Search Results

Search found 1433 results on 58 pages for 'the crazy chimp'.

Page 53/58 | < Previous Page | 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58  | Next Page >

• Avoiding stack overflows in wrapper DLLs

  - by peachykeen

  I have a program to which I'm adding fullscreen post-processing effects. I do not have the source for the program (it's proprietary, although a developer did send me a copy of the debug symbols, .map format). I have the code for the effects written and working, no problems. My issue now is linking the two. I've tried two methods so far: Use Detours to modify the original program's import table. This works great and is guaranteed to be stable, but the user's I've talked to aren't comfortable with it, it requires installation (beyond extracting an archive), and there's some question if patching the program with Detours is valid under the terms of the EULA. So, that option is out. The other option is the traditional DLL-replacement. I've wrapped OpenGL (opengl32.dll), and I need the program to load my DLL instead of the system copy (just drop it in the program folder with the right name, that's easy). I then need my DLL to load the Cg framework and runtime (which relies on OpenGL) and a few other things. When Cg loads, it calls some of my functions, which call Cg functions, and I tend to get stack overflows and infinite loops. I need to be able to either include the Cg DLLs in a subdirectory and still use their functions (not sure if it's possible to have my DLLs import table point to a DLL in a subdirectory) or I need to dynamically link them (which I'd rather not do, just to simplify the build process), something to force them to refer to the system's file (not my custom replacement). The entire chain is: Program loads DLL A (named opengl32.dll). DLL A loads Cg.dll and dynamically links (GetProcAddress) to sysdir/opengl32.dll. I now need Cg.dll to also refer to sysdir/opengl32.dll, not DLL A. How would this be done? Edit: How would this be done easily without using GetProcAddress? If nothing else works, I'm willing to fall back to that, but I'd rather not if at all possible. Edit2: I just stumbled across the function SetDllDirectory in the MSDN docs (on a totally unrelated search). At first glance, that looks like what I need. Is that right, or am I misjudging? (off to test it now) Edit3: I've solved this problem by doing thing a bit differently. Instead of dropping an OpenGL32.dll, I've renamed my DLL to DInput.dll. Not only does it have the advantage of having to export one function instead of well over 120 (for the program, Cg, and GLEW), I don't have to worry about functions running back in (I can link to OpenGL as usual). To get into the calls I need to intercept, I'm using Detours. All in all, it works much better. This question, though, is still an interesting problem (and hopefully will be useful for anyone else trying to do crazy things in the future). Both the answers are good, so I'm not sure yet which to pick...

  Read the article

• Programming graphics and sound on PC - Total newbie questions, and lots of them!

  - by Russel

  Hello, This isn't exactly specifically a programming question (or is it?) but I was wondering: How are graphics and sound processed from code and output by the PC? My guess for graphics: There is some reserved memory space somewhere that holds exactly enough room for a frame of graphics output for your monitor. IE: 800 x 600, 24 bit color mode == 800x600x3 = ~1.4MB memory space Between each refresh, the program writes video data to this space. This action is completed before the monitor refresh. Assume a simple 2D game: the graphics data is stored in machine code as many bytes representing color values. Depending on what the program(s) being run instruct the PC, the processor reads the appropriate data and writes it to the memory space. When it is time for the monitor to refresh, it reads from each memory space byte-for-byte and activates hardware depending on those values for each color element of each pixel. All of this of course happens crazy-fast, and repeats x times a second, x being the monitor's refresh rate. I've simplified my own likely-incorrect explanation by avoiding talk of double buffering, etc Here are my questions: a) How close is the above guess (the three steps)? b) How could one incorporate graphics in pure C++ code? I assume the practical thing that everyone does is use a graphics library (SDL, OpenGL, etc), but, for example, how do these libraries accomplish what they do? Would manual inclusion of graphics in pure C++ code (say, a 2D spite) involve creating a two-dimensional array of bit values (or three dimensional to include multiple RGB values per pixel)? Is this how it would be done waaay back in the day? c) Also, continuing from above, do libraries such as SDL etc that use bitmaps actual just build the bitmap/etc files into machine code of the executable and use them as though they were build in the same matter mentioned in question b above? d) In my hypothetical step 3 above, is there any registers involved? Like, could you write some byte value to some register to output a single color of one byte on the screen? Or is it purely dedicated memory space (=RAM) + hardware interaction? e) Finally, how is all of this done for sound? (I have no idea :) )

  Read the article

• is it possible to extract certain strings based off a predefined white-space count?

  - by s2xi

  So after several Advil's I think I need help I am trying to make a script that lets the user upload a .txt file, the file will look like this as an example EXT. DUNKIN' DONUTS - DAY Police vehicles remain in the parking lot. The determined female reporter from the courthouse steps, MELINDA FUENTES (32), interviews Comandante Chitt, who holds a napkin to his jaw, like he cut himself shaving. MELINDA < Comandante Chitt, how does it feel to get shot in the face? > COMANDANTE CHITT < Not too different than getting shot in the arm or leg. > MELINDA < Tell us what happened. > COMANDANTE CHITT < I parked my car. (indicates assault vehicle in donut shop) He aimed his weapon at my head. I fired seven shots. He stopped aiming his weapon at my head. > Melinda waits for more, but Chitt turns and walks away into the roped-off crime scene. Melinda is confused for a second, then resumes smiling. MELINDA < And there you have it... A man of few words. > Ok, so based off of this what I want to do is this: The PHP script looks at the file and counts 35 white spaces, since all files will have the same layout and never differ in white spaces I chose this as the best way to go. for every 35 white spaces extract character 36 until the end of line. Then tally up $character++ so in the end the output would look like ----------------------------------- It looks like you have 2 characters in your script Melinda Commandante Chitt ----------------------------------- using PHP to select distinct names, and use the strtolower() to lower case the strings and ucfirst() to make the first letter upper-case thats my project, I'm at the stage where I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to count white-spaces and everything after that white space until the first white-space after the word IS a character name

  Read the article

• PHP max_execution_time not timing out

  - by Joey Ezekiel

  This is not one of the regular questions if sleep is counted for timeout or stuff like that. Ok, here's the problem: I've set the max_execution_time for PHP as 15 seconds and ideally this should time out when it crosses the set limit, but it doesn't. Apache has been restarted after the change to the php.ini file and an ini_get('max_execution_time') is all fine. Sometimes the script runs for upto 200 seconds which is crazy. I have no database communication whatsoever. All the script does is looking for files on the unix filesystem and in some cases re-directing to another JSP page. There is no sleep() on the script. I calculate the total execution time of the PHP script like this: At the start of the script I set : $_mtime = microtime(); $_mtime = explode(" ",$_mtime); $_mtime = $_mtime[1] + $_mtime[0]; $_gStartTime = $_mtime; and the end time($_gEndTime) is calculated similarly. The total time is calculated in a shutdown function that I've registered: register_shutdown_function('shutdown'); ............. function shutdown() { .............. .............. $_total_time = $_gEndTime - $_gStartTime; .............. switch (connection_status ()) { case CONNECTION_NORMAL: .... break; .... case CONNECTION_TIMEOUT: .... break; ...... } } Note: I cannot use $_SERVER['REQUEST_TIME'] because my PHP version is incompatible. That sucks - I know. 1) Well, my first question obviously is is why is my PHP script executing even after the set timeout limit? 2) Apache has the Timeout directive which is 300 seconds but the PHP binary does not read the Apache config and this should not be a problem. 3) Is there a possibility that something is sending PHP into a sleep mode? 4) Am I calculating the execution time in a wrong way? Is there a better way to do this? I'm stumped at this point. PHP Wizards - please help.

  Read the article

• Is there a path of least resistance that a newcomer to graphics-technology-adoption can take at this point in the .NET graphics world?

  - by Rao

  For the past 5 months or so, I've spent time learning C# using Andrew Troelsen's book and getting familiar with stuff in the .NET 4 stack... bits of ADO.NET, EF4 and a pinch of WCF to taste. I'm really interested in graphics development (not for games though), which is why I chose to go the .NET route when I decided choose from either Java or .NET to learn... since I heard about WPF and saw some sexy screenshots and all. I'm even almost done with the 4 WPF chapters in Troelsen's book. Now, all of a sudden I saw some post on a forum about how "WPF was dead" in the face of something called Silverlight. I searched more and saw all the confusion going on at present... even stuff like "Silverlight is dead too!" wrt HTML5. From what I gather, we are in a delicate period of time that will eventually decide which technology will stabilize, right? Even so, as someone new moving into UI & graphics development via .NET, I wish I could get some guidance from people more experienced people. Maybe I'm reading too much? Maybe I have missed some pieces of information? Maybe a path exists that minimizes tears of blood? In any case, here is a sample vomiting of my thoughts on which I'd appreciate some clarification or assurance or spanking: My present interest lies in desktop development. But on graduating from college, I wish to market myself as a .NET developer. The industry seems to be drooling for web stuff. Can Silverlight do both equally well? (I see on searches that SL works "out of browser"). I have two fair-sized hobby projects planned that will have hawt UIs with lots of drag n drop, sliding animations etc. These are intended to be desktop apps that will use reflection, database stuff using EF4, networking over LAN, reading-writing of files... does this affect which graphics technology can be used? At some laaaater point, if I become interested in doing a bit of 3D stuff in .NET, will that affect which technologies can be used? Or what if I look up to the heavens, stick out my middle finger, and do something crazy like go learn HTML5 even though my knowledge of it can be encapsulated in 2 sentences? Sorry I seem confused so much, I just want to know if there's a path of least resistance that a newcomer to graphics-technology-adoption can take at this point in the graphics world.

  Read the article

• deleted gen folder, eclipse isn't generating it now :(

  - by LuxuryMode

  I accidentally deleted my gen folder and now, predictably, my resources are all messed up. I just created a gen folder myself and tried to project clean - that didn't work. Tried right-clicking project and going to android tools fix project properties - didn't work. Tried unchecking build automatically...didn't work. cleaned, closed project, closed eclipse, restarted, etc, etc. Nothing is working and I keep seeing this error: gen already exists but is not a source folder. Convert to a source folder or rename it. EDIT - OK was able to generate R.java, but now I'm getting crazy stuff in the console: [2011-06-14 17:06:11 - fastapp] Conversion to Dalvik format failed with error 1 [2011-06-14 17:06:42 - fastapp] Dx trouble processing "java/awt/font/NumericShaper.class": Ill-advised or mistaken usage of a core class (java.* or javax.*) when not building a core library. This is often due to inadvertently including a core library file in your application's project, when using an IDE (such as Eclipse). If you are sure you're not intentionally defining a core class, then this is the most likely explanation of what's going on. However, you might actually be trying to define a class in a core namespace, the source of which you may have taken, for example, from a non-Android virtual machine project. This will most assuredly not work. At a minimum, it jeopardizes the compatibility of your app with future versions of the platform. It is also often of questionable legality. If you really intend to build a core library -- which is only appropriate as part of creating a full virtual machine distribution, as opposed to compiling an application -- then use the "--core-library" option to suppress this error message. If you go ahead and use "--core-library" but are in fact building an application, then be forewarned that your application will still fail to build or run, at some point. Please be prepared for angry customers who find, for example, that your application ceases to function once they upgrade their operating system. You will be to blame for this problem. If you are legitimately using some code that happens to be in a core package, then the easiest safe alternative you have is to repackage that code. That is, move the classes in question into your own package namespace. This means that they will never be in conflict with core system classes. JarJar is a tool that may help you in this endeavor. If you find that you cannot do this, then that is an indication that the path you are on will ultimately lead to pain, suffering, grief, and lamentation. [2011-06-14 17:06:42 - fastapp] Dx 1 error; aborting [2011-06-14 17:06:42 - fastapp] Conversion to Dalvik format failed with error 1 And eclipse can't resolve the import of my resources import com.me.fastapp.R;

  Read the article

• Fleunt NHibernate not working outside of nunit test fixtures

  - by thorkia

  Okay, here is my problem... I created a Data Layer using the RTM Fluent Nhibernate. My create session code looks like this: _session = Fluently.Configure(). Database(SQLiteConfiguration.Standard.UsingFile("Data.s3db")) .Mappings( m => { m.FluentMappings.AddFromAssemblyOf<ProductMap>(); m.FluentMappings.AddFromAssemblyOf<ProductLogMap>(); }) .ExposeConfiguration(BuildSchema) .BuildSessionFactory(); When I reference the module in a test project, then create a test fixture that looks something like this: [Test] public void CanAddProduct() { var product = new Product {Code = "9", Name = "Test 9"}; IProductRepository repository = new ProductRepository(); repository.AddProduct(product); using (ISession session = OrmHelper.OpenSession()) { var fromDb = session.Get<Product>(product.Id); Assert.IsNotNull(fromDb); Assert.AreNotSame(fromDb, product); Assert.AreEqual(fromDb.Id, product.Id); } My tests pass. When I open up the created SQLite DB, the new Product with Code 9 is in it. the tables for Product and ProductLog are there. Now, when I create a new console application, and reference the same library, do something like this: Product product = new Product() {Code = "10", Name = "Hello"}; IProductRepository repository = new ProductRepository(); repository.AddProduct(product); Console.WriteLine(product.Id); Console.ReadLine(); It doesn't work. I actually get pretty nasty exception chain. To save you lots of head aches, here is the summary: Top Level exception: An invalid or incomplete configuration was used while creating a SessionFactory. Check PotentialReasons collection, and InnerException for more detail.\r\n\r\n The PotentialReasons collection is empty The Inner exception: The IDbCommand and IDbConnection implementation in the assembly System.Data.SQLite could not be found. Ensure that the assembly System.Data.SQLite is located in the application directory or in the Global Assembly Cache. If the assembly is in the GAC, use element in the application configuration file to specify the full name of the assembly. Both the unit test library and the console application reference the exact same version of System.Data.SQLite. Both projects have the exact same DLLs in the debug folder. I even tried copying SQLite DB the unit test library created into the debug directory of the console app, and removed the build schema lines and it still fails If anyone can help me figure out why this won't work outside of my unit tests it would be greatly appreciated. This crazy bug has me at a stand still.

  Read the article

• WCF facility : Metadata publishing for this service is currently disabled

  - by cvista

  I asked this before and got no where so i'm asking again as i'm now desperate!! Hey if i create a new wcf project i can browse the meta instantly. if I try - when using the WCF facility - i get the following: Metadata publishing for this service is currently disabled. i followed the instructions there and in a million other places and get no where. if i copy the contents of my faciltity service into the newly created project it complains that aspNetCompatibilityEnabled isnt enabled. so i enable it and then mex is disabled again and i get: Metadata publishing for this service is currently disabled. again!! this is driving me crazy - i have tried tried tried to follow every example on the web!! here is my current configuration - there is no client yet: <system.serviceModel> <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" /> <services> <service name="IbzStar.WebServices.UserServices" behaviorConfiguration="ServiceBehavior"> <!-- Service Endpoints --> <endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="IbzStar.WebServices.IUserServices"> <!-- Upon deployment, the following identity element should be removed or replaced to reflect the identity under which the deployed service runs. If removed, WCF will infer an appropriate identity automatically. --> <identity> <dns value="localhost"/> </identity> </endpoint> <endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"/> </service> </services> <behaviors> <serviceBehaviors> <behavior name="ServiceBehavior"> <!-- To avoid disclosing metadata information, set the value below to false and remove the metadata endpoint above before deployment --> <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/> <!-- To receive exception details in faults for debugging purposes, set the value below to true. Set to false before deployment to avoid disclosing exception information --> <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false"/> </behavior> </serviceBehaviors> </behaviors> </system.serviceModel> please someone help me out before my laptop gets launched into orbit!! w://

  Read the article

• NSOperation inside NSOperationQueue not being executed

  - by Martin Garcia

  I really need help here. I'm desperate at this point. I have NSOperation that when added to the NSOperationQueue is not being triggered. I added some logging to see the NSOperation status and this is the result: Queue operations count = 1 Queue isSuspended = 0 Operation isCancelled? = 0 Operation isConcurrent? = 0 Operation isFinished? = 0 Operation isExecuted? = 0 Operation isReady? = 1 Operation dependencies? = 0 The code is very simple. Nothing special. LoadingConflictEvents_iPad *loadingEvents = [[LoadingConflictEvents_iPad alloc] initWithNibName:@"LoadingConflictEvents_iPad" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]]; loadingEvents.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationFormSheet; loadingEvents.conflictOpDelegate = self; [self presentModalViewController:loadingEvents animated:NO]; [loadingEvents release]; ConflictEventOperation *operation = [[ConflictEventOperation alloc] initWithParameters:wiLr.formNumber pWI_ID:wiLr.wi_id]; [queue addOperation:operation]; NSLog(@"Queue operations count = %d",[queue operationCount]); NSLog(@"Queue isSuspended = %d",[queue isSuspended]); NSLog(@"Operation isCancelled? = %d",[operation isCancelled]); NSLog(@"Operation isConcurrent? = %d",[operation isConcurrent]); NSLog(@"Operation isFinished? = %d",[operation isFinished]); NSLog(@"Operation isExecuted? = %d",[operation isExecuting]); NSLog(@"Operation isReady? = %d",[operation isReady]); NSLog(@"Operation dependencies? = %d",[[operation dependencies] count]); [operation release]; Now my operation do many things on the main method, but the problem is never being called. The main is never executed. The most weird thing (believe me, I'm not crazy .. yet). If I put a break point in any NSLog line or in the creation of the operation the main method will be called and everything will work perfectly. This have been working fine for a long time. I have been making some changes recently and apparently something screw things up. One of those changes was to upgrade the device to iOS 5.1 SDK (iPad). To add something, I have the iPhone (iOS 5.1) version of this application that use the same NSOperation object. The difference is in the UI only, and everything works fine. Any help will be really appreciated. Regards,

  Read the article

• Java Runtime.freeMemory() returning bizarre results when adding more objects

  - by Sotirios Delimanolis

  For whatever reason, I wanted to see how many objects I could create and populate a LinkedList with. I used Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory() to get the approximation of free memory in my JVM. I wrote this: public static void main(String[] arg) { Scanner kb = new Scanner(System.in); List<Long> mem = new LinkedList<Long>(); while (true) { System.out.println("Max memory: " + Runtime.getRuntime().maxMemory() + ". Available memory: " + Runtime.getRuntime().freeMemory() + " bytes. Press enter to use more."); String s = kb.nextLine(); if (s.equals("m")) for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) { mem.add(new Long((new Random()).nextLong())); } } } If I write in m, the app adds a million Long objects to the list. You would think the more objects (to which we have references, so can't be gc'ed), the less free memory. Running the code: Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 127257696 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 108426520 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 139873296 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 210632232 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 137268792 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 239504784 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 169507792 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 259686128 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 189293488 bytes. m Max memory: 1897725952. Available memory: 387686544 bytes. The available memory fluctuates. How does this happen? Is the GC cleaning up other things (what other things are there on the heap to really clean up?), is the freeMemory() method returning an approximation that's way off? Am I missing something or am I crazy?

  Read the article

• Zend Table Relationship Modeling with Composite Key

  - by emeraldjava

  I have a table with a composite primary key using four columns. mysql> describe leaguesummary; +------------------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +------------------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | leagueid | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | leaguetype | enum('I','T') | NO | PRI | NULL | | | leagueparticipantid | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | | | leaguestandard | int(10) unsigned | NO | | NULL | | | leaguedivision | varchar(5) | NO | PRI | NULL | | | leagueposition | int(10) unsigned | NO | | NULL | | I have the league object modelled as so (all plain enough mappings) <?php class Model_DbTable_League extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract { protected $_name = 'league'; protected $_primary = 'id'; protected $_dependentTables = array('Model_DbTable_LeagueSummary'); And I've started like this on the new model class. I've mapped a simple reference map which returns all rows linked to the league id. // http://files.zend.com/help/Zend-Framework/zend.db.table.relationships.html // http://naneau.nl/2007/04/21/a-zend-framework-tutorial-part-one/ class Model_DbTable_LeagueSummary extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract { protected $_name = "leaguesummary"; protected $_primary = array('leagueid', 'leaguetype','leagueparticipantid','leaguedivision'); protected $_referenceMap = array( 'Summary' => array( 'columns' => array('leagueid'), 'refTableClass' => 'Model_DbTable_League', 'refColumns' => array('id') ), ..... ); } ?> The simple case works when called from my controller public function listAction() { // action body $leagueTable = new Model_DbTable_League(); $this->view->leagues = $leagueTable->getLeagues(); $league = $leagueTable->getLeague(6); // work $summary = $league->findDependentRowset('Model_DbTable_LeagueSummary','Summary'); Zend_Debug::dump($summary,"",true); I'm not sure how i can define extra _referenceMap keys which will take extra contraint ket values. I would like to be able to define a set called 'MenA' in which the type and division values are hardcoded, and the league id is taken from the initial rowset. 'MenA' =>array( 'columns' => array('leagueid','leaguetype','leaguedivision'), 'refTableClass' => 'Model_DbTable_League', 'refColumns' => array("id","I","A") ) Is this style of mapping possible ie hardcoding the values into the 'refColumns'. The second crazy idea i had was to pass the variable values in as part of the third param of the findDependentRowset() method. $menA = $league->findDependentRowset('Model_DbTable_LeagueSummary','MenA',array("I","A")); Any suggestions on how I might use the Zend DB Table Relationship mapping correctly to do this would be appreciated. I'm not interested in the plain, old and ugly $db-select(a,b,c)-where(..) style solution.

  Read the article

• PHP - Cannot modify header information...

  - by Scott W.

  Hi, I am going crazy with this error: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by... Please note that I know about the gazillion results on google and on stack overflow. My problem is the way I've constructed my pages. To keep html separate from php, I use include files. So, for example, my pages look something like this: <?php require_once('web.config.php'); ?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Login</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="images/favicon.gif"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="images/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<?php echo SITE_STYLE; ?>"/> </head> <body> <div id="page_effect" style="display:none;"> <?php require_once('./controls/login/login.control.php'); ?> </div> </body> </html> So, by the time my php file is included, the header is already sent. Part of the include file looks like this: // redirect to destination if($user_redirect != 'default') { $destination_url = $row['DestinationUrl']; header('Location:'.$user_redirect); } elseif($user_redirect == 'default' && isset($_GET['ReturnURL'])) { $destination_url = $_GET['ReturnURL']; header('Location:'.$destination_url); } else { header('Location:'.SITE_URL.'login.php'); } But I can't figure out how to work around this. I can't have the header redirect before the output so having output buffering on is the only thing I can do. Naturally it works fine that way - but having to rely on that just stinks. It would be nice if PHP had an alternative way to redirect or had additional parameters to tell it to clear the buffer.

  Read the article

• Ruby: Parse, replace, and evaluate a string formula

  - by Swartz

  I'm creating a simple Ruby on Rails survey application for a friend's psychological survey project. So we have surveys, each survey has a bunch of questions, and each question has one of the options participants can choose from. Nothing exciting. One of the interesting aspects is that each answer option has a score value associated with it. And so for each survey a total score needs to be calculated based on these values. Now my idea is instead of hard-coding calculations is to allow user add a formula by which the total survey score will be calculated. Example formulas: "Q1 + Q2 + Q3" "(Q1 + Q2 + Q3) / 3" "(10 - Q1) + Q2 + (Q3 * 2)" So just basic math (with some extra parenthesis for clarity). The idea is to keep the formulas very simple such that anyone with basic math can enter them without resolving to some fancy syntax. My idea is to take any given formula and replace placeholders such as Q1, Q2, etc with the score values based on what the participant chooses. And then eval() the newly formed string. Something like this: f = "(Q1 + Q2 + Q3) / 2" # some crazy formula for this survey values = {:Q1 => 1, :Q2 => 2, :Q3 => 2} # values for substitution result = f.gsub(/(Q\d+)/) {|m| values[$1.to_sym] } # string to be eval()-ed eval(result) So my questions are: Is there a better way to do this? I'm open to any suggestions. How to handle formulas where not all placeholders were successfully replaced (e.g. one question wasn't answered)? Ex: {:Q3 = 2} wasn't in values hash? My idea is to rescue eval()... any thoughts? How to get proper result? Should be 2.5, but due to integer arithmetic, it will truncate to 2. I can't expect people who provide the correct formula (e.g. / 2.0 ) to understand this nuance. I do not expect this, but how to best protect eval() from abuse (e.g. bad formula, manipulated values coming in)? Thank you!

  Read the article

• ASP.NET MVC 2: Linq to SQL entity w/ ForeignKey relationship and Default ModelBinder strangeness

  - by Simon

  Once again I'm having trouble with Linq to Sql and the MVC Model Binder. I have Linq to Sql generated classes, to illustrate them they look similar to this: public class Client { public int ClientID { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } } public class Site { public int SiteID { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } } public class User { public int UserID { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public int? ClientID { get; set; } public EntityRef<Client> Client { get; set; } public int? SiteID { get; set; } public EntityRef<Site> Site { get; set; } } The 'User' has a relationship with the 'Client' and 'Site . The User class has nullable ClientIDs and SiteIDs because the admin users are not bound to a Client or Site. Now I have a view where a user can edit a 'User' object, the view has fields for all the 'User' properties. When the form is submitted, the appropiate 'Save' action is called in my UserController: public ActionResult Save(User user, FormCollection form) { //form['SiteID'] == 1 //user.SiteID == 1 //form['ClientID'] == 1 //user.ClientID == null } The problem here is that the ClientID is never set, it is always null, even though the value is in the FormCollection. To figure out whats going wrong I set breakpoints for the ClientID and SiteID getters and setters in the Linq to Sql designer generated classes. I noticed the following: SiteID is being set, then ClientID is being set, but then the Client EntityRef property is being set with a null value which in turn is setting the ClientID to null too! I don't know why and what is trying to set the Client property, because the Site property setter is never beeing called, only the Client setter is being called. Manually setting the ClientID from the FormCollection like this: user.ClientID = int.Parse(form["ClientID"].ToString()); throws a 'ForeignKeyReferenceAlreadyHasValueException', because it was already set to null before. The only workaround I have found is to extend the generated partial User class with a custom method: Client = default(EntityRef<Client>) but this is not a satisfying solution. I don't think it should work like this? Please enlighten me someone. So far Linq to Sql is driving me crazy! Best regards

  Read the article

• Can't destroy record in many-to-many relationship

  - by Dmart

  I'm new to Rails, so I'm sure I've made a simple mistake. I've set up a many-to-many relationship between two models: User and Group. They're connected through the junction model GroupMember. Here are my models (removed irrelevant stuff): class User < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :group_members has_many :groups, :through => :group_members end class GroupMember < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :group belongs_to :user end class Group < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :group_members has_many :users, :through => :group_members end The table for GroupMembers contains additional information about the relationship, so I didn't use has_and_belongs_to_many (as per the Rails "Active Record Associations" guide). The problem I'm having is that I can't destroy a GroupMember. Here's the output from rails console: irb(main):006:0> m = GroupMember.new => #<GroupMember group_id: nil, user_id: nil, active: nil, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil> irb(main):007:0> m.group_id =1 => 1 irb(main):008:0> m.user_id = 16 => 16 irb(main):009:0> m.save => true irb(main):010:0> m.destroy NoMethodError: undefined method `eq' for nil:NilClass from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-3.0.4/lib/active_support/whiny_nil.rb:48:in `method_missing' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/persistence.rb:79:in `destroy' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/locking/optimistic.rb:110:in `destroy' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/callbacks.rb:260:in `destroy' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-3.0.4/lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:413:in `_run_destroy_callbacks' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/callbacks.rb:260:in `destroy' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/transactions.rb:235:in `destroy' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/transactions.rb:292:in `with_transaction_returning_status' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/database_statements.rb:139:in `transaction' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/transactions.rb:207:in `transaction' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/transactions.rb:290:in `with_transaction_returning_status' from /usr/local/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activerecord-3.0.4/lib/active_record/transactions.rb:235:in `destroy' from (irb):10 This is driving me crazy, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

  Read the article

• Memory Leak with jQuery UI inside UpdatePanel in ie7

  - by Ryan

  I have a fairly complex asp.net page based on UpdatePanels and jQuery UI. Unfortunately, when the panels update, the jQuery UI widgets leak memory like crazy in ie7, even if I manually 'destroy' them. Does anyone know a technique/patch to prevent these leaks? I've created a simple example page with a slider inside an UpdatePanel. Just click the 'Leak' button and refresh the page to see the leak in sieve. <%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Leak2.aspx.cs" Inherits="Leak2" %> <%@ Register Assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" Namespace="System.Web.UI" TagPrefix="asp" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head runat="server"> <title>Leak</title> <link type="text/css" href="/jquery/css/custom-theme/jquery-ui-1.7.2.custom.css" rel="Stylesheet" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="/jquery/js/jquery-1.3.2.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/jquery/js/jquery-ui-1.7.2.custom.min.js"></script> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <script type="text/javascript"> function initializeSlider() { $(".slider").slider({ min: 0, max: 100, value: 100, step: 5 }); } $(document).ready(function() { initializeSlider(); Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_endRequest(function() { initializeSlider(); }); }); </script> <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server"></asp:ScriptManager> <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server"> <ContentTemplate> <div style="width: 300px;"> <div class="slider"></div> <asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" OnClick="Button1_Click" Text="Leak" /> </div> </ContentTemplate> </asp:UpdatePanel> </div> </form> </body> </html>

  Read the article

• Backbone.js (model instanceof Model) via Chrome Extension

  - by Leoncelot

  Hey guys, This is my first time ever posting on this site and the problem I'm about to pose is difficult to articulate due to the set of variables required to arrive at it. Let me just quickly explain the framework I'm working with. I'm building a Chrome Extension using jQuery, jQuery-ui, and Backbone The entire JS suite for the extension is written in CoffeeScript and I'm utilizing Rails and the asset pipeline to manage it all. This means that when I want to deploy my extension code I run rake assets:precompile and copy the resulting compressed JS to my extensions Directory. The nice thing about this approach is that I can actually run the extension js from inside my Rails app by including the library. This is basically the same as my extensions background.js file which injects the js as a content script. Anyway, the problem I've recently encountered was when I tried testing my extension on my buddy's site, whiskeynotes.com. What I was noticing is that my backbone models were being mangled upon adding them to their respective collections. So something like this.collection.add(new SomeModel) created some nonsense version of my model. This code eventually runs into Backbone's prepareModel code _prepareModel: function(model, options) { options || (options = {}); if (!(model instanceof Model)) { var attrs = model; options.collection = this; model = new this.model(attrs, options); if (!model._validate(model.attributes, options)) model = false; } else if (!model.collection) { model.collection = this; } return model; }, Now, in most of the sites on which I've tested the extension, the result is normal, however on my buddy's site the !(model instance Model) evaluates to true even though it is actually an instance of the correct class. The consequence is a super messed up version of the model where the model's attributes is a reference to the models collection (strange right?). Needless to say, all kinds of crazy things were happening afterward. Why this is occurring is beyond me. However changing this line (!(model instanceof Model)) to (!(model instanceof Backbone.Model)) seems to fix the problem. I thought maybe it had something to do with the Flot library (jQuery graph library) creating their own version of 'Model' but looking through the source yielded no instances of it. I'm just curious as to why this would happen. And does it make sense to add this little change to the Backbone source? Update: I just realized that the "fix" doesn't actually work. I can also add that my backbone Models are namespaced in a wrapping object so that declaration looks something like class SomeNamespace.SomeModel extends Backbone.Model

  Read the article

• BufferedReader no longer buffering after a while?

  - by BobTurbo

  Sorry I can't post code but I have a bufferedreader with 50000000 bytes set as the buffer size. It works as you would expect for half an hour, the HDD light flashing every two minutes or so, reading in the big chunk of data, and then going quiet again as the CPU processes it. But after about half an hour (this is a very big file), the HDD starts thrashing as if it is reading one byte at a time. It is still in the same loop and I think I checked free ram to rule out swapping (heap size is default). Probably won't get any helpful answers, but worth a try. OK I have changed heap size to 768mb and still nothing. There is plenty of free memory and java.exe is only using about 300mb. Now I have profiled it and heap stays at about 200MB, well below what is available. CPU stays at 50%. Yet the HDD starts thrashing like crazy. I have.. no idea. I am going to rewrite the whole thing in c#, that is my solution. Here is the code (it is just a throw-away script, not pretty): BufferedReader s = null; HashMap<String, Integer> allWords = new HashMap<String, Integer>(); HashSet<String> pageWords = new HashSet<String>(); long[] pageCount = new long[78592]; long pages = 0; Scanner wordFile = new Scanner(new BufferedReader(new FileReader("allWords.txt"))); while (wordFile.hasNext()) { allWords.put(wordFile.next(), Integer.parseInt(wordFile.next())); } s = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("wikipedia/enwiki-latest-pages-articles.xml"), 50000000); StringBuilder words = new StringBuilder(); String nextLine = null; while ((nextLine = s.readLine()) != null) { if (a.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { continue; } else if (b.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { continue; } else if (c.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { continue; } else if (d.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { nextLine = s.readLine(); if (e.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { if (f.matcher(s.readLine()).matches()) { pageWords.addAll(Arrays.asList(words.toString().toLowerCase().split("[^a-zA-Z]"))); words.setLength(0); pages++; for (String word : pageWords) { if (allWords.containsKey(word)) { pageCount[allWords.get(word)]++; } else if (!word.isEmpty() && allWords.containsKey(word.substring(0, word.length() - 1))) { pageCount[allWords.get(word.substring(0, word.length() - 1))]++; } } pageWords.clear(); } } } else if (g.matcher(nextLine).matches()) { continue; } words.append(nextLine); words.append(" "); }

  Read the article

• Can MySQL reasonably perform queries on billions of rows?

  - by haxney

  I am planning on storing scans from a mass spectrometer in a MySQL database and would like to know whether storing and analyzing this amount of data is remotely feasible. I know performance varies wildly depending on the environment, but I'm looking for the rough order of magnitude: will queries take 5 days or 5 milliseconds? Input format Each input file contains a single run of the spectrometer; each run is comprised of a set of scans, and each scan has an ordered array of datapoints. There is a bit of metadata, but the majority of the file is comprised of arrays 32- or 64-bit ints or floats. Host system |----------------+-------------------------------| | OS | Windows 2008 64-bit | | MySQL version | 5.5.24 (x86_64) | | CPU | 2x Xeon E5420 (8 cores total) | | RAM | 8GB | | SSD filesystem | 500 GiB | | HDD RAID | 12 TiB | |----------------+-------------------------------| There are some other services running on the server using negligible processor time. File statistics |------------------+--------------| | number of files | ~16,000 | | total size | 1.3 TiB | | min size | 0 bytes | | max size | 12 GiB | | mean | 800 MiB | | median | 500 MiB | | total datapoints | ~200 billion | |------------------+--------------| The total number of datapoints is a very rough estimate. Proposed schema I'm planning on doing things "right" (i.e. normalizing the data like crazy) and so would have a runs table, a spectra table with a foreign key to runs, and a datapoints table with a foreign key to spectra. The 200 Billion datapoint question I am going to be analyzing across multiple spectra and possibly even multiple runs, resulting in queries which could touch millions of rows. Assuming I index everything properly (which is a topic for another question) and am not trying to shuffle hundreds of MiB across the network, is it remotely plausible for MySQL to handle this? UPDATE: additional info The scan data will be coming from files in the XML-based mzML format. The meat of this format is in the <binaryDataArrayList> elements where the data is stored. Each scan produces = 2 <binaryDataArray> elements which, taken together, form a 2-dimensional (or more) array of the form [[123.456, 234.567, ...], ...]. These data are write-once, so update performance and transaction safety are not concerns. My naïve plan for a database schema is: runs table | column name | type | |-------------+-------------| | id | PRIMARY KEY | | start_time | TIMESTAMP | | name | VARCHAR | |-------------+-------------| spectra table | column name | type | |----------------+-------------| | id | PRIMARY KEY | | name | VARCHAR | | index | INT | | spectrum_type | INT | | representation | INT | | run_id | FOREIGN KEY | |----------------+-------------| datapoints table | column name | type | |-------------+-------------| | id | PRIMARY KEY | | spectrum_id | FOREIGN KEY | | mz | DOUBLE | | num_counts | DOUBLE | | index | INT | |-------------+-------------| Is this reasonable?

  Read the article

• jQuery apply functionality only to class and parent elements.

  - by kylex

  I have the following list: <ul> <li class="topCurrent">One <ul> <li>One-1 <ul> <li>One-1.1 <ul> <li class="current">One-1.1.1 <ul> <li>One-1.1.1.1</li> <li>One-1.1.1.2</li> <li>One-1.1.1.3</li> </ul> </li> <li>One-1.1.2</li> </ul> </li> <li>One-1.2</li> </ul> </li> <li>One-2</li> <li>One-3</li> </ul> </li> <li>Two <ul> <li>Two-1</li> <li>Two-2</li> </ul> </li> Using the following jQuery: $("ul li ul").hide(); $("ul li").hoverIntent( function(){ $(this).children('ul').slideDown('fast'); }, function(){ $(this).children('ul').slideUp('fast'); } ); What this does is hide all of the ul below the top level ul until there is a hover over it. What I would like to do is this: If an li has a class="current" I would like that structure to be open up until the point that current is hit. It would still allow the ul below it to be displayed on a hover, as well as any other ul's, but at no point would the parents of class="current" be hidden. Suggestions? This problem has been driving me crazy. Thanks!

  Read the article

• Week in Geek: New Security Flaw Confirmed for Internet Explorer Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to use a PC to stay entertained while traveling for the holidays, create quality photo prints with free software, share links between any browser and any smartphone, create perfect Christmas photos using How-To Geek’s 10 best how-to photo guides, and had fun decorating Firefox with a collection of Holiday 2010 Personas themes. Photo by Repoort. Random Geek Links Photo by Asian Angel. Critical 0-Day Flaw Affects All Internet Explorer Versions, Microsoft Warns Microsoft has confirmed a zero-day vulnerability affecting all supported versions of Internet Explorer, including IE8, IE7 and IE6. Note: Article contains link to Microsoft Security Advisory detailing two work-arounds until a security update is released. Hackers targeting human rights, indie media groups Hackers are increasingly hitting the Web sites of human rights and independent media groups in an attempt to silence them, says a new study released this week by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. OpenBSD: audits give no indication of back doors So far, the analyses of OpenBSD’s crypto and IPSec code have not provided any indication that the system contains back doors for listening to encrypted VPN connections. But the developers have already found two bugs during their current audits. Sophos: Beware Facebook’s new facial-recognition feature Facebook’s new facial recognition software might result in undesirable photos of users being circulated online, warned a security expert, who urged users to keep abreast with the social network’s privacy settings to prevent the abovementioned scenario from becoming a reality. Microsoft withdraws flawed Outlook update Microsoft has withdrawn update KB2412171 for Outlook 2007, released last Patch Tuesday, after a number of user complaints. Skype: Millions still without service Skype was still working to right itself going into the holiday weekend from a major outage that began this past Wednesday. Mozilla improves sync setup and WebGL in Firefox 4 beta 8 Firefox 4.0 beta 8 brings better support for WebGL and introduces an improved setup process for Firefox Sync that simplifies the steps for configuring the synchronization service across multiple devices. Chrome OS the litmus test for cloud The success or failure of Google’s browser-oriented Chrome OS will be the litmus test to decide if the cloud is capable of addressing user needs for content and services, according to a new Ovum report released Monday. FCC Net neutrality rules reach mobile apps The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally released its long-expected regulations on Thursday and the related explanations total a whopping 194 pages. One new item that was not previously disclosed: mobile wireless providers can’t block “applications that compete with the provider’s” own voice or video telephony services. KDE and the Document Foundation join Open Invention Network The KDE e.V. and the Document Foundation (TDF) have both joined the Open Invention Network (OIN) as licensees, expanding the organization’s roster of supporters. Report: SEC looks into Hurd’s ousting from HP The scandal surrounding Mark Hurd’s departure from the world’s largest technology company in August has officially drawn attention from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Report: Google requests delay of new Google TVs Google TV is apparently encountering a bit of static that has resulted in a programming change. Geek Video of the Week This week we have a double dose of geeky video goodness for you with the original Mac vs PC video and the trailer for the sequel. Photo courtesy of Peacer. Mac vs PC Photo courtesy of Peacer. Mac vs PC 2 Trailer Random TinyHacker Links Awesome Tools To Extract Audio From Video Here’s a list of really useful, and free tools to rip audio from videos. Getting Your iPhone Out of Recovery Mode Is your iPhone stuck in recovery mode? This tutorial will help you get it out of that state. Google Shared Spaces Quickly create a shared space and collaborate with friends online. McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Upgrade not worthy of a version change McAfee has released their 2011 version of security products. And as this review details, the upgrades are minimal when compared to their 2010 products. For more information, check out the review. 200 Countries Plotted Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before – using augmented reality animation. Super User Questions Enjoy looking through this week’s batch of popular questions and answers from Super User. How to restore windows 7 to a known working state every time it boots? Is there an easy way to mass-transfer all files between two computers? Coffee spilled inside computer, damaged hard drive Computer does not boot after ram upgrade Keyboard not detected when trying to install Ubuntu 10.10 How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Have you had a super busy week while preparing for the holiday weekend? Then here is your chance to get caught up on your reading with our five hottest articles for the week. Ask How-To Geek: Rescuing an Infected PC, Installing Bloat-free iTunes, and Taming a Crazy Trackpad How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC Eight Geektacular Christmas Projects for Your Day Off VirtualBox 4.0 Rocks Extensions and a Simplified GUI Ask the Readers: How Many Monitors Do You Use with Your Computer? One Year Ago on How-To Geek Here are more great articles from one year ago for you to read and enjoy during the holiday break. Enjoy Distraction-Free Writing with WriteMonkey Shutter is a State of Art Screenshot Tool for Ubuntu Get Hex & RGB Color Codes the Easy Way Find User Scripts for Your Favorite Websites the Easy Way Access Your Unsorted Bookmarks the Easy Way (Firefox) The Geek Note That “wraps” things up for this week and we hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their holiday break! Found a great tip during the break? Then be sure to send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by ArSiSa7. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know HTG Explains: Which Linux File System Should You Choose? HTG Explains: Why Does Photo Paper Improve Print Quality? Simon’s Cat Explores the Christmas Tree! [Video] The Outdoor Lights Scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation [Video] The Famous Home Alone Pizza Delivery Scene [Classic Video] Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Theme for Windows 7 Cardinal and Rabbit Sharing a Tree on a Cold Winter Morning Wallpaper An Alternate Star Wars Christmas Special [Video]

  Read the article

• Week in Geek: FBI Back Door in OpenBSD Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to migrate bookmarks from Delicious to Diigo, fix annoying arrows, play old-school DOS games, schedule smart computer shutdowns, use breaks in Microsoft Word to better format documents, check the condition of hard-disks using Linux disk utilities, & what the Linux fstab is and how it works. Photo by Jameson42. Random Geek Links Another week with extra news link goodness to help keep you up to date. Photo by justmakeit. Report of FBI back door roils OpenBSD community Allegations that the FBI surreptitiously placed a back door into the OpenBSD operating system have alarmed the computer security community, prompting calls for an audit of the source code and claims that the charges must be a hoax. Fortinet: Job outlook improving for cybercrooks In an ironic twist in the job market, more positions will open up for developers who can write customized malware packers, people who can break CAPTCHA codes, and distributors who can spread malicious code, according to Fortinet. Enisa: Malware for smartphones is a ’serious risk’ Businesses and consumers are at risk of data breaches through smartphone use, according to the European Network and Information Security Agency. The trick with the f: Google and Microsoft web sites distribute malware Last week, Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform and Microsoft’s rad.msn.com online ad network briefly distributed malware to other web sites in the form of advertising banners. New scam tactic: Fake disk defraggers It would appear that scammers are trying out new programs to see which might best confuse potential victims and evade detection by legitimate antivirus software. Microsoft closes IE and Stuxnet holes As previously announced, Microsoft has released 17 security updates to close 40 security holes. All four Windows holes so far disclosed in connection with Stuxnet have now been closed. Microsoft Offers H.264 Support to Firefox on Windows via Add-On The new HTML5 Extension for Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in add-on from Microsoft offers users that are running Firefox on Windows 7 H.264 support for HTML5 video playback. Google proclaims Chrome business-ready Google has announced that Chrome is ready for corporate use. Microsoft Tells Exchange Customers to Think Twice Before Opting for Google Message Continuity This week, Microsoft is telling companies still running Exchange 2010’s precursors that they should carefully consider the implications of embracing Google Message Continuity. Who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS users Steven Vaughan-Nichols explains why he feels that Chrome OS will be ideal for either office-workers or people who need a computer, but do not know the first thing about how to use one safely. Oracle takes office suite to the cloud Oracle has introduced Cloud Office 1.0, a cloud-based version of its office suite, which is aimed at web and mobile users. Mozilla pays premiums for reports of vulnerabilities The Mozilla Foundation has followed Google’s example by expanding its rewards program for reports of vulnerabilities in its Web applications. Who bought those 882 Novell patents? Not just Microsoft The mysterious CPTN Holdings — the organization that bought the 882 Novell patents as part of the terms of the Attachmate acquisition of Novell – has been unmasked (Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle). Appeals court: Feds need warrants for e-mail Police must obtain search warrants before perusing Internet users’ e-mail records, a federal appeals court ruled today in a landmark decision that struck down part of a 1986 law allowing warrantless access. Geek Video of the Week What happens when someone plays a wicked prank by shoveling crazy snow paths that lead to dead ends or turn back on themselves? Watch to find out! Photo by CollegeHumor. Janitor Snow Shoveling Prank Random TinyHacker Links The Oatmeal on Cat vs Internet What lengths will our poor neglected kitty hero have to go to in order to get some attention? Guide On Using JoliCloud With Windows JoliCloud is a nifty operating system that’s made for people who need a light-weight OS that’s mostly cloud based. Check this guide on using it with Windows. Use Cameyo to Easily Create Portable Programs Here’s a nifty tool to make portable apps out of programs in Windows. Check out the guide to do it. Better Family Tech Support A nice new site by Google to help members of family understand how computers work. Track Your Stolen Mobile Phone With F-Secure A useful anti-theft tool for your mobile phone. Super User Questions Another week with great answers to popular questions from Super User. What Chrome password manager fits my requirements? What’s the best way to be able to reimage windows computers? Could you suggest feature-rich disk-based personal backup program for linux (and I’ve seen a few)? What is IPv6 and why should I care? Is there any way to find out what programs are trying to connect to Internet on windows? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Here are our hottest articles full of geeky goodness from this past week at HTG. 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Kills Viruses Dead. Download It Now. Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? Ask the Readers: Would You Be Willing to Give Windows Up and Use a Different O.S.? The Twelve Days of Geekmas One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy reading through our latest batch of retro-geek goodness from one year ago. Macrium Reflect is a Free and Easy To Use Backup Utility How To Turn a Physical Computer Into A Virtual Machine with Disk2vhd How To Restore Windows 7 from a System Image How To Manage Hard Drive Space Used by Windows 7 Backup and Restore How To Manage Hibernate Mode in Windows 7 The Geek Note That is all we have for you this week, so see you back here again after the holidays! Got a great tip? Send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by mitjamavsar. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Deathwing the Destroyer – WoW Cataclysm Dragon Wallpaper Drag2Up Lets You Drag and Drop Files to the Web With Ease The Spam Police Parts 1 and 2 – Goodbye Spammers [Videos] Snow Angels Theme for Windows 7 Exploring the Jungle Ruins Wallpaper Protect Your Privacy When Browsing with Chrome and Iron Browser

  Read the article

• HttpContext.Items and Server.Transfer/Execute

  - by Rick Strahl

  A few days ago my buddy Ben Jones pointed out that he ran into a bug in the ScriptContainer control in the West Wind Web and Ajax Toolkit. The problem was basically that when a Server.Transfer call was applied the script container (and also various ClientScriptProxy script embedding routines) would potentially fail to load up the specified scripts. It turns out the problem is due to the fact that the various components in the toolkit use request specific singletons via a Current property. I use a static Current property tied to a Context.Items[] entry to handle this type of operation which looks something like this: /// <summary> /// Current instance of this class which should always be used to /// access this object. There are no public constructors to /// ensure the reference is used as a Singleton to further /// ensure that all scripts are written to the same clientscript /// manager. /// </summary> public static ClientScriptProxy Current { get { if (HttpContext.Current == null) return new ClientScriptProxy(); ClientScriptProxy proxy = null; if (HttpContext.Current.Items.Contains(STR_CONTEXTID)) proxy = HttpContext.Current.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] as ClientScriptProxy; else { proxy = new ClientScriptProxy(); HttpContext.Current.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] = proxy; } return proxy; } } The proxy is attached to a Context.Items[] item which makes the instance Request specific. This works perfectly fine in most situations EXCEPT when you’re dealing with Server.Transfer/Execute requests. Server.Transfer doesn’t cause Context.Items to be cleared so both the current transferred request and the original request’s Context.Items collection apply. For the ClientScriptProxy this causes a problem because script references are tracked on a per request basis in Context.Items to check for script duplication. Once a script is rendered an ID is written into the Context collection and so considered ‘rendered’: // No dupes - ref script include only once if (HttpContext.Current.Items.Contains( STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER + fileId ) ) return; HttpContext.Current.Items.Add(STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER + fileId, string.Empty); where the fileId is the script name or unique identifier. The problem is on the Transferred page the item will already exist in Context and so fail to render because it thinks the script has already rendered based on the Context item. Bummer. The workaround for this is simple once you know what’s going on, but in this case it was a bitch to track down because the context items are used in many places throughout this class. The trick is to determine when a request is transferred and then removing the specific keys. The first issue is to determine if a script is in a Trransfer or Execute call: if (HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler != HttpContext.Current.Handler) Context.Handler is the original handler and CurrentHandler is the actual currently executing handler that is running when a Transfer/Execute is active. You can also use Context.PreviousHandler to get the last handler and chain through the whole list of handlers applied if Transfer calls are nested (dog help us all for the person debugging that). For the ClientScriptProxy the full logic to check for a transfer and remove the code looks like this: /// <summary> /// Clears all the request specific context items which are script references /// and the script placement index. /// </summary> public void ClearContextItemsOnTransfer() { if (HttpContext.Current != null) { // Check for Server.Transfer/Execute calls - we need to clear out Context.Items if (HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler != HttpContext.Current.Handler) { List<string> Keys = HttpContext.Current.Items.Keys.Cast<string>().Where(s => s.StartsWith(STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER) || s == STR_ScriptResourceIndex).ToList(); foreach (string key in Keys) { HttpContext.Current.Items.Remove(key); } } } } along with a small update to the Current property getter that sets a global flag to indicate whether the request was transferred: if (!proxy.IsTransferred && HttpContext.Current.Handler != HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler) { proxy.ClearContextItemsOnTransfer(); proxy.IsTransferred = true; } return proxy; I know this is pretty ugly, but it works and it’s actually minimal fuss without affecting the behavior of the rest of the class. Ben had a different solution that involved explicitly clearing out the Context items and replacing the collection with a manually maintained list of items which also works, but required changes through the code to make this work. In hindsight, it would have been better to use a single object that encapsulates all the ‘persisted’ values and store that object in Context instead of all these individual small morsels. Hindsight is always 20/20 though :-}. If possible use Page.Items ClientScriptProxy is a generic component that can be used from anywhere in ASP.NET, so there are various methods that are not Page specific on this component which is why I used Context.Items, rather than the Page.Items collection.Page.Items would be a better choice since it will sidestep the above Server.Transfer nightmares as the Page is reloaded completely and so any new Page gets a new Items collection. No fuss there. So for the ScriptContainer control, which has to live on the page the behavior is a little different. It is attached to Page.Items (since it’s a control): /// <summary> /// Returns a current instance of this control if an instance /// is already loaded on the page. Otherwise a new instance is /// created, added to the Form and returned. /// /// It's important this function is not called too early in the /// page cycle - it should not be called before Page.OnInit(). /// /// This property is the preferred way to get a reference to a /// ScriptContainer control that is either already on a page /// or needs to be created. Controls in particular should always /// use this property. /// </summary> public static ScriptContainer Current { get { // We need a context for this to work! if (HttpContext.Current == null) return null; Page page = HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler as Page; if (page == null) throw new InvalidOperationException(Resources.ERROR_ScriptContainer_OnlyWorks_With_PageBasedHandlers); ScriptContainer ctl = null; // Retrieve the current instance ctl = page.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] as ScriptContainer; if (ctl != null) return ctl; ctl = new ScriptContainer(); page.Form.Controls.Add(ctl); return ctl; } } The biggest issue with this approach is that you have to explicitly retrieve the page in the static Current property. Notice again the use of CurrentHandler (rather than Handler which was my original implementation) to ensure you get the latest page including the one that Server.Transfer fired. Server.Transfer and Server.Execute are Evil All that said – this fix is probably for the 2 people who are crazy enough to rely on Server.Transfer/Execute. :-} There are so many weird behavior problems with these commands that I avoid them at all costs. I don’t think I have a single application that uses either of these commands… Related Resources Full source of ClientScriptProxy.cs (repository) Part of the West Wind Web Toolkit Static Singletons for ASP.NET Controls Post © Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2010Posted in ASP.NET  

  Read the article

• Security Trimmed Cross Site Collection Navigation

  - by Sahil Malik

  Ad:: SharePoint 2007 Training in .NET 3.5 technologies (more information). This article will serve as documentation of a fully functional codeplex project that I just created. This project will give you a WebPart that will give you security trimmed navigation across site collections. The first question is, why create such a project? In every single SharePoint project you will do, one question you will always be faced with is, what should the boundaries of sites be, and what should the boundaries of site collections be? There is no good or bad answer to this, because it really really depends on your needs. There are some factors in play here. Site Collections will allow you to scale, as a Site collection is the smallest entity you can put inside a content database Site collections will allow you to offer different levels of SLAs, because you put a site collection on a separate content database, and put that database on a separate server. Site collections are a security boundary – and they can be moved around at will without affecting other site collections. Site collections are also a branding boundary. They are also a feature deployment boundary, so you can have two site collections on the same web application with completely different nature of services. But site collections break navigation, i.e. a site collection at “/”, and a site collection at “/sites/mySiteCollection”, are completely independent of each other. If you have access to both, the navigation of / won’t show you a link to /sites/mySiteCollection. Some people refer to this as a huge issue in SharePoint. Luckily, some workarounds exist. A long time ago, I had blogged about “Implementing Consistent Navigation across Site Collections”. That approach was a no-code solution, it worked – it gave you a consistent navigation across site collections. But, it didn’t work in a security trimmed fashion! i.e., if I don’t have access to Site Collection ‘X’, it would still show me a link to ‘X’. Well this project gets around that issue. Simply deploy this project, and it’ll give you a WebPart. You can use that WebPart as either a webpart or as a server control dropped via SharePoint designer, and it will give you Security Trimmed Cross Site Collection Navigation. The code has been written for SP2010, but it will work in SP2007 with the help of http://spwcfsupport.codeplex.com . What do I need to do to make it work? I’m glad you asked! Simple! Deploy the .wsp (which you can download here). This will give you a site collection feature called “Winsmarts Cross Site Collection Navigation” as shown below. Go ahead and activate it, and this will give you a WebPart called “Winsmarts Navigation Web Part” as shown below: Just drop this WebPart on your page, and it will show you all site collections that the currently logged in user has access to. Really it’s that easy! This is shown as below - In the above example, I have two site collections that I created at /sites/SiteCollection1 and /sites/SiteCollection2. The navigation shows the titles. You see some extraneous crap as well, you might want to clean that – I’ll talk about that in a minute. What? You’re running into problems? If the problem you’re running into is that you are prompted to login three times, and then it shows a blank webpart that says “Loading your applications ..” and then craps out!, then most probably you’re using a different authentication scheme. Behind the scenes I use a custom WCF service to perform this job. OOTB, I’ve set it to work with NTLM, but if you need to make it work alternate authentications such as forms based auth, or client side certs, you will need to edit the %14%\ISAPI\Winsmarts.CrossSCNav\web.config file, specifically, this section - 1: <bindings> 2: <webHttpBinding> 3: <binding name="customWebHttpBinding"> 4: <security mode="TransportCredentialOnly"> 5: <transport clientCredentialType="Ntlm"/> 6: </security> 7: </binding> 8: </webHttpBinding> 9: </bindings> For Kerberos, change the “clientCredentialType” to “Windows” For Forms auth, remove that transport line For client certs – well that’s a bit more involved, but it’s just web.config changes – hit a good book on WCF or hire me for a billion trillion $. But fair warning, I might be too busy to help immediately. If you’re running into a different problem, please leave a comment below, but the code is pretty rock solid, so .. hmm .. check what you’re doing! BTW, I don’t  make any guarantee/warranty on this – if this code makes you sterile, unpopular, bad hairstyle, anything else, that is your problem! But, there are some known issues - I wrote this as a concept – you can easily extend it to be more flexible. Example, hierarchical nav, or, horizontal nav, jazzy effects with jquery or silverlight– all those are possible very very easily. This webpart is not smart enough to co-exist with another instance of itself on the same page. I can easily extend it to do so, which I will do in my spare(!?) time! Okay good! But that’s not all! As you can see, just dropping the WebPart may show you many extraneous site collections, or maybe you want to restrict which site collections are shown, or exclude a certain site collection to be shown from the navigation. To support that, I created a property on the WebPart called “UrlMatchPattern”, which is a regex expression you specify to trim the results :). So, just edit the WebPart, and specify a string property of “http://sp2010/sites/” as shown below. Note that you can put in whatever regex expression you want! So go crazy, I don’t care! And this gives you a cleaner look.   w00t! Enjoy! Comment on the article ....

  Read the article

• I&rsquo;m sorry RPGs, it&rsquo;s not you, it&rsquo;s me: The birth of my game idea

  - by George Clingerman

  One of the things I’ve had to give up in order to have some development time at night is gaming. It’s something I refused to admit for years but I’ve just had to face the facts. I’m no longer a gamer. I just don’t have hours and hours of free time to pour into gaming and when I do have hours and hours of free time I want to pour them into game development. That doesn’t mean I don’t game at all! I play games pretty much every day. It just means I’ve moved more into the casual game realm. It’s all I have time for when juggling priorities in my life. That means that games like Gears of War 2 sit shrink wrapped on my shelf and although I popped Dragon Age into my Xbox 360 one time, I barely made it through the opening sequence and haven’t had time to sit down and play again. Instead I’m playing short games like Jamestown, Atom Zombie Smasher, Fortix or if I have time to jump in and play a few rounds maybe some Monday Night Combat or Team Fortress 2. These are games I can instantly get into and play for just a short period of time and then walk away. Breath of Death VII saved my life: Back in the day (way, way back in the day) I used to be a pretty big RPG fan. Not big by a lot of RPG gamers' standards (most of the RPGs RPG fans about I’ve never heard of) but I used to LOVE to play them on the NES, SNES and Genesis and considered that my genre. Final Fantasy, Shining in the Darkness, Bard’s Tale, Faxanadu, Shadowrun, Ultima, Dragon Warrior, Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star, Shining Force and well the list could go on but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. I loved playing RPGs and they were my games of choice. After my first son was born (this was just about 12 years ago), I tried to continue playing RPGs and purchased games like Baldur’s Gate I & II, Neverwinter Nights, Fable, then a few of the Final Fantasy’s then Kingdom Hearts. I kept buying these games and then only playing for about fifteen minutes and never getting back to them. I still loved RPGs but they just no longer fit into my life (I still haven’t accepted that since I still purchased Dragon Age II for some reason and convinced myself I’d find the time). Adding three more sons to the mix (that’s 4 total) didn’t help much to finding more RPG time (except for Breath of Death VII and other XBLIG RPG titles, thanks guys!) All work and no RPG: A few months ago as I was sitting thinking about the lack of RPGs in my life and talking to my wife about why I wish RPGs were different and easier for a dad like me to get into. She seemed like she was listening, so I started listing all the things that made them impossible for me to play. Here’s a short list I came up with. They take 15 billion hours to complete I have a few minutes at a time I can grab to play them if I want to have time to code. At that rate it would take me 9 trillion years to beat just one RPG. There’s such long spans of times between when I can play them I forget what I was even doing so I have to spend most of the playtime I have just figuring that out and then my play time is over. Repeat. I’ll never finish one and since it takes so long to get to the fun part in an RPG, I’m never having fun. RPGs aren’t fun if you don’t have hours to play them at a time. As you can see based on my science and math, RPGs aren’t fun for me any more. From there my brain started toying around with ideas of RPGs that would work for me. They would have to be a short RPG, you know one you could beat in a single play session. A dad sized play session. I started thinking, wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a fifteen minute RPG? That got me laughing and I took that as a good sign that it sounded fun and so I thought about it a little more. I immediately discarded the idea of doing a real RPG. I’m sure a short RPG like that could be done but it wasn’t the vibe that I had in my head. No this was going to be something that just had the core essence of an RPG. In reality what I’d be making would be more of an arcade style game. One with high scores and lots of crazy action on the screen. And that’s when it hit me. It would be a speed run RPG. That’s the basics of the game I’m working on.   The Elevator Pitch: It’s a 2D top down RPG themed arcade game focused on speed. It sounds like an RPG, smells like an RPG but it’s merely emulating an RPG. The game is focused on fun and mayhem in RPG form with players leveling up in seconds instead of hours and rushing to finish quests as quickly as possible because they’ve only got fifteen minutes before EVIL overtakes the world. If the player takes longer than fifteen minutes, it’s game over man. One to four player co-operative play to really see just how fast players can level up and beat the game. Gamers will compete on leaderboards for bragging rights for fastest 1, 2, 3, and 4 player speed runs, lowest leveled characters to beat the game, highest leveled characters to beat the game and so on. Times will be tracked for everything from how long a player sat distributing stats, equipping items, talking to NPCs to running around the level. These stats will be shown at the end of each quest/level so the players can work on improving their speed run for that part of the game next time around. It’s the perfect RPG for those of us who only have fifteen minutes of game time! Where I’m at: I’m still at the prototyping stage attempting to but all the basic framework pieces in place that will at minimum give me one level to rush through. I’ve been working on this prototype for about a month now though so I’m going to have to step it up a bit or I’m not going to get finished in time (remember I’ve only got 85 days left!) Lots of the game code is in place (although pretty sloppy) but I still can’t play through that first quest/level just yet. That’s my goal to finish up by the end of next Sunday (3/25/2012). You can all hold me to that and cheer me on or heckle me throughout the week. Either way that should help me stay a bit more motivated and focused. In my head this feels like it’s going to be a fun game so I’m looking forward to seeing how it actually plays!

  Read the article

< Previous Page | 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58  | Next Page >