using jquery or opens the html page in a popup in the same window using jquery Thanks and Regards Vara Prasad.M

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• Convert a Relative URL to an Absolute URL in Actionscript / Flex

  - by Bear

  I am working with Flex, and I need to take a relative URL source property and convert it to an absolute URL before loading it. The specific case I am working with involves tweaking SoundEffect's load method. I need to determine if a file will be loaded from the local file system or over the network from looking at the source property, and the easiest way I've found to do this is to generate the absolute URL. I'm having trouble generating the absolute URL for sound effect in particular. Here were my initial thoughts, which haven't worked. Look for the DisplayObject that the Sound Effect targets, and use its loaderInfo property. The target is null when the SoundEffect loads, so this doesn't work. Look at FlexGlobals.topLevelApplication, at the url or loaderInfo properties. Neither of these are set, however. Look at the FlexGlobals.topLevelApplication.systemManager.loaderInfo. This was also not set. The SoundEffect.as code basically boils down to var url:String = "mySound.mp3"; /*>> I'd like to convert the URL to absolute form here and tweak it as necessary <<*/ var req:URLRequest = new URLRequest(url); var loader:Loader = new Loader(); loader.load(req); Does anyone know how to do this? Any help clarifying the rules of how relative urls are resolved for URLRequests in ActionScript would also be much appreciated. edit I would also be perfectly satisfied with some way to tell whether the url will be loaded from the local file system or over the network. Looking at an absolute URL it would just be easy to look at the prefix, like file:// or http://.

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• What is the best color combination for readability, easy of use, and reduced eye strain?

  - by Nick Berardi

  I am trying to pick out the optimal set of colors for a new website project. I want to do a traditional black on white look and feel for the main content. However my partner on the project wants to do a color combination that more looks like the traditional Windows Forms look and feel. Is there any research available on the best color combination's to use for readability, ease of use, and reduced eye strain?

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• Based on your development stack, which is easier for you and why? Debugging or logging?

  - by leeand00

  Please state if you are developing on the front end, back end, or if you are developing a mobile/desktop application. List your development stack Language, IDE, etc.. Unit Testing or no Unit Testing Be sure to include any AOP frameworks if used. Tell me if it is easier for you to use debugging or to using logging during development, and why you feel it is easier. I'm just trying to get a feel for why people choose debugging or logging based on their development stack.

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• Complex Event Processing with C#

  - by Soham

  Hi All, Can you suggest me a possible way to get started with CEP in C# ? By what I mean when I say, get started: A good book talking about CEP and C# A library which deals event clouds Some sample codes using the library Some good quality codes in general to get a possible feel of the problems Good blogs Anything else you might feel necessary to add for someone getting started in CEP and C# will be helpful. Thanks Soham

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• My mental block - struggling to learn Objective C

  - by iqessar

  Hello people, this would be my first question after signing up! Anyway heres my question, I did Java at university and I was always told I am a good programmer. However I never pursued it as a career - I went into support and management instead. Im pretty much bored with my job, I have therefore started to learn Objective C so that I can develop apps for the iphone. I am currently watching several different Videos / Books. My problem is that when I go through the Apple documentation, although I understand most of it, sometimes I stumble. I believe that because you/we have the Apple documentation (i.e. Framework references) , everything should be clear, and therefore you should have no need to refer to a book or video (in order to learn how to use a particular class). But I alway do refer to a book and video and subsequently feel guilty as I believe the framework reference should be enough. (I therefore feel I am not up to being a programmer) I also believe that you shouldn't need example code in order to learn how to use a particular class because Apple provides documentation for each class, but AGAIN I find my self googling example code and I find my answer like that - again I feel guilty for doing this. Am I right in saying that Apple documentation is simply not clear? and that its ok to refer to a video/book or google? or forums for that matter? I have proffesional programmers who tell me that I am worrying too much and that I should get on with it and use all the resources that I have. I just cant seem to get round this mental block that I have in my head. When I start a programming project I am able to use the excellent search skills that I have to find the code I need, copy and paste it (yes I do understand it) BUT then I feel guilty telling myself that why didn't you think up the code yourself???? Therefore your not a real programmer, your just good at googling. Currently I am going through 20+ books so that I can learn most of the frameworks, syntax etc to develop iphone apps. I believe if I do this, then when I think of a project I can make it quickly. Should I read a few books, like 2-3 and then just start a project /app , and if I get stuck just google it and get the code I need? Can anybody please answer my questions?

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• Powershell - Using variables in -Include filter

  - by TheD

  (again!) My final question for the night. I have a function which uses the Get-ChildItem to work out the newest file within a folder. The reason being I need to find the latest incremental backup in a folder and script an EXE to mount it. However, within this same folder there are multiple backup chains for all different servers: i.e. SERVER1_C_VOL_b001_i015.spi SERVER2_D_VOL_b001_i189.spi SERVER1_C_VOL_b002_i091.spi SERVER1_E_VOL_b002_i891.spi (this is the newest file created) I want only to look at SERVER1, look at only the C_VOL and look at only b001 - nothing else. I have all these seperate components: the drive letter, the Server Name, the b00X number stored in array. How then can I go and use the Get-ChildItem with the -Include filter to only look at: .spi SERVER1 C_VOL b001 Given I have all of these separate components in an array taken from a text file: Get-Content .\PostBackupCheck-TextFile.txt | Select-Object -First $i { $a = $_ -split ' ' ; $locationArray += "$($a[0]):\$($a[1])\$($a[2])" ; $imageArray += "$($a[2])_$($a[3])_VOL_b00$($a[4])_i$($a[5]).spi" } I then go onto try and filter then and then get stuck: $latestIncremental = Get-ChildItem -Path ${shadowProtectDataLocation}\*.* -Include *.spi | Sort-Object LastAccessTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1 I have the .spi filtered, but how can I also just include the C (for volume), the number for the b00x and the server name. Thanks!

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• How to Add window 7 visual style in winform application?

  - by Vivek

  Dear All, I have to change the look and feel of my win form application of .net framework 3.5. So i want to add window 7 theme or visual style, Is any sample application available? and also suggest what to do change look and feel of my application?

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• Table Naming Dilemma: Singular vs. Plural Names

  - by ProfK

  Convention has it that table names should be the singular of the entity that they store attributes of. I dislike any T-SQL that requires square brackets around names, but I have renamed a Users table to the singular, forever sentencing those using the table to sometimes have to use brackets. My gut feel is that it is more correct to stay with the singular, but my gut feel is also that brackets indicate undesirables like column names with spaces in them etc. Should I stay, or should I go?

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• Why isnt int pow(int base, int exponent) in the standard C++ libraries?

  - by Dan O

  I feel like I must just be unable to find it. Is there any reason that the c++ pow function does not implement the "power" function for anything except floats and doubles? I know the implementation is trivial, I just feel like I'm doing work that should be in a standard library. A robust power function (ie handles overflow in some consistent, explicit way) is not fun to write.

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• Week in Geek: 4chan Falls Victim to DDoS Attack Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to tweak the low battery action on a Windows 7 laptop, access an eBook collection anywhere in the world, “extend iPad battery life, batch resize photos, & sync massive music collections”, went on a reign of destruction with Snow Crusher, and had fun decorating our desktops with abstract icon collections. Photo by pasukaru76. Random Geek Links We have included extra news article goodness to help you catch up on any developments that you may have missed during the holiday break this past week. Note: The three 27C3 articles listed here represent three different presentations at the 27th Chaos Communication Congress hacker conference. 4chan victim of DDoS as FBI investigates role in PayPal attack Users of 4chan may have gotten a taste of their own medicine after the site was knocked offline by a DDoS attack from an unknown origin early Thursday morning. Report: FBI seizes server in probe of WikiLeaks attacks The FBI has seized a server in Texas as part of its hunt for the groups behind the pro-WikiLeaks denial-of-service attacks launched in December against PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and others. Mozilla exposes older user-account database Mozilla has disabled 44,000 older user accounts for its Firefox add-ons site after a security researcher found part of a database of the account information on a publicly available server. Data breach affects 4.9 million Honda customers Japanese automaker Honda has put some 2.2 million customers in the United States on a security breach alert after a database containing information on the owners and their cars was hacked. Chinese Trojan discovered in Android games An Android-based Trojan called “Geinimi” has been discovered in the wild and the Trojan is capable of sending personal information to remote servers and exhibits botnet-like behavior. 27C3 presentation claims many mobiles vulnerable to SMS attacks According to security experts, an ‘SMS of death’ threatens to disable many current Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Micromax and LG mobiles. 27C3: GSM cell phones even easier to tap Security researchers have demonstrated how open source software on a number of revamped, entry-level cell phones can decrypt and record mobile phone calls in the GSM network. 27C3: danger lurks in PDF documents Security researcher Julia Wolf has pointed out numerous, previously hardly known, security problems in connection with Adobe’s PDF standard. Critical update for WordPress A critical update has been made available for WordPress in the form of version 3.0.4. The update fixes a security bug in WordPress’s KSES library. McAfee Labs Predicts Geolocation, Mobile Devices and Apple Will Top the List of Targets for Emerging Threats in 2011 The list comprises 2010’s most buzzed about platforms and services, including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform, which are all expected to become major targets for cybercriminals. McAfee Labs also predicts that politically motivated attacks will be on the rise. Windows Phone 7 piracy materializes with FreeMarketplace A proof-of-concept application, FreeMarketplace, that allows any Windows Phone 7 application to be downloaded and installed free of charge has been developed. Empty email accounts, and some bad buzz for Hotmail In the past few days, a number of Hotmail users have been complaining about a rather disconcerting issue: their Hotmail accounts, some up to 10 years old, appear completely empty.  No emails, no folders, nothing, just what appears to be a new account. Reports: Nintendo warns of 3DS risk for kids Nintendo has reportedly issued a warning that the 3DS, its eagerly awaited glasses-free 3D portable gaming device, should not be used by children under 6 when the gadget is in 3D-viewing mode. Google eyes ‘cloaking’ as next antispam target Google plans to take a closer look at the practice of “cloaking,” or presenting one look to a Googlebot crawling one’s site while presenting another look to users. Facebook, Twitter stock trading drawing SEC eye? The high degree of investor interest in shares of hot Silicon Valley companies that aren’t yet publicly traded–like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Zynga–may be leading to scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Random TinyHacker Links Photo by jcraveiro. Exciting Software Set for Release in 2011 A few bloggers from great websites such as How-To Geek, Guiding Tech and 7 Tutorials took the time to sit down and talk about their software wishes for 2011. Take the time to read it and share… Wikileaks Infopr0n An infographic detailing the quest to plug WikiLeaks. The New York Times Guide to Mobile Apps A growing collection of all mobile app coverage by the New York Times as well as lists of favorite apps from Times writers. 7,000,000,000 (Video) A fascinating look at the world’s population via National Geographic Magazine. Super User Questions Check out the great answers to these hot questions from Super User. How to use a Personal computer as a Linux web server for development purposes? How to link processing power of old computers together? Free virtualization tool for testing suspicious files? Why do some actions not work with Remote Desktop? What is the simplest way to send a large batch of pictures to a distant friend or colleague? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Had a busy week and need to get caught up on your HTG reading? Then sit back and relax while enjoying these hot posts full of how-to roundup goodness. The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 How to Search Just the Site You’re Viewing Using Google Search Ask the Readers: Backing Your Files Up – Local Storage versus the Cloud One Year Ago on How-To Geek Need more how-to geekiness for your weekend? Then look through this great batch of articles from one year ago that focus on dual-booting and O.S. installation goodness. Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Vista Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with XP How To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7 Dual Boot Your Pre-Installed Windows 7 Computer with Ubuntu Easily Install Ubuntu Linux with Windows Using the Wubi Installer The Geek Note We hope that you and your families have had a terrific holiday break as everyone prepares to return to work and school this week. Remember to keep those great tips coming in to us at [email protected]! Photo by pjbeardsley. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Tune Pop Enhances Android Music Notifications Another Busy Night in Gotham City Wallpaper Classic Super Mario Brothers Theme for Chrome and Iron Experimental Firefox Builds Put Tabs on the Title Bar (Available for Download) Android Trojan Found in the Wild Chaos, Panic, and Disorder Wallpaper

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• Creating a dynamic proxy generator with c# – Part 2 – Interceptor Design

  - by SeanMcAlinden

  Creating a dynamic proxy generator – Part 1 – Creating the Assembly builder, Module builder and caching mechanism For the latest code go to http://rapidioc.codeplex.com/ Before getting too involved in generating the proxy, I thought it would be worth while going through the intended design, this is important as the next step is to start creating the constructors for the proxy. Each proxy derives from a specified type The proxy has a corresponding constructor for each of the base type constructors The proxy has overrides for all methods and properties marked as Virtual on the base type For each overridden method, there is also a private method whose sole job is to call the base method. For each overridden method, a delegate is created whose sole job is to call the private method that calls the base method. The following class diagram shows the main classes and interfaces involved in the interception process. I’ll go through each of them to explain their place in the overall proxy.   IProxy Interface The proxy implements the IProxy interface for the sole purpose of adding custom interceptors. This allows the created proxy interface to be cast as an IProxy and then simply add Interceptors by calling it’s AddInterceptor method. This is done internally within the proxy building process so the consumer of the API doesn’t need knowledge of this. IInterceptor Interface The IInterceptor interface has one method: Handle. The handle method accepts a IMethodInvocation parameter which contains methods and data for handling method interception. Multiple classes that implement this interface can be added to the proxy. Each method override in the proxy calls the handle method rather than simply calling the base method. How the proxy fully works will be explained in the next section MethodInvocation. IMethodInvocation Interface & MethodInvocation class The MethodInvocation will contain one main method and multiple helper properties. Continue Method The method Continue() has two functions hidden away from the consumer. When Continue is called, if there are multiple Interceptors, the next Interceptors Handle method is called. If all Interceptors Handle methods have been called, the Continue method then calls the base class method. Properties The MethodInvocation will contain multiple helper properties including at least the following: Method Name (Read Only) Method Arguments (Read and Write) Method Argument Types (Read Only) Method Result (Read and Write) – this property remains null if the method return type is void Target Object (Read Only) Return Type (Read Only) DefaultInterceptor class The DefaultInterceptor class is a simple class that implements the IInterceptor interface. Here is the code: DefaultInterceptor namespace Rapid.DynamicProxy.Interception {     /// <summary>     /// Default interceptor for the proxy.     /// </summary>     /// <typeparam name="TBase">The base type.</typeparam>     public class DefaultInterceptor<TBase> : IInterceptor<TBase> where TBase : class     {         /// <summary>         /// Handles the specified method invocation.         /// </summary>         /// <param name="methodInvocation">The method invocation.</param>         public void Handle(IMethodInvocation<TBase> methodInvocation)         {             methodInvocation.Continue();         }     } } This is automatically created in the proxy and is the first interceptor that each method override calls. It’s sole function is to ensure that if no interceptors have been added, the base method is still called. Custom Interceptor Example A consumer of the Rapid.DynamicProxy API could create an interceptor for logging when the FirstName property of the User class is set. Just for illustration, I have also wrapped a transaction around the methodInvocation.Coninue() method. This means that any overriden methods within the user class will run within a transaction scope. MyInterceptor public class MyInterceptor : IInterceptor<User<int, IRepository>> {     public void Handle(IMethodInvocation<User<int, IRepository>> methodInvocation)     {         if (methodInvocation.Name == "set_FirstName")         {             Logger.Log("First name seting to: " + methodInvocation.Arguments[0]);         }         using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope())         {             methodInvocation.Continue();         }         if (methodInvocation.Name == "set_FirstName")         {             Logger.Log("First name has been set to: " + methodInvocation.Arguments[0]);         }     } } Overridden Method Example To show a taster of what the overridden methods on the proxy would look like, the setter method for the property FirstName used in the above example would look something similar to the following (this is not real code but will look similar): set_FirstName public override void set_FirstName(string value) {     set_FirstNameBaseMethodDelegate callBase =         new set_FirstNameBaseMethodDelegate(this.set_FirstNameProxyGetBaseMethod);     object[] arguments = new object[] { value };     IMethodInvocation<User<IRepository>> methodInvocation =         new MethodInvocation<User<IRepository>>(this, callBase, "set_FirstName", arguments, interceptors);          this.Interceptors[0].Handle(methodInvocation); } As you can see, a delegate instance is created which calls to a private method on the class, the private method calls the base method and would look like the following: calls base setter private void set_FirstNameProxyGetBaseMethod(string value) {     base.set_FirstName(value); } The delegate is invoked when methodInvocation.Continue() is called within an interceptor. The set_FirstName parameters are loaded into an object array. The current instance, delegate, method name and method arguments are passed into the methodInvocation constructor (there will be more data not illustrated here passed in when created including method info, return types, argument types etc.) The DefaultInterceptor’s Handle method is called with the methodInvocation instance as it’s parameter. Obviously methods can have return values, ref and out parameters etc. in these cases the generated method override body will be slightly different from above. I’ll go into more detail on these aspects as we build them. Conclusion I hope this has been useful, I can’t guarantee that the proxy will look exactly like the above, but at the moment, this is pretty much what I intend to do. Always worth downloading the code at http://rapidioc.codeplex.com/ to see the latest. There will also be some tests that you can debug through to help see what’s going on. Cheers, Sean.

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• Test All Features of Windows Phone 7 On Your PC

  - by Matthew Guay

  Are you developer or just excited about the upcoming Windows Phone 7, and want to try it out now?  Thanks to free developer tools from Microsoft and a new unlocked emulator rom, you can try out most of the exciting features today from your PC. Last week we showed you how to try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC and get started developing for the upcoming new devices.  We noticed, however, that the emulator only contains Internet Explorer Mobile and some settings.  This is still interesting to play around with, but it wasn’t the full Windows Phone 7 experience. Some enterprising tweakers discovered that more applications were actually included in the emulator, but were simply hidden from users.  Developer Dan Ardelean then figured out how to re-enable these features, and released a tweaked emulator rom so everyone can try out all of the Windows Phone 7 features for themselves.  Here we’ll look at how you can run this new emulator image on your PC, and then look at some interesting features in Windows Phone 7. Editor Note: This modified emulator image is not official, and isn’t sanctioned by Microsoft. Use your own judgment when choosing to download and use the emulator. Setting Up Emulator Rom To test-drive Windows Phone 7 on your PC, you must first download and install the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (link below).  Follow the steps we showed you last week at: Try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC today.  Once it’s installed, go ahead and run the default emulator as we showed to make sure everything works ok. Once the Windows Phone Developer Tools are installed and running, download the new emulator rom from XDA Forums (link below).  This will be a zip file, so extract it first. Note where you save the file, as you will need the address in the next step. Now, to run our new emulator image, we need to open the emulator in command line and point to the new rom image.  To do this, browse to the correct directory, depending on whether you’re running the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows: 32 bit: C:\Program Files\Microsoft XDE\1.0\ 64 bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\1.0\ Hold your Shift key down and right-click in the folder.  Choose Open Command Window here. At the command prompt, enter XDE.exe followed by the location of your new rom image.  Here, we downloaded the rom to our download folder, so at the command prompt we entered: XDE.exe C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin The emulator loads … with the full Windows Phone 7 experience! To make it easier, let’s make a shortcut on our desktop to load the emulator with the new rom directly.  Right-click on your desktop (or any folder you want to create the shortcut in), select New, and then Shortcut. Now, in the box, we need to enter the path for the emulator followed by the location of our rom.  Both items must be in quotes.  So, in our test, we entered the following: 32 bit: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft XDE\1.0\” “C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin” 64 bit: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft XDE\1.0\” “C:\Users\Matthew\Downloads\WM70Full\WM70Full.bin” Make sure to enter the correct location of the new emulator rom for your computer, and keep both items in separate quotes.  Click next when you’ve entered the location. Name the shortcut; we named it Windows Phone 7, but simply enter whatever you’d like.  Click Finish when you’re done. You should now have a nice Windows Phone icon and your fully functional shortcut!  Double-click it to run the Windows Phone 7 emulator as above. Features in the Unlocked Windows Phone 7 Emulator So let’s look at what you can do with this new emulator.  Almost everything you’ve seen in demos from the Mobile World Conference and Mix’10 are right here for you to play with.  Here’s the application menu, which you can access by clicking on the arrow on the top of the home screen, which shows how much stuff they’ve got in this!   And, of course, even the home screen itself shows much more activity than it did in the original emulator. Let’s check out some of these sections.  Here’s Zune running on Windows Phone 7, and the Zune Marketplace.  The animations are beautiful, so be sure to check this out yourself. The new picture hub is much nicer than any picture viewer included with Windows Mobile in the past…   Stay productive, and on schedule with the new Calendar. The XBOX hub gives us only a hint of things to come, and the links to games now are simply placeholders. Here’s a look at the Office hub.  This doesn’t show up on the homescreen right now, but you can access it in the applications menu.  Office obviously still has a lot of work left on it, but even at a glance here it looks like it includes a lot more functionality than Office Mobile in Windows Mobile 6. Here’s a look at each of the three apps: Word, Excel, and OneNote, and the formatting pallet in Office apps.   This emulator also includes a lot more settings than the default one, including settings for individual applications. You can even activate the screen lock, and try out the lift-to-peek-or-unlock feature… Finally, this version of Windows Phone 7 includes a very nice SystemInfo app with an advanced task manager.  We hope this is still available when the actual phones are released. Conclusion If you’re excited about the upcoming Windows Phone 7 series, or simply want to learn more about what’s coming, this is a great way to test it out.  With these exciting new hubs and applications, there’s something here for everyone.  Let us know what you like most about Windows Phone 7 and what your favorite app or hub is. Links Please note: These roms are not officially supported by Microsoft, and could be taken down. Download the unlocked Windows Phone 7 emulator from XDA Forums – click the link in this post to download How the unlocked emulator image was created Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Try out Windows Phone 7 on your PC todayGet stats on your Ruby on Rails codeDisable Windows Vista’s Built-in CD/DVD Burning FeaturesWeek in Geek – The Slick Windows 7 File Copy Animation EditionGeek Fun: Virtualized Old School Windows – Windows 95 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Get Better Windows Search With UltraSearch Scan News With NY Times Article Skimmer SpeedyFox Claims to Speed up your Firefox Beware Hover Kitties Test Drive Mobile Phones Online With TryPhone Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, 3/23/10

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• Silverlight Recruiting Application Part 4 - Navigation and Modules

  After our brief intermission (and the craziness of Q1 2010 release week), we're back on track here and today we get to dive into how we are going to navigate through our applications as well as how to set up our modules. That way, as I start adding the functionality- adding Jobs and Applicants, Interview Scheduling, and finally a handy Dashboard- you'll see how everything is communicating back and forth. This is all leading up to an eventual webinar, in which I'll dive into this process and give a honest look at the current story for MVVM vs. Code-Behind applications. (For a look at the future with SL4 and a little thing called MEF, check out what Ross is doing over at his blog!) Preamble... Before getting into really talking about this app, I've done a little bit of work ahead of time to create a ton of files that I'll need. Since the webinar is going to cover the Dashboard, it's not here, but otherwise this is a look at what the project layout looks like (and remember, this is both projects since they share the .Web): So as you can see, from an architecture perspective, the code-behind app is much smaller and more streamlined- aka a better fit for the one man shop that is me. Each module in the MVVM app has the same setup, which is the Module class and corresponding Views and ViewModels. Since the code-behind app doesn't need a go-between project like Infrastructure, each MVVM module is instead replaced by a single Silverlight UserControl which will contain all the logic for each respective bit of functionality. My Very First Module Navigation is going to be key to my application, so I figured the first thing I would setup is my MenuModule. First step here is creating a Silverlight Class Library named MenuModule, creatingthe View and ViewModel folders, and adding the MenuModule.cs class to handle module loading. The most important thing here is that my MenuModule inherits from IModule, which runs an Initialize on each module as it is created that, in my case, adds the views to the correct regions. Here's the MenuModule.cs code: public class MenuModule : IModule { private readonly IRegionManager regionManager; private readonly IUnityContainer container; public MenuModule(IUnityContainer container, IRegionManager regionmanager) { this.container = container; this.regionManager = regionmanager; } public void Initialize() { var addMenuView = container.Resolve<MenuView>(); regionManager.Regions["MenuRegion"].Add(addMenuView); } } Pretty straightforward here... We inject a container and region manager from Prism/Unity, then upon initialization we grab the view (out of our Views folder) and add it to the region it needs to live in. Simple, right? When the MenuView is created, the only thing in the code-behind is a reference to the set the MenuViewModel as the DataContext. I'd like to achieve MVVM nirvana and have zero code-behind by placing the viewmodel in the XAML, but for the reasons listed further below I can't. Navigation - MVVM Since navigation isn't the biggest concern in putting this whole thing together, I'm using the Button control to handle different options for loading up views/modules. There is another reason for this- out of the box, Prism has command support for buttons, which is one less custom command I had to work up for the functionality I would need. This comes from the Microsoft.Practices.Composite.Presentation assembly and looks as follows when put in code: <Button x:Name="xGoToJobs" Style="{StaticResource menuStyle}" Content="Jobs" cal:Click.Command="{Binding GoModule}" cal:Click.CommandParameter="JobPostingsView" /> For quick reference, 'menuStyle' is just taking care of margins and spacing, otherwise it looks, feels, and functions like everyone's favorite Button. What MVVM's this up is that the Click.Command is tying to a DelegateCommand (also coming fromPrism) on the backend. This setup allows you to tie user interaction to a command you setup in your viewmodel, which replaces the standard event-based setup you'd see in the code-behind app. Due to databinding magic, it all just works. When we get looking at the DelegateCommand in code, it ends up like this: public class MenuViewModel : ViewModelBase { private readonly IRegionManager regionManager; public DelegateCommand<object> GoModule { get; set; } public MenuViewModel(IRegionManager regionmanager) { this.regionManager = regionmanager; this.GoModule = new DelegateCommand<object>(this.goToView); } public void goToView(object obj) { MakeMeActive(this.regionManager, "MainRegion", obj.ToString()); } } Another for reference, ViewModelBase takes care of iNotifyPropertyChanged and MakeMeActive, which switches views in the MainRegion based on the parameters. So our public DelegateCommand GoModule ties to our command on the view, that in turn calls goToView, and the parameter on the button is the name of the view (which we pass with obj.ToString()) to activate. And how do the views get the names I can pass as a string? When I called regionManager.Regions[regionname].Add(view), there is an overload that allows for .Add(view, "viewname"), with viewname being what I use to activate views. You'll see that in action next installment, just wanted to clarify how that works. With this setup, I create two more buttons in my MenuView and the MenuModule is good to go. Last step is to make sure my MenuModule loads in my Bootstrapper: protected override IModuleCatalog GetModuleCatalog() { ModuleCatalog catalog = new ModuleCatalog(); // add modules here catalog.AddModule(typeof(MenuModule.MenuModule)); return catalog; } Clean, simple, MVVM-delicious. Navigation - Code-Behind Keeping with the history of significantly shorter code-behind sections of this series, Navigation will be no different. I promise. As I explained in a prior post, due to the one-project setup I don't have to worry about the same concerns so my menu is part of MainPage.xaml. So I can cheese-it a bit, though, since I've already got three buttons all set I'm just copying that code and adding three click-events instead of the command/commandparameter setup: <!-- Menu Region --> <StackPanel Grid.Row="1" Orientation="Vertical"> <Button x:Name="xJobsButton" Content="Jobs" Style="{StaticResource menuStyleCB}" Click="xJobsButton_Click" /> <Button x:Name="xApplicantsButton" Content="Applicants" Style="{StaticResource menuStyleCB}" Click="xApplicantsButton_Click" /> <Button x:Name="xSchedulingModule" Content="Scheduling" Style="{StaticResource menuStyleCB}" Click="xSchedulingModule_Click" /> </StackPanel> Simple, easy to use events, and no extra assemblies required! Since the code for loading each view will be similar, we'll focus on JobsView for now.The code-behind with this setup looks something like... private JobsView _jobsView; public MainPage() { InitializeComponent(); } private void xJobsButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { if (MainRegion.Content.GetType() != typeof(JobsView)) { if (_jobsView == null) _jobsView = new JobsView(); MainRegion.Content = _jobsView; } } What am I doing here? First, for each 'view' I create a private reference which MainPage will hold on to. This allows for a little bit of state-maintenance when switching views. When a button is clicked, first we make sure the 'view' typeisn't active (why load it again if it is already at center stage?), then we check if the view has been created and create if necessary, then load it up. Three steps to switching views and is easy as pie. Part 4 Results The end result of all this is that I now have a menu module (MVVM) and a menu section (code-behind) that load their respective views. Since I'm using the same exact XAML (except with commands/events depending on the project), the end result for both is again exactly the same and I'll show a slightly larger image to show it off: Next time, we add the Jobs Module and wire up RadGridView and a separate edit page to handle adding and editing new jobs. That's when things get fun. And somewhere down the line, I'll make the menu look slicker. :) Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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• Using JDialog with Tabbed Pane to draw different pictures [migrated]

  - by Bryam Ulloa

  I am using NetBeans, and I have a class that extends to JDialog, inside that Dialog box I have created a Tabbed Pane. The Tabbed Pane contains 6 different tabs, with 6 different panels of course. What I want to do is when I click on the different tabs, a diagram is supposed to be drawn with the paint method. My question is how can I draw on the different panels with just one paint method in another class being called from the Dialog class? Here is my code for the Dialog class: package GUI; public class NewJDialog extends javax.swing.JDialog{ /** * Creates new form NewJDialog */ public NewJDialog(java.awt.Frame parent, boolean modal) { super(parent, modal); initComponents(); } /** * This method is called from within the constructor to initialize the form. * WARNING: Do NOT modify this code. The content of this method is always * regenerated by the Form Editor. */ @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") // <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc="Generated Code"> private void initComponents() { jTabbedPane1 = new javax.swing.JTabbedPane(); jPanel1 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel2 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel3 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel4 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel5 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel6 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jPanel7 = new javax.swing.JPanel(); jLabel1 = new javax.swing.JLabel(); jLabel2 = new javax.swing.JLabel(); setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.WindowConstants.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel1Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel1); jPanel1.setLayout(jPanel1Layout); jPanel1Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel1Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel1Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel1Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("FCFS", jPanel1); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel2Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel2); jPanel2.setLayout(jPanel2Layout); jPanel2Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel2Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel2Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel2Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("SSTF", jPanel2); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel3Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel3); jPanel3.setLayout(jPanel3Layout); jPanel3Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel3Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel3Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel3Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("LOOK", jPanel3); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel4Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel4); jPanel4.setLayout(jPanel4Layout); jPanel4Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel4Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel4Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel4Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("LOOK C", jPanel4); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel5Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel5); jPanel5.setLayout(jPanel5Layout); jPanel5Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel5Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel5Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel5Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("SCAN", jPanel5); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel6Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel6); jPanel6.setLayout(jPanel6Layout); jPanel6Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel6Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 466, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jPanel6Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel6Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGap(0, 242, Short.MAX_VALUE) ); jTabbedPane1.addTab("SCAN C", jPanel6); getContentPane().add(jTabbedPane1, java.awt.BorderLayout.CENTER); jLabel1.setText("Distancia:"); jLabel2.setText("___________"); javax.swing.GroupLayout jPanel7Layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(jPanel7); jPanel7.setLayout(jPanel7Layout); jPanel7Layout.setHorizontalGroup( jPanel7Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGroup(jPanel7Layout.createSequentialGroup() .addGap(21, 21, 21) .addComponent(jLabel1) .addPreferredGap(javax.swing.LayoutStyle.ComponentPlacement.RELATED) .addComponent(jLabel2) .addContainerGap(331, Short.MAX_VALUE)) ); jPanel7Layout.setVerticalGroup( jPanel7Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING) .addGroup(jPanel7Layout.createSequentialGroup() .addContainerGap() .addGroup(jPanel7Layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.BASELINE) .addComponent(jLabel1) .addComponent(jLabel2)) .addContainerGap(15, Short.MAX_VALUE)) ); getContentPane().add(jPanel7, java.awt.BorderLayout.PAGE_START); pack(); }// </editor-fold> /** * @param args the command line arguments */ public static void main(String args[]) { /* Set the Nimbus look and feel */ //<editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Look and feel setting code (optional) "> /* If Nimbus (introduced in Java SE 6) is not available, stay with the default look and feel. * For details see http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/plaf.html */ try { for (javax.swing.UIManager.LookAndFeelInfo info : javax.swing.UIManager.getInstalledLookAndFeels()) { if ("Nimbus".equals(info.getName())) { javax.swing.UIManager.setLookAndFeel(info.getClassName()); break; } } } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) { java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(NewJDialog.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex); } catch (InstantiationException ex) { java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(NewJDialog.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex); } catch (IllegalAccessException ex) { java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(NewJDialog.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex); } catch (javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException ex) { java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(NewJDialog.class.getName()).log(java.util.logging.Level.SEVERE, null, ex); } //</editor-fold> /* Create and display the dialog */ java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() { public void run() { NewJDialog dialog = new NewJDialog(new javax.swing.JFrame(), true); dialog.addWindowListener(new java.awt.event.WindowAdapter() { @Override public void windowClosing(java.awt.event.WindowEvent e) { System.exit(0); } }); dialog.setVisible(true); } }); } // Variables declaration - do not modify private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel1; private javax.swing.JLabel jLabel2; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel1; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel2; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel3; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel4; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel5; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel6; private javax.swing.JPanel jPanel7; private javax.swing.JTabbedPane jTabbedPane1; // End of variables declaration } This is another class that I have created for the paint method: package GUI; import java.awt.Graphics; import javax.swing.JPanel; /** * * @author TOSHIBA */ public class Lienzo { private int width = 5; private int height = 5; private int y = 5; private int x = 0; private int x1 = 0; public Graphics Draw(Graphics g, int[] pistas) { //Im not sure if this is the correct way to do it //The diagram gets drawn according to values from an array //The array is not always the same thats why I used the different Panels for (int i = 0; i < pistas.length; i++) { x = pistas[i]; x1 = pistas[i + 1]; g.drawOval(x, y, width, height); g.drawString(Integer.toString(x), x, y); g.drawLine(x, y, x1, y); } return g; } } I hope you guys understand what I am trying to do with my program.

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• CI Deployment Of Azure Web Roles Using TeamCity

  - by srkirkland

  After recently migrating an important new website to use Windows Azure “Web Roles” I wanted an easier way to deploy new versions to the Azure Staging environment as well as a reliable process to rollback deployments to a certain “known good” source control commit checkpoint.  By configuring our JetBrains’ TeamCity CI server to utilize Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets to create new automated deployments, I’ll show you how to take control of your Azure publish process. Step 0: Configuring your Azure Project in Visual Studio Before we can start looking at automating the deployment, we should make sure manual deployments from Visual Studio are working properly.  Detailed information for setting up deployments can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683672.aspx#PublishAzure or by doing some quick Googling, but the basics are as follows: Install the prerequisite Windows Azure SDK Create an Azure project by right-clicking on your web project and choosing “Add Windows Azure Cloud Service Project” (or by manually adding that project type) Configure your Role and Service Configuration/Definition as desired Right-click on your azure project and choose “Publish,” create a publish profile, and push to your web role You don’t actually have to do step #4 and create a publish profile, but it’s a good exercise to make sure everything is working properly.  Once your Windows Azure project is setup correctly, we are ready to move on to understanding the Azure Publish process. Understanding the Azure Publish Process The actual Windows Azure project is fairly simple at its core—it builds your dependent roles (in our case, a web role) against a specific service and build configuration, and outputs two files: ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg: This is just the file containing your package configuration info, for example Instance Count, OsFamily, ConnectionString and other Setting information. ProjectName.Azure.cspkg: This is the package file that contains the guts of your deployment, including all deployable files. When you package your Azure project, these two files will be created within the directory ./[ProjectName].Azure/bin/[ConfigName]/app.publish/.  If you want to build your Azure Project from the command line, it’s as simple as calling MSBuild on the “Publish” target: msbuild.exe /target:Publish Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets The last pieces of the puzzle that make CI automation possible are the Azure PowerShell Cmdlets (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj156055.aspx).  These cmdlets are what will let us create deployments without Visual Studio or other user intervention. Preparing TeamCity for Azure Deployments Now we are ready to get our TeamCity server setup so it can build and deploy Windows Azure projects, which we now know requires the Azure SDK and the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets. Installing the Azure SDK is easy enough, just go to https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/ and click “Install” Once this SDK is installed, I recommend running a test build to make sure your project is building correctly.  You’ll want to setup your build step using MSBuild with the “Publish” target against your solution file.  Mine looks like this: Assuming the build was successful, you will now have the two *.cspkg and *cscfg files within your build directory.  If the build was red (failed), take a look at the build logs and keep an eye out for “unsupported project type” or other build errors, which will need to be addressed before the CI deployment can be completed. With a successful build we are now ready to install and configure the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets: Follow the instructions at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj554332 to install the Cmdlets and configure PowerShell After installing the Cmdlets, you’ll need to get your Azure Subscription Info using the Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile command. Store the resulting *.publishsettings file somewhere you can get to easily, like C:\TeamCity, because you will need to reference it later from your deploy script. Scripting the CI Deploy Process Now that the cmdlets are installed on our TeamCity server, we are ready to script the actual deployment using a TeamCity “PowerShell” build runner.  Before we look at any code, here’s a breakdown of our deployment algorithm: Setup your variables, including the location of the *.cspkg and *cscfg files produced in the earlier MSBuild step (remember, the folder is something like [ProjectName].Azure/bin/[ConfigName]/app.publish/ Import the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets Import and set your Azure Subscription information (this is basically your authentication/authorization step, so protect your settings file Now look for a current deployment, and if you find one Upgrade it, else Create a new deployment Pretty simple and straightforward.  Now let’s look at the code (also available as a gist here: https://gist.github.com/3694398): $subscription = "[Your Subscription Name]" $service = "[Your Azure Service Name]" $slot = "staging" #staging or production $package = "[ProjectName]\bin\[BuildConfigName]\app.publish\[ProjectName].cspkg" $configuration = "[ProjectName]\bin\[BuildConfigName]\app.publish\ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg" $timeStampFormat = "g" $deploymentLabel = "ContinuousDeploy to $service v%build.number%"   Write-Output "Running Azure Imports" Import-Module "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Azure\PowerShell\Azure\*.psd1" Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile "C:\TeamCity\[PSFileName].publishsettings" Set-AzureSubscription -CurrentStorageAccount $service -SubscriptionName $subscription   function Publish(){ $deployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot -ErrorVariable a -ErrorAction silentlycontinue   if ($a[0] -ne $null) { Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - No deployment is detected. Creating a new deployment. " } if ($deployment.Name -ne $null) { #Update deployment inplace (usually faster, cheaper, won't destroy VIP) Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Deployment exists in $servicename. Upgrading deployment." UpgradeDeployment } else { CreateNewDeployment } }   function CreateNewDeployment() { write-progress -id 3 -activity "Creating New Deployment" -Status "In progress" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Creating New Deployment: In progress"   $opstat = New-AzureDeployment -Slot $slot -Package $package -Configuration $configuration -label $deploymentLabel -ServiceName $service   $completeDeployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot $completeDeploymentID = $completeDeployment.deploymentid   write-progress -id 3 -activity "Creating New Deployment" -completed -Status "Complete" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Creating New Deployment: Complete, Deployment ID: $completeDeploymentID" }   function UpgradeDeployment() { write-progress -id 3 -activity "Upgrading Deployment" -Status "In progress" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Upgrading Deployment: In progress"   # perform Update-Deployment $setdeployment = Set-AzureDeployment -Upgrade -Slot $slot -Package $package -Configuration $configuration -label $deploymentLabel -ServiceName $service -Force   $completeDeployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot $completeDeploymentID = $completeDeployment.deploymentid   write-progress -id 3 -activity "Upgrading Deployment" -completed -Status "Complete" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Upgrading Deployment: Complete, Deployment ID: $completeDeploymentID" }   Write-Output "Create Azure Deployment" Publish   Creating the TeamCity Build Step The only thing left is to create a second build step, after your MSBuild “Publish” step, with the build runner type “PowerShell”.  Then set your script to “Source Code,” the script execution mode to “Put script into PowerShell stdin with “-Command” arguments” and then copy/paste in the above script (replacing the placeholder sections with your values).  This should look like the following:   Wrap Up After combining the MSBuild /target:Publish step (which creates the necessary Windows Azure *.cspkg and *.cscfg files) and a PowerShell script step which utilizes the Azure PowerShell Cmdlets, we have a fully deployable build configuration in TeamCity.  You can configure this step to run whenever you’d like using build triggers – for example, you could even deploy whenever a new master branch deploy comes in and passes all required tests. In the script I’ve hardcoded that every deployment goes to the Staging environment on Azure, but you could deploy straight to Production if you want to, or even setup a deployment configuration variable and set it as desired. After your TeamCity Build Configuration is complete, you’ll see something that looks like this: Whenever you click the “Run” button, all of your code will be compiled, published, and deployed to Windows Azure! One additional enormous benefit of automating the process this way is that you can easily deploy any specific source control changeset by clicking the little ellipsis button next to "Run.”  This will bring up a dialog like the one below, where you can select the last change to use for your deployment.  Since Azure Web Role deployments don’t have any rollback functionality, this is a critical feature.   Enjoy!

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• Oracle Database 12 c New Partition Maintenance Features by Gwen Lazenby

  - by hamsun

  One of my favourite new features in Oracle Database 12c is the ability to perform partition maintenance operations on multiple partitions. This means we can now add, drop, truncate and merge multiple partitions in one operation, and can split a single partition into more than two partitions also in just one command. This would certainly have made my life slightly easier had it been available when I administered a data warehouse at Oracle 9i. To demonstrate this new functionality and syntax, I am going to create two tables, ORDERS and ORDERS_ITEMS which have a parent-child relationship. ORDERS is to be partitioned using range partitioning on the ORDER_DATE column, and ORDER_ITEMS is going to partitioned using reference partitioning and its foreign key relationship with the ORDERS table. This form of partitioning was a new feature in 11g and means that any partition maintenance operations performed on the ORDERS table will also take place on the ORDER_ITEMS table as well. First create the ORDERS table - SQL CREATE TABLE orders ( order_id NUMBER(12), order_date TIMESTAMP, order_mode VARCHAR2(8), customer_id NUMBER(6), order_status NUMBER(2), order_total NUMBER(8,2), sales_rep_id NUMBER(6), promotion_id NUMBER(6), CONSTRAINT orders_pk PRIMARY KEY(order_id) ) PARTITION BY RANGE(order_date) (PARTITION Q1_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-APR-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q2_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-JUL-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q3_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-OCT-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q4_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-JAN-2008','DD-MON-YYYY')) ); Table created. Now the ORDER_ITEMS table SQL CREATE TABLE order_items ( order_id NUMBER(12) NOT NULL, line_item_id NUMBER(3) NOT NULL, product_id NUMBER(6) NOT NULL, unit_price NUMBER(8,2), quantity NUMBER(8), CONSTRAINT order_items_fk FOREIGN KEY(order_id) REFERENCES orders(order_id) on delete cascade) PARTITION BY REFERENCE(order_items_fk) tablespace example; Table created. Now look at DBA_TAB_PARTITIONS to get details of what partitions we have in the two tables – SQL select table_name,partition_name, partition_position position, high_value from dba_tab_partitions where table_owner='SH' and table_name like 'ORDER_%' order by partition_position, table_name; TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME POSITION HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- -------- ------------------------- ORDERS Q1_2007 1 TIMESTAMP' 2007-04-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q1_2007 1 ORDERS Q2_2007 2 TIMESTAMP' 2007-07-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q2_2007 2 ORDERS Q3_2007 3 TIMESTAMP' 2007-10-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q3_2007 3 ORDERS Q4_2007 4 TIMESTAMP' 2008-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2007 4 Just as an aside it is also now possible in 12c to use interval partitioning on reference partitioned tables. In 11g it was not possible to combine these two new partitioning features. For our first example of the new 12cfunctionality, let us add all the partitions necessary for 2008 to the tables using one command. Notice that the partition specification part of the add command is identical in format to the partition specification part of the create command as shown above - SQL alter table orders add PARTITION Q1_2008 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-APR-2008','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q2_2008 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-JUL-2008','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q3_2008 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-OCT-2008','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q4_2008 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-JAN-2009','DD-MON-YYYY')); Table altered. Now look at DBA_TAB_PARTITIONS and we can see that the 4 new partitions have been added to both tables – SQL select table_name,partition_name, partition_position position, high_value from dba_tab_partitions where table_owner='SH' and table_name like 'ORDER_%' order by partition_position, table_name; TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME POSITION HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- -------- ------------------------- ORDERS Q1_2007 1 TIMESTAMP' 2007-04-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q1_2007 1 ORDERS Q2_2007 2 TIMESTAMP' 2007-07-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q2_2007 2 ORDERS Q3_2007 3 TIMESTAMP' 2007-10-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q3_2007 3 ORDERS Q4_2007 4 TIMESTAMP' 2008-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2007 4 ORDERS Q1_2008 5 TIMESTAMP' 2008-04-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q1_2008 5 ORDERS Q2_2008 6 TIMESTAMP' 2008-07-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEM Q2_2008 6 ORDERS Q3_2008 7 TIMESTAMP' 2008-10-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q3_2008 7 ORDERS Q4_2008 8 TIMESTAMP' 2009-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2008 8 Next, we can drop or truncate multiple partitions by giving a comma separated list in the alter table command. Note the use of the plural ‘partitions’ in the command as opposed to the singular ‘partition’ prior to 12c– SQL alter table orders drop partitions Q3_2008,Q2_2008,Q1_2008; Table altered. Now look at DBA_TAB_PARTITIONS and we can see that the 3 partitions have been dropped in both the two tables – TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME POSITION HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- -------- ------------------------- ORDERS Q1_2007 1 TIMESTAMP' 2007-04-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q1_2007 1 ORDERS Q2_2007 2 TIMESTAMP' 2007-07-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q2_2007 2 ORDERS Q3_2007 3 TIMESTAMP' 2007-10-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q3_2007 3 ORDERS Q4_2007 4 TIMESTAMP' 2008-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2007 4 ORDERS Q4_2008 5 TIMESTAMP' 2009-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2008 5 Now let us merge all the 2007 partitions together to form one single partition – SQL alter table orders merge partitions Q1_2005, Q2_2005, Q3_2005, Q4_2005 into partition Y_2007; Table altered. TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME POSITION HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- -------- ------------------------- ORDERS Y_2007 1 TIMESTAMP' 2008-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Y_2007 1 ORDERS Q4_2008 2 TIMESTAMP' 2009-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2008 2 Splitting partitions is a slightly more involved. In the case of range partitioning one of the new partitions must have no high value defined, and in list partitioning one of the new partitions must have no list of values defined. I call these partitions the ‘everything else’ partitions, and will contain any rows contained in the original partition that are not contained in the any of the other new partitions. For example, let us split the Y_2007 partition back into 4 quarterly partitions – SQL alter table orders split partition Y_2007 into (PARTITION Q1_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-APR-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q2_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-JUL-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q3_2007 VALUES LESS THAN (TO_DATE('01-OCT-2007','DD-MON-YYYY')), PARTITION Q4_2007); Now look at DBA_TAB_PARTITIONS to get details of the new partitions – TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME POSITION HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- -------- ------------------------- ORDERS Q1_2007 1 TIMESTAMP' 2007-04-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q1_2007 1 ORDERS Q2_2007 2 TIMESTAMP' 2007-07-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q2_2007 2 ORDERS Q3_2007 3 TIMESTAMP' 2007-10-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q3_2007 3 ORDERS Q4_2007 4 TIMESTAMP' 2008-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2007 4 ORDERS Q4_2008 5 TIMESTAMP' 2009-01-01 00:00:00' ORDER_ITEMS Q4_2008 5 Partition Q4_2007 has a high value equal to the high value of the original Y_2007 partition, and so has inherited its upper boundary from the partition that was split. As for a list partitioning example let look at the following another table, SALES_PAR_LIST, which has 2 partitions, Americas and Europe and a partitioning key of country_name. SQL select table_name,partition_name, high_value from dba_tab_partitions where table_owner='SH' and table_name = 'SALES_PAR_LIST'; TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME HIGH_VALUE -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- SALES_PAR_LIST AMERICAS 'Argentina', 'Canada', 'Peru', 'USA', 'Honduras', 'Brazil', 'Nicaragua' SALES_PAR_LIST EUROPE 'France', 'Spain', 'Ireland', 'Germany', 'Belgium', 'Portugal', 'Denmark' Now split the Americas partition into 3 partitions – SQL alter table sales_par_list split partition americas into (partition south_america values ('Argentina','Peru','Brazil'), partition north_america values('Canada','USA'), partition central_america); Table altered. Note that no list of values was given for the ‘Central America’ partition. However it should have inherited any values in the original ‘Americas’ partition that were not assigned to either the ‘North America’ or ‘South America’ partitions. We can confirm this by looking at the DBA_TAB_PARTITIONS view. SQL select table_name,partition_name, high_value from dba_tab_partitions where table_owner='SH' and table_name = 'SALES_PAR_LIST'; TABLE_NAME PARTITION_NAME HIGH_VALUE --------------- --------------- -------------------------------- SALES_PAR_LIST SOUTH_AMERICA 'Argentina', 'Peru', 'Brazil' SALES_PAR_LIST NORTH_AMERICA 'Canada', 'USA' SALES_PAR_LIST CENTRAL_AMERICA 'Honduras', 'Nicaragua' SALES_PAR_LIST EUROPE 'France', 'Spain', 'Ireland', 'Germany', 'Belgium', 'Portugal', 'Denmark' In conclusion, I hope that DBA’s whose work involves maintaining partitions will find the operations a bit more straight forward to carry out once they have upgraded to Oracle Database 12c. Gwen Lazenby is a Principal Training Consultant at Oracle. She is part of Oracle University's Core Technology delivery team based in the UK, teaching Database Administration and Linux courses. Her specialist topics include using Oracle Partitioning and Parallelism in Data Warehouse environments, as well as Oracle Spatial and RMAN.

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• Mobile BI Comes of Age

  - by rich.clayton(at)oracle.com

  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} One of the hot topics in the Business Intelligence industry is mobility.  More specifically the question is how business can be transformed by the iPhone and the iPad.  In June 2003, Gartner predicted that Mobile BI would be obsolete and that the technology was headed for the 'trough of disillusionment'.  I agreed with them at that time.  Many vendors like MicroStrategy and Business Objects jumped into the fray attempting to show how PDA's like Palm Pilots could be integrated with BI.  Their investments resulted in interesting demos with no commercial traction.  Why, because wireless networks and mobile operating systems were primitive, immature and slow. In my opinion, Apple's iOS has changed everything in Mobile BI.  Yes Blackberry, Android and Symbian and all the rest have their place in the market but I believe that increasingly consumers (not IT departments) influence BI decision making processes.  Consumers are choosing the iPhone and the iPad. The number of iPads I see in business meetings now is staggering.  Some use it for email and note taking and others are starting to use corporate applications.  The possibilities for Mobile BI are countless and I would expect to see iPads enterprise-wide over the next few years.   These new devices will provide just-in-time access to critical business information.  Front-line managers interacting with customers, suppliers, patients or citizens will have information literally at their fingertips. I've experimented with several mobile BI tools.  They look cool but like their Executive Information System (EIS) predecessors of the 1990's these tools lack a backbone and a plausible integration strategy.  EIS was a viral technology in the early 1990's.  Executives from every industry and job function were showcasing their dashboards to fellow co-workers and colleagues at the country club.  Just like the iPad, every senior manager wanted one.  EIS wasn't a device however, it was a software application.   EIS quickly faded into the software sunset as it lacked integration with corporate information systems.  BI servers  replaced EIS because the technology focused on the heavy data lifting of integrating, normalizing, aggregating and managing large, complex data volumes.  The devices are here to stay. The cute stand-alone mobile BI tools, not so much. If all you're looking to do is put Excel files on your iPad, there are plenty of free tools on the market.  You'll look cool at your next management meeting but after a few weeks, the cool factor will fade away and you'll be wondering how you will ever maintain it.  If however you want secure, consistent, reliable information on your iPad, you need an integration strategy and a way to model the data.  BI Server technologies like the Oracle BI Foundation is a market leading approach to tackle that issue. I liken the BI mobility frenzy to buying classic cars.  Classic Cars have two buying groups - teenagers and middle-age folks looking to tinker.  Teenagers look at the pin-stripes and the paint job while middle-agers (like me)  kick the tires a bit and look under the hood to check out the quality and reliability of the engine.  Mobile BI tools sure look sexy but don't go very far without an engine and a transmission or an integration strategy. The strategic question in Mobile BI is can these startups build a motor and transmission faster than Oracle can re-paint the car?  Oracle has a great engine and a transmission that connects to all enterprise information assets.  We're working on the new paint job and are excited about the possibilities.  Just as vertical integration worked in the automotive business, it too works in the technology industry.

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• Reviewing Retail Predictions for 2011

  - by David Dorf

  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} I've been busy thinking about what 2012 and beyond will look like for retail, and I have some interesting predictions to share.  But before I go there, let’s first review this year’s predictions before making new ones for 2012. 1. Alternate Payments We've seen several alternate payment schemes emerge over the last two years, and 2011 may be the year one of them takes hold. Any competition that can drive down fees will be good for everyone. I'm betting that Apple will add NFC chips to their next version of the iPhone, then enable payments in stores using iTunes accounts on the backend. Paypal will continue to make inroads, and Isis will announce a pilot. The iPhone 4S did not contain an NFC chip, so we’ll have to continuing waiting for the iPhone 5. PayPal announced its moving into in-store payments, and Google launched its wallet in selected cities.  Overall I think the payment scene is heating up and that trend will continue. 2. Engineered Systems The industry is moving toward purpose-built appliances that are optimized across the entire stack. Oracle calls these "engineered systems" and the first two examples are Exadata and Exalogic, but there are other examples from other vendors. These are particularly important to the retail industry because of the volume of data that must be processed. There should be continued adoption in 2011. Oracle reports that Exadata is its fasting growing product, and at the recent OpenWorld it announced the SuperCluster and Exalytics products, both continuing the engineered systems trend. SAP’s HANA continues to receive attention, and IBM also seems to be moving in this direction. 3. Social Analytics There are lots of tools that provide insight into how a brand is perceived across popular internet sites, but as far as I know, these tools are not industry specific. The next step needs to mine the data and determine how it should influence retail operations. The data needs to help retailers determine how they create promotions, which products to stock, and how to keep consumers engaged. Social data alone does not provide the answers, but its one more data point that will help retailers make better decisions. Look for some vendor consolidation to help make this happen. In March, Salesforce.com acquired leading social monitoring vendor Radian6 and followed up with acquisitions of Heroku and Model Metrics. The notion of Social CRM seems to be going more mainstream now. 4. 2-D Barcodes Look for more QRCodes on shelf-tags, in newspaper circulars, and on billboards. It's a great portal from the physical world into the digital one that buys us time until augmented reality matures further. Nobody wants to type "www", backslash, and ".com" on their phones. QRCodes are everywhere. ‘Nuff said. 5. In the words of Microsoft, "To the Cloud!" My favorite "cloud application" is Evernote. If you take notes on your work laptop, you will inevitably need those notes on your home PC. And if you manage to solve that problem, you'll need to access them from your mobile phone. Evernote stores your notes in the cloud and provides easy ways to access them. Being able to access a service from anywhere and not having to worry about backups, upgrades, etc. is great. Retailers will start to rely on cloud services, both public and private, in the coming year. There were no shortage of announcements in this area: Amazon’s cloud-based Kindle Fire, Apple’s iCloud, Oracle’s Public Cloud, etc. I saw an interesting presentation showing how BevMo moved their systems to the cloud.  Seems like retailers are starting to consider the cloud for specific uses. 6. F-CommerceTop of Form Move over "E" and "M" so we can introduce "F-Commerce," which should go mainstream in 2011. Already several retailers have created small stores on Facebook, and it won't be long before Facebook becomes a full-fledged channel in the omni-channel world of retail. The battle between Facebook and Google will heat up over retail, where both stand to make lots of money. JCPenney and ASOS both put their entire catalogs on Facebook, and lots of other retailers have connected Facebook to their e-commerce site. I still think selling from the newsfeed is the best approach, and several retailers are trying that approach as well. I just don’t see Google+ as a threat to Facebook, so I think that battle is over.  I called 2011 The Year of F-Commerce, and that was probably accurate. Its good to look back at predictions, but we also have to think about what was missed.  I didn't see Amazon entering the tablet business with such a splash, although in hindsight it was obvious. Nor did I think HP would fall so far so fast.  Look for my 2012 predictions coming soon.

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